ATLA Book One: Water
Chapter Thirteen: The Blue Spirit
In which a cat has its
dinner, Aang catches some frogs, and Momo plays fetch.
There are two strands to this story that I simply can’t tie
in to my analysis of the episode, so I’m going to address them up front, and
then move into the essay proper. The first strand is the scene where Aang
visits the herbalist and her cat, and the second is the sub plot where an
increasingly sick Katara tries to get Momo to fetch Water for her and Sokka.
While it’s not something that ties in neatly to the rest of
the episode, both threads introduce a minor but crucial theme for the series,
and one that is particularly explored in Book Two: that of animal agency
(recommended reading for the topic: these essays by Korrastorian – she talks
about it better than I ever could). In Momo’s plot thread, we literally see the
world through his eyes, seeing that he is unable to understand Katara: her
words are gibberish to him. While he tries, he is unable to help her.
Similarly, the Cat’s need for dinner slows Aang’s search for a cure for his friends:
both plot threads show that Animals, like the Spirits depicted in “The Spirit
World”, have different needs and perceptions of the world to humans, and these
needs often get in the way of human desire.
Still, onto the main analysis of this essay.
While it lacks the thematic coherence of “The Storm”, “The
Blue Spirit” does a good job of carrying forward the momentum built up by its
predecessor. There is a fair argument to be made that this is the second best
episode we’ve had so far. It achieves this strength with further glimpses into
the machinations of the Fire Nation, and by further exploring the connection
between Aang and Zuko.
The episode opens with Zhao arguing with Commander Shinhu.
Zhao remains a stubbornly and frustratingly uninteresting villain, for reasons
I will try to unpack in his next appearance in “The Deserter”, but fortunately,
this sequence does use him, and Shinhu, to an interesting effect. We’ve already
looked at the show’s humanising of the Fire Nation, an effect previously
achieved by introducing us to sympathetic Fire Nation characters, innocent
civilians and characters on redemption arcs. Here, the Fire Nation is humanised
in a different way, as we are presented with two men the audience has little
reason to care about, and are undoubtedly villians, with no chance of
redemption. But they bicker over the use of work resources, engage in power
plays, and gloat about promotions: in this scene, we are given our first
glimpse of the human mundanity of evil, an idea that will be taken as far as
possible in “The Southern Raiders”.
It is also worth considering the place in which Zhao and
Shinhu’s power play takes place. The Naval structure is in evidence here, with
Zhao being promoted from commander to Admiral to outrank Shinhu, and The Fire
Nation Navy is the face of our villians throughout Book One. Not only is the
(supposedly) biggest villain a high ranking Navy officer, but the first part of
the Fire Nation military structure we see is Naval, with Zuko invading the
Southern Water Tribe in his ship, and the Fire Nation ships being a part of the
pan-through of the Fire Nation army in the title sequence as Katara says
“Everything changed when the Fire Nation attacked”. Even the prison camp in
“Imprisoned” is set on an oil rig out at Sea. This is partly practical: the
season climaxes with the Fire Nation’s logically Naval Seige on the Northern
Water Tribe, and it makes sense that the Fire Nation would attack the Water
Tribe via the sea. But it is also worth noting that the Fire Navy, while not
forgotten, is pushed more to the margins of the story after Book One. As a
result, it becomes thematically resonant that the Book to focus on the Water
Nation and Aang learning to bend water mostly depicts its antagonists at sea,
or in a Navy based context.
As well as further depicting the Fire Nation Navy, this
episode furthers our understanding of how the Fire Nation describes Aang to its
citizens. We see this first as the two lookouts discuss Aang’s wanted poster:
the joke here is partly that what the two guards think is just exaggerated
propaganda about Aang’s terrifying powers is, in fact, genuinely true. However,
this truth is only a half truth: It focuses on Aang’s powers in a way that
makes him seem monstrous and terrifying, much as Zuko expected him to be in
“The Boy in the Iceberg”/ “The Avatar Returns”, ignoring the fact that he is
also just a twelve year old boy. The Fire Nation try to make Aang an object of
fear and hostility by removing his humanity. Zhao’s speech also uses Aang: this
time making his capture part of a speech to rally his troops, presenting Aang
as the last obstacle in the Fire Nation’s way: once again, Aang is turned into
a mythic and terrifying enemy for the Fire Nation.
We also learn more about the Fire Nation’s plans for Aang
after he is successfully captured by Zhao. This capture leads to a first proper
confrontation between Aang and Zhao, as they don’t spend much time facing each
other in their first meeting in “Avatar Roku”. It’s fairly standard fair for a
villain and hero confrontation, with Zhao gloating over his capture and Aang
stoically resisting Zhao’s taunts, but we do get to learn some interesting
facts about the Avatar cycle and the fire Nation’s plans to not kill Aang but
to have him as their prisoner to control the Avatar cycle, which gives a
compelling and legitimate reason for Zhao not to kill Aang on sight: a reason
that neatly sidesteps the need for any awkward “villains can’t shoot straight”
type of tropes.
Aang being captured by the Fire Nation necessitates his
rescue at the hands of Zuko, a crucial point in the latter’s redemption arc. We
have talked before about how the show is setting up Zuko’s redemption arc by
repeatedly framing him in the narrative so that the audience will root for him,
and that framing is taken as far as is possible here, as we see him fighting
alongside Aang against the Fire Nation troops. However, he has to do so in a
disguise, posing as the titular Blue Spirit, so the audience cannot know until
the reveal that it is him they are rooting for to rescue Aang (though really,
who else would it have been? The episode doesn’t offer any other likely
candidates), and so that Aang will trust him.
Yet upon discovering Zuko’s double identity, Aang considers
trusting him, asking if they “could’ve been friends” before the war. Of course,
Zuko’s refuses, attacking Aang: he is too driven by his hunt for the Avatar to
be friends with him. Although the narrative has made it very clear Zuko is on a
redemption arc, he is not ready for redemption yet.
And so the episode ends with further parallels between Aang
and Zuko, as Aang collapses to sleep on Appa and Zuko goes to his bedchambers
to brood. Just as the visual shots of them falling asleep parallel, there is a
link in their characterisation too: both have been cut off from the culture
that used to be their home, with little to no hope of going back. The tragedy
of this episode’s ending is that their opposition in the war means they are
unable to help one another through their struggles. And they both reject the
people around them: Aang refuses to talk to his friends, and Zuko refuses to
talk to Iroh, with both boys clearly weighed down by, but unable to address,
the implications of their encounter, and the possibility that they might be
more similar than they previously expected.
End of Part Twelve.
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