#s3e3

The story about the creation of Captain Flint — as told by James, and as told by his memory of Miranda.

“you’re buck?” “no,I’m his father, eddie” “he was looking for buck” COOL. cool. yeah.

Blackadder

this is one of my least favorite s3 episodes, largely because the rotting fish and clams give me such a visceral physical reaction, but i also don't love that it ends with such a bootstrappy moral.

but there's one moment that is such a good bit of characterization between katara and sokka:

Katara: No! I will never, ever turn my back on people who need me. I'm going down to the village, and I'm going to do whatever I can. Sokka: Wait! I'm coming, too. Katara: I thought you didn't want to help. Sokka: You need me. And I will never turn my back on you.

for katara, as a 1, she can't walk away from people in need. every bone in her body would resist leaving, no matter how impractical or ineffective her help would be, for her or for them. she also doesn't always think about the consequences of her actions. she destroyed the factory because, in a vacuum, it would fix a lot of the problems the townspeople were experiencing. she didn't consider that the fire nation would hold the townspeople responsible, because she subconsciously expects everyone to do the right thing all the time. whether she realizes it or not, part of her truly believed the fire nation would simply accept the loss and go away.

sokka, on the other hand, is a 6, and as such, he's primed to be immediately skeptical of any plans. this is why his own plans to reach the fire palace allow for some delays; he assumes things will go wrong, and plans contingencies. but just like katara can't walk away from people in need, sokka can't walk away from his family. he understood that katara would not change her mind about helping them, and so he accepted that his own plans would have to change, and did everything he could to make sure that she was both safe and satisfied with the outcome. he may have been thinking of the long-term goal of defeating the fire lord, but ultimately, he would always prioritize the safety and security of his group and their mission over the well-being of an unfortunate town.