The Warriors of Kyoshi


 * This article is about the episode. For the organization, see Kyoshi Warriors.

"The Warriors of Kyoshi" is the fourth episode of season one of Avatar: The Last Airbender, and the fourth of the overall series. It debuted on March 4, 2005.

Overview
''Aang brings the group to Kyoshi Island to ride the giant koi fish, but the team is captured by a group of female warriors. Aang reveals he is a reincarnation of Kyoshi Island's founder, Avatar Kyoshi, so the villagers celebrate the arrival of the Avatar. Unfortunately, the message gets to Zuko. While Zuko sails to Kyoshi Island, Sokka befriends the warrior leader, Suki, who manages to change his sexist attitude. She teaches Sokka the warrior skills of Kyoshi, and Sokka does well. Then Zuko attacks the village, and burns it down in search of Aang. Suki turns out to have a crush on Sokka; however, Team Avatar is forced to leave the village. At the end, the young Avatar manages to ride the unagi and make it gush water out of its mouth which stops the village from burning down completely.''

Synopsis
The episode begins with Zuko's ship adrift at sea. Zuko is meditating when Iroh comes in with information regarding the Avatar. Iroh begs Zuko not to become angry to which the prince replies that he can control his temper, but when Iroh states that he does not have any information about the Avatar's current location, Zuko becomes furious. He then explains that there have been multiple sightings of Aang, but he is impossible to track, showing his nephew a detailed map of where he has been located. Zuko quickly takes the map and declares that Aang is "obviously a master of evasive maneuvering".

Meanwhile, Aang, Katara and Sokka are flying on Appa with Sokka indicating Aang's lack of navigational skills. Katara is sewing Sokka's trousers, while Aang is trying to get her attention and impress her with his new airbending trick that involves spinning three marbles in a rapid, circular motion. However, being preoccupied, Katara ignores him. Sokka then makes a chauvinistic comment, and Katara throws his trousers, which have not been completely re-sewn, back at him. He quickly regrets what he said, telling Katara that he cannot wear his pants as they still have a large hole in them.



Aang then lands on a small Earth Kingdom island with Sokka informing him that they have taken too many detours recently, which they cannot afford if they want to reach the North Pole. A large fish springs out of the water, and Aang proclaims that that is why they came here; he then strips down to his underwear. As he tries to show off his moves to Katara by riding on the back of an elephant koi, he is attacked by the unagi, a gigantic, gray eel that is native to Southwestern Earth Kingdom waters. Terrified, he runs back to land and redresses into his airbender attire. Suddenly, the group is ambushed by a mysterious group of warriors. Katara, Sokka and Aang are kidnapped and tied to a pole. The warriors reveal themselves as the group's ambushers; Sokka, upon seeing they are all female, makes a chauvinistic remark about being kidnapped by "a bunch of girls". One of the warriors threatens to throw him to the unagi, but Katara intercepts, saying he often says stupid things like that.



They demand to know why they have come here, and Aang clarifies that they just wanted to ride elephant koi. Oyaji, the island's leader, then implies they may be Fire Nation spies. He also commented that Kyoshi has stayed out of the War, and intends to keep it that way. Aang quickly responds to the fact that the island is named after Kyoshi, revealing that he knows her. The leader of the warriors, Suki then states that is impossible, with Oyaji stating that Avatar Kyoshi died over four hundred years ago. Aang answers their questions by telling them that he is the new Avatar, but the people of Kyoshi believe he is lying and want to throw the impostor to the unagi. To prove that he is the long-lost Avatar, he airbends his way out of his predicament and the villagers look in awe.

The news of the Avatar in town travels from person to person, and news finally reaches Zuko and Iroh. Zuko jumps up in surprise and readies to depart to Kyoshi Island.

Aang and Katara enjoy a delicious meal of desserts and treats, charitably given from the town while Sokka lies on the floor, angry because he was bested by females. In Aang's honor, the town's people clean up the statue of Avatar Kyoshi. Later, Aang shows off to the young women of Kyoshi as they chase him around.

Sokka goes to the Kyoshi Warriors, and he is asked if he wants to show off some of his 'moves'. He tries to demonstrate his techniques, but is brought down by Suki. He simply states that he was going easy on her and ultimately fails again, being tied arm to leg and swung to the ground. He then leaves out of embarrassment.



Meanwhile, Katara asks Aang if he can help her carry some supplies for their journey. Aang declines and inquires Katara if she would like to go with him and the pack of young Kyoshi girls on a trip on Appa, which she rejects. Aang accuses her of being jealous of him being in the company of the girls so often. Katara becomes angered by this and walks off.

Sokka returns to the training area and bows before Suki, admitting he would be honored to be trained by her. She makes sure he will not care about being trained by a girl, and he admits that he said some inappropriate things before and apologizes. She agrees on the conditions that he undergo all their traditions. The scene skips to him into a Kyoshi Warrior outfit. He complains about being in a dress, and Suki calls it a symbol of honor and bravery. Just as Sokka begins feeling proud to wear the uniform, Aang then walks by, giggling, and complimenting Sokka on his "dress".

Suki begins training Sokka in the art of Kyoshi style fighting. After a little while of training, Sokka believes he is starting to understand the form, but inevitably chucks his weapon out the door. Suki laughs, saying it is not about strength; it is about using your opponent's force against them and waiting until the right moment to strike. Sokka then knocks down Suki who, embarrassed, says it was on purpose, but then admits she was knocked down and asks him to try it again.

Aang informs Katara that he is going to locate the unagi and ride the creature. After exchanging some infuriating words, Aang runs off to ride the beast. In the next scene, Aang is in the water with the young ladies on the beach impatiently waiting for the unagi's arrival. After what seems like forever to them, the girls decide to leave and Katara shows up. After the two make fun of their behavior earlier, the unagi appears and thrashes around and throws Aang, and he falls unconscious.

As the unagi swims towards Aang to finish the attack, Katara rapidly swims to the rescue, grabbing a hold of Aang and using her waterbending to propel herself towards land. After a fast escape, she hides behind some rocks where she spots Fire Nation troops approaching. After they pass, she waterbends water out of Aang's throat. Aang coughs and wakes up, telling her to not ride the unagi.



Oyaji runs to Sokka, Suki and the rest of the Kyoshi Warriors, urging them for help. The Kyoshi Warriors greatly demonstrate their abilities and skills in battle, taking out many firebenders, although they are outnumbered. The Fire Nation troops, led by Zuko, burn the town as they search for the Avatar. The Kyoshi Warriors attack them, knocking Zuko and several of his men from their rhinos. Suki and several other Kyoshi Warriors surround Zuko, and in order to escape, he uses firebending. He then calls out to Aang, "Nice try Avatar, but these little girls can't save you!" After Zuko sees Aang, they engage in a short battle, which results in further damage to the town. Distressed by this realization, Aang flees to find Katara. Aang wishes he could have prevented this destruction on the town and Katara tells him if they flee, the firebenders will follow them. Aang, with no other choices, agrees.

Suki urges Sokka to hurry and leave, but he says he will not leave her, at least not without an apology. She asks why, and he explains that he treated her like a girl instead of a warrior. Suki then kisses Sokka on his cheek, telling him that she is a warrior, but a girl, too, causing Sokka to blush. She then returns to battle giving Aang and his companions a chance to escape.



Aang, Katara and Sokka leave as the town is being set on fire and Zuko and his followers pursue him again. As they begin to fly off, Katara tries to assure Aang that he did the right thing, as Zuko and his men would have burnt down the entire village if they had remained. Aang suddenly leaps down from Appa back into the Kyoshi Bay's waters. A second later, the unagi bursts out of the water with Aang clinging onto its whiskers. With some struggle, he manages to gain footing on the giant eel's head and directs it towards the burning village. The unagi then spews a blast of water, extinguishing the fires. Aang leaps into the air, is caught up by Appa, and the three fly away into the sunset as the unagi swims underneath them.

Credits

 * Written by:
 * Nick Malis


 * Directed by:
 * Giancarlo Volpe


 * Starring:
 * Zach Tyler Eisen - Aang
 * Mae Whitman - Katara
 * Jack DeSena - Sokka
 * Dante Basco - Prince Zuko
 * Dee Bradley Baker:
 * Appa
 * Momo


 * Also starring:
 * Mako - Uncle
 * Jillian Henry - Koko
 * Jennie Kwan - Suki


 * Additional voices:
 * Dee Bradley Baker
 * Dante Basco
 * Hayley DeLong
 * Jack DeSena
 * S. Marc Jordan
 * Jennie Kwan
 * James Sie (Oyaji)
 * Mae Whitman

In addition, Byron McKittrick had his first appearance as the foaming mouth guy but there is no screen credit.

Series continuity

 * This episode is the first episode where Aang, Katara and Sokka enter the Earth Kingdom.
 * This episode marks the first appearance of Suki.
 * The man who begins foaming at the mouth and passes out from sheer amazement that Aang is the Avatar is also featured in the episode "Avatar Day".
 * While Sokka undergoes training, Suki is the first to promote the importance of treating the weapon, in this case a metal fan, as an extension of one's self. In the episode, "Sokka's Master", Piandao will reiterate the same principle to Sokka as he learns the way of the sword from the master swordsman. Furthermore in "The Firebending Masters", Toph herself admits to the significance of the aforementioned principle of being able to see when she told her story about how she learned earthbending from badgermoles – not just as a martial art – but as an extension of her senses.
 * This is the first time Katara bends liquid in one's body. After saving Aang from the unagi, Katara bends water out of Aang's lungs in order to help him breathe. The second time she bends liquid in one's body is in "The Puppetmaster" and the third occurred in "The Southern Raiders".
 * The technique Zuko uses to knock down Sokka and two Kyoshi Warriors when he's on the floor and surrounded is the same move he uses to defeat both his opponents in both Agni Kais during the series.
 * This episode takes place in and around Kyoshi Island, location number 39 on the map of the World of Avatar.
 * This is one of the few episodes where Prince Zuko is shown wearing a Fire Nation helmet.

Character revelations

 * Aang reveals that Kyoshi was one of his past lives.

Goofs

 * When the Kyoshi Warriors are first introduced, only Suki has auburn colored hair; the others have dark brown hair. When Sokka goes to confront them while they were training, the other warriors have lighter brown colored hair. This may be due to outdoor lighting.
 * The Kyoshi Warriors have stripes on their arms, but they seem to disappear at times, as seen in review picture.
 * When the Kyoshi Warriors capture Team Avatar, Momo is over half the size of Aang's body.
 * Before the gang got captured by the Kyoshi Warriors, Aang put his clothes back on except for his outer yellow pants. In the next frame, after being tied up, his pants are on.
 * When the statue of Avatar Kyoshi is first shown, the color is significantly faded. When Aang jumps into the air, however, the color appears to be normal. The color was not restored until later in the episode.
 * When Aang shows the people of Kyoshi his marble trick, at the time Sokka and Katara are tied to the statue of Kyoshi, Sokka's hair is drawn incorrectly.
 * Oyaji claims that Avatar Kyoshi has "been dead for centuries". For this to be true, she must have been dead for at least 200 years. Kyoshi had only been dead for 182 years when Team Avatar first visited Kyoshi Island, in late 99 ASC. This could be explained as either he is just generalizing the years or he doesn't know exactly when she died.
 * When Aang exclaims, "That's me!" to the village, the rope isn't tied around him.
 * When Sokka first confronts the Kyoshi Warriors, Suki is in front with the other girls behind her, but as Sokka starts to charge and Suki swings him around, the girls behind her vanish. After Sokka is tied up with his own belt, they reappear.
 * When Sokka got humiliated by Suki in her training spot, she tied Sokka's hand to his foot with the white band he wears around his waist. In the next scene it becomes a brown rope.
 * As Sokka is knocked to the ground a final time by Suki, there are six Kyoshi Warriors behind him. In the next shot, there are the regular five.
 * When Aang was talking to Katara in the marketplace, there's a background character making hand movement suggesting he's holding some sort of conversation, but there was no one else there.
 * When Sokka and Suki are training, Sokka throws a fan, but in the next clip, both fans are in his belt; the same thing happened with Suki.
 * Katara mentioned Zuko by name, despite none of the gang having been shown to have learned his name in previous episodes. However, some off-screen time has passed between "The Southern Air Temple" and "The Warriors of Kyoshi" so they could have learned his name during off-screen time.
 * When Aang and his friends fly off to lead the Fire Nation away from Kyoshi Island, the Fire Nation ship is nowhere to be found on the shore.
 * With the exception of Suki, all the Kyoshi Warriors have the same features and brown hair. Yet in "Appa's Lost Days" and "Sozin's Comet, Part 4: Avatar Aang", the Warriors are facially all different with black hair all styled differently.
 * When leaving Kyoshi Island, Sokka was looking back at the island, but in the next scene he's washing off the makeup.
 * In the Finnish dub, all the references to unagi in this episode are replaced by the Finnish equivalent of fish (plural), or in one occasion, Giant Carp. This is probably due to an error on the translators part.
 * When Sokka goes to the training area the second time when the girls are practicing with their fans, one of the girls arms seems to disappear behind the person that is behind her. The girl is at the bottom left.
 * When the entrance to the village is seen, a large mountain can be seen behind it, implying the village to be in a valley. However, in the episode "Avatar Day", this mountain is not seen in the same spot.

Trivia

 * Aang's statement to Sokka about not needing pants where they were headed to early in the episode becomes a reality later when Sokka ends up wearing a dress, also known as a Kyoshi warrior uniform, to be trained by Suki.
 * The fighting style of the Kyoshi Warriors is similar to the waterbending tactic of turning their defense to offense. This is also a tactic of Ninjutsu.
 * If you look closely when Sokka is stretching, you can see the stitch Katara made.
 * In this episode, Sokka receives his first kiss.
 * The scene when the girls are chasing Aang is based on the Beatles film A Hard Day's Night.
 * Sokka is the first outsider to become a Kyoshi Warrior, with the second being Ty Lee.
 * When Aang is showing off for the locals, he does push-ups, switches to one-handed push-ups, and then tops it with push-ups propelled only by his breath. This progression strongly resembles another show-off scene in the movie Kung Pow! Enter the Fist, which was released in 2002.
 * When they arrived at Kyoshi Island, Katara stated that if they keep on making pit stops along the way to the North Pole, they wouldn't get there until spring, but when they got to the North Pole it was still in the middle of winter. They probably moved at a faster rate to make it there on time.
 * If it wasn't for her popularity among fans, this was going to be the only episode featuring Suki.

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