| abstract | - In a dream, Aang wanders the ruin of the Southern Air Temple. Finding the statue of Monk Gyatso, he discovers that the statue has changed, having morphed into a doppelganger of himself in the Avatar State. As Aang sees Sokka and Katara huddling behind a rock, his doppelganger attacks him, throwing him backward. He finds himself in the Fire Nation Avatar Temple; as the doors to the inner sanctum open, the doppelganger appears within, splitting the floor and causing Aang to fall through the crack. Landing on the deck of a Fire Nation ship, he looks up, finding himself face to face with the doppelganger, which has fused with La and taken the form of a giant koi fish. As the monstrous creature slashes at him, Aang wakes up, horrified and gasping. Realizing that he was having a nightmare, he quietly leaves the hammock in which he was sleeping, albeit not quietly enough to keep from waking Katara. Moving upward to the deck of the Water Tribe ship, Aang stands by the side of the ship; following him, Katara stands next to him, asking him if he wants to talk. Aang confides to her his nightmare, and tells her that the power of the Avatar State is not just terrifying for others: it terrifies him as well. The next morning, Pakku gives them parting gifts for their journey to the Earth Kingdom base, where they will be escorted to Omashu. Katara is given an amulet filled with water from the Spirit Oasis, and Aang receives waterbending scrolls; Sokka, hoping for a gift as well, gets a disappointing pat on the shoulder and a casual "Take care, son." Elsewhere, Iroh is relaxing and getting a massage at a beautiful spa resort. Zuko however, is unhappy, as it is the three-year anniversary of his banishment from the Fire Nation, and he reiterates to Iroh his desire to reclaim his honor, the throne, and his father's respect. Iroh conjectures that the Fire Lord does care, happily explaining that he otherwise would not have banished his son. Zuko angrily leaves, leaving Iroh to ask the masseurs if what he had said had come out wrong. At sea, a Fire Nation ship carrying Princess Azula nears the Earth Kingdom. Tasked with the capture of Zuko and Iroh, she tells her crew that her brother and uncle have disgraced the Fire Lord and, by extension, brought shame on them all. She warns them that while they may hesitate about attacking people of the royal family, she will not show such restraint to punish them if they do. As she dismisses them, her captain informs her that the tides will not allow them to enter the port on time. Azula, not satisfied with the delay, threatens to have the captain be thrown overboard if he does not bring them in, and the man complies. Aang and his friends arrive at the Earth Kingdom base and are greeted with honor, as their deeds at the North Pole have become well-known. General Fong, the leader of the garrison, describes the wonder of Aang single-handedly destroying a Fire Nation fleet. Fong believes with such power, Aang is now ready to face the Fire Lord and end the Hundred Year War. Panicked, Aang believes that he is certainly not ready, explaining he was only able to do what he did because of the Avatar State, which he cannot enter willingly. After showing Aang the earth army infirmary, housing all the soldiers who were hurt by the War. Fong asks Aang to ponder an offer: allow him to help Aang gain control of the Avatar State. On her ship, Azula is practicing lightning generation, a highly advanced form of firebending. Her royal advisers, Lo and Li, watch her progress and remark she is close, but not perfect: "One hair [is] out of place." Azula angrily remarks that "almost [perfect] isn't good enough" and continues practicing, firing a bolt of lightning into the sky. Hearing the thunder from some distance away, Iroh wakes and looks around, concerned. That night, Aang goes to meet Fong, accepting his offer; returning to the room in which Katara and Sokka are sleeping, he informs them of his choice. While Sokka agrees, seeing it as a simple, obvious shortcut, Katara is very much against it, believing Aang needs to keep mastering the elements in the proper manner. Aang tells her to be realistic, believing that he does not have the time to learn all the elements "the right way," but she becomes upset and leaves the room, refusing to be a part of the plan. The next day, Fong begins testing Aang, attempting to trigger the Avatar State. First, he serves Aang a special herbal tea which increases energy ten-fold in soldiers, but it only gives Aang an energy rush. Sokka tries to scare Aang into the Avatar State, but it does not work. Fong organizes a ritual in which Aang wears clothing from all four nations and is bathed in all four elements, but it only makes him sneeze. Azula finds Iroh and Zuko at the resort and pays them a friendly visit, though both of them are suspicious of her intentions. She tells them the Fire Lord, owing to various rumors of treachery and subversion in the Fire Nation, regrets banishing his son; he wants Zuko to come home. Zuko is dumbstruck by the news, and Azula departs, requesting that they make their choice, and inform her of it, by the next morning. At sunset, Katara finds Aang on a balcony; she lets Aang know that, for those people who care about him, watching him while he is in the Avatar State is a frightening experience. As grateful as he is to know that Katara is concerned about him, Aang stands by his decision, still believing that what Fong is doing is right. Aang faults himself for being unable to stop the Hundred Year War and feels that he must try to do something about it. A saddened Katara leaves, telling him she will no longer watch their attempts to induce the Avatar State as she could not watch him do that to himself. That night, Zuko is overjoyed by the news that his father wants him to return home. Iroh is suspicious of the news, having never known the Fire Lord to be regretful of anything, and warns Zuko that things are never what they seem in their family. Zuko, upset by Iroh's assertion, angrily insults his uncle, accusing him of being jealous of his younger brother. Dreaming again, Aang has another nightmare: on Zuko's ship, Aang's Avatar State doppelganger rises out of the ocean on a column of water. Descending to the deck, it hurls the real Aang off the deck with waterbending before assaulting Zuko. Aang awakens no less terrified than before, and, waking a sleeping Sokka, tells him that trying to force the Avatar State out of himself is a bad idea. When Aang asks Sokka if General Fong will be upset by his change of heart, Sokka casually replies that there is nothing Fong could say since he is the Avatar and therefor the expert on the matter. The next morning, Zuko makes his way to the port. Initially alone, he is soon joined by Iroh, who has apparently changed his mind. Iroh tells Zuko that family sticks together, and Zuko smiles happily, but as they head for the ship, Iroh glances at it warily. Aang explains to Fong that he is done testing himself, expressing the belief that the Avatar State can only be triggered when he is in genuine danger. Fong, still bent upon inducing the Avatar State, subsequently assaults Aang with earthbending and orders his soldiers to do the same. Aang, unwilling to fight the soldiers, manages to evade their attacks, while unsuccessfully trying to persuade them to stop attacking while Sokka manages to break free from two guards attempting to restrain him. At the port, Azula warmly welcomes her brother and uncle, and they all board the ship. Azula tells the captain to set a course for home. The ship's captain, in a moment of absentmindedness, orders the crew to raise the anchors, as they are "taking the prisoners home." Iroh and Zuko do not miss the captain's slip, instantly realizing Azula's true intentions. Without wasting another second, Zuko attacks the captain, throwing him overboard, and moves to confront Azula, while Iroh fights off the ship's guards. As Aang continues to run from the earthbenders, Katara, lying on her bed, hears the noise outside. After hearing another loud rumble, she grows worried and decides to check on Aang's progress. Running down a staircase, watching General Fong and his troops attack Aang, Katara asks Sokka, who came down the opposite staircase, what is going on. Sokka briefly explains that Fong has lost it and is trying to force Aang into the Avatar State, and they both rush to help the young airbender. However, General Fong sees Katara as a last-ditch effort to induce the Avatar State and earthbends the ground beneath her, causing her to sink into it. As she is slowly swallowed by the earth, Aang begs Fong to release her, but Fong refuses to relent and lets the ground completely swallow Katara; her scream of terror is cut off as she is completely buried. Enraged, Aang enters the Avatar State. This initially delights Fong, but Aang immediately begins to devastate everything around himself indiscriminately. Zuko fights Azula, but the latter easily avoids his attacks. She taunts him by saying their father considers him a miserable failure and a liability and would prefer to let Zuko rot in prison as opposed to allowing him to further embarrass himself and the Fire Nation. Furious, Zuko renews his attacks, but he is eventually thrown harshly to the bottom of the stairs leading to the hold. As Azula prepares to kill a defenseless and disoriented Zuko with lightning, Iroh grabs hold of her hand to redirect the blast into a nearby cliffside and throws her overboard, allowing them to escape. Back at the base, Fong releases an unharmed Katara, revealing that her disappearance was merely a trick to trigger the Avatar State. Aang does not respond and continues to destroy the base. Avatar Roku suddenly appears to Aang, taking a projection of Aang's soul with him so as to explain to Aang the nature of the Avatar State. According to Roku, it is a defense mechanism designed to empower the Avatar with the skills, power, and knowledge of all his past lives. He also warns that, while its power is undeniable, it possesses a glaring weakness: if an Avatar were to be killed while in the Avatar State, the reincarnation cycle would be broken and end, destroying the Avatar. Returning to his own body and leaving the Avatar State, Aang is distressed by the destruction he has caused, but General Fong is gleeful over having succeeded in inducing the Avatar State. Aang tells him he is insane, but Fong ignores him, telling him that they can figure out how to control the Avatar State on the way to the Fire Nation. Sokka rides up to Fong and knocks him unconscious with his club, asking the remaining soldiers if they have any qualms about his actions. None of them raises an objection, and Team Avatar subsequently departs on Appa for Omashu by themselves, rejecting the escort offered to them by Fong's shell-shocked soldiers. Back in the resort village, Azula holds up a wanted poster depicting Zuko and Iroh's faces and warns the group of gathered villagers that anybody harboring them will face the Fire Lord's wrath. Zuko and Iroh, having escaped Azula's guards, stop to rest near a small creek. As a symbol of severance from their family and the Fire Nation, the pair cut off their top-knots and place them in the creek, watching as the current slowly washes them out of sight.
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