The Blind Bandit


 * This article is about the episode. For the character the title refers to, see this article.

Writer: Michael Dante DiMartino

Director: Ethan Spaulding

Guest Stars: Sab Shimono (Master Yu), Mick Foley (The Boulder), Cam Clarke (Lao Bei Fong), Gabrielle Carteris (Poppy Bei Fong), Marc Graue (Xin Fu), Kevin Michael Richardson (The Big Bad Hippo)

Overview
''Aang is searching for an Earthbending teacher, but with little success. While at an Earthbending tournament, Aang finds a talented blind Earthbending girl named Toph, who Aang saw in a vision in the swamp. She cannot become Aang's Earthbending teacher, due to being unable to leave her overprotective parents. Though she saves Aang after he is kidnapped, Toph is forbidden from fighting any longer. She runs away from home and joins the group, becoming Aang's Earthbending teacher.''

Synopsis
Sokka is contemplating on purchasing an expensive and flashy bag. His indecisiveness bores Aang and Katara, who try to be supportive as Sokka weighs the pros and cons of the purchase. Aang and Katara start walking away and while Sokka finally makes his purchase, the other two are approached by a man handing out flyers for a local Earthbending academy. Katara convinces Aang to check it out, since he needs to find someone to teach him the element.



At Master Yu's Earthbending Academy, Aang uses the flyer's coupon to receive his "free" lesson. However, all Aang gets is a rock to the stomach. Master Yu attempts to sell Aang a year's worth of lessons, but Aang believes Yu isn't a good teacher for him.

As the trio departs, they overhear two young men discussing Earth Rumble VI, an underground Earthbending tournament. Thinking it may be a good place to find a powerful bender for a teacher, Aang asks them where it is located. They sarcastically tell him, "It's on the island of None'ya... None'ya business!" and the two walk away laughing. Katara follows them around the corner and forces the information out of them by freezing them to the wall.

Earth Rumble VI is held inside a jagged mountain, with the arena illuminated by many glowing crystals above. The trio looks for seats, wondering why so many front row seats are vacant. Suddenly a rock comes crashing toward them, providing a clear explanation as to why the seats are vacant. From the center of the ring, the game's host Xin Fu explains the rules: each contestant must knock his opponent out of the ring with Earthbending to advance.

In the first round, The Boulder begins battling The Hippo and defeats him. Aang isn't too impressed with The Boulder because, as Aang puts it, "Bumi said I need a teacher who listens to the earth; he’s just listening to his big muscles." Sokka, on the other hand, has become The Boulder’s newest fan. After defeating all the challengers, The Boulder has a chance to take on the Earth Rumble champion, The Blind Bandit.



As The Blind Bandit is escorted to the ring, the crowd cheers. Aang and friends realize the champion is nothing more than a little blind girl, causing The Boulder to state his reservations about fighting her. The Blind Bandit taunts him, saying it sounds as if he's scared. The Boulder's reservations vanish, and he prepares to attack her. She taunts him again, calling him "The Pebble" and laughs to herself. As she laughs, Aang realizes she’s the girl from the vision he had in "The Swamp".

The Boulder is about to attack, but The Blind Bandit senses the vibrations his steps create in the ground and makes her move. She disrupts his first step, causing him to slip into a leg split. The little girl quickly knocks The Boulder out of the ring as he screams in pain. Sokka is devastated while Katara is amazed and wonders how she did it. Aang explains to Katara, "She waited and listened!"

Xin Fu then offers a bag of gold pieces to anyone who can defeat The Blind Bandit. After a short silence, Aang jumps into the ring. The Blind Bandit taunts him, and Aang tries to explain how he doesn't really want to fight, but rather talk. However, the champion begins to fight. Aang uses his Airbending, drifting above the floor of the ring to evade her, and she is unsettled by being unable to track him. Aang blows away a rock she sends at him, accidentally pushing the champion off the ring and erroneously winning the match. Aang rushes to catch The Blind Bandit, telling her he thinks she's supposed to be his Earthbending teacher. Upset she lost, she quickly departs the stadium. Disappointed, Aang collects the gold pieces and belt.



The next day, the trio heads to Master Yu’s Earthbending academy in search of The Blind Bandit. Katara tries her intimidation tactics again on the young men she froze the day before, but they end up not having the information she asks for. Aang then realizes they are asking about the wrong person. When he describes the girl from his vision, the young men don't recognize the description, but they do know a local family whose symbol is a flying boar – The Bei Fong family. The trio leave to check out the lead.

Back at the arena, The Boulder tells Xin Fu that there was no Earthbending when the champion was defeated, leaving him to believe The Blind Bandit intentionally lost in order to split the money with the challenger. Xin Fu is enraged by this and intends to get his money back.

The trio arrive at the Bei Fong estate, but it is heavily guarded. They head around back and climb over the outer wall into a gardened area. Suddenly, the trio is thrust into the air by the earth being pushed up from underneath them. The Blind Bandit, now dressed in an elegant dress, confronts Aang as to why he's come, calling him "Twinkle Toes". Aang and friends explain he's the Avatar and is in dire need of an Earthbending teacher. After they refuse to leave her alone, The Blind Bandit calls the guards, forcing the trio to leave. The guards arrive and escort her inside, revealing her name to be Toph. Over the wall, Aang sneakily smiles to himself and has an idea of what to do next.

Toph's father and mother are meeting with Master Yu to confirm that she is not trying anything dangerous in her lessons, and Master Yu assures them that he has kept Toph at the basic level. A servant comes in to tell them a visitor has come – the Avatar, and Toph gets agitated.



At dinner, Aang, Katara, Sokka and Master Yu have joined Toph and her family. Toph's father inquires of Aang how long he feels the war will go on. Aang explains he hopes to defeat the Fire Lord by summer, but still needs an Earthbending teacher. It has become clear to the group that Toph is keeping her amazing Earthbending skills secret from her parents, along with her identity as The Blind Bandit. Although Master Yu is mentioned as a candidate for Aang's teacher by Toph’s father, Aang attempts to bring up the possibility of Toph as his teacher instead, but she hits Aang's foot with Earthbending under the table to shut him up. Aang tries to reveal Toph's secret identity, but she Earthbends Aang's chair forward, causing his face to smash into his soup. Not to be outdone, Aang returns the favor with an Airbending-enhanced sneeze, throwing Toph's soup onto her (as well as Master Yu and Toph's mother). Toph and Aang start to fight, but dinner is finished.

Later, Sokka, Katara and Aang are getting ready for bed (as guests of Toph’s family). Aang is surprised by Toph’s sudden appearance. She calls a truce, and the two of them walk the grounds of her family’s estate while she explains to him how she sees using Earthbending. Toph envies Aang’s carefree life, but knows she has commitments to her family that prevent her from leaving to join him. Just then, the two of them are ambushed by Xin Fu and his wrestling thugs: The Boulder, The Hippo, Fire Nation Man, The Mole, The Gecko, and Wild Man. A ransom note is left demanding 500 gold pieces for the safe return of their daughter. Toph’s father enlists Master Yu’s help, and Sokka and Katara come along as well.

They arrive at the arena with the ransom and Toph is released. When Katara asks about Aang, Xin Fu states that he plans to turn the Avatar over to the Fire Nation for a reward. He is flanked by all the wrestlers, who threaten them to leave. Katara runs after Toph as she leaves, asking for her assistance. Her father protests, saying Toph is weak, helpless and fragile, which causes Toph to reject her father and assist them. Toph heads back into the arena demanding Aang’s release. The Earthbenders begin to attack, and Toph tells Sokka and Katara to leave them to her. Toph defeats each opponent almost effortlessly. This amazes and shocks Toph's father and Master Yu. Finally, Toph faces off against Xin Fu and sends him flying into the wall. Master Yu exclaims, "She is the greatest Earthbender I’ve ever seen!"

Back at home, Toph tries to explain her secret identity to her parents, hoping it won't upset them. They decide Toph has had too much freedom and must be confined and guarded from now on. Aang, Katara and Sokka are forced out of the house, and Toph sheds tears for losing the possibility of gaining friends and what little freedom she had left.

Preparing to leave on Appa, they are overjoyed when Toph comes running up, telling them her father has changed his mind. Toph knocks Aang into a tree as payback for knocking her off stage at the championship battle. Toph then requests the championship belt back, and Sokka tosses it down to her, forgetting she can't see, causing the belt to hit Toph square on the head. Sokka sheepishly apologizes and Aang falls out of the tree.

Toph’s father brings a small chest to a table in front of Master Yu and Xin Fu, saying he knows they are different, but have a similar interest. He then opens the chest to reveal a large amount of gold. He is offering it to them for the safe return of his daughter, whom he states was kidnapped by the Avatar, revealing that Toph ran away. As the quartet fly away on Appa, Toph appears to be enjoying her first taste of freedom.

Goofs

 * When encountering the two obnoxious boys for the second time, Sokka's new bag switches from his right side, to his left, and then back to his right.
 * During dinner with the Bei Fong Family, Aang uses Airbending to cool Toph's soup for her. In the next frame, the bowl of soup is gone and, instead, replaced by a plate of vegetables, then reappears again.
 * The Boulder refers to himself in the first person twice ("I'm telling you, The Boulder was standing right there. I saw the kid strike, ..."). In the rest of his dialogue in the series, he only refers to himself in third person.
 * Whilst discussing her blindness to Aang, Toph is wearing trousers, though it keeps changing from trousers to dress for the rest of the episode, often trousers when walking or Earthbending, and a dress when standing still. However, the trousers could have simply looked like a dress because they are baggy.
 * As Toph was battling the three remaining wrestlers, when she wiggled her ear to hear the wrestler coming from behind her, her headband was green instead of yellow.

Trivia

 * This was the first episode to use the "Previously on Avatar . . ." teaser heard in all subsequent episodes.
 * The song that plays during Master Yu's first conversation with Lao Bei Fong is "The Jasmine Flower", a traditional Chinese folk song. It is used later in the show as a theme for the Bei Fong Family.
 * Toph calling Aang "The fancy dancer" foreshadows Aang's dancing skills seen in "The Headband".
 * One of the boys that Katara beats up has the same hair style as The Hippo. In the DVD commentary, the creators say that this is because he is a fan.
 * In "The Blind Bandit" with "Avatar Extras" bonus commentary, it was said that the Bei Fongs are the richest people in the southern Earth Kingdom.
 * According to the DVD commentary, Master Yu's academy is a reference to the sort of shady strip mall dojo that gives martial arts schools a bad name.
 * This particular episode is also titled as "The Earthbending Tournament". Not to be confused with the title, especially when downloading through the iTunes music store.
 * "Earth Rumble VI" is a parody of professional wrestling match called the Royal Rumble, and includes parodies of many professional wrestlers and wrestling conventions. References include:
 * The Boulder can be assumed to refer to Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, since he is dark-skinned and refers to himself in the third person (ironically, he is voiced by Mick "Mankind" Foley, one of the Rock's biggest rivals and closest friends in wrestling.)
 * In "The Blind Bandit" with Avatar Extras bonus commentary, it was said that the show's creators tried to get the former wrestler to be The Boulder, though the exact details were not explained.
 * Fire Nation Man is a reference to wrestling's tradition of ersatz "bad guys" (referred to in professional wrestling slang as "Heels"). During the Cold War, many of these "bad guys" were supposedly from Russia, but were actually Americans putting on accents. Fire Nation Man's accent was notably Russian.
 * The Gecko is possibly a parody of Rey Mysterio.
 * Wild Man is possibly a parody of Jim "Warrior" Hellwig.
 * Sokka's behavior during the match is a reference to the stereotypical pro wrestling fan.
 * The Earth Rumble Championship Belt is similar to the WWE Ultimate Championship Belt.
 * The raised fist logo for Earth Rumble VI, while very similar to a Socialist emblem, is also a more subtle reference to the steel fist that used to be the iconic piece in the stage set of WWE SmackDown for a number of years.

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