Avatar: The Last Airbender (2003–2008): Season 3, Episode 6 - The Avatar and the Firelord - full transcript

Both Aang and Zuko must learn the history of how the war began. Zuko learns a secret about his great-grandfather's past.

Water...

Earth...

Fire...

Air.

Long ago...

The four nations lived
together in harmony.

Then everything changed
when the Fire Nation attacked.

Only the Avatar, master of all
four elements could stop them.

But when the world
needed him most

he vanished.

100 years passed and my brother
and I discovered the new Avatar



an airbender named Aang.

And although his airbending
skills were great

he has a lot to learn before
he's ready to save anyone.

But I believe Aang
can save the world.

I'm losing this war.

I'm letting
the whole world down.

I should have seen this war
coming, and prevented it.

For so long, I thought that if my dad
accepted me, I'd be happy.

I'm back home now.

My dad talks to me.

Everything should
be perfect, right?

I should be happy now,
but I'm not.

Please, uncle, I'm so confused.

I need your help.



Forget it.

I'll solve this myself.

Waste away in here
for all I care.

Aang, it's time you learned
my history with Fire Lord Sozin.

You need to understand how the war
began if you want to know how to end it.

Meet me on my home island on
the day of the summer solstice.

Ok, Roku.

You need to know the story of
your great-grandfather's demise.

It will reveal your own destiny.

There it is.

That's Roku's home.

But there's nothing here.

Yes, there is.

An entire village.

Hundreds of houses.

All completely buried in ash.

Wait.

I need to ask you something.

What do you remember about
our great-grandfather's history?

Ah, Zuko.

It's so strange
how your mind works.

Fire Lord Sozin began
the war, of course.

He spent his early years
secretly preparing for it

but he was as patient
as he was clever.

He famously waited
for the comet, later renamed Sozin's comet

and used its power to launch
his full-scale invasion of the world.

In the end, he died
a very old and successful man.

But how did he die?

Didn't you pay any attention
in school, Zuko?

He died peacefully,
in his sleep.

He was ancient.

What does it mean?

The fire sages keep the secret history
in the dragon bone catacombs.

The final testament
of Fire Lord Sozin.

Come, Aang.

Where are we going?

To visit my past.

Our shared past.

As I feel
my own life dimming, I can't help but think

of a time when everything
was so much brighter.

I remember my friend.

Looks like I win again, Roku.

Are you kidding?

The tree root did all the work.

Nice one, Sozin.

You were friends
with Fire Lord Sozin?

Back then, he was just Prince
Sozin, and he was my best friend.

Say something to her.

Uh...

Love is hard when you're young.

You don't have to tell me.

Don't worry.

It gets better.

Now come with me.

We have a party to attend.

Wait, whose party is it?

Sozin and I
shared many things, including a birthday.

Did something happen
to my father?

No, Prince Sozin.

We are not here for you.

We are here to announce
the identity of the next Avatar.

It is our honor
to serve you, Avatar Roku.

So the day came when my friend, Roku,

had to leave the Fire Nation
and face his destiny as the Avatar.

He needed to travel the world
so he could master the other elements.

Hey, why aren't you packed yet,
all-powerful Avatar?

Come on, show me how it's done
using all four kinds of bending.

I started packing,
but then the fire sages told me

I won't need any
worldly possessions anymore.

Oh.

It happened so fast.

Everything's gonna
be different now.

Here.

I hope you're at least
allowed to have this.

But this is a royal artifact.

It's supposed to be worn
by the crown prince.

I want you to have it.

Do they have bathrooms
in the spirit world?

As a matter of fact,
they do not.

Hey, we're almost at
the Southern air temple.

This was the first stop
on my Avatar journey.

It was the place where I was
trained to master airbending

and also where I met
an old friend of yours, Monk Gyatso.

No way.

Hey, Gyatso, you want to see
a new glider trick?

Ha-ha-ha, check this out.

He's air-surfing.

I can't believe
I never thought of that.

That's amazing.

I can't believe you were friends
with Monk Gyatso just like I was.

Some friendships are so strong,
they can even transcend lifetimes.

After my years mastering airbending,
I traveled to the northern water tribe.

Waterbending was
especially challenging for me.

But in time,
I mastered it as well.

I moved on to the Earth Kingdom.

My earthbending master, Sud, was
uncompromising, stubborn, and blunt

and a lifelong friend.

It was bitter work,
but the results were worth it.

Twelve long years passed
before I saw my friend again.

When Roku returned, he was a fully
realized Avatar, and I had changed as well.

Sozin, or should I say,
Fire Lord.

Customarily, my subjects bow before
greeting me, but you're the exception.

After all these years,
he was still my best friend

and a few months later,
he was my best man.

Roku, it's that girl
who didn't even know you were alive.

Ta Min.

I was persistent.

When love is real,
it finds a way

and being the Avatar doesn't hurt
your chances with the ladies, either.

On wedding days, we look to the
future with optimism and joy.

I had my own vision
for a brighter future.

Excuse me.

May I borrow him for a moment?

It's not very traditional,
but ok.

What's on your mind?

I've been thinking hard about
the state of the world lately.

Sozin, it's my wedding.

Have a cookie.

Dance with someone.

Lighten up.

I know, I know,
but just hear me out.

Right from the start,
I was destined to be Fire Lord

and although we didn't always know
it, you were destined to be the Avatar.

It's an amazing stroke of fate
we know each other so well, isn't it?

Together, we could do anything.

Yeah, we could.

Our nation is enjoying
an unprecedented time of peace and wealth.

Our people are happy, and we're
so fortunate in so many ways.

Where are you going with this?

I've been thinking.

We should share this prosperity
with the rest of the world.

In our hands is the most
successful empire in history.

It's time we expanded it.

No, the four nations

are meant just that - four.

Roku, you haven't even stopped
to consider the possibilities.

There are no possibilities.

This is the last I want
to hear about this.

That was my first
real test as the Avatar.

Unfortunately, it was many years
before I learned that Sozin

had gone ahead with his plan,
despite my warning.

I've seen the colony, Sozin.

How dare you occupy
Earth Kingdom territory.

How dare you, a citizen of the Fire Nation,
address your Fire Lord this way?

Your loyalty is
to our nation first.

Anything less
makes you a traitor.

Don't do this, Sozin.

Don't challenge me.

It will only end badly.

It's over.

I'm sparing you, Sozin.

I'm letting you go in the name
of our past friendship.

But I warn you, even a single step out
of line will result in your permanent end.

Sozin and I didn't speak or see each other

for 25 years after our battle.

I spent most of my spare time
here at my home.

Let's go.

Roku's island
was 100 miles away.

But I could still
feel it rumbling

and see the black plume
of smoke.

I had never seen anything
like this catastrophe.

This is amazing, Roku.

You're battling a volcano,
and you're winning.

Unfortunately, my success
didn't last, Aang.

There was no way
I could do it all.

Battling the elements
was hard enough

I had to do it while
I could barely breathe.

The poisonous, volcanic gasses
were overwhelming.

It's all right, Fang.

Get out of here, I'm fine.

Need a hand, old friend?

Sozin?

There's not a moment to waste.

Don't breathe the toxic gas.

It's... too much.

Please...

Without you, all my plans
are suddenly possible.

I have a vision
for the future, Roku.

Who's, wait,
that's me, isn't it?

Make sense of our past, Aang.

And you will bring peace
and restore balance in the world.

Roku?

Roku...

With Roku gone,
and the great comet returning

the timing was perfect
to change the world.

I knew the next Avatar
would be born an air nomad

so I wiped out the air temples.

But somehow,
the new Avatar eluded me.

I wasted the remainder of
my life searching in vain.

I know he's hiding
out there somewhere

the Fire Nation's
greatest threat.

The last airbender.

That can't be it,
where's the rest of it?

You sent this, didn't you?

I found the secret history.

Which, by the way, should be renamed
"the history most people already know."

The note said that I needed to
know about my great-grandfather's death

but he was still alive
in the end.

No, he wasn't.

What are you talking about?

You have more than one
great-grandfather, Prince Zuko.

Sozin was your
father's grandfather.

Your mother's grandfather
was Avatar Roku.

Why are you telling me this?

Because understanding the struggle
between your two great-grandfathers

can help you better understand
the battle within yourself.

Evil and good are always
at war inside you, Zuko

it is your nature, your legacy.

But there is a bright side.

What happened generations ago
can be resolved now.

By you.

Because of your legacy, you alone
can cleanse the sins of our family

and the Fire Nation.

Born in you,
along with all this strife

is the power to restore balance
to the world.

This is a royal artifact.

It's supposed to be worn
by the crown prince.

You mean, after all Roku and
Sozin went through together

even after Roku showed him mercy,
Sozin betrayed him like that?

It's like these people
are born bad.

No, that's wrong.

I don't think that was the point
of what Roku showed me at all.

Then what was the point?

Roku was just as much
Fire Nation as Sozin was, right?

If anything, their story proves anyone's
capable of great good and great evil.

Everyone, even the Fire Lord
and the Fire Nation

have to be treated like
they're worth giving a chance.

And I also think it was
about friendships.

Do you really think friendships
can last more than one lifetime?

I don't see why not.

Well, scientifically speaking,
there's no way to prove that...

oh, Sokka, just hold hands.