ATLA Rewatch 3x5 & 3x6 Reaction

I don't think I ever fully realized this until you said you find Azula's sparks are magnetizing, but I'm kind of fascinated that Katara doesn't strike a chord with you but Winry from Fullmetal does. Both characters are actually very similar in personality (both are widely considered ESFJ), but they manifest it a little differently. Whereas Katara is more willing to rush headfirst into problems, Winry is more patient with her surroundings. Katara is more strong-willed than Winry, but Winry is less adventurous. They're both extremely compassionate characters who have deep passions and convictions. They thrive in social contexts and are willing to put aside inconveniences to do what they feel is right. They both in ways meddle in things, but we definitely see more evidence from Katara. Both can be pushed to their limits, but will restrain themselves when moral calls for it ("Southern Raiders" and "Backs in the Distance"). Winry and Katara are firmly rooted in family values and community. Yeah, I think in general, I find it really interesting that the last reaction you say you try to avoid those kinds of people, but they're in essence very similar with different circumstances. Azula, on the other hand, captivated your attention in a way that neither Winry nor Katara would do.

Soleil

I love Aang's takeaway from Roku's story, and I think it's related to how I feel about these two in general, coz it's not the takeaway Roku wanted or expected him to have? Seems to me he was hoping more for something along the lines of the Gaang's reaction, given his general stance of "I made a horrible mistake and you need to fix it by killing the Fire Lord". God, this guy, he just rubs me the wrong way so much! Like, it wouldn't be an issue if he felt responsible and was putting his all into helping Aang dealing with his mistakes, but that's not what he's doing. He's admitting that this all happened because he made a mistake, but the way I see it, he's just pushing all responsibility on Aang instead, with no regard for Aang as a person, like he is just a vehicle to making Roku feel better about himself? Sozin showing up to help, only to change his mind when he realized the opportunity presenting itself, tells me that he still cared about their friendship on some level and all Roku had to do was to appeal to their connection and communicate, instead of trying to cower him with a show of force and then just ignore him for twenty years. Maybe he wouldn't have talked him out of it, maybe he could have, we'll never know, because he didn't even try. There were so many other things he could have tried... I think they made Roku Zuko's ancestor to make it more real to Zuko? Like, he'd grown up with this image of the Avatar being the enemy, only to have cracks form in that when he experienced him as this nice little kid who isn't harming anyone really, and this revelation shatters it completely, coz now the Avatar used to be his family as well. A friend of the Fire Lord even, as he will be, again. I think it's supposed to plant those seeds.

kingafreund

I'm probably late to this but a lot of what you said in the beach episode really hit home. It's easy to go towards blame and whirl of insecurity when you look at your past hurtful experiences, but it's such a relieve when we can come to terms with that and finally acknowledge and overcome them. ANYWAY! Thanks always for the insights! I honestly feel like I've grown a lot as a person since discovering your channel, keep up the great work! :)

minimonie__

Being the Avatar doesn't hurt your chances with the girls either...KORRASAMI

Aray YIKAMACI

Nickelodeon in 2008: Lets give this 15 y/o cartoon girl giant tits.

benj

"I'm in love with Ty Lee, I'm not afraid to admit it" *FBI OPEN UP!*

Jupiterninja

"The tree root did all the work" Forshadowing: "The vulcano did all the work"

My theory about the seemingly sudden shift in Sozin's character is that it probably stemmed from his feelings of entitlement affirmed by his position on the throne combined with deep-seated insecurity/inferiority that was further cemented by what was in his eyes, a great betrayal by Roku. It comes across as almost a personal vendetta or just spitefulness that makes Sozin take his plans and be willing to enact them by any means necessary. When he first finds out Roku was the avatar he seemed to be supportive, but I'm sure he might have felt inferior and also saddened (maybe bitter) that his best friend was abandoning him. However, he tried to mask that for the sake of comforting his friend who was coping with a major life change. Perhaps over the many years Roku was training, Sozin felt left out knowing Roku was becoming powerful and was moving on to do great things since the avatar is basically the biggest figurehead in the world. When Roku returned years later, everything seemed alright with the friendship still, but maybe deep down Sozin felt he needed to match avatar-level greatness to prove his worth, and to reestablish the equal status within their relationship that was present as teenagers. So after years of ruminating on how to be an illustrious leader, he presents his plan to Roku hoping he will be on board, and they can influential and important together. However, once Roku judged him and dismissed him, this probably validated his suppressed feelings of inferiority and confirmed his fear that their friendship was no longer the same and Roku was above him. I like to think his intentions weren't initially evil, that he would've wanted to spread the Fire Nation's prosperity/advancements with the world consensually, with the help of the avatar. Unfortunately, he didn't even get the chance to explain his course of action for his goals before being immediately shut down by Roku. He felt betrayed that his best friend who's unwavering support he thought he had wouldn't even trust him enough to hear him out, never mind agree to the plan. Once this happens, you can see the anger in Sozin, which I think is the moment he decided to spite Roku by not only going through with his plans despite the warning, but by using any means to get there. After all, his ambitions first and foremost were fueled by a need to prove himself and overcompensate for insecurity. I think this slight by Roku along with the power getting to him from being on the throne just created a resentment and hatred for Roku which worsened when Roku threatened and embarrassed him years later in the palace. When he had the chance to remove his one obstacle he took it by letting Roku die. Since his hatred and fear of the avatar was so great he wiped out the air nomads in a desperate attempt to never let that threat be a reality ever again.

witz

I just noticed when they went to go play, she only yelled at ty Lee and not the of the gang. Never noticed that haha

LMAO wait you're right, she says his name TWICE. And then they really just called him "loser boy" after that. To the future Fire Lord.

Kotryna

That's a great catch

Alex G

Man... there are just so many details. It feels bottomless

Alex G

I almost forgot to mention that I noticed during the scene where Azula asks Zuko to come down to the beach her word choice is interesting. She tells him that the house is depressing, which I never really realized how insightful that is about Azula. Saying that would suggest that she also has some reservations about their childhood. I think some of it might be attributed to their mother leaving, which Azula tries to act like she didn't care but clearly she secretly loved her mother deep down or at least desired her love and acceptance. It also might suggest that Azula doesn't have quite as rosy an image of Ozai as it appears. Maybe she holds a bit of resentment towards him for pushing her so hard and being so strict. I don't know that she would be aware of or willing to think such a thing consciously, but it's there buried underneath the lies she tells herself. While Azula clearly likes to bask in the power that she has, I can't help but to feel like she may wish sometimes that she could have had a normal life... Who knows. Really all just speculation and head canon stuff, but I like the depth of possibility that line adds to her character

Alex Begley

One thing I noticed this time around while watching the Beach episode is the comment that Azula made to Tai Lee at the party. Where Azula pointed out that the boys didn’t actually like Tai Lee and compared her to all the other girls. That comment is mean by itself but it becomes especially cutting when you take in Tai Lee’s fear of being “part of a matched set.” I always thought that Tai Lee’s crying was just about the mean comment, but that realization just put everything into perspective for me

Flavia Lobato

We don't see how Sozin ended up the way he did because Roku didn't see it and Sozin didn't want to talk about it. My perspective is that losing his friend in Roku really hurt Sozin. They were the best of friends until Roku was announced as the avatar, and then he didn't see his best friend for many (I think 12) years after that. It doesn't look like he blames Roku for any of that and welcomes him back with open arms (literally), but I suspect it had a profound impact on Sozin.

Burk314

I think you could definitely say both Roku and Sozin handled the situation wrong which is why the war broke out. Both were unyielding in their beliefs and failed to hear the other out. It's intentional too. Aang and Zuko correct this by choosing to go against those two's beliefs. Aang doesn't kill the Firelord like Roku (and everyone else) thinks is the correct choice and then is fundamental in course correcting Sozin's idea of unity through the creation of Republic City and a more international world. Zuko then denies Sozin and his family's sentiment that the Fire Nation is superior to the others, instead pursuing for peace and becoming an equal member amongst the other nations. Together the two of them become great friends and ambassador's of the future because they heard each other out

Alex Begley

I agree that Roku's resistance to any sort of merging of the nations is short sighted. He acts like that's the way it is and has to always be that way. That rigid way of thinking has never sat right with me. Maybe its a peek of Raava being a spirit of order, being opposed to change. Of course that doesn't mean that it needs to change by Sozin forcefully invading and killing, though.

Burk314

I think this is something I've sort of thought about as well. I find myself avoiding terms such as good/evil or even right/wrong sometimes because I question what they really mean. I cringe when I hear them used in shows (unless I know the show is saying it as. critique). I think it's because I know that what they mean varies from person to person like you said. If I type out a long paragraph spouting out simply that certain things are evil or that something is just wrong, to someone else that means something different. If we were to all imagine a "evil" person, we'd all probably have different visions in our head yet so often people treat it like it's an objective thing. Which ties in to your point about debating with Sozin. How can you have a moral debate with someone who has completely different morals from you? Especially when you don't even allow them to explain themselves or hear them out. It's what happens a lot in political conversations too. I think what your ethics professor could have been trying to say is that there still are some morals (just like feelings) that are virtually universal or hold elements of general universality. For instance, most people would agree cold blooded murder is wrong. But I think maybe objectivity only works in the abstract for this. When you start taking into account more and more details, taking in the situation for what it is- a unique point in time- you can't lean on objectivity much anymore. Everyone has their own mix of experiences making them up, creating their reasoning on certain things. A person may have just been raised in a culture or religion or some belief system that has different teachings. Some people can even have physical brain chemistry differences that change how they act compared to others. What ethics and morals usually boil down to (like most things) is just the majority opinion. The majority would agree cold blooded murder is wrong so therefore it becomes a law. It is a tough thing to put into words and get your thoughts in order on. It’s interesting to try and dive into and talk about though

Alex Begley

Something I'd like to add is an explanation for how combustion man's powers work. It's really cool how many different things they've shown that all build to his abilities. When you first see him attack he breathes in, flexing his diaphragm. This does 2 things, it helps generate fire because like Iroh said in the first episode, "Fire comes from the breath, not the muscles". Secondly, it brings his chi up from his stomach, another line from Iroh is that the stomach is "The sea of chi". Which funnily enough, happens to be exactly where the fire chakra is. So by expanding his diaphragm he's lifting his chi up from his fire chakra into his head. The next thing he does is focus his chi in the center of his forehead. What's really cool is that he actually uses the life chakra to expel his fire chi from his body to create the explosion. This is the chakra that deals with insight and is blocked by illusion. In the episode the guru, guru Pathik explains that the greatest illusion is the separation of the 4 elements and the 4 nations. His explanation is what ends up leading to toph inventing metalbending, by discovering that earth and metal are one and the same. Similarly, the explosions that combustion man creates are an extension of firebending, like metal is to earthbending. What I love most about him using his chakra is that it explains why when you hit his forehead it actually stops him from being able to use his powers. This gives an important precedent to how physical attacks affect the chakras. In fact, it's why Azula's lightning blocks Aang from being able to go into the avatar states because she actually sends lightning through his spine which is where the earth chakra is located. This chakra deals with survival and is blocked by fear. Like how Aang was afraid to lose Katara so at the moment he went up against Azula he had to let go of this fear but ended up losing thus only barely surviving. So ultimately in the last episode where Aang is facing off against the Firelord, he can't use the avatar state because his earth chakra is blocked. Until a physical disturbance hits the chakra with the rock, thus reactivating in this moment of pure survival and instinct. Everything comes full circle in this show and it's really cool to unravel and take a closer look.

Michael Stollard

A cool detail I think is that in the first confrontation with Sozin, Roku mostly uses airbending, which is more symbolically peaceful compared to firebending

I think its necessary to have moral expectations of people, but not to let those blind us from the likelihood that people will not live up to those expectations

daniel kurtz

It was necessary to burn the letter so no one knows the Avatar is alive.

Yusuf

I feel like I went off on this rant in the comments of your first watch through...but I'mma do it again, because it's extremely important to me: I am ALL for disregarding the notion of 'good' and 'bad' people, because it sets unrealistic and damaging standards. If someone is told they're bad their whole life, they'll probably end up leaning into it, because hey, if they're intrinsically bad why even try to change? Similarly, if someone is told they're good, they'll be TERRIFIED to make a mistake - I know this one from personal experience. It's an easy trap to fall into, because it's an easy answer, but it's also very dismissive. Instead, we should be focusing on a person's actions: punish the bad actions and reward the good actions, and hopefully they will grow up to be a more conscientious person. And this isn't even taking into account the fluid nature of morality, how it varies from culture to culture etc. It really is MUCH more complicated than 'good vs. evil'.

Jamie Morgan

It's interesting, I was about 9 - 12 during the years that ATLA was live. And in many ways, I'm glad that I was so young and impressionable, as this show imparted a lot of wisdom and life lessons that I still carry with me. However, The Beach is one of the rare instances where I wish I'd been a few years older when it aired. I feel like I didn't really appreciate the episode until much later on. Re: the purpose of making Zuko a descendant of Roku... I've always been a bit uncertain about it too, but I have a couple of thoughts. The first brings me back to what Iroh says to Zuko towards the end: "understanding the struggle between your two great grandfathers can help you better understand the struggle within yourself", and "born in you, along with all this strife, is the power to restore balance to the world". It seems to me like it's a highly spiritual, almost axiological message of: Zuko quite literally inherited the conflict of his two great grandparents, and thus he intrinsically has such conflict within himself. (SPOILERS BELOW FOR ANYONE WHO HASN'T READ THE FIRST ATLA COMIC: "The Promise")! My other, much simpler thought is that the writers knew that they wanted to give Aang a reason to break off his relationship with Roku in the comics, and Roku advocating for the death of his own great-grandson seemed like justification enough, but it would need setup and this was the best place to put it. I'd be pretty surprised if that were the actual reason though haha.

Snarfield

i don't think your take about not wanting to just simply see evil people get killed off without any understanding of their motivations or personal character is controversial. i feel like there's almost always a reason for something and this makes me wonder if pure evil even exists and how to combat it. this is a little off topic, but in the same ballpark i think. i've long had a question about how humans judge the character of one another. the question being, is there any objectivity to morality? we throw around the term evil loosely and every time i use it like i did above i wonder "what does it mean to be evil?" if someone is evil in the eyes of a majority of society are they objectively wrong? if i were in the atla world i would unequivocally condemn the genocide of the air nomads (bc i obviously think killing is wrong lmao), but if i had to personally argue with sozin about it do i justify that thought by simply saying to him "killing is wrong. don't do it". obviously, sozin doesn't care for that sentiment, otherwise he wouldn't have done it. now what do i do? kill him and go back on my anti-killing values? or do i impose my philosophy on him by restricting his freedom & imprisoning him forever (which also contradicts my values)? maybe i'm searching for an answer to an unanswerable question, but i'm sure you can see the rabbit holes i dig for myself😂 anyway, i tried to resolve this one day. on my first day of my jr year at university i asked that question (is there any objectivity to morality?) to my ethics professor and what he basically said was "in a realm of subjectivity, like in that of human emotion, there has to exist objectivity". i then asked if he could elaborate bc that didn't really satisfy me and he sort of smirked and pushed it off, rambling nonsensically just to basically repeat himself. i ended up dropping the class within the hour bc i got the vibe he wasn't going to be my ideal teacher, but i do kind of wish i stuck it out lol. anyway, as you can tell his answer didn't sit with me well. i definitely feel like the fundamental principles myself and most humans hold (killing is wrong, stealing is wrong, etc.) are correct and the most healthy way for humans to exist, but how do i justify that objectively? right now i think i'm at the point where i accepted i may never find an answer and so i ignore it by just living in my morally righteous bubble and chalk this all up to humans being a part of nature and seeking values that will most make our species thrive, and some people in this world just don't care for that (whether that feeling is innate or learned or a combination of both i don't know). that was really difficult to articulate through writing and i tried to trim it down to save you an overly lengthy read, but i think you can catch my drift. anyway, yeah sorry i just had you read that long ass sleep deprived outpour of philosophical claptrap, but for some reason the narrowness of sozin's character reignited that longstanding question and i am curious as to how you see it

joe martin

You know something that always struck me as interesting was that Toph is the one that warms Aang about his tattoos. No a tattoo isn't something she can see with her seismic sense, so someone would have had to describe what Aang looks like to the point of detailing his tattoos then she would have had to internalize that as such a part of her image of him in her head to even remember to mention them. Instead of it just being something the writer's didn't think about I'd like to think Aang and Toph had a deep conversation about his people and what his tattoos meant to him to the point of Toph truly understanding this personal part of Aang's philosophy. That would have been a nice moment to see.

J Valentine

Oh I was kindacurious as to how Iroh would have gotten the crown prince head thingy randomly. But it makes sense as Azulon most likely went to find it and gave it to Iroh, the crown prince! Zuko being an avatar's descendant is the same as what Aang's message was that 'people are not born bad. Roku is fire nation too'. It's just flipped with Zuko's world views, where he sees the avatar as bad.

NitrousOxide19

When Mai yelled "Zuko!" at the party, im suprised that no one thought "hey, he has the same name as the prince, and he has a scar on his face". Everyone at that party is dumber that girls who like sea shells

R'Mani Leavell

What I love about Toph saying “can friendships really transcend lifetimes” is even their children and grandchildren were friends. 1. Tenzin and Lin 2. Opal and Jinora 3. Toph and Korra.

hays collins

Love how you just silently sat there during the whole of iroh s speech to zuko

hays collins

This is exactly how Kuruk showed his memories to Kyoshi.

hays collins

Love how we get the best two season 3 episodes (before day of black sun) back to back

hays collins

WOAH JUST NOTICED THIS. While the picture(painting) of his family burned in the fire it burned little zukos left size of his face first. Just where his scar is. Ugh these creators are too smart

hays collins

No that flashback with Iroh was Irohs son and baby zuko. Just clarifying.

hays collins

I seriously get chills EVERYTIME Zuko has his speech in the beach. It’s INCREDIBLE. That speech and Kataras speech to her father in the first episode of book 3 are my fav Voice acting moments in this show

hays collins

DANG IT been waiting all day for this then forgets about hahaha just remebe now at 9;13

hays collins

These are two of my favorite episodes, especially the avatar and the firelord. I also think Aang's ideology contrasts pretty directly with Eren's in Attack on Titan. For Eren, murder is not only justified, it's necessary, and his ideologies fully support that. For him, there is a line that's been crossed and once you cross that line you are no longer worthy of being alive. For Aang, there is no line. Even if you're a person who has committed evil acts, he will never see himself as being justified to commit murder. It's hard to know what to make of it, but I think just by looking at the two characters some thoughts get cleared up. Aang says even the firelord deserves a chance and we look at him as being incredibly wise and mature and heroic and even brave for being able to feel that way. We look at Eren who yells that he's gonna kill everyone who wrongs him, and he seems immature and irrational and pretty insane. The character who humanizes everyone ends up being a lot more humanized to us as viewers than the character who goes out of his way to dehumanize those who've wronged him, and I think that says a lot.

Vali

Tbf zuko is trying to "kill" or attack/kidnap aang for the entire show until the invasion. if you dislike Zuko now than you have also disliked him for the entire show up to this point as well, he burns down Kyoshi Island in the fourth episode of the show.

benj

He was an amazing lavabender, thats clearly shown in this episode. He pulls off some insane lava bending here some in the Avatar state some not.

benj

Also I find it interesting you feel Sozin and Roku could have hashed it out, right after Sozin attacked him with intention to kill lol.

Alec Campo

When you realize lava bending was a thing before Korra... Roku wasn't the best lavabender tho... kinda died

Zavooloo

See when I first saw the Beach, it actually made me dislike Zuko a bit lol. I understand his character now and everything but I don’t think it showed us the scene with Combustion Man attacking the gang for no reason. While Zuko is busy dealing with his emotions, we see the effect of his actual actions in hiring an assassin to kill Aang. So it kinda made it hard for me to care about his feelings on first watch considering we basically just saw a scene of him trying to murder people. And yes it is combustion man doing the killing, but if you hire him, you are the killer plain and simple. I’m happy for who Zuko becomes but god do I hate him as a person in the first half of book 3 lol. Having dealt with a lot of trauma myself (cancer, losing an eye, losing my childhood essentially & missing out on a lot of things) I find it hard to relate to a character who is given the tools and the opportunity to succeed and is given multiple second chances, even after trying to commit murder. I believe in redemption, but you can understand why I have a hard time empathizing.

Alec Campo

Waiting for the day when there's Alex/Azula fan art lmfao Azulex? Aluza?

Vali

This is the main beauty of Aang in my eyes. A fun-loving kid who never asked for any of this and just wants to make everyone happy ultimately listens to himself and makes the ultimate display of strength and conviction.

Alex G

The other day I was resting a bit watching videos and I got fed the most random video of a street basketball player (The Professor, in case that means anything to you) visiting a prison to play basketball with the inmates. It was a short video and didn't go into too much depth, cause I think it was meant as a sort of preview for a full documentary, but what struck me was how grateful the inmates were that he visited them, that anybody would focus on them, that they might get a chance to talk to somebody about their experiences. A lot of them were in for crimes like murder, and so it's a very conflicting feeling hearing them talk about their loneliness while also keeping in mind the terrible things they have done. And then you hear that some of them committed these crimes 20 years ago, and it's like... 20 years ago is a lifetime in my eyes. It's very difficult to talk about because it's a very difficult situation. But as I said I think that the more nuanced you go, the more correct you probably will be, it's just tough to grapple with all those things simultaneously.

Alex G

The Avatar and the Firelord shows why reincarnation stories can be powerful and can add depth. That Toph line really means so much more after seeing Korra. I like the commentary of how the integration of other cultures occurred in the 4 nations. While I think Sozin had a different underlying meaning in his words, it still allowed Republic City to flourish and opens up the world to new opportunities. I think this idea sort of relates to what Toph says in Korra, the villains all have at least some good intentions, but they take them to extremes which is their ultimate downfall. In terms of the Zuko-Roku reveal, I think it's supposed to be another indication of the impact of lineage/legacy, but as was commented, it's a little redundant, maybe just for a twist factor.

Aura Y

For sure, the range is incredible. The creative juices were flowing big time in season 3. I bet it was a lot of fun to work on

Alex G

Haha glad I'm not alone. I feel like that's especially true at a party like this where you have no idea about her background. So you end up going on a few dates, and then you start to figure it out, but by then it's too late! And that's how I became the fresh prince of the fire nation.

Alex G

Man, that scene where Aang concludes that everyone, even the fire lord and the fire nation, have to be treated like they're worth giving a chance, is one of my favorites in the whole show in retrospect and always makes me tear up a bit. The moral itself is a fairly common one, but what makes it great is that Aang remembers this and backs it up. In fact, he's the ONLY one at the end of the show who advocates for actually giving Ozai a chance, in full defiance of every single one of his closest friends and allies. Setting aside the practicality of Aang's worldview there, what gets me is the true strength and conviction Aang displays by actually putting his money where his mouth is, as opposed to this episode being a one off moral that never actually gets grappled with.

Thai M

Also I agree entirely with the people seeing evil people and not allowing them to do good things. I think people attatch too heavily identities onto people, where in reality no one is purely "good" or "evil" -- the episode 6 sort of adresses this. And circumstances of the father and stuff shaping people's legacy and everyone having the capacity to rise above that. I think your instincts in regards to Attack on Titan is totally... Right, in a sort of humanitarian and also logical sense. It feels a lot purer than just hating people for things they ultimately in a cosmic way had no control over. Also allowing the possibility for people to be taught differently or helped in order to have them then become someone who does good things or follows their dreams and benefit all.

FiioArt

The last three episodes of Sokka's Master, The Beach, and The Avatar and The Firelord is my favorite three episode stretch in the entire show. A 23 minute love letter to my second favorite character, A rom-com slice of life beach trope anime episode with the villains, and than my No. 1 favorite episode of the entire show...for obvious reasons. The extremely episodic nature of ATLA is something I appreciate every time I watch it, that it can go from lore heavy pure plot drama to a fun comedy vacation episode back to back without it feeling weird or out of place. These episodes are so unique when compared to one another yet bind together seamlessly to create these incredible three seasons.

benj

I love the "I could see myself ending up with Azula" thing because I swear no one ever says that part out loud, but I've always thought that way too.

FiioArt