LogFAQs > #944085552

#4: The Siege of the North - Part 2 (1.20):

I said before the show is at its strongest when it goes into spiritual stuff, and this is perhaps the most triumphant example of that. Aand goes into the spirit world to find wisdom about how to find the Sea and Moon spirits. The spirit world is full of cool stuff, but the coolest of all, the Face Stealing Spirit, Koh.

I don't know if the creators never intended to use Koh again or if they changed their mind about it lately, but the fact Koh never appears again arguably increases his hype. He's the sole undefeated villain of the avatar series, one who once crippled an avatar's wfie and got away with it, and who almost does the same to Aang in the one scene he appears. He does provide the intel, though, and Aang realizes he had the two spirits in front of him a few minutes ago.

But there is a problem, Zuko kidnapped his body. And his friends must go looking for him. But in the meanwhile, Zhao breaks into the spirit chamber and does one of the most evil deeds in the series. He kills the freaking moon. You can't ever say the FN takes half measures. They might have ended life on Earth if they were allowed to continue the war, with how much they like to meddle with fundamental laws of nature. But it works, and the Water Tribe is on the brink of defeat.

Aang's friends eventually find and take him back, because Zuko's plan was actually pretty dumb (plan how to capture the avatar, but not how to return alive. Yeah). It's so dumb it arguably causes the begginning of Zuko's redemption arc because it shows how much his quest to capture the avatar is a futile and misguided one. Aang wakes up, and he tries to come back to save the moon, but it's too late. But it's not too late for vengeance.

In a signature cool moment of the series, Aang fuses with the Sea Spirit and starts soloing the entire FN fleet. Let's see if you can fight against the ocean itself, losers! Meanwhile, in a less-signature-y but still very cool moment, Zuko has a final duel against Zhao. He wins, and we watch the Sea spirit coldly execute Zhao for his crimes against nature. Zuko may not have won, but he got to be the one to take down the S1 villain.

Finally, in another signature moment, Yueh realizes it is her destiny to save the planet from a life without a moon, and becomes the moon herself. A big moment in Sokka's arc, because he loses his first love (though it's the love of a few weeks), and gives us a sad ending with Sokka and her father murning her together.

Finally, we skip to a few days later as Team Avatar has to leave. Aand's training is not complete, though. But Katara's is, and she finally becomes a Waterbending Master, being now Aang's teacher for the rest of the series.

It's a perfect ending for Season 1, one that raised the bar of quality for the show (which S2 managed to keep), with good amounts of worldbuilding, development and action. It's interesting how 18 is about Katara, 19 is about Sokka and 20 is about Aang, and they all do well to give the cast members good challenges and develop them.