History Recap / AvatarTheLastAirbenderTheEarthKing

** Katara immediately says Sokka should be the one to go see their father, hinting at her hurt at him which will come to the forefront later.

-->'''Sokka''': Looks like Long Feng is... "Long ''Gone''"!* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: The Earth King is naturally reluctant to trust Aang's group after they beat their way to him, but he's willing to hear them out when he hears that Aang is the Avatar and is on their side once given evidence of Long Feng's treachery and the Fire Nation's siege. He openly admitted in hoping that the war effort ''wasn't'' true, and later admits that he'd been a fool to trust Long Feng so completely.

* JustForPun: Sokka has been admittedly saving this for the day Long Feng finally gets his comeuppance. He makes use of it during the man's arrest.
-->'''Sokka''': Looks like Long Feng is... "Long ''Gone''"!

* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: The Earth King is naturally reluctant to trust Aang's group after they beat their way to him, but he's willing to hear them out when he hears that Aang is the Avatar and is on their side once given evidence of Long Feng's treachery and the Fire Nation's siege. He openly admitted in hoping that the war effort ''wasn't'' true, and later admits that he'd been a fool to trust Long Feng so completely.

* NiceJobBreakingItHero: Politically destabilizing Ba Sing Se may have been the right thing to do, [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome but carries dire consequences that are not easily dealt with]].

* SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome:
** The Gaang, by this point utterly fed up with trying to navigate the conspiracies and lies in Ba Sing Se, decide to go directly to the Earth King to explain what's going on. Except that in order to ''get'' to him, they have to launch an all-out attack on the palace, fight numerous guards, ''and'' their enemy Long Feng already got there before them. Understandably, the Earth King isn't inclined to hear them out at first, and when he's calmed down he wants proof before he believes their (apparently) wild claims.
** Following on from that, when the Gaang take him to see Lake Laogai, they find the entrance has been destroyed and likely the rest of the facility has suffered the same fate. Obviously Long Feng and the Dai Li weren't going to leave incriminating evidence around. However, they're unable to do the same with the Fire Nation's drill, as it's out in plain sight and far too many people know about it already.

* CassandraTruth: Played with. On one hand, the Earth King isn't so easily swayed into believing Team Avatar's story about a war going on outside of the city's walls, between the kids' recent shenanigans and Long Feng's influence. But he's not too hard-headed to [[ReasonableAuthorityFigure give them a chance]].

* TookALevelInBadass: This episode really showcases how good at earthbending Aang has become,to the point where he's able to split rocks in ''half'' with his staff. Keep in mind his staff is ''wooden''.

* YouMeddlingKids: This must be Long Feng's thought when getting arrested after the Gaang successfully challenged his story of the drill being a construction project.

* BlatantLies: When Long Feng tries to explain the Fire Nation drill.
-->'''Long Feng:''' This is nothing more than ... a construction project.\\

''[[caption-width-right:333:The Gaang finally gains an audience with the Earth King.]]''

With the return of Appa completing the team at last, Sokka, encouraged by their new turn of good luck, suggests that they hurry to see the Earth King. Toph and Katara disagree, wanting to cut their losses and get out of Ba Sing Se while luck still seems on their side, but when Aang agrees with Sokka, Katara changes her mind, leaving Toph outvoted. After a massive battle, in which the team fights their way past the palace guards and into the throne room, they finally have their audience with the Earth King, only to find that Long Feng has beat them there. With the chancellor throwing doubt on their story, Team Avatar must convince the King that, not only has Long Feng been at the head of a conspiracy to control Ba Sing Se, but that the world is at war.

* GroundShatteringLanding: A group of earthbender soldiers are tossed in the air when Aang lands this way.

** The Gaang, by this point utterly fed up with trying to navigate the conspiracies and lies in Ba Sing Se, decide to go directly to the Earth King to explain what's going on. Except that in order to ''get'' to him, they have to launch an all out attack on the palace, fight numerous guards, ''and'' their enemy Long Feng already got there before them. Understandably, the Earth King isn't inclined to hear them out at first, and when he's calmed down he wants proof before he believes their (apparently) wild claims.

* UncertainDoom: That Azula, Mai, and Ty Lee have Kyoshi Warrior outfits indicate they defeated Suki and co. but the exact fate of the latter isn't revealed until later.

* WideEyedIdealist: The Earth King is unconvinced about the kids warning him about the Fire Nation attack, but soon explicitly tells Aang that he ''hopes'' they are lying, since he was so used to peace. Aang shares the same sentiment.

* HopeSpot: Toph's gotten a letter that her mother wants to mend their relationship, the Earth King is on Team Avatar's side, Ba Sing Se's forces will now join the war, Aang will meet Guru Patik, Sokka will see his father again, and according to a messenger, the Kyoshi warriors have arrived at the city. What could possibly go wrong? (See {{Cliffhanger}}).

* NiceJobBreakingItHero: Politically destabilizing Ba Sing Se may have been the right thing to do, [[RealityEnsues but carries dire consequences that are not easily dealt with]].

* RealityEnsues:
** The Gaang, by this point utterly fed up with trying to navigate the conspiracies and lies in Ba Sing Se, decide to go directly to the Earth King to explain what's going on. Except that in order to ''get'' to him, they have to launch an all out attack on the palace, fight numerous guards, ''and'' their enemy Long Feng already got there before them. Understandably, the Earth King isn't inclined to hear them out at first, and when he's calmed down he wants proof before he believes their (apparently) wild claims.
** Following on from that, when the Gaang take him to see Lake Laogai, they find the entrance has been destroyed and likely the rest of the facility has suffered the same fate. Obviously Long Feng and the Dai Li weren't going to leave incriminating evidence around. However, they're unable to do the same with the Fire Nation's drill, as it's out in plain sight and far too many people know about it already.

* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: The Earth King is naturally reluctant to trust Aang's group after they beat their way to him, but he's willing to hear them out when he hears that Aang is the Avatar and is completely on their side once given evidence of Long Feng's treachery and the Fire Nation's siege. He even admits that he'd been a fool to trust Long Feng so completely.

* WhamShot: The last scene shows that Azula and her friends are impersonating the Kyoshi Warriors.

* {{Cliffhanger}}: So things are looking good for Team Avatar! Everything seems to be going their way for once. Right? '''NOPE'''. Toph's letter from her mother was a trap set by Xin Fu and Master Yu, the Dai Li are still loyal to Long Feng, and the Kyoshi Warriors are actually Azula, Mai, and Ty Lee in disguise.

* {{Foreshadowing}}: The two Dai Li agents briefly hesitate and give each other a knowing look before arresting Long Feng. This is hint that they have not changed their ways and are still feigning loyalty to the Earth King.

* MuggedForDisguise: The ending reveals this is why Azula, Mai, and Ty Lee attacked the Kyoshi Warriors.

* OffhandBackhand: Aang discharges an earthbender flak attack without looking at the projectile.

* SayingTooMuch: Long Feng revealing that the group attacking the palace are the Avatar and his posse, as oppose to some anarchists, leaves the Earth King curious enough to hear them out as oppose to throwing the book at them.

* TemptingFate: At the end of the episode, when things are looking better than they ever did, Sokka proclaims: "Everything will work out perfectly; from now on and forever!" Cue the Dai Li revealing that they're still loyal to Long Feng, Toph being kidnapped by Xin Fu and Master Yu, and the WhamShot showing Azula and her friends disguised as Kyoshi warriors.

* WhamShot: The last scene shows that Azula and her friends impersonated the Kyoshi Warriors.

* DumbassHasAPoint: The Earth King may be naive and sheltered, but (as even Toph acknowledges) he's understandably angry about a bunch of strange children attacking his palace, bursting into his throne room after decimating his guards, and then saying that he needs to trust that they have a good reason for doing it.