Episode Title:
The Blind Bandit.
Episode Description:
Aang is searching for an earthbending teacher, but with little success. At Xin Fu's earthbending tournament, Team Avatar witnesses a display of powerful earthbending by a young blind girl named Toph, who Aang recognizes as the girl from his vision in the swamp. Toph uses earthbending to sense her environment, perceiving the lay of the land around her and the subtlest movement of her adversaries, allowing her to launch effective counter-attacks; she therefore fits Bumi's advice that Aang's earhtbending instructor should be someone who "listens and waits before attacking". But Toph cannot become Aang's teacher due to her wealthy and overprotective parents, who attempt to keep her isolated from any danger and to make her conform to the expected social role of a young woman of the Earth Kingdom aristocracy, despite the fact that Toph is by nature tough, sarcastic, and intentionally unrefined. Xin Fu kidnaps Aang and Toph, thinking he was cheated. Toph reveals her power by defeating Xin Fu's gang, but her parents become even more restrictive. She runs away from home and joins Aang. Toph's parents, believing Aang has kidnapped her, promise Xin Fu and Master Yu a chest of gold if they bring her back.
