The Storm (Avatar: The Last Airbender)

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Avatar: The Last Airbender episode
"The Storm"
Zuko walking
Book	One: Water
Chapter	Twelve
Episode #	Twelve
Prod. code	112
Airdate	June 3, 2005
Writer(s)	Aaron Ehasz
Director	Lauren MacMullan
Guest star(s)	Sab Shimono (Monk Gyatso) Mark Hamill (Fire Lord Ozai) Jim Meskimen (Lieutenant Jee) Robert Pine (Fisherman) Susan Silo (Fisherman's Wife) Clyde Kusatsu (Air Monk)

Previous episode
"The Great Divide"
Next episode
"The Blue Spirit"

"The Storm" is an episode from the animated television series Avatar: The Last Airbender, which airs on Nickelodeon. It is the twelfth episode of the first season of the series.

A powerful storm brings up painful memories of the past - and puts everyone in jeopardy in the present.

[edit] Episode synopsis

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Aang has a strange dream about his past that clearly troubles him, but does not tell the others. It started happily with Aang, Katara and Sokka unrealistically flying through the skies, but suddenly Aang becomes alone and is trapped in a storm and plunges into the sea...

Aang, Katara and Sokka stop by a market, but then realize they're out of food and money. They run into a fisherman, who hires Sokka, but when he finds out that Aang is the Avatar, he yells at him that "he turned his back on the world." Aang becomes upset, so he flies away into a cave. Katara reprimands the fisherman for his harsh words, and goes after Aang, as a horrible storm begins brewing.

Aang starts telling his story, beginning with the day the monks told him he was the Avatar. Burdened with extra training exercises and ostracized from his friends, Aang becomes confused and afraid: so when he learns that the monks are planning to separate him from his guardian, Gyatso, he decides to run away. Aang is caught in a horrible storm, and as he is about to drown, the Avatar Spirit inside him forms an air pocket, saving himself and Appa but freezing them inside for the next 100 years. Aang suffers terrible guilt over abandoning the world, but Katara convinces him that "it was meant to be", and he "gives people hope."

Meanwhile Iroh predicts that there will be a terrible storm, but Prince Zuko informs him that capturing the Avatar is more important then the crew's safety. When the lieutenant hears this, he tells Zuko that he knows nothing about respect and calls him a "spoiled prince."

Zuko, and Azula playing with Ozai watching them as seen in a picture flashback

While the lieutenant is complaining about Zuko and his obsession with capturing the Avatar, Zuko and the lieutenant make to fight but are stopped by Iroh. Later, when the lieutenant is badmouthing Zuko, Iroh comes in and explains why Zuko is as he is. The story starts with a handsome, younger Zuko, with more soulful eyes (as opposed to his usual glaring expression in the show's present time), a full head of hair, and doesn't have his scar yet. He complains to his uncle that he wants to get into his father's war chamber, and although he initially refuses, Iroh allows him to join, on the condition that he remain silent.

When one of the generals suggests sacrificing the 41st division as "bait," Prince Zuko speaks up against it. Zuko's father, Fire Lord Ozai grows angry, and demands a fire duel, or "Agni Kai" to solve the matter. Zuko agrees to the duel, believing that he is going to fight the general, but it is revealed that his opponent is the Fire Lord. In the duel, Zuko cries, "Please father, I only had the Fire Nation's best interests at heart! I'm sorry I spoke out of turn!" Ozai states, "You will fight for your honor." Zuko falls to his hands and knees, and begs "I meant you no disrespect! I am your loyal son!" Ozai says, "Rise and fight, Prince Zuko!" Then Zuko falls all the way to the ground and declares, "I won't fight you." As Zuko rises to look at his father while crying, the Fire Lord demands, "You will learn respect, and suffering will be your teacher." The screen lights up as Zuko screams; Ozai has burned his son's face, causing Zuko's distinctive scar.

Iroh explains that Prince Zuko was banished because his refusal to fight was seen as "shameful weakness," and the only way to redeem himself is by capturing the Avatar. Iroh adds that life will never return to normal, but that the Avatar gives Zuko hope...

Lightning strikes the ship. In a move of true selflessness, Zuko saves the helmsman, with the help of the lieutenant. While Zuko and Lieutenant Jee are attempting to save the helmsman, Iroh is shown redirecting lightning away from striking the ship. Meanwhile, Aang and Katara go rescue the fisherman and Sokka. When the trio and the fisherman pop out of the water close to Zuko's ship, he allows them to fly away, deciding that it is more important to help his crew get to safety. He also apologizes to his uncle.

[edit] Notes

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to:

The Storm

For a split second at the end of Aang's dream, there is a brief image of Fire Lord Ozai.
This is the first episode in which Azula, Zuko's sister, appears, though she is only briefly seen smirking in the crowd during a flashback of Zuko's Agni Kai with his father. Zhao is also seen smirking.
Iroh is seen redirecting lightning for the first time.
It is greatly stressed in this episode how the Avatar is a symbol of hope for all peoples alike. In an attempt to cheer Aang up, Katara notes how he "gives people hope" in ending the century-long war. With those same words, Iroh states that the Avatar gives Zuko hope of regaining his honor, although they are apparent enemies. These two scenes were explicitly juxtaposed to stress this point.
This is the favorite episode of Zuko's voice actor, Dante Basco. During the scene where Zuko faces against his father in the Agni Kai, Basco worked with Mark Hamill and relates the scene to those in Star Wars in which Luke Skywalker (Hamill) faces off with Darth Vader.
This is Michael DiMartino's third favorite episode because of how the story goes deep into both Aang's and Zuko's pasts.
It was shown that the four toys Aang chose that determined his destiny are a clay turtle flute (Water), a string-powered propeller (Air), a wooden Hog-Monkey (Earth) and a wooden hand drum (Fire). This method is akin to the one used in determining the next incarnation of the Dalai Lama
During one of Aang's flashbacks to his life before being trapped in the iceberg, two Airbenders are seen playing the Avatar world's own version of "Rock, Paper, Scissors," the difference being that the four elements are used instead of the familiar stationery. In the three rounds seen playing, two hand forms were shown: a pound fist later revealed to represent Earth, and what looked like a "stop" hand or a "eight trigram palm" from Baguazhang. This game is seen again in "City of Walls and Secrets" when it is played by Aang and Sokka. As revealed in the later episode, Earth appears to beat Fire, which had the hand emulating flames or what looked like a dragon grasp from Northern Shaolin style.