From the South Pole Iceberg to the Republic city portal: Part Twenty Eight

ATLA Book Two: Earth

Chapter Ten: The Library

In Which Sokka drinks a fruity beverage, Toph Waves her hand in front of her face, and Aang reads about a Lion Turtle that I’m sure won’t be important later.

There are two main themes running throughout “The Library”. The first of those themes is knowledge, and it explores the tensions between different kinds of intelligence and knowledge. The second theme comes in the form of the exploration of peace time and war time, and the tension between the world from before the hundred year war and the Avatar world after one hundred years of war. 

The episode begins with the Gaang choosing to go on holiday, with most of the opening few minutes being spent in the Misty Palms Oasis, which we encounter for the first time. Particularly interesting is the difference between Aang’s idealised memory of the Oasis, and the Oasis as the Gaang visit it, with its run down look, and menacing sandbenders flitting around the area. Aang’s memories are memories of the old world, the world before the war, whereas the misty palms oasis we see is rooted in the present, so represents what has happened to the old world over the course of the war, the way it has been battered and torn down by a century of conflict. But the holidays also demonstrate the Gaang’s lack of purpose at the beginning of the episode. It is a lack that represents a change in direction for the series: Aang has found his Earthbending teacher, and has started to master the element. Now the series needs to go in a new direction.

The response to this lack of purpose comes from Sokka. “The Library” is, in no small way, a significant Sokka episode. This focus is good for his characterisation, as he hasn’t had any focus as anything other than a comedy character since “The Swamp” five episodes ago. The focus on his character begins with him telling the Gaang they should make plans to take down the Fire Nation. He is driving the Gaang to activity, and keeping the plot moving, but through characteristics that are also often used to make him funny. He is trying to find a strategy to win the war by visiting the library: this episode really emphasises the way Sokka is the character who makes plans and organises the Gaang, an episode that focuses on the character point of him as a strategist, and on the way he thinks. This characterisation is also another example of the way his comic moments stem from serious characterisation: the depth of planning and organisation he shows here will be used to comic effect through his fastidiousness and micro managing ahead of the invasion in Book Three.

The other key figure in the episode’s central conflict is Wan Shi Tong. He allows the series to further expand on the way spirits have a morality separate from humans, as he sets himself outside of human concerns, viewing all humans who seek knowledge for the war as ultimately having the same motive. He is opposed to the mixing of knowledge and warfare, an attitude that carries an uneasy tension, when in our world, many important discoveries and inventions are (sadly) made due to war. This is a tension that will remain present throughout the Avatar franchise: the Fire Nation invent Airships for the sake of their final attack, something continued in “Legend of Korra” when Hiroshi invents the plane for the equalists’ final attack on Republic City. Similarly, Wan Shi Tong’s attempts to separate knowledge and warfare are flawed in part because the knowledge he values does, in some cases, stem from violent sources: he has historical artefacts that come from war, and admits to studying waterbending fighting styles. But his arguable hypocrisy doesn’t stop his critique having an uncomfortable weight to it: by lying to him about their reasons for exploring the library, the Gaang are placed in a morally ambiguous position. In this instance, the Gaang are ultimately justified in using the library. Wan Shi Tong’s attitude lacks nuance, refuses to distinguish between different groups of humans to see that they are fighting an oppressive war machine in the form of the Fire Nation, and are clearly putting the library to good use.

And so, the heart of the episode comes in the clash between the ideologies of Sokka and Wan Shi Tong, with an ongoing debate about knowledge displayed through the different kinds of intelligence and knowledge embraced by Sokka, Wan Shi Tong and the Professor. Wan Shi Tong values old knowledge: academic information, museum pieces. Sokka values practical knowledge, information that will be of practical use in the world that he has been placed in. So there is instant conflict between Sokka’s intelligence and the knowledge Wan Shi Tong values:

Sokka: “It's a special knot. That counts as knowledge!”

Wan Shi Tong: “You're not very bright, are you?”

Wan Shi Tong doesn’t value Sokka’s intelligence, but Sokka shows that academic intelligence isn’t the only worthwhile way of pursuing knowledge. As Wan Shi Tong proves, academic intelligence can just be used to hoard knowledge like treasure. When he discovers the Gaang are putting the knowledge in the library to use instead of letting it be apolitical and free of human affairs, he tears down the library: he wants to cling to the artefacts he has, hiding them away as knowledge for knowledge’s sake. The ultimate resolution of this conflict comes when Wan Shi Tong lists the waterbending techniques he has studied, only to be knocked out by Sokka’s boomerang to Sokka’s victorious boast of “That’s called Sokka Style – Learn it!”: The quick thinking Wan Shi Tong insults in their first encounter beats the deeply studied knowledge Wan Shi Tong embraces.

Sokka’s search for knowledge on a way to beat the Fire Nation brings about the introduction of the eclipse plotline. The eclipse adds a new ticking clock element for the series, a shift in the Gaang’s apparent goals, as They are no longer solely focussed on helping Aang learn the four elements, but are instead focussed on setting up an invasion of the Fire Nation Capital for the day of the eclipse. The discovery also represents a response to the Gaang’s relaxed attitude at the start of the episode: the plot picks up again just as the Gaang was taking a break. As a result, this is the episode where the focus of the season’s middle act turns decisively towards travelling to Ba Sing Se, with the Gaang now looking to meet the Earth King to enlist the help of the Earth Kingdom in the invasion of the Fire Nation.

While it initially seems to be a background detail, the episode’s exploration of the struggles Toph has with her becomes a key part of the episode’s structure. It is demonstrate in multiple ways in the early scenes, such as her inability to see things while flying:

“There it is! That's what it will sound like when one of you spots it. [Waves her hand in front of her face with a blank grin to remind them of the fact that she is blind.]”

And the fact that she can’t read books:

“Toph: I say you guys go ahead without me.

Katara: You got something against libraries?

Toph: I've held books before. And I gotta tell you, they don't exactly do it for me.

Katara: Oh, right. Sorry.”

Both of these disabilities of Toph’s are things the Gaang forgets, a fact that demonstrates the way her blindness is something the Gaang often takes for granted, not out of malice, but because her Earthbending makes her disability less obvious. But it is still a disability that is obviously there: Toph can see the world in tiny detail, but she can’t do everyday things like reading: a detail that shows the way the writers have put thought and care into representing her disability, and the limitations it would place on her in this world.

Toph’s struggle with her disability is also seen in her fight with the sandbenders. In a moment of bonding with Appa, she admits the limitations she feels trying to use her abilities in sand, limitations that mean she can’t fight sandbenders due to these initial struggles. However, we also see the extent of her power as she holds up the entire library, from a structurally weak spot. The fight with the sandbenders is a moment that simultaneously displays her greatest strength and her greatest weakness, showing the range of Toph’s potential as a character. It is also a way of connecting her to the main plot: she could easily be sidelined in this story, but that’s not what’s going on. The writers explore her blindness to further develop her character’s strengths and weaknesses, while giving her a key structural role, placing her between the two main parts of the story as she holds the plot together.

The other crucial part of the story Toph acts as the bridge between comes in the form of the bandit sandbenders and the opening setting of the Misty Palms Oasis. Just as the sandbenders flit around the edges of the initial setting for the episode, they flit around the fringes of the plot, being a mere distraction until they steal Appa at the end, giving the episode its ultimate kick in the teeth. They come from the misty palms oasis, a place ravaged by the effects of the hundred year war, and now steal Aang’s Bison away from him. The Sandbending bandits take advantage of the war to tear apart peaceful remnants of the world, and they do the same to Appa and Aang, taking away Aang’s only remaining companion from the time the “Avatar” world was at peace.

And so ultimately, while the key conflict of the episode lies in the debate surrounding intelligence, its running thematic point comes in the form of the binary opposition between the old and the new that it presents. This theme is an extension of the theme of interconnectivity that runs throughout the season. The opposition between the past and present is ultimately false: the present is slowly dismantling the past world of peace, and to save the world, the Gaang need to restore the world of peace going into the future.

End of Part Twenty Eight.

From the South Pole Iceberg to the Republic City Portal: Part Twenty Seven

ATLA Book Two: Earth

Chapter Nine: Bitter Work

In Which Momo tries to catch a frog, Sokka makes a new friend, and Aang meditates passive-aggressively.

“Bitter work” is structured in the Gaang A plot/ Zuko B plot style, marking a return to the traditional Book Two episode type after three episodes that deliberately eschew that structure. “The Blind Bandit” focuses solely on the Gaang, “Zuko Alone does the same for Zuko, and “The Chase” brings both groups together for the first time in the season. And for the first time since “The Storm”, the episode really explores many character parallels and contrasts in depth, making use of the parallel plot structure. After the intense action of “The Chase”, we get an episode that is low on incident, and heavy on thematic exploration and dialogue. The show slows the pace of the episode right down to really get a feel for the struggles of Aang and Zuko. Having mentioned “The Chase”, it is worth expanding on my claim that that episode functions as the centre point of the show, the part where the first half is wrapped up and we start to move towards the endgame. All the episodes from “The Chase” to “The Drill”, the last episode before the Ba Sing Se arc gets moving, function in the same way. In “The Swamp”, Iroh sang the words “It’s a long long way to Ba Sing Se”, and that journey to the Earth Kingdom capital makes up the middle act of Book Two, and the centre point of the show.

But before we get into the centre of the episode, it is important to talk about two big Iroh scenes at the beginning of the episode, both of which are crucial to our understanding of his character. The first is Iroh’s dream of Lu Ten’s childhood and death, the scene that kicks off his and Zuko’s B plot (and I’m only calling it a B plot for the sake of convenience, for the first time this season, it holds just as much narrative weight as the Gaang’s “A Plot”). These memories are particularly crucial to Iroh’s characterisation, as they give us a rare glimpse of his inner world. Iroh’s grief for his son is in his subconscious after his near death experience, acting as a reminder of the way this grief is constantly bubbling just beneath the surface of his character. We also get our first glimpse of Lu Ten’s Grave, which will reappear later in “The Tales of Ba Sing Se”.

From the beautiful and moving material Iroh is giving, to the slightly more troubling, in the form of Iroh’s claim that Azula is “crazy, and she needs to go down”. It could be argued that Iroh realises there is nothing he can do for Azula, who was not cast out of the Fire Nation like Zuko, so remains under the toxic influence of Ozai. As a result, there is, again arguably, nothing Iroh can do for her and so he seemingly decides all he can do is help Zuko stop her causing more harm, and I imagine this is what Bryke were going for. But it is still a problematic line, with Iroh simplifying Azula as terrifyingly “crazy”, a judgement that is particularly troubling in the light of Azula’s eventual mental breakdown. Furthermore, it is another example of the hypocritical double standard Iroh shows in his attitude towards Azula compared to his guiding of Zuko on his road to redemption. And the real problem lies in the fact that the show doesn’t acknowledge this as a character flaw: as lokgifsandmusings puts it: “Bryke didn’t realise they created a problematic fave, not a cinnamon roll”. The moment is meant to be comedic, a surprise breakaway from Iroh’s expected position of advising reconciliation, but it is instead a moment where Iroh treats Azula, who is just as affected by Ozai’s abusive influence as Zuko, as unworthy of redemption. Iroh’s double standard towards Azula could work if it was acknowledged as a character flaw, but it is not, so is instead just a flaw in his characterisation.

Moving to the heart of the episode, it is worth focussing on the character parallels. But instead of focussing on the parallels between Aang and Zuko that is the driving force of this episode, it first useful to focus on the Parallels between their teachers. The first of these comes in the continuation of the Iroh and Katara Parallels. When Aang is upset about his struggles, Katara takes Aang away from Earthbending to focus on waterbending, which he is good at, in order to rebuild his confidence, and uses the practise as a quiet moment to give him some advice and listen to his problems, while taking time to praise the growth in his waterbending. Iroh helps Zuko in a similar way, distracting him from his failure to learn lightning bending by showing him a new, unique skill that Zuko gets to feel better about himself for knowing, and will be just as useful as lightning bending would have been. Redirecting lightning is arguably more useful than creating it for someone as impulsive as Zuko: it is a defensive skill, used for protection and preservation, not something to attack and harm others.

The episode also draws some fascinating contrasts between Katara and Toph. These contrasts lead to character development for Toph, as she learns how to be a teacher, and also develops her relationship with Katara, with Katara helping her by showing Toph how to teach Aang. It is nice to see a positive relationship quickly established between the two female regulars, particularly as their first episode together focussed on the conflict between their characters, even if that conflict led to them starting to respect one another. In a useful subversion of the toxic “All women are catty” trope, Toph quickly takes Katara’s advice: in the initial training montage, she is tough but actually encouraging to Aang when he does well. However, Toph only truly embraces Katara’s “positive reinforcement” as a teaching style at the end of the episode, and when she does so, she does it in her own way, framing her praise of Aang as a way of bigging up her own status of being more terrifying than a ferocious beast. She changes by reshaping her teaching style rather than abandoning it altogether.

As well developing Katara’s relationship with Toph, the episode sees a further shift in Katara’s relationship with Aang. He learns to treat Katara as his teacher as well as his peer, something her hasn’t fully done yet because he has a mental adjustment to make. Katara was his friend and peer before she was his teacher. In fact, Aang was slightly ahead of her as a waterbender for much of Book One due to his natural talent, and was the person who could help her learn by being the means by which she found a teacher. This is different to Toph, who Katara notices he immediately calls “Sifu”: Aang met Toph and she joined the group as his teacher, with that always being the role he expected her to perform. However, after the advice Katara gives him, Aang takes a moment to appreciate what she’s done for him, and, by way of thanks, duly acknowledges her role as his teacher.

But as I said earlier, the driving force of the episode lies in the parallels between Aang and Zuko, with the episode really focussing on their struggle to grow in their hero’s journeys, and the titular bitter work they go through to learn those skills. Both boys struggle with the new skills they seek to learn: Aang with Earthbending, and Zuko with Lightningbending. Aang’s struggle partly invokes the idea of elemental opposition of Air and Earth, but the episode also makes it clear the issue is more to do with Aang’s personality not being suited to Earth. He is not confrontational, so struggles with this element, which requires him to face his problems head on. Aang’s problems here set up Korra’s struggle with airbending in Book One of “Legend of Korra”, as air is not the opposite of her native element, but the skills required for airbending are the opposite of her personality. Aang’s struggles also contrast to Iroh, who invents redirection of lightning by studying waterbenders, masters of the opposite bending Art to the one he knows, further proof that the binaries set up between different elements are far more nuanced than they first appear. Zuko’s struggle with Lightning bending both parallels and contrasts with Aang’s struggle to Earth bend. Zuko’s struggles are a product of his mental anguish cannot be cool and calm like Azula, or reach a state of inner peace like Iroh, so he is unable to lightning bend, a contrast to Aang, who is ultimately able to overcome his earthbending block.

The subtle differences in their struggles mean Aang and Zuko find different solutions to their difficulties learning. Where Aang learns to confront Toph instead of avoiding his struggles with his lesson, he is able to summon the resources to Earthbend. By contrast, the deep rooted nature of Zuko’s trauma means he is unable to lightning bend, so he instead learns an alternative skill to combat Azula’s lightning bending. The new skills both boys learn are vital to the culmination of their character arcs. Aang uses the seismic sense that stems from his Earthbending lessons to stop Ozai, while Zuko uses redirection of lightning to save Katara from Azula. The ultimate importance of the lessons learned in these episodes increase the sense that this episode is part of the still point in the middle of the show, laying the big structural ground for the finale.

But the key part of the episode comes in the adjacent scenes in the middle. In the first scene, Katara and Aang discuss the opposition of Air and Earth, a scene which is followed by Iroh and Zuko’s discussion of the four nations, their culture and nature.

Firstly, let’s look at Katara and Aang’s discussion about the opposition of Air and Earth:

“Katara: You know this block you're having is only temporary, right?

Aang: I don't want to talk about it.

Katara: You do realize that's the problem, don't you? If you face this issue instead of avoiding it–

Aang: I know, I know, I know, I know! I get it, all right? I need to face it head on like a rock, but I just can't do it. I don't know why I can't, but I can't.

Katara:                 Aang, if fire and water are opposites, then what's the opposite of air?

Aang: I guess it's earth.

Katara: That's why it's so difficult for you to get this. You're working with your natural opposite. But you'll figure it out. I know you will.”

 Aang’s mental block is rooted in his need to better understand the elements, to get a grasp on what makes Earth and Air opposites. Earth grounded in the material aspects of the world, the concrete, whereas air represents freedom, detachment from worldly concerns. And while Aang is supposed to be neutral to all the nations, he is the last airbender, so he is uniquely attached to the culture and attitudes of the Air Nation, which he fights to maintain. As a result, he is so woven into the culture of his home nation by grief and loss, it is particularly hard for him to understand Earth Nation culture and fighting styles.

As for Iroh’s four nations lecture, it’s best to use the quote itself, because it is beautiful:

Iroh: Fire is the element of power. The people of the Fire Nation have desire and will, and the energy to drive and achieve what they want. Earth is the element of substance. The people of the Earth Kingdom are diverse and strong. They are persistent and enduring. Air is the element of freedom. The Air Nomads detached themselves from worldly concerns and found peace and freedom. Also, they apparently had pretty good senses of humour! Water is the element of change. The people of the Water Tribe are capable of adapting to many things. They have a deep sense of community and love that holds them together through anything.

Zuko: Why are you telling me these things?

Iroh: It is important to draw wisdom from many different places. If you take it from only one place, it becomes rigid and stale. Understanding others, the other elements, and the other nations will help you become whole.

The speech sees a return to Book Two’s “Everything is connected” theme, with Iroh showing how the separation of the nations is linked to rigidity and corruption. Separation is described as something limiting on a global and personal scale: Aang needs to master all four elements, and he and Zuko need to understand all four nations so that they can make themselves whole, and in doing so, come together to help rebuild the world.

The final scenes show a contrast between the mental states, and positions in their journeys, of Aang and Zuko. Aang reaches an emotional high point, overcoming a particularly difficult obstacle in his hero’s journey to learn a vital skill. By contrast, we see Zuko still unable to overcome his grief, guilt, and self-hatred. For all that I described redirecting lightning as defensive, Zuko wants to use it to throw destruction and rage back at the world: he is still ultimately driven by his inner turmoil.

End of Part Twenty Seven.

From the South Pole Iceberg to the Republic City Portal: Part Twenty Six

ATLA Book Two: Earth

Chapter Eight: The Chase

In which Toph makes a rock tent, Iroh makes some tea, and Ty Lee decides Sokka is cute.

“The Chase” is a fascinating episode structurally, coming as it does around the middle of Book Two, just before the show’s halfway point. In a season defined by its intertwining plot arcs, we get an episode where the narrative structure of those arcs is laid out in perfect detail before us. It is also an episode that puts its use of the season’s structure to interesting effect, using this structure as the backdrop for a story whose core emotional conflict and content centres on the dynamic of the new Gaang.

While it’s not an immediately obvious place to start this read on the episode, the use of Appa is a key part of how “The Chase” works. His shedding in this episode is, of course, the way Azula is able to track the Gaang, but is also demonstrative of the way The Last Airbender shows the progression of time in the show, with each different Book being set in a different season before Sozin’s comet comes at summer’s end. Book One is set during winter, and Book Three is set during the summer, which seems somewhat appropriate for seasons respectively titled Water and Fire. Book Two, meanwhile, is set during the Spring, which Aang acknowledges at the start of the episode, the effects of which are demonstrated through Appa’s shedding. This highlights two things: firstly, it draws attention to the ticking clock timeframe that has been in the background of the show since Avatar Roku, showing that time is passing, and running out as Aang seeks to master the four elements, something that is appropriate for an episode that really draws attention to the show’s structure. Secondly it highlights a theme that is present throughout the show but is particularly important in book two: the effect travelling around the world has on Appa, something the Gaang discuss at the start of “The Waterbending Master”, but is given thematic focus here. This episode really makes us feel the effort carrying the Gaang takes for Appa: his exhaustion is given as much attention as that of the Gaang. Appa is not a typical animal sidekick conveniently used when the Gaang needs rescuing or ferrying around, he is a character whose wants and needs are given time and focus. As well as being the cause of the action in the episode, Appa’s shedding shows how “The Chase” meticulously makes use of the series’ structure, and draws attention to animal agency, a key theme of Book two.

The emotional content of the episode is about the Gaang adjusting to the new group dynamic, which from a meta-fictional perspective is about integrating Toph into the show’s dynamic: the gaang have to learn to make the new dynamic work, just as the audience need to be convinced it will work. “The Blind Bandit demonstrated why we want Toph to be a part of the show, while “The Chase” shows how she will fit into the ensemble. Azula’s relentless chase the scenario that prompts this adjustment, but only insofar as it throws the conflict between Toph and Katara into greater relief: the tension between the two girls is present before the Gaang realise they are being chased. And just as it makes us feel what carrying the humans around does to Appa, we feel the weight of tiredness on the gang through the way they are animated and presented: through their heavily lidded eyes, and the extra concentrated amount of exaggerated, anime-style reactions. At its heart, this episode is about how being tired and crabby is the ideal situation to bring an internal conflict amongst a group of people to a head.

The clash between Katara and Toph is a conflict set up in the very first scene, which while an amicable moment, captures Katara and Toph’s relationship in a nutshell. Katara hopes Toph will be someone she can relate to due to more obvious similarities, Toph disappoints her in that respect, but she still ultimately laughs at Toph joining in with the boys. The two girls will ultimately have a positive relationship even though they are very different, and these differences cause an initial clash. Toph’s insistence that she carries her own weight is clearly influenced by her parents: it’s her way of expressing her independence, as she wants to be free from restrictions her parents placed on her, but also doesn’t want to be a burden on others. Katara has to adjust to this, and realise that it is born out an attitude that isn’t really selfish, but Toph also has to learn that it’s good to have people looking out for her. It’s also worth noting the move to a more female centric series: in the first episode with two female members of the Gaang, the episode passes the Bechdel test with ease. In fact, as far as I noticed, not one of the conversations the two girls has in this episode even mentions a male character. As a result, while the episode shows two female characters in opposition with one another, that conflict has nothing to do with a man, and actually treats the two girls with respect, deepening the characters by showing how their ideologies clash, and how they come to reconcile those differences and become friends.

Also interesting, though it is given less focus, is the clash between Aang and Toph. Aang spends most of the episode trying and failing to be the peacemaker between Katara and Toph, but, as in the opening of “The Waterbending Master”, where Aang snaps at Sokka for criticising Appa when he is tired, Aang blames Toph for Azula’s chase when she correctly blames Appa’s shedding. It is notable both for being a moment where Aang almost loses the perfect teacher just after finding her, and for the way it highlights the bond between Aang and Appa just before the Bison is captured in “The Library”.

Toph’s rejection of the Gaang leads to the wonderful “Tea with a delightful stranger” scene with Iroh. It is possibly the best moment of the episode, and comes from the show exploring what it can do with Toph due to her position as a member of the Gaang who wasn’t in Book One. This exploration is something first used in the “Who’s Zuko?” exchange with Katara and Sokka, a moment that highlights the fact that she lacks knowledge about some of the Gaang’s experiences. However, this lack of knowledge also gives her a perspective on the show none of the rest of the Gaang can have, as her opinion is unbiased by the events of the first season. Accordingly, in this scene the two are willing to share tea together because neither knows who the other is, and it’s a delightful scene that really shows what Toph’s new position in the show adds to its dynamic. Her opening exchange with Iroh of “You seem a little too young to be travelling alone”/ “You seem a little too old” shows how both characters are perceptive and intelligent people, but in their own unique ways. Iroh is a wise and understanding mentor figure, while Toph is someone who cuts to the chase of what someone really means, and has a barbed wit, but also deflects personal questions rather than address her internal emotional conflicts. Iroh gives us an insight into Toph, with his assertion that “I made you the Tea because I wanted to” helping her realise that accepting and giving help isn’t a sign of weakness, that doing things for one another isn’t just a sign that a person is limiting or over-protective, but that they respect and value you. In response, Toph provides an insight into Iroh Toph’s suggestion to Iroh that “perhaps you should let [Zuko] know that you need him, too” being a rare moment of Iroh receiving wisdom from another character. And it’s a moment that gets at a truth of Iroh’s character, that while he is a crucial mentor figure in Zuko’s journey, he also needs to help Zuko as part of his search for meaning in the wake of his son’s death, which still hurts him several years later.

Another important detail in the scenes between Iroh and Toph comes in their initial meeting, with the shot that moves down to focus on Toph’s foot before cutting to Iroh after she roots him out. It is a nice way of showing the world through her perspective and senses, but is also crucial set up for a quiet moment at the end of the episode, with a similar shot after Iroh is attacked by Azula’s lightning, with her foot sensing Iroh before we cut to a reaction shot of her face. It is quite possibly the moment where she recognises Iroh as the man she shared tea with, and as she must have heard Katara say Zuko’s name, this is arguably a moment she may start to piece together the fact that Zuko is the nephew Iroh was talking about. She may understand what the rest of the Gaang do not: that Zuko is open to redemption and Iroh is trying to guide him on that path. This could be another reason she will be willing to accept Zuko’s help in “The Western Air Temple”. Ultimately, all of these uses of her character stem from her careful placement in the narrative, and the way she is brought into the story later than the rest of the main cast.

Also crucial is Azula and Aang’s confrontation and parley. It marks the moment where Aang learns who Azula is, in one of his mere two actual conversations with Azula, with the other coming in “Day of the Black Sun”, a fact that highlights the way she gains depth from her interactions with other characters, not Aang. Her scenes with Aang are solely about how she operates as a villain, and a comparison of this and Zhao’s equivalent scene in “The Blue Spirit” demonstrates why she works better than Zhao. Her teasing impression of her brother that tells Aang the identity of his new enemy is genuinely amusing, but she doesn’t waste time in attacking him. Azula is fun to watch, but there is no resorting to moustache twirling with her: she genuinely works as a threat. Most of all, the confrontation is a scene that crackles with tension and possibility. Aang isn’t locked up until someone comes to rescue him, as he is in “The Blue Spirit”, so we are left waiting for a fight to break out, with the sense that anything could happen at any moment.

Then, out of left field, Zuko enters the fray, living up to the sense that anything could happen with a genuine surprise. T tension of the scene pays off beautifully as the two way stand-off becomes a three way stand-off, and the stakes slowly escalate from there. Notably, this is the first time Zuko’s plot has interacted directly with Aang’s all season, and is the only time until the finale. And in a marked departure from his usual behaviour, after seeing his uncle injured, Zuko decides he doesn’t want anything to do with the Gaang, as an enemy or an ally, yelling “Leave!” after Katara offers her help. It is a moment that arguably foreshadows him rejecting Katara’s help and turning back to villainy in the “The Crossroads of Destiny”, but for now, it is the first time he has rejected chasing the Gaang and the plot about restoring his honour to look after someone he cares for. While he doesn’t yet fully understand this, Zuko is starting to do the right things to find his redemption: refusing to chase someone else’s story, and instead trying to make sense of his own.

But perhaps most vital of all are the structural implications of the final stand-off between Azula, the Gaang, Zuko, and Iroh. It represents the only point where we get all the major players in season two on screen together at the same time, and really, the only moment the seven most important players in the show are on screen together throughout ATLA. And really, as Ozai is less of a key player who influences the narrative than he is a figure who informs the arcs of Zuko and Azula, while being the obstacle Aang has to overcome to complete his hero’s journey, they are really the most important characters in the show. So this scene, unique to the entire series, offers up a number of intriguing moments. The first comes with a useful insight into Azula’s villainy, with her carefully chosen attack on Iroh demonstrating her quick and cool thinking: she knows exactly how to play the situation when cornered. Thesecond comes after her sneak attack on Iroh, when Aang, Katara, Toph, and Zuko all combine an attack on Azula: for a brief moment, members of all four nations are united in fighting the Fire Nation’s royal family. But most significant is the way the scene is a demonstration of the season and the series’ careful structure. In this moment, as the series reaches its halfway point, the seven most influential characters in the show come together, before once again heading off in their separate directions.

And so the episode ends with the final shot of the Gaang collapsing to sleep, exhausted. They have come through an intense emotional experience right in the eye of the narrative storm, and have earned the chance to pause, and rest.

End of Part Twenty Six.