Netflix ATLA: S1 Ep 6

So we're FINALLY getting the Zuko Storm flashback and, while finally relieved we're seeing how Zuko isn't fully corrupted by his father's manipulations, just blinded by them, we needed them long before this point. Otherwise, this stacked on top of him going against Zhao (essentially, he's a stand-in for the Fire Nation's influence reaching even Zuko's banishment) & Aang's monologue while Zuko listens after recovering from his rescue (he got hit from a Yuyan archer arrow) might seem like the show trying to pile on & bombard you with reasons why Zuko SHOULD become good instead of spreading these things out & letting you feel and take in why Zuko MIGHT become good, adding more chance for his good to prevail each time. Same thing with Zhao & him not being threatening; because they cut scenes that showed us he was cruel and conniving & instead, gave everything to him for boot-licking instead of just being a good or ruthless commander. I will say I like that we see Zuko's own crew disobey him, which we didn't get in the original. Helps sell Zuko's desperation of losing everything he's done for the past 3 years to earn his former life as prince back as well as feeling alone & helps validate his choice to go all Blue Spirit when he knows Zhao captured Aang. The actor really sells the anger mixed with desperation too. Damn, even Jee gets some acting kudos.

Crescent Island looks great. Looks ripped from the show & realistic (probably helps that it was a trailer shot). Since they're fusing episodes 8 & 13 of the original, I wonder if Aang will have difficulty getting into the particular room with Roku's statue that allows him to commune with him (There was a door that required 5 Firebenders to use their Firebending on to open, like a door in the Southern Air Temple (that we didn't get in this version) that required Airbending to open (S1E3)). I also wonder if we'll get Shyu, the only Fire Sage of Roku's Temple of the five here that helps Aang. Sages to the Avatar attacking the Avatar bit is right from the show. There's Shyu & the sconce concealing a Firebending "switch" to a hidden passage is also right from the show.

So I mentioned in the last review that Nyla needs something from the Gaang in order to get their scent. In the original, Zuko found Katara's necklace (her mother's betrothal necklace, which should play a key part in Katara's fight with Pakku, the Waterbending master of the Northern Water Tribe) on the offshore Earthbender prison rig after the Gaang fought the warden to free the imprisoned Earthbenders (S1E6, which was cut, along with characters Haru & Tyro, his father). Aang got it back in episode 15, but instead, just happening to find fabric from Aang's clothing is not too big of a stretch since Zuko's report put the Gaang near that bar where they found June.

You might think that the Sages abandoning their faith in the Avatar is a stretch, but they actually touch on it in the show. For 100 years, the world thought the Avatar was no more. That, along with the threat of punishment for disloyalty to the Fire Lords, shifted their allegiances over time & generations. ...I don't know about this Roku. I know he's about to drop the time limit on Aang's journey & Roku was always wise & stoic to match the gravitas of the wisdom he told Aang (of the comet (S1E8), of the strength & weakness of the Avatar State (S2E1) etc.) But cold opening with a joke is... not it. I also don't like Roku telling Aang that there are other ways to end a conflict. Don't get me wrong, it's the correct message. It just shouldn't come from Roku. In S3E19, Aang communes with his past 4 Avatar lives to ask if there's any way to stop Ozai without killing him. And every one, even Roku, said no. It's the reason why I think Aang was able to master the Avatar State at the end of his fight with Ozai (S3E21); he surpassed & went against AKA mastered the will of every previous Avatar while they were controlling him through the Avatar State & decided what HE thought was right. You know who it should have come from? GYATSO! I do like that pause & thousand-yard stare Roku has when he says "Painful... consequences." It alludes to his decision to not kill Sozin, HIS FRIEND, when he had the chance (S3E6), the very reason he tells Aang he must kill Ozai!
Again, mentioning Kuruk in regard to Koh because he took his fiance's face (which is why this is weird coming from Roku & not him). The Mother of Faces is from the graphic novels ("The Search") and, along with Roku's explanation of her abilities being the same, she gets involved with the Gaang past the animated series' conclusion when they try to find Ursa, Zuko's mother, who asked the Mother of Faces for a new face because she didn't want to be reminded of her traumatic life as the Fire Lady after being banished from the palace. The totem itself is a creation for the show; No idea of what it does or why Koh wants it back. You might think that his line about "placing the world's needs ahead of your needs." fixes him in my eyes, but they're just trying to have it both ways, same as my problem with Gyatso in the 1st episode. Commit to a frigging lesson.
Also, NO MENTION OF SOZIN'S COMET?! The hell? Were they planning NOT to have more seasons? It's important because Firebenders are slightly more powerful in the day than at night, due to the sun being out. The comet, an object of fire MUCH closer to the world than the sun, powers up their Firebending EXPONENTIALLY (Again, grounding the "magic" of the show with rules so it's not a nebulous magic system). It's why Sozin waited to kill all the Airbenders until that day, why the comet is named after him and, 100 years later when it returns, how Ozai intends to end the war: by using the enhanced airships to fly to the Earth Kingdom & burn everything they fly over. Aang has until the end of the summer when Sozin's Comet returns to master all 4 elements & stop Ozai to end the war. Otherwise, Ozai wins. I get that the siege putting all Waterbenders under threat is motivation enough to get to the Northern Water Tribe, and I know that Aang decides that, after the fall of Ba Sing Se, "pretty much winning the war" because of it, he would defeat Ozai after the comet (S3E18), but what about after the siege (Similarly, we learn that Ozai's plans with the comet are so destructive that he had to be stopped before he could use the power it grants.)? Is Roku gonna appear in the last episode of this season (or more likely Kuruk because of the "commune only at shrines" rule, which is getting more stupid as I remember it) and have an "Oh, by the way..." moment for the CLIMAX OF THE SERIES? Just have him tell us now while he has Aang!

So did June & Nyla swim across a goddamn ocean to get there? They weren't on Zuko's ship because she collected Aang's fabric this episode in a forest & there aren't any ships going from the Earth Kingdom to the Fire Nation. Go look at an Avatar world map; Senlin Forest to Crescent Island doesn't look far, but it took Appa the better part of a day to fly there basically non-stop in the original & they're using the same map. Nyla's smell-o-vision looks cool, though. DID THEY SWIM BACK?!? As a bounty hunter, June's line of thinking makes sense. Huh? Whose life is in Zuko's hands? His own? No one specific comes to mind.

Everything about the War Room scene came from the show save for Ozai asking Zuko his opinion on the attack. I guess Ozai was trying to show Zuko was a worthy prince by offering him the ability to put forth an idea, but it backfires, only diminishing his capability of leading. Having that be contrasted in his vigor of speaking out against General Li's plans. Also guessing that Zuko meant he had the Fire Nation soldiers' lives in his hands because the War Room plan had the 41st division being sacrificed. I think they were going to accentuate that by having Zuko say how pointless their sacrifice would be because his lines are edited weirdly. Listen back to it, he says: "Soldiers are gonna die and for what?" You can here he begins to speak a "T", but then the next line is "It's unworthy of a Fire Nation officer.", but the "T" takes the place of the "It's". They probably cut a line saying something along the lines of "To grab a small piece of land in a war we've been fighting for 100 years." Not exactly that but something that shows the pointlessness of the sacrifice. We get the message, but it wouldn't have hurt to have it.

Zhao is only a threat in this scene because his crew pulled up with him. They have given us NOTHING to show that we should be intimidated by him. In the original, Zhao sends the Yuyan Archers to capture Aang while he's collecting frozen frogs to cure Sokka & Katara's cold (I know it's weird & gross, that was the point) It was a nice little action piece that we don't get. They go wholly unutilized after that, except for the last hit to Zuko, as the Blue Spirit, as he's taking Aang away from Zhao. They better be more involved in the escape fight. I know that sounds like Zhao wasn't a threat in the original either, but I keep bringing up the Agni Kai between Zuko & Zhao we never got but also, because they fused episodes 8 & 13 together, we never got the blockade scene headed by Zhao (he shoots at Appa without regard of Zuko's ship & when the circulating blockade ships could have destroyed Zuko's, he decided to let them pass to track Aang AND when Zuko uses smoke coming from his ship as cover to travel in a smaller vessel, Zhao picks up on it instantly) as well as his capture of Sokka, Katara & Zuko at Roku's Temple. It's shows his ruthlessness by not caring if they hit Zuko & his cunning by picking up on Zuko's obfuscation plan. Here, he's pretentious & getting verbal digs in at Zuko but with almost nothing to back it up. In fact, it was Zuko's plan of hiring June that actually capturing Aang, further highlighting Zhao getting handed everything.
In the original, Pohuai Stronghold is in the Earth Kingdom, but since Zuko didn't pursue the Avatar into the Fire Nation on his way to Crescent Island, which if you couldn't tell is Fire Nation territory, they needed a new reason to defy his banishment (Zuko in the original justifies it by saying "I'm chasing the Avatar! My father will understand why I am returning home!" but Iroh, knowing his brother, is like (Paraphrasing HARD) "Uh, do you KNOW your father? Because I do."). I guess they didn't have Zuko at Roku's Temple because the Fire Sages, while paralyzed, could see that Zuko defied his banishment and tell Ozai about it.  Nothing comes from Zuko "defying" his banishment anyway so I guess the change on top of attacking Zhao/Pohuai Stronghold is to show the lengths he'll go to to get the Avatar. Also, in the original episode, Zuko was nowhere to be seen until he was revealed to be the Blue Spirit & the surprise was huge. By having him appear in the episode before as well as being the only one we see who knows where Aang's being taken, EVERYONE is going to KNOW Zuko is the Blue Spirit off the rip.

Even here & now, they're cutting things that showed how ruthless Zhao was. In the original scene with Aang shackled, he reminds Aang that he is the last Airbender, asks if he misses his people and says how he "won't be killed like they were." He added insult to injury, and yes, it's not as ruthless as he could be say in a fight, but he's hours away from handing his ruler the one person that could prevent their nation's victory. I'd start grandstanding too. However, they even take that away. My last review's closing remark said they had multiple minor character mistakes. Well, they're fixing Zuko (we'll see to what degree they fix him to), not touching Azula (this episode at least) and went turbo mode on burying Zhao's character into the ground by having multiple opportunities to fix him and refusing with such precision that it can't be a absent-minded mistake.
And HERE'S why I mentioned Zhao's voice in the 2nd episode's review. This speech is supposed to be an admiral bolstering his troops about taking part in the victory for a HUNDRED YEAR WAR. Jason Issacs is nice with this in the original (not as base-y, but still his voice carries). It also helps that he delivered the speech on a balcony of a tower. Here, it's like he's giving a TedTalk. I'm starting to get more upset about Zhao than I was with Gyatso at the beginning. What was that line read!? CE! LE! BRATE! in his voice? I'm now physically reacting to the cringe.

...I don't know how to feel about the mask. It looks a little bit too wide? I was gonna remark on its near pristine white, but Zuko probably doesn't use it all that much. The more I'm viewing it, the more I'm warming up to it, so just an early gripe. Nice under/inside-the-cart double fakeout (right from the original, but executed nicely here) Uh, how did the guards in the hallway NOT see that mask when the POV shot clearly showed we leaned out too far? The alarm horn being broken by a throwing knife is right from the original, though one thing they did better than the original is not have the Blue Spirit use a bucket of water to put out a guard's Firebending. I know they wanted to keep the identity a secret so he had to find ways to get around Firebending without using his own, but that as I recall it, was a little silly. CAN YOU EMOTE A LITTLE MORE, KID?!? I'm not saying go cartoonish with it, but COME ON! After Zhao told you you won't be killed, a MASKED guy with SWORDS CLEARLY not affiliated with Zhao just opened your door, you're DEFENSELESS & your face says "Wait, where'd I put my keys?"
Okay, WHY WAS THAT SPEAR PARRY AN INSTANCE OF DECENT/GOOD CG? The animation was weird & that's what tipped me off, but at first, I was like "Did someone actually move like that?" I hope they don't spend the entire fight on the top of the wall. The original had their grapple rope cut before they could reach the top, they had to fight through a lot of guys on the ground while also failing to get to the top of the wall. It was a great way to make it seem hopeless for them again & again, like how Jackie Chan choreographs his fights with him/the hero having a disadvantage, making him the underdog in the fight, which makes their victory all the more triumphant. Again, some decent CG along with a pretty sick co-op moment & Airbending slam to clear the top. Well, I guess those 2 previous CG moments used up their budget because Aang jumping to the guardrail was some really bad CG. Why did he have to bring his hand to his chest then intently back down? Why was his face so horrendously out of focus? WHY COULDN'T AANG DO THAT PRACTICALLY?!? Did they... Did they get someone else to vocalize exertions/grunts? That voice sounds like it hit puberty. THAT "Take this!" LINE WAS ABSOLUTELY NOT AANG'S ACTOR! You can hear the difference right after when he says "Hop on!" Using the ladders as stilts is right from the original, as is the Blue Spirit escaping by threatening Aang's life which is helped by Netflix showing the intent by allowing blood drawn on the neck, something which is a Nickelodeon no-no (Pretty sure they had to fight the executives to have Bloodbending called that (S3E8)). AND THERE'S SOME SCARED ACTING FROM THE KID! MORE OF THAT PLEASE!!! Lost the nice buildup of the reveal of the Yuyan archer in the original (Especially the line "A situation like this requires... precision.) Not much to say about the reveal & retreat. Same as the original.

Not sure how I like this prolonged dialogue instead of a short, but effective monologue from Aang. First off, it's a head injury; If Zuko can't stand up, he shouldn't be able to talk, in complete sentences at least. Also, in the original, Aang's short monologue mentions his friend Kuzon from 100 years ago, the trouble they'd get into, the fact he was from the Fire Nation & asks Zuko if they knew each other back then, without the required hatred of each other from the war, if they'd be friends. Zuko just shot up and attacked Aang but Aang Airbend jumps away, but the question sticks with Zuko. If we're not going to get a monologue, the notebook is a good connection & jumping off point, but just start with that; No awkward lead-in about goat hair or rabbit for Zuko's calligraphy brushes. And finally some good normal acting from Aang. As someone who knows the original, I understand wanting to show that Aang & Zuko can get along, but it's supposed to be a SLOW process that started right here, and I guess here, with Zhao's soldiers being so close, Zuko wouldn't even attempt a fight with Aang, but if you're having Zuko say that he doesn't want anything else other than to be the rightful heir to Ozai & capturing the kid right in front of him, the enemy, would do that, then I don't think Zuko would be in this divulgatory.

I will commend them on bringing up one of the main parallels between Aang & Zuko: Their destinies or roles, Aang as the Avatar & Zuko as the Prince of the Fire Nation & heir to the Fire Lord, and how losing themselves in their destinies/roles isn't for the best: Aang losing who he is both as a fun-loving kid & abstention-from-killing Air Nomad losing to the role of the responsible & sometimes-having-to-kill Avatar & Zuko losing who he is as a caring person to the role of strictly obedient prince & eventual merciless dictator as the Fire Lord. HOWEVER this parallel isn't something that should be put on a proverbial neon sign a lot of the time; It's something that naturally occurs throughout the series and viewers can infer by observing the characters' choices/actions/etc., even their past decisions. That's why The Storm (S1E12) was so effective; it had this series' opening at the Southern Air Temple 100 years ago & what we're learning this episode through Zuko's flashbacks (War Room/upcoming Agni Kai) revealed simultaneously so viewers could draw the parallel easier & notice it later. We didn't get the Kuzon mention, so we'll get it SOMEWHERE because Aang takes it as his name when he enlists in a Fire Nation school (S3E2) while the Gaang, waiting for the eclipse/invasion, hide in the Fire Nation after his "death" (S2E20).

DANG Ozai's actor got CUT (Muscles, not editing) I mentioned seeing his actor before so that was a shock. I don't know if I like the decision for Zuko to not only dodge but attack back. Yes, it fits with how Zuko wants nothing but to please his father, but his defense of Ozai while talking with Aang makes it seem like he reveres him to such a degree, that it shouldn't have come to the point where he had a window to actually hit him. Him having the opportunity to strike his father drove the point home that compassion is for the weak, but that specific withhold was more about respecting his father than compassion (Compassion was more about not wanting to send the 41st to their death). It also shows some of Zuko's fighting skill pre-banishment, but he learned more with Iroh during his banishment than before it (S1E1). Can't really make a decision on whether I like it or not either way. Iroh being the only one to look away was from the original, but Ozai's slow lingering move in gives the impression that he just held that small flame to his eye and that accentuates how the scar is like a brand or a reminder; It feels more methodical, despite the brutality.

There's the Kuzon mention & the monologue (ripped almost word for word from the original). As to why Aang floats the possibility of friendship to Zuko: Aang is constantly reminded of how radically different things are from 100 years ago, how alone he is compared to the world around him, doubly so because of his duties of Avatar & if there's any hope of returning to the time he knew. Then to have Zuko, his perceived enemy from the start of this adventure, save him, even if it was so he could capture him himself, was enough to put the war aside in his mind for a moment & both reminisce about a time before the war & broach the radical idea of friendship to Zuko.
Why Zuko doesn't accept the friendship (and why I think their cabin discussion tries to do too much too early) requires a bit of explanation; I mentioned parallels between Aang & Zuko, but here's one major difference between them; their "roads" of compassion. Aang was always compassionate & when TOLD he needed to abandon compassion to become what people expected of the Avatar, he STAYED ON that path of compassion and, thanks to the Deus Ex Machina of Energybending, was able to remove Ozai as a threat while not killing him (S3E21). Zuko was also always compassionate (S2E7), but he was FORCED OFF that path by what people expected of the Fire Lord and, after multiple tests of his character, he BECAME compassionate AGAIN. Simply put, Aang stays on the path, Zuko has to fight to get back to the path. This shows that, while Aang may have the hardest single instance of "saying no" to cruelty, Zuko has to "say no" to it A LOT more & on average in a lot more difficult situations. His redemption is going to take a long time.
Now having that previous scene in the abandoned cabin feels like a bloated version of this shorter one because of what it tried to accomplish. Like making a soup; you put the aromatics, protein, spices & water, let it come to a boil & skim the top. Now that, as is, could be your soup, but if you continue to boil & cook, while it reduces the quantity, flavors develop & concentrate into a more flavorful, stronger stock. Zuko will be tested again & many more times after (S1E19, S2E7, 8, 17, 20, S3E6, 9, 10, 11) Slow build it over time, and it will be more effective & believable.

Iroh being diligent, waiting for Zuko's return. Love it. Oh, do we get to see Ozai instate the banishment? Right after the Agni Kai too? Well, at least they're addressing Ozai not seeing Zuko hold back as respect. Eh, sheltering isn't the reason in the show that Zuko is more compassionate than Ozai would like (along with Zuko seeking comfort from Ursa at an early age because of his lack of skill which only disappointed Ozai, Zuko is the great grandson of both Fire Lord Sozin & Avatar Roku (S3E6) & there is an internal struggle from his father's lineage (Sozin) & his mother's (Roku)). And FINALLY we get why Aang is so important to Zuko, why Aang, in its own twisted way, gives Zuko hope. The 41st division is Zuko's crew?! THAT was not in the original, and while my head's already asking "Was that Earth Kingdom force they were discussing in the war room so unimportant that they abandon their plan involving the 41st to stop them?" it actually could undermine Ozai's entire lesson but definitely shows that he REALLY didn't want Zuko to return. It undermines it because if Zuko would be successful in returning with the Avatar, then Zuko & the 41st would be proving that the weak can be strong if given the chance. Nice vocal tremble from Iroh. And the revelation of the 41st being the crew allows this on-deck salute, which is a nice way to show Zuko's lesson that compassion can garner respect. Not every addition this series makes supplements the original, but when it does, it takes me aback. Zuko missing music night is also from the show & in the original, Iroh is playing the tsungi horn, an in-universe instrument that becomes tied to Zuko & the Blue Spirit. Kudos to the Zuko actor, his face tells you it's probably the first time since being banished that he's being saluted as the prince he desires to be. Iroh tearing up too. Great scene all around.

Iroh's lesson is one we've all heard before: People hide their true selves & seem to not care for others even though they'd do anything for others because we don't want to feel the pain of losing someone to whom we've become attached. And then having everyone reunited with the people they love save for Aang, the one who made it possible & the most removed from everyone in the natural world losing the only connection he had left in the Spirit World. Was telling Aang it wasn't his fault Gyatso's unfinished business? Nice wrap-up but what is with his topsy-turvy acting again? You can see the sadness at Gyatso's door but then almost emotionless when he's back in the forest. You could say he's pushing down his feelings but this is the second time he's lost Gyatso! Something had to bubble over the brim.

The last scene with Zuko does the same as the last scene in the original, but in an inverse way. In the original, he turns away from a banner of the Fire Nation insignia, unable to deal with his identity being questioned. Here, he catches a glimpse of his desired identity, but it's not of his future as a Fire Lord or even as a reinstated prince (both because he's wearing the uniform we saw in the war room scene and he doesn't have a scar) but of his past compassionate self. Both show that his compassion has survived these long three years & will be there on his path to discovering his best version of himself. Also, we get an answer as to how Iroh knows Zuko is the Blue Spirit in S2E17. "What's hard is knowing that sometimes... the mask is who you really are." Zuko is Batman confirmed. Jokes aside, it's a nice hidden connection; Is the Blue Spirit with him saving Aang, really Zuko? However you should ask if the Zuko that wants to be like his father, the character we've seen for 6 out of 8 episodes, really Zuko? Or is it the Zuko that just saw his ideal compassionate self? Nice ending.

PROS:
Zuko-focused moments delivered in almost all regards: Aside from my gripe about giving his flashbacks room to breathe in another episode, they were handled & executed very well. Zuko's acting was some of the best I've seen in the show so far. The changes, however minor or drastic, either made sense for this version of Zuko or helped accentuate his dilemmas, his troubling circumstances & his path to redemption. Looking back on it, my only "major" complaint (the redundancy of the cabin scene & then the "Kuzon" scene) wasn't enough to take away from anything else.

Aang/Zuko cabin scene was acted well: Again, disregarding the redundancy, & getting past the calligraphy brush ice-breaker, as soon as Aang says he shouldn't have taken Zuko's notebook, it's one of the more notable or maybe even first times his "acting" felt just like a natural conversation. And Zuko matched it very well. I actually got lost in the conversation, enough for me to elaborate in the breakdown on my next pro...

Aang/Zuko Parallels & Differences: This was the 1st time in the original Aang & Zuko had a peaceful moment, predicated on the parallels we see them have from their flashbacks in The Storm. While I still believe having Zuko's flashbacks not be in line with Aang's to make the parallels easier to notice is a mistake along with having friendly moment on top of friendly moment instead of spacing them out more, the cabin scene helped bring them to the forefront.

CONS: (Had a lot of issues with the secondary characters, so I changed the layout to make it readable)
Roku was not right: The joke introduction was a somewhat minor thing, but he's the serious mentor to Aang, who, in Roku's view, doesn't have time to joke or be vague because of the known time limit on the war, which was taken away this episode.

They should've taken Koh out of this episode & put him in the last 2 episodes with the WATER TRIBE Avatar Kuruk because 1) they definitely should have a shrine to him there & 2) He's the Avatar with the most connection to Koh WHICH ROKU HIMSELF BROUGHT UP. For the changes to this & the last episode to make everything fit: just have it play out as it did in the original; Have Roku sense Aang was in the Spirit World, send Fang to get his spirit to physically come to his temple/shrine, tell him about the comet, then have Aang leave & see the paralyzed sages, BANG! Story intact!

Now there's the possibility that if they stacked the threat of losing all Waterbenders in the siege of the Northern Water Tribe on top of Sozin's Comet, everything would feel too hopeless. 2 things: 1) Aang's journey feeling hopeless is the point. 2) JUST DO THE COMET! GOING TO THE NORTH (AND LEARNING FROM A WATERBENDING MASTER) IS PART OF TAKING CARE OF THE COMET! And if you say that would make him lose the compulsion to go to the North ASAP, HE'S ALREADY DOING THAT! Kyoshi gave him that premonition, then Aang decided to stay in Omashu to help, then he decided to stay in Senlin to help, then we learn he's had his cut-episode adventures! A majority of this series' errors is trying to have it both ways.

That, along with the have-it-both-ways lesson I laid out in the breakdown & Roku just feels like another incarnation when he should be so much more than that.

Zhao is NOT what he SHOULD be going into Siege of the North: I've charted this out in every review of every episode he's been involved in since his introduction, but he is just not the antagonist he's supposed to be.

*If Yue (the Water Tribe princess I talked about last episode) didn't go all "Coughing Baby", the Fire Nation would have taken the Northern Water Tribe, got rid of Waterbending FOREVER & likely won the war. All that INSANE possibility off the back of Zhao discovering the forms of the Moon & Ocean Spirits, surviving Wan Shi Tong for taking that info & planning to use it for evil, building a name FOR HIMSELF enough in the Fire Nation navy in order to achieve a military rank high enough to command a fleet large enough to bring the, let's be honest, singular Water Tribe to its knees, so he could walk into the Tribe's most guarded area & potentially SLAY THE MOON.*

If you can say this fuddy-duddy version of Zhao, who bragged about his non-existent contacts, squealed to Azula enough to get the rank of Admiral and piggy-backed off Zuko's accomplishments (least of which being CAPTURING AANG), could do all that I listed *above* with a straight face, you belong in the World Series of Poker.

Pohuai Stronghold fight was too short to be sweet: Major complaint was the ease of the fight for Aang/Zuko once they were on top of the wall, which was immediately. That, along with some questionable CG/ADR'ing made it hard to remember save for what was borrowed from the original, which wasn't much.

OVERALL STANDALONE: Came for Aang's wrap up with the spirits, stayed for & satisfied with Zuko backstory.
OVERALL KNOWING ORIGINAL: Zuko-focused episode did well by him, not well to others.