Netflix ATLA: S1 Ep 8

(Writing this after getting word there will be Seasons 2 & 3. I'll maybe talk about it here, but save the most of it for a final review encapsulating my thoughts on Season 1 & if there's anything we can predetermine about Seasons 2 & 3.)

Pretty cool fight scene here. CG looks nice. In the original, Aang took down ships by himself, so to see a co-op takedown with the Gaang is new & well executed. Aang's moves are new but look like they could've come right from the original. Probably due to finally using the staff in combat again. We need more staff fights. Sokka as overwatch & planner shows his skill as a leader. Katara's skill level looked the same save for that double jump spout that got her back on Appa. We'll have to see if she got Pakku to change his ways. And the reveal of the actual size of the Fire Nation fleet is nice. Aang's "You've gotta be kidding me." is right from the original, but even knowing the original, I thought the same thing. Very effective on selling the potential hopelessness of it all.

Zuko still running his solo mission to capture the Avatar under Zhao's nose. He's realizing things have escalated & will continue to unless he captures Aang here & now. Wonder if they'll follow up on Iroh's advice here and show us both the seal turtles that show Zuko a way into Agna Q'ela & his Breath of Fire, which Iroh has been teaching Zuko, because his fire-breathing technique, along with claiming to have killed the last dragon, is what earned him the nickname "The Dragon of the West" (S2E20, S3E13). While I appreciate Zuko's sentiment with the Lu Ten line and I know it's Zuko's roundabout way of saying he's proud & thankful that Iroh is looking out for him as a father would, I feel like it's obvious that Lu Ten was proud to have Iroh as his father. Iroh stating it outright that he thinks of Zuko as his own, like he did in the original, works better. It's also what makes when Zuko says it outright (S3E11) more impactful, even with the long wait.

Man, even if it's not being said directly, you can feel how useless Aang feels. Everyone around him consulting, making plans without even a glance to him, as the Avatar. Even the odds? Is this where she changes Pakku's mind? I can't imagine what else Katara would mean by that.

So the war balloon is taking part in the siege? In the original, that Fire Nation took The Mechanist's/Sai's balloon from the Northern Air Temple (S1E17) & we didn't see it again until S3E11 in both original & upgraded form, the Airships. Given that The Mechanist/Sai was intro'ed MUCH earlier, it makes sense that both the Fire Nation had time to build his original blueprints as well as being best used on a target that is thought to have only one front. But again, I must point out that Zhao is just going to circumvent the fight using an invention he was given to get to the Spirit Oasis instead of fighting his way through the city to get to there.
I want to say that scene with Aang striking the fireball was CG, but it was done well. The kicked-up snow helps hide any egregious CG tells. We finally see what those holes in the wall were for. Neat addition of a defensive wall having an offensive capability like that. Nice little scene with the women, but with this, I doubt we're getting the Pakku/Kanna connection. If we get it after the battle, then sure, it'll help solidify Pakku's change of heart here, but a lot of things will go unutilized. For example, having Yugoda be the one to help Katara persuade Pakku without establishing Kanna fails to utilize the connection between the three (Pakku, Kanna & Yugoda) (Kanna was Yugoda's best friend when she lived in the North & Yugoda would have known Pakku not as the North's best Waterbender, but from back when just he & Kanna were betrothed).
Cool that we get to know Arnook joins the fight & Yue's line about Arnook being overprotective recalls a scene from the original from after the siege (S1E20) that might make its way into the resolution for this episode: When Yue was born, Arnook had a vision of a woman becoming the Moon Spirit. We'll see if we get it, but signs point to yes with it seemingly being the reason Arnook asks Sokka to protect Yue (Sokka will bring up this promise of keeping her safe while trying to dissuade her from giving her life to revive and become the Moon Spirit). If that's the way Katara becomes a "Master", I'll be disappointed. The title of "Master" felt a lot more significant in the original, something you could only receive from another Master. Not to take away from what this Katara has learned on her own, but in the original, she trained under & proved herself to Pakku that she was always meant to be one. If it sticks by just being thrown to her in passing like that, that severely misunderstands the significance of the title.

Again, Iroh knowing about Waterbenders is from his development of lightning redirection (covered in last review). He tells Zhao to stop attacking during the night because Waterbending is more powerful while the moon is out, especially full moons (also why Bloodbending (S3E8, 16) is only possible during the full moon (not in Korra, though)). The hell is this Ice Moon shit? Lion turtles references the one the Gaang read about in Wan Shi Tong's Library (S2E10), the one at the end of the series teaching Aang energybending (which he uses to take Ozai's bending from him) & their expansion in Korra as the ones who originally imparted to humans the ability to manipulate the elements (Manipulate, not "bend". Bending is seen as having control or a level of skill in manipulating them (which clears up any conflict between the lore from ALTA & Korra about the original benders. Don't @ me)). "Cosmic balance" & "push & pull" are phrases directly from Koh but these being on parchment probably means they are from the Library, and it SEEMS Zhao DIDN'T get them HIMSELF. Not to mention the fact that HE DOESN'T UNDERSTAND their significance & has to have a sage hand-hold him through the explanation. The sage's line about the Water Tribe's lives from the ocean spirit & power from the moon spirit is a line from Yue in the original (S1E19). So this Ice Moon marks the night the Moon & Ocean Spirits give up their immortality, thus making the change reversible. That answers how Wan Shi Tong was in the Spirit World in episode 5, but if it's a choice made by the spirits, wouldn't they have went back to the spirit world when the North as a whole, the Spirit Oasis or their lives were at risk? Wait, they take physical form or take A physical form? The difference being one situation where the pond in the Spirit Oasis is empty 364 days but the spirits manifest as the koi fish for one night (in which case someone would have noticed) OR they take the koi fish that are there 24/7/365 & possess them for that night. It brings about more questions in a time where answers are needed, it feels unnecessary; Not feeling this change at all. Balance/push & pull/yin & yang/life & death all from original Koh when telling Aang the corporeal forms of the spirits. Iroh's apprehension about meddling with the Spirit World is a cautionary tale: He supposedly went to the Spirit World to find Lu Ten. No specifics of his travel there are mentioned, but it, along with his other worldly travels after Lu Ten's death showed him the beauty of the other nations as well as the delicate balance that kept that beauty possible.

Kinda busy, Kuruk. Go back to your shrine, ya unhelpful ingrate. So Kuruk's PaRtIcUlAr knife on this pArTiCuLaR night makes it feel like Zhao has been waiting for everything to be perfect, but this is just needlessly tedious. You wanna give ANY reason WHY Kuruk's knife is needed? Did he or the spirits do something to his knife? You're just not gonna tell us... OK, this is dumb. Yes, it's so that the spirits are protected from any old attackers, but the vulnerability of the koi fish alone being the only thing that separates the Water Tribes from stability & chaos is so much simpler & effective than all these circumstances having to align. Also, yes, Kuruk fought spirits as established last episode, but he fought evil spirits & when he went into the Spirit World, his body came with him, meaning he could use bending to fight, not just his knife. SO with that info, what you SHOULD be asking is: Why the knife of an AVATAR, a PEACEKEEPING being meant to PRESERVE THE BALANCE in the world, has a knife that can KILL A PEACEFUL SPIRIT whose death would THROW THE WORLD OUT OF BALANCE?!? "...power of the elemental spirits." is alluding to the Koizilla that we hopefully get in the climax (I say hopefully because if they changed the simplest thing that didn't need changing, they'll touch anything). Needing Yue I guess makes sense since she's the SPIRITtual leader & Kuruk just said the SPIRITS are in danger.

THEY DID NOT JUST KILL MOMO!!! What the fuck does Momo nearly dying have to prove for Yue?!? This is so dumb; So is Momo going to be touched by the Moon Spirit? Oh, so it's just revealing the revivification properties the Spirit Oasis Water has when Katara uses it on Aang at the end of Season 2. IMO, another bad decision. There was a lot of tension that stemmed from the "Will it? Won't it?" effectiveness of the Spirit Oasis Water Katara was gifted by Pakku at the start of Season 2 (Katara was first going to use it to heal Zuko's scar while they were imprisoned in the Crystal Catacombs of Ba Sing Se (S2E20), then there was a moment that looked like it didn't revive Aang, who was struck by Azula's lightning in the Avatar State. Katara begins to sob, but then Aang's tattoos glow and it's shown to have worked). At least the glow of Waterbending healing is back. Also, the shot of the war balloon in the sky above the Spirit Oasis is cool. Very foreboding.

Zuko enters Agna Q'ela in almost the same way as the original (just no eruption from the Firebending). However, no seal turtles & with them cutting away so quick, no Breath of Fire either. Probably to make Iroh's full Fire Breathing (S2E20) more momentous. Eh, sure. And Sokka's right; Along with whatever off-screen help he provided, he came up with the controllable lid to regulate the hot air in the balloon. Zhao FINALLY showing some backbone, but it's not doing anything for him with what he was before now & the time he has left. So is the Katara/Zuko fight happening here in Kuruk's shrine? In the original, this fight happens while Aang is in the Spirit World looking for a spirit's help to fight back the fleet. Katara is protecting Aang from Zuko because Aang's body is vulnerable & it's more convenient for his spirit to remerge with his body in the place he left it (S1E19, 20). Lines are word-for-word from the original, so we might get the... THERE'S the "You little peasant!" line! And Katara's running with the "Master" qualification. Again, it takes away from the significance of being a "Master" (being trained by & given the title from a Master) in this world. Little Breath of Fire... here? Why now? It's meant to warm himself, both internal & external, after being in freezing waters for so long during his infiltration of Agna Q'ela. Fight had some memorable moments (Some taken from the show (the water/ice binding right before the fire explosion), some new (the spider-like icicles (helped by the SFX) after whirling around Kuruk's statue)).

If Zhao knows the "push & pull" part, even HE could tell the koi fish are the spirits, sure. Iroh stealing some of Aang's original lines to Zhao, but he backs up with the same sentiment right after. The "ten-fold" line is right from the original. Another memorable line I'm glad they kept, but the delivery got a little too hammy right at the end. This Zhao is trying to be Fire Lord? Pffft. I was about to say that we haven't even seen him in combat, but I just remembered the fight at the end of episode 2. If I had to struggle to remember that, then they haven't established Zhao as a good enough fighter to have aspirations as high as the Fire Lord. Trust me, Zhao; God himself could descend and say you're meant to be Fire Lord and I'd turn atheist right then & there. Talk about empty threats; Iroh doesn't want to be Dragon of the West ever again. Your interactions with him should have keyed you in on that. "Zhao the Moon Slayer" was another name he rattled off before Momo humbled him a bit in the original (mentioned in my last review). Same red encompassing everything when the fish was put in the bag. Calling back how wiping out the Waterbenders by killing the Moon Spirit is a parallel to the Air Nomads being wiped out. Nice delivery from Aang on the "...Yes. I do." who, again, hasn't made any major acting jackknifes this episode. Huh, the Avatar not mattering anymore calls to mind one of Korra's conflicts after being poisoned to the point of being paraplegic (she gets better and I don't want to get sidetracked so moving on). Uh, what? ...The Avatar DOES matter. The whole point of the show is that the Avatar could have prevented this hundred year war! Unless he's saying a hundred years ago, the world needed the AVATAR & because AANG chose to go for a ride on Appa, he failed to help the Air Nomads & failed to stop the war from starting, so AANG doesn't matter. However, this is the wrong time to extract the wrong message from a statement & get mopey about it. LOL too distracted by the warrior behind Zhao on the close-up of the bag. "Let me put my hands out just to show some kind of reaction to what happened." Again, I think needing THIS SPECIFIC KNIFE to kill THIS SPECIFIC FISH on THIS SPECIFIC NIGHT is dumb, but the slow-mo felt tense-ish. Just saying I've seen Aang move things faster with his Airbending before, even accounting for the slow-mo. Also, in the original, Zhao, after having the fish in the bag (red skies) released the fish back in the pond (normal colors) before Firebending it in the water (red from fire kicking up) revealing he killed the fish (greyscale). The return to normal, then going to red because of the fire, then the reveal of the unexpected greyscale had an insane impact on the gravity of what Zhao just did. It pulsing before going to greyscale here didn't have the same impact (but the next scenes, HO-LEE).

Seeing as how they established that the Ocean Spirit gave the Waterbenders life, them doubling over feeling weak doesn't really make sense (for Yue, it does; her life essence is tied to the Moon Spirit's), but GOOD LORD THOSE WATERBENDERS ON THE WALL ARE COOKED. We never got ANY of the time between when the Moon was killed & when Koizilla emerged in the original, so seeing this devastation is unsettling (helped equally & immensely by the music). The scene of Zhao's flagship breaching the wall is pretty badass. And there's the collapse of the shrine shown in the vision... wait, if Aang could recognize the building from his vision once he got to Agna Q'ela, shouldn't he have avoided it like the plague once the siege started? Katara & Zuko got needlessly crushed (but they'll be fine). This means we're not getting the original scenes of Zuko defeating Katara, him taking Aang's spirit-separated body past the northern tundra, looking for a way to escape with him & nearly dying. Then Katara, Sokka & Yue are able to see Aang's spirit return to his body in the sky, track it with Appa, find & defeat Zuko and save Aang. Aang, being a compassionate person decides to bring Zuko back to Agna Q'ela where he escapes his bindings on Appa when everyone's distracted by Zhao killing the Moon Spirit. These scenes don't advance the plot of the siege any, but Zuko talks to Aang's body (out loud, really) about Azula & how she's a prodigy, saying "My father says she was born lucky. He says I was lucky to be born.", the near-death desperation escape attempt gets brought up by Iroh under Lake Laogai (S2E17) and Aang still showing compassion to Zuko, who takes a stepdown from primary antagonist from here until a brief return in Season 2's climax, shows that Aang is still willing to forgive what Zuko has done & hold open that figurative door of redemption for him.

Arnook holding his own & Hahn backing his retreat is cool, but why are the Fire Nation Soldiers being so careless? Just send in the benders. Uh, Iroh? You only really took out one guy; You shoved another & there were four backing Zhao. You still gott-aand they're gone. God dammit. Not only that, but we didn't see how ferocious Iroh can get; In the original, he PUTS HIMSELF IN THE MIDDLE of the four soldiers and takes them out with 5-7 strikes (5 on-screen, maybe 2 off; we can see Zhao's retreating face being lit by 2 Firebending strikes, but we don't know who from). Cool they kept Yue's eyes being the only remaining blue (it's how Iroh, having been to the Spirit World, realizes she has the Moon Spirit's life essence still inside her). Yue's lines are right from the show. Having Aang recall the past Avatar's wisdom, barraging him to the breaking point is cool, but you'd think he'd focus on Kuruk saying "The Avatar needs to be alone." to go along with the rest of the negativity. Cool they kept the "No. It is not over." from the original, but could they have mixed the "It is not over." better? "Over" gets garbled. AND COULD THEY NOT HAVE THE KID GET INTO ACTUAL WATER? When he pulls his hands back up from the pond to make the mudra (hand position in meditation), his hands & sleeves ARE COMPLETELY DRY. You'll be lost forever?? WHAT IS WITH THESE UNESTABLISHED CHANGES?!? I genuinely cannot understand why they added this catch to Koizilla, so if or when it's revealed, I'll talk about it. Just know that this episode started to go downhill at the Ice Moon/Kuruk's knife thing, started to come back with the attacks on the powerless Waterbenders, and is now teetering on the perpendicular-to-the-ground drop after that "lost forever" shit. PLEASE explain it competently, or IMO, this finale is pretty close to beyond redemption. And if you're gonna have Aang disappear in the shallow pond, SHOW IT. Like they did in the immensely better shot in the original. Not this stupid drop-out-of-frame motion-blur-added-in-After-Effects close-up.

Okay, Koizilla looks cool (though I miss the white highlights both throughout the body, seeing Aang's silhouette in the center orb & the whiskers they gave him). The explanation about why Aang's lost... I guess the explanation that the Ocean Spirit's rage took over Aang & will control him is fine, but control him forever? I'm not sure about FOREVER (at least until he slowly wades over to the Fire Nation Capital City & decimates it). My questions would be: If the Ocean Spirit was/is controlling Aang, how was Aang responding to Yue before he plunged into the water? AND How does Yue discern the Ocean Spirit's rage will be forever? But I guess there are answers: The Ocean Spirit allowed Aang to respond to Yue & she's the spiritual leader and with seemingly no way for the Moon Spirit to return, the Ocean Spirit might take it out on humanity, not just the Fire Nation. Okay, I'll take a step back & admit I got a little heated before. That's what typing these out moment to moment does, but I think there's value in exploring & cataloguing an event as it happens in the show. It allows for a deeper look at why a scene is good, bad, good-turned-bad, good-turned-better, and all the combinations under that umbrella.

And now we see the inverse of the Fire Nation devastation. We had some shots in the original, but not as much as the showrunners would have liked. Still, they did a lot with a little; Having the Water Tribe people bow down, full Dogeza-style (kneeling bow with head touching floor), to the Ocean Spirit as it went through Agna Q'ela's streets while wiping out (literally) every single Fire Nation member it came across. There was one particular shot of Water Tribe people bowing as Koizilla walked past them & it reminded me of the Passover story in Judaism (God called the Angel of Death to go through Egypt & kill every first-born male in every house save for the enslaved Israelites, who marked their houses with lamb's blood above their doors so the angel would Pass-over them.) I also like the contrast & similarity of Yue saying "There is no Aang." to Sokka & Iroh saying "There's is no Avatar." to Zuko. He's just a vessel for the Ocean Spirit. Poor soldier that got splattered across the roofs, but did they have to have a goofy scream in this meant-to-be-serious-throughout moment?

I wish I felt more for this fight between Zuko & Zhao, but without any prior notable fights or showcasing of intelligence for Zhao (Zuko/Zhao Agni Kai (S1E3), tracking Zuko to Crescent Island (E8), using Yuyan archers to capture Aang (E13), his scrap with Aang & his former teacher Jeong Jeong (E16)), they have not established Zhao as enough of a threat for me to care. The only moment right from the original fight is Zhao wedging fire away. A whole new fight is welcome and I think I finally realized its to do with the Zuko actor's martial art background. Not sure what style he's using, but it focuses on acrobatic kicks, while Northern Shaolin has a balance of kicks & punches (from Sifu Kisu's "Creating The Legend - Bending" shorts). While we know Zhao's mind games with Zuko aren't wholly correct (because of the scene with Ozai correcting Azula about Zuko being the one finding the Avatar in episode 5), we do know Ozai is more openly pitting Azula against Zuko. He did always favor Azula from an early age (S2E7), but Ozai does believe Zuko will inherit the throne. "Ally" is a weak word for it, Zhao. She goaded Ozai into handing you everything. She was your benefactor & facilitator. She made you. So he's just going to rattle off everything he was handed & still failed with? Wait, did they just have a scene of Zhao/Azula identifying Zuko's broadswords BUT ONLY REVEAL THE SCENE HERE?!? SO IT WAS A CONSCIOUS DECISION TO DENIGRATE ZHAO'S CHARACTER! All to prop up Azula; The only problem is that she doesn't NEED propping up. She's a monumental threat for Zuko & Iroh from her 1st active episode (S2E1) to her last (S3E21). They needed to prop up the man who almost wiped out Waterbenders & the Water Tribe and they failed in spectacular fashion. And then they have the gall to use the "Zhao attacks Zuko behind his back but Iroh intervenes at the last second" moment from their Agni Kai, the 1st thing on the roadmap of making Zhao a threat? I'm getting as mad about Zhao as I did last episode. I also don't like the choice of Iroh killing Zhao instead of the Ocean Spirit taking vengeance & "killing him". (It was revealed in 'Korra' that he was taken to the Fog of Lost Souls in the Spirit World).

Back to Koizilla. I need some wanton destruction with how angry I am. Now remember, Aang isn't in control of this; His Air Nomad pacifism is technically intact. I say that because... Goddamn. They make you FEEL the death & destruction the Ocean Spirit is doling out. CG is nice too. You can tell this is where the season's budget went. Final ship-clearing wave is from the original, except it's an ocean-manipulating pull up & push instead of a punch down. That close-up shot of Aang was actually kinda cool.

So it WILL be forever, looking endlessly for the Moon Spirit. Eh, I guess spirits are poetic like that, but it should know the Moon Spirit is dead. I will say, having Sokka & Yue alone for her "death" scene makes it more intimate and is a nice change. Felt weird to have Katara & Iroh in the Spirit Oasis in the original as third & fourth wheels. Did they really need to ice Sokka's feet as a "way of preventing him" from stopping Yue? Isn't it better & more heartbreaking for Sokka to try and stop her, but in the end, realize that, despite what he wants & his promise to Arnook, she needs to do this for the world? Also, wouldn't Sokka, protecting Yue as a warrior, have something to hack through that ice? If the Moon & Ocean Spirits want to know what it is to be mortal, wouldn't they, oh I dunno BE MORTAL FOR MORE THAN ONCE A YEAR?!? In the original, the moon was reborn right at the end of the Ocean Spirit's rampage, so having it wait brings this new circumstance of Katara pleading with Aang to break free from the Ocean Spirit, which is a nice parallel & difference within that parallel to Sokka pleading with Yue to, in contrast, not willingly become the Moon Spirit. Some nice acting from Sokka, but he could have had more to work with if they did what I said above and bring up more specifics with his pleading instead of just the worn-out trope of "No no no". Yue giving life to the Moon Spirit & her body disappearing is instantaneous here, where in the show, Sokka caught her lifeless body & embraced it before it disappeared (done both because it was a kids show & to show Yue's choice was permanent). So Katara's message to Aang is the same message she gives him at the end of his flashbacks in "The Storm" (S1E12), although the "I need you." is new from Katara. Maybe it's them leaking some shipping. Maybe she's referring to the hope he gives the world & her. Probably the latter. Also, having the line be "We need you." is a nice second connection to The Storm flashbacks because Aang's nightmares that opened him up to talking about his past with Katara had Gyatso saying "We need you." Awesome to hear that theme again, especially orchestrated. Failed to mention it until now, but Jeremy Zuckerman & Benjamin Wynn's music is as iconic as the show. The Ocean Spirit got back to the pond after dropping Aang real quick. Also, there was no appearance of Yue's spirit showing that she is the new Moon Spirit instead of the old Moon Spirit reviving. It doesn't really complicate anything, but Sokka does bring it up to Suki & Zuko down the line, so just having some form of confirmation that he knows she's the Moon Spirit would have been nice.

Seeing the aftermath of the siege is heavy, especially because the original wrapped things up afterward pretty quickly. Oh, that student of Pakku that called Katara "Master" (PLEASE have Katara train under Pakku before Season 2) & Hahn didn't make it. In the original, Hahn snuck onto Zhao's ship, revealed himself (calling him Admiral Choi because he went with the limited & incorrect info the Northern Water Tribe had about the Fire Nation) & was tossed into the ocean after Zhao dodged his charging spear (it was played for laughs & he survived the fall). Again, nice acting from Aang (Took a long while, but I think we're at a point where we won't have to question his acting choices much, if at all). CG on that glider launch was great too.
Sokka & Arnook alone; Maybe we'll get that Arnook vision scene I mentioned. And an unexplored part of Sokka, the warrior that did "nothing" in this series and, because he did the same amount there, the original. I guess the message is fine, but it seems we get no vision mention. Could have had a nice "A person often meets his destiny on the road he took to avoid it." moment.
Again, "Water is the element of change" is directly from Iroh teaching Zuko about the elements & how taking knowledge and understanding from other places/nations/etc. can help make you whole (S2E9). Decent reason for Pakku to have his change of heart, but here, it felt like more of a necessity due to the weakened state of the North after the attack rather than realizing it was his strict adherence to tradition that pushed Kanna away & discarding those adherences before the attack. And yes, we do get Pakku giving the title of "Master" to Katara officially, but they're REALLY gonna have to step up her skill in Seasons 2 & 3 because Katara was a badass in her fights past this point. This Katara doesn't feel like she's there. And there's the Spirit Oasis Water (touched on it already when they "killed" Momo). Having it be before S2 is fine. I imagine they didn't want to have Pakku just appear for the S2 starter scene & that's it, so they moved it here.
Zuko being tired & "A man needs his rest" is straight from the original, but original Zuko was JUST tired; He had no idea that Azula was coming for him. This Zuko is DEEP in thought about it. I guess that's a plus of how the Zuko/Zhao fight played out, like Zuko doesn't even have time to rest, but in the original, this rest is meant to reflect his eventual permanent rest from hunting the Avatar once he decides to aid him against Ozai (S3E11). If his mind is swimming, it's not an actual rest.

There was a shot of Aang looking out at Agna Q'ela in the original, but like I said about the overall ending, it wrapped up pretty quickly (in a group hug moment no less), so giving this time for Aang to finally see the war, the state of the world, he was asleep for for a hundred years is a great addition for how short the shot is & how short the season is compared to the 20 episodes the original got. Aang wondering how he can fix things without causing pain in the process alludes to his larger dilemma of continuing to honor & practice his beliefs of an Air Nomad, the most important of which is the abstention of taking a life, which comes to a point when wondering how to deal with Ozai at the end of the series. Katara's message of stopping Aang's worrying about the past & focus on what you have to do works well in two respects: obviously, dealing with the siege is just the first major hurdle of Aang's journey of stopping the Fire Nation, so if he gets wrapped up here, it will impede or slow down what he needs to do for the betterment of the world. Secondly, it parallels what started Aang's entire arc in this series; his focus on where he came from & who he is as Aang taking backseat to and getting lost in his larger duties as an Avatar. This might be me reading too much into things, but even the turn Aang makes is a microcosm of this dilemma. He turns his back to the destruction of Agna Q'ela & looks to his friends, who will help him on his journey forward. Had to rewatch Gyatso's part in episode 5 because I don't remember him saying to let go of the past; Sure enough, he brought up that Aang couldn't have prevented the genocide or the war and just said "Let go". I took that as not letting go of the past, but the guilt tied to it, not the leap that Aang took here. And his final message in that episode was when Aang already left, so how does Aang leap to this? Also, them already expecting to head to Omashu to learn from Bumi is in line with the original, but Aang had learned some Waterbending from Pakku (not as much as Katara learned, but still). Here, he had no lessons from Pakku and is still a day-one novice at best. That makes me think they're keeping the 8 episode count for seasons 2 & 3 (which I'll get into in a final review of the season) and at face value, that has me worried. Granted, Aang is no master of Firebending & even Earthbending when he fights Ozai (S3E18), but they're really gonna have to montage some training or say a lot of training happened between Season 1 & 2 if they want to sell me on the idea that this Aang will be at the same skill level with Waterbending in crucial moments/fights in the show going forward. Sokka focusing on food calls to mind his portrayal in the Ember Island Players (S3E17), with a very similar set of lines as his character's introduction.

Hmm, much like the readying of forces being a distraction for the Air Nomad genocide for Sozin, having the siege be a distraction for the conquering of Omashu is interesting because there was no (no pun intended) set-in-stone time marker for when the siege & the capture of Omashu happened in relation to one another. Despite how insane I think Ozai's "strategy" is, just casting aside what looked like a majority of their naval power (the most formidable arm of the Fire Nation military) & a chance to wipe out another nation that opposes him, I guess the slow capture and eventual full conquering of the Earth Kingdom will make the Water Tribes trivial in comparison in the long run. And having Azula spearhead the attack is a double-edged sword; it helps legitimize her as a threat but takes away from the mystique the cliffhanger of the original's Season 1 had with not knowing who she was or what she could do (which, again, decimated Zhao's image he was suppose to have this season & might hurt the weight of her unexpected first impact on a fresh new season).

So I just remembered that we never got anyone telling Aang of Sozin's Comet. The Fire Nation had prior knowledge of its return (Zhao's speech to his troops in S1E13 is the earliest evidence of that IIRC) so this is a nice touch to show how they knew as well as a good cliffhanger instead of Azula, but like I brought up in my episode 6 review with Roku not telling Aang, there needs to be a fire lit under the Gaang to motivate them to do things as fast as possible until the fall of Ba Sing Se shifts their timeline (S3E18) (albeit not really because of Ozai's plans with the comet). Also, my first thoughts with this mini-planetarium were: Hopefully this doesn't mean that they're not making the planetarium in The Library the momentous thing it's supposed to be (S2E10). A celestial event that could win the war for the other nations mirrors Sozin's Comet, the other celestial event that wins the Fire Nation the war. It's that small window of hope (hope being SO important in ATLA) that the underdog nations have against the Fire Nation, who keep claiming victory after victory.

My Season 1 review will go into what I expect from Seasons 2 & 3, as well as pros & cons for Season 1, but for now, final pros, cons, & overall thoughts for this episode:

PROS:
CG needed to be top notch this ep & IT WAS: From the first major CG shot of the episode (the reveal of the full size of the siege fleet), to the TWO IMMENSE destruction moments (the Fire Nation breaking through Agna Q'ela & The Ocean Spirit's unbridled revenge against them (which I'll go more in-depth with the next pro)), to the quieter but asset-intense shots (Aang overlooking the destruction at the end) even down to the lesser moments (The Gaang's ship attack, Aang stopping a catapulted fireball, Aang flying away from seeing Hahn's body) they were either not afraid to tout their CG chops or hid errors well enough that I didn't have a problem with them.

More time in the siege & with Koizilla: The major things Aang is going to learn as an Avatar are the monumental impact of his decisions (or lack thereof) and the monumental power he has, both of which as an Avatar. The siege & the destruction from Koizilla bring both these aspects to their highest levels, respectively. The destruction brought & lives lost from the siege are a direct consequence of Aang not learning more about the Avatar State before his arrival at Agna Q'ela. Similarly, the destruction brought & lives lost from "his" Ocean Spirit attack at least shows the reduced (because Kuruk says the Avatar State pales in comparison to the elemental spirits power) yet similar destruction the uncontrolled Avatar State can bring. Both set pieces were more effective than the original because, not only did we not get ANYTHING like that from the original, it FAR AND AWAY blew past my expectations of what they would show.

The Gaang's emotional climaxes & their acting: Each one of the Gaang had a great emotional moment here: Sokka with Yue, Katara pleading to Aang/Ocean Spirit & Aang with seeing the true impact of the war & world he finds himself in. Sokka trying so hard to prove & thinking he failed in proving what his father expected from him, Katara having the person who made your growth as a Waterbender & your hope for a better world & future possible taken away, Aang realizing the global & possibly devastating impact his decisions as Avatar will have on the world & not wanting that responsibility. And despite Sokka not getting more to play with, you could hear it in his voice. Despite Katara's words not really having an impact on the Ocean Spirit because the Moon already returned, she laid it all out very effectively. Despite Aang not getting as much time with his emotional scenes, his emotional acting was some of the best we've seen from him this season (and he'll have more opportunities in future seasons & scenes...). The actors really brought validity & respect to the characters.

CONS:
Superfluous changes (Ice Moon/reversible mortality for the spirits/Kuruk's knife): Went pretty in-depth in the actual review on this because I was so flabbergasted by the changes. They did nothing but add hoops to jump through that only serve to be a "small window of opportunity" for Zhao, yet there was no setup for this window beforehand. The utilization of the war balloon to get to the Spirit Oasis trivializes the entire siege. The transformation of the Moon & Ocean Spirits not being permanent begs the question why they didn't jump fish-ship when threatened.  No explanation as to why a former Avatar's knife, a peacekeeping being mind you, is the only thing that can kill the peaceful spirits. There's nothing wrong with simplicity, especially in a pivotal life-or-death moment. It gives more plausibility & weight to simple acts, instead of over-assigning importance, which can (and did) complicate things to the point of nonsensical ridiculousness.

Sacrificed Zhao to prop up Azula: There were faint hints at Zhao's cunning, intimidation & power all the way back in episode 2. I thought they were going to snowball it by having him be in every episode, becoming more imposing & gaining more prestige along the way to legitimize his promotion to admiral & become the threat that he was supposed to be as the commanding officer of the Siege of the North. However, instead of the former student of a strong Firebender who was said to be "only concerned with the power of fire" & the adept military strategist who stayed at even pace & at times ahead of Zuko in his pursuit of the Avatar, we got someone who was so inept, he couldn't connect Zuko's broadswords to the Blue Spirit's without assistance WHICH, I REMIND YOU, WAS ALSO ADDED RETROACTIVELY, so opportunistic, he put up facetious fronts only to brownnose what Zuko was accomplishing & divulge it to Azula then try to take what Zuko had accomplished for himself using means he shouldn't have earned and so egoistical, he thought so highly of himself that he could overthrow his nation's leader after not being able to win a single fight AND EVEN HIMSELF ADMITTED OF HIS TOTAL INEXPERIENCE. All to legitimize Azula, who not only has a whole new season to show why she will be more than formidable for the Gaang AND Zuko & Iroh, but has already had multiple scenes that have already done that to an extent.

Unexplored points, some with large implications: There were so many things that went unutilized that could have made characters/moments more developed. The Kanna connection opening Pakku up to training women instead of necessity, along with Yugoda, Kanna's friend, being the one to persuade Pakku. Even giving the vision mention to Arnook to make him more than an "overprotective father". Also, there are many problems with characters/circumstances as they are now that complicate things for the next season: The underpowered version of Katara in this show means she won't be as skilled of a Waterbender as a "master" should be or she'll get a skill buff out of nowhere. Also, the comet not being the driving force behind the Gaang's actions puts little to no haste to their actions.

OVERALL STANDALONE: Great action, great emotion, great cliffhanger. Eager to know what's next.
OVERALL KNOWING ORIGINAL: Had great moments, but felt like crossing not-so-solid ice just to see not-so-stable ground. (Element puns absolutely intended)