Avatar: The Last Airbender
Episode 1 -The Boy in the Iceberg
Katara and Sokka, two siblings from the Southern Water Tribe, discover a boy trapped inside an iceberg floating on the sea after Katara accidentally waterbends in a fit of rage while reprimanding Sokka. They free him and he introduces himself as Aang, an Airbender of the Air Nomads—a culture believed to be extinct for 100 years. Aang and his flying six-legged sky bison, Appa, accompany Katara and Sokka to their village. Meanwhile, Prince Zuko of the Fire Nation, accompanied by his uncle Iroh, is patrolling the surrounding waters in search of the Avatar, a fabled immensely powerful bender who can bend all four elements. Katara confides in Aang that she is a waterbender, but there are no other waterbenders in the Southern Water Tribe to teach her. Aang promises to take her to the Northern Water Tribe to find a teacher. A chance encounter with an abandoned Fire Nation ship reveals that Aang is unaware of the war that the Fire Nation has waged against the other nations of the world for 100 years; from this they deduce that Aang must have been frozen for at least that long. The pair accidentally set off a signal flare on the ship, alerting Zuko, who already suspects the Avatar is nearby.
Episode 2 -The Avatar Returns
After bringing Fire Nation attention to the village, Aang is banished, despite Katara's objections. Zuko soon descends on the village and demands the Avatar be surrendered to him. Aang returns to the village to defend it, where he reveals that he is, in fact, the Avatar. He then surrenders himself to Zuko on condition that the villagers are left alone, to which Zuko agrees. Katara and Sokka then decide to pursue Aang on Appa. Aboard Zuko's ship, Aang is at Zuko's mercy, but he eventually manages to break free from the guards and does battle with Zuko in the process. Aang is nearly defeated by Zuko, getting knocked into the water and almost drowning, but he saves himself using waterbending in his "Avatar State", in which his eyes and tattoos glow and he channels an incredible display of waterbending to overpower Zuko and his crew. As the three ride away on Appa, they set a course for the North Pole so that Aang and Katara can learn waterbending.
Episode 3 -The Southern Air Temple
Aang is eager to return to his home, the Southern Air Temple, though Katara worries that evidence of the Fire Nation's assault on it may upset him. He shows Katara and Sokka around the now-deserted temple, reminiscing about his mentor, Monk Gyatso. While playfully chasing a flying lemur, Aang discovers Gyatso's skeleton, surrounded by Fire Nation helmets. He enters the Avatar State in his grief. Once Katara and Sokka calm him down, he realizes that he is the last surviving Airbender. As they leave the temple, they adopt the lemur as a pet, naming him Momo. Meanwhile, Zuko stops to make repairs to his ship and is greeted by Zhao, a commander in the Fire Nation navy. Zuko tries to hide that he has seen the Avatar, but Zhao discovers the truth and takes on the task of capturing the Avatar himself, deeming Zuko a failure. Zuko refuses to accept this, as capturing the Avatar is the only way he can return from his banishment from the Fire Nation. Tensions rise between the two, so they challenge each other to a firebending duel (known as an Agni Kai). Zuko wins the duel, but spares Zhao. Zhao then tries to attack Zuko while his back is turned but is stopped by Iroh who intervenes and chastises Zhao for his dishonorable conduct and poor sportsmanship. The Agni Kai sparks a bitter rivalry between Zuko and Zhao.
Episode 4 -The Warriors of Kyoshi
Looking for a short break from their travels, Aang brings the gang to the Earth Kingdom's Kyoshi Island, where he seeks to ride Elephant Koi, enourmous fish who inhabit the surrounding waters. However, the group are captured by the Kyoshi Warriors, a group of warriors (consisting entirely of girls) who protect the island. But they are freed when Aang proves he is the Avatar, and he quickly gains reverence among the island's inhabitants. But his popularity, especially among the girls, soon goes to his head, creating a rift between him and Katara. Meanwhile, Sokka is embarrassed after being bested by girls in combat training, and strives to prove himself stronger than the Kyoshi Warriors. When he suffers further embarrassments, he swallows his pride and respectfully asks to be trained by their leader, Suki, who agrees. Aang's desire for popularity soon puts himself and Katara at risk when he tries to ride a Unagi sea serpent, as well as the whole island when Zuko gets word of his location. Zuko attacks, but Aang, Katara, and Sokka all manage to escape before the entire island is decimated in the Fire Nation attack. Aang uses the Unagi to extinguish the fires caused by the Fire Nation attack.
Episode 5 -The King of Omashu
The next stop on the group's trip is the Earth Kingdom city of Omashu. There, Aang shows Katara and Sokka the Omashu mail delivery system, a massive network of stone causeways which he and his friend Bumi (note: a Sanskrit word meaning 'Earth') had once ridden for fun a hundred years previous. The trio gives the chutes a try but runs into trouble after it destroys a cabbage merchant's cart. Brought before the king of the city, an elderly and erratic old man of substantial skill and strength in earthbending, the three are unexpectedly given a feast, during which the king outs Aang as being the Avatar. He imprisons the three and puts Aang through three deadly challenges the next day to test his skills and earn their freedom, culminating in a duel with the king himself. After Aang passes all of the challenges, the king forces Aang to guess his name. Aang ponders the question, finally deducing the king is his old friend Bumi. Bumi and Aang finally reunite, Katara and Sokka are set free, and Bumi divulges that he put Aang through the challenges as a means of preparing him for his eventual confrontation with Fire Lord Ozai.
Episode 6 -Imprisoned
Aang, Katara, and Sokka camp near a small Earth Kingdom town where they meet a young earthbender named Haru. However, the town is occupied by the Fire Nation, and earthbending is forbidden. Katara convinces Haru to save an old man using earthbending, only to have the same old man turn Haru in. Katara then devises a plan to save Haru by getting herself arrested for earthbending, which she fakes with some help from Aang and Sokka. When she arrives at the Fire Nation prison, a metal sea fortress that is impervious to earthbending, she finds Haru and his long-imprisoned father. However, she also discovers that all of the prisoners have lost hope due to their inability to bend. Katara successfully leads a rebellion with Aang and Sokka's help by delivering the earthbenders coal from the fortress, which Katara uses to inspire them into action. The earthbenders all escape after battling the Fire Nation guards, and return to their occupied towns with plans to rebel against Fire Nation occupation. The episode ends with Zuko finding Katara's lost necklace on the fortress.
Episode 7 -Winter Solstice: The Spirit World
The trio find themselves in a small Earth Kingdom village that is being attacked by Hei Bai, a monster from the Spirit World. The village believes that Aang can make peace with the spirit, since the Avatar is said to be the bridge between the Physical and the Spirit World. Aang unsuccessfully tries to calm the monster, which kidnaps Sokka in the process of attacking the village. Aang pursues him, but he is knocked out and ends up in the Spirit World, from which he cannot be seen or heard, nor does he have the ability to airbend. While there, he is told that the previous Avatar, Roku, has a message for him on the Winter Solstice, delivered by the spirit of Roku's dragon. After returning, Aang proceeds to calm the attacking spirit, who was upset that the nearby forest he watches over was destroyed by the Fire Nation, restoring peace to the village. Elsewhere, Iroh is captured by Earth Kingdom soldiers while bathing in a hot spring. The soldiers plan to take him to the Earth Kingdom capital, Ba Sing Se, to face justice, but Iroh proves to be an immensely formidable firebender, even when restrained. Zuko eventually catches up with the soldiers to help free him, forgoing his chase for the Avatar for a time.
Episode 8 -Winter Solstice
Aang, Katara, and Sokka travel to a temple on an island in the Fire Nation, so that Aang may receive Roku's message. The three bypass a blockade led by Zhao; Zuko pursues them through the blockade, despite being banished from the Fire Nation. At the temple, they discover that the Fire Sages who guard the temple, are no longer loyal to the Avatar, but to the Fire Lord. The sages attack, but one proves to still be loyal to the Avatar and leads them to the temple sanctuary. Aang manages to enter the sanctuary after narrowly escaping capture. Zhao arrives, intending to apprehend both Zuko and Aang. Avatar Roku appears to Aang and informs him about a comet that Fire Lord Sozin used to begin the war by harnessing its power to enhance their bending. The comet will return by the end of the coming summer, and give the Fire Nation the power to finish the war with a brutal assault; Aang must master all four elements and defeat the Fire Lord before the return of the comet. Roku's spirit manifests inside Aang's body, repelling Zhao's forces with a staggering display of bending that destroys the temple as Aang, Katara, Sokka, and Zuko escape.
Episode 9 -Winter Solstice: Avatar Roku
Aang grows frantic over the fact that he must master all elements to defeat the Fire Lord before Sozin's Comet arrives, so Katara begins teaching Aang waterbending, despite her limited training. Waterbending comes naturally for Aang, much to Katara's frustration. Later, while in town to buy supplies, Katara finds a waterbending scroll on a ship run by pirates, which she promptly steals. Katara struggles to learn the techniques in the scroll, while Aang picks them up quickly, further frustrating Katara. Meanwhile, Zuko runs into the pirates and agrees to help them find the scroll, and subsequently Aang. They soon find and capture Aang, Katara, and Sokka, but Sokka turns the pirates against Zuko, and the three escape in the ensuing fight, with Aang and Katara using their newly developed waterbending skills.
Episode 10 -Jet
A band of guerrilla fighters, led by the rogue Jet, rescue Aang, Katara, and Sokka from a small group of Fire Nation soldiers. Jet invites the team back to the Freedom Fighters' hideout, where the group plots out its attacks. Jet and Katara form an instant bond, but Sokka has suspicions about Jet, which leads the young rebel to tempt Sokka with missions. His plan fails, however, with Sokka increasingly concerned about Jet's motives and true objectives. Aang and Katara decide to help Jet in his efforts to "save" a nearby Earth Kingdom town, but Jet's real intent is to drown the village, sacrificing the lives of innocent civilians to destroy the Fire Nation garrison there. However, Sokka manages to evacuate the city, Earth and Fire citizens alike, in time to avoid Jet's plot.
Episode 11 -The Great Divide
The protagonists, now styling themselves "Team Avatar", stumble into the Great Divide, the world's largest canyon. The group starts bickering, so Aang decides to put his diplomatic skills to the test, as an Avatar is supposed to be a conciliator and promoter of peace. He successfully solves their minor disputes, but Aang's skills are soon put to a more substantial test when two Earth Kingdom tribes, the Zhang and the Gan-Jin, who have been in a feud for 100 years, are forced by the Fire Nation to cross the canyon together. Aang sends Appa across with the most needy people of the two tribes, and, with the help of a knowledgeable earthbender, guides the rest across the vast, dry landscape. Along the way, they are hunted down by large and dangerous native predators called canyon crawlers — resembling a cross between a spider and a crocodile. In the end, Aang is able to end the feud, and the two tribes travel together to the famous capital city of the Earth Kingdom, Ba Sing Se.
Episode 12 -The Storm
Sokka is hired to assist a fisherman with the group needing money. The fisherman berates Aang and angrily calls him "the Avatar who turned his back on the world". Guilt-ridden, Aang flies away and later reveals to Katara that he ran away from home because the monks at the Southern Air Temple wanted to separate him from Gyatso to begin his Avatar training; after getting caught in a terrible storm, he sealed himself and Appa in the iceberg after crashing into the ocean. Meanwhile, after resolving a feud on Zuko's ship, Iroh tells the crew that the scar on Zuko's face was the result of a duel with his own father, who had taken offense when Zuko spoke up in a meeting to oppose a plan to sacrifice Fire Nation soldiers. Zuko was subsequently banished for showing weakness by refusing to fight Ozai. When another storm hits, Sokka and the fisherman are rescued by Aang and Katara. Aang is forced to enter the Avatar State, mirroring the events that led to him being trapped in the iceberg, but this time he is able to escape with the fisherman, Sokka, and Katara. Zuko also acts heroically when his ship is struck by lightning, rescuing a member of his crew who becomes trapped on the bridge; Iroh uses firebending to redirect lightning away from the ship. Zuko sees Aang flying away on Appa, but elects not to pursue them in order to bring his crew to safety.
Episode 13 -The Blue Spirit
Sokka suffers from an illness due to his exposure to the elements during the storm. When Katara begins to contract the illness as well, Aang goes to a nearby herbalist institute in hopes of finding a cure for his friends. On his way to collect the remedy the herbalist recommends, Aang is kidnapped by the Yuu Yan archers, commanded by the newly-promoted Admiral Zhao. However, a sword-wielding masked marauder, the "Blue Spirit", rescues Aang from Zhao's compound. The Blue Spirit is knocked unconscious during the escape, and Aang discovers that he is Prince Zuko. Aang saves him and offers him friendship, but flees when he is violently rebuffed. Zuko goes back to his ship to catch up on sleep while Aang cures Katara and Sokka.
Episode 14 -The Fortuneteller
Katara, Aang, and Sokka go into a village that relies solely on the predictions of a fortuneteller, Aunt Wu. Sokka is skeptical and refuses to believe anything the fortuneteller says, and tries to disprove all the predictions she makes. Katara, on the other hand, is obsessed, and keeps returning to the fortuneteller for more predictions on her love life. Aang, who has become smitten with Katara, attempts to attract her attention throughout, with limited success; eventually he attempts to fetch a rare flower from the lip of a nearby volcano, which is revealed to be on the verge of erupting — a direct contradiction to Aunt Wu's predictions. Katara and Aang use waterbending to manipulate the clouds as a warning to the villagers, and the group manages to evacuate the village before the volcano erupts. As the lava comes toward the town, Aang pushes it back with strong airbending, causing Sokka to comment that Aang is a "powerful bender". This catches Katara's attention, as Aunt Wu had earlier predicted that she would marry a "powerful bender".
Episode 15 -Bato of the Water Tribe
Sokka, Aang, and Katara find a seemingly-abandoned Water Tribe ship that belongs to their father's fleet. Camping out by the boat, Sokka and Katara are overjoyed when they are soon joined by Bato, an old friend of Katara and Sokka's father, Hakoda, and a fellow member of the Southern Water Tribe. Bato had been injured in battle and temporarily left behind by the rest of the Water Tribe soldiers while he heals. While they reminisce about the old days, Aang feels left out. A messenger arrives with a message from Sokka and Katara's father for Bato, with instructions to find him. Aang intercepts it and keeps it to himself, fearing Katara and Sokka will abandon him. Later he comes clean about the message, but Sokka, furious at Aang for keeping it from them, is insistent on leaving to find his father, with Katara joining him. Meanwhile, Zuko finds a bounty hunter, June, to help him track down the Avatar, utilizing a large mammalian mount (shirshu) with a powerful sense of smell, using Katara's necklace as the scent. This leads to a skirmish, with Katara and Sokka returning to rescue Aang and resume their collective journey to the North Pole. Aang returns Katara's necklace to her after recovering it from Zuko during the fight
Episode 16 -The Deserter
Team Avatar travel into a Fire Nation town, which is hosting a festival of Fire Nation culture. Unfortunately, Aang's identity is discovered, but a strange man, Chey, helps the gang escape. Chey tells the trio about "the deserter", a man named Jeong Jeong who is the first man to desert the Fire Nation army and live. More importantly, he is a powerful firebending master who is not allied with the Fire Nation. Jeong Jeong initially refuses to teach Aang because he is not ready to handle the destruction fire can bring. It is only when Avatar Roku intervenes that Jeong Jeong consents to teach Aang. Aang, unfortunately, demonstrates difficulties with the hard discipline required for safe firebending, and accidentally burns Katara, infuriating Sokka and Jeong Jeong. This leads Katara to the realization that she can use her waterbending to heal, but Aang nevertheless comes to regard firebending as dangerous and sadly vows never to firebend again. Meanwhile, Aang is tracked down by Admiral Zhao, discovered to be Jeong Jeong's former student. He fights Aang, but Aang is able to escape him by using Zhao's lack of self-control against him and causes Zhao to burn his own ships, as pointed out by Jeong Jeong. Aang is burned during his fight with Zhao but is healed by Katara, as Jeong Jeong disappears without a trace.
Episode 17 -The Northern Air Temple
The gang hears a rumor that people who travel in the air reside at the Northern Air Temple. They are disappointed to learn that the "flying" people are not airbenders, but just people who have learned how to use gliders on the strong air currents around the temple. Aang is saddened that the current residents have remodeled the temple extensively, often knocking through walls and ornate Air Nomad architecture to accommodate steam pipes which propel their rudimentary experiments with steam pressure. Teo, a young paraplegic, convinces Aang to open the one remaining area of the temple left untouched. Aang is shocked to see the "untouched" room is in fact stocked with dozens of inventions with Fire Nation insignias on them. Teo's father, a skilled engineer and inventor, confesses to aiding the Fire Nation by building weapons in exchange for the safety of his son and his people. When the Fire Nation comes to collect their latest invention, Aang tells them to leave. The Fire Nation launches an attack against the temple, but Aang and the villagers manage to successfully defend against the attack. The Fire Nation, however, does manage to recover the mechanist's newest invention, a war balloon.
Episode 18 -The Waterbending Master
The group finally reaches the Northern Water Tribe, where they receive a hero's welcome. Sokka meets Princess Yue, the daughter of the chief of the tribe and is immediately attracted to her. Aang and Katara seek to learn waterbending from a master named Pakku, but he refuses to teach Katara, as women in the Northern Water Tribe are only trained to use their waterbending for healing, with combat training reserved for men. Katara refuses to be bound by the custom and challenges Pakku to a duel, demonstrating her considerable skill and potential. Taking notice of Katara's pendant, given to her by her mother, Pakku realizes that Katara is the granddaughter of his ex-fiancée, who also could not tolerate the Northern Water Tribe's customs and had left to start a new life with the Southern Tribe. He relents and agrees to train her. Sokka finally talks to Yue about how he feels about her, but she tearfully admits that she does have feelings for him too, but is engaged to be married. Meanwhile, Admiral Zhao hires the pirates from "The Waterbending Scroll" to assassinate Zuko after deducing that Zuko is the Blue Spirit who freed Aang. Iroh helps Zuko fake his death and feigns loyalty to Zhao. With Iroh's help, Zuko sneaks aboard Zhao's lead ship as his fleet departs for the North Pole.
Episode 19 -The Siege of the North Part 1
Some time later Katara has developed into Master Pakku's star pupil, earning her his highest praises. Sokka and Yue spend more time together including a ride on Appa, during which Sokka notices a storm of "soot", a tell-tale sign of an impending Fire Navy raid. As the tribe prepares for battle, the chief asks for volunteers for a dangerous mission, to which Sokka immediately agrees. As Zhao's armada closes in, Iroh meets with Zuko in disguise as a Fire Nation guard, as he tells Iroh that he's working on a plan of his own. As the Northern tribe takes up battle station, the raid begins. Aang and Appa work to help disable the lead ship, but are overwhelmed at the size of the fleet that follows. In preparation for the chief's secret mission of infiltrating the Fire Navy, Sokka clashes with a Northern soldier before realizing he is Yue's future husband. As nightfall nears, Iroh warns Zhao to halt the attack as the waterbenders will draw power from the nearly-full moon. Zhao cryptically notes he is working on a solution, but agrees with Iroh for the interim. Iroh then meets up with Zuko, who plans to kayak from Zhao's ship and infiltrate the North Pole to capture Aang. He nearly drowns after choosing to free swim under the glacier to find a way in, but is able to infiltrate the city. Meanwhile, Aang and Katara are brought to a spiritual oasis at the top of the city by Yue, with Aang hoping to find the Moon and Ocean spirits for help. Aang begins to meditate in front of a koi pond with two fish circling each other, and when he realizes they resemble Yin and Yang he crosses into the spirit world. Zuko arrives shortly after and battles with Katara until sunrise, when he overpowers her and escapes with Aang's body as the Fire Nation resumes the attack.
Episode 20 -The Siege of the North Part 2
Zuko struggles to find shelter for himself and Aang in the frozen tundra, while Sokka, Katara and Yue search for them, as the Fire Nation forces assault the city. In the spirit world, Roku contacts Aang and tells him that the ocean and moon spirits crossed over to the mortal world long ago, and that only one spirit is old enough to remember: Koh the Face-Stealer. Aang must show no emotion or expression at all when meeting with him, lest his face be stolen off of his head. Aang finds out from Koh that the spirits' names are Tui and La, "Push and pull", and that they are in great danger. Aang finally figures out the Koi fish are the spirits, and quickly heads back to the physical world, indirectly leading Katara, Sokka, and Yue right to his body. Zuko is quickly defeated, but Aang chooses to save him. As they fly back, Admiral Zhao captures the moon spirit, causing the moon to turn red and the waterbenders to lose their bending. Aang and Iroh both warn Zhao, explaining that the entire world depends on the balance of the moon and ocean, including the Fire Nation. Zhao initially relents, but then attacks in a fit of rage, killing the spirit and darkening the moon completely. Iroh attacks Zhao and his guards, as Zhao quickly flees. Aang goes into the Avatar State and, joining with the ocean spirit, decimates the Fire Nation armada by forming a massive spiritual being. Zuko fights Zhao in retaliation for the assassination attempt, while Iroh remains with Team Avatar to try to revive the moon spirit. Iroh recognizes that Yue was touched by the moon spirit as a baby, by her snow white hair, and Yue gives back that spark of life, sacrificing herself to save the Moon Spirit. She assumes the form of the moon spirit, and gives Sokka a final kiss goodbye. Zhao is pulled underwater to his demise by the Ocean Spirit in retaliation for slaying the Moon Spirit, arrogantly refusing to accept Zuko's help when he attempts to save him. The season ends with Pakku anointing Katara Aang's new waterbending master as the group contemplates their next destination. Fire Lord Ozai assigns Zuko's sister to hunt down her traitorous uncle and failure of a brother.