(For Part I of this article see, click here.)

5. Deeper looks at Fire Nation society, from its propaganda to its factory system.

Mike and Bryan told us this at PMX; they said that everything in the Fire Nation is a propaganda machine, “even the grocery store.” In “The Deserter,” we saw with the puppet show a glimpse of how deep Fire Nation propaganda runs. When we actually get to finally go to the Fire Nation, we’ll see this in much greater detail.

Along similar lines, we’ll also get to see different Fire Nation classes beyond just the nobles and warriors we’ve been focusing on thus far in the series. We’ll get to see peasants, the middle class, and factory workers.

Speaking of factory workers, expect adventures to involve lots of industrial factories. Watch the opening sequence of the pilot episode, and you’ll see countless smokestacks in the background as part of the Fire Nation homeland. That shouldn’t come as a surprise, since the Fire Nation began its expansion because it needed more resources to fuel its industrialized economy.

6. Adventures in the Jungle

The Fire Nation is on the equator and is tropical and has jungles where mongoose dragons live. I’m very, very much looking forward to this.

I’m a big fan of jungles, and I loved what they did with the swamps, so I know they’ll do a good job with the jungles.

7. The Gaang will infiltrate the Fire Nation.

Does the “new outfits, new haircuts” thing (see Part I) imply that the Gaang is going to sneak into the fire nation? Are they perhaps going to infiltrate it, looking for a Firebending Master who will teach them? I’m trying to picture the Gaang in Fire Nation outfits—this could be one exciting season!

Whether they’ll infiltrate it to find a Firebending Master or whether they’ll infiltrate it for the sole purpose of getting to Ozai remains to be seen.

At any rate, metalbending will be very useful . . .

8. Progression of the Aang & Katara story arc

“The Crossroads of Destiny” progressed the story of Aang’s romance significantly farther. (And I’m not talking about how Aang awakened into Katara’s arms in exactly the way he did in “The Boy in the Iceberg.”) Although the romance was almost destroyed when Aang attempted to give up Katara out of sacrificial love for her, Azula interrupted that and Book II ended with that relationship arc on a “growing” note, so it’s inevitable that Book III will continue this.

That said, I’m NOT saying that Aang and Katara will end up together in the end. They might, and they might not. That it is not a guarantee that they will end up together is but one example of how good the storytelling on this show is.

9. Zuko will look for his mother.

Prior to “The Secret of the Fire Nation,” an interview with the creators aired. You can see it on Turbonick. In it, we learn that Zuko will definitely be searching for his mother.

This implies that we’ll find out if Usra is alive or dead as well as exactly what happened on that one fateful night in young Zuko’s life. It also implies that Zuko will finally give up his obsession with trying to fulfill his longings for his father and for his old status and eventually turn to the side of “good” as Iroh has been wanting him to do.

10. At the end of Book III (after learning firebending), Aang, Sokka, and Katara will face Fire Lord Ozai.

OK, OK, so this is pretty obvious.

But it’s a very important point. Mike and Bryan have promised us that we’ll see much more of Fire Lord Ozai in Book III. They’ve also promised us that the end of Book III, Aang, Sokka, and Katara will face their destiny to fight the Fire Lord.

Look forward to Book III: FIRE!