The Blue Spirit

Writer: Bryan Konietzko, Michael Dante DiMartino

Director: Dave Filoni

Guest Stars: Jason Isaacs (Zhao), Jim Meskimen (Lieutenant Jee), Jodi Carlisle (The Herbalist), Nick Jameson (Colonel Shinu), Dee Bradley Baker (Miyuki)

Overview
''Sokka and Katara become sick, and Aang goes to a herbalist to find the cure. After finding it, Aang is caught and imprisoned by Zhao. A warrior with a blue mask rescues him and they escape together. Aang discovers the warrior is none other than Zuko, and wonders if the two of them could be friends. Zuko attacks, but Aang escapes and cures his friends.''

Synopsis
The episode opens with a messenger hawk approaching a Fire Nation fortress. Archers are practicing very advanced skill levels. Commander Zhao and Colonel Shinu are observing the training. Colonel Shinu denies Zhao’s request to use the (now identified) extremely talented Yu Yan archers in Zhao’s quest to retrieve the Avatar calling it a vanity project for Zhao rather than part of the real war. However, just then the hawk arrives with the news from Fire Lord Ozai that Zhao has been promoted to Admiral. He then informs Colonel Shinu that his request is now an order. Shinu then bows in agreement. The scene then zooms on the roof above Zhao and Shinu showing a figure in dark clothes and blue mask.



In the ruins of a mountainous region (presumably in the Earth Kingdom) Katara is caring for an obviously ill and delusional Sokka, who talks nonsense and believes Appa can talk and that he can earthbend. According to Katara, this illness has resulted from his exposure to the storm in the previous episode. Aang comes in returning from looking for ginger root (with no luck) but returns with a map to an herbalist institute on a nearby mountain. Katara states that Sokka is not in any condition to go there, declaring that all Sokka needs is some rest, and then she begins to cough herself. Despite Katara’s protests that she is fine, Aang realizes she too will be as delusional as Sokka in a few hours and decides he must travel to The Herbalist. However, there is lightning (possibly remnants of the huge storm in the previous episode), and Aang decides to go by foot instead of using his glider and begins running very fast with the aide of his Airbending.

Meanwhile, Lieutenant Jee is going over the map with Prince Zuko to make plans to continue the search for the Avatar. Suddenly, the ship is overshadowed by a large Fire Nation Naval ship, spurring Zuko to wonder what they want. It is not for a game of Pai Sho, as Uncle Iroh speculated, but to inform Prince Zuko and his crew that all information regarding the Avatar is to be reported to Admiral Zhao (revealing the recent promotion of Zhao to all present crew members). Zuko informs the Fire Nation soldier he has no information to give to Zhao and commands them to get off his ship and let them pass. Zuko and his crew are then informed that Zhao is not allowing passage in or out of the area. Again, the soldiers are told to get off the ship by Zuko. Iroh, seemingly indifferent to the conversation, declares he has won the pot but encourages his opponents in an effort to get them to play again (so he can beat them again).

Fire Nation lookouts are hiding in something similar to a duck blind reading the wanted poster for the Avatar. One soldier doubts the validity of some of the claims as Fire Lord propaganda, but as Aang speeds by, knocking everything and everyone around, the soldier realizes the claims are true and blows a signal horn to spread the news of the sighting of the Avatar.

Katara enlists Momo’s help to get water, but as the scene shifts to Momo’s perspective the viewer is led to believe that Momo just hears random sounds and really does not know what Katara is saying. Nevertheless, Momo departs with the water skin.

Aang finally reached the herbalist and tries to relay his problem, but the herbalist is distracted by telling stories as she gathers ingredients. Aang tries to be patient, but it is difficult for him.

At this time Iroh is asking Zuko if he is all right as Zuko has not given the crew an order in over an hour. Zuko declares that he doesn’t care what they do. Iroh tries to build up Zuko’s confidence by saying Zuko can still capture the Avatar before Zhao, but Zuko seriously questions how as Zhao has much greater resources. Zuko then voices despair at the idea that he may need to face losing his honor, throne and country.



When the herbalist finds the final ingredient, Aang grabs the bowl and says thanks, but the herbalist swats him and grabs the bowl back, asking him what he thinks he’s doing. Aang says he’s taking the medicine, and the herbalist explains the mixture is not a cure but her cat Miyuki’s dinner. She then explains to Aang that all his friends need to do is suck on some frozen wood frogs from the swamp below. The skin has medicinal properties, but only when the frogs are frozen. As Aang departs for the swamp below, two arrows pin the cuffs of his boots to the ground. He then deflects several other arrows with Airbending and then begins to free himself. Once free, a chase begins between the Yu Yan archers and Aang. Aang manages to evade the Yu Yan down the side of the mountain and through the forest, but in the swamp, when he is distracted with gathering the frozen frogs, Aang is finally captured by the Yu Yan.

Once captured, Aang is brought back to the Fire Nation fortress shown at the beginning of the episode, and his arms and legs are secured to two posts. Zhao comes in (meeting Aang for the first time face-to-face – in their previous encounter in the episode Avatar Roku, Roku was inhabiting Aang’s body as Zhao was attacking) and taunts Aang by reminding him he is the only Airbender left, but that unlike his people, Aang will not be killed as it is not in the Fire Nation’s best interest to have to search for the Avatar again once reborn. In a rare instance, Aang’s anger and frustration cause Aang to use Airbending in an aggressive rather than defensive act as he forcefully blows Zhao to a wall. Zhao then attempts to further break Aang down by telling him there is no escape and no one will rescue him.



At this time, Momo has returned to the still very ill Sokka and Katara, but not with the filled water skin, but a dead mouse. Momo departs again. Katara wonders what is taking Aang so long.

Outside the Fire Nation fortress, the same masked figure from the opening scene waits. He then uses a supply cart to sneak into the fortress by hanging underneath and then inside the cart as the guards inspect it. Zhao then addresses the troops and informs them he has captured the Fire Nation’s last obstacle to victory – the Avatar. He foresees the Fire Nation will take the Earth Kingdom city of Ba Sing Se within the year with the strength of Sozin’s Comet.

The frozen frogs Aang gathered begin to thaw out. The masked figure works his way to Aang’s location and manages to subdue the guards and free Aang – much to Aang’s surprise. While trying to gather the runaway frogs, Aang is pulled away by the masked stranger, who does not talk to Aang.

Back with Katara and Sokka, Momo had brought many items from fans, to pottery and jewelry, even a tiara on Katara’s head but no water. Katara pleads for Aang’s swift return. Sokka still has delusions and refers to Katara as "your highness."

The masked stranger and Aang sneak out via what appears to be the sewer or drainage system of the fortress. On his ways to see Aang in his prison cell, Zhao is dictating to his assistant how he wishes his speech and testimonies from high ranking officer to be sent to the Fire Lord. Zhao then discovers the bound guards and empty cell (with the exception of one frog). An alarm is set off, and the attempt by Aang and the masked figure to scale the wall is thwarted when the rope they were using is cut by a guard. Aang breaks the fall with Airbending. The masked figure points to the open gates and they make a run for them. Zhao orders the gates to be closed. Aang uses Airbending to clear away several guards blocking the exit; however, the masked figure can not move as fast as Aang and gets caught battling with guards that have caught up with them. Aang stops to see this and one guard almost gets him with a spear, but Aang blows him away, breaks off the spearhead, and uses the stick and Airbending to clear off the guards attacking the masked figure as well as to throw the masked figure up onto the first of the fortress walls.

Aang uses the stick from the spear in a helicopter fashion and lifts the masked figure from one fortress wall to the second wall as the masked figure fends off attacks with his broadswords. More guards come up to attack the duo on the second wall. One pushes off the stick Aang had used previously. The masked figure throws one guard over the wall, and Aang Airbends the rest away. More troops use bamboo ladders to scale the wall, but again Aang blows them off. He then takes the ladders and calls to the masked figure to get on his back and they use the three ladders like stilts to go from one wall to the third and final wall. However, a Firebending soldier manages to light the last ladder on fire, forcing Aang and the masked figure to jump to the next wall. Their grip does not hold and both fall to the ground just in front of the main gate.

As Firebenders come to attack the duo, Aang pulls the masked figure behind him and blocks the attack with Airbending. Zhao tells the men to stop, for the Avatar needs to be captured alive. Suddenly the masked figure puts his broadswords to Aang’s neck, and a standoff begins. Zhao orders the gate to be opened, and they let the pair out as the masked figure takes Aang with his swords still around Aang’s neck. Zhao then has a Yu Yan archer knock out the masked figure with a single shot.



After the masked figure falls to the ground, Aang sees a small part of the face below and creates a dust cloud as cover while Aang removes the mask to reveal Zuko. At first, Aang is shocked and afraid and begins to run but then stops to look back at Zuko. As the dust clears and the guards approach the area, we see no one is there, which angers Zhao.



Zuko regains consciousness, and Aang tells him of a story about his friend from 100 years ago named Kuzon from the Fire Nation and wonders if he had known Zuko back then if they would be friends. Zuko responds by attacking Aang with a fire blast, which Aang easily avoids and hopped from tree to tree, leaving Zuko on a bed of leaves.

Aang goes back to the swamp to collect frozen frogs as Zuko heads back to his ship. Uncle Iroh asks Zuko where he’s been, and Zuko just replies that he is going to bed. Aang returns to his friends and puts the frogs into their mouths and then plops down on Appa’s tail to rest. Sokka asks Aang if he made any new friends to which Aang says he doesn’t think he did and turns on his side. At the same time Zuko looks at the Fire Nation flag and also turns away to his side. Sokka and Katara begin to feel better but are shocked as they realize they are sucking on frogs and quickly spit them out.

Series Continuity

 * Zuko disguises himself as the Blue Spirit for the first time, although the name is not actually mentioned in in-episode dialogue or text until "The Waterbending Master". He adopts the same identity in "The Swamp", "Avatar Day", and "Lake Laogai".
 * Sokka apparently remembers this episode, as he mentions it later in the series.
 * A wanted poster for the Blue Spirit is prominently placed next to the festival poster in the beginning of "The Deserter."
 * In Zhao's victory speech, he states that the Fire Nation will finally breach the "impenetrable" walls of Ba Sing Se and use Sozin's Comet to burn the Earth Kingdom capitol city to the ground. This has several foreshadowing elements for later events in the series:
 * The Fire Nation successfully penetrates the walls of Ba Sing Se in the episode The Drill, but ultimately fails to invade and take over the city. Instead, it is because of Princess Azula infiltrating the city and instigating a coup that the city is finally conquered by the Fire Nation.
 * The speech hints at the events of the third season finale, where in Sozin's Comet, Part 1: The Phoenix King it is revealed that Phoenix King Ozai's plan is to indeed use the comet's Firebending-enhancing power to destroy Ba Sing Se and literally burn the Earth Kingdom to the ground to win the war once and for all.
 * When Iroh plays the Tsungi Horn as Zuko returns, the bejeweled monkey statue that he was eying on the pirate's store in "The Waterbending Scroll" can be seen. It can also be seen in "The Runaway" while Sokka and Aang are contemplating how to get Toph and Katara to be friends again.
 * In "The Western Air Temple," Aang refers to the events of this episode (and Sokka claims that the frog gave him a wart on his uvula, which he called his "his throat hole flap", though Katara insists it was psychosomatic, meaning it was all in his head).
 * During "The Ember Island Players", in the scene where the Blue Spirit rescues Aang, the enemy he faces is Zuko rather than Zhao.
 * A copy of the Blue Spirit mask appears on a merchant's cart in the beginning of the episode "The Swamp". Zuko kept this particular copy and later disposed of it in the episode Lake Laogai, where it sank to the bottom of the lake.
 * Zuko cooperating with Aang foreshadows his joining to the team Avatar in the third book.
 * It became sort of a running joke in the series that none of the population outside Team Avatar knew Zuko and the Blue Spirit were one and the same, such as in "The Ember Island Players".

Connections

 * The idea of sucking on frogs for medicinal purposes very likely traces its origin to real-world toads such as the Colorado River toad, which secrete a psychoactive hallucinogenic venom through their skin. In the 1970s, rumors were widely propagated of hippies and other teenagers sucking on or licking these toads to get high; but these rumors were never found to be true. Also, the practice would not actually work for humans, because the human digestive system cancels out the venom—it would have to be injected, inhaled, or smoked in order to have an effect. (This is apparently not true for dogs, however.)
 * The scene in which Aang asks Zuko if they know each other back then they could be friends is almost the exact same as Session 8 "Waltz for Venus" from Cowboy Bebop in which Roco asks Spike "If I had met you earlier in my lifetime, do you think that we would've been friends?" This comes to no surprise as the creators are big fans of that show, and would later name Wulong Forest after the show's currency.

Trivia

 * Zhao's speech makes it appear that, in the Fire Nation, both men and women can be in the army.
 * This is Michael DiMartino's second favorite episode (out of three) because of the mysteriousness of the Blue Spirit that was involved in it. He also liked it because it had a lot of action, and a suprising twist at the end.
 * In "The Blue Spirit" with "Avatar Extras" bonus commentary, one of the commentary bubbles stated that this episode was originally called "The Red Spirit" (with the mask being red, of course). During some airings of this episode, the title was mistakenly given as "The Red Spirit", and still appears as so on some program guides.
 * The Tsungi horn is played whenever Prince Zuko switches to his Blue Spirit alter ego. The instrument used for the sound effect was the Duduk, which the Tsungi Horn is based on.
 * This is the first time a character gets sick (Katara and Sokka).
 * In "The Blue Spirit" with "Avatar Extras" bonus commentary, when Aang was running up the stairs to the herbalist one of the commentary bubbles stated that the movie "Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon" was used as reference for that scene.
 * In "The Blue Spirit" with "Avatar Extras" bonus commentary, one of the commentary bubbles stated that the mask Zuko wears when he is the "Blue Spirit" is actually an Earth Kingdom theater mask. Similar to the two frowning and smiling masks displayed in real life acting theaters.
 * In "The Blue Spirit" with "Avatar Extras" bonus commentary, when Aang jumped off the cliff when he was running from the Yu Yan Archers, one of the commentary bubbles stated that the movie "Rambo" was used as reference for that scene.
 * Scenes from "The Last Airbender" trailers show Aang fighting soldiers alongside what appears to be Zuko's Blue Spirit persona, indicating that some elements of this episode may be incorporated into the movie. Images of props from the film (which include the Blue Spirit's mask and swords) confirm this theory.
 * This is the first time a character goes by another alias to achieve a plot-twisting goal. The second is in the episode "The Painted Lady", from the third season, when Katara dresses as a local legend to save the Fire Nation village of Jang Hui.
 * In The Last Airbender movie, the Blue Spirit mask also came with hair, unlike the one in the television show.
 * This is the first time in the series an unhybridyzed animal has been seen.

Goofs

 * When Aang goes to leave, the sky looks like there is about to be another storm, but then when he leaves on foot, there is no storm
 * When Momo comes back to Katara with a mouse, the picture behind Appa is now a picture of night, but the first time we see the picture, it is a picture of a sunny day.
 * When Aang is trying to escape, "the Blue Spirit" hands him the next ladder while holding the middle of the ladder, but when they need to put it on the ground, they are suddenly at the top of it.
 * With some television providers (such as DIRECTV) this episode is listed as "The Red Spirit."