Episode Reviews Season 1

When Katara and her brother Sokka discover a giant iceberg while traveling around their homestead at the South Pole, they discover that there is a boy named Aang inside whom they discover is an airbender, which were thought to be extinct. However, after a string of unfortunate events put the village in harms way, they soon learn that there is more to him than meets the eye.

After Aang gives himself up to the Fire Nation in order to ensure the Southern Water Tribe is safe, Katara and Sokka take Aang’s flying bison to attempt to rescue him. However, they soon realize that Aang may not be as helpless as they originally thought he was.

Aang is excited about going home for the first time in one hundred years, but he is shocked to find out that the town is deserted. Aang tells Sokka and Katara about his childhood as they explore the city, but they soon discover something that none of them expected. Meanwhile, Prince Zuko must make repairs to his ship and the only way he can do it is to dock his ship at his rival’s naval base.

After an unfortunate event, the group inadvertently heads toward the town of Kyoshi but soon learn that the townspeople don’t trust foreigners that much when they get attacked; however, when Aang proves to them that he is the Avatar they are treated as guests of honor. Katara wants to get some supplies and leave while Aang is enjoying his time as a celebrity, but little do they know that the Fire Nation has been following them.

When Aang takes Katara and Sokka on a wild journey through Omashu’s delivery system because he believes it’s entertaining, they soon wind up on the wrong side of the law and are taken to the king for punishment. However, King Bumi decides to put Aang to a test or else his friends will be surrounded in a stone prison, but will Aang be able to complete the mad king’s tasks?

When the group arrives at a small Earth Kingdom mining town, they see an earthbender named Haru who is practicing his ability, but he runs away when Katara tries to confront him about it. They soon learn that the Fire Nation has taken over the town and that earthbending is forbidden and all earthbenders are taken away to an offshore prison. However, when an elderly man is trapped when the mine collapses, Katara urges Haru to use his powers to save the man’s life, but when the old man reports Haru to the authorities, Katara blames herself for his predicament and she vows to rescue him; but will she succeed?

When Aang is assigned to help defend a town from a monster that has been plaguing the town, his lack of ability and knowledge becomes obvious as he doesn’t know what to do. However, when Sokka tries to rush to Aang’s rescue during the fight, he himself becomes captured and is taken away by the monster, which turns out to be from the spirit world. Aang promises Katara that he’ll find Sokka and bring him back, but with Aang even doubting himself, will he be capable of finding where the monster went?

Aang learns that he must go to the Fire Nation temple during the winter solstice if he wishes to speak with Avatar Roku to see what he must do. However, with Prince Zuko on his trail while he heads straight into the heart of the nation who wants him captured, he realizes that this isn’t going to be an easy task.

After Katara attempts to teach Aang waterbending, but realizes that he is learning it much faster than she is, she is desperate to improve her abilities. When Katara inadvertently stumbles across a waterbending scroll that can help improve her ability while Aang is looking at a pirate’s store, she decides to steal it after she realizes that she couldn’t hope to afford it; but will she be capable of stealing from the pirates without causing herself and her friends trouble?

While traveling towards the North Pole, the group almost gets captured by the Fire Nation. However, when a charismatic young man and his band of rebels attack the Fire Nation camp and rescue them, they learn that they are trying to resist the Fire Nation’s motives to expand their territory. Katara and Aang really enjoy their time with the band of rebels, but Sokka soon discovers that they aren’t as noble as meets the eye.

While on their way to the North Pole, Aang and his friends arrive at a giant canyon where two groups are bickering over who should get to go across. Aang decides to let his flying bison transport the old and sick across the canyon while he walks across with the two groups to ensure they don’t fight one another. However, he soon learns that the two tribes have been feuding for one hundred years and they both believe their actions are justified, but when the predators inside the canyon start to come out, Aang is stuck trying to defend both tribes from each other and the vicious wildlife.

When the group runs out of money, Sokka decides to get a job working for a fisherman in order to permit them to continue their journey. However, when the fisherman mocks Aang for being a coward and hiding for a hundred years, he runs away and Katara follows him to try to figure out what is going on, in which Aang tells her what happened that made him be in the iceberg when she found him. Meanwhile, the men on Zuko’s ship have low morale because Zuko lacks compassion for them, so Iroh attempts to explain to them why Zuko is determined to capture Aang at all costs.

After Sokka and Katara get sick while they are journeying to the North Pole, Aang seeks out a cure and discovers he needs some frozen toads in order to get them cured. Meanwhile, Zhao has been promoted to Admiral and he is using the Fire Nation’s best men to capture Aang, which turns out to be bad news as Aang is captured while trying to get the toads to cure his friends. All hope seems lost for Aang and his friends, but there may just be a glimmer of hope when a strange masked figure comes to Aang’s rescue, but who could it possibly be?

When the group comes across some people being attacked by a platypus-bear, they discover that the local town has a fortune teller named Aunt Wu in it who has been helping the town’s citizens out. They head to town to discover that the Aunt Wu has the entire town having absolute faith in everything they say and she tells the town that the volcano near the town will not erupt this year. Meanwhile, Aang is love-struck for Katara and he is trying to find a way to impress her, and when he heads to the top of the volcano to get a flower that he feels would make a nice gift for her, he discovers that Aunt Wu was wrong and that the volcano is about to erupt, but is there enough time to save the town?

Aang feels neglected as Katara and Sokka reunite with Bato, an old friend of their father’s from the South Pole. They begin to reminisce on their times in the past while they wait for a message to arrive from their father; in which Aang believes Katara and Sokka will abandon him and go out to find their father should the message arrive. However, when the messenger gives Aang the message to give to Bato, Aang hides the message from his friends in fear that they would leave him should they learn the location of their father. However, when Zuko recruits a bounty hunter named Jun to track Aang down, his friendship is put to the test as he must deal with the fact that he betrayed his friends while defending himself from yet another fight.

When Aang and his friends go to a Fire Nation town so that Aang can witness some firebending, their plan soon goes awry when it’s discovered that he is the Avatar. Fortunately, he’s rescued by an individual who serves a firebending master named Jeong Jeong who has abandoned the Fire Nation, so Aang attempts to use this time to attempt to learn how to firebend. However, when the firebending master refuses to even see Aang, will Aang be able to prove he’s ready to learn how to firebend despite the fact that he lacks discipline?

When Aang and his friends hear rumors about surviving airbenders, they decide to stop by the Northern Air Temple on their way to the North Pole to see for themselves. What they find is a bunch of people who aren’t airbenders, but have mastered the art of gliding; though this upsets Aang because they have been defacing the temple. However, there was one part of the temple where nobody has been able to enter, and what Aang and his friends discover inside spells oncoming conflict.

This special episode of Avatar: The Last Airbender will recap some of the events that have occurred in Aang’s journey in order to permit new fans of the series to be able to watch new episodes without being confused. This episode may also provide some insight into the challenges that Aang may face in the future.

When Aang and his friends finally arrive at the North Pole, they seek out a waterbending master who is a member of the Northern Water Tribe. Meanwhile, Sokka begins to fall in love with a princess and Admiral Zhao begins to plan an attack, all the while Zuko is attempting to find a way to continue his quest to find the Avatar.

19. The Siege Of The North (Part 1)

First aired: 12/2/2005

The Northern Water Tribe must brace itself for a powerful attack by Admiral Zhao’s Fire Navy fleet. In the heat of battle, Aang struggles to defend the city. Curious, Aang wonders if his Avatar abilities can be put to better use. Meanwhile, Zhao’s invasion breaks through the outer wall of the Northern Water Tribe’s defenses, and he reveals a sinister plan. Aang goes to the spirit world for help - it's a race against time for Aang to get back and prevent Zhao from destroying the Northern Water Tribe.

The Siege Of The North (Part 2)

First aired: 12/2/2005