The Secret of the Fire Nation

"The Secret of the Fire Nation"
Avatar: The Last Airbender episodes
The Fire Nation's drill aproaching the walls of Ba Sing Se.
Episode nos.	Season 2 Episodes 12/13
Directed by	Ethan Spaulding (Part One) Giancarlo Volpe (Part Two)
Written by	Michael Dante DiMartino Joshua Hamilton (Part One) Bryan Konietzko (Part Two)
Featured music	Ben Wynn Jeremy Zuckerman
Production code	212/213
Original air date	September 15, 2006 (2006-09-15)
Guest appearances
Brian Tochi as Than Kim Mai Guest as Ying Karen Maruyama as bureaucrat Barry Dennen as General Sung Kristoffer Tabori as war minister
Episode chronology
← Previous "The Desert" Next → "City of Walls and Secrets"
Avatar: The Last Airbender (season 2)
List of episodes

"The Secret of the Fire Nation" is the twelfth and thirteenth episodes of the second season of the American animated television series Avatar: The Last Airbender, also titled "The Serpent's Pass" and "The Drill" respectively, and the 32nd and the 33rd episode overall. The show follows Aang (Zach Tyler Eisen), the last airbender and the “Avatar”, on his journey to bring balance to a war-torn world by mastering all four elements: air, water, earth, and fire. On his quest, he is joined by companions Katara (Mae Whitman), Sokka (Jack DeSena), and Toph Beifong (Jessie Flower), and hunted down by Fire Nation prince Zuko (Dante Basco) and princess Azula (Grey DeLisle). In other regions and on the Book Two DVDs, the two parter was collectively named "Journey to Ba Sing Se". "The Serpent's Pass" was written by Joshua Hamilton and Michael Dante DiMartino, and directed by Ethan Spaulding, while "The Drill" was written by DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko, and directed by Giancarlo Volpe.

The first part, written by series co-creator Michael Dante DiMartino and Joshua Hamilton, and directed by Ethan Spaulding, follows Aang and his friends leading a family, including a pregnant woman, through the dangerous "Serpent's Pass" while on their way to the Earth Kingdom capital city Ba Sing Se, while Zuko joins a group of freedom fighters aboard a ship also heading to the city. The second part, written by Bryan Konietzko and directed by Giancarlo Volpe, follows Aang and his friends as they try to stop a giant drill, led by Azula, from breaking through Ba Sing Se's inner wall. The two-part episode originally premiered in select movie theatres on September 9, 2006, before airing on Nickelodeon six days later.^[1] The episodes received positive reviews, and was watched by 4.4 million viewers live.^[2]