Saturday, June 19, 2010

Season Two (Book Two: Earth)


After leaving the North Pole, Aang finishes mastering Waterbending under the instruction of Katara, who has mastered the element faster than he has. Aang and friends travel to the Earth Kingdom city of Omashu to master Earthbending. Their initial plan is to learn under Bumi, king of the Earth Kingdom city of Omashu, but they discover that he and Omashu have been captured by the Fire Nation and Bumi is waiting for the right time to strike. Searching for a new Earthbending teacher, the group meets Toph, a blind Earthbending prodigy who becomes Aang's second teacher and teaches him, amongst other things, her unique ability to use earthbending to "see" vibrations with her feet.

After discovering a hidden ancient library, the heroes discover information about an upcoming solar eclipse which would deprive the Firebenders of their bending and open to invasion, giving Aang his chance to defeat the Firelord. They struggle to reach the Earth King with this vital information, but are detoured by Appa's kidnapping. Azula, Zuko's sister, and her two friends Mai and Ty Lee chase the group as they struggle to reach Ba Sing Se, the Earth Kingdom capital. By capturing and then impersonating the Kyoshi Warriors, Azula engineers a plan to manipulate a secret group of earthbenders called the Dai Li to instigate a coup d'état that allows the Fire Nation to take complete control over Ba Sing Se and deal a fatal defeat to the Earth Kingdom, and destroys any hope of the Earth Kingdom staging a large-scale invasion of the Fire Nation. In a final confrontation, Azula kills the Avatar using lightning while Aang is in the Avatar state. By a last minute betrayal by Iroh, Katara is able to escape with Aang's body. Thinking the Avatar is killed, the world begins to believe there is no hope left. In reality, the Avatar has been revived by Katara using water she had received from their water bending master which contains special properties that amplify her natural water bending healing powers.

Zuko deals with internal conflict as he and Iroh defect from the Fire Nation after his father orders his capture and imprisonment for his failures, settle in the Earth Kingdom, and disguise themselves as refugees and eventually end up opening a successful tea shop called "The Jasmine Dragon" in Ba Sing Se. After a brief period of reformation, Zuko again rejoins the Fire Nation when he helps Azula defeat Aang. As a reward, his exile is ended and he is allowed to return back to the Fire nation as a re-instated prince.

In the season finale, while captured by bounty hunters sent by the Bei Fong family to return Toph to her home, the "Blind Bandit" uses her earthbending skills to "see" the particles of refined earth that make metal and becomes the world's first "metal bender," a feat previously thought to be impossible.

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