The 10 best episodes of Avatar: the Last Airbender, ranked

2. The Siege of the North

The two-part season 1 finale is truly something to behold. Admiral Zhao attempts to capture Aang with an enormous invasion fleet at the North Pole, where Aang and Katara are learning how to waterbend. Iroh agrees to join Zhao’s expedition while secretly working with Zuko, who is stowing away on Zhao’s command ship.

This is the first episode where we are introduced to the idea of waterbenders having more power at night because of the moon, which was the first waterbender. In contrast, firebenders are generally stronger during the day. With the siege overwhelming the water tribe, and Aang too inexperienced to fend off so many ships, Princess Yue takes him to the oasis so he can find help in the spirit world. However, Zuko successfully infiltrates the city and captures Aang after a brief duel with Katara. With no real plan, Zuko takes an unconscious Aang into the frozen tundra.

Katara, Sokka and Yue are able to get Aang back, and they decide to save Zuko instead of leaving him to freeze. Meanwhile, Aang makes contact with a terrifying spirit named Koh the Facestealer, who tells Aang that the moon and ocean spirits are the Koi fish in the spirit oases. Admiral Zhao knows about the fish from documents he found in Wan Shi Tong’s library, and plans to kill the moon spirit, effectively ending waterbending on Earth.

The final showdown happens at the oasis, where Zhao captures and kills the moon spirit. Iroh, who respects the spirits, single-handedly whoops a group of firebenders while Zhao escapes. With the moon gone and the water tribe powerless, Aang enters the oasis pool in the Avatar state, where he fuses with the ocean spirit and is transformed into an enormous manifestation of water known a koizilla. He proceeds to wipe out the entire invasion fleet and pull Zhao into the spirit world. The next time we see Zhao is during The Legend of Korra, where he has been banished to a pit of lost souls, presumably for eternity.

Back at the oasis, Iroh recognizes that Yue has part of the moon spirit inside of her, because at birth the spirit gave her life. Yue touches the dead Koi fish and the moon spirit is resurrected, at the cost of her own life. Before she fully becomes the moon, Yue appears to Sokka one last time and they share a kiss.

These two episodes again show us Aang’s Avatar powers in full force. And we see the unyielding strength waterbending masters can wield during a full moon. We also see Iroh’s true colors; he may be from the Fire Nation, but is willing to do the right thing and go against Zhao’s crazy plan. There is also a touching scene where Iroh tells Zuko that he thinks of him as his own son since Lu Ten died.