Innovation, betrayal, and tanks—this episode proves “filler” doesn’t mean forgettable.

In this episode of Avatar State Radio, Kev and Mike soar into The Northern Air Temple, where the Gaang stumbles upon a community of gliders, steam-powered inventions, and one of the earliest moments of disability representation in animated TV. Right from the start, it’s clear this episode was ahead of its time: Taeo’s character is celebrated not for what he lacks, but for how he thrives. His daredevil gliding skills even impress Aang… at least until some Temple disrespect sends our favorite airbender into a spiral.

Things only get more complicated when Aang and Taeo discover that the temple’s been opened before, and Taeo’s dad is secretly building weapons for the Fire Nation. Understandably, that doesn’t sit well with Taeo, Aang, and the rest, and it leads to one of the most chaotic battles of Book One. Sokka gets a surprising moment to shine here, tapping into his inner engineer and helping devise both a war balloon and a perfectly timed gas leak bomb. Mike’s still wondering when we’ll get The Last Sky Bison spinoff, while Kev is out here quoting, “Show that bald kid how it’s done!”

As the episode wraps, Aang comes to accept that change is part of life, even for the Air Temples. The new inhabitants may not be Air Nomads, but they’ve made the temple their home in their own way. Of course, just when things seem settled, the Fire Nation gets their hands on a shiny new war balloon—and we all know that’s not going to end well.

Plus: Mike’s Trivia, Dani Pudi gets a shoutout, and we all agree—this episode might not move the main plot much, but it still hits.

Find Mike

Tellest.com | Twitter @tellest | Facebook @tellestbooks | Twitch @ThatTellestGuy | Etsy | Patreon

Find Kev

ThatNerdyKev.com | Starbird Media, LLC | Everything is Awesome | Get 'Em Next Year | @ThatNerdyKev on TikTok, Twitter, Instagram, Threads, Twitch

Find Avatar State Radio

AvatarStateRadio.com | Apple Podcasts | YouTube | Amazon

Our intro music is The Voyage by Audionautix, licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license.

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Artist: http://audionautix.com/

Firebending! Failure! We’re diving into Aang’s first brush with firebending and all the chaos that comes with it in this episode of Avatar State Radio.

Kev starts things off thinking Chey is the deserter, and honestly? It’s not a bad guess. We feel bad for the guy: he’s out here trying to help, and the Gaang barely gives him the time of day. Their visit to the Fire Nation’s flashy Fire Days Festival goes exactly as well as you’d expect when you’re public enemies wearing bad disguises. Sokka is loud, paranoid, and weirdly Conan O’Brien-esque in his energy (imagine him on Hot Ones), but he’s not wrong; the festival is a trap waiting to be sprung. And of course, Aang blows their cover because his crush on Katara overrides his survival instincts.

With nowhere else to go, the Gaang meets Jeong Jeong, the actual deserter, who lives in exile after turning his back on the Fire Nation. Aang is eager to learn firebending, but Jeong Jeong—burnt out and haunted—warns him that fire is a force of destruction. Even Avatar Roku has to step in and convince him to teach Aang. What follows is a lesson in discipline, one Aang is absolutely not ready for. He loses control. Katara gets burned. And while Sokka is justifiably furious, this injury unlocks Katara’s healing powers, a moment so powerful even Jeong Jeong admits he’d trade firebending to be a waterbender instead.

Things go from bad to worse when Zhao shows up, forcing Jeong Jeong to evacuate. Aang disobeys, stays behind, and ends up schooling Zhao by outmaneuvering him completely. Turns out Zhao has no self-control and Aang’s starting to realize that might be a problem with firebending as a whole. In the end, Jeong Jeong and his people escape… except for poor Chey, who once again gets left behind. We wrap with a round of Mike Trivia, a bison whistle moment, and Kev wondering who will actually become Aang’s firebending teacher.

Find Mike

Tellest.com | Twitter @tellest | Facebook @tellestbooks | Twitch @ThatTellestGuy | Etsy | Patreon

Find Kev

ThatNerdyKev.com | Starbird Media, LLC | Everything is Awesome | Get 'Em Next Year | @ThatNerdyKev on TikTok, Twitter, Instagram, Threads, Twitch

Find Avatar State Radio

AvatarStateRadio.com | Apple Podcasts | YouTube | Amazon

Our intro music is The Voyage by Audionautix, licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license.

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Artist: http://audionautix.com/

Water Tribe nostalgia, perfume-based bending, and betrayal from our beloved airbender?! This one has it all.

In this episode of Avatar State Radio, Kev and Mike are diving deep into Bato of the Water Tribe—a turning point in Season 1 that blends emotional tension, backstory, and some of the coolest bending tricks we’ve seen so far.

We start with Sokka showing off some serious tracking skills as the group stumbles upon a Water Tribe boat and reconnects with Bato. For Katara and Sokka, it’s a moment of belonging—but for Aang? It’s a pang of alienation that quickly spirals into a full-blown “FOR SHAME” moment when he crumples up a message from their dad. Yes, really.

Cue ice-dodging flashbacks, spiritual guilt, and the arrival of one of the most chaotic bounty hunter duos in the series: June and her shirshu. Between its wild scent-based tracking powers and the psychedelic vision effects, this creature steals the spotlight—until the actual spotlight lands on that final showdown.

We’ve got perfume being used as a weapon, Sokka making a powerful emotional decision about his “tribe,” and Zuko getting bodied by smell. And yes—Uncle Iroh has a very special kind of crush on June that deserves its own subplot.

Also: Aang earns a mark of trust (sort of?), Mike breaks out more trivia, and Kev has flashbacks to Street Fighter thanks to June’s arm wrestling opponent.

One of the best-paced, best-balanced episodes of Book One. You will believe in perfume-bending.

Find Mike

Tellest.com | Twitter @tellest | Facebook @tellestbooks | Twitch @ThatTellestGuy | Etsy | Patreon

Find Kev

ThatNerdyKev.com | Starbird Media, LLC | Everything is Awesome | Get 'Em Next Year | @ThatNerdyKev on TikTok, Twitter, Instagram, Threads, Twitch

Find Avatar State Radio

AvatarStateRadio.com | Apple Podcasts | YouTube | Amazon

Our intro music is The Voyage by Audionautix, licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license.

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Artist: http://audionautix.com/