Piandao

"fire"

- The sword is a simple tool, but in the hands of a master it becomes the most versatile of weapons. And just as the imagination is limitless, so too are the possibilities of the sword.

Master Piandao was a Fire Nation bladesmith, swordmaster, calligrapher, and sifu. A former member of the Fire Nation Army, he was also a high-ranking member of the Order of the White Lotus. Piandao was also notable for his teaching of Sokka in swordsmanship and his participation in the liberation of Ba Sing Se.

History
Piandao was born to two Firebenders; both of whom were considered prodigies in their art. Ashamed that their only son wasn't a bender, his parents left him on the doorsteps of an orphanage. Growing up, Piandao was a nervous and agitated child, but he showed interest in the arts and enjoyed painting and calligraphy. It helped him relax and focus his mind.

At the age of 10, Piandao attended Fire Nation boys' camp where his natural talent with the sword was recognized. He furthered his studies in the army, where he developed a vicious and fearsome sword fighting style. Piandao fought many battles for the Fire Nation and won them all. However, after several years of fighting, Piandao lost his taste for war and sought to become a more enlightened person. He felt increasingly conflicted about the Fire Nation's role in the war, and so left the army and traveled the world for many years, studying under a variety of benders, warriors and artisans.

After some time, he returned to the Fire Nation and settled in the town of Shu Jing. The Fire Nation army came to arrest him for deserting the military. In a legendary battle, Piandao defeated all one hundred soldiers. The Fire Nation Army never bothered him again. Some time after this, Piandao trained the young Prince Zuko to wield Dual Dao Swords.

After Sokka concluded he did not openly contribute to the group, he sought out Piandao. Sokka then traveled to Piandao's Castle. During the interview, Sokka humbly admited his own unworthiness to the master, much to Piandao's surprise. Having grown accustomed to potential students bragging about their own worth, Piandao found Sokka's humility not only refreshing, but exactly what he was looking for. He decided to properly train Sokka. He was set about to do tasks such as landscape painting and calligraphy, as well as practicing against one of the master's underlings. Piandao believed him to be worthy enough to choose a steel to make his sword. Sokka made a sword out of a meteorite.

When Piandao gave Sokka the sword, Sokka initially refused the blade and confessed the truth about actually being from the Southern Water Tribe. The master attacked him, and they then engaged in a duel. As the duel between Sokka and his master transitioned outside, Sokka used the techniques he had learned—coupled with his youth and agility—to get the upper hand (something the master pointed out several times).

However, the swordsmaster finally gained the upper hand but sheathed his sword before delivering the final blow. He then revealed that he had known Sokka was from the Water Tribe all along just from his name, and also noted that Aang was the Avatar. Nonetheless, he claimed that the art of the sword did not belong to any one nation, and gave Sokka his sword back. When the group left, they were given a bag with a Pai Sho piece, the White Lotus tile.

As the doors to the master's home close, they noticed that the symbol of the White Lotus could be seen surrounding that of the Fire Nation. Several months later, when the group went to find Iroh, they ran into Piandao. They found him near the destroyed outer wall of Ba Sing Se, along with Master Pakku, Jeong Jeong, and King Bumi. It turned out that they were all members of the Order of the White Lotus, and were summoned there by a Grand Lotus, Iroh. The masters took the group to their camp, and Piandao showed Iroh's tent to Zuko. Piandao took part in the fight to reclaim Ba Sing Se in the name of the Earth Kingdom, along with the rest of the Order.

Abilities


Piandao was a master of the Jian sword, incorporating techniques of benders, warriors, and artisans into his swordsmanship and though retired from conflict, was considered the best swordsman in the Fire Nation, and potentially the world. Despite his age, he was incredibly swift and agile. When testing Sokka, he was fast enough to move in front of Sokka before he realized it. He had an acute sense of hearing and was able to ascertain Sokka's position when temporarily blinded by hearing him step on a twig. Whether it could be also be accredited to his hearing, or whether he possessed some other sense similar to Toph's Seismic Sense, he subsequently was able to disarm him, still blind, and then catch a sheath perfectly on his sword when thrown to him by his butler, Fat. In the Battle of Ba Sing Se, he disabled several soldiers with the aid of Pakku. He was arguably the most powerful, and the most skilled non-bender in the series.

Considering he was the tutor for Prince Zuko, it is inferred that he was highly skilled in Dual Dao Swords in addition to his skills with the Jian.

Trivia

 * A Pian Dao is a "Slashing sabre," a deeply curved Chinese sword, which was very rare. This is probably a reference to Piandao being a swordmaster. Despite his name, Piandao used a jian, a straight-bladed short sword.
 * Piandao's character design was a reference by the makers of Avatar to Sifu Kisu, the martial arts consultant for the series.
 * On Piandao's door was a symbol of the White Lotus, foreshadowing the events of Sozin's Comet, Part 2: The Old Masters.
 * Piandao appeared to be among the tallest of the human characters seen.
 * He was the only named member of the Order of the White Lotus not to have white/gray hair.
 * Piandao was one of the few Fire Nation characters that did not have typical golden eyes. Others included Ty Lee, Fat, Chit Sang, Shoji, and Ta Min.
 * Piandao is similar to the word โชควาสนา (peaugdown) which means "star" in Thai. (Pronounced pee-aang-dow)
 * He was the only one of the four main White Lotus members who did not appear in Book 1.
 * Piandao was the only "old master" who was not a bender just like Sokka was the only non bender in the Avatar Gang, which made the teacher-student understand each other better.
 * Piandao saying that Sokka could have chosen "Lee" as his cover name, and then saying there are "a million Lees" around was a possible reference to Zuko using Lee as his cover name. Having once been Piandao's student, this may have been where Zuko picked it up.