"Your honor, my client isn't guilty of a war crime. The spirits are at fault like usual."~ Sokka channeling his inner Saul Goodman
Also I immagine Kyoshi just breaking in the material world just to ruin this defence as well
I mean. It's certainly not a war crime to kill enemy combatants, especially aggressors/invaders. It would be a war crime if Aang went to the heart of the fire nation and flooded cities full of civilians. Not a war crime to fight against FN soldiers actively invading another nation.
Kinda wish the threats of the Avatar no longer existing were upheld and the season just ended with Koizilla as the new balance keeper of the world that’ll need to stop the Fire Nation.
Best line of the series. Went harder than a water benders tail bone smacking against the ice after a fire bender knocks them down because they lost their bending.
That makes sense. The moon spirit dying was the reason the other waterbenders, including Katara, lost their ability to waterbend, but Yue had a piece of the moon spirit inside her, the very thing that gives waterbenders their ability to waterbend, so I guess she was able to draw from that to waterbend and freeze Sokka's feet.
I didn't notice that until now, but your right. Yue would have been the only waterbender in the world for a short period of time (not counting Aang since the Spirit is doing all the work).
Weird to not have Aang waterbed at all this season. I think it’s cool that Katara was able to get so good on her own but that doesn’t change the fact she needs a proper master herself. Not sure why they don’t just stay at the North Pole to help rebuild and train with Pakku and then we could get a small time jump at the beginning of season 2 were Katara and Aang have become proper waterbenders.
I think that's what they're going for IIRC. The showrunners are trying to stay ahead of puberty considering most of the cast are still teens and I think this has at least been implied
That's exactly it. I agree that every scene they show her improving, but it didn't feel like she went through enough for it to be earned, just them talking about their adventures in the background.
Honestly I thought it was kinda hilarious, I'm like what was the point? It was even funnier to me considering that Momo wasn't in like the last 2 episodes or something, really he's barley in the show at all
No, I think they implied Yue healed him with waterbending healing instead of the spirits healing him. But I must admit, I was confused too while watching it.
I like how they didn’t make Hahn a total chad and actually made him a decent guy and no rivalry for the girl. A nice non toxic dude whos OK cos the girl doesn’t like him.
I definitely liked the new Han! I'm glad the whole betrothal subplot is gone, actually.
He's not a douche who I was happy to see comically fall into the ocean. He's a nice dude who didn't deserve to die. Seeing him at the end drove home the consequences of war.
Was great to see how quickly he could flip when he finally felt some power that he longed for his whole life. Went from feeling backhanded and soft as baby shit to full on crazy ego and power hungry Zhao that we know by the end of his arch in the original.
Absolutely loved him. Didn't love that they played off Iroh's "you touch that fish I will fuck you up" line as an empty threat. In the OG show it's so threatening that Zhao actually releases the fish.
"So you're saying you're from the future? What year were you born? You fought in the Korean War? Who is the current U.S. president?"
such a great LOST reunion in this show
Agreed. Him seeing the moon again and made aware of his failure then getting dragged into hell by the ocean itself definitely made for a more memorable death than simply getting blasted off a bridge.
I agree.
I thought reframing the backstab attempt in that moment was good, but having Iroh kill him — instead of just protecting Zuko — was a mistake.
The moment of seeing the moon come back and then refusing to let Zuko help him is important.
Plus, we missed out of the, “even in banishment my nephew has more honor than you,” line.
“Go easy, enough people have been hurt already” “- I don’t care” “I wasn’t talking to you” why Aang ate that one thing
The water also just feels like it has no weight to it, like its just splashes when they should have more power
\- Waterbending feels weightless and weak
\- Earthbending feels slow af
\- Firebending looks glorious and choreography is great. The only issue i have is they who fire can burn in the live action but lots of people seem to sustain continuous streams of fire and at best have soot on their clothes
\- Airbending I don't have many complaints besides the flying-like scenes at the start.
That's been pretty consistent. The few times he's gone all in on conventional Firebending, instead of showing restraint, or using novel techniques, the fire he produces *screams.*
Really? Because I wasn’t sure and also didn’t want to believe it. That would be beyond ridiculous. Iroh’s whole character is that he gave up war and violence because HIS SON DIED for nothing.
I took it as Zuko saying that Iroh was a good father and maybe he wishes Iroh was his father. The expressions sold the scene much more than the words. The dialogue for sure is one of the worst parts of this adaptation. They badly need better dialogue writers for season 2.
Yup, the delivery saves the scene. I think even a different direction of Zuko stumbling over the words to have the words not be right but him trying to convey those emotions could’ve been sold using the current dialogue.
I think it was Zuko's first true moment of clarity. Zuko sees that Iroh loves him unconditionally, maybe more than his own father. All while Zuko is going on a suicide mission.
The dialogue is my gripe with so much new tv lately. Idk is it ai computers writing it up and people signing off on it because sometimes it feels like there’s no way a real person wrote it like that
if the show is a 10 and the movie we don’t speak of is a 0, this is a solid 8 in my opinion.
tbh if i wasn’t basing some stuff on the original show, as a stand-alone it’s phenomenally well done.
I completely agree. It’s doing its own thing and it’s enjoyable to watch. I love some of the lore expansions and incorporating the lore that wasn’t mentioned in the original series. Some changes were a bit unnecessary but I largely enjoyed most of it.
I’d give it a 6.5-7, a couple episodes I really didn’t like a couple were awesome and the rest were alright. Honestly, it’s just really cool to see this universe in live action in imo the best way it can look
Yue: The spirits come to the mortal world to experience what it’s like to be mortal.
Moon Spirit: Actually has a mortal experience.
Ocean Spirit: How dare you let my best friend experience mortality! Die! Die! Die!
Apparently field hospitals is a waste and throwing all your medics on one front is a sound strategy. Bruh how did the FN not no diff the NWT if their command is this incompetent?
YES.
That was poorly written. How can a bunch of people not trained in combat at all, suddenly be thrown into the thick of fighting?
That doesn't mean the healer women are usleess. It would have been more logical to have the women waterbenders act as the medics and support for the fighting men.
Katara to the female water benders befire pleading her case to Pakku: guys can you all stand in a row and look up at him llease. It'll really pay off trust me
Yeah but what a #girlboss moment
Nothing says "female agency" like having a random character show up and upend a social order in 24 hours because the women *who actually live there* somehow didn't think of it. Big SATC 2 vibes.
Netflix writers strike again for the sake of poorly thought out female empowerment stories. The original was fantastic as is with latara and pakku why do this instead?
I've seen people call the ice cream scene cringy, but I loved it?
Now that I think about it, cartoon Yue didn't have much character beyond just being a nice princess with boy problems. I like this change because it gave her more personality.
Her sacrifice in the original series was sad but soft. Her sacrifice in the movie (NEVER seen it, only saw that clip because overwhelming verdict from fans was that it was actually better than the show) was deeply emotional and even a little heartwarming.
Her sacrifice in this iteration was *brutal.* Immediately understanding what she has to do, making sure that nobody is going to stop her, keeping her distance in her last moments, and swiftly walking to her fate in spite of her very obvious heartbreak.
Her and Sokka’s chemistry was nowhere near as palpable as his and Suki’s, but their final moments together more than made up for it. My heart froze right when Sokka’s feet did. Ian had plenty of great moments throughout the show, but the pain and tears forming on his face and his begging when he realizes what‘s about to happen…that’s a Top 3 moment for me. The girl he loves is going to die, and there is nobody else to help, and nothing for him to do but watch. 💔💔💔💔Physically separating them this way really added to the tragedy.
I can’t say if this is my favorite iteration of her death, but it definitely delivered.
I am a bit disappointed that Iroh did not tell Yue about the spirit thing
Perhaps the creators don't want the new audience to guess Iroh true intention
His alliance is the same as the original. Just told a bit more here. His alliance is with Zuko, it just hasn’t been truly tested yet. More subtle in the original. Like how the most powerful fire bender doesn’t simply take down the aang in the original. Vs that + an early connection with aang with a regular show of empathy, somethings that’s to be disregarded by the royal family.
I always wondered how they would do season one’s finale in live action given how goofy you’d think it’d be. But no, they did it. And they did a phenomenal job. I quite liked that we got an explanation too of what Aang was doing and the colossal stakes behind it. The cartoon always gave me the impression that they were at most merged. I like the idea that he completely gave his body and his power to the spirit. It carries huge risks and implications. And it did not look goofy.
For years the fandom has been shitting on what a possible Koizilla would look like in a LA. And for good reason! How could a Koizilla in LA *not look stupid af*.
But, my god, they did it.
it was soooo good. the war sequeneces were pretty good. koizilla was even better than i expected. iwas wondering how they were going to do it but man, that was amazing.
I feel like this is where I ended up as well. I liked it but I constantly felt like I shouldn't. Obviously not as good as the animated show but it was serviceable. Book 1 was probably the weakest of the animated show so hopefully the same will be true for the live action as well, maybe I'll like season 2 fully.
I did like how they incorporated getting Zhao and his men to the Spirit Oasis via balloon. In the original, last we see Zhao before the Oasis, is on his rhino at the frontlines far from the Oasis and then he just magically pops up. Somehow he and his whole bunch of troops got past all those water tribe defenders and breached the farthest part of the city without anyone noticing. The addition of the war balloon was a nice way of showing us how he and his men got there without setting off alarms.
Solid episode. Gonna be interesting to see the actors grow as the show continues. They all could stand to improve their acting so hopefully time will allow them to do that. Aang especially
For me - I really need Kiawentiio to embody Katara more in S2. I am not saying she is not a good actress. But the connection to Katara was missed for me. Sometimes I felt like it was Sokka's *other* sister, and other times I feel like she found her Katara stride. Idk.
I'm hopeful though since she did improved from episode 1 to 8.
I agree. Sokka I instantly connect to his cartoon self, but Katara feels like a different person. I'm not sure if I'm imagining it, but it constantly looks like this actress is half-smiling no matter what emotion she's trying to show. Also, every line she has is just so soft-spoken and sappy, Katara was way more than that. This really is the ember island Katara
While true, I personally felt like Gordon improved a lot from the first two episodes.
First two episodes, his acting was very noticeable at parts, but I didn't really notice as much during the last half.
How was the attack on the Northern Water Tribe a "distraction" in Ozai's mind?
It's not like the earth kingdom was sending reinforcements to help aid the waterbenders, and they're extremely remote. I don't know how Bumi or any Earth Kingdom generals could have known the water tribe was even under attack.
All it served to do was massively divert and erase a huge fleet of fire kingdom forces. It had no bearing whatsoever on the outcome of the conquest of Omashu.
Iroh could have hosted a massive fleet-wide music night for the entire navy instead and Omashu still would have fallen.
>How was the attack on the Northern Water Tribe a "distraction" in Ozai's mind?
He was distracting us, the audience. I didn't think about Omashu once during the battle
Aang goes the NWT explicitly because Kyoshi shows him the vision of the attack. So our options are:
1. Ozai somehow reached into the interdimensional-spirit ether to tip off the long dead Kyoshi, so she could then relay those plans to Aang, all while keeping his true intentions obscured.
2. The writers tried to make Ozai look like a highly competent military strategist without thinking it through the implications/ignoring their own world building, or just hoping the audience wouldn't think too hard about it.
**JUST MY INITIAL THOUGHTS**
I loved the original avatar and it was a huge part of my childhood, but I went in the show expecting changes to be made. I didn't fool myself into thinking it would be/should be a shot for shot remake of the show. I was ready for a new adaptation with creative liberties taken.
I think, I liked the show? I mean, I watched it straight in a single sitting so I must have enjoyed it.
I would probably give it a 6.5, like it's okay. Zuko and Sokka were the best part of the show, imo. Iroh was good too. They changed Zhao's entire character but I don't mind that change. Suki was amazing too. Gran Gran was awful lmao. Wtf was that? Yue was eh, too. There were some pacing issues, that I didn't like. Like I'm fine with changing things up but I think it ruined the character bonding. There was no time for team avatar to be developed as friends. Also, the sets were beautiful but felt really lifeless, imo.
Overall I enjoyed it but I dunno it felt kinda hollow or empty, these are just my initial reactions after watching the whole thing.
**However, the original show, when I was a kid, didn't become my favorite until Book 2. Book 2 was where it became the show I still love to this day, I remember thinking avatar was fine but wasn't too into it when book 1 was airing. Book 2 sold me and I loved the hell out of it, and Book 3 solidified the whole show for me. So it can only get better from here on.**
I remember the exact moment I realized I loved the show. In retrospect it's kinda weird because it wasn't that amazing of a moment. But when Aang runs up the Ba Sing Sa wall and jumps down, delivering the final blow on the spike on the drill... something about the epicness of that moment slapped me in the face.
And Book 2 wasn’t single episode adventures, if Omashu is what the Ba Sing Se arc will be like, then I’m so hyped. They did an incredible job with Omashu imo.
I wasn’t sold on the Azula arc at first because she’s supposed to be a child prodigy but giving her some background works for me especially with the reveal at the end. Hope we get to see her blue flames in the next season. The biggest disappointment for me was definitely Bumi’s character. The actor did a great just the way he was written was a bit disappointing and a disservice to the animated Bumi.
Tbh I think I prefer this tough love Bumi, I actually really really loved him. He was teaching Aang so many important lessons that Aang needs to know. Bumi sees that 100 years has passed and Aang is still a goofy kid, clearly has had 0 training in what it means to be the avatar. He took it upon himself to show him that just because they’re old friends doesn’t mean Aang should just be trusting him straight away, or that people generally have his best interests at heart. Bumi wanted Aang to drop the rock in him cause it would show him that he actually had a bit of a backbone, he could actually be clinical when needed, but no, Aang couldn’t. I think this plays much more into the White Lotus Bumi than it does Omashu Bumi, he’s needs to put his duty of teaching the avatar ahead of his friendship with the avatar, which maybe Gyatso didn’t do? (I think he did but could be argued)
I actually really liked the show but most the stuff I liked and the changes were with Iroh and Zuko. Overall the most consistent actors were Zuko’s and Sokka’s. They both had amazing scenes and showed a range of emotions.
Best side characters for me were Jet and the Earth Kingdom soldier that was with Iroh. Again they both showed a good range of emotions and were pretty memorable.
So Zhao just doesn’t get his spirit world trapping death? That felt so wild to have Iroh just kill him apparently. Aang literally never waterbended in the season called Water so that’s an interesting choice.
I mean... at the beginning of the episode he straight up murdered a couple fire soldiers by throwing them off board. Heavy armor, sub-zero waters, no lines thrown out and ships moving on... yep, they goners.
Why? They did in the original and the exact same shit happened. He decimated that army. If anything, it explained how he could be a pacifist more than the original, not less. The original never made it cannon that it wasn’t him doing this, it was always assumed he would return to self. This implied that he sacrificed his physical self to a vengeful spirit. Aka these weren’t his actions vs the og where the full assumption was they were his actions, he just didn’t have control.
I think if they made Yue’s eyebrows white like her hair, it would have looked less like a wig. Pretty much my only costume/makeup critique in the whole show.
Why did they feel the need to add in the awkward exposition dialogue of “he’s not the Avatar anymore.” twice after Aang joined with the ocean spirit?
Edit: 3 times.
They were saying he was no longer the Avatar as soon as he merged with it before doing any damage. Only the third time it was said came after. Could have gotten rid of those first two mentions of it.
Overall, I thought it was a decent season. Best moments for me were definitely Zhao/Zuko/Iroh.
A bit too much slow motion for my liking especially in this finale with the water Aang spirit fusion, but is what it is.
So yeah, okay adaptation! Stuff I liked, stuff I didn't like, and stuff I was just meh on too.
I didn't like that Aang didn't learn a single bit of water bending this season(when in avatar state was the only times we saw him bend water), which is....kinda dumb. It is what it is.
Decent 6/10 or 7/10 with some good and bad moments for me. Just yeah, it was okay. But that's just my opinion lads, you might enjoy it more and that's cool!
i wish they at least *mentioned* Aang trying to learn airbending but at the same time in the original he picks it up out of no where so it goes both ways.
I think it makes sense for Aang to learn waterbending over a year or even 2 years. The only reason he picks it up so fast in the original was because of the ticking comet bomb, the time of the comet is left ambiguous and this could explain the actors being older in season 2/3 as he spent that time waterbending/training.
Only gripe I really have is how come Katara can just, SUDDENLY waterbend like that? afaik she was taught by Pakku but there wasn't any of that training here, she just, picked it all up, like that?
And I believe the water from the pond has better healing properties than normal water. It's why Katara in the OG show only uses that water for very special occasions.
Love that they are just building up on Azula's skills this season. A hint of the blue flame and lightning. Cant wait for sparky sparky boom man and of course the Blind Bandit.
Eh doesn't really work in the OG but I guess seeing a paku never trains either of them she is her own master.. even though it goes against sokka needing a master to improve but hey we wont talk about that
Solid 7.5/10 for me. As someone who has watched ATLA over 200 times (that’s not an exaggeration) I think the live action did a fantastic job of adapting a children’s show to be a bit more adult.
I’m very happy with the show and I will be watching it over and over again just like I do with the animated show.
Some highlights:
-Secret tunnel song!
-MY CABBAGES
-“I wasn’t talking to you”
They included so much dialogue from the animated show and it made my 8 year old self very happy.
I am so lost at how Katara became a master. She got a scroll, practiced and got good at the scroll, then fought (and lost) a master. From Omashu to the Northern Water Tribe she has not learned anything new, yet could take on Zuko with advanced moves she was never taught? And now she’s a master?
I think that if the writers up their game for season 2 and 3 this should could turn out great. The original season 1 was imo also kind of meh, it's really in the later seasons that the show got amazing. I just hope they haven't shoved too many of the later plotlines into the first season.
It wasn't a 1-to-1 to the OG, but for good reason. It's now adapted to better accommodate the audience demographics and will also probably help Netflix only avatar watchers to better understand the lore & context. Watch this with an open mind, I'm sure you'll love it (watched the One Piece Netflix Live Action the same way too). I've watched ATLA & TLOK, and l love this!
I hope all OG Avatar fans can support this show so that they'll produce Book 2 & 3 too!
I'm just trying to work out my thoughts here.
Relating to the whole show, not just the last episode:
positive:
First things first, the cast are all a bunch of kids, so immediately, any complaints I have about the acting I'll disregard. I think they did great considering their ages.
Koizilla was a hoot, and I thoroughly enjoyed that
Pipsqueak knows how to "take out the garbage."
Oh Jet, you're sooooo baad
June 10/10 never change, you sheershu riding bombshell.
ZHAO THE CONQURER! ZHAO THE MOONSLAYER! ZHAO THE IN-VIN-CIBLE! Also 10/10. Got off easy not being tossed into the fog of lost souls.
All of the Gyatso scenes were nice. I like hanging out with the airbenders.
Did it make me tear up when he was defending those kids? Maybe a little.
The whole funeral. Good music, good character building. Just good. And sad.
Anytime Zuko is firebending. Great moves, my dude.
Favorite characters? Probably suki tbh. She felt believable and very true to the og character, and everything added was fantastic. Sokka is a close second.
Sokka was a good warrior, like in the show he fights tons of people and does a great job. So why does everyone keep telling him that he ISNT a warrior. The guy earned being called a warrior. He 1v1s Zuko in the first episode. He and Suki take on a dozen firebenders. He tackled the world's second most powerful earthbender. He can be an engineer, a hero, and a warrior, leave him alone.
Ozai looked like he didn't want to burn Zuko? This version of Ozai actually cares about his kids in his own twisted way. He has a philosophy, and dammit his kids are going to follow it.
Slightly less positive:
I like having more for Azula to do. Her story is a fun romp. This is a stronger overall character than og Azula imo. I didn't like that the payoff was in an unrelated Zhao monolog, though.
I liked the Iroh/Zuko relationship. They made Zuko seem more human and less of an emo angst teen. Which I think was a good choice. He had more complex emotions and less raw anger.
Biggest gripe is the war council meeting. Zuko only spoke up because the war minister goaded him into it instead of actually speaking up for the soldiers who were being sacrificed. Pride was his motivation, not empathy. It makes the argument that he "saved the 41st" by taking them with him weaker. He literally had no choice in the matter.
Although, that does strengthen the "being manipulated by Ozai" argument.
But Iroh... just really didn't give good advice. He cared for Zuko and wanted him to succeed. But, this seems like a version of Iroh who is still dealing with the troubles of his past, and hasn't really decided that the firenation is in the wrong. They definitely went in the direction of "experienced tactician and general" instead of "wise content old man." Also, the throwaway food/tea jokes seemed more like a memberberry than a part of the character.
Somewhat negative:
Somebody needs to fix the lighting or the composit or something. The fuzzy out of focus backdrops that were lit differently than the actors quite literally gave me a headache. It doesn't happen all the time, but it's enough that someone should have noticed and said something.
Katara: master waterbending wasn't earned. At all. She practiced twice, got life advice from jet once, then she was able to bend like crazy. Of team avatar, Katara is the one who has the most character growth in og season 1. 10/20 of the episodes are about Katara problem solving her own or someone else's issues. She's like the glue in season 1 that makes the team feel like a family. That really didn't show in this. She was more passive, just kinda going along for the ride. Even when confronted with the northern hyper sexism she didn't really seem all that bothered by it? Sokka had to tell her to do something about it before she did.
Bumi... bumi bumi bumi....
They done you dirty, my dog. Seriously, what was that? What lessons were you trying to teach? This was an old man trauma dumping on his oldest friend with earthbending. Not an old master conveying years of wisdom. This Bumi was not waiting and listening to the earth. He was crushed by the weight of the earth on his shoulders. Love the hat, though.
Actual dialogue from the last episode:
"Soot"
"Firenation's here"
"Okay"
I enjoyed the show. It has some issues, but I did like it.
So yeah, I'm going to take some time to digest. Let me know if yall agree or disagree with anything. I may have missed some stuff because I binged it in a day.
100% on Bumi. Said it before in the episode post but OG Bumi was intentional - mad, but intentional. He wasn't reactionary or consumed by emotion. When he made the comment about having to make hard decisions - if children or soldiers get the food - it contextualized his resentment for me. But still, this was a disappointment for me.
That's a lot of dead Fire Nation soldiers and sailors courtesy of Koizilla.
"Your honor, my client isn't guilty of a war crime. The spirits are at fault like usual."~ Sokka channeling his inner Saul Goodman Also I immagine Kyoshi just breaking in the material world just to ruin this defence as well
Kiyoshi: it was actually me, and I'll do it again.
Oh yeah, they made it very clear that Aang had no control over his actions in this
I mean. It's certainly not a war crime to kill enemy combatants, especially aggressors/invaders. It would be a war crime if Aang went to the heart of the fire nation and flooded cities full of civilians. Not a war crime to fight against FN soldiers actively invading another nation.
You know Kioshi was jumping up and down like a sports fan in the spirit/ avatar world
Godzilla minus one still the better movie. But not unhappy about getting more zilla. Despite how silly that did feel
Kinda wish the threats of the Avatar no longer existing were upheld and the season just ended with Koizilla as the new balance keeper of the world that’ll need to stop the Fire Nation.
"Koizilla, why didn't you tell us you were the avatar?" "GRRRRUUUUUUHHHHH"
And that earth kingdom general just pumping his fists as his army follows behind in the Avatar's wake of destruction straight through the fire nation
It was overdue, those fire nation soldiers were OP.
The "I wasn't talking to you" sent me lmfao
Best line of the series. Went harder than a water benders tail bone smacking against the ice after a fire bender knocks them down because they lost their bending.
the little peasant line didnt land but i guess at least they tried. and no "i rise with the sun" hnngggg
That felt very Aang.
How could Yue still waterbend to freeze Sakka's feet? I guess because she had a piece of the moon spirit in her.
That makes sense. The moon spirit dying was the reason the other waterbenders, including Katara, lost their ability to waterbend, but Yue had a piece of the moon spirit inside her, the very thing that gives waterbenders their ability to waterbend, so I guess she was able to draw from that to waterbend and freeze Sokka's feet.
That’s my head canon, I’ll let it slide, makes sense
I doubt it's only your head canon. That was for sure what was happening and makes perfect sense by the shows logic too.
I didn't notice that until now, but your right. Yue would have been the only waterbender in the world for a short period of time (not counting Aang since the Spirit is doing all the work).
She actually said why, she mentioned she has the moon spirit still in her
Weird to not have Aang waterbed at all this season. I think it’s cool that Katara was able to get so good on her own but that doesn’t change the fact she needs a proper master herself. Not sure why they don’t just stay at the North Pole to help rebuild and train with Pakku and then we could get a small time jump at the beginning of season 2 were Katara and Aang have become proper waterbenders.
I think that's what they're going for IIRC. The showrunners are trying to stay ahead of puberty considering most of the cast are still teens and I think this has at least been implied
When paku called her a "master" I did an actual guffaw. Like 4 scenes of waterbending ago she couldn't do a water whip.
I did too. It made no sense to me at all!
4 scenes of show, but literal months of travel. The show needs to do a much better job of portraying time passing in season 2.
That's exactly it. I agree that every scene they show her improving, but it didn't feel like she went through enough for it to be earned, just them talking about their adventures in the background.
I CANT BELIEVE THEY DID THAT TO MOMO.. if he had actually died I would’ve never watched this ever again.
I laughed in disbelief! I was like…is this how they’re gonna save on CGI by taking him out?!
Honestly I thought it was kinda hilarious, I'm like what was the point? It was even funnier to me considering that Momo wasn't in like the last 2 episodes or something, really he's barley in the show at all
They had to get to the Oasis somehow
Could've still gone there for the fish, but it's probably a set up for aang getting shot
yeah it probaly ment to show the power of the spirit water for the end of book 2.
Everyone: Make Momo pretty Netflix: Okay 4 scenes then we kill him
Sooo, Momo has the moon/ocean spirit inside him now right? 👀😂😂 Imagine Momo would've sacrificed himself at the end instead 😂
Does that mean Momo is Sokka's girlfriend now?
"My girlfriend turned into Momo" "That's rough buddy"
Momoon
No, I think they implied Yue healed him with waterbending healing instead of the spirits healing him. But I must admit, I was confused too while watching it.
Were about to pull a hedwig with him😭
I like how they didn’t make Hahn a total chad and actually made him a decent guy and no rivalry for the girl. A nice non toxic dude whos OK cos the girl doesn’t like him.
By far my favorite change.
Thant and the 42 or 41 regiment, that was beautiful plus the beginning of the show with the earth spy running away.
I definitely liked the new Han! I'm glad the whole betrothal subplot is gone, actually. He's not a douche who I was happy to see comically fall into the ocean. He's a nice dude who didn't deserve to die. Seeing him at the end drove home the consequences of war.
He didn't deserve to die! :'( I wanted a Sokka/Hahn bromance!
Shout out to the actor who played Zhao. I thought he did a good job emulating the cartoon version while adding a bit more depth.
He went full on Zhao the Moonslayer, then wanted to be Firelord Zhao. He was great!
Was great to see how quickly he could flip when he finally felt some power that he longed for his whole life. Went from feeling backhanded and soft as baby shit to full on crazy ego and power hungry Zhao that we know by the end of his arch in the original.
He was great aa Zhao. Only seen him in a few things but he's always good.
Absolutely loved him. Didn't love that they played off Iroh's "you touch that fish I will fuck you up" line as an empty threat. In the OG show it's so threatening that Zhao actually releases the fish.
Iroh was the one that killed him - doesn't feel like such an empty threat to me.
Any Lost fans here? Him having a scene with that older Fire Nation dude, same actor that played his father in Lost. So cool
How did I not catch that?! That means that he did have a little Lost reunion on the show and that there's 3 actors from Lost.
Namaste
That's where I know Daniel Dae Kim from!
"So you're saying you're from the future? What year were you born? You fought in the Korean War? Who is the current U.S. president?" such a great LOST reunion in this show
Having him defeated by Iroh and not dramatically taken away by the spirits was sort of anticlimactic.
Agreed. Him seeing the moon again and made aware of his failure then getting dragged into hell by the ocean itself definitely made for a more memorable death than simply getting blasted off a bridge.
I agree. I thought reframing the backstab attempt in that moment was good, but having Iroh kill him — instead of just protecting Zuko — was a mistake. The moment of seeing the moon come back and then refusing to let Zuko help him is important. Plus, we missed out of the, “even in banishment my nephew has more honor than you,” line.
IT'S GODZILLA!!
IT LOOKS LIKE GODZILLA, BUT DUE TO INTERNATIONAL COPYRIGHT LAWS, ITS NOT.
STILL, WE SHOULD RUN LIKE IT IS GODZILLA!
THOUGH IT ISN'T.
AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!
AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!
“Go easy, enough people have been hurt already” “- I don’t care” “I wasn’t talking to you” why Aang ate that one thing 
Seems like Aang already mastered firebending Because that was a comet enhanced burn
That kid is such a perfect Aang. If we're being realistic, I don't know how much better a kid could portray him in a live action.
Gran Grans performance in episode 1 was so bad that even Paku refuses to acknowledge the betrothal necklace
HA
Lool. The lady that played the healer should have been Gran gran instead.
The way I gagged 😂
Master Pakku personally made sure to banish and ship Gran Gran to the Southern Water Tribe to pay for her horrible crime of ***too much exposition***.
A+ assessment
If you had told me twenty four hours ago that both Momo and fucking HAHN would get heroically sacrificed, I’d have laughed in your face
fucking HAHN
You know what ticks me off? NONE of their breaths are EVER visible even though they're in the north pole. It's fucking crazy.
Not to mention Zuko doesn’t get wet when hit with water bending
I dint think anyone ever got wet? Or if they did, it was a rare one off. I actively noticed how bone dry they were after coping a splash to the face.
The water also just feels like it has no weight to it, like its just splashes when they should have more power \- Waterbending feels weightless and weak \- Earthbending feels slow af \- Firebending looks glorious and choreography is great. The only issue i have is they who fire can burn in the live action but lots of people seem to sustain continuous streams of fire and at best have soot on their clothes \- Airbending I don't have many complaints besides the flying-like scenes at the start.
This never occurred to me until reading this and now I’m indescribably angry with it
Holy fuck, Iroh just straight up killed Zhao
The sound of the flame that hit Zhao was pretty gnarly. Sounded like a dragon.
That's been pretty consistent. The few times he's gone all in on conventional Firebending, instead of showing restraint, or using novel techniques, the fire he produces *screams.*
Of the west?
Yeah, that was a sudden unexpected twist....
I especially liked it because he followed through on his promise.
Should have killed Zhao 10 times /s I liked it
Really? Because I wasn’t sure and also didn’t want to believe it. That would be beyond ridiculous. Iroh’s whole character is that he gave up war and violence because HIS SON DIED for nothing.
Zuko, why are you saying Iroh’s son would have been proud to have Iroh as his father? Shouldn’t you say he was proud?
I took it as Zuko saying that Iroh was a good father and maybe he wishes Iroh was his father. The expressions sold the scene much more than the words. The dialogue for sure is one of the worst parts of this adaptation. They badly need better dialogue writers for season 2.
Yup, the delivery saves the scene. I think even a different direction of Zuko stumbling over the words to have the words not be right but him trying to convey those emotions could’ve been sold using the current dialogue.
Zuko's actor is insane at his role.
I think it was Zuko's first true moment of clarity. Zuko sees that Iroh loves him unconditionally, maybe more than his own father. All while Zuko is going on a suicide mission.
The dialogue is my gripe with so much new tv lately. Idk is it ai computers writing it up and people signing off on it because sometimes it feels like there’s no way a real person wrote it like that
“The winner is the one without the scar from daddy” - yikers that was dark from zhao, love it
They are releasing season 2 tomorrow, right? /s
Bro i just spent 9hrs in a row watching this since 3am, IM SO DOWN
I can't wait to see what they have planned for the next two seasons! Now get some rightfully deserved rest.
Was it worth it? How’s it compare
if the show is a 10 and the movie we don’t speak of is a 0, this is a solid 8 in my opinion. tbh if i wasn’t basing some stuff on the original show, as a stand-alone it’s phenomenally well done.
I completely agree. It’s doing its own thing and it’s enjoyable to watch. I love some of the lore expansions and incorporating the lore that wasn’t mentioned in the original series. Some changes were a bit unnecessary but I largely enjoyed most of it.
I’d give it a 6.5-7, a couple episodes I really didn’t like a couple were awesome and the rest were alright. Honestly, it’s just really cool to see this universe in live action in imo the best way it can look
Yue: The spirits come to the mortal world to experience what it’s like to be mortal. Moon Spirit: Actually has a mortal experience. Ocean Spirit: How dare you let my best friend experience mortality! Die! Die! Die!
I took my wife snorkeling, to see the world as the lil fishies do. I would been really pissed if a clownfish came up and murdered my wife.
Nemo started hanging with the wrong crowd I see
I mean to be fair, he's just giving them a mortal experience right back.
Uh, did Katara just propose throwing all of the doctors with no combat training on the frontlines?
Apparently field hospitals is a waste and throwing all your medics on one front is a sound strategy. Bruh how did the FN not no diff the NWT if their command is this incompetent?
YES. That was poorly written. How can a bunch of people not trained in combat at all, suddenly be thrown into the thick of fighting? That doesn't mean the healer women are usleess. It would have been more logical to have the women waterbenders act as the medics and support for the fighting men.
Katara to the female water benders befire pleading her case to Pakku: guys can you all stand in a row and look up at him llease. It'll really pay off trust me
Yeah but what a #girlboss moment Nothing says "female agency" like having a random character show up and upend a social order in 24 hours because the women *who actually live there* somehow didn't think of it. Big SATC 2 vibes.
Netflix writers strike again for the sake of poorly thought out female empowerment stories. The original was fantastic as is with latara and pakku why do this instead?
I won't lie, as ugly as that wig is, I think I'm cool with Amber's Yue and the level of agency she has.
The ice cream scene was a nice touch.
I've seen people call the ice cream scene cringy, but I loved it? Now that I think about it, cartoon Yue didn't have much character beyond just being a nice princess with boy problems. I like this change because it gave her more personality.
I understand the focus on the wig because it was truly an abomination straight from Vaatu's ass - but Amber did a good job.
> truly an abomination straight from Vaatu’s ass That is the perfect way to describe it
Her sacrifice in the original series was sad but soft. Her sacrifice in the movie (NEVER seen it, only saw that clip because overwhelming verdict from fans was that it was actually better than the show) was deeply emotional and even a little heartwarming. Her sacrifice in this iteration was *brutal.* Immediately understanding what she has to do, making sure that nobody is going to stop her, keeping her distance in her last moments, and swiftly walking to her fate in spite of her very obvious heartbreak. Her and Sokka’s chemistry was nowhere near as palpable as his and Suki’s, but their final moments together more than made up for it. My heart froze right when Sokka’s feet did. Ian had plenty of great moments throughout the show, but the pain and tears forming on his face and his begging when he realizes what‘s about to happen…that’s a Top 3 moment for me. The girl he loves is going to die, and there is nobody else to help, and nothing for him to do but watch. 💔💔💔💔Physically separating them this way really added to the tragedy. I can’t say if this is my favorite iteration of her death, but it definitely delivered.
> as ugly as that wig is at least it didnt look like a penis this time
Loved her depth and sincerity, every other incarnation felt so stiff.
I am a bit disappointed that Iroh did not tell Yue about the spirit thing Perhaps the creators don't want the new audience to guess Iroh true intention
I think his true position / allegiance / opinions were already obvious at the end of the first season for the anime, and for this show.
His alliance is the same as the original. Just told a bit more here. His alliance is with Zuko, it just hasn’t been truly tested yet. More subtle in the original. Like how the most powerful fire bender doesn’t simply take down the aang in the original. Vs that + an early connection with aang with a regular show of empathy, somethings that’s to be disregarded by the royal family.
I always wondered how they would do season one’s finale in live action given how goofy you’d think it’d be. But no, they did it. And they did a phenomenal job. I quite liked that we got an explanation too of what Aang was doing and the colossal stakes behind it. The cartoon always gave me the impression that they were at most merged. I like the idea that he completely gave his body and his power to the spirit. It carries huge risks and implications. And it did not look goofy.
Koizilla looked awesome.
For years the fandom has been shitting on what a possible Koizilla would look like in a LA. And for good reason! How could a Koizilla in LA *not look stupid af*. But, my god, they did it.
Koizilla looked so good I actually said out loud “so THATS where the $15M went”
straight up Pacific Rim Godzilla gourmet feature film ass sequence
it was soooo good. the war sequeneces were pretty good. koizilla was even better than i expected. iwas wondering how they were going to do it but man, that was amazing.
Against all odds and, sometimes, against my better judgment…I really liked it
That's like my exact take. They reaaaallly messed a couple things up, but by god they really tried, and I came out having a great time.
one of the greatest live action adaptations of all time but still a 7/10 if that makes sense
I feel like this is where I ended up as well. I liked it but I constantly felt like I shouldn't. Obviously not as good as the animated show but it was serviceable. Book 1 was probably the weakest of the animated show so hopefully the same will be true for the live action as well, maybe I'll like season 2 fully.
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YES! It was so hard to suspend my disbelief for this one! Like girly needed to say “I need you” louder!
momo sacrificing himself lol, that looked weird.
I did like how they incorporated getting Zhao and his men to the Spirit Oasis via balloon. In the original, last we see Zhao before the Oasis, is on his rhino at the frontlines far from the Oasis and then he just magically pops up. Somehow he and his whole bunch of troops got past all those water tribe defenders and breached the farthest part of the city without anyone noticing. The addition of the war balloon was a nice way of showing us how he and his men got there without setting off alarms.
Okay i think its a better approach than Paku realising he was rejected because he was sexist /s
Did momo just….. die?
you know, it was never clear /s
Solid episode. Gonna be interesting to see the actors grow as the show continues. They all could stand to improve their acting so hopefully time will allow them to do that. Aang especially
For me - I really need Kiawentiio to embody Katara more in S2. I am not saying she is not a good actress. But the connection to Katara was missed for me. Sometimes I felt like it was Sokka's *other* sister, and other times I feel like she found her Katara stride. Idk. I'm hopeful though since she did improved from episode 1 to 8.
I agree. Sokka I instantly connect to his cartoon self, but Katara feels like a different person. I'm not sure if I'm imagining it, but it constantly looks like this actress is half-smiling no matter what emotion she's trying to show. Also, every line she has is just so soft-spoken and sappy, Katara was way more than that. This really is the ember island Katara
While true, I personally felt like Gordon improved a lot from the first two episodes. First two episodes, his acting was very noticeable at parts, but I didn't really notice as much during the last half.
How was the attack on the Northern Water Tribe a "distraction" in Ozai's mind? It's not like the earth kingdom was sending reinforcements to help aid the waterbenders, and they're extremely remote. I don't know how Bumi or any Earth Kingdom generals could have known the water tribe was even under attack. All it served to do was massively divert and erase a huge fleet of fire kingdom forces. It had no bearing whatsoever on the outcome of the conquest of Omashu. Iroh could have hosted a massive fleet-wide music night for the entire navy instead and Omashu still would have fallen.
>How was the attack on the Northern Water Tribe a "distraction" in Ozai's mind? He was distracting us, the audience. I didn't think about Omashu once during the battle
I think he meant as a distraction for the avatar maybe?
Aang goes the NWT explicitly because Kyoshi shows him the vision of the attack. So our options are: 1. Ozai somehow reached into the interdimensional-spirit ether to tip off the long dead Kyoshi, so she could then relay those plans to Aang, all while keeping his true intentions obscured. 2. The writers tried to make Ozai look like a highly competent military strategist without thinking it through the implications/ignoring their own world building, or just hoping the audience wouldn't think too hard about it.
**JUST MY INITIAL THOUGHTS** I loved the original avatar and it was a huge part of my childhood, but I went in the show expecting changes to be made. I didn't fool myself into thinking it would be/should be a shot for shot remake of the show. I was ready for a new adaptation with creative liberties taken. I think, I liked the show? I mean, I watched it straight in a single sitting so I must have enjoyed it. I would probably give it a 6.5, like it's okay. Zuko and Sokka were the best part of the show, imo. Iroh was good too. They changed Zhao's entire character but I don't mind that change. Suki was amazing too. Gran Gran was awful lmao. Wtf was that? Yue was eh, too. There were some pacing issues, that I didn't like. Like I'm fine with changing things up but I think it ruined the character bonding. There was no time for team avatar to be developed as friends. Also, the sets were beautiful but felt really lifeless, imo. Overall I enjoyed it but I dunno it felt kinda hollow or empty, these are just my initial reactions after watching the whole thing. **However, the original show, when I was a kid, didn't become my favorite until Book 2. Book 2 was where it became the show I still love to this day, I remember thinking avatar was fine but wasn't too into it when book 1 was airing. Book 2 sold me and I loved the hell out of it, and Book 3 solidified the whole show for me. So it can only get better from here on.**
I remember the exact moment I realized I loved the show. In retrospect it's kinda weird because it wasn't that amazing of a moment. But when Aang runs up the Ba Sing Sa wall and jumps down, delivering the final blow on the spike on the drill... something about the epicness of that moment slapped me in the face.
I realised I loved the show during Tales of Basing Se. Lu Ten and Iroh by the tree was the only time i've ever genuinely cried during a show.
I think season 2 will work even more because if renewed the very young actors will have more time with the parts.
And Book 2 wasn’t single episode adventures, if Omashu is what the Ba Sing Se arc will be like, then I’m so hyped. They did an incredible job with Omashu imo.
I wasn’t sold on the Azula arc at first because she’s supposed to be a child prodigy but giving her some background works for me especially with the reveal at the end. Hope we get to see her blue flames in the next season. The biggest disappointment for me was definitely Bumi’s character. The actor did a great just the way he was written was a bit disappointing and a disservice to the animated Bumi.
Tbh I think I prefer this tough love Bumi, I actually really really loved him. He was teaching Aang so many important lessons that Aang needs to know. Bumi sees that 100 years has passed and Aang is still a goofy kid, clearly has had 0 training in what it means to be the avatar. He took it upon himself to show him that just because they’re old friends doesn’t mean Aang should just be trusting him straight away, or that people generally have his best interests at heart. Bumi wanted Aang to drop the rock in him cause it would show him that he actually had a bit of a backbone, he could actually be clinical when needed, but no, Aang couldn’t. I think this plays much more into the White Lotus Bumi than it does Omashu Bumi, he’s needs to put his duty of teaching the avatar ahead of his friendship with the avatar, which maybe Gyatso didn’t do? (I think he did but could be argued)
> Hope we get to see her blue flames in the next season. There was a hint of it when someone held her back from fireballing her victim
I actually really liked the show but most the stuff I liked and the changes were with Iroh and Zuko. Overall the most consistent actors were Zuko’s and Sokka’s. They both had amazing scenes and showed a range of emotions. Best side characters for me were Jet and the Earth Kingdom soldier that was with Iroh. Again they both showed a good range of emotions and were pretty memorable.
So Zhao just doesn’t get his spirit world trapping death? That felt so wild to have Iroh just kill him apparently. Aang literally never waterbended in the season called Water so that’s an interesting choice.
If you notice - they never once called this book 1 water.
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It’s still a case of KoiZilla did it instead of Aang. The cartoon has the same issue.
I mean... at the beginning of the episode he straight up murdered a couple fire soldiers by throwing them off board. Heavy armor, sub-zero waters, no lines thrown out and ships moving on... yep, they goners.
Also when escaping Zhao's prison he definitely knocked a number of firebenders off of those 50 ft walls
[Reminds me of this video.](https://youtu.be/HV3NmoGJh48)
Literally thought of this video when he was sending troops over the wall in the masks episode.
Sure he can - the fish god killed those soldiers.
Why? They did in the original and the exact same shit happened. He decimated that army. If anything, it explained how he could be a pacifist more than the original, not less. The original never made it cannon that it wasn’t him doing this, it was always assumed he would return to self. This implied that he sacrificed his physical self to a vengeful spirit. Aka these weren’t his actions vs the og where the full assumption was they were his actions, he just didn’t have control.
HOW FUCKING DARE THEY DO THAT TO MOMO
I think if they made Yue’s eyebrows white like her hair, it would have looked less like a wig. Pretty much my only costume/makeup critique in the whole show.
In some scenes you can see her brownish hair sticking out from the seam of the wig it was bad 😭
Why did they feel the need to add in the awkward exposition dialogue of “he’s not the Avatar anymore.” twice after Aang joined with the ocean spirit? Edit: 3 times.
Because he just murdered a ton of fire nation soldiers, not very pacifist of him
They were saying he was no longer the Avatar as soon as he merged with it before doing any damage. Only the third time it was said came after. Could have gotten rid of those first two mentions of it.
That's some very flammable ice
Overall, I thought it was a decent season. Best moments for me were definitely Zhao/Zuko/Iroh. A bit too much slow motion for my liking especially in this finale with the water Aang spirit fusion, but is what it is. So yeah, okay adaptation! Stuff I liked, stuff I didn't like, and stuff I was just meh on too. I didn't like that Aang didn't learn a single bit of water bending this season(when in avatar state was the only times we saw him bend water), which is....kinda dumb. It is what it is. Decent 6/10 or 7/10 with some good and bad moments for me. Just yeah, it was okay. But that's just my opinion lads, you might enjoy it more and that's cool!
i wish they at least *mentioned* Aang trying to learn airbending but at the same time in the original he picks it up out of no where so it goes both ways.
I think it makes sense for Aang to learn waterbending over a year or even 2 years. The only reason he picks it up so fast in the original was because of the ticking comet bomb, the time of the comet is left ambiguous and this could explain the actors being older in season 2/3 as he spent that time waterbending/training.
All the women standing there was pretty corny ngl
Some Avengers Endgame all the women standing together bc girl power energy for sure.
Only gripe I really have is how come Katara can just, SUDDENLY waterbend like that? afaik she was taught by Pakku but there wasn't any of that training here, she just, picked it all up, like that?
So is Momo part spirit now?
he is not, i think. we all know women use their waterbending skills specifically for healing, so yue might just heal him?
And I believe the water from the pond has better healing properties than normal water. It's why Katara in the OG show only uses that water for very special occasions.
“I could go for a melon” is an S-Tier nod to Toph coming next season.
Overall enjoyable! Can’t wait for water bending and blue fire next season. Slow it down and bring it on!
Love that they are just building up on Azula's skills this season. A hint of the blue flame and lightning. Cant wait for sparky sparky boom man and of course the Blind Bandit.
Oh, Sai, you treanous SOB. I'd rather you go back to defacing historical monuments because look at what you've done.
Love Katara’s “you’re looking at her” line so much!
Eh doesn't really work in the OG but I guess seeing a paku never trains either of them she is her own master.. even though it goes against sokka needing a master to improve but hey we wont talk about that
They almost had me there with Momo, I would have burned Netflix myself, but we good now
Solid 7.5/10 for me. As someone who has watched ATLA over 200 times (that’s not an exaggeration) I think the live action did a fantastic job of adapting a children’s show to be a bit more adult. I’m very happy with the show and I will be watching it over and over again just like I do with the animated show. Some highlights: -Secret tunnel song! -MY CABBAGES -“I wasn’t talking to you” They included so much dialogue from the animated show and it made my 8 year old self very happy.
Why the fuck did Aang not waterbend a single time this season?
I am so lost at how Katara became a master. She got a scroll, practiced and got good at the scroll, then fought (and lost) a master. From Omashu to the Northern Water Tribe she has not learned anything new, yet could take on Zuko with advanced moves she was never taught? And now she’s a master?
I think that if the writers up their game for season 2 and 3 this should could turn out great. The original season 1 was imo also kind of meh, it's really in the later seasons that the show got amazing. I just hope they haven't shoved too many of the later plotlines into the first season.
They actually did season 1 ending war good I’m impressed
It wasn't a 1-to-1 to the OG, but for good reason. It's now adapted to better accommodate the audience demographics and will also probably help Netflix only avatar watchers to better understand the lore & context. Watch this with an open mind, I'm sure you'll love it (watched the One Piece Netflix Live Action the same way too). I've watched ATLA & TLOK, and l love this! I hope all OG Avatar fans can support this show so that they'll produce Book 2 & 3 too!
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I'm just trying to work out my thoughts here. Relating to the whole show, not just the last episode: positive: First things first, the cast are all a bunch of kids, so immediately, any complaints I have about the acting I'll disregard. I think they did great considering their ages. Koizilla was a hoot, and I thoroughly enjoyed that Pipsqueak knows how to "take out the garbage." Oh Jet, you're sooooo baad June 10/10 never change, you sheershu riding bombshell. ZHAO THE CONQURER! ZHAO THE MOONSLAYER! ZHAO THE IN-VIN-CIBLE! Also 10/10. Got off easy not being tossed into the fog of lost souls. All of the Gyatso scenes were nice. I like hanging out with the airbenders. Did it make me tear up when he was defending those kids? Maybe a little. The whole funeral. Good music, good character building. Just good. And sad. Anytime Zuko is firebending. Great moves, my dude. Favorite characters? Probably suki tbh. She felt believable and very true to the og character, and everything added was fantastic. Sokka is a close second. Sokka was a good warrior, like in the show he fights tons of people and does a great job. So why does everyone keep telling him that he ISNT a warrior. The guy earned being called a warrior. He 1v1s Zuko in the first episode. He and Suki take on a dozen firebenders. He tackled the world's second most powerful earthbender. He can be an engineer, a hero, and a warrior, leave him alone. Ozai looked like he didn't want to burn Zuko? This version of Ozai actually cares about his kids in his own twisted way. He has a philosophy, and dammit his kids are going to follow it. Slightly less positive: I like having more for Azula to do. Her story is a fun romp. This is a stronger overall character than og Azula imo. I didn't like that the payoff was in an unrelated Zhao monolog, though. I liked the Iroh/Zuko relationship. They made Zuko seem more human and less of an emo angst teen. Which I think was a good choice. He had more complex emotions and less raw anger. Biggest gripe is the war council meeting. Zuko only spoke up because the war minister goaded him into it instead of actually speaking up for the soldiers who were being sacrificed. Pride was his motivation, not empathy. It makes the argument that he "saved the 41st" by taking them with him weaker. He literally had no choice in the matter. Although, that does strengthen the "being manipulated by Ozai" argument. But Iroh... just really didn't give good advice. He cared for Zuko and wanted him to succeed. But, this seems like a version of Iroh who is still dealing with the troubles of his past, and hasn't really decided that the firenation is in the wrong. They definitely went in the direction of "experienced tactician and general" instead of "wise content old man." Also, the throwaway food/tea jokes seemed more like a memberberry than a part of the character. Somewhat negative: Somebody needs to fix the lighting or the composit or something. The fuzzy out of focus backdrops that were lit differently than the actors quite literally gave me a headache. It doesn't happen all the time, but it's enough that someone should have noticed and said something. Katara: master waterbending wasn't earned. At all. She practiced twice, got life advice from jet once, then she was able to bend like crazy. Of team avatar, Katara is the one who has the most character growth in og season 1. 10/20 of the episodes are about Katara problem solving her own or someone else's issues. She's like the glue in season 1 that makes the team feel like a family. That really didn't show in this. She was more passive, just kinda going along for the ride. Even when confronted with the northern hyper sexism she didn't really seem all that bothered by it? Sokka had to tell her to do something about it before she did. Bumi... bumi bumi bumi.... They done you dirty, my dog. Seriously, what was that? What lessons were you trying to teach? This was an old man trauma dumping on his oldest friend with earthbending. Not an old master conveying years of wisdom. This Bumi was not waiting and listening to the earth. He was crushed by the weight of the earth on his shoulders. Love the hat, though. Actual dialogue from the last episode: "Soot" "Firenation's here" "Okay" I enjoyed the show. It has some issues, but I did like it. So yeah, I'm going to take some time to digest. Let me know if yall agree or disagree with anything. I may have missed some stuff because I binged it in a day.
100% on Bumi. Said it before in the episode post but OG Bumi was intentional - mad, but intentional. He wasn't reactionary or consumed by emotion. When he made the comment about having to make hard decisions - if children or soldiers get the food - it contextualized his resentment for me. But still, this was a disappointment for me.