Writer:	John O'Bryan
Director:	Lauren MacMullan
Star:	Jack DeSena (Sokka),  Mae Whitman (Katara),  Makoto Iwamatsu (Uncle Iroh),  Zach Tyler Eisen (Aang),  Dante Basco (Prince Zuko),  Dee Bradley Baker (Appa/Momo/Various Others)
Recurring Role:	Jason Isaacs (Zhao)
Guest Star:	Johanna Braddy (Princess Yue),  Ben Oiskin (Hahn),  Victor Brandt (Master Pakku),  Jon Polito (Chief Arnook)

Character Debuts: Hahn (edit) This is the second time Aang went into the Spirit World. The first was in Winter Solstice (1) (The Spirit World). (edit) This two-part season finale is Michael DiMartino's favorite episode of the first season, who describes it as "pretty epic" for an animation series. (edit) We learn that firebending is enhanced by the sun. This would explain why the Fire Nation has been so successful in the war. Since the sun is constantly rising, the firebenders are constantly stronger. (edit) This episode aired in the UK on 27/10/06 (27 October 2006). (edit)

Sokka: What happened? Where's Aang?
Katara: Zuko took him. He took him right out from under me. (edit) Chief Arnook: Is something wrong, Sokka?
Sokka: Oh, no! Hahn's out there on a top secret mission while I'm here sharpening my boomerang. Every thing's fine.
Chief Arnook: Listen, I took you off the mission for selfish reasons. I have a special task in mind for you.
Sokka: What, you want me to scrub the barracks?
Chief Arnook: I want you to guard my daughter, Princess Yue.
Sokka: Sure...that shouldn't be too hard. (edit) Chief Arnook: Our first objective is to determine the identity of their commanding officer.
Sokka: His name is Zhao. Middle aged, big sideburns, bigger temper.
Chief Arnook: Sokka, I want you to tell everything you know to Hahn; he's leading this mission. Hahn, show Sokka your respect, I expect nothing less from my future son-in-law.
Sokka: Princess Yue is marrying you?!
Hahn: Yeah, what of it?
Sokka: Nothing, congratulations. (edit) (Katara defeats another student in a waterbending match)
Master Pakku: Nice work, Pupil Sangul. Maybe in a few years, you'll be able to defeat a sea sponge. (to his other students) Would anyone care for a rematch with Katara? (all the students shake their heads) Katara, you've advanced more quickly than any student I've ever trained. You have proven that with fierce determination, passion, and hard work, you can accomplish anything. Raw talent alone is not enough.
(Pakku and Katara look at Aang, who is playing with Momo)
Master Pakku: Pupil Aang!
Aang: Yes, Master Pakku?
Master Pakku: Care to step into the sparring circle? I figured since you found the time to play with house pets, you must have already mastered waterbending.
Aang: I wouldn't say mastered, but check this out!
(Aang waterbends himself into a snowman. Master Pakku and Katara look at him disapprovingly) (edit) Hahn: Let me tell you Sokka, I've courted a lot of girls, but Yue is the finest. And she comes with the most perks.
Sokka: Perks?! What does that mean?
Hahn: I mean, Yue's nice and everything, but the points I'll get with the Chief aren't bad either.
Sokka: Princess Yue is wasted on a self-absorbed weasel like you!
Hahn: Whoa, hang on. Why do you care? You're just a simple rube from the Southern Tribe. How would you know of the political complexities of our life? No offense. (edit)

After Yue explains the Spirit Oasis and before Momo dips his hand into the pond, we see the Oasis from above and can see that the cluster of bamboo is set an angle not parallel to the gateway and that the waterfall has disappeared. (edit) Right before Katara hits the post (from Zuko's last attack), her necklace is white, her collar is white, and the beads in her bun are missing. (edit) In the previous episode, Yue's dress only had a fur lining on the y-shaped collar. In this episode, it is now an upturned collar. (edit) When Aang says "I'm gonna make a difference this time," and stands up Katara's part of her hair where the braid starts is the same color as her coat. (edit) When Sokka and Yue are on the steps to the meeting, and Yue says they can't be together, the position of the soot on the stairs constantly changes with each shot. (edit)

Breath of Fire
The "breath of fire" is actually a real Kundalini Yoga move (sans actual flame) called Agni-Prasana, where the air is pulled in and pumped out very rhythmically like pumping a bellows, powered by abdominal contractions and used to cleanse and energize the body. The inspiration was stated in the director audio commentary for the episode. (edit) The Snowman
Apparently a waterbending technique of Aang's invention, he spins around downward, pulls snow up over his body, then continues spinning upward until he is standing perfectly straight with both arms out. At this point resembles like a smiling snowman. (edit) The "sea sponge," to which Pakku stated that his pupil Sangook will be able to beat in a few years, was, as later admitted by the creators in the audio commentary for "The Siege of the North (Part One)," a friendly poke at another popular Nickelodeon character/show, Spongebob Squarepants. (edit) When the Northern Waterbenders freeze the first Fire Navy ship, it looks exactly like the frozen ship in the South Pole that Aang and Katara explore in the first episode, The Boy in the Iceberg. (edit) When Chief Arnook says "The enemy is on our doorstep," it is almost the exact line Gandalf says in The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. (edit)