Mark Watches ‘Avatar’: S01E15 – Bato of the Water Tribe

In the fifteenth episode of the first season of Avatar: The Last Airbender, the trio come across a group of Southern Water Tribe soldiers that have travelled with their father. Aang becomes jealous at losing his position as the center of attention, and makes a terrible mistake. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to watch Avatar.

“Bato of the Water Tribe” takes the classic Misheard-Conversation-Causes-A-Poor-Decision story and makes it unbelievably depressing. It’s nice to not only return to the group traveling to the North Pole, but in this episode, we finally get some more pieces of the story of Sokka and Katara, giving us clues as to why Sokka might be the way he is.

The story isn’t necessarily perfectly balanced on all the major characters, as the bulk of this sort of has to be about Aang, but so far, I’m quite impressed with how well Avatar cycles through the stories of the people who make up this cast. (LOST, I am looking at you with loving eyes again.) (Why am I so repetitive and predictable?) (I swear I’ve seen more than three shows ever.) (Now I kind of want to write a review with a record number of parenthetical statements.) (Oh god what is my brain.)

Katara and Sokka’s past has only fleetingly been addressed at times. We saw the sadness in Katara when she admitted to Jet that she missed her mother and that the necklace she wore certainly didn’t help her miss her mom less. Sokka’s spoken about his mom, too, but both of them speak with a loving fondness for their father, who we know has gone out to fight the war against the Fire Nation. I know that their mother’s death brings them pain, and “Bato of the Water Tribe” helps to show me that their father’s life gives them hope. The real clear sign of this is after finding the Water Tribe weapons, and then stumbling upon the stranded Water Tribe ship. If I had found an abandoned ship that was part of my father’s fleet, I would not have greeted it with abandoned joy and excitement. But for these two siblings, their father represents the noble and heroic journey to face evil head-on and to do what’s right. Both of them not only love their father, they respect him. I think we all know how different those feelings are and it’s entirely possible to love someone and not necessarily respect.

That’s not the case for Hakoda. That night, after finding the abandoned ship, we get to see the first truly raw and depressing memory Sokka has regarding his father. In a way, I feel it does a great job of providing us with the insight to understand his particular brand of humor and his issues with his own masculinity.

To start with, I believe that both Sokka and Katara are well past that age where you look upon your parents with a mixture of awe and fear. It’s why I believe they respect their father so much. But Sokka’s flashback takes us back to the last moment that Sokka probably felt that towards his father. You can see it in the excitement of his freshly-painted face. You can see it in the way he looks up upon his father’s stoic face. And then you can watch the heartbreak happen when Hakoda tells Sokka that he must stay behind. Sokka’s too young at this point to understand why the war is legitimately dangerous, why it’s not just a game.

But in the same breath, Hakoda gives Sokka a message, tying it in with his role of being his son: He is to stay behind and take care of his mother and sister. I think in Sokka’s mind, this is why his masculinity is so intrinsically tied to so much of what he does and why he’s averse to subverting that. All those years ago, his heart broken, Sokka heard his father tell him it was time to become a man. And ever since then, that’s what he’s been trying to do, using humor to hide the fact that beneath his thick exterior shell, he might very well still be that heartbroken child, wishing he could be at the side of his father.

(I swear, I’m not adding another parenthetical statement just to test you all, but I feel like pointing this out: Now there are two male characters living in the shadow of their father, though for completely opposite reasons. I love when shows draw parallels like this, and this one is particularly fantastic because there is not one single hint towards this within the episode itself. SUBTLETY IS FUN.)

There were years where I lived in the shadow of my own father, but certainly not in a context that resembled what happens here, so I can only understand it to a very limited extent. Being a twin, my father had two male figures in his house that he gravitated towards. My dad’s heritage and culture (being Japanese and Hawaiian) made him always appear slightly distant from everyone. He wasn’t an emotional person, aside from moments of quiet rage or his silly, dry humor. It took me a long time to ever crack that surface, too, so I see bits of my dad’s personality in the way that Sokka closes himself off to other people.

For me, though, I just wanted so many of the stereotypically things I saw in various forms of media that told me what my relationship with my father was supposed to look like. Those quintessentially American images of throwing a football in the yard, or building something together or doing any of those things you’re supposed to do with your father…I did none of them. But it was really my dad’s fault! I mean, big surprise that I turned out gay: I kept telling my dad that I REALLY LOVED POETRY and HAVE YOU HEARD OF THIS POE FELLOW? HE’S SWELL or I DON’T WANT TO BUILD A SHED CAN WE READ F. SCOTT FITZGERALD TOGETHER or DAD CAN WE TALK ABOUT FEELINGS.

My brother was the one who gravitated more towards those typical images of American fatherhood, and while I was jealous to an extent that he was able to bond with my father so easily, I just wanted my dad to be interested in what I was interested in, too. As I struggled with trying to win his affection, I ended up relying on my mother for more of that comfort. Which didn’t work either, by the way, because my mom was the least affectionate human ever until the last few years. OH GOD THE TRAGEDY

But this isn’t time for me to drop another sob story in your collective lap! I suppose this episode just got me thinking about the sometimes-intricate details that make up being raised by a heterosexual couple whose roles in the family were REALLY BIZARRE. I do remember being of the age where I looked upon my father with that same look that Sokka does here in “Bato of the Water” tribe, and this particular episode got me releasing all these ~feelings~ for multiple reasons. This is one of them.

Fathers are weird.

Back to the actual episode. Right, THIS IS A REVIEW MARK, WHAT ARE YOU DOING. Like many of the episodes before this, the writers set up a convergence between Zuko’s party and Team Avatar. I won’t lie. I am looking forward to the moment that this pattern will change and we’ll see a different dynamic. (Perhaps this is season-based? Don’t tell me.) Still, there’s some interesting new things the writers throw at us, mostly the badass June. Who is a badass. And has a creature called a Shirshu that is kind of incredibly terrifying. Also, I’ve been playing the video game Borderlands way too much for my own health, and the Skags totally look like they’re based on Shirshu. ANYWAY. June rides in on this beast and finds a stowaway on Zuko’s ship. I love that the Shirshu’s smell is color based because it provides us with a fascinating visual frame of reference for how this creature works. It also allows us to see Uncle Iroh completely in love with something that is not tea or Pai Sho and more Iroh is always a good thing.

So, while Zuko, Iroh, and June are tracking the steps that Team Avatar have taken in recent episodes, I wanted to talk about the direction that Aang’s story heads in “Bato of the Water Tribe.” When Bato, a friend of Sokka and Katara’s family, comes upon the group, it’s the first chance for those two to get a taste of the home they left weeks ago. I know that we are meant to feel that Aang doesn’t have a part in this because he’s not a member of the Southern Water Tribe, and that obvious context is spelled out for us as the two siblings jump right into the conversations with Bato. They make no attempt to keep Aang in the conversation; I don’t necessarily think it’s a bad thing in and of itself, but it still leaves Aang feeling left out. However, the really interesting (and completely gut-wrenching) subtext to this is that even if Sokka and Katara made attempts to be inclusive, Aang could never really be a part of this. This was another subtle reminder that Aang was the last of his kind. He had no friends left that he shared a history with, and he had no family left. Everything he had at that point was new.

That is just so…sad to me? And I mean that because it’s precisely how I feel all the time. My detachment comes from the sensation that I don’t share long, emotional histories with people. I am a constant outsider and Aang’s frustration was my frustration. Sometimes that manifests in quietly introspective ways. (LET ME BOTTLE ALL OF THIS UP.) Sometimes I’ve lashed out because the unfairness of it all is overwhelming. (I don’t know that I ever hid a map to someone’s father’s location, though.) But either way, I completely empathized with what Aang was going through here: You can’t manufacture experience, especially the shared variety. It has to be lived, so what do you do when everyone else has that and you don’t?

That’s when Aang makes a poor judgment call. After overhearing that there’s a possibility that they can meet up with their father when a messenger brings a map to his location, Sokka and Katara seem ecstatic at the thought. Disappointed and saddened that his two friends were going to abandon him (FOR A REALLY GOOD REASON, DUDE), Aang runs off, angry that he is going to be alone yet again. Only YOU DIDN’T HEAR ALL OF THE CONVERSATION, AANG. Had he stayed just a few moments more, he would have heard the two of them turn down the opportunity so that they could continue traveling with the Avatar.

So Aang intercepts this messenger accidentally and decides to KEEP THE MAP AND NOT SHOW IT TO HIS FRIENDS. I facepalmed. Sadly, but it happened. Oh, Aang, what are you doing? YOU ARE GOING TO REGRET THIS. Convinced this is the only way to keep them all together, he crumples the map up and stuffs it inside his….outfit? Cape thingy? Ok, so what is that thing called that he wears? I guess I never needed to describe it so I never knew what to call it.

I absolutely adore what the writers do with this plot. Not only do they highlight Aang’s nervous guilt over his actions making it obvious that he knows what he’s doing is wrong, they decide to rub the whole thing in his face. Sokka’s chance to complete the coming-of-age ritual he missed with his father is a fantastic scene that, again, highlights Sokka’s strengths as a non-bender. But Aang is plopped right into this situation, helping Sokka to complete the task with flying colors, and then is presented with his own Water Tribe markings at the end. As Bato was moving the line, giving Sokka his mark for wisdom, and Katara hers for bravery, I knew what was going to happen with Aang. Sure enough: trust. TRUST.

The irony is too painful for Aang to handle and in a moment of panicked guilt, he confesses that he is not all that trustworthy, revealing that he had hidden the map to their father’s location this whole time.

I’m glad the writers don’t shy away from exactly how irate this should make Sokka and Katara. They had every single right to be mad at Aang and, as uncomfortable as it was, it needed to happen. He needed to know the true gravity of what he’d done to them, especially since he didn’t know that they’d already told Bato that they were going to decline the chance to go after their father.

I say it a lot, and I’ve given examples of this, and I’ll do it again to drill the point home: Because I have such a ruthless spoiler policy, I did not know that Sokka and Katara forgive Aang by the end of this episode. Given that a lot of this show is serial in nature, I honestly thought that Sokka and Katara would part ways with Aang to go find their father. That’s the beauty of the chance to watch television (or read a book) in a self-constructed vacuum: I don’t have any outside influences affecting my viewing and I can experience these stories in whatever direction my mind takes me.

Despite that this sensation didn’t last long, I still appreciated it. (And it would have been an awesome plot road to go down.) Instead, we get the FANTASTIC story from Bato about the lone wolf that is SO PAINFULLY BEAUTIFUL that everything hurts. Yes, this show can be incredibly blunt with some of its poetic and visual metaphors, but those metaphors are really, really good. They don’t suffer at all from being spelled out. And then I remember this show aired on Nickelodeon and probably after someone got a bucket of slime dumped on them and my heart weeps forever.

I’m glad this trio is going to stick together. Aang, you were a fool for hiding that map from your friends, but I’m truly glad you will all still be together.

The final battle that happens when June, Iroh, and Zuko discover Team Avatar is yet another glaring example of just how cool all of this is. There are so many different ways for the writers to use bending, and they make it look like highly choreographed dance routines, especially when Aang and Zuko are fighting each other. It’s gorgeous.

And Appa! APPA, YOU ARE MY ~ETERNAL ROCK~. I can’t believe it took that many lashes of the shirshu’s tongue to put him out. WHERE IS MY APPA.

I know I don’t have anything terribly insightful to say about the final battle aside from childish excitement and wonder, but there is something I noticed that was really strange: Is it just me or does Uncle Iroh seem to literally not care if the Avatar is caught one way or another? I mean, he has never seemed all that interested, especially since tea and Pai Sho are greater than Aang every time, but that seem dramatically heightened here in “Bato of the Water Tribe.” I mean….he just sort of stands around and tries to hit on June while this EPIC BADASSERY is taking place around him? God, seriously, he is my absolute favorite. I want to be him forever.

THOUGHTS

  • The herbalist and Miyuki return! I want a cat that looks like Miyuki, but that’s mostly because the epic battle I am waging against my cats’ shedding abilities is clearly being lost.
  • “He means no offense! I’m certain you bathe regularly.” SERIOUSLY, GREATEST CHARACTER EVER.
  • “At my age, there is really only one big surprise left, and I’d just as soon leave it a mystery.” SWOON.
  • “Aw, I’d love to help you out, but I’m a little short on money. DRINKS ON ME!” Again, I love June, despite that she’s supposed to be ~evil~. She trolls Zuko so hard.
  • KATARA KISSED AANG’S CHEEK oh god it was so cute.
  • “Miyuki, did you get in trouble with the fire nation again?” You know, I don’t think this question is a joke. I believe the herbalist actually means it.

 

About Mark Oshiro

Perpetually unprepared since '09.
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312 Responses to Mark Watches ‘Avatar’: S01E15 – Bato of the Water Tribe

  1. I kind of forget this episode exists sometimes. It hasn't left a huge impression on me, but it's great because June and the shirshu are awesome and THAT FIGHT AT THE END IS SO AMAZING OMG. REMEMBER THAT TIME AANG AND ZUKO FOUGHT ON THE EDGE OF A WELL? AND THEN AANG WATERBENDED THE SHIT OUT OF ZUKO AND CROUCHED IN A POWER POSE??

    Also, Miyuki once ate the Fire Lord's socks.

  2. shyfully says:

    Another shorter comment from me, blah.

    <img src=http://i.imgur.com/ippjM.png>

    I love that this episode shows us more of the Water Tribe. And a young Sokka! Don’t you just want to pinch his cheeks? But I love getting to see Sokka be all competent and good at things. I was very proud of how he figured out the whole battle thing, and then the ice dodging and then he came up with the perfume idea. He’s grown a lot from the beginning of the season.

    I find this episode to be really interesting to contrast with The Storm, in terms of Aang’s story. Yet again, he fears that the people he loves are going to abandon him. Again, they actually weren’t planning to, but, again, he doesn’t actually hear that part and assumes the worst. I think it’s so interesting to see that as a repeating character trait of Aang’s. When he hears that someone might end up abandoning him, he doesn’t talk about it or go to them, he just tries to deal with it himself and it ends badly. He doesn’t give the people who care about him enough credit, I think. He never thinks that maybe they care about him just as much as he cares about them. And by doing so, he actually makes it more likely that he will be separated from them! Oh, Aang.

    <img src=http://i.imgur.com/OKIhI.png>

    It’s been a while since there was a true Zuko vs Aang fight, if I recall correctly. So that was interesting. I find their fight scenes to be very cool. I love how Aang was able to get Katara’s necklace back. Phew! I really didn’t like Zuko having that. And then the creators troll the shippers again with the “give him a kiss for me” line, bwahaha.

    I really liked the character of Bato. He was so nice to Katara and Sokka. I like that he didn’t really pressure them in any direction, just accepted their decisions. Except maybe for the lonely wolf speech. I also like that he treated Katara just as respectfully as he treated Sokka. And he would have made Aang an honorary member of the Water Tribe! And he took Sokka ice dodging, awwww. I like him a lot!

    <img src=http://i.imgur.com/1ROJ3.png>

    Also, I loved seeing Zuko and Iroh meet up with various people who Aang had run into. I love how the herbalist lady was so unafraid of them, considering that we know how she heals earth kingdom soldiers, and how Aunt Wu flirted with Iroh.

    Quotes!

    Sokka: Perfume? Maybe we could dump some on Appa! …Because he stinks so much, am I right?
    Bato: You have your father’s wit.

    Katara: Bato! It looks like home!
    Sokka: Everything’s here, even the pelts!
    Aang: Yeah, nothing’s more comforting than dead animal skins…

    Zuko: Out of my way! Step aside, filth!
    Iroh: He means no offense. I’m sure you bathe regularly.

    Herbalist: Out for a bit of fresh air, are we?
    Zuko: We’re looking for someone.
    Herbalist: I hope it’s not Miyuki! Miyuki, did you get in trouble with the Fire Nation again?

    Iroh: At my age, there is really only one big surprise left, and I’d just as soon leave it a mystery.

    Sokka: Aang! Helm to lee! Helm to lee!
    Aang: What does that even mean?!

    Sokka: We split up! He’s long gone.
    Zuko: How stupid do you think I am?
    Sokka: Pretty stupid!

    Sokka: I’m starting to get some feeling back! (stuff falls on him) Ow!

    And finally, for any Friday fans here…

    <img src=http://i.imgur.com/jzTbr.jpg>

  3. echinodermata says:

    "And then I remember this show aired on Nickelodeon and probably after someone got a bucket of slime dumped on them and my heart weeps forever."
    Haha, that is amazing. Truly laughed out loud.

    (And does anyone actually hate parenticals? Or get annoyed by them?)

    Okay, episode.
    I love June. (Okay, I REALLY FUCKING LOVE JUNE.) I can appreciate a good mercenary, especially in such a politicized and divided world as this one; I love that she's just out for herself and not interested in the war. Plus, she's so confident and sure of herself, and then she rides a mole thing that can paralyze people. And she looks awesome, ngl (ooh tattoos, and a whip). HBIC, basically. I also appreciate that she's portrayed as being quite physically strong: I'm quite fond of how it's a female character that gets a traditionally masculine trait, especially since most characters never seem to rely much on physical strength since many of them can bend. I also like her bold-face lie of being a "little short on money." Get it, girl.
    <img src="http://i55.tinypic.com/23m9apy.gif"&gt;

    Honestly, I'm not sure if I believe Aang's act of hiding the map is in character for him. He's normally pretty selfless, that it's hard for me to reconcile this with him pretty directly hurting Sokka and Katara. Obviously that's not his intention, but really, what did he expect? It also seems super obvious to me that they wouldn't leave him for real, so this whole plot point just feels really contrived to me. And I imagine that's a big part of the reason why this episode doesn't rate highly with the fandom (which is a fandom I've mostly stayed out of, but I still know through fannish osmosis that this isn't a popular episode).

    I thought the ice dodging was fun though, if you ignore Aang's guilt at the beginning. Although I sincerely hope this is a test for people who have had a fair amount of experience guiding a boat, and not just a rite of passage for anyone to try, since holy crap that'd be dangerous. At least let the father be ready to waterbend, ffs.

    Now I love the fight scene in this ep.
    <img src="http://i51.tinypic.com/29qnrme.gif"&gt;
    But I'm a little sad at Appa taking the offensive, though. I want my big loveable bison to be purely benevolent.

    And oh, Iroh. His interest in June (look, she's hot; I don't begrudge him for liking her, although I'd rather that bit where they're laying together were left out; kinda skeevy, Iroh), and his admiration for the perfumes during a fight.
    <img src="http://i55.tinypic.com/3492sdx.gif"&gt;

    Sokka being clever is nice, although it was an awesome fight scene so I was kind of sad to see it end. But I always appreciate when there's a non-bending solution to their problems. Yay for cleverness saving the day!

    • Hotaru_hime says:

      Oh Iroh, sneaking that perfume in his sleeve!

    • FlameRaven says:

      While it does seem a little OOC for Aang to hide the map, you've gotta remember that he's still only 12 years old. He felt left out and alone, I can see him making a sudden, stubborn decision to leave Katara and Sokka out of the loop… and then everything goes wrong. It's a believable situation.

      • echinodermata says:

        Yeah, you're right; it's probably best to attribute it to Aang being unusually reckless and immature than to call it OOC.

      • moussajinx says:

        "Honestly, I'm not sure if I believe Aang's act of hiding the map is in character for him. He's normally pretty selfless, that it's hard for me to reconcile this with him pretty directly hurting Sokka and Katara. Obviously that's not his intention, but really, what did he expect?"

        I think it's completely in character for Aang to think of abandonment issues at this point. He's lost any and all of his 'family and friends' and is trying to desperately hold on to the ones he has. No, deceit is never a "ends in fun!" thing. It really never is, but I found it really nice that the storyline handled it so well. I do LURVE this show, and it's really wonderful to have so many new people find it for the first time.

        YAY!! 😀

    • nanceoir says:

      (And does anyone actually hate parenticals? Or get annoyed by them?)

      I don't think such a thing is possible. (In fact, some days I have more to say parenthetically than non-parenthetically.)

      • Vikinhaw says:

        I love them. In fact I don't think I can write comments without parentheses (my friends complain about this (sometimes I just put parenthesis in parenthesis (parenthinception) whoo!) when I'm writing emails)

    • notemily says:

      I love that perfume stealing gif. Also, I agree with you about the skeevy bit at the end. When shows portray stuff like that as "cute," it always gets to me a bit.

    • jubilantia says:

      I don't know, I think Aang's actions are in character for him. We've seen him being childish about less serious things, so the extrapolation to a more pivotal situation isn't too far-fetched. Also, I think it makes sense that he wouldn't be totally rational about the only people he has left in the world potentially leaving him. Keep in mind what we saw in The Storm- he left the air temple because he thought they were going to send him away from Monk Gyatso- also from a situation that he didn't know the whole of. And he's really only a few weeks removed from that episode in his maturing process. I think it's a good way to demonstrate that Aang is not flawless and makes mistakes like everyone else.

      Otherwise- agreed, June rocks and hooray awesome fight scene! I love how they portray the different fighting styles in a way that emphasizes the mindset behind them- evasion and economy of movement vs. offensive headstrong in-your-face attacks. And your gifs are amazing!

  4. TropeGirl says:

    To quote the abridged series here (regarding an earlier episode):

    "THE GAME OF LOVE
    Sokka: 1
    Katara: -5
    Iroh: 5000 "

    BECAUSE HE IS IROH. Dude can hit on whoever he wants.

    • FlameRaven says:

      There is a fanfic involving Fortuneteller/Iroh. It is completely hilarious. It also has Season 2 spoilers, though, so I won't link it.

  5. Dragonsong12 says:

    Haha! I have a hard time with this episode sometimes, because while I do understand where he's coming from and why he does what he does, I always want to take Aang by the shoulders, shake him and yell "YOU. ARE. BETTER. THAN. THIS!" but I recognize that in part, it's a pet peeve with this sort of storyline. UGH the frustration.

    …but thank you for your eloquent thoughts on the matter, Mark. I really appreciated it. It allows me to see these scenes in a new light and have a new appreciation. This is why you are among the most awesome people ever.

    And anyway THE FIGHT TOTALLY MAKES UP FOR IT! When fire and air combine? BOOM!

  6. Skulls, Candied says:

    June is the girl I want to grow up to be- super mega tough, hot lips, and a badass companion creature!!
    But other than that, This was one of the few episodes that I don’t watch when I’m rewatching; it’s just so SAD and kinda hits too close to home. But then again, you KNOW a show is good when it makes you feel uncomfortable in A good way!!!!!

    Also, THESE GUYS COME UP WITH THEBCRAZIEST ANIMALS FTW, and Aang disapproving of the Pelts was just one of those character quirks that I LOVE about this show, how they make each character so solidly fleshed out :3

  7. cait0716 says:

    Fathers are weird <- So true

    June is such a BAMF! Definitely a love at first site moment when she appeared on the screen.

    I also had to laugh at Aang's sarcastic line about dead animals being so cozy. When I was little I told my parents I wanted a log cabin because they came with animal heads on the walls. A roaring fire and an elk or deer or buffalo looking down with a bear skin rug and a squashy leather couch is the definition of cozy for me. Maybe that makes me a bad person. Oh well.

  8. kartikeya200 says:

    <img src="http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y29/kartikeya/Avatar/bato1.jpg"&gt;

    This episode has June. June is awesome. I love June. Plus, she's voiced by Jennifer Hale so pooossibly I'm having another voice crush omgdon'tjudge.

    So on with the June!

    <img src="http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y29/kartikeya/Avatar/bato2.jpg"&gt;

    Bounty Hunter June was modeled to look like our friend and postproduction supervisor, Lisa Yang. We even named the shirshu after her dog, Nyla.

    <img src="http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y29/kartikeya/Avatar/bato3.jpg"&gt;

    <img src="http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y29/kartikeya/Avatar/bato4.jpg"&gt;

    The shirshu is actually a combination of three animals: a wolf, a mole, and a giant anteater.

  9. monkeybutter says:

    I don't have a lot to say about this episode! I really liked Jun and Bato, and it was nice to get a glimpse of Sokka before his father left to fight in the war, as well as Water Tribe culture. Everything you said about masculinity is spot on, and Sokka still hasn't quite figured out why his father wanted him to stay behind to protect Katara: she needs her brother to keep her company, and he needs her. They should have the most normal childhood they can manage, and loneliness is no way to achieve that (even if it means enduring chauvinism and magic water soakings).

    Yup, Iroh is perfect. Aunt Wu has excellent taste.

  10. Kaci says:

    "And then I remember this show aired on Nickelodeon and probably after someone got a bucket of slime dumped on them and my heart weeps forever."

    No truer words have ever been spoken, Mark.

  11. Depths_of_Sea says:

    JUNE!

    *fangirls massively*

    So can we like, talk about just how awesome June is? I'll start. June has a whip, skull jewelry, and a creature with a nose so good that it makes a bloodhound look like a freaking chihuahua. Because of course for a badass lady you need a badass animal companion.

    • cait0716 says:

      She's awesome! The scene where she was in the bar winning the arm wrestling contests reminded me of Marion from Indiana Jones winning the drinking contests. Clearly they are kindred spirits

    • June shares a voice with Commander Shepard, so yes: total space-Marine-riding-a-Shirshu awesome. (Seriously, Jennifer Hale has to be the busiest person in video-game voice acting, after maybe Nolan North. I <3 her deeply.)

      As was said above, however: The nonconsensual snuggling with Iroh at the end was not awesome. It made me cringe. Uncle, I love you, but why you gotta do that?

      • arctic_hare says:

        I've been playing Tales of Symphonia again lately, so it amused me to hear her and Scott Menville (he was the messenger that delivered the map) in the same episode.

    • Tauriel_ says:

      Yep, June is definitely the most badass female character so far. No offence, Katara, but you're not exactly a waterbending master yet… 😉

    • sealcalliope says:

      She is completely, completely awesome. I won't lie, the first time I saw it when Zuko told her that she could repay him a different way my brain went in an entirely DIFFERENT direction from canon. An awesome direction. Still sad there's not a lot of Junko out there.

  12. Dragonsong12 says:

    Haha! I believe he was airbending, but I wouldn't put it past Appa to do something like that!

  13. Karen says:

    Gaaah. It's been forever (it feels like) since I've been able to comment. The internet in my flat isn't working and it s a great source of tragedy and sturm und drang. ANYWAY….

    I love Aang, but I think that this episode shows that Aang's major character flaws all stem from the fact that he's so young. The way that he acts here shows that even though he is The Avatar, he's still a kid. His reaction is pretty immature, but make sense when you think about the fact that the other major mistake the we've seen Aang make is running away from the Southern Air Temple. Idk. I mean, it make sense tat in a lot of ways he's pretty immature, and I like that. I like that he's not perfect and wise all the time even if he is the one who is supposed to be able to save the world.

    it just me or does Uncle Iroh seem to literally not care if the Avatar is caught one way or another?
    I think that's a fair assessment. I think he really only cares about helping Zuko because he loves his nephew and he's just that awesome. So he doesn't care about catching the Avatar really, but he does care about helping Zuko who happens to be on an Avatar catching mission.

  14. @audzilla says:

    I agree! And it's a characterization that's becoming more and more clear between the two of them. Everybody's got their wise moments, of course, and also their badass moments, but I like that more often than not, he's the thinker and she's the fighter!

  15. Avit says:

    I've said it many times before, and I'll say it again — fight scenes of any kind usually bore me, whether martial arts or guns or magic, and I zone out until the audio indicates that they're done with it — but ATLA's fight scenes are things of beauty. Truly. I love watching them.

    • echinodermata says:

      Yeah, I'm the same way. But this show just makes it so compelling.

    • notemily says:

      Me too! I'm always bored with fight scenes, but when the fighters are using THE ELEMENTS, suddenly I get interested.

    • mkjcaylor says:

      SAME. Agreed completely. I am glad we are all like this. I love watching the fights in this show and I always zone out.

      It's the choreography or something. The fact that they're not moving that fast or not emphasizing hitting each other as much as moving to create something that hits each other. But even then, I loved watching Zuko ninja-fight with the swords so it can't be just that.

    • stephanienienie says:

      I've been so accustomed to anime fight scenes where they (usually) use the same motions over and over again, so seeing the beautiful fight scenes in ATLA was–and still is–one of many things I rave about when I try to get more people to watch the series.

  16. barnswallowkate says:

    Yeah I grew a giant girlcrush on June *_*

    But not on her monster, it was scary! Did kids watching this show get scared by it frequently, or am I just a giant wimp? I couldn't deal w/that panda spirit and the volcano last episode was pretty intense too.

    • Avit says:

      Hey, different people are scared of different things. I don't think any of my feartraps are in this show, but I personally can't deal with a certain episode because of the emotional content — like literally, I skip it on most rewatches because I can't deal with it.

      • herpestidae says:

        I won't say what my "feartraps" (as you say) are because I don't want to spoil, but let's just say that I have several, and one creature in particular hit them all at once.

        • sundaycoma says:

          One of my biggest feartraps is actually completely averted here in Avatar just because of the setting: I hate hotel rooms. (They freak me out, the thought that anyone could have been lying in that bed before me, be they the scum of the earth or the most despicable human being, looking up at the same ceiling and wondering, like me, how much a soda costs from the vending machine down the hall. Just… ugh. No thank you forever.)

          So a world where they travel around the world but camp in tents most of the time? So much better, so much.

  17. thefireandthehearth says:

    Besides Iroh's complete lack of giving-a-damn-about-this-Avatar-nonsense and his ability to get his mack on in the weirdest of places, we also have this.

    Aunt Wu: Care to hear your fortune, handsome?
    Iroh: At my age there is really only one big surprise left, and I'd just as soon leave it a mystery.

    SOB SOB MAKO SOB SOB YOU ARE SO ~WISE~ IROH

    Anyway, this is one of those episodes that hurts in the best of ways. I totally understand where Aang is coming from, but I still want to slap him when he does it. Despite the fantastical nature of this show, all the characters manage to be painfully realistic and lovable for their flaws. The fight choreography is top-notch, once again, and Sokka is eternally a genius for the perfume plan. And, you know, there's the gorgeous and awesome June.

    (Also, on parenthetical asides; WHY ARE YOU ME seriously. Twins with the other twin being slightly better adjusted to the ~normal way~ and we also like poetry and ATLA and DW and be still my heart.)

    It says something about this show that this is such a really good episode and isn't preachy. My love for ATLA is like the shining sun.

    (Looking back, this comment is everywhere. What is my brain today.)

  18. grav_ity says:

    “Miyuki, did you get in trouble with the fire nation again?”

    One of my favourite lines of the entire series, actually. A bit because it happened at all (CONTINUITY FTW!), but also because the delivery of it is just priceless.

    • Patrick says:

      There should be a spinoff with Appa, Momo, and Miyuki as an animal version of the A-Team, working against the Fire Nation.

      Appa would be Mr. T.

      …This is the best idea I have ever had.

      • Coyote_Sister says:

        Haha! I started a fanfic with the A-Team in A:TLA a while back. Not as Appa, Momo, and Miyuki, though. They kind of fit right into the continuity, with the crazy schemes and helping innocents and all.

    • kaleidoscoptics says:

      I love the "again" part of it. The implication that this cat regularly brings Fire Nation soldiers down upon the poor herbalist's greenhouse. xD

    • Elexus Calcearius says:

      Miyuki is obviously a guerrilla fighter who uses her cat ninja abilities to sneak bombs into Fire Nation bases.

    • lossthief says:

      Obviously Miyuki is somehow related to SLOE Buttercup.

  19. Robin says:

    I totally agree about Iroh. In previous episodes, we get the impression that it's just Zuko who's exiled, not him. I really think he doesn't care one jot about the Avatar being captured, but is just along to look after his nephew. I don't think we really know what succession is like in the Fire Kingdom (Zuko is a prince, of course, but does he necessarily stand to inherit? Will things at home go awry if he isn't brought back before his father dies?) and after what happened, would Iroh necessarily want Zuko back under his father's influence?

  20. Stephalopolis says:

    Sokka backstory, Iroh, and a way cool awesome fight scene? Great episode in my book 🙂 And I too LOVED the use of color to show how the Shirshu "saw"Also, in case you were wondering, your total parenthetical statement count ended up being 14.

  21. HoneyBunny says:

    Favorite parts of the episode:

    Aang and Zuko's awesome fight.
    The dry quiet cough whenever a bad joke is made.
    Iroh stealing the perfume.
    Iroh pretending to be stunned so he can cuddle up with June.
    Iroh stealing the perfume.
    Iroh not wanting to know his future.
    Iroh, just being Iroh.

  22. dreining says:

    I can still clearly recall the advertisements for this episode back in ’06 (Of course, they focused heavily on the !~*KATARA AND SOKKA ARE GOING TO LEAVE AANG*~! drama), and yet I also remember that I actually missed this episode when it first aired, so I was obviously not fretting too much over the apparent split-up. Perhaps that’s why I tend to skip over BotWT whenever I rewatch. I was also never a fan of the artstyle in this episode, nor of Aang’s behaviour, so I rank this one near the bottom of the Book 1 totem pole.

    It’s hard to believe that this time next week Mark will have finished Book 1. Question for Mark: Will you be moving immediately on to Book 2 next Friday, or will you wait to start on Monday and post some sort of retrospect on Book 1 on the 13th?

    • dreining says:

      “… over the apparent split-up” when I eventually watched the episode. Oopsy.

    • echinodermata says:

      Mondays are for Doctor Who. So unless he decides to do an extra ep next week, Mark actually won't be finished with the season until the Tuesday after.

      • dreining says:

        Oh, I hadn’t realized. I should have known better, seeing as how this site turned me onto Who.

      • Edogg says:

        Didn't Mark ask which episodes (WITHOUT NAMING THEM) were two-parters so he could watch them together? Or did I just imagine that?

        • Avit says:

          He asked which were two-parters, but IIRC he didn't watch the previous two-parter(s?) together, so idk.

        • echinodermata says:

          He did ask, and he should have a list. But that doesn't directly imply he plans on combining episodes, so no one but Mark really knows what's most likely to happen.

          I'd say best plan is to assume he won't, then you can be happily surprised instead of disappointed.

        • Stephalopolis says:

          If I'm recalling properly, I think he asked which episodes were two-parters that were shown back to back on Nickelodeon. Basically, wanting to know if they were two-parters that "original" viewers had to wait a week to watch, or if there were two-parters that "original" viewers got instant gratification during the next half hour.

  23. kaleidoscoptics says:

    There is so much going on in this episode, but somehow it didn't feel too rushed. I'm not sure how they managed to get so much story in in about 30 minutes, but it just worked. The main storylines between Aang's loneliness, envy, and guilt, as well as the flashbacks about Katara and Sokka's father were really interesting. Aang and little!Sokka brought out all the tears. I'm really glad, like Mark's said, that this show doesn't shy away from having characters face realistic consequences for their actions. Aang doesn't just get a lecture and a "I swear I'll never do it again." His 'family' nearly abandons him, and then he finds that he's put them in danger.

    One thing that really hit me during this episode: Aang never mentions parents. He seems to have been raised by the monks. Were his parents killed somehow or were airbender children just raised communally? (Don't answer this.)

    Sokka’s rock trial was really cool. It was kind of sad that his father wasn’t able to do it with him, but it’s a big piece for his characterization. The leadership skills he showed on the boat are a hint of the person he wants to be, and possibly will be in the future. (I haven’t watched far ahead, okay, so DO NOT CONFIRM OR DENY THIS SPECULATION please.) His dad sounds pretty awesome, so it’s no wonder he’s felt like he has to take on so much responsibility.

  24. Tauriel_ says:

    No, he airbends with his flat tail. WHAM! 😀

  25. Anonymouse says:

    Can we just have a moment to recognize the true BADASSERY THAT IS APPA!?!?!

    Also, poor Aang and Sokka, and Bato, and the wolf, and… yeah, I could go on. I agree with you that the paralells in this show are amazing. Not only do we have the ~*super subtle*~ parallel between Sokka and Zuko living in their father's shadows, you also have that same feeling of separation between so many of the characters. Sokka and Bato both being separated from their tribe members and fellow warriors because of age/injury. Zuko and Aang both being separated from their entire nations, for two entirely different reasons that are tragically linked. Families (Sokka/Katara, Haru, Jet and the Freedom Fighters, and probably others) being separated because of the war. The reasons behind these feelings are all very different, and they motivate the specific characters in very different ways, but the parallels are there…

    Also, Aang. I think people tend to be hard on him in this episode for stealing the map because, it was a stupid, impulsive, selfish thing to do. I don't disagree. But let's take a second to remember that he's a twelve-year old boy, and most twelve-year-old boys are stupid, impulsive, and selfish, to varying degrees. At this point, it's already an established aspect of his character. He's pretty selfless about a lot of things, and is far less materialistic than the average kid, but when he feels things are about to lose the ones he loves, (like when the monks wanted to separate him from Gyatso, or he thought Katara and Sokka were going to leave him) he gets irrational and acts according to basic self-preservation.

    Yeah, and meanwhile my heart is breaking over little!Sokka trying to go to war, and watching his father and the other men leaving him behind. BRB, CRYING FOREEEVVVER!!!! :' (

    • Bard Child says:

      I think in context though if you watch the whole series, it's amazing how much Aang develops and grows. It's breathtaking on how the reader/view actually watches Aang grow up. It's so cool.

      It's one of the reasons he my favorite character (He's also like a mini Krishna at times it's so cute)

    • kaleidoscoptics says:

      I cannot give enough thumbs up to your comment.

  26. Tauriel_ says:

    He is to stay behind and take care of his mother and sister.

    Actually, Hakoda only mentions Sokka's sister. I guess their mother was already lost by this point.

    Anyway, I quite like this episode.
    Love Sokka's AWESOME RANGER SCOUTING SKILLZ.
    Bato is cool and I like how he took Sokka rock-dodging so that Sokka would have his rite of passage.
    June is badass.
    June's shirshu is badass.
    Appa is badass.
    Iroh is a such a flirt! <3
    Iroh stealing a perfume. You bad boy! 😀
    Aang and Zuko's fight is all sorts of awesome.

    Sokka: Perfume? Maybe we could dump some on Appa! …Because he stinks so much, am I right?
    Bato: You have your father’s wit.

    Oh man, imagine Sokka and his father together. That would be a true AWKWARD-PUNNY-HUMOUR-FEST! 😀 😀 😀

  27. Bonnie says:

    I love how Aangs gracefully jumps out of the well, while Zuko is unceremoniously puked out of it. Heeheh.

  28. Ryan Lohner says:

    Hakoda is voiced by the same actor as Bumi. The man has range.

    Iroh's line to Madame Wu is really painful now, considering Mako would die a year later. Still, it was awesome to see them tracking the Gaang through locations from the two previous episodes, a big sign of how seriously the show takes continuity (well, apart from The Great Divide).

    • hpfan04 says:

      Holy wow! I never would have guessed Bumi and Hakoda were the same voice actor!

    • Elexus Calcearius says:

      Wow, really? Impressive. I love the diversity of different voice actors.

    • stefb says:

      It's amazing how he can go from voicing a 112 year old man to the deep, soothing yet authoritative, smooth voice of Hakoda (has a crush <3)

  29. Little Sokka is the cutest and most heartbreaking ever.

    I'm another who was a little skeeved at Iroh's taking advantage of June's paralyzed situation — I tend to give major side-eye to invading someone's personal bubble without their approval — but otherwise he's awesome as per usual. Aang/Zuko's fight scenes are always amazing to watch. In this one, I especially like the well (of course) and when they were on the roof and both used a similar bending move to create a sort of "sword" extending from their arm to slash at their opponent. IT WAS COOL.

    Even though I'm pretty "eh" on seriously shipping in this series, I still think it's hilarious when the writers throw those little jabs in there. "So this is your girlfriend? No wonder she left; she's way too pretty for you."

    • sealcalliope says:

      Totally agreed on Iroh in this episode. The show is usually really good about boundaries and how they handle the flirting, but I feel he's totally gross here. June may be a bad girl, but if she feels he's being a creep, that's not okay. The only bit of that I find funny is how utterly asexual Zuko is in regards to June. Iroh is making a big deal of how hot she is and Zuko can only facepalm because his uncle's stupid hormones are getting in the way of his mission.

  30. Pelleloguin says:

    This perked up my day after not feeling well. Giving Sokka a reason behind his masculinity issues is not something a lot of tv and books would do for their characters. You can tell the creators put a lot of time and thought into the show because they can flesh out their characters so well.

  31. unicornseatrainbows says:

    LOL.
    APPA FARTBENDS.
    AT ZUKO.

    i just find this incredibly amusing.

  32. bookgal12 says:

    I just watched this so most of my impressions are not well thought out. I saw Aang's being left out as a reminder of when you mix old friends with new friends and you try to avoid someone being uncomfortable. I was surprised that Katara and Sokka once they met Bato almost left Aang to brood on his own. I give them some leway because they haven't heard anything from their father since he left. As for Sokka's backstory, I loved it to pieces, as your pointed out Mark: "I think in Sokka’s mind, this is why his masculinity is so intrinsically tied to so much of what he does and why he’s averse to subverting that.". I think this perfectly explains Sokka's behavior when it comes to battles. We have seen him be a tactician before with the volcano, but we get that trait even more here. With the "ice" dodging as well as the tracking in the beginning of the episode, it gives us the viewer another facet of Sokka.

    I can't stop without acknowledging Jade and Iroh, I like Jade because while she is a villain, she is still an interesting character. She beats a muscle bound man in arm wrestling, and instead of being yelled at by the loser, he just walks off. This speaks volumes to me in regards to gender equality within the Avatar world. Jade buying drinks for the bar she was in was a good move as well. As for Iroh, I am always glad to see more of him. When I saw his first comment of Jade, I laughed it off. But, when it reappeared, I was kind of taken aback. Then I remembered that Iroh is a badass and is attracted to women who are just as bad ass as he is. I also liked the short scene with Aunt Wu, it made me giggle.

  33. fantasylover120 says:

    â—¦“Miyuki, did you get in trouble with the fire nation again?” You know, I don’t think this question is a joke. I believe the herbalist actually means it.

    Oh Mark, didn't you know? Miyuki is a badass fire nation fighter. Clearly, I mean look how she sucks up to June. It's to gain her trust so she can scratch her to death in her sleep 😉 In all seriousness though, I adored June. She and Iroh need to do a team up to super troll Zuko.

  34. Bard Child says:

    I really like this episode because it shows a hint of how family orientated the Water Tribe is. It's strong community and I really like that flavor. I think Aang's response to loosing the closest thing has to a family is perfectly in character with him. Mind you he's human being and still quiet young so it's understandable. I think it also capitalizes on the fact that Aang is a lonely little kid, all that he knew was unjustly taken from him. I feel bad for him, because while what he did was selfish and immature, I don't blame him for reacting that way. I am glad that Sokka and Katara forgive him, it again shows how much family means to the Water Tribe, and Aang is in some ways their kid brother.

    I wasn't captivated by June. I think she was flat but I loved the Shirshu. I WANT A PLUSH ONE SO BAD

  35. Elexus Calcearius says:

    Exactly! I'm pretty sure that Katara is ten times more likely to rush into a situation and get hem all into trouble while Sokka would be like "Uh, guys? Shouldn't we think this one over? No? Fine, I'm coming. *grumbles.*"

  36. hassibah says:

    I am kind of surprised to see no gifs of June armwrestling. She is everything I want in a bountyhunter.

  37. sealcalliope says:

    I always really enjoy the portrayal of the Southern Water Tribe in this episode. I love their seafaring rituals and the close community they show us in the episode. Of course, it also leaves me wondering just what the hell the Water Tribe men were thinking. We see five ships leave in the flashback. Five. Each is small enough to be crewed by four people. Now, I don't think that means there is only a total of twenty men in the tribe, but even at the most generous estimates, it comes out to such a small number that the Southern Water Tribe appears to barely be sustainable as a community.

    Am I the only one who thinks the Water Tribe men are on a suicide run against the Fire Nation? Even if they hadn't gone to war, their culture would be dying out from the lack of people and reproduction, so they apparently decided to just chuck it all in one last effort to end the war. I think they are completely aware of how unlikely it is that they will win, which is part of why it's so important for Sokka to stay home.

    Another problem is that they just don't have enough women in the tribe, from what we see in the premiere. My theory is that the men actually struck a deal with a close by Earth Kingdom town, offering protection in trade for some marriages. That would give a fair reason for leaving for war — instead of staying home and trying to salvage the situation — while still allowing for the idea that those men aren't likely to go home again at all. But it's still incredibly depressing.

    • Tauriel_ says:

      We see five ships leave in the flashback. Five. Each is small enough to be crewed by four people. Now, I don't think that means there is only a total of twenty men in the tribe, but even at the most generous estimates, it comes out to such a small number that the Southern Water Tribe appears to barely be sustainable as a community.

      I see it like this:

      1. We see 5 ships leaving one village. I think it's highly probable that there are several villages like this scattered around the South Pole – like you said, there must be enough people in order to keep the Southern Water Tribe sustainable.

      2. The ships might not all be the same size, and Bato's might've been one of the small ones.

      • lossthief says:

        3. That wasn't necessarily the only boats that left. Also I'm not terribly clear on the timeline of when things happened, but I imagine it can't have been very long since Katara and Sokka's mother died, so I think it's reasonable to assume that Hakoda left on the last group of ships in order to be sure they'd be okay.

      • sealcalliope says:

        I'd like to believe in #1, but I don't think it's really supported by canon. Katara is definitively the ONLY waterbender in the tribe. That means the population is both small and knowable, so we can't estimate that there's a thriving community that exists outside of her own village. There might be some small settlements of extended families — but that runs into the sustainability problem. People live in villages for reasons: you can share resources and protect each other. Living outside the villages walls without the ability to share food when it is scarce is not a good philosophy if you want to contribute to the survival of your culture. It's a really big risk.

        And even if there are several villages, the number of men doesn't go up. The number of children who currently exist goes up, but not the number of men total. Even estimating on the high side for the men, say 50-70, that's not a lot of people. It's hard to sustain that level of civilization without fresh blood. We don't know how interrelate those families already are.

        Somewhat rhetorically, it makes you wonder why the Southern Tribe didn't pack up and move to the North a long time ago. Pooling their resources would have been safer than remaining independent. Says a lot about the cultural identity of the South that they didn't do that, IMO.

        It's a seriously good thing that Aang is around to make their plan viable.

        • notemily says:

          Well, plus they don't have a flying bison to carry them to the OPPOSITE POLE. I mean, look how hard the journey's been for Aang &co even WITH a flying bison.

        • Tauriel_ says:

          Katara is definitively the ONLY waterbender in the tribe.

          That's not a problem – I'm sure they'd have contact with other villages around the South Pole, so she'd know there's no other waterbender around.

          And even if there are several villages, the number of men doesn't go up. The number of children who currently exist goes up, but not the number of men total.

          I'm not quite sure what you mean by that. We know that the Fire Nation raided the Southern Water Tribe (as evidenced by the stranded ship in the first two episodes), and I bet it was many times for a long time – this might've been the reason of the decline in the Southern Water Tribe population, which is bound to have been larger in the past (like you said, it's hard to sustain a small population for a long time without interbreeding). Plus we know that three years prior to this show the men of the Southern Water Tribe left to fight in the war, leaving only women, children and the elderly behind.

          Now, if we take the total number of men who went to war as, say, 70, and if we assume there are 5 villages in the South Pole, then the total population at the time of the show could be over 200 (extrapolated from the fact that in "A Boy in the Iceberg" there were 22 inhabitants in Sokka's and Katara's village, including those two). Now that's not much, either, but given that this is a low point (since the population was in decline for years prior to the show), it's safe to assume that at its height (say, prior to the start of the war 100 years ago), the Southern Water Tribe population could've been well over 1000. And it's possible that in the time of peace they also had more contact with the Northern Water Tribe and they might've even mingled with them.

          And anyway, I think the REAL reason is that the creators and animators didn't think this sort of thing through (sustainability of the Southern Water Tribe community in terms of population), and that's why there appear to be so little people in the Southern Water Tribe. 😛

    • Tauriel_ says:

      Bah, double post.

  38. jubilantia says:

    I LOOOOVE June and Iroh in this episode. "But Uncle, I didn't see you get hit by the shirshu!" "Shush!" I always get such jadedness whiplash from Zuko- one minute he's all "no one can understand what I'm going through *ANGST*/ I have your mother's necklace" and the next he's like "Girls? o.O"

    Also- YOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOO spectralboviiiiiiine (it was you that talked about it, yeah?)! I netflixed Princess Tutu and I've seen eps 1-5 so far and it is AWESOME. I thought the acting battles from Skip Beat were epic, but ballet battles are even better. I've decided Avatar will be the perfect gateway drug for Mark to have MOAR ANIME in his life. (I'm replying to this comment to continue talking in case Mark decides to watch it in some distant future where he has infinite minutes in his life).

    • jubilantia says:

      Princess Tutu reminds me of a Neil Gaiman work, where the aspects of story and legend are almost characters in themselves as the story plays out. (Mark should Read American Gods! Or Good Omens! OR SANDMAN! THE POSSIBILITIES ARE SO ENDLESS) I love how it seems like your typical magical girl show, complete with stock footage transformations every episode, but then you have *no idea what's going on.*

      Random thought dump: The fact that Drosselmeyer always says "what will you do now, Princess Tutu? hohohohee" would be cheesy and dumb in any other context, except that here it adds dimension to the story- are we in Drosselmeyer's head? Is he speaking to us from beyond the grave? Has he intentionally unleashed his characters on the world for some nefarious purpose? Was Ahiru a girl or a duck to begin with? It's really cool that there seem to be no object boundaries- the heart shards can settle on anything. Is Fakir the Raven or some random character we don't know about? How can so many people know about Mythos- even he seems to, but he can do nothing. Has the town always been like this or did it become transformed? And for once, the girl is saving the guy! Awesome. For the longest time the girl characters in shoujo stuff were insipid and silly and ineffectual except when they accidentally did something right, and Ahiru starts out that way, but becomes less so as the show goes on. And then there's the sense of dread that the ending won't be happy.

      Anyway thanks for the recommendation and I look forward to finishing it. Back to Avatar- Zuko= INFINITE ADORABILITY. Not to mention Baby!Sokka. SO. CUTE.

      • lossthief says:

        Actually, Mark IS set to read the Sandman graphic novels later on!

        • jubilantia says:

          INFINITE HUZZAHS. I clearly need to update myself and actually read the schedule. Thanks for the info.

      • mkjcaylor says:

        If Mark reads Good Omens I will have fits of awesome.

      • Shay_Guy says:

        Princess Tutu is indeed excellent — I've seen the comparisons to Neil Gaiman before. I may have gotten my cousin to let her 5-year-old son (a fan of princesses) watch it — I haven't heard from her since she said she'd check it out. And if this is your reaction after just episode 5… well, as it goes in the vernacular, YANP.

        I still prefer "Duck" over "Ahiru," though. I mean, it's not like people insist on calling Mr. Cat "Neko-sensei."

        • jubilantia says:

          Yeah, I'm definitely getting the YANP part. I just finished episode 9, and let's just say- I am afraid. Very, very afraid. Also, I love how this show highlights royalty as not a desirable position to be in. Basically, if you are worthy to lead a nation/people/whatever, you don't think you are worthy and don't want to.

          Isn't Ahiru just the Japanese word for duck? I've been watching it with Japanese audio because I'm trying to learn it, and it makes more sense as a name, and makes it less likely for people to guess that she really is (maybe) a duck.

          • Shay_Guy says:

            How does it make more sense as a name? By all accounts, you'd be no more likely to find someone with that name in Japan than someone named "Neko." There aren't any other characters with Japanese names except for those with common nouns (animal names) for their names, of which there are plenty. It's not a Japanese setting — all the on-screen text is German. Why would Drosselmeyer translate her name into Japanese?

            In the Japanese audio, people use the word "ahiru" to refer to the bird all the time, the same word they use for the girl. Immediately after she introduces herself in narration in episode 1, she wonders if her name is why she has those dreams. As for guessing she's an actual duck…remember the eel in the Sleeping Beauty episode? People don't THINK about this stuff in this town.

            Really, the only reason I prefer "Duck" is because English is the language we're talking about it in. It's probably not "really" her name any more than "Ahiru" is — given the setting, her real name is probably "Ente." Having all the names just be translation convention in both languages makes the most sense to me.

            • jubilantia says:

              Oop, yep, you're right. I guess I like the sound of "ahiru" just because it sounds more melodious to me than Duck, because I haven't been hearing it as the word for duck all my life. Also, I read the DVD cover before I ever watched it and it said Ahiru rather than Duck, so I got stuck on that as the name.

      • @amyalices says:

        Hooray for more people watching Princess Tutu! I really enjoy it, and I think many people would get a lot out of it even if Anime isn't normally their thing.

        • jubilantia says:

          Seriously! What is with the prejudice against anime? Okay, so I used to be one of those people, but that was just because I was afraid of being sucked in to a whole 'nother country of media! I'm sure it's partially because the horrendous dubs and bowdlerization of things like Sailor Moon are still foremost in the public mind, but we have got to get America to mature and wise up about the power of animation as a medium for storytelling! *INSERT PLUG FOR GRAVE OF THE FIREFLIES HERE* Also, it turns out that magical girls in anime are pretty badass, except that all the cool things they do are censored out before it gets to America. ANYWAY.

          • @amyalices says:

            DUCK IS A TOTAL BADASS!

            …Sort of. 😀

            Anyway, I put this show up in the suggestions post because it's a really great size as well – not too long, but you still get a good arc in there.

  39. Macy says:

    OH GOD. Jun and Nyla(shirshu) are the coolest ever. I cannot handle how badass they are. Also, DAT FIGHT CHOREOGRAPHY. Zuko and Aang fights never fail to deliver.

  40. stefb says:

    It makes my heart swell when Bato offers to take Sokka ice-dodging, because, well Sokka isn't his son and he didn't have to do that! It was truly a good-hearted thing for him to do, and it gives everybody a sense of community that the Southern Water Tribe has….Bato's just like…the cool uncle who isn't actually family but might as well be.

  41. notemily says:

    Okay, NOW I'm caught up.

    I love Aang's snark about the animal skins. It really highlights the difference between the Water Tribe and Air Nomad cultures, in just one line. To Sokka and Katara the pelts represent comfort, warmth, and home. To Aang they represent a violation of his ethics.

    "At my age there's really only one big surprise left." NEVER DIE, IROH. IT IS NOT ALLOWED. To quote the Doctor, "DON'T YOU DARE." IROH AND WILF MUST BOTH LIVE FOREVER Y/Y/Y

    • arctic_hare says:

      NEVER DIE, IROH. IT IS NOT ALLOWED. To quote the Doctor, "DON'T YOU DARE." IROH AND WILF MUST BOTH LIVE FOREVER Y/Y/Y

      Y Y Y!!!

    • Elexus Calcearius says:

      Okay, right, someone has got to write that crossover. I'll get my legion of fandom minions right on it.

  42. @Siesiegirl says:

    I actually quite like this episode, and hadn't picked up on any general fandom negativity about it. I love the deeper insight into the Southern Water Tribe and its culture and traditions. the ice/rock dodging and the importance of family and community. Ironically, it's that focus on family that shows Aang really takes Katara and Sokka for granted. He never asks them about their family, it didn't occur to him at all what a huge thing it was for them to leave their village to travel with him, he's rude and dismissive about their traditional decor and their food and the ceremonial headpiece (if he's so averse to animal skins why in the world would he have put that on his head?). He interrupts Sokka and Katara's conversation with Bato, their first interaction with someone from home in who knows how long – and not only that, but someone who has news of their father, whom they haven't seen in even longer. Given this selfishness and disregard for his friends' feelings, I wasn't surprised at all when he hid that map.

    I don't mean that to sound like hating on Aang. I think it's perfectly reasonable for someone his age to behave like that. He's still very much a kid, and kids are not the most empathic or tactful creatures. Also, given that he hasn't ever mentioned his own family, maybe culturally he just doesn't _get_ how important it is for katara and Sokka to have this little bit of home. Maybe family isn't a _thing_ for the Air Nomads, or the Avatar(s). Maybe they are deliberately singled out at a young age so they can receive the proper training or whatever, regardless of what may actually be normal for the given culture. I dunno. The point is that, for whatever reason, Aang doesn't get it.

    Anyway, I actually _like_ that the writers did this. I think it was carefully thought out and handled with delicacy. It's good meaty character stuff. Aang is beautifully flawed and three-dimensional and in that I think he's a better role model (in that he's more realistic and therefore relatable) for the show's demographic than, like, the She-Ra or He-Man people my age had. ("People my age" Did I seriously just say that? Ugh. Get me a walker and some dentures.) He makes mistakes and then learns from them, and I think that's an important thing for kids to see happen. Too often children's shows try to be too simple, too black-and-white, easily resolved situations. Kids really are smarter and more intuitive than we give them credit for, a lot of the time, and one of the things I love most about Avatar is that it doesn't dumb itself down and in the process take my daughter with it. Thank you, Avatar, for realizing there are brains behind the eyeballs watching the screen, and that there's a difference between engaging said brains and "stimulating" them. /parental rant

    Also, Jun is awesome, and I want a pseudo-uncle like Bato.

    • DuskQ says:

      I actually would give Aang a little more credit. He shows interest in their culture. He wanted to know about the adventures Bato and Hakoda had together for instance, but Sokka and Katara certainly didn't go out of their way to make him feel included or even give a summary of that story. When Aang wanted to share his own stories about riding animals they cut him off. I think Aang was trying to joining the conversation rather than interrupt and their just wasn't any space for him in this part of Sokka and Katara's lives. It's really understandable that Aang would think they might leave to see their dad.

      • Elle says:

        I agree with you, DuskQ. Aang wanted to be included and tried.

        Honestly, I kind of found it a little sad. I know how it is to be reunited with a friend or someone from home you haven't seen for a while and it can be very exciting and such. I know Sokka and Katara were missing home and their family and friends. But I can't help but be a little irritated by them. Katara knew how being left out and cut off had hurt Aang when he told her the story in "The Storm."

  43. Mackenzie says:

    Zuko's pissyness just makes me want to cuddle him. 'Cause I know it would tick him off. 😀

    • mkjcaylor says:

      I KNOW. SO MUCH SAME.

      I don't know but there is some sort of attraction that so many of us have to pissy assholes. Seriously. What is attractive about that? Honestly, I think it has to do with them being 1) strong 2) competent 3) decisive. Unfortunately, those things together can easily create someone who has a disregard for other people because they make decisions based on themselves rather than other people and never waver in those decisions.

      But it is attractive!

    • arctic_hare says:

      Get in line! 😀 I seriously want to troll him Iroh-style! Poor kid needs to learn how to relax and have more fun.

      (And then I could go have tea with Iroh and ~all would be right in the world~)

      • Tauriel_ says:

        I'm with you there! 😀

        Plus, I love tea. I used to live in Prague, and there are dozens of awesome teahouses there (usually decorated in a Middle Eastern/Far Eastern style, so very comfy!), and we used to go have a tea and a sheesha there all the time. <3

  44. ldwy says:

    I really liked this episode, it was well done, as you say the metaphors were beautiful, and I'm glad we learned more about the Water Tribe's, and specifically Sokka's, history. I also love that Bato, who's clearly kind of like one of my "fake uncles" (mom or dad's close friends that I grew up with) can step into the empty shoes and give Sokka, and Katara, such a great gift.

    I like what you pointed out about Iroh. GREATEST CHARACTER EVER I LOVE ALL THE MOMENTS INCLUDING HIM. He doesn't seem to care much about catching the Avatar. I feel like part of this is just that it's not important to him-that this whole war is not something he's emotionally involved in, or perhaps isn't anymore (IROH BACKSTORY NOW). But I think it's also that he knows this has become a pivotal thing for Zuko, and that he doesn't want help and needs to capture Aang on his own. We know Iroh is a powerful bender, but he didn't bend once in that battle-he lets Zuko do it.

    Oh, and Appa is a big cuddly bamf. End of story.

    Oh, wait, one more thing. I think the Shirshu looked like a giant badger/star-nosed mole hybrid.
    <img src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/10/Badger-badger.jpg/250px-Badger-badger.jpg"&gt;
    <img src="http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTM6tjYMM3D85QYFd4X6ePIhl0bL1wuFKbQ7TUe595EivAQ9W-Nzg&t=1"&gt;

    • ldwy says:

      Holy wow, I didn't realize how huge the badger pic I originally posted was, I've replaced it with a smaller one.

    • jeno says:

      Re: the second picture

      dear god what is that thing D:

      • ldwy says:

        Haha, it's a type of mole, the star-nosed mole. They're indigenous to south eastern canada and northeastern US. I've seen one in the wild, they're "ugly-cute"…so weird you can't help but be intrigued. The nose appendages are sensory organs of touch, known as Eimer's Organs, it's how they get around 🙂 The big claws are because it's a burrowing mammal.

  45. hallowsnothorcruxes says:

    Usually I'm not into shipping but I think Zuko and June would make a kick-ass couple. But unfortunately Zuko has too much of a tunnel vision to ever notice a romantic prospect.

  46. Candy says:

    Iroh was actually kind of skeevy in this episode, IMO. HItting on June is one thing, but then at the end where he fakes getting hit by the Shirshu's tongue so that he can get all cuddly with her while she's paralyzed and can't move away but also clearly is not interested in him? :/ I generally love Iroh, but I didn't like him much in this episode.

  47. Tauriel_ says:

    A bit off topic comment, but…

    Why isn't there a Doctor Who liveblog for "The Curse of the Black Spot" today?

  48. Matt Thermo says:

    Episodes like this prove that anyone claiming the characters on this show are “Mary Sues” have never actually watched it.

    • Tauriel_ says:

      Yeah, there's not one character who hasn't made a mistake. Everyone has their faults.

  49. beeftony says:

    I can never hear Iroh's line to Aunt Wu without tearing up because it makes me think of how, just a year later, his voice actor died.

  50. blessthechildren says:

    WHY DIDN'T I KNOW THAT YOU WERE DOING THIS?!?!?!?!?

    Oh mother of all things green and good I do love this show. A:TLA is my favorite animated show of all time. I came in during the middle of season 3, and enjoyed every minute of every episode. It is a n epic show. Iroh is is my favorite character (seconded by Zuko and Aang); he is such a great mentor archetype with a twist.

  51. Doodle says:

    I always thought the kitty's name was Miyugi…

  52. @magfrypie says:

    So I hope this doesn't go against your cries against certain fanart, because this honestly made me LOL so much my stomach hurt. Just… everyone's faces! Especially Katara and Zuko "WTF" LOL FOREVER

    <img src="http://th04.deviantart.net/fs8/PRE/i/2005/338/d/f/AtLA__Katara_Told_Me____by_Faithie_Chan.jpg"&gt;

    Aside from that, my only other thought for this episode is that June and Iroh pwn all the things!

  53. agrinningfool says:

    Somebody sat down and calculated the physics of that wonderful scene where Aang blasts Zuko out of the well. Using earth physics.. Zuko slammed into the ground at somewhere around 60 miles an hour, give or take some.
    Anime physics for the win!

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  55. Diana says:

    omg is that..my macro? 😀
    wow that stuff gets around fast 😛

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