Zhao (Jason Isaacs) gets promoted to admiral in his search for the Avatar, and he recruits several expert archers to help him. Iroh (Mako) is happy for him, but Zuko (Dante Basco) is less than thrilled, in The Blue Spirit.

Written by series creators Micheal Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko, this episode debuted on 17 June, 2005 and was directed by Dave Filoni.

Aang (Zach Tyler Eisen) heads out to find a remedy for Sokka (Jack De Sena) and Katara (Mae Whitman) who have fallen ill, unfortunately, he falls afoul of Zhao’s new archers and ends up captured. Zhao won’t kill Aang, because that will only allow the Avatar to reincarnate, instead, he plans to keep him prisoner, and the Fire Nation will grow in strength as the comet draws closer.

Watching it all is someone in a blue mask, The Blue Spirit. Whoever it is, they rescue Aang, and the pair fight together to escape the Fire Nation stronghold, even as Katara and Sokka fall into deeper delirium from their illness (whose cure will require them to suck on a frozen frog).

And guess who the Blue Spirit is? Zuko! Who is determined to make sure that he brings in the Avatar, not Zhao.

There are some great action beats, and it’s fascinating to watch Aang and Zuko as the Blue Spirit fight together, there’s a real connection between the two, which is sundered as soon as Zuko’s identity is revealed.

This is one of my favourite episodes so far.

The Fortuneteller was also directed by Filoni and was written by Aaron Ehasz and John O’Bryan. It first debuted on 23 September, 2005, four months after the last episode!

Aang tries to show Katara how he feels about her like it isn’t obvious to everyone, and they encounter a fortune-teller, Aunt Wu (Tsai Chin) who is, according to the stories, never wrong in her prophecies.

Katara friend zones Aang, which bums him out, and things get more complicated when Aunt Wu’s young assistant, Meng (Micheala Jill Murphy), crushes on him.

Aunt Wu predicts that Katara will marry a powerful bender and have several children, while Aang will be involved in an epic battle between good and evil, something he already knew. He was more interested in his love life.

Sokka refuses to believe any of the predictions, and Aang can’t get through to Katara about the way he feels.

All of this takes place in a village that lies in the shadow of a volcano, which surprise, is about to erupt although Aunt Wu said the village won’t be destroyed by the volcano. But, our heroes are able to save the day, and the village from the volcano, proving the prediction was true.

This one is cute and fun and lets Sokka be the butt of several comedic moments, even as Katara makes a realization.

Bato of the Water Tribe first aired on 7 October, 2005 and was written by Ian Wilcox.

When the group encounters Bato (Richard McGonagle), they learn he is a friend of Katara and Sokka’s father, Hakoda (Andre Sogliuzzo), and he extends an offer to them to join the Water Tribe’s Navy, which would eventually reunite them with their father.

This causes Aang to leave his friends behind to continue his journey north, Katara and Sokka rethink their decision, wanting to keep their promise to their friend, but things escalate quickly as Zuko and Iroh, hire a bounty hunter, June (Jennifer Hale) to track down Aang, but the scent leads her right to Katara and Sokka.

But Aang has a secret now, he has intercepted a message from Hakoda’s navy, and isn’t sharing it. When he reveals the message and map, the party breaks up, and they go their separate ways. When Aang learns that Zuko is in pursuit and using Katara’s necklace to track them, Aang returns to fight Zuko (and reclaim Katara’s necklace).

There’s some nice messages here about being truthful and honest, as well as loyal to your friends and promises. And it’s an interesting new dynamic between Aang and Zuko fighting one another after so recently fighting together.

Aang’s journey continues next week as I enjoy more of Avatar: The Last Airbender – The Complete Series on Blu-Ray, available now from Paramount Canada.