Avatar: The Last Airbender/The Fortuneteller

The Fortuneteller
Season 1, Episode 14
Airdate	September 23, 2005
Production Number	1x14
Written by	Aaron Ehasz and John O'Bryan
Directed by	Dave Filoni
← 1x13 The Blue Spirit	1x15 → Bato of the Water Tribe
Avatar: The Last Airbender — Season One

The Fortuneteller is the fourteenth episode of the first season of Avatar: The Last Airbender, and the fourteenth episode overall.

Guest Stars: Tsai Chin (Aunt Wu), Jessie Flower (Meng), Clyde Kusatsu (Calm Man)

Plot Overview

While Sokka wrestles with a troublesome fish, Aang, who is beginning to realize he has feelings for Katara, makes her a necklace to replace the one she lost some time ago. The gang then encounters a strangely confident man who directs them to a nearby village where daily life depends on the predictions of a fortuneteller named Aunt Wu. While visiting Aunt Wu, a slightly frumpy girl named Meng begins making eyes at the Avatar, who she believes is the boy it was predicted that she would marry. Aang listens in on Katara's session, becoming especially interested in a prediction that she will marry a "very powerful bender". Aang is unimpressed with his own fortune- he's already quite well aware that he will be involved in an epic struggle between good and evil, and there's little information on his future love life.

Aunt Wu's most important duty in the village is reading the clouds once a year to predict whether or not a nearby volcano will erupt and endanger the village. Her prediction is for another safe year, although Sokka skeptically disapproves of the town's dependence on mysticism. Despite Sokka's efforts to prove Aunt Wu's predictions vacuous, Katara repeatedly pesters her for more details of the future. While Meng attempts to flirt with him, Aang obliquely seeks Sokka's courting advice, and after some initial missteps with Katara visits the volcano's rim to pick flowers. While there, he and Sokka discover that the volcano is in fact going to erupt soon, and that the village is in danger, but no one is willing to look beyond Aunt Wu's prediction of safety.

In an attempt to co-opt Aunt Wu's hold on the people, Aang sneaks into her study to figure out a way to convince her to sound the alarm. In there, he has a heart-to-heart with Meng before discovering a cloud-reading guide. He and Katara bend the clouds above the town into the proper symbol, and the town at last takes their impending doom seriously. Sokka leads the townspeople in digging a trench, but it's not enough to save the town from the oncoming lava, so the Avatar must step in himself. While Aang demonstrates that he's a very powerful bender, Katara starts to see him in a different light. With the town saved, the gang moves on into the north.

Notes

• This is the last of several episodes in a row showcasing the Avatar's responsibility to intervene in local disputes and crises, no matter how minor.
• Jessie Flower, the voice of Meng, will go on to play Toph, a much more important character who appears in season 2.

Arc Advancement

Characters

• Aang's and Katara's relationship has been slightly one-sided since the beginning of the series; this episode marks the first time Katara has thought of Aang as more than just a friend, while Aang has been interested in her since much earlier in the show.

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