History Recap / AvatarTheLastAirbenderTheEarthKing

** A small one for [[WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra the sequel series]]. Long Feng describes Team Avatar as an "anarchist cell" and claims "If you listen to them, you're playing right into your own destruction." In ''The Legend of Korra'', we see exactly that; a diverse group of benders making up part of an anarchist cell manipulate the Earth Queen into listening to them, which directly leads to her demise at their hands.

** A small one for Legend of Korra, from Long Feng. He describes Team Avatar as an "anarchist cell" and claims "If you listen to them, you're playing right into your own destruction." In Legend of Korra, we see exactly that: A diverse group of benders making up part of an anarchist cell, who manipulate the Earth Queen into listening to them, and this directly leads to her demise at their hands.

* SayingToMuch: 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.

* WhamEpisode: The entire episode. The Gaang meets the Earth King, introduces him to the war, and helps him learn about the Dai Li's conspiracy. Long Feng is arrested, and the Gaang gets letters that were previously intercepted by Long Feng. Toph learns that her mom wants to reunite, Aang gets a message from the Eastern Air Temple, Sokka and Katara learn where their father is, and the Kyoshi Warriors have arrived. The team splits up, completely unaware that Toph's letter was a trap that resulted in her kidnapping, the Dai Li are still allied with Long Feng even with him in prison, and the Kyoshi Warriors are actually Azula's gang in disguise.

* 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.

* {{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 Sokka vouched for are actually Azula, Mai, and Ty Lee in disguise.

* 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.

* {{Cliffhanger}}: So things are looking good for Team Avatar! Everything seems to be going their way for once. Right? '''WRONG'''. 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 Sokka vouched for are actually Azula, Mai, and Ty Lee in disguise.

!!Tropes

* ICanExplain: Long Feng wants the king to believe that the drill is merely a construction project. The fire nation insignia puts a spanner in his story though.

* MightAsWellNotBeInPrisonAtAll: Long Feng operates out of his prison cell like from an office.

* 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 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.

* 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]]

* 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 [[ReasonablyAuthoritativeFigure give them a chance]]

* TrueCompanions: "Split up? But we just got the family back together!"

* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: The Earth King heavily resembles Puyi, the last Emperor of China. Like Kuei, Puyi was made emperor at a very young age and was a puppet emperor during his early childhood and later under the Japanese occupation. Puyi was also trapped for years inside the Forbidden City, similar to how the Earth King never left the palace. The Earth King also wears spectacles, like Puyi did, and clothing based on the Chaofu, ceremonial clothing of the Manchu emperors of the Qing Dynasty.

* WhatCouldPossiblyGoWrong: Invoked by Sokka.

* HopeSpot: Everything is looking up. Long Feng has been arrested, the Earth Kingdom military is preparing for an invasion of the Fire Nation, Toph's mother appears to be waiting for her, and Kyoshi Warriors have arrived. It is then revealed that the Dai Li remain secretly loyal to Long Feng, Toph walks into a trap laid by Master Yu and Xin Fu, and the Kyoshi Warriors turn out to be Princess Azula and her friends, with Azula preparing her most ambitious gambit yet.

-->"I want to thank you, young heroes, for opening my eyes. All this time, what I thought was a great metropolis was merely a city of fools. And that makes me the king fool."

'''Aang:''' Katara? I--\\

* 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''

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