City of Walls and Secrets

Writer: Tim Hedrick

Director: Lauren MacMullan

Guest Stars: Clancy Brown (Long Feng) (Bosco), George Kee Cheung (Pao), Lauren Tom (Joo Dee), Nika Futterman (Smellerbee), Crawford Wilson (Jet)

Overview
''Aang and the rest of the group arrive in Ba Sing Se to find Appa and inform the Earth King about the solar eclipse, but are constantly hindered by their tour guide, Joo Dee. Elsewhere, Jet repeatedly tries and fails to gather evidence that Zuko and Iroh are Firebenders. His last attempt, challenging Zuko to a sword fight, ends in his own arrest.''

Synopsis
As a reward for protecting Ba Sing Se from the Fire Nation attack, Aang, Katara, Sokka and Toph are allowed into the city and given a house in the Upper Ring. While the others are optimistic about having reached the city, Toph is none too thrilled- apparently she has been in Ba Sing Se before, and did not find it to her liking. Soon after they arrive, Aang and his friends are met by Joo Dee, a woman assigned to guide them around the city. Attempts by Sokka to try to get their guide to talk about the war and a possible audience with the Earth King are invariably ignored. As they see the many sections of Ba Sing Se, the kids soon find the segregation of rich and poor people is not to their liking. Aang recalls that this may be the reason that he didn't visit the city in the years before his being trapped in the iceberg. When a possible audience with the Earth King is finally mentioned, it is revealed that they will have to wait at least a month. It soon becomes apparent that within the walls of the city, no one wants to talk or even think about the war raging in the rest of the world. Even Aang's attempts to find Appa bear no fruit as no one seems willing to divulge any information to them, thanks to some meaningful glances from Joo Dee.

Meanwhile, Zuko and Iroh have found jobs in a tea house, where the former Fire Nation general soon becomes popular for his superior tea brews. Unknown to the two, Jet the freedom fighter is constantly watching them and waiting for either one to show signs of firebending.

When a notice arrives of a party being held in the palace, Katara decides it's a good way to reach the Earth King. Toph says that since the gang are mostly commoners, they'd be spotted right away if they went to the event. In the end, Toph and Katara dress up in formal attire and head for the palace as Aang and Sokka wait. When the girls are finished getting dressed, Aang is seen looking at Katara, blushing and complementing on how beautiful she is.

The girls are initially refused entry by a guard, who rejects even Toph's family seal. They eventually get inside by tagging along with an official named Long Feng.

Aang and Sokka arrive at the palace themselves and enter the side entrance as servants. All of the kids are soon discovered by Joo Dee, who appears very frightened that they have defied the orders and entered the palace. Aang is soon exposed as the Avatar, and a commotion erupts. Sokka, Katara, Toph and Momo are soon gathered gently but forcefully by the guards. Aang himself is confronted by Long Feng and taken to a room where the others are waiting.



Jet, getting impatient with waiting, finally charges into the tea restaurant where Iroh and Zuko are working. He accuses the two newcomers as Firebenders, but is met only by skepticism by the tea shop patrons. Angered, Jet draws his swords. Zuko draws his own double blades, and the two start a prolonged duel. Despite taunts from Jet, Zuko holds his own without using his firebending. Zuko finally disarms Jet at the cost of one of his blades. Guards arrive at the scene and take Jet into custody. Smellerbee and Longshot watch as their friend and leader is taken away. Later, in a darkened room, a captive Jet appears to be subjected to a form of brainwashing.



Inside Long Feng's chamber, Aang and the rest try to talk about the coming Solar Eclipse, but are abruptly cut off by Feng. To preserve the culture and utopian life within the walls of Ba Sing Se, no mention of the war is permitted. It is also revealed that Feng, the Earth King's secretariat, is in charge of handling day-to-day affairs in the city, including all military matters. The King himself is no more than a figurehead, a beloved icon. When Aang threatens to talk and tell everyone about the war, Feng threatens them with expulsion from the city. He then goes on to say that if Aang persists, he may never see the missing Appa ever again.

As they are dismissed, Long Feng calls in Joo Dee to accompany them. Aang stares in disbelief as they all realize that a different woman has taken the place of Joo Dee.

Goofs

 * When Joo Dee meets the group at the train station, she is across the train track. In the next frame, she is on the same side as the group, but she never crossed the tracks.
 * When Zuko and Iroh first go to the tea shop, Iroh asks for a larger apron, so the owner leaves to get some extra string, but when Iroh throws out the bad tea before the owner returns, there is already some extra string on his apron.
 * When Sokka asks Joo Dee if they could see The King any sooner, there's a flower pot on the table to the right of Aang, but when Aang says they should spend their time looking for Appa, Momo is on the table.
 * Sokka holds a tray stacked with cakes at the party when he and Aang meet up with Toph and Katara. When Joo Dee walks over a pushes against Sokka, he blocks it with his tray, but the cakes magically disappear.
 * In the second scene of Zuko and Jet's sword fight, Zuko is seen wearing an apron. In the third (and final) sword fight scene, Zuko is wearing just his robe.
 * At the end of the first fight scene between Zuko and Jet, Zuko's sword blades land on Jets hands. This should have injured him, but it didn't.

Trivia

 * When the gang finds a notice for the King's pet bear's party, they ask Katara if she means platypus bear, skunk bear, armadillo bear, or gopher bear. When Katara says "just bear" Toph replies "This place is weird." This exchange highlights the fact that most animals in the Avatar world are chimeras, or hybrids of two or more animals, and that an animals that is "just bear" is, relatively, weird.
 * While Katara and Toph were getting dressed for the party, Aang and Sokka were playing a game similar to jan-ken-pon (or rock-paper-scissors).
 * At the Earth King's party, the background music is the famous Chinese song, "Mo Li Hua" ("The Jasmine Flower"). It is also heard faintly in the background at the Bei Fong Estate in The Blind Bandit, and serves as a sort of theme for the Bei Fong family.
 * In Long Feng's office, the fire behind him is a bright green, instead of the usual red. This is most likely due to the crystals burning as fuel.
 * When Jet and Zuko begin their fight in the tea shop, Zuko grabbed one of the guard's (from the ferry station) dual swords instead of his own. Maybe because he left his back at the apartment where he and Iroh live.
 * Some satellite services (such as DirecTV) will list this this episode as "Secrets of Ba Sing Se".