That finale everyone's talking about
Reacting to finales is a tricky business when you don't have expectations to compare reality to. One of my post-HP strategies when dealing with SF-F or action adventure canons is to not have expectations, to never think about where the thing is going until it's over. There was nothing I was hoping to see in the finale; Suki had already returned and Mai had already made her stand against Azula. In fact, I would say that the things I wanted wrapped up were satisfied, by and large, by the five episodes starting with The Western Air Temple and leading up to the finale.
For the sake of a few people on my flist, this is an all-happy LJ post. Upon reflection, I really only have one problem, not with the finale but with the series as a whole, which I will put in a separate post. Let's talk in terms of characters, since I can never remember what order anything happened in anyway.
In general, I liked how the only person who ended up fighting on his own was Aang, and even he wasn't truly alone, because he had all that help from the previous Avatars, from the lionturtle, not to mention the monks, Katara, Toph and Zuko. I would say that even Sokka, through his example, taught Aang how to think creatively. I liked his solution: "You have been very naughty, Ozai, so I will take away from you the one thing that you care about the most, which is also the one thing that allows you to make so much trouble."
Also, because this caused some confusion among our viewing party: while the bang on his back physically repaired the damage that Azula had caused, the whole idea the guru had posited that Aang had to remove himself from worldly connections (which he visualized as Katara) was disproven by Yan Chen, who was like, "that's nice for the airbender neighbors, but you're the Avatar." In a sense, he has to sacrifice walking the path that the monks laid out for him in favor of protecting the world and stuff. Ali noted that Iroh had also said that the guru's advice didn't sound right to him, so there you go.
I LOVE that Piandao was in the White Lotus because I love that Sokka had sort of representation in that group, too. Sure, there was "Grandpakku" but he was more connected to Katara. And when Piandao was like, "well, what do you think you should do?" and Sokka was like, "this" it was so Sokka and so awesome and brilliant, and seeing him recovering from the retreat after the eclipse to start trusting his instincts again was lovely. And then Sokka went on to basically save the Earth Kingdom from a literal lower-case-h-holocaust.
A lot of folks are talking about how Sokka cares more about Toph than about his sword or boomerang but-um, of course he does? I mean, he adores her; I think she's one of his favorite people, ever, and would have been even if they hadn't been in a Gaang that needed to save the world. I loved how he would just pick her up and move her from place to place and generally sort of take care of her in the few instances where she couldn't take care of herself, and that there was never any question that she and Suki would be the ones to come along with him.
Suki-oh, I love that Suki mostly just kicks a lot of ass and thinks very quickly. I love that she's flexible enough to go from being a leader to thinking in concert with Sokka, so that as soon as he has a thought she's figuring out how to make it real. We see that in Boiling Rock when he's dithering and she just runs over the top of people's heads, up the side of a wall, and then leaps over a balcony railing to capture the prison warden, and we see it again when Suki takes the helm of the captured airship, and then again when she was separated from the others but sees what Sokka has Toph do and bends the rudder of her own airship with her own hands. When she said to Sokka and Toph that she was fine and not to worry about her she meant it and Sokka knew that she meant it and trusted her to show up again later, though perhaps not in saving-your-ass-after-you-were-awesome mode.
OMG Zuko. Zuko and Iroh crying manly tears. Zuko freaking out about running out of time. Zuko the drill sergeant chasing Aang and destroying sand castles. Zuko sensing that there's something off about Azula. Zuko's expression when he realizes she's going after Katara. Zuko seeing Mai again. Zuko hugging Aang. Zuko being hesitant to join the Gaang group hug not because he doesn't want to but because he doesn't know if they want him. Zuko as the Fire Lord. Zuko as waiter at a teahouse. <3
Toph kicked so much ass I can't really go into all of it here. She rocketed into space even though she couldn't see where she was going (omg, the trust between her and Sokka and Suki is amazing). She made herself look like The Thing and then kicked more ass. Her little pep talk to Zuko about Iroh-maybe that was their actual adventure, because Iroh is the thing they share. I feel that Toph needs to go off and train/bond with Bumi, for he also figured out how to metal bend on his own and I bet he's the only person in existence who could actually teach her a thing or two.
I was pleased to see Katara getting out of her own way here, stepping in to help Zuko only when he needed it, and just generally being supportive otherwise, and good on her for trusting that Aang would show up at some point. I'm glad that they each got a part in kicking Azula's arse. Also good on her for figuring her shit out and just macking on him because seriously.
I also loved Azula's slow decent into madness; Ty Lee's future fucking her way through the Kyoshi Warriors; Mai's no-nonsense return (though why was Zuko surprised? couldn't he have just sprung her through official channels? that was odd); Iroh and his White Lotus pals retaking Ba Sing Se (especially Piandao surfing on Pakku's icy wave); Ozai taking off most of his clothes to get down to business (and also his ridiculous flowing locks); and of course the Fire Nation airmen (who will spawn thousands of fics, one hopes, all in a zany sitcom style).
But my favorite part was that coda in Iroh's tea shop, with everyone there together. It's the kind of scene I'm a total sucker for, and I'm glad it was there, however fanservicey it may be.
For the sake of a few people on my flist, this is an all-happy LJ post. Upon reflection, I really only have one problem, not with the finale but with the series as a whole, which I will put in a separate post. Let's talk in terms of characters, since I can never remember what order anything happened in anyway.
In general, I liked how the only person who ended up fighting on his own was Aang, and even he wasn't truly alone, because he had all that help from the previous Avatars, from the lionturtle, not to mention the monks, Katara, Toph and Zuko. I would say that even Sokka, through his example, taught Aang how to think creatively. I liked his solution: "You have been very naughty, Ozai, so I will take away from you the one thing that you care about the most, which is also the one thing that allows you to make so much trouble."
Also, because this caused some confusion among our viewing party: while the bang on his back physically repaired the damage that Azula had caused, the whole idea the guru had posited that Aang had to remove himself from worldly connections (which he visualized as Katara) was disproven by Yan Chen, who was like, "that's nice for the airbender neighbors, but you're the Avatar." In a sense, he has to sacrifice walking the path that the monks laid out for him in favor of protecting the world and stuff. Ali noted that Iroh had also said that the guru's advice didn't sound right to him, so there you go.
I LOVE that Piandao was in the White Lotus because I love that Sokka had sort of representation in that group, too. Sure, there was "Grandpakku" but he was more connected to Katara. And when Piandao was like, "well, what do you think you should do?" and Sokka was like, "this" it was so Sokka and so awesome and brilliant, and seeing him recovering from the retreat after the eclipse to start trusting his instincts again was lovely. And then Sokka went on to basically save the Earth Kingdom from a literal lower-case-h-holocaust.
A lot of folks are talking about how Sokka cares more about Toph than about his sword or boomerang but-um, of course he does? I mean, he adores her; I think she's one of his favorite people, ever, and would have been even if they hadn't been in a Gaang that needed to save the world. I loved how he would just pick her up and move her from place to place and generally sort of take care of her in the few instances where she couldn't take care of herself, and that there was never any question that she and Suki would be the ones to come along with him.
Suki-oh, I love that Suki mostly just kicks a lot of ass and thinks very quickly. I love that she's flexible enough to go from being a leader to thinking in concert with Sokka, so that as soon as he has a thought she's figuring out how to make it real. We see that in Boiling Rock when he's dithering and she just runs over the top of people's heads, up the side of a wall, and then leaps over a balcony railing to capture the prison warden, and we see it again when Suki takes the helm of the captured airship, and then again when she was separated from the others but sees what Sokka has Toph do and bends the rudder of her own airship with her own hands. When she said to Sokka and Toph that she was fine and not to worry about her she meant it and Sokka knew that she meant it and trusted her to show up again later, though perhaps not in saving-your-ass-after-you-were-awesome mode.
OMG Zuko. Zuko and Iroh crying manly tears. Zuko freaking out about running out of time. Zuko the drill sergeant chasing Aang and destroying sand castles. Zuko sensing that there's something off about Azula. Zuko's expression when he realizes she's going after Katara. Zuko seeing Mai again. Zuko hugging Aang. Zuko being hesitant to join the Gaang group hug not because he doesn't want to but because he doesn't know if they want him. Zuko as the Fire Lord. Zuko as waiter at a teahouse. <3
Toph kicked so much ass I can't really go into all of it here. She rocketed into space even though she couldn't see where she was going (omg, the trust between her and Sokka and Suki is amazing). She made herself look like The Thing and then kicked more ass. Her little pep talk to Zuko about Iroh-maybe that was their actual adventure, because Iroh is the thing they share. I feel that Toph needs to go off and train/bond with Bumi, for he also figured out how to metal bend on his own and I bet he's the only person in existence who could actually teach her a thing or two.
I was pleased to see Katara getting out of her own way here, stepping in to help Zuko only when he needed it, and just generally being supportive otherwise, and good on her for trusting that Aang would show up at some point. I'm glad that they each got a part in kicking Azula's arse. Also good on her for figuring her shit out and just macking on him because seriously.
I also loved Azula's slow decent into madness; Ty Lee's future fucking her way through the Kyoshi Warriors; Mai's no-nonsense return (though why was Zuko surprised? couldn't he have just sprung her through official channels? that was odd); Iroh and his White Lotus pals retaking Ba Sing Se (especially Piandao surfing on Pakku's icy wave); Ozai taking off most of his clothes to get down to business (and also his ridiculous flowing locks); and of course the Fire Nation airmen (who will spawn thousands of fics, one hopes, all in a zany sitcom style).
But my favorite part was that coda in Iroh's tea shop, with everyone there together. It's the kind of scene I'm a total sucker for, and I'm glad it was there, however fanservicey it may be.