Here are the plot summaries of the five episodes:

1. "Appa's Lost Days"- A flashback episode about where Appa has been for the last five episodes.

2. "Lake Laogai"- The Aang gang search for Appa while uncovering more clues about the Dai Li.

3. "The Earth King"- The kids confront the Earth King about the Dai Li conspiracy taking place in the city and tell him a plan to stop the Fire Nation.

4. "The Guru"- Aang sees a Guru on how to control the Avatar state, Sokka re-unites with his father, and Azula is planning a take over of Ba Sing Se.

5. "The Crossroads of Destiny"- Azula's evil plan is in full effect. Aang tries to stop her, but Prince Zuko intervenes.

As Book two winds down, the story arc thankfully becomes more intense and chaotic. No longer must we suffer through the endless Appa search episodes. Instead, we get to see Aang have an amazing bending showdown with the Fire Nation with surprising results. I'm not going to spoil the ending, but I will say that it ends on a down note. Sure, the ending strongly resembles "The Empire Strikes Back," but it was effective nonetheless. We know now that the stakes have been raised and that the Aang gang has a hard journey ahead of them.

Another highlight in this bunch of episodes was the characterization of Prince Zuko. Instead of downplaying his inner struggle with doing good or regaining his honor with the Fire Nation, his final decision posed great consequences to the outcome of the war. I never imagined I'd see such a deep character in a Nickelodeon cartoon. Props to the writing team.

The DVD

Video:
Maybe I was too caught up in the episodes, but the video quality seemed slightly better on Volume 4. This was most apparent in the eye-catching underground crystal location, where the climactic battle took place.

Sound: I am sure the sound department for "Avatar" had to put in a little overtime in for these episodes. "Lake Laogai" and "The Crossroads of Destiny" contain the most ass-kicking and complicated bending battles we have seen to date. The Dolby Digital sound only adds to their excitement.

Extras: "Lake Laogai," "The Earth King," and "The Crossroads of Destiny" have commentary tracks by such folk as Mike DiMartino, John O'Bryan, Joaquim Dos Santos, Bryan Konietzko, and Tim Hedrick. The commentary offers some insight into the characters actions and motivations, but viewers can gather this analysis on their own. It would have been nice if the creators dropped a few juicy Book three tidbits, but alas no. The final issue of the "Divided We Fall" mini-comic and the usual Nickelodeon previews round out the extra features.

Final Thoughts:
All of my doubts about Book two were laid to rest after viewing this disk. These five episodes will have your heart racing from the start to the brutal ending. Book three can't come fast enough.

Film and television enthusiast Nick Lyons recently had his first book published titled "Attack of the Sci-Fi Trivia." It is available on Amazon.com.