#Spoiler Alert: aang just turned into kyoshi and it was one of the most epic fight scenes I’ve seen in a Netflix show

[cattapz037]

I just started watching the live action ATLA on Netflix and it’s pretty good….IM ON THE SECOND EPISODE AND SOMETHING REALLY COOL JUST HAPPENED AND IVE BEEN FREAKING OUT ABOUT IT FOR THE PAST COUPLE MINUTES IMMA GO BACK AND KEEP WATCHING

Edit: When I said pretty good I was only on ep2 um…now I think it’s fairly decent but I still would freak out if something like this happened again

[highfantasy-soul]

NATLA - Episode 2: Warriors (4/4)

[Masterlist of my NATLA thoughts]

An explanation of what I'm doing here and my history with ATLA.

Of course, full spoilers ahead.

<previous/next>

I like the choice to have Kyoshi take over Aang's body first rather than Roku. Even though Roku and Aang have the closest connection, having Kyoshi herself come to defend her island and HER people was amazing. Suki's face as she watches her idol save her village is just…ugh it's so good. The sheer joy and excitement of seeing your hero, who you've modeled your life after, standing up for you - it's so great. Yes, Roku punishing the fire sages who've turned their backs on the Avatar is epic, but if they're going to introduce Kyoshi as the first former Avatar we actually get to know anything about in the animated series, it makes sense that we actually get to…know about her. Also the music choice when she was wrecking shop was amazing - maybe I'm biased because it reminded me of the Wheel of Time soundtrack (specifically the track for Avienda), but that chorus singing behind her was epic.

I like the change that it's Zhao's report that alerts the Fire Lord to the Avatar's return (and Zuko finding him). In the animated show, the fire sages see the signs and alert him, but now, it's more personal and we get to see the dynamic with Ozai and Azula after the banished prince as come close to doing the impossible. Really sets up a lot of stuff for the characters.

In the animated show, the first half of the season lacks any sort of urgency despite us knowing there's a war, genocide, and people actively being subjugated all over the place. While that can work for an episodic kids show - where most episodes are going to focus on character and little side quests that add to the depth of the world and characters rather than the overarching plot - it doesn’t work with 8 episodes. The tonal whiplash of hanging out on an island to ride Elephant Koi fish with no intention of ever leaving right after seeing the remnants of a genocide just wouldn't make sense for the more serious take on the war the live-action wanted to take. In the next two seasons of the animated show, this tonal shift happens, but the lackadaisical nature of specifically the first half of season 1 of ATLA animated show has consistently been one of the weakest points of the show. Yes, Aang running away from his Avatar duties is an important character point to hit, but the live-action shifts this from a physical avoidance of his responsibility to him trying to shove the responsibility off onto the previous Avatars - that way, we get the character beat of 'Aang isn't taking the seriously' with still a forward momentum for the plot.

So overall, this was a super solid episode and had some of my favorite moments (Kyoshi wrecking shop and Sokka batting away the fireball with a fan) and I like what they're setting up. It still holds very close to the animated series - it's not until next episode that they really step outside the strict adherence to the story order/settings of the animated show. While episode 3 is where I really started loving the show and fully bought into this new iteration of the story, I still left this episode with my heart pounding and so excited to continue watching. Themes were seeded and concepts hammered home (like hope - lots of hope talk) that I think really make the season more cohesive than the animated first season was.