The Runaway

--That's quite an impressive statue!

--Mud wresting? Really?

--I'm on the side of both Toph and Katara here. I don't think Toph is doing anything wrong by cheating a cheater, but they also shouldn't make a habit of doing it because it could attract some very negative attention.

--Also, the beginning of the episode was clearly setting us up to believe that a serious rift is forming between Toph and Katara, which is exactly the reason I think they were actually working together at that point, probably to get Toph out of the trouble that her cheating is going to get her into.

--And so much for an Avatar promise!

--Wow, really? Faking an injury to extort money? Now that is going too far.

--A messenger hawk would be a good idea if they had somewhere they needed to send messages to on a regular basis and they had any reason to believe the hawk would know where to go. But it seems to me that the hawk Sokka just bought will only know how to fly back to the place where he bought it from. At least, that's how it works in the real world!

--Aha. I was right.

--Ugh. I really hate it when Katara is the only one in the group who is making sense and the others all act like she's being controlling. Especially since it's not consistent. Sometimes it's Sokka or Aang who are all about the mission and not letting anything else get in the way, but as soon as it's Katara trying to keep them on task, she's just trying to "spoil their fun." It feels gendered.

--That was a really great conversation between Sokka and Toph though! And I'm glad Katara got to hear it, and that it wasn't a setup, but an actual genuine moment.

--I knew it!

--Oh, no, a double setup! It's like Ariel (Firefly)!

--So, if wood isn't an earth element, then what is it? Surely everything ought to belong to one of the four.

--This guy with the eye on his head is giving me Fullmetal Alchemist flashbacks!

--Okay, once again, how is that hawk supposed to know where to go?

Thanks for the link! Unfortunately, it looks like it wants me to install Flash, but I think I found the video on YouTube instead.

Escape from the Spirit World

--Ooh, I wasn't expecting to get more lore on the Avatar state!

--Aang doesn't seem to be too concerned about the possibility of having his face stolen. He just goes right in for that hug with Hei Bai! (Although it's hard to blame him. :D)

--Uh oh! Who knew Avatar Kyoshi created the Dai Li? Cultural heritage is all well and good, but people should always come first.

--Avatar Kuruk! I didn't think we'd met any other past Avatars, so this is exciting. It also seems like important information to be buried in a "lost episode."

--LOL, Avatar Kuruk was a character!

--And now we get to meet another Air Tribe Avatar as well. This should be especially meaningful for Aang.

--So Aang can't enter the Avatar state now? That also seems like important information to know. :) Although I'm sure it will come up again soon.

The Avatar and the Firelord

--It's still so funny to me that there was an Avatar named Roku. :D

--Distances in this world make no sense to me. Sometimes it seems like it takes them ages to get anywhere, and then other times they make a detour to somewhere that seems like it should be halfway across the world. How does detouring to Roku's island fit into Sokka's schedule?

--Oh, okay. I forgot that Roku was from the Fire Nation, so his home would be there.

--Unrelated, but the tea that I'm drinking right now is SO GOOD. (I figure if Mark can do it. . . .) It's called Marianne's Wild Abandon from a place called Bingley's Teas.

--Oh, I just realized that the Avatar and the Firelord referenced in the title are Roku and Sozin, not Aang and Ozai! *taps forehead* Smart.

--Interesting that Sozin wanted to conquer the world to share the prosperity of the Fire Kingdom with everyone. How did that work out for him? :p

--Shades of Prince of Egypt!

--It sure doesn't seem like Avatar Roku did much to actually stop Sozin's plan.

--How does Sozin know he didn't succeed in killing the new Avatar? Wouldn't it just have passed to the next nation on the list?

--I don't know if Zuko is ready to hear about cleansing the sins of the Fire Nation yet.

The Beach

--"Ember Island is a magical place." Like Tahiti?

--Wow. Aang being discovered sure happened fast after Katara said there was nothing to worry about! And she's usually the cautious one.

--That was a little intense, Azula! :D I don't think you quite get the point of games!

--Shan Yu, is that you? How did he know to intercept that particular hawk?

--Well, I was about to say that Azula was surprisingly successful at trying to attract a boy, and then she had to go and ruin it. If she really wants a partner who will make them the strongest couple on the earth, I'm not sure why she thinks she will find anyone like that at this party!

--I never understood the suddenness of the Mai/Zuko thing, so I'm glad it's over now.

--It's interesting that Zuko is doing all of this because he wanted to restore his honor, and then he went and hired a mercenary to secretly track down and kill the Avatar in order to hide his secret. Not very honorable!

--I didn't realize Aang still had a scar from what happened at the end of the previous season. That's some nice continuity.

--This is quite a therapy session. I don't really know why they're all pushing Zuko so hard to figure out who he's angry at. It seems out of character for Azula especially to care. Unless she's planning to use it against him, I guess.

--Dang it, Zuko and Mai are back together. That didn't last long.

Sokka's Master

--Nice to see that Uncle Iroh is still being proactive about things from prison.

--While I don't think Sokka getting formal weapons training is a bad idea, the setup was a little contrived. You'd think by now Sokka would know that he is a contributing member of the group, even if he couldn't be of much help in that one specific circumstance.

--Also, that line about the villagers not knowing how close they came to death was silly. You're telling me not a single person saw the meteorite hit, or even felt the impact so close to the village and raised the alarm? Not to mention it didn't seem like the fire was even that close. Who is to say it would have spread in their direction?

--As I said, I'm glad Sokka wants to get training. But I'm worried about his choice of a teacher. A renowned Fire Nation sword master seems like a dangerous person to try to trick.

--Tough to create an accurate landscape painting if you don't have some skill in painting in the first place.

--Nice to see that Sokka is actually improving, even if he isn't going about it in a conventional manner.

--One day?! And then he's going to learn to make a sword on the second day?

--It's only just now occurring to me that Sokka didn't want to delay for even one day to help the village in the last episode because it would throw off their schedule. How long is he planning to stay here?

--Cool idea to use the meteorite to make a sword. But how are they not suspicious about Sokka and his friends being able to move it all that way?

--WTF. Now Sokka is deliberately provoking a fight with a sword master after two days of training?

--Oh, phew. I'm glad he knew all along. It makes some of this make more sense.

--A white lotus tile! So that's why we saw that clip in the previouslies. Interesting! I thought it was going to tie in with what Iroh was doing in his cell, but this raises intriguing possibilities for the future.

rukbat3 Watches Avatar: The Last Airbender



Episode reactions starting with 3x4 in the comments below.

The Painted Lady

--It seems to me that eating the food from that village would be worse than not eating at all!

--So how did Katara know about the Painted Lady? And what did she do to Appa to get him to act sick?

--Ah, okay, no one saw her the first night.

--I knew destroying the factory wasn't going to be that simple.

--Is this general someone we've seen before, or is he just a random character?

--Wow, it must have taken them quite a while to clean all that water. Surprised that Sokka let them!

--I loved that Katara laid down the law for Sokka and stood up for what she knew was right.

--But I don't know what was up with that "joke" about the guy switching hats. That was just bizarre.

The Headband

--Well, that's a strange choice for a title!

--It would have been even funnier if that bird had pooped on Sokka's head. :D

--Probably not a good idea to let the Avatar go off on his own?

--Interesting that the Fire Nation is teaching revisionist history.

--Why is music allowed for expressing yourself if dancing isn't? I would have thought the skills needed for dancing would translate into being a good firebender.

--Did Aang make up that story about the secret river just because he wanted to go to school?

--It's Footloose time! I guess?

--Where did Aang get the money to hire that band?

--I feel like Aang's going to lose that headband while dancing.

--Nope, it was the opposite! Everyone else gained one! LOL.

--I have a feeling this plan to hire a mercenary is going to back fire on Zuko big time. Also, why is he discussing it out in the open like that? Anyone could be hiding among those buildings!

The Awakening

--WTF? Has Aang been shaving his head all this time? Why?

--So does the Fire Nation think the Avatar is dead now? And do Zuko and Azula think that as well, or are they just letting people draw their own conclusions without correcting them?

--The Earth King doesn't seem too sad about the Fire Nation taking over his capital. Not a very responsible ruler, methinks.

--Whatever happened to the Earth King of that other city, the one that used to be Aang's friend?

--Turtle ducks? Cute!

--Wow, Katara is an absolute badass in this battle!

--Aang sure isn't sounding like his chakras are in balance right now.

--I get so mad at Aang sometimes. I have to keep reminding myself that he's just a kid, but that doesn't always help much.

--Okay, touching scene between Katara and her dad, but Aang is still missing! You don't have time for this! :p

--Exactly how much heat resistance does the Avatar have, to be standing that close to flowing lava? And the others are pretty close too! (Not that many shows or movies are exactly realistic where lava is concerned.)

--Azula must be pretty sure that Aang survived if she's going to take the chance of giving away the credit. Is she just going off of Zuko's behavior, or does she have other reasons to suspect the truth? I'm also interested to find out why Zuko is keeping his suspicions to himself in the first place.

Thanks! It's nice to know that someone is entertained. :) I will probably end up watching Legend of Korra, although I've heard mixed things about it (no spoilers yet, though). However, I probably won't have time to start on it until next summer.