Review: Avatar: the Last Airbender - The Search, Part Three by Gene Luen Yang
Avatar: the Last Airbender - The Search, Part Three
by Gene Luen Yang, Michael Dante DiMartino, and Bryan Konietzko
Aang travels to the spirit world to bargain with the Mother of Faces, a powerful being with the ability to change the faces and identities of others. She reveals the whereabouts of Ursa, enabling her children to find her. While Zuko seeks only to confirm his mother is happy in her new life, Azula wants revenge against the woman she blames for making her into a monster. When Aang accidentally angers the Mother of Faces, the group becomes embroiled in battle, leaving Zuko the only one able to protect his mother from his mad sister.
At the end of the previous volume, I thought it would be nearly impossible for the story to be neatly resolved in the last book. There just seemed to be too many unanswered questions, too many plot threads to resolve. But they did it. Not only do we finally learn what happened to Ursa in the years after she disappeared from the castle, but we know why Ozai left her alone, which was interesting because you know he must have searched for her to use her as leverage against Zuko. I find that I still have many questions about her, but I'm satisfied that the greatest mystery from the end of the TV show has been addressed.
This story arc has been very focused on sibling relationships. Azula's inability to reconcile with her brother, or to even see a friendship between them as anything but weakness, is all the more tragic when compared with Katara and Sokka or Misa and Rafa. She's so lost and confused and in need of compassion, but Azula does everything in her power to be unsympathetic, doesn't she? She's disappeared at the end of the book, but I'm sure she'll be back in the future. Although she's done many terrible things, I still hope she'll find happiness in the end.
5 out of 5 stars
To read more about Avatar: the Last Airbender - The Search, Part Three, buy it or add it to your wishlist click here.
Peeking into the archives...today in:
2013: Come August, Come Freedom by Gigi Amateau
2012: Out of Oz (Wicked Years #4) by Gregory Maguire
2011: The Healer's Apprentice by Melanie Dickerson
2010: The Lute Player by Norah Lofts
2009: Temporary Hiatus
by Gene Luen Yang, Michael Dante DiMartino, and Bryan Konietzko
Aang travels to the spirit world to bargain with the Mother of Faces, a powerful being with the ability to change the faces and identities of others. She reveals the whereabouts of Ursa, enabling her children to find her. While Zuko seeks only to confirm his mother is happy in her new life, Azula wants revenge against the woman she blames for making her into a monster. When Aang accidentally angers the Mother of Faces, the group becomes embroiled in battle, leaving Zuko the only one able to protect his mother from his mad sister.
At the end of the previous volume, I thought it would be nearly impossible for the story to be neatly resolved in the last book. There just seemed to be too many unanswered questions, too many plot threads to resolve. But they did it. Not only do we finally learn what happened to Ursa in the years after she disappeared from the castle, but we know why Ozai left her alone, which was interesting because you know he must have searched for her to use her as leverage against Zuko. I find that I still have many questions about her, but I'm satisfied that the greatest mystery from the end of the TV show has been addressed.
This story arc has been very focused on sibling relationships. Azula's inability to reconcile with her brother, or to even see a friendship between them as anything but weakness, is all the more tragic when compared with Katara and Sokka or Misa and Rafa. She's so lost and confused and in need of compassion, but Azula does everything in her power to be unsympathetic, doesn't she? She's disappeared at the end of the book, but I'm sure she'll be back in the future. Although she's done many terrible things, I still hope she'll find happiness in the end.
5 out of 5 stars
To read more about Avatar: the Last Airbender - The Search, Part Three, buy it or add it to your wishlist click here.
Peeking into the archives...today in:
2013: Come August, Come Freedom by Gigi Amateau
2012: Out of Oz (Wicked Years #4) by Gregory Maguire
2011: The Healer's Apprentice by Melanie Dickerson
2010: The Lute Player by Norah Lofts
2009: Temporary Hiatus