Avatar: The Last Airbender/Recap/Book 2/14 City of Walls and Secrets

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.

"You want a show‌? I’ll give you a show."

Finally arriving in Ba Sing Se, Team Avatar tries to get to the Earth King in order to tell him of their plan to invade the Fire Nation and get his support. However, they find themselves hindered by their tour guide Joo Dee, and soon realize that Ba Sing Se is not the idyllic capital they were led to believe. Meanwhile, Zuko and Iroh try to acclimate to their new life as refugees in Ba Sing Se, while Jet tries to expose them as Firebenders.

Tropes:

  • Back-to-Back Badasses: Inverted. During their swordfight, Zuko and Jet end up with their backs against each other's, each turned and trying get around the other's defenses.
  • Bait the Dog: Long Feng is introduced being very courteous to Toph and Katara and being an excellent host. Guess who runs the Government Conspiracy?
  • Cassandra Truth: No one believes Jet's claims that Zuko and Iroh are Fire Nation. They might have listened if he hadn't publicly attacked them, at which point the authorities dismissed him as crazy.
  • Continuity Nod:
  • Cover-Blowing Superpower: Zuko and Iroh can't firebend without exposing their identities.
  • Crap Saccharine World: Ba Sing Se itself.
  • Didn't Think This Through: Jet's attempts to expose Zuko and Iroh are...poorly thought out.
  • Downer Ending: The Gaang is unsuccessful in getting to the Earth King, they now have a new enemy to contend with, and Jet has been brainwashed.
  • Dystopia
  • Evasive Fight Thread Episode: Quite a bit of hype was made over the swordfight between Zuko and Jet. It's interrupted by the Dai Li before either of them wins.
  • Face Framed in Shadow: The Earth King.
  • Government Conspiracy
  • Hypocritical Humor: Subverted. Toph criticizes Aang and Sokka's attempts to pass themselves off as members of high society, while picking her nose and burping. Katara calls her out on this, and Toph then makes it clear that out of everyone in the group, she is the only one who knows formal etiquette and "proper society behavior." She just chooses not to use it most of the time.
  • Mundane Utility: Jet tries to invoke this by trying to trick Iroh into heating his tea through firebending. Iroh just borrows some sparkrocks from the neighbors.
  • Overly Polite Pals: Aang and Sokka briefly as they try (and fail) to behave like high society folk.
  • Princess for a Day: Katara and Toph, of the non-royalty variety. Somewhat subverted with Toph, who actually is a member of a very wealthy and prominent family, but was posing under an alibi.
  • She Cleans Up Nicely: Toph and Katara.
  • Ship Tease: When Aang sees Katara all dressed up, he blushes and tells her that she looks beautiful.
  • Shout-Out: The man on the train sucking corn references a line in the Invader Zim Halloween Episode.
  • Stepford Smiler: Joo Dee. The mask slips when she realizes Team Avatar is at the party, at which point she panics.
  • The Reveal: The episode ends with the Gaang learning the true nature of how Ba Sing Se works.
  • Underestimating Badassery: Jet makes the mistake of assuming that Zuko isn't too much of a threat without his bending. Wrong.
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