From the South Pole Iceberg to the Republic City Portal: A Critical Study of the Avatar Franchise: Part Seven

ATLA Book One: Water

Chapter Eight: Winter Solstice Part Two: Avatar Roku

In which Momo catches a fish, Sokka tries to fly, and Iroh strokes his beard thoughtfully.

“Avatar Roku” is the second part of the loosely connected “Winter Solstice” two-parter, and is noticeably more arc intensive than “The Spirit World”. It gives big roles for Zhao and Zuko, with Zhao appearing for the first time since “The Southern Air Temple”. Furthermore, this is the first episode Zhao is directly presented as an antagonist to the Gaang, and the first time Zuko is presented in the same way since “The Avatar Returns”. It is also, as the title suggests, the audience’s introduction to Roku.

Meeting Roku is, of course, a crucial stage in Aang’s hero’s journey, as he is introduced to his mentor figure. Roku has been flitting around the edges of the show since the beginning, appearing with his face in shadow in the title sequence as Katara mentions the disappearance of the Avatar, and first being named when Aang sees his statue. Thus far, Roku has largely been defined by the mystery surrounding his character: note how the title sequence associates him with the disappearance of the Avatar even though Aang was the Avatar who vanished from the world for one hundred years, and the curious fact that, even after this episode, at this point in the show we arguably know more about Kyoshi’s lifetime as the Avatar than we do about Roku’s. Instead fleshing out Roku as character, which comes later on in the show, the episode introduces him as both a mentor and a character who can change the shape of the series.

Roku changes the shape of the series in two major ways over the course of the episode. Firstly, his warning gives the show a definite endpoint in the form of Sozin’s comet, providing a timeframe within which Aang must learn all four elements in order to become a fully-fledged Avatar. Roku’s brief appearance in Avatar state also gives an idea of where Aang’s journey is going to end, as for the first time we see what a fully-fledged Avatar with mastery over the Avatar state and all four elements looks like. The show has undeniably been changed by these things: the journey so far has been relatively relaxed and undefined so far, but Roku’s introduction offers a clear endpoint for Aang’s journey and a ticking clock to inject a sense of urgency into proceedings. Ultimately, Roku’s introduction changes the shape of the series because he is a character who makes its ending inevitable.

The episode also offers a major change to the series through the nuance it adds to the conflict of the hundred year war. This nuance comes from the introduction of good Fire Nation Characters in Roku and Shyu: for the first time, we are presented with Fire Nation characters who are unquestionably on the same side as our heroes, moving the series away from a model where one nation is straightforwardly the evil nation, instead having good and bad people on all sides of the war. Both Shyu and Roku serve different purposes in introducing good Fire Nation characters. Roku represents a time before the war, when the Fire Nation was a good and vibrant culture, before falling from grace after his time, a portrayal of the Fire Nation made clearer in “The Avatar and the Fire Lord”. By contrast, Shyu shows the Fire Nation still has ordinary people who can make it redeemable in its present, and bring it back to the place in the world it occupied in Roku’s time, a fact that is crucial to the resolution of the series.

Zuko and Iroh fit strangely into this shifting image of the Fire Nation. It is increasingly apparent both are on redemption arcs, but as this episode shows, they are still both antagonists to the Gaang. After Zuko’s potential as a character worth rooting for was explored when he and Iroh faced off against Zhao and Earth kingdom soldiers, here he is introduced in a straightforwardly antagonistic role, bullying innocent bystanders into telling him where he can find Aang. This introduction serves as a reminder that in order to properly start his redemption arc, Zuko needs to be separated from the Gaang, as at the moment, whenever his storyline comes into contact with theirs, he becomes an antagonist. Once again, however, there is an intriguing parallel between Zuko and Aang, as heading into Fire Nation territory is a dangerous move for both characters: Zhao even compares the value of capturing the two of them, and is once again just as much of a threat to Zuko as he is to Aang. Zhao’s presence is once again crucial to Zuko’s redemption arc, as it allows Zuko to be a threat to Aang while still being separated from the true villains of the show.

Iroh’s actions in this episode are a classic example of the show subtly hiding his redemption arc in plain sight, which is the way his character is handled throughout the course of the first book. He hasn’t once attacked the Gaang so far in the show, and during the chase through the blockade he repeatedly tries to stop Zuko from trying to capture or attack Aang. However, because this advice is hidden behind his attempts to keep Zuko safe (which is, in fairness, Iroh’s main priority), it is still far from explicit that he has abandoned the Fire Nation’s cause, even though he hasn’t truly been working for the Fire Lord at any point in the show.

Ultimately, while Iroh and Zuko don’t yet join Roku and Shyu on the list of Fire Nation characters fighting for the side of good, their presence is incredibly useful in an episode that aims to add nuance to the portrayal of the Fire Nation. The episode does much to widen the spectrum of morality of Fire Nation characters: some are straightforwardly evil like Zhao, but others, like Roku and Shyu, are genuinely on the side of good. Zuko and Iroh both currently occupy spaces somewhere in the middle of that spectrum, with both obviously not being evil, but both having been more of a threat to the Gaang than the Fire Nation so far in the show.

Also: oh yeah, Zhao’s in this episode. And as is so often the case in this season, there really is very little that is interesting that I can say about his characterisation: this is a problem that will be explored in a later post. For now, it is worth noting that his presence does signal a more arc-heavy episode that will have more of an effect on the overall plot the series. Otherwise, his first encounter with Aang and the Gaang is relatively insignificant.

The Gaang, meanwhile, get some nice development, as Katara and Sokka show their support for Aang by following him into the fire nation. This support is crucial to Aang meeting Roku, as a combination of ingenuity from Sokka and Katara allows Aang to enter Roku’s room and speak to his mentor. This little thread highlights one of the central themes of the series: the need to accept help from the people who love us. Aang is always better off when he accepts that his friends have his back.

Ultimately, the episode is not clearly about anything in the way “The Warriors of Kyoshi” is about gender roles, “Imprisoned” is about war and oppression, or “The Spirit World” is about the intersection of the spiritual and material, and the effect war has on the environment. Instead, the episode changes the shape of the series. It changes the viewer’s understanding of the nature of the hundred year war by adding complexity to the villainous nation, and reworks Aang’s hero’s journey, giving it a sense of urgency through Sozin’s comet, and an endpoint in the form of Roku acting as a fully-fledged Avatar. The show goes on, but the rules for how it will operate going forward have been made much clearer.

End of Part Seven.

From the South Pole Iceberg to the Republic City Portal: A Critical Study of the Avatar Franchise: Part Six

ATLA Book One:Water

Chapter Seven: Winter Solstice Part One: The Spirit World

In which Katara hangs out with Appa, Sokka needs the Bathroom, and Iroh takes his clothes off.

“The Spirit World” is, of course, the first part of the oddly shaped “Winter Solstice” two parter. This storyline is probably the least interconnected of any multi-part Avatar story, hence my choosing to divide the parts into a post for each episode, in contrast to my essay on “The Boy in the Iceberg”/ “The Avatar Returns”, two episodes that are not technically a two-parter, but nonetheless feel like part of the same story in a way these episodes do not. These episodes are linked by nothing other than the Titular solstice, with the themes and narrative purposes of the two episodes differing wildly.

“The Spirit World” is also the fourth “Gaang visits a village” episode in a row, if we bend the definition of that kind of episode to include “Imprisoned” even though only the first few minutes of that episode were spent around Haru’s village. I bring this up because these episodes tend to be the filler-like ATLA episodes in nature, yet they still all introduce characters and places that will be revisited over the course of the show, even if not all of these characters are crucial to the show’s endgame, namely Aang learning to master all four elements to become a fully-fledged Avatar and defeat the Fire Lord. For example Bumi could be left out of the show without too much damage to the overall narrative, but his reappearances inform crucial themes in Aang’s hero’s journey, and allow for a cute pay off to the white Lotus subplot. Similarly, the spirit world isn’t necessary for the ultimate ending of the series, but it allows a completely different perspective on the hundred year war, and the themes and ideas of the narrative. The time spent fleshing out the world in these apparent filler episodes is crucial to the shape and nature of ATLA. And this fact tells us something very important about the nature of ATLA: it’s a show that’s interesting because of the journey, not the destination.

However, the episode is a little more arc intensive than the preceding three stories, returning to the “Gaang A plot/ Zuko sub plot” structure. The sub plot about Iroh’s capture allows a chance to flesh out Iroh’s backstory, as we learn about his siege of Ba Sing Se, highlighting the fact that Iroh, like Zuko, is also on a redemption arc, although Iroh understands the terms of his own redemption far better than Zuko: he acknowledges his defeat at Ba Sing Se without shame, seemingly now knowing the siege was not for a worthy cause. Unlike Zuko, Iroh knows that the Fire Nation cannot restore his honour, which is something he must do for himself. Zuko, by contrast, is still tempted by an apparent chance to chase after Aang, although in a crucial turning point for his character, he chooses to save his uncle instead. This episode also furthers the repositioning of Zuko’s character since he was framed as an antagonist in the first episode: here, he and Iroh are pitted against Earth kingdom soldiers, but the conflict is framed in a way that frames them as the characters the audience should hope will win. Zuko is still slowly being shifted along the path of a redemption arc, with a little help from his uncle.

And there are parallels between the Gaang’s storyline and Zuko and Iroh’s plot: just as Zuko worries for Iroh, we see Katara worry for Sokka and Aang as she waits for them to return from the spirit world. The episode does a lot to increase the bonds between the Gaang, as Katara gives Aang hope and consolation in form of the Acorn, and Sokka goes to help Aang when he first confronts Hei Bei.

Once again, we return to the theme of damage caused by the Fire Nation’s war on the rest of the world, as we open the episode with the Gaang discovering Hei Bai’s burned-down forest. To resolve this situation, Aang has to begin to understand his role as a spiritual leader as well as the boy who must master all four elements. And while the spiritual side of being the Avatar comes, as is often pointed out, more naturally to him than his successor, it still doesn’t come easily to him: he knows nothing about the spirit world, or how his role as bridge between the two worlds works, and only meditates in there by fluke. In fact, he still needs the help of being in the Spirit Oasis to meditate into the Spirit world at the end of the season. While he’s remembered as the Avatar who is naturally in touch with his spiritual side, this episode makes it clear Aang has a lot of spiritual growth to go through on his own hero’s journey.

On the subject of spirits, this episode starts the depiction of them that will run throughout the series: it is quite clear they operate on a different morality to humans. When responding to the destruction of the forest, Hei Bai doesn’t discriminate between different groups of humans, attacking an Earth Kingdom village for damage done by Fire Nation troops: this is a story about nature screaming out in rage at the damage humanity has dealt it. In this way, “The Spirit World” foreshadows the suspicion the Spirits have towards all humanity, setting up Wan Shi Tong, a character who is clearly not evil, but is always pitted against our heroes because he has different wants and values to any human character in the show. Throughout this episode, there is a divide not between the spiritual and the fire nation, but between spirits and humanity, between nature and war.   

Aang saves the day by understanding the nature of the situation, and understanding the link between nature and spirits. Instead of by fighting Hei Bai or trying to let spiritual communication come naturally to him, he understands the cause of Hei Bai’s hurt, and starts to understand the wants and desires of the Spirits, and to empathise with Hei Bai’s pain due to his own sorrow at the destruction of the forest. It is this understanding, and not his mastery of spiritual powers, that make Aang a naturally spiritual character. Our hero is growing quickly.

End of Part Six.

From the South Pole Iceberg to the Republic City Portal: A Critical Study of the Avatar Franchise: Part Five

ATLA Book One:Water

Chapter Six: Imprisoned

In which Sokka gathers some nuts, Aang plays with a butterfly, and Haru appears without a moustache.

This is the show’s first big Katara-centric episode, and once again there are no main antagonists (although a delightful turn from George Takei, who is given some great lines) save for Zuko’s wordless cameo at the end. This speaks to the nature of the show in these early episodes: at this point in the show, the presence of Zuko or Zhao would necessitate an Aang-centric episode. But instead we get a story that pushes Katara’s hero’s journey forward, as she gets to be the protagonist of an episode instead of being the story’s narrator. And the episode focuses on the trait foregrounded in her credits narration for the opening episode: her hope, which this episode pits against the damage of the hundred year war.

The episode gains this this focus through her connection to Haru, a link first made through their shared identities as benders. Katara is keen to meet Haru after to meet Haru because he’s an earthbender, just as she was thrilled to discover Aang is an airbender: having grown up without knowing any other waterbenders, she is thrilled to meet any other people who can, on some level, understand her gift. Throughout the episode, emphasis is repeatedly placed on the importance of bending to a bender’s identity, with this importance being particularly marked in Katara’s characterisation.

Katara’s experience as a bender has parallels to those of both Aang and Haru: like Aang, she is the last bender from her culture, though Aang grew up without benders only to have that culture torn from him, whereas Katara was always the only waterbender in her tribe after all the others were captured and imprisoned by the fire nation. And like Haru, she struggled to learn her element, but she struggled because there was no one to teach her, whereas Haru struggled because it is taboo to learn in his fire Nation occupied village, and being an earthbender could result in his imprisonment. Aang has been left with the pressure of being the sole representative of his element’s culture and history, Haru has to practice in secret, and Katara cannot truly learn without travelling across the world. Each of these children provide an example from the Earth, Air, and Water Nations of the effect the Fire Nation’s war has had on the rest of the world: None of them are able to explore this crucial part of their identity and culture in a normal, healthy way.

Katara and Haru also connect over their lost parents, in a discussion that demonstrates how families have been torn apart by the Fire Nation’s war. Of particular interest is the moment Haru compares Katara to his father, a comparison that is fascinating in light of the contrast between Katara’s idealism and the pragmatism of Haru’s father in the prison camps. Haru’s explanation of how bending keeps him connected to his father further emphasises the importance of bending to the identity of benders, and also leads to a highlighting of Katara missing her mother. For the first time the show draws attention to Katara’s necklace, beautifully seeding a well-structured subplot that is paid off wonderfully at the end of the season.

And so Katara persuades Haru to live up to her ideals, getting him to do the right thing, and to embrace his identity as a bender, both things she is learning to do, by helping the trapped man. This results in Haru getting captured, but this spirit she inspires in Haru is crucial to the Episode’s resolution.

Aang and Sokka’s willingness to help Katara shines through in the face of Haru’s capture, as both boys agree to help her get to the rig almost without question. Sokka’s pragmatism rubs against Katara’s idealism, just as it will do to Aang in future episodes, a fact demonstrated by Aang instantly agreeing to get everyone off the rig while Sokka protests and tries to persuade Katara to run away. But both boys ultimately unwaveringly support Katara, as they will do whenever she finds a cause worth fighting for. We also see Sokka’s tactical abilities comes into use for the first time, as he comes up with the plan to use the coal and the ventilation shafts: the group interactions of the main cast are taking on a more defined shape.

And it’s just as well she has their support: the hopelessness the Fire Nation has inspired in the occupied Earth Kingdom towns is written all over the two main settings of the story. We’ve seen evidence of the damage the war has done before now in the show: the depleted Southern Water Tribe and the massacre at the Southern Air Temple are both examples of what the fire nation has done to the world over the course of the war. However, the settings in this episode provide examples of what the material damage being done to the Earth Kingdom in the show’s present. 

In the village, we see guards bleeding Haru’s mother, the owner of a small shop, dry, and we see the total compliance she engages in in the hopes that her son won’t be taken from her, and her family won’t be further torn apart. We see her hide the identity of her son, admonishing him for trying to practice the one thing that keeps him connected to his missing father, and shooing the three strangers who threaten to disturb the fragile equilibrium she is maintaining. The language she uses when discussing bending is particularly telling:

               “Earthbending is forbidden. It's caused nothing but misery for this village! He must never                    use his abilities.”

Haru’s Earthbending is not just forbidden to keep him safe from Fire nation troops, but is stigmatised as a cause of “misery” by his community. They are so scared of the Fire Nation that they have become suspicious of anything that could be used to fight back. Finally, we see an old man selling out the boy saved him, perhaps because of the stigma that has developed towards bending, perhaps because he was hoping the guards would reward, perhaps because he was being threatened. Either way, the old man becomes a prime example of a member of an invaded place scrabbling around for the favour of their invaders by ratting out good people.

But the damage of the Fire nation’s war machine is truly revealed when we head over to the rig. Katara meets Haru’s father, and he seems kind, humourous, and a natural leader – watch the other prisoners head towards him. But the man whose former fighting talk was likened to Katara’s by Haru is, judging by his promise to “speak to the guards”, on good terms with the jailors. Prisoners and former freedom fighters have been reduced to trying to keep their heads down and not make trouble, showing their oppressors reverence and fear in the hopes this behaviour will keep them safe, and help them wait out the war. When Katara makes her first rallying call for a jailbreak, informing the prisoners of the Avatar’s return, the thing she describes as her source of hope in the very first title sequence, she is met with downward glances, and an entire  prison yard carrying on with their business. Similarly, they stare blankly at the coal she gives them as a chance to break free and fight back: when they are offered a chance to take on their oppressors, they seem too scared to take it.

But Katara’s hope wins through thanks to Haru embracing the message Katara taught him earlier in the episode, accepting his identity as an earthbender, and doing the right thing by fighting back. It is telling that Haru is the person to take the coal: he is the person on the rig least affected by the warden’s oppression, having only just arrived, and Katara’s words are fresh in his ears. And Haru’s courage finally pushes his father back into action, and rebellion against the war being waged on his home, his family, and his personhood.

And so the Earthbenders break free. Katara goes up against an oppressive war machine that has driven a group of people to despairing compliance with its commands, fighting it with just her ideals, friends, and uncrushable hope. And she wins against the war machine, with her hope rubbing off on this group of hopeless prisoners and enabling them to free themselves. Katara may not be an all-powerful waterbending master yet, but she’s definitely already a hero.

End of Part Five.