Summary
Avatar: The Last Airbender re-enters the Spirit World in an outing that ups the stakes for Season 2, producing solid character moments, a sudden loss, and somewhere to go next.
While we’re technically still stuck in Ba Sing Se, which was already beginning to feel a bit limiting, Episode 5 of Avatar: The Last Airbender Season 2 implements a smart cheat code by basing most of its runtime around a revisit to the Spirit World. As in the first season, the parallel plane of reality provides a lot of opportunities for magical narrative convenience and more intimate character development, since the usual rules don’t really apply. In one visit to a library here in “Ten Thousand Things”, we get a bit of payoff to Sokka’s pining for Yue, a complete redemption arc for Jet, and some actionable information on where the remaining couple of episodes might go. It’s well worth the cost of entry (though perhaps not for Jet, who I imagine would have a different opinion).
Keeping Up Appearances
For a while, this episode threatens to languish in Ba Sing Se too long. Aang is still keeping up appearances with Long Feng, despite knowing that he’s the commander of the Dai Li, and Long Feng knowing that Aang knows that. Meanwhile, the others are working on uncovering more information about Sozin’s Comet so that they can eventually petition the Earth King for aid. Katara meets clandestinely with General Sung, who is quietly rallying allies, and Zei works with Sokka to figure out the location of the Spirit Library, which, a bit of research quickly reveals, is probably hidden through a Spirit Scar somewhere in the lower ring.
Elsewhere, Toph gets word that her mother is due to arrive in Ba Sing Se imminently to make things right with her, and while we don’t see her arrival in this episode, we do see Toph work through her feelings over tea with Iroh, a conversation that, in turn, compels him to be more open with Zuko about the decisions he has made in raising him. Iroh is beginning to see the value in allowing Zuko to become his own man and to trust in what kind of man he will be. Based on all of the available evidence, he’ll probably end up being a useful ally to Aang and the others.
Wan Shi Tong’s Spirit Library
Katara enlists the help of Jet, initially for a bribe, for his help in navigating the lower ring to find the scar. Once it’s located, he decides to enter the Spirit Library with them in case they need help, since they’re unable to bend in the Spirit World. What he’s clearly looking for is some kind of redemption, and, well… he gets it.
Wan Shi Tong is a giant owl librarian who is pretty finicky about the library’s rules, most notably not using its accumulated knowledge to cause anyone any harm. Aang agrees not to, and Zei smartly offers the map that got them there as an exchange for entry. Ostensibly, the gang needs to provide proof of the comet’s existence and its general timeline to take to the king. This means liaising with Avatars past and working through their own issues and anxieties at the same time.
Sokka, for instance, finds a fox that he thinks will take him to Yue’s spirit, and is able to put that lingering feeling of grief to bed. Aang encounters another Air Nomad and learns that if he dies while he’s in the Avatar State, it will end the cycle and wipe out Avatars in general, throwing the entire world off-balance. The good news is that as his facility for controlling the elements increases, so too will his ability to control the Avatar State, though it’ll be dangerous either way. Katara helps Jet to unload some of his grief and anger at the Fire Nation, and Toph, crucially, runs into Kyoshi, who not only tracked the movements of Sozin’s Comet during her time (it was the Great Comet then) but also reveals some pretty critical information.
Even though the presence of the comet makes firebenders much stronger, it also makes the firebending of the Avatar much stronger, so a good Avatar can still maintain balance. But more to the point, there’s a reverse effect during the solar eclipse, of the Day of the Black Sun, as the Fire Nation calls it, when their powers shut off completely. If there’s going to be an eclipse before the arrival of the comet, then that would be the time to strike.
Azula Figures Things Out
Elsewhere, Azula, Mai, and Ty Lee have successfully managed to infiltrate Ba Sing Se under the guise of Kyoshi Warriors, and while their request to meet Aang is denied by General Sung, they’re given the same rehousing process as the Avatar was, including being doted on by Joo Dee and a surprise visit from gift-bearing Long Feng. It takes Azula all of five minutes to figure out that not all is as it seems in Ba Sing Se, and she immediately intuits that there’s a shadow leader who is really pulling the strings.
To test her theory, Azula kills Joo Dee with lightning to draw out the real boss. When she’s arrested, and Long Feng arrives to interrogate her, she realises who’s really in charge. It’s a shame she’s a bad guy, really, as she gets things done.
Also of note is that when Aang and the others are in the Spirit World, Zuko, in his vigilante disguise, finds their unconscious bodies. He sits right in front of a meditating Aang, but despite having the opportunity to kill or capture him, he decides not to.
Never Trust An Academic (Or An Owl)
Back in the Spirit Library, the gang is able to figure out the date of the next solar eclipse, but problematically, Zei rats them out to Wan Shi Tong for violating the rules, as they plan to use the knowledge they’ve acquired to destroy the Fire Nation. Wan Shi Tong turns on them immediately, eating Zei, and chases the others with designs on doing the same.
Toph is able to get out, but back in the real world, she notices that the building housing the Spirit Library is collapsing, and that Appa is being attacked and captured by unseen assailants. She has to choose one or the other, and she chooses to use her earthbending to keep a hold of the library to give the others time to escape. They do, but only because Jet sacrifices himself to buy them time.
Jet’s physical body disappears, as Zei’s did, seemingly confirming his death. When Aang realises that Appa is gone, in his rage, he instantly enters the Avatar State, which is where Avatar: The Last Airbender Season 2, Episode 5 ends. But is he emotionally stable enough to be in this state right now? I rather suspect not.
