Avatar: The Last Airbender/Recap/Book 1/12 The Storm

""You will learn respect, and suffering will be your teacher.""

In the twelfth episode of Avatar: The Last Airbender, the heroes find themselves critically short on money, forcing Sokka to take a job with a cranky old sailor. The sailor immediately recognises Aang, and angrily insults him- saying that if it wasn't for his cowardice, he could have prevented the war. A shocked Katara tries to defend her friend, but Aang flies away.

Meanwhile, on his warship, Zuko is dealing with some apparent "insubordination" as the Captain finds himself loosing patience with the Prince's disregard of anything but the Avatar. When Zuko refuses to stop even for an oncoming storm, risking the crew, a fight nearly breaks out.

Soon the storm does come, and forces both our heroes and villains to take cover- also prompting a story session. Aang explains to Katara about his childhood, and how the revelation that he was the Avatar lost him all his friends and freedom, which eventually caused him to run-away. His actions led to him disappearing from the world, leaving him with huge amounts of guilt for the war. Meanwhile, Iroh explains to the ship's crew the story of Zuko's scar and banishment, and the truth about his obsession of finding the avatar.

A hundred years ago, Aang was just another monk at the Southern Air Temple when the head monks called for him, revealing his true identity as the Avatar. Traditionally, the Avatar's identity is not told until their sixteenth birthday, but the monks have seen signs that war is coming; The world will need the Avatar sooner than usual. The pressure was bad enough, but Aang's friends began to exclude him from their games because the Avatar would have too much of an advantage. Monk Gyatso tried to give Aang a normal life, but the other monks thought Gyatso was being overprotective. They decided Aang should continue his training to another Air Temple. This was too much for Aang- he ran away, eventually becoming caught in a storm and freezing himself and Appa in an iceberg.

"Aang: The fisherman was right! I did turn my back on the world.

Katara: You're being too hard on yourself. Even if you did run away, I think it was meant to be. If you had stayed you would have been killed along with all the other airbenders.

Aang: You don't know that.

Katara: I know it's meant to be this way. The world needs you now. You give people hope."

Zuko's troubles began two years ago, when he tried to get into a war meeting at the Fire Nation palace. Iroh allowed him to watch, but warned not to speak out- "These old folks are a bit sensitive, you know." During the meeting, a general proposed a plan that involved using a division of new recruits as bait. Zuko couldn't help but speak out against it, but even though he was right, it was not his place and he had shown disrespect. An Agni Kai was declared, and Zuko accepted, thinking he'd fight the general. Instead, because he spoke out in the Fire Lord's war room, it was the Fire Lord he had disrespected. Zuko couldn't fight his own father, so for refusing to fight, Ozai gave his son a blast of fire that created the prince's scar, and an exile; one that would not be lifted until Zuko fulfilled one mission; finding the Avatar.

"Lieutenant Jee: So that's why he's so obsessed. Capturing the Avatar is the only chance he has of things returning to normal.

Iroh: Things will never return to normal. But the important thing is, the Avatar gives Zuko hope."

the fishman's wife approaches Aang and Katara, telling them that Sokka and her husband are caught out in the storm. The pair go off on Appa to save them, as Zuko's ship is also caught by the storm. As crews of both ships are saved, Aang and Zuko catch each others' eyes. Rather than chase after the Avatar, though, Zuko orders the ship be moved to safety, and Sokka and the fisherman are removed from the storm.

Zuko apologizes for his earlier actions, and the fisherman apologizes for accusing Aang of abandoning the world. Both apologies are accepted, and the storm ends.

Tropes

 * Abusive Parents: So, Fire Lord Ozai has no problem with taking a blow-torch to his son's face. No wonder he's messed up. And much like many real children who have faced abuse, Zuko continues to blame himself and look for his father's approval.
 * Angst: This really isn't so uncommon to get it from Zuko, but when Aang's lurking in a cave crying, you know something has to be up.
 * Backstory: The viewers finally get to learn more about Zuko and Aang's lives from before we first meet them.
 * Catapult Nightmare: When Aang wakes up from his dream at the beginning.
 * Chekhov's Skill: Iroh redirecting lightning.
 * Dramatic Thunder: The storm underscores the reason that Aang ended up in the iceberg.
 * Early-Bird Cameo: You see that little girl smirking as Zuko has his face burned off? Meet Azula.
 * Gory Discretion Shot: Used for the moment when Ozai gives Zuko the scar.
 * Jerk with a Heart of Gold: The whole crew's been complaining what a complete douche Zuko is, while that very day he goes on to risk his life in order to save that of the helmsman.
 * Nice to the Waiter: Iroh has no problems with eating and hanging out with the crew. Zuko, however, sees them only as servents- but that doesn't stop him from risking his life to save them.
 * One-Scene Wonder: While she would be a major character later in the series, Azula makes an immediate impact in her one shot in this episode and isn't even introduced for another 8 episodes.
 * Origins Episode
 * Picked Last: Jinju, when picking teams for the air scooter game.
 * Shadow Discretion Shot: Inverted when Zuko gets his scar. It's a bright light discretion shot instead, showing Iroh's wince and Azula's smirk.
 * A Storm Is Coming: The metaphorical storm is the oncoming war. The literal storm mirrors the one when he ran away and froze himself into a Human Popsicle.
 * We Have Reserves: The basis of the plan that Zuko speaks out against.
 * "Well Done, Son" Guy: The true reason for Zuko's desperation to capture Aang becomes clear.
 * What the Hell, Hero?: The old fisherman chastises Aang for running away when the world needed him most.
 * Whole-Episode Flashback: This episode feature many flashbacks from the life of both Zuko and Aang.