One episode that has an emotional subtlety that's almost unheard of in animation, and isn't mentioned all too often, is the one where Katara and Zuko hunt down the man who killed Sokka and Katara's mother. It's shot in muted, dark colours, and Katara is merciless in seeking him out. In the end she chooses not to kill him, not out of forgiveness as such, but because he's became such a pathetic, withered excuse of a man that she can't bring herself to. The animation of that sequence in the rain is as impressive as almost anything I've ever seen.
The Southern Raiders is in my Top 5 episodes list. It's not just because it's shockingly dark (off-screen murder, attempted murder, violation of another being, vengeance quest), but it's done in a way that completely jives with how these characters work.
- Zuko would absolutely enable Katara's darker tendencies, with his need to be accepted and forgiven.
- Katara would absolutely resort to anything to track down the person who destroyed her childhood.
- Aang would naturally object to the path that Katara embarks on, but would trust her to pull back.
- Katara would never be able to do what Aang does and forgive those who took away her family, but would have the capacity to forgive Zuko.
- Zuko would totally call Aang out on his peaceful, non-killing stance, having confronted his genocidal father.
The villain being a pathetic shell of a man was such a great subversion of what one would envision the killer to be. That scene at the end - the rain, the music, the composition - damn. I can still remember it after all these years.
