Avatar: The Last Airbender season 2

Lore & Background

The season was produced by Nickelodeon Animation Studio and aired on Nickelodeon, both owned by Viacom. Executive producers and co-creators Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko worked alongside head writer and co-producer Aaron Ehasz. Most episodes were directed by Ethan Spaulding, Lauren MacMullan, and Giancarlo Volpe, with writing by a team including Elizabeth Welch, Tim Hedrick, and John O'Bryan. Music was composed by Jeremy Zuckerman and Benjamin Wynn, known as The Track Team.

Main voice actors from the first season returned: Zach Tyler Eisen as Aang, Mae Whitman as Katara, Jack DeSena as Sokka, Dee Bradley Baker as Appa and Momo, and Dante Basco as Zuko. New characters included Toph Beifong voiced by Jessie Flower, Azula voiced by Grey DeLisle, Mai voiced by Cricket Leigh, Ty Lee voiced by Olivia Hack, and Long Feng voiced by Clancy Brown. Mako Iwamatsu voiced Iroh in his final performance before his death from throat cancer; Greg Baldwin voiced Iroh for brief portions in three episodes, mixed with Iwamatsu's recordings. The episode "The Tales of Ba Sing Se" features a dedication to Mako at the end of Iroh's segment.

Reader's Guide

Book Two: Earth is widely regarded as a pivotal season that deepened the series' narrative and character development. The introduction of Toph Beifong added a new dynamic to the main group, while the exploration of Ba Sing Se revealed a complex political conspiracy. The season received considerable acclaim, with critics describing the series as "consistently excellent" and comparing it favorably to other animated series. Rotten Tomatoes gave it an 87% fresh rating in 2008. The season won the Annie Award for Best Character Animation in a Television Production for Jae-Myung Yu's work in "The Blind Bandit" and the Emmy Award for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Animation for Sang-Jin Kim's work in "Lake Laogai." The home media release began on January 23, 2007, with four DVD sets of five episodes each, followed by a complete box set. The season's legacy includes its influence on subsequent animated storytelling and its role in building the franchise that continued with Book Three and The Legend of Korra.