Avatar: The Last Airbender/Winter Solstice: The Spirit World (1)

Winter Solstice: The Spirit World (1)
Season 1, Episode 7
Airdate	April 8, 2005
Written by	Aaron Ehasz
Directed by	Lauren Macmullan
← 1x06 Imprisoned	1x08 → Winter Solstice: Avatar Roku (2)
Avatar: The Last Airbender — Season One

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Winter Solstice: The Spirit World (1) is the seventh episode of the first season of Avatar: The Last Airbender, and the seventh episode overall. Aang is tasked with calming a spirit that has been attacking a village.

Guest Stars: James Shigeta (Old Wanderer), Mike Hagiwara (Leader), Andre Sogliuzzo (Captain)

Plot Overview

As our heroes continue their trek to the North Pole on Appa's back, they come across a section of forest that has been burned by the Fire Nation. Aang is greatly upset, as it is his duty to protect nature. The elder of a nearby village finds the Avatar and asks for his help to deal with Hae Bai, a forest spirit that has been abducting a villager each night for the past three days.

That night, while Aang is guarding the village, Hae Bei appears. Aang tries to speak with the spirit, but it ignores him and begins to wreck the village. Hae Bei then kidnaps Sokka and retreats into the forest with Aang in pursuit. Aang is led to a statue of a bear, where he is drawn into the Spirit World. In the Spirit World, Aang is a specter and cannot speak to or be seen by anyone in the physical world. A dragon appears to Aang: Avatar Roku's mount, like Appa is to Aang. It brings Aang to Avatar Roku's temple. Aang discovers that he may speak to Roku on the solstice and Aang is shown an omen involving a comet. He is then returned to his body by the bear statue. Aang returns to the village, where Katara is happy to see him but still worried about Sokka. The next night Hae Bai returns, but Aang knows how to talk to it, and after being offered some words of encouragement and an acorn, Hae Bai reverts to a panda, leaves the village, and returns the missing villagers, including Sokka. Aang and company now depart for the crescent island to visit Avatar Roku's temple on the solstice.

Meanwhile, Uncle Iroh has been caught by Earth Kingdom patrols after falling asleep in a hot spring. As he is being escorted to Ba Sing Se for incarceration, he leaves a trail for Prince Zuko to follow. With Zuko's help, the two princes manage to escape their captors.

Arc Advancement

Happenings

• Aang helps a small village with a destructive spirit. Sokka is kidnapped by this spirit, but reappears once Aang solves the problem.
• General Iroh is taken captive by Earth Kingdom soldiers, but escapes with Zuko's help.

Characters

• Hae Bai: A black and white forest spirit who is mourning the destruction of its forest by attacking a nearby village. Aang placates it by presenting an acorn, assuring the spirit that the forest will grow back.
• Aang: Aang begins to show remorse for being missing for so long, allowing the Fire Nation to sow much destruction in his absence. To help the village he enters the Spirit World for the first time, where he learns about Avatar Roku's temple.
• Iroh: Iroh's notoriety becomes apparent when the Earth Kingdom soldiers capture him, planning to bring him to Ba Sing Se, a city he once tried to capture as a general in the Fire Nation military.

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