The Swamp (Avatar: The Last Airbender)
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| Avatar: The Last Airbender episode | |
|---|---|
| "The Swamp" | |
 The Creature of the Swamp |
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| Book | Two: Earth |
| Chapter | Four |
| Episode # | Twenty-four |
| Prod. code | 204 |
| Airdate | April 14, 2006 |
| Writer(s) | Tim Hedrick |
| Director | Giancarlo Volpe |
| Guest star(s) | Carlos Alazraqui (Due, Tho) Joe Alaskey (Broadswordsman) William H. Bassett (Swamp Monster) Johanna Braddy (Princess Yue, as a vision) |
| Previous episode | |
|---|---|
| "Return to Omashu" | |
| Next episode | |
| "Avatar Day" |
"The Swamp" is an episode from the animated television series Avatar: The Last Airbender, which airs on Nickelodeon. It is the fourth episode of the second season of the series.
When the gang ends up in a mysterious and strange swamp, their fears are exposed, and Aang learns more about being the Avatar.
[edit] Episode synopsis
While begging on the streets for money, Zuko feels humiliated. He hisses that they are royalty and that the people should be giving them anything they want. Iroh, who is more patient, says they will get it if they ask 'nicely'. A warrior comes and wants entertainment in exchange for a gold piece. Iroh starts singing and dancing, and the man openly humiliates Iroh. The man eventually gives the gold piece and goes off laughing. Zuko appears to be infuriated by the warrior, while Iroh considers him "Such a kind man."
Aang, Sokka, and Katara are flying on Appa above a giant swamp. Aang stares at the swamp in a sort of hypnotic trance and starts lowering themselves into the swamp. When Sokka starts explaining what is happening to Aang, he comes out of his "trance" and starts telling Sokka and Katara that the swamp is "calling him." Sokka tries to convince Aang that there is nowhere to land and to move on, but Aang is still interested because of what King Bumi told him in the previous episode about listening to the Earth. Sokka, who is being usually stubborn says to ignore it. Aang starts to leave once Katara, Appa, and Momo start to complain about the swamp. Unfortunately, an oddly located tornado comes right toward the gang and they fall down with much force.
Aang, Katara, and Sokka are separated from Appa and Momo due to landing in different places. Aang begins to search for Appa and Momo while Sokka runs afoul of an elbow leech. He rips it off, complaining that things keep attaching to him. Aang returns having not found Appa and Momo. He also says that the tornado just disappeared. Meanwhile, Appa is stuck in the vines of a tree and Momo is trying to help him out by nibbling at the vines; they keep struggling around. Appa soon is out of the vines and falls into the swamp water. He then continues flying, and is stuck in some more vines. Momo seems to be complaining. The trio led by Sokka try to find their animal friends with Sokka chopping everything in sight with his machete. Aang tells Sokka to be "Nice to the swamp." Katara agrees with Aang, as she feels some supernatural qualities in the swamp. She claims that it feels "alive." Sokka keeps chopping around anyway.
Sokka tries to make camp for the night by chopping more wood. Aang says that the longer they stay there, the more he thinks he shouldn't do that. Though Katara and Aang still believe something supernatural is going on in the swamp, Sokka dismisses their concerns. They later see strange glowing eyes and get a little scared. The strange thing that was looking at Aang is shown again, still unseen. This time it grabs each of them with its vines. They wake up from their sleep, and each manage to escape from the vines using their styles of fighting. The trio all end up in separate places.
Two people who look like natives to the swamp are observing Appa's tracks. They plan to eat Appa once they find him. Appa and Momo keep traveling, looking for Aang. Katara, who is now looking for Sokka and Aang, sees a strange figure in the distance. She identifies it as her mother and she begins to run up to it. However, when Katara gets there, it is almost like a mirage. Katara sees a root and begins to cry. Meanwhile, Sokka thinks he sees Princess Yue while Aang sees a strange girl with a pet flying boar giggling at him. Aang begins to chase her.
The natives find Appa and Momo and begin to hunt them. Appa and Momo just stare at them for a while, until some guy said they were going to eat them, assuming they can't understand him. Appa runs away, and the natives waterbend the boat like a speedboat. Aang keeps chasing the girl, but she disappears and the trio is reunited. They discuss their visions. Sokka thinks their minds are just playing tricks on them. They reach the center of the swamp which is a giant tree. Aang believes that the swamp was calling them there. All of a sudden, the giant monster who earlier had grabbed Aang appears. There is a huge fight, and the gang discovers that there is an Waterbender inside bending the water in the vines.
Meanwhile, the natives capture Appa and Momo, and are proud.
Aang and Katara finally defeat the swamp monster who is really a Waterbender, bending the water in the vines. The guy inside the monster is the protector of the swamp because the swamp called to him as well. He says the swamp is just one big tree, stretching out its roots for miles. He also says that the whole world is one organism like the swamp. If you listen carefully, he explains, then you can hear everything breathing together because everything is connected.
He goes on to explain each person's visions. In the swamp, people have visions of people they have lost, though they are not really gone because everyone is connected. Aang's vision continues to perplex him because he is certain he has never met the girl, but realizes he will meet her in the future.
Aang realizes if he listens to the earth, then he can find Appa and Momo. Aang goes into a semi Avatar State, and a glowing line draws him straight to Appa and Momo. Aang and Katara confront the natives to free Appa and Momo, and the natives, revealed to be Waterbenders, stop as fellow waterbenders to them are Kin. They and the protector of the swamp take the whole group to their village. Aang asks Huu if he was the one who created the tornado that made them get lost, but he says that he can't do something like that. Sokka still believes that nothing supernatural went on in the swamp, but we see that even when Huu is not bending the vines can move on their own as they swipe at a noisy bird.
The scene finally changes back to the village at the start of the episode, now at nighttime. The man with the two swords who harassed Zuko and Iroh runs down an alleyway. Zuko finds the man and robs him. He steals his broadswords and the same mask he used for the Blue Spirit much earlier. He now stands again as the Blue Spirit.
[edit] Notes
- This is the first episode in which Katara and Sokka's mother appears, although she can only be seen from behind.
- The Waterbender claimed to have reached enlightenment while sitting under the swamp tree, a reference to Siddhartha Gautama who attained enlightenment beneath the Bodhi tree and became the Buddha.
- A man with a cart walks by Zuko and Iroh as they beg for money. On the cart, there is an oni mask just like Zuko's Blue Spirit mask.
- While being chased by the Waterbenders, Momo threw the crown he gave to Katara in the episode, "The Blue Spirit."
| Book One - Water: |
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