History Recap / AvatarTheLastAirbenderTheStorm

* ImpossibleTask: Zuko was given this by his father as a part of his banishment: Defeat an all-powerful PhysicalGod and bring him back to the Fire Nation. Said PhysicalGod has also not been seen in nearly 100 years.

* UsedToBeASweetKid: Zuko, while a bit impulsive and impatient, thanks his uncle for allowing him into the war chamber and speaks out against sacrificing soldiers' lives in order to achieve victory, which ultimately leads to his banishment.
* WeHaveReserves: The basis of the plan that Zuko speaks out against. To elaborate, the plan was to sacrifice a force of around 20,000 new recruits as bait against an Earth Kingdon force of around 500 veterans.

* JerkassHasAPoint: The old fisherman when he calls out Aang for running away and getting himself frozen in ice for 100 years: That single action allowed the whole war to grow out of all proportion. However, as Katara pointed out, the Fire Nation massacred the Air Nomads shortly after, meaning it's possible Aang would have been wiped out then since he'd only mastered airbending, which didn't do his people much good.

* WeHaveReserves: The basis of the plan that Zuko speaks out against.

* AbusiveParents: Fire Lord Ozai has no problem with not only instigating a duel against his own son, but also dealing the equivalent of a blow-torch shot to his face when the then-younger prince refuses to fight. All because the prince spoke out of turn in defense of his nation's soldiers. No wonder the kid's messed up. And [[TruthInTelevision much like many real children who have faced abuse]], Zuko blames himself and continues to seek his father's approval.

* AbusiveParents: Fire Lord Ozai has no problem with not only instigating a duel against his own son, but also dealing the equivalent of a blow-torch shot to his face. All because the prince spoke out of turn in defense of his nation's soldiers. No wonder the kid's messed up. And [[TruthInTelevision much like many real children who have faced abuse]], Zuko blames himself and continues to seek his father's approval.

* OriginsEpisode: This episode delves into Aang and Zuko's backstories.

* WholeEpisodeFlashback: This episode features many flashbacks from the lives of both Zuko and Aang and explains how their respective journeys began.

* AbusiveParents: Fire Lord Ozai has no problem with not only instigating a duel against his own son, but also taking a blow-torch to his face. All because the prince spoke out of turn in defense of his nation's soldiers. No wonder the kid's messed up. And [[TruthInTelevision much like many real children who have faced abuse]], Zuko blames himself and continues to seek his father's approval.

* WholeEpisodeFlashback: This episode features many flashbacks from the lives of both Zuko and Aang.

* AbusiveParents: Fire Lord Ozai has no problem with taking a blow-torch to his son's face. No wonder the kid's messed up. And [[TruthInTelevision much like many real children who have faced abuse]], Zuko blames himself and continues to seek his father's approval.

* DisproportionateRetribution: Ozai not only attempted to fight his 13-year-old son because he dared to contest a plan from a general, but after Zuko refused to fight, Ozai burned his face, permanently scarring the boy, then exiled him.

* ArtisticLicense - Meteorology: To escape the fury of the storm, Iroh suggests they turn the ship toward the storm's eye. According to [[http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/hrd/tcfaq/H3.html NOAA]] (last paragraph), any experienced mariner should know better than to go anywhere near the eye. It's pretty clear the resident member of the brass on board is not an admiral. And yet the eye [[EmpathicEnvironment turns out to be as calm]] [[WeatherDissonance as it would be if the storm were over land.]]

* EstablishingCharacterMoment: That girl's evil smirk, identical to Zhao's, as they watch Zuko getting scarred.

* BadDreams: Katara notes that Aang has a lot of nightmares lately.

* StunnedSilence: Zuko's crew are appropriately horrified upon learning that his scar was caused by a merciless Ozai in an Agni Kai. The only responses come from Jee quietly saying that he thought Zuko's scar was from a training accident and him realizing why Zuko is so obsessed with capturing Aang.

* WhamEpisode: We learn about both Aang and Zuko's pasts, along with the devastating reveal that Zuko had to fight his own father. And for those who still didn't pick on the hints that Zuko's father is the Fire Lord himself, this episode pretty much confirms it.

* AbusiveParents: So, Fire Lord Ozai has no problem with taking a blow-torch to his son's face. No wonder the kid's messed up. And [[TruthInTelevision much like many real children who have faced abuse]], Zuko continues to blame himself and look for his father's approval.

* DisproportionateRetribution: Ozai not only attempted to fight his 13-year-old son because he dared to contest a plan from a general, but Ozai then scarred and banished Zuko for refusing to fight.

* SecretlySelfish: When Aang tells Katara about how the Air Nomads were going to separate Aang from Monk Gyatzo, she sympathizes that Aang was allegedly sent away. Aang uneasily reveals that's not what happened: in reality, he ran away from home.

* UsedToBeASweetKid: Zuko, while a bit impulsive and impatient, thanks his uncle for allowing him into the war chamber and speaks out against sacrificing soldiers lives in order to achieve victory, which leads to the events that resulted in his banishment.

* NiceJobBreakingItHero: The monks at the Southern Air Temple decide they need to move fast before the Fire Nation threat grows. To speed things up, they tell 12-year-old Aang he's the Avatar several years early, intensify his training and plan to send him away from his home and father figure. ...Which results in Aang running away and being frozen for a ''century''', clearing the way for the Fire Nation to start the war and wipe out the Air Nomads. In retrospect, easing Aang into his Avatar training doesn't look so bad.

* JerkassHasAPoint: The old fisherman when he calls out Aang for running away and getting himself frozen in ice for 100 years: That single action allowed the whole war to grow out of all proportion. However as Katara pointed out, the Fire Nation massacred the Air Nomads shortly after, meaning it is possible Aang would have been wiped out then.

* TooYoungToDieLamentation: Quite possible the TropeCodifier.

->''"You ''will'' learn respect, and suffering will be your teacher."''\\
'''--Fire Lord Ozai'''

* CampfireCharacterExploration: Half of the episode is devoted to discussing Aang's backstory around a camp fire. The other half is Iroh revealing Zuko's backstory to his men sitting around a TrashcanBonfire.

* {{Foreshadowing}}: When Zuko tells Lt. Jee that the safety of his crew isn't important, Iroh tries to settle things by telling Jee that Zuko didn't really mean that. The reveal of Zuko's backstory later in the episode, specifically the "offence" he was banished for, confirms that Iroh wasn't lying about that.

->''"You ''will'' learn respect, and suffering will be your teacher."''

[[quoteright:333:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/avatar_the_storm_campfire.png]]
''[[caption-width-right:333:Aang tells Katara his story.]]''

* {{Foreshadowing}}: When Zuko tells the Captain that the safety of his crew isn't important, Iroh tries to settle things by telling the Captain that Zuko didn't really mean that. The reveal of Zuko's backstory later in the episode, specifically the "offence" he was banished for, confirms that Iroh wasn't lying about that.

* JerkassHasAPoint: The old fisherman when he calls out Aang for running away and getting himself frozen in ice for 100 years: That single action allowed the whole war to grow out of all proportion. However as Katara pointed out, the Fire Nation massacred the Air nomads shortly after, meaning it is possible Aang would have bee wiped out then.

* JerkassHasAPoint: The old fisherman when he calls out Aang for running away and getting himself frozen in ice for 100 years: That single action allowed the whole war to grow out of all proportion.

* OriginsEpisode

* ShadowDiscretionShot: ''Inverted'' when Zuko gets his scar. It's a bright light discretion shot instead, showing Iroh's wince and a girl's smirk. * SourOutsideSadInside: It's revealed that underneath Zuko's angry exterior is a young teenager dealing with a lot of pain, desperately trying to win his abusive father's love.