Avatar: The Last Airbender season 3

Book 3: Fire
Season 3
File:AvatarBook3Fire.jpg
No. of episodes	21 (planned)/13 (aired)
Release
Original network	Nickelodeon
Original release	September 21, 2007 – 2008
Season chronology

Season 3 of Avatar:The Last Airbender (also known as Book 3: Fire), an American animated television series, began airing September 21, 2007, and is ongoing, with 21 episodes scheduled to air. The season was created by Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko; it stars Zach Tyler Eisen, Mae Whitman, Jack DeSena, Jessie Flower, Dante Basco, and Grey DeLisle as the character voices. The season focuses on the main character, Aang, and his journey alongside his friends, Toph, Katara and Sokka, to find himself a Firebending teacher so he can master Firebending and defeat the Fire Lord.

After a nine-month hiatus, the show began its third season September 21, 2007. In break from the usual airing pattern, wherein episodes air first on Nickelodeon in the USA, several episodes aired in other countries first. Episodes six through nine were first shown in the UK, ten and eleven were first shown in Belgium and the Netherlands, and twelve and thirteen were first shown in Canada. In addition, this season will feature twenty-one episodes, rather than the twenty of the prior two seasons.

Episodes

#	Title	Writer	Director	Original airdate	Production code
41	"The Awakening"	Aaron Ehasz	Giancarlo Volpe	September 21, 2007	301
Aang wakes up, crippled and with hair, on board a Fire Nation ship with the gang, Bato and Hakoda all in Fire Nation disguises. Aang finds out what has been occurring during his coma and is told to keep his continued existence a secret until the eclipse. This is much to his dismay as Aang wants to fight but is unable to. Zuko has a fear of rejection as he and Azula return home to be greeted by Fire Lord Ozai.
42	"The Headband"	John O'Brien	Joaquim dos Santos	September 28, 2007	302
Aang and the rest steal Fire Nation clothes, but Aang finds out he stole a school uniform, and is taken to a Fire Nation school by soldiers who believe he is skipping class. Meanwhile, Zuko is becoming paranoid with the Avatar's fake death and goes to the prison and pleads with Iroh for advice.
43	"The Painted Lady"	Joshua Hamilton	Ethan Spaulding	October 5, 2007	303
Following a long polluted river, Aang and the others continue their travels toward the Fire Lord. Aang spots a rather dinky looking village on the river and they head over for food. The group pretends to be from the Earth Colonies. Seeing the starving and ill people, Katara vows to help them. Over the next few days a mysterious spirit, said to be the guardian of the town, appears and heals the sick and leaves food. After the spirit destroys the factory polluting the water, it is revealed Katara was the spirit. The group has the town pledge secrecy and then they all clean the river.
44	"Sokka's Master"	Tim Hedrick	Giancarlo Volpe	October 12, 2007	304
A meteor shower occurs, and when a crater starts to burn, Sokka can only watch the others work to prevent the fire from hitting a nearby village. Wanting to contribute better to the group and not feel left out, Sokka looks for an elusive sword master to train him. However, getting Pi En Dao to accept a request is near impossible. Sokka is trained to sharpen his mind through several tests, the final one being him making his own sword out of the black meteorite. Meanwhile, Iroh devises a plan to escape prison and starts exercising in secret. However, he acts feeble and insane in front of the guards.
45	"The Beach"	Katie Mattila	Joaquim dos Santos	October 19, 2007	305
Zuko, Azula, Mai and Ty Lee go on vacation to Ember Island, where they learn much about themselves and one another. Meanwhile, Aang and the rest are being chased by an assassin, known as "Combustion Man", that Zuko hired, who can do shoot blasts with his mind. It takes the combined skills of all the group to escape, and when they do, he is hot on their trail.
46	"The Avatar and the Firelord"	Elizabeth Welch Ehasz	Ethan Spaulding	October 24, 2007	306
The episode begins with both Aang and Zuko being told that they need to learn more about their pasts. Aang is told in a dream to go to Avatar Roku's birthplace, while Zuko receives a mysterious message saying he needs to know about his grandfather's past We learn that Avatar Roku's entire village was buried under ash. Through Aang and Zuko's combined experiences, we learn more about Fire Lord Sozin and Roku. They were best friends as children, but as they grew older their opinions differed. At Roku's wedding, Sozin revealed his plans to 'share' the Fire Nation's prosperity through 'expansion'. When Roku vowed to stop him, Sozin waited for the perfect moment, and then let him die defending his village from a volcano. This is when it is announced that Zuko's mother's grandfather was Roku.
47	"The Runaway"	Joshua Hamilton	Giancarlo Volpe	October 25, 2007	307
Katara expresses her disapproval when Toph discovers a way to make quick cash. Toph finds she is acting too motherly, and a rift occurs within the group. When Katara finally gives in to perform their last scam, they are left vulnerable and must face the repercussions.
48	"The Puppetmaster"	Tim Hedrick	Joaquim Dos Santos	October 25, 2007	308
The gang looks into strange disappearances in a spooky town. There, their innkeeper - an old lady named Hama - teaches Katara some of the Water Tribe's past, and some of their special waterbending techniques. Meanwhile, Toph hears strange voices calling out from under a mountain. The gang discovers Hama has been kidnapping civilians with a technique called 'bloodbending'. The resulting battle forces Katara to use the technique to defeat Hama, a master waterbender, and save the others from her grasp.
49	"Nightmares and Daydreams"	John O'Bryan	Ethan Spaulding	October 26, 2007	309
The group arrives at the rendezvous point for the invasion four days ahead of schedule but Aang begins to get nervous about confronting the Fire Lord. Feeling he is unprepared, he trains constantly, leading him to hallucinate and have terrible nightmares. The group tries to help him relax in their own comical ways, but when he stops sleeping entirely, he goes insane. It takes the three others collaborations to finally get him to relax, and he finally has a dream where he defeats the Fire Lord.
50	"The Day of Black Sun Part 1: The Invasion"	Michael Dante DiMartino	Giancarlo Volpe	November 23, 2007	310
The invasion begins on the day of the eclipse, and Sokka's invasion plan carries out. Hakoda returns with all of the friends the group has made over their adventures. The Mechanist has also put some of Sokka's ideas to work, including submarines and tanks.
51	"The Day of Black Sun Part 2: The Eclipse"	Aaron Ehasz	Joaquim dos Santos	November 26, 2007	310
As the invasion force fights their way to the Fire Nation capital, Sokka and Toph help Aang to find the Fire Lord in time for the eclipse. Although Azula tricks them before they can find him, Zuko confronts his father, and vowes to help Aang defeat him.
52	"The Western Air Temple"	Elizabeth Welch Ehasz, Tim Hedrick	Ethan Spaulding	December 14, 2007	311
Seeking redemption and a chance to be on Team Avatar, Zuko follows Aang and his friends to the Western Air Temple. There, he desperately tries to prove to them that he's changed for the better. When Toph is the only one who believes he wants to help tries to talk, she startles him and he burns her feet. It is only when he helps save the group from 'Combustion Man' that he gets most of the group's acceptance.
53	"The Firebending Masters"	John O'Bryan	Giancarlo Volpe	January 4, 2008	312
After Zuko loses his firebending powers, he and Aang go to find the origin of firebending. Although dragons have been extinct since Iroh killed the last one, the first human firebenders may have left behind some hints. Through a series of statues they learn a firebending technique known as the "Dragon's Dance," which triggers a trap. They get caught by Sun Warriors who take them to an alter housing the two original Firebending Masters, the dragons, to be judged. The dragons finding them worthy of learning their secrets teach the two the true meaning of firebending, and how the source of the art is not anger, but emotion and drive. After seeing as both Aang and Zuko found worthy, sun warriors reveal that Iroh was also taught the secret of firebending and had lied about killing the two dragons to keep both the secret and allow the sun warriors to stay hidden from the rest of the world.

Production

Episode Creation

The process begins with the script. Once the script has been thoroughly edited and completed, the voices for the episode are recorded in order to let the storyboard artists listen to the episode as a guide to make the job easier. However, the voices for creatures such as Momo and Appa are recorded after everything is done. Generally, when the storyboards are done, the jobs are split evenly among four teams of designers. While the storyboards are scanned into the computer, the designers get to work on any new characters while some staff members get Kung Fu lessons to help make the show's fight scenes realistic. Finally, after all the final editing is done, the tape is given to The Track Team, the band that plays the music for the show, in order to add music to certain portions of the episode.

DVD Releases

Book 3: Fire, Volume 1, containing the first 5 episodes of the third season, was released on October 30, 2007 by Paramount Home Entertainment. The remaining episodes are to be placed on DVDs in divisions of five and sold separately for a total of four DVDs, followed by a boxed set. Each of the individual Season Three DVDs also come complete with an exclusive comic book.

Volume Name	Release Date	Contains
Book 3: Fire, Volume 1	October 30, 2007	"The Awakening" "The Headband" "The Painted Lady" "Sokka's Master" "The Beach" Audio Commentaries by Creators, Cast & Crew Exclusive Collectible Comic Book
Book 3: Fire, Volume 2	January 22, 2008	"The Avatar and the Firelord" "The Runaway" "The Puppetmaster" "Nightmares and Daydreams" "The Day of Black Sun, Part 1: The Invasion" Audio Commentaries by Creators, Cast & Crew Exclusive Collectible Comic Book
Book 3: Fire, Volume 3	May 6, 2008	"The Day of Black Sun, Part 2: The Eclipse "The Western Air Temple" "The Firebending Masters" "The Boiling Rock: Part 1" "The Boiling Rock: Part 2" Audio Commentaries by Creators, Cast & Crew Exclusive Collectible Comic Book
Book 3: Fire, Volume 4	July, 2008	"Chapter 16" "Chapter 17" "Chapter 18" "Chapter 19" "Chapter 20" "Chapter 21" Audio Commentaries by Creators, Cast & Crew Exclusive Collectible Comic Book
The Complete Book Three Collection Box Set	2008	Every Episode in Book 3 Audio Commentaries by Creators, Cast & Crew Exclusive Collectible Comic Book