Avatar - Season 3 thoughts
I actually finished watching season three of Avatar several days ago but I hadn't gotten around to posting anything about it yet--partly because I was so busy trawling DA for cool fanart. ^_^;
Speaking of which...I'm looking for recommendations for Avatar fanworks. So, Avatards on my friends list, I ask you... What art, fics, meta, LJ communities, discussion boards, wikis, sites and other goodies should I check out? What are the must-see works?
On one hand I'm sorry I didn't catch onto this show when it was still airing so I could experience the ride along the amazing plot with everyone else. On the other I'm very glad I had the entire thing at once because waiting for the next episode must have been torture!
In a word: WOW.
In two words: HOLY CRAP.
In three words: I LOVED IT.
This was truly an amazing series, from start to finish. After having Pirates of the Caribbean end in epic fail and Harry Potter end in "Eh, okay, about what I expected" mode, it was a relief to follow a series that ended in such a satisfying manner.
Similarly, having Jack Sparrow end up shipless and Elizabethless in a dinghy, and having Snape end up an exsanguinated corpse, having my favorite character in this end up on the throne, as a hero, with his love at his side, was FANTASTIC. OMG, Zuko! All your emo-ness paid off! *huggles*
Everything else felt right about the ending, with one glaring exception--WTF HAPPENED TO ZUKO'S MOM?!?!?! I know, I know, it wasn't the main focus of the show and they ran out of time to address it, but...GAH! Where is she? Is she okay? WHAT WHAT WHAT WHAT? When the last scene faded out to the credits I actually said out loud, with a two-handed William Shatner-esque gesture of desperation, "BUT WHAT ABOUT ZUKO'S MOM?!" Oh well, that's what fanfic is for, I suppose.
Besides, Zuko needs something new to obsess over now that he and the Avatar are buddies. His mother can be his new great white whale. (And no, I'm not insulting Ursa's physique, it's a Moby Dick reference...)
Speaking of her, though, I wonder if her name is a deliberate nod to her "mother bear" instincts. In a flashback we even saw her telling Zuko about how turtleducks, like all mothers, would do anything to protect their children--foreshadowing for the coming clash with her father-in-law. True to her name, Ursa acted like a momma grizzly with a threat to her cub--no mercy, anything it takes to protect her baby.
It's also a bit of a shame we never learned exactly what "treacherous" things she did. It's heavily implied that she killed Azulon(sp?), but how she did it, how she got away with banishment instead of imprisonment or execution, whether Ozai was an accomplice, how Azulon passed on his "dying wish" that Ozai succeed him, and whether he made that choice without coercion, are all unanswered questions.
As for Ozai, I can't like him because of all the horrible things he did (especially to Zuko), but I can admire him as a very cool villain with a killer body--holy cow, that final battle with Aang, shirtless--eeee! *fans self*
*cough* Anyway, random thoughts on the other characters...
Aang/Katara smoochies FTW. I know the shipping wars were nigh-apocalyptic in this fandom, but I never saw anything that really made me doubt that Aang and Katara were destined for each other. Granted, I knew before I started watching the series that they'd end up together, thanks to my friends list and the lovely artwork of amiraelizabeth. I might have predicted something different, or even rooted for Zuko/Katara, if I had been watching one episode at the time as they originally came out. I doubt it, though.
Sokka/Suki grew on me considerably after the Boiling Rock episodes, so I was pleased that they ended up together.
Also as a result of the Boiling Rock sequence, I got to like Mai more than I had. She's still a little flat as a character but hey, Zuko loves her an awful lot so who am I to judge? ;) I also saw glimmers of her coming out of her shell in the last episode, and I hope that peacetime without Azula and with Zuko will make her a much happier person.
Having Ty Lee end up as a Kyoshi warrior was a cool but very unexpected twist.
I was SOOOO glad that Iroh lived and also had a happy ending with his tea shop. I was really afraid he was going to bite the dust, being the wiseass ol' mentor figure, but I was very glad to be wrong. He was definitely one of my favorites.
Azula's descent into insanity was well done and reminded me of Mossflower's Tsarmina. They did an excellent job of animating her in the last couple of episodes, as her body language, movements and eyes really conveyed her deteriorating sanity. Her last scene, writhing hysterically in chains, was pitiable but very, very well animated.
Aang showing mercy by not killing Ozai reminded me a bit of the climax of the Harry Potter books, how Harry kept asking Voldemort to show remorse and cast a disarming spell instead of a Killing Curse. Letting him live without his freedom or his firebending was a fitting punishment. I wonder how having him in the dungeons will effect Zuko, though. On one hand they have a (slim) chance at finding some kind of understanding of each other, but on the other it's hard to really find closure and peace with the situation when he's down there. And if Ursa comes back at some point...now THAT would be an interesting reunion. Not to mention how Azula fits into the mix.
Oh, Zuko, you'll have plenty of emo-fodder in the future, never fear.
I'm sure I'll think of more stuff to ramble about at some point, but that's all I've got for now.
Speaking of which...I'm looking for recommendations for Avatar fanworks. So, Avatards on my friends list, I ask you... What art, fics, meta, LJ communities, discussion boards, wikis, sites and other goodies should I check out? What are the must-see works?
On one hand I'm sorry I didn't catch onto this show when it was still airing so I could experience the ride along the amazing plot with everyone else. On the other I'm very glad I had the entire thing at once because waiting for the next episode must have been torture!
In a word: WOW.
In two words: HOLY CRAP.
In three words: I LOVED IT.
This was truly an amazing series, from start to finish. After having Pirates of the Caribbean end in epic fail and Harry Potter end in "Eh, okay, about what I expected" mode, it was a relief to follow a series that ended in such a satisfying manner.
Similarly, having Jack Sparrow end up shipless and Elizabethless in a dinghy, and having Snape end up an exsanguinated corpse, having my favorite character in this end up on the throne, as a hero, with his love at his side, was FANTASTIC. OMG, Zuko! All your emo-ness paid off! *huggles*
Everything else felt right about the ending, with one glaring exception--WTF HAPPENED TO ZUKO'S MOM?!?!?! I know, I know, it wasn't the main focus of the show and they ran out of time to address it, but...GAH! Where is she? Is she okay? WHAT WHAT WHAT WHAT? When the last scene faded out to the credits I actually said out loud, with a two-handed William Shatner-esque gesture of desperation, "BUT WHAT ABOUT ZUKO'S MOM?!" Oh well, that's what fanfic is for, I suppose.
Besides, Zuko needs something new to obsess over now that he and the Avatar are buddies. His mother can be his new great white whale. (And no, I'm not insulting Ursa's physique, it's a Moby Dick reference...)
Speaking of her, though, I wonder if her name is a deliberate nod to her "mother bear" instincts. In a flashback we even saw her telling Zuko about how turtleducks, like all mothers, would do anything to protect their children--foreshadowing for the coming clash with her father-in-law. True to her name, Ursa acted like a momma grizzly with a threat to her cub--no mercy, anything it takes to protect her baby.
It's also a bit of a shame we never learned exactly what "treacherous" things she did. It's heavily implied that she killed Azulon(sp?), but how she did it, how she got away with banishment instead of imprisonment or execution, whether Ozai was an accomplice, how Azulon passed on his "dying wish" that Ozai succeed him, and whether he made that choice without coercion, are all unanswered questions.
As for Ozai, I can't like him because of all the horrible things he did (especially to Zuko), but I can admire him as a very cool villain with a killer body--holy cow, that final battle with Aang, shirtless--eeee! *fans self*
*cough* Anyway, random thoughts on the other characters...
Aang/Katara smoochies FTW. I know the shipping wars were nigh-apocalyptic in this fandom, but I never saw anything that really made me doubt that Aang and Katara were destined for each other. Granted, I knew before I started watching the series that they'd end up together, thanks to my friends list and the lovely artwork of amiraelizabeth. I might have predicted something different, or even rooted for Zuko/Katara, if I had been watching one episode at the time as they originally came out. I doubt it, though.
Sokka/Suki grew on me considerably after the Boiling Rock episodes, so I was pleased that they ended up together.
Also as a result of the Boiling Rock sequence, I got to like Mai more than I had. She's still a little flat as a character but hey, Zuko loves her an awful lot so who am I to judge? ;) I also saw glimmers of her coming out of her shell in the last episode, and I hope that peacetime without Azula and with Zuko will make her a much happier person.
Having Ty Lee end up as a Kyoshi warrior was a cool but very unexpected twist.
I was SOOOO glad that Iroh lived and also had a happy ending with his tea shop. I was really afraid he was going to bite the dust, being the wiseass ol' mentor figure, but I was very glad to be wrong. He was definitely one of my favorites.
Azula's descent into insanity was well done and reminded me of Mossflower's Tsarmina. They did an excellent job of animating her in the last couple of episodes, as her body language, movements and eyes really conveyed her deteriorating sanity. Her last scene, writhing hysterically in chains, was pitiable but very, very well animated.
Aang showing mercy by not killing Ozai reminded me a bit of the climax of the Harry Potter books, how Harry kept asking Voldemort to show remorse and cast a disarming spell instead of a Killing Curse. Letting him live without his freedom or his firebending was a fitting punishment. I wonder how having him in the dungeons will effect Zuko, though. On one hand they have a (slim) chance at finding some kind of understanding of each other, but on the other it's hard to really find closure and peace with the situation when he's down there. And if Ursa comes back at some point...now THAT would be an interesting reunion. Not to mention how Azula fits into the mix.
Oh, Zuko, you'll have plenty of emo-fodder in the future, never fear.
I'm sure I'll think of more stuff to ramble about at some point, but that's all I've got for now.