Recap / Avatar: The Last Airbender "The Crossroads of Destiny"

Zuko chooses his side.

"It's time for you to choose. It's time for you to choose good!"

With Azula "working for" Long Feng the Fire princess tells the Dai Li that they will stage a coup by taking out the Earth King and his top five generals. She then prepares to tie off her loose ends by summoning Zuko and Iroh to the palace under the pretense that they are being summoned to serve tea to the Earth King. After a quick demonstration of how he gained the nickname "Dragon of the West" Iroh and Zuko flee. However Zuko decides to settle the score between his sister once and for all and challenges Azula to an Agni Kai. She refuses and has the Dai Li imprison him beneath the catacombs of Ba Sing Se where he reunites with the captured Katara.

Meanwhile the rest of Team Avatar, now reunited, team up with Iroh to rescue Katara and Zuko. Aang and Iroh head to the catacombs while Toph and Sokka go to try and protect the Earth King. Despite their best efforts Toph and Sokka are unable to rescue the Earth King and are captured instead. While underground Aang and Iroh talk about the former's decision to not let go of earthly attachments. Iroh assures the Avatar that he is wise to choose love over power.

At the throne room Long Feng has arrived and tells the Dai Li to arrest Azula. However the Dai Li are impressed by her ruthless yet charismatic nature and are undecided over who they should follow. After a brutal "The Reason You Suck" Speech Long Feng concedes defeat to Azula giving her control over the Dai Li.

In the catacombs Katara confronts Zuko, believing that this is another one of his schemes to capture Aang and tears into him and his country for the crimes done to her and specifically the death of her mother. Zuko realizes that they have common ground over losing a mother and the two bond. Katara offers to use the sacred water to heal his scar but before she can Aang and Iroh arrive and reunite with the two.

Iroh tells Aang and Katara to give him a minute alone with his nephew. He tells Zuko that they are now at the crossroads of his destiny and it is time for him to choose the side of good. However Azula arrives and tells Zuko that if he helps her all off his past sins will be forgiven and he will regain his honor and be allowed to go home. She leaves the decision in his hands and Zuko is left to contemplate what path he should take.

Azula confronts Aang and Katara before they can leave and a two-on-one fight ensues. Suddenly the duel is interrupted by the arrival of Zuko who has finally made his choice. He chooses to help Azula attack the Avatar.

Meanwhile, using her newly acquired Metalbending skills, Toph breaks herself, Sokka and the Earth King out of the prison and, after making a quick detour to get the kings pet bear, they escape.

Aang and Katara are only barely able to fight off the siblings' joint assault when the Dai Li arrives to surround the duo. Aang realizes that he must let go of Katara in order to save her and fulfill his destiny, but the Fire Nation princess zaps Aang with lightning while in the mightily powerful Avatar State, putting the Avatar near the brink of death. Iroh arrives and provides backup to allow Aang's friends to escape along with the Avatar's comatose body. Afterwards he is captured and Azula tells Zuko that the two of them have achieved the greatest victory for their nation in the past one hundred years. Katara uses the mystically enchanted spirit water to save Aang as they flee from the now-fallen Earth Kingdom's largest city, Ba Sing Se, with the now deposed Earth King Kuei.

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Tropes:

• Badass Boast: Following her turning the Dai Li against Long Feng and his acknowledgment of her victory over him, Azula gives one of the most memorable in the series.
  Long Feng: You've beaten me at my own game.
  Azula: Don't flatter yourself. You were never even a player.
• The Bad Guy Wins: The second season ends with Azula absolutely crushing the heroes, taking over Ba Sing Se within 48 hours, turning Zuko away from his Heel–Face Turn, and killing Aang, until he gets better. Really, the only positive thing you can say for Team Avatar is that they got away with their lives.
• Beat Them at Their Own Game: Long Feng admits Azula has beaten him at his own game. Azula sneeringly responds that she never considered him to be a player.
• Behind the Black: During the final confrontation, Aang charges forward on a hill of earth but then a Dai Li soldier jumps in from behind the black and makes Aang fall.
• Big Damn Heroes: Iroh appears to fight off the Dai Li, Zuko and Azula. He blocks the way to allow Katara to escape with Aang.
• Breath Weapon: Iroh gets to show off how he obtained his nickname "the Dragon of the West" by breathing fire at the Dai Li agents and escaping.
• Call-Back: Zuko ends up having a Good Angel, Bad Angel moment with Iroh and Azula much like during his dream of the red and blue dragons. Here he chooses to go along with Azula's advice over Iroh's.
• Catch a Falling Star: After Aang is zapped by Azula, Katara rushes forward on a wave and catches him just in time.
• Character Witness: Iroh is not welcomed by the Gaang, until Toph explains how nice Iroh was to her when they first met.
• The Chessmaster: Azula. Pretty much every part of her plan goes flawlessly.
  Azula: I've plotted every move of this day, this glorious day in Fire Nation history.
• Close-Call Haircut: Katara shoots a water blade at Azula during their fight. Though the villainess manages to narrowly dodge it, the tips of her fringes is sliced by the attack.
• Clothing Damage: Aang and Katara's outfits take damage during their fight with the fire siblings. Surprisingly, not from being burnt, except for Aang in the end when he is hit by lightning, just by being scratched and torn.
• Commonality Connection: Katara and Zuko have a moment of bonding over the fact that they both lost their mothers.
• Continuity Nod:
  • Doubling as a Funny Background Event, the wall of Team Avatar's house that Toph knocked over a few episodes ago is being rebuilt and is covered with scaffolding.
  • Toph greets Iroh with relief that he's okay. The last time they crossed paths, he was gravely injured by Azula.
• The Corrupter: Just when Zuko is ready to make his Heel–Face Turn, Azula uses just the right words to bring her brother back to the Fire Nation's side.
• Darkest Hour: The ending of the episode is the darkest moment thus far for the heroes. Aang is mortally wounded by Azula, which not only severs his connection to the Avatar State, but also forces Katara to heal him with the water from the North Pole spring. Zuko betrays Iroh, who ends up being captured by the Dai Li. Finally, Ba Sing Se is seized by Azula's forces, thus cementing the Fire Nation's victory over the Earth Kingdom.
• Death Glare: Aang of all people shoots Zuko one when he hugs Katara in the catacombs. Zuko returns it.
• Disappointed in You: Iroh give Zuko a look of disappointment when he sides with Azula.
• Disney Death: Aang briefly dies after Azula zaps him while he's in the Avatar state, but thanks to Katara's help, he gets better.
• Downer Ending: The Earth King is dethroned, Aang loses his connection to the Avatar State, Zuko joins Azula and betrays Iroh, who is imprisoned, Aang is near-fatally wounded, and the one last great stronghold of the Earth Kingdom falls to the Fire Nation.
• Drama Bomb: All of the buildup of the previous 6-7 episodes finally lands with the force of a nuclear explosion.
• Easy Evangelism: Azula is a charismatic villain, but her taking over the Dai Li came off as a little rushed. Completely averted with her conversion of Zuko, which was very organic to previous character development.
• Et Tu, Brute?: Zuko's betrayal of Iroh, resulting in his uncle being imprisoned. While he doesn't say anything out loud the look on his face says it all.
• Eviler than Thou: Long Feng just can't compete with Azula, and she rubs it right in his face.
• Evil Versus Evil: Azula vs. Long Feng, though Azula wins pretty quickly.
• Face Palm: Iroh when Zuko chooses to confront Azula instead of running away.
• Foe-Tossing Charge: Katara rides a gigantic wave over Zuko and the Dai Li in order to catch Aang's falling body.
• From Bad to Worse: The entire episode. The Dai Li arrest the Earth King's generals. Azula convinces Zuko to side with her, denying Aang and Katara a win over Azula. The Dai Li show up when the villains already have taken the upper hand, forcing Aang to resort to using the Avatar State, only for Azula to kill him with a lightning strike. Katara escapes with Aang's body, at the cost of Iroh being captured.
• Graceful Loser: Long Feng, upon realizing he has been outplayed by Azula, falls to his knees and calmly admits defeat.
• Heel–Face Turn: Subverted. In the last two seasons, Zuko had to face the reality that he was banished for no good reason, that his father and the Fire Nation are unjust in their actions, that there are good people in the Earth Kingdom and that he can choose his own destiny. Finally, after two seasons, it's time for him to change sides and join the Avatar. Over the previous two episodes, he has been so thoroughly set-up for a Heel–Face Turn that practically the only thing not done is a public announcement of his turn (which was done if one counts the episode's trailer). Shame he missed the memo and decided to go with Azula, anyways.
• Hero Killer: Azula strikes Aang in the back while he enters the Avatar State and actually succeeds in killing him, until he's brought back by Katara.
• Hope Crusher: Zuko. Initially, Aang and Katara appear to have Azula on the ropes. Unfortunately, he intervenes and joins Azula, allowing the siblings to overwhelm Aang and Katara.
• Hope Spot:
  • Firstly, when Zuko arrives to the battle between Azula and Aang/Katara, just after Katara and Zuko spent a moment trapped in the cave and Iroh has spent all season trying to convince him to Heel–Face Turn. Then he attacks Aang and joins his sister in overwhelming the heroes.
  • When Aang enters the Avatar State voluntarily for the first time, seemingly setting up a repeat of his beat down in the villains last season. Then Azula shoots him in the back with a lightning bolt, severing his connection to the Avatar state, and almost killing Aang.
• I Fight for the Strongest Side!: The Dai Li disobey Long Feng's orders to arrest Azula and instead wait and see who between them will come out on top. Long Feng surrenders after realizing that his men's previously unquestionable loyalty has been broken.
• Irony: Ba Sing Se falls to the Fire Nation not because of a siege, a drill, or a Comet. It falls due to the opportunism and treachery of the city's sworn protectors, the Dai Li.
• Inevitable Mutual Betrayal: Long Feng and Azula both intended to double cross the other as soon as they were no longer needed. Long Feng's betrayal just backfired against Azula's.
• Instant Armor: Aang does this with the crystals in the catacombs in order to fight Azula. It doesn't work.
• Internal Homage: The framing of the scene when a fatally-wounded Aang regains consciousness in Katara's arms hearkens back to when Aang was freed from the iceberg and woke up in Katara's arms.
• Know When to Fold Them:
  • When she realizes she's the only one between the Gaang and Bosco, Mai invites them to just take the bear.
  • Iroh attacks to buy Katara time to escape with Aang, but once she's gone, he simply surrenders and waits to be restrained.
• Knuckle Cracking: Toph does this before crushing the metal cell door.
• Locked in a Room: Well a cave but Zuko and Katara are thrown into one by the Dai Li. It gives them an opportunity to find common ground with each other and form a bond. Which sadly only makes it more heart-wrenching when Zuko betrays that fledgling bond and joins Azula's side.
• Manipulative Bitch: Azula. Not only does she complete her coup of the Earth Kingdom, she wrestles control of the Dai Li away from Long Feng and persuades Zuko back to her side, all before taking a proper stance. To say she brought her A-game here would be an understatement.
• Mexican Standoff: Azula finds herself in the midst of one as both Aang and Katara have her surrounded, while she has her fingers pointed at them, trying to keep her eyes on them both. Fortunately for her, but unfortunately for the heroes, Zuko joins the fight on Azula's side.
• Moment Killer: Katara and Zuko have one but then Aang comes in for the rescue and the moment is gone. Destroyed entirely when Zuko immediately betrays Katara and sides with Azula.
• Mood Whiplash: In-between the serious discussion of Zuko's choice, and Azula's manipulations reaching their peak, there's Toph and Sokka "rescuing" Bosco.
• My God, What Have I Done?: In the final scenes of the episode, Zuko is almost in shock over his own decision to betray his uncle.
• Negated Moment of Awesome: Aang gets shot just before mastering the Avatar State.
• Never Trust a Trailer: The trailer for the episode seemed be guilty of Trailers Always Spoil, leading all viewers to believe that this would be the episode where Zuko joins the Gaang. It turned out the trailer was not giving away the twist but successfully tricking viewers into expecting the opposite of the twist they got.
• Not-So-Harmless Villain: Long Feng discovers too late that the teenage princess he thought he could manipulate and easily betray was in reality the most cunning and dangerous individual in the game.
• Oh, Crap!:
  • Toph opens the door to her old friend. When Aang and Sokka see that it's actually Iroh, they promptly freak out.
  • Azula has a brief one when Katara manages to get her on the ropes, Close-Call Haircut and all.
  • During the final fight, Aang has a silent one when Zuko looked at Azula and then him. He knew what Zuko's decision would be.
  • Zuko and the Dai Li show a silent one when Aang rises up in his Avatar State, clearly intent on destroying all of them. It gets turned when Azula snipes him with her lightning, which makes Katara do this.
• Out-Gambitted: Azula led Long Feng to think she was less intelligent than she really was. He falls for it and pays dearly for it.
• Opponent Switch: The fight begins as Aang vs Zuko and Azula vs Katara, but when Katara begins to get the upper hand, the Fire Nation siblings swap opponents.
• Overly-Nervous Flop Sweat: Long Feng sweats a lot when Azula takes his place.
• Pet the Dog:
  • Since Zuko knows the feeling, he offers Katara his condolences about losing her mother.
  • Mai allows Toph, Sokka and Kuei to take Bosco without any resistance.
  • Azula actually tries to do this for Zuko when it's all over, saying he deserves credit for helping with this victory and that he restored his lost honor on his own. Considering what he had to do to get to this point, this probably makes him feel even worse. Of course, this is assuming Azula means what she says.
• Pyrrhic Victory: Zuko assists Azula in finally defeating Aang, ensuring that the Fire Nation will capture Ba Sing Se after one hundred years of trying, and that he will be welcomed back to the Fire Nation and be accepted by his father. But he's not happy with his victory since he betrayed Iroh. It's telling that Zuko was actually happy at the start of the episode but by the end he is as miserable as ever.
• Pietà Plagiarism: Katara cradles Aang after he is mortally wounded by Azula.
• Please Wake Up: A wordless variation on this trope happens at the end. Having lost all hope of resurrecting Aang, Katara holds his body close and lets out an anguished cry. Thankfully, the spirit water kicks in moments later.
• Pre-Asskicking One-Liner
  Iroh: Did I ever tell you how I got the nickname "The Dragon of the West"?
  Azula: I'm not interested in a lengthy anecdote, uncle.
  Iroh: It's more of a demonstration, really.
• Punch-Clock Villain: Mai makes it clear she's completely uninterested in fighting Sokka and Toph for Bosco, even after Toph's contained Ty Lee. She doesn't even get up from her seat.
  Mai: Just take the bear.
• The Quisling: The Dai Li. Long Feng was intent on betraying Azula, but his agents were only going to follow him if he emerged the victor over her. When he backs down against Azula with no resistance, they choose to follow Azula.
• Redemption Rejection: Zuko chooses Azula's offer over Iroh's pleas, and joins with his sister to defeat Aang and Katara.
• Rule of Symbolism: Azula's hair once again symbolizes her perfectionism; Katara slicing off a few strands shows that Azula may have finally met her match.
• Season Finale: The last episode of Book Two. It wraps up all the plot points and sets new plot points for Book Three, with the Fire Nation being closer than ever to total victory.
• Second Chapter Cliffhanger: While in the first season's finale, the heroes successfully repel the enemy Fire Nation navy from the Water Tribe, here they are betrayed by Long Feng and Prince Zuko, Aang is apparently dead —shut down by Azula's lightning attack, and the Earth Kingdom falls to the Fire Nation.
• Ship Tease:
  • The former page image for the trope is Katara touching Zuko's scar as they consider healing it. Which was first shown in the episode's trailer. Which centered almost entirely around the two of them being Locked in a Room. To name all the moments, big and small, would simply take too long.
  • That being said, the Zutara tease is immediately followed by more Kataang tease. When Aang and Iroh bust into the cavern holding Katara and Zuko, Katara immediately moves away from Zuko to embrace Aang. As a mortally wounded Aang falls through the air, Katara goes into Unstoppable Rage and knocks all enemies aside to catch Aang and cradles his body (albeit in a pose referencing The Pieta, which is a mother and son). Katara then uses the special water from the Spirit Oasis that she initially offered to Zuko on Aang instead, and after Aang awakens, the two smile joyfully at one another and Katara hugs Aang once more and keeps holding him as they fly away.
• Shut Up, Kirk!: Azula hits Iroh with one when he is telling Zuko not to listen to her, telling him to let Zuko make his own decision.
• Sibling Team: A villainous version with Azula and Zuko, who team up against Aang and Katara during the episode's climax.
• Slipknot Ponytail: Happens to Katara during the climactic battle. It even knocks the beads from her loopies...
• Spoiler Title: The Italian version of this episode is titled "Fall of the Earth Kingdom."
• This Is the Part Where...: Long Feng announces his intention to arrest Azula by saying "Now comes the part where I double-cross you."
• Tired of Running: The reason Zuko stays and challenges Azula. It unfortunately leads to his Redemption Rejection.
• Title Drop:
  Iroh: You're not the man you used to be, Zuko. You are stronger and wiser and freer than you have ever been. And now you have come to the crossroads of your destiny. It's time for you to choose. It's time for you to choose good.
• Took a Level in Badass:
  • While by no means weak, Katara went head to head against Azula and nearly won before a timely interruption by Zuko. To put that into perspective, Azula has previously knocked out Aang in The Drill and would moments later strike him down.
  • Zuko is able to hold his own well against Aang and later actually matches Katara better than Azula did.
• Transformation Is a Free Action: One of the most pointed aversions in fiction. Aang unlocks his final chakra, accesses the Avatar state, starts glowing and levitating... and Azula shoots him in the back with a lightning bolt, leaving him clinically dead until Katara resuscitates him with the spirit water.
• Twist Ending: Zuko's Heel–Face Turn had been built up since his backstory was revealed early in season 1. The viewer is led to believe that this episode would conclude the narrative by having him join the heroes against Azula, but the twist is that he does the exact opposite. When given the choice to either redeem himself or reunite with the family that always rejected him, Zuko ultimately decides to align with Azula and try to kill Aang one last time.
• Two Roads Before You: Zuko must choose between Azula and Iroh. He chooses his sister.
• Under City: Old Ba Sing Se is a vast complex of tunnels hidden beneath the city.
• Unstoppable Rage: Azula shooting Aang makes Katara go crazy like we've never seen before. She waterbends a massive wave, knocks down everyone in the room, and catches Aang's lifeless body before it falls to the ground.
• Villain Team-Up: Azula and Long Feng team up to dethrone the Earth King and imprison the monarch's most loyal subjects. It doesn't last long, as Long Feng tries to arrest Azula as soon as the coup is successful, though by this point the Dai Li has switched loyalties and turns on him instead.
• Wham Episode: Azula takes over Ba Sing Se, Iroh is captured, Aang has been killed in the middle of the Avatar State (the only way to permanently kill the Avatar) and then resuscitated Just in Time, Zuko did not perform his Heel–Face Turn but instead allied once again with his sister, and the Gaang plus the Earth King just barely escape with their lives as the Earth Kingdom has now fallen to the Fire Nation.
• What Happened to the Mouse?: Long Feng is never seen again after Azula effortlessly takes the Dai Li away under his very nose.
• What Are You in For?: When Katara finds Zuko locked up in the same place as her, she asks him why he was put in custody.
• Worthy Opponent: Subverted. After admitting defeat, Long Feng believes he and Azula to be this to each other. She nearly laughs at the very notion.
• Your Approval Fills Me with Shame: It's not stated out loud but Azula congratulating Zuko for helping her take Ba Sing Se and telling he has won his honor back appears to make him feel even worse.

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