Writer:	Bryan Konietzko, Michael Dante DiMartino
Director:	Dave Filoni
Star:	Dante Basco (Prince Zuko),  Zach Tyler Eisen (Aang),  Jack DeSena (Sokka),  Mae Whitman (Katara),  Makoto Iwamatsu (Uncle Iroh),  Dee Bradley Baker (Appa/Momo/Various Others)
Recurring Role:	Jason Isaacs (Zhao),  Jim Meskimen (Lieutenant Jee)
Guest Star:	Jodi Carlisle (Herbalist Lady),  Nick Jameson (Colonel Shinu)

Military Debut: Yu Yan Archers (edit) Character Debuts: Lieutenant Jee, The Herbalist, Miyuki (edit) This chapter is Avatar co-creator Michael DiMartino's second favorite episode of the first season due to the enigma behind the Blue Spirit, the intense action sequences, and the twist ending. (edit) This is the second episode in which a firebender helps Aang. (edit) We learn Aang was good friends with a Fire Nation boy named Kuzon. (edit)

Prince Zuko: My honor, my throne, my country. I'm about to lose them all... (edit) Zuko: I've got nothing to report to Zhao. Now get off my ship and let us pass.
Soldier: Admiral Zhao is not allowing ships in or out of this area.
Zuko: (angrily) Off my ship! (edit) Admiral Zhao (Speak through gritted teeth): Open the gate.
Colonel Shinu: Admiral, what are you doing?
Admiral Zhao: Let them out, now!
Colonel Shinu: How could you let them go?
Admiral Zhao: A situation like this requires precision. (edit) Katara: Ugh! No, Momo, water. Wa-ter! (edit) Aang (Yelling at the frozen frogs): Wait! Stop thawing! My friends have to suck on you! Please go back to being frozen! (edit)

When Aang is escaping with Zuko (as the Blue Spirit), he stops to grab the frogs that are slowly pulling away from him. If you look closely you'll see that the frogs are in constant motion even when they're not pulling themselves along, almost as if they are on a conveyor belt. (edit) The concept of frogs being frozen is actually a scientific fact. Frogs really do freeze if exposed to lower temperatures. Also they can dethaw without any ill effects. (edit) The tapestry that Zuko looks at in the end of the episode can also be seen in the second episode, but then it did not have that triangular border. (edit) After Momo brings Katara a mouse, it disappears. (edit) Zhao tells Aang that he doesn't plan to kill him because the avatar would just be reborn into the next nation in the cycle and the Fire Nation would have to search all over again. This shouldn't be a problem since the comet will arrive in less than a year giving the Fire Nation enough power to end the war once and for all before the next avatar would be able to talk, let alone bend anything. Also if Zhao kills Aang- the last airbender- then the next avatar would never become a fully realized avatar since he/she wouldn't have anyone to learn airbending from. (edit)

According to the co-creators, the Blue Spirit Mask is a recolored Chinese Opera Wizard mask. (edit) The basis of the sounds produced by the horn is the Duduk, a traditional woodwind instrument of ancient Armenian origins. Said to be one of the oldest double reed instruments in the world. (edit) The YuuYan archer's have a triangle rather than a Fire Nation flame emblem on their headpiece and quiver. This symbol shows up again in season two hinting at the possibility of a significant meaning such as the archers may be part of a specific order or group beyond archery. Perhaps the Fire Nation flame is a newer emblem and the triangle represents an older tradition. (edit) Sokka and Katara having to suck on frogs to become well may have some basis on fact. Several modern-day antibiotics contain chemicals from the skins of amphibians-such as frogs. (edit) Zhao’s speech to the solders of the Fire Nation about being the “Superior element” is very reminiscent of the speeches by Adolf Hitler and his speeches stating that the Germans were the "superior race." (edit)