History of Sokka (Summer 100 AG)

Plans Ahead


When Aang awakens on a Fire Nation ship, Katara informs him about how they had returned to Chameleon Bay after he was injured. They had found her father, and later captured a Fire Nation ship. Sokka explains that the Earth King and Bosco had decided to travel the world in disguise. He mentions that they have currently gotten through the Serpent's Pass. According to Sokka, although their forces are greatly outnumbered for the invasion, they have one clear advantage: the world believes the Avatar to be dead, and thus will not be hunting for him any longer. However, Aang does not take this revelation well at all, because this marks the second "death" of the Avatar. Sokka and the others separate from the rest of the Water Tribe warriors and decide to meet them on the Day of Black Sun.



Meanwhile, Sokka and the others are traveling through the Fire Nation, using a combination of Waterbending and Airbending to hide Appa in a cloud. They take temporary shelter in a cave (but not before Sokka can call some harmless Toucan-Puffins Enemy birds), and then go to seek out new clothes to help them better blend into the Fire Nation. They find an unattended clothesline and steal some outfits, and then go to town to buy some accessories. In town, the group attempts to act natural, which is somewhat impeded by Aang, who, having traveled through the Fire Nation a century before, claims to be an expert of their customs (however, his slang is obviously outdated). Aang returns to the cave at nightfall, relieving Katara, Sokka, and Toph, who were evidently worried by his long absence. The fact that he has been attending a Fire Nation school all day shocks Aang's friends, and when he claims to have enjoyed the experience and wishes to return to the school the next day, Sokka strongly objects. Aang manages to convince him to allow it by pointing out that it's an opportunity to find out information about the Fire Nation, specifically mentioning a "secret river" they were going to learn about that led to Fire Lord Ozai's palace. Sokka reluctantly agrees that Aang should go back the next day.

Aang gets into trouble for "roughing up" a favored student of the headmaster, Hide, resulting in a parent-teacher conference. Sokka and Katara attend the conference acting as Aang's parents, "Mr. Wang Fire" and "Mrs. Sapphire Fire". While they manage to succeed in fooling the teacher, Sokka is against Aang returning to school. Aang therefore plans to hold a secret dance party in the cave for everyone in the school. After the dance party gets crashed by The Headmaster, the group flees on Appa. As they leave, they surprise a small Fire nation kid by Earthbending the tunnel shut.



The group comes across the fishing village of Jang Hui. The village is in a deep depression. Many villagers are sick, and there is a lack of food because of the polluted water. Katara wishes to help these people, but Sokka says their overall mission is too important to stop to help everybody they come across. That night, Sokka is trying to find a way to rearrange their schedule, and mentions that the solar eclipse will only occur for about 8 minutes. In the morning, Appa is found lying on his side, and his tongue is purple. Katara suggests that the village might have some herbs that can heal him. The shop keeper, Xu, says that the Painted Lady came last night and gave the town food and medicine. Sokka skeptically notes that the Painted Lady's work will be all for nothing unless she helps them all the time, as long as that factory is still there, and jokingly suggests that the Lady should use her "spirit magic" to just blow it up. In the morning, the Katara and Aang arrive back at the camp and find Sokka and Toph waiting for them, having found out the truth on how Katara was acting like the Painted Lady. As they prepare to leave, they see a squad of Fire Nation troops heading towards the town on motorized boats, and realize that they must believe the villagers had sabotaged the factory. Katara is determined to stop them, and despite their argument, Sokka readily agrees to help her once he sees that she's set on helping. Katara, with help from Sokka, Aang, Toph, and Appa, chase away the Fire Nation troops. They then help the village to clean up the polluted river.

Sokka's Master


The group stops later in Shu Jing to watch a meteor shower when a meteorite lands nearby the town. Sokka is left to do almost nothing (other than watch over Momo) while Toph, Aang, and Katara extinguish the fire using their various bending abilities. The next day, while the group eats in the same town that they saved, Sokka voices what disturbs him: he feels ordinary and, by extension, inferior, compared to the others who exhibit such amazing abilities. Katara suggests that Sokka consider a master, since each of the others have had a master of their own. To appease him in the meanwhile, she suggests that the group go shopping, which cheers Sokka up noticeably. As he tries out various weapons, he finally stumbles upon a sword. The shopkeeper informs the group that it was crafted by the best sword maker and swordsman in Fire Nation history, Piandao. Katara says that they all have had mentors and that Sokka should seek out the master's help.



Sokka pays a visit to Piandao's estate and is met by the butler. Sokka is informed that Piandao often turns away those who apply for tutelage, but allows Sokka to present his case regardless. Finally seeing the man's back as he practices calligraphy, Sokka presents that he feels he is worthless, despite having traveled the world. His words are met with Piandao's invitation for them to see just how worthy he is, together. Thus, the two begin their first day of training. Piandao offers several training exercises meant to build more than Sokka's use of a sword, such as painting a landscape he was able to view for only a few seconds to teach him to grasp the landscape in the heat of battle, and rock gardening to teach him to manipulate the landscape in his favor. At the end of the day, Sokka feels he's learned nothing, but Piandao disagrees: though he messed up at every exercise, he messed up in a very "special" way, exhibiting cunning, creativity, and spirit in each.

Therefore, after only the first day, Piandao tells Sokka that he is ready for a real sword. However, rather than giving Sokka one of his own, he tells Sokka that he will make his own sword, since it is an extension of him. Sokka, rather than using materials on hand, opts to bring in his own material. Returning to the group, who has missed his jokes and planning finesse fiercely, he enlists their help to roll the meteorite which fell the day before to the mansion of the master. There, the two break the meteorite into smaller pieces, melt them, and forge the sword. Aang, Katara, and Toph all watch. Piandao presents Sokka with the finished blade later on, revealed to have a black blade due to the unique material used to forge it. He then proclaims that Sokka has been the most worthy apprentice he has had. At this, Sokka can no longer bear the lie he has told, and reveals his true identity and origin to the master.



Piandao says that he is sorry too, and attacks. Sokka is able to fend him off, and tells the others not to interfere, as this is his fight. The two move to the dueling grounds, where Sokka deftly avoids the man's strikes using various tactics he has learned (manipulating the environment, fighting from the high ground, utilizing a superior agility). Piandao finally disarms Sokka, but when the others move to help him, Piandao relents with a smile, and divulges that he is too old to fight the Avatar. The master says that he has known Sokka was of water tribe since he came, and that he should consider using a different name, such as Lee. He then tells Sokka, when asked why he trained him if he knew the truth, that the art of the sword belongs to no one nation just as it belongs to no one person. He encourages Sokka to train everyday, saying that if he continues to walk this path, he will become an even greater master. When leaving, Sokka is given a Pai Sho tile by Piandao - the White Lotus. While they walk away Sokka presents Toph with a fragment of the meteorite that he has saved.

Scams and Preparation
When the group comes to a Fire Nation city, Toph takes up scamming, which starts a feud between her and Katara. Toph, Aang, and Sokka start racking in loads of money with Toph's acting. With his new money, Sokka goes to a store selling Messenger Hawks. After buying a Messenger Hawk, Hawky, Sokka finds a wanted poster for 'The Runaway' (a.k.a Toph). He shows it to her and is embarrassed when Toph has to remind him she can't see what is on the paper. After Sokka reads it aloud, Toph is delighted at the nickname and how much money is being offered for her return. Sokka later talks to Toph to try to mend the rift between her and Katara. As they discuss how Katara's motherly instincts actually help them, Sokka takes Toph for a chat about Katara, not knowing that she is bathing underneath in the water below them. Sokka says about how he is dependent on Katara, and Toph agrees. Sokka then states that he doesn't even remember the way his mother looked. He says that whenever he tried to picture his mother, Katara is the only person he could see. The group is soon found by Combustion Man and they are forced to leave.

Several weeks later, Sokka and the gang arrive at the Black Cliffs, a small uninhabited island where the entire invasion force would assemble on the Day of Black Sun. However, they arrived four days early, causing Aang to suffer from a lack of sleep and hallucinations as he worries about his upcoming duel with Fire Lord Ozai. Along with Katara and Toph, Sokka attempts to help Aang by acting as his therapist, donning the same beard and mustache from his disguise as "Wang Fire" in "The Headband". The group is eventually successful in putting Aang's fears to rest, assuring him that he is in fact ready for the battle due to his expanded bending prowess.



Moment of Truth
Finally, the Day of Black Sun arrives, and so does the entire invasion force, led by Sokka's father, Hakoda. They show up with many of the gang's old allies, among them Bato, Haru, Teo, The Mechanist, and many others. The Mechanist had in fact spent months designing and manufacturing various weapons for the invasion, although Sokka's original sketches were "hard to interpret". Among these weapons are eclipse glasses, submarines for underwater infiltration, and treaded tanks for Earth Kingdom troops. The invasion force then assembles for the announcement of the battle plans, but Sokka gets stage fright in front of the crowd and lets his father take over. Sokka is ashamed of his performance, but Aang assured him that it's what he will do on the battlefield that will really matter. Sokka, wearing the traditional armor of his people, leads the invasion force alongside his friends, his father, and Bato into the Fire Nation capital, where they succeed in destroying dozens of tanks and forcing the surprised Firebenders to go on the defensive. When Hakoda is severely wounded destroying a Fire Nation battlement, Sokka takes over as leader and takes the Royal Plaza, and while doing so displays remarkable swordsmanship against the Firebenders. Aang then goes off to face Fire Lord Ozai.



Sokka continues to lead the invasion force in "The Day of Black Sun, Part 2: The Eclipse" while Katara heals their wounded father. Everything goes well until Aang comes back to tell them that Ozai is not at the Royal Palace and that the whole capital is deserted. Sokka then realizes that the Fire Nation knew they were coming, and after everyone agrees that they must press on, Sokka and Toph accompany Aang to the capital, where Sokka deduces that the Fire Lord may be hiding in an underground bunker. Using her Earthbending, Toph easily finds it, much to Sokka's joy. However, it is Princess Azula who is at the bunker, not the Fire Lord. She reveals that she knew about the invasion for months and that she figured that Aang survived her lightning attack. However, Azula's firebending is disabled by the eclipse, so Sokka demands that she reveal the Fire Lord's true position. She refuses, instead sending a pair of Dai Li agents from Ba Sing Se to fight them. The group eventually defeats the agents, but Azula is way too fast to be taken down. Sokka stops his two friends from attacking, realizing that Azula was distracting them in the caves in order to waste their eclipse time, so they go off to find Ozai.



Suddenly, Azula reveals that she knows who Sokka is because her "favorite prisoner" used to insist that Sokka would one day rescue her. She then claims that she gave up on him because he never came. Sokka immediately knew that she was referring to Suki, his girlfriend from Kyoshi Island. Filled with rage, Sokka attacks Azula, and Toph narrowly stops her from stabbing him with a knife. Sokka demands that Azula reveal Suki's location, but she stands there silently. Suddenly, the eclipse ends and she escapes with her firebending, revealing Ozai's location. Sokka blames himself for ruining the invasion, but his friends assured him that it was not his fault. When Aang insisted that he should fight the Fire Lord without the eclipse, Sokka convinced him not to, assuring him that there will be a next time.

Sokka informs the troops of Azula's trap and orders an evacuation. Unfortunately, a force of Fire Nation zeppelins showed up out of nowhere and destroyed the submarines long before the group could escape, so Hakoda, now mostly recovered, insists that Sokka and all younger members of the group flee the country. Sokka and Katara say farewell to their father and promise to come back as soon as possible to save them. Sokka, Katara, Aang, and all of their younger allies from the invasion force are currently riding on Appa to the Western Air Temple, where the group will seek temporary refuge.

The Western Air Temple
Encountering Zuko again, with claims that he's a different person now who wants to help them, Sokka showed distrust, and later rage, when Zuko clumsily let out that he sent Combustion Man after them. He openly threatened to attack Zuko if he did not leave.

Later, when the assassin attacks the group, Sokka used his boomerang to defeat Combustion Man by calculating his trajectory. He allowed Zuko to join the team, trusting Aang's judgment on the matter. Even though Sokka voiced hanging around with Zuko "is really really weird", he soon became much more comfortable with the matter, often the subject of his sarcastic remarks such as "jerkbending" and "jumping into a volcano".

The Boiling Rock


When the "The Boiling Rock, Part 1" opens, Zuko is serving the group tea while Sokka sulks in a corner. When Zuko comes to bring him his tea, Sokka asks to speak to him alone. When Zuko joins him, Sokka asks where the Fire Nation would keep war prisoners, as many members of the Invasion Force were captured by the Fire Nation. Zuko tells him that his best guess would be the Boiling Rock prison, a maximum-security facility located over a boiling lake just south of where they are. When Zuko asks why Sokka is asking about it, Sokka only says that "Just knowing makes me feel better" and walks away with Zuko watching him. The following morning, Sokka wakes up a few hours earlier than the others and sneaks quietly towards Appa. When he gets there, he finds Zuko waiting for him, unsurprised to see that he is leaving. Sokka admits that he is going to the Boiling Rock. He says that, because the invasion plan was his idea, it is his responsibility to free the prisoners and that he "needs his honor back". Zuko says he understands but that it is a bad idea to go alone and offers to go with him. At first, Sokka refuses, until Zuko points out that it would be impossible to get there on Appa, and that they should instead take his War Balloon. Sokka agrees, and the two of them set out to the Boiling Rock, leaving the others a letter saying they were out to get meat.

The two of them are awkward around each other at first while on the balloon. Eventually, they begin talking more naturally about their histories. Their conversation moves to their girlfriends, with Zuko talking about Mai, and Sokka relating how Yue, his first girlfriend, turned into the Moon Spirit. Zuko responds by saying "That's rough, buddy", showing just how much a person's attitude can change towards someone, the prime example being when Zuko disrespectfully referred to Sokka as a "Water Tribe peasant" back in The Waterbending Scroll.



They arrive at the Boiling Rock and the balloon starts going down. Sokka realizes that the air outside the balloon is just as hot as the air inside, so they cannot fly. They crash land the balloon by the side of the island and sneak into the prison. Inside, they find some guard uniforms and begin posing as guards until they are called out into the yard. There, they find Chit Sang being harassed by a guard. Eventually, the guard provokes the prisoner into Firebending, prompting him to be taken to the Cooler. Sokka is ordered to help and tells Zuko to meet him in an hour. He takes note of the function of the Cooler in how icy it is and how well it insulates against heat.

Later, he meets Zuko, who tells him that he's been asking around the prison and there are no Water Tribe prisoners. Sokka at first becomes disheartened until he sees Suki in the yard. He and Zuko decide to go meet her and form an escape plan. Sokka goes to Suki's cell while Zuko stands guard outside. At first, Suki does not recognize Sokka and punches him in the gut when he tries to kiss her. When his helmet falls off, Suki realizes who it is and they embrace. He tells her that he is here to bust her out of prison. She says how happy she is to see him and that she almost gave up hope that she would be saved. The two of them kiss.



Meanwhile, Zuko is caught by a guard. As Sokka is leaving the cell, he sees Zuko wrestling with her and helps the guard, knowing that they would have no chance of escape otherwise. He whispers to Zuko that he plans to meet him later. He meets both Suki and Zuko later while they are on mopping duty. He tells them that his plan for escape is to use the Cooler as a boat to get off the island. He explains that the Cooler makes an ideal boat because of its way of insulating heat. He is overheard by Chit Sang who wants in on the plan. The rest of them agree and stage a fight between Chit Sang and Zuko to get Zuko in the Cooler to unbolt it. Later, Sokka meets Zuko, who has unhooked it from its screws. While inside, they both hear that new prisoners will soon arrive. The two of them move it to the lake with Suki. There, they meet Chit Sang and his friends. They are all about to leave when Sokka, Zuko and Suki decide to stay behind to see if Hakoda is among them. Finally, after all of the prisoners have been unloaded, Sokka sees his father among them.

In "The Boiling Rock, Part 2", Sokka joins the line of guards in the yard while the Warden interviews the new prisoners. Sokka witnesses Hakoda's insolence and secretly chuckles. Later, he meets Hakoda in his cell and says that he's glad to see he's okay. Hakoda does not recognize him due to his uniform, so Sokka takes off his helmet. The two have a touching reunion. Hakoda tells him where the other prisoners are, as well as that he met the Kyoshi Warriors. The two of them begin planning a new escape attempt. Sokka then goes to Zuko's cell before Zuko is taken away by the guards to see Mai. Sokka also visits Suki again, and tells her his and his father's plan start a prison riot as a distraction and then commandeer the gondola and take the Warden hostage so they won't cut the line.



After he leaves Suki's cell, he is taken by the guards under orders from the Warden. He is then put into a lineup with his mask off so that Chit Sang, who had been tortured by the Warden after getting caught, can identify him. However, the prisoner identifies another guard instead. Sokka goes to the technician operating the doors and tells him he has orders from the Warden to let the prisoners into the yard. When the guard questions him, Sokka only says that the Warden is being angry and irrational. Frightened, the guard opens the doors.

Sokka meets with Hakoda and Suki and tells them that it is time to start a riot. After Hakoda fails in his attempt, Chit Sang meets the three of them where he starts one. They are joined shortly by Zuko. Suki climbs the wall up to the Warden and takes him prisoner while the others follow. The group makes its way to the gondola and uses the Warden to get past the guards. As the gondola makes its way across the lake, it is attacked by Azula and Ty Lee. When the two girls make their way to the roof, Zuko, Sokka, and Suki go up to meet them. While Suki fights Ty Lee, Sokka and Zuko duel Azula.

During the fight, the Warden manages to untie his handcuffs and yell to the guards to cut the line to prevent the prisoners from escaping. Azula and Ty Lee flee the gondola so they won't fall into the boining water below. Mai attacks the guards that are cutting the line to save "the jerk who dumped me", referring to Zuko. After gondola makes it across the lake, the group steals Azula's Airship and travels back to the Western Air temple. Sokka and Zuko come back to the group and reveal that they've been to a Fire Nation prison, and when asked if they returned with meat, Sokka says that they've brought "the meat of friendship and fatherhood" and Hakoda, Suki, and Chit Sang step out of the Airship.

The Final Battle


During the final battle of the war, Sokka, along with Toph and Suki, are in charge of destroying the Fire Nation air ships. After breaking in, Sokka, pretending to be the captain, orders all the crew members to gather at the bomb bay to celebrate a birthday. After everyone reports to the bomb bay, Sokka releases the floor, causing all of them to fall into the ocean below. He soon commands the ship, causing it to destroy other warships in the process. As Sokka, Suki, and Toph run on top a ship safety, its cut in two, causing Suki to be left behind. As Sokka and Toph continue, they fall. Using his sword, he saves them both from death by breaking the fall, but hurts his leg in the process. As Sokka holds on to Toph, who is hanging from the ship, with one arm, Fire Nation soldiers surround them. Sokka uses his boomerang to hit some of the guards, along with his sword, resulting in the loss of his sword and boomerang. It proves futile, as more guards arrive in preparation to kill them. They are saved by a oncoming ship controlled by Suki. Sokka, Toph, and Suki manage to destroy all the air warships, ceasing the attack on the Earth Kingdom. Afterwards, Sokka, along with Toph and Suki, join together to berate the now fallen Ozai and comment on how cool Aang looked fighting.

After The War
After Ozai is defeated, all the war prisoners are released. Sokka and Katara are once again reunited with their father and Suki and the freed Kyoshi Warriors arrive in full uniform (Sokka mentions he kind of missed Suki's face paint), accompanied by Ty Lee. He initially thinks she is in disguise again and steps in to warn Suki, but he is informed (to his shock) that Ty Lee bonded with the Warriors in prison and later joined them.

Later, Sokka is seen in a green robe, along with Aang, Katara, Toph, Mai, Zuko, Suki, and Iroh at the Jasmine Dragon, all of whom except Aang are in similar Earth Kingdom clothes. Sokka makes a painting to capture the moment, but everyone notes that it is extremely crude (Katara's "hair loopies" look like Momo's ears, Zuko's hair is too spiky, Mai looks like a man, Iroh's belly is too round, and Suki is inexplicably firebending, to which Sokka replies that it looked more exciting). Only Toph, who of course can't see the painting, says, "Well, I think you all look perfect!" and everyone laughs.