Avatar: The Last Airbender

[Shadow]

Oh sweet Jesus no!

[Prox]

Now, just because you guys are disapproving doesn't mean you know why. Shyamalmanamlan is kind of creative and kind of a good actor/director, but he's also kind of self-absorbed and kind of crazy. After Sixth Sense and Signs, his thoughts stopped connecting. Now I have little or no wish that he continue making movies, but he's convinced that he's a superfamous superstar and won't retire. Also, I'd much rather see a James Cameron movie called "Avatar" than Mister Night Shamammarama's shit take on what appears to be a very interesting show.

[Boris]

Frankly I actuallyed liked Unbreakable and a lot of folks said Sixth Sense was good. Maybe this guy can still do something at least passably worth watching if it's not his own cucoo brain trying to think up that "WHAT A TWIST" ending. Bear in mind multiple others could also be involved in the writing and production, so it may at least be entertaining, like a 6/10.

PEE ESS, the twist ending woul be Zutara.

[Boris]

Have an orriginal thought, which is something I havn't seen in a while. It offers another interp of Zuko's action in the finale, and some criticism of Aang that is, in retropsect, desereved. Orriginaly posted by some gal over on DH

Aang and Zuko's stories have almost always paralleled each other throughout Avatar, and the most notable parallels are typically the ones that stay within a specific episode. The Storm is the best example of this parallelism - important parts of both of their pasts come out in the same episode, with certain similarities between them, and they each begin to overcome these issues by the end of the episode. The Crossroads of Destiny, too, has obvious parallels - both Aang and Zuko have to make a choice which could determine the fate of the world, and they both fail spectacularly.

I think that this parallel, however, might not just be at the surface level - Aang's story could relate to Zuko's at a deeper level, one that could help make sense of the confusion caused by Zuko's choice.

First, we need to think back to the reason why these two have a choice to make in the first place - for both of them, the choice is created by their learning experiences at the end of the second season. For Aang, that's obvious - the Guru's training to open the chakras and allow him to utilize the Avatar State at will. For Zuko, it's not quite so obvious; however, by looking at Zuko's experiences through the last few episodes, it can be determined what Iroh was trying to teach him.

Iroh's teaching became very overt in Lake Laogai, though he was attempting to teach Zuko throughout the whole season. As he told Zuko - "It’s time for you to look inward, and begin asking yourself the big questions. Who are you? And what do you want?" Zuko is taught that he has control of his own destiny ("What [your destiny] means is up to you"), that he should follow his dreams ("Follow your dreams, and you will be rewarded", or something like that) - that he needs to be his own person. This is something that would be very important to Zuko being the Fire Lord and bringing balance back to the Fire Nation, just as the Avatar State is something very important to Aang being the Avatar and bringing balance back to the world.

Both Aang and Zuko's training appears to become contradictory at the very end, though. Aang is taught, as part of the fourth chakra, that love is important. His affection for Katara is portrayed by the Guru as a good thing, the key to overcoming his grief and allowing him to unlock the chakra. For the seventh chakra, however, he is told to give up his attachments, which he assumes to mean his affection for Katara. Zuko, similarly, is taught that it's important to be his own person, that he shouldn't do what Ozai or Iroh or anyone says just because they told him to, and that he should instead do what he himself wants to do. In Iroh's final conversation with Zuko in the cave, though, Iroh tells him that he should choose "good," suggesting that he should join with the Avatar and restore balance to the world, without really giving Zuko a reason to choose this for himself. Aang sees the fourth and seventh chakra training as love vs. no love, Zuko sees Iroh's training as choice vs. no choice, oversimplifying the new training into something in direct conflict with the past training.

The seemingly contradictory nature of the training, however, is not the extent of the similarities, however. In both characters' situations, the earlier training is comforting - Aang wants to hold on to his affection for Katara, and Zuko likes the idea of being in charge of his own destiny. So, when faced with the new and contradictory teachings, they refuse to accept it and choose instead to seek the first part of the training without the second. Aang puts off letting go of Katara; Zuko looks away and pauses before giving Iroh an answer. And in that short hesitation, something intervenes - Azula. Aang sees his vision of Katara in danger because Azula endangered her; Zuko gets confronted by his sister directly, but in each case, she's the one who forces the decision. And both Aang and Zuko make similar decisions - "forget the newer part of the training that I don't like and don't understand, and go with the earlier training, which is comforting and makes sense."

As usual when the two characters are paralleled, Aang ends up one step ahead of Zuko (though this time, it doesn't really help him) - he realizes that he has to try to follow the second part of the training even though he still doesn't like it or understand it. But by that point, it's too late - he isn't able to control the Avatar State properly, and ends up getting shot down by Azula before he can master it. Zuko, meanwhile, tries to choose his own destiny as Fire Lord, and Azula takes advantage of this to trap him.

At the end of the episode, neither Aang nor Zuko has learned their lesson fully, and probably endangered their chances of ever learning it fully. Aang got himself (nearly?) killed in the Avatar State, and while he (and, by implication, the Avatar Spirit) was revived, it's likely that there was some kind of negative effect that will make it harder for him to master it in the future. Zuko tried to seek his own destiny as Fire Lord, but got himself involved with Azula, putting him in danger of becoming a pawn, permanently.

Following this comparison through, both of them are probably going to need to learn the true meaning of the final part of their training. They also will need to do something else in order to get back to where they were before in order to actually use what they learned (it's quite possible, in my opinion, that they may learn to understand their training fully before they're actually in a position to be able to use it due to the complications). And when they learn this, they will both be much more powerful, and much more ready to face their chosen destinies - Aang for facing the Fire Lord, Zuko for becoming Fire Lord. And, at the end, Zuko will remain one step behind, since he can't actually become Fire Lord until Aang defeats the current Fire Lord.

Some possible implications of this:
- Zuko is no more of a naive moron than Aang is, because they both made basically the same mistake and got themselves into trouble
- Zuko didn't actually make a plan to take down Azula, but he didn't "turn evil" either
- Both Aang and Zuko ended up farther away from their intended goal, but in a different direction - neither of them really went backwards or are going to need to retrace much of their former learning, but will need to do something completely different to master their lessons
- The completion of Aang and Zuko's extra step could possibly take place in a similar time-frame - if Aang fixes his Avatar State problem quickly, it's not unlikely that Zuko would get out of Azula's trap quickly as well.

[Bluejay]

Here you guys go, check out this link http://www.nick.com/avatarshort/ use the password koh  It's pretty funny.

[Boris]

heh, uh, we were there about 1.5 weeks ago when this made the rounds on 4chan a bunch. Fyber even found a direct download version somewhere.

IN OTHER AVATAR NEWS: Some kind of damn shakeup happened at Nick, and it looks like we won't be starting season three until fall. cry sob.

[Bluejay]

LOL Yeah I think it was Vito that dropped that bombshell a week and a half or so ago... glad to see I'm not the only one out of the loop.

[Boris]

Nerp, it was me sir. As far as certain cartoons go, I am the loop around here. I was just pasting it again for long term reader benefit.

[Bluejay]

*Replaces Boris with Vito*

[Jack Dandy]

That was the best thing ever. I hear there making two more or already did but plan to release later is it true?

[Bluejay]

So it's been a while, but Anyone got season 3 predections? new/old friends or foes? Zuko finding love? Sokka being more pimp? Anything?

[Boris]

Hrm, though I laughed and said 'no news' at you already Jay. I would now, but its no longer true, mainly because Aang has hair lol.



Anyway, that lovely boxart (supposedly from Paramount's media kit site) was said by tvshowsondvd.com to be set for release on Oct 30, and all the episodes were to have aired by then, meaning it's likely S3 will begin in mid to late September.

And thats the news thats fit to print.

[Shadow]

Sokka, put the sword down before you hurt someone. Or more likely yourself.

[FyberOptic]

A good quality two-minute preview of season 3.

[Boris]

I linkered it in the chat but yeah, pretty awesoem lookin cast in red.
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