In the seventh episode of Avatar: The Last Airbender, Toph and Katara ruthlessly clash over a scamming scene, and their actions eventually threaten the safety of the entire group. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to watch Avatar.
Seriously, I’m just glad that Sokka’s magical beard has made an appearance on the show again.
While I couldn’t ignore the sensation that “The Runaway” was a distant cousin to “The Great Divide” in season one, I certainly enjoyed this version of an epic and frustrating argument a lot more than that episode. It felt impossible to watch this without feeling completely awkward, especially since Katara and Toph’s fight seems so brutal and realistic. It’s made worse because the episode starts in media res and it seems that Katara is turning Toph over to the Fire Nation.
What the hell?
I’m kind of surprised this is the first episode that operates in this manner; TV shows do it often and I will admit that I’m rather keen towards this trope. It’s fun. It’s a classic subversion of the linear narrative because it gives you one of the end points and forces you to guess how the story gets there. It can be gimmicky, sure, but if the writers give you a strong enough story, as “The Runaway” does, it can be an added treat.
Which is not to say that this episode is devoid of frustration. I don’t think Avatar has ever made me feel more uncomfortable than this; the bitter fighting and the morally gray plot don’t make any of this easy. I think that’s why I like this episode so much: both characters are wrong in some way, and both characters are right. At the same time. Sort of. I suppose you can take from it what you like, and that maybe your moral system makes it much more clear who is “right” in this situation, but for me, it was like being dropped into a War of Ambiguity.
I said many reviews ago (perhaps during the first season?) that I adored the fact that the writers didn’t avoid Team Avatar’s need for money. It’s a reality of their world, and being off on their own, they were inevitably going to need it. This is addressed again in “The Runaway” when Toph discovers that she can use her finely-attuned earth bending to scam gamblers. I remembered almost instantly that Katara once stole from pirates and justified that theft because they were inherently thieves. That’s the first of many moral conundrums. Does she initially decide to pick on Toph because of their slightly disastrous fight while training Aang? Or does she feel an ethical imperative to never justify theft in this manner after having done it herself?
The episode never answers this for us, and I don’t think it’s all that important to what happens. Either way, the incessant bickering between Katara and Toph only gets worse and worse. On Toph’s side of the story, it’s clear she derives a lot of joy from continually cheating the “cheaters,” as she refers to them. The way that the writers frame these scenes shows a joyous sense of silliness as her, Aang, and Sokka keep winning more and more money from various gamblers around town. I mean….maybe I do feel a little bad about enjoying the montage hijinks, and perhaps I initially sided with Toph only because it brought out Sokka’s fake beard. Yes, I am that ridiculous.
I’m just glad that the writers didn’t shift the episode’s moral weight to rest solely on one person. Toph’s theft is fun, for sure, but it’s not a harmless act without consequences. (How boring would that be?) We find out from Sokka that Toph’s persistent scamming has gained the attention of local officials, who’ve placed a warning posting up, advertising for her capture. It’s here that Toph makes a decision that is most certainly unfortunate: she essentially bribes Sokka to keep the poster a secret. If Toph was aiming to be reasonable, she should have realized that this was the sign that her antics should end immediately, that even if she hadn’t put the group in danger before, from here on out she would. Instead, Toph lets her pride get the best of her. It’s more important now that she prove Katara wrong than to keep the best interests of the group in mind. (And to be completely fair, Katara is mostly alone on this one. Sokka and Aang absolutely enable and encourage Toph to continue on this path, so in that sense, Katara has a much more difficult moral journey than anyone else.)
What “The Great Divide” never had is here in “The Runaway.” We’d seen two instances where Katara tried to determine the emotional cause for Toph’s wreckless behavior, claiming it was because she missed her actual parents and therefore, she revolted against Katara’s parental inclinations. Toph, naturally, is offended that Katara would even try to define her experiences, and all of that leads to a complete breakdown in communication. Holy awkward, right? (Actually, I feel like HOLY HAWKWARD is actually appropriate this time around.)
What we hadn’t seen before from this sort of conflict was the scene on the cliff. These two characters needed an emotional closure to the fury and vacancy inside of their hearts, and by having Katara overhear it all from below Sokka and Toph was touching and heartrending, made even more emotional by Sokka’s loving words about his sister. I suppose I’d never even thought about their relationship in terms that specific, but she has treated Sokka like a son for the entirety of the show up to this point. It’s that well-meaning sense of responsibility that pops up whenever she’s worried about Sokka’s safety or happiness. (Seriously, think back to the way she spoke to him in “Sokka’s Master,” especially when he vocalized his self-worth issues. Total motherly love.)
I’m also glad that Toph can admit that part of her rage comes from knowing that Katara was right about why she acts the way she does. I think it’s a testament to Katara’s compassion that Toph is also able to say that she believes Katara cares for her more than her own mother. Which is still not to say that Katara’s actions are always perfect or anything, as we’ve seen in when she interacts with Toph. Yet I could not deny feeling utterly shocked (maybe not foam-at-the-mouth-and-faint shocked) when Katara refused to let Toph apologize, instead suggesting they pull of the ultimate scam.
Now that cold open made sense. It explains why the two seemed so genuinely angry about it too: They set up the local law enforcement to give Katara the reward money for turning in Toph, and Toph would then metal bend to escape. A perfect final scam, right?
I’m still a bit flabbergasted by how quickly this scam goes from brilliance to JESUS TAKE THE FUCKING WHEEL WHAT HAVE YOU DONE. I mean, it gets reversed on Toph and Katara in mere minutes as Toph is shoved into a WOODEN cell and Katara is turned over to (newly-named) Combustion Man.
Look, Combustion Man scares me. His silence is eerie, his tenacity is unsettling, and his powers of fire bending outright horrify me. There’s almost no sense of his character, so there’s no emotional point to exploit. He exists to assassinate, as if he’s a robot, and to me, that makes him the worst foe Team Avatar has ever faced. They have nothing to go on. No weaknesses, no motivations, no dialogue, NOTHING AT ALL. And now we know he just scammed the scammers, setting up an elaborate trap to get Aang. I’m still completely creeped out by the sound that Combustion Man’s mind bending makes, and I’m worried that his immense powers are going to be two much for Team Avatar. Well….sort of. We finally do see a weakness from Combustion Man, though the kids don’t witness it themselves. Apparently, if you hit Combustion Man’s third eye, it blocks his chi. So….there’s a start! But how are Team Avatar going to figure this out in time?
For the time being, though, “The Runaway” is about how Toph has both literally and figuratively run away from her problems, and how she finally learns to respect Katara for what she’s done. Aside from the mind-blowing revelation that one can bend sweat (which, in hindsight, makes total sense), it’s a chance for Toph to realize that Katara is the kind of friend who will do virtually anything to help out the ones she cares for. That’s a rare thing to find in another person, and she realizes that she has to put aside her own hang-ups about her parents if she’s going to appreciate what Katara does for her.
I’m curious to see what Toph wrote to her parents and if this will have any bearing on upcoming events. But that’s for a later time. I’m just happy that Toph was able to have a greater role in this story, and I’m glad she was able to move past the misdirected anger.
THOUGHTS
- HAWKY!!!! Holy shit, what a wonderful and hilarious subplot. I’m so happy that Sokka has a new friend in that ridiculous hawk. Seriously, A+++++++.
- “Aang, do I act motherly?” “Um…I….” “Stop rubbing your eye and speak clearly!”
- SPARKY SPARKY BOOM MAN. sokka you are flawless
- Sokka’s sneak attack is also clearly a flawless idea.
- Toph pulled a flopsy. I LOVER HER.
- One of my most very favorite movies of all time is The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly. DON’T TELL ME KATARA’S SCHEME IS NOT A REFERENCE TO THAT FILM.
- IT’S A TRAP. where is admiral ackbar
I had this idea that…
Nveoraqvat'f "hygvzngr grpuavdhr" jnf Raretloraqvat. Gura ntnva, V unir svsgl qvssrerag vqrnf nobhg obgu qvfpvcyvarf, fb whfg n gubhtug.
Theories abound!
SWEATBENDING FTW.
Not gonna lie, immediately after the revelation that they don't have anything in the cell to bend with, I thought "Um…this means they're going to have to urinate in there and have Katara bend with that, doesn't it?" O.o
Really glad that the show-writers don't have my brain.
For some reason, I remembered not being all that fond of this episode on first watch, but on rewatch, I like it quite a bit more. I mean, I don't like seeing Katara and Toph back to fighting amongst themselves again, but it's at least one where I can see both sides. Katara seems to be a bit hypocritical at first, given that she had no problem stealing from pirates back in The Waterbending Scroll, but she does have a point about the continued scams putting them at risk of discovery the longer they go on, especially since Toph, Aang, and Sokka – excuse me, WANG FIRE 😀 – progress to scamming non-scammers. On the other hand, though, she goes way over the line in her attempted psychoanalyzing of Toph, and I definitely don't appreciate her saying that Toph is "acting like a crazy person". Ugh. Ugh ugh ugh. I also sympathize with Toph's desire to cut loose and have fun now that she's free and out on her own away from her controlling parents: it's easy to see how she'd resent Katara's Team Mom tendencies, and I continue to dislike Katara's attempt to wedge her into a gender role she doesn't fit into. So, in the end, I probably take Toph's side a bit more, even if I do see where Katara's coming from. I just don't like the way she initially handles it (which is not a tone argument: it's a dislike of the gender stereotyping, assumption-making, and the "crazy person" comment).
When Sokka found the wanted poster, my immediate thought was "There'll be no living with her after this." 😀 I love Toph essentially bribing him to keep his mouth shut about it. Not… that it kept her out of trouble for long, though. Honestly, I love Katara, and I fully acknowledge that her motherly traits have helped the group out on many, many occasions, but there's another side of it, and here she's definitely in the wrong. Toph is in the right here: Katara doesn't actually have any right to boss them all around, and she especially had no right to go snooping around in Toph's stuff. It wasn't right of Toph and Sokka to keep the wanted poster secret, but it's also not right to snoop through your friend's things. Two wrongs don't make a right, and I'm firmly on Toph's side in this one, even as I concede that she was probably endangering them, because privacy violations are a big thing with me, and I think Katara needed to be called out on the less beneficial aspects of her Team Mom role, so that she can hopefully rein them in and not continue to alienate Toph.
It's also good to see Toph acknowledge the good aspects of it in her conversation with Sokka. I love seeing them get to interact on their own, away from everybody else (Katara listening in doesn't count, as they don't know she's there), and it's a very touching conversation. Sokka barely remembers his mother, and thinks of Katara instead in that role; and he values and relies on that part of her personality even if she can be a pain sometimes. Toph, meanwhile, has a living mother who doesn't see her the way she really is, and doesn't care about the real her, but Katara does; and so she appreciates Katara's motherliness even if she doesn't always show it, and in spite of the overstepping of bounds that happens from time to time. It's a scene that's both deeply sad, and yet also sweet, because these kids really have created their own family out of each family. And just like any other family, conventional or otherwise, they're going to get on each other's nerves, and say and do the wrong things, and fight, but at the end of the day they love each other for who they are and care about each other. That's the real definition of family.
And then it's time for sisterly bonding via the ultimate scam. Oh, this is priceless and wonderful. 😀 Which takes us back to the episode opening, which I love. I love stuff that starts in medias res.
Unfortunately, they didn't bank on Toph being put in a wooden cell – which in all fairness, I don't think they could have – nor on the artist formerly known as Sparky Sparky Boom Man, formerly known by me as Scary Assassin Guy, and now officially dubbed Combustion Man by Sokka, being in town and blowing everything for them. Or, should I say, blowing up. Yikes.
As that's going on, Katara and Toph have a really sweet moment together that gets to the heart of Toph's conflicted feelings about her parents. And they hug, yay. 😀 Katara then demonstrates how far she's really come since the beginning of the show by getting the genius idea to make her own water via her sweat. She truly is a master – creative thinking like that is proof. I'm so proud of her. *sniff* The episode ends on another really sweet scene for them, with Katara helping her write a letter to her parents. I don't know how that'll pan out, but I think it's important for Toph to release all her feelings towards them and let them know about it. I hope it can bring her some kind of peace and closure, if not a reconciliation.
" Katara's attempt to wedge her into a gender role she doesn't fit into"
I'm not entirely sure what you're referring to here. I'm not saying that I don't believe you, but rather that I think I missed the gender stereotyping in this episode.
Maybe I read too much into it, but her comment about "acting like a wild child" made me flash back to how in The Chase she expected her to act more like her just because they were both girls.
Yeah, I think you're reading a bit too much into it in this case, especially since in The Chase it feels like Katara expecting Toph to act like her because they're both girls lasts just long enough to get to the hairy pits joke, at which point it changes into Katara expecting Toph to act like a helpful member of the team. In fact, unless I'm forgetting something, the only other time Katara brings up the "Toph should act more like a girl" angle is in their tale in Tales of Ba Sing Se. So while the show as a whole does have some gender issues, and while you have plenty of other good points about Katara going too far in her judgement of Toph, I think reading gender role issues in this particular instance is a bit of a stretch.
And even in the Tales of Ba Sing Se I don't get the impression that Katara wanted to say that "Toph should act more like a girl" – I think the message was "it's okay to act girly from time to time if you want".
Yeah, Tales of Ba Sing Se felt more like Katara trying to convince Toph that so long as you don’t let it consume you, it’s totally okay to be shallow and say “Screw it, I wanna be pretty.”
(which is true. The only thing worse than defining gender roles as “What men and women SHOULD do” is insisting that anything that is generally considered masculine or feminine is bad and that gender should never do it)
Agreed. I've had many people- friends, no less- tell me off for doing girly things. Just because I like science and camping and other 'masculine' things shouldn't prevent me from also liking to take care of kids, or wear pink, or 'feminine' symbols like hearts. The whole point of gender equality is that I get a choice to do what I like.
(Of course, as least girls have more chances to try the 'opposite gender''s activities. I find guys get a lot more mistreatment if they do.)
(Katara listening in doesn't count, as they don't know she's there)
I always believed that Sokka intentionally took Toph over the cliff so that Katara could overhear. He's a clever guy, and I'm pretty sure he knew that this way the both of them could know both sides without having to face each other and risk fighting again. Taking Toph over and hiding the fact that he knew Katara was down there bathing would also mean they could speak aloud those secret, intimate feelings they had without embarrassing each other.
Frankly I think it's sweet that he was able to indirectly confess to Katara how he really felt about their brother-sister relationship. When you grow up together with a sibling like that it can be really hard to talk openly about this sort of thing because they know so much other stuff about you.
I totally agree about privacy issues. I've seen that justified in all sorts of ways, from parents snooping through their kids' stuff to find out if they're doing anything "bad," to people reading their significant others' email to see if they're cheating. And I don't think it's ever justified. Privacy is privacy and if you want any kind of trust to remain in the relationship (whatever kind of relationship it is), you have to respect that.
I really like "The Runaway". It might seem like another "filler episode", but there are a few points that do move the plot forward. And there's also a decent amount of character development and plenty of fun.
First of all, Toph passing the A Level in Trolling when she scams the scammers is hilarious. The only slightly uncomfortable moment for me was the bit where she pretends to be hit by a carriage and Wang Fire promptly collects money in exchange for "I'll pretend I never saw that". Yeah, promoting corruption and bribes should NEVER be okay (even when portrayed in a light-hearted manner like here).
Toph confronted with the wanted poster is hilarious (OBVIOUSLY she'd be thrilled by it!). "I don't know! I mean seriously, what's with you people? I'm BLIND!" 😀 😀 😀
I love Sokka's confession to Toph about his feelings towards Katara and how she's pretty much replaced the mother figure in his life. It's very touching. And it's nice that it helps Toph admit her feelings for her parents and attempt to reconcile with them at the end.
Nice to see Katara improve her waterbending skills by realising she can make her own water when needed.
And Combustion Man! Seriously, he gets the best nicknames.
Interesting factoid:
In the unaired pilot, Zuko had a pet hawk, which was supposed to mirror Aang having Momo. The creators later scrapped the idea, but it resurfaced here when Sokka decided to buy Hawky.
I agree about the corruption/bribes thing, and I also think it's just an awful thing to do to make someone think they seriously hurt or killed someone. That guy could feel guilty FOREVER!
Also:
MUDWRESTLING!!! XD
awww
<img src="http://img196.imageshack.us/img196/7189/1282540920686.jpg">
this ep was a lot funnier than i remember.
avatar promise!
toph's VA keeps getting better and better.
I want to know where that picture came from! Please.
So we start of with another training scene. I really like how they’re showing us Aang’s progression, and in particular his use of Earthbending to sense movement. It’s a massive advantage of having Toph as a teacher, as I can’t imagine it’s a technique many other people would even think about. We also get a little almost-fanservice in Toph and Katara’s mudfight, which is a little creepy considering their age. Possibly it’s more satirical than serious though.
Sokka continues to be funny this episode with his creeper-face and ‘SNEAK ATTACK!’, not to mention all his interactions with Hawky.
I really didn’t realise before how industrialised this town is. That’s a lot of factories! And a massive statue of Ozai breathing continual fire. Your ego is showing Firelord. I do enjoy Toph’s cheating the cheaters money-making scam, in particular the reappearance of Wang Fire as a very bribeable city guard. I like the thought that’s been put into such little things as the design of the coins; they’re different in each Nation, as is logical, and they look cool too.
Combusion Man shows up again, and Toph and Katara are captured. I do have to wonder how he knew to put Toph in a wooden prison; since when to they know about her Metalbending? Maybe that third eye makes him psychic as well as psionic. Him knowing where they are is more understandable, taking into account that the town may well have put those Runaway posters up in most of the surrounding area, which he could have seen. I also like the small detail that the three/four town guards who arrest Toph are all female.
I don’t really have much to say about the emotional plotline, so here’s some more Texts From The Fire Nation.
<img src="http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i95/Gestalt1/tumblr_ln5mi5eVul1qi3k37o1_500.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket">
I edited the spoilery image out of this.
"how he knew to put Toph in a wooden prison; since when to they know about her Metalbending?"
She probably metalbended in a couple of scams, so the guards were prepared.
Wait, [818] isn't a spoiler?
Damn, it is!
Or isn't it? I'm not sure…
Better answer? The knowledge about her metalbending is due to the fact that Xin Fu and Master Yu escaped, one way or another.
Combustion Man, being a professional assassin would likely gather as much info as he could.
Oh Combustion Man, you will always be Sparky Sparky Boom Man in my heart.
Sokka is just fantastic in this one. I know it's about Toph and Katara, but you covered their interactions really well, and Sokka steals the show for me. He's fantastic. His "plan" to get Katara and Toph back together was so wonderfully sit-com and I adore it's resolution.
When do we get the Sokka spin-off? DO WANT!
I will never stop referring to Katara as "Madam Fussy Britches." Ever.
I know. I never thought anything would ever top Lady Fancy Fingers, but there you go.
Is it just me or does Sokka look REALLY weird in the second one?
Yeah, it was early season 1, so a smaller budget, and I'm guessing it was just a mis-drawing on that frame.
Sokka just looked really weird for about the first four episodes. If you go back and watch them again after watching these final seasons, it's really jarring. I can't get over how pretty his eyes are! (Not in an "I find them pretty" way but in an "these are drawn as pretty eyes" way)
I always love any excuse to have more of Toph, so I'm rather fond of this episode to begin with. It's not flawless, but it has good character development and some really funny moments, particularly those that involve Toph and/or Sokka. I will never get tired of her attitude and willingness to joke about her blindness, and I think it really says a lot that the rest of the Gaang obviously forgets that she is in any way "disabled" since she copes so amazingly well (We could send one to Toph! / I think we'll run into a similar problem). Okay, so basically to sum things up: OMG TOPH IS THE BESTEST and Guardsman Wang Fire needs to show up more often because WIN.
Also: Is Appa ever not in charge? And how awesome would it be to have Appa as a babysitter? *is super jealous despite the fact she's a college graduate and no longer in need of such a service*
Pfffffffffffft. You're never to old for Appa Babysitting. After all he is 110 years old. But more importantly he is also a MAGICAL 6-LEGGED FLYING BISON!
Actually, Katara made the source of her objections clear… this sort of grifting can lead to trouble if done too often in the same area.
IOW, the Team Mom's only objection was "You're gonna get caught."
Think about that for a moment.
I also note, and am surprised you did not note, the blind gags.
"Well, it sounds like a sheet of paper, but I guess you're referring to what's on the sheet of paper. "
Totally. I agree that Katara is most upset because Toph is putting them in danger by doing this, not that she is violating some moral code with these scams. Season 1 Katara stole that waterbending scroll…maybe she learned something here. Look how that got them in trouble (you know, chased by pirates, captured by Zuko…) Though it ended alright, she probably had some guilt that they came close to being in serious danger because of it.
I am so glad that Wang Fire came back. It makes "The Headband" even better on rewatch, because Sokka's attachment to that beard is a beautiful thing. Wang Fire forever~
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I like this episode, even though I think it's the Gaang's version of "The Beach" for this season, complete with long-standing strife coming to a head, and amateur psychoanalysis, resulting in a lot of awkwardness, as you say. But for some reason, it feels more natural to me, and I really enjoy Katara and Toph's fighting and bonding. A-plus mudfight and discovery of a new bending technique.
<img src="http://i56.tinypic.com/24pf0d1.gif">
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While I agree that it's not as important as Katara and Toph dealing with their personal problems, I do think the episode answers the problem of why Katara was angry about the scams; when they're in jail, she says she knew they would get caught. It seems like she didn't want to grab the attention of the authorities, and the stakes are much higher now than they were in season one. But the episode is really about Katara not wanting to be looked at as the group mom — she wants to be their friend — and Toph needing to reign herself in and deal with the reasons why she left home.
I love that they can both bend mud. The best.
That gif of the mudfight is a little sped-up right? It was slower in the actual show? I'm just making sure, 'cause when Katara slams Toph down, it looks like it really hurts. I can't look at it without wincing.
Ha, you made me look at it frame-by frame, and Katara's first attack is about a tenth of a second faster here than in the show. I gif'd it because it was so quick and painful looking! This is just a little slower than in the show (for the mud slam):
<img src="http://i53.tinypic.com/4zyofr.gif">
Still ouchy looking.
Toph pounds boulders into dust with her face. It probably didn't hurt that much.
You're right. I'm judging this by my own mere mortal standards. Silly.
All hail Tophgod!
Toph doesn't need to break her fall when smacked to earth. She's landing on her natural cushion.
Ah, this one. Katara gets flak (I mean, when doesn't she?) for this one as well. "OMG UR A HYPOCRITE U STOLED FROM PIRATES Y CANT TOPH CHEAT CHEETERS?"
I think I lost some of my meager intelligence typing that out.
Also: Am I the only one who didn't like Sparky Sparky Boom Man as a name? I mean, it was a good joke, but… having a guy named that coming after me would be… hella awkward. But the good news is that those initials are the same for Super Smash Bros Melee so I can post this because it's now TOTALLY RELEVANT:
[youtube eMVu9nrwQoo http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eMVu9nrwQoo youtube]
All in all, though, this episode just makes me lawl. The scene with the letters especially, mainly because they posited idea to do it in reverse.
Speaking of the "third-eyed freak" I never really thought about him in the way you do. I guess I was used to "interesting" villains with backstories and junk. This guy's entire characterization was little more than silent Samuel L. Jackson with Metal limbs.
… which when I think of it that way is fucking terrifying.
I think Combustion Man is the Boba Fett of the Avatar world.
I watched that video and I can't even begin to comprehend what it's about. O_o
This should help you:
Warnings: Foul language, screaming, general nerdity.
[youtube pD_imYhNoQ4 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pD_imYhNoQ4 youtube]
’Sneak attack!
Oh Sokka.
I really like the main confrontation between Katara and Toph because it reminds me (and probably others) so much of having the same you’re not my mother sentiment thrown at me in disagreements with younger siblings.
It does make me sad though to think that if Sokka lost his mother young enough that he doesn’t really remember her, just think of how young Katara was taking on all that responsibility. It’s no wonder it’s such a big part of her personality.
We know Toph obviously has issues with her family and parental figures (and rightly so) but I like that it’s being addressed here because I had been wondering what happened with her parents. While yes Toph needed to leave her home it’s nice to see her reaching out and I hope that maybe, some day her and her parents might be able to reconnect or at the very least they’ll understand why she left and how they treated her.
Two songs come to mind whenever I watch this episode:
OOOOOOOOH SHE'S A LITTLE RUNAWAY
and
EVERYDAY I'M HUSTLIN'
For the time being, though, “The Runaway” is about how Toph has both literally and figuratively run away from her problems,
OH MY GOD HOW DID I NOT PUT TWO AND TWO TOGETHER I AM STOOPID.
I'm massively over-analysing this (but then, isn't that what we do?) but it's always struck me as a little odd. We see in this episode, and have seen in previous ones, Katara boiling water over an open fire. Which makes sense considering their universe and tech level. But Katara also happens to be a waterbender, and waterbenders are capable of altering the state of water at will. We've seen them turn liquid water into ice or steam and vice versa, and changing the state of a substance requires the input or removal of heat (combined with ambient pressure.) I mean, I know bending is a mystical art and doesn't follow physical laws, but in theory Katara should be able to boil water just by gesturing at it.
The way I see it is this:
Waterbenders can cool things, firebenders can heat things up. Katara didn't actually create steam – she created a cloud. Steam (the gaseous form of water) is invisible; what we normally call "steam" are actually tiny droplets of liquid water that condensed from steam in the colder air.
So when Katara created cover for their stolen Fire Nation ship in "The Awakening", she merely created a cloud of tiny droplets of water DIRECTLY, without going through the steam phase. But Iroh, being a firebender, was able to heat his bath in "The Spirit World" and his tea in "The Drill".
Hope this makes sense… 🙂 *is a former Physics student*
Your point about the steam is acknowledged, but I think my point still stands as waterbenders can also melt ice into liquid water meaning they are capable of adding heat. On the other hand we have no idea if the water then created is anything but slightly above the freezing point, so who knows
Hmm, you have a good point…
Long time lurker here (MARK YOUR SITES ARE AWESOME), and I can't believe that this is the comment I finally decide to de-lurk to, but here goes:
I wrote this before Mr. Fahrenheit responded, so my first point is just agreeing with him: Firebenders can definitely heat things up, but waterbenders can turn water into ice, AND vice-versa. So their power is not necessarily that they can cool things; they can turn ice into water.
However, there's another explanation that makes more sense. Waterbenders have control over *where* the water is. In other words, they have control over the water pressure. If they decide to squeeze the water tightly, it turns to ice. If they want to spread it out quite a bit, it can turn to steam. But they have no control over the temperature. Thus, if Katara wants to heat water up for cooking, etc., she needs a fire.
I could get into it further, wondering whether waterbending keeps temperature or heat content constant (they aren't the same thing), but I think that strays into over-analyzing, no? *looks at the 'over-analyzing' line about a mile back* Oh well.
Hope that all made sense, too. *has a PhD in thermodynamics*
Ooh, I like this explanation. Also, hi!
Indeed, that is something I hadn't considered. I bow to you sir and your superior knowledge about physics.
Just chiming in to say that I also like this explanation, because it makes things like Katara's "freezing" of Jet (and everybody else she puts on ice in the show) feel much better to me. It's always seemed…sort of off to me that she often jumps to encasing people in ice since that would bring up the potential of frostbite and such (I know, I know, fantasy world and all, but it still bugs me a little), but if it's not actual ice and instead just water that happens to be solid and also the same temperature as the water when it was a liquid, I like it a lot more. 🙂
if it's not actual ice and instead just water that happens to be solid and also the same temperature as the water when it was a liquid, I like it a lot more. 🙂
You haven't read Cat's Cradle, have you. Trust me, after you've read it, any option is preferable to the ice being solid water at the same temperature.
A+ ice-nine reference.
OMG HELLO LONGTIME LURKER THIS COMMENT IS WONDERFUL PLEASE COMMENT MORE.
That's brilliant! I love when people put in the stuff about pressure also affect physical states!
Also, nice to meet ya. 😉
I kind of adore that you un-lurked yourself on this particular question, and that your name is "ThermoNerd."
I just assume she needs to actually cook things IN the boiling water, at which point you'd want to give the ingredients the proper time to simmer, as opposed to flash-boiling them with disastrous flavor consequences.
Probably the food tastes better when cooked over fire? Like Microwaving stuff vs. fire cooking. The first heats up stuff just fine, the second makes it taste better to boot.
My head explanation is that waterbenders can change the STATE of the water–liquid, gaseous, or ice–but not the temperature. Ice would by nature be cold, of course, but I don't think waterbenders change water into ice by making it cold; just by making it solid. Does that make any sense at all?
Can't be, as Nnat jnf onyq va gung cvp, naq fb sne gur bayl gvzrf gurl'ir unq Sver Angvba pybguvat (Gbcu'f tbyq unveonaq) Nnat unf nyfb unq unve.
Ah, good point, I didn't notice that.
Ooh, Toph's a little con-artist! Major love. She cheated a cheater! So yeah, I adore that entire speechless montage of all the scams they're running.
And I love how enthusiastic Toph is about her wanted poster. I love her so.
<img src="http://i53.tinypic.com/psyhi.gif">
And I'm glad she gets to yell about them constantly forgetting she's blind.
Now, as much as I hate watching female characters fight with each other, and especially when its coded in a way that one character is representing "feminine" ideals and the other not, I appreciate how it's resolved fairly quickly – I don't think I could stand it were they to drag this on for multiple episodes. Also like that this isn't resolved where they're both crying at each other and then they hug and profusely apologize and so on and so on. Basically, there are many ways this sort of plot line would make me want to tear out my hair, but I appreciate how Avatar generally avoids falling into those tropes and that they handle character disputes in a manner that doesn't feel as annoying as most media tends to for me. And I really enjoy that Toph is the one that apologized and that Katara's "apology" is to volunteer in a big con. Basically, they're speaking each other's languages here. And it's awesome.
<img src="http://i51.tinypic.com/vqlemr.gif">
And then sweatbending! Oh Katara, get it girl. When she's good, she's amazing.
<img src="http://i54.tinypic.com/dnodom.gif">
I love Toph's evil grin over the poster and the scam. She is the best. 😀
I smile when Sokka thinks her poster is a good likeness.
Such great character-building in this. It’s almost like the counterpoint to the Beach episode—basically showing that no one in the Avatar world had a happy childhood. Sokka not remembering his mother is the saddest thing ever. Him and Toph bonding time was both heartbreaking and sweet. They are total bros. Sibs? There is no genderneutral way to say that. But still, it’s neat to see how all the characters interact. Sokka and Toph have a lot of fun with the scams, but then they both confide in each other about their family issues. Toph and Katara fight a lot, and then Toph admits she likes Katara’s bossiness sometimes, and even enjoys fighting with her. The characters in this show are so wonderfully complex and even contradictory, like people can be.
The rest of the plot doesn’t stand still, even though it plays a decidedly secondary role to the characterization. Third Eye is incredibly persistent and terrifying, but he has a weakness. I don’t think anyone saw it, but still. And his plan was incredibly clever. Lock the earthbender in a wooden cage to lure out Aang. Luckily Katara is super resourceful.
I will be completely honest here: I don't really like this episode. It's probably my least favorite of the series. Yes, even over Great Divide. It just… does nothing for me. Aside from the Combustion Man fight it doesn't really hold my interest.
That being said, there's still some wonderful meta to be gleaned here from the character focus on Katara. I like to think this episode was writing to counter some of the "Katara is like Aang's mom!" arguments that were rampant in the fandom around the time this was aired. I never really bought that one because Katara's "motherliness" seemed so much more a part of her character in general than something that only happened around Aang. And it shows so clearly in this episode. Because of her own mother dying and her father leaving, Katara's had to grow up way earlier than most girls her age, and it manifests in an intrinsic desire to care for everyone and everything around her. She doesn't mean to come off as motherly, it just happens because that's her personality, that's what she knows. And it's fascinating to see different characters' reactions to it. Toph of course resents it, having been babied all her life and told she couldn't take care of herself and someone had to look after her, so it makes sense that she'd clash with Katara on this issue. (Katara in turn, treats Toph as sort of her rebellious teenage daughter.) Aang seems pretty blase about Katara's "mothering" towards him. It doesn't bother him. It doesn't really affect him at all one way or another because he doesn't come from a traditional nuclear family. So I think he tends to consider her as more of an equal than an authority, and vice-versa. I always liked how Aang and Katara seemed to be on the most balanced and equal terms with with each other. It's one of my favorite things about their relationship.
And then Sokka… Oh Sokka. I will never get over how Katara mothered her brother so much that it's her face he sees when he tries to remember their mother. It's both sad and incredibly heartwarming. Sad because losing one's mother at such a young age will never not be tragic. But heartwarming because we usually see Sokka being annoyed at his sister, and it's refreshing to hear how much he truly cares about her, and is grateful for the fact that she was there for him in a hard dark place in their lives. It's amazing touching to hear him talk about Katara the way he does in this episode.
Aaaand, that's pretty much all the meta I've got for this episode. I have nothing else more to say except COMBUSTION MAN HECK YES.
"I never really bought that one because Katara's "motherliness" seemed so much more a part of her character in general than something that only happened around Aang."
Exactly. Katara does act motherly towards Aang, but that's because she acts motherly towards all and sundry, not just Aang. (Also, the "Katara acts like Aang's mom" thing always seems to be spouted by the shippers who go, "Ew, Aang is younger and shorter than her!" and I hate that crap.)
Well, to me the age thing is more a problem because there is no 14-year-old girl who wants to date a 12-year-old. I sure can’t think of any girl who would have been crushing on a boy who would still be in middle school while she’d be in high school. That age difference when older is a non-issue, but I do think it’s weird at this stage.
I think it would be misleading to map the whole middle-schoo/high-school social divide onto Kataang..
I can't come up with a Zuko diary entry without it seeming spoilerish. But I shall return, kittens!
Miaow! =^.^=
How about another sneak peek into Forever Flaming Darkness?
I will always be intrigued by it.
Can you rot13 it? 🙂
That would be lovely. Or make two? One without spoilers and a rot13ed one with?
Or, uh, using other, more unpleasant bodily fluids. (Sorry for the mental image.)
Well, that could mean that waterbenders could easily bend the water out of urine, thereby recycling water in very dry places. Convenient! 🙂
It's like Dune, but with Spirit magic!
His water belongs to the (Water) Tribe.
Yep. Makes perfect sense. XD
Holy crap it is…why on earth didn't they have Sandworms in The Desert? Total missed opportunity.
I've always loved the idea of urine bending. Gross, but practical. Also, the ammonia in urine would make it a great eye attack, like pepper spray, but more controllable.
This is just….the best comment. Just the best.
Surely by that we could also separate the hydrogen peroxide in sweat and make a potent attack from that as well. And if a water bender were ever to actually kill someone there's a whole host of acids they could take from the dead body as well.
Heck, some advanced waterbender could separate the hydrogen and oxygen in water => energy source! 🙂
I think before they got to that stage they'd be able to change the average speed of the water molecules, thereby changing the temperature… and because people liked my explanation of water bending below, <sarcasm>clearly it MUST BE RIGHT and changing the temperature of the water is impossible for a waterbender… </sarcasm>
😉
Hell, at that stage they could even be able to influence the rotational energy modes of water molecules. Waterbenders = portable microwave ovens?
Though actually, I think that the best they could do with separating chemical compounds is to remove the water from it, I doubt they could bend anhydrous compounds… of course, they could leave just enough water to bend it, and have it still be a pretty potent attack.
This comment is both facinating and disgusting to me at the same time.
Is it just me that can imagine Sokka doing this if he was a waterbender, though? He'd love it.
"Try and hurt my sister, huh? Yeah, feel the wrath of my bathroom bending, Fire Nation SCUM."
oh dear god this comment left me chortling helplessly for a good five minutes
He's watching you sleep Tauriel. Watching…. Watching…
O.o
Sparky Sparky Boom Man!!! I like that name better. Though I guess they're right that it's a mouthful to say each time you want to refer to him.
Hawky= One of the greatest additions to the Gaang. Though… couldn't Katara and Toph asked before using him? I'm sure Sokka would have let them. Instead, they just steal him. tsk tsk.
*looks at 440* Zuko must've been seduced by Zhao's Jason Isaacs voice.
Obviously. Who wouldn't? <3
It's so hard to resist. 😛
Can't say I'd blame him. 😉
Oh, wait, you're telling me that Zhao was voiced by Jason Isaacs? Do you know who else was played by him?
I'm pretty sure he played Lucius Malfoy in the Harry Potter movies…
Also Mr. Darling/(and more importantly) Captain Hook. mrwor.
"Sokka! I know this is from you, TOPH CAN'T WRITE!"
"I can't believe we forgot Toph can't write! Okay, so what we'll do is write a note to Toph and say it's from Katara!"
"…. I think we're going to run into a similar problem."
Also, "Well, it sounds like a sheet of paper, but…"
These guys handle blind jokes in the best way.
This episode is a lot of wacky fun while still managing to develop character and advance plot all at once, which is probably why I rewatch it so often. We've got Toph confronting her issues about her parents, Katara coming to terms with her own parenting tendencies (I had to laugh at her hopeless "See? Fun! :D;" moment with Momo), Sokka talking about his relationship with his sister AND then we continued the plot with Combustion Man. Win-Win.
I didn't even think of "The Great Divide." (Probably b/c I never took that episode seriously to begin with!) Decent connection.
I love how well Toph's character is explored here. It's not a great stretch to say she would go against the "group mommy." Looking back on "The Chase" last season, this gives us much needed closure for these two strong, female characters. 🙂 This is not to say that their personalities won't clash on this issue again, but they needed to get the underlying issues out in the open so that their friendship could remain strong.
"HAWKY. GRAN-GRAN. SOUTH POLE."
Nope.
I think he gets it!
Actually Sawyer is the King of Nicknamia 🙂
<img src="http://www.docarzt.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/Sawyer.jpg">
"You're in my light, sticks."
"Light sticks? What does that even MEAN?"
I just love Toph getting pissed at them all constantly showing her the poster and expecting her to know what's on it. :D:D:D
"Well it sounds like a piece of paper."
LOVE YOU FOREVER TOPH.
But yeah, this was an interesting one, wasn't it? I have to say, though I like Katara, she's always been my least favourite out of the main characters…now I just feel bad for her, and kind of guilty. I think I liked her less because she was the kind, responsible motherly one, so I just enjoyed it more when Sokka was making wisecracks, or Toph was being a BAMF or whatever.
I really like how this episode dealt with that aspect of Katara – that she doesn't want to just be seen as the 'mother' of the group, and that maybe the others are being pretty irresponsible to force her into that role. It can't be fun always having to be the voice of reason.
All round great episode. I can't believe we're so near the end of this show now! Less than a season left oh god what will we do when it's over watch the crappy movie probably
How about we watch the movie, then watch the finale?
Watch the finale, cry because it's over, watch the movie, cry because it couldn't get over fast enough, WATCH THE ENTIRE SERIES AGAIN.
Also – Sweatbending.
ewwwwwwwwwwwwwww
Does this mean other…bodily fluids…can be bent? Because maybe I just have a weird mind, but I can think of some disgusting situations that could arise from that. Just sayin'
Though it would be pretty cool if someone were injured and you could bend the blood to keep it inside their body I suppose.
Katara can totally write her name in the snow.
I imagine there's always a few preteen waterbenders in the North Pole that take "Seagulling" to a new and disgusting extreme.
EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
No, I don' think that raretloraqvat vf n fhofxvyy bs nveoraqvat. Gur Yvba Ghegyr znqr vg pyrne gung va gur ren orsber gur Ningne (va bgure jbeqf, va gur ren orsber gur npghny ryrzragny oraqvat), crbcyr oraqrq abguvat ohg gur raretl jvguva gurzfryirf. Fb V guvax raretloraqvat vf fbzrguvat pbzcyrgryl qvssrerag guna "pynffvp" oraqvat bs ryrzragf.
This is basically what I was going to say. 🙂
The female characters are a Waterbender and an Earthbender. It is basically inevitable that using their elements against each other would result in a mud fight. Stay classy, Avatar.
I would like to see more training. (Aang's main goal should be mastering the four elements, after all.) I like that Aang is learning to 'see' in the way Toph does. I would like to see more Toph, actually. She has enough dialogue to remain a member of the group in our minds but this is the first episode this season to feature her as a part of the plot. And even then, this episode ends up being more about Katara's role in the group.
-They're still doing blind jokes. You'd think the others would catch on by now. Aang is especially dense on that point.
-Toph is really out of her comfort zone with wood, isn't she? (You can also see this in the background of some scenes of "The Painted Lady".)
-Aang sure is shirtless a lot. I'm guessing the animators want us to remember that wound Azula gave him.
-Was it really necessary to animate Hawky (You need to spend more time on names, Sokka) doing its business?
-Best family Ever? Team Avatar or Wang Fire, Mom!Katara, Kuzon and The Runaway?
Combustion Man still seems unstoppable to our heroes but to the viewers he isn't entirely an unflinching machine. His silence is broken by a grunt and we see that he can be stopped. Video game 101: The eye is always the weak point.
This series really promotes creativity. Granted, when you have power over a classical element, you have a lot to work with but tell that to the earthbenders who lost their morale on a metal rig in the ocean way back in "Imprisoned". It took our heroes to work out where they could find earth on the rig but later Toph just got out of a metal box by inventing metalbending. And now Katara has decided that her own body is a perfectly fine source of water. It's not really recommended for day to day use but when you're in a pinch you can't be fussy. Maybe its the writing staff I should credit with creativity – we saw plants manipulated with water a while back too. I wonder what else a master waterbender with the right mindset could do…
(rot13 is my new favorite thing for talking about spoilers~)
V nz cebonoyl jnl gbb nzhfrq gung Znex urer ersreerq gb gur vqrn bs oraqvat fjrng nf n "zvaq-oybjvat eriryngvba," zbfgyl orpnhfr arkg rcvfbqr jr trg uvg jvgu gur zhpu zber zrffrq-hc vqrn bs oybbqoraqvat. Juvpu vf vagrerfgvat nyfb va gung snaqbz unq ybat fcrphyngrq fhpu n guvat zvtug or cbffvoyr naq gura vg jnf pbasvezrq. Yrnqvat, bs pbhefr, gb gur erny dhrfgvba bs jung vf gur hygvzngr nveoraqvat grpuavdhr? Jr frr yvtugavat-oraqvat, zrgnyoraqvat, naq oybbqoraqvat, ohg abguvat ba gur fnzr yriry sebz nveoraqvat. Vg'f fbzrguvat V'z jbaqrevat vs znlor jr'yy frr va Yrtraq bs Xbeen.
This episode has a lot of good lines, doesn't it?
Sparky-Sparky-Boom Man.
"Hawky: Gran-Gran, South Pole."
"Well then, what's this?" "I don't know! I mean, seriously, what's with you people? I'm blind! "
"The right thing is its own reward. … But…I still want the actual reward."
"You two behave. Appa's in charge."
"Katara, you're a genius! A sweaty, stinky genius!"
Then again, Zuko was banished for three years, is well-acquainted with crime, and has already hired at least one bounty hunter. I think he knows at least something about the underworld, enough to find a really high-quality assassin without anyone else knowing about it.
4 words: "Sparky Sparky Boom Man"
I rest my case.
Yes! I always refer to this character as Sparky-Sparky-Boom Man. Combustion Man is a whole lot less fun.
General announcement: a comment that's comprised of rot13 writing is frequently sent to the spam folder automatically. So there's a much higher chance of your comment getting lost if you're commenting using rot13. Just something to keep in mind.
Does it tend to help if we keep in some other comment in normal writing with it? So there's a mix of normal English and Rot13?
Maybe? No idea, really. I know that in the spam folder, I'll sometimes see a comment that's rot13 writing that's basically a paragraph or more, even when sometimes there's a sentence in "plain" writing preceding. But most people aren't doing a paragraph of standard writing and a paragraph of rot13 in the first place, so I can't gauge the probability of what ends up as spam or not.
Not on my top ten list, but I like this episode. While a lot of people were uncomfortable with Team Avatar stealing and Katara going along with it for one final scam, I looked at it as being this shows version of Harry using the Unforgivable Curses. Our heroes are human and flawed and sometimes do not take the moral high ground. It's what makes us love them in the end, because they act like normal everyday people and can be capable of great good and great 'what are you doing?!'.
Also, I love how the writers handle Toph's blindness even now. She's good, so good that Team Avatar sometimes forgets that she can not see, but put her in something that is literally out of her element and she is stuck. Which allows Katara to think outside of the box and figure out she can bend sweat like the smelly genius she can be. It's nice for both of them to show off their strengths and weaknesses in one episode and still keep the episode entertaining and away from Aesop land.
Good point, your last sentence.
V'z cerggl fher nveoraqref pbhyq perngr inphhz – rira cerirag fbzrbar sebz oernguvat vs gurer jnf fhpu n guvat nf na rivy nveoraqre.
ooooh.
Oooh, all this talk about different sub-skills of bending reminded me of this lovely online game:
Doodle God
You start with the four classic elements and by various combinations of them create new ones.
Warning: It's highly addictive. 😀
Yes, yes it is.
Oh dude, I have an app on my phone called Alchemy that is the same kind of thing. I was TOTALLY addicted to it.
That middle poster is for Ybir Nzbatfg Gur Qentbaf (ROT13).
The art book actually makes a very brief mention that Combustion Man has earned a reputation through Agni Kais…so he's a duelist of some sort. Given that he seems to do nothing but blow things up, and how brutal we've been led to believe Agni Kais tend to be…
Ooh….Agni Ki vs. Combustion Man…now THAT is frightening….*shudder*
Clarification: the effects in TLA are halfway decent, I guess. But the movie leaves you with the same bad feeling that Pocket Ninjas does.
I didn't think the effects were that good. As you said later, it takes half the movie for someone to bend something.
The Runawayyyy! I love this one. Can't go wrong with Toph-heavy storylines, muha~
Always thought the animation in this ep was super pretty, too <333
say, hotman, have you heard? a wicked dragon-moose carriage driver tried to trample a little blind girl! luckily, none other than WANG FIRE was in town. he lifted the entire carriage over his head, dragon-moose and all, and he threw it so far it saw the curvature of the earth!
wang fire is truly the great dispenser of JUSTICE.
<img src="http://img233.imageshack.us/img233/5687/1275971315081.png">
they say that combustion man was simply known as "that guy" before wang fire came along.
Oh sweet jesus you're right.
…someone draw Ozai with Muttonchops!
Actually, I have a better idea…
Zhao as Wolverine with fireclaws.
PERFECT.
That was a lot of fans first choice for someone to pay Zhao. This was obviously before we knew of the casting fail.
Even though in my head canon the Fire Nation would be represented by the Japanese in live action adaptation, I'd much rather take Hugh Jackman over whoever played Zhao, because that actor was just pathetic.
Have you heard him mention the library he found?
I could have sworn I typed a comment in, but it appears to have been eaten..
So, and in relation to Tauriel's comment: V guvax vg'f cbffvoyr gung vg Nveoraqvat'f nqinaprq grpuavdhr pbhyq or Inphhz-oraqvat. Nf rivqrapr, whfg ybbx ng jung Tlngfb znantrq gb qb gb gung ebbz shyy bs Sveroraqref. Whqtvat ol gur qvfgevohgvba bs gur obqvrf, vg svgf jvgu gur vqrn gung ur whfg rinphngrq nyy gur nve va gung ebbz, xvyyvat rirelbar vafvqr, vapyhqvat uvzfrys.
Yep, that's what I think, too.
I always thought that, too!
Thermodynamics might not work that way in the real world, but the description is so vivid and terrifying that you can't help but think of it first.
I went and looked up a phase diagram for ice, and wow. 1 GPa? That's getting up there. (Not as high as most of the stuff I worked on in an experimental petrology lab, but still getting up there. And a really short time to get to that pressure, though I guess waterbenders aren't worried about the pressurizing mechanism cracking under the stress.
I am in love with this entire thread.
LOL
"Is there a picture of me? Does it look good?"
"…..Actually yea, it does look pretty good."
Obviously! XD
Aw man, I was gonna link one of my favorite vids (uses stuff from this episode very well), but I'd forgotten that it has SPOILERS through the end of the show.
For those who have seen the whole thing, though: Paper Planes, an amazingly awesome Toph vid. (As I said: SPOILERS for the entire show!)
Well, I like girly stuff time to time, but I prefer shopping with my dad, as well. I cannot stand shopping for elongated periods; my mom is in the habit of getting distracted by everything in the store and making me try it all on, and then try on all the remaining clothes to see if they're colour coordinated. My dad and I go in, get what is needed, get out.
I actually have an internal "limit" when shopping – once I reach it, I have to stop, or I become irritated and impatient. I certainly can't spend all day walking around a shopping mall; I'd go insane! XD
I only go shopping when I need something, so there's always a particular thing I'm looking for. But sometimes I spot a piece of clothing that I immediately fall in love with and I just HAVE to buy it.
I am exactly like that when I shop, my friends even remark who fast I am at shopping. I like to get in, buy what I need and leave. I don't like window shopping because it makes me want to impulse buy things I do not need.
LOVE this episode. That is all.
No, wait, that's not all. It is SO FREAKING COOL to see how far Katara has come in terms of her bending! I mean, her in battle has been impressive enough but being able to exhibit that kind of control to manipulate such a tiny bit of water, and the whole thinking-outside-the-box thing she has to do to figure it out? *Sniffle* Oh Katara, our little ice-breaking bender is growing up so FAST…
Can a mod delete that first reply of mine? It said it timed out and hadn't posted, so I did it again.
Katara's scheme is not a reference to "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly." However, the mexican standoff in "Zuko Alone" completely and deliberately is. How did you miss that?
LOL, I've just noticed this:
O hai there, ruby-eyed monkey statue from the pirates' shop! 😀
<img src="http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c251/Tauriel/vlcsnap-2011-06-29-01h30m41s119.png">
I saw it! Obviously the pirates "reacquired" it after they blew up Zuko's ship, cause I'm pretty sure Iroh bought it. <3 Continuity nods.
My question: Wooden cells in a Fire Nation prison. WHY.
Besides that…. oddity, I love this episode.
I think that cell was constructed specifically for Toph. Remember, they spent 3 days scamming in that town. Obviously Combustion Man must've known that Toph can bend metal, so he got the town officials build a wooden cage for her.
Or it's possible the town has dealt with earthbenders before
Toph is the only metalbender in the world. Normal metal cages would still be sufficient for regular earthbenders.
True, though wood is probs cheaper, which may have been the other reason for its choice over a metal prison, if they built it quickly just for Toph.
Now for some awesome non-spoiler demotivational posters!…
http://images2.fanpop.com/images/photos/4300000/A…
http://images2.fanpop.com/images/photos/4300000/A…
http://images2.fanpop.com/images/photos/4300000/A…
Enjoy 😀
<img src="http://oi53.tinypic.com/1izmo4.jpg">
The moment Sokka talked about wanting a messenger hawk, I predicted he would get one but then forget to use it in a crucial situation, Chamber of Secrets-style. I think that's why I really wanted Aang and Sokka to use Hawky to find out about Toph and Katara's situation in the town, even though it wouldn't make that much difference from their point of view and would just end up eating more precious time from the writers' point of view.
I wonder if Hawky will make another appearance. It would probably take quite a long time for him to travel from wherever they are now (is it called Fire Fountain City?) back to the Bei Fongs, but I want to see him again. I tend to doubt that that would happen, though, considering that he's probably trained to go back to the place he was originally sent from, and by the time he delivers the message (if he even does), the Team would likely be long gone. 🙁
Also, was that a frilled lizard-moose hybrid pulling the scam-victim's carriage?
Just curious… what do you mean by 'Chamber of Secrets-style'? Was there a moment in CoS where Harry forgot to use something in a crucial situation? The only situation of that kind that's coming to mind for me is Harry not using Sirius' mirror to communicate with him in OotP.
I suppose "crucial" was the wrong word to use, given the other stuff that goes on in the books. ^_^
When Harry and Ron can't get through the barrier at Platform Nine and Three Quarters (because of Dobby's enchantments), they steal Mr. Weasley's car and drive it to Hogwarts instead. But when they get there, Professor McGonagall points out that they could've sent an owl to Hogwarts, instead of putting themselves (and everyone else) at risk. They were seen by Muggles, nearly beaten to death by the Whomping Willow, Ron got his wand smashed and Mr. Weasley lost his car (and nearly lost his job), and they could've prevented all of that just by remembering that they had Hedwig with them at the time.
Good Call. Poor messenger birds, always the Forgotten Ones.
I think a worse example is when Harry forgets to use the gift Sirius got him, which turns out to be a two-way mirror, in OotP. That one always makes me sad.
Sokka's sneak attack <3
enough said
MY NAME IS AKBAR HERE I AM IT'S A TRAP
Combustion Man/Sparky Sparky Boom Man is really creepy. Do we ever hear him speak? I don't even remember.
For about five minutes. Then it turns into a bacteria cesspool.
Katara's problem with the whole thing isn't however them scamming the gamblers (which is like stealing from the pirates), her problem is that it draws attention to them when they should stay undercover.
Toph could have easily stopped or redirected the earthball. Instead Toph insults her. I would splash Toph with water too in Katara's position.
Yes! If you hit someone with a rock the size of a bowling ball in the gut, the least you can expect is that person to get angry. And the least you can do is say something like "Oops!" instead of mocking her.
It's true what they say, Katara gets all the hate.
Why shouldn't motherly characters have interest in romantic love? Additionally it is a role Katara was forced into when her mother was killed, it doesn't mean it is her primary and only quality as woman (next to bending and being a warrior of course).
It's not that she shouldn't have interest in romantic love at all, far from it. It's just a bit odd for me to see her paired with someone within the group when the dynamic is so often pseudo-maternal. Admittedly, it's far more pronounced with Toph, but this episode even pokes fun at the notion that Katara's acted like a mother figure towards Aang as well.
This is one – if not the – most favourite non-arc episode of mine. It's funny, has tension, great scenes, great jokes (Sokka and Hawky of course) and gives us tremendous insight into Toph and Katara's personalities once again. And it doesn't end with some moral lession, they keep the money after all. Even Katara doesn't have a problerm with the scamming, only with them not keeping a low profile (which Sokka was so keen about in "The Headband" and "Painted Lady").
Also: The invention (rediscovery?) of Sweatbending.
And it has the one scene that always makes me tear up: When Sokka and Toph talk about Katara and she listens to them. Something about it hits the right buttons with me.
Katara's a mother hen sort, especially around those she cares about. So? I agree with those who do not see how this is a real barrier in a relationship.
SEE? Had I shared the fandom nickname(s) for Combustion Man, you would've have loved Sokka's "SPARKY SPARKY BOOM MAN" thing here. B) It is absolutely awesome and I love Sokka so much for it. <3
I… don't really have much else to this episode, tbh. Other than I fucking love Hawky. XD (even if a part of me want to call him Tobias, lol x3b)
So, uh, yeah, ONWARD! o7
The great thing about this is that it's an end cap to each main character getting a reevaluation of who they are in this new world.
They're all in the Fire Nation, and the status quo from the first 2 books just doesn't exist. So everyone gets to grow (or show how they're the same as they ever where) with these first few episodes.
I'll start with Toph:
Toph was introduced to us as this girl who longed for freedom from her prison of wealth and over-protection. She even shows she can stand for herself to her parents and they don't relent. So she frees herself and joins Team Avatar. The Chase then shows off how she has a strong desire to truly be independent instead of a hanger-on with the Team. She then grows closer and they really become friends, though she still has her wild-child bend.
Here, she's struggling again with not truly being independent, and while this time working with her friends, doesn't want the reminder of her parents (as she later admits) on her actions. Ultimately, she learns she needs a more cautious friend like Katara and finds she really doesn't want to restrict Toph like her parents did.
Working backwards, let's move on to Sokka.
Sokka starts out as a brash dutiful son, untrustworthy of the new guy in town, and wanting to follow in his father's footsteps. After adventuring with Aang (and probably feeling confident that if the Fire Nation is chasing them, the South Pole is safe) he relaxes, and it draws out his sense of humor. This develops him into being an unconventional thinker, as well as a jokester. He still has his sense of duty he got from wanting to follow in his father's footsteps but now he's blazing his own path.
With "Sokka's Master" his big fear is confronted. He's worried he's useless because schedules aren't going to defeat an army, real skills are. He crosses paths and then swords with Pian Dao (seriously my favorite side character ever) and Pian Dao both teaches him how to be a better fighter, and that the true path to being a great warrior is already in him. His creative thinking is the key, it makes him a great strategist. Even the impending invasion plan was his brainchild, as well as the earlier demonstrations in "Bato of the Water Tribe" and his work with the Mechanist. Va nqqvgvba gb uvf shgher jbex jvgu gur zrpunavfg, jvgu gur fho naq gur Rnegu Oraqre gnaxf. In my opinion Sokka gets the biggest reveal of growth.
Before that there's Katara and the Painted Lady
Katara hasn't changed much. Her whole personal journey started with being a novice, lone waterbender with untapped power, into a forceful, talented, and concise master. She's always been motherly, that hasn't changed. She's also always been kind. Even with "Jet" she wouldn't have hesitated to help a firebender because it's just in her nature.
In "The Painted Lady" Katara is just Katara, the only real change is they show how she has to adapt to not being her out and proud heroic self. If anything it demonstrates more change in Sokka, while he doesn't agree with her actions (or lying to the group) he'll help her without hesitation or backtalk (well, much backtalk). She's rewarded with what is honestly rare contact with an entity from the spirit world.
Aang is the same in a lot of ways as Katara.
You know the story, ran away from destiny, then embraced it, then shot in the back. Nice kid, kind of goofy.
With both "The Awakening" and "The Headband" Aang is reassured that, in this new world, he's still determined to be as much himself as he can. With "The Awakening" he confronts that he's made these friends, and they're are a part of his destiny to reach the Avatar State, or at least defeat the Fire Lord. Though he can no longer announce "I'm the Avatar, I'm here to help", with "The Headband" he's still determined to improve and impart his Avatar/Airbender ways. Even during "The Runaway" he still tries to mend broken fences, such as the one between Katara and Toph (sadly Sokka and he forget that Toph can't read or write). Though he has to pretend to be someone else, this new person is still pretty much just him.
Then there's Zuko and the Dangerous Ladies.
Zuko's story is about as simple as Aang's to start. Banished, essentially, for being nice, he seeks out the Avatar for destiny or hope or the digi-egg of courage, at this point it doesn't matter. Azula appears on the scene, calls him a loser, and he pretty much tries to ditch his quest. Which he mostly succeeds at. He spends an episode alone, shows off once again he's a nice guy, meets back up with Uncle, the whole nine yards 'til the end of Ba Sing Se. Then the destiny he avoided, which he was finally getting rewarded for for forgetting about, gets handed to him merely by showing he's still a family man.
This leads us to book 3. He's welcomed home with open arms, and is probably back to his crowned prince title. This all still sits unwell for him, he didn't really do anything to deserve it, and he just spent 3 years being told that hard work was the only way he was getting back home, but *bam* Azula lightings a guy and he's back feeding the Turtleducks. He also knows Aang probably isn't dead that easy, so he works to make sure the truth never comes out. Ultimately this still doesn't sit well with him, nothing he's done does. This is all culminated in him revealing he's pissed at himself over everything in "The Beach". He still clearly has some growing to do, as the revelation that "I screwed up so I'm mad all the damn time" isn't a satisfying climax, but ultimately marks his book 3 status quo as "guilt-ridden and repentent" (though his Avatar assassin plan is sooo the wrong direction, repenting for Azula's lies probably seems like a good idea).
Azula, meanwhile, has everything right where she wants them. Her friends are diligently at her side, and they handed over their emotional weak points while she's only mentioned that she's miffed at her mother. Her brother is uneasy and unhappy, which fitting with the whole "enemies closer" idea, having the guy who's blocking your succession making himself prone to messing up means it's easier to claim the throne later on. While lack of social skills seems to bother her, she doesn't care because she has all the power.
As for Mai and Ty Lee, Mai is the Mai version of happy, and Ty Lee is attached to Azula again probably because Azula demands it. Mai gets a real emotional outlet with Zuko, which is good, but both her and Ty Lee expressed displeasure with their parent's lock-step attitudes. They have that in common with Toph, they want freedom on their own terms.
While Zuko (and the Dangerous Ladies) still have things going on, I felt with the inclusion of the Beach they should be added to my big long lecture on how the main characters are fitting into this dangerous new world controlled by the Fire Lord. Of course it should also be mentioned the Gaang itself still has more growth coming as well.
Sounds like a plan.
*wears Legend of Korra shirt, even though those aren't out yet, because I've travelled to the future and got one.*
I really love how the translation says "pretends to be blind". Its so strange, because a lot of Toph's skill comes from not only people thinking she's helpless, but because she has senses that others don't.
THANK YOU! You have just validated my life.
Completely agree. Toph has never been able to "see" anything in midair. And beyond that, it wasn't Toph's fault that the rock hit Katara at ALL. Aang ducked down so as not to get struck, which is exactly what he was supposed to do.
Um, her first scam in this episode relied on redirecting the stone in the cup game master's sleeve back under a cup.
Ah, the mud-wrestling episode. Whee.
Morally I'm totally fine with cheating scammers, but not randomly pretending to be hit by a car in order to get money.
Toph reminds me of that Radiohead symbol in the wanted poster.
I really enjoy seeing Combustion Man go down at the end of the ep, just from a little pebble. Because he's just a pure villain with no redeeming qualities, I get particular joy from saying "HA HA" when he tries to combust things and nearly combusts HIMSELF.
"I think we're gonna run into a similar problem." I LOVE THE BLIND JOKES
Toph's Emotion Punch gets me every time.
I like how at the beginning, Aang was fighting earthbending AND waterbending with his eyes covered. And he did a great job! Go Aang!
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