History Recap / AvatarTheLastAirbenderTheKingOfOmashu

* AmbiguousSyntax: When Sokka says that Aang looks just like his grandfather, to which Katara comments that Aang is technically 112 years old. The ambiguity is whether or not this is just a comment on Aang's actual age or whether one of their grandfathers, meaning Kanna married a man 32 years her elder, would be 112 if he was still living.

The next stop on the group's trip around the world is the Earth Kingdom city of Omashu. There, Aang shows Katara and Sokka the Omashu chute mail delivery system, which he and his friend Bumi (a Hindi word meaning 'Earth') used to ride for fun a hundred years ago. The trio gives the chutes a try but runs into trouble after it destroys a cabbage merchant's cart. Put in front of the crazy King of the city, the gang is unexpectedly given a feast. The King suspects that Aang is the Avatar and puts him through three deadly challenges to test his skills. After the last challenge, Aang is forced to figure out the King's name, and based on the nature of the challenges, he realizes that the King is his old friend Bumi. Bumi informs Aang of what his task as the current Avatar entails.

!!Tropes:

* ChirpingCrickets: Some guy coughing.

* CrashingThroughTheHarem: During their sleigh ride, they pass through an living room.

* ExactWords: Aang tried to use this when Bumi said that he would battle whoever he pointed at. Rather than the two warriors on either side of him, [[TakeAThirdOption Aang pointed at Bumi]]. Unfortunately, the king turned out to be a tougher opponent than Aang expected.

* HeyWait: Aang, Katara and Sokka talk their way past the guards at the city gate, with Aang pretending to be their elderly grandfather. Just as they're being let through, one of the guards notices something and calls them back...but it turns out it was to berate Sokka (who the guard notes seems very strong and muscular) for apparently not showing respect to the elderly by not carrying his grandfather's pack for him--Aang immediately tossed the bag he was carrying to Sokka.
* HiddenPurposeTest: The King was Bumi, and the tasks were partly a test to see if Aang could think creatively.
* InstantlyProvenWrong: Aang's statement "The people here are the friendliest in the world." is immediately challenged by the guards mistreating the cabbage vendor.

'''Bumi:''' Hey! Who are you calling "old"?![[note]]When Sokka said "[[AmbiguousSyntax old]]", she meant as in "friend from the past" rather than "elderly"[[/note]]

* LuxuryPrisonSuite: The heroes' prison cell was newly refurbished and looked like a nice hotel room.

* NotSoInnocentWhistle: Aang does it when the king eyes our destructive heroes for passing judgment on them.

* OhCrap: Aang, when he finds out that King Bumi isn't some weak and wimpy-looking old man, but is in fact "the most powerful earthbender [you] will ever see."

* OverlyLongName: Aang initially identifies himself as "Bonzu Pipinpadaloxicopolis III," with Katara introducing herself as "June Pipinpadaloxicopolis."

* TheReveal: It may be ItWasHisSled now adays, but the King turning out to be Aang's friend Bumi was very surprising when it first aired.
* ReversePsychology: In a way--the king's first two tests were to see whether or not Aang can creatively work out of tough situations, but the third test ''punished'' Aang for creatively using the King's ExactWords for an [[TheWindowOrTheStairs easier solution]].

** This episode not only debuts the series wide cabbage gag, but it also counts within the episode itself. First the gate guards inspect the cabbage cart and throw it off a cliff, then the Gaang knock over the cart while surfing the delivery rails, and one more time offscreen when Aang and Bumi go rail surfing.

* SinkOrSwimMentor: While downplayed as Aang and his friends were never in any real danger, ''they'' didn’t know that. Suffice to say, Bumi takes the kiddie gloves off when testing his old friend because he knows the [[TheDreaded Firelord]] ''[[NoNonsenseNemesis won’t]]''.
* StealthMentor: While his admitted love of {{Trolling}} played a part, the main reason why Bumi acted how he did was to prepare Aang to eventually face the Firelord.
* TakingAThirdOption: In the final test, the king tells Aang to pick a strong warrior to fight against and presents him with two intimidating options. Aang chooses the king hoping for an easy fight, but it backfired as the king turns out to be an extremely powerful earthbender.

* TheWindowOrTheStairs: The titular King is putting Aang through a series of tests. For the last one, he tells Aang to choose a warrior to fight. Aang tries to TakeAThirdOption and choose the old, crazy King himself - but he was expecting this, informing Aang that he's an incredibly powerful earthbender and tougher opponent than any of the warriors presented. In fact, he's the strongest in the entire series until Toph comes along, and even then it's debatable (even in-universe) who is the better earthbender.

* WrongGenreSavvy: Aang thought he'd outwitted Bumi by choosing to face him rather than one of the two warriors provided. Instead, he'd walked right into Bumi's trap.
-->'''Bumi:''' I'd hoped the Avatar would be less ''predictable!''

* WrongGenreSavvy: Aang thought he'd outwitted Bumi by choosing to face him rather than one of the two warriors provided. Instead, he'd walked right into Bumi's trap.

* WorldsBestWarrior: Bumi proclaims himself the strongest Earthbender Aang will ever see.

-->'''Sokka:''' So this crazy king is your old friend, Bumi?\\
'''Bumi:''' Hey! Who are you calling "old"?![[note]]When Sokka said "[[AmbiguousSyntax old]]", he meant as in "friend from the past" rather than "elderly"[[/note]]

* TheMadKing:

* GoodAllAlong: The King is set up as an antagonist, but he turns out to be Aang's old friend Bumi, and the challenges were his way of helping train Aang to think creatively

-->'''His Majesty:''' Heh heh, wrong choice!

* TheWindowOrTheStairs: The titular King is putting Aang through a series of tests. For the last one, he tells Aang to choose a warrior to fight. Aang tries to TakeAThirdOption and choose the old, crazy King himself - but he was expecting this, informing Aang that he's an incredibly powerful earthbender and tougher opponent than any of the warriors presented. In fact, he's the strongest in the entire series until Toph comes along, and even then it's debatable (even in-universe) who h is the better earthbender.

** This episode not only debuts the series wide cabbage gag, but it also counts within the episode itself. First the gate guards inspect the cabbage cart and throw it off a cliff, then the GAang knock over the cart while surfing the delivery rails, and one more time offscreen when Aang and Bumi go rail surfing.

* AerithAndBob: Aang's and Katara's aliases: The Honorable Bonzu Pipinpadalopsicopolis III and his granddaughter, June.

* ArsonMurderAndJaywalking: The Gaang are hauled up in front of the King for "vandalism, traveling under false pretenses and malicious destruction of cabbages."

'''Bumi:''' Hey! Who are you calling "old"?![[note]]When Sokka said "[[AmbigiousSyntax old]]", he meant as in "friend from the past" rather than "elderly"[[/note]]

* RunningGag: A quiet cough heard after a bad pun.

-->'''His Majesty:''' Heh heh, ''wrong'' choice!

* NoMrBondIExpectYouToDine: When the protagonists are arrested, the king proclaims their sentence: "THROW THEM...a feast!"

* OhCrapSmile: Aang, when turning around to see the real Flopsy.

* {{Pun}}: Quite a few, thanks to King Bumi.

* WhamLine: When Aang chooses the King as his opponent. Doubles as a PreAsskickingOneLiner.

* TheWindowOrTheStairs: The titular King is putting Aang through a series of tests. For the last one, he tells Aang to choose a warrior to fight. Aang tries to TakeAThirdOption and choose the old, crazy King himself - but he was expecting this, informing Aang that he's an incredibly powerful earthbender and tougher opponent than any of the warriors presented. In fact, he's the strongest in the entire series until Toph comes along, and even then it's debatable.

* TakeAThirdOption: When presented with a choice of warriors to fight, Aang chooses Bumi instead. Subverted when Bumi turns out to be even stronger than the scary-looking guys, and he all but calls out Aang for taking the predictable out.

* ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill: Okay, so those cabbages couldn't come into the city, but did the guards need to catapult them into a ravine?

* NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished: Inverted. The Gaang's "punishment" for the property damage they cause is to be thrown a feast.

->"Bumi, you're a mad genius."

As the gang continues on their journey to the North Pole, they stop at the city Omashu, a place Aang remembers from his child-hood for his friend Bumi and its elaborate earth-bending controlled mail system. The group takes advantage of said mail system for fun, but their antics create massive property damage, leading to them being captured by the Royal Guard. The slightly insane [[TitleDrop King of Omashu]] realises that Aang is the Avatar, and imprisons Katara and Sokka in living crystal; if Aang wants to free them, he shall have to complete three tasks.

The first test is to fetch a key (For the king's lunchbox, apparently). Problem is, the key is kept in the center of a downpour of water above a pit of stalagmites. The pressure too great to just climb up the ladder, Aang is able to get the key by flinging a stalactite at it, knocking it out of the water and over the king's head.

The second test is to fetch the king's pet, Flopsy. Aang is led to a pit where a small bunny is kept...and a giant gorilla-goat! After some comic chasing, Aang realizes that the goat-rilla is Flopsy, who acts very docile when called for.

The third test is a duel. Two fierce-looking warriors come out, and the king tells Aang to choose his opponent. Trying to be clever, Aang tries to TakeAThirdOption and challenge...the king! Too bad the king has some ''serious'' muscle underneath all those robes and wrinkles!

->'''King:''' You thought I was a frail old man, but I'm the most powerful earthbender you'll ever see!

The duel starts off badly for Aang, who continually has to avoid the king's mighty earthbending. The king for his part mocks Aang use of traditional airbender tactics of evasion, goading the Avatar to be more creative. Aang eventually tries to use his airbending to redirect the king's earthbended boulders, becoming more offensive culminating in a self-made ''tornado.'' The king soon calls the duel off and congratulates Aang for his fighting spirit, but tells that the Avatar has one more challenge (After all, what good are tests if you don't learn anything?): What is the king's name?

Aang confers with his Water Tribe comrades, and after dismissing Sokka's suggestion wonders about the previous tests. To pass all of them, Aang had to open his mind to all of the possibilities...Aang realizes what the king's name is. Confronting the leader of Omashu, Aang goes up to him and...gives him a big hug.

->'''Aang:''' You're a mad genius, Bumi.

The two friends reunited, Bumi removes Katara and Sokka's crystal capsules, which are revealed to be made of rock candy. The siblings are surprised to learn that the King of Omashu is Aang's old friend from before the Hundred Year War, and question Bumi on why he forced Aang to do those challenges instead of just telling him who he was--Bumi claims that he had two reasons for it:
# He finds it fun to mess with people like that.
# With how much the world in the hundred years that Aang's been gone, Bumi points out that he has a difficult task ahead of him in ultimately defeating Fire Lord Ozai and strongly advises Aang to "think like a mad genius."

Aang accepts this and now has a challenge for Bumi--the episode ends with Aang and Bumi playing with the city's mail system, at the expense of a certain merchant of cabbage...

!!Tropes

* FruitCart: The Cabbage Merchant and his cabbages.
* GildedCage: The heroes' prison cell was newly refurbished and looked like a nice hotel room.

The two friends reunited, Bumi removes Katara and Sokka's crystal capsules, which are revealed to be made of rock candy. The siblings are surprised to learn that the King of Omashu is Aang's old friend from before the Hundred Year War, and question Bumi on why he forced Aang to do those challenges instead of just telling him who he was--Bumi claims that he had two reason:

# With how much the world in the hundred years that Aang's been gone, Bumi points out that he has a difficult task ahead of him in defeating Fire Lord Ozai, and strongly advises Aang to "think like a mad genius."

* AerithAndBob: Aang's and Katara's aliases: The Honorable Bonzu Pipinpadalopsicopolis III and his granddaughter June.
* ActuallyPrettyFunny: Sokka thinks this of the king's "jokes". Aang and Katara aren't amused because the jokes are pretty terrible.

* CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass: Bumi looks like a venerable eccentric, which he is -- But he is ''also'' a fearsome earthbender.

* FluffyTheTerrible: "Flopsy" turns out to be the hulking gorilla-goat, not the little cute pet. Though it winds up being just as docile as you'd expect something named "Flopsy" to be.

* GilliganCut: Katara tells Aang he'll need some kind of disguise before they enter the city, and Aang sarcastically suggests that he could grow a mustache. Cut to Aang with a fake mustache and hair made of straw.

* ItAmusedMe: When Sokka asks Bumi why he did all this instead of just telling Aang who he is, Bumi says that it's fun messing with people. The other reason was to get Aang to think creatively, which will help him when he faces off against the Fire Lord.

* FluffyTamer: King Bumi.