Triggerhappytel
Member
You're right; I've just done that. I apologise profusely if I spoiled anything for anyone.
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Avatar: The Last Airbender - 10th Anniversary Rewatch
- Thread starter Jacob
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You're right; I've just done that. I apologise profusely if I spoiled anything for anyone.
It's fun to hear what people think of the show regardless of whetheryou're doing the day to day watching. You got the spoilers covered up pretty quick so it should be all good. 
Avatar is a show that I think I'd like to try to introduce my kids to if/when I ever have any. I'm sure it's a different experience watching with kids in the actual target age range. Out of curiosity, were yours into the show from the start? I'd imagine the early episodes don't seem as jarring to kids as they do to adult viewers.
Avatar is a show that I think I'd like to try to introduce my kids to if/when I ever have any. I'm sure it's a different experience watching with kids in the actual target age range. Out of curiosity, were yours into the show from the start? I'd imagine the early episodes don't seem as jarring to kids as they do to adult viewers.
112 "The Storm"
Original airdate: June 3, 2005
Written by: Aaron Ehasz
Directed by: Lauren MacMullan
Everyone has their own opinion about what the first great episode of Avatar is, or where the show "grew the beard" and cast off the presumptions that came with it airing on Nickelodeon. We've had a number of episodes proposed by different people so far (myself included). But probably the most popular episode for this title is The Storm. It tackles the darker side of Aang's carefree personality with a lot less laughter and light-hearted musical cues and doesn't let him shy away from the consequences the way some earlier episodic characters had. But of course, the episode is best remembered for the parallel backstories of Aang and Zuko and the fresh light they cast on not just what came before, but on subsequent episodes as well.
I wouldn't want to suggest that The Storm is only notable for it's implications to the series as a whole though, because it's an effective episode in its own right. We see both the responsible and sarcastic sides of Sokka and we see Aang getting upset at himself for one of the first times. But the highlight of the episode is Zuko's story. Not just his backstory, but his interactions with his crew (especially Lieutenant Jee) and the need to balance his hunt for the Avatar with other things (briefly referenced in "The Spirit World"). Plus we get more of Iroh being a badass, including him redirecting lightning. I don't like this quite as much as some people I know, but it can stand up alongside most any episode from the latter two seasons, and it might be the first episode where I can say that objectively and without reservation.
113 "The Blue Spirit"
Original airdate: June 17, 2005
Written by: Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko
Directed by: Dave Filoni
When Nickelodeon first picked up Avatar, they ordered a run of 13 episodes with no guarantee that there would be any more after that. Thus, when Mike and Bryan were writing this episode, they knew it might be the last episode of Avatar they ever made, so they wanted it to feel like a finale. The result is some excellent action set pieces and a coming together of various characters in a way that moves forward all of their stories. We saw something similar in "Avatar Roku", but here Aang meets Zhao for real for the first time and Zuko again faces the consequences of his alienation from the Fire Nation.
This episode has it all. Continuity with the previous episode (Sokka's cold), humor (Momo-vision), action (the Yuyan Archers, the Blue Spirit himself, and of course the regular cast of characters), music (Iroh's Tsungi horn is one of the most memorable tracks of the entire show), character relationships (that final scene between Aang and Zuko...), and a crucial role in the overall plot of the series (not just for Book 1, but again with this Ba Sing Se we keep hearing about). Certainly one of the best episodes of the first season, and one of the finest of the entire show.
Original airdate: June 3, 2005
Written by: Aaron Ehasz
Directed by: Lauren MacMullan
Everyone has their own opinion about what the first great episode of Avatar is, or where the show "grew the beard" and cast off the presumptions that came with it airing on Nickelodeon. We've had a number of episodes proposed by different people so far (myself included). But probably the most popular episode for this title is The Storm. It tackles the darker side of Aang's carefree personality with a lot less laughter and light-hearted musical cues and doesn't let him shy away from the consequences the way some earlier episodic characters had. But of course, the episode is best remembered for the parallel backstories of Aang and Zuko and the fresh light they cast on not just what came before, but on subsequent episodes as well.
I wouldn't want to suggest that The Storm is only notable for it's implications to the series as a whole though, because it's an effective episode in its own right. We see both the responsible and sarcastic sides of Sokka and we see Aang getting upset at himself for one of the first times. But the highlight of the episode is Zuko's story. Not just his backstory, but his interactions with his crew (especially Lieutenant Jee) and the need to balance his hunt for the Avatar with other things (briefly referenced in "The Spirit World"). Plus we get more of Iroh being a badass, including him redirecting lightning. I don't like this quite as much as some people I know, but it can stand up alongside most any episode from the latter two seasons, and it might be the first episode where I can say that objectively and without reservation.
113 "The Blue Spirit"
Original airdate: June 17, 2005
Written by: Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko
Directed by: Dave Filoni
When Nickelodeon first picked up Avatar, they ordered a run of 13 episodes with no guarantee that there would be any more after that. Thus, when Mike and Bryan were writing this episode, they knew it might be the last episode of Avatar they ever made, so they wanted it to feel like a finale. The result is some excellent action set pieces and a coming together of various characters in a way that moves forward all of their stories. We saw something similar in "Avatar Roku", but here Aang meets Zhao for real for the first time and Zuko again faces the consequences of his alienation from the Fire Nation.
This episode has it all. Continuity with the previous episode (Sokka's cold), humor (Momo-vision), action (the Yuyan Archers, the Blue Spirit himself, and of course the regular cast of characters), music (Iroh's Tsungi horn is one of the most memorable tracks of the entire show), character relationships (that final scene between Aang and Zuko...), and a crucial role in the overall plot of the series (not just for Book 1, but again with this Ba Sing Se we keep hearing about). Certainly one of the best episodes of the first season, and one of the finest of the entire show.
The Storm
What a wonderfully polar opposite to The Great Divide. The Storm is everything Avatar should be remembered for. For the first time in this rewatch, I got chills (it was at Iroh stating that the Avatar gives Zuko hope). Both flashbacks are pretty seamlessly done, although there are a few transition issues. Both Aang and Zukos flashbacks are given really tragic undertones and appropriate color tones for both. A particular thing thats special about this episode is Mark Hamills debut as Fire Lord Ozai, where he makes a striking impression as intimidating and almost psychotic. I do wonder what was thought of, at this point in the shows original run, the decision to keep Ozai faceless for the first two seasons. I personally like it, but I could understand how for a first time watcher it could come off as cheesy. I also really love the shot of Zhao, Iroh, and
reacting to Zukos scarring. Irohs turning away is actually pretty powerful. Aangs flashbacks are good, but only become really great at the end of them, when Gyatso says hell never let Aang be taken away from him. Unfortunately, Aang never hears this, which is pretty tragic in its own way. The rest of the episode is good, and the elderly couple make for good comic relief. A legitimate classic episode.
The Blue Spirit
My favorite episode of Book 1; happy we finally made it here. Whats really interesting I realized watching these two episodes is how well they work as a potential two-part season finale, continuing off an idea introduced in Jet: Are you necessarily evil if youre a member of the Fire Nation? Now, these take it a step further and ask specifically if Zuko and Aang could ever be friends.
at this point in time, theyre pointed and pretty well-developed. This is also Zhaos first truly big leading antagonist role, one he performs with relish and truly hams it up. The call-back to The Waterbending Scroll is amusing enough, and honestly, the only reason I havent talked about the climax yet is that its just really fantastic, its hard to put into words. The choreography is something amazing, really creative and fun to watch. The last three minutes of this episode are unforgettable really, with Aang and Zukos melancholy working incredibly well. Finally, Katara, Sokka, and Momo are good comic relief. Such a great episode.
What a wonderfully polar opposite to The Great Divide. The Storm is everything Avatar should be remembered for. For the first time in this rewatch, I got chills (it was at Iroh stating that the Avatar gives Zuko hope). Both flashbacks are pretty seamlessly done, although there are a few transition issues. Both Aang and Zukos flashbacks are given really tragic undertones and appropriate color tones for both. A particular thing thats special about this episode is Mark Hamills debut as Fire Lord Ozai, where he makes a striking impression as intimidating and almost psychotic. I do wonder what was thought of, at this point in the shows original run, the decision to keep Ozai faceless for the first two seasons. I personally like it, but I could understand how for a first time watcher it could come off as cheesy. I also really love the shot of Zhao, Iroh, and
Azula
The Blue Spirit
My favorite episode of Book 1; happy we finally made it here. Whats really interesting I realized watching these two episodes is how well they work as a potential two-part season finale, continuing off an idea introduced in Jet: Are you necessarily evil if youre a member of the Fire Nation? Now, these take it a step further and ask specifically if Zuko and Aang could ever be friends.
Any rewatcher of the show knows these answers, but
Kotetsu534
Member
S1E7: The Spirit World (Winter Solstice, Part 1)
- After a few episodes devoted to one-off scenarios, it's about time the show returned to to the overarching plot. The group are having a lazy day above the clouds when they spot an area of charred wasteland, and Aang's fears of being an ineffective Avatar who doesn't know how to do his job resurface. Then he gets the chance to help a nearby village with an ongoing problem with the spirit Hei Bai, who is kidnapping their people, and is reminded he is the bridge between the spirit and natural worlds.
- Aang is unable to do much when Hei Bai strikes. CGI is used to good effect here to demonstrate the speed, size and power of the spirit - he's clearly stronger than anything the group have fought so far. Sokka is unable to watch Aang struggle alone against such a mighty foe and charges out to help him, only to get captured. Katara's main job this episode is to look after Appa while she waits for him to come back. As much as they may want to help Aang, when it comes to Spirit World business, he must do much of the work on his own.
- Great to see Iroh properly for the first time since episode 3. He functions here primarily as comic relief in what's otherwise probably the grimmest, most melancholy episode so far. He's very much enjoying the hot springs, finding recreational use for his firebending. Unfortunately he leaves himself vulnerable to an earth nation ambush, but you don't get as far as he has without some guile. Iroh pretends to fall asleep so he can leave his sandal as a clue, and then turns the tables on his captors by getting them to tighten his cuffs while he firebends the metal with his breath. We also learn not only did he lead a failed 600-day siege on Ba Sing Se, but that he can see Aang riding Roku's dragon in the Spirit World. Iroh's history and worldview won't be revealed for a long time, but it's clear, even at this early stage, that there's much more to him than meets the eye.
- While this is very much an action and exposition heavy episode, there are a couple of important character moments - Sokka's courage in helping Aang is one, and so is Zuko, catching sight of Appa in the sky, choosing to pursue his uncle instead. He may get incredibly frustrated with his lackadaisical approach to life, but, when pushed, he cares more deeply for him than his own ambition and honour. He rescues him and together they are more than a match for the earth nation soldiers.
- Love Sokka just coming out and saying "some supplies and money" when the village leader thanks them for helping and asks if they could help out in any way. Appreciate the directness.
- I'm not especially convinced by the resolution to Hei Bai's kidnapping makes much sense - surely the spirit of the forest would know what an acorn was. Perhaps he just wanted acknowledgement of the damage done. Whatever his reasoning, it's made clear that spirits can be temperamental and may not always care whether they're taking revenge on those responsible for their harm.
S1E8: Avatar Roku (Winter Solstice, Part 2)
- No time is wasted getting to the meat here - this is going to be an important episode with a lot happening. Aang has the great idea to sneak off alone to talk with Roku in the fire nation, but Appa, knowing his rashness, stops him. Zuko doesn't care for Iroh's protestations that returning to the fire nation is suicide.
- We're immediately launched into a breathtaking run at the fire nation blockade, with Zuko hot on Appa's heels as they both charge in to life threatening danger. Appa growls in pain at the burns from the fireballs, Zuko's ship is damaged, Sokka falls overboard and Aang needs to blast himself through a fireball aimed directly at Appa, but they all make it through. Zhao thinks he's playing smart by letting Zuko pass so he can tail him, when he had him caught. A big mistake.
- When they reach the island, they enter the temple and come under immediate attack, only for Fire Sage Shyu to reveal himself as a follower of the Avatar and assist them. He quickly informs them about Fire Lord Sozin, who launched the war. This is evidently the "quiet before the storm" - with the Sages, Zhao and Zuko all en route, combat is inevitable, it's only a question of whether Aang can reach Roku. Zuko uses a tactic that he'll return to again to get a headstart on Zhao - sailing off from his ship under cover in a small boat.
- Sokka shows his ingenuity by coming up with some makeshift dynamite, although it's unsuccessful at opening the doors. Katara realises it looks like it was, so tricking the Sages is possible, and despite Zuko's best efforts, Aang reaches Roku.
- Zhao arrives and assumes he has won - Zuko, Shyu, Sokka and Katara are all restrained, and Aang has to come out soon. Meanwhile Aang learns from Roku of the true threat to the world, and the overarching narrative of the whole series takes shape - Ozai intends to use Sozin's Comet within the year to end the war, with extreme power. Speaking of unexpected surges in power, Zhao finds himself confronted not by a little airbender, but by Roku acting through Aang's Avatar State to unleash devastating firebending, blasting them away and destroying the temple. The look on his face as he realises what he's up against is priceless. Sokka and Katara wait around for Aang, of course, and Appa is ready to evacuate them.
- Zhao, having allowed Zuko to escape and having failed to stop Aang reaching Roku and escaping, takes his rage out on the Fire Sages, arresting them all as traitors. Still hasn't learned to take a defeat.
- An important episode for the overall plot, filled with tons of action, entirely appropriate for Aang & Co.'s first time in the fire nation and Zuko's forbidden return. Some of it superb - the run on the blockade in particular stands out. That it also finds time for a little character building is simply icing on the cake - especially how Appa gets to show some influence and resilience. Definitely one of the strongest episodes in season 1.
Episode Ranking:
1. Avatar Roku
2. The Southern Air Temple
3. The Avatar Returns
4. Imprisoned
5. The Spirit World
6. The Warriors of Kyoshi
7. The Boy in the Iceberg
8. The King of Omashu
- After a few episodes devoted to one-off scenarios, it's about time the show returned to to the overarching plot. The group are having a lazy day above the clouds when they spot an area of charred wasteland, and Aang's fears of being an ineffective Avatar who doesn't know how to do his job resurface. Then he gets the chance to help a nearby village with an ongoing problem with the spirit Hei Bai, who is kidnapping their people, and is reminded he is the bridge between the spirit and natural worlds.
- Aang is unable to do much when Hei Bai strikes. CGI is used to good effect here to demonstrate the speed, size and power of the spirit - he's clearly stronger than anything the group have fought so far. Sokka is unable to watch Aang struggle alone against such a mighty foe and charges out to help him, only to get captured. Katara's main job this episode is to look after Appa while she waits for him to come back. As much as they may want to help Aang, when it comes to Spirit World business, he must do much of the work on his own.
- Great to see Iroh properly for the first time since episode 3. He functions here primarily as comic relief in what's otherwise probably the grimmest, most melancholy episode so far. He's very much enjoying the hot springs, finding recreational use for his firebending. Unfortunately he leaves himself vulnerable to an earth nation ambush, but you don't get as far as he has without some guile. Iroh pretends to fall asleep so he can leave his sandal as a clue, and then turns the tables on his captors by getting them to tighten his cuffs while he firebends the metal with his breath. We also learn not only did he lead a failed 600-day siege on Ba Sing Se, but that he can see Aang riding Roku's dragon in the Spirit World. Iroh's history and worldview won't be revealed for a long time, but it's clear, even at this early stage, that there's much more to him than meets the eye.
- While this is very much an action and exposition heavy episode, there are a couple of important character moments - Sokka's courage in helping Aang is one, and so is Zuko, catching sight of Appa in the sky, choosing to pursue his uncle instead. He may get incredibly frustrated with his lackadaisical approach to life, but, when pushed, he cares more deeply for him than his own ambition and honour. He rescues him and together they are more than a match for the earth nation soldiers.
- Love Sokka just coming out and saying "some supplies and money" when the village leader thanks them for helping and asks if they could help out in any way. Appreciate the directness.
- I'm not especially convinced by the resolution to Hei Bai's kidnapping makes much sense - surely the spirit of the forest would know what an acorn was. Perhaps he just wanted acknowledgement of the damage done. Whatever his reasoning, it's made clear that spirits can be temperamental and may not always care whether they're taking revenge on those responsible for their harm.
S1E8: Avatar Roku (Winter Solstice, Part 2)
- No time is wasted getting to the meat here - this is going to be an important episode with a lot happening. Aang has the great idea to sneak off alone to talk with Roku in the fire nation, but Appa, knowing his rashness, stops him. Zuko doesn't care for Iroh's protestations that returning to the fire nation is suicide.
- We're immediately launched into a breathtaking run at the fire nation blockade, with Zuko hot on Appa's heels as they both charge in to life threatening danger. Appa growls in pain at the burns from the fireballs, Zuko's ship is damaged, Sokka falls overboard and Aang needs to blast himself through a fireball aimed directly at Appa, but they all make it through. Zhao thinks he's playing smart by letting Zuko pass so he can tail him, when he had him caught. A big mistake.
- When they reach the island, they enter the temple and come under immediate attack, only for Fire Sage Shyu to reveal himself as a follower of the Avatar and assist them. He quickly informs them about Fire Lord Sozin, who launched the war. This is evidently the "quiet before the storm" - with the Sages, Zhao and Zuko all en route, combat is inevitable, it's only a question of whether Aang can reach Roku. Zuko uses a tactic that he'll return to again to get a headstart on Zhao - sailing off from his ship under cover in a small boat.
- Sokka shows his ingenuity by coming up with some makeshift dynamite, although it's unsuccessful at opening the doors. Katara realises it looks like it was, so tricking the Sages is possible, and despite Zuko's best efforts, Aang reaches Roku.
- Zhao arrives and assumes he has won - Zuko, Shyu, Sokka and Katara are all restrained, and Aang has to come out soon. Meanwhile Aang learns from Roku of the true threat to the world, and the overarching narrative of the whole series takes shape - Ozai intends to use Sozin's Comet within the year to end the war, with extreme power. Speaking of unexpected surges in power, Zhao finds himself confronted not by a little airbender, but by Roku acting through Aang's Avatar State to unleash devastating firebending, blasting them away and destroying the temple. The look on his face as he realises what he's up against is priceless. Sokka and Katara wait around for Aang, of course, and Appa is ready to evacuate them.
- Zhao, having allowed Zuko to escape and having failed to stop Aang reaching Roku and escaping, takes his rage out on the Fire Sages, arresting them all as traitors. Still hasn't learned to take a defeat.
- An important episode for the overall plot, filled with tons of action, entirely appropriate for Aang & Co.'s first time in the fire nation and Zuko's forbidden return. Some of it superb - the run on the blockade in particular stands out. That it also finds time for a little character building is simply icing on the cake - especially how Appa gets to show some influence and resilience. Definitely one of the strongest episodes in season 1.
Episode Ranking:
1. Avatar Roku
2. The Southern Air Temple
3. The Avatar Returns
4. Imprisoned
5. The Spirit World
6. The Warriors of Kyoshi
7. The Boy in the Iceberg
8. The King of Omashu
Time to start catching up.
Episode 7: The Spirit World (Winter Solstice, Part 1)
Nice fun start to the episode before the fire nation ruins it ha. There's some shoddy CG in the forest chase sequence as Aang tries to rescue Sokka, but thankfully it doesn't last too long. The side plot with Iroh/Zuko is a fun little distraction.
"Surrender yourselves. It's five against two. You're clearly outnumbered."
"Yeah, that's true, but you are clearly outmatched."
Overall it's a decent episode and important just on the fact that it gives us the first glimpse of the spirit world.
Also first mention of Ba Sing Se and Iroh's past with that city.
Episode 8: Avatar Roku (Winter Solstice, Part 2)
I'd forgotten just how action packed the start of this episode was. Thrilling stuff as Aang gets through the blockade and great shot as they show Zhao staring down at Zuko.
Here we go as we get the big reveal that Aang must defeat Lord Ozai by summers end. Smart move by Bryke as it gives the show a sense of urgency from here on out.
Also noticed that Avatar Roku/Aang was lavabending at the end.
Really do love that final shot. This show really does have a knack for giving us lovely endings.
Episode 9: The Waterbending Scroll
A nice fun episode with a touch of moral of the week to the side of it. Not much more to it really.
My cabbages guy is back in another amusing gag. "This place is worse than Omashu!"
There are quite a few fun gags in this episode from Sokka's "Oh what? I'm not good enough to kidnap?" to Aang clearing away the smoke and immediately bending it back and of course that final great White Lotus gag with Iroh ha.
Episode 10: Jet
Sokka takes the spotlight and shows just how smart and mature he is. Plus the episode features some pretty heavy subjects for a kids show yet again. Also like how they've been starting to humanize the fire nation a lot more recently and show that not all fire nation people are evil villains.
The fight between Aang and Jet at the end is great as usual.
Episode 11: The Great Divide
Now we reach what most consider the worst episode of ATLA and well it's hard to argue that it's not one of the weaker episodes of the show. Aang was right about the villagers "You're all awful!"
Still there are a few positives in it, such as the different art styles for each telling of the story are nice and there are a few funny moments ( mostly Aang's reaction to seeing the custard tart)
But yeah definitely one the shows weakest episodes and it really doesn't really add anything at all to the show. Good thing the next episode is fantastic.
Episode 7: The Spirit World (Winter Solstice, Part 1)
Nice fun start to the episode before the fire nation ruins it ha. There's some shoddy CG in the forest chase sequence as Aang tries to rescue Sokka, but thankfully it doesn't last too long. The side plot with Iroh/Zuko is a fun little distraction.
"Surrender yourselves. It's five against two. You're clearly outnumbered."
"Yeah, that's true, but you are clearly outmatched."
Overall it's a decent episode and important just on the fact that it gives us the first glimpse of the spirit world.
Also first mention of Ba Sing Se and Iroh's past with that city.
Episode 8: Avatar Roku (Winter Solstice, Part 2)
I'd forgotten just how action packed the start of this episode was. Thrilling stuff as Aang gets through the blockade and great shot as they show Zhao staring down at Zuko.
Here we go as we get the big reveal that Aang must defeat Lord Ozai by summers end. Smart move by Bryke as it gives the show a sense of urgency from here on out.
Also noticed that Avatar Roku/Aang was lavabending at the end.
Which comes back in a big way in Korra.
Episode 9: The Waterbending Scroll
A nice fun episode with a touch of moral of the week to the side of it. Not much more to it really.
My cabbages guy is back in another amusing gag. "This place is worse than Omashu!"
There are quite a few fun gags in this episode from Sokka's "Oh what? I'm not good enough to kidnap?" to Aang clearing away the smoke and immediately bending it back and of course that final great White Lotus gag with Iroh ha.
Episode 10: Jet
Sokka takes the spotlight and shows just how smart and mature he is. Plus the episode features some pretty heavy subjects for a kids show yet again. Also like how they've been starting to humanize the fire nation a lot more recently and show that not all fire nation people are evil villains.
The fight between Aang and Jet at the end is great as usual.
Episode 11: The Great Divide
Now we reach what most consider the worst episode of ATLA and well it's hard to argue that it's not one of the weaker episodes of the show. Aang was right about the villagers "You're all awful!"
Still there are a few positives in it, such as the different art styles for each telling of the story are nice and there are a few funny moments ( mostly Aang's reaction to seeing the custard tart)
But yeah definitely one the shows weakest episodes and it really doesn't really add anything at all to the show. Good thing the next episode is fantastic.
JadedWriter
Member
Ep 7:
Iroh knows what's up chilling in those hot springs powered by his nostrils. That is one pissed off panda spirit, that just pimp smacked the avatar. I do find it odd that Zuko learned his bending from Iroh. Zuko didn't get shit from Ozai except scarred. Who trained Azula?
Ep 8:
Zuko always pops up conveniently. Even Iroh knows Ozai is an asshole. Zhao gives zero fucks for Zuko. Sometimes I swear Sokka talks just to hear his own voice. It's nice to see that Sokka and Katara have very functional brains. Roku just gave Aang the reason why he needs to grow the fuck up and we get our first glimpse of Ozai, who loves not wearing a shirt. What is it with old men of the Fire Nation and their urge to grow an epic beard? Did Bryke ever explain why Roku's spirit was able to use Aang was a bending conduit and why it never happened in Korra?
Ep 9:
The Gaang is about as broke as the Bebop crew in this episode. Sokka has no respect for the bending of his culture. Waterbending is more than just "fancy splashes" Ming Hua probably killed his ass in Korra.
Ep 10:
Enter Jet with his Mugen from Samurai Champloo hair and of course a water bender is going to fall instantly for the brooding anti hero type. Jet is very narrow minded and paints everybody in the Fire Nation as the war mongering enemy. I love how Sokka saves himself. I love the use of martial arts weaponry and techniques in this show, nice cinematography in the Jet vs Aang fight too.
Iroh knows what's up chilling in those hot springs powered by his nostrils. That is one pissed off panda spirit, that just pimp smacked the avatar. I do find it odd that Zuko learned his bending from Iroh. Zuko didn't get shit from Ozai except scarred. Who trained Azula?
Ep 8:
Zuko always pops up conveniently. Even Iroh knows Ozai is an asshole. Zhao gives zero fucks for Zuko. Sometimes I swear Sokka talks just to hear his own voice. It's nice to see that Sokka and Katara have very functional brains. Roku just gave Aang the reason why he needs to grow the fuck up and we get our first glimpse of Ozai, who loves not wearing a shirt. What is it with old men of the Fire Nation and their urge to grow an epic beard? Did Bryke ever explain why Roku's spirit was able to use Aang was a bending conduit and why it never happened in Korra?
Ep 9:
The Gaang is about as broke as the Bebop crew in this episode. Sokka has no respect for the bending of his culture. Waterbending is more than just "fancy splashes" Ming Hua probably killed his ass in Korra.
Ep 10:
Enter Jet with his Mugen from Samurai Champloo hair and of course a water bender is going to fall instantly for the brooding anti hero type. Jet is very narrow minded and paints everybody in the Fire Nation as the war mongering enemy. I love how Sokka saves himself. I love the use of martial arts weaponry and techniques in this show, nice cinematography in the Jet vs Aang fight too.
BKatastrophe
Member
Jet's so fucking cool.
Just look at him.
#JetlagmorelikeJetswag
Just look at him.
#JetlagmorelikeJetswag
JadedWriter
Member
Jet wanted to drown an entire village of people just cause they were Fire Nation. That's not cool that's bordering on war crimes because you can't see an entire population of people as human beings.Jet's so fucking cool.
Just look at him.
#JetlagmorelikeJetswag
Yeah but...just look at that swagger.
JadedWriter
Member
He couldn't
swagger his way through a Dai Li boulder though. Dai Li had too much swagger.
I love all the references in "Jet". The aforementioned Champloo hair, a Cowboy Bebop name, and the tree forts from Return of the Jedi (designed by future Clone Wars director Dave Filoni). All the freedom fighters have cool designs, but Jet is definitely the coolest. He's got that love child of Che Guevara and James Dean cool. The mental issues are just part of the package.
JadedWriter
Member
I had no idea Filoni worked on Avatar, I loved...most of Clone Wars. Jet was chock full of mental issues. Him and Katara have dealt with the same things, Sokka too and they're not borderline racist radical extremists like Jet.I love all the references in "Jet". The aforementioned Champloo hair, a Cowboy Bebop name, and the tree forts from Return of the Jedi (designed by future Clone Wars director Dave Filoni). All the freedom fighters have cool designs, but Jet is definitely the coolest. He's got that love child of Che Guevara and James Dean cool. The mental issues are just part of the package.
BKatastrophe
Member
Probably. The creators are huge fans of the show.
openrob
Member
The Waterbending Scroll has some nice fights, and well you notice how unexciting the show can be when you don't have the simultanious Zuko arc alongside the Avatars Journey- having 2 episodes after this without him. You also kind of think why haven't Katara and Aang been practicing bending together already. I like the travelling aspect and we dont get to see enough of the mid size towns in the show, they usually are stopping off in very self contained places without much movement or trade. Just the way the 'merchant' was lik "earth nation, water nation, doesn't matter!" made me realise that the show doesn't really address how earth kingdom citizens relate to water nation.
Actually like the Jet episode quite a bit, although Katara is being really annoying recently and this is a bit out of character. Am suprised at how much story you can fit into 20 mins It shows the strength of the show if you ask me. They meet characters, very quickly you get to see the relationships and tensions build, albeit a little bit forced, and get real insight into the afects of the war.
Also, I just noticed the cabbages cameo in the Jet episode haha.
The great divide is...well yeah it's bad, although the Canyon Guide provides some break from the monotony and I do like Aangs twist at the end. The way Katara is like "That is soo wrong" the way she does quite funny.
Next, on towards a couple of my favourite episodes of the show!
Actually like the Jet episode quite a bit, although Katara is being really annoying recently and this is a bit out of character. Am suprised at how much story you can fit into 20 mins It shows the strength of the show if you ask me. They meet characters, very quickly you get to see the relationships and tensions build, albeit a little bit forced, and get real insight into the afects of the war.
Also, I just noticed the cabbages cameo in the Jet episode haha.
The great divide is...well yeah it's bad, although the Canyon Guide provides some break from the monotony and I do like Aangs twist at the end. The way Katara is like "That is soo wrong" the way she does quite funny.
Next, on towards a couple of my favourite episodes of the show!
Kotetsu534
Member
S1E9: The Waterbending Scroll
- Back on the road again, Aang is panicking about learning how to bend the other three elements, so they pull up below a huge waterfall. He needn't have worried however, as he catches up to and overtakes Katara's progress effortlessly, which rather pisses her off. Appa takes a bath while Sokka cleans his toes.
- Iroh is doing his usual and infuriating Zuko, this time by losing his Lotus tile. Some things never change, but it's actually Zuko who finds what he's after on the port.
- The scenes with the pirates on the boats are great. Very well written. I especially like the rhyming sales pitch and "got it up north, for a most reasonable price - free".
- "You put all of our lives in danger just so you could learn some stupid fancy splashes!" - Sokka and Katara have a large difference of opinion over thieving the scroll from the pirates. Aang executes its moves flawlessly, which sends Katara into a rage. She quickly apologises, and swears to leave the scroll to Aang, but can't resist sneaking off at night to practice.
- Zuko finds and captures Katara as a result her noisy waterbending. Of course she won't reveal Aang's location, but Zuko's thought ahead and one-ups the pirates by taking the scroll and threatening to burn it, so the pirates have to hunt down Aang for him. His plan goes swimmingly until Sokka points out they're holding the Avatar, far more valuable than some scroll.
- While it's definitely a lesser episode than some of those around it, openly acknowledging its moral-of-the-day nature in the finale - "Stealing is wrong - unless it's from pirates! - I think it's a fair bit better than it's reputation. The writing and voice acting is mostly razor sharp, both Zuko and Sokka get a chance to show off their brains, and Katara gets her come uppance for both her impulsive streak and her jealousy of Aang's extreme bending proficiency. The chaotic three-way battle aboard the ships is good fun, all the moreso because Iroh is just belting out great lines one after the other during it without a care in the world - "Maybe it should be a proverb."; "Prince Zuko, you're going to get a kick out of this. The Lotus tile was in my sleeve the whole time!"
S1E10: Jet
- One of very few episodes to take the name of a minor character in its title, there's no doubt who's the star here. Jet, his crew of misfits and rebels, and their bold, unruly way of life are what this episode is all about.
- But first, Sokka quite reasonably points out that the reason Zuko - absent here - keeps following them is because no one can miss sighting a flying sky bison, so they should walk. Katara mocks his leadership mercilessly - "I bet you wouldn't be so bossy if you'd kissed a girl!"; "Have it your way O wise leader."; "Why don't you ask Sokka's Instincts?"
- She doesn't think to treat Jet with such scepticism after he and his men rescue them from the fire nation troops that Sokka takes them straight to. The soft yellow filter as Katara rides up with him to his hideout, the trees out-of-focus, tells us everything we need to know - Katara is completely taken with the charismatic, confident leader, and leaves her good sense behind, especially after they share their parents' deaths at the fire nation's hands.
- On a related note, this episode is one of the most beautiful to look at so far - the reds and yellows of the autumn trees are lush and vibrant, and the detailed outfits and characteristics of Jet's crew are as good as any of the more major characters. The scene where Katara accuses Sokka of being jealous of Jet's superior leadership (which might have an element of truth to it - who wouldn't be) is superbly lit, the yellow light giving a deeper brown hue to Katara's and Sokka's skins.
- It's only Sokka's intervention which stops Jet & Co. from seriously assaulting an old, defenceless fire nation civilian. Unfortunately Jet's shrewder than him, able to persuade Aang and Katara he was an assassin by showing off a knife with a hidden compartment. He's a quick plotter too - able to immediately co-ordinate a plan to destroy the earth nation town with Aang and Katara's waterbending, dupe them into doing so under false pretences, and keep Sokka out of the way.
- Even after Aang susses out what Jet's up to, he's able to buy time by stealing Aang's glider and forcing him to fight in the treetops, where he can give Aang the run around. Katara turns against him as soon as she realises he's captured Sokka, and eventually intervenes to freeze him against a tree when the fight returns to the ground. It's still not enough, and for a moment we're led to believe that the townspeople have been drowned, as Katara cries "You monster!" at Jet.
- Sokka saves the day, explaining against a backdrop of tableux that the old man vouched for him (contrast the man Haru saved in the mine from Imprisoned), and he has a good comeback for Jet's "Traitor!" label - that Jet became a traitor as soon as stopped protecting innocents.
- An excellent episode, where Sokka's inadequacies are made clear, but so is his essential good character and his instinctual morality. Jet's group of the abandoned and rejected may be ingenious, effective thorns in the fire nation's side, living a romatic lifestyle with a charasmatic leader, but their approach won't solve any conflict. The flaws in Katara's presumption that any enemy of the fire nation is her friend are demonstrated, her thinking forced to deepen as a result (her bending is quietly shown to be improving here too).
Episode Ranking:
1. Avatar Roku
2. The Southern Air Temple
3. Jet
4. The Avatar Returns
5. Imprisoned
6. The Spirit World
7. The Waterbending Scroll
8. The Warriors of Kyoshi
9. The Boy in the Iceberg
10. The King of Omashu
- Back on the road again, Aang is panicking about learning how to bend the other three elements, so they pull up below a huge waterfall. He needn't have worried however, as he catches up to and overtakes Katara's progress effortlessly, which rather pisses her off. Appa takes a bath while Sokka cleans his toes.
- Iroh is doing his usual and infuriating Zuko, this time by losing his Lotus tile. Some things never change, but it's actually Zuko who finds what he's after on the port.
- The scenes with the pirates on the boats are great. Very well written. I especially like the rhyming sales pitch and "got it up north, for a most reasonable price - free".
- "You put all of our lives in danger just so you could learn some stupid fancy splashes!" - Sokka and Katara have a large difference of opinion over thieving the scroll from the pirates. Aang executes its moves flawlessly, which sends Katara into a rage. She quickly apologises, and swears to leave the scroll to Aang, but can't resist sneaking off at night to practice.
- Zuko finds and captures Katara as a result her noisy waterbending. Of course she won't reveal Aang's location, but Zuko's thought ahead and one-ups the pirates by taking the scroll and threatening to burn it, so the pirates have to hunt down Aang for him. His plan goes swimmingly until Sokka points out they're holding the Avatar, far more valuable than some scroll.
- While it's definitely a lesser episode than some of those around it, openly acknowledging its moral-of-the-day nature in the finale - "Stealing is wrong - unless it's from pirates! - I think it's a fair bit better than it's reputation. The writing and voice acting is mostly razor sharp, both Zuko and Sokka get a chance to show off their brains, and Katara gets her come uppance for both her impulsive streak and her jealousy of Aang's extreme bending proficiency. The chaotic three-way battle aboard the ships is good fun, all the moreso because Iroh is just belting out great lines one after the other during it without a care in the world - "Maybe it should be a proverb."; "Prince Zuko, you're going to get a kick out of this. The Lotus tile was in my sleeve the whole time!"
S1E10: Jet
- One of very few episodes to take the name of a minor character in its title, there's no doubt who's the star here. Jet, his crew of misfits and rebels, and their bold, unruly way of life are what this episode is all about.
- But first, Sokka quite reasonably points out that the reason Zuko - absent here - keeps following them is because no one can miss sighting a flying sky bison, so they should walk. Katara mocks his leadership mercilessly - "I bet you wouldn't be so bossy if you'd kissed a girl!"; "Have it your way O wise leader."; "Why don't you ask Sokka's Instincts?"
- She doesn't think to treat Jet with such scepticism after he and his men rescue them from the fire nation troops that Sokka takes them straight to. The soft yellow filter as Katara rides up with him to his hideout, the trees out-of-focus, tells us everything we need to know - Katara is completely taken with the charismatic, confident leader, and leaves her good sense behind, especially after they share their parents' deaths at the fire nation's hands.
- On a related note, this episode is one of the most beautiful to look at so far - the reds and yellows of the autumn trees are lush and vibrant, and the detailed outfits and characteristics of Jet's crew are as good as any of the more major characters. The scene where Katara accuses Sokka of being jealous of Jet's superior leadership (which might have an element of truth to it - who wouldn't be) is superbly lit, the yellow light giving a deeper brown hue to Katara's and Sokka's skins.
- It's only Sokka's intervention which stops Jet & Co. from seriously assaulting an old, defenceless fire nation civilian. Unfortunately Jet's shrewder than him, able to persuade Aang and Katara he was an assassin by showing off a knife with a hidden compartment. He's a quick plotter too - able to immediately co-ordinate a plan to destroy the earth nation town with Aang and Katara's waterbending, dupe them into doing so under false pretences, and keep Sokka out of the way.
- Even after Aang susses out what Jet's up to, he's able to buy time by stealing Aang's glider and forcing him to fight in the treetops, where he can give Aang the run around. Katara turns against him as soon as she realises he's captured Sokka, and eventually intervenes to freeze him against a tree when the fight returns to the ground. It's still not enough, and for a moment we're led to believe that the townspeople have been drowned, as Katara cries "You monster!" at Jet.
Even if this moment turns out to be a fake-out, it does subtly foreshadow what's probably the darkest moment in the series.
- An excellent episode, where Sokka's inadequacies are made clear, but so is his essential good character and his instinctual morality. Jet's group of the abandoned and rejected may be ingenious, effective thorns in the fire nation's side, living a romatic lifestyle with a charasmatic leader, but their approach won't solve any conflict. The flaws in Katara's presumption that any enemy of the fire nation is her friend are demonstrated, her thinking forced to deepen as a result (her bending is quietly shown to be improving here too).
Episode Ranking:
1. Avatar Roku
2. The Southern Air Temple
3. Jet
4. The Avatar Returns
5. Imprisoned
6. The Spirit World
7. The Waterbending Scroll
8. The Warriors of Kyoshi
9. The Boy in the Iceberg
10. The King of Omashu
Yeah, Filoni directed the unaired pilot and almost half of the Book 1 episodes before leaving the show to work on TCW, which was then in early development for the movie. Apparently he snuck in Star Wars references wherever he could. I agree that Jet has a ton of mental issues, but I do think that they are part and parcel with what makes him cool. A more well-balanced individual probably wouldn't have been wage war on the Fire Nation from a tree fort in the first place. xP
I'm pretty sure it is. I just double checked and in the artbook, they say that Jet's design is based on Spike (I think he looks more like Mugen from Watanabe's Samurai Champloo, but Mugen was also based on Spike). Bebop is one of the big anime influences they cite though, along with Evangelion, FLCL, and the films of Miyazaki.
That scene does sort of make me wonder where the pirates would have encountered Water Tribe currency before. It's surprising enough that the Southern Tribe even uses currency anymore, although
the flashbacks in Book 3 (from "The Puppetmaster" and "The Southern Raiders") suggest that the SWT's dire position is a pretty recent development, and that the tribe had a much more sophisticated society as recently as Sokka and Katara's childhood
they seem to be awfully insular, but that seems to be mainly just protectiveness about their home and it stands to reason that they might send out merchants to trade with the northern Earth Kingdom from time to time
I think Katara's character in this episode is interesting. It's certainly at odds with her preachiness from some other times, but I think it reflects where she's at her and current level of development. She is "the responsible one" a good deal of the time, but she's also very emotional and maternal, which sometimes leaves Sokka the more responsible one at tricky junctures. Katara clearly misjudged Jet, and her crush on him played a role in that, but she was always more predisposed to be favorable to someone who had been hurt. See also
her and Zuko in the Book 2 finale as well as her general maternal nature that gets called out in Book 3 in particular
I agree with what you say about showing the impact of the war. Jet is a great episode not just for its story but for the shades of grey it introduces into the conflict. A few episodes ago we saw our first "good" Fire National (Iroh notwithstanding), and now we meet a "bad" Earth Kingdom person. And unlike the old man in Imprisoned, he was bad on his own, not by cooperating with the Fire Nation.
The Storm
It's not as good as I remember, but I mostly attribute that to most of what's good about it being backstory, which I already know. But it sets up the next episode nicely, which is still as good as everyone remembers.
The Blue Spirit
The intertwined destinies of Aang and Zuko get a lot of love in this show. Mike and Bryan said in the first artbook that Zuko was always meant to become good, and his arc starts off heavily implying as much. His pursuit of honor, which manifests as his pursuit for the avatar, gives the gang a formidable opponent, while the show itself gets a valuable perspective to show off. Understanding why the villains do what they do is far more interesting than simply being bad, and Zuko's own struggles allow the protagonist himself to grow as a result.
As for the episode itself, we get cool animations and some badass archers. These fools jumped off a cliffside like it wasn't anything and chased down perhaps the quickest man (read: kid) alive. The momo gags are cute, and a variety of the cast are exerting their own agency upon the plot. It is said that because the original order for AtLA was 12 episodes, the team created this episode as if it was the last to ever air. The Blue Spirit would have been one hell of a high note to go out on.
It's not as good as I remember, but I mostly attribute that to most of what's good about it being backstory, which I already know. But it sets up the next episode nicely, which is still as good as everyone remembers.
The Blue Spirit
The intertwined destinies of Aang and Zuko get a lot of love in this show. Mike and Bryan said in the first artbook that Zuko was always meant to become good, and his arc starts off heavily implying as much. His pursuit of honor, which manifests as his pursuit for the avatar, gives the gang a formidable opponent, while the show itself gets a valuable perspective to show off. Understanding why the villains do what they do is far more interesting than simply being bad, and Zuko's own struggles allow the protagonist himself to grow as a result.
As for the episode itself, we get cool animations and some badass archers. These fools jumped off a cliffside like it wasn't anything and chased down perhaps the quickest man (read: kid) alive. The momo gags are cute, and a variety of the cast are exerting their own agency upon the plot. It is said that because the original order for AtLA was 12 episodes, the team created this episode as if it was the last to ever air. The Blue Spirit would have been one hell of a high note to go out on.
Some brief thoughts as I fill in with some of the episodes I'd fallen behind on.
The Spirit World
The pacing on this one feels really rushed at places, which is weird, since this isn't the "urgent" story in this two-parter. All in all I kinda liked it, though the resolution of the Hei Bai thing was kind of weird, as Kotetsu mentioned. I did like that the middle part of the episode was basically Avatar meets Evangelions (and yes, the resemblance was deliberate). The Zuko and Iroh B-plot was better though (I'm often of this opinion :lol). I do kind of wonder what the affiliation of the Earth Kingdom soldiers was. We're not given a whole lot of information about the political structure of the EK, and it's clearly been disrupted by War, but it appears to be a confederation or perhaps a loose federation. Were these guys the feds since they wanted to take Iroh back to Ba Sing Se?
Avatar Roku
Zhao gets shit on sometimes for not being all that effective or intimidating, and there is a point to this criticism. Neither the Gaang nor Zuko are all that powerful yet, so they can't go up against anyone too strong or too clever. But Zhao's not a total butt monkey, and he would have been the clear winner of this episode (hell, of the entire show) if not for Roku's unforeseen intervention. I've said before that I think it's important to have a villain who fully buys into Fire Nation militarism to establish the contrast for Zuko (and the limitations his exile puts on him, even though he has a ship), but Zhao is also entertaining to watch and a good foil. A role he develops more into with The Blue Spirit, of course.
The Waterbending Scroll
Some great one-liners here. "I'll save you from the pirates." "What, I'm not good enough to kidnap." And especially Iroh's "Yeah, it kind of is." For as much as it fits the model of the episodic first half of Book 1, it does it really well. It benefits from having Zuko and Iroh present, and the pirates are memorable guest villains. All around a solid, fun episode.
Jet
The Sokka/Katara arguing at the beginning is pretty contrived (and I've never understood why they didn't leave the packs in Appa's saddle even while walking). The episode improves dramatically once Jet shows up though, as we've already discussed. I just wanna re-emphasize how beautiful the art is, with the autumnal colors in the trees (though technically it's winter, but evidently in a temperate area). The Jet/Aang fight was good, but the episode really stands out for its more sober story (though there are still some jokes) and themes.
Episode Rankings:
1. Jet
2. The Warriors of Kyoshi
3. The Southern Air Temple
4. Avatar Roku
5. The Waterbending Scroll
6. The Boy in the Iceberg/The Avatar Returns
7. The Spirit World
8. Imprisoned
9. The King of Omashu
The Spirit World
The pacing on this one feels really rushed at places, which is weird, since this isn't the "urgent" story in this two-parter. All in all I kinda liked it, though the resolution of the Hei Bai thing was kind of weird, as Kotetsu mentioned. I did like that the middle part of the episode was basically Avatar meets Evangelions (and yes, the resemblance was deliberate). The Zuko and Iroh B-plot was better though (I'm often of this opinion :lol). I do kind of wonder what the affiliation of the Earth Kingdom soldiers was. We're not given a whole lot of information about the political structure of the EK, and it's clearly been disrupted by War, but it appears to be a confederation or perhaps a loose federation. Were these guys the feds since they wanted to take Iroh back to Ba Sing Se?
Avatar Roku
Zhao gets shit on sometimes for not being all that effective or intimidating, and there is a point to this criticism. Neither the Gaang nor Zuko are all that powerful yet, so they can't go up against anyone too strong or too clever. But Zhao's not a total butt monkey, and he would have been the clear winner of this episode (hell, of the entire show) if not for Roku's unforeseen intervention. I've said before that I think it's important to have a villain who fully buys into Fire Nation militarism to establish the contrast for Zuko (and the limitations his exile puts on him, even though he has a ship), but Zhao is also entertaining to watch and a good foil. A role he develops more into with The Blue Spirit, of course.
The Waterbending Scroll
Some great one-liners here. "I'll save you from the pirates." "What, I'm not good enough to kidnap." And especially Iroh's "Yeah, it kind of is." For as much as it fits the model of the episodic first half of Book 1, it does it really well. It benefits from having Zuko and Iroh present, and the pirates are memorable guest villains. All around a solid, fun episode.
Jet
The Sokka/Katara arguing at the beginning is pretty contrived (and I've never understood why they didn't leave the packs in Appa's saddle even while walking). The episode improves dramatically once Jet shows up though, as we've already discussed. I just wanna re-emphasize how beautiful the art is, with the autumnal colors in the trees (though technically it's winter, but evidently in a temperate area). The Jet/Aang fight was good, but the episode really stands out for its more sober story (though there are still some jokes) and themes.
Episode Rankings:
1. Jet
2. The Warriors of Kyoshi
3. The Southern Air Temple
4. Avatar Roku
5. The Waterbending Scroll
6. The Boy in the Iceberg/The Avatar Returns
7. The Spirit World
8. Imprisoned
9. The King of Omashu
114 "The Fortuneteller"
Original airdate: September 23, 2005
Written by: John O'Bryan and Aaron Ehasz
Directed by: Dave Filoni
Sokka and science save the day once again. Also, the first voice appearance of Jessie Flower (Meng), who would
. A pretty funny episode and a good example of incorporating shipping into the show without being obnoxious about it.
115 "Bato of the Water Tribe"
Original airdate: October 7, 2005
Written by: Ian Wilcox
Directed by: Giancarlo Volpe
Our first look at Water Tribe culture in quite a while. An important episode for Sokka and Katara, and a very controversial moment for Aang. I'm curious if you guys feel his actions in this episode were out of character.
116 "The Deserter"
Original airdate: October 21, 2005
Written by: Tim Hedrick
Directed by: Lauren MacMullan
A continuing effort to humanize the Fire Nation, something that, looking back,
. Also, some nods to Apocalypse Now, and probably Zhao's biggest butt monkey moment.
Original airdate: September 23, 2005
Written by: John O'Bryan and Aaron Ehasz
Directed by: Dave Filoni
Sokka and science save the day once again. Also, the first voice appearance of Jessie Flower (Meng), who would
return in Book 2 to voice Toph
115 "Bato of the Water Tribe"
Original airdate: October 7, 2005
Written by: Ian Wilcox
Directed by: Giancarlo Volpe
Our first look at Water Tribe culture in quite a while. An important episode for Sokka and Katara, and a very controversial moment for Aang. I'm curious if you guys feel his actions in this episode were out of character.
June is bae.
116 "The Deserter"
Original airdate: October 21, 2005
Written by: Tim Hedrick
Directed by: Lauren MacMullan
A continuing effort to humanize the Fire Nation, something that, looking back,
Book 1 laid a ton of groundwork for even though Book 3 is usually credited for this
BKatastrophe
Member
The Fortuneteller is a cool episode for character building, but not necessary. It's really just there to push the possibility of Katara and Aang being a thing, and that Aang is destined for greatness. A charming little episode that ultimately goes nowhere in terms of story arcs. Though, Katara's fortune does come true.
Bato of the Water Tribe is an enjoyable episode, I find. Aang has a moment, yes, but it's a moment that makes sense and is in character. Plus, I really like the fight at the end of the episode. Sokka also gets some character progression as well, which is always good.
The Deserter is an odd episode. On the one hand, we learn a lot about the world: Why it's important for the Avatar to learn the elements in a specific order; that certain waterbenders can heal; and that Zhao once studied under Jeong Jeong for firebending, and bailed out. On the other hand, the episode never felt all that interesting to me. In fact, I always forget this episode even exists, and I've watched this show a bunch of times. It always takes me by surprise. Quite frankly it isn't memorable, but it is very important.
Bato of the Water Tribe is an enjoyable episode, I find. Aang has a moment, yes, but it's a moment that makes sense and is in character. Plus, I really like the fight at the end of the episode. Sokka also gets some character progression as well, which is always good.
The Deserter is an odd episode. On the one hand, we learn a lot about the world: Why it's important for the Avatar to learn the elements in a specific order; that certain waterbenders can heal; and that Zhao once studied under Jeong Jeong for firebending, and bailed out. On the other hand, the episode never felt all that interesting to me. In fact, I always forget this episode even exists, and I've watched this show a bunch of times. It always takes me by surprise. Quite frankly it isn't memorable, but it is very important.
The Fortuneteller
Unlike Blue Spirit, which would work as a season finale, this episode would definitely not work as a season premiere. In fact, it barely works as an episode at all, since the themes behind it are muddled with the traditional Avatar look at destiny and fate. Sokka reasonably gets annoyed throughout the whole episode as the entire premise is flimsy. That said, its fun to see Aang get worked about Katara, even if the ending of that part of this episode is ridiculously unsubtle. Its also great to see Jessie Flowers early-bird cameo, although this role is obviously much less interesting than her other one. Its a below-average episode-of-the-week of Avatar, no more, no less.
Bato of the Water Tribe
I was a little sick when watching the next two, so impressions might be a bit jumbled. There were a lot of simply interesting aspects of this episode. First of all, the sisters in the abbey; this is the only time I believe Avatar depicts something close to Christianity, and its odd that we never see them again, as they actually are pretty useful in this episode. The other really interesting part of this episode is the Zuko subplot. Jun is an awesome one-time
character, and the shirshu is a cool animal. The fight at the end is neat, particularly the Appa vs. Shirshu stuff. Iroh has some funny stuff too. Aangs bit is a bit cliché at points, but it does have some nice worldbuilding aspects. Fun fact: This episode managed to turn me off of Avatar for two years. Nine-year-old me saw a commercial for it on Nick, and I thought that the show was about three kids trying to meet Santa at the North Pole, which was dumb. Thankfully, I gave it a shot later.
The Deserter
Let me look at some of the interesting stuff first in this episode. First, I think this episode where Aang does the single stupidest thing possibly through the whole series. What is that? Well, its when Aang is obviously watching a magician and then thinks Katara is in mortal peril when the guy is clearly doing a magic trick. All in all, this episode definitely isnt Aangs finest hour, with him doing plenty of stupid immature things throughout, but to be fair, its still Book 1, so I cant really blame him. Sokka tackling Aang is pretty awesome though, and Jeong Jeong is a cool character who I always wished we would see more of. At the end, Aang sort of redeems himself in the fight with Zhao, which Ive always enjoyed despite being predictable. I find this one of the better episodes-of-the week overall.
Unlike Blue Spirit, which would work as a season finale, this episode would definitely not work as a season premiere. In fact, it barely works as an episode at all, since the themes behind it are muddled with the traditional Avatar look at destiny and fate. Sokka reasonably gets annoyed throughout the whole episode as the entire premise is flimsy. That said, its fun to see Aang get worked about Katara, even if the ending of that part of this episode is ridiculously unsubtle. Its also great to see Jessie Flowers early-bird cameo, although this role is obviously much less interesting than her other one. Its a below-average episode-of-the-week of Avatar, no more, no less.
Bato of the Water Tribe
I was a little sick when watching the next two, so impressions might be a bit jumbled. There were a lot of simply interesting aspects of this episode. First of all, the sisters in the abbey; this is the only time I believe Avatar depicts something close to Christianity, and its odd that we never see them again, as they actually are pretty useful in this episode. The other really interesting part of this episode is the Zuko subplot. Jun is an awesome one-time
or is she?
The Deserter
Let me look at some of the interesting stuff first in this episode. First, I think this episode where Aang does the single stupidest thing possibly through the whole series. What is that? Well, its when Aang is obviously watching a magician and then thinks Katara is in mortal peril when the guy is clearly doing a magic trick. All in all, this episode definitely isnt Aangs finest hour, with him doing plenty of stupid immature things throughout, but to be fair, its still Book 1, so I cant really blame him. Sokka tackling Aang is pretty awesome though, and Jeong Jeong is a cool character who I always wished we would see more of. At the end, Aang sort of redeems himself in the fight with Zhao, which Ive always enjoyed despite being predictable. I find this one of the better episodes-of-the week overall.
Kotetsu534
Member
S1E11: The Great Divide
- Famous for being, if not necessarily the outright worst, then certainly the most throwaway of all TLA episodes, it's The Great Divide. The scenario is patently pointless - why risk death by crossing a giant canyon, replete with huge predatory insects, on foot, when Appa could easily fly back and forth a couple of times?
- It starts with a silly, contrived argument between Katara and Sokka about chores, which Aang resolves with an obvious suggestion. This is more or less the same register as the whole episode plays out in, give or take one or two very brief scenes, the best of which is that shared by Aang and the Canyon guide at night time.
- I do love the shot of Appa using one toe to hold the watermelon in place when Aang turns to deal with his feud with Momo.
- The best thing about this episode are the different art styles used in the nighttime stories - detailed and well lit for the tribe Katara travels with, and messy, angular with sharp cuts for the Zhangs' story.
- "Harsh words won't solve problems! Action will!" Exactly. A fight to the death ensues.
- Aang essentially gives up trying to negotiate a fair compromise between the feuding tribes and just makes up a story about eight year olds playing a game, which they somehow accept. I guess that's some kind of moral lesson. Katara's narrowed expression and exaggerated voice when she says "You did not! That is so wrong." must be near one-offs in the series.
- This episode is clearly the weakest so far, by some distance, and would be at home in a children's show with none of Avatar's ambition. That said, it's not entirely without merit - the animators get a chance to show off, and some of the comedy does manage to resonate despite the contrived scenario.
S1E12: The Storm
- We're immediately taken to Aang's insecurity about his disappearance, with his surrealist dream being interrupted by Monk Gyatso and a giant storm, like that which led to his iceberg. This episode couldn't be more different from the one it follows - it will reveal both Aang and Zuko's pasts, due to their present internal troubles, and in so doing develop their characters and relationships, while expanding our understanding of the Avatar world. The titular storm is of course both physical and mental, shared between them.
- "Also Momo could talk. You said some very unkind things." Momo's ears droop. Aw.
- The group's out of money and out of food. Sokka volunteers himself to earn some money aboard a fisherman's boat, without thinking to negotiate a price first.
- Meanwhile there's trouble on Zuko's boat, where his lack of concern for his men's safety angers his lieutenant who tells him in no uncertain terms what he thinks of him. Iroh manages to calm things, but this only incenses Zuko further. You can see the buildup of frustration that leads to him donning the blue mask in these scenes.
- The old fisherman unknowingly hits Aang where he's most vulnerable - for once a minor character reacts not with joy to discovering the Avatar, but rages at him for his 100-year absence. Katara defends him, but Aang, hurt and guilty, flies off. Katara rides Appa into the storm and, soaked, finds him in a mountain cave.
- What a lovely moment when Appa comes into the cave and puts his nose on Aang's head. I find small gestures of that nature so touching and affecting; Appa knows Aang needs his affection. The quiet, reflective blues of the cave and the rain are the perfect backdrop for this.
- Katara and Aang make a fire, its reds and yellows illuminating them as Aang narrates the story of how he came to know he was the Avatar, and why he then left the Southern Air Temple. The tragedy is obvious - Aang's childhood was prematurely ended and his friendships ruined, but so too is the dramatic irony - if the Air Nomads' had not informed him, or had they not separated him from Gyatso, he would never have fled, which means he would likely have been killed or captured in the fire nation attack.
- Simultaneously, Iroh walks in on Zuko's lieutenant ranting about his nephew, and offers to explain Zuko's sense of who he is and why he behaves as does. In a sense this illustrates a major difference between Aang and Zuko at this stage - Aang can confide in Katara his inner turmoil, while Zuko who, as Iroh says, is "a complicated young man", needs to have his past narrated.
- It turns out Zuko earned his scars and his banishment standing up for newly recruited fire nation soldiers, his opposition to the general's cynical plan judged right by Iroh.
- Katara calms and comforts Aang, their deepened relationship understated but acknowledged.
- The resolution brings Aang and Zuko together on the high seas, but for the second time Zuko decides not to pursue him, this time prizing his men's safety aboard the damaged ship over the chance to catch him. Aang uses the awesome power of the Avatar State to clear the storm and rescue Sokka. For such a quiet episode, it has a surprisingly dramatic climax, complete with thunderous build up music and the main theme.
- "I'm too young to die!"; "I'm not, but I still don't wanna!" Heh, think Aaron Ehasz' writing is the best.
- Couple of little footnotes of future importance in this episode - Iroh's lightning bending, and Azula's satisfaction as Zuko is burned.
Episode Ranking:
1. The Storm
2. Avatar Roku
3. The Southern Air Temple
4. Jet
5. The Avatar Returns
6. Imprisoned
7. The Spirit World
8. The Waterbending Scroll
9. The Warriors of Kyoshi
10. The Boy in the Iceberg
11. The King of Omashu
12. The Great Divide
- Famous for being, if not necessarily the outright worst, then certainly the most throwaway of all TLA episodes, it's The Great Divide. The scenario is patently pointless - why risk death by crossing a giant canyon, replete with huge predatory insects, on foot, when Appa could easily fly back and forth a couple of times?
- It starts with a silly, contrived argument between Katara and Sokka about chores, which Aang resolves with an obvious suggestion. This is more or less the same register as the whole episode plays out in, give or take one or two very brief scenes, the best of which is that shared by Aang and the Canyon guide at night time.
- I do love the shot of Appa using one toe to hold the watermelon in place when Aang turns to deal with his feud with Momo.
- The best thing about this episode are the different art styles used in the nighttime stories - detailed and well lit for the tribe Katara travels with, and messy, angular with sharp cuts for the Zhangs' story.
- "Harsh words won't solve problems! Action will!" Exactly. A fight to the death ensues.
- Aang essentially gives up trying to negotiate a fair compromise between the feuding tribes and just makes up a story about eight year olds playing a game, which they somehow accept. I guess that's some kind of moral lesson. Katara's narrowed expression and exaggerated voice when she says "You did not! That is so wrong." must be near one-offs in the series.
- This episode is clearly the weakest so far, by some distance, and would be at home in a children's show with none of Avatar's ambition. That said, it's not entirely without merit - the animators get a chance to show off, and some of the comedy does manage to resonate despite the contrived scenario.
S1E12: The Storm
- We're immediately taken to Aang's insecurity about his disappearance, with his surrealist dream being interrupted by Monk Gyatso and a giant storm, like that which led to his iceberg. This episode couldn't be more different from the one it follows - it will reveal both Aang and Zuko's pasts, due to their present internal troubles, and in so doing develop their characters and relationships, while expanding our understanding of the Avatar world. The titular storm is of course both physical and mental, shared between them.
- "Also Momo could talk. You said some very unkind things." Momo's ears droop. Aw.
- The group's out of money and out of food. Sokka volunteers himself to earn some money aboard a fisherman's boat, without thinking to negotiate a price first.
- Meanwhile there's trouble on Zuko's boat, where his lack of concern for his men's safety angers his lieutenant who tells him in no uncertain terms what he thinks of him. Iroh manages to calm things, but this only incenses Zuko further. You can see the buildup of frustration that leads to him donning the blue mask in these scenes.
- The old fisherman unknowingly hits Aang where he's most vulnerable - for once a minor character reacts not with joy to discovering the Avatar, but rages at him for his 100-year absence. Katara defends him, but Aang, hurt and guilty, flies off. Katara rides Appa into the storm and, soaked, finds him in a mountain cave.
- What a lovely moment when Appa comes into the cave and puts his nose on Aang's head. I find small gestures of that nature so touching and affecting; Appa knows Aang needs his affection. The quiet, reflective blues of the cave and the rain are the perfect backdrop for this.
- Katara and Aang make a fire, its reds and yellows illuminating them as Aang narrates the story of how he came to know he was the Avatar, and why he then left the Southern Air Temple. The tragedy is obvious - Aang's childhood was prematurely ended and his friendships ruined, but so too is the dramatic irony - if the Air Nomads' had not informed him, or had they not separated him from Gyatso, he would never have fled, which means he would likely have been killed or captured in the fire nation attack.
- Simultaneously, Iroh walks in on Zuko's lieutenant ranting about his nephew, and offers to explain Zuko's sense of who he is and why he behaves as does. In a sense this illustrates a major difference between Aang and Zuko at this stage - Aang can confide in Katara his inner turmoil, while Zuko who, as Iroh says, is "a complicated young man", needs to have his past narrated.
- It turns out Zuko earned his scars and his banishment standing up for newly recruited fire nation soldiers, his opposition to the general's cynical plan judged right by Iroh.
- Katara calms and comforts Aang, their deepened relationship understated but acknowledged.
- The resolution brings Aang and Zuko together on the high seas, but for the second time Zuko decides not to pursue him, this time prizing his men's safety aboard the damaged ship over the chance to catch him. Aang uses the awesome power of the Avatar State to clear the storm and rescue Sokka. For such a quiet episode, it has a surprisingly dramatic climax, complete with thunderous build up music and the main theme.
- "I'm too young to die!"; "I'm not, but I still don't wanna!" Heh, think Aaron Ehasz' writing is the best.
- Couple of little footnotes of future importance in this episode - Iroh's lightning bending, and Azula's satisfaction as Zuko is burned.
Episode Ranking:
1. The Storm
2. Avatar Roku
3. The Southern Air Temple
4. Jet
5. The Avatar Returns
6. Imprisoned
7. The Spirit World
8. The Waterbending Scroll
9. The Warriors of Kyoshi
10. The Boy in the Iceberg
11. The King of Omashu
12. The Great Divide
Bato of the Water Tribe
Sokka gets to show his stuff a little, narrating a past battle with his tracking skills. The episode broadens his backstory to properly contextualize the gang meeting Bato. The plotting gets a little funky in order to contrive Aang getting Bato's map, but some things gotta give I guess. One thing I always admired about this show was how it wasn't afraid to have its characters do selfish things. It makes sense that Aang wouldn't want his friends to leave him and his actions - while self centered - make sense.
On the flip side, Zuko recruits some mercenary to help him track down the Avatar yet again. It's another cool addition to the stable of beasts in the avatarverse, and it allows for some fun hijinks later in the episode. Uncle Iroh is laying down his wizened charm on ladies of all ages throughout the episode - we're seeing some of the last vestiges of "goofy, lazy Uncle Iroh" as the season heads for the finale, where Iroh becomes all about that action, boss.
The fight in the episode is excellent.
The Deserter
Nice little episode to introduce Aang's struggle with fire. Katara being able to heal herself because she's just that badass felt unneeded as she has already grown leaps and bounds as a bender over the course of a few episodes. But it's no big deal, and it never becomes a huge part of her repertoire.
Aang's craftiness wins the day in the end. The animators and writers do a very good job of bringing out a character's personality by their actions. It's one of the things I love most about the avatar franchise (Korra excels in this department as well): show, don't necessarily tell.
lol, Aang has been on a streak of fucking up.
Sokka gets to show his stuff a little, narrating a past battle with his tracking skills. The episode broadens his backstory to properly contextualize the gang meeting Bato. The plotting gets a little funky in order to contrive Aang getting Bato's map, but some things gotta give I guess. One thing I always admired about this show was how it wasn't afraid to have its characters do selfish things. It makes sense that Aang wouldn't want his friends to leave him and his actions - while self centered - make sense.
On the flip side, Zuko recruits some mercenary to help him track down the Avatar yet again. It's another cool addition to the stable of beasts in the avatarverse, and it allows for some fun hijinks later in the episode. Uncle Iroh is laying down his wizened charm on ladies of all ages throughout the episode - we're seeing some of the last vestiges of "goofy, lazy Uncle Iroh" as the season heads for the finale, where Iroh becomes all about that action, boss.
The fight in the episode is excellent.
The Deserter
Nice little episode to introduce Aang's struggle with fire. Katara being able to heal herself because she's just that badass felt unneeded as she has already grown leaps and bounds as a bender over the course of a few episodes. But it's no big deal, and it never becomes a huge part of her repertoire.
Aang's craftiness wins the day in the end. The animators and writers do a very good job of bringing out a character's personality by their actions. It's one of the things I love most about the avatar franchise (Korra excels in this department as well): show, don't necessarily tell.
lol, Aang has been on a streak of fucking up.
I agree that The Fortuneteller is not an especially consequential episode, but I don't think that's necessarily a mark against it. I've come to appreciate the stand-alone episodes more over time (after having previously been staunchly in favor of relentlessly serialized shows) and I think they add a lot to the nature of the show. Being able to tell a variety of stories (and, for the most part, tell them well) is one of the things that I personally love about Avatar. We get to spend more time with the characters and learn more about them, and the shipping legwork is ultimately important for
making the payoff at the end of the series feel earned and not just a tacked-on reward for the main character
That was definitely a facepalm moment for me as well. Certainly a moment of Aang's puppy love blinding him to the obvious.
Ultimately it's something that I think he grows out of simply by virtue of becoming more mature, rather than any particular revelatory moment, although there is certainly plenty of growing up to be had in this episode.
Some more catching up on my mini-reviews:
The Great Divide
Yeah, no. It's not totally without redeeming qualities, but all in all, the weakenesses in, among other things, characterization (such as Katara's side-taking) and the thematic confusion regarding the ending (lying to cover up a historical crime, regardless of which side committed it) are such that I think the show is improved by pretending this episode doesn't exist. Skipping it wouldn't cause you to miss out on anything except
one gag in The Ember Island Players, although that gag was pretty great
The Storm
I love the blues and greys in this episode. It's an unusual color palette for the show, but it works wonderfully for the titular storm and in setting the mood for the flashbacks. Both Aang and Zuko get screwed over by authority figuers who by rights should be caring for them. Interestingly, Aang's only real paternal figure is lost to him after the events we flash back to, while Zuko gains his first real paternal figure (Iroh) in the aftermath. I already said most of my bit about this episode before, but it's definitely one of the highlights of Book 1. It also gives us our first real introduction to Lt. Jee, who is one of my favorite minor characters from Book 1.
The Blue Spirit
One of the big ones. There is so much that's good about this episode, that it's quicker to list the things that I thought didn't work quite as well. One of the animators here had a hard-on for eyebrow twitches, and there were so many in this episode that it becomes kinda distracting. And airbender is definitely too OP in the fights. That's about it, though. Everything else is firing on basically all cylinders. The music is a real standout here, especially the Yuyan (fight theme) and Tsungi horn tracks, the latter being one of the best from the entire show. The whole episode, including the action scenes, is exciting, and the comedy is good when it kicks in. I love the glimpse at the inner workings of the Fire Nation military, from the implied interservice rivalry to the checkpoint outside the fortress. Little things that add a lot to the world. Zhao is arguably at his best here. So many excellent parallels between Aang and Zuko, making this an excellent accompaniment to The Storm. The last shot of Zuko where he turns away from the Fire Nation symbol is perfect.
It's been so long since I was introduced to Avatar that I don't remember my first time watching most of the episodes from Books 1 and 2, so I can't recall what I thought of the reveal of the Blue Spirit's identity. I'd like to think that I had it figured out, because the set up does seem kinda obvious, but I was about 12 at the time so I dunno. Anyone here watch the series for the first time more recently (perhaps for this thread) who can comment on this?
BKatastrophe
Member
I'm not saying it's a poor episode, and I don't mind procedural-type shows and standalone episodes such as this. I do not think it's a bad thing, and like I said I think it's a perfectly fine episode, but if someone wanted a list of necessary episodes to understand the show and plot, this episode would not be on that list.
Fair point. Apologies if I misunderstood you.
openrob
Member
Also just a continuity thing the monkey statue with red eyes on the Pirate ship is now on Zuko's ship. Like the little touches haha
Not much to add apart from the Blue Spirit is just an amazing epidode, and would love to hear the thoughts of those watching it for the first time. If I rewatch the series it's because I wanted to watch this episode and just carried on watching.
The pacing is great, the fights are cool, the comedy is funny, and it develops the world of avatar and shows some real character progression.
Not much to add apart from the Blue Spirit is just an amazing epidode, and would love to hear the thoughts of those watching it for the first time. If I rewatch the series it's because I wanted to watch this episode and just carried on watching.
The pacing is great, the fights are cool, the comedy is funny, and it develops the world of avatar and shows some real character progression.
BKatastrophe
Member
No biggie. It happens. It's not like you're Jet or anything. Then I'd be super embarrassed.
Because he's so cool.
#JetlagmorelikeJetswag
117 "The Northern Air Temple"
Original airdate: November 4, 2005
Written by: Elizabeth Welch Ehasz
Directed by: Dave Filoni
Having reached the northern edge of the Earth Kingdom, the Gaang find themselves near one of the other air temples. The inhabitants they discover there turn out not to be airbenders, however, and the Fire Nation is already in the area.
118 "The Waterbending Master"
Original airdate: November 18, 2005
Written by: Michael Dante DiMartino
Directed by: Giancarlo Volpe
After many months (both for the characters and for those who watched the season as it first aired), Aang and Katara's finally reach the North Pole in their quest for a waterbending teacher. Meanwhile, Sokka discovers love and Zuko faces new challenges.
Original airdate: November 4, 2005
Written by: Elizabeth Welch Ehasz
Directed by: Dave Filoni
Having reached the northern edge of the Earth Kingdom, the Gaang find themselves near one of the other air temples. The inhabitants they discover there turn out not to be airbenders, however, and the Fire Nation is already in the area.
118 "The Waterbending Master"
Original airdate: November 18, 2005
Written by: Michael Dante DiMartino
Directed by: Giancarlo Volpe
After many months (both for the characters and for those who watched the season as it first aired), Aang and Katara's finally reach the North Pole in their quest for a waterbending teacher. Meanwhile, Sokka discovers love and Zuko faces new challenges.
BKatastrophe
Member
The Waterbending Master is dope. I couldn't care less about The Northern Air Temple, even if it does have important world-building and character introductions.
The Northern Air Temple
Another episode I deem underrated. It really does have it all. Memorable characters of the week, some great scenes of wonder (Teo and Aangs flight against each other at the beginning is super fun), and some really fantastic character interactions. Sokka this entire episode doesnt miss a single beat, which is great. Katara is a bit underused though, but thats fine. The Machinists hand joke is one of the best moments of the episode too. One of the few issues with the episode really is that at some points, the science is a bit too over-explained to get to kids at home. Its okay though because its all build-up to a truly astounding end fight, with dive-bombing and the appearance of the war-balloon. The ominous cliffhanger is fantastic, and
All in all, a pretty good episode.
The Waterbending Master
We have reached the endgame of Book 1! I always consider this episode to really be part 1 of a three-part finale, as the show accomplishes what is considered throughout the whole season as the goal for Aang and Katara: they now have a waterbending master! Sure, it was a bit harder than expected for Katara, but one really well-choreographed fight later and she won Pakku over. Thats oversimplifying things, but this episode is packed with events. Sokka got his first full-on kiss with Yue, and Yues voice actress is so underrated. Shes barely in the show, but she is perfectly evocative in her role. Zuko and Irohs plot in this episode is absolutely perfect, and the direction when Zuko discovers the pirates plan is some of the best show has had up to this point. The ending with Iroh talking to Zuko in disguise is a great exchange too. Zhao also shows his hand finally, and he truly sets up the fantastic finale thats to come.
Another episode I deem underrated. It really does have it all. Memorable characters of the week, some great scenes of wonder (Teo and Aangs flight against each other at the beginning is super fun), and some really fantastic character interactions. Sokka this entire episode doesnt miss a single beat, which is great. Katara is a bit underused though, but thats fine. The Machinists hand joke is one of the best moments of the episode too. One of the few issues with the episode really is that at some points, the science is a bit too over-explained to get to kids at home. Its okay though because its all build-up to a truly astounding end fight, with dive-bombing and the appearance of the war-balloon. The ominous cliffhanger is fantastic, and
although it takes a while to see the true consequences, itll definitely be worth it.
The Waterbending Master
We have reached the endgame of Book 1! I always consider this episode to really be part 1 of a three-part finale, as the show accomplishes what is considered throughout the whole season as the goal for Aang and Katara: they now have a waterbending master! Sure, it was a bit harder than expected for Katara, but one really well-choreographed fight later and she won Pakku over. Thats oversimplifying things, but this episode is packed with events. Sokka got his first full-on kiss with Yue, and Yues voice actress is so underrated. Shes barely in the show, but she is perfectly evocative in her role. Zuko and Irohs plot in this episode is absolutely perfect, and the direction when Zuko discovers the pirates plan is some of the best show has had up to this point. The ending with Iroh talking to Zuko in disguise is a great exchange too. Zhao also shows his hand finally, and he truly sets up the fantastic finale thats to come.
Episode 12: The Storm
Just the episode we needed after that last episode. Tragic backstories abound. It does a great job in humanizing zuko and showing what drives him. After this episode you really start to sympathize with Zuko and understand why he's so obsessive about capturing the avatar. Even more so after the next episode. Aang's story is also just as tragic.
Someone's looking a tad too keen at Zuko's imminent burning. Quite sad how Iroh is the only one there who cares about whats happening to Zuko.
Episode 13: The Blue Spirit
Such a great episode. Everything is on point in this episode from the music, action, humour and story. The whole escape is perfectly done. Love the fight choreography and the music during it.
The Yuyan Archers are also pretty badass and to think this is their only appearance in the show.
One of my favourite moments in the escape.
Episode 14: The Fortuneteller
Aunt Wu is wrong!
Decent funny and cute episode. I do love the gag about how Aang is more worried about if there's a girl in his destiny rather than hearing about that awesome good vs evil conflict. Sokka trying to give common sense to the villagers never stops being funny.
"Can your science explain why it rains?"
"Yes! Yes, it can!"
Just the episode we needed after that last episode. Tragic backstories abound. It does a great job in humanizing zuko and showing what drives him. After this episode you really start to sympathize with Zuko and understand why he's so obsessive about capturing the avatar. Even more so after the next episode. Aang's story is also just as tragic.
Someone's looking a tad too keen at Zuko's imminent burning. Quite sad how Iroh is the only one there who cares about whats happening to Zuko.
Episode 13: The Blue Spirit
Such a great episode. Everything is on point in this episode from the music, action, humour and story. The whole escape is perfectly done. Love the fight choreography and the music during it.
The Yuyan Archers are also pretty badass and to think this is their only appearance in the show.
One of my favourite moments in the escape.
Episode 14: The Fortuneteller
Aunt Wu is wrong!
Decent funny and cute episode. I do love the gag about how Aang is more worried about if there's a girl in his destiny rather than hearing about that awesome good vs evil conflict. Sokka trying to give common sense to the villagers never stops being funny.
"Can your science explain why it rains?"
"Yes! Yes, it can!"
JadedWriter
Member
The Great Divide:
Why can't this earth bender bend with his feet as well? Dude must be the worst bender in the franchise. Ming Hua is laughing at this fool. Interesting how the two different perspectives get two different art styles. The one for eh Gong Jins looks a lot cleaner meanwhile the Zhangs has a rougher art style. Aang really seems to think he's always right just because he's the avatar. Aang solves a giant 100 year conflict by telling one big ass lie. I know those two weren't going to agree because they seem to be allusions to Israel and Palestine, but what kind of message was that?
The Storm:
This episode shows why I think Avatar is just as much Zuko's show as it is Aang's. It provides backstory for the two main antagonists. Aang likes being the center of attention for fun times, but he wanted nothing to do with the heavy responsibility of being the avatar. Zuko's honor code and actual respect for soldiers got him fucked up bad. Monk Gyatso is a true bro. You know I have a feeling that if the Air Nomads didn't separate Aang from Gyatso, he never would've left. Aang didn't like the alienation that happened to him. Under Gyatso's tutelage I think he would've learned to work his way through it. Ozai's such a shit ass dad.
The Blue Spirit:
The chase music with the archers is awesome. I love Jason Isaacs as Jiao. Zuko's going full Solid Snake with his infiltration. Zuko and Aangs team work is great. This escape sequence is too good, that wall running with the ladder that the guards did.
The Fortuneteller:
Playpus Bears are big as fuck. I have a theory that Mai gets reincarnated into Mako. Sokka is such a science guy, dude can't even beat up a duck.
Why can't this earth bender bend with his feet as well? Dude must be the worst bender in the franchise. Ming Hua is laughing at this fool. Interesting how the two different perspectives get two different art styles. The one for eh Gong Jins looks a lot cleaner meanwhile the Zhangs has a rougher art style. Aang really seems to think he's always right just because he's the avatar. Aang solves a giant 100 year conflict by telling one big ass lie. I know those two weren't going to agree because they seem to be allusions to Israel and Palestine, but what kind of message was that?
The Storm:
This episode shows why I think Avatar is just as much Zuko's show as it is Aang's. It provides backstory for the two main antagonists. Aang likes being the center of attention for fun times, but he wanted nothing to do with the heavy responsibility of being the avatar. Zuko's honor code and actual respect for soldiers got him fucked up bad. Monk Gyatso is a true bro. You know I have a feeling that if the Air Nomads didn't separate Aang from Gyatso, he never would've left. Aang didn't like the alienation that happened to him. Under Gyatso's tutelage I think he would've learned to work his way through it. Ozai's such a shit ass dad.
The Blue Spirit:
The chase music with the archers is awesome. I love Jason Isaacs as Jiao. Zuko's going full Solid Snake with his infiltration. Zuko and Aangs team work is great. This escape sequence is too good, that wall running with the ladder that the guards did.
The Fortuneteller:
Playpus Bears are big as fuck. I have a theory that Mai gets reincarnated into Mako. Sokka is such a science guy, dude can't even beat up a duck.
We're nearing the end of Book 1, but you're welcome to jump in with Book 2 or at any time! Actually, we might have to slow the schedule, because a lot of people (including myself) have fallen behind the pre-set one. Any thoughts on that from this thread's regulars or anyone else? I think at least giving us a solid week after the end of Book 1 would be beneficial to allow for catching up.
JadedWriter
Member
I only watch about 3 or 4 on Sunday, I am pretty busy, I do enjoy running through these again at least.
I've enjoyed watching the show again too, and if this thread convinced others to do the same (as well as getting the word out about the anniversary), then I'm glad I made it. I'm not sure if it's worth trying to have a structured discussion of each episode past the end of Book 1 though, since a lot of us, including me, are busy and/or on our own schedules and this thread isn't generating enough discussion to fill in the gaps between each "new" episode anyway.
Anyway, for the time being (at least through the Book 1 finale) ... one thing that I forgot to mention about The Blue Spirit that I like is Zhao's line: "we are the sons and daughters of Fire". Book 1 doesn't do as much in terms of gender equality as the later seasons do, but this is a nice early nod. Although I don't think we see any clearly female Fire Nation soldiers until
we meet the Fire Nation home army in Book 3
The Fortuneteller
This one wasn't quite as good as I remembered it being, but it's still a fairly enjoyable episode of the week. I've come to expect most fiction that deals with prophecy and fortunetelling to equivocate on whether or not it's real, but while Aunt Wu's final words to Aang sorta implies that it's bullshit, there are too many contrivances throughout the episode for it to really endorse one perspective or another. This is really just a pet peeve of mine though. Jessie Flower is great as Meng and the Volcanic eruption scene is quite impressive. Also, Aang's realization that he and Katara can bend clouds is a fun callback to his "turns out clouds are made of water" line from The Spirit World. I don't think I would have noticed this if I hadn't been watching the episodes in order and relatively close together.
Bato of the Water Tribe
This one starts off with an almost manic pace at the beginning, and while it settles down a little, it still feels far too rushed during crucial moments for the emotional arc of the episode to play out entirely satisfactorily. I think Aang stayed in character, but the whole thing is still very morality play-ish. Compared to some of the episodes we've seen so far (to say nothing of the rest of the show), this was not a very efficient use of 23 minutes. That said, they were sort of saving up for the final fight, which I will admit was pretty good. Appa kicking ass was a neat change, bad boy Iroh was funny (stealing perfume and copping feels), and June is a badass. Toothless raises an interesting point about the nuns seeming more Christian than anything else. I hadn't thought of that before but they do kinda come across that way.
The Deserter
It's okay I guess. This is one of those episodes that I haven't seen that many times so I have less to say about it. It's kinda weird how no one gives a shit about Chey; I gotta feel sorry for the guy even if he's a little annoying. The Fire festival scenes were probably the highlight for me, to be honest. There's some important groundwork laid here but the actual episode doesn't really come together as well as it could IMO.
The Siege of the North
Original airdate: December 2, 2005
Written by: John O'Bryan (Part 1), Aaron Ehasz (Part 2)
Directed by: Lauren MacMullan (Part 1), Dave Filoni (Part 2)
The Empire arrives at the rebel's hidden fortress. The Force is strong with Aang, but he is not a Jedi yet.
We'll take a break from the original schedule here to allow people to catch up and see how much interest there is in trying to continue with the structured discussion format. My feeling is that if people want to keep posting their impressions in this thread that's great, but trying to have a concrete schedule that everyone follows doesn't seem practical at this point.
Original airdate: December 2, 2005
Written by: John O'Bryan (Part 1), Aaron Ehasz (Part 2)
Directed by: Lauren MacMullan (Part 1), Dave Filoni (Part 2)
The Empire arrives at the rebel's hidden fortress. The Force is strong with Aang, but he is not a Jedi yet.
We'll take a break from the original schedule here to allow people to catch up and see how much interest there is in trying to continue with the structured discussion format. My feeling is that if people want to keep posting their impressions in this thread that's great, but trying to have a concrete schedule that everyone follows doesn't seem practical at this point.
Personally, I'm good either way. I've been keeping up with the schedule at least
The Siege of the North, Part 1
Rewatching these made me realize just how much stuff actually happens in Part 2, as Part 1 is still mostly set-up. Its good set-up though. Once again, Iroh and Zuko have the best moment of the episode, when Iroh first mentions the death of his son, but theres plenty of other good stuff too. This is another episode when everything Sokka does should get mentioned, including his fight with Hahn and his interactions with Yue at the beginning of the episode. He is truly Avatars MVP. Zhao has a few good moments gloating, and Iroh shows once again his great side in this conversation. Zukos own personal siege of the North is pretty neat too, as it shows just how much effort he will put into finding the Avatar. The final fight between Zuko and Katara is neat, even though it mostly serves as a way for Katara to show off her newly trained stuff. Its a great first part to a classic finale.
The Siege of the North, Part 2
So great. I cant even begin to list all the great stuff in this episode, but Ill try anyway. Zukos monologue to Aang about Azula and Ozai is one of the best in the shows history. All the scenes in the Spirit World are great, since we rarely spend time in there. Koh is utterly terrifying in the best way. Zhao backhanding Hahn is still hilarious. Aang saving Zuko after his curb-stomp battle is a great character moment, and one needed for the episodes outstanding climax. The third act is ridiculously, over-the-top, good. Iroh confronting Zhao. Zhaos killing of the moon spirit. Koizilla. Yues sacrifice. Zuko and Zhaos fight ending with Zhao refusing Zukos help. The final scene for both the Gaang and Iroh and Zuko. The cliffhanger with Ozai and Azula. This is one of the best season finales ever period. Season 1 always leaves a great taste in my mouth because of it.
The Siege of the North, Part 1
Rewatching these made me realize just how much stuff actually happens in Part 2, as Part 1 is still mostly set-up. Its good set-up though. Once again, Iroh and Zuko have the best moment of the episode, when Iroh first mentions the death of his son, but theres plenty of other good stuff too. This is another episode when everything Sokka does should get mentioned, including his fight with Hahn and his interactions with Yue at the beginning of the episode. He is truly Avatars MVP. Zhao has a few good moments gloating, and Iroh shows once again his great side in this conversation. Zukos own personal siege of the North is pretty neat too, as it shows just how much effort he will put into finding the Avatar. The final fight between Zuko and Katara is neat, even though it mostly serves as a way for Katara to show off her newly trained stuff. Its a great first part to a classic finale.
The Siege of the North, Part 2
So great. I cant even begin to list all the great stuff in this episode, but Ill try anyway. Zukos monologue to Aang about Azula and Ozai is one of the best in the shows history. All the scenes in the Spirit World are great, since we rarely spend time in there. Koh is utterly terrifying in the best way. Zhao backhanding Hahn is still hilarious. Aang saving Zuko after his curb-stomp battle is a great character moment, and one needed for the episodes outstanding climax. The third act is ridiculously, over-the-top, good. Iroh confronting Zhao. Zhaos killing of the moon spirit. Koizilla. Yues sacrifice. Zuko and Zhaos fight ending with Zhao refusing Zukos help. The final scene for both the Gaang and Iroh and Zuko. The cliffhanger with Ozai and Azula. This is one of the best season finales ever period. Season 1 always leaves a great taste in my mouth because of it.
The Hermit
Member
Just posting here to say I just finished the first season for the first time, and yeah, the hype is really real.
Going to watch season 2 and 3 now. This show is amazing.
The uncle
EDIT: I am skipping almost all the thread avoiding spoilers, but coincidentally the one just right above me is from the chapters I just watched.
I agree Sokka is THE man! And I have yet to see a character as complex as Zuko, the show is so good that makes me root for the "bad guy".
Going to watch season 2 and 3 now. This show is amazing.
EDIT: I am skipping almost all the thread avoiding spoilers, but coincidentally the one just right above me is from the chapters I just watched.
I agree Sokka is THE man! And I have yet to see a character as complex as Zuko, the show is so good that makes me root for the "bad guy".
BKatastrophe
Member
That's because that's where this thread is at right now. It's a re-watch thread. You can watch along with the rest if you want to. Any spoilers from future episodes should, in fact, be spoiler-tagged in case.Just posting here to say I just finished the first season for the first time, and yeah, the hype is really real.
Going to watch season 2 and 3 now. This show is amazing.
The uncle
EDIT: I am skipping almost all the thread avoiding spoilers, but coincidentally the one just right above me is from the chapters I just watched.
I agree Sokka is THE man! And I have yet to see a character as complex as Zuko, the show is so good that makes me root for the "bad guy".
Episode 15: Bato Of The Water Tribe
Decent enough episode.
The best thing in the episode though is the fantastic fight sequence towards the end of the episode. Lots of nice fight choreography and it does a good job yet again in showing the different fighting styles between Aang and Zuko. Nice to also see Appa get in on the action. June and her beast makes for a very entertaining new addition for this episode. Pretty neat to also see her beat Ryu in an arm wrestle for some reason ha.
Well, if it isnt my new friends, Angry Boy and Uncle Lazy.
Iroh being smitten over her is quite amusing to watch. Aangs plot was a bit too much moral of the week for me. Though it's understandable what he does.
Episode 16: The Deserter
Solid episode.
As others have said in here, quite the dumb decision from Aang at the start. Did make for a pretty display though. Appa trying to hide behind the bush with Momo is pretty adorable. It also nicely
Episode 17: The Northern Air Temple
Pretty decent episode. I really feel for Aang in this, his link to the past being destroyed like that for a bathhouse. Good thing the new people living there are so nice though ha. The Mechanist is an
The fight for the air temple is pretty good as expected from the show now. Though you have to think there would be some serious injuries or even deaths from what they showed during the fight. Then again the people of the avatar world seem to be made of sturdy stuff.
Yeah a week to catch up sounds good. Hopefully more people drop in once we start hitting some of the best stuff of the show during Book 2.
Decent enough episode.
The best thing in the episode though is the fantastic fight sequence towards the end of the episode. Lots of nice fight choreography and it does a good job yet again in showing the different fighting styles between Aang and Zuko. Nice to also see Appa get in on the action. June and her beast makes for a very entertaining new addition for this episode. Pretty neat to also see her beat Ryu in an arm wrestle for some reason ha.
Well, if it isnt my new friends, Angry Boy and Uncle Lazy.
Iroh being smitten over her is quite amusing to watch. Aangs plot was a bit too much moral of the week for me. Though it's understandable what he does.
Episode 16: The Deserter
Solid episode.
As others have said in here, quite the dumb decision from Aang at the start. Did make for a pretty display though. Appa trying to hide behind the bush with Momo is pretty adorable. It also nicely
sets up Aang's future struggles with firebending.
Episode 17: The Northern Air Temple
Pretty decent episode. I really feel for Aang in this, his link to the past being destroyed like that for a bathhouse. Good thing the new people living there are so nice though ha. The Mechanist is an
interesting character as when you think about it, he ends up having a much bigger impact on the show than you would think. His inventions such as the tanks and Hot air balloon will have quite a big impact on how the fire nation fights it's wars. Which that the ominous ending at the end nicely hints at.
Yeah a week to catch up sounds good. Hopefully more people drop in once we start hitting some of the best stuff of the show during Book 2.
The Siege of the North
This finale is very well set up with a bunch of different plot stands converging at once. A lot of cool mythology is featured in this episode, which is another strong suit of the show. There's quite the display of action and very fine animation featured throughout, which is about what you'd expect from a finale. The foreboding soot in particular was a nice touch, and the picture above is a favorite of mine.
As far as the plotting, I thought the Yue/Sokka side plot was rushed and simultaneously lethargic. I don't know how many times we needed to hear "I can't do this, Sokka!" But her moon spirit backstory was cool so I didn't mind the character as much. As an added bonus, what occurs to her in the episode leads to a halfway decent gag at the tail end of book 3. I could have done without the heavily abbreviated Aladdin romance, but beside that little hiccup, the episode's pacing was a boon.
"Or maybe they'll unleash a super cool spirit attack!" Remind me to ask Aang about some lotto numbers.
Zuko delivers some slightly clunky exposition on Azula to herald her proper reveal at the end of the episode. It's functional but breh, I don't think a spirit-tripping unconscious dude cares about your crazy ass sister.
Iroh turns the corner in the midst of the finale's occurences. He was "goofy ol' uncle Iroh with a dark secret or two" for most of the season, but the moment Zhao brings up slaying the spirits, he gets intense for the remainder of the finale and slots into wise badass mode for the rest of the series. His "tenfold" line was delivered perfectly.
The music when Zhao snatched up the moon spirit sounded like something straight out of The Shining, with the visual to match.
What an episode indeed. Very strong lead in to book 2.
This finale is very well set up with a bunch of different plot stands converging at once. A lot of cool mythology is featured in this episode, which is another strong suit of the show. There's quite the display of action and very fine animation featured throughout, which is about what you'd expect from a finale. The foreboding soot in particular was a nice touch, and the picture above is a favorite of mine.
As far as the plotting, I thought the Yue/Sokka side plot was rushed and simultaneously lethargic. I don't know how many times we needed to hear "I can't do this, Sokka!" But her moon spirit backstory was cool so I didn't mind the character as much. As an added bonus, what occurs to her in the episode leads to a halfway decent gag at the tail end of book 3. I could have done without the heavily abbreviated Aladdin romance, but beside that little hiccup, the episode's pacing was a boon.
"Or maybe they'll unleash a super cool spirit attack!" Remind me to ask Aang about some lotto numbers.
Zuko delivers some slightly clunky exposition on Azula to herald her proper reveal at the end of the episode. It's functional but breh, I don't think a spirit-tripping unconscious dude cares about your crazy ass sister.
Iroh turns the corner in the midst of the finale's occurences. He was "goofy ol' uncle Iroh with a dark secret or two" for most of the season, but the moment Zhao brings up slaying the spirits, he gets intense for the remainder of the finale and slots into wise badass mode for the rest of the series. His "tenfold" line was delivered perfectly.
The music when Zhao snatched up the moon spirit sounded like something straight out of The Shining, with the visual to match.
What an episode indeed. Very strong lead in to book 2.
^ That is a fantastic image from this episode. Great choice there, Trey.
I do really admire you being able to keep on top of the schedule as consistently as you have. Hamlet's got a point that we might see more interest in this thread once we begin Book 2, but I'm still leaning towards taking a somewhat less structured approach. Though if someone else wants to make little introductory posts with screencaps and airdates I wouldn't object to that.
Feel free to post your impressions in this thread as you keep going through the show! Like BKatastrophe said, we're only just wrapping up Book 1. I agree with you about the characters; Sokka, Zuko, and Iroh are some of my favorites as well.
Anyway, I'll post some thoughts on Book 1 as a whole as well as my end-of-season episode ranking a little bit later, but for now, my thoughts on the last several episodes:
The Northern Air Temple
I liked the first two-thirds of this one more than I remembered, but the final battle is a little too contrived in favor of the good guys. Most of the fights are reasonably balanced because they aren't going up against tons of Fire Nation forces at once, but when they do, the show often struggles to make it a fair fight. My favorite large scale battle in the series is the Siege of the North, largely because it actually feels like a plausible fight between two armies (which happen to have superpowers). But as far as this episode goes, it handles the whole nature vs industry thing pretty well. It gives us some good moments with all of the main Gaang, especially Katara's flight on the glider. S'alright. These last four have been a string of decent episodes that all have moments that I really like but are brought down in my opinion but tonal missteps or the show just still trying to find its feet. But the character writing has definitely improved and the show has more of its own identity here.
The Waterbending Master
This one is really good. The Northern Water Tribe is a very impressive site and it definitely lives up to the season-long hype, especially with that early shot of all the locks and waterbenders everywhere. Aang and Zuko's storylines don't intersect and don't really parallel, unlike some of the earlier episodes, but both are excellent. Katara and Pakku is obviously the highlight of the episode. The music is good, and finally getting to see Iroh's music night is great. I love the "Four Seasons" song, which also doubles as Sokka and Yue's love theme. I think the Sokka and Yue romance works well enough as a young love story; neither of them are necessarily all that coolheaded but it makes sense given their ages and experiences. The whole thing is definitely set-up for the finale but it's well-made on basically every level and is a really enjoyable watch.
The Siege of the North
It really is the culmination of the entire first season. Not only is it an excellent battle episode in its own right, but it's got a lot of callbacks to earlier episodes. My favorite one is Iroh's final words to Zuko here: "a man needs his rest". It's actually one of the first things we hear him say in the premiere, which stood out to me when we started the rewatch a month ago, and it's a powerful line when Zuko actually listens to it this time; a testament to everything he's been through. I enjoy the spirit world portions, and I always wished we saw more of that in the show.
Zhao is really in his element in the last three episodes, and he gets a really great send-off. Hammy as ever, but he's effective here and genuinely intimidating at parts. His careless dismissal of Hahn was great.
I will say I wasn't a fan of Aang's smirking/tongue-sticking-out in the first part; it felt really out of place to the tone they were trying to establish both before and after that scene. They do introduce a lot of stuff here, and I can see why some people call out the Koizilla/Yue's sacrifice as deus ex machina. I think it's better handled than
, but I can see why it rubs people the wrong way. Obviously the show's finale is far superior to the live-action movie's version, but one thing I did like about the movie was that they showed Yue's hair turning dark again when she died. That's pretty much the only alteration that suggested M Night had even the loosest understanding of the material he was working with, but I did think it was a good one.
This is one of my favorite episodes of the whole show, and I don't want to detract from that by ending on a point of criticism. It's a powerful emotional viewing experience when you're invested in the characters, but it also displays a level of artistry and ambition that's a notch above anything in the rest of the season, even my beloved The Blue Spirit. But it also sets the stage for Book 2 very well.
Personally, I'm good either way. I've been keeping up with the schedule at least
I do really admire you being able to keep on top of the schedule as consistently as you have.
Hamlet's got a point that we might see more interest in this thread once we begin Book 2, but I'm still leaning towards taking a somewhat less structured approach. Though if someone else wants to make little introductory posts with screencaps and airdates I wouldn't object to that.Feel free to post your impressions in this thread as you keep going through the show! Like BKatastrophe said, we're only just wrapping up Book 1. I agree with you about the characters; Sokka, Zuko, and Iroh are some of my favorites as well.
Anyway, I'll post some thoughts on Book 1 as a whole as well as my end-of-season episode ranking a little bit later, but for now, my thoughts on the last several episodes:
The Northern Air Temple
I liked the first two-thirds of this one more than I remembered, but the final battle is a little too contrived in favor of the good guys. Most of the fights are reasonably balanced because they aren't going up against tons of Fire Nation forces at once, but when they do, the show often struggles to make it a fair fight. My favorite large scale battle in the series is the Siege of the North, largely because it actually feels like a plausible fight between two armies (which happen to have superpowers). But as far as this episode goes, it handles the whole nature vs industry thing pretty well. It gives us some good moments with all of the main Gaang, especially Katara's flight on the glider. S'alright. These last four have been a string of decent episodes that all have moments that I really like but are brought down in my opinion but tonal missteps or the show just still trying to find its feet. But the character writing has definitely improved and the show has more of its own identity here.
The Waterbending Master
This one is really good. The Northern Water Tribe is a very impressive site and it definitely lives up to the season-long hype, especially with that early shot of all the locks and waterbenders everywhere. Aang and Zuko's storylines don't intersect and don't really parallel, unlike some of the earlier episodes, but both are excellent. Katara and Pakku is obviously the highlight of the episode. The music is good, and finally getting to see Iroh's music night is great. I love the "Four Seasons" song, which also doubles as Sokka and Yue's love theme. I think the Sokka and Yue romance works well enough as a young love story; neither of them are necessarily all that coolheaded but it makes sense given their ages and experiences. The whole thing is definitely set-up for the finale but it's well-made on basically every level and is a really enjoyable watch.
The Siege of the North
It really is the culmination of the entire first season. Not only is it an excellent battle episode in its own right, but it's got a lot of callbacks to earlier episodes. My favorite one is Iroh's final words to Zuko here: "a man needs his rest". It's actually one of the first things we hear him say in the premiere, which stood out to me when we started the rewatch a month ago, and it's a powerful line when Zuko actually listens to it this time; a testament to everything he's been through. I enjoy the spirit world portions, and I always wished we saw more of that in the show.
Great as the next two seasons are, they didn't have as much SW stuff, and the lack of payoff to Koh's "we'll meet again" remains a (quite minor) quibble of mine today.
Zhao is really in his element in the last three episodes, and he gets a really great send-off. Hammy as ever, but he's effective here and genuinely intimidating at parts. His careless dismissal of Hahn was great.
I always liked that the show had the balls to depict an actual villain death without even lip service to the idea that he surprised, and in Book 1 of all places, so I was really disappointed in TLOK when they backtracked on that and showed Zhao alive in the spirit world, even though they also established that people could die in the spirit world.
the Lion Turtle in Book 3
This is one of my favorite episodes of the whole show, and I don't want to detract from that by ending on a point of criticism. It's a powerful emotional viewing experience when you're invested in the characters, but it also displays a level of artistry and ambition that's a notch above anything in the rest of the season, even my beloved The Blue Spirit. But it also sets the stage for Book 2 very well.
BKatastrophe
Member
People always diss on Zhao, but that boy killed the Moon.
Just saying. He is one of the most successful villains in the Avatarverse.
Just saying. He is one of the most successful villains in the Avatarverse.
Zhao is a buster. He was chumped all throughout the season by both the avatar and Zuko. Even when he "wins," he really loses. He kills the moon spirit and its revived fifteen minutes later as he flees like a coward. Then he get his ass whipped by Zuko in a fair fight. Then he gets snatched up by Aang's spirit water,
.
Wicked sideburns though.
You'd think the area that houses the power source for all waterbending, as well as a critical component of the natural order, would be better guarded.
condemned to roaming around the home for infinite losers for all eternity
Wicked sideburns though.
You'd think the area that houses the power source for all waterbending, as well as a critical component of the natural order, would be better guarded.
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