Here, they have a drill that would be improbable to build even by today's standards yet the greatest city in the world has no defenses other than earth-benders? The technological advantage of the Fire Nation is sometimes simply astronomical. I thought at first the show would do something like: Aang tries to stop the drill on his own, but can't, and then the boomerAangs catch up with him but this show is smarter than that.

The episode was directed by Giancarlo Volpe and written by Mike and Bryan. Meanwhile, Jet wishes to recruit Zuko as a member of the Freedom Fighters, only to learn Zuko and Iroh are firebenders. Aang and the group succeed in demolishing the drill from the inside of the mechanism.

However, he discovers a Fire Nation drill heading straight for Ba Sing Se, intent on destroying the wall. Having successfully navigated the Serpent's Pass, Aang is determined to journey to Ba Sing Se in the hopes of finding his lost bison, Appa. It, and 'the gaang' (derived from sokka's suggestion: the aang gang) are the most common terms used by fans to describe the group. This is the first time the name 'Team Avatar' is used. The schematics for the drill were seen in The Northern Air Temple. At the time this episode had a lukewarm reception among fans.

This episode won an Annie Award Directing in an Animated Television Production. Spoilers: For the sake of those that haven't watched the full series yet, please use the spoiler tag to hide spoilers for major/specific plot points that occur in later episodes.

Watch avatar the last airbender book 3 ep 13