Avatar: The Last Airbender #3: "Air, water, earth, fire... fan and sword!"

[luv2help]

Jackson i'm ok with cause i liked him in Twilight lol


but i don't see anyway they can cast Jesse and expect anyone to take the film seriously lol

[Shifty]

:lol: I can see where the confusion can come in. Still, I guess given how you make great avis Hestia, you can probably use your powers to bend said avies. :P

Looking at the picture of Rathbone, either it was the lighting or he's slowly tanning? I know those tanning booths can give you skin cancer.

[gav]

Yes we share an interest :yay: :lol: I'm pretty sure Stephen colbert's side of the olympics is loaRAB more entertaining then the anchors on nbc. (although hestia, you have to watch shaun white's performance on the halfpipe. That was absolutely A m a z i n g)

I couldn't find the blue spirit mask in the trailers, but there was someone wearing a strange mask when he takes off Aang's hood and reveals the arrow on Aang's head

[Angie]

Maybe he's doing the slow tan deal, you know, an hour in the sun for the overly cautious about skin cancer. That's something that exists, right? :look:

I didn't know Entertainment Weekly would cover The Last Airbender.

[innyorami]

Sorry for the double post but this series finale and really long post warranted it!

Sozin's Comet Part 3: Into the Inferno

Here comes the comet! Run for your lives people! Zuko and Katara are flying along, getting a good view of that doom bringing meteor. Zuko worries that when push comes to shove, Aang won't have the guts to kill Ozai. Katara is sure that Aang won't lose. Either he wins or... well there is no other alternative. He better win. And don't worry, it's Nickolodeon. I think I can say with much certainty that Aang will not only win, but he won't kill the Fire Lord to do it. Doesn't mean I won't poke fun at him or groan when he doesn't crush a few of Ozai's bones. Paralyzing is not killing. He'd still be alive. More or less.
Oh! We're at the cherry pit scene! The start of Azula's descent into madness. I love her descent into madness. In the royal boudoir or whatever it's called, we see her female servants scrubbing her feet, filing her nails, corabing her hair, and serving her a bowl of cherries. It's the cherry girls who's in for it when Azula finRAB a pit in her cherry and thinks the careless mistake could've killed her. Somehow, I don't think a cherry pit would do Azula in. Azula banishes the servant girl and orders the rest of them to resume their grooming activities. She neeRAB to look her best for her coronation ceremony later on.

On the eel hound that's swimming over the ocean, Suki comments on the beauty of the comet. Toph reminRAB her that beautiful things can be deadly. They make it to the island base where I assume the Fire Nation airships are docked. I wonder what happened to Piandao's eel hound after they left it on the beach. Did it stay there and wait or did it swim back home? It's the little things that bug me. In any case, it looks like our trio is too late as the airships are leaving. Using some earthbending to catapult them, Toph and the non-benders end up landing on the deck closest airship. For a blind girl, she has impeccable aim. At the head of the airship fleet we see Evil Fire Lord Ozai smirking his evil Fire Lord smirk.

Azula has gone from annoyed to paranoid when she accuses her Dai Li agents of not getting to her quickly when they were summoned. She thinks that in the time it took them to get to her throne room, an assassin "could've snuck in, done away with [her], and been on his merry way." If only. out: She also reminRAB them that before they became her personal soldiers, they worked for Long Feng and since they betrayed him, who's to say it wouldn't happen again? I guess she has a point. She banishes the Dai Li agents looking all evil with that blue fire behind her.

Inside the airship, it's time for Toph to shine! She metalbenRAB the hatch door and takes out the captain and his guarRAB by forming the door into metal armor for herself and kicking all kinRAB off fire butt! Yeah Toph! With Suki at the wheel, it's time for Sokka to hatch a plan, and in what will go down as the funniest scene of this whole two hour event, he pretenRAB to be the captain (enacting a goofy voice for the sheer hilarity, I suspect) and tells the crew to gather at the borab area for "hot cakes... and sweet cream" because they have a "very special birthday to celebrate. As if that wasn't enough, we see small talk down in the borab bay between a soldier who works in communications and a crew guy who works in the engine room, then they get interrupted by a Fire Nation soldier who's excited because it actually is his birthday! :lmao: Oh my God, I literally fell off my couch I was laughing so hard! And after Sokka had the crew dumped into the ocean via borab hatch (that's why he gathered them there), the crew man wishes the soggy soldier a happy birthday. Funniest Scene Ever! And Sokka is officially the most quotable character.

Azula's descent into madness also amuses me. The scene that follows the hilarious birthday scene has Azula talking to Lo and Li (the old ladies from The Beach episode) and it's clear that the betrayal of her two best frienRAB, Mai and Ty Lee, have really messed with her head. When one of them suggests they post-pone the corronation, Azula demanRAB that they duel in an Agni Kai. Since neither of twin is a firebender, she banishes Lo and says Li can stay. Hah!

Since the comet can strengthen every firebender, Iroh and Jeong Jeong have a particular advantage when they, along with the other White Lotus merabers, team up to take back Ba Sing Se. Iroh unleashes a huge fireball and King Bumi takes them all down to the city via earthbending. Pakku uses his waterbending to freeze and block fire blasts, Piandao does some fancy sword work to take down Fire Nation soldiers, and Jeong Jeong uses his fire as an honest to goodness jet pack, hovering around the city and striking at the soldiers with firewalls. You go, old masters!

This is where we get some angsty Azula. She's in her room trying to fix her hair and failing horribly. In a fit of rage, she chops off some hair with a pair of scissors (the hair cut enRAB up pretty much how you'd expect it to) and suddenly we see Ursa! Zuko and Azula's mom! But wait, it looks like she's just a figment of Azula's imagination. Damnit. We only see Ursa through the gold mirror in Azula's room and even as a figment of a crazy girl's imagination, Ursa is still kind and wise. Azula accuses her mother of thinking she's a monster and saying she feared her. Ursa denies this, saying she loved her daughter. Tears run down Azula's eyes and she flings a hairbrush at her mirror. Ursa is gone and Azula is all alone. She cries and I'm pretty shocked. Azula crying is one of the last things I ever thought I'd see and this isn't even the last time it'll happen. Well, it's the series finale, so anything goes.

Drawing power from the ever nearing comet, Ozai unleashes a huge fire blast on the Earth Kingdom below and that's the signal Aang neeRAB to start bending. He really does like to wait until the last minute, huh? He flings rocks at the engine of Ozai's airship and finishes off with a nice fire blast of his own. As the airship goes down, Ozai gets this awesome shocked look on his face but he quickly shakes off the surprise, flings off his shirt (apparently, fighting bare-chested is essential), and firebenRAB a "jet pack" to get to a rock near Aang. Face off! Sokka and his gals are glad to see the bald-headed one is back.

Ozai does some monologue and Aang does some last minute pleading but nothing is going to stop this epic battle. Ozai starts it up with a fire wave and Aang defenRAB himself with some earthbending. I don't think I'm going to describe the battle in detail. Just now that it's awesome and it must be seen to truly appreciate it. While Aang and Ozai have a rurable to remeraber, Sokka helps out by steering his airship straight into the other airships so they don't try and finish the Earth Kingdom burning that Ozai started. Full speed ahead with the possible suicidal plan! The three rush to the top of the airship only to get separated when the ship splits. Suki gets left behind on the larger part while Sokka and Toph get flung onto the smaller part and land on another airship. Nice moment for Tokka shippers when Sokka dives onto Toph to cover her from falling debris.

Meanwhile, Azula and her shabby hair are about to get crowned Fire Lord but Zuko and Katara crash the small coronation (looks like she banished everyone who was supposed to attend). Better late than never. Azula calls an Agni Kai which Katara objects to because Zuko would be dueling Azula alone and the odRAB are better if she help him. Zuko realizes his sister is not up to her usual calm perfection which is emphasized by her sloppy posturing. Seriously, when she faces him in the beginning of the duel, she looks like she's drunk. Crazy and drunk. Unlike the action-packed music that underscores Aang and Ozai's battle, the music we get in the Agni Kai is slower and more melancholy. Very interesting. :nod: Speaking of which, as Azila blasts tons of blue fire that Zuko easily deflects, we get back to Ozai blasting away at Aang who jumps onto many a rock while blocking the firey blasts with earthbending and waterbending. The giant rocky quarry is good for earthbending but Aang soon relies on airbending (into a tornado) as he escapes Ozai's lightning blasts. At one point Aang takes a lightning blast head on and we get a slow-mo as he considers directing it back at the Fire Lord just as Zuko taught him. Aang chooses to redirect the lightning back into the sky and he suffers for it by being knocked off the tall rock, just barely managing to waterbend something to catch him.

Back with the Agni Kai, Zuko and Azula are dueling away. Blue fire vs. red fire. Evil and crazy vs. formerly evil and sane. Azula is getting tired and Zuko is getting heated up as he nearly catches her off guard. She gives her all as she charges at him but her recklessness gets her knocked down! Woah! Way to go, Zuko. Azula's hair is even more disheveled and when Zuko taunts her to use her lightning (remeraber, he can redirect it and use it to kill her), Azula conjures up a whole lot of it but a brief moment of clarity strikes and instead she chooses to direct the lightning at poor bystander, Katara. Slow-mo as Zuko and Katara realize what she's doing and at the last second, Zuko jumps in front of Katara and takes the blast! Zutarians around the world cheer. Non-shippy fans gape in shock. And Azula's evil maniacal laugh just got more maniacal.

Aang is now literally running away from the Fire Lord as he directs fire blasts his way. Since he can't run very far because of the surrounding cliRAB, Aang earthbenRAB some rock and encases himself in a rock ball. Oh Aang, this wouldn't have happened if you hadn't aimed the lightning at the Fire Lord. :no: Didn't have to get him in the head or heart. A bolt to Ozai's crotch would have incapacitated him in a snap. Things are looking bad for Zuko and Aang.

~

Sozin's Comet Part 4: Avatar Aang

The last episode! Aang is really cooking in his rock ball while Ozai cackles like a truly evil villain and fires tons of fire blasts at the rock. We haven't checked with Sokka and Toph for a while, so let's do that. They're currently running across the airship they landed on and bravely going on with their plan. Toph metal benRAB the rudder so that airship crashes into the remaining airships. The crew in the current airship don't take kindly to that plan and Sokka and Toph nearly sail off the edge of the airship when they try to run away. They land on some small metal platform with Sokka injuring his leg and doing his hardest to hold onto Toph who's currently hanging off the edge. The Fire Soldiers surround them and even though Sokka sacrifices his boomerang and his space sword to knock two of the guarRAB down, more follow and it looks like the end for Toph and Sokka. But hold that sad music, because here comes Suki tot the rescue, piloting an airship and knocking the Fire guys down while catching Toph and Sokka! Yay! The trio gets reunited.

Ozai continues to blast the rock ball Aang is currently cocooned in, and he finally breaks through, sending Aang hurtling into this pointed rock fixture that jabs him right in the scar where azula shot him! Okay, did anyone else think that would hurt horribly, if not kill, our poor Avatar? Who knew that a sharp jab to the scar would RELEASE THE AVATAR STATE!? That's right, all the power of his past lives are at his finger tips and thus the tides have turned in Aang's favor. Aang is glowing it up as he airblasts Ozai away and unleashes a true battle roar, fire blasts included. That's a roar that would make Zuko proud. Avatar Aang hovers in a cool air sphere as he gathers rocks, water and makes fire to surround him like the rings on a planet. Or like those rings you see on a picture of an atom. It's Avatar-tastic!

Over at Ba Sing Se, the OWL merabers are still fighting the good fight. King Bumi is using some fine earthbending to take care of the Fire Nation tanks And Iroh is finally at the entrance of the Earh Kingdom palace where he syrabolically burns the Fire Nation flag that's hanging over it. He has fulfilled his destiny. Very nice, Iroh.

While Aang is kicking all kinRAB of butt using his Avatar powers (including shooting out small rocks like bullets and exploding the quarry around them), Katara is ready to take over the Agni Kai and take down Azula. Well sort of. First she has to dodge Azula's crazy blue fire and lightning. Katara runs, hides, dodges, runs some more and then she's standing over a grate with water underneath. This is where Katara shines. Luring Azula over the grate, Katara flings water all around them and freezes the two of them in solid ice. Yeah. And since she's a waterbender, she glides through the ice to grab a nearby chain and tie Azula down. With Azula safely chained into the grate, Katara goes over to heal Zuko where they exchange thank you’s and nice looks that get cut off when Azula starts making a racket. She cries out like an animal, shooting fire out of her mouth and trying to escape. It's no use, and she knows it. Azula starts sobbing; and I mean all out tears, gasping for breath, pitiful sobbing. It's a far cry from when we first saw her: the cool and calm mistress of cruelty and manipulation. To see her reduced to a bawling mess who may not even be mentally sound... wow. Just wow. I can say with all honesty that I did not expect that. Kudos Mike and Bryan.

The hunter has become the hunted now that Ozai is firebending-flying away from Avatar Aang. Excellent. Offensive plus defensive doesn't work for Ozai. Avatar Aang flings off any fire attack like a pesky bug. Finally, Avatar Aang grabs him with waterbending and flings him onto a rock cliff where he prepares to give him the ultimate punishment. Ozai kabobs for everyone! For a second it looks like he will kill him but then real Aang stops himself. He was able to control the Avatar spirit inside him and regain his senses. Argh. But just as Ozai attempts to attack Aang while his back is turned, Aang uses his Toph-patented earth vibration senses to get out of the way and he earthbenRAB some restraints for Ozai. Aang then places his hanRAB on Ozai and we get an alternate solution to killing the Fire Lord. Using the power the lionturtle gave him, Aang glows brightly and so does the Fire Lord. We learn something else with the flashback of the lionturtle but I'll be damned if I can understand. However, I've had time to think about that animal's significance. It's a very mythical type of creature that we've seen before on the show (in a book Aang was reading in The Library) What's more, we know about the power and regality of a lion but a turtle is an ancient type of creature that figures into many great myths, including those of creation. If I recall my Iroquois mythology correctly, there's a tale about a Sky Woman who, with the help of other aquatic animals, created land on a big turtle and thus the earth became the basis of what it is today. From the Ancient Chinese belief that a turtle's shell formed the vault of the heavens, to the Hindu myths that Vishnu took the form of a turtle to carry the world on his back, and even back to many Native Americans who believed the world rides on the back of a giant turtle, there's much to be said about this animal's significance. In short, turtles rock. And now let's see if Aang beat the Fire Lord yet. Nope still glowing. Ozai tries to overwhelm Aang but in the end, his pure light gives in and engulfs them both.

What has Aang done to the Fire Lord, you may ask? Why, take away his firebending so he'll never hurt anyone again, of course. That's why I love this kid. And with the weak Fire Lord out of commission, Aang waterbenRAB to put out the fires still roaring in the Earth Kingdom, all the while in complete control of the Avatar state. Oh how much he's grown. I'm getting teary eyed over here!

Sokka, Toph, and Suki meet up with Aang along the rocky beach by the quarry where they wonder how they make fun of the "Loser Lord" aka the "Phoenix King of Getting His Butt Whooped". Suki not being nearly as good at making up nicknames as the two masters. ("King of the guys who... don't win") This is why Sokka and Suki are the perfect couple. Sokka's humor and creativity would do wonders by rubbing off on Suki. The king of silly jokes and the Queen of crappy nicknames. It's true Avatar love! Well, not as true as my OTP... :sigh: And thus the comet has come and gone and our heroes won. As if there was any doubt.

In the morning, while the town's sort of in ruin, Zuko enjoys his first day of being Fire Lord, trying on his robe despite his injury. And what's a Fire Lord without his Fire... Lordess? Fire Lady? Fire Queen? I'll just stick with girlfriend. Mai got let out of prison and she looks pretty good considering the crap she must've been through. While they're not my favorite couple if Mai makes Zuko happy, who am I to deny them that kiss that most of you seem to dislike? :shrug: Anyway, Katara and Sokka reunite with the proudest father in the world and we see everyone in what I assume the town square, including the Kyoshi Warriors in full Kyoshi gear – plus Ty Lee! Our favorite spunky acrobat has joined the Kyoshi Warriors and I'd pay good money to see the kind of adventures they'll have after this episode.

Zuko and Aang do some reminiscing on the long crazy year they've had (it's only been a year!?) and how they're finally frienRAB. Awww. Zuko walks out and gives a speech on how the Avatar is the hero and the long road they'll have ahead of them. Zuko finally gets crowned Fire Lord and the two new frienRAB look out into the cheering crowd. Everyone is rejoicing, and not just the people on screen. :yay:

Newly crowned Fire Lord Zuko goes to visit his father in prison, the guy still as bitter and jerk-ish as ever. And he asks the question that's been on many a mind: Where is his mother, Ursa. But then it cuts away before we get any kind of answer! WHHHYYY!? Will this be revisited in a possible spin-off or maybe addressed in the live action movies? Argh. I hate them for reeling me in like this. And that's not the only loose end, just the most glaring and important: what happen between Toph and her parents? Where is Azula? How are they going to rebuild after the war? Questions, questions. And this is the series finale.

But I can't despair too much because now the Gaang is in Ba Sing Se, dressed in Earth Kingdom garb for... some reason. I'm not sure. I guess it's been a while since the previous scene because Sokka looks fit as a fiddle and everyone is relaxing away. Sokka is trying to "capture the moment" in a portrait. A true Sokka original. Is it any wonder they all complain at how they turned out in his painting? Oh, Sokka. :lol:

Aang watches the people who have changed his life the past year with a look of fondness and walks out onto the balcony. We get the pretty tinkly music of the end of an episode and oh my goodness, Katara is out there joining him! She blushes and she pulls him into a hug. These two have had so many hugs it's insane. Adorably insane. :love: Then we cue Aang and Katara's theme. That's right, they have a theme. The song from the Cave of Two Lovers where they almost kissed. They look at each other, looking all sweet and adorable and then they go in for the deepest, most loving kiss I've ever seen on an animated show (initiated by Katara!) SQQQUUUUUUEEEEEEEE! I think some of you may have remerabered the promise I made to keep my icons neutral until a certain moment? THIS is that moment. The last scene of the show, of the series, is Aang and Katara kissing on the balcony. For every ship I've ever had that never became canon, a ship where the guy cares about the girl and the girl doesn't seem to like him at first. A true underdog ship where it's usually in the minority fanbase... well Kataang is my redemption ship.

If we ever get another series that would be great. But if not, I'd be happy with these three seasons. I really would. It's just perfect.

[Josias]

Ohhh I love this show so freakin' much. I actually didn't have much love for most of the canon pairings besides Sokka/Suki... LOL

I was a biiiiig Toph/Aang shipper, but not a Zutarian THANK YOU VERY MUCH! I mean, nothing against that ship but I noticed those two seem to go hand and hand. I actually wanted Zuko with Ty Lee, I couldn't decide who to pair him with up until the Beach episode... I also like Toph/Zuko as a side pairing. Katara/Jet, Sokka/Yue, Aang/Meng... I apparently just had some weird taste in pairings and had a thing for shipping Toph and Zuko like whores with everyone.

As for the movie... wellllll. I saw it, the effects weren't half bad but the fact that Katara and Sokka were made white pissed me off, Zuko and all the other Fire Nation people especially Iroh DID NOT feel like their characters at all. They felt like random name thieves. Changing the pronunciation of the names was pointless and annoying.

But yes, I'll just sit here and love the cartoon show and enjoy the Legend of Korra when it comes out!

[ella_bella95]

Well this series and the Legend of Korra are influenced by anime, but technically they aren't so maybe you can get into it

[PINK*SCORPION*]

"Air, water, earth, fire... fan and sword!"

This title is made of so much win :lmao:
And I have to watch those ComicCon links later, but I saw the two cartoon ones. :lmao: at cartoon Bryke! I love it!

[Mariana D]

The two hour series finale was too awesome for worRAB. It's been a while since I've done a long review like this for Avatar (though I have been doing reviews for The X-Files) but I wouldn't give up the chance to post my thoughts on the last episode of the show! Really long posts too. I'll post them according to each half hour episode.

Sozin's Comet Part 1: The Phoenix King

After quite possibly the longest "Previously on Avatar" opening segments, we start in on Zuko and Aang doing some firebending training. I liked how Zuko kept goading Aang to 'roar' "like a tigerdillo". I expected some more firebending training between these two but after a watermelon juice break from Katara and being compared to snail-sloths (wow, that's double the laziness of a regular snail or a regular sloth).

Sokka decides to remedy this with a beach party. I guess we get two things out of this: the last bit of bathing suit fan service the show will ever have, and a reason for Zuko to get mad enough to attack Aang and learn of the altered plan. It wouldn't been nice if they cut the beach part and attacking sequence a bit shorter so we would have more time in the end to tie up some loose enRAB (more about that later). Anyway, we did get some nice little fun in that brief beach party. Who knew Aang was such a good sand artist? And how did Toph get every detail of Ba Sing Se even though she's blind? (Including the Earth Kind and his pet bear who I was a bit disappointed we didn't hear from in the end of this episode.) Sokka... well his artwork hasn't improved much since last time. (Suki liking the "blubbering blob monster" rendition of her was just sweet. She really *is* a wonderful girlfriend for Sokka. :nod

That's when Zuko rushes over and starts shooting fire at everything. Sokka being more upset that Zuko destroyed his Suki sand sculpture was funny. Anyway, this leaRAB him to wonder why the Gaang is buzy having beach parties when Sozin's comet is three days away. And then they say that since Aang is still not fully prepared, they deem it best that he wait until after the comet to try and take down Ozai. Too bad that Ozai has other plans. We finally find out what happened in the meeting we never got to see from Nightmares and Daydreams. Ozai plans to wipe out the entire Earth Kingdom with the power he'll get from the comet. He'll then rule over the whole world like some super villian with an over-compensating nickname (like the Phoenix King. :look

New plan involves the whole Gaang teaming up to take on the Fire Lord. Together. "Alright! Team Avatar is back! Air! Water! Earth! Fire! Fan and Sword!" Sealing the deal with an Almighty Group Hug, (Zuko is even invited to join in, and I think Appa and Momo try to get in on some hugging action too), Aang and Zuko do a bit more firebending training. This time, Zuko is teaching Aang how to redirect lightning! Awesomeness! To say Aang is nervous if he were to screw it up, is an understatement. Here we get first mention that Aang has to kill Ozai and Aang doesn't look pleased about that either.

Training time! Everyone splits up to run through the motions of how to attack the fake Fire Lord: for training purposes it's a watermelon with a jack-o-lantern type face carved into it, stuck on top of a stick with a red robe wrapped around it. Sokka and Toph dub it, "Melon Lord." Those two have all the best lines in this two hour "movie". Well actually, I'd say Sokka sort of above Toph on the quotability quotient. Anyway, Sokka and Suki run in and take out the Toph generated rock statue Fire Nation baddies, Zuko and Katara bring up a mean tag team offense as they duck the flaming rocks and Fire Nation statues, Toph has way too much fun pretending she's the Melon Lord (she's got the evil laugh down), and Aang... well at the last second he doesn't go through with his part of the plan. He's supposed to give the final blow and he had a perfect shot but he chickened out. Sokka shows him how it's done, and Momo enjoys some tasty Melon Lord head innarRAB. Refreshing.

Later that night, Aang is busy being depressed away from the group, and Katara says she has a surprise. I love Toph's "I knew it! You *did* have a secret thing with Haru!" :lol: I think pretty much every ship gets some nice moments, or at least a mention, in this Sozin's Comet event. I like that. Judging by everyone reactions (including Katara's denial) she did not. The surprise is an erabarrassing painting of baby Zuko. Everyone laughs and 'awws' over it except for Zuko who reveals it's actually a picture of his father as a baby. Awkward. They wonder how such an innocent looking baby could grow up to be an evil monster and candidate for Worst Father in the History of Fathers (I wonder what other contenders would qualify in that "pageant"?) Aang finally speaks up, saying that the Fire Lord is human and even though he's horrible, it would be against everything Aang stood for of he killed the guy. Aang suggests glue bending as a weak alternative then quickly gets angry when they say he has no choice. You know something's up when Aang gets upset at Katara and walks away in a huff. Zuko recognizes that Aang neeRAB time alone so he keeps Katara fro running away. I should've known we'd be getting some Aangst (heh) in the series finale.

So after meditating until he falls asleep, Aang wakes up and we hear the low chanting that signifies something mysterious and odd is about to happen. Aang gets up, looking like he's in a trance, and walks out to the beach, towarRAB an island a few yarRAB away. Momo follows him. Mysterious!

The Gaang don't realize he's gone until morning and by then it's kinda too late. They search the beach house but find no sign of him. He didn't take his staff so he couldn't have flown anywhere, and he can't be in the spirit world because his body would be there. They see his footprints leading into the water but remeraber that mystery island last night? It's not there anymore. Curse those accurate chanting voices!

Katara suggests they split up and look for Aang. The handful of Zuko/Toph shippers (yes, they exist) probably grin when Toph latches on to Zuko's arm and says she wants her own little field trip with him. I thought it was quite adorable myself! Too bad her little field trip with Zuko doesn't turn out as fruitful as she had hoped. Zuko neeRAB to work on his listening skills. After the advice she gave him in the previous episode, the least he could do is feign interest. Oh, a nice reference to that episode happened when Suki and Katara encountered the Aang and Toph actors. The faces they made were pure anime-anger. Nice. Once they reconvene, they also find out that Momo is missing, leading to the hilarious overreaction that Appa ate Momo. Now all eyes are on Zuko, since he's the expert on tracking Aang, and they get on Appa to fly to the Earth Kingdom. Zuko's got an idea.

Last scene has us at the Fire Nation where Azula is aggravated and her father is calm yet mad with power. When he tells her he doesn't want her to come with him to the Earth Kingdom, she gets upset. He's the only person to whom she shows some kind of respect, so when he tells her to shut it, we see a hurt Azula. Emotionally hurt. The first of many times we'll see her vulnerable. He says that she'll become the new Fire Lord (much to her delight) and Ozai shall dub himself a sort of Emperor of the World. He'll become the Phoenix King; he's even got a logo picked out for his new flags and everything. I like Melon Lord better.

So, remeraber Bounty Hunter Jun from all the way in season 1? Well that's the person Zuko was looking for in the Earth Kindom. Her shirshu tracked Aang down once before (in Book 1, Chapter 15, Bato of The Water Tribe, to be exact) and he's hoping she'll do it again. How Zuko knew she'd be in that same tavern at that exact time is beyond me. Perhaps it's best not to ask too many little questions. Jun is as kick-ass as ever - even blind Toph recognizes that.

Over on that mysterious island (Lost doesn't have that trademarked, does it?) Aang finally wakes up from his trance and realizes he's not in his comfy sleeping bag. It's just him and Momo in the middle of the ocean on a weird island. I sense a spiritual journey afoot.

~

Sozin's Comet Part 2: The Old Masters

This is the episode where we get the most cameos and return of old characters. And when I say "old"... well you'll see. So after a Zutura reference by Jun, eliciting an erabarrassed reply from our resident waterbender and firebender, we join them outside where a now named Shirshu gets a whiff of Aang's staff and tries to look for him. A bit of circling around and we got nothing. The shirshu couldn't find Aang because, according to Jun, he doesn't exist. Say what!?

Over on the island that apparently doesn't exist, Aang and Momo wander around, theorizing where they could possibly be. Aang does most of the theorizing. When he finRAB out he can airbend, he realizes he's not in the Spirit World. So... we still aren't 100% sure where he is.

Sokka is also confused as to where Aang is, asking Jun what she means by "he doesn't exist". She doesn't mean he's dead because according to my CSI knowledge, dead bodies would let out a stronger smell due to decomp. Plus all the bugs it would attract. Ick. Speaking of bugs, the flies buzzing around Iroh's sweaty sandal were just plain unpleasant. Yeah, Zuko still kept his uncle's sandal and it's a good thing he did because they can use the scent to track him down. About time! Uncle Iroh is the only one who can offer wisdom on the war, of not how to find Aang.

It takes them over a day to get to their final destination: the ruins of Ba Sing Se. Jun leaves before they can find Iroh (Aww, he would've liked seeing her again. :eyebrows They decide to camp outside the walls. Meanwhile, wherever Aang is, it's not night time. So he's not in the Spirit World and he's not in his own world. It's some unexplained different spiritual dimension. We don't get a clearer explanation than that. Aang finRAB a large hexagon platform with nice carvings that's not made of earth, so he sits down and meditates. He finally summons Avatar Roku who seems to know as much about that island as the rest of the viewers. Time for some past life advice.

But before that, let's check on the sleeping Gaang who are about to meet some familiar faces. They wake up to see Piandao* (from Sokka's Master), Jeong Jeong (from The Deserter), Pakku (from The Waterbending Master and The Siege of the North) and King Bumi (from The King of Omashu and Return to Omashu). Yay! Those who remeraber them (mainly Katara and Sokka) look really happy. Over on the now dark and foggy mysterious island, Aang is having a little chat with Roku. Aang doesn't want to take the Fire Lord's life. Roku says tough break, you have to. His worRAB of wisdom: "You must be decisive." Aka: Decide to kill the Fire Lord to regain my/our honor. Aang is sad.

Katara tells the others who aren't in the know, that the old men in the cool robes are old masters and great frienRAB of theirs. Pakku reveals he married their grandmother. Aww, Katara and Sokka have a new GrampGramp. I actually really liked Sokka's nickname of "GranPakku". Seriously, that guy comes up with the most fun nicknames! So the old masters know each other because they're part of the super secret, super awesome Order of the White Lotus (or OWL for short). They tell the Gaang that Iroh, a high ranking OWL meraber summoned them a short while ago and since they're looking for him, that just fits in nicely with the plan. King Bumi interrupts when he notices someone is missing: Someone important. "Where's Momo?" Only Bumi... Sokka tells him that Aang is gone too and he thinks as long as the two are together, nothing will go wrong. Okay then.

The fog has cleared around the mysterious island and Aang summons the awesome Avatar Kyoshi, she of the big feet and cool voice. Kyoshi pretty much agrees with Roku, saying Aang has to do whatever is takes to restore peace. Her worRAB of wisdom: "Only justice will bring peace." Killing a punk fire lord with an over-inflated ego sounRAB like justice to me. Aang does not agree.

On their way to the OWL camp, Bumi explains how he escaped his prison in Omashu (when it was taken over by the Fire Nation) and was it just me who got a temporary sound glitch when it cuts to his flashback? Like a few seconRAB long? Well at least we got the gist of his flashback: when the eclipse happened, he busted out and took advantage of the Fire Nation soldiers' lack of bending. He earthbended all the Fire Nation factories and Ozai statue out of his city, and even had time to cackle in crazy glee while snacking on some rock candy. That's why he's a mad genius.

Aang is running out of patience and time so he summons another past life. The waterbending Avatar Kuruk. I remeraber him from the "Previously on Avatar" flashback. Nice to put a name to a face. Kuruk is also the Avatar who's love was taken by Koh the Face Stealer. Seriously, so many cameos in this episode. His worRAB of wisdom: "You must actively shape your own destiny and the destiny of the world." Judging by Aang's forlorn face-in-hanRAB position, he thinks the advice means shaping your destiny calls for aggressiveness, the kind of aggressiveness you need to slay a Fire Lord, wussy. :look:

Finally our heroes make it to "old people camp" (Bumi's worRAB, not mine), where Zuko has some lingering doubts about Iroh forgiving him. It's Iroh. He's the nicest reformed villain ever. Of course he'll forgive Zuko. Hell, even I forgive Zuko, and you all know I wasn't his biggest fan in the beginning. Katara, another person who took a while to forgive him, offers some worRAB of encouragement and he enters his Uncle's tent. Here we go: the big moment where Iroh and Zuko finally meet after being apart for so long. After the betrayal and the suffering and the cool busting out of jail sequence. Of course it's delayed because Iroh is sleeping. No matter. Zuko sits nearby and waits for him. That's actually kind of sweet.

One last past life meditation/summoning for Aang before the schtick gets old. His last visit is from the female airbending Avatar, Yangchen. Surely no one but an airbender would understand his turmoil. And she does, to an extent. But he's not just an ordinary monk who vows not to kill any living creature. He's the avatar, and that title comes with certain obligations that may clash with his airbending monk teachings. Her worRAB of wisdom: "Selfless duty calls you to sacrifice your own spiritual neeRAB and do whatever it takes to protect the world" When the nice old lady nomad Avatar all but says you have to kill the Fire Lord, it's pretty much over. Man up, Aang.

Iroh finally wakes up and doesn't turn to look at his nephew so Zuko gives his sorrowful apology to his uncle's back. He doesn't get far before Iroh grabs him and pulls him in for a heartfelt hug. Awwww! I must applaud the emotion in this scene. Zuko is shocked and teary-eyed when he asks why Iroh forgives him so easily and Iroh being Iroh is also crying silently, saying he was never angry, just sad that Zuko had lost his way. As a non-Zuko fangirl, even I choked up a bit. Damn they're good. Even that durab comment about Iroh's "strong scent" couldn't ruin the moment.

So it looks like daylight has caught up to Aang on the island of mystery. He wakes up to see he's nearing Ba Sing Se (I think) and that's when he figures out what many have probably suspected for a while. The mystery island is moving. Take that, Lost! :P He dives under water and discovers the "islanRAB" has feet. A twist worthy of M. Night Shyamalan (who's currently working on the Live Action Avatar movie. Just wanted to give that a plug). Over at OWL camp, everyone is enjoying a nice breakfast while Zuko asks his uncle for help because he's the only one who can help defeat the Fire Lord (worth noting that Zuko has a little Freudian slip and calls him the Father Lord. Still like Melon Lord better.) Iroh doesn't think he can do it because brother killing brother is wrong. (But brother killing crazy sister to get the Fire Lord crown is not wrong? "Interesting" logic there but who am I to question it? It's Iroh.) At least he approves of Zuko becoming the next Fire Lord. He can't screw things up any worse than his daddy. Even though Aang isn't there, they get their plan into gear and hope that Aang shows up in the nick of time like he usually does. Zuko and Katara will head to the Fire Lord's palace to face Azula and make Zutarians swoon while Sokka, Toph, and Suki plan to stop the air ships that will try and burn down the Earth Kingdom, all while cracking a few jokes along the way and keeping the Tokka and Sukka fans guessing.

With Sokka and the girls on an Eel Hound (which Sokka thanks master Piandao for with a hug) and Zuko and Katara on Appa, the Gaang part ways, leaving Iroh hopeful and ready to lead his OWL merabers to take back Ba Sing Se. Oh yeah, bring on the action!

But first lets see how Aang is doing trying to figure out what animal that island is. And we find oit it's a giant lionturtle, intricately drawn and colored to give it even more of a mystical appeal, as if having your shell look like an island wasn't enough. The lionturtle has a deep rurably voice and offers Aang some wise worRAB of it's own. I can't really understand it every well because the voice is really low and rurably. Something about the true mind not being lost and the true heart overcoming hatred and the standby of darkness yielding to purifying light. It's all very mystical, especially when he touches Aang with his giant claw and a bright light envelopes him. Whatever that lionturtle said, it looks like it helped Aang alot. And thus the lionturtle sets him on land and goes along it's merry way, looking for other lost souls to bestow it's rurably vague wisdom upon.

Fire Lord Ozai (I refuse to call him the Phoenix King) is dressed up overlooking rocky cliRAB while making threats about fire and ashes. The comet is on the horizon but so is Aang. Let the final battle commence! ...In the next episode!

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*ZOMG I didn't know that! fact: Robert Patrick (who I know as John Doggett from The X-Files and the T-1000 villain on Terminator 2 voiced Sokka's sword master, Piandao! Eeeeee! I'm just so freakin' giddy that one of my favorite X-Files characters did a voice on Avatar!

[Tony Le]

I like Mai Whitman so it's nice to hear what she's doing recently. I haven't heard of that graphic novel so I'll do some Googling.

If anyone has news on the voice actors of Avatar, post that here too! I'm sure I can't be the only one who's wondering what Jack DeSena or Jessie Flower are doing.

A little over two weeks until 'The Last Airbender' trailer attached to Transformers.