The citizens of New Ozai pretended to be afflicted with pentapox in order to escape the city.
Pentapox was the name of a pseudo-illness invented by Katara and Sokka to prevent Fire Nation guards from discovering that Team Avatar did not belong in New Ozai. This alleged "disease" was later used to aid the Omashu Resistance's escape from the city.[1]
History[]
Sokka and Katara led the "infected" civilians out of New Ozai.
While in the Fire Nation-occupied city of Omashu, Avatar Aang, Katara, and Sokka found themselves cornered by Fire Nation guards, one of whom noticed the spots on Sokka's face that had been left by the purple pentapuses. In order to keep their identities concealed, Katara said that Sokka was suffering from pentapox, a fictitious disease that she invented on the spot. Her brother played along by pretending to suffer from serious physical pain, and, concerned about their own safety, the Fire Nation guards fled in terror.
To escape the city of Omashu, Sokka concocted a plan that involved the use of a pentapox plague. The soldiers of the resistance handed out pentapuses, which the citizens used to cover themselves with suction markings; they proceeded to walk around the city in a manner similar to zombies, moaning that they were gravely ill. On the governor's orders, the citizens were driven out of the gates to rid the city of the plague.[1]
Description[]
The marks of a purple pentapus can be used to give one the appearance of being infected with pentapox.
Katara described the disease as fatal and highly contagious. A person who had pentapox could be easily identified by the numerous purple markings all over his or her body. The marks were created with the use of a purple pentapus, which clung to human skin and left behind markings from its tentacles upon removal. The "infected" also adopted a lurching walk, slack expression, and loud moan, making them resemble a zombie horde.[1]
Trivia[]
- Toph preempted Sokka when he was about to explain his plan to take over enemy ships in "The Bridge", assuring that he would not tell his "pentapox story" again.
- The alleged indicators of pentapox, most notably the distinct red markings, resemble those of the real world disease chickenpox.
- One of the guards mistakenly recalling his coworker's cousin's death from pentapox mirrors the psychological process of suggestion, which is known to cause the formation of false memories.
- Pentapox also shares a similar name with septapox, an actual deadly disease in the Avatar world.[2]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Ehasz, Elizabeth Welch (writer) & Spaulding, Ethan (director). (April 7, 2006). "Return to Omashu". Avatar: The Last Airbender. Season 2. Episode 3. Nickelodeon.
- ↑ Yee, F. C. (author), DiMartino, Michael Dante (author). (July 16, 2019). Chapter Twenty, "The Avatar's Masters". The Rise of Kyoshi. Amulet Books.