One of the things that makes the world of Avatar: The Last Airbender so rich is how much thought series creators Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko put into its history. The introduction to every episode explains the beginnings of the Hundred Year War, where the Fire Nation disrupted the harmony between the Four Nations, and the Avatar wasn’t there to stop them. The show’s plot is primarily focused on the new Avatar, Aang (Zach Tyler Eisen), as he attempts to fulfill the destiny he once fled from and restore balance to the world.
But, 19 years ago, one of the show’s best episodes redefined that core conflict. The season 3 episode “The Avatar and the Fire Lord” tells the same story from two perspectives. Avatar Roku (James Garrett) reaches out to Aang through the spirit world to tell him about his own life and death in the Fire Nation while Prince Zuko (Dante Basco) follows a mysterious message to learn the secret history of his great-grandfather, Fire Lord Sozin (Ron Perlman).
The episode, which was written by Elizabeth Welch and directed by Ethan Spaulding, shows both Roku and Sozin in a new light. One of Avatar’s greatest strengths is its ability to blend the playful and the serious, and that mix is particularly striking when Sozen and Roku are shown playfully sparring. Sozin messes with his clumsy friend by sprinkling blades of grass on his face while he lies flopped on the ground.
The strength of their bond is reinforced when Roku learns that he is the new Avatar on his 16th birthday. He seems just as overwhelmed as Aang was by the news that he would have to leave behind everything familiar to take on the burden, and Sozin gives him a hair ornament traditionally worn by the Fire Nation crown prince as a token of home. While Roku spent 12 years mastering the elements, Sozen began dreaming of using their bond to conquer the world.
Roku warned him against the plan, and handily defeated his former friend when he learned that he had begun capturing Earth Kingdom territory. The two didn’t speak for 25 years until a volcano erupted on the island where Roku lived. Sozin ostensibly showed up to help, but wound up leaving Roku to die so he could carry out his imperial ambitions without interference.
Yet he admits in his final testament that he wasted the rest of his life looking for the new Air Nomad Avatar — the same quest Zuko finds himself on at the beginning of the series. Zuko realizes the message must come from his uncle Iroh (Greg Baldwin, replacing Mako who died in 2006), who has been jailed for helping Aang evade capture at the end of season 2. When he confronts his uncle, Iroh reveals that while Zuko traces his lineage to Sozin on his father’s side, his maternal great-grandfather was Roku.
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