Netflix’s ‘Avatar: The Last Airbender’ Season 2: Your ultimate guide to every episode mash-up

Netflix’s live-action Avatar: The Last Airbender Season 2 takes on the original show’s Book Two: Earth, bringing with it fan favorite Toph (Miya Cech) and Ba Sing Se’s court intrigue.

However, as with any adaptation, Avatar: The Last Airbender makes some serious changes from its source material. Most notably, it mashes up several of the original show’s episodes, condensing 20 half-hour-long episodes’ worth of story into seven hour-long episodes. This is nothing new: The first season followed the same path.

But which episodes get the mash-up treatment in Season 2? (Spoiler alert: If you like swamps or deserts, you’re out of luck.) From “The Blind Bandit” to “The Tales of Ba Sing Se,” we’ve put together the ultimate guide to what episodes appear in Avatar: The Last Airbender Season 2, along with the biggest differences between the shows. Saddle up your flying bison, and let’s dive right in.

Episode 1: “Somewhere Safe”

Episodes covered:

• “Winter Solstice, Part 2: Avatar Roku” (Book 1, episode 8)

• “Return to Omashu” (Book 2, episode 3)

• “Avatar Day” (Book 2, episode 5)

• “The Serpent’s Pass” (Book 2, episode 12)

• “The Painted Lady” (Book 3, episode 3)

Avatar: The Last Airbender Season 2 kicks off with one hell of a mash-up, incorporating plot points from all three seasons into its premiere. Drawing from “Return to Omashu,” Aang (Gordon Cormier) heads back to a Fire Nation-occupied Omashu to try to rescue Bumi (Utkarsh Ambudkar) and recruit him to be his earthbending teacher. Like in the animated series, Bumi refuses but tells Aang to look for someone who knows how to wait and listen. Unlike in the animated series, we miss out on a big fight between Team Avatar and Azula (Elizabeth Yu), Mai (Thalia Tran), and Ty Lee (Momona Tamada). (And we also miss out on Bumi’s metal cage.)

From there, the show jumps right into “The Serpent’s Pass,” covering Team Avatar’s perilous journey towards Ba Sing Se. In the original series, this episode fell in the middle of Season 2, while Appa was missing. Here, it’s moved all the way up, hinting at the many major adaptation changes to come.

On the Zuko (Dallas Liu) side of things, “Somewhere Safe” draws from his parting from Uncle Iroh (Paul Sun-Hyung Lee) in “Avatar Day.” Elsewhere, mechanist Sai (Danny Pudi) reveals that the return of Sozin’s Comet is imminent, a task that fell to Avatar Roku (C.S. Lee) in Season 1 of the animated show. Finally, Avatar: The Last Airbender cooks up a new legend for the Painted Lady, Katara’s (Kiawentiio) alter ego in Season 3 of the original. In the live-action show, the Painted Lady isn’t just tied to a river spirit. It’s also a kind of flower. Learning this in episode 1 plants the seeds in Katara’s mind for her vigilante benevolence later this season. — Belen Edwards, Entertainment Reporter

Episode 2: “A Fight, Once Begun”

Dallas Liu in “Avatar: The Last Airbender.”
Credit: Netflix

Episodes covered:

• “The Blind Bandit” (Book 2, episode 6)

• “Zuko Alone” (Book 2, episode 7)

• “The Chase” (Book 2, episode 8)

Episode 2 is all about everyone’s favorite earthbender (sorry, Bumi). At long last, Toph Beifong is here! And her introduction is based on “The Blind Bandit,” an animated episode that shares its name with Toph’s secret identity from Earth Rumble, the Earth Kingdom’s WWE. The major change here? In the animated series, we get round after round of earthbending fights before Aang faces Toph in the ring, and later, Team Avatar fights alongside Toph in the ring against the Boulder (Kelemete Misipeka) and friends. Neither fight happens in the Netflix series, just Toph vs. The Boulder.

Episode 2 shares the spotlight, putting Zuko front and center in an adaptation of the defining Zuko episode, “Zuko Alone.” Here, the Fire Nation prince is a solo fugitive, plagued by flashbacks of his childhood and his mother’s tragic fate. Both the live-action and animated episodes cover Zuko’s stay with Earth Kingdom locals after protecting them from the army, and the couple he finds in the desert. In the animated series, Zuko leaves them be, but he’s overcome with guilt by his choice to rob them in the Netflix series.

In the other Fire Nation sibling corner, Netflix’s Avatar: The Last Airbender adapts nail-biter “The Chase,” in which Azula tracks the Avatar with Mai and Ty Lee. In the animated series, Team Avatar is chased by a speeding tank containing the Fire Nation trio, riding on lizards. In the live-action, there’s no real chase (or lizards, sadly), but we do get Team Avatar meeting Zuko and Azula face-to-face in the village standoff. — Shannon Connellan, Senior Editor

Episode 3: “City of Walls and Secrets”

Miya Cech in “Avatar: The Last Airbender.”
Credit: Netflix

Episodes covered:

• “Bitter Work” (Book 2, episode 9)

• “City of Walls and Secrets” (Book 2, episode 14)

• “The Library” (Book 2, episode 10)

• “The Desert” (Book 2, episode 11)

• “The Serpent’s Pass” (Book 2, episode 12)

• “The Painted Lady” (Book 3, episode 3)

Episode 3, “City of Walls and Secrets,” draws its name from an episode from the animated series, so it only makes since that it covers much of the same ground. Like in the original Avatar: The Last Airbender, this episode is Team Avatar’s introduction to Ba Sing Se, as well as cultural minister Long Feng (Chin Han) and the uncanny Joo Dee (Amanda Zhou). While Netflix’s version spins up new conflict with the Earth Kingdom army and makes Long Feng way less menacing off the bat, it also hits several of the same beats, including the Earth King’s (Justin Chien) lavish party.

Here, we get a few references to other Season 2 episodes: The introduction of Professor Zei (Hoa Xuande) kickstarts the show’s search for Wan Shi Tong’s library in “The Library,” while Sokka’s (Ian Ousley) love of cactus juice is pulled straight from “The Desert.” (Yes, we do get “Nothing’s quenchier!”)

This episode sees Zuko cross paths with Jet on a ferry to Ba Sing Se, which originally happens in “The Serpent’s Pass.” It also covers some of Aang’s difficult earthbending training from “Bitter Earth,” before kicking off Katara’s Painted Lady era in earnest. — B.E.

Episode 4: “The Water Falls, The Stones Emerge”

Kiawentiio, Ian Ousley, Gordon Cormier, and Miya Cech in “Avatar: The Last Airbender.”
Credit: Katie Yu / Netflix

Episodes covered:

• “The Deserter” (Book 1, episode 16)

• “The Tales of Ba Sing Se” (Book 2, episode 15)

• “The Earth King” (Book 2, episode 18)

At last, we’ve arrived at “The Tales of Ba Sing Se,” an episode of vignettes in the animated series set in the Earth Kingdom capital. From Sokka’s haiku battle to Iroh’s devastating memory of his late son, the Netflix series covers multiple strands of this legendary episode (not Aang’s zoo jailbreak though).

We also meet Fire Nation defector Jeong Jeong (Terry Chen) in this episode, the focus of the animated show’s Season 1 episode “The Deserter.” In the Netflix series, we meet him living in Ba Sing Se’s Fire Nation district, where Zuko warns him of an impending attack. While Jeong Jeong’s not named in the live-action series, we’d recognize that scar and world-weary attitude anywhere.

Plus, we get a tiny slice of “The Earth King” in this episode, which covers Azula’s ruse to get into Ba Sing Se with Mai and Ty Lee dressed as Kyoshi Warriors. — S.C.

Episode 5: “Ten Thousand Things”

Gordon Cormier and Miya Cech in “Avatar: The Last Airbender.”
Credit: Katie Yu / Netflix

Episodes covered:

• “The Chase” (Book 2, episode 8)

• “The Library” (Book 2, episode 10)

• “Lake Laogai” (Book 2, episode 17)

• “The Guru” (Book 2, episode 19)

It’s library time! Avatar: The Last Airbender sends Team Avatar and Professor Zei back into the spirit world for a pretty faithful adaptation of Season 2’s “The Library.” There are some key differences, though. The library is in Ba Sing Se instead of the desert, because Netflix’s Avatar: The Last Airbender avoids deserts more than Ba Sing Se citizens avoid conversations about war. Also, Jet is here now! Not for much longer, though. He sacrifices himself in a fight against Wan Shi Tong, dying like he did in the original’s “Lake Laogai.” Unlike in the animated series, his death here is actually really clear.

“Ten Thousand Things” also pulls from the beginnings of Azula’s Ba Sing Se coup in “The Guru.” Plus, before Team Avatar heads to the library, this episode features another nod to “The Chase” with Iroh and Toph’s sweet conversation. In the original series, the two share a cup of tea on the road. Netflix’s version transposes that discussion to Iroh’s tea shop, and the effects are no less heartwarming. — B.E.

Episode 6: “The Parable of the Two Dragons”

Episodes covered:

• “The Desert” (Book 2, episode 11)

• “The Tales of Ba Sing Se” (Book 2, episode 15)

• “The Earth King” (Book 2, episode 18)

• “The Guru” (Book 2, episode 19)

With Appa missing and Aang distraught, this episode draws from “The Desert,” an ambling trip from the animated series in which Team Avatar are stuck in a sprawling sandy landscape after their escapade from “The Library.” (In the Netflix show, they’re still in Ba Sing Se.) “The Desert” episode also covers Uncle Iroh’s revealed involvement in the Order of the White Lotus, which Netflix’s version turns into an emotional scene of forgiveness between Iroh and the Fire Nation deserters.

Episode 6 also covers a lot of two episodes: “The Earth King” and “The Guru.” Zuko’s fever dream of two dragons comes from “The Earth King,” although Netflix’s version gives the dream a puppet makeover. “The Earth King” is also the animated episode where you’ll find Team Avatar’s meeting with the Earth Kingdom’s enigmatic leader.

Zuko’s recovery and his starting work at Iroh’s tea house come from the next animated episode, “The Guru,” which also covers more of Azula’s infiltration of Ba Sing Se, her plotted coup with Long Feng, and the team’s continued mission in the palace.

Lastly, we get a tiny glimpse of the fan-favorite “Jinko” ship from “The Tales of Ba Sing Se” in this episode. In the animated series, Jin is a regular at Iroh’s tea shop and takes Zuko on a cute date. (In the Netflix series, she’s an employee). — S.C.

Episode 7: “Something Broken”

Episodes covered:

• “Appa’s Lost Days” (Book 2, episode 16)

• “Lake Laogai” (Book 2, episode 17)

• “The Guru” (Book 2, episode 19)

• “The Crossroads of Destiny” (Book 2, episode 20)

Avatar: The Last Airbender Season 2 ends with the combination of “Lake Laogai” and “The Crossroads of Destiny.” That’s because the crystal caves from “The Crossroads of Destiny” now double as the spooky underground hypnosis facility of “Lake Laogai.” (Notably missing? An actual lake!) This episode hits all the “Crossroads of Destiny” highlights, from Zuko and Katara’s cave conversation — this is a big season for Zutara shippers! — to the explosive final fight. It also gives us a glimpse of the Dai Li’s terrifying brainwashing techniques.

Before all that, though, it’ll make you tear up with a flashback to Appa and Aang’s first meeting, as seen in the animated show’s heartbreaking “Appa’s Lost Days.” And of course, you can’t end Season 2 without Toph inventing metalbending, which originally happens in “The Guru.” She’s the greatest earthbender in the world for a reason! — B.E.

Avatar: The Last Airbender Season 2 is now streaming on Netflix.