ONE
We’re near some body of water, and our team finds a whale tooth knife. Sokka has a memory of such a weapon.
TWO
It’s a Water Tribe knife. He starts tracking. At the shore they find a boat. It’s one of ours — Dad was here!
Meanwhile, Iroh is having tea with Zuko. A peaceful moment. Crash! A beast, a shirshu named Nyla, and her handler, June, seek a stowaway on Zuko’s ship. To Zuko’s surprise he is actually harboring someone. Nyla’s tongue whips out and paralyzes the man.
Back at camp, Appa and the team sleep.
THREE
Sokka has a memory of when he was probably ten years old as he says goodbye to his father. He’s crying, he wants to go with them, but he’s too young.
FOUR
And then Bato comes upon their camp, recognizes them, and hugs them. Because he was wounded, he was left behind as the other Water Tribe men moved on to the eastern Earth Kingdom. They go together to the nearby abbey where Bato has been recuperating.
We get a series of moments where Aang is left out of the camaraderie and jokes. He’s forgotten or ignored. Bato is waiting for a message from Sokka’s father so that he can rejoin them, and the kids are very excited to think they could hear from their dad.
Intercut this with Zuko offering June a job. He holds out Katara’s necklace as the clue Nyla can scent.
SWITCH
Bato asks the kids to come with him and reunite with their father. Aang is hurt at how excited they are by this idea. He leaves the room too soon and doesn’t hear them refuse the offer. As he sits out at the boat, sad, the Earth Kingdom messenger arrives with the father’s map. Aang balls it up and hides it in his tunic.
FIVE
Nyla tracks Katara through all the places she was in previous episodes: The medical temple with the frog lady, Aunt Wu’s village, etc. Iroh flirts with Aunt Wu, which is pretty cute.
Meanwhile, Aang must hide his lie while pretending to be part of the team. When Bato realizes that Sokka never got his ice dodging rite of passage (the men were gone before he was old enough), he suggests they do it now on the river. Sokka must steer and command the boat through rocky rapids. He does well, but the river’s path ends up going through a wall of rocks. Commanding Katara and Aang to bend water and air, Sokka gets the boat up and over safely. He’s a success. As Bato commends the team for trust, Aang breaks. He admits he hid the map. Katara and Sokka, deeply hurt, part ways from him.
The kids and Bato set off walking, and Aang with Appa hangs out at the boat, feeling bad.
Zuko arrives at the abbey.
SIX
As Sokka walks, he hears a lonely howl. Bato says it’s a wolf separated from its pack. This triggers another memory of how he felt when his dad left. Young Sokka, his face in warrior paint so he can go with the men, watches them leave without him.
SEVEN
He tells Katara, “We need to go back.” She agrees.
EIGHT
Nyla catches Katara and Sokka as they return, hitting them with the paralyzing tongue. As things look bad, Appa flies in and rams Nyla. Aang fights Zuko, air versus fire. Appa’s hit by the tongue but keeps charging. After more strikes, the poison takes Appa and he goes down.
Aang and Zuko fight on the lip of a well. When Zuko drops Katara’s necklace, Aang dives down into the water and comes back up with a bending smash on Zuko.
Meanwhile, one of the sisters has awakened Katara and Sokka. He has the great idea to take the perfume the sisters make and pour it into the courtyard. The scent will confuse Nyla. It works, and our team (including Appa) is able to escape.
NINE
Katara and Sokka make clear to Aang that he is their family, too. When Aang returns her necklace, Katara kisses him on the cheek. End.
Structurally, this story is very tidy. The beats are concise and easy to recognize. Where I had trouble was remembering (actually, deciphering my notes) when June and Nyla did things. The beast was kind of all over the place attacking things! Aang and the team get a lot of character development. I wish just a little time could’ve been spent fleshing June out. I only picture a haze of tongue lashes. The great Jennifer Hale voices June. One or two more visually defining traits would’ve nailed the portrayal.