Tim Hendrick wrote The Deserter, which first aired on 21 October, 2005. Aang (Zach Tyler Eisen), Katara (Mae Whitman) and Sokka (Jack De Sena) find themselves near a Fire Nation village which is hosting a celebration, something Aang would like to take a look at as he will have to learn firebending soon.

The visit doesn’t go well, but brings them into contact with a deserter, the first person to ever leave the Fire Nation army, a powerful firebender named Jeong Jeong (Keone Young). He initially refuses to teach Aang any firebending techniques, advising him that he should learn the others first, as firebending takes the most control, but after a mystical encounter with Avatar Roku (James Garrett) Jeong Jeong relents.

He advises Aang to learn control, and not be impulsive, his last student had control problems, and Aang is about to come into conflict with him, Admiral Zhao (Jason Isaacs).

Through the course of his training, he injures Katara, something that makes him rethink his approach to firebending, but she is able to heal herself, a rare waterbending talent that shows itself.

Aang is able to deal with Zhao, without fighting, and our heroes are able to continue their journey towards the North Pole!

The Northern Air Temple was directed by Dave Filoni and was written by Elizabeth Welch Ehasz and debuted on 4 November, 2005.

Aang is initially very upset when the group arrives at the Northern Air Temple, following rumours of people being able to fly, and discovers that it’s been taken over by a Mechanist (Rene Auberjonois), his disabled son Teo (Daniel Samonas) and a group of their people.

A friendship, however, is soon forged between Teo and the group, which is almost shattered when they learn that his father is making weapons for the Fire Nation. When Aang confronts the Fire Nation representative who has come for an update, he sets into motion a chain of events that will lead to an all-out Fire Nation assault on the temple, and require the skills of everyone to fend them off.

The Mechanist is even able to make his war balloon work, but we discover, as the episode ends, that despite the Fire Nation being bested on this occasion, they now have the balloon and can use it for their own ends.

This episode is big, and epic, and the battle scenes are very well thought out and constructed, creating a worrying tension of what is to come.

The Waterbending Master is the penultimate story before the two-part season finale. It first aired on 18 November, 2005 and was written by one of the series creators Micheal Dante DiMartino there’s a lot going on, and it’s setting up the season finale nicely.

Zhao makes a move against Zuko (Dante Basco) using pirates in an attempt to assassinate him. He survives, and Iroh (Mako) joins Zhao’s crew as support for Zuko, who is now disguised as a soldier amongst Zhao’s crew.

Aang, Katara, and Sokka finally arrive at the Northern Water Tribe, and they are overjoyed and excited to realize that they may be waterbending soon. While Soka is off making eyes at Princess Yue (Johanna Braddy), Aang and Katara are shocked to discover that the waterbending master, Pakku (Victor Brandt) refuses to teach women.

Katara is rightfully infuriated, and as things escalate, she challenges him to a fight over his sexist views, which she knows she can’t win.

Sokka is sad to learn that Yue is engaged, despite their feelings for one another, and Katara learns that her gran-gran came from this tribe, and surprise, was originally engaged (arranged marriages seem to be the tribe’s tradition) to marry Pakku!

As Pakku finally welcomes Katara to his classes, Zhao leads a giant Fire Nation fleet north, heading right for the Northern Water Tribe!

Next time I finish book one as I continue my exploration of Avatar: The Last Airbender – The Complete Series, which is now available on DVD and Blu-Ray from Paramount Canada.