The series was released on February 22, 2024, on Netflix
In captivity, Aang meets a king with a taste for games. To find their friend, the siblings must navigate a dark tunnel – and put their differences aside.
* * *
[soft rumbling]
[Aang] Hello?
Hello?
Anybody there?
There’s been a mistake! The fires weren’t my fault!
And neither was the fight!
[Iroh] Save your voice.
Earth Kingdom soldiers aren’t particularly tolerant, even under the best of circumstances.
And these are most definitely not the best of circumstances.
General Iroh.
It’s good to see you, young Avatar.
And Zuko?
They capture him too?
I hope not. With any luck, he’s probably halfway back to his ship by now.
This is all his fault.
He started the fight and left you behind and ran away.
I’m really starting to see what kind of person he is.
I doubt that.
What do you think will happen to us?
[man screams]
I don’t know.
But in my experience,
the Earthbenders aren’t exactly kind to their fallen foes.
[suspenseful music swells]
[Sokka] Is it true?
Were you working with the enemy?
It’s complicated.
No, it’s not. It’s a simple question. Were you helping the Firebenders?
[somber music playing]
Yes.
Teo.
I was trying to protect you.
The Firebenders said that they would kill us and then they’d attack the city if I didn’t cooperate.
The only reason Omashu has been left alone is because of whatever service I provided.
Service? Is that what you call giving weapons to the enemy?
Weapons? No. No, no, no, no, just minor designs.
Nothing of any value in war.
Anything can be turned into a weapon in the wrong hands.
Especially with the Fire Nation.
Sokka.
You know what it means to make hard choices.
Your father had to leave your family to go to war, leaving you, just a boy, in charge.
We do what we must to survive.
We compromise just enough to get by.
My father would’ve never done what you did.
[door opens, closes]
I found him.
Aang’s in prison.
[suspenseful music swells]
[mysterious music playing]
[grunting]
[dramatic music playing]
[mysterious music playing]
[calm flute music playing]
[boy] Aang!
Hey, Aang!
Oh, hey, Bumi. How’s training going?
I’m doing all right with my forms, but shaping is hard.
What are you talking about? Looks exactly like a sky bison.
It’s supposed to be a badgermole.
You sure? [chuckles]
[laughing and snorting]
There’s nothing like earthbending masonry.
No seams.
That’s what makes their cities a wonder.
Awe-inspiring palaces, gravity-defying towers.
Impenetrable prisons.
I like the parts of Omashu that aren’t so depressing.
Hmm. Cities are like people.
They always have their dark sides.
Seems pretty dark on all the sides these days.
Yeah, what happened here happened the world over.
That’s what a century of war will do.
A war started by the Fire Nation.
And a war the Fire Nation could end.
[Iroh] Hmm.
If it were only that simple.
My brother, the Fire Lord, sees things through only one lens, victory or defeat.
Nothing else matters.
Not even the loved ones lost along the way.
[Aang] That’s why Zuko’s so hot to catch me?
So he can win this war for his dad?
Zuko’s victory lies not in winning the war but in winning his life back.
You could show him this isn’t the way. He’ll listen to you.
I mean, he owes you that much.
On the contrary,
it is I who owe him.
Far more than I can ever repay.
Impossible!
Omashu’s prison is deep in the heart of the mountain surrounded by solid rock.
The only way in or out is through the palace.
I’m sorry. The Avatar is lost.
We’re not leaving Aang.
You can get us into the palace.
Not after today. I’m sorry. I can’t.
What about the tunnels?
[dramatic music playing]
Tunnels?
The secret tunnels hidden under the mountain.
It’s said that the founders of the city used them to meet without anyone knowing.
A fairy tale.
You told me you’ve seen them.
Unless that was a lie too.
Yes, there are tunnels, but they’re unstable.
Those who go in never come out.
If you believe the tales, vengeful spirits guard the passages.
So not just secret tunnels.
Secret haunted tunnels?
Even if I could figure out a way to get them through the tunnels, there’s nothing I can do about the palace guards.
We’ll worry about that. Just help us get inside.
[Aang] Where are you taking him?
[guard] To the Pit.
[Aang] The Pit?
An Earth Kingdom labor camp for prisoners of war.
No one who’s been sent there has ever been heard from again.
[suspenseful music playing]
You… you’re not as lucky.
You’re going to see the king.
[bang on door]
These maps don’t make any sense. This one says to travel east.
This one shows a path due south.
And this one… spirals straight up.
Um… hmm…
What is it?
It’s my Fire Nation contact.
Tell him you’ll meet him.
Then go to the Earth Kingdom generals and let them know they can set a trap to round up these spies.
No. No. No, no, no, the Firebenders made it clear.
Any resistance and they’ll send everything they’ve got at us.
[Teo] Let them come.
The Avatar has returned to the world.
It’s time to stop hiding.
It’s time to fight.
[doors close]
[mysterious music playing]
Your Highness.
Hmm?
The prisoner you requested.
He was caught fighting, destroying property.
Menacing the people.
And he’s an Airbender.
Huh?
Lotus root, pine bark, dried jasmine.
Hmm?
Lotus root, pine bark, dried jasmine, scalding hot water, steeped for two minutes!
Tea?
Okay.
And you’re wrong about him.
We witnessed the bending…
Wrong!
[gasps]
He is not just an Airbender.
He is the master of all four elements.
The savior of the world.
He is
the Avatar.
[indistinct whispering]
And he’s very, very good at rock skipping.
[laughs]
[snorts] Ooh.
Bumi?
Hello, Aang.
Bumi!
How are you still alive?
Uh, clean living, the right diet, ooh, and luck.
Hard to say if it’s good or bad luck.
But more importantly, how are you still alive?
And still a child?
It’s a long story.
[Bumi] Huh.
Ooh! [chuckles]
Ah.
Ah!
Pine bark?!
[glass shatters]
[gasps]
What idiot told you to put pine bark in it?
You did.
[Bumi] Mmm.
Throw him…
[guard gasps]
[suspenseful music playing]
…a feast.
[laughs]
[gentle music playing]
[gasps]
Jet.
You betrayed us.
Betrayed you?
I stopped you from killing innocent people.
Innocent? Spies, traitors. Is that who you wanted to save?
Not everyone out there is the enemy.
If you stand against us…
you are.
Life may be simple in the South Pole, but here, you have to make hard decisions.
That’s what it means to fight a war.
I thought you were on our side.
On my side.
Jet, you’ve forgotten what you’re fighting for.
You told me to remember my mother, and I did.
I remembered she never wanted bitterness to fill my heart.
That’s how I know you’ve ended up on the wrong side, not fighting for anything you love.
You’re fighting because of hate.
Just like the Firebenders.
I am nothing like the Firebenders.
[suspenseful music swells]
[Jet grunts]
[action music playing]
[Jet grunts]
[grunts]
Goodbye, Jet.
Look at the power you have. That’s because of me.
That wasn’t you.
That was me.
[suspenseful music playing]
[guard] You!
You don’t belong here.
Sir, I was assigned prisoner transfer duty, but I’m… well, I’m late.
And… and if my commander finds out… I’m already in enough trouble this month.
The old Firebender was taken to the Pit. The other one’s still here.
Other one?
Yeah, the bald kid. The king wanted to see him.
Well, you just gonna stand there?
What are you gonna do?
[upbeat music playing]
[Bumi] Hmm.
For your meal, I offer you two choices.
Short ribs from Kangaroo Island.
They practically jump into your mouth!
[all laughing]
And the other, seaweed stew.
Heard it really “kelps” with your complexion.
[all laughing]
I’m good. That was a good one.
I’ll take the stew.
Hmm?
I don’t eat meat.
That’s right. You don’t.
Good choice.
Wait. Was this a test?
What? A test?
No. More like a… a game. [chuckles]
You always liked games, didn’t you?
So, frozen in an iceberg for a hundred years, huh?
That must’ve been… nice.
No, it was a nightmare.
Ah, come on. How bad could it have been, huh?
The world is on fire, people are dying, and you… you got to sleep through it all.
All the Airbenders were wiped out.
And I wasn’t there to help them.
Oh, those monks were always a bit flighty. Am I right?
Huh?
[indistinct chatter]
It was a tragedy.
And it might happen again, which is why I need to get to the Northern Water Tribe as soon as possible, which is why you need to let me go.
So I can save the Waterbenders.
Hmm.
Huh.
“Lettuce” leave.
Nah, da, da, da, da, da, da.
[Aang] Bumi! This is important.
Don’t you care?
[inhales]
Care?
You dare tell me I should care?
Have you been fighting the same fight for a century?
Have you watched your whole world burn down around you?
Hmm?
Let me tell you something, Avatar.
You may be a hundred years old, but you haven’t lived for a hundred years, especially not these hundred years.
You can’t make me believe you’ve lost hope.
Not you, Bumi.
Oh really?
Challenge accepted.
[ominous music playing]
[Sokka] This can’t be right.
[Katara] This was the only opening in the mountain.
[Sokka] Are you sure?
[Katara] Listen.
Do you hear… music?
[calm, upbeat music playing]
[man] ♪ When you find yourself in darkness ♪
♪ And all you see are rocks and stones… ♪
Oh good. Grab that, would you?
♪ Remember that a precious gift ♪
♪ Lies buried deep inside… ♪
Shake it.
♪ So dig a bit and you will find ♪
♪ Jewel of my heart ♪
♪ Jewel of my heart ♪
♪ Yeah ♪
[song ends]
Yeah. That was all kinds of right. So what are you doing here?
What are we doing here? What are you doing here?
We’re doing what we’re doing.
Right, but… why are you doing it here?
Acoustics.
Best in Omashu.
[vocalizing]
Hear that?
Harmony. That’s what we’re all about.
Harmony, music, love.
If these guys are okay being here, the tunnels probably aren’t that bad.
Tunnels? Oh, no, these aren’t the tunnels.
Those are the tunnels.
[foreboding music playing]
Yeah, I wouldn’t go in there.
We don’t have a choice.
We have to find our friend.
Well, in that case,
you should probably see this.
It’s a tale of two lovers.
Oma and Shu met on top of the mountain that divided their two villages.
The villages were enemies, so they couldn’t be together, but their love was strong, so they found a way.
[rumbling]
They learned earthbending from the badgermoles, becoming the first Earthbenders.
[badgermole growling]
They built elaborate tunnels so that they could meet secretly.
But one day, Oma didn’t come.
She’d been killed in an attack.
[swords clanging]
[people clamoring]
Devastated, Shu wielded her earthbending power
to bring the villages to their knees.
[people clamoring]
[swords clanging]
She could’ve destroyed them all.
But instead, she declared the war over.
Both villages helped her build a new city where they would live together in peace.
The great city was named Omashu as a monument to their love.
“Love is brightest in the dark.”
Remember that,
especially if you’re going to go into the dark void
from which no living being ever returns.
[playing bubbly song]
♪ Oh, two lovers… ♪
It’ll be okay. There’s nothing to be afraid of in there.
Right. There’s no such thing as angry spirits.
♪ Secret tunnel ♪
♪ Secret tunnel ♪
♪ Through the mountains ♪
♪ Secret, secret, secret, secret tunnel ♪
Yeah!
They’re doomed.
A full complement of Earthbenders just for one old man.
I’m flattered.
[guard] Hold!
[guard 2] Hold here.
[guard] Hold!
[guard 2] Hold.
[birds cawing]
Just a precaution.
Many around these parts would be very interested to know
that the famed Dragon of the West is in their midst.
The Fire Nation general who laid siege to Ba Sing Se for 600 days.
Someone might be tempted to take matters into their own hands.
We can’t let that happen, can we?
Now, is there anything I can do to make your journey more comfortable?
I’m fine.
Thank you.
[grunts]
You sure? Come on, don’t hesitate to speak up.
It’s a long ride to the Pit.
And I’ve got all the time in the world.
[ominous music playing]
[guard] Very well, men. Mount up.
[suspenseful music swells]
[Bumi] So you wanna go north.
North is… [laughs]
…not good.
There’s fire all over the north.
I don’t have a choice. It’s where I need to go.
A word of advice. The direct path is not always the best path.
You mean I should take the route that doesn’t?
[Bumi chuckles]
It means you should be careful where you step.
Ha!
[foreboding music playing]
Bumi, what is this?
Yah!
[gasps]
[grunts]
[grunts softly]
Bumi, what are you trying to prove?
Prove? Eh.
Maybe I’m trying to show you there are no easy journeys for the Avatar.
Maybe I just wanted to play a game like we did back in the old days.
And maybe I just wanted a bite of rock candy.
[laughs]
[candy crunches]
[panting]
[suspenseful music playing]
I’m coming, Uncle.
[rumbling]
This way.
Is that what the map says?
Mmm, the map’s unclear, but I got a hunch.
A hunch?
[scraping]
Yeah, a hunch. A feeling, an instinct.
You see that?
Put out your light.
Well, what do you know?
“Love is brightest in the dark.” Get it? It was a clue.
You have to let it get dark so you can follow the light.
That’s how you find the path.
The light of crystals?
These things are everywhere.
On the walls. On the floor.
They’re pretty random.
It’s a path.
It said “love is brightest in the dark,” not “glowy rocks.”
Poetic license.
Like the minstrel said, love is the answer.
Love is all you need. Love makes the world go round.
You’re listening to the minstrels?
Sokka, wait!
Katara, what is your problem?
My problem is you’re not taking me seriously.
This again.
I’m not a little girl anymore.
Yet you keep acting like one.
And you keep acting like you know everything when you couldn’t even tell that a traitor was flat out lying to you.
Says the girl who fell for a terrorist!
That’s not what happened!
You should’ve never talked to him!
You don’t get to tell me who to talk to!
You don’t get to ignore me!
I can if you’re being an idiot!
Dad put me in charge!
You’re not Dad!
[echoes] Dad!
[somber music playing]
[rumbling]
Guess we’re not in Wolf Cove anymore, are we?
Guess not.
Imagine if Gran Gran could see us now.
Really could go for some of her seal jerky.
Or her noodles.
With the hot broth.
We’ll get some soon.
You really think so?
I don’t know.
Come on.
We better get going.
Seal jerky. I never knew how you could eat that stuff.
[bird nickers]
[guard] Bring him here. Bring him here.
Put a saddle on that one.
Firebenders don’t need water, right?
You know, at Ba Sing Se, the city had to ration fresh water after the first year of the siege.
Being in the military, we got special privileges.
My brother, though… he had a soft heart.
He’d gather food and water from his platoon and give them to the children.
He was on watch the night you torched the Eastern Wall.
By the time we put the fires out, there was nothing left of him to bury.
He was 19.
All those lives lost.
All that fighting.
And Ba Sing Se still stands.
Was it worth it?
We were at war.
I was a soldier.
You were a butcher!
[emotional music playing]
You know…
I can still smell smoke when I go to sleep at night.
It never really goes away.
[grunts]
[grunts]
War pushes us to the edge.
Some of us don’t like what we find there.
Is that your pitiful way of saying you’re sorry for what you did?
I wasn’t talking about me.
[guard grunts]
[guard 2 yells]
[dramatic music plays]
[guard 3] Sir.
[guard 4] Stay back.
Oh, it’s true, isn’t it?
You have no humanity.
You know nothing of loss.
[guard grunts]
[solemn music playing]
[indistinct chatter]
[bird caws]
[woman] Is it true he abandoned the siege?
Yes, after his son was killed.
So his son dies a hero, and he’ll be forever known as a coward.
Brother, take comfort in knowing that Lu Ten will forever be hailed as a champion of the Fire Nation.
Thank you, Ozai.
His sacrifice will be enshrined in legend.
[Zuko] Uncle, what a great honor for you and for Lu Ten to die in the service of the Fire Nation.
When my studies weren’t going well and Father was unhappy,
Lu Ten gave me this.
He had won it for finishing first in his officer class.
He said it should belong to someone destined to do great things.
It gave me strength.
Lu Ten never needed it
because he was the strongest person I knew.
[uplifting music playing]
You’re getting good at that.
Practice and some good instruction.
Yeah? From the scroll?
Yeah.
And Jet, he helped me through some things.
He lost family, just like us.
He knows how those memories can hold you back.
He got me to see that I’d only been thinking about how Mom died and not how she lived.
Jet might have gone down the wrong path, but he was pushed that way.
Just like Sai was.
You know, Sai told me I should be an engineer.
That was my true calling.
You believe that?
[Sokka] I don’t know.
But it was nice to hear someone tell me I had something to offer the world.
Besides my superior fighting skills.
Sokka.
What I said about you and Dad…
Forget it.
You led the tribe and protected us with nobody to help you.
Dad never had to bear that kind of burden alone.
You had it harder than him.
[sentimental music playing]
Oh, that’s not right.
The crystals were just crystals, like I thought.
[Sokka scoffs]
[mysterious music playing]
This shouldn’t be here. We were here before, but this wall wasn’t.
How is that possible?
It’s not.
Unless…
[both] The tunnels are changing.
[Bumi grunts]
Ah, behind these doors lies a fearsome challenge.
A true test of whether or not you are prepared to be the Avatar.
Bumi.
Ah.
All these challenges, games, tests, none of them make any sense.
Nothing has made sense in a hundred years.
This isn’t who you are.
The Bumi I know is a fun-loving, happy kid who loves to skip rocks and always thinks about his friends.
Huh…
I believe that kid is still in there.
Very clever.
It’s all about games with you, isn’t it, Avatar?
Who cares about responsibility?
Who cares about, oh, saving the world?
No. More fun to goof off. Am I right?
Well,
let’s play one final game.
[mysterious music playing]
[Bumi laughs]
[Bumi] As promised, one final game to play, Avatar.
[laughs] The simplest one of all.
You versus me.
[grunts]
[exhales]
To the death.
[gasps]
This is crazy. How can tunnels change?
I knew the crystals were wrong.
Can we do I-told-you-so later?
[growling]
Any chance I imagined that?
[grumbling]
[growling]
Badgermole.
[roars]
[clucking]
[bird whinnying]
[guard grunts]
[guard] Ah!
[indistinct chatter]
[Zuko grunting]
[grunts]
[guard 2] Help him.
[grunts]
[action music playing]
[Iroh grunts]
[Zuko grunts]
[guards grunt]
[grunting]
[grunting]
[guard grunting]
Huh?
[breathing heavily]
Do it.
Do it!
We’ve all seen enough death.
[guard grunts]
[Zuko grunts]
That’s what you get for showing an Earthbender compassion.
[Iroh groans]
Ah! [grunts]
You’re okay.
We need to go.
I think you should rest…
No time.
They’ll send more soldiers soon.
We have to leave now.
[Iroh grunting]
[badgermole growling]
[Sokka grunts]
Ah!
Katara!
[growls]
[suspenseful music playing]
[Sokka grunts]
Thanks.
Dead end.
[badgermole grumbling]
Katara, I’m sorry.
I’m sorry too.
[roars]
What’s going on? Are we dead?
“Love is brightest in the dark.”
It wasn’t about the crystals.
That’s not what guided Oma and Shu through the mountain.
[badgermole sniffing]
It’s blind.
They don’t navigate by sight but by feeling.
They sense feelings and react to them.
Anger, fear, but mostly love.
“Love is brightest in the dark.”
So they respond to love?
How do you think they do with verbal commands?
Uh, excuse me, Mr. Badgermole.
We’d really appreciate it if you could show us the way to the palace.
Please?
[growls]
[uplifting music playing]
Uh…
[grunts]
[grunts]
[action music playing]
[grunts]
[Aang] Ah!
[grunts]
Please, Bumi! You don’t have to do this!
Oh, but I do.
Some of us have to fight even when we don’t want to.
That’s what it means to be in a war!
[grunts]
[grunts]
[grunts]
No!
[grunts] Ah!
You’d have known about that if you’d been around, but you weren’t.
You left us.
You were the Avatar.
And you left us.
In this world, you can’t rely on anyone,
even your friends.
[grunts]
[grunts]
Especially your friends.
[snarls]
[chuckles]
[Aang] Ah.
[grunts]
[Aang grunts]
[grunts]
[grunting]
[laughs]
[snorts]
Well, as fun as this has been,
it’s time for the games to end. [grunts]
[grunts]
[Aang] Ah!
[chuckles] Huh?
[chuckles]
Bumi, I can’t hold both of them. Help me!
Let it fall.
Let it fall, and you win.
Bumi, this isn’t a game!
Yes, it is.
One that requires you to make impossible choices.
Do I save this town or that?
Who gets the last of the food scraps? The orphanage or the soldiers?
You have to make choices like that day after day, year after year.
And that’s just to save this one city.
You have to save the whole world.
Let it fall, Aang, and learn what it means to be the Avatar.
No!
Then the world is doomed.
[Katara] Sokka, get the king.
Huh?
[Sokka grunts]
[Bumi] Ah!
Aang, now!
[grunts]
Are you okay?
[Aang panting]
Well, kid, you sure know how to bring the house down.
[grunting]
Cheater! You cheated!
You didn’t do it on your own, so you didn’t learn anything at all.
[Aang] You were wrong.
You can rely on your friends, and that’s the only way I’m gonna save the world.
With my friends.
You think like a child.
Is that really so bad?
Huh?
Remember this?
I use it to call a friend.
That’s what I’m gonna do now.
Call on an old friend.
You were right.
I wasn’t here for the world. Or for you.
But I’m here now.
[uplifting music playing]
[man] Your Highness, we’ve called up the reinforcements.
And… and… and you doubled the guards on the walls?
Yes, Your Highness.
Good. Tell them I’ll be there soon.
Wait, what’s going on?
Fire Nation forces are on the move. They’ll be here by dawn.
You’re under attack?
We will be, but we will be ready.
Fortunately, a source tipped us off.
Sai?
The mechanist alerted the generals to a network of spies in the city.
Helped us round them up. Now, all of you get out of here.
The Avatar has places he has to be. We can take care of ourselves.
It’s time Omashu rejoined the war.
Oh, uh, but I do have one more challenge for you.
[laughing]
[adventurous music playing]
[man] My cabbages!
[somber music playing]
[Iroh grunting]
Ah. [sighs]
It seems we are always getting on or off boats.
Perhaps that is our lot in life, Prince Zuko.
[mysterious music playing]
[indistinct chatter]
Ah, good. It’s not too late.
[Zuko] What are you doing here, Uncle?
[Iroh] Same as you.
Getting ready to embark on what is sure to be a memorable journey.
You wanna come with me?
I’ve come fully prepared. All the tea I need.
I don’t need a babysitter.
How about a friend?
[sentimental music playing]
My father made it very clear that I’m not to return until I find the Avatar…
which means
it could be a very long time before we return home.
Home.
Everything I need is on this boat.
Like I said, all the tea I need, hmm?
[laughs]
[mysterious music playing]
What is it, Zuko?
Nothing.
Let’s get you home.
[dramatic drum and flute music playing]
