Avatar: The Last Airbender - 1x12 "The Storm" FULL REACTION

This episode is one of my favorites, it is sad and gives life to Zuko's character. One thing that bugs me (well one of many) is when Aang is trying to play with the other air bender children and they say that him being the Avatar gives whichever team he is on an unfair advantage. My thing is, since Aang has his arrows and the others do not (signifying that he has mastered airbending and they have not) would that have also given whichever team he was on an unfair advantage? Yet it seems they were okay with that.

Lucile Byrd

I love this episode, for all the reasons Liam mentioned as well as others in the comments. But what's also great about it is that's it's followed up by another fantastic episode! I'm looking forward to your reaction :)

Or "Do not under any circumstances show any weakness." (An alternative to your final sentence.) I'm going to go further into looking at Ozai as an abusive parent. He may have relished the opportunity to expose Zuko's weakness -- or rather "lack of ruthlessness". He may have decided deliberately (or subconsciously or semi-consciously) to punish Zuko no matter what. "If he hurts me, I'll punish him. If he doesn't hurt me, I'll punish him." I could see Ozai using Zuko's outburst as an opportunity to punish him for being compassionate. Obviously these characters are fictitious, so these ideas are not true or false, but rather, an interesting way of interpreting Ozai's behaviour -- my head canon.

UTU49

I haven't finished watching the episode with you yet. I had to pause it just now and immediately pop in to comment. I just wanna say how awesomely gratifying it was to see you react to the first time we see Iroh redirecting lightning. It's easily one of the coolest moves in the series imo. And any scene that references how badass Iroh is, is a highlight in my book. Iroh may have aged out of Cinnamon Roll territory, but he's definitely a satisfyingly rich and sweet old King Cake.

Rj

So heartbreaking to see the pressure on both of them at such a young age both from the adults around them and the burden they each put on themselves. Like you say- A 22 minute masterclass on storytelling and character study. Next one is great too!

Amy

I love the "dueling backstories" in this one.

UTU49

It's extra sad that Zuko wasn't banished for speaking out of turn in the meeting, but for refusing to fight his father. So the lesson his father is supposedly teaching him by banishing him isn't "don't disrespect me" (that's what the Agni Kai was for). It's "be willing to hurt your loved ones in the name of honor and tradition."

KT

It's some pretty impressive pacing for such a short episode. And even though the themes are getting heavier, there are still these great quick semi-visual jokes that work so well. Like Sokka getting hired by the fisherman. I love those tiny moments. It was always heavily implied that the Avatar is in many ways a metaphor for the Dalai Lama. In this episode they basically confirmed that by telling that story about his childhood toys. That's what the monks apparently did with the young Dalai Lama as well. I find it interesting how they're keeping Firelord Ozai mysterious. He sure is scary. I wonder if you recognized the voice actor?

G. Smith

One thing I never see anyone comment on is that Zuko’s scar and banishment occurred because Iroh let him into the meeting. Iroh has always loved Zuko dearly but I can’t help but wonder if Iroh set out with Zuko because he felt guilty for saying yes to him. In both flashbacks we see mentors allowing young children to partake in things they are not ready for and we see the consequences of that.

Bunny Norris

'The Storm' aka 'Shit Gets Real'. This episode never fails to blow me away, it's just solid storytelling from beginning to end. Really glad you enjoyed it. Unsurprised, but glad! Good to see you've recovered well from your tooth extraction :)

Jamie Morgan

This was the episode that made me think "Oh... this show is going to become something special, isn't it?"

Yess this is my favorite ep so far

KT