The Warriors of Kyoshi


 * This article is about the episode. For the organization by a similar name, see Kyoshi Warriors

Writer: Nick Malis

Director: Giancarlo Volpe

Guest Stars: Jennie Kwan (Suki), Jillian Henry (Koko), Byron McKittrick (Foaming Mouth Guy), Dee Bradley Baker (Rhinos, Additional Voices), James Sie (Oyaji)

Overview
''Aang brings the group to Kyoshi Island, to ride the giant Koi Fish, and are captured by a group of female warriors. Aang reveals he is a reincarnation of their 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, and Team Avatar leaves the village. At the end, Aang manages to ride the Unagi and make it burst 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 and Zuko replies that he can control his temper. Iroh states that he has no idea where the Avatar is and Zuko becomes furious. Iroh then explains that there have been multiple sightings of Aang but that he is impossible to track, showing his nephew detailed map of where he has been located. Zuko quickly takes the map and declares that, "he's a master of evasive maneuvering".

Meanwhile, Aang, Katara, and Sokka are flying on the back of Appa with Sokka indicating Aang's lack of navigational skills. Katara is sewing Sokka's trousers, while Aang is trying to get her attention to impress her with his new 'trick' of Airbending three marbles in a rapid, circular motion. But because she's busy, 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 and Katara 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 titanic, 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. The gang is then tied to a pole and after having removed the cloth from covering Aang, Katara and Sokka's eyes, Sokka utters a remark about how they could not have been beaten by a bunch of girls.



They demand to know why they have come here and Aang clarifies that they just wanted to ride Elephant Koi. Oyajii, 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. Head warrior Suki then states that is impossible, with Oyajii stating that Avatar Kyoshi died over 400 years ago. Aang answers their questions by telling them that he is the new Avatar. The people of Kyoshi believe he is lying and want to throw the impostor to the Unagi. For proof 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. Then 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 failed again being tied arm to leg and swung to the ground. He then leaves out of embarrassment.



Meanwhile, Katara asks Aang if he could help her carry some supplies for their journey. Aang replies with no 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 declines 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 would not care to be trained by a girl. He accepts that he said some inappropriate things before. She agrees if he undergoes 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. Aang then walks by, giggling, "Hey Sokka...nice 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 to wait until the right moment to strike. Sokka then knocks down Suki, who embarrassed, says it was on purpose. Then she 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 the exchange of some infuriating words, Aang runs off to ride the beast. In the next scene, Aang is in water with the young ladies impatiently waiting for the Unagi's arrival. After what seemed like forever to them, they 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 behinds some rocks where she Waterbends water out of Aang's throat. Aang coughs and wakes up, telling her to not ride the Unagi. They see Fire Nation troops approaching and quickly take the offensive.



Oyajii runs to Sokka, Suki and the rest of the Kyoshi warriors, urging them for help. The Kyoshi warriors make a good demonstration of 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. After Zuko sees Aang, they engage in a short battle. 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 would not leave her; at least without an apology. She asks why and he explains that he treated her like a girl instead of a warrior. Suki then kisses Sokka, telling him that she is a warrior but a girl, too. 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'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 as the Unagi swims under them.

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 (a.k.a. Kyoshi warrior uniform) to be trained by Suki.
 * In this episode, Sokka receives his first kiss.
 * The fighting style of the Kyoshi Warriors is similar to the Waterbending tactic--to turn their defense to offense.
 * If you look closely when Sokka is stretching, you can see the stitch Katara made.

Series Continuity

 * The man who begins foaming at the mouth and passes out from shear 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 badger moles – not just as a martial art – but as an extension of her senses.

Goofs

 * The Kyoshi warriors have stripes on their arms, but they seem to disappear at times. As seen in review picture.
 * Before the gang got captured by the Kyoshi Warriors Aang put his clothes back on, but his outer yellow pants were missing. In the next frame, after being tied up, his pants are on.
 * When Aang shows the people of Kyoshi his marble trick, Sokka and Katara are tied to the statue of Kyoshi. Sokka's hair is drawn completely incorrectly.
 * 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. Presumably they forgot to animate another person.
 * When Sokka got humiliated by Suki in her training spot she tied Sokka's hand to his foot with a white band. In the next scene it becomes a rope.
 * 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. Yet in "Appa's Lost Days" and "Sozin's Comet: Avatar Aang", the Warriors are facially all different.