Avatar season 2 episode 5: Avatar Day
Still watching Avatar! Here are some thoughts on season 2 episode 5:
Avatar Day:
1. Setting: a rocky coastline, with green meadows and pine forest leading down to a bit of tableland and then abrupt cliffs at the water's edge. I believe we may still be in the southern hemisphere (or at least the tropics), which excuses all the green. (Pine trees are always green; it's just that in winter, they are often also covered with snow. *grin*) The Gaang are sleeping in a cleared meadow, where there has clearly been some recent logging; Katara and Sokka have laid their sleeping bags on huge, bare stumps, while Aang is sleeping on Appa's foreleg. (Socute!)
2. Sokka is so oblivious a spider has spun a web across his open mouth! And then Momo tries to catch the spider and a fly tangled in the web. Yes, Momo, you need to be more sensitive to Sokka's boundaries. *dies laughing* (Side note: Sokka spends so much of his time drawn slightly deformed or with weird expressions as part of his comic relief role that it's often a slight shock when he goes from contortions to a serious face and I realize he's fairly good-looking.)
3. Random attack by five Fire Nation soldiers on komodo-rhinos. Okay, we have the leader with a shaved head and topknot who bends fire, the old guy with a receding hairline and a cleaver on a stick, the Yu-Yan archer with the Batman face paint, the black guy with a shaved head and braid (and no shirt) who throws weighted chains, and the masked and armored guy with the explosives. They are oddly individual for Fire Nation soldiers. (I was trying to figure out how the masked guy ignites his dynamite sticks, and I think what he does is flick off a little metal ring that strikes a spark as it flies off the fuse. Possibly his gloves are also made of something rough and spark-producing, but I think it's mostly the metal cap thingies.)
You know, I am confused about the black guy in this troupe. The Water Tribe are clearly darker-skinned than the people of the Earth Kingdom and the Fire Nation, but I am not at all sure where black people are meant to fit into this world's schema. Maybe, since the Fire Nation is a volcanic archipelago, there are some formerly isolated islands whose population developed darker skin before the Fire Lords unified the country?
4. Topknot leader guy has feathers and bones in his hair. Also, earrings, a nose ring, and beads in his mustache. Clearly these five soldiers are the Avatar-world equivalent of a biker gang. *grin*
5. New setting: we have moved up to a high meadow at the edge of the pine forest. A circular village sits near a cliff (I cannot tell if the cliff borders the ocean, or just a mistily distant valley; the scenery is kind of blurry -- ETA: it's the ocean), and there is a small wooden way-house of some sort at the side of the road that leads down to the village. Appa is snoozing out of sight behind a screen of trees. (The forest backgrounds in this episode have been gorgeous so far, especially when the lighting on the needles changed with the dynamite explosion. That was very pretty.)
6. Aha! The Water Tribes have different money from the Earth Kingdom. But the Earth Kingdom merchant accepts Katara's coin with no trouble, so they must use the same materials, or have a good exchange system. Since the Water Tribes seem isolated, an exchange system seems unlikely. Therefore, all money must be made of the same materials, so its equivalent value is easily calculated. Metal is the most likely material; Katara's coin looked silvery, which is good corroborative evidence. Also, her coin had a hole in the center, which is more an Asian thing than a Western thing. (I am not sure why coins with holes didn't catch on in Europe or North America. They're very useful, since you can string them on a cord instead of having to keep them in a pouch. But I am not used to seeing holes in anything besides old-school subway and turnpike tokens.)
7. That was a very stereotypically gay moment Sokka just had, staring at the scantily-dressed runner with the torch. Or maybe he's just very secure in his sexuality. Or the Water Tribes... well, they clearly have very defined gender roles, though more at the North Pole than the South Pole, but what do we know about their definitions of sexuality? We know Katara likes boys and Sokka likes girls, but I don't think they have said anything that rules out bisexuality or homosexual relationships that exist alongside heterosexual marriage. Clearly heterosexual marriage is a big deal for the Water Tribes, what with the engagement necklaces and all, but if marriages are arranged for political or familial reasons, there may be outlets for informal emotionally-based relationships alongside the formal marriages.
Of course, this is an American kids' show, so insofar as there are any canonically endorsed on-screen relationships, they will, of course, be heterosexual. *sigh*
8. Randomly, I am amused that Kyoshi and Roku are grim and serious, while Aang's giant wooden image has a doofy rictus grin. Also, it's a very accurate giant wooden image, considering he's never visited this town before. I suppose his wanted posters must be getting around.
9. New setting: tree-filled city on a hill with a tower at the center, at the edge of forest. The trees are green despite being deciduous. Also, there is a branch with fruit on it in the town! (Peaches, I think, or apricots.) This is egregious seasonal fail -- Zuko and Iroh are in the northern hemisphere in... oh, probably late February. Early March at the absolute latest. There should not be any fruit at this time of year. I don't care how short and mild the winters are; you don't get fruit until summer.
10. Zuko, stealing is still not the answer. Especially not from ordinary hardworking people. *thwaps him*
11. Hey, a lizard-bird thing in the trees! This one is different from the pirate captain's parrot-lizard, which was more bird than lizard; this creature is mostly lizard, with tiny wings. (I think maybe it is based on a chameleon?)
12. It looks as though Zuko and Iroh are camping in the remnants of a stone shed, house, or bandits' hideout. I am amused that Iroh is distracted from his moral disapproval by how tasty the food is. *grin*
13. When the torch hits the Aang-figure in the right eye, Aang squints his own eye shut in a sympathetic wince. Aww. *hugs him*
14. Katara, I don't care how annoyed you are, how much you are trying to spare Aang's feelings, or how much you want to make people see the error of their ways. Stop jumping into things without thinking them through! You already got us into one morality episode that way; are you trying to do it again? (See, this sort of thing is why I keep reading her so young. Note that she and Aang exhibit the exact same behavior pattern here.)
15. If it's not fair for the townspeople to question the Avatar's honor, why is it fair for Katara to question theirs? Seriously, why? *thwaps Katara*
16. The merchant will take Water Tribe money, but the town government will not. The question is, is that because the merchant has better networks and thus a way to convert or spend it, which the town lacks, or is the town's mayor just refusing the money so he'll have an excuse to keep Aang locked up? Aaand, cut to commercial break.
17. You know, that stocks was clearly designed for adults. Aang could slip his hands right out if he wanted, and I think his head might slide out too. Sokka is right that escaping would be easy.
18. Timeline info! Kyoshi's confrontation with Chin the Conqueror happened 'over three hundred years ago.' And then presumably she lived another hundred years or so, after which Roku lived about a hundred years, after which Aang lived twelve years and then got himself frozen in an iceberg. That is my rough timeline based on information so far. I will refine it as more information is revealed.
ETA: Chin died 370 years ago, according to the Kyoshi Island leader (Oyagi? Oyaji? I wish Katara enunciated better!), so she probably then lived... mmm... another hundred fifty to a hundred seventy years, until 220 to 200 years ago, after which Roku lived until 112 years ago (making him eighty to a hundred when he died), after which Aang lived twelve years and then got frozen in the iceberg. *wants to see the season 3 episode about Roku and Sozin, for reference*
19. Sokka the great detective? *sporfle* I love how Aang totally knows how to prod Sokka into helping out, and then mocks him via gestures while Sokka has his eyes closed. Also, Katara uses a sibling's years of familiarity to dredge up the incident with the stolen seal jerky; the hand on Sokka's shoulder is loving and supportive, and her words are neutral-to-approving, while at the same time her tone of voice makes it clear to Aang and the audience that she's teasing him. (Teasing with love, but teasing nonetheless.)
20. I suppose polar leopards eat seals and the otter-penguins. Speaking of which, I am very curious about the arctic and Antarctic ecology of this world. Like, do they have otter-penguins at the North Pole? Are the seals at the South Pole turtle-seals, or just normal non-hybrid seals? If they are hybrid seals -- which is possible, since the penguins are hybrids but are not referred to as such -- what is the other animal involved?
21. Sokka's detective hat! *dies laughing* No, seriously, I am dead of hilarity over here.
22. Oooh, armored wagon for transporting money. I like it. Though I am kind of baffled at the way the merchant/banker/tax collector/whatever is fondling his coins. Okay, unlike the poor couple whose food Zuko stole back in the town on the hill, this idiot can probably afford to lose some money. (I am not quite sure what Zuko thinks he and Iroh will do with said money -- it looks to be all gold coins, which would be very suspicious for two refugees to have -- but whatever. It is much better to play Robin Hood than to be a common thug.) Also, I like that when Zuko reaches down into the wagon with both swords in one hand, you can see that he's still holding two blades. And hey, I think he took the ostrich horse as well! (Come to that, there seemed to only be one horse, but there are two empty harnesses. Art goof?)
23. Sokka as Sherlock Holmes is too cute for words. He has a dragon-shaped bubble pipe. How can you get better than that? Also, I am extremely amused that as soon as he tells Katara about the stones, she puts the conclusion together before he can announce it. They're both immature in their own ways, but they're not stupid. Short-sighted, yes. Naïve, yes. Stupid, no.
24. Um, random prison dude on a chain? WTF?
25. Yay, Kyoshi Island! The islanders are so cute, and wow, suddenly the foam-at-the-mouth guy has a hint of actual personality. *hands him a hand towel*
26. Aww, Sokka wanted to see Suki again. Whether as a friend or as something more, I do not really care; that boy needs human connections who don't just see him as comic relief. (Though, admittedly, 'doofus' forms a large part of his personality.) *pets Sokka* It's okay, I think you see her later this season, and in season three you get to rescue her from prison and have heavily implied sex!
27. Yay Katara for solving the mystery! *dies laughing at Sokka's indignation* Katara, you are not my favorite (and I am leery of your tendency toward moral indignation followed by rash actions), but I love you to pieces nonetheless, and there are times I am amazed you didn't strangle Sokka to death years ago. *thwaps Sokka for being a glory hog*
28. Aang makes friends with the prisoners. Awww. And hey, I was right; he can slip right out of that portable stocks (headboard? I dunno, I am not up on medieval torture/punishment paraphernalia terminology) any time he wants.
29. And they have three pieces of circumstantial evidence that add up to an exoneration for Kyoshi. Yay! (Also, Sokka? You totally deserved getting brained with your own pipe. Watch where you swing your arms, mister!)
30. Okay, that is one broken legal system, that is all I have to say. (You know, if this 'justice' code was created by Chin, he could not have been a very good person.) And cut to commercial break.
31. Aang, you suck at this not lying business. (I bet if he'd been given leave to make up a complete fabrication about Kyoshi and Chin, the way he did for the Zhang and Gan Jin tribes, he would have been a lot smoother.)
32. Awww, Zuko stole Iroh a tea set. That is... you know, he's totally missing the 'stealing is wrong' idea, but at least he's trying to be kind to his uncle? I suppose his thinking is that since he has no honor until he captures Aang, it doesn't matter what he does in the meantime. Poor, silly, mixed-up boy.
33. Oh dear. Katara, that's not a horrible plan, but... *winces* Sokka can pull off the Kyoshi warrior getup. Aang? Not so much, especially not when he tries out a squeaky stereotypical girly voice. This is tripping my embarrassment squick so hard.
34. Dust-storm and darkness! And when it clears, Aang's not home anymore; we're dealing with Kyoshi. I am fascinated by the form reincarnation takes for the Avatar; instead of past selves becoming part of the next life, each past self seems to still exist as a separate entity in the spirit world, able to interact with the living world on occasion if the current Avatar allows or invites such intervention.
35. Kyoshi doesn't just have big feet. She's tall, too. (And her voice is pretty deep for a woman. Aang was way off with his attempted impression.) I like the brown, shadowy tint to this flashback narrative, sort of like the shadow that fell over the town when she appeared. I am also amused at the height contrast between her and Chin, Chin's WTF expression and delicately pinched fingers as Kyoshi splits the peninsula off, and the way Chin essentially kills himself by pitching a tantrum on the edge of the newly created cliff instead of running away like a sensible person. (Kyoshi says she killed him. I disagree; it was a joint effort, and unintentional on both sides.)
Randomly, as the map turns dark green with Chin's conquests, it looks like he failed to capture Ba Sing Se -- at least, I am assuming that set of concentric irregular circles in the northeast is meant to be Ba Sing Se. I wonder if the city's defenses were that good even back then, or if Chin left it alone because it's the seat of the Earth King. On a vaguely related note, it's interesting that the Earth Kingdom seems more... either federated or feudal, I suppose, than the Fire Nation. The Fire Nation has centralized from feudalism to an absolute monarchy that also has significant elements of totalitarian military dictatorship. The Earth Kingdom, in contrast, is a jumbled mess.
36. Wah, Zuko and Iroh have split up. I suppose this is a way of giving Zuko some character development, when he doesn't have his uncle around to rely on, but still. They are so sweet together, and they need each other so much. *mopes*
37. *stares at the wheel of punishment* Seriously, what the hell kind of justice system is this?!
38. Aang's pretty good with those war fans, I must say. And they do seem like air-based weapons much more than earth-based weapons. Interesting that Kyoshi, who was born an earthbender, used them as her signature weapon.
39. Aang knocks the cleaver guy off the cliff into the sea. Katara makes the chain guy wrap himself up, then knocks him off his rhino. Sokka tricks the archer into setting the masked guy's explosives on fire all at once. (And he gets his boomerang back! So this is the source of that quote. *snickers*) The siblings take out the archer jointly. (I am very impressed by how accurately Sokka threw that dragon pipe -- speaking of which, are there any stories where he and Mai talk shop on projectile weapons? Because that could be very cool.) Then Aang takes out the firebending leader.
Aang is still using air unless he's absolutely forced to use water. This could cause trouble later on. Also, after just watching Kyoshi play around with wind, magma -- which is earth and fire -- and presumably water, to help move the dislodged peninsula out to sea, Aang's one-note repertoire looks like a huge failure of imagination on his part.)
40. "This is by far the worst town we've ever been to." Sokka, truer words have never been spoken. But it was not the worst episode I have seen, so, you know, I cannot find it in me to be too sympathetic. *wry* On the other hand, I wish the thread about the prisoners had not been dropped. I mean, were they genuine criminals who deserved to be locked up, or were they innocent or relatively innocent men who ran afoul of this town's utterly broken legal system? I am annoyed at Aang for forgetting them the moment he himself was out of danger. (Or maybe they escaped in the chaos surrounding the Rough Rhinos' attack? I could handwave the issue that way, I suppose.)
-----
And that is the end of season 2 disc 1. I will send it back to Netflix on Monday, and hopefully have disc 2 on Wednesday. (And if not Wednesday, definitely on Thursday.) *anticipates*
This entry was cross-posted from http://edenfalling.dreamwidth.org/419806.html. You may comment here or there.
Avatar Day:
1. Setting: a rocky coastline, with green meadows and pine forest leading down to a bit of tableland and then abrupt cliffs at the water's edge. I believe we may still be in the southern hemisphere (or at least the tropics), which excuses all the green. (Pine trees are always green; it's just that in winter, they are often also covered with snow. *grin*) The Gaang are sleeping in a cleared meadow, where there has clearly been some recent logging; Katara and Sokka have laid their sleeping bags on huge, bare stumps, while Aang is sleeping on Appa's foreleg. (Socute!)
2. Sokka is so oblivious a spider has spun a web across his open mouth! And then Momo tries to catch the spider and a fly tangled in the web. Yes, Momo, you need to be more sensitive to Sokka's boundaries. *dies laughing* (Side note: Sokka spends so much of his time drawn slightly deformed or with weird expressions as part of his comic relief role that it's often a slight shock when he goes from contortions to a serious face and I realize he's fairly good-looking.)
3. Random attack by five Fire Nation soldiers on komodo-rhinos. Okay, we have the leader with a shaved head and topknot who bends fire, the old guy with a receding hairline and a cleaver on a stick, the Yu-Yan archer with the Batman face paint, the black guy with a shaved head and braid (and no shirt) who throws weighted chains, and the masked and armored guy with the explosives. They are oddly individual for Fire Nation soldiers. (I was trying to figure out how the masked guy ignites his dynamite sticks, and I think what he does is flick off a little metal ring that strikes a spark as it flies off the fuse. Possibly his gloves are also made of something rough and spark-producing, but I think it's mostly the metal cap thingies.)
You know, I am confused about the black guy in this troupe. The Water Tribe are clearly darker-skinned than the people of the Earth Kingdom and the Fire Nation, but I am not at all sure where black people are meant to fit into this world's schema. Maybe, since the Fire Nation is a volcanic archipelago, there are some formerly isolated islands whose population developed darker skin before the Fire Lords unified the country?
4. Topknot leader guy has feathers and bones in his hair. Also, earrings, a nose ring, and beads in his mustache. Clearly these five soldiers are the Avatar-world equivalent of a biker gang. *grin*
5. New setting: we have moved up to a high meadow at the edge of the pine forest. A circular village sits near a cliff (I cannot tell if the cliff borders the ocean, or just a mistily distant valley; the scenery is kind of blurry -- ETA: it's the ocean), and there is a small wooden way-house of some sort at the side of the road that leads down to the village. Appa is snoozing out of sight behind a screen of trees. (The forest backgrounds in this episode have been gorgeous so far, especially when the lighting on the needles changed with the dynamite explosion. That was very pretty.)
6. Aha! The Water Tribes have different money from the Earth Kingdom. But the Earth Kingdom merchant accepts Katara's coin with no trouble, so they must use the same materials, or have a good exchange system. Since the Water Tribes seem isolated, an exchange system seems unlikely. Therefore, all money must be made of the same materials, so its equivalent value is easily calculated. Metal is the most likely material; Katara's coin looked silvery, which is good corroborative evidence. Also, her coin had a hole in the center, which is more an Asian thing than a Western thing. (I am not sure why coins with holes didn't catch on in Europe or North America. They're very useful, since you can string them on a cord instead of having to keep them in a pouch. But I am not used to seeing holes in anything besides old-school subway and turnpike tokens.)
7. That was a very stereotypically gay moment Sokka just had, staring at the scantily-dressed runner with the torch. Or maybe he's just very secure in his sexuality. Or the Water Tribes... well, they clearly have very defined gender roles, though more at the North Pole than the South Pole, but what do we know about their definitions of sexuality? We know Katara likes boys and Sokka likes girls, but I don't think they have said anything that rules out bisexuality or homosexual relationships that exist alongside heterosexual marriage. Clearly heterosexual marriage is a big deal for the Water Tribes, what with the engagement necklaces and all, but if marriages are arranged for political or familial reasons, there may be outlets for informal emotionally-based relationships alongside the formal marriages.
Of course, this is an American kids' show, so insofar as there are any canonically endorsed on-screen relationships, they will, of course, be heterosexual. *sigh*
8. Randomly, I am amused that Kyoshi and Roku are grim and serious, while Aang's giant wooden image has a doofy rictus grin. Also, it's a very accurate giant wooden image, considering he's never visited this town before. I suppose his wanted posters must be getting around.
9. New setting: tree-filled city on a hill with a tower at the center, at the edge of forest. The trees are green despite being deciduous. Also, there is a branch with fruit on it in the town! (Peaches, I think, or apricots.) This is egregious seasonal fail -- Zuko and Iroh are in the northern hemisphere in... oh, probably late February. Early March at the absolute latest. There should not be any fruit at this time of year. I don't care how short and mild the winters are; you don't get fruit until summer.
10. Zuko, stealing is still not the answer. Especially not from ordinary hardworking people. *thwaps him*
11. Hey, a lizard-bird thing in the trees! This one is different from the pirate captain's parrot-lizard, which was more bird than lizard; this creature is mostly lizard, with tiny wings. (I think maybe it is based on a chameleon?)
12. It looks as though Zuko and Iroh are camping in the remnants of a stone shed, house, or bandits' hideout. I am amused that Iroh is distracted from his moral disapproval by how tasty the food is. *grin*
13. When the torch hits the Aang-figure in the right eye, Aang squints his own eye shut in a sympathetic wince. Aww. *hugs him*
14. Katara, I don't care how annoyed you are, how much you are trying to spare Aang's feelings, or how much you want to make people see the error of their ways. Stop jumping into things without thinking them through! You already got us into one morality episode that way; are you trying to do it again? (See, this sort of thing is why I keep reading her so young. Note that she and Aang exhibit the exact same behavior pattern here.)
15. If it's not fair for the townspeople to question the Avatar's honor, why is it fair for Katara to question theirs? Seriously, why? *thwaps Katara*
16. The merchant will take Water Tribe money, but the town government will not. The question is, is that because the merchant has better networks and thus a way to convert or spend it, which the town lacks, or is the town's mayor just refusing the money so he'll have an excuse to keep Aang locked up? Aaand, cut to commercial break.
17. You know, that stocks was clearly designed for adults. Aang could slip his hands right out if he wanted, and I think his head might slide out too. Sokka is right that escaping would be easy.
18. Timeline info! Kyoshi's confrontation with Chin the Conqueror happened 'over three hundred years ago.' And then presumably she lived another hundred years or so, after which Roku lived about a hundred years, after which Aang lived twelve years and then got himself frozen in an iceberg. That is my rough timeline based on information so far. I will refine it as more information is revealed.
ETA: Chin died 370 years ago, according to the Kyoshi Island leader (Oyagi? Oyaji? I wish Katara enunciated better!), so she probably then lived... mmm... another hundred fifty to a hundred seventy years, until 220 to 200 years ago, after which Roku lived until 112 years ago (making him eighty to a hundred when he died), after which Aang lived twelve years and then got frozen in the iceberg. *wants to see the season 3 episode about Roku and Sozin, for reference*
19. Sokka the great detective? *sporfle* I love how Aang totally knows how to prod Sokka into helping out, and then mocks him via gestures while Sokka has his eyes closed. Also, Katara uses a sibling's years of familiarity to dredge up the incident with the stolen seal jerky; the hand on Sokka's shoulder is loving and supportive, and her words are neutral-to-approving, while at the same time her tone of voice makes it clear to Aang and the audience that she's teasing him. (Teasing with love, but teasing nonetheless.)
20. I suppose polar leopards eat seals and the otter-penguins. Speaking of which, I am very curious about the arctic and Antarctic ecology of this world. Like, do they have otter-penguins at the North Pole? Are the seals at the South Pole turtle-seals, or just normal non-hybrid seals? If they are hybrid seals -- which is possible, since the penguins are hybrids but are not referred to as such -- what is the other animal involved?
21. Sokka's detective hat! *dies laughing* No, seriously, I am dead of hilarity over here.
22. Oooh, armored wagon for transporting money. I like it. Though I am kind of baffled at the way the merchant/banker/tax collector/whatever is fondling his coins. Okay, unlike the poor couple whose food Zuko stole back in the town on the hill, this idiot can probably afford to lose some money. (I am not quite sure what Zuko thinks he and Iroh will do with said money -- it looks to be all gold coins, which would be very suspicious for two refugees to have -- but whatever. It is much better to play Robin Hood than to be a common thug.) Also, I like that when Zuko reaches down into the wagon with both swords in one hand, you can see that he's still holding two blades. And hey, I think he took the ostrich horse as well! (Come to that, there seemed to only be one horse, but there are two empty harnesses. Art goof?)
23. Sokka as Sherlock Holmes is too cute for words. He has a dragon-shaped bubble pipe. How can you get better than that? Also, I am extremely amused that as soon as he tells Katara about the stones, she puts the conclusion together before he can announce it. They're both immature in their own ways, but they're not stupid. Short-sighted, yes. Naïve, yes. Stupid, no.
24. Um, random prison dude on a chain? WTF?
25. Yay, Kyoshi Island! The islanders are so cute, and wow, suddenly the foam-at-the-mouth guy has a hint of actual personality. *hands him a hand towel*
26. Aww, Sokka wanted to see Suki again. Whether as a friend or as something more, I do not really care; that boy needs human connections who don't just see him as comic relief. (Though, admittedly, 'doofus' forms a large part of his personality.) *pets Sokka* It's okay, I think you see her later this season, and in season three you get to rescue her from prison and have heavily implied sex!
27. Yay Katara for solving the mystery! *dies laughing at Sokka's indignation* Katara, you are not my favorite (and I am leery of your tendency toward moral indignation followed by rash actions), but I love you to pieces nonetheless, and there are times I am amazed you didn't strangle Sokka to death years ago. *thwaps Sokka for being a glory hog*
28. Aang makes friends with the prisoners. Awww. And hey, I was right; he can slip right out of that portable stocks (headboard? I dunno, I am not up on medieval torture/punishment paraphernalia terminology) any time he wants.
29. And they have three pieces of circumstantial evidence that add up to an exoneration for Kyoshi. Yay! (Also, Sokka? You totally deserved getting brained with your own pipe. Watch where you swing your arms, mister!)
30. Okay, that is one broken legal system, that is all I have to say. (You know, if this 'justice' code was created by Chin, he could not have been a very good person.) And cut to commercial break.
31. Aang, you suck at this not lying business. (I bet if he'd been given leave to make up a complete fabrication about Kyoshi and Chin, the way he did for the Zhang and Gan Jin tribes, he would have been a lot smoother.)
32. Awww, Zuko stole Iroh a tea set. That is... you know, he's totally missing the 'stealing is wrong' idea, but at least he's trying to be kind to his uncle? I suppose his thinking is that since he has no honor until he captures Aang, it doesn't matter what he does in the meantime. Poor, silly, mixed-up boy.
33. Oh dear. Katara, that's not a horrible plan, but... *winces* Sokka can pull off the Kyoshi warrior getup. Aang? Not so much, especially not when he tries out a squeaky stereotypical girly voice. This is tripping my embarrassment squick so hard.
34. Dust-storm and darkness! And when it clears, Aang's not home anymore; we're dealing with Kyoshi. I am fascinated by the form reincarnation takes for the Avatar; instead of past selves becoming part of the next life, each past self seems to still exist as a separate entity in the spirit world, able to interact with the living world on occasion if the current Avatar allows or invites such intervention.
35. Kyoshi doesn't just have big feet. She's tall, too. (And her voice is pretty deep for a woman. Aang was way off with his attempted impression.) I like the brown, shadowy tint to this flashback narrative, sort of like the shadow that fell over the town when she appeared. I am also amused at the height contrast between her and Chin, Chin's WTF expression and delicately pinched fingers as Kyoshi splits the peninsula off, and the way Chin essentially kills himself by pitching a tantrum on the edge of the newly created cliff instead of running away like a sensible person. (Kyoshi says she killed him. I disagree; it was a joint effort, and unintentional on both sides.)
Randomly, as the map turns dark green with Chin's conquests, it looks like he failed to capture Ba Sing Se -- at least, I am assuming that set of concentric irregular circles in the northeast is meant to be Ba Sing Se. I wonder if the city's defenses were that good even back then, or if Chin left it alone because it's the seat of the Earth King. On a vaguely related note, it's interesting that the Earth Kingdom seems more... either federated or feudal, I suppose, than the Fire Nation. The Fire Nation has centralized from feudalism to an absolute monarchy that also has significant elements of totalitarian military dictatorship. The Earth Kingdom, in contrast, is a jumbled mess.
36. Wah, Zuko and Iroh have split up. I suppose this is a way of giving Zuko some character development, when he doesn't have his uncle around to rely on, but still. They are so sweet together, and they need each other so much. *mopes*
37. *stares at the wheel of punishment* Seriously, what the hell kind of justice system is this?!
38. Aang's pretty good with those war fans, I must say. And they do seem like air-based weapons much more than earth-based weapons. Interesting that Kyoshi, who was born an earthbender, used them as her signature weapon.
39. Aang knocks the cleaver guy off the cliff into the sea. Katara makes the chain guy wrap himself up, then knocks him off his rhino. Sokka tricks the archer into setting the masked guy's explosives on fire all at once. (And he gets his boomerang back! So this is the source of that quote. *snickers*) The siblings take out the archer jointly. (I am very impressed by how accurately Sokka threw that dragon pipe -- speaking of which, are there any stories where he and Mai talk shop on projectile weapons? Because that could be very cool.) Then Aang takes out the firebending leader.
Aang is still using air unless he's absolutely forced to use water. This could cause trouble later on. Also, after just watching Kyoshi play around with wind, magma -- which is earth and fire -- and presumably water, to help move the dislodged peninsula out to sea, Aang's one-note repertoire looks like a huge failure of imagination on his part.)
40. "This is by far the worst town we've ever been to." Sokka, truer words have never been spoken. But it was not the worst episode I have seen, so, you know, I cannot find it in me to be too sympathetic. *wry* On the other hand, I wish the thread about the prisoners had not been dropped. I mean, were they genuine criminals who deserved to be locked up, or were they innocent or relatively innocent men who ran afoul of this town's utterly broken legal system? I am annoyed at Aang for forgetting them the moment he himself was out of danger. (Or maybe they escaped in the chaos surrounding the Rough Rhinos' attack? I could handwave the issue that way, I suppose.)
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And that is the end of season 2 disc 1. I will send it back to Netflix on Monday, and hopefully have disc 2 on Wednesday. (And if not Wednesday, definitely on Thursday.) *anticipates*
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