Writer:	John O'Bryan
Director:	Ethan Spaulding
Star:	Mae Whitman (Katara),  Grey DeLisle (Princess Azula),  Jack DeSena (Sokka),  Dee Bradley Baker (Appa/Momo/Various Others),  Dante Basco (Prince Zuko),  Zach Tyler Eisen (Aang),  Jessie Flower (Toph (Episodes 26- )),  Makoto Iwamatsu (Uncle Iroh)
Recurring Role:	Clancy Brown (Long Feng),  Jim Meskimen (General How)
Guest Star:	Phil LaMarr (Earth King),  Marc Graue (Xin Fu),  Jennifer Cohn (Ursa)

Character Debuts: General How (edit) Marks the first time a waterbending attack is intiated with the use of the leg rather than solely the arms, as Katara swiftly does so after jumping over the ravine to perform a larger than normal Water Whip. (edit) According to the information that Sokka received in Wan Shi Tong's library, the 'Day of Black Sun' translates as 'Superior Military Dragon Year Eighth Month First Day' or August 1 in their world. In the next episode The Guru, the Earth King told Azula that an invasion was planned for this summer. (edit) According to the Nickelodeon website, Earth King's originally name is Kuei, and was crowned as the 52nd king at the age of four, following his father's death. Long Feng became his guardian and was thus able to gain the king's trust from an early age. (edit) In this episode, Aang almost reveals his true feelings for Katara, but he gets cut off by Sokka. (edit)

Sokka: Now, that's an impressive door, it's gonna go somewhere!
(Sokka makes the run and kicks the door but he rebounds. Aang and Toph smash in and Sokka falls down with the huge door leaves.)
Sokka: A little warning next time? (edit) Aang (Reading his letter): There's a man living at the Eastern Air Temple. He says he's a guru.
Sokka: What's a guru? Some kind of poisonous blowfish? (edit) (Katara whips many guards when attacking the palace)
Katara: Sorry!
(Toph nearly crushes guards)
Katara: Sorry, we just need to just need to get through to see the Earth King! (edit) Earth King: In our hour of need, it is with the highest honor that I welcome our esteemed allies, the Kyoshi warriors!
(Three females in Kyoshi warrior uniforms all look up.)
Azula (one of the females dressed as a Kyoshi warrior): We are the Earth King's humble servants. (edit) Sokka: And when we get back, Suki is waiting for me.
Aang: Yeah, girls are waiting for us. Thanks positive attitude. (edit)

Animation Error:
When the gang hug each other in the middle of the episode, the blue arrow that shows on Aang's hand because he is the Avatar can be seen additionally on Toph's hand. (edit) In the scene where Katara is fighting the Earth King's guards outside of the building, the frozen water that she used to slide up and over the water disappears in the next shot. (edit) During the invasion of the Earth King's palace, Momo is sitting on Appa, but fails to appear in several shots. (edit) When Zuko comments that he doesn't feel right, Zuko's burnt ear turns normal but has no ear markings. (edit) After Katara asks why there's a Fire Nation insignia on the "construction project" and the screen returns to Katara after focusing on the drill, the grey wrap on her wrists extend to her elbows rather than simply wrapping three times about her wrist like normal. (edit)

When raiding the palace Sokka is holding his water nation club. Yet, we clearly saw in Appa's Lost Days that this was stolen by the Sandbenders (edit) The Earth King's real name, Kuei, appears to be a spelling varation of the Madarin words for "puppet" or "leader." Either word references the king's position or his manipulative relationship with Long Feng. (edit) The Earth King, palace, and royal guards all bear strong resemblance to Imperial China during the Qing Dynasty, in regards to clothing, hairstyle, and architecture. The Earth King's character design most closely resembles that of the last Emperor of China, Puyi. (edit) Azula was seen as the blue dragon on the right of Zuko. In Chinese traditions, the blue or Azure Dragon is strongest of the Four Symbols of the constellations, is Dragon of the East, controls the largest territories, and it represents the spring season, which happens to be the time setting for Book Two. (edit) The Zuko Dream sequence can also be viewed as an allusion to the Matrix. In the Matrix the character Neo is offered the option of a red or blue pill, the red pill frees him from the Matrix while the blue pill will put him to sleep. The dragons correspond to these two pills. (edit)