Team Avatar and the Freedom Fighters infiltrate the Dai Li's base.
"It's time for you to look inward and begin asking yourself the big questions: Who are you? And what do you want?"
The Gaang continues their search for Appa in Ba Sing Se. While setting up posters, Katara comes across an old friend: Jet. Jet claims to have seen Appa and the Gaang begrudgingly accepts his help. Unfortunately, Jet has been brainwashed by Dai Li agents and is leading the Gaang on a false trail.
Meanwhile, Iroh's tea-making finally pays off, as he is given his own tea shop in the Upper Ring. Zuko continues his search for Aang upon realizing that he is in the city looking for Appa. Iroh confronts Zuko and tries to help him understand that he decides his own destiny and not the people around him.
Tropes
- And Then What?: Uncle Iroh asks Zuko this regarding his plan to steal Appa.
- Anger Born of Worry: Iroh usually keeps his cool for the longest time, mostly being a stoic wise master or a comedic foil to Zuko. However, this time around the old general finally raises his voices and chastises his nephew, pointing out that Zuko's impulsiveness has resulted in a lot of pain and misery and that he should finally stop following whatever destiny others put on him and instead finally asking himself what does he want. While Iroh never resorts to vulgar language, he's notably much more agitated and even angry, but all of that it's because he wants Zuko to finally find the correct way and stop following a self-destructive path.
- Armor-Piercing Question: The following exchange ends with Iroh asking his nephew about the "destiny" he is desperately trying to find:Iroh: What do you plan to do now that you have found the Avatar's bison? Keep it locked in our new apartment? Should I go put on a pot of tea for him?
Zuko: First I have to get it out of here.
Iroh: And then what?! You never think these things through! This is exactly what happened when you captured the Avatar at the north pole! You had him, and then you had nowhere to go!
Zuko: I would have figured something out!
Iroh: NO! If his friends hadn't found you, you would have frozen to death!
Zuko: I know my own destiny, Uncle!
Iroh: Is it your own destiny, or is it a destiny someone else has tried to force on you?
Zuko: Stop it, Uncle! I have to do this!
Iroh: I'm begging you, Prince Zuko! It's time for you to look inward and begin asking yourself the big questions: Who are you? And what do you want?
[Zuko throws his mask and swords down with a frustrated scream] - Big Damn Heroes: Appa swooping in to save the Gaang from the Dai Li.
- Big Damn Reunion: What more would you expect between Aang and Appa after they've been separated for weeks?
- Bittersweet Ending: The Gaang escapes the Dai Li and finds Appa, but it looks like Jet is dying from his injuries received in his fight with Long Feng.
- Brainwashed and Crazy: Jet.
- The Cavalry Arrives Late: The rest of the Gaang and the Freedom Fighters show up just as Jet is defeated and Long Feng makes his getaway.
- Continuity Nod: Iroh brings up how Zuko captured Aang at the North Pole without any idea what to do next, so he ended up just holing up in a cave and was actually lucky the rest of the Gaang found him before he froze to death.
- Cross-Popping Veins: Aang gets them when Joo Dee tells him that he can't put up posters without permission.
- Curb-Stomp Battle:
- The Gaang vs. the Dai Li. Toph alone takes down over half of them.
- Long Feng claims he can handle Appa by himself. Appa grabs his foot and tosses him into the lake so hard he skips across the surface before sinking.
- Cut Apart: Team Avatar opens the door to where they think Appa is, and Appa looks up at the opening door to see... Zuko. A mild lampshading follows as Zuko snarks, "Expecting someone else?"
- Dick Dastardly Stops to Cheat: Only Long Feng knows where Appa is, in Lake Laogai which is a secret location. Thus, while putting up the lost-and-found posters violates city ordinances, he can look the other way or "persuade" the cleaners to just take them down. It's unlikely that anyone in the city is brave enough to rat out Appa's location. Instead, he sends out a brainwashed Jet to send the Avatar on a Wild Goose Chase, which leads to the Gaang discovering where Appa really is.
- Didn't Think This Through: Zuko falls into this yet again, planning to capture Appa and use him as bait to lure Aang, but he has no idea what he's going to do with the huge bison Appa after getting him out of Lake Laogai. Iroh finally calls him out on this and delivers a much needed Armor-Piercing Question about the kind of honor/destiny he wants and deserves.
- Door Slam of Rage: Joo Dee appears a few days after the kids learn that she was part of Long Feng's conspiracy. In fact, they mention that another woman named Joo Dee appeared at the party claiming to be her. Joo Dee tries to brush off the fact and warns the kids they can't put up flyers to find Appa. Aang literally slams the door in her face because, as one of Long Feng's pawns, she can't be trusted.
- Dumbass Has a Point: Rather, Brainwashed Agent Has A Point. When summoned to explain why she's failing to wrangle them, a nervous and distraught Joo Dee tells Long Feng that the Gaang has no reason to trust her, and thus she can't do the job she was assigned, before he triggers her brainwashing. As weak-willed as she is, she's definitely right...which means Long Feng decides to take matters in to his own hands to make Team Avatar leave, or be silenced.
- Elaborate Underground Base: The base the Dai Li have beneath Lake Laogai.
- Enemy Mine: Team Avatar's alliance with the Freedom Fighters.
- Fake Memories: The Dai Li planted fake memories in Jet, and he gets out thinking he's been living peacefully in the city.
- Forgotten Phlebotinum: The DVD Commentary for the episode confesses that, yes, the writers just forgot about Katara's water from the North Pole Spirit Oasis (which apparently couldn't have saved Jet anyway for reasons not elaborated on).
- Group Hug: Team Avatar group hugs at the end on Appa's back.
- Heel–Face Brainwashing: The Dai Li's brainwashing has the effect of rehabilitating Jet from his extremism, making him docile, but loyal to the state.
- High-Pressure Emotion: Aang's head blows steam when he furiously snaps at Joo Dee for forbidding him from putting up posters in the city.Aang: We don't care about the rules and we're NOT asking permission! We're finding Appa on our own and you should just stay out of our way!
- Hope Spot: Aang and others are looking for Appa, and Appa is eager to meet Aang. Zuko shows up instead. Subverted, as Zuko frees him instead.
- "I Know You're in There Somewhere" Fight: Aang to Jet, after Long Feng activates the brainwashing.
- Irony: Jet was mortally wounded (supposedly) by Long Feng, an earthbender. As much as he hated the Fire Nation, he was killed by the very people he was trying to protect.
- Living Lie Detector: Toph can tell when someone is lying by sensing their breath and heart beat. This helped the Gaang find out that Jet's been brainwashed, because Smellerbee and Longshot saw the Dai Li take him, but Jet claims it never happened. Since they can't both be telling the truth and their suspicions have already been raised by Joo Dee, it doesn't take the Gaang long to figure this out.
- Manchurian Agent: Jet.
- Meaningful Name: "Laogai" means 'forced-labor prison camp'.
- Memory Gambit: Long Feng's plan to use Jet and this trope against Team Avatar fails. When Smellerbee reveals that Jet had been captured by the Dai Li a couple weeks ago, Jet denies it, claiming he's been living peacefully in the city. Toph can't tell who is right because they both think they're telling the truth, leading the Gaang to realize Jet's been brainwashed.
- Mind-Control Eyes/Open the Iris: When the Dai Li activate the brainwashing, this happens.
- Missing Steps Plan: This is what starts off Iroh's outburst against Zuko, asking him what, exactly, his plan was for when he caught Appa. It's not like Zuko can control Appa, nor can he transport Appa, nor house him or feed him—it seems as if Zuko just assumed that once he caught Appa, that would immediately bring Aang to his doorstep in chains. Iroh calls back further to the events of "The Siege of the North", where Zuko similarly went in with a plan to capture Aang but had absolutely no way to capitalize on this, since he lacked any means of getting out of the city other than to run into a frozen wasteland and die of frostbite.
- New Powers as the Plot Demands: The introduction of Toph's lie-detection ability mostly just expedites the part of the episode devoted to questioning Jet and discovering his brainwashing, allowing us to get to the titular Lake as quickly as possible. It comes back at the end for the episode's Wham Line, though, and future episodes also make use of it.
- Ninja Log: Zuko gets a Dai Li agent to follow him around a corner, sneaking up on him while the agent attacks a dummy Zuko dressed up like himself.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business:
- Joo Dee is crying while telling Long Feng that the kids no longer trust her.
- The normally patient, collected Iroh loses his shit and yells at Zuko for his lack of forethought and single-minded focus on getting to Aang.
- Longshot speaks for the first time, highlighting the severity of Jet's wounds.
- Pet the Dog: Zuko frees Appa instead of capturing him.
- Redemption Equals Death: Jet. He truly does try to make up for his past mistakes and help find Appa, and his desire to fight against Long Feng's tyranny allows him to break from the Dai Li's brainwashing. Sadly he is mortally wounded by Long Feng right afterwords.
- Reformed, but Rejected: Played With. Katara initially takes the longest to buy that Jet has changed, assuming him to still be a dangerously misguided Well-Intentioned Extremist. She is right to be cautious about his sudden personality change, but not for the reason she thinks.
- Rule of Symbolism: At Iroh's suggestion, Zuko drops his Blue Spirit mask into the lake and let it sink, symbolizing not just the end of his Secret Identity, but his self-destructive path in trying to regain his honor.
- Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right!: Aang hits his breaking point when Joo Dee tells him that putting up fliers is forbidden without permission. He makes it clear he does not care about the rules of Ba Sing Se as long as he finds Appa before slamming the door in her face.Aang: We don't care about the rules, and we're not asking permission! We're finding Appa on our own, and you should just stay out of our way!
- Secret Secret-Keeper: Iroh reveals he's known that Zuko was the Blue Spirit from the very beginning.
- She Is Not My Girlfriend: Toph asks if Jet was Katara's boyfriend, which she vehemently denies.
- Shoot Him, He Has a Wallet!: Jet bumps into Katara, who is not happy to see him given that he used her and Aang to destroy a village, and reaches for something in his pocket; Katara pins Jet to a wall with ice daggers, but it turns out that Jet was reaching for one of Aang's fliers about Appa.
- Shout-Out: Iroh tells Zuko he needs to ask himself the "big questions": "Who are you?" and "What do you want?"
- Stepford Smiler: Joo Dee when appearing on the Gaang's doorstep to tell them to stop putting up fliers. Her usual wide smile falters when Aang tells her that he and his friends will not comply with her absurd request. When she informs Long Feng about the Gaang's refusal to obey his orders, she starts crying and saying she can't keep doing this job.
- Suddenly Speaking: Longshot after Jet gets majorly wounded.Longshot: There's no time. Just go. We'll take care of him. He's our leader.
- Terrible Artist: Sokka's attempt to make the lost offer poster for Appa is rather... bad, to say the least. It's made even better by this exchange:Sokka: Thank you, I worked really - [beat] Why do you feel the need to do that?
- There Was a Door: Inverted; when Toph blows a hole through the wall the Gaang are staying at, they just exit the place through the front door.
- Trigger Phrase: The brainwashing done by the Dai Li is activated by saying "(name), the Earth King has invited you to Lake Laogai," to which they respond by gaining Mind-Control Eyes and saying "I am honored to accept his invitation."
- Two Lines, No Waiting: The Gaang and Zuko's search for Appa parallel each other and intersect at the end without meeting each other.
- Villain Ball: Long Feng sending the original Joo Dee to tell the Gaang to stop putting up posters, and then sending the Gaang on a Wild Goose Chase to find Appa. Joo Dee while crying tells Long Feng that the kids have no reason to trust her, and thus she can't do her job.
- Long Feng also had no need to send Jet when he was captured with eyewitnesses. It ends up busting him badly.
- Wham Episode: The Gaang discover the Dai Li's brainwashing station in Lake Laogai. Jet dies. Iroh convinces Zuko to free Appa rather than steal him and capture the Avatar one last time, resulting in the Gaang finally reuniting with Appa.
- Wham Line: Jet tells the Gaang that he'll be fine, after Long Feng badly wounded him with Earthbending. Thanks to her Living Lie Detector ability, Toph somberly tells her friends this as they leave:Toph: ...He's lying.
- Wham Shot: The Gaang sees dozens of women brainwashed with the same name Joo Dee.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: We don't see what happens to Jet and his companions.
- Worst. Whatever. Ever!: Toph calls Ba Sing Se the "worst city ever" when the Gaang leaves.
- You Have Failed Me: The Dai Li do NOT tolerate failure. Joo Dee reports back to Long Feng crying, and he's disappointed that she failed to keep Team Avatar in line, so he sends her back to Lake Laogai to either be reconditioned or be reassigned, and it's implied not to be pretty.
