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The Best Episodes of Avatar: The Last Airbender Season 1

Every episode of Avatar: The Last Airbender Season 1 ranked from best to worst. Discover the Best Episodes of Avatar: The Last Airbender Season 1!

In a war-torn world of elemental magic, a young boy reawakens to undertake a dangerous mystic quest to fulfill his destiny as the Avatar, and bring peace to the world.

Genres:AnimationAction & AdventureSci-Fi & Fantasy
Network:Nickelodeon

Season 1 Ratings Summary

The best episode of "Avatar: The Last Airbender" season 1 is "The Boy in the Iceberg", rated 7.9/10 from 7175 user votes. It was directed by Dave Filoni and written by Michael Dante DiMartino, Bryan Konietzko. "The Boy in the Iceberg" aired on 2/21/2005 and is rated 0.2 point(s) higher than the second highest rated, "The Avatar Returns".

  • The Boy in the Iceberg
    7.9/10 7,175 votes

    #1 - The Boy in the Iceberg

    Season 1 Episode 1 - Aired 2/21/2005

    Two teenage siblings (Sokka and Katara) living in the South Pole discover a very strange boy (Aang), along with his pet flying bison Appa, in an iceberg. But can they trust him when he accidentally draws the war to their village's doorstep?

    Director: Dave Filoni

    Writer: Michael Dante DiMartino, Bryan Konietzko

  • The Avatar Returns
    8.1/10 6,478 votes

    #2 - The Avatar Returns

    Season 1 Episode 2 - Aired 2/21/2005

    Katara and Sokka discover that Aang is the long-lost Avatar and must rescue him when a Firebending prince named Zuko kidnaps him.

    Director: Dave Filoni

    Writer: Aaron Ehasz, Michael Dante DiMartino, Bryan Konietzko

  • The Southern Air Temple
    8.4/10 6,352 votes

    #3 - The Southern Air Temple

    Season 1 Episode 3 - Aired 2/25/2005

    Aang is excited about going home for the first time in one hundred years, but he is shocked to find out that the temple is deserted. Aang tells Sokka and Katara about his childhood as they explore the temple, but they soon discover something that Aang never expected. Meanwhile, Zuko must make repairs to his ship and the only way he can do it is to dock his ship at his rival's naval base.

    Director: Lauren MacMullan

    Writer: Aaron Ehasz, Michael Dante DiMartino, Bryan Konietzko

  • The Warriors of Kyoshi
    8.0/10 6,181 votes

    #4 - The Warriors of Kyoshi

    Season 1 Episode 4 - Aired 3/4/2005

    The gang arrives at Kyoshi Island and are captured by some Kyoshi warriors. When Aang reveals that he is the avatar, news quickly spreads out, eventually reaching Zuko, who then goes to Kyoshi Island to capture him.

    Director: Giancarlo Volpe

    Writer: Nick Malis, Michael Dante DiMartino, Bryan Konietzko

  • The King of Omashu
    8.0/10 6,149 votes

    #5 - The King of Omashu

    Season 1 Episode 5 - Aired 3/18/2005

    Aang's abilities as an airbender are challenged by a king.

    Director: Anthony Lioi

    Writer: John O'Bryan, Michael Dante DiMartino, Bryan Konietzko

  • Imprisoned
    7.8/10 5,968 votes

    #6 - Imprisoned

    Season 1 Episode 6 - Aired 3/25/2005

    In a nearby Earth Village, the gang meets a teenage earthbender named Haru. This village lives in fear of the Fire Nation, for soldiers there capture any earthbenders they can find.

    Director: Dave Filoni

    Writer: Aaron Ehasz, Michael Dante DiMartino, Bryan Konietzko, Matt Hubbard

  • The Spirit World: Winter Solstice (1)
    8.0/10 5,809 votes

    #7 - The Spirit World: Winter Solstice (1)

    Season 1 Episode 7 - Aired 4/8/2005

    Aang and friends visit a village being terrorized by an angry spirit. Iroh is captured by Earth Kingdom soldiers.

    Director: Lauren MacMullan

    Writer: Aaron Ehasz, Michael Dante DiMartino, Bryan Konietzko

  • Avatar Roku: Winter Solstice (2)
    8.8/10 6,238 votes

    #8 - Avatar Roku: Winter Solstice (2)

    Season 1 Episode 8 - Aired 4/15/2005

    To contact the spirit of the previous Avatar, Aang must reach a temple in the Fire Nation before the sun sets on the following day. There he will learn what he must do to restore balance to the world. Zuko must defy his banishment to follow Aang.

    Director: Giancarlo Volpe

    Writer: Aaron Ehasz, Michael Dante DiMartino, Bryan Konietzko

  • The Waterbending Scroll
    7.8/10 5,659 votes

    #9 - The Waterbending Scroll

    Season 1 Episode 9 - Aired 4/29/2005

    After Katara attempts to teach Aang waterbending, but realizes that he is learning it much faster than she is, she is desperate to improve her abilities. When Katara inadvertently stumbles across a waterbending scroll that can help improve her abilities at a pirate’s store, she decides to steal it, realizing that she couldn’t hope to afford it.

    Director: Anthony Lioi

    Writer: John O'Bryan, Michael Dante DiMartino, Bryan Konietzko

  • Jet
    7.6/10 5,801 votes

    #10 - Jet

    Season 1 Episode 10 - Aired 5/6/2005

    While traveling towards the North Pole, the group almost gets captured by the Fire Nation. However, when a charismatic young man and his band of rebels attack the Fire Nation camp and rescue them, they learn that they are trying to resist the Fire Nation’s motives to expand their territory. Katara and Aang really enjoy their time with the band of rebels, but Sokka soon discovers that they aren’t as noble as meets the eye.

    Director: Dave Filoni

    Writer: Michael Dante DiMartino, Bryan Konietzko, James Eagan

  • The Great Divide
    6.8/10 6,001 votes

    #11 - The Great Divide

    Season 1 Episode 11 - Aired 5/20/2005

    While on their way to the North Pole, Aang and his friends arrive at a giant canyon where two groups of refugees are bickering over who should get to go across. Aang decides to walk across with the two groups to ensure they don’t fight one another. However, he soon learns that the two tribes have been feuding for one hundred years and they both believe their actions are justified. But when the predators inside the canyon start to come out, Aang is stuck trying to defend both tribes from each other and the vicious wildlife.

    Director: Giancarlo Volpe

    Writer: John O'Bryan, Michael Dante DiMartino, Bryan Konietzko

  • The Storm
    9.0/10 6,538 votes

    #12 - The Storm

    Season 1 Episode 12 - Aired 6/3/2005

    Aang, Katara and Sokka have run out of money. Katara suggests Sokka get a job, and coincidentally, they meet a fisherman who is looking for someone to help him out with his fishing. But when the fisherman recognizes Aang as the Avatar, he blames Aang's absence for all of the troubles of the last 100 years, and Aang runs away on his glider. Katara follows on Appa, and when she finds him, Aang begins to reveal his life before he was frozen in the iceberg. Meanwhile, Zuko and Lieutenant Jee get into a fight, but Iroh breaks it up. Soon thereafter, the Lieutenant and the rest of the crew gain a newfound respect for their leader after learning of his past.

    Director: Lauren MacMullan

    Writer: Aaron Ehasz, Michael Dante DiMartino, Bryan Konietzko

  • The Blue Spirit
    9.1/10 6,600 votes

    #13 - The Blue Spirit

    Season 1 Episode 13 - Aired 6/17/2005

    While Aang, Katara and Sokka are traveling, Sokka gets a fever. Katara and Aang try to help Sokka, when Katara also catches the fever. It's up to Aang to go up on his own to save his two friends. But before he can get the medicine he is captured by the newly promoted Admiral Zhao and put in Zhao's fortress.

    Director: Dave Filoni

    Writer: Aaron Ehasz, Michael Dante DiMartino, Bryan Konietzko

  • The Fortuneteller
    7.7/10 5,523 votes

    #14 - The Fortuneteller

    Season 1 Episode 14 - Aired 9/23/2005

    When the group tries to help a man who is being attacked by a platypus-bear, they discover that the local town has a fortuneteller named Aunt Wu in it, who has been forecasting the town's fate for years. But when Sokka and Aang discover one of the fortuneteller's most vital predictions is dead wrong, they have to develop a plan to convince the stubborn townspeople that their beloved Aunt Wu was wrong.

    Director: Dave Filoni

    Writer: Aaron Ehasz, Michael Dante DiMartino, Bryan Konietzko

  • Bato of the Water Tribe
    7.7/10 5,455 votes

    #15 - Bato of the Water Tribe

    Season 1 Episode 15 - Aired 10/7/2005

    Aang feels neglected as Katara and Sokka reunite with Bato, an old friend of their father’s from the South Pole. They begin to reminisce on their times in the past while they wait for a message to arrive from their father. Aang believes Katara and Sokka will abandon him and go out to find their father should the message arrive. However, when the messenger gives Aang the message to give to Bato, Aang betrays his friends in a way Katara or Sokka could never imagine. However, when Zuko recruits a bounty hunter named June to track Aang down, his friendship is put to the test as he must deal with the fact that he betrayed his friends while defending himself from yet another fight.

    Director: Giancarlo Volpe

    Writer: Michael Dante DiMartino, Bryan Konietzko, Ian Wilcox

  • The Deserter
    8.4/10 5,525 votes

    #16 - The Deserter

    Season 1 Episode 16 - Aired 10/21/2005

    Aang and his friends go to a Fire Nation town so that Aang can witness some firebending, but their plan soon goes awry when it’s discovered that he is the Avatar. Fortunately, he's rescued by an individual who serves a firebending master named Jeong Jeong who has abandoned the Fire Nation, so Aang decides to use this time to attempt to learn firebending. The firebending master, however, seems reluctant to teach Aang.

    Director: Lauren MacMullan

    Writer: Michael Dante DiMartino, Bryan Konietzko, Tim Hedrick

  • The Northern Air Temple
    7.8/10 5,386 votes

    #17 - The Northern Air Temple

    Season 1 Episode 17 - Aired 11/4/2005

    When Aang and his friends hear rumors about surviving airbenders, they decide to stop by the Northern Air Temple on their way to the North Pole to see for themselves. What they find is a bunch of people who are not airbenders, but have mastered the art of gliding; though this upsets Aang because they have been defacing the temple. However, there was one part of the temple where nobody has been able to enter, and what Aang and his friends discover inside spells oncoming conflict.

    Director: Dave Filoni

    Writer: Michael Dante DiMartino, Bryan Konietzko, Elizabeth Welch Ehasz

  • The Waterbending Master
    8.6/10 5,542 votes

    #18 - The Waterbending Master

    Season 1 Episode 18 - Aired 11/18/2005

    When Aang tries to find the north pole, he is found by the north pole instead. As they are taken there, Aang and Katara are eager to find a waterbending master, only to discover that girls are not allowed to learn waterbending.

    Director: Giancarlo Volpe

    Writer: Aaron Ehasz, Michael Dante DiMartino, Bryan Konietzko

  • The Siege of the North (1)
    9.3/10 6,679 votes

    #19 - The Siege of the North (1)

    Season 1 Episode 19 - Aired 12/2/2005

    Zhao begins to launch his attack against the Northern Water Tribe. As the walls of the prestiged city begin to fall, the Avatar taps into the spirit world and seeks the help of one of the oldest spirits, in hopes of saving one of the most prominent areas of the world.

    Director: Dave Filoni

    Writer: Aaron Ehasz, Michael Dante DiMartino, Bryan Konietzko

  • The Siege of the North (2)
    9.6/10 6,421 votes

    #20 - The Siege of the North (2)

    Season 1 Episode 20 - Aired 12/2/2005

    Aang returns from the spirit world to a big surprise. Meanwhile, Zhao and his forces continue to press deeper into the Northern Water Tribe. Iroh makes a powerful stand and Zuko struggles to keep his plan intact.

    Director: Dave Filoni

    Writer: Aaron Ehasz, Michael Dante DiMartino, Bryan Konietzko