History Recap / AvatarTheLastAirbenderTheWinterSolsticePart1

* PandaingToTheAudience: Hei Bai's calmer, friendlier form is a panda.

* {{Foreshadowing}}: Iroh is the only person who can see Roku's dragon in the Spirit World. Either he's very familiar with [[Recap/AvatarTheLastAirbenderTheFirebendingMasters dragons]] or he's very familiar with [[WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLegendOfKorra the Spirit World]].

[[quoteright:333:Aang encounters Roku's dragon, Fang.]]

* BilingualBonus: "Hei Bai" in Chinese means "Black White." Something that is said in the episode itself.

* CurbStompBattle
-->'''Earthbender:''' Surrender yourselves! It's five against two-- you're clearly outnumbered.\\
'''Iroh:''' Ah, that's true... but you are ''clearly '''outmatched!'''''

* EmpathyPet: This episode questions what Appa's true relationship with Aang is. It is just a normal ABoyAndHisX? Or is there a special bond, like with Roku and his dragon? Do all Avatars have this 'Animal Guide'?

* FlashStep: Hei Bai uses this while trashing the village.
* {{Foreshadowing}}: Iroh is the only person who can see Roku's dragon in the Spirit World. Either he's very familiar with [[Recap/AvatarTheLastAirbenderTheFirebendingMasters dragons]] or he's very familiar with [[WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLegendOfKorra the Spirit World.]]
* FriendOrIdolDecision: Zuko has to chose between the chance to track down the Avatar, or to save his Uncle Iroh. He chooses the latter.

* GaiasVengeance: Hei Bai blames the villagers for what happened to the forest.

* PlotCoupon: The acorn.

[[quoteright:333:''Aang encounters Roku's dragon, Fang.'']]

''[[quoteright:333:Aang encounters Roku's dragon, Fang.]]''

-->--'''Aang'''

* InvisibleToNormals: Iroh is somehow able to see Aang riding Fang when Aang is in the Spirit World. Everyone else doesn’t see or hear Aang.

** Later, a group of earthbenders find him still bathing and capture him, but they wrap a ModestyTowel around him off-screen so they wouldn't "experience" what Zuko saw earlier.

* NoSell: Sokka’s attack on Hei Bai goes about as well as you’d expect.

* RetiredBadass: Where to start? There were always hints that Iroh was awesome, but this is where it first becomes clear. His nickname is 'The Dragon of the West'? He laid siege to the city of Ba Sing Se for 600 days straight? He can see the spiritual forms of Aang and the dragon when no one else can? Oh, and don't forget; this old, over-weight man can manage to escape four young and fit earthbenders, while naked and chained, all on his own.

* TwoLinesNoWaiting: The A story is Aang's attempt to stop Hei Bai, while the B story is Zuko's rescue of his uncle from the Earth Kingdom troops. There's a little interaction, as Iroh can see Aang in spirit form flying on the dragon (the only person in the physical world in this episode who can), while Zuko can see Appa flying in the distance, but chooses rescuing Iroh over another attempt to catch the Avatar.

* AwLookTheyReallyDoLoveEachOther: So far, Zuko's been dead-set on capturing the Avatar and only ever acted annoyed with his Uncle, but when faced with the decision between chasing Aang or saving Iroh, he chooses to help his Uncle.

* {{Foreshadowing}}: Iroh is the only person who can see Roku's dragon in the astral plane. Either he's very familiar with [[Recap/AvatarTheLastAirbenderTheFirebendingMasters dragons]] or he's very familiar with [[WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLegendOfKorra the astral plane.]]

* WhamLine: The episode ends with Aang informing his friends that he has to contact Avatar Roku during the winter solstice, which is the next day. Oh, and did he mention that the place he has to do it is in the Fire Nation?

Aang finds himself in a small Earth Kingdom village that is being attacked by a monster from the Spirit World. One night, this monster (named Hei Bai) captures Sokka. Aang decides to go after him. But after Aang is knocked out, he accidentally ends up in the Spirit World. There, he is told that Avatar Roku has a message for him. Aang proceeds to calm the attacking beast, restoring peace to the village. Meanwhile, Iroh gets captured by the Earth Kingdom. The soldiers who captured him wish to take him back to Ba Sing Se to face justice, the city Iroh laid siege to for 600 days during his youth as a Fire Nation general. This causes Zuko to pause his chase for the Avatar and to instead go after Iroh.

** Sokka ''tries'' to do this for Aang, but gets kidnapped instead. [[BigBrotherInstinct The thought]] was appreciated though.
* BilingualBonus: "Hei Bai" in Chinese means, "Black White." Something that is said in the episode itself.
-->'''Village Leader:''' He is Hei Bai--the black and white spirit.

-->'''Earthbender:''' Surrender yourselves! It's five against two -- you're clearly outnumbered.\\

* DudeInDistress: Hei Bai captures Sokka who (along with other villagers that Hei Bai kidnapped) has to be freed by Aang.

* GaiasLament: At the beginning of the episode, the Gaang come across a forest that's been burnt to the ground and Aang laments over its destruction.

** At the start, he bathes in a self-heated pool of water that he has turned into his own {{hot spring|sepisode}}, which gets {{interrupted|bath}} when Zuko comes to fetch him, Iroh [[SexySurfacingShot jokingly complies]] causing Zuko to have a BrainBleach upon [[FanDisservice seeing his uncle naked]].

** When Zuko arrives to rescue Iroh they fight together to defeat the earthbenders, with [[FullFrontalAssault Iroh still barely wearing anything]]. When the fight ends Zuko finally snarks at him to PleasePutSomeClothesOn.

* ObfuscatingStupidity: After being captured, Iroh does his best to give the impression he's just a kooky, harmless old man past his glory days, to make his captors lower their guard.

* RetiredBadass: Where to start. There were always hints that Iroh was awesome, but this is where it first becomes clear. His nickname is 'The Dragon of the West'? He laid siege to the city of Ba Sing Se for 600 days straight? He can see the spiritual forms of Aang and the dragon when no one else can? Oh, and don't forget; this old, over-weight man can manage to escape four young and fit earthbenders naked and chained all on his own.
* RipVanTinkle: Sokka gets trapped in the Spirit World. 24 hours later, after coming out he desperately needs to use the bathroom.

* WhamLine: The episode ends with Aang informing his friends that he has to contact Avatar Roku during the winter solstice, which is the next day. Oh, and did he mention the place he has to do it is in the Fire Nation?

* ToiletHumor: Sokka gets trapped in the Spirit World. 24 hours later, after coming out he desperately needs to use the bathroom.

Aang finds himself in a small Earth Kingdom village that is being attacked by a monster from the Spirit World. One night, this monster (named Hei Bai) captures Sokka. Aang decides to go after him. But after Aang is knocked out, he accidentally ends up in the Spirit World. There, he is told that Avatar Roku has a message for him. Aang proceeds to calm the attacking beast, restoring peace to the village. Meanwhile, Iroh gets captured by the Earth Kingdom. The soldiers who captured him wish to take him back to Ba Sing Se to face justice, the city Iroh laid siege to for 600 days during his youth as a Fire Nation general. This causes Zuko to stop his chase for the Avatar and to instead go after Iroh.

!!Tropes:

* BilingualBonus: "Hei Bai" in Chinese means, "Black White". Something that is said in the episode itself.

'''Iroh:''' That's true... but you are ''clearly '''outmatched!'''''

* ExpositionBeam: The dragon sends these to [[https://reconectandocongema.files.wordpress.com/2015/06/mezcla-genc3a9tica.jpg Aang's forehead]] which teaches the boy about the calendar and the deadline he has to beat.

* ImprovisedWeapon: Iroh uses his chains to fight back against the Earthbenders.

** Later, a group of Earthbenders find him still bathing and capture him, but they wrap a ModestyTowel around him off-screen so they wouldn't "experience" what Zuko saw earlier.
** When Zuko arrives to rescue Iroh they fight together to defeat the Earthbenders, with [[FullFrontalAssault Iroh still barely wearing anything]]. When the fight ends Zuko finally snarks at him to PleasePutSomeClothesOn.

* NoSell: Sokka’s attack on Hei Bai goes about as well as you’ expect.
* ObfuscatingStupidity: After being capture, Iroh does his best to give the impression he's just a kooky, harmless old man past his glory days, to make his captors lower their guard.
* OneWingedAngel: The first form of Hei Bai, when angered, is a large black-and-white creature with an extra pair of arms near its face and wearing a terrifying expression.

* RetiredBadass: Where to start. There were always hints that Iroh was awesome, but this is where it first becomes clear. His nickname is 'The Dragon of the West'? He laid siege to the city of Ba Sing Se for 600 days straight? He can see the spiritual forms of Aang and the dragon when no one else can? Oh, and don't forget; this old, over-weight man can manage to escape four young and fit Earthbenders naked and chained all on his own.
* SceneryCensor: When Zuko ordered Iroh to get out of the hot springs, he effectively used his hand to cover [[BrainBleach his uncle's nether-regions.]]
* ToiletHumor: Sokka gets trapped in the Spirit World and 24 hours later after coming out desperately needing to use the bathroom.

* TwoLinesNoWaiting: The A story is Aang's attempt to stop the Hei Bai, while the B story is Zuko's rescue of his uncle from the Earth Kingdom troops. There's a little interaction, as Iroh can see Aang in spirit form flying on the dragon (the only person in the physical world in this episode who can), while Zuko can see Appa flying in the distance, but chooses rescuing Iroh over another attempt to catch the Avatar.

* GaiasLament: At the beginning of the episode, the Gaang come across a forest that's been burnt to the ground.

* BackToBackBadass: Zuko and Iroh before battling the three captors at the end.

-->'''Earthbender:''' Surrender yourselves! It's five against two -- you're clearly outnumbered.
-->'''Iroh:''' That's true... but you are ''clearly '''outmatched!'''''

* OneWingedAngel: This is the first of Hei Bai's forms that we see.

* BilingualBonus: "Hei Bai" in Chinese means, "Black White".

* DudeInDistress: Hei Bai captures Sokka who has to be freed by Aang.

* FriendOrIdolDecision: Zuko has to chose between the chance to track down the Avatar, or to save his Uncle Iroh. He choses the latter.

* GaiasVengeance: Hei Bai blames the villagers for what happened.

* NoSell: Sokka tries to attack Hei Bai.

* SceneryCensor: When Zuko ordered Iroh to get out of the hot springs, he effectively used his hand to cover his uncle's nether-regions.

* WhamLine: The episode ends with Aang informing his friends that he has to contact Avatar Roku during the winter solstice, which is the next. Oh, and did he mention the place he has to do it is in the Fire Nation?

* DragonsAreDemonic: Subverted with Roku's dragon. Aang didn't realize, until it used it made contact with him, that it belonged to Roku.

[[quoteright:333:Aang encounters Roku's dragon, Fang.]]

[[Aang encounters Roku's dragon, Fang.]]

-->"You're the spirit of this forest. Now I understand."

A village comes to Aang seeking help; a spirit called Hei Bai comes every sunset, destroying their town and kidnapping their villagers. As the Avatar, its Aang's duty to stop the spirit, despite the boy having no idea how. Sokka attempts to help Aang, but only manages to get taken himself; Aang returns, having failed to stop the spirit or save any of the lost people...only to discover that he has no physical form or voice. He has become trapped in [[TitleDrop the Spirit World]].

Meanwhile, Iroh's relaxing nap in a hot-spring in interrupted when he is captured by Earth Kingdom soldiers, who are very excited to have imprisoned the infamous "Dragon of the West". It seems that despite his warm exterior, Iroh is more crafty than he looks, as he orchestrates an escape attempt, and leaves clues for his nephew to follow. Zuko finds them easily, but he must decide; does he save his uncle, or lose yet another chance to capture the Avatar?

Aang, trying to figure out his predicament, is approached by a dragon...the animal companion of Avatar Roku! The dragon takes Aang to a temple in the Fire Nation, and shows him a statue of Roku. Along the way, Aang has visions of a comet, but doesn't know what they mean.

The Earth Kingdom soldiers decide that Iroh is too dangerous to take back as is, and prepare to crush his hands to prevent him from firebending ever again. Iroh is spared of his fate by Zuko arriving at the nick of time.

Aang, meanwhile, has returned to the physical world, and confronts Hei Bai again. Realizing that the spirit is angry at the destruction of a nearby forest by firebenders, Aang pacifies Hei Bai by showing it an acorn, convincing Hei Bai that the forest it mourns will regrow. Hei Bai leaves, returning all of the people that vanished. Amid the happy reunions, Aang tells Sokka and Katara about his encounter with Roku's dragon, and that he needs to get to the Fire Nation temple before the Winter Solstice...which happens to be the next night.

* BadassGrandpa: Where to start. There were always hints that Iroh was awesome, but this is where it first becomes clear. His nickname is 'The Dragon of the West'? He laid siege to the city of Ba Sing Se for 600 days straight? He can see the spiritual forms of Aang and the dragon when no one else can? Oh, and don't forget; this old, over-weight man can manage to escape four young and fit Earthbenders naked and chained all on his own.

* PandaingToTheAudience: Hei Bai's calmer, more friendly form is a panda.

* BigDamnHeroes: Zuko leaping into the frame and kicking a boulder aside before it can crush his uncle's hands.

** [[RhetoricalQuestionBlunder Well,]] as of this date, we now have [[WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra A Girl and Her Polar Bear-dog]].