#natla episode 8

[yourhighness6]

A Yue Stan's Thoughts on Yue's Character in NATLA

As much as I appreciated what NATLA was trying to do and think it is worth a rewatch, can I just say as an unapolagetic Yue stan that they completely ruined her, and Yukka by extension.

And say whatever you want about her scenes leading up to the sacrifice (which did make me cry, I'll admit, her speech about living was actually a nice addition), but it was actually this line that left me absolutely seething and in my opinion proves that the writers completely misunderstood what made the sacrifice so powerful:

I actually had to pause the television and collect myself after this one because holy fuck is this the stupidest thing I've ever heard. The entire point in the animated show was that she didn't get to make her own choices before this point. She didn't get to choose who to marry, she didn't get to choose her role in society, she didn't get to choose basically anything about her life besides maybe how to style her hair or something. Yue was a character who was extremely dutiful, but also extremely boxed in by her duty. It was both her greatest strength and her greatest weakness, a parody of itself, just as her mere existence was a parody: while she was saved by the moon spirit as a child and allowed to live on, it was that very reason that she eventually gave up her life. And the very fact that she was given these choices in the first place in the LA seriously undermined the idea of her sacrifice. Yue was told her entire life what to do, and although she did manage to find a bit of freedom through her brief romance with Sokka, ultimately, she still didn't get to publicly be with him or reject Hahn or anything similar. Her sacrifice was what she saw as her duty, yes, but her sacrifice for her people was also a way of standing up for herself and finally resolving to make her own choices. In that moment, she not only saved her people, but she finally made a decision for herself instead of doing something someone else told her to, even going against Sokka's wishes to do what she thought was necessary. So in the LA, with her having a place of influence in her community, with her being able to call off her engagement, with her being told that she could one day be chief, to that stupid fucking line implying that she was in no way ever repressed and free to make her own decisions the entire time, removing all of her character growth and any character significance to her actions, it was all basically pointless. It made Yue into a plot device for Sokka to bond with and to move the Aang-and-Kuruk plotline forward. In the animated series, Yue was not a plot device, and she was extremely well written, whereas in NATLA, her character fell completely flat. She talks about responsibility and pressure in her first scene with Sokka, but other than that, she has no depth. In other words, she has no depth besides her relationship to him.

Anyway, I hope we can all agree that her characterization and a lot of the decisions made in the last two episodes of NATLA were nothing but a pile of bulshit. From Iroh killing Zhao to Yukka having zero chemistry to Katara just magically becoming a master to Zuko being shelved to the plotline about Aang not feeling like he belonged having absolutely no buildup beyond a throwaway line in the second episode to everything about Yue I spelled out above, I would go as far to call it just plain bad. Again, I'm glad it got renewed, and I'll be the first to say a lot of other episodes get unnecessary hate, as well as that we are working with slightly different characters (especially Azula) in this version than the first, but I was really disappointed with seeing Yue in LA for a second time.

[allgremlinart]

Albert Kim leaving natla and the guy who directed episodes 3 and 4 stepping up as showrunner .... ☹️ we shall see. I guess.

[kacievvbbbb]

I’m sorry to say it but TV shows need to have smaller budgets again. In fact everything needs to have smaller budgets maybe it will actually encourage some fucking creativity.

Bring back the 22 episode low budget series. The people are desperate.

[cogentranting]

I think the Disney+ Percy Jackson series and the Netflix ATLA series are about equivalent in terms of how good they are.

The casting is good, though the performances don't land 100% of the time. The effects are great and the overall look is impressive. The story line had to be adjusted to fit 8 episodes, sometimes that works, sometimes it doesn't. Changes were made and sometimes they're great and sometimes they don't work as well. Sometimes it's just different. But you can tell the people making it really care about the original.

[thesixthstar]

what fucks me up most about netflix ATLA is that like. there's an alternate universe in which they got competent writers, and better directors, and made a good show instead, and I actually DO want to see that remake.

There's all the talk about how a remake isn't necessary, and thats definitely true, but you're all lying if you say that in all your rewatches of ATLA you never thought "oh man I wish I could see what they would do if they didn't have to fit every episode into a neat 20-to-25-minute slot" or "I wish they could explore this darker theme more fully, or at least devote more time to it"

its not that I think live-action is necessarily the way to go for a remake that would try to act on those wishes (pro: seeing real actors can bring some killer performances, con: cgi bending and cgi creatures always look worse), but like, realistically a live-action is the most likely to get funding and a green light, and it can be done well if only they'd fucking bother.

[heizerux]

Wouldn't even let natla be my new girlfriend it's gettin situationship I won't tell anyone about

I mean… she’s still in your bed, is she not?

She still won’t be your first love and you may not tell anyone about her.

Yet here you are… and here she is…

[old-people-like-avatar]

Netflix Avatar the Last Airbender S1 - Overall Thoughts [SPOILERS]

I am a longtime fan of Avatar the Last Airbender. I did not watch it in its original 2005 run, but I discovered it in around 2010 after my good friend R.S. recommended it to me. It's been my #1 favorite TV show ever since and I have rewatched it more times than I can count. I was cautiously optimistic about NATLA.

Now, having watched the whole first season of NATLA, and looking at the season as a whole, I think the best word to describe it is uneven. I can't say that I loved it, and I can't say that I hated it. But there were things I really liked about it and things that really did not work for me. Overall, I enjoyed watching it -- if only to dissect what did and did not work about the adaptation -- and would want to watch more.

WHAT WORKED

Everything to do with Zuko and Iroh. I found myself going back through just to rewatch all of the Zuko and Iroh-related scenes. I thought Dallas Liu really nailed Zuko -- from tantrums about his journal being stolen to incredible action sequences to the boyish vulnerability of worrying about the laces on his gauntlets. He took an iconic character and made him his own. NATLA added some incredible scenes and lines to my favorite duo: Lu Ten's funeral (coupled with orchestral version of "Leaves from the Vine"); Zuko's first war council; Iroh choosing to go with Zuko on the boat; the 41st Division; Iroh putting a blanket on Zuko. And I liked that NATLA emphasized that Iroh needed Zuko in the wake of Lu Ten's death as much as Zuko needed Iroh after his mother left.

Daniel Dae Kim's interpretation of Ozai. Ozai in ATLA is kind of one-dimensional. Daniel Dae Kim's Ozai adds a deeper layer to him in that he genuinely seems to think he's doing legitimate parenting -- even going so far as to visit Zuko after burning his face and remarking, glibly, that he'll recover ("but he'll never heal," says Iroh). It adds an even more monstrous angle to his cruelty because Kim's Ozai seems to think he's doing it for his children's own good. This post perfectly encapsulates my feelings about why I thought the agni kai between Ozai and Zuko was an excellent addition to NATLA.

Zuko/Aang. These two bonding over goat hair brushes was the scene I never knew I needed. The way Aang managed to wrest a little smile out of Zuko in that scene before Zuko blew up at him for criticizing the Fire Lord? And the way that tied into the "Compassion is a sign of weakness" scene from the agni kai? Great character work.

WHAT DID NOT WORK

Dialogue. I already observed at length my dissatisfaction with the clunky, exposition-dumping dialogue in my episode-by-episode writeups. It certainly wasn't as bad as the Movie-That-Shall-Not-Be-Named, but . . . there was no art or subtlety to it, and no trust in the audience. A disappointment.

The GAang did not feel like family. The lack of breathing room in the 8-episode season meant that all of the "filler" episodes that fleshed out the relationships between Aang, Katara, and Sokka were sacrificed. I am not saying NATLA needed to recapture each of the filler episodes. But they needed to build the foundational bonds between the main trio with showing not telling and they really didn't. They separated them for big chunks of 2 episodes. And, really, they just felt like traveling companions. That took all of the emotional heft out of, well, everything related to Aang, Katara, and Sokka. I mean, frankly, the kid actors did a better job establishing the "family" dynamic just by being themselves in their press interviews than the show did with the characters.

Aang did not run away from responsibility. I am not one of those people that's just mad that the show wasn't exactly like the cartoon. No. What I mean is, even putting aside the cartoon, even if you just look at NATLA itself: their own themes were undercut by never showing Aang actually running away from responsibility. Each avatar seemed to be berating Aang for doing something he was never actually shown to be doing.

Katara. I really don't think this one is on the actress. Katara felt like a fundamentally different character from ATLA's Katara. It's not to say an adaption is not allowed to have their own interpretation of a character, but... I just did not understand NATLA Katara. There was no passion, no rage, no overbearing nurturing. She was... I don't know what she was. Traumatized, yes, but nothing grew out of that trauma? Meek, until the plot demanded that she suddenly become a waterbending master without any guidance other than a waterbending scroll? The "younger sister"? More than any of the main characters, I'm not sure what NATLA was trying to say about Katara at all. And, as a result, I'm afraid the word to describe it might be uninteresting. And given that she is the heart and soul of Team Avatar, this one was really tough.

Despite the fact that a lot of NATLA did not work for me, I still enjoyed it because the things that did work for me, well, really worked. So. I'm here for all of the Zuko/Iroh scenes!

[highfantasy-soul]

Storylines NATLA Cut

While the 8 episodes of season 1 managed to weave together most of the plot lines (or at least themes from the episodes) from the animated show into the live action, there were a few notable storylines that were cut. I wanted to go over those plots and speculate as to why they might have been cut and whether we might see them in future seasons woven in (like how a couple things from future seasons were woven into this season).

Imprisoned

One of Katara's first big leadership moments was in episode 6 of the animated series when the Gaang stumbles upon an earth nation village taken over by the Fire Nation. All their benders had been rounded up and sent to a prison so that they couldn't fight back - the Gaang obviously get involved, plot ensues, and Katara gets herself arrested so that she can find the prison and free Haru (the earthbender she inadvertently gotten arrested). With the help of Aang and Sokka providing the earthbenders with some coal to bend, she inspires them to fight back and they free the prisoners.

I think this storyline actually naturally fits much better in book 2: Earth. The focus of season 1 of the live-action was water bending and the avatar state - I think a storyline focused on earth bender resistance fits perfectly in season 2 where we get to see even more of how oppressive Fire Nation rule is and how they're 1) seeking to take out all the other benders and 2) doing their whole imperialist thing with stealing natural resources from the populace they're colonizing.

Katara has her moment to speak on her mother with Jet in episode 3 of the live-action and I think it's a natural change to keep the rebellious side-character count manageable for now. Jet fills the role to show Katara's desire for rebellion and standing up to the fire benders and while I think the Imprisoned storyline is really important, I think they've got plenty of room to do that in season 2. A big part of that story was Katara leading people to stand up when they hadn't been before and I think there's a nice homage to that in the final episode of the live-action when she gets all the women in the North to stand up to Pakku and demand to fight.

So I don't think they've fully nixed this storyline, I think they'll include it in the Gaang's trek through the Earth Kingdom on their way to Ba Sing Se. To me, the live action is doing a better job at building the characters rather than starting out with them fully formed. Katara has learned through the first season of the live action about all different leadership styles and has grown emotionally to a point where she's not only confident in standing up against injustice, but also leading others in that fight against oppressors. I think moving her leadership skills from episode 6 of season 1 to season 2 will let us really see her journey to that point rather than just having her start there.

2. The Pirates

In the animated show, Katara doesn't get the Waterbending Scroll until episode 9 of season 1, everything she does with waterbending up until that point was just stuff she figured out herself. In the animated show, the Gaang stops and Katara starts training Aang in waterbending, he shows off and washes all their supplies away so they have to go into town to buy more. This is where Aang randomly buys a bison whistle (why a shopkeeper in the Earth Kingdom would have a bison whistle is not explored) and the group also is invited onto a pirate ship to brows their wares. Katara notices a waterbending scroll and it's far too expensive for them to buy, so Katara steals it from them (as they made it clear they stole it from its rightful owner). A main theme of this episode is showing how naturally gifted Aang is and Katara getting frustrated because she's had to work so hard for her little bit of waterbending and Aang just surpasses her immediately. Zuko and Iroh show up looking for a pai sho piece and shenanigans ensue with the Gaang fighting off both pirates and Zuko, but of course, they manage to escape.

So the two main things in this episode were 1) getting the waterbending scroll so Katara could learn more formal forms and 2) dealing with how the dynamic of the group changes as Aang easily surpasses Katara in waterbending power.

I like that the live action tied the waterbending scroll directly to Katara's family and them hiding their culture to keep it alive until the time came when they could revive it once more. I think it's a much more impactful way for her to get the scroll than just some random pirates. It also allows her to actually train from the beginning rather than just being naturally good - in the live-action, Katara really has to work at her waterbending and get help. While she's a naturally fast learner and super powerful, she needs at least some form of guidance whether that be how to get in the right spiritual mindspace for bending or the physical movements for different forms provided by the scroll. Animated Katara has already been doing very advanced moves (bending water out of Aang's lungs, lifting a fish, throwing water and freezing it, etc) and it doesn't really feel like the animated show continues to show the new stuff Katara learns from the waterbending scroll - it's just the water whip and then the scroll is forgotten (almost like this is an episodic kid's show where each story is largely self-contained and plot points rarely arc into other episodes).

As it's the episode were Aang really starts learning waterbending and they've held off on having that part of his journey in the live action for now, it makes sense that they nixed it. It's a fun character building episode, but in the grand scheme, everything accomplished here can be accomplished elsewhere (and possibly in season 2). Katara feeling a bit miffed that Aang picked everything up quickly while she had to work really hard at it can easily be moved to season 2 when they address Aang learning the new bending styles. I also like how they moved him getting the bison whistle at a random shop in this episode to Bumi having made it for Aang back when they were both kids.

Of course, they do give easter eggs for this plot as well as the great divide one in episode 6 of the live-action, so it's possible the Gaang did have similar adventures, just off-screen.

3. The Fortune Teller

I'm perfectly fine with them nixing the plot of this storyline and moving the themes of 'take destiny into your own hands, don't look to others to tell you what to do without examining their methods of determining your own destiny' and scattering it through the entire season. The hard plot sets up Kataang as a couple which I didn't particularly like, nor did I feel like it followed the actual theme of the episode. Katara is obsessed with believing everything the fortune teller predicted and for part of the story, the lesson is 'that's bull, make your own destiny, just because she said it doesn't make it true' but then when it comes to her marrying a powerful bender, suddenly that lesson is thrown out and she realizes that Aang is a powerful bender so maybe they will end up together? It felt like a lot of mixed messages with the goal of setting up a 12 year old with a 14 year old and like I've said before, I'm not a fan of child romances. Once they turn 15, ok, but 12? No.

4. Aang's part in Bato of the Water Tribe

I think it was a great beat in the animated show to have Aang so afraid that Sokka and Katara might leave him for their "real" family - then have them confirm to him that they're with him all the way. The storyline does hammer home how alone in the world Aang feels and his fear that everyone will leave him either because they have 'family' of their own or his path is just too difficult. While the character beat was good to include, I think it's too big of a character beat to be relegated to only a portion of an episode in the live-action. I think if they want to explore Aang's fear of abandonment, they'll need to spend a good deal of time on it not only because it's a big part of him but also because to this day, some fans haven't forgiven Aang for hiding that map - if they want to do it justice, we're going to need more than a quick blurb to understand Aang's motivations and give the audience time to forgive him. 

I'm glad they took Sokka's part of that episode and gave him the spotlight - and the spotlight could remain on celebrating Water Tribe culture rather than having Aang in the background making throwing up faces at everything. I think that the live action can still add in the ideas around Aang's insecurity over Katara and Sokka leaving him to go back to their people, and if they add it into season 2, I think it'll hit even harder after already seeing Bato in that season 1 flashback.

5. Sokka's Strategies

 20 episodes in the animated show gave Sokka a lot of opportunity to come up with unique strategies to win in unexpected ways such as using explosives to 'open' the door to Roku's temple, the ventilation shafts to get the coal to the earth benders in Imprisoned, and him tricking the pirates into fighting Zuko and co. While at first, I thought not having so much of that in the live-action was taking away from Sokka's character, on a re-watch, I realized that they didn't remove it, they actually gave the origin for it. Sokka's character journey in season 1 of the live-action was about him accepting that he could be more than 'just' a big strong warrior to help his people, he was allowed to explore his ingenuity too. It's only after he meets Sai the Mechanist that he starts to come up with plans to get them out of situations or form battle strategies. I think it was a great, subtle, way to show Sokka coming into his own and beginning to come up with great plans alongside his warrior skills.

I know some fans of the OG show absolutely love every side quest - and more screen time in plots that aren't all that important give a lot of space for character 'down time bonding' that a tighter story structure just doesn't have room for. I think that most of the animated show's character beats and lessons in each of their episodes was really good (with a few exceptions - one of which in The Great Divide I think the live action actually took and made much BETTER) but when making an adaptation in a completely different format, stuff is just going to have to be left on the cutting room floor.

I LOVE everything the live action added in it's place (expanding Aang and Zuko's conversation during the Blue Spirit section of episode 6, all the Fire Nation royal family stuff, everything about Gyatzo, and Sokka and Katara's spirit visions) so I'll forgive leaving out some beats from the OG. I still think that several of these storylines will make their way into season 2 in one way or another, so I'm holding off on fully declaring them 'nixed' from the live action.

[hotgirlkorra]

I feel like condensing all of Book 1: Water into 8, hour long episodes and then releasing all of the episodes in one day doesn't work, not only because it doesn't capture the charm of the OG cartoon, but also because it makes first season less episodic. What made me, as a kid, excited for each episode as they aired every Saturday night back when ATLA was airing was the fact that watching every episode felt like I was on the same journey as Aang, Katara, and Sokka. NATLA sadly did not, and it sucks that Netflix missed the mark/didn't realize that.

I never expected the live action to be perfect, but I felt like the directors could make each episode feel less rushed by making 16, half-hour or 45 minute episodes. And perhaps release one or two episodes per week.

[ninacytosis]

I think it's a stretch to say Aang agreed with Pakku during episode 7/8 when he said Katara shouldn't fight. Definitely it was a wrong place wrong time type of situation. Katara and Sokka are the closest thing he has to family, so, of course, he wants to protect them from everything(and I'm including Sokka in this).

Does the live-action have excessive exposure to the lore? Yes. Do some dialogues feel soapy? Not gonna lie, most of them have a weird tone(like they didn't know whether to go full-on drama or full-on cutesy comedy). But as much as I love the original characters, this in an independent adaptation and the characters have slightly different flows of action.

They overemphasized how emotionally and physically unfit Aang was to be the avatar during natla. Like every 30 minutes lmao I was like omggg we get itt he's a lil guy. But analyzing the live action as an independent work, it made sense for him to go "I can't lose you". He lost Gyatso, probably the strongest figure in his life, and saw how much every Avatar had to sacrifice to keep balance. My favorite thing was to see Katara proudly say neither Pakku or Aang could tell her what to do. And of course he wouldn't insist! Because, at the end of the day, Aang respects Katara in every universe lol.

Don't know if this rant was necessary but some of y'all don't have critical thinking skills.... (Also sorry if my english sounds weird, it's my second language).

[leafsfromthevine]

me, watching natla:

episode 1: good!

episode 2: also good? suspicious......

episode 3: ermmm

episode 4: you lost me completely wth

episode 5: okay you're kind of getting me back? but now im scared

episode 6: I HAVE TEARS IN MY EYES (/pos)

episode 7: okay?

episode 8: oh its already over

[dattuff]

If the new showrunner of NATLA changes Albert Kims plan of Kataang endgame just pack the show up. They’re literally the most focal relationship in the series’s. Not only would it destroy the core of the show, it’ll destroy Netflix’s opportunity to do anything else within the world of avatar.

I’ve been very lenient with the show bc I understand the challenges of bringing a 20 episode animated show into an 8 episode live action. I understand corners need to be cut, and things have to be changed and worked around, but changing kataang is literally one of the biggest non negotiable aspects of the show.

[juliawanag]

Decided to rewatch NATLA to properly form my own takes that’s been running through my mind: (I’ll have both things that I like and dislike.) Part 1

SPOILERS!

I like it like a friend from a hundred years ago: 

First and foremost, NATLA predominantly consists of Asian American Pacific Islanders. Good for them for creating a version that is more in their lens and creativity. 

The Bendiiing. All of the elements, except for Earth, are 10/10. I really want it to be more solid, especially on AangvsBumi. It’s not that bad though, so much better than…well u know. I’ll give it an 8/10. 

I rewatched it with a Filipino dub and it’s good, 9/10. Aang VO was convincing as a kid, so either they’re a great actor or a great kid actor. The jokes (Sokka’s sarcasm) hits better on my mother tongue

"You're my friend. You will always be my friend.” 

Avatar state under the ocean 

The costume. The only one that I do agree with everyone else that lacks is Zuko’s scar. They should’ve put prosthetics on the eyebrow. 

Zuko’s hair? Hello? They did a great job. Even though my sister and I sing Ariana Grande song whenever we see them swaying. It’s an integral part of his story, and I loved that they keep it. There’s an East Asian culture that indicates that kind of haircut as a punishment. I remember my History teacher taught me this in eighth grade but I forgot which it was, my bad. And the actor’s such a champ for having that hair IRL. 

My favorite actor performances: Gordon (Aang) superb acting. Liz (Azula). Utkarsh (Bumi). Justin Wong (Chong/SecretTunnelguy) sounds exactly like the character. Made up for my delusional expectation that Dee Bradley Baker would be in this. Ken Leung (Zhao) pisses me off so much, and that means he’s doing a great job. Dallas (Zuko) & Iroh (Paul). DDK's(Ozai) a natural idk if that's acting /j

Was it established in the OG that Katara's intro is a folklore/legend? Because yeah, I don’t mind that it is considered that way in this version. 

AAAAA, the Lieutenant Jee younger casting makes so much sense now! The 41st division is chef kiss. Zuko cryiiiing when he was being banished!? Dallas Lui ate! 

THE HYBRID ANIMALS LOOOK SO GOOD. The ostrich horse blended well with whoever rides them. It doesn’t look CGI to me. MOMO HIS MOMONESS, MOMO OF THE MOMO DYNASTY 

Any Zuko fight choreography (MY FAVORITE CHOREO DALLAS LOOKS FIIIRE). And Aang’s too (Oh hey).

Aang the Hype Man

The fallen Fire Nation ship behind Zukka fighting. (It’s in my notes idk why but I guess background details are a win) 

Aang and Iroh's interactions

NATLA Zuko (I don’t think there’s much of a difference though with the OG lol, and it’s probably because the NATLA directors/producers like Zuko) 

Camera direction 

The Found Family Hug™, what Netflix can do well.

End scene of Episode 1, is very cinematic. I can’t believe TV shows have come this far. I hope employees are paid well. 

The End Theme remains the saaame, and is added with cinematic effects as well.

The folly/sound effect at the start of Episode 2. Why is this the only episode with that flair? 

Creating a grave for Gyatso.

How Ozai’s forced unity/being totalitarian is represented. Reminds me so much of our own government, it amuses me. I know it’s not directly referencing that though. It’s good that they show it early on I guess. With the Fire Nation culty greeting as well. 

On a lighter note: THE AIR SPHERE/BALL whatevah, yes! More of this goofiness. How about instead of being inspired by GOT, NATLA should be inspired by Stranger Things in terms of fantasy + childhood simplicity balanced by this trauma they're going through. (Well, ST lacks worldbuilding cause it’s just normal Earth but anyway) 

Kyoshi Takeoveeer. I hope Roku gets more screen time someday though. Pls pls pls. 

They incorporated the OG character theme songs! Of course! The ones I noticed right away are the FireNation Siblings’. So if you watched OG Avatar and you watched the scene where a mysterious girl joins the infiltration of the FN Royal Palace, you’ll know who she is. 

Sorry not sorry, Daddy Dae Kim is daddying. (Although he did catch me off guard in Zuko’s Agni Kai lmao.) The plot.

The Aang VS Zuko fight! A reference to the Fortune Teller fight. The team did so well. 

Zuko The Master of Disguise Major In Stealing Clothes. Full-time Avatar researcher. 

A fourth wall foreshadows Bumi’s OOC for this version. Jet’s "he’s not like he used to be" in line. I mean they did warn us. 

Another 4th wall is the line “Things shouldn’t be here” referring to the prototype Fire Nation balloon. 

Nice animation with the retelling of Two Lovers legend.

Lu Ten Funeral scene ate. That single teaaaar. I recommend everyone who loves the animation to watch this scene. To feel something idk AHAHAHAH. 

The actors were convincing when interacting with CGI animals. Specifically the badger moles. 

ZUKO AND IROH SCENES! 

CGI’s great did not waste any money 

In Katara’s flashback. She experienced this in her present form. And when she was so scared to go to the place where her mom was killed, she immediately changed back to her young self. Like, I wanted that so bad when I was watching the flashback. I thought, this shouldn’t be the present-day Katara. There should be a moment when she switches back to young again. And they did. 

Big Iroh-like moment that makes you cry as an adult when Gyatso was reassuring Aang that the genoc*de wasn’t his fault, and shouldn’t blame himself. Ahh, and the subtle sadness as they say goodbye. 

Random eye drawing from Zuko. He’s an artist AHAHAHAH. Okay, I forgot which episode. Sincerely, unreliable narrator. 

Showing Zuko's scar when Aang says "Do you even know that lives are at stake". 

Basically every scene/plot they 1 by 1 copy from the show. Did not disappoint (well, maybe because OG showrunners were there). Blue Spirit, Siege of the North. 

Zuko’s room. I love me some character bedrooms. He’s like a TV Sitcom character for that. 

Gaang teamwork scenes! It works and it's dynamic. 

Hahn as an honorable man? Yes. I don’t like love triangles so much. I like me some camaraderie. And Ian (Sokka) acted well for feeling included and seen as Hahn recognized his value as warrior/intel. 

Zutara fight scene.

Two points that I don’t know if I like but it makes me realize some stuff:

Meek Katara. I know there are specific plot points that Feisty Katara is needed. But she was always nurturing, so I think it makes sense she’s…meek? That Jet scene explains it. Maybe because I relate to her being a log AHAHAHAH. But yeah, uh, I do not, ironically, have strong feelings against that water down.

Angry Bumi. IDK how to feel about him tbh. I always think Bumi is…harsh like that. Almost scary. But yeah, he never blames Aang. Still, it doesn’t feel out of place here. He will return anyway so he’s not this one-dimensional character that is only angry at his friend (hopefully). I never thought of how Bumi would actually feel. And that he will be upset, and now it’s sad because that’s like your friend when you were twelve years old and you wonder where he’s been all this time, and if he’s alive. And..war..never made it any better to process that emotion. So, we got two versions, one that is cautious and then eventually welcomes him, and another who's completely angry and blames a literal kid that he does not know the pain (from the war). Too real, and I personally don’t mind. 

[botherkupo]

You know, I get ppl are annoyed natla Katara never actually trained with Pakku for the whole “too easy” blah blah. But also I actually really love that Katara becomes skilled through learning from the southern waterbender scroll — her people’s form of bending — and also by watching other benders from different elements

A lot of what was holding Katara back was the trauma woven into her bending — both personal and generational. She was always a natural and basically a prodigy in the cartoon. That hasn’t really changed. It’s just in this show they wanted to emphasize she was the one, not lack of a master, holding herself back with her fear and pain

And is it really any different from the original benders? They learned from watching the moon’s push and pull on the ocean. Katara learns from her ancestor’s scroll and through battle experience

Sure, I would have loved to have seen more development of her bending/realising she’s a master. I’ve mentioned as much before. I also think the actress in general just doesn’t have much “grit” to her (but I’m hoping she will get better. Like I think she’s a great Katara, but I didn’t like everything about her interpretation.) But I also understand 8-episode max limitations and can deal.

Anyway, I thought it was kinda cool that ppl in the NWT recognized her skill and the way she created new bending moves

Water is the element of change. Katara truly encapsulated that by starting from nothing and building herself up until she can confidently say she is a master. Definitely not on Pakku’s level, snd I don’t think the show disputes that either. But she is a master in her own right and has things she can teach others.

[aanglican]

lists of changes in natla that make no sense vs are actually good:

the nonsensical

yue and hahn are not betrothed → yue has no duty to her tribe represented by her betrothal to hahn. i don’t really care about her being a waterbender or a priestess but hmmm why go as far as to do this? her whole character was about duty and sacrifice for the greater good.

katara not being the one to cause aang’s discovery

the winter solstice. i understand why there’s little roku (having him around more means the topic of the comet’s return will come up, which the writers want to avoid unless they get confirmation for s2) but hei bai? we spend his and roku’s episode with koh the face stealer, wan shi tong, and the three tailed fox instead. and for what?

kyoshi narrating the intro. god why. what was wrong with katara telling her own war story? who in the crew likes kyoshi so much as to do this?

aang not waterbending in a season dedicated to the element of water 🗿

the nwt arc being shortened (thanks for the 8 eps, netflix) and pakku not training katara before the attack by the fire nation

the good

the 41st division reveal AHHHHH *throws things around*

watching ozai play mind games with both his children and seeing him in the same frame as iroh, actually interacting with him

an earth kingdom soldier confronting iroh over his crimes at the 600 day siege of ba sing se… we needed that so bad, END THAT (self-forgiving) FRAUD!

remixing king of omashu + northern air temple + jet in one episode. it was fun and idgaf what anyone else says.

king bumi being as whimsical as he is resentful & showing us the bitterness that comes with age and a century of warring

the mayor of kyoshi island being suki’s mother & seeing the consequences of its isolationist nature on the people, especially suki

azula shown taking over omashu in the finale

the prologue. slay.

[zbeez-outlet]

The NATLA is removing the Day of Black Sun Invasion and I’ll tell you why:

Where’s Haru?

Disregarding the disservice to Katara’s character by removing “Imprisoned”, there’s a pretty important gap that Haru, his father, and their people fill in the show.

They make up about half of the invasion force foot soldiers and operate the centipede-like tanks that are powered by earth bending. Their involvement is vital for the invasion arc and for future diplomatic purposes because for the first time in a century, the different nations are working together.

The Swamp

They are definitely taking out “The Swamp” from season 2, there’s no reason to repeat Sokka and Katara seeing their worst memories or other visions when they already do that in the Spirit World with Aang in season 1.

Not going to the swamp means they won’t become allies with the plant water benders, so less benders to operate the submarines.

So that’s two major allies likely removed from the show and cutting the invasion forces in half. No earth benders for tanks or the front lines and no extra water benders for the submarines or Huu for the giant vine monster assist.

Sokka’s relationship with Hakoda

First, HAKODA WOULD NEVER

It really makes me so mad what they changed with Hakoda. Sokka wasn’t left behind because he wasn’t skilled or talented or trusted, it was because he was just 13 and needed to take care of Katara.

Hakoda and Sokka’s relationship is built on trust, mutual admiration, similar tactical mindsets, and familial strength. They gave Sokka daddy issues he didn’t even have by failing his ice dodging test (which he passes with flying colors in the original), but I’m not getting into that.

The problem here is they set up no groundwork for Hakoda to trust Sokka to actually take over the invasion, if it happens, which is unlikely at this point.

Wan Shi Tong in the Spirit World and the Library

This is the big one, I’m convinced they’re removing Wan Shi Tong’s Library for a few reasons.

One, Zhao didn’t get his information about Tui and La from the library. He got it from the Fire Nation archives, which doesn’t really make sense. Why would they have information on Water Tribe history or legends? But whatever, this means he never went to the library and never burned the information on the Fire Nation.

Two, the sun dial that Sokka uses in the library to discover the solar eclipse that temporarily negates Fire bending is now in the Fire Nation. We see Ozai looking at it to determine the placement of Sozin’s comet at the end of the season 1. How is Sokka going to figure out the eclipse when the team isn’t even supposed to be in the Fire Nation at all in season 2?

Three, the library can only exist in the physical world if Wan Shi Tong is also in the physical world because he keeps it tethered there physically. That was his sacrifice to share his knowledge, he couldn’t return to the spirit world. Now, they’ll probably change the lore to make up for this like they have so unnecessarily with other things, but it all feels very messy and unplanned.

So, without the library, what else changes? Appa’s kidnapping, they won’t have time for it. This causes other issues, but I’m going to stick specifically to what it has to do with the invasion.

Protecting Appa is the reason the Kyoshi Worriers get captured by Azula, Suki ends up in the Boiling Rock prison, and Azula and co. get the disguises they need to infiltrate Ba Sing Se. Being undercover is how Azula finds out about the invasion and was able to warn Ozai so it was unsuccessful.

Are there narrative workarounds here? Probably, but not in a way that works with their limitations that I can see.

Pacing of the Show

They have no time to actually do the invasion.

Assuming they fix everything I mentioned above either in season 2 or off screen, their pacing is way too rushed to be able to reasonably fit in the invasion and the final battle.

Each season will be 8 episodes because that’s the Netflix formula, I highly doubt they’ll change it. It makes zero sense to do a massive battle halfway through season 3 that should take up two episodes and then just one or two episodes later is the big finale.

And it’s not like they could combine the two fights when the point of one is for the fire benders to have no bending and the conflict of the other is that fire benders are 100x stronger.

With these odds, it’s far more likely they’re removing it to have more time for the main plot. What do you all think? Let me know in the comments!

And if you want to see my full review, find it here.