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

""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:
"Iroh: It is usually best to admit mistakes when they occur, and seek to restore honor.
 * Breather Episode: came right after an episode revealing a government conspiracy in Ba Sing Se,.
 * Broken Aesop:

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!"

"Sokka: Like I paddle my canoe,
 * 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:

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.