| abstract | - Aang is visited in a dream by Roku, who tells him it is time the current Avatar learns about his past life's history with Fire Lord Sozin. Roku instructs Aang to travel to the former's old home, a deserted volcanic island, during the summer solstice. Upon arriving, Toph senses there is an entire village buried beneath the volcanic ash of the island's shore. As the solstice begins, Aang meditates and meets Roku in the Spirit World. At the Fire Nation palace, Zuko is awoken by the noise of someone outside his bedroom door. He rushes out to see who it is and finds a scroll sitting on the floor, telling him he must find out about his great-grandfather's death in order to understand his own destiny. Zuko visits a portrait gallery of the past Fire Lords the next day and is greeted by his sister Azula. He asks her if she knows how their great-grandfather Fire Lord Sozin died, and she tells him he died peacefully in his sleep. Zuko mulls over the mysterious message to himself, unsure of what it means. In frustration, he throws the parchment over a lamp and discovers a hidden message in the note, telling him to go to the Dragonbone Catacombs to find the secret history. After eluding Fire Sages, Zuko infiltrates the catacombs and finds "The Final Testament of Fire Lord Sozin", an autobiographical record of his life. As Zuko reads the record, Roku shows Aang a flashback of his youth, showing him practicing his firebending with Crown Prince Sozin. Roku and Sozin were best friends. They even shared the same birthday, which they celebrated together. On their sixteenth birthday, Roku's identity as the Avatar was revealed by the Fire Sages. The two friends were forced to separate as Roku had to leave the Fire Nation to master the other three elements. Before leaving, Sozin gave Roku a gift: the hair ornament customarily worn by the Crown Prince of the Fire Nation. Roku wore it ever since. Roku began his journey at the Southern Air Temple, training to master airbending. There he became friends with young Gyatso, a fact that surprises and delights young Aang. Roku tells Aang that some friendships are so strong, they can transcend lifetimes. After several years mastering airbending, Roku traveled to the Northern Water Tribe where he learned waterbending. Though it was challenging to learn his natural opposite, after several years Roku mastered it as well. He journeyed to the Earth Kingdom, where he mastered the last remaining element with an earthbender named Sud before becoming a fully realized Avatar. After the twelve years of training, Roku had returned to the Fire Nation. His old friend Sozin had become the Fire Lord and greeted him warmly. Roku married his childhood sweetheart, Ta Min, with Sozin as his best man. During the wedding, Sozin took Roku aside and remarked that the Fire Nation was going through a period of great prosperity. With him as the Fire Lord and Roku as the Avatar, he believed the two of them could spread the Fire Nation's influence and create a prospering empire. Roku was greatly disturbed by this, telling Sozin that the four nations were meant to be kept separate and to abandon such thoughts. Many years later, Roku discovered that Sozin had ignored his request and invaded the Earth Kingdom. He confronted Sozin and demanded he cease the expansion. Enraged, Sozin attacked Roku with a powerful display of firebending. Roku quickly disabled him and used the Avatar State to destroy the palace. The Avatar starkly warned Sozin he was sparing his life in recognition of their past friendship, but warned if he overstepped his boundaries again he would not hesitate to eliminate him. Twenty-five years later, Roku's island was consumed in a volcanic eruption. Roku helped his island's villagers escape safely and tried to contain the eruption, but without success. So massive was the eruption that Sozin could see and feel it from a hundred miles away. Sozin flew to the island on his blue dragon to assist his old friend, and the two worked together to try and quell the volcano. Their effort appeared successful, yet the poisonous gas from the volcano overwhelmed Roku and caused him to collapse to the ground. He called to Sozin for help, but Sozin realized the elimination of the Avatar would make all his future plans for the Fire Nation suddenly possible. He flew away on his dragon, leaving Roku and his dragon, Fang, to die from the torrent of volcanic ash. Shortly afterward, as Roku exhaled his last breath, Avatar Aang was born to the Air Nomads. Zuko finishes reading Sozin's testament, which explains Sozin attacked the Air Nomads to eliminate the next Avatar, but the Avatar managed to escape somehow. Sozin spent the rest of his life searching fruitlessly to find the Fire Nation's greatest threat: "The Last Airbender." Zuko is disappointed by the ending, still not understanding how it concerns him. Zuko goes to the Fire Nation jail tower and bursts angrily into Iroh's cell. He accuses Iroh of having sent him the message and demands the point, as the testament did not even reveal anything significant about Sozin's death. Iroh explains that the message did not refer to his father's grandfather, Sozin, but to his mother's grandfather, Avatar Roku. Zuko is alarmed by this, and Iroh further explains that their combined heritage is the reason Zuko is still conflicted over his destiny; whether he should destroy or assist the Avatar. Iroh gives Zuko the lost Crown Prince's ornamental hairpiece, telling him he alone has the power to redeem their family and the sins of Fire Nation by restoring balance to the world. Awakening from his vision with Roku, Aang tells his friends the story. He believes Roku was trying to tell him that any person is capable of great good or great evil, and that every person should be treated as though they are worth giving a chance for redemption. Toph wonders if friendships can really transcend lifetimes; Aang and Katara hold her hand to assure her, yet Sokka is skeptical, saying there's no real scientific proof. Annoyed, Katara demands he just hold hands with the rest of them, which he quickly does.
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