Avatar: The Last Airbender
4
meets Toph, a blind Earthbending prodigy who becomes Aang's second teacher and teaches him, amongst other things, her unique power and ability to use Earthbending to "see" vibrations with her feet. Upon discovering a hidden ancient library, the heroes learn that an upcoming solar eclipse will deprive the Firebenders of their bending and leave them open to invasion, giving Aang his chance to defeat the Firelord. They struggle to reach the Earth King with this vital information, but are detoured by Appa's kidnapping. Azula, Zuko's younger sister, and her two friends Mai and Ty Lee chase the group as they struggle to reach Ba Sing Se, the Earth Kingdom capital. By capturing and then impersonating the Kyoshi Warriors, Azula engineers a plan to control and manipulate an elite secret group of earthbenders called the Dai Li to instigate a coup d'état that allows the
Fire Nation to take complete control over Ba Sing Se and deal a fatal defeat to the Earth Kingdom, and destroys any hope of the Earth Kingdom staging a large-scale invasion of the Fire Nation. In a final confrontation, Azula kills the Avatar using lightning while Aang is in the Avatar state. By a last minute betrayal by Iroh, Katara is able to escape with Aang's body. Thinking that the reincarnation cycle has ended and the Avatar is dead, the world begins to believe there is no hope left. In reality, the Avatar has been revived by Katara using water she had received from their Waterbending Master named Master Pakku which contains unique and special properties that greatly strengthen and amplify her natural healing abilities. Zuko deals with internal conflict as he and Iroh defect from the Fire Nation after his father orders his capture and imprisonment for his failures, settle in the Earth Kingdom, and disguise themselves as refugees and eventually end up opening a successful tea shop called "The Jasmine Dragon" in Ba Sing Se. After a brief period of reformation, Zuko again rejoins the Fire Nation when he helps Azula defeat Aang. As a reward, his exile is ended and he is allowed to return back to the Fire nation as a re-instated prince. In the season finale, while captured by bounty hunters sent by the Bei Fong family to return Toph to her home, the "Blind Bandit" uses her Earthbending skills to "see" the particles of refined earth that make metal and becomes the world's first "metalbender," a feat previously thought to be impossible.