Avatar: The Last Airbender (season 3)

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Book 3: Fire
Country of origin	United States
Network	Nickelodeon
Original run	September 21, 2007 – Present
No. of episodes	15 (aired)/21 (planned)
Previous season	Book 2: Earth

Season 3 of Avatar: The Last Airbender (also known as Book 3: Fire), which is an American animated television series, began airing September 21, 2007, with 21 episodes scheduled to air. The season was created by Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko; it stars Zach Tyler Eisen, Mae Whitman, Jack DeSena, Jessie Flower, Dante Basco, and Grey DeLisle as the character voices. The season focuses on the main character, Aang, and his journey alongside his friends, Toph, Katara and Sokka, to find himself a Firebending teacher so he can master Firebending and to defeat the Fire Lord.

After a nine-month hiatus, the show began its third and final season on September 21, 2007. Breaking from the usual airing pattern, wherein episodes air first on Nickelodeon in the USA, several episodes made their official debuts in other countries and through other media. Episodes six through nine first aired in the UK, ten and eleven were first shown in Belgium and the Netherlands, episodes twelve and thirteen were first shown in Canada, and episodes fourteen and fifteen debuted on Region 1 DVD (illegally leaked to the Internet a week before release). In addition, this season will feature twenty-one episodes, rather than the usual twenty of the prior two seasons, and the season finale will be a two-hour TV movie.A game developed by THQ is being developed called Into the Inferno.^[1]

Contents 1 Cast 2 Episodes 3 DVD Releases 4 Awards 5 References

[edit] Cast

The season had most of the major characters from the previous season, including Zach Tyler Eisen as Aang, Mae Whitman as Katara, Jack DeSena as Sokka, and Jessie Flower as Toph. In addition, Dante Basco starred as Zuko and Grey Delisle as Azula. There is also an appearance of André Sogliuzzo as Hakoda, Katara and Sokka's father, who has only appeared twice before in the show. In some episodes, there are recurrences of characters such as Teo (Daniel Samonas), Fire Lord Ozai (Mark Hamill), and Suki (Jennie Kwan), the last of which only seen in three episodes beforehand.^[2]

[edit] Episodes

#	Title	Director	Writer	Original airdate	Production code
41	"The Awakening"	Giancarlo Volpe	Aaron Ehasz	September 21, 2007	301
As Aang wakes up, he finds himself crippled (and with hair), on board a Fire Nation ship with the gang, Bato and Hakoda all in Fire Nation disguises. Aang finds out what has happened since he entered his coma and decides to keep his continued existence a secret until the eclipse. Zuko has a fear of rejection as he and Azula return home to be greeted by Fire Lord Ozai.[3]
42	"The Headband"	Joaquim dos Santos	John O'Bryan	September 28, 2007	302
Aang and the rest of the team steal Fire Nation clothes, but Aang finds out he stole a school uniform, and is taken to a Fire Nation school by soldiers who believe he is skipping class. Meanwhile, Zuko is becoming paranoid with the Avatar's fake death and goes to the prison and pleads with Iroh for advice.[4]
43	"The Painted Lady"	Ethan Spaulding	Joshua Hamilton	October 5, 2007	303
Following a long polluted river, Aang and the others continue their travels toward the Fire Lord. Aang spots a rather dinky looking village on the river and they head over for food. The group pretends to be from the Earth Colonies. Seeing the starving and ill people, Katara vows to help them. Over the next few days a mysterious spirit, said to be the guardian of the town, appears, heals the sick, and leaves food. Aang finds out that Katara is the spirit and helps to destroy the factory polluting the water. After scaring off the angered soldiers, the group swears the town to secrecy and they help clean up the river.[5]
44	"Sokka's Master"	Giancarlo Volpe	Tim Hedrick	October 12, 2007	304
A meteor shower occurs, and when a crater starts to burn, Sokka can only watch as the others work to prevent the fire from hitting a nearby village. Wanting to contribute better to the group and not feel left out, Sokka looks for an elusive sword master to train him. After finding the master and gaining his acceptance, Sokka trains to sharpen his mind through several tests. At the end, he makes his own sword out of the black meteorite. Meanwhile, Iroh devises a plan to escape prison and starts exercising in secret. However, he acts feeble and insane in front of the guards.[6]
45	"The Beach"	Joaquim dos Santos	Katie Mattila	October 19, 2007	305
Zuko, Azula, Mai and Ty Lee go on vacation to Ember Island, where they learn much about themselves and one another. Meanwhile, Aang and the rest are being chased by an assassin, known as "Combustion Man", that Zuko hired, who has a unique firebending ability.[7] It takes the combined skills of all the group to escape, and when they do, he is hot on their trail.[8]
46	"The Avatar and the Firelord"	Ethan Spaulding	Elizabeth Welch Ehasz	October 24, 2007	306
The episode begins with both Aang and Zuko being told that they need to learn more about their pasts. Aang is told in a dream to go to Avatar Roku's birthplace, while Zuko receives a mysterious message saying he needs to know about his great-grandfather's past. Aang and Zuko learn about Sozin and Roku's childhood friendship. However, things between them changed, as Roku became the Avatar and Sozin the Fire Lord. Eventually they became rivals and the end of their relationship marked the beginning of the war. Zuko learns that Sozin and Roku are his paternal and maternal great-grandfathers.[9]
47	"The Runaway"	Giancarlo Volpe	Joshua Hamilton	October 25, 2007	307
Katara expresses her disapproval when Toph starts to defraud Fire Nation civilians for quick cash. Toph thinks she is acting too motherly, and a rift occurs within the group. But, when Katara decides to perform a scam with Toph, they are left vulnerable and must face the repercussions.[10]
48	"The Puppetmaster"	Joaquim Dos Santos	Tim Hedrick	October 25, 2007	308
The gang discovers there have been strange disappearances in a spooky town. There, the innkeeper - an old woman named Hama - teaches Katara some of the Water Tribe's past, and some of their special waterbending techniques. Meanwhile, Toph hears strange voices calling out from under a nearby mountain. The gang discovers Hama has been kidnapping civilians with a technique called 'bloodbending'. The resulting battle forces Katara to fight Hama, a master waterbender, and save the others from her grasp.[11]
49	"Nightmares and Daydreams"	Ethan Spaulding	John O'Bryan	October 26, 2007	309
The group arrives at the rendezvous point for the invasion four days ahead of schedule but Aang begins to get nervous about confronting the Fire Lord. Feeling he is unprepared, he trains constantly, leading him to hallucinate and have terrible nightmares. The group tries to help him relax in their own comical ways, but when he stops sleeping entirely, he goes insane. It takes the collaboration of the other three to finally get him to relax, and he finally has a dream where he defeats the Fire Lord.[12]
50	"The Day of Black Sun Part 1: The Invasion"	Giancarlo Volpe	Michael Dante DiMartino	November 23, 2007	310
The invasion begins on the day of the eclipse, and Sokka's invasion plan carries out. Hakoda returns with all of the friends the group has made over their adventures. The Mechanist has also put some of Sokka's ideas to work, including submarines and tanks.[13]
51	"The Day of Black Sun Part 2: The Eclipse"	Joaquim dos Santos	Aaron Ehasz	November 26, 2007	311
As the invasion force fights their way to the Fire Nation capital, Sokka and Toph help Aang to find the Fire Lord in time for the eclipse. Although Azula tricks them before they can find him, Zuko confronts his father, and vows to help Aang defeat him. Zuko attempts to free Iroh and ask his forgiveness but Iroh has already escaped. [14]
52	"The Western Air Temple"	Ethan Spaulding	Elizabeth Welch Ehasz, Tim Hedrick	December 14, 2007	312
Seeking redemption and a chance to be on Team Avatar, Zuko follows Aang and his friends to the Western Air Temple. There, he desperately tries to prove to them that he has changed for the better. Toph is the only one who believes he wants to help, but when she goes to talk to him, she startles him and he accidentally burns her feet. It is only when he helps save the group from 'Combustion Man' that he gets most of the group's acceptance. Katara then warns Zuko that if she suspects anything, she will kill him.[15]
53	"The Firebending Masters"	Giancarlo Volpe	John O'Bryan	January 4, 2008	313
After Zuko's Firebending powers weaken substantially, he and Aang go to find the origin of Firebending. Although dragons have been extinct since Iroh killed the last one, the first human firebenders may have left behind some hints. Through a series of statues, they learn a firebending technique known as the Dancing Dragon, which triggers a trap. They are caught by Sun Warriors who take them to an altar housing the original Firebending Masters, two dragons, to be judged. The dragons, finding them worthy of learning their secrets, teach them the true meaning of Firebending. How the source of the art is not anger, but emotion and drive. After seeing both Aang and Zuko found worthy, the Sun Warriors reveal that Iroh was also taught the secret of Firebending and had lied about killing the last two dragons to keep the secret and allow the Sun Warriors to stay hidden from the rest of the world.[16]
54	"The Boiling Rock Part One[17][18]"	Joaquim Dos Santos	May Chan	May 6, 2008	314
Sokka and Zuko travel to the Fire Nation's top security prison, the Boiling Rock, in hopes of saving Sokka's father. Zuko discovers that there are no water tribe prisoners being held at the prison. But when Sokka notices that Suki is being held there, he decides to rescue her instead. As Sokka and Zuko settle in, Sokka comes up with an escape plan, but whilst in discussion with Suki and Zuko, another prisoner Chin Sang over hears them, and wants to be a part of it. The escape plan takes place, but Sokka backs out as he realises his father may be coming to the prison. Suki and Zuko join Sokka, leaving Chin Sang and his 'girl and best man' to attempt to escape - the plan however, is not successful. After abandoning Sokka's escape plan, they see Hakoda arrive in a new batch of prisoners.
55	"The Boiling Rock Part Two[17][18]"	Ethan Spaulding	Joshua Hamilton	May 6, 2008	315
Sokka and Hakoda come up with a plan to escape, while Mai surprises Zuko with a visit. Zuko escapes Mai and joins Hakoda, Sokka, and Suki in the courtyard to follow through with the escape plan. Using the Warden as a hostage, the four, plus one extra prisoner (named Chin Sang), escape on the gondola. However, Ty Lee and Azula arrive, and Sokka, Zuko, and Suki fight the two atop the gondola. During the fight, the Warden orders the lines to be cut. Azula and Ty Lee retreat to a second gondola and escape, leaving the others to their apparent death in the boiling lake. Fortunately, the soldiers cutting the line are thwarted by Mai, realizing that she loves Zuko more than she fears Azula, and despite the split between the two, wants to save him. A furious Azula attempts to attack Mai, but Ty Lee intervenes and temporarily paralyzes Azula, knocking her to the ground. A livid, and now friendless, Azula, then ordered them locked away to rot. Zuko, Chin Sang, Sokka, Suki and Hakoda then return via Azula's zeppelin. Sokka confesses to a curious Katara and Aang, along with the rest of the crew as to where they had really been (not on a fishing trip), and Hakoda is reunited with his two children, Katara and Sokka.

[edit] DVD Releases

The DVDs contain five episodes in four volumes, with a box set following. They are released by Paramount Home Entertainment. Each of the individual Season Three DVDs also comes complete with an exclusive comic book.^[19]

Volume Name	Release Date	Contains
Book 3: Fire, Volume 1	NTSC: October 30, 2007[20] PAL: TBA	"The Awakening" "The Headband" "The Painted Lady" "Sokka's Master" "The Beach" Audio Commentaries by Creators, Cast & Crew Exclusive Collectible Comic Book
Book 3: Fire, Volume 2	NTSC: January 22, 2008[21] PAL: TBA	"The Avatar and the Firelord" "The Runaway" "The Puppetmaster" "Nightmares and Daydreams" "The Day of Black Sun, Part 1: The Invasion" Audio Commentaries by Creators, Cast & Crew Exclusive Collectible Comic Book
Book 3: Fire, Volume 3	NTSC: May 6, 2008[22] PAL: TBA	"The Day of Black Sun, Part 2: The Eclipse "The Western Air Temple" "The Firebending Masters" "The Boiling Rock, Part 1" "The Boiling Rock, Part 2" Audio Commentaries by Creators, Cast & Crew Exclusive Collectible Comic Book
Book 3: Fire, Volume 4	NTSC: July 29, 2008[23][24] PAL: TBA	"The Southern Raiders" "The Ember Island Players" "Sozin's Comet, Part 1" "Sozin's Comet, Part 2 "Sozin's Comet, Part 3" "Sozin's Comet, Part 4" Audio Commentaries by Creators, Cast & Crew Exclusive Collectible Comic Book
The Complete Book Three Collection Box Set	NTSC: September 16, 2008 PAL: TBA	Every Episode in Book 3 Audio Commentaries by Creators, Cast & Crew Exclusive Collectible Comic Book

[edit] Awards

Awards	Outcome
Annecy 2008:
TV Series[25]	Nominated

[edit] References

v • d • e Avatar: The Last Airbender Characters Aang · Katara · Sokka · Toph · Appa · Zuko · Iroh · Azula Universe Water Tribe · Earth Kingdom · Fire Nation · Air Nomads · Spirit World Waterbending · Earthbending · Firebending · Airbending Franchise Trading cards · Avatar: The Last Airbender (video game) · The Burning Earth · Into the Inferno Episodes Season 1 · Season 2 · Season 3