Board 8 > TPLink ranks The Last Airbender episodes

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#30: The Painted Lady (3.03)

This is a rather simple, filler episode. But it's a solid one.

The plot is that the kids run into a city plagued with pollution and starvation caused by a FN factory. Sokka wants to move to the next place ASAP (it's never explained why they even need to go to specific places, since they are just bidding time for the invasion, but that's S3 plot nonsense for ya). But Katara wants to help, in another demonstration of what is Katara's best attribute: needing to help the innocent even if that's not pragmatic.

The episode does an interesting thing with the myth of the painted lady overlapping with Katara's actions. The first time you watch, it takes a while to realize they are the same, since the myth has existed long before the kids got there. Until they start dropping more obvious hints and Aang joins Katara to help her destroy the factory.

Then we have a cool montage at the end where with the help of her friends, Katara plays the angry goddess and helps scare the FN away. And then the real Painted Lady appears in the end to thank her. Cool stuff.

It's a rather basic episode, I admit, but I just enjoyed it. It is a nice story of the good guys wanting to help a bunch of innocent people even though that's not the best course of action, and it shows some of their stronger character aspects. It also has some funny gags, like the shopper with multiple names.

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#29: The King of Omashu (1.05)

As an earlier episode with a plot that is kind of an exucse to have an episode, this one lives and dies on Bumi. Turns out, you couldn't have asked for a better thing to live and die on!

It's pretty silly, actually. Bumi kidnaps Sokka and Katara... because. He then puts Aang through a bunch of crazy trials, which he must solve by coming up with creative solutions, and are actually a way to convey his message of "things are not what they look like". Then in the end the two fight, which is not only a good fight scene, but is the first demonstration of earthbending in the show. And boy, it really sells earthbending.

Bumi then reveals he is actually Aang's childhood friend. The first time I saw this, it gave a strong feel of the time abyss in Aang's disappearance. Bumi might be the only living person left who knew Aang before he disappeared. He's like... 110 years old? Not that this stops him from going slide with Aang in the city's transportation system of course, because Bumi is cool like that.

This episode is a strong combination of showing off bending, comedy, worldbuilding, and just having Bumi on it. It's one of the better early episodes.

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Katara is top 2 character after Toph

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Exam week is over, so time to try to save this topic from its state of abandonment!

#28: The Chase (2.08)

This is the first episode after Toph joins Team Avatar (since they don't appear in 2.07 at all). The main theme is that Toph doesn't have a very good chemistry with the group. She is selfish and independent and doesn't want to contribute beyond training Aang and just kicking ass. Katara, being Katara, wants them to be a happy family, and the two fight. Eventually, Toph gets fed up with the group, and leaves, but some wise words from Uncle set her in the right path again, in time to join the action. Although "new member needs to learn to get along" is an old plot, it's done very well.

What makes this episode memorable though, is the main action plot. Azula finally makes a serious attempt at hunting down the Avatar, and damn, she is effective. She realizes Appa can be tracked by the fur he is sheding, sets up a FN tank and her two henchwomen, and engages in a 24/7 pursuit. The kids are poorly equipped to deal with one of the best firebenders in the world and two other powerful fighters, and they can only run. Their lack of sleep due to having to run non-stop also contributes to the stress among the team.

Eventually, the kids win, after coming up with a clever plan to separate the 3 women and ramming Appa into Mai and Ty Lee. But Azula is still very hard to take down, and it takes Zuko, Iroh and Toph appearing at the last minute to force her into a 6 vs 1 fight even she can't win. And she still manages to almost kill Uncle before leaving.

For showcasing how badass and resourceful Azula is and being an overall strong action episode, this one earns its place in the upper half.

#27: Winter Solstice - Part 1: The Spirit World (1.07)

When I first watched the show as a kid, I liked Part 2 more, for being more epic and action packed and revealing the Winter Solstice more. Now I prefer Part 1.

This is the episode that introduces the concept of spirits. The interesting thing is, Avatar did not need to have spirits as part of its lore. It could just be the fire nations and their bending powers. But suddenly there is also this whole parallel world full of spirits with appearance and powers that border on surreal, and who sometimes come to the "real" world to influence what happens in it, while also being influenced by it. Spirits never become central to the show's plot, but they continue to be an influence until the end (S2 of Korra does make them more relevant and do some cool things with them, though).

This episode does a great job at introducing them, and developing the contrast between the angry spirit who burns things down and the friendly panda he turns into in the end. It also introduces Roku's dragon, sets up the next episode and resolves everything with an environmental message. It's a lot of good worldbuilding packed in the same episode.

And somehow, that's not the best thing about it. The coolest part is the Iroh plot. He gets captured by Earth Kingdom soldiers, who are happy for catching the Dragon of the West (this is the first time we hear about his military feats, too). He then spends the episode outsmarting them over and over, and almost escaping a few times. Until Zuko finds him, and the two kick the asses of those soldiers. I remember watching this as a kid and being amazed, while the spirit plot was boring to me. Even now, before rewatching I remember this sequence existed even though I didn't remember it was part of this episode. Iroh is just cool, man. It's nice to know he can do this stuff when he needs to, even though he would rather spend his days being a wise uncle who loves tea.

#26: Jet (1.10)

This one is a simple, self-contained episode, whose characters do appear later but didn't necessarily have to. WHat makes it so good is that it proposes to analyse whether people can really be considered goor or evil because of their nations.

Jet had his parents killed by the FN. So he decided to form a revolutionary group to get revenge. But at some point, the lust for revenge defined him, and overcame any notions of goodness or freedom that he might have at in the beginning. He wants to kill FN people, make them suffer, spread as much destruction as he can, even if they are innocent.

So Team Avatar meets him, and Katara gets instantly attracted by his group's ideals, which hit so close to home for her (since her mother was also killed). Sokka, on the other hand, is suspicious, but doesn't have any proof besides his hunch. At first, it seems Sokka is just jealous of Jet for being cool and protective of his sister, but Sokka's hunch is right. He then investigates and finds out Jet is planning a genocide. Katara and Aang eventually find out too, and are instantly disgusted by Jet's plan, which shows the deep constrast between Jet and them. They want revenge too, but above all, they want freedom, peace and justice, and they know random villagers don't just deserve to be murdered.

Unfortunately, they are too late to stop Jet. But Sokka is not, and he manages to go to the village and evacuate the people in there before Jet drowns them. So he loses.

Overall it's a solid examination of morality in a conflict between nations, something both this show and Korra just excel at. It's also a full episode of Sokka being cool, and we can never have enough of that. Great episode.

I always laugh at the 100% subtle shot of the doll getting washed away when the dam blows

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The Chase made Azula look so god damn terrifying, not that she wasn't terrifying before, but it was another level

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out of the last 5-6 episodes the chase is by a huge margin my fav. stories about sleep deprivation are more intense; this is the first time i thought azula was a compelling villain

toph in the group is also just phenomenal
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Azula vs not only Zuko but also Iroh is the key

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Bump

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#25: The Runaway (3.07):

This one was bumped up a few times after I first ranked it. At first, it's a filler episode. But it has a lot of great things about it.

First, it's a Toph episode, and Toph is absolutely hilarious here. The whole sequence where she and Sokka trick the poor townies is amazing.

Next, it has a solid plot sequence. You are first led to believe Katara abandoned Toph due to her immaturity. Then the plot heavily implies that's going to happen, until character development happens, Katara mellows out and decides to join Toph's antics. Then turns out the scene at the start of the episode was staged. But THEN, turns out the two fell into a trap by Combustion Man, and now we get what is probably the best sequence in the show featuring that guy.

The character development itself is also good stuff. We learn why Katara is so mother-like, and why Toph is so immature. Daddy/Mommy issues all the way. But it makes sense, those are kiddies after all, trying to accomplish way more than their age would normally allow. Sokka praising Katara for being his surrogate mother is also pretty cute.

Finally, we have Hawky. We hardly got to see you in action, Hawky, but you were cool.

#24: The Southern Raiders (3.16):

If The Runaway previous episode the heartwarming part of Katara and Sokka growing up without a mother, this one is the dark part.

It's the classic "revenge is bad" story, but it's very well done. We start with Katara hating Zuko for being, well, Zuko. He wants to get in her good side, and he figures out the best way to do that is to help het get revenge for her mother. Aang tries to warn them it's a terrible idea, but Katara is too mad to think and Zuko has the emotional intelligence of a rock, so they leave. We then get the flashback where Katara's mother was killed, and it's pretty well done, while also revealing the one they were after was actually Katara.

We then get a cool chase sequence where Katara goes around screaming at people and threatening to kill them. It also features the obligatory mention of bloodbending so said mechanic isn't wasted, but it's still almost wasted because the scene Katara uses it is only the penultimate stage of the chase so she doesn't learn anything from it. It's just used to show how much she has gone off the rails.

The last sequence is very good, though. Katara finds the guy who killed her mother and damn, he's scum. He literally offers his mother's life in exchange of his own. The show makes no attempt to redeem him. But in the end, she can't pull the trigger, because she doesn't want to become as bad as him. She makes a speech about how she will not forgive him, and you can feel how much Katara is missing the catharsis in that scene. Next, she goes back, and has a heartwarming talk with Aang as she realizes that catharsis may not have been worth getting anyway, because of who it would turn her into. Revenge is not usually worth getting, but damn, does it hurt not to get it.

It's a solid and mature revenge story, and a very good job they did in one episode's length.

#23: The Guru (2.19):

This one is the de-facto finale for Season 2, at least in terms of plot. It's where Azula moves most pieces of her plan. She tricks the Earth King into believing she is a Kyoshi Warrior. Then she realizes the key to control the city is the Dai Li. She meets Long Feng and makes an alliance with him. Then she takes down the EK's generals, captures Katara, and also has time to set up a trap for Zuko and Iroh (which is a pretty sad sequence, for how happy the two are with their new lives at the start of the episode). This is Azula's biggest moment in the show, hands down, as she conquers a city that resisted invasion for 100 years, with an army of 3 people, using just het wits.

It also features a Top 5 scene in the show: Toph inventing Metalbending. It's a short and simple scene, but the sheer impact of it, not only for Toph's character but for the entire Avatar-verse is immense. Metal was seen as this flawless anti-bending tool for the whole show, until Toph just decides to see if she can punch it into submission, and turns out she can. She takes down the two guys who captured her and yells "I'm the best Earthbender in the world!". And she is right. Not just the best Earthbender, but probably the most talented bender overall in this series, and the next one.

Next, we have a short sequence where Sokka finally meets his father, gets ready to join him in a war, but then learns Katara has been captured, so he is forced to postpone his glorious joining of the WT army to fulfill his mission with Team Avatar. It's a good moment of development for him, and a nice contrast to him abandoning Aang in Bato of the Water Tribe.

Finally, the main point of the episode is Aang opening the chakras. I usually don't enjoy this religious stuff, but here is a very welld-done sequence. It is about Aang reviewing each of his previous character flaws so far, confronting them once again, and finally defeating them for good. Then, he bumps into the one issue he hasn't solved yet, his love for Katara, and his teenage heart is just unable to let go of it, so he sacrifices mastering the Avatar State. Until he learns to do it in 2x20 anyway, I guess. Plus the Guu is just a cool guy.

It's an episode that is certainly more than the sum of its parts, as most scenes aren't heavy on impact but are all very good stuff.

#22: The Drill (2.13):

This episode is this high due to what is just a very cool premise: Azula decides to take down Ba Sing Se by piercing its walls with humanity's biggest feat of engineering so far, a drill the size of a train. And now we get a pseudo season-finale in the middle of the season, because the threat is real. Damn, if Azula had been born earlier, the world would be under the FN's feet by now.

We then get sequences where the kids work to infiltrate the drill, then try different solutions to break it, fight Azula's friends in the meantime, and finally have Sokka figure out a genius plan to break the whole thing down. And in the end, Aang and Azula go 1v1 against each other, and we see Aang using earthbending in combat for the first time, and actually being evenly matched with Azula due to his ability to fight with 3 elements.

On the side, we have a plot where Jet tries to befriend Zuko, but then learns he is FN, becoming paranoid about him, which will lead to the excellent plot of Jet losing it next episode.

I don't have much more to say about this episode, and it doesn't quite do anything revolutionary character or plot wise. But I'm a sucker for good action sequences. Having the cast work to defeat a giant drill is a super-cool boss fight, which lets us see lots of bending and it's just a solid and memorable action episode overall, with some good jokes too.

mid-high tier

2.13: The Drill
2.19: The Guru
3.16: The Southern Raiders
3.07: The Runaway
1.10: Jet
1.07: Winter Solstice - Part 1
2.08: The Chase
1.05: The King of Omashu
3.03: The Painted Lady
1.12: The Storm
2.02: The Cave of Two Lovers
2.03: Return to Omashu

mid-low

1.02: The Avatar Returns
2.18: The Earth King
1.09: The Waterbending Scroll
3.08: The Puppetmaster
1.03: The Southern Air Temple
3.13: The Firebending Masters
3.06: The Avatar and the Fire Lord
1.08: Winter Solstice - Part 2
3.18: Sozins Comet - Part 1 - The Phoenix King
2.20: The Crossroads of Destiny
2.15: The Tales of Ba Sing Se
2.01: The Avatar State

low tier

1.06: Imprisoned
3.11: The Day of Black Sun - Part 2
3.05: The Beach
1.16: The Deserter
3.17: The Ember Island Players
1.04: The Warriors of Kyoshi
3.12: The Western Air Temple
3.01: The Awakening

bottom tier

2.04: The Swamp
1.01: The Boy in the Iceberg
1.15: Bato of the Water Tribe
3.04: Sokka's Master
1.11: The Great Divide
3.09: Nightmares and Daydreams
1.14: The Fortuneteller
2.05: Avatar Day

Watching this show for the first time this week, been fun reading this topic and learning about what others think, even if I do not recognize anything past season one right now, guess I will understand who and what all these things are next week.

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Anyways, does anyone else feel like Toph inventing metal bending is like Einstein inventing atomic physics? I wish she was treated more like a genius in that regard in Korea instead of just being law enforcement.

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it's crazy to see how popular this show has been on netflix. Still in the top 10 over a month after its release.

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foolm0r0n posted...

Anyways, does anyone else feel like Toph inventing metal bending is like Einstein inventing atomic physics? I wish she was treated more like a genius in that regard in Korea instead of just being law enforcement.

It's hard to say because Toph isn't the type who will just spend the rest of her life in a research institution developing more bending techniques. Maybe creating a metalbending police and going to kick some ass fits her character more.

And also after 70 years, metalbending has become very commonplace.

yeah, toph metalbending is pretty neat, but it's just a one-off it seems. she does seem to be the greatest earthbender of all time, though i'd say bumi's strength probably aged better.

re: this latest slate of episodes: not big on the guru - the training section was way too easy for aang i though. southern raiders is probably ranked about correctly, though i might have it a bit lower.

runaway is great and the drill is an awesome action episode. main dislike in the drill (and of season 2 as a whole) is how useless the earthbenders are. fav part is azula getting punked in a way she almost never does, and pretty much one-on-one too.
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Earthbenders are pretty strong overall it's just that most of their skill is used oppress their own people instead of fighting the FN.

SeabassDebeste posted...

the training section was way too easy for aang i though

I def agree with this but they had to go through 7 chakras in 22 mins with THREE other stories to track. And the parallels and callbacks were masterfully done, especially the metalbending reveal.

Plus the conclusion was the same - Aang fails the training. It wouldn't be much different if he struggled more in the process.

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#21: The Siege of the North - Part 1 (1.19)

This is pretty much a set up episode, as the bigger impact stuff happens in the next episode. But it's close to a perfect set-up episode.

First, what makes me really like this episode and think it's memorable is the worldbuilding, specifically of the war. It explains why the FN never took down the NWT, and it does in a pretty cool way, by first showing the FN invading them during the day, almost managing to conquer the city, until the night comes and their attacking forces are devastated. At the same time, this duality between day/night, and fire/water is shown with Zuko and Katara. He arrives at the place Aang is at during the night, tris to fight Katara, but loses because it's night. Then she freezes him, but next morning he gets defrost, manages to defeat her and kidnaps Aang. It's a good montage that shows how day and night affect bending.

Zuko's journey itself is also very fun, with him making a last desperate attempt to save his honor, by getting into the city alone. It's one of the lowest moments in his arc.

FInally, we have Sokka's arc. At the end of 1.18, he learned Yue is a bride, so he didn't let go of it. Most of the episode is Sokka competing with Yue's fianc to prove he is better (which he is), until eventually the fianc fails a mission to spy on the FN, while Sokka is "punished" with being Yue's bodyguard. My favorite part of the episode is at the beginning, though, where the NWT is asking for volunteers to the war and Sokka joins is, receiving the mark on his face as a soldier. This is a pretty huge moment in his arc, because he had dreamed to be a soldier of the WT for his whole life, and he finally does it at a time where not only he doesn't have to (because he just a guest and he could just stay with the Avatar), but also when the threat is at its biggest. This is Sokka truly becoming a man, in the sense that he doesn't just want to play soldier like his father, he is ready to die to defend his country.

Solid episode all the way.

bumpo

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#20: Bitter Work (2.09)

Ah, the standard training montage. Except is a top tier training montage cuz it's a Toph episode. Toph Episode = quality.

Here, we get Twinkle Toes completely failing to get the tough mindset necessary to be an Earthbender, and Toph absolutely losing her patience with him, and then resorting to creative and evil ways to try and push him to his limit. Eventually, he does get it, because Aang is talented as heck an just neded to learn a way of thinking he wasn't used to. And Toph realizes she needs to get into Aang's mindset a little in order to bring him to her world, which is part of what makes a good teacher.

On the other side of the episode, we have Zuko trying to learn how to direct lightining. We get Iroh delivering some sweet exposition about the different nations' personalities, and how at the end of the day they are just one nation. Zuko understands that, and procceeds to get into the water tribe mindset to learn the move. But then he learns he can't practice the move with actual lightning because it's too risky, so it ends with Zuko yelling at a thunderstorm for it to hit him. Classic Zuko moment, and I wish we learned if ever got to be hit be the lightning.

Both sides of the episode showcase some solid worldbuilding, and tap into the differences in the cultures of all four nations. But the message is that, at the end of the day, anyone can learn how to think and act differently if they put their mind to it. And the Avatar is better at that than anyone else.

Finally, we have one of the best Sokka storylines in the series, which him arguing with his food while desperately trying to get out of a hole. Classic.

#18: City of Walls and Secrets (2.14)

I'm going to do something different here and skip #19 for now. You'll see why.

2.14 is a fantastic episode because it shows the fascist system of Ba Sing Se working to its most cruel details. Team Avatar arrives full of hype about their plan to win the war, but turns out the city gave up on winning a long time ago. It then became an enclosed empire, ruled by a corrupt minister with the power of propaganda, and the promise of protection from the outside monster. It's amazing how the show was ahead of its time, as we see the same effect being used nowadays to put authoritarian leaders in power.

So Team Avatar decides to do what they do best: break the rules. They sneak into a party, bend some elements, and try to get to the bottom of it. But at the bottom is The Man, and the kids' traditional methods won't suffice. The city manages to get Appa hostage and force the kids into inactivity, and impose a bigger defeat on them than anything FN tropps and metal tanks had managed so far.

Meanwhile, Zuko is done trying to change the system, and he's getting around to being his uncle's tea store assistant. But there is someone else who won't have any of that: Jet. Despite being described as "moving on" when he's first reintroduced in 2.12, he just can't do it. The mark of having his parents' killed continues to torment him, and when he sees a firebender in BSS, he decides to abandon his start of a character developent to act like a reckless idiot again. And so he is captured, and used by the show to give the viewer a peek into the city's brainwashing system.

In one episode, Long Feng estabilishes himself as a fantastic antagonist, and we get to see many political facets of the city. It's kind of a shame that Azula would make him kneel like a fool 6 episodes later. But at least for now, the Dai Li seemed invincible.

#19: Lake Laogai (2.17)

A lot of what makes 2.17 good is being a sequel to 2.14, so I wanted to talk about that one first, even though I like that episode more.

This is when the kids make their comeback. After weeks of getting stopped by The Man, they run into Jet, who has been brainwashed. This actually proves to be a flaw in the Dai Li's defenses, because the kids manage to extract the info about Lake Laogai from him, and procceed to invade it. Toph finds the entrance, they break in, and then we are treated to a series of cool action scenes involving the Dai Li, Jet and Team Avatar. And we also see how Joo Dees are made.

Meanwhile, Zuko is having doubts about being Tea Boy, and decides to go in another suicide mission to restore his honor. He eventually runs onto Appa, and then meets his uncle, who was following him all along. Iroh forces him to face a dillema and figure who he really is, and Zuko finally makes a move in the right direction by rescuing Appa. Finally, he throws away the mask of the Blue Spirit, which symbolizes the fact Zuko can't hide behind a mask to make moves against the FN anymore, he must do it out in the open. At least until Azula sets his arc back for half a book.

Team Avatar then defeats the Dai Li, thanks mostly to an epic save by Appa, and manage to escape with him. But Jet stays behind, having been fatally injured. Jet had been given a chance to redeem himself, but he blew it, so the show punishes him with death. It's a very good, and tragic, character arc.

It's an episode that gets to a high position mostly for being cool and being the cathartic pushback against the Dai Li, while also having some interesting character arcs going in the sideline.

poor sokka had to give up meat and sarcasm. that's all he has. related hard to that. :(

i don't like lake laogai at all, but 2x14 is def a top 10er for me. i think the series didn't pay it off as well as it could have, though, and lake laogai is part of it.
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ZeldaTPLink posted...

Jet had been given a chance to redeem himself, but he blew it, so the show punishes him with death.

I dunno, it's very unclear.

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ZeldaTPLink posted...

It's amazing how the show was ahead of its time, as we see the same effect being used nowadays to put authoritarian leaders in power.

random response as i'm rereading this - ba sing se is more showing how history is cyclical rather than being ahead of its time. china already had laws against free speech, and the USSR famously had secret police as well.
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I'm about halfway through a rewatch, and one of the things I love is how the writers deal with Azula.

She's built up to be this unstoppable, prodigy badass, and the show follows through with that. She's appeared three times thus far, and not once has the show undermined her skill by jobbing her out. Zuko/Iroh have to run away after struggling to beat her in a handicap match. The Gaang runs away when facing her trio in Omashu. And then in The Chase, it takes a six-on-one advantage to fight her to a draw, which she escapes from. It's just really good writing compared to how the writers did Zhao in season 1, losing to Zuko very early in the season and always being a jobber who just kept upward advancement from that moment on.

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It's good constast with Zuko.

In most battle anime, upon learning some lesson about goodness and friendship, Zuko would surpass Azula in strength and defeat her.

Here, he never does. He manages to get close in the series finale, but only because she is mentally unstable, and he still has to be bailed by Katara when Azula decides to cheat.

But the show's message is that this doesn't matter, because Zuko's arc is choosing to be a different type of firelord from his predecessors by being a good man and ruling a peaceful country, rather than ruling through strength. So he doesn't have to be stronger than Azula, he has to be better than her.

swirIdude posted...

I dunno, it's very unclear.

Unclear that he died? I don't think so. It doesn't show it, but Toph's tremor sense can tell that he was lying when he said he would be okay, and the tone of the whole thing imo was very much intended to paint him as a dead man.
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it's a joke from ember island players. they don't actually show jet dying and sokka makes fun of it.
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Ahhhh okay, my bad
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Inviso posted...

It's just really good writing compared to how the writers did Zhao in season 1, losing to Zuko very early in the season and always being a jobber who just kept upward advancement from that moment on.

Zhao is meant to be a jobber. He's literally there for his job, not his birthright or family, which is a major theme for all the other characters.

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badump

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Just finished rewatching season 2.

It's amazing how almost EVERY episode from Blind Bandit through the finale are amazing.

The only one I think was less than ideal was "The Earth King", and even that has an awesome ending to set up the two-part finale.

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The royalty in the Earth Kingdom is a continuing annoyance throughout both series.


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i wouldn't say all of them are amazing - probably 4-5 i wasn't crazy about in that stretch? - but yeah toph really changes things

everything starting from the day of black sun thoughhh
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I usually skip some of the intro earth kingdom episodes like Lake Laogai, but yeah they are all awesome

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Ok guys I'll bring another update tomorrow. Pinky promise.

The thing is that I've a bit of an attention deficit so once I stopped watching the show I got hyped for other things and started procrastinating this. But I still have some great things to say about the eps.

#17: The Serpent's Pass (2.12)

I remember this episode being branded as a two parter, with The Drill being the second part. But that classification clearly doesn't reflect the plot: it is actually the third and final part of an arc that starts in The Library. And all three episodes are fantastic.

This episode wasn't the most memorable when I first watched the show, but on a rewatch, it really grew on me. It's just so emotional. The episode is centered on the concept of hope. Aang is hopeless because he lost Appa. He is lashing out at others and pushing his feelings way, trying to be strong and cold. Meanwhile, the team travels to Ba Sing Se, while escorting a pregnant woman and her husband. Eventually, as they approach the city, the woman's child is born, and Aang is overwhelmed by the whole scene and starts tearing up. All the bottled up feelings from losing Appa come up again, Aang realizes all he wanted was to feel hope again, and the couple even names their kid Hope. It's a very emotional sequence and one of the best in the show, and really connects well with the overall war plot, which that's amazing since it's a skippable episode.

We have some good side plots, too. On the Zuko side, Jet is introdocued again in this season, befriends Zuko, and the two kick some ass in the refugee ship. Meanwhile, Sokka meets Suki, and has to confront his insecurity over losing Yue, but eventually he does and the two become the first canon ship in the show.

Sometimes a great episode just needs some feels.

Season 2 is my favorite, but in this list it seems the S2 epis mostly occupy the 2nd and 3rd tiers but fail to dominate the top tier. I think I just prefer the epic war and combat episodes, which is not S2's main strength.

But in terms of characterization and worldbuilding, it's really flawless.

#16: Appa's Lost Days (2.16)

How good can an episode where the main character doesn't speak be? A lot.

If you liked Appa before this episode, it certainly made you love him. The world's only air bison is very expressive. We see him being crafty in the circus. We see him suffering, and then escaping. He gets weary of humans and becomes wild, as the pain from his injuries and the trauma take over. Eventually he meets the Kyoshio warriors and doesn't trust them. But Suki manages to get to him with her kindness, and we are treated to a cute scene of the warriors giving him a shower. But then Azula attacks, and they have to stay behind to protect him.

He reaches the Guru, probably while trying to go for one of his ancient homes, an air temple. The Guru befriends him after some effort and patience, and manages to give him a message to deliver to Aang. He then goes to BSS, but gets captured.

There isn't much to say about the themes here, tbh. It's a cute and emotional episode with a giant air bison. It's good storytelling and it feels very novel in the middle of the Earth Kingdom plot.

#15: The Desert (2.11)

And now, the 2nd part of that three parter. The desert deals with the immediate aftermath of losing Appa, as well as the kids finding themselves stranded on a large desert like they were not expected to be, since they could fly before.

Aand is mad, and almost out of control. Toph reminds us why she is poorly equipped to deal with situations involving people, which is made worse by the fact she is not as great at bending sand (a thing she would work hard to remedy, as we see in a later S3 episode). Sokka might have been a resource, but then he decides to drink cactus juice early in the episode and becomes just another liability. Which is great for the viewers, because Cactus High Sokka is one of the greatest things to ever happen to television. Nuff said.

But when the whole team is in danger of falling apart, Katara reminds us why she is one of the best characters, having easily the most emotional intelligence of the group. She just forces them to stay together, she patiently endures Aang's angry ramblings, and makes them push through, and keeps them hydrated while handling thirst herself. Eventually, they reach the end of the desert and find the bandits who stole Appa. As Aang goes into Avatar State and threatens to kill them, Katara, once again, manages to calm him down. Aang is far from healed, but Katara managed to keep him from losing himself before then.

It's a great episode about overcoming loss, and about teamwork and hardship in difficult situations.

serpent's pass is solid. dunno i'd have it so high though!

appa's lost days is cute. liked it a bit more the second time around but still not a fave for me.

desert is hilarious and great. is this the only time we see aang killing a creature on screen?
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I think the official line is that he did not kill it, just knocked it out of the sky

Otherwise why would he be fretting about taking a life so much later on, Aang would see no difference in severity of taking a human life vs an animal

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i'm pretty sure i saw them literally get sliced apart!
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