Book 2 - Earth
In book 2
Katara is given some spirit water from Master Paku on his way to the Southern
Water Tribe, Aang has to combat a group trying to force him into the Avatar
State, and learns that if he’s killed in the state, the Avatar Cycle will end,
they head through a cave with some singing Nomads to Omashu, and discover that
it’s taken by the Fire Nation. They help rescue its citizens from the Fire Nation.
They are
dragged into a swamp, where they meet 3 swamp-guys that will be useful later,
Aang sees a vision of the lady that would become his earthbending master. He is
captured and forced to prove his innocence for the murder of the former tribe leader
Ching by Kyoshi, it’s later revealed that Ching was expanding his tribe, and
Kyoshi stood in his way. Aang is almost boiled in oil, but his sentence becomes
community service, as he helps defeat a Fire Nation attack.
They meet
with Toph, a blind earthbending master with over-protective parents (we also
meet the Boulder and the Hippo, important later) when Toph runs away to teach
Aang, her father sends wrestling master Xin Fu and earthbending Master Yu after
her. They find themselves pursued by unknown assailants, and rifts grow in the
team as Toph wishes to carry her own weight and hers alone
With the
rifts healed, Aang struggles with Earthbending, as his personality is the least
like an earthbender, he eventually is forced to stand his ground and begins to earthbend. Sokka, wanting information about the Fire Nation discovers a library
in the desert. The spirit of the library, Wan Shi Tong, is not happy about
humans using his knowledge for war. They discover a solar eclipse, and event
where firebenders lose their powers, and want to head to the Earth King in Ba
Sing Se. Unfortunately, they discover that a group of sandbenders had stolen Appa
while they were in the library.
With Aang reeling from the loss of Appa, they struggle to make it through the desert.
They confront one of the kidnappers who reveals Appa could be in Ba Sing Se.
Having made it out of the desert, they guide a pregnant woman and her husband
through the Serpents Pass, but Aang can’t go looking for Appa yet, as a giant
drill is heading for the city. They eventually manage to take it out, and head
into the city. They discover that talk of the war is illegal in the city, and
meet Long Feng and his Dai Li, a man who was manipulating Ba Sing Se to
maintain peace and order.
Aang wants
to do whatever it takes to discover Appa, and discovers Jet, brainwashed by the
Dai Li to lead them elsewhere. They rescue him, and enter a secret Dai Li base.
Jet does not appear to survive the battle, but they do manage to save Appa.
Hoping to build on their previous good fortune, they invade the palace and
confront the Earth King. Showing him the damage from the drill, the King is
disillusioned and Long Feng is thrown in jail. Aang receives word of a guru who
could help him, Toph receives a letter from her mother, which turns out to be a
trap from Xin Fu and Master Yu, and Sokka heads out to greet his father.
The guru
helps Aang through several of the chukras he must open in order to master the
Avatar State, but when one involves letting go of Katara, he senses she’s in
danger, and leaves, despite warnings that it may stop him from ever entering the Avatar State again. Toph discovers metal-bending and escapes her captivity, and
joins the others back in the city.
We are
introduced to Azula, a lady who strives for perfection, and is an excellent
manipulator. She convinces Zuko that his father wants him back, but as they
prepare to depart, one of her crew slips up, and they escape. Zuko and Iroh are
now wanted men. Azula decides that travelling with her crew would be too loud,
and employs an elite team, formed of Mai, a knife thrower of unbelievable
accuracy and Ty Lee, a chi blocker. They face against team Avatar in Omashu
Zuko uses
his alter-ego as the Blue Spirit to steal food and various other items from the
Earth Kingdom, he eventually splits off from his uncle, believing there’s no
need for them to travel together. Zuko helps an Earth Kingdom village hold off
some Fire Nation thugs, but is hated once it’s revealed that he’s Fire Nation.
He also remembers how his mother left his life.
Team Azula chases Team Avatar through the night; preventing them from
sleeping, as Mai and Ty Lee follow Appa, Azula encounters Aang, and a battle
ensues between them and Zuko, who also wants the Avatar himself. With the help
of Toph, Katara, Sokka and Iroh, Azula is cornered. She escapes, injuring Iroh
in the process.
With Iroh
recovering, he tries to teach Zuko mastery of lightning, but it explodes in
Zuko’s face as he has not dealt with his feelings of shame. Iroh instead
teaches him a technique of redirection of lightning that he made up himself, but of course they can't practice it properly as Iroh refuses to blast his own nephew with lightning.
Zuko and Iroh visit an old friend in the Misty Palms Oasis: a member of the
Order of the White Lotus, Xin Fu and Master Yu try to capture them, but they
escape, heading to Ba Sing Se. On a boat heading into the city, they encounter
Jet and his freedom fighters, who together steel food from the galley for the
refugees. Jet discovers Iroh firebending, and tries to prove it, ultimately
ending up arrested by the Dai Li.
Azula
commands the drill heading towards the wall, and battles Aang as he prepares to
destroy it. Following another trail of Appa’s fur, they discover the Kyoshi
warriors. Although Appa escapes, the Kyoshi warriors are seemingly defeated.
Iroh’s tea-making is so well received that he’s offered his own tea shop in the
city's upper ring. Zuko finds an Appa wanted poster and sets out in his Blue Spirit guise to
retrieve the beast. Iroh confronts him, warning that he hadn’t thought this
through, and he eventually lets Appa go. Azula, Mai and Ty Lee enter the city
disguised as Kyoshi warriors.
Katara
stumbles upon Zuko in the tea shop, and warns the Kyoshi warriors, discovering
Azula’s secret and is captured. Azula hears about the invasion of the Fire Nation plan. Using her skilled manipulation, Azula organises a coup against the
Earth King with the aid of Long Feng and the Dai Li. More scared of her than
Long Feng, the Dai Li pledge loyalty to her, and Long Feng concedes defeat.
Azula organises a trap for Zuko and Iroh, but Iroh escapes, he warns Toph, Aang
and Sokka about what’s happened, and they set out on rescue missions. Iroh and
Aang rescue Zuko and Katara, but Azula waits for Zuko, persuading him to join
her, and Capture Iroh.
Sokka and
Toph rescue the Earth King and his bear, but Azula manages to strike down Aang
with lightning. Katara manages to get him out, thanks to a distraction provided
by Iroh, who is captured once they escape. Katara uses the spirit water on Aang
to heal his injury, but the Earth Kingdom has fallen.
Many
consider this the best season of Avatar, and it is. Tightly constructed,
minimal on the filler, showing journeys from many different perspectives to
give a well-rounded tale, giving us characters both new and old
The ending
of book 2 is tragic, but it was done in the knowledge that book 3 was coming,
it’s somewhat bitter-sweet, in that Aang survives and there is still hope, but now the most powerful of all the kingdoms has fallen.
The
animation, music and voice acting is fantastic as per usual. Grey DeLisle makes
an excellent Azula, combining manipulation with being absolutely terrifying.
Toph is an excellent new character as well. There were a few goofs. In Avatar
Day, the wheel of torture changes at the last second, so community service is
suddenly next to boiled in oil, when it wasn’t before, also when Toph mentions
that she didn’t count Sokka, as he was a non-bender, no-one pointed out that neither Mai or Ty Lee could bend.
Important in this book: The Avatar
State, Return to Omashu, Avatar Day, The Blind Bandit, The Chase, Bitter Work,
The Library, The Desert, The Serpents pass, The drill, City of Walls and
secrets, Appa’s lost days, Lake Laogai, The Earth King, The Guru, Crossroads of
Destiny
Important in book 3: The Swamp, Zuko Alone
Filler: The cave of two lovers, Tales of
Ba Sing Se
Best
Episode: The Earth King (that fight scene)
Worst
Episode: Avatar Day
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Images used in this review are from Avatar: The Last Airbender and belong to their respective owners. All images in this review are subject to fair use.
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