The Boy in the Iceberg

Season 1, Episode 1 – The Boy in the Iceberg

Sokka and Katara Fishing

The first scene in the Avatar: The Last Airbender series takes place in a river filled with icebergs.  The first characters we encounter are Sokka and Katara, as they are canoeing down a river and trying to catch fish.  Katara uses her waterbending skills to lift some water into the air, with a fish encapsulated in it.  As Sokka tries to spear his own fish, he bursts the water capsule and gets soaked.  The fish gets away.  You get the sense that Sokka finds Katara’s waterbending skills as an annoyance.  He asks ‘Why is it that every time you play with magic water, I get soaked?’.  He calls her wierd, to which Katara replies that at least she is not the one who makes muscles into the water reflections.

Discovering the Iceberg

As they are jabbing back and forth, they hit a strong current, and crash their canoe.  They end up stranded on a small iceberg.  Sokka blames their misfortune on Katara.  Big mistake.  Katara gets super mad, and starts telling Sokka how lazy he is.  She says she does everything for him, including his dirty laundry.  As she is tearing into him, her emotions are causing the water around her to erupt into large tidal waves.  The tidal waves split a large iceberg, causing a huge wave that sends them farther down the river.  After regaining their sense, something glows in the water.  It begins floating to the surface.  It is a large block of glowing ice.  A silhouette is visible in the middle of the iceberg.  It’s eyes glow, and Katara realizes that whatever is in the iceberg is alive.  She begins pounding on it, and it breaks open.  A huge beam of light shoots toward the sky.

Meeting Prince Zuko

The beam of light can be seen for miles and miles. Prince Zuko of the Fire Nation has been searching for the Avatar. He sees this beam of light, and is sure it is the Avatar. Zuko’s uncle tries to calm him down and advises him to drink some tea, but Zuko is not having any of that. He tells his helmsman to set a course for the light.

Aang emerges and we meet Appa

The figure behind the silhouette emerges from the iceberg. It is glowing, and looks very intimidating. It stops glowing, and slides down the iceberg. It is just a little boy. Sokka begins poking him in the head. He is weary, and asks Katara to come closer. He asks Katara, “Will you go penguin-sledding with me?”. A deep groan can then be heard. The boy runs over to a groaning beast. The boy in the iceberg says it is his flying bison named Appa. Appa sneezes and gets snot all over Sokka. As the boy in the iceberg is about to introduce himself, he sneezes. The powerful sneeze sends him flying into the air, to the amazement of Katara and Sokka. When he lands, he introduces himself as Aang. Katara and Sokka quickly realize that Aang is an airbender. At this point, Sokka is hesitant to trust Aang. Katara is much more inviting. Aang offers to give them both a ride home on Appa. Appa hops in the water, and begins swimming toward the village.

A glimpse into Aang’s past

While the trio are riding home on Appa, Katara asks Aang if he knew about what happened to the Avatar. Aang stutters, and hesitates for a second before saying that he doesn’t know. Aang falls asleep, and has a nightmare. In the nightmare, him and Appa appear to be stuck in a terrifying storm. They crash into violent waters, and begin to sink. Before they perish, Aang begins to glow and surrounds himself and Appa in a large block of ice. His nightmare is interrupted by Katara, and he finds himself in the village.

The Water Tribe Village

Katara introduces Aang to the entire village. The village is very small, so there are probably less than 30 people total. Everyone is staring at Aang. Katara’s grandmother explains that nobody had seen an airbender in 100 years. Sokka remains skeptical as Aang is telling the village that he can fly with the help of a glider. Aang gets his glider out, and of course, starts flying around. Katara reveals that she is a waterbender, but doesn’t seem too confident about it. She is excited because she thinks that she can learn from Aang. Her grandmother tells her to not get her hopes up too much. Despite her grandmother’s hesitance, Katara states that she feels Aang has much wisdom to share. While she is explaining this, Aang is playing with the village children, and he gets his tongue stuck to his staff.

Zuko’s Training

As Prince Zuko is sailing towards the light, he is training for battle. His uncle is teaching him firebending drills. Zuko’s uncle insists that Zuko’s firebending fundamentals are not good enough. He tells Zuko to master the basic drills before continuing on to more advanced drills. Zuko becomes upset. He commands his uncle to teach him the advanced firebending. His uncle obliges, but only after he finishes his roast duck.

Aang helps Katara with her waterbending

Aang sees a penguin in the village, and goes nuts. He chases it, and finds a bunch of other penguins. He tries to catch one so that he can go penguin-sledding, but he’s unable to do so. Katara finds him, and says she’ll make a deal with him; she’ll teach him to catch penguins, if he teaches her to waterbend. Aang agrees. They start talking, and Katara reveals that she is the only waterbender in the south pole. She has no one to teach her waterbending. Aang says that he can not teach her waterbending, but he can help her find a waterbender to learn from. He suggests going to the north pole.

The Fire Navy Ship

After an exhilirating penguin-sled run, Aang and Katara find themselves at the base of an abandoned Fire Navy ship. Katara warns that they should stay away, that it might be booby-trapped, but Aang says that to be a bender, you have to let go of fear. They proceed into the ship. The ship was part of the Fire Nation’s first attacks. Aang begins to realize that he wasn’t trapped in the iceberg for a few days. He was trapped in the iceberg since before the war with the Fire Nation began; 100 years ago. As the pair are leaving the ship, they trip a booby-trap. The ship is rigged to shoot a flair into the sky. Prince Zuko is close enough to the old Fire Navy ship to see the flair. He also sees Aang and Katara, and where they are headed; to the Water Tribe Village.