#a:tla

The Season 2 finale episode really bothered me on my first watch. I really disliked it. It worked better for me on my second watch, but there are still many things that left me puzzled.

THE GOOD

Baby Appa. The scene where Aang chooses Appa worked well, but it (and Aang and Appa's reunion in this episode) would have worked better if it had been supported by more little moments between Appa and Aang earlier in the season.

Long Feng/Aang conversation. NATLA's Long Feng recognizes he has made a huge mistake. But he is defiant. "I shoulder the burden. I do what must be done." (I absolutely love NATLA Long Feng and his actor!) Before running off, he tells Aang where Appa is, and tells Aang he should run because he is "too kind and that makes you weak," and that he will never defeat Azula. Long Feng's side of that conversation was strong. Aang's less so. Still, an interesting scene that I enjoyed.

Aang goes into the avatar state but cannot kill Azula. Turns out Long Feng was right: Aang was "too kind"! I really liked this change from the animated series. Aang's pacifism became the reason Azula was able to zap him with lightning. Thematically, this is good setup for what is to come in Season 3, so I liked this. I do wish they had included more scenes of Aang's pacifism (including being vegetarian) throughout, though. For example, after they defeated the Serpent in the Serpent's Pass, Aang says that he didn't mean to harm the serpent and learns to heal. Another very short scene or two like that may have helped this hit home.

Toph's mom. It made perfect sense that Toph's mom was the one that captured Toph instead of the Boulder and Jishen -- and via the tea that Toph spoke to Iroh earlier about too. The tea scene between mother and daughter was great.

Katara and Zuko in the catacombs. A fantastic scene with strong acting by both Kiawentiio and Dallas Liu. I loved the dialogue NATLA added for Zuko about "how hard it is for a firebender to get burned" (it's like a waterbender drowning). Such a painful, powerful detail that Zuko felt that he deserved to be burned. Kiawentiio had some great line delivery, too, with "I see someone in pain, someone who needs healing." "I don't deserve it." "You will."

Sai/Sokka in the catacombs. I actually appreciated the investment that NATLA has made into developing the relationship between Sokka and the Mechanist. We kind of got some payoff here. ("You are my greatest student.") But for me, that's all the more reason we didn't need a Sai/Amita romance (or Teo, for that matter, which Season 2 recognized by shuttling him offscreen). We had the Sokka/Sai bromance!

Azula kills all the generals. Long Feng finally got outplayed at his own game. His fear of Azula is palpable.

Catacombs fight between Azula, Aang, Zuko, and Katara. Epic! Fire whips!

Depiction of Cosmic Aang. Epic!

THE I-APPRECIATED-WHAT-THEY-WERE-DOING-BUT-NOT-SURE-THEY-PULLED-IT-OFF

Why did Zuko decide to join Azula? In the Library episode, I found it interesting that they had Zuko decide not to capture the avatar, but it made me wonder whether he would have sufficient motivation to join Azula in the season finale. I found the Azula/Zuko fight scene confusing. Azula beats Zuko and asks "how long are we going to keep playing his game?" Zuko answers, "Until one of us wins," a callback to "A Fight, Once Begun." Azula then apologizes for not being quiet the night that their mother was taken, and emphasizes that their mother told them to "stay together." (Aside: This part confused me a lot given Azula's speech in the "Parable of the Two Dragons.") Perhaps I am misinterpreting, but it seems NATLA is now making Zuko's choice to join Azula more about rejecting his father's "until one of us wins" philosophy and embracing his mother's urging that he and his sister should "stay together," and less about capturing the avatar to restore his honor? It's not entirely clear. And I'm not entirely sure this works for me -- it depends on the resolution in Season 3, I think. The jury is out on this one.

THE BAD

Aang/Appa reunion. The reunion lacked emotional heft because of the work NATLA did not put into cultivating the Aang/Appa relationship. Appa was also lost for less time by reason of Episode Count, so it did not feel as powerful.

How did Azula take over Ba Sing Se I understand why Long Feng feared Azula: he watched her zap all the generals dead. But why did he not just send the Dai Li after her? Why didn't the Dai Li themselves attack Azula? Why did the Dai Li just do Azula's bidding when Long Feng had run off? It's just not clear why NATLA Ba Sing Se rolls over and opens the gates to the Fire Nation just because Long Feng recognizes he is beat, whereas ATLA establishes that the Dai Li follow power and fear Azula.

"I'm Toph Beifong and I invented metalbending!" I loved that it was Toph's mom that captured her, and I loved that Toph's mom was the one that witnessed this. But there was zero setup for metalbending (or how it was impossible), so the scene where Toph bursts out of her metal box kind of just felt... flat. Her declaration thereafter felt even flatter.

Amita. She helps Aang hide and says, we want to help and we're ready to face the danger. She takes up precious screen time for that. And then Aang says, nah, 'tsokay, I got this one. So, why did we just waste time hearing from Amita about how she's ready to face the danger? Is this going to pay off at some point...?

After the train wreck Library episode, this one was a mixed bag. There were some scenes I really liked, but also a lot of cringe.

THE GOOD

"A fever is a fire of change." After Zuko decides not to capture the Avatar, he falls into a feverish dream while Uncle dabs his forehead. NATLA's feverish dream sequence was superb, one of my favorite parts of the episode. Zuko watches a play with the Blue Spirit, then watches his mom get dragged away again. A blue dragon and a red dragon fight over the direction of Zuko's life, and Zuko slays the red dragon. Except for the melodramatic swell of music, which I'm getting very tired of, this scene was done so well. When he wakes up, Zuko asks Uncle, "Could you still get me a job at the tea shop?"

Sokka gets the GAang into the palace. Instead of fighting their way into the palace, the GAang sneak into the palace via wine pots -- a callback to Zuko/Iroh in flower pots, and an opportunity to drop Toph's iconic "oh no, what a nightmare" line. Although not as exciting as a massive fight (which of course would have eaten up a huge budget), the scene gave Sokka a nice character moment as the "plan guy."

Long Feng! I really like NATLA's version of Long Feng. He might be my favorite part of Season 2 (again, helped along by a veteran actor). First, he rejects a deal with Azula, noting that he would "never put the security of this city at risk." Then he demonstrates that he is actually able to wield information as power as a master of whisperers. He invites General Sung's daughter to Lake Laogai to control her and undermine Aang's credibility before the Earth King. And then he uses half-truths of information collected by his spies to undermine the GAang in front of the Earth King. "They are but children after all," who "certainly do spin marvelous tales." His half-truths result in Aang losing it in front of the Earth King, and later cause the GAang to tear at each other's throats with accusations. Finally, after General Sung points out that whatever "loose hold" he has on the city is starting to slip away, you can see the wheels start turning in Long Feng's scheming head.

THE I-APPRECIATED-WHAT-THEY-WERE-DOING-BUT-NOT-SURE-THEY-PULLED-IT-OFF

Iroh asks for forgiveness from the White Lotus. This was a logical extension of earlier scenes where Iroh showed guilt about the Siege of Ba Sing Se. But it was also confusing (how did he know how to find the White Lotus?) and cheap (he asks for forgiveness for the things he ordered Jeong Jeong to do, and then, voila, that's it, he's welcomed in with open arms). Not sure this worked for me.

GAang implosion. At the end of the episode, the GAang turns on itself, with everyone accusing everyone else of keeping secrets -- helped along by Long Feng from the scene with the Earth King. We get the payoff from various Season 2 storylines colliding in team disunity, and everyone storms off, leaving Aang alone. I think I need to see Season 3 and the aftermath of this implosion to evaluate this scene.

THE BAD

Aang brings himself out of the avatar state. The moment in "The Desert" where ATLA Katara reaches out and grabs a furious and teary Aang's hand to calm him down is such a powerful one. The fact that NATLA Aang gets himself out of the avatar state takes away a core character moment for Katara and weakens the connection between Katara and Aang. Perhaps it wouldn't bother me at all if it tied into Aang's development somehow, or tied in thematically to something else they were doing with this season, but as far as I could tell, it didn't. So, why?

"Appa needs me just as much as I need him." "I can't think straight. I miss him." Cringe dialogue.

"I'm King Kuei." Cringe dialogue. What kind of king, when confronted with random kids bursting into his private gardens, just says, "I'm King Kuei"?

Hey guys! I made an A:tLA 18+ server for people who like the universe/series and want somewhere to chill and chat. This is my first server, so it's nothing too fancy, but if you're interested please join!

After being pleasantly surprised by the first few episodes of Season 2, I came across probably my least favorite episode of the series so far. There were a few good scenes, but overall, I had to force myself to finish this one (and watch it a second time to take notes). My notes on the episode literally say: "slow, ponderous, weightless, and boring."

THE GOOD

Aang finally has a scene with Appa. Remember Appa, the flying bison? Cos I barely do. I've been complaining about how Aang's lines about Appa in previous episodes felt empty -- and it's because scenes like this were missing. The dialogue itself was awkward and not well written, but I just needed Aang to have ANY sort of scene with Appa so that Appa getting stolen would have some impact.

THE INTERESTING

Zuko decides not to take Aang. I was very puzzled by this writing decision to have Zuko decide not to take Aang instead of freeing Appa. In my first watch through, it made me confused about what Zuko's motivations would later be to fight Aang in the Season 2 finale. He needed to capture the avatar to restore his honor. If he was confronted with that choice and passed up capturing the avatar, why, then, would he side with Azula in the finale to capture the avatar? On second watch, I appreciated this choice a little more, but the jury is still out because we have yet to see whether there is story cohesion going into Season 3. Jury is out.

Toph/Iroh scene. I'm not sure whether NATLA needed Toph and Iroh to interact, but the scene felt random and odd. I liked that Toph talks about how her mom used to make her this tea, but then she just randomly starts telling this tea shop stranger that she's thinking about never speaking to her family again. It felt forced. Perhaps another few lines beforehand would have made it feel more natural.

THE BAD

Iroh apologizes to Zuko. NATLA writes a new scene where Iroh, for some unexplained reason, desperately needs to apologize to Zuko for trying to turn him into the man he wanted Lu Ten to be instead of supporting Zuko in becoming the man Zuko wants to be. I understand and appreciate the theme the show was going for, but the dialogue did not land, and the timing felt random. It did not feel like a scene the show had been building to, but rather a scene that had to happen so that Zuko could make his big decision at the library.

Spirit scar. I didn't much care for it in Season 1 and I don't care for this plot device in Season 2 either. I know they had to find a way to get the GAang into the Library, which had to be in Ba Sing Se for NATLA story reasons, but it just did not make sense to me.

THE VERY BAD: EVERYTHING THAT HAPPENED AT THE LIBRARY

I nearly turned off the episode and stopped watching at this episode in my first watch through Season 2. Where it all went south was when the GAang went to the Library. So much so that I devote a special section to why I greatly disliked the scenes at the Library.

First, Aang made a big deal about not trusting Jet when Katara brought him to the Avatar villa, but then he just casually allows him to come into the Spirit Library with them. Huh?

The Library set piece itself was beautiful. But the scenes that took place within were slow, ponderous, weightless, and packed with over-the-top melodramatic musical swells.

Aang talks to Yangchen. I've read the Yangchen books, but this scene felt so weightless in the context of the show. Who even is this random airbending avatar? Why are we hearing about how she was betrayed by someone? She delivers important information about what happens if the avatar is killed in the avatar state, but it feels like a tack-on instead of being thematically tied to Aang’s aversion to using the avatar state because he does not want to harm others. And the dialogue is wooden.

Then we have Toph talking to Kyoshi. She conveniently finds a magic notebook that magically has all of the information the GAang needs about the "orbital cycle" and the Day of Black Sun. Why can Toph even talk to an avatar? (Did Toph suddenly become an avatar? Oh, no, this stuff just happens near the avatar?) The dialogue did not work at all. ("What do you want from the avatar? A new family." Wow.) It also feels like this moment of discovery related to the Day of Black Sun should have gone to Sokka, thematically.

Then we have Katara talking to Jet. Jet is sad about what happened to the Duke and Pipsqueak, crying that they were just playing at war. Who are The Duke and Pipsqueak? I've seen ATLA probably a hundred times, so of course I know, but in the context of the NATLA show, are NATLA-only viewers supposed to remember who these random bit characters were, or care that they died, or care that Jet is sad that they died? Oh, just to make clear we're supposed to care, the music swells with sentimental music.

I liked that Professor Zei betrays the GAang and gets eaten by the Owl Spirit. Did not see that one coming. Jet then sacrifices himself so that the GAang can escape the library. The sacrifice did not really land, though, because it felt unearned.

Finally, Appa gets captured and Aang goes into the avatar state. This powerful, emotional scene from the animated series feels hollow and unearned in NATLA because, again, the two had barely interacted.

Wow, I am very behind on the news. Been busy with work, life, kids, old people responsibilities, etc. Apparently there is an animated movie about the Adult GAng coming out this month! I have not seen anything except a trailer, but I am cautiously excited.

Also, apparently they are making a new animated series that follows the avatar after Korra, called Seven Havens? That one I am more worried about, but, well, count me in for any avatar content.