Avatar: The Last Airbender/Recap/Book 2/15 The Tales of Ba Sing Se

"Brave soldier boy, comes marching home."

This episode is a series of Day in the Life vignettes featuring the characters in Ba Sing Se.

Katara urges Toph to go to a spa with her; while initially reluctant, she enjoys herself in the end, and eventually opens up. Iroh is generally cool, as we see him being kind and hilarious around the city- before going to mourn the death of his son. Aang decides to help build a new zoo facility, and Hijinks Ensue. Sokka engages in a Haiku Rap Battle, Zuko is utterly Adorkable on a date, while Momo misses Appa.

Tropes

• Breather Episode: came right after an episode revealing a government conspiracy in Ba Sing Se, in which the Earth King was merely a figurehead for Long Feng.
• Broken Aesop:

Iroh: It is usually best to admit mistakes when they occur, and seek to restore honor. Man: (Angrily.) When I'm through with you kids, the window won't be the only thing that's broken. Iroh: But not this time. Run!

• Broken Glass Penalty: In Iroh's tale.
• Cat Smile: Jin, Zuko's date.
• Chirping Crickets: At the end of the Haiku Rap Battle.
• Covered in Mud: Katara and Toph take full body mud baths in their spa day
• Cucumber Facial: In "The Tale of Toph and Katara".
• Dark Reprise: Brave soldier boy, comes marching home...
• Day in the Life: The entire point of the episode.
• Getting Crap Past the Radar: Sokka is having a Haiku off with a leader of a poetry club which happens to be all girls. We get this exchange:

Sokka: Like I paddle my canoe, I'll paddle yours too!

• • For any doubters out there, yes Sokka is literally smacking his rear when he says this comment.
• In Honor Of Mako: Who had died after the completion of this season. Makes his story all the more sadder for it.
• Manly Tears: Iroh weeps for Lu Ten.
• Mundane Utility: What do you do when you've mastered three bending forms? Kung Fu Landscaping!
• Mood Whiplash: The end of Iroh's sidestory. Nuff said.
  • Momo's sidestory certainly seems to be the designated oddball segment, right? Cue the first clues of what happened to Appa.
• Mugging the Monster: Subverted in "The Tale of Iroh". When a guy tries to mug Iroh, the old general can clearly fight him, but instead gives him advice on his stance and direction in life.
• She Cleans Up Nicely: Invoked in Toph's sidestory but ultimately averted. After dresses up quite nice, some high society girls still mock her- even after Katara washes them away, Toph cries, showing that she just wants to be accepted.
• Something Completely Different
• Vignette Episode
• What Do You Mean It's Not Awesome?: Haiku Rap Battle!
  • Serious Business: "That's one too many syllables there, bub."
• What Could Possibly Go Wrong?: Aang's original plan for the zoo animals went cabbage-shaped fast.
• Window Pain: Invoked in Iroh's tale. A bunch of children are playing and put their projectile through a window made of rice paper.