History Recap / AvatarTheLastAirbenderThePaintedLady

* AnAesop: "You can't wait around for someone to help you. You have to help yourself." (Though it becomes a BrokenAesop when the people of the village help themselves only after Katara helps them by masquerading as the Painted Lady.)

* AnAesop

* Anvilicious: Both the pollution message and Katara's desire to help people aren't exactly handled with much in the way of subtlety. Which is unusual for Avatar.

* PaperThinDisguise: {{Subverted}}. Aang easily figures out that Katara is pretending to be the Painted Lady. The villagers also see through her disguise when she gets close enough for them to see her face. Not helped by her makeup having come off during the confrontation.

* PaperThinDisguise: {{Subverted}}. Sokka easily figures out that Katara is pretending to be the Painted Lady. The villagers also see through her disguise when she gets close enough for them to see her face. Not helped by her makeup having come off during the confrontation.

** While the villagers initially turning on Katara after they learned that she had been impersonating the Painted Lady, [[UngratefulBastard despite saving them]] moments earlier, she ''did'' impersonate their patron goddess and commit blasphemy.

When the Gaang comes upon a fishing village that has been having hard times due to the pollution from a local factory, Katara cannot resist helping the villagers, though she does so in secret. Before long, word in the village is that the local river spirit, [[TitleDrop the Painted Lady]], has been granting them succor, and soon Katara take the guise of this spirit to further help the villagers.

* CurbstompBattle: Katara (as the Painted Lady) and Aang demolish the soldiers with next to no effort.

* EverybodyHelpsOutDenouement: The episode ends with the crew joining a bunch of villagers clean a river that was polluted by some evil factory-workers that the gang defeated in the climax.
* ExtraEyes: One of the fish from the polluted has a third eye.

* GodGuise: Katara eventually disguises herself as the Painted Lady, the village's guardian spirit, in order to heal the sick villagers without revealing her waterbending.

->''"I will never, ever turn my back on people who need me!"''

When the Gaang comes upon a fishing village that has been having hard times due to the pollution from a local factory, Katara cannot resist helping the villagers in the guise of the local river spirit, [[TitleDrop the Painted Lady]].

* BefriendingTheEnemy: The villagers seem ready to turn on Katara the moment they realize she is a waterbender--but in the end they don't, because Sokka admonishes the village for their uproar, and [[SavedByTheAwesome because Katara saved them]].

* CaughtComingHomeLate: Sokka awaits Katara and Aang when they return from destroying the factory. And he is not amused.

* ClockKing: Sokka turns out to be one to the annoyance of the other characters.

* CurbstompBattle: Katara (as the Painted Lady) and Aang demolish the soldier with next to no effort.

* ExtraEyes: One of the fish has a third eye.

** Until he sees Appa's purple tongue, Aang says the bison doesn't look sick. [[PlayingSick Funny you should say...]]
* GodGuise: Katara disguises herself as the Painted Lady, the village's guardian spirit.

-->'''Sokka:''' ...I also said to use spirit magic and made funny noises! ''({{facepalm}})''

** While the villagers initially turning on Katara after they learned that she had been impersonating the Painted Lady, [[UngratefulBastard despite saving them]] moments earlier, she did impersonate their patron goddess and commit blasphemy.
* KeystoneArmy: Zig-zagged. It's first played straight, since destroying the factory doesn't solve the problem, but rather serves precisely to make its military security detachment crack down ''hard'' on [[NiceJobBreakingItHero the very village Katara wanted to save]]. Ultimately subverted, however: Team Avatar beats them, too, and rather than this realistically bringing in even more and more heavily armed troops, the story ends on a happy note. It is implied that the Painted Lady will keep looking after the people, which may or may not justify it.

* PaperThinDisguise: Subverted. Sokka easily figures out that Katara is pretending to be the Painted Lady. The villagers also see through her disguise when she gets close enough for them to see her face.

* UngratefulBastard: Subverted, for once. The villagers are plenty mad that the local girl is a waterbender and has been masquerading as their patron goddess, until Sokka calls them out on it and points out that now the village is safe and can grow prosperous again. Though Katara did apologize to them, she justifies to them that she couldn't simply stand by and do nothing. So [[BecauseYouWereNiceToMe in turn]], they promise to keep her waterbending a secret.
* WatchOutForThatTree: While Aang chased after the disguised Katara, he runs across the roof of a long hut, and ends up running into a pole while distracted.

* BefriendingTheEnemy The villagers seem ready to turn on Katara the moment they realize she is a waterbender--but in the end they don't, because Sokka admonishes the village for their uproar, and [[SavedByTheAwesome because Katara saved them]].

''[[caption-width-right:333:Katara takes on a disguise to help the villagers.]]''

* BigBrotherInstinct: Although he’s rightfully upset with his sister’s actions, he agrees to help her chase away the soldiers that are headed towards the village. He later steps in to protect her when the villagers realize Katara is a waterbender who pretended to be the Painted Lady.

* EveryoneHasStandards: While Sokka dissaproved of his sister's reckless heroics, he still defends her towards the townspeople once they find out who she is, calling them out for their ingratitude despite Katara doing everything she could to save them.

* EveryoneHasStandards: While Sokka dissaproved her sister's reckless heroics, he still defend her towards the townspeople once they find out who she is, calling them out for their ingratitude despite her sister doing everything she could to save them.

* EveryoneHaStandards: While Sokka dissaproved her sister's reckless heroics, he still defend her towards the townspeople once they find out who she is, calling them out for their ingratitude despite her sister doing everything she could to save them.

* AnAesop: "You can't wait around for someone to help you. You have to help yourself."
** Though it becomes a BrokenAesop when the people of the village help themselves only after Katara helps them by masquerading as the Painted Lady.

* RealityEnsues: Zig-zagged. It's first played straight, since destroying the factory doesn't solve the problem, but rather serves precisely to make its military security detachment crack down ''hard'' on [[NiceJobBreakingItHero the very village Katara wanted to save]]. Ultimately subverted, however: Team Avatar beats them, too, and rather than this realistically bringing in even more and more heavily armed troops, the story ends on a happy note. It is implied that the Painted Lady will keep looking after the people, which may or may not justify it.
** Sokka easily figures out that Katara is pretending to be the Painted Lady. The villagers also see through her disguise when she gets close enough for them to see her face.

* EyeObscuringHat: Katara as the Painted Lady wears her hat low so that her eyes cannot be seen.

* JerkassHasAPoint: While Sokka's "We can't help every town we come across" comment may sound cold out of context, he does make a sound argument that in the grand scheme of things, the only way to truly help the fishing village (and the Fire Nation as a whole) is to end the war.

* ShoutOut: When Katara, disguised as the Painted Lady, begins approaching Fire Nation soldiers, a child says "She's com-ing!" in the exact same tone as the line "[[Film/{{Poltergeist}} They're he-re!]]"

* BefriendingTheEnemy The villagers seem ready to turn on Katara the moment they realize she is a waterbender--but in the end they don't, because Sokka admonishes the village for their uproar, and [[SavedByTheAwesome because Katara saved them]].

* CaughtComingHomeLate: Sokka awaits Katara and Aang when they return from destroying the factory. And he is not amused.