We’ve got 6 episodes to burn through, so let’s get started.

Day 12

It’s Katara’s turn to have an episode with Zuko!

The Air Temple gets raided by a fleet of war balloons led by Azula.  The Squad is forced to split up because… Hakoda, Haru, The Duke, Chit Sang, and Teo aren’t main characters, and it’s too much of a hassle to write one or two lines for each of them when we really just want to write about the main characters, so might as well come up with an excuse to get them out of the way so we don’t have to worry about it.  But Suki can stay because shipping.

The Squad celebrates everything Zuko did to help them escape Azula, but Katara is still pissy at him over turning on her at Ba Sing Se.  She also offhandedly indirectly blames him for her mother’s death.

Determined to have Katara not hate him, Zuko decides to have a talk with Sokka, simultaneously cockblocking him.

So, Sokka tells Zuko about the day the Fire Nation attacked and killed their mother.

After some prodding, Sokka describes the flags of the invaders, and Zuko says it’s the flag of the Southern Raiders.  With this info, Zuko offers to give Katara a chance at revenge.

Zuko explains that they first need to get in and out of a checkpoint, stealthily looking up the current position of the Southern Raiders.  This is normally where things get screwed up, but Zuko and Katara happen to be the most professional members of the group outside of Suki, and it’s still up in the air whether Suki is actually part of the core group.  I mean, she’s still in her prisoner outfit, and she sure as hell isn’t going to get her own episode with Zuko.

Once they have the Souther Raider location, they board their ship and attack the leader.  Katara goes straight into BLOODBENDING THE SHIT OUT OF HIM.

However, turns out he didn’t attack the Southern Water Tribe.  The one who did retired years ago.

And he’s currently living with his mother.

As Katara’s mother’s killer walks to the market and back, the scene plays out like a stalking scene in a horror flick.  Finally, Katara reveals herself and threatens him with Waterbending.

Ultimately, Katara decides not to kill him and if anything feels sorry for his pathetic life, but it’s not as though she forgave him.

So the two return to the Squad, and Aang is proud of Katara because violence is not the way, and Katara can finally forgive Zuko for all of his previous transgressions.

Zuko agrees with Aang that violence wasn’t the answer, but then he asks what Aang intends to do when he faces off against Firelord Ozai.

In the next episode, Zuko has everyone hide out at Ember Island… y’know from “The Beach?”

Sokka and Suki find out about a play by the Ember Island Players about the story of the Avatar.  Though it actually ends up being an elaborate retelling of the entire series.

Honestly, the entire episode was hilarious, but there’s not all that much to talk about.  It’s chock full of metahumor, and the actors portraying the main characters are obvious caricatures.  I think the best part is the not-so-subtle Fire Nation bias seeping through.

One thing I just didn’t get was how Katara was portrayed as constantly crying and talking about hope all the time.  The rest of the Squad always gave comments like “yep, that’s how you are,” but I just don’t see it.  Maybe it’s because I’m so aware that Katara is the second-most developed character in the series (#1 being Zuko, naturally).  If there’s one thing to make fun of Katara for, it’s how stiff and serious she can be since she’s the team mom.

Sokka and Toph both get really into the play, though the others tend to be confounded by their character portrayals.

Something I want to get out of the way is that Aang gets worried about how Katara sees him.  Because, y’know he loves her and whatnot.  Katara says she doesn’t want to think about that situation until after the war is over, and I want to end right there, because this is just a stupid thing to focus on in this episode.

With Book 1 done, it’s time for Book 2 and Toph to finally make her entrance.

Toph is absolutely stoked that she’s portrayed as a huge strong man who sees by reading sound waves produced by his LOUD SCREAMING.

When the play catches up to the present, the Squad can’t help but notice the play isn’t over.  What follows is what the Emblem Island Players think will occur during the final battle.

Aang and Zuko split up, with Zuko keeping Azula at bay while Aang takes on Ozai by himself.

Funny enough, I never made fun of Zuko (that much) for being obsessed with honor.  It didn’t really bother me until he started being obsessed with destiny.

The expression Zuko makes upon learning he dies against Azula is priceless.

And naturally, Ozai destroys Aang (and also proves to be a magnificent ham).

The Squad all agree that the play sucked.  Even Toph, despite the fact that she enjoyed like 95% of it.

In the next episode, the Squad has fun at the beach!  Wait, didn’t we already have an episode dedicated to wasting time?

Zuko has had enough of the slacking, as Sozin’s Comet is arriving soon.  But Aang reveals he doesn’t plan on fighting Ozai before Sozin’s Comet.  Fire Nation has pretty much won the war already, so there’s no rush.  At least that was the case before Zuko reveals that Ozai plans to use Sozin’s Comet to kill thousands of Earth Nation civilians to humble them forever.

Now that the Squad knows what’s at stake, they start doing some strategizing and training to fight Ozai as a team.

But Aang is having second thoughts about killing Ozai now that, y’know, it actually counts.  That night, he wanders off in a trance toward an island… and doesn’t come back.

Meanwhile, Ozai makes Azula the new Firelord… as he proclaims himself PHOENIX LORD OZAI.

The Squad can’t track Aang down, but Zuko knows someone who can.

But June’s giant badger-thing (I thought for sure it was a lizard, but my mistake) can’t find Aang.  So Zuko figures it should track someone else down.

June follows the trail and drops the Squad off at what turns out to be a hideout for the White Lotus, which turns out to be a club for old men.

By the way, Bumi pretty much soloed everyone in Omashu once the eclipse came in, and he liberated his whole city.

Zuko has a reunion with Iroh, but no one has any clue where Aang is.  Everyone decides they should do whatever they can to help so when Aang is ready to take on the Firelord, the path is clear.  But Zuko’s destiny is to restore honor to the Fire Nation as its new Firelord, and to do so, he needs to fight Azula.  But he can’t do it alone, so he asks Katara to come along and settle the score.  Also, because Katara is badass.

Aang wakes up in a moving island, which I can only assume is part turtle because… turtles are islands.  He takes the opportunity to meditate and commune with his past lives for guidance.  But they tend to agree Ozai needs to be dealt with permanently.  In the Katara way, so to speak.

Aang realizes an Air Nomad might share his same view, so he communes with the last Airbender Avatar, who, naturally, is pretty hot.

Unfortunately, she too tells Aang that sometimes you just gotta do what you gotta do.

Dejected, Aang jumps off the island and sees that, yes, it is a turtle.

Meanwhile, Azula is trying to enjoy her newfound Firelordness.

But she gets set off at the tiniest things and banishes people like crazy.

Eventually, Azula banishes pretty much everyone around her, and she’s forced to do her own hair and whatnot.  How utterly horrible.

And then she starts having visions of her mother.  REALLLLLLY going off the deep end.

Meanwhile, at Earth Kingdom, Ozai accepts HIS destiny of being a genocidal pyromaniac.

Fortunately, I guess, Aang is waiting for him and willing to fight.

Meanwhile, Zuko fights Azula alone in an Agni Kai, because he’s pretty sure he can take her on in her current “totally fucking bonkers” state.  What follows is the battle that SHOULD be the climactic final battle of the series, which is even accompanied by the most moving music track in the series.

The battle almost entirely passes with no words.  Just a brother and sister fighting to the death, fire shooting everywhere, and THIS track in the background:

 

It legit pisses me off when the scene changes to Aang vs. Ozai, because there isn’t nearly as much emotional connection in that battle.  Sure, the fate of the world hinges on that fight, but THIS is the battle we’re left caring about.

Azula is outmatched, but then she decides to fire lightning… at Katara.  Zuko protects her, but can’t redirect the lightning, leaving him a crawling mess.

Meanwhile, the battle between Aang and Ozai is even, until Aang decides NOT to go for the finishing blow, giving Ozai the opportunity to take control.  But then AVATAR STATE, BITCHES!

Katara tries to rescue Zuko, but Azula’s gon’ all crazy and whatnot.  But Katara, NOT under the influence of a full moon, AND with Azula powered up by Sozin’s Comet, manages to come out on top, freezing the both of them in place long enough for Katara to bind Azula’s hands, disabling her bending (for the most part).

Meanwhile, Ozai learns that fighting the Avatar is fucking frightening.

But just when Aang has him at his mercy, he drops out of Avatar State.  Ozai thinks this is his chance, but Aang comes up with the answer he’s been waiting for.

Aang employs a technique he learned from the Lion Turtle to seal Ozai’s bending away, which is… incredibly convenient.

So, Ozai is defeated, Zuko is the new Firelord, and all is right with the world.

In the epilogue, we learn that Mai and Ty Lee get freed, and Ty Lee joins the Kyoshi Warriors because, hell, they’re pretty much circus performers anyway.

Zuko still has unfinished business with his father though, and he visits Ozai’s cell to demand to know where her mother is.  Which is just an unbearable tease because THIS IS THE LAST EPISODE.

So yeah, Iroh is free to live his life, and in the celebratory party, Zuko’s mother is nowhere to be seen because this isn’t Negima! and she hasn’t been offscreen rescued.

Also, Aang and Katara love each other.

So, the series ends with a powerful finale, but I’m still left somewhat unsatisfied.  Like the joke card says, we never go into detail regarding Iroh’s adventures in the Spirit World, which would explain why he can see spirits.  We’re left hanging regarding the whereabouts of Zuko’s mother.  We don’t really get a sample of how the rest of the world reacts to Zuko’s reign, and I find it highly unlikely that the rest of the Fire Nation would just willing accept that Ozai is imprisoned while their former traitor prince is their new ruler.  It wouldn’t be that clean a transition.  I’m sure there would be some resistance to that.

One of the bigger disappointments I have is that the writers just can’t do romance.  Every single pairing in the series just doesn’t get the respect it deserves.  Zuko and Mai had potential and setup in Book 2, but at the start of Book 3 they’re just thrown together and we assume they love each other, and it isn’t clear how established the relationship is.  True, they have good chemistry with each other ONCE THEY’RE TOGETHER, but it’s weird that just how important they are to each other is a nonfactor until then.  Zuko really loves Mai… when he isn’t going on a date with an Earth Kingdom girl and doesn’t even think about her once.  Mai really loves Zuko, but doesn’t even bat an eye when Katara tells Azula’s Angels that Zuko is in the city.

Aang and Katara have had hints of varying blatancy throughout the entire series, but outside of their established fondness for each other, at what point does “love” blossom?  I think the thing that bothers me most is Aang’s constant naivety is quickly outpaced by Katara’s growing maturity, and this is actually addressed somewhat late in the game, but they still just get their romance resolved with a handwave at the end.

And let’s look at Sokka and Yue / Suki… They just kinda happen in the span of one episode each, maybe a handful of conversations between them before they get established as couples.  And for wildly different reasons.  Sokka gets with Yue because… he hit on her, and I guess he was different.  Sokka gets with Suki because he proved himself.  In a day.  By the way, what did Sokka even learn about either of them before they started making out?  Hell, what did WE learn about Suki in the entire series?  That she’s a good fighter and just a bit snarky?

I was NOT surprised to learn that Zuko x Katara has a large following, because those two together literally have more dramatic chemistry with each other than any other couple in the series.  Their history, their interactions, the evolution in how they view each other… it’s all the ingredients necessary for a rich romantic story.  But I’m not angry that they didn’t get together; I’m angry that the writers just didn’t recognize that they need more of THAT injected into the ACTUAL relationships they were pushing.  CHEMISTRY IS IMPORTANT!  That’s not to say that EVERY relationship needs to have that, and Zuko and Mai’s relationship was actually pretty great at being subtly complex, but can we have ONE romantic relationship have as much care as was put into Zuko and Katara’s friendship?  Please?

I’m going to be starting Korra soon (or as soon as it takes Rightstuf to send it to me), and I don’t want to be subjected to a relationship launched with “he looks cute / she looks cute / we’re around each other a lot, so let’s make out.”  There’s a time and place for relationships like that, but not EVERY TIME.

And while I’m on the subject of dropped potential: the writers just plain didn’t care about the extra characters.  I’m surprised the Earth King didn’t even make an appearance in the finale.  In fact, I’m disappointed we didn’t go with what could have been a promising arc, or even just a one-off episode where the Earth King learns about the world he never knew, and how that experience might make him into an even better ruler.  When The Duke, Haru, and Teo joined the group after the day of the eclipse, I was excited about the possibilities for interaction, but none of those possibilities were realized as the non-core group were pretty much just brushed aside whenever they could.  They might as well have “NOT IMPORTANT” tattooed on their foreheads, so why even bother having them travel with the group?

Still, all in all a very quality series, and one I rate above Gargoyles, though that could be because Gargoyles had that terrible World Tour arc going against it.  Avatar has god-tier world-building going for it, even if it could have gone further.  It has expressive, memorable characters, and an engaging plot (when it wants to be).  Despite the frustrating missed potential, it still lives up to MOST of its potential, and I’ve got no regrets whatsoever purchasing all three sets.

Tomorrow I will probably run through “The Blind Bandit” and give a final foot shot tally for the series.