timeline;
Origins
►The world of Avatar is a chaotic one. There are four nations - the Water Tribes, the Air Nomads, the Fire Nation and the Earth Kingdom. Each nation harbors part of their population that can bend - that is, control - the element their nation is named for. Not everyone in the world can bend, and it is a talent that generally shows before puberty.
►Each bender can only control one element, with the except of the Avatar. The Avatar is the spirit of the planet in mortal form and master of all four bending disciplines. He is also considered the bridge between the physical and spiritual world, and is charged with keeping peace between the four nations. There is only ever one Avatar in the world at any time, and the Avatar is reborn into each nation in a cycle - water, then earth, then fire, and finally air. The current avatar was an Air Nomad who disappeared a hundred years ago during the Fire Nations raids on his people, allowing the Fire Nation to begin an imperialistic mission to take over the other nations.
►Most people now believe the Avatar cycle to have been broken, and Katara's people - the Southern Water Tribe - were driven to the brink of extinction by the Fire Nation's raids. Katara is the last remaining waterbender in the entire south pole, and when the Fire Nation heard that there was a waterbender left, they sent the Southern Raiders, a navy unit trained and designed for the sole purpose of raiding the Southern Tribes, to find and kill her. Katara's mother, Kya, told the Raiders that she was the last waterbender, sacrificing herself to save her daughter. Katara was witness to her murder, and she and her older brother Sokka now harbor a deep distrust of the Fire Nation because of it.
►After Kya's death, Katara was given her necklace - it had once been her grandmother Kanna's necklace and is now an heirloom. Katara considers this her most prized possession as it is the only thing she has to remind her of her mother.
►Around this time, the Fire Nation prince, a young, kind boy named Zuko, is banished for "shameful weakness". As punishment, his father badly burns his face and orders that he cannot return until he finds the Avatar. Zuko's uncle Iroh joins him on this mission. The years spent searching and enduring the loss of all he loves hardens him and makes him ruthless in his mission.
►Katara was forced to grow up quickly - Sokka says that whenever he tries to picture his mother, he can only think of Katara's face, because she was always there for him. When Katara was twelve and Sokka was thirteen, their father Hakoda, the chief of their tribe, left with the all the men to fight in the war. Thus, Sokka was forced to take on the responsiblities of an adult man in his tribe, and Katara took on similar responsibilities.
The Boy in the Iceberg
►Katara is now fourteen, and she and Sokka are on a spear fishing trip for their tribe. Their canoe is crushing against the ice floes by a rip current, and the two are stranded in the middle of the ocean. Sokka blames Katara for this, and Katara begins to yell at him, gesturing for good measure. Unbeknowst to her, she is accidentally waterbending and cracking apart a huge iceberg right behind her. This reveals a large, spherical portion with a huge flying bison and a young boy trapped inside. Katara insists they have to help him, and grabs Sokka's club to break them out.
►During this attempt, a huge column of bright blue light is released from the iceberg along with the boy, who collapses in Katara's arms. He says his name is Aang, a twelve-year-old airbender, and claims he can take them home on his flying bison, Appa. The bright light, however, has alerted the sixteen-year-old banished Prince Zuko to their presence. He attacks Katara's village, but is defeated by Aang. Aang reveals he is the Avatar, and Katara says they may be able to find a waterbending master to teach him at the North Pole. Aang, Sokka and Katara decide to travel together - Aang and Katara to learn waterbending, and Sokka to "bust some Fire Nation heads".
The Southern Air Temple
►Aang, Katara and Sokka travel to the Southern Air Temple in an attempt to find more Air Nomads, despite Katara's warnings. When they arrive, they discover another relic of Aang's past - a lemur. Aang finds that all the nomads have indeed been killed, and Aang's rage and grief make him "berserk" - his eyes and tattoos begin to glow, and he rises in the air in a terrifying display of airbending. In a sanctuary filled with statues of the previous Avatars, Katara notices that their eyes have all lit up. She panics and runs to find Aang destroying the area of the temple he's in. Around the world, similar temples with similar statues begin to light up as well, alerting the world to the return of the Avatar.
►Katara manages to get through to Aang and pull him out of the Avatar state, and she and Sokka say that even if his old family is gone, they'll be his family, and they'll be the ones to protect him. Aang accepts that he is the last of his kind as Katara hugs him.
The Kyoshi Warriors
►The group - along with their new lemur, Momo - travel to Kyoshi island, where they are immediately attacked by a group of female warriors. They discover that Kyoshi is one of the last strongholds left in the Earth Kingdom, and that one of Aang's previous incarnations, a woman named Kyoshi, was born here. Sokka is introduced to Suki, a strong young warrior who challenges his view of women being unable to fight.
►When the islanders discover Aang is the Avatar, they rejoice - but Zuko is not far behind, and he sets the island's village on fire to get to Aang. Aang is heartbroken, knowing that the island came to harm because of him, and so the group leaves to draw Zuko away.
Haru
►The group moves on, and discovers a young earthbender practicing. Katara is delighted, but before she can introduced herself to the young man, he runs off, seeming terrified. Katara insists they follow, and end up in a town that is under Fire Nation control. They find the young man and follow him into a shop, where he introduces himself as Haru, and explains that anyone discovered to be an earthbender by the Fire Nation soldiers is arrested and sent away. Haru adds that his father was arrested this way.
►Later that night, Katara and Haru are walking together and bonding over their similar pasts when they run into an old man pinned under a pile of rocks. Haru is hesitant to use his ability, but Katara begs him to help, and so he does. The next morning, Katara wakes up to find Haru's mother in hysterics. Apparently the old man they'd rescued ratted out Haru to the Fire Nation soldiers, and so Haru was arrested.
►Katara is heartbroken and determined to help, and so with a little bit of creative airbending from a hidden Aang, she is able to trick the soldiers into thinking she can earthbend. She is immediately arrested and taken to a giant mining rig in the middle of the ocean made out of metal - the perfect prison for earthbenders. Katara tracks down Haru and is introduced to his father, Tyro, who both insist that escape isn't an option. Katara attempts to rally the prisoners, but fails miserably. That night, Aang and Sokka arrive to help, and Aang notes that the rig is fueled by coal - something the earthbenders can control. Aang uses airbending to force coal up the vents onto the rig, but the earthbenders still refuse to fight - until Haru lands the first strike against the warden. The earthbenders, made brave by Haru's attack, join in. The warden is thrown overboard and Haru and the others commandeer the Fire Nation soldier's ships to get back to the mainland. Tyro and Haru thank Katara, and Katara is touched, until she realizes her mother's necklace is gone. Back on the rig, Zuko discovers the necklace.
The Waterbending Scroll
►Katara has begun to teach Aang waterbending. Unfortunately, he picks up the moves quickly - so quickly Katara begins to grow jealous of his raw talent. The group heads to a nearby port town and find a pirate ship. Katara discovers a waterbending scroll there, but the pirates won't give it up for less than two hundred gold pieces. The group leaves, but are immediately persued by the pirates. After they escape, Aang and Sokka find out why - Katara had stolen the scroll. Katara only grows more jealous when Aang quickly perfects the techniques she can't even manage.
That night, Zuko discovers Katara and captures her, tying her to a tree. He attempts to get Aang's location out of her, but she refuses, so he sweetens the pot by taunting her with her mother's lost necklace. Aang and Sokka manage to rescue her, and the group escapes.
Jet
►Katara, Aang and Sokka are saved from a group of Fire Nation soldiers by a group of children led by a sixteen year old dual hooksword wielding boy named Jet. Katara is plainly enamored by him, and Jet seems to return the affection. Meanwhile, Jet's Freedom Fighters discover barrels of blasting jelly in the Fire Nation camp, which they bring back to headquarters. Katara flirts with him nearly shamelessly, praising his bravery, and later his leadership capabilities. The two bond further when Katara discovers Jet has lost his parents to the Fire Nation as well.
►Sokka later confronts Aang and Katara, claiming that he witnessed Jet attack a harmless old man. Katara doesn't believe him, and marches off to hear Jet's side of the story. Jet explains that the man was a Fire Nation spy sent to kill him, but Sokka doubts this greatly. Sokka storms off, claiming he's going to leave, and as soon as he's gone, Jet pleads for Aang and Katara to stay. He says the Fire Nation is going to set the valley on fire the next day, and he needs their waterbending to save the forest. He wants them to fill the dam's reservoir so that he and his group can put out the fires.
►That night, Sokka is caught easedropping on the Freedom Fighters and discovers that Jet and the others are planning on blowing the dam so that the entire valley is flooded. The area will be freed of the Fire Nation, but in the process an entire town will be destroyed. Sokka is caught and dragged off, though he escapes.
►Meanwhile, Jet leads Aang and Katara to a small stream that leads to the reservoir. He tells them there's underground springs that he wants them to feed into the stream. Katara isn't so certain she can bend water she can't see, but a little encouragement from Jet is all she needs to try. Jet leaves Aang and Katara and tells them to meet him at headquarters, but when Aang and Katara finish early, she decides to meet him at the reservoir.
►Katara and Aang spot the Freedom Fighters setting up the blasting jelly at the dam, and Jet jumps forward to grab Aang's glider to keep him from stopping the Freedom Fighters. Katara is in denial until Jet confesses, and struggles to get her to understand. It fails - Katara blasts him with a stream of water from her flask, and beats him back until he is frozen to a trunk. Jet, however, calls out the signal to blow the dam. The valley is flooded, and Katara turns on Jet again, only to be interrupted by Sokka, who is followed by a large group of villagers. He's managed to get them all out in time, and though Jet begs Katara to reconsider again, the group climb on Appa and fly off, leaving Jet frozen to the tree.
Bato and Jeong Jeong
►Katara, Sokka and Aang meet up with an old friend of their father, Bato, who has been injured and left behind. They head back to his current home, an abbey of nuns that make perfumes and cures. Bato tells Sokka and Katara they might be able to see their father, as a messanger is arriving soon to tell Bato where the rest of the fleet is.
►Meanwhile, Zuko runs into a bounty hunter named June who discovers her quarry with the help of a shirshu, a creature that "sees" with its incredibly sensitve nose. Using the necklace he still has from Katara, he hires June to track Aang down. Back with Bato, Aang admits he intercepted the messanger and has kept the map from them, and Katara and Sokka are so furious they decide to leave Aang to find their father. Bato, however, encourages Katara and Sokka to stay with Aang. Before they can return, they're intercepted by June, Zuko and Iroh. June's shirshu uses its tongue to paralyze the group and latch onto Aang's scent. They hunt down Aang, and Zuko attacks him. During the fight, Aang manages to steal Katara's necklace back.
►Katara and Sokka are revived by the nuns, and Sokka tells Katara to waterbend the perfume to confuse the shirshu's sense of smell. She does so, and the shirshu loses control and begins to attack random people in a panic. Aang and the others use this opportunity to escape, and Aang gives Katara her necklace back.
►Later, the group meets a firebender named Jeong Jeong who begins to teach Aang to firebend. He moves slowly, however, and Aang gets so impatient he attempts to do a much more complicated move, and accidentally burns Katara's hands in the process. Katara runs off and dips her hands in the nearby stream in an attempt to get them to stop hurting. She manages to heal herself by accident, and Jeong Jeong appears, explaining that he's always wished he could be a waterbender, as water can heal and fire can only destroy. Aang, for his part, swears off firebending.
The Waterbending Master
►Sokka, Katara and Aang have finally reached the Northern Water Tribe, and are being given a tour of the city. Meanwhile, a general of the Fire Nation, Zhao, realizes that Aang is going to the north pole to find a waterbending master. He begins to gather a massive invasion force to find Aang. Outside the palace of the Northern Water Tribe, Sokka, Katara and Aang are thrown a feast to celebrate their arrival, and to celebrate Princess Yue's birthday and eligibility for marriage. Sokka begins to flirt with Yue (and fails) while Katara and Sokka watch the master of the tribe, Pakku, perform a routine of elaborate moves for entertainment. Pakku tells Katara and Aang to be ready at sunrise.
►Meanwhile, Zhao takes over command of Zuko's ship and asks Iroh to be his general. Zuko is, understandably, enraged. Katara and Aang begin their first lesson, however, Master Pakku explains that he didn't realize it was Katara who he was meant to teach along with Aang, and that it is forbidden for women to learn waterbending. He sends a furious Katara to the healing huts to learn healing from Yugoda. Aang threatens to refuse to learn from Pakku unless Katara can learn, too, but Katara convinces him otherwise. At the healing huts, Katara learns her necklace was once a betrothal necklace, and that her grandmother was originally from the Northern Tribe. Kanna ran away when she was forced into an arranged marriage.
►Iroh leaves Zuko alone on the ship to go for a walk, and while he is gone, Zuko hears a noise and leaves his room to investigate. It turns out Zhao hired a group of assassins to blow up Zuko's boat, with Zuko on it. The ship explodes, but Zuko manages to throw up a shield of fire just in time to save his life. Iroh, on shore, sees the explosion and screams Zuko's name.
►Sokka begins to court Yue, but claims she's confusing - she wanted to go out with him that morning, but ditched him that night. After hearing Katara's predicament, he suggests that Aang teach Katara what he's learning at night. The two run off to do just that, but are caught by Master Pakku, who refuses to train Aang as he has disrespected Pakku's entire people and culture. The next day, Katara and Aang arrive at the palace to beg Pakku to take Aang back as his student - but he requires an apology. Katara refuses, and then adds, "I'll be waiting outside if you're man enough to fight me." She does very, very well in the fight - well enough for Pakku to call her a very skilled waterbender, but he still refuses to teach her. Finally, he ends the fight by pinning Katara's arms down. As he leaves, he picks up Katara's necklace, and recognizes it as the one he carved for the "love of his life, Kanna" sixty years ago. Katara says that her grandmother wouldn't let his tribe's sexist practices run her life. Pakku realizes that his way of thinking made him lose the only woman he had ever loved, and so he agrees to train Katara. Zuko, for his part, has stowed away on Zhao's ship to sneak into the north pole and track down Aang, while Iroh pretends to agree to join Zhao.
Siege of the North
►Katara is, soon enough, named a waterbending master, though the same cannot be said of Aang, who isn't taking his training very seriously. In the middle of a lesson, Katara and the others notice black snow falling - and all recognize it as soot, a sure sign of an attack from the Fire Nation. The group heads to the front lines immediately, but the Fire Nation begins to break down the huge wall of ice protecting the Northern Tribe by hurling fireballs at it. Katara can do nothing but watch as Aang jumps on Appa to take out the Fire Navy ships. When he returns, he claims that he must have taken out a dozen ships, but there were just too many. Meanwhile, Iroh suggests that Zhao stop his attack for the night, as the sun is setting and the moon is almost full. Zuko is making his way towards the Northern Tribe in a canoe.
►The chief asks Sokka to watch over Princess Yue rather than fight, and Sokka agrees. Elsewhere, Yue tells Katara and Aang the legend of the origin of waterbending as they watch the moon rise. This gives Aang the idea to cross over into the spirit world to get help. Yue leads him to the spirit oasis - a place at the center of the city that is surprisingly warm. Yue claims it's the most spiritual place in the entire north pole. Aang begins to meditate at the base of the oasis' pool, which contains two fish circling each other - one black, one white. Just as Aang enters the spirit world, Zuko arrives to take Aang. Yue runs off to find help, and Katara and Zuko begin a fierce battle. The two are perfectly matched, but Katara manages to freeze him against the far wall, as she is drawing power from the moon. Just then, the sun rises, and Zuko melts the ice pinning him down. He throws Katara against a pillar and grabs Aang's collar, departing with a mocking, "You rise with the moon. I rise with the sun." before she falls unconscious.
►Katara awakens just as Yue and Sokka arrive on Appa, and admits Zuko bested her and took Aang. The group sets off to find him as the Fire Nation continues their attack. Iroh reminds Zhao that if the tribe is not defeated before the full moon rises, they'll be unbeatable. Zhao responds that he intends to "remove the moon as a factor". Zhao explains to Iroh that the spirits of the moon and the ocean gave up their immortality to live on the physical plane a long time ago, and that he knows where their mortal forms are. He intends to kill the moon and take over the north pole. Iroh warns that the spirits are not to be trifled with, but is ignored.
►Meanwhile, Aang's spirit returns to his body with a brilliant streak of light that leads the group right to Zuko and Aang. "Here for a rematch?" Zuko taunts. "Trust me, Zuko," Katara responds. "It's not going to be much of a match." She knocks him out with a few deft movements of her hands, and Aang insists they tie Zuko up and bring him with - he won't allow Zuko to be left to freeze to death. Aang reveals that the spirits of the moon and the ocean - in the form of the koi fish in the spirit oasis - are in danger, and the group returns. There, Zhao grabs the white fish, causing the sky to turn red and the waterbenders to lose their bending abilities. Aang and Yue claim to feel faint, and the princess explains that the moon spirit gave her part of its life as a baby, as she nearly died. Aang pleads with Zhao to let the spirit go, and Iroh arrives to back Aang up. Zhao releases the spirit into the water, but it's a trick - he kills the fish with a quick jet of flame.
►This causes the spiritual equivalent of a lunar eclipse, rendering the waterbenders helpless as the sky turns black. Iroh attacks the soldiers accompanying Zhao, but Zhao escapes before Iroh can catch him. Zuko has escaped and goes after Zhao himself as Iroh, Aang, Yue, Katara and Sokka attempt to save the fish. Aang enters the Avatar State and merges with the ocean spirit, then disappears to defeat the invaders.
►Iroh points out that Yue harbors some of the moon's life, and Yue decides it is her duty to give that life back. She lays her hands on the fish and sacrifices herself to become the new moon spirit. The ocean spirit, meanwhile, destroys all of the boats and then kills Zhao before returning to the oasis.
The Avatar State
►Master Pakku and his men are taking the group to the Earth Kingdom, and before Aang and company leave, Pakku gives them some parting gifts. He gives Katara a vial filled with water from the spirit oasis, which he claims has special properties. The group heads to Omashu to find Aang's old friend King Bumi to teach Aang earthbending. On the way, the group meets General Fong, an earth kingdom commander who offers to give the group an escort. He thinks that Aang is wasting time learning the four elements, however, and believes he should just trigger the Avatar State to go after the Fire Lord. Fong orders his troops to try to trigger the Avatar State, and so they attack Aang, but it doesn't work. Then Fong tries another tactic - he uses his earthbending to bury Katara.
►Aang is so enraged by this that he enters the Avatar State. As he's destroying the base, Roku - the spirit of a previous Avatar - explains to him what the Avatar State is. It's a defense mechanism in which an Avatar may access the knowledge and power of all previous Avatar, which provides the current with great power. However, if an Avatar is killed in the Avatar State, the reincarnation cycle is broken. Fong panics and frees Katara, explaining that she was safe the entire time and that he'd faked her death. Katara once again manages to pull Aang out of the Avatar State and the group leaves. Meanwhile, Zuko's sister, Azula, has been charged with finding and arrested Zuko and Iroh, whom Fire Lord Ozai has branded as traitors. The two manage to escape her, and as a symbol of severence from their family and nation, Iroh and Zuko cut off their topknots.
The Cave of Two Lovers
►The group is still headed to Omashu, and a group of Earth Kingdom nomads tell them of a shortcut through a tunnel under a mountain. The group agrees because the Fire Nation is right on their tails. The leader of the nomads mentions that the tunnel is really a labyrinth protected by a curse. Before they can turn back, the Fire Nation blocks them in, and they are soon lost, as Sokka realizes the tunnels are changing around them.
►The group is then separated during a cave in, and Katara is left with Aang and Appa. Katara and Aang find a large tomb designed for the "two lovers" described in legend. The final line in the legend written on the walls is "love is brightest in the dark". Katara suggests that if the two follow the example of the lovers and kiss, they might be able to make it out. Aang approves of this idea because of his growing crush on Katara, but to avoid embarrassment, exclaims that he would most definitely not want to kiss Katara. She's insulted, so Aang tries to save the situation, and fails, by saying, "Well, if it was a choice between kissing you and dying..." Soon enough, the torches burn out, and the two discover that the two lovers planted glowing crystals leading the way out in the ceiling. Following these, the two escape and meet up with Sokka and the others. They continue to Omashu, only to find that it has fallen to the Fire Nation.
Return to Omashu
►Aang is determined to find his friend Bumi, and so the group is forced to enter the city through a sewer. When they emerge, Sokka is covered in purple pentapi, tiny octopus-like creatures. Aang removes them, but they leave welts behind. The group uses these to trick a group of fire nation soldiers into letting them pass - Katara says Sokka has pentapox, which is highly contagious and deadly. The group then accidentally runs into the governer of Omashu and his daughter, Mai, who immediately attacks them. They are saved by the remnants of the Omashu Army, who explain that Bumi didn't fight at all - he immediately surrendered. Aang decides to give all of the remaining earth kingdom citizins "pentapox" so that they can escape the city, and it works - the governor orders everyone to be evacuated.
►The governor's young son, Tom-Tom, is also accidentally evacuated, and the governor assumes that the resistance has kidnapped him. He sends a messenger hawk, saying that he'll exchange Tom-Tom for Bumi. Back inside Omashu, Azula interrupts, ordering that Mai and herself take care of it, along with Mai and Azula's old friend Ty Lee. The governor agrees, and so the group meets the next morning. A fight breaks out when Mai and Azula claim the deal is off, and Katara takes on Mai, deftly dodging her throwing darts and freezing her arm. However, Ty Lee ambushes her, leaving her unable to bend with a few quick jabs to the arms. Katara is saved by Sokka, and the two fly off to find Aang, who says that Bumi told him to find another teacher, one who "waits and listens" before attacking.
The Swamp
►While passing over a swamp, the group is sucked down by a tornado. Aang, Katara and Sokka are separated from Momo and Appa, and so Aang begins to search, but to no avail. As Sokka uses a machete to chop his way though the undergrowth, Katara begins to feel as if they're being watched. In the middle of the night, the group is attacked by a strange creature made of vines. They all manage to escape, but end up separated. Katara sees a strange figure in the distance and recognizes it as her mother, but when she runs to it, she realizes it's only a stump. This causes her to sink to her knees in grief. Meanwhile, Aang sees a young girl running through the swamp, giggling, followed by a flying boar.
►Their visions lead them back to each other again, only to be attacked by the monster from before. Katara and Aang manage to defeat the creature, and the vines fall to reveal a waterbender inside named Hue. He'd been bending the water in the vines, and was using the ensuing pile to protect the swamp. He explains that some people have visions of those they have lost or are destined to meet in the swamp, and the group is soon reunited with Appa and Momo.
Toph
►The group arrives in the Earth Kingdom town of Gaoling to continue the search for an eartbending teacher for Aang. They hear from a pair of kids about an earthbending tournament coming up, and there see a powerful earthbender named The Boulder who easily defeats every challenger he is put up against. The Boulder works his way up to the current champion, The Blind Bandit, a twelve year old girl who is blind. Aang notices that she "waits and listens" before striking, and realizes that she is the person Bumi was talking about. When she laughs, he recognizes her as the girl in his vision in the swamp. The announcer of the tournament offers a huge sum of gold to whoever can defeat her, and Aang volunteers to talk to her. The Bandit immediately attacks him, and Aang dodges each of her moves easily, and defeats her. The Bandit is not impressed, and refuses to even talk to him.
►Aang and the others ask around, and track her down to the Bei Fong house, where they are immediately attacked by the guards. That evening, Aang uses his position as the Avatar to gain audience with the family, and it is revealed Toph is leading a double life. After dinner, Aang and Toph are captured by the announcer from earlier, who believes Toph took a fall to split the money with Aang. Katara and Sokka get help, and Toph's parents spot her true earthbending abilities. As the group prepares to leave, Toph insists she come with.
The Library
►The group all decides to take "mini-vacations". On Katara's, they meet a man named Professor Zei, who tells them he is searching for an ancient library in the desert. Sokka figures they might be able to find something that could help them defeat the Fire Nation there, and so dedicates his vacation to finding it. They fly there on Appa, and Katara, Sokka, Aang and Zei go inside, while Appa stays outside with Toph, who has no use for libraries. Inside the library, they meet the spirit of knowledge, Wan Shi Tong, who does not trust them. He says that humans only ever use the library to gain advantage in fights and wars, but Sokka manages to convince him otherwise.
►Sokka discovers a burned paper that mentions "the Fire Nation's darkest day". One of Wan Shi Tong's helpers, a fox, leads the group to a planetarium. When Sokka enters the date on the paper into the dial in the center of the room, the room shows the sky on that date - the day of a solar eclipse. The group realizes that firebenders are helpless during a solar eclipse, but before they can discover when the next solar eclipse is, Wan Shi Tong discovers what they have done and attacks. He begins to sink the library, and outside, Toph grabs the stone wall in a desperate attempt to stop it from sinking.
►While this is happening, a group of sandbenders attack Appa and capture him. Toph is unable to hold up the building and fight the sandbenders simultaneously, and so Appa is taken away. Aang and Sokka use the planetarium to discover the next eclipse, which is in a few months. They decide to give this information to the Earth King in Ba Sing Se, and the group escapes, only to have Toph tell them Appa is gone.
To Ba Sing Se
►The group is forced to take the dangerous Serpent's Path to Ba Sing Se. When they arrive, they find a giant drill headed for Ba Sing Se's wall. The group decides to take down the drill from the inside out, and so Toph creates a bit of cover to get them in, and stays outside to try to stop the drill from there. Inside, Sokka attacks an engineer and steals his plans of the ship. They discover that the drill is made of an inner shell and outer shell, held together with struts. The plan is to destroy the struts so that the drill will collapse. However, it takes a long time to cut through the strut, and when Katara and Aang finish, the ship is unharmed.
►Aang comes up with the idea to only cut through the struts partially and then land a harsh blow to the outside of the drill to destroy it. Katara and Aang cut a good number of the braces down, but are then interrupted by Azula, Mai and Ty Lee, who attack them. They run, and Aang heads outside, persued by Azula, while Katara and Sokka leap into a "slurry pipeline". Mai refuses to jump into the muddy water, and so it's up to Ty Lee to take care of the siblings. When Katara and Sokka are dumped on the ground, Katara stops the flow of the waste water with her waterbending, and keeps it up to increase pressure in the drill. When Toph arrives, she bends the earth in the mud to help Katara plug it up. When Aang lands his blow, the drill explodes and the city is saved.
City of Walls and Secrets
►The group is given a tour of the city by Joo Dee, a cheerful, endlessly smiling woman who ignores all their questions about the war and the Earth King. They are taken to a house in the upper ring where they are to stay, and Joo Dee says they'll have to wait a month to see the King. Everyone the group encounters refuses to talk of the war or the Fire Nation, and no one seems willing to help the group find Appa. When the group learns of a party being held at the Earth King's palace, Katara and Toph decide to sneak in. They initially have trouble getting in, but are allowed entrance by Long Feng, the Earth King's closest advisor. However, he trails them closely, and so Aang and Sokka are forced to sneak in as servants. Soon enough, Long Feng's soldiers, the Dai Li, bind and gag the group so that Long Feng can speak with them. He tells them that speaking of the war is forbidden in the city, and a good number of people aren't even aware of it. The king certainly isn't. The group realizes that the city is controlled by Long Feng, not the Earth King.
►Meanwhile, Jet is in the city along with Iroh and Zuko, who are all looking for fresh starts. Jet discovers that Iroh and Zuko are of the Fire Nation, and is determined to find further proof. When he can't, he grows impatient and breaks into the tea shop Zuko and Iroh work in and attacks Zuko. After a long fight, Jet is arrested by the Dai Li and brought to Lake Laogai where he is brainwashed.
►The group is forced to bide their time, and does so by putting up posters for the missing Appa. While doing this, Katara runs into Jet. He is barely able to say he'd like to help before she attacks him, forcing him back against the wall in an impressive display of waterbending. As a sign of trust, Jet drops his hookswords and allows Katara to pin him to the wall with ice. The others arrive, drawn by the noise, and Jet tells them he knows where Appa is. Toph, sensing his heartbeat and breathing patterns through the vibrations in the stone wall behind him, insists he's telling the truth. Jet leads them to a huge, empty warehouse, where the janitor tells them Appa's been taken to Whale Tail island.
►Jet offers to come with them, and as they are leaving, Toph asks Katara if Jet was her boyfriend. Katara quickly says no, but Toph can tell she's lying. On the way out, they run into Jet's friends Smellerbee and Longshot, who say that Jet was arrested. Jet denies this, and Toph says they are both telling the truth. Sokka figures out that Jet's been brainwashed by the Dai Li. They struggle to force Jet to remember the truth, and Sokka jokes that maybe if Katara kissed Jet, it would remind him. Jet claims it's too painful to remember, and so Katara uses her waterbending to soothe the pain. He remembers that he was sent to Lake Laogai to be brainwashed, and so the group heads there.
►The group is confronted by Long Feng and a group of Dai Li, and a battle breaks out. Long Feng escapes, with Jet and Aang following. When Katara and the others catch up, they find Jet on the group, fatally wounded. Katara struggles to heal him, but Jet insists that she leave, saying he'll be fine. Smellerbee and Longshot second his sentiments, and so the group leaves, with Toph mentioning that Jet was lying. After exiting the base, they meet up with Appa and escape as Katara cries over Jet's death.
►Katara and Toph want to leave Ba Sing Se, but Aang and Sokka convince them to try to get to the Earth King. So they relent, fighting their way to the palace and to the throne room. There, they are encountered by Long Feng, the Dai Li, and the king. Aang explains everything, and offer to show the king the drill that had penetrated the outer wall. It's enough to convince him, and he has Long Feng arrested. In Long Feng's office, they find letters he has intercepted, kept from the group. Toph receives a letter from her mother, Aang a letter from a guru who offers to help him master the Avatar State, and Katara and Sokka find that their father is protecting a bay not far from Ba Sing Se. Someone has to state behind with the king, though, and so Katara insists her brother visit their father while she stays with the king. Aang goes to see the guru, and Toph goes to see her mother. The group is also told the Kyoshi warriors have arrived to help.
Crossroads of Destiny
►The Council of Five, the generals of Ba Sing Se, are going over the invasion plan with Katara. He asks her to get the seal of the Earth King so that the plans can be finalized. Katara stops at a tea shop, and spots and hears Zuko. She panics and runs, heading directly to the throne room, where she finds Suki. She immediately tells the king and Suki, but "Suki" reveals herself as Azula. Before she can defend herself, Katara is rendered helpless by Ty Lee, who is similarly disguised.
►Katara is thrown into a prison, a cave lit by crystals deep under the palace. Soon enough, the entrance opens and Zuko is thrown down. Katara is horrified and assumes it's a trap, a way to get Aang somewhere where he'll be easily trapped. She yells at him furiously, saying he's just like his father. When he argues back, she counters with, "You have no idea what this war has put me through. Me personally! The Fire Nation took my mother away from me!" She begins to cry, and Zuko turns to her, saying, "I'm sorry. That's something we have in common." Katara apologizes to him, and tells him that for a long time, whenever she pictured her enemy, she pictures his face. He misinterprets her, assuming she means his scar, and says, "I used to think this scar marked me. The mark of the banished prince cursed to chase the Avatar forever. But lately, I've realized I'm free to determine my own destiny even if I'll never be free of my mark." Katara suggests that maybe he can be free of his mark, and explains that the water she has from the spirit oasis has special properties as she reaches up to touch his scar.
►Before Katara can heal Zuko, the two are interrupted by Aang and Iroh. Katara immediately hugs Aang, and Iroh immediately hugs Zuko, as Aang and Zuko glare at each other. Iroh sends Katara and Aang off to help Sokka and Toph, but the two are cut off by Azula. Just as they corner her, Zuko arrives. There is a moment of tension before he attacks Aang. Katara nearly defeats Azula, but is interrupted by Zuko, and so she turns on him furiously, saying that she'd thought Zuko had changed. "I have changed!" He counters, and Aang is knocked out, leaving Katara to take on both siblings. When Aang reawakens, he is stopped by the Dai Li, and Katara is surrounded. Aang enters the Avatar State and begins to rise in the air, but before he can do anything else, Azula shoots him down with a lightning bolt to the back. Katara creates a huge wave and submerges the Dai Li, Azula and Zuko, and catches Aang before he hits the ground. Iroh arrives, holding off the enemies so that Aang and Katara can escape, and on Appa, Katara uses her spirit oasis water to heal Aang. With that, the Earth Kingdom has finally fallen.
