ONE
The gang flies on Appa, as they often do at the One. Travelling onward.
TWO
Aang worries. How is he supposed to master the elements before the comet arrives next summer? This is an ongoing Trouble. Possibly, when we look at the Enneagram for this entire season, or even the three seasons of the entire show, this worry will be the larger Two. It’s an essential question.
Also, though, this episode has another, more specific Trouble. Katara offers to teach Aang the waterbending she knows.
THREE
With the two benders busy, Sokka is at loose ends. He uses a long fuzzy frond to clean Appa in the river, particularly between his toes. Sokka does regular human things at the Three. I really like how the story writers deploy him at key beats.
FOUR
Zuko enters into the plot. His little interlude — Iroh needs to buy a new lotus tile — is a kind of One/Two, but that’s all we get. A second Enneagram beyond this doesn’t really exist. I’ll stick them here in the Four.
Most of this episode is about Katara feeling less than Aang. Bending that took her a long time to master is realized by Aang in seconds. She’s jealous.
On a supply run to a merchant area, Aang buys a bison whistle and Katara notices a prized waterbending scroll that’s not for sale at a price they can afford. She steals it.
SWITCH
They escape the pirate merchants who chase after them.
FIVE
Iroh can’t find a lotus tile at the merchants, but Zuko hears about a girl and a monk from the pirates. He knows they’re near.
On the river Katara tries to use the scroll but she only ends up frustrated and snappy. She must apologize. At night she sneaks away from camp in order to practice.
She’s loud in her frustration and Zuko, boating up the river with the pirates, hears her. She’s caught. As part of his questioning, Zuko reveals her mother’s necklace.
The pirates find the camp, capturing Aang and Sokka.
SIX
Sokka suggests to the pirates that Aang is worth a lot more than a scroll, especially to the Fire Lord, and why would they just give the Avatar over to Zuko? Haha! It’s clever. Here’s the regular guy working negotiation tactics with more success than any of the magic wielders.
At first I thought, wow, what a bad Three/Six. Now I kind of like it. Graphically it’s a disaster. That would’ve been so easy to fix — Sokka drawn in a similar pose, perhaps, at each moment. What you see at the Three would mean nothing, but recognizing a visual mirror at the Six would be a joy.
Thematically, though, it’s charming.
SEVEN
Zuko attacks the pirates, and Momo unties Katara.
It’s fairly unconventional as a decision moment. Giving the lemur agency feels like bad plot development. (Can Momo even decide things?) Let’s put the Seven on Zuko, then.
EIGHT
The gang escapes on the pirate ship, the two benders pushing the water to help propel the boat. The pirates, chasing, take Zuko’s craft.
As the ship hangs on the edge of a waterfall, Aang uses the bison whistle to call Appa, who flies in to catch them as they go overboard. Yay! An Appa rescue is always a thrill.
NINE
Zuko has lost his boat. And Iroh has found his lotus tile up his sleeve. (Of course he does, lol.) Zuko throws it in the river.
On Appa, Katara apologizes again for her actions. Sokka surprises them by pulling out the waterbending scroll he saved from Zuko and the pirates. It really is his episode to be the hero.