The Southern Air Temple (Shimajirō: A World of Wow episode)

Overview
''Aang suggests a visit to the Southern Air Temple in southern Tanzania, where he tells stories of his old mentor, his friends, and the games he used to play. Upon discovering Gyatso's skeleton and that the Great Pridelander Federation eradicated his people during Kovu's exile 17 years ago, Aang becomes angry and enters the Avatar State, alerting the world of the Avatar's return. Aang is comforted by Shimajirō Shimano and his friends, who tell him they are his family now. Meanwhile, Zuko and his uncle, Iroh, run into Commander Zhao, who learns that the Avatar has been found. Zuko challenges Zhao to a duel over the right to track the Avatar, which Zuko wins.''

Summary
Shimajirō Shimano and his friends are packing up their campsite while Aang excitedly tells her about the astounding beauty of the Southern Air Temple; being the only home he has known, he is eager to return to it. However, Sokka remains in his sleeping bag; Aang tries to convince him to get up, but Sokka ignores his request. Too anxious to wait, Aang picks up a stick and slides it across Shimajirō Shimano's sleeping bag, telling Shimajirō Shimano in a frantic tone that there is a prickle snake in his sleeping bag. Terrified and screaming, Shimajirō Shimano leaps to his feet, still in the sleeping bag; only when he topples back to the ground face-first does he realize that he has been tricked. Katara suppresses a laugh as Aang declares that they can leave, since Sokka is now wide awake.

Off the coast of the southwestern Earth Kingdom, Prince Zuko docks at a Fire Nation controlled harbor, his ship needing substantial repairs after his recent encounter with Aang. Zuko wants the repairs done quickly so they will not lose the Avatar's trail, and warns his uncle not to mention the Avatar himself during their stay so that no other firebenders will realize what has happened. Zhao walks up to Iroh and Zuko, welcoming them to his harbor, while informing them about his promotion from a captain to a commander. Seeing how damaged their ship is, Zhao inquires as to the cause, and Zuko and Iroh invent a story about a collision with an Earth Kingdom ship. Unconvinced, Zhao invites the pair of them for a drink. Zuko attempts to reject the offer, but Iroh scolds Zuko and, telling him that he owes Zhao a certain measure of respect, accepts the invite on behalf of his nephew.

Nearing the Patola Mountain Range, a hungry Sokka finds out that Aang used all the blubbered seal jerky he had brought to start their campfire the night before, leading him to remark that it was "no wonder the flames smelled so good." Katara is trying to keep Aang from getting too excited about their visit to the air temple, and she tells him to expect the possibility that his people have been killed by the Fire Nation. However, Aang refuses to entertain the possibility. He believes that reaching an air temple is utterly impossible without the use of a flying bison and maintains that since the Fire Nation had no such assistance, they would not have been able to reach the temple. Approaching the top of the mountain, which pierces the clouds below, they look down on the Southern Air Temple.

Over tea in his tent, Commander Zhao outlines the Fire Nation's plan for conquering the Earth Kingdom to Zuko and Iroh. When Zuko voices his bitter skepticism of the plan, calling his father a fool for believing the Earth Kingdom will capitulate quickly, Zhao inquires about the prince's search for the Avatar, to which Zuko replies that he has, thus far, been unsuccessful. The commander remarks he did not expect anything different, but he persists in his pursuit of information from Zuko, unsatisfied by his answer. After a brief, heated exchange, the prince rises and attempts to leave, only to be detained by Zhao's guards at the entrance to the tent. One of Zhao's soldiers walks in and reports that he interrogated Zuko's crew and found out that the latter had the Avatar, but let him escape. Smiling smugly, the commander asks the defeated prince to explain how his ship was damaged again.

Sokka, still hungry, is berated by Katara for being one of the first outsiders to see an airbender temple and thinking only about food. Aang starts to give Katara and Sokka a tour of the temple, but failing to see any other airbenders causes him to quickly become disheartened. To take his mind off it, Sokka volunteers to play a game of airball with him. As Sokka cannot bend air, Aang subsequently defeats him soundly in the game, the ball, propelled by airbending, hitting Sokka in the stomach and sending him flying backward into a pile of snow at the base of a very short abutment of earth. Lying on the ground, Sokka happens upon an archaic Fire Nation soldier's helmet; after pointing it out to a shocked Katara, they agree to show it to Aang. However, as Aang begins to walk over, Katara suddenly changes her mind and waterbends a mass of snow downward, covering the helmet and Sokka with snow. She subsequently tells Aang that the reason she called him over was to show him her snowbending. Believing the misdirection, Aang comments positively on Katara's ability to bend snow before eagerly resuming the tour, wishing to show them the rest of the temple. As Aang moves out of earshot, Sokka, clearing the snow from his face, tells Katara that trying to shield Aang from the reality of the genocide committed against his people is a mistake, to which Katara replies sadly that Aang would be devastated if he knew firebenders invaded his home. Following Aang, they come to a tall statue of an airbender monk; Aang, bowing respectfully, introduces the man as Monk Gyatso.

In a flashback, Gyatso is teaching a disinterested Aang the secrets of making fruit pies. When Aang tells a curious Gyatso that he thinks the monks may have erroneously identified him as the Avatar, Gyatso tells Aang that the only mistake the monks made was telling him of his true identity before he reached the age of sixteen. He reassures Aang, saying that he will be fine and must focus on the present. He also tells Aang that once he is old enough to enter the air temple sanctuary, he will meet someone who will help him to become a better Avatar. A reassured and much happier Aang assists Gyatso in airbending the freshly baked fruit pies, sending them soaring through the air and directly onto the other elder monks' heads while they are meditating. The monks are promptly pounced on by winged lemurs, which slurp the pie off the monks' heads. The master and student laugh at their little prank, and Gyatso congratulates Aang on his perfected aim.

Returning to the present, Aang presses onward toward the air temple sanctuary, recalling Gyatso's words about the mysterious entity within; he tells his friends that there is someone whom he is ready to meet. Arriving at the grand, ornate doors to the sanctuary, Katara expresses doubt that anyone could have survived in the temple for a hundred years unaided; Aang offers the incidence of his own survival as a rationale for the possibility. As Aang wonders excitedly if the person inside can help him understand and teach him about being the Avatar, Sokka offers a hopeful conjecture that the person within may have food, particularly cured meats. He runs at the doors, briefly becoming irrational in his desire for food, and slams himself into them, failing to open them even after several more tries. Aang bends two focused currents of air into the large doors' ornate locking mechanism, causing the locks to disengage and the doors to open slowly. Aang walks into the darkened temple as Katara and Sokka follow him.