Avatar: The Last Airbender/Recap/Book 1/16 The Deserter

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.

"Only a fool seeks his own destruction."

A visit to a local Fire Nation village ends in disaster in 'The Deserter', when Aang displays his air bending. They manage to escape with a sympathetic former Fire Nation soldier named Chey, who says he's a friend with the fearsome Jeong-Jeong; the very first person to ever desert the Fire Nation Army. Realizing this might be his only chance to ever master firebending, Aang seeks Jeong-Jeong to teach him. However, the deserter's jaded outlook and Aang's own impetuous nature works against this plan, and Zhao is still out to capture him.

Tropes

  • Answer Cut: While Jeong-Jeong lectures Aang about "a pupil once who had no interest in learning discipline," the camera cuts to Admiral Zhao. Aang realizes this when he fights Zhao later.
  • Bad Powers, Bad People: Jeong-Jeong seems to subscribe to this belief, although he and some of his disciples actively disprove it. Besides, it is later reinforced in the show that Firebending does not make you evil.
  • Big Brother Instinct: When Aang accidentally burns Katara, Sokka wrestles him to the ground, saying to never hurt her again.
  • Deadly Dodging: Aang uses this to get Zhao to destroy his own boats.
  • Department of Redundancy Department: Katara has healing abilities. Jeong-Jeong notes that the great benders of the Water Tribe sometimes have this ability.
  • Healing Hands: Katara discovers that some Waterbenders have this power, and that Jeong-Jeong is jealous of their ability to heal.
  • Heroic BSOD: Aang goes into one after hurting Katara; he vows to never use firebending again, even though as Katara reminds him, he has to master all the bending disciplines eventually.
  • Hilarious in Hindsight: This line from Sokka:

"See if there's a menu on there somewhere; I'm starving!

Zhao: "I'll show you wild!"

  • Paper-Thin Disguise: As usual, the Gaang gets away with wearing their usual clothes... with hoods. No one seems to notice their clothes are out of place--the thing that finally gives them away is Aang's airbending in public.
    • Sokka even lampshades it.

"It's like you're a whole different person!"

  • Too Dumb to Live: Aang's shenanigans with the magician at the Festival.
    • And Zhao, of course, failing to notice that he was burning down his own ships.
  • Wanted Poster: Aang, the Blue Spirit, Jeong Jeong and Chey. Aang keeps his as a souvenir. They don't have the stereotypical layout, but an image on the left, with text on the right.
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