Book Two: Earth – Enneagram and Encaustic

Story Enneagram of Season Two, “Avatar: the Last Airbender”

Let’s finish this!

ONE

The first episode explains Aang’s Avatar state. Remember, coming out of Season One, the last thing we saw was Giant Fish Aang wrecking the Fire Nation in the North. He can’t control or understand this superpower and it frightens him. We also learn that, although he’s unbelievably strong, he’s also vulnerable. If he’s killed in the Avatar state, the entire reincarnation cycle ends.

We also get a brief reminder that Zuko and Iroh travel alone, outcast.

TWO

The Cave of Two Lovers, that ridiculously silly episode, encompasses the season’s Two. Aang and Katara, through plot contrivance, kiss. Aang’s affection for Katara is critical at the season’s Eight.

Also, Omashu’s on fire. Returning to Bumi was Aang’s plan for learning earth bending. Now he has no teacher, and that’s definitely Trouble.

The Crossroads of Destiny (Season Two Finale, Part Two)

For the first half of this Story Enneagram, please see Part One.

FIVE

Sokka and Aang ride on Appa, headed for Katara. As they approach the Outer Wall of Ba Sing Se, they see a moving cloud of dust. Of course, it’s Toph. Dipping down, they invite her to join them.

Azula meets with the Dai Li under the city, advising them that the Earth King doesn’t trust them. They must seize power now while they can. “Long Feng has placed you in my command while we overthrow the government,” she says. After the Dai Li march out, Ty Lee congratulates Azula on her speech. The Avatar and her brother and uncle are still loose ends, Azula warns.

Zuko and Iroh arrive at the palace, ready to serve tea. Iroh had often imagined himself here, but always as a conqueror for the Fire Nation. Now he’s a guest.

The Guru (Season Two Finale, Part One)

We have many storylines to resolve in this episode. It could get a little chaotic.

ONE

Iroh cooks soup — jook — in their shiny kitchen. Zuko, recovered, smiles and asks for a bowl. He’s so cheerful Iroh raises an eyebrow at him. They have a new apartment and a new tea shop. Things are looking up.

Appa lands near the dock where the Water Tribe fleet is docked. Sokka feels ill he’s so nervous about reuniting with his dad. “See you in a week,” Aang says as he and Appa lift off. On the beach, Sokka walks through camp. The men greet him and ruffle his hair. In the command tent, Hakoda holds a council. When Sokka enters, he rises and hugs him.

The Earth King, petting Bosco, chatters to the fake Kyoshi Warriors about the mutinous Dai Li and (oh, dear) the planned invasion of the Fire Nation. Close-up on Azula’s pupil as it contracts. She responds with sympathy, though, playing her part.

Katara attends the Earth Kingdom war council. They task her with taking a scroll to the Earth King so he can sign off on their plan.

Appa and Aang arrive at the Air Temple where the Guru waits. He’s ready to teach Aang how to master the Avatar state, but first he must drink an onion and banana soup. (It’s the soup episode. Blech.)

And finally we see Master Yu and Xin Fu drive a cart with a metal box in the back. They argue over which road to take. From the prison, Toph yells that she needs to use the bathroom. They won’t let her out, though. Xin Fu taunts her: she may be the greatest earth bender, but even she can’t move metal. Toph places her hand on the box.

The Earth King

ONE

Our gang rests on an island while everybody reunites with Appa.

TWO

Sokka argues that, after so much success, they should return and meet with the Earth King. It’s always been his objective to seek help against the Fire Nation, and he eventually convinces the rest of the gang to join him.

THREE

In the distance, ships sail the lake. Aang says the Dai Li are looking for them.

Lake Laogai

We’re at the last few chapters of Book Two of Avatar: The Last Airbender. This season has been a tough watch at the end. The beginning, with the introduction of Toph, is so much fun. I had forgotten, though, where the arc is headed. Let’s push forward through the darkness.

ONE

Inside our gang’s Ba Sing Se house, Sokka draws childlike illustrations of Appa.

TWO

Katara and Aang enter with a professionally printed poster of Appa. Sokka, who’s been working all day at it, protests. Toph (who, remember, is blind) says his posters look great to her.

THREE

Gliding over the city, Aang and Momo drop leaflets.

Appa’s Lost Days

This is a long episode. Appa doesn’t speak, so the entire story must be show rather than tell. No shortcuts with language.

LEFTOVER NINE

Four Weeks Ago. It’s a flashback to the dunes and the sinking library. Appa fights against the sandbenders tying him up. Toph, holding the turret, can’t properly defend him. When the benders anchor themselves in the sand, Appa isn’t strong enough to fly free of their ropes. They ride away on their sandsailers, towing Appa behind.

ONE

Dissolve from Appa’s eye to the sun in the sky. Time has passed. The benders, sending little dust devils into the sails, pause. The leader, the self-important son, tells his gang to raid Appa’s saddlebags for treasure. When they jump on him, sand swirls up into Appa’s nose. He sneezes, blowing one of the boats into a sand dune. Leader Boy doesn’t care, though, because it’s a boat they stole.

THREE

Goods from the saddlebags are tossed onto the sand, including Sokka’s club. The gang considers it all garbage and leaves it behind.

Tales of Ba Sing Se

Each tale, amazingly, has a mini-Enneagram. How charming!

The Tale of Toph and Katara

ONE

Aang shaves his head, Sokka shaves his meager mustache, and Katara arranges her hair loops.

TWO

Cut to Toph in bed, her hair like a wild animal pelt.

THREE

Katara suggests a girl’s day out.

FOUR

At the Fancy Lady’s Day Spa, the girls are pampered. (A pedicure for Toph, whose feet are her connection to seeing the world, does not go well.)

City of Walls and Secrets

ONE

Our group rides the train from the outer wall into Ba Sing Se. Sokka jokes about their bad luck, and Katara reassures Aang that they’ll find Appa. As the train passes through the inner wall, the city stretches before them for miles in each direction. Even a giant bison might be hard to find in such a dense metropolis.

They disembark at the train depot. Aang blows his bison whistle with no result.

TWO

An overly-smiling woman approaches. It’s Joo Dee, come to show the Avatar the city. She knows all their names. When Sokka interrupts, insisting they tell the Earth King about the coming invasion, Joo Dee ignores him. He tries again. The camera goes close on Joo Dee’s smiling face: the city is perfectly safe.

THREE

They tour the city in a carriage. Joo Dee explains that the city has many walls to help maintain order. Katara asks why all the poor people are blocked off into this part of the city?

The Drill

Although this is a stand alone episode of the animated Avatar: The Last Airbender, it’s also a continuation — a second part — of the last episode. I’ll look at the Story Enneagrams of both. Let’s start easy, though, with the episode in front of us.

ONE

Fire Nation tanks and the immense drill, looking like a Dune sand worm, drive across the cracked plain toward the wall of Ba Sing Se. Hissing, the drill expands with a steam mechanism.

TWO

In an overlook tower on the drill are Azula, Mai, and Ty Lee. The War Minister in charge of the drill is unimpressed that earth benders prepare to attack, but Azula sends her gang out to take care of them.

THREE

In a small canyon, Sokka, Katara, Toph, and the refugees approach the wall. Aang and Momo fly up to meet them. He and Toph earth bend a rock platform with everyone on it up the side of the wall. When they get to the top, the gang gets a good view of the drill.

The Serpent’s Pass

Wow. It’s been almost two years since my previous Avatar: The Last Airbender post. I definitely intend to finish this second season no matter how long it takes, lol.

Since my last look, the live action version of Airbender has dropped. Of course I watched it immediately. Some day I may write an Enneagram Story Breakdown for the season. I would love to compare the two versions, including Character Enneagrams. What changed from animation to live action? And — spoiler — what was lost in the reboot that kept it from being as enjoyable?

For now, though, the guilty weight of the unfinished animation review takes precedence. Let’s go! The next two episodes run together under the title: “The Secret of the Fire Nation”. Will they each have an Enneagram, or are they one complete story?

ONE

The gang — Aang, Sokka, Toph, and Katara — rest and swim at a pool formed at the base of a waterfall. They seem congenial. Sokka looks at the map he stole from the Owl’s library that shows the location of Ba Sing Se. The only path through a series of lakes is “The Serpent’s Pass”, a thin bridge of land.

Sokka mentions that, without Appa’s flying, this is their only option. Katara shushes him, but Aang calmly says he’s okay. He just wants to get to Ba Sing Se and tell the king about the solar eclipse.

TWO

As they prepare to pack up, three “fellow refugees”, including a pregnant woman, greet them.