History of Aang (12 BSC - 100 ASC)
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Book 1: Water (12 BSC - 100 ASC) |
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Aang in the films |
Contents |
[edit] Background
When Aang was a child, he unknowingly revealed that he was the reincarnation of the Avatar when he chose four toys out of thousands - a turtle shell (Water), a string-powered propeller (Air), a Hog Monkey (Earth) and a drum (Fire). These four toys were the same ones that past Avatars had chosen for generations when they were children.
The series reveals nothing about Aang's biological parents. Raised by Airbender monks, Aang grew up in the idyllic surroundings of the Southern Air Temple. Aang was a carefree young boy, given to frequent travel, play, and possessing an almost effortless mastery over his native element. When he was a small child, he, along with the other Airbending children, traveled to the Eastern Air Temple, where he bonded with the young Sky Bison, Appa. Appa would become his partner and companion for the rest of his life. In his youth, he traveled all across the world, and made many close friends from different nations, including Bumi and Kuzon. When he was twelve years old, he invented the Airbending technique, the Air Scooter. This act caused the monks to decree him an Airbending master, and he received the blue arrow-shaped tattoos that all master Airbenders wear. His world drastically changed when the monks revealed that he was the Avatar, destined to master all four elements and bring peace to the world.
Usually, the Avatar is told of his or her true identity only after turning sixteen; however, Aang's caretakers feared that a war between the Four Nations was on the horizon and believed that the Avatar would be needed to help maintain balance. Aang soon began to feel overwhelmed with the burden of his position. His peers ostracized him for his Airbending skill, while his caretakers pressured him to mature too quickly.
The only monk sympathetic to Aang's feelings was the elder Monk Gyatso, Aang's Airbending teacher and guardian. When the burden weighed heavily on his favorite student, Gyatso worked to instill a sense of fun through jokes and games. He sincerely believed that Aang should be allowed to grow up as a normal boy. However, the other monks disagreed. Citing Gyatso's attachment to the boy as interference, they decided to send Aang away to the Eastern Air Temple to focus on his training, oblivious to the fact that Aang had overheard their conversation.
Confused and frightened by what he had learned, Aang fled from his home on his flying bison, Appa, towards the South Pole. While over the Southern Ocean, a sudden storm caused Appa to plunge deep into the sea. Entering the Avatar State, Aang reflexively used Airbending to surround himself and Appa in an air bubble that quickly froze into an iceberg, putting them into a state of suspended animation for the next hundred years.
[edit] Book 1: Water
[edit] Awakening
In the present day, two teenage siblings from the Southern Water Tribe - Katara, a Waterbender, and her brother Sokka - discovered and freed Aang from his iceberg. Aang's first thought from being freed from the iceberg was to ask his newfound love (Katara) to go penguin sledding.
Aang soon discovered that in his absence, fears of war had become reality. The very year he vanished the leader of the Fire Nation at that time, the ruthless Fire Lord Sozin, took advantage of the Firebending-enhancing powers of a mystical comet to launch a war on the three other nations. Unfortunately, and to Aang's utter shock and disbelief, the Fire Nation's opening gambit had been a genocidal assault on the Air Nomads; an attempt to kill the latest incarnation of the Avatar Spirit. All four Air temples were stormed and even though they fought against the invaders (leaving many Firebender corpses in their wake), the ambushed monks were slaughtered. Thus, Aang became the last known Airbender in existence.
Aang has since realized that the future of the Four Nations rests in his hands. It is his duty to defeat the Fire Nation and restore peace and harmony to the world. To achieve this, Aang and his new friends (and pets) set off on a quest to find and learn from Master Benders, while evading capture by the Fire Nation.
During one of their detours they land on Kyoshi Island (an island named after one of his incarnations), where they were captured by the Kyoshi Warriors. The inhabitants had kept out of the war for the past 100 years and thus were xenophobic to outsiders. The village elder Oyajii and the warrior Suki believed they were Fire Nation spies and were about to throw them to the Unagi, until Aang proved he was the Avatar and they became honored guests in the village. However, Aang's new celebrity status had gotten to his head; causing him to entertain and impress a group of fan girls (much to Katara's dismay). When Prince Zuko arrived on Kyoshi Island, he realized that by staying too long he had endangered the people. Therefore, by tricking the Unagi to spray water over the village, he put out of the flames of the battle and flew away so Zuko would follow him and leave the island.
In another "detour", he took Katara and Sokka to the Earth Kingdom city of Omashu, where, long ago, his old friend Bumi took him on the world's biggest roller coaster ride on the city's postal system. After their own roller coaster ride, they were arrested for damages and taken before the king. The old king (who seemed to be crazy) encased Katara and Sokka in a strange mineral called "creeping crystal", and would only free them if Aang passed three tests. Afterwords, the King challenged Aang to guess his name, and Aang finally deduced that it was his old friend Bumi. King Bumi told Aang that in order to end the war, he must learn all the Bending Arts and defeat the Fire Lord himself.
[edit] Winter Solstice
When trying to help a village tormented by an angry spirit, Aang unknowingly entered the Spirit World. There he was contacted by Avatar Roku's dragon, Fang, which led him in his spiritual state to Roku's temple on Crescent Island. By showing Aang various visions of a fiery Comet and beams of light shining towards Roku's statue, Aang realized he could talk with his previous incarnation during the winter solstice.
On the morning of the solstice, Aang and his friends passed through a Fire Navy blockade and entered the Fire Nation, journeying to the Avatar temple. With the help of the Fire Sage that was still loyal to the Avatar, Fire Sage Shyu, Aang managed to enter the inner chamber of the temple. Avatar Roku, who manifested himself when light from the solstice sun struck his statue, warned Aang of Sozin's Comet, a comet that returns once every one hundred years and greatly increases a Firebender's power. Fire Lord Sozin used the power of the comet to start the war a century ago, and Sozin's Comet will return at the end of summer. If Aang does not defeat the Fire Lord before the Comet's arrival, the Fire Nation will be unstoppable, and the Avatar will be unable to restore balance to the world. Aang despairs that he has not learned the other bending arts and will be unable to complete his training before the comet's arrival, but Roku assures him that, as his previous incarnations have done, he will succeed.
Although it takes years of discipline and training to master any particular element, Aang must master them all, and defeat Ozai before summer's end.
[edit] The Waterbending Scroll
With the knowledge of the comet's impending arrival, the weight of his duty increasingly agitated Aang. To help relieve his predicament, they landed near a river in front of a waterfall. Aang quickly undresses to his red briefs, but Katara told him to remember the reason that they were there. Sokka asked what he was supposed to do and tells him to clean mud and bugs out of Appa's toes. Katara taught Aang some of her Waterbending skills, only to find Aang faster and better at learning the techniques that took her a very long time to learn, causing her to be jealous. Aang's Waterbending eventually caused all their supplies to wash downstream, and the group were forced to head to a port market to buy new supplies.
Aang impulsively bought a bison whistle, which does not seem to work, to the chagrin of his friends. They came upon a ship docked with a barker attempting to attract business. The ship's crew were selling items that they acquired by "high risk trading". Sokka quickly surmised they were pirates. Katara saw a training scroll, featuring several Waterbending techniques among their loot, which they were reserving for a wealthy client in the Earth Kingdom. However, the Pirate Captain would offer it to them if they had a better offer (two hundred gold pieces).
They left the ship, only to be chased by the crew. The group escaped, and found the reason they had been pursued: the pirates wanted the scroll Katara had stolen. Katara convinced Sokka and Aang to keep the scroll and learn from it. One of the first techniques they attempted was the Water Whip, a simple technique where water is formed into an elongated shape and snapped at the target. Katara grew even more jealous of Aang as not only did he learn the technique easily, she herself had trouble getting it to work. Her jealousy gets the better of her; she yelled at Aang angrily, but she quickly apologized and gave up the right to use the scroll, and handed it over to Aang. At night, however, she stole the scroll to study the technique again.
Zuko joined forces with the pirates to hunt down Aang, and they find Katara late at night practicing the Water Whip. Zuko captures and ties Katara to a tree, attempting to interrogate her for information on the Avatar, showing her that he holds her mother's lost betrothal necklace in his possession, the last tie that she has to her mother in exchange. However, the pirates demanded the scroll. Yet, Zuko threatens to destroy it if they don't find Aang.
Then, Aang and Sokka are found and captured and are taken to the pirates and Fire Nation ships. Aang and Sokka discover Katara bound to a tree surrounded by Firebenders. As Zuko and the pirates are about to make the trade (the scroll for the Avatar), Sokka convinces the pirates to sell Aang by revealing to them that he's the Avatar, despite Zuko's attempts to keep it a secret from the pirates. The pirates decide that they want to sell Aang to the Fire Lord, and the situation quickly escalates into a battle.
During the fight Aang, Katara, and Sokka escape. Katara and Aang use Waterbending to get the pirates' boat into water and sail away. But the pirates (except for their leader) steal Zuko's smaller ship and start chasing after them. They battle the pirates, Katara learning the Water Whip in the process. Unfortunately, the ship is fast approaching a waterfall. Aang and Katara manage to use Waterbending to stop the ship, but the Pirates ram it with Zuko's boat, sending them falling over, where they are saved by Appa, who heard Aang's bison whistle.
Later, Katara gives Aang a full apology, while Sokka reveals that he was able to regain the scroll in the fighting. Before he could give it to her, he asks what did they learn. She says never steal, except from pirates. Aang and Katara can now practice Waterbending.
[edit] The Great Divide
Katara and Sokka begin arguing over their chores in the campsite. Aang ends the fight by having them swap chores. Aang state "Harsh words won't solve anything, action will", and then Momo and Appa fight over a piece of food, which Aang also resolves and begins bragging about his ability to solve problems as the Avatar. Aang and his friends come across the largest canyon in the world, and are planning to fly across on Appa.
Just before they leave, a man runs up to them and starts yelling that they better not leave with the Canyon Guide because he was there first. He is holding a spot for the rest of his tribe (the Gan Jin) until they can arrive. While waiting, another tribe (the Zhang) arrives, a tribe that the man claims has been an enemy of his tribe for 100 years. The Gan Jin tribe arrives, and we can see that this tribe is neat and prim and proper, while the Zhang tribe is dirty and barbaric. The canyon guide, an Earthbender, arrives, and both tribes get into an argument over who gets to go first, the Zhangs say that they should because they have sick people, the Gan Jins say that they should because they have old people. Aang reaches a compromise and suggests that Appa carry their sick and elderly across, while the two tribes travel together across the canyon.
The canyon guide warns them not to take any food into the canyon, as it will attract dangerous predators. After he has broken a rock shelf so that potential Fire Nation soldiers cannot follow them, a Canyon Crawler attacks. Aang and his friends fend it off, but the guide's arms are broken, which means he can't Earthbend and there is no going back. Both tribes argue some more and finally split up. We learn that both tribes brought food into the canyon because they believed that the other tribe must have brought it in, so why should they go hungry while the other tribe eats? Katara and Sokka each learn one side of the story of the feuding tribes. The Gan Jins tell Katara that the forefather of their tribe, Jin Wei, was attacked while transporting the sacred orb during their redemption ritual and robbed by a thief, Wei Jin, from the Zhangs. The Zhangs tell Sokka that their ancestor, Wei Jin, saw Jin Wei passed out on the ground and was returning the sacred orb to Jin Wei's tribe when they wrongfully imprisoned him for 20 years.
They reach the end of the canyon, where they argue some more and prepare to fight and end the feud once and for all. Aang becomes angry and uses Airbending to stop the fight, but in the process reveals the food from both tribes (he even gets entranced by custard tart) and attracts many Canyon Crawlers. By working together and throwing bags over the Crawlers' heads while the Crawlers are distracted with food, everyone is able to ride them up the wall and out of the canyon.
Afterward, the two tribe leaders were about to resume their fight. Aang, upon hearing the names of the two tribes' ancestors, reveals that he knew them, and that they were twins. He says that when they were eight, they played a game called "Redemption". Gin Wei was running with the ball when he fell, and Wei Gin picked it up and started running to the other end of the field when he stepped out of bounds and was put in the penalty box for two minutes.
As they meet Appa on the other side, Aang happily hugs him, and Appa licks his face. The Gan Jin leader thanks Aang, only to be repulsed by the saliva on Aang's face. Finally, the tribes make up and continue their journey to Ba Sing Se together as one tribe (along with the guide who had enough of the canyon). Aang then reveals to his friends that he made up the whole thing, much to their surprise.
[edit] The Storm and the Blue Spirit
Aang has a strange dream about his past that clearly troubles him, but does not tell the others. It started happily with Aang, Katara and Sokka unrealistically flying through the skies, but suddenly Aang becomes alone and is trapped in a storm and plunges into the sea...
Aang, Katara and Sokka stop by a market, but then realize they're out of food and money. They run into a fisherman, who hires Sokka, but when he finds out that Aang is the Avatar, he yells at him that "he turned his back on the world". Aang becomes upset, so he flies away into a cave. Katara reprimands the fisherman for his harsh words, and goes after Aang, as a horrible storm begins brewing.
Aang starts telling his story, beginning with the day the monks told him he was the Avatar. Burdened with extra training exercises and ostracized from his friends, Aang becomes confused and afraid: so when he learns that the monks are planning to separate him from his guardian, Gyatso, he decides to run away. Aang is caught in a horrible storm, and as he is about to drown, the Avatar Spirit inside him forms an air pocket, saving himself and Appa but freezing them inside for the next 100 years. Aang suffers terrible guilt over abandoning the world, but Katara convinces him that "it was meant to be", and he "gives people hope".
In abandoned Earth Kingdom ruins also along the western shores, Sokka has fallen ill due to his exposure to the recent storm. He is delusional, and also exhibits flu-like symptoms. Aang learns of a Herbalist who lives at the top of a nearby mountain, and makes plans to travel there to find a cure. The situation worsens when Katara quickly grows sick herself, leaving Aang to travel alone to the herbalist. Aang races through the mountainside, using his Airbending abilities to speed his pace. He soon arrives at the herbalist's home, but not before passing an unnoticed pair of Fire Nation look-outs, who sound the alarm after their station is ripped apart by the winds in Aang's path. After a frustrating meeting with the herbalist, Aang learns that his friends must suck on the frozen bodies of hibernating Wood Frogs, which can be found on the bottoms of riverbeds.
However, he makes little progress towards his destination before encountering the Yu Yan Archers, who waste little time in pinning his boots to the ground with arrows. Aang Airbends to defend himself from the succeeding shots, frees his legs, and jumps off of the mountain into the thick forest below. Aang runs out of the woods, and unexpectedly ends up in a murky, partially-frozen river. He finds the frozen frogs he has been looking for, and even while avoiding the Yu Yans' arrows manages to scoop several of the amphibians into his clothing. However, several arrows catch the sleeve of his left arm and pin it to an overturned tree.
Aang is taken back to the fortress, and placed in a cell guarded on the outside by four guards, while his arms and legs are chained and held in place. Admiral Zhao enters the cell, and begins to taunt Aang by bringing up the fact that all the other Airbenders were slaughtered. However, Zhao states that he will not have Aang killed, as such an action would simply result in the Avatar being reincarnated, leaving the Fire Nation to find them again. Instead, Zhao promises to keep Aang alive, though just barely. As Zhao departs, Aang angrily uses his powerful breath to blow Zhao off-balance. However, before leaving, Zhao decides to have the last word, and states that there is no possible way for Aang to escape, and no one will come to rescue him. The frogs, still stuffed in Aang's clothes, begin to thaw and crawl away, despite the young Airbender's protests. Just as several frogs, still partially-frozen, crawl under the door, the mysterious Blue Spirit appears, and deftly defeats the guards in his way. The Blue Spirit slashes through his bonds, and begins to leave the room. Aang questions the Blue Spirit's identity and intentions, but he does not answer, instead silently motioning for Aang to follow him. Aang concludes that this new figure means to help him escape.
During a difficult and violent attempt to escape, a Yu Yan Archer knocks out the Blue Spirit with a single arrow to his forehead. The Blue Spirit falls over instantly, unconscious. Aang immediately Airbends up a large dust cloud to conceal himself. He takes off the Blue Spirit's mask to learn that his rescuer is Zuko. He then turns to run and leave the prince behind, but hesitates. When the dust settles, Aang and Zuko have vanished without a trace.
Later, Zuko regains consciousness to discover that morning has arrived, and he is with Aang in a wooded area. Aang speaks nostalgically of Kuzon, a Fire Nation boy he knew as one of his closest friends a century before. He laughs at the thought of how much trouble he got into with his friend. After reflecting, he asks Zuko if under different circumstances they too could have been friends. Zuko pauses, then responds by launching a fire blast, which Aang easily avoids before leaping through the trees. Aang returns to the swampy river to retrieve a new set of frozen frogs. He finally returns to Katara and Sokka, placing a frozen frog in each of their mouths and repeating to them what the herbalist told him. A delirious Sokka asks if Aang made any new friends, to which he sadly replies no, as he rests.
[edit] Harsh Lessons in Fire
Venturing through Northwestern Earth Kingdom, Aang and his friends decide go to a cultural festival in a Fire Nation occupied town so that Aang can witness some Firebending, ensuring their safety from attack with disguises (although they acquire masks soon after their arrival). Regardless, it is discovered that Aang is the Avatar after he is forced to "save" Katara from a dragon of fire by using his Airbending, and the three friends quickly attempt to escape from Fire Nation soldiers. Fortunately, their escape is aided greatly by a man named Chey. Chey tells them of a Firebender named Jeong Jeong who deserted the fire nation. Chey takes them to him and after the spirit of Avatar Roku appears to him and persuades him to, he reluctantly agrees to teach Aang Firebending.
Jeong Jeong starts teaching Aang slowly, focusing exclusively on breathing exercises, but the young Avatar desires to learn more advanced Firebending techniques. Jeong Jeong is greatly angered with Aang's lack of discipline, telling Aang vehemently that without control, Firebending will bring nothing but unnecessary destruction, using a former student of his who displayed similar impatience and lack of discipline as an example. Aang quickly apologizes, and says that he is ready to learn Jeong Jeong's way. Jeong Jeong then proceeds to teach Aang to use real fire (much to Aang's enthusiasm). However, his enthusiasm is quickly deflated when Jeong Jeong only assigns him the simple task of preventing a leaf from being completely burned. Jeong Jeong then leaves to other matters, and Aang, still feeling restricted, takes his exercise to the next step and creates fire. Aang plays around with it for a little while, although Katara insists that he be careful. Then he accidentally burns Katara's hands when he attempts to imitate a move the performer made at the festival. Katara runs away crying, and Sokka becomes enraged as a result. Jeong Jeong, having returned, follows Katara into the forest. However, during this time Admiral Zhao (who is revealed to be the former student of Jeong Jeong) and his men locate the camp, and in turn battles Jeong Jeong (although the master's attempt is half-hearted).
Aang, hiding away in Jeong Jeong's hut in order to reflect over his error, is urged by Katara to aid Jeong Jeong. Although Aang feels terribly guilty, and promises to never Firebend again, Katara's revelation of her healing restores his battle spirit. With a fiery display, Jeong Jeong and his men make their escape, while Aang confronts Zhao. Recalling Jeong Jeong's lesson of control, Aang provokes the Firebending master, goading him into destroying his own ships. Zhao can only watch as his ships burn and sink into the river as Aang escapes. Aang demonstrates that some Firebenders have little self-control; Zhao unintentionally destroys his own ships. With Jeong Jeong gone, the three resume their journey and leave the forest, a hard-learned lesson of fire's destructive power fresh in their minds.
[edit] The Northern Air Temple
After hearing rumors about flying people, the kids journey to the Northern Air Temple to see for themselves. Upon arrival, they find not Airbenders, but an Earth Kingdom colony led by a mad inventor and his paraplegic son. The inventor has defiled the ancient landmarks with technological "improvements", similar in style to the Industrial Revolution. Aang is at first disheartened by the many changes to the temple, though he develops a degree of respect for the mechanist's son, Teo. Sokka begins to work with the Mechanist and comes up with ways to detect natural gas leaks through use of rotten eggs.
This state of relative happiness was not to last. Aang soon discovers that the Mechanist is supplying the Fire Nation with weapons inside the temple sanctuary where Avatar statues are suppose to be, in exchange for the safety of his newly settled village. He unearths a room filled with monstrous weapons of war, like self-propelled war wagons and attack balloons, all destined for use by the enemy. Later Aang demands to know when the Fire Nation would come for their weapons, the Mechanist states that soon. After that the War Minister Qin appears demanding for his weapons. Aang closes the door and traps the minister, Aang tells him that the deal is off, and slapping him in the face with an Airbending move. War Minister Qin states "the destruction of this temple would be on your head".
However, Aang realizes that they have something the Fire Nation don't have; Air power. Sokka and the Mechanist plan on how to improve the war balloon and how to fight back the Fire Nation using their gliders and the prototype war balloon. Sokka states that there are four different types of bombs; smoke, slime, and fire. When the Mechanist states stink, he replies "Never underestimate the power of stink." The gliders fight with courage, but the Fire Nation tanks soon overwhelm them. Every time Aang flips them over, the cockpits also flip. Teo states that the tanks have a water balancing system. Katara use this to fight them, but there are too many.
Appa arrives and retrieves Aang and Katara out of the battles field. Out of explosives, the people lose hope, but the war balloon appears, the Fire Nation doesn't attack seeing the Fire Nation emblem. Sokka drops several slime bombs but that doesn't stop the advancing army. Ultimately, Sokka, in a desperate maneuver, throws the balloon's hot air engine into a crack with explosive gas emanating from it. The resulting explosion crushes the invaders.
Unknowingly, the balloon consequently dropped into the Fire Nation campgrounds. Qin and his soldiers find it, saying, "This defeat is the gateway to many victories" as Firebenders inflate the balloon.
[edit] The Waterbending Master
As they progress towards the north, Sokka began to complain that Appa is flying too slowly, Aang defensively replied that they should all climb on Sokka's back and he could fly them to the North pole. Katara tries to soothe the situation remarking that they are all tired and cranky as a result of flying for two days straight. Just as Sokka is voicing his doubts about finding the Northern Water Tribe the group is attacked by Northern Waterbenders who lead them to their Water Tribe.
Outside the great palace of the Northern Water Tribe Sokka and Katara are celebrated as family from the Southern Tribe, and Aang is honored as a special guest. Aang and Katara are then delighted to see the Waterbending Master, Pakku, and his students performing elaborate and elegant Waterbending moves for entertainment. After the Waterbending performance is over, Aang is introduced to Master Pakku. Aang is looking forward to Katara and himself learning Waterbending, after a few days rest. Master Pakku is unimpressed with his work ethic, telling Aang that he will receive no special treatment just because he is destined to save the world. If he is interested in learning Waterbending then they will be ready at sunrise.
The next day as they approach the palace, Katara expresses her joy at being able to learn from a real master, saying she has waited for this day her whole life. However she is horrified to learn from Master Pakku that it is forbidden for women to learn Waterbending. He advises her to go to the healing huts and learn from Yugoda to use her Waterbending to heal. Although Aang initially refuses to learn from Master Pakku, outraged at the unfairness, Katara makes him return by saying that he can't risk his training for her. So Aang begins to reluctantly learn from Master Pakku.
Sokka suggests that at night Aang teach Katara everything he has learned in the day. Katara is excited at this idea, it allows her to learn Waterbending and Aang will have someone to practice with, everyone will be happy. Sokka remarks that he's not happy, but Katara dismisses this by saying that Sokka's never happy, and she and Aang hurry outside to begin practicing. They look up to the bridge above them to see Master Pakku, angry that Aang has disrespected him, his teachings and his entire culture. Aang hastily apologizes, but Master Pakku refuses to teach Aang anymore, saying he is no longer welcome as his student, before leaving.
The next day at the palace, Katara pleads with Chief Arnook to make Master Pakku take Aang back as his student. Master Pakku agrees to continue training Aang on the condition that Katara swallow her pride and apologize. Katara, angered by his pomposity and condescending attitude challenges him to a fight instead of apologizing (gesturing emphatically as she does so and unintentionally Waterbending huge cracks in the ice floor and smashing two pots).
Katara goes to wait outside for Master Pakku, who simply strolls past her, further angering her with patronizing comments. Katara, her temper pushed to breaking point, forms a water whip and slaps Master Pakku on the back of the head. He turns around and agrees to the fight, telling her if she wants to learn so badly, to study closely. The fight begins and it is discovered that Katara is much more advanced in Waterbending than previously known. She demonstrates amazingly powerful techniques she never used before during the fight. The two are able to manipulate the water and snow around them amazingly, using basic and advanced Waterbending techniques. Master Pakku grins and smirks as he attacks, but when Katara launches discs of ice at him, he appears to realize how skilled she is as a Waterbender. After a few moments of violent Waterbending, it seems Katara has the upper-hand, as she topples ice-obelisks over Master Pakku, who disappears in a cloud of mist. But, Master Pakku quickly emerges and performs a Waterbending move that renders Katara helpless, and she is beaten. Her grandmother's necklace, which fell off during the fight, is picked up by Master Pakku and it is discovered that he made it for Kanna (Katara's Gran-Gran) 60 years ago.
Master Pakku tells Katara that her grandmother left the arranged marriage to begin her life in the South Pole. Katara understands that she refused to let her tribe's customs rule her life. At the end, although the Waterbending Master has not changed his rather harsh methods of teaching, Master Pakku has taken both Katara and Aang as students.
[edit] Siege of the North
Zhao begins to launch his attack against the Northern Water Tribe. Under the tutelage of Master Pakku, Katara's Waterbending skills have improved to the degree she can defeat all of his pupils with ease. To both Pakku and Katara's annoyance, the same cannot be said for Aang. Meanwhile, Sokka takes Princess Yue on a ride on Appa, during which they nearly kiss. Soot begins to fall, Sokka recognizes it from when his tribe was attacked, and he knows that a massive attack is approaching.
The Northern Water Tribe prepares to defend itself from invasion and Sokka volunteers for a dangerous mission where several warriors will be forced to infiltrate the Fire Nation fleet. As the walls of the prestigious city begin to fall, Aang feels duty bound to prevent the same fate that befell the Air Nomads and the Southern Water Tribe. However, he finds that against such a vast fleet, he does not stand a chance and retreats in exhaustion.
Princess Yue, after relating the origins of the Water Tribe and its power, gives Aang an idea. If he can tap into the spirit world and meet with the Moon and Ocean Spirits, perhaps they can help him defeat the Fire Nation. Yue takes Katara and Aang to a hidden oasis and the most spiritual place in North Pole. Aang enters a trance after staring at the two koi fish in a pool and heads off into the spirit world. Katara is left to protect Aang. When Zuko arrives, Katara duels him, and with the power of the moon, is able to temporarily defeat Zuko. However, the sun rises and it enhances Zuko's power, allowing him to defeat Katara. Zuko then kidnaps the Avatar while Katara is left unconscious until Yue brings Sokka and Appa back to The Spirit Oasis.
Zhao's invasion breaks through the outer wall of the Northern Water Tribe's defenses, and he reveals a sinister plan. Zhao wants to kill the mortal manifestation of the moon spirit in order to destroy the moon, which would greatly weaken the Water Tribe.
Aang goes to the spirit world for help and is advised by Avatar Roku to see Koh, one of the oldest spirits in existence, but must be extremely careful when he does. Aang visits Koh, who steals faces if emotions are shown. After finding out that one of his past lives tried to kill Koh, Aang questions him and realizes that the white and black koi he saw swimming in the oasis are the moon and ocean spirits, Tui and La respectively. He returns to the physical world with the help of a friend, Hei Bai, and escapes from Zuko due to the timely arrival of Katara, Sokka, and Princess Yue on Appa. Zuko and Katara have a rematch but due to the moon being out this time, Katara easily defeats him in a matter of seconds. Aang takes the unconscious Zuko with him, despite some disagreement from Sokka and Katara.
When Aang returns to the oasis, Zhao has already captured the white koi fish. Immediately, the moon glows red, creating a lunar eclipse and color seeps from the world. Iroh threatens Zhao against harming the Spirit of the Moon, and Zhao appears to listen, returning the koi. However, Zhao suddenly throws fire at the koi, killing it. The moon vanishes altogether from the sky. Iroh retaliates as promised and Zhao slips away. Iroh and Katara attempt to revive the Moon Spirit, but it is too late. Aang suddenly fuses with the Ocean Spirit into a giant spirit creature and massacres the Fire Nation's invasion force. A scene shows the creature observing the retreating fleet, and the next scene shows the fleet completely gone—suggesting that the Avatar mercilessly wiped out the entire fleet, to the last man. While Aang is destroying the Fire Navy, Princess Yue reveals to the others of how she when she was born she was saved by the moon spirit. She gives her life so that the moon spirit can live. Yue then becomes the moon spirit and once Aang realizes the moon is back, he leaves the Avatar State.
After the battle, Pakku reveals to Katara his intention to head for the South Pole and help rebuild the tribe. He assigns Katara as Aang's new Waterbending master.
