Avatar 2x08

[timepiececlock]

"Three on three plus Sokka." - Toph's as much of a brat as I expected her to be, and it's a wonderful change of pace.

Lighting through the rock? Okay... um...okay.

They're really turning up the anime super-deformed humor this episode. It's amusing.


Okay, there's no WAY Zuko could keep up with a tank and a flying bison riding his ONE chocobo.

Toph's "WHAT?!" and ripping the ground up was awesome. I love how her bending seems to be completely a part of her all the time, like Aang. She doesn't turn it on and off like firebenders and she doesn't tuck it away like Katara when she's not using it.

"Appa's carrying your weight." Here here.

IROH! IROH!!!! Oh this episode is love.


Actually, her impression was kinda funny. I giggled.

So...Toph + Iroh is, like, way way fun. I hope we get more conversations in the future.


AZULA: "Well, look at this."

Yeah, kinda like...fanfic, isn't it? ::snicker::


Iroh!
"By our powers combined!" --dude, it HAD to happen some time.

Oh good, he's not dead.


I want to smack Zuko for not accepting help, but really, he has no reason to trust their aid and no idea that Katara is a healer, so for all he knows she might take the opportunity to kill Iroh. I'm really proud of her for offering without hesitation, though.

Aaah, Toph... maybe she'll be a little easier to get along with now that something's happened to her confidante.

Hmmmn, that was an actiony episode. I'm not sure if I liked all the confrontation stuff at the end; the group teamwork was kinda hokey, and I keep thinking there might have been a less hokey way to bring them all together. Also, Azula's exit as too much of a deus ex machina for me. Why didn't Toph just open up a cavern beneath her, then close the earth over her head before she had time to climb out? We know Toph's fast enough to do it, plenty fast enough. I guess maybe she's just too young to think of something like that? Though that doesn't seem right, either, given how experienced she is.

The battle animation was pretty cool.

Side note-- the more we see Katara waterbend, the more my theory about waterbending gets confirmed: to grab someone by the ankle, you can use water as a bendable source to reach someone, and then merely harden the area around their ankle instead of your entire stream of water. So you're bending water and ice at the same time, at different temperatures and consistancies.

Somehow I don't think Iroh's dead. I do think he'll be out of comission for a while, though. And Zuko's going to be pretty guilt-ridden about it. He might even blame Aang, though I would hope he'd realize by now that no one is to blame for Azula's maliciousness but Azula. That was pretty smart of her, btw. She just took out the biggest threat: a dangerous bender who's also the most mature, wisest, and most battle-experienced of her enemies.

I'm even more curious to know where Zuko's going to go, now. I'm surprised they've stretched out his lack-of-plot-goal for as long as they have; they can't keep him wandering aimlessly forever. And what was up with him following Azula to follow Aang? I'm just going to assume that he happened to stumble upon the trail and decided to go where the action was. Yeah, that...sorta makes sense. Well, it makes sense in Zuko!Logic, anyway.

And where is Aang's group going to go? Right now they really need a sanctuary, like they had at the North Pole. Aang can't learn Earthbending if they're always on the run. I suppose the inevitable answer to that is Ba Sing Se. That would, I assume, make every season end with a giant seige battle: the North Pole, Ba Sing Se, and the Fire Nation capitol. There's symmetry in that, and we've had so many allusions to Ba Sing Se at this point, that it'd be a cop-out not to let us see it.


This episode has soundly jossed all my fics where Katara meets Hair-Level-3 Zuko (tm) after not having seen him since the north pole, but that's okay. Now I can write reaction fics!



* Hair-Level-1 Zuko was the pony tail, of course, and Hair-Level-2 was the fuzz. Hair-Level-0 is chibi!Zuko. Zuko...is like a Supersaiyan, in a way. Or like a girl. You can track his maturity, power level stages, and emotional state by observing his hair.

Comments

[rawles.livejournal.com]

That was pretty smart of her, btw. She just took out the biggest threat: a dangerous bender who's also the most mature, wisest, and most battle-experienced of her enemies.

Even as I was flailing for Iroh, I was smiling at how smart that was. I love the fact that Azula isn't just sadistic and ruthless, she is so very clever, and I think that's what makes her so frightening a figure.

Well, it makes sense in Zuko!Logic, anyway.

He does have his own special brand of rationality, doesn't he? I use the word "rationality" loosely.

You can track his maturity, power level stages, and emotional state by observing his hair.

HAH. It's funny because it's true.

And here ends my invasion of your journal.

[rashaka.livejournal.com]

You're welcome to invade! I invaded yours first, after all.

[misora.livejournal.com]

I hear you on the hokey-ness. That was why I was rooting for the appearance of Blue Spirit!Zuko helping Aang's group, to be the first introduction of Zuko assisting them. Hmm...I suppose it's still not out of the realm of possibility. But since he's already made himself known to the group now, and he knows they wouldn't hurt him, there's really no reason for him to conceal his identity around them now.

..Or maybe he doesn't know that? He did refuse their attempt to assist Iroh at the end, after all...eeek, overanalysis ahoy. ^^;;;;

[rashaka.livejournal.com]

I had thought from episode 7 that the BS was totally dead and Zuko was not going to run around like a bandit vagabond anymore, but if he loses Iroh, his determination to embrace his heritage and role that we saw in episode 7 might be totally reversed.

If Iroh dies, though, I really hope my drabble becomes canon. Cause I so called it.

[loveroftheflame.livejournal.com]

I too am invading. I apologize ahead of time. I hope that's ok. *smiles* I loved the new ep except they made Zuko look so defenseless against Azula. My hubby was convinced that she must be older for her to have that much power over him. He did point out that Zuko could have attacked the group instead of telling them to leave so he is learning to prioritize. My favorite part of the ep: When Toph asks if Iroh's nephew is lost and he says, "A little..." Both my hubby and I went, "Awwwwwww" when he said that. It's so true. Poor Zuko, he needs a hug.

[elenathehun.livejournal.com]

I suppose the inevitable answer to that is Ba Sing Se. That would, I assume, make every season end with a giant seige battle: the North Pole, Ba Sing Se, and the Fire Nation capitol. There's symmetry in that, and we've had so many allusions to Ba Sing Se at this point, that it'd be a cop-out not to let us see it.

You know what that means for Zuko, right?

Every season will end with Zuko using his mad infiltration skills to break into an unbreakable fortress!

[rashaka.livejournal.com]

::snicker::

You're right. Good thinking!