History Recap / AvatarTheLastAirbenderTheFirebendingMasters

** Zuko is reminded that his ancestors are directly responsible for exterminating the dragons making it less likely that the Firebending masters will accept him.

-->'''Aang''': I don't normally play this card, but I'm the Avatar

''[[caption-width-right:350:Aang and Zuko are deemed worthy enough to learn the true and harmonious way of firebending.]]''

** The red and blue dragons resemble the ones Zuko dreamed of “The Earth King”, representing his good and evil sides.

* NoMoreHoldingBackSpeech: Both Aang and Zuko knew from near the start of the episode that their blocks to learning firebending were internal, but it's not until the near the end that they actually give the speech and break through the blocks.

* {{Foreshadowing}}: Zuko points out how unusual it is that the traps are still functioning after so long, foreshadowing the fact that the "lost" civilization isn't so lost at all.

Having been accepted by the Gaang, Zuko begins to teach Aang firebending, only to discover that his own firebending has gotten weaker. Realizing that the Fire Nation employ a corrupted version that emphasizes hate and rage, Zuko takes Aang to visit the ruins of the ancient Sun Warrior civilization, where firebending was originally invented, in the hopes of getting back to basics.

* ChekhovsGun: The Dragon Dance Aang and Zuko do in the temple to find the gemstone is the key to prove themselves worthy of learning the true ways of Firebending from the last dragons.
* ContemplateOurNavels: Trapped in goo with no way to escape, Zuko suggests this to be a good way to pass the time.

* DeadpanSnarker: When Zuko comes to the revelation that true firebending is supposed to be modeled off energy flow, like a sun inside you and asks the chief if they knew this:

* DidntWantAnAdventure: "You ''had'' to pick up the glowing egg, didn't you?"

* DurableDeathtrap: Aang nearly gets killed by one. Lampshaded by Zuko when he wonders how century old [[BoobyTrap booby traps]] could still work. Subverted in that the trap probably wasn't that old...

--> '''Aang:''' All this time, I thought firebending was destruction. Since I hurt Katara, I've been too afraid and hesitant. But now I know what it really is... it's energy, and life.

** Katara holds this when she rather nastily taunts Zuko for losing his firebending, insulting him by saying that perhaps he wasn't a good firebender to begin with, and mocking his new form of firebending. Granted, she has some understandable reasons to be mad at Zuko. [[note]] Examples being his constant jabs of "barbarian" and "peasant", kidnapped Aang at the North Pole, and betraying her in Ba Sing Se to help Azula.[[/note]]

* LampshadeHanging: After Zuko and Aang are captured by the Sun Warriors, who accuse of them of being thieves, Aang tells them that he is the Avatar in order to win their trust. The sarcastic and confident manner in which he delivers the line is an obvious nod to the numerous times in which Aang has used his status as the Avatar to get himself out of trouble in the past.

* PsychosomaticSuperpowerOutage: Zuko. For most of his life, he practiced a form of firebending based on rage and hatred - in his case, ''self''-hatred - and now that he's [[RedemptionDemotion switched sides]], his newfound calmness renders him without enough of either to light a candle. Sokka suggests annoying him into firebending again, but Zuko doesn't ''want'' to run on that anymore; he thus goes on a quest to learn the origins of firebending - which, as the Fire Nation was once at peace with the world, ''had'' to have been far less destructive.

-->'''Zuko''': I bet it's because I changed sides.

* SinsOfOurFathers: Invoked by the Sun Warrior chief, who pretty much says to Zuko that he's off to a bad start with the last two dragons, because Zuko's great-grandfather Fire Lord Sozin was the one who started the act of hunting dragons as a sport, causing the race to go nearly extinct. Eventually subverted when the dragons deem Zuko worthy of learning the true ways of firebending.

* SternSunWorshippers: The Sun Warriors see fire as an extension of the sun's life-giving energy, and thus worship the sun in that sense. While they are less hateful and morally-corrupt than the Fire Nation that descends from them, they are stern in keeping their existence a secret, and thus must test any who wish to learn firebending from them for worthiness, on threat of death. Any who are deemed worthy are sworn to secrecy, also on threat of death.

* RealityEnsues: This episode subverts DurableDeathtrap by revealing that the Sun Warrior civilization still exists, and that they were maintaining and resetting the traps.

* WorldOfCardboardSpeech: Both Aang and Zuko knew from near the start of the episode that their blocks to learning firebending were internal, but it's not until the near the end that they actually give the speech and break through the blocks.

* ThemeTuneCameo: The Sun Warriors play the drumbeats from the closing credits music.

-->"Well, our civilization is called the ''Sun Warriors''... so, yeah."

%% * GettingCrapPastThe Radar: Due to overwhelming and persistent misuse, GCPTR is on-page examples only until 01 June 2021. If you are reading this in the future, please check the trope page to make sure your example fits the current definition.

** Sokka has a bit of it, mocking Aang and Sokka for practicing "jerkbending". despite the fact that Aang needs to learn it.

* CharacterDevelopment: After two seasons, Aang finally overcomes his fear of Firebending. Zuko learns not only of the truth of firebending, but he doesn't have to be angry to command it.

* JerkassBall: Katara holds this when she rather nastily taunts Zuko for losing his firebending, insulting him by saying that perhaps he wasn't a good firebender to begin with, and mocking his new form of firebending. Granted, she has some understandable reasons to be mad at Zuko. [[note]] Examples being his constant jabs of "barbarian" and "peasant", kidnapped Aang at the North Pole, and betraying her in Ba Sing Se to help Azula.[[/note]]

* WhatTheHellHero: The Sun Warriors gave these to Aang and Zuko.

* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: When Zuko and Aang are training at the start of the episode, Sokka comes in and taunts them:
-->'''Sokka:''' Mind if I watch you two jerks do your [[ADateWithRosiePalms jerkbending]]?

** When Aang brings up his status as the Avatar in hopes that'll get the Firebending masters' approval, the Sun Warriors remind him that his abandonment of the world is what lead to the Dragons' ''extinction''. Because of that, it's highly unlikely that the masters will accept Aang because he's the Avatar.

* RealityEnusues: This episode subverts DurableDeathtrap by revealing that the Sun Warrior civilization still exists, and that they were maintaining and resetting the traps.

** The trial of taking the fire to the dragons, is reminiscent of [[Recap/AvatarTheLastAirbenderTheHeadband Jeong Jeong]]'s lesson to Aang, that the trick is to control, not generate fire.

* WhatTheHellHero: The Sun Warriors give two of these to Aang and Zuko.
** Zuko is harshly called out for the harm he and his nation has done to the world.
** When Aang brings up his status as the Avatar in hopes that'll get the Firebending masters' approval, the Sun Warriors remind his abandonment of the world is what lead to the Dragons' ''extinction''. Because of that, it's highly unlikely that the masters will accept Aang because he's the Avatar.

* WhatTheHellHero: When Aang brings up his status as the Avatar in hopes to get the Firebending masters' approval, the Sun Warriors remind him that he abandoned the world and let the Fire Nation ran rampant across it for the last hundred years resulting in the Dragons' ''extinction''. Because of that, it's highly unlikely that the masters will accept that.

* DarkAndTroubledPast: Zuko states that his uncle is responsible for killing the last dragon, which shocks Aang because he thought that Iroh was good. Zuko replies that Iroh, like the rest of his family, had a complicated past. Ultimately subverted when it's revealed that the last dragons are still alive and Iroh lied about slaying the last dragons in order to protect them.

* {{Adorkable}}: Like the previous episode, Zuko gains massive points in this episode; though Aang is no slouch in this either.

* CallBack: The red and blue dragons resemble the ones Zuko dreamed of “The Earth King”, representing his good and evil sides.

* JerkassBall: Katara holds this when she rather nastily taunts Zuko for losing his Firebending, insulting him by saying that perhaps he wasn't a good firebender to begin with, and mocks his new form of firebending. Granted, she has some understandable reasons to be mad at Zuko. [[note]] Examples being his constant jabs of "barbarian" and "peasant", kidnapped Aang at the North Pole, and betraying her in Ba Sing Se to help Azula.[[/note]]

* TookALevelInJerkass: Katara shows this when she rather nastily taunts Zuko for losing his Firebending, insults that perhaps he wasn't a good firebender to begin with, and mocks his new form of firebending. Granted, she has some understandable reasons to be mad at Zuko. [[note]] Examples being his constant jabs of "barbarian" and "peasant", kidnapped Aang at the North Pole, and betraying her in Ba Sing Se to help Azula.[[/note]]

* BlatantLies:
-->'''Aang''': I don't normally play this card, but I'm the Avatar.

* ConvectionSchmonvection: Aang and Zuko are engulfed in a cyclone of flames. They're perfectly fine. (Granted, the flames were created by two dragons who obviously didn't intend to hurt them.)

-->"Well our civilization is called the ''Sun Warriors''... so, yeah."