The Northern Air Temple

Avatar: The Complete Book 1 Collection DVD

Price: $54.98*
(Nick)

After a lapse of 100 years, the Avatar - spiritual master of the elements - has returned. And just in the nick of time. The Four Nations (Water, Earth, Fire, and Air) have become unbalanced.

Merchant: Nick

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The Northern Air Temple is the 17th episode of ''Avatar: The Last Airbender's'' first season.

When Aang and his friends hear rumors about surviving airbenders, they decide to stop by the Northern Air Temple on their way to the North Pole to see for themselves. What they find is a bunch of people who aren’t airbenders, but have mastered the art of gliding. Aang is upset to see these people have been defacing the temple. However, there was one part of the temple where nobody has been able to enter, and what Aang and his friends discover inside fortells oncoming conflict.

Episode synopsis

After hearing rumors about surviving Airbenders, the kids journey to the Northern Air Temple to see for themselves. Upon arrival, they find not Airbenders, but an Earth Kingdom colony led by a mad inventor and his paraplegic son. The inventor has defiled the ancient landmarks with technological "improvements", similar in style to the Industrial Revolution. Aang is at first disheartened by the many changes to the temple, though he develops a degree of respect for the mechanist's son, Teo.

This state of relative happiness was not to last. Aang soon discovers that the Mechanist is supplying the Fire Nation with weapons in exchange for the safety of his newly settled village. He unearths a room filled with monstrous weapons of war, like self-propelled war wagons and attack balloons, all destined for use by the enemy. However, the village and Aang has something they don't have: Air power. They use their gliders and the prototype war balloon to drive the approaching Fire Nation army back. Ultimately, Sokka, in a desperate manouver, throws the balloon's hot air engine into a crack with explosive gas eminating from it. The resulting explosion crushes the invaders. Deprived of power, the balloon consequently dropped into the Fire Nation campgrounds. The commander finds it, saying, "This defeat is the gateway to many victories."