| "Those who go in never come out. If you believe the tales, vengeful spirits guard the passages." |
| — Sai to Katara and Sokka about the secret tunnels of Omashu.[1] |
"Into the Dark" is the fourth episode of Season One of Avatar: The Last Airbender and the fourth episode of the live-action series overall. It was released on February 22, 2024.
Overview[]
In captivity, Aang meets a king with a taste for games. To find their friend, the siblings must navigate a dark tunnel — and put their differences aside.
Synopsis[]
100 years ago, Aang thinks back to his friend Bumi who always thought outside the box and created a bison whistle that Aang still uses today. In the present day, Aang has been captured by Earth Kingdom soldiers and is in captivity with Iroh. There, Iroh tells Aang that Zuko and him are more than their reputation. The Omashu soldiers take Iroh and prepare to transport him to “The Pit”, a dangerous Earth Kingdom labor camp for prisoners of war, while Aang is taken to meet the king who Aang deduces is Bumi. Bumi throws Aang a feast, but Aang realizes Bumi is angry at him for vanishing for 100 years. Bumi leads Aang into traps which avoids or uses airbending to escape from, while also trying to remind Aang of their past together.
Katara encounters Jet once more who tries to apologize and explain himself, but Katara refuses to listen and freezes Jet with ice to a pole. Sokka and Teo become furious when they learn Sai was feeding the Fire Nation secrets and designs, but Sai defends himself by explaining that he was trying to protect Omashu from the Fire Nation, which would lead to safety for his son and himself.
Learning Aang has been captured, Katara and Sokka decide to rescue him. Teo reveals there are secret tunnels that run underneath the city that lead to the palace, but is warned by Sai that they are very dangerous. Before leaving, Sokka urges Sai to give up the Fire Nation spies to the Earth Kingdom soldiers. Meanwhile, Zuko disguises himself as a soldier and finds out where Aang and Iroh have been taken, and he must choose between going after Aang or rescuing Iroh.
Entering the secret tunnel, Sokka and Katara encounter a group of singing nomadic minstrels who warn them of the secret tunnels and explain the tunnels were created by Oma and Shu, forbidden lovers each from a village that were at war with one another, who studied the movements of the badgermoles to learn to earthbend. They proceeded to use this knowledge and built elaborate tunnels to meet with each other in secret. After Oma was killed in an attack, Shu used her earthbending to end the war and create the city of Omashu. The two siblings enter the tunnel to find the tunnels are moving due to badgermoles that live inside the tunnels and see through emotions. Because of Sokka and Katara's love for each other, the badgermoles don't attack them and lead them to the palace.
On the way to "The Pit", the captain of the squadron insults Iroh, bitter of the fact that Iroh, as a Fire Nation general, laid siege to the Earth Kingdom capital Ba Sing Se for 600 days. Upon claiming Iroh knows nothing of loss, Iroh has a flashback to when his son Lu Ten died in the battle of Ba Sing Se and Zuko consoled him at his funeral. When Zuko set off to find the Avatar, Iroh joined him as Zuko reminded him of his son. In the present, Iroh drops a White Lotus Pai Sho tile on the ground which Zuko later finds and uses to track the Earth Kingdom soldiers. He frees Iroh, but Iroh gets injured in the escape, as the two find a boat and try to get back to their ship.
Bumi challenges Aang to a fight to the death. While Aang constantly evades Bumi's attacks, Katara and Sokka arrive. Aang reminds Bumi of their past friendship and Bumi forgives Aang. Bumi is inspired to rejoin the fight against Fire Nation, helped by Sai who took Sokka's advice and betrayed the Fire Nation spies. Aang, Katara and Sokka leave Omashu on Appa, who Zuko sees flying above, but he prioritizes getting Iroh to safety.[1]
Credits[]
- Directed by:
- Written by:
- Developed by:
- Based on the animated series by:
- Starring:
- Gordon Cormier - Aang
- Kiawentiio - Katara
- Ian Ousley - Sokka
- Dallas Liu - Prince Zuko
- Paul Sun-Hyung Lee - Uncle Iroh
- Daniel Dae Kim - Fire Lord Ozai
- Guest starring:
- Utkarsh Ambudkar - King Bumi
- Danny Pudi - Sai
- Sebastian Amoruso - Jet
- Lucian-River Chauhan - Teo
- Albert Nicholas - Captain Dixit
- Justin Wong - Chong
- Lim Kay Siu - Monk Gyatso
- Co-starring:
- James Sie - Cabbage Merchant
- Pradnesh Prakash - Young Bumi
- Seth Ranaweera - Omashu Captain
- Akshaya Pattanayak - Royal Advisor
- Emily Schoen, Shastina Kumar, Jon Ray Dy Buco & Wilson Kwok - Minstrels
- Gayle Yamamoto - Bureaucrat
- Russel Jung - Diplomat
- Sunnie James - Sergeant
- Andy Kalirai - Servant
Production notes[]
Adaptation[]
- This episode is adapted from the following episodes of Book One: Water:
- This episode is adapted from the following episodes of Book Two: Earth:
- "The Cave of Two Lovers"
- "The Tales of Ba Sing Se" (Iroh's story)
Trivia[]
- The episode was released one day after the anniversary of the premiere of Avatar: The Last Airbender, which first began airing on February 21, 2005.
- During the flashback scene of Lu Ten lying in state an instrumental of "Leaves from the Vine", which Iroh's animated counterpart sang while commemorating Lu Ten's birthday in "The Tales of Ba Sing Se", is used as background music.
- In the story of The Two Lovers, Shu is female while in the original series, Shu is male. Likewise, Oma was the one killed in the live-action version while Shu is killed in the original series.
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 MacDonald, Keely (writer) & Raisani, Jabbar (director). (February 22, 2024). "Into the Dark". Avatar: The Last Airbender. Season One. Episode 4. Netflix.
- ↑ Avatar: The Last Airbender. DNEG. Retrieved on February 4, 2024.