History Recap / AvatarTheLastAirbenderTheSouthernRaiders

* GoodIsNotNice: It's made quite clear in this episode that while Zuko is a much better person now, his roots as a 'bad guy' have not changed. He's harsher and more pessimistic than the others, supporting Katara's quest for vengeance and seeing Aang's pacifism as childish and unrealistic.

* GoodIsNotNice: It's made quite clear in this episode that while Zuko is a much better person now, his roots as a 'bad guy' have not changed. He's harsher and more pessimistic, supporting Katara's quest for vengeance and seeing Aang's pacifism as childish and unrealistic.

* BittersweetEnding: While she spares him, Katara admits she will ''never'' forgive Yon Rha, meaning her pain will never entirely go away. On the other hand, the episode’s adventure helps her finally forgive Zuko, now that she can heal from her past scars. Meanwhile, Zuko wonders that if violence isn't the answer, then how will Aang face Ozai?

** In the least, Aang does get one such moment. While he normally tries to shoehorn people to see the light, he allows Katara to borrow Appa, understanding that she needs to confront her mother's killer in order to find closure.

** She also felt guilty for accusing Sokka of not loving their mother enough to confront her killer.

** Aang notes that Katara is starting to sound like Jet when she wants to find Yon Rha and get revenge on him. Katara immediately retorts that she’s nothing like Jet because he attacked several innocent people who had nothing to do with his parents’ deaths while ''she'' only wants to [[PayEvilUntoEvil go after the one man who’s guilty of her mother’s death]].

* KickTheDog: It's one thing for Katara to be venomous towards Zuko, but it's another thing when she accuses Sokka of not caring about their mother the way she did when he objects to her looking for their mother's murderer. [[BreakTheCutie Sokka was clearly hurt she made up such a wild accusation]].

* MomentOfWeakness: Katara considers her trusting Zuko in Ba Sing Se this, where they bonded over not growing up with their mothers. She tells him if he wants to make up his betrayal to her, then either recapture Ba Sing Se since it was his fault it was overthrown, or bring her mother back to life. Zuko then understands that Katara hated how he took advantage of her vulnerability and works to show he ''can'' be trusted.

* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: Katara is a pretty shaken when she realizes the Southern Raider who she just [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness blood-bended]] is ''not'' the man who murdered her mother. Notably, she doesn't try blood-bending again even after affirming that the next man they confront is indeed her mother's killer.
** She also felt guilty for accusing Sokka of never loving their mother to confront her killer.

* NotWorthKilling: Katara is all but willing to take revenge on the person who killed her mother. She only pulls back at the last second because she took pity on such a pathetic person after seeing him now.

* PayEvilUntoEvil: Katara's motivation for this episode. She even cites this trope as the reason that she isn't like [[KnightTemplar Jet]], as the person she's after is [[NeverHurtAnInnocent anything but innocent.]]

* TookALevelInJerkass: Katara following Azula's ambush, a sign of her going down the path of HeWhoFightsMonsters; it's implied that she's angry at Zuko since he indirectly caused her father to leave again and blaming him for leading Azula to the Gaang to ambush them in the first place. She then deliberately goads Zuko to be modest about helping the Gaang when the others cheer him, calls out Zuko for expecting her to trust him given what happened in Ba Sing Se, and accuses Sokka of ''not loving their mother enough''. [[KickTheDog Ouch]]... Fortunately, [[TookALevelInKindness she finally calms down after finding closure]], and being able to forgive Zuko.
* UngratefulBitch: Katara is still being awful towards Zuko, even though he just helped to rescue her father and saved her from the falling rock.

* NotWorthKilling: Katara is unable to take revenge on such a pathetic person.

* HeWhoFightsMonsters: Katara comes ''very'' close to crossing this line, but holds herself back at literally the last second.

* RetiredMonster: Yon Rha lives quietly (albeit [[MyBelovedSmother miserably]]) with his mother after retiring from the Southern Raiders. It is clear that he does not regret his past at all.

* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: When Zuko goes to Sokka for advice, the latter's evidently preparing for some sort of meeting with Suki. At night. In the privacy of his own tent. With candles and flower petals. With no pants on. In a tableau that ''used'' to be the trope picture for "ReadyForLovemaking" (in case we needed to spell it out any further).

* ReadyForLovemaking: See GettingCrapPastTheRadar above.

* CycleOfRevenge: One of the episode's central themes. Korra is out for justice for her mother, but everyone else can see that it is more about revenge. The episode humanizes the murderer, from giving him a name (Yon Rha), showing that he picked up the CallToAgriculture and he kindly offers food to his cruel mother. When Katara and Zuko finally confronts him, he is framed as the victim of mysterious and monstrous assailants. While he remains a cruel man, and Katara refuses to forgive him, she does refuse to continue the cycle by leaving him to his punishment (his miserable life) rather than killing him in cold blood.

* TakeNoPrisoners: The flashbacks show Yon Rha was ordered to find one potential waterbender in the Southern Tribe. Kya, Sokka and Katara's mother, offers herself, lying that ''she'' is the waterbender, in exchange for sparing the rest of the tribe. And then...
-->'''Kya:''' Take me as your prisoner. \\
'''Yon Rha:''' I'm afraid I'm not taking prisoners today ...

** From her behavior in this episode, it's clear that Azula is beginning to lose it. For one, throughout the opening, she's sporting a manic grin instead of her usual smirk and is acting openly emotional instead of cold and collected. Her fighting has also become sloppier; she uses her fists to swing her fire around instead of two fingers to concentrate the blasts like she's done before.

** From her very first appearance in this episode - sporting a manic grin instead of her usual smirk, openly emotional instead of cold and collected - it's clear that Azula is beginning to lose it.

** Azula's fighting style becomes slightly different. Not only is she using fists to swing her fire around (as opposed to two fingers to concentrate the blasts), she's also a fair bit sloppier than normal against Zuko.

* LargeHam: Azula's sheer ''joy'' at getting to "[[BadassBoast celebrate becoming an only child]]" makes her release her usual self-control a bit. While it's true she might have needed to shout to be heard at that distance anyway, it is quite clear that's not the reason for her hamminess at this point. It's clear that she's starting to go a bit crazy.

** While Zuko does mock Aang's pacifistic beliefs, he's not wrong to point out how hard and unrealistic it is to forgive a murderer, especially when they kill a loved one in cold blood. While he does concede that Aang was right that Katara getting revenge on Yon Rha wasn't the answer to her making peace with her mother's death, the episode ends with [[ArmorPiercingQuestion him asking Aang how he plans to defeat Ozai if he doesn't believe violence is the way to defeat him]].

* WarIsHell: War turned a man into a cruel sadist, then turned that same man into a pathetic wreck. War turned a young girl who lost her mother into a shrew seeking revenge. War makes us all ''less''.

* WarIsHell: War turned a man into a cruel sadist, then turned that same man into a pathetic wreck. War turned a yonug girl who lost her mother into a killer seeking revenge. War makes us all ''less''.

* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: Katara hated the fact that she was tricked into learning bloodbending. The fact that she uses it here shows just how serious she is about possibly killing the man responsible for her mother's murder.

* KickTheDog: It's one thing for Katara to be venomous towards Zuko, but it's another thing when she accuses Sokka of not caring about their mother when he objects to her looking for their mother's murderer. [[BreakTheCutie Sokka is clearly hurt]].

* KickTheDog: It's one thing for Katara to be venomous towards Zuko, but it's another thing when she accuses Sokka of not caring about their mother when he objects to her looking for their mother's murderer.

** Yon Rha audibly gulps when he recognizes Katara as the little girl whose mother he killed.

* YouKilledMyFather: Yon Rha was responsible for Kya's death. Because of this, Katara seems him out to get revenge for her mother’s death.

** She also felt guilty for accusing Sokka of never loving their mother to confront their killer.

* {{Foreshadowing}}: Azula's brief appearance in the start has her slightly more psychotic and uncontrolled that normal in the wake of Mai and Ty Lee's betrayal, foreshadowing the events of the finale.