The Crown from "The Blue Spirit"
Man. I love Avatar.
And here's yet another reason to love this show.
Warning: Spoilers for "The Firebending Masters"
(Click on the screenshots for a closer look).
The screenshot on the left is from the first real Aang + Zuko BFF episode: "The Blue Spirit" (1.13). Remember, Momo found that crown... and the Gaang kept it, because in "The Swamp," we see Momo chucking it at the swampbenders. (I love little moments of continuity like this; see also the umbrella from "The Fortuneteller" reappearing in "Appa's Lost Days").
But look at the iconography on the crown. It's pretty obvious: two snaking dragons coming toward a sun. Then on the right we see a screenshot from "The Firebending Masters" (3.13), and looky-looky... two snaking dragons with the sun between them.
I'm very cautiously skeptical when people make claims of particular inter-episode connections and "foreshadowing," especially episodes that span seasons, but this is incredibly compelling.
psylum_atla is pretty much a genius for remembering the crown iconography and thus making the connection to "The Firebending Masters."
SO, with that in mind, I decided to check out the iconography of the Sun Warrior ruins.
First, there is the large relief that Zuko and Aang discuss. I'm not posting a pic of it, but yeah, it's the one that looks like a Sun Warrior standing in a circle (the sun, probably) with the two snaking dragons coming towards it. (And the art style isn't Mesoamerican, though there are a lot of interesting geometric patterns that remind me a little of Postclassic Maya monumental architectural reliefs.)
Second, and more interestingly, there's the door to the room with the golden egg:
Check it out. Compare it to the sun in the crown iconography. The sun has a circle in the middle surrounded by a ring. So does the door. There's a difference in spacing (the central circle on the door is a lot smaller relative to the ring than the analogous circle on the crown), but that makes sense given the size constraints of the crown versus a huge door. Then, on the crown, there's are dots circling the ring. The door is different here: there are more dots radiating outwards. It's more sun-like. But again, this is just a matter of size. There isn't room on the crown for that many dots. Then the crown ends with a final ring and then rays projecting out of the top. Here's where the door looks the most different, but once again it's probably mostly because there's more space. You can still see the rays projecting on the gray stonework surrounding the door.
And the same sunrays are carved on the inside of the room too:
See that? Right around the door.
And ah... obviously the sun door fits with the sunstone that opens the door and the sun emblems inside the chamber and elsewhere in the Sun Warrior ruins.
All of which is to say... there are so many particulars that match up between the crown in "The Blue Spirit" and various details of "The Firebending Masters" that it's safe to say that this connection is very intentional. Avatar is very consistent with the motifs, so that's not surprising (e.g. I could go on about the use of certain other motifs throughout the Sun Warrior ruins, but that would probably bore you...).
ANYWAY, obviously, the strongest connection overall with the blue and red dragons is with "The Avatar and the Firelord," with Roku's red dragon and Sozin's blue dragon (as everybody knows).
But the crown connection is fascinating because obviously it was "The Blue Spirit" that first REALLY clarified what the show is even about in the first place: the destined friendship of Aang and Zuko working together to restore balance to the world.
And that's what it's all about. ♥♥♥♥
And here's yet another reason to love this show.
Warning: Spoilers for "The Firebending Masters"
(Click on the screenshots for a closer look).
The screenshot on the left is from the first real Aang + Zuko BFF episode: "The Blue Spirit" (1.13). Remember, Momo found that crown... and the Gaang kept it, because in "The Swamp," we see Momo chucking it at the swampbenders. (I love little moments of continuity like this; see also the umbrella from "The Fortuneteller" reappearing in "Appa's Lost Days").
But look at the iconography on the crown. It's pretty obvious: two snaking dragons coming toward a sun. Then on the right we see a screenshot from "The Firebending Masters" (3.13), and looky-looky... two snaking dragons with the sun between them.
I'm very cautiously skeptical when people make claims of particular inter-episode connections and "foreshadowing," especially episodes that span seasons, but this is incredibly compelling.
psylum_atla is pretty much a genius for remembering the crown iconography and thus making the connection to "The Firebending Masters."
SO, with that in mind, I decided to check out the iconography of the Sun Warrior ruins.
First, there is the large relief that Zuko and Aang discuss. I'm not posting a pic of it, but yeah, it's the one that looks like a Sun Warrior standing in a circle (the sun, probably) with the two snaking dragons coming towards it. (And the art style isn't Mesoamerican, though there are a lot of interesting geometric patterns that remind me a little of Postclassic Maya monumental architectural reliefs.)
Second, and more interestingly, there's the door to the room with the golden egg:
Check it out. Compare it to the sun in the crown iconography. The sun has a circle in the middle surrounded by a ring. So does the door. There's a difference in spacing (the central circle on the door is a lot smaller relative to the ring than the analogous circle on the crown), but that makes sense given the size constraints of the crown versus a huge door. Then, on the crown, there's are dots circling the ring. The door is different here: there are more dots radiating outwards. It's more sun-like. But again, this is just a matter of size. There isn't room on the crown for that many dots. Then the crown ends with a final ring and then rays projecting out of the top. Here's where the door looks the most different, but once again it's probably mostly because there's more space. You can still see the rays projecting on the gray stonework surrounding the door.
And the same sunrays are carved on the inside of the room too:
See that? Right around the door.
And ah... obviously the sun door fits with the sunstone that opens the door and the sun emblems inside the chamber and elsewhere in the Sun Warrior ruins.
All of which is to say... there are so many particulars that match up between the crown in "The Blue Spirit" and various details of "The Firebending Masters" that it's safe to say that this connection is very intentional. Avatar is very consistent with the motifs, so that's not surprising (e.g. I could go on about the use of certain other motifs throughout the Sun Warrior ruins, but that would probably bore you...).
ANYWAY, obviously, the strongest connection overall with the blue and red dragons is with "The Avatar and the Firelord," with Roku's red dragon and Sozin's blue dragon (as everybody knows).
But the crown connection is fascinating because obviously it was "The Blue Spirit" that first REALLY clarified what the show is even about in the first place: the destined friendship of Aang and Zuko working together to restore balance to the world.
And that's what it's all about. ♥♥♥♥