Recap / Avatar: The Last Airbender "The Awakening"

Aang parts with his glider as he allows the world to believe that he's dead.

"I've always known that I would have to face the Fire Lord, but now I know I need to do it alone."

The first episode of the third season, 'The Awakening' deals with Aang's return after his lightning-induced coma from the previous season's finale. He has to deal with letting the Fire Nation win another battle, and disappearing from the world again. Emotions run high for other members of the cast; Katara deals with her abandonment issues, both in regards to Aang and her father, and Zuko returns to the Fire Nation, only to discover that it's not quite what he expected it to be.

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Tropes:

• Accidental Hero: The serpent emerges by both ships. After it gets hit by an attack from the Fire Nation soldiers, it angrily proceeds to attack their ship, which allows Team Avatar and friends to safely sail away.
• Asleep for Days: Aang was unconscious for long enough for his hair to grow out. Katara informs him that he's been asleep for weeks, as a result of the injury he received in the previous episode.
• As You Know: Lampshaded when Katara introduces Aang to her father.
• Back from the Dead: Aang was Only Mostly Dead after Azula blasted him.
• Be Careful What You Wish For: Zuko might finally have his father's approval & respect, but it's all planned by Azula so that Zuko can take the credit (or rather the blame) for killing Aang, and he helped capture Iroh.
• But for Me, It Was Tuesday: After finding out that his sister gave him the credit for killing the Avatar, Zuko barges into her bedroom, demanding, "Why'd you do it?" Azula's response? "You're going to have to be a little more specific."
• Calling the Old Man Out: Katara to Hakoda about his decision to leave her and Sokka to fight in the war. This is an interesting one as she fully admits that she knows that he had to leave and didn't do anything wrong but still feels angry and hurt by it.
• Clothing Damage: Continuing on from the previous episode, Aang's robes and Katara's outfit are still damaged. Aang's more so than Katara's, given his shirt is gone completely and doesn't return for the rest of the series.
• Continuity Nod:
  • In Zuko Alone, a young Zuko demonstrated that Azula 'feeds turtlenecks by throwing bread at them. When she approaches the duck pond in this episode, all of the turtlenecks flee immediately.
  • The island Aang washes upon is the same island the Fire Sage temple was located on, back during The Winter Solstice. What little remains (which isn't much) can be seen in the establishing shots.
• Convection, Schmonvection: When Aang burns his staff, he walks barefoot across a lava field with the implication being that he's OK as long as he doesn't step on anything that's actually molten.
• Creepy Twins: Azula's cronies, Lo and Li, proclaim her victory in perfect unison.
• Curb-Stomp Battle: Once Azula and the Dai Li took down the walls of Ba Sing Se, the city was quickly over-run.
• Death Faked for You:
  • Sokka explains that everyone thinking the Avatar died is an opportunity to prepare for the attack during the eclipse, without the Fire Nation chasing after them everywhere. Aang is not pleased with staying hidden.
  • Azula suspects that Aang may have survived her attack and gives Zuko the credit so he can be blamed if she is correct.
• Deus ex Machina: The serpent coming to the heroes' aid.
  Sokka: Thank you, the universe.
• Did You Just Have Sex?: Azula says Mai's been in a strangely better mood since Zuko came back.
• Dramatic Drop: Katara drops her tray with food for Aang when she notices that he is gone.
• Evil-Detecting Dog: The turtle-ducks in the pond dash away when Azula comes close.
• Failed a Spot Check: As Aang tries sneaking around the Fire Nation ship he's woken up on, he spots two Fire Nation soldiers, who notice him and try chasing him. Aang doesn't notice they're Pipsqueak and The Duke. Justified, because he had just woken up after weeks, and then believes he had been captured by the Fire Nation navy.
• Fainting: Near the start of the episode, partially due to being physically weak from his injuries, and partially due to the shock and confusion of being on a Fire Nation ship and seeing his friends Dressing as the Enemy, Aang passes out. His friends fill him in on the situation when he wakes up again.
• Foreshadowing:
  • In a fit of rage, Aang rips a Fire Nation cloth and said cloth lands on his staff. At the end of the episode, Aang willingly burns his staff in order to hide his identity.
  • Roku blames himself for the War and not seeing it coming or stopping it in time. We'll find out more specific details of this confession come "The Avatar and the Firelord".
• The Ghost: This is the first time Admiral Chan is mentioned. We never see the man, though he's mentioned a few more times.
• Group Hug: At the end of the episode, when Aang's friends find him, everyone (including Momo and Appa) joins in a group hug.
• Head Desk: Aang bangs his head against his glider in frustration when Sokka wordlessly tells him to stay put during the ship battle.
• Innocently Insensitive: Sokka, pleased to have a stealthy advantage over the Fire Nation, fails to realize that Aang isn't exactly happy to learn the world believes their only hope to end the war was gone forever.
• Ironic Echo: Now Aang is the one talking about "regaining his honor". Just to ram the point home, a split shot of Aang's face fades to Zuko in the Fire Nation, who is still not happy, despite having his honor regained.
• It's All My Fault: Aang blames himself for the fall of Ba Sing Se. Roku states however that he is really the one to blame as he failed to see the war coming and stop it.
• Jerkass Ball: Katara, aimed specifically toward her father, on account of his leaving to fight in the war. He doesn't hold it against her, though.
• Leave Me Alone!: Aang wants to be alone with his anger. He later comes to realize that friends are there to support you.
• My Greatest Failure:
  • Avatar Roku feels this way towards the fact that he failed to see the war coming.
  • Aang suffers this in his role as Avatar. Not only does everyone think he has died once more, but he takes responsibility for losing Ba Sing Se.
• Negated Moment of Awesome: Unable to navigate the storm with his injuries, Aang gets a pep talk from Roku and Yue, and some celestial-scale waterbending assistance from the latter, in what looks to be a triumphant Heroic Second Wind. Immediately it cuts to Aang unconscious on a beach, showing that his refusal to give up got him close enough to land that he didn't drown after passing out from exhaustion, and accomplished nothing else. This finally drives home to him that he's not going to regain his honor by running off alone to try and be a hero, especially in his current condition but also just in general.
• Never Say "Die":
  • Aang didn't just get hurt — he went down and was gone, but Katara managed to bring him back. It's interesting where they draw the line — it's okay for people to think or believe the Avatar died. It's implied to have been the case, but Nickelodeon doesn't let him or Katara officially confirm it.
  • Averted in the Latin Spanish dub. While Aang doesn't outright say he died, he does say "I did not survive", which makes it pretty clear.
• No One Could Survive That!: Zuko tries to tell Azula this when she asks him if he thinks the Avatar could have somehow miraculously survived his apparent death last season. She doesn't believe him for a second.
• Nothing Is the Same Anymore: Aang's glider, the last authentic air nomad glider in existence, is damaged beyond repair and ultimately left to burn on Crescent Island.
• Pose of Supplication: Zuko adopts this pose when meeting his father.
• Properly Paranoid:
  • Azula doesn't know for sure Aang is alive, but she has no trouble telling that Zuko at least thinks he might be.
  • Zuko is certain that Azula didn't give him credit for killing Aang out of the kindness of her heart. It's part of why he'll hire an assassin to quietly seek out and destroy Aang in the next episode.
  • The Fire Nation captain is rightfully suspicious when he sees a warship far away from its post. He also realizes that it was captured when Hakoda mentions receiving orders from an admiral who was on leave.
• Put on a Bus: The Earth King, who escaped Ba Sing Se with the Gaang, is said to have gone off to explore the world incognito.
• Refuge in the West: A rather ironic example, as after the fall of the Earth Kingdom, the Gaang heads west to the one place they can find respite and a place where Aang can recover, and where they can prepare for their assault on the Day of Black Sun, the Fire Nation itself.
• Relationship Upgrade: Zuko and Mai.
• The Reveal: Fire Lord Ozai, the dreaded tyrant and Big Bad, is a handsome man of about forty. Word of God is that Ozai looks this way because his evil should be seen in his deeds, not his face.
• Rock Bottom: Sokka, again. This time it summons the serpent of the Serpent's Pass, something Sokka snarkily hangs a lampshade on.
  Toph: How are we doing?
  Sokka: Things couldn't get much worse. (Cue the serpent bursting out of the water) The universe just loves proving me wrong, doesn't it?
  Toph: You make it too easy.
• The Scapegoat: Azula's reasoning for giving her brother the credit for killing Aang. She can still get credit for conquering the Earth Kingdom, so it doesn't make her look bad by comparison. However, if Aang does turn up alive (which she considers quite likely), then Zuko gets the blame for failing to finish the job instead of her.
• Shadow Archetype: The Reveal of Ozai's face establishes the Fire Lord as an older Zuko. A Zuko who was bereft of any kindness or wisdom gained over the past three years of exile, symbolized by Ozai's unscarred face.
• She Cleans Up Nicely: Inverted. In this episode we see Azula, who's never been shown except impeccably coiffed and beautified, without any makeup at all... and she's still absolutely gorgeous.
• Shoot the Bullet: During the ship battle, Toph counters a fire army bomb with an earth bomb so that both projectiles clash in mid-air.
• Shout-Out: The Earth King's disguise as a poor wanderer involves him having one sandal and one barefoot. In Chinese mythology this is a characteristic costume of Lán Cǎihé, a Trickster member of the Eight Immortals.
• Sneaky Departure: Aang feels he needs to regain his honor by fighting the Fire Lord alone, and so he sneaks off the ship that the gang is currently hiding out on - though they find him and join him, leaving the ship behind, by the end of the episode.
• So Proud of You: Fire Lord Ozai says as much to Zuko, for betraying his uncle, helping to kill the Avatar, and destroying the last free city in the Earth Kingdom.
• Spotting the Thread: The Fire Nation captain is initially fooled when a disguised Hakoda and Bato are able to give satisfactory answers as to why they are moving away from Ba Sing Se. Unfortunately one of his soldiers informs him that the officer who allegedly gave them their orders was actually on leave.
• Stealth Pun: When the Fire Nation are invading Ba Sing Se, the couple and their baby daughter are among the witnesses watching their new home be invaded. Remember what that baby's name is? Yep, things are looking so dark that even hope weeps.
• Symbolic Weapon Discarding: Aang struggles to admit that the Fire Nation defeated him. He refuses to do anything that will perpetuate the notion that he is dead, so he won't cover up his distinctive airbending tattoos or hide in a stole Fire Nation ship. When he finally accepts he's been beaten and must cover up his identity to strike back at the Fire Nation, he does so by burning his airbending staff, the weapon he used most in fighting the Fire Nation before his defeat.
• Tempting Fate: Played straight then subverted immediately: when Sokka states things couldn't get much worse, the giant serpent from the Serpent's Pass shows up. However, it goes to attack the enemy ship instead after a stray shot from that ship hits it. Sokka lampshades both events.
• They Look Just Like Everyone Else!: After spending two whole seasons with his face obscured and being characterized as basically the personification of cruelty and evil, Fire Lord Ozai is revealed to be a perfectly normal, even handsome-looking man.
• This Is Something He's Got to Do Himself: Aang, feeling that he needed to regain his honor, left in a rather reckless manner to face the Fire Nation alone. Fortunately, he sees his mistake before it's too late and agrees to keep his identity a secret from the world. But his glider is smashed beyond recovery.
• Throw the Dog a Bone: The Rock Bottom example gives way to an Accidental Hero that saves the heroes from getting captured. Sokka quite humbly thanks the universe for this turn of events.
• Took a Level in Badass: Katara's waterbending has gotten even more impressive, given she manages to shove two warships apart with a small whirlpool, and prevent the ship from sinking just by freezing up a harpoon puncture. Toph's Metalbending has also improved greatly during the time skip.
• Uncertain Doom: The Fire Nation captain and his crew are attacked by the serpent. It's unknown whether or not the beast killed them or vice versa.
• Wakeup Makeup: Inverted; when Zuko busts into Azula's bedroom, she's washed her face and been wearing a simple ponytail, since she was going to bed.
• Wham Line: Sokka explains that with the Earth Kingdom captured, they plan on a smaller invasion party to better infiltrate the Fire Nation, and even reunited with a few old allies while Aang was in a coma. Unfortunately, Aang learns exactly why he's the key to the attack instead of the eclipse:
  Sokka: We have a secret... You.
  Aang: Me?
  Sokka: Yep, the whole world thinks you're dead! Isn't that great?!
• Walking the Earth: The Earth King has decided to do this after escaping Ba Sing Se with the Gaang, sometime during the timeskip.
• Xanatos Gambit: Azula is revealed to be playing this ever since she credited him for killing Aang. If the Avatar is truly dead, great! If he's not, then Zuko being The Unfavorite again will be the least of his troubles.
• Your Approval Fills Me with Shame: Ozai genuinely complimenting his son after his banishment turns sour for Zuko once Ozai mentions "helping to capture the shameful traitor".

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