Board 8 > Watching Avatar for the first time and just got to the Ba Sing Se episode

(+) Yeah! (+)

I'm assuming you finished the episode already, but spoilering just in case:

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/1/10d86a2b.jpg

the first half of s3 is a little uneven and episodic, but i still quite like it overall

starting from the invasion it's the best stretch of the show, so enjoy!

Second half is also episodic but it's all 10/10s

Hot take, maybe, but episodic isnt a negative in any case.

hmm, i guess i'm more addressing the comment about nightmares and daydreams being called "filler"-y - which i kinda agree with. (it also does raise an awkward continuity questions re: sokka's concern about timeliness.)

the discussion on the second half of S3 is interesting, but obviously we'll save that for when gin finishes!

redrocket posted...

Hot take, maybe, but episodic isnt a negative in any case.

in a vacuum it's not, but tbf we got here on the strength of an arc! the series does need "main storyline" to function

They did it in a really smart way since there's probably only 8 episodes worth of main storyline, but they needed 20. So instead of stretching the 8 episodes out, they kept those episodes focused on the plot, and filled the rest of the season with episodic stuff. It's like the best of S1 and S2 styles.

Zuko is now finally part of the group.

Zuko doing impressions was great. Zuko, you must look within yourself to save yourself from your other self. Only then will your true self reveal itself. Probably the best quote since S2's "You don't know what I had to do to get seats this near the bear."

Combustion Man's motivations remain a mystery, as does his real name. He fell from a cliff so he is probably dead, since that seems to be the main way this show signals death.

Probably the most impressive boomerang skillshot from Sokka. Deserves the credit more than Zuko for sure. Also, even though I know he's being sincere, Zuko's "I'll pay you double" lines to Combustion Man actually made him seem more suspicious to me. Just felt like the kind of dialogue (shouted so everyone could hear him) that a character might have preplanned to fool the others.

Zuko becomes Aang's firebending master. And then he totally sucks at it.

I don't know why, but Aang trying to airbend the goo off of Zuko only to flip him over is probably one of the funniest moments of the show. All those times it previously worked have been setting up for this moment.

Was not expecting a mesoamerican-inspired people protecting the last two dragons. And of course Iroh kept them secret rather than kill a dragon. What a guy.

Speaking of Iroh, hope we see him again soon. Whenever Iroh's not on screen, all the other characters should be asking, "Where's Iroh?"

Even though I never watched the show during the time this happened, the last part of the Dragon Dance looks like the Fusion Dance from DBZ. Intentional reference?

VintageGin posted...

Combustion Man's motivations remain a mystery, as does his real name. He fell from a cliff so he is probably dead, since that seems to be the main way this show signals death.

There was an explosion and you could see his metal parts flying away. So it was a little more than that this time!

Oh yeah, you're right. For some reason I forgot about the metal hand flying away.

the dragon dance is one of the GOAT moments of the show imo. that episode is probably top 10 for me.

iroh's voice actor died between seasons and i think that's a big reason for his absence

SeabassDebeste posted...

iroh's voice actor died between seasons and i think that's a big reason for his absence

Oh no :(

that's what the "In Memory of Mako" was for during Tales of Ba Sing Se

The VA for Iroh also voiced Aku in Samurai Jack.

His replacement that picked up Iroh also picked up Aku when they brought Jack back

My first girlfriend turned into the moon.

That's rough, buddy.

VintageGin posted...

My first girlfriend turned into the moon.

That's rough, buddy.

now you've reached the best S3 line, though there's a few real good ones left

i say "that's rough buddy" roughly twice a month

Change topic title to "Watching Avatar for the first time and just got to the 'That's rough, buddy' line."

Azula can TAKE OFF LIKE A ROCKET?!

Anyway, finished The Boiling Rock parts 1 and 2.

Sokka and Zuko infiltrating an infamous Fire Nation prison without telling the rest of the group anything feels like a questionable choice to say the least. But it was kinda interesting to have an episode with minimal bending.

I do think these episodes had the most jokes that landed for me. There's obviously the quote I already mentioned, but "I'm never happy" and "HEY! RIOT!" both got a chuckle out of me.

I'm a little surprised that this prison only seems to have protections against other firebenders...not, like, waterbenders. Considering it's surrounded by boiling water, it'd probably be dangerous to have a waterbender there. Maybe they don't put non-firebenders there?

Chit Sang totally abandoned his girl and his friend.

Good thing Mei had a change of heart and saved the day with her knifebending. It's interesting that the Azula crew has broken up...Azula is probably not as big a threat without Ty Lee's pressure point attacks.

Glad Suki's back, but personally I'm waiting for Hawky to rejoin.

WazzupGenius00 posted...

that's what the "In Memory of Mako" was for during Tales of Ba Sing Se

Also forgot to address this earlier-- I assumed someone involved in the production had passed away but I really did not expect it to be his voice actor.

Oh, another thing-- not sure I agree with the, uh, wisdom(?) shared that boiled down to "never cut your losses". Like, I agree with the premise of not giving up just because things are tough, but...

We've only seen earth and fire benders in fire nation prisons. It makes sense since the water nation is pretty much subjugated and limited to the poles, while the vast majority of the population is earth and fire nation. But yeah either Katara or Aang (and maybe even Toph) would've trivialized the entire adventure and probably destroyed the entire prison. The point is that Sokka wanted to prove himself though, after failing the invasion. It's hubris but that's who he is.

Team Azula breaking up is one of my favorite moments from the show

I don't really care for Mai as a character, but "I love Zuko more than I fear you" is a banger quote.

God damnit Azula is so fuckin great

I love that Team Azula break up scene, so good. Great follow through from the Beach which is one of my favourite episodes.

foolm0r0n posted...

We've only seen earth and fire benders in fire nation prisons.

smh we forgot about the blood bender episode already

Yeah they had waterbender prisoners 60 years ago or however long that was, but the Fire Nation essentially won their war against the Southern Tribe at that time. There was no longer any need to wage war against them in the time since so why build prisons for them?

I meant to say the big shared prisons. We've seen smaller wooden prisons specifically for waterbenders but it's rare.

Enjoying some of the self-aware dialogue.

"Is it your turn to go on a field trip with Zuko?"

"Did Jett just...die?"
"You know, it was really unclear."

Not gonna lie, my first thought was wondering if I said the same thing verbatim

Watched The Southern Raiders and The Ember Island Players

The Aang gang gets attacked by Azula who's somehow more villainous than usual. Zuko goes to fight her, fails the ledge grab like an embarrassing Melee match, and then falls down to his death. Or not because he's suddenly atop a different airship moments later.

The group decides to split up because Appa won't go down the tunnel because he's afraid of tunnels. Instead, they fly Appa out into a ton of fire, which Appa is also afraid of (but I guess he got over it). I'm also not really clear how they decided on how the group should split up with regard to Suki and Sokka/Katara Dad. Katara makes a big deal of this and they could've just like...swapped Suki for him. Maybe he's too heavy.

Since we had a Aang/Zuko episode and a Sokka/Zuko episode, it's apparently time for a Katara/Zuko episode.

Zuko manages to figure out that it was the Souther Raiders who raided the South. I...kinda feel like he didn't need to know what was on their flags for that one.

Anyway Katara does the whole quest for revenge that ends with her not taking vengeance. Which is kinda funny because she bloodbended the dude who wasn't even the right guy. Far more horrifying than what she did to the real culprit. Also makes me wonder what the Aang crew's kill count is. It's gotta be non-zero at this point, right?

Aang smugly says that violence is never the answer and Zuko asks Aang what he's gonna do when he meets Zuko's father. Ha. Gottem.

The next episode is essentially a recap episode, but I did like it being framed as a play. Had some fun gags like Toph's actor being a buff dude who yells in order to see. With Aang's strong objection to being played by a woman, I assumed it was a joke on how his voice actor is a woman. But that's not the case-- his VA is male.

finale (mostly) hype

Now that you watched Ember Island Players

VintageGin posted...

-I guess Jet is dead? It's kind of funny how they have to be ambiguous about deaths due to this being a kid's show.

Now you see why this comment was amusing

Zuko loyalty missions were a great way to catch him up with the gaang

I actually hated Ember Island Players

finale delivers though

I really liked The Southern Raiders. Love its moody, desolate tones.

VintageGin posted...

With Aang's strong objection to being played by a woman, I assumed it was a joke on how his voice actor is a woman. But that's not the case-- his VA is male.

Dude's straight up an incel in that episode tbh

VintageGin posted...

The next episode is essentially a recap episode, but I did like it being framed as a play. Had some fun gags like Toph's actor being a buff dude who yells in order to see.

It's also a fun in-joke; Toph was going to be a guy in her original design concept (it's the dude who earthbends in the opening title sequence).

VintageGin posted...

With Aang's strong objection to being played by a woman, I assumed it was a joke on how his voice actor is a woman. But that's not the case-- his VA is male.

It was more a joke how Peter Pan is played by women in plays and they sorta had Aang's character acting like that in the plays too

Punnyz posted...

This mindset might make you chuckle later

also when I made this comment, I had the Ember play in mind

They make fun of Jet's death being ambiguous in the play as well

Zuko, we need to talk

My name is Toph! It sounds like Tough!

This topic is making me wonder if I should rewatch TLA

But I can skip The Great Divide this time right

also

if I may

Heres a video I made 15 years ago

My most watched video ever

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2scLBD2-GNw

the slicking his hair back into serious mode kills me

Meow1000 posted...

This topic is making me wonder if I should rewatch TLA

But I can skip The Great Divide this time right

eh. Just keep flying

The first quote calling out Toph inventing metalbending finally drops in the last episode of the finale lmao

"You could stand to mention it more!"

Ever crack your back so good you enter the avatar state?

Alright, just finished the finale. Was not expecting a four-parter! Some initial thoughts.

Man, even the melonlord's death happened off-screen.

Was initially not so sure about the way Aang left the group, but I liked the scenes of him channeling the previous avatars and asking their advice.

The Order of the White Lotus was pretty great. Finally get to see Iroh in a non-imprisoned state being a badass. I am pretty sure the fire nation dudes in those tanks are totally dead after getting roasted by Jiang Jiang.

Okay, were firebenders always flying around like rockets before and I just didn't notice it? Because suddenly it feels like they all do.

I assumed waterbending would be weaker due to the comet being around, but it seems like it's the same. Katara's maneuver to trap Azula was was pretty cool, but...that was it? I feel like she could have melted those chains. Also surprised Zuko handled being bolted without properly redirecting and only needed a little bit of healing.

Speaking of Azula, her descent into madness happened a little too quickly, I think. Like, I guess she's a little crazier than usual when she attacks the Aang crew at the temple a few episodes prior, but she kinda goes absolutely bonkers over the course of a few hours. We also don't get real answers on what happens to her as far as I can tell.

The Sokka, Toph, and Suki sidequest is the biggest suicide mission in the show and yet it works out fine for them somehow. Toph is super OP. Also Suki is somehow able to steer an airship from the outside with no bending?

Avatar state is also extremely OP, but that was already established. And then Aang bends the energy of the firelord to turn off his bending, which...feels a little too convenient considering he learned it from a lion turtle he randomly encountered at the beginning of the finale.

I know that I shouldn't be expecting this level of depth, but it feels a little too hard to believe that a nation as heavily propagandized as the Fire Nation would just suddenly agree to peace like that.

Zuko asking where his mom is as one of the final scenes is confusing. Was this meant to lead to something? I almost expected a final shot of him near a grave, but the show just leaves it there.

Ty Lee as a Kiyoshi warrior for real hell yeah

Overall I'm glad I stuck with the show. How is Legend of Korra? I literally know nothing about that show other than it's the same world.