I feel Dallas absolutely killed it with his performance as Zuko. He was really able to capture how different pre-scar Zuko and present day Zuko, while keeping enough that you can tell they are definitely one and the same person. There's a light, carefreeness in the way pre-scar Zuko moved, where else present day Zuko feels weighed down by the shame, regret, and burdens he carries with him everywhere. And the scene at the end on the ship? You really got the sense how - despite his bravado and constant airs how he is the Crown Prince of the Fire Lord and heir to the Fire Nation - he is completely uncomfortable when people show him genuine respect and doesn't know what to do with it. Because he's lost all respect for himself, and probably doesn't see himself worthy of respect, at this point.
@@illthedabgod Absolutely. Also, other standouts for me were Lim Kay Siu, who played Gyatso, and Albert Nicholas, who played the Earth Kingdom guard escorting Iroh to the prison camp in Episode 4.
@@evilwelshman omg dude. The dude they got for Gyatso was absolutely amazing. Dude literally had me in tears every time he was on screen. The interactions between him and Aang were heartwarming but heartbreaking at the same time.
The best things in this show are the ones they completely added rather than changed, so it’s a shame these writers, directors and actors were put in an adaptation instead of an original story
Yeah, THIS choice was good enough that it should have been in the original :P (There I don't think we actually know the origin of Zuko's crew, except perhaps some of the comics may touch on it?) edit: I don't know about whether these writers/directors are 'great' or 'good' (and I can nitpick a lot on the adaptation) but this was a plain genius choice.
@@ciscoralmazora289 I don't recall the part of them being THE CREW; the [41st?] division being the reason for the Agni Kai was part of it was there, sure. But the OG show did not tell us that they were the crew even so. (as far as I remember.) edit: we can even think that the division may have ended up dying anyway in the animated show.
@@legoneneni dont think that it was part of the original since in the animated show some of the people on zukos crew were fairly old instead of new recruits
I always cry when Zuko cries as they bow to him. He came back to the ship thinking he lost everything, his crew, the avatar, and he realizes he hasn't been abandoned again.
"Please practice compassion" that was really beautiful, sometimes "fans" forget that those actors are only kids, some of them are acting for the very first time. ❤
@@BeeKee404I agree. When the live-action series premiered most of the ATLA fans showed their true colors and it caught me by surprise by how they were constantly harassing some of the actors and the worst thing is the body-shaming as if they've learned nothing from the original series.
The 41st division was such a good addition to Zuko's backstory of how he got the scar. And then it turned out to be his crew. Absolutely genius. I really loved this live action show and it's actually good to watch. Can't wait for more!
I feel the addition/twist that the soldiers he defended being his crew all this time creates interesting insights into Zuko's character. Despite how much he berates and complains about them, or how much casual disrespect they show towards him, not once did he let slip the truth or complain to Iroh how the crew are only alive because of him, etc. It shows how he views himself as their leader and how it is the leader's duty to protect the lives of those under their command and to not place unnecessary burdens on them, and to instead shoulder those burdens alone.
Paul said in an interview that the last thing he wanted to do was a 'bad Mako impersonation' which makes a lot of sense. He brings so much heart to the show and a slightly different take on Iroh, but it works so well.
@@mranima748You mean it's the opposite of what Greg Baldwin says what he does. Greg says he does a bad Mako impression, while Paul does ~not~ want to do a bad Mako impression.
I thought it was a great touch when they made Zuko's crew the same unit that he saved by speaking up in the meeting. Brought everything full circle for me. And another interesting touch was when Ozai scarred Zuko's face AFTER defeating him. It added an extra layer of dickishness to his character.
This is such a solid episode! It's a brilliant addition to the show having Zuko being the saviour of his own division. Iroh watching Zuko walking past the soldiers in the end and for the first time seeing Zuko as a future king, there's so much pride in Iroh. And Aang saying to Zuko "If we knew each other back then, do you think we could have been friends?" is an even better scene than in the animated show, because instead of Aang being hopeful at the idea, he looks almost sad. It's like he's asking for a peace offering, knowing full well that Zuko will turn him down.
I could listen to Angela speak ALL DAY LONG, FOREVER. Her special talent and stand out quality as RU-vid reactor/commentator. She has found her calling. Soaring towards 100K subs and beyond!
Some of the changes this series did worked, and some didn't. But the *additions* were stellar. I hope in season 2 and 3 they do more additions! Zuko/Iroh are a highlight of this series. At the end there you can see the type of firelord Zuko would be, compared to his father in season 3 intro. One rules by respect, and one rules by fear. The difference is here they had a choice to follow him or not, and they chose him, Ozai has to force them. This was the first time I saw Zuko as a real prince, even considering ATLA, there for me he was like some teenager royalty I guess, but I never truly saw him being revered. Here I saw a glimpse of greatness, the same Iroh's son saw.
The issue is that a lot of those additions broke the timeline of iroh s and zuko s stories. So i ll be curious to see how they mend things later to either keep the story on track, or rather how they ll have to make even bigger changes to fit the new baseground they ve set. Or most likely, they ll just drop the ball and do something that makes no sense because they don t care.
@@etienne8110 it's shows how the producers, actors and all the people involved here cares about the original show. I'm not scared of what's next (only that Netflix need to add more episodes for each season)
@@AgusXiaolin hmm? They care by breaking on purpose the timeline and backstories of some of the main characters? Radicaly changing their dev and char arc. (Not for the better) You must be in a toxic relationship if that s how you "care". 😅
21:26 I always feel bad for Zuko when he gets on his knees as he begs for forgiveness. And that 'RISE' from Ozai along with him snapping off his garb was very intimidating. And while Zuko didn't fight against his father in the animated show, I really loved how Zuko put up a little bit of a fight in this adaptation
Facts. I actually jumped when he shouted "RISE!" like that, it was scary. And I like he defends himself and fights back, he tries to be the child his father wants, you can see Ozai is holding back heavily, he waits for Zuko to burn him but then Zuko can't and it pisses him off fully.
@@chazo1367 They basically changed his banishment from being due to refusal to fight but to instead by due to hesitating and showing compassion. I have no problem with the change but it is interesting..
The weirdest part of most of the criticisms is those people aren’t even remembering the animation correctly. Even if the thing being criticized is objectively a bad change what people use to back it up doesn’t hold any water.
This was definitely my favorite episode so far. While I can’t stand most of the unnecessary story changes I absolutely love making Zuko’s crew the soldiers he defended. Back during the ATLA days we all wondered who they were and why they got stuck with Zuko so this really deepens their relationship. I never liked how in ATLA Zuko’s crew just joined up with Zhao and we never saw them again.
Zhao enters his full audacity era when he becomes Admiral, he starts acting like the animated version of himself. He came straight out the neck in the animated series, which is wild considering his rank, but from this point on we have a full fledged Admiral Audacity from this point on
This is why I love Ken Leung’s Zhao. Watching him scheme & slowly turn into “Zhao the Moon Slayer” was so satisfying. I’m really hoping Ken Leung gets some kind of awards recognition for this role.
A lot of times people see compassion as a weakness but it can be a strength or a drive. It is a risk but it’s worth fighting for. this first season did a really good job showing Zuko’s backstory and how conflicted he is and it already shows how he is able to change if pushed towards the right direction. I feel Zuko has learned more outside of the Fire Nation than being within because he is learning about the world and their sacrifices and pains and joys. He is learning from experience while it shows Azula learning from hearsay. It’s a great show. This episode stayed really well with the main series.
I predicted like 90% sobbing for you this ep, so not too far off. I did not see the 2% thirsting over DDK though 😂 This is my favorite episode over the Netflix series. Couple of cool facts for you: DDK and Dallas are both skilled martial artists in real life, so punches were being pulled for the camera, but Dallas said the next day he was covered in bruises, so some of those pained grunts are probably real, lol. Also the composer who did the music, Takeshi Furukawa, started Zuko's musical arc with that theme you hear when he's given that formal welcome back at the end. He then worked backwards as a build-up toward that theme. If you listen to the musical progression of it in episode order, it really shows how it grows in power and emotion. Chef kiss.
Nyla is a shirshu, a hybrid between a wolf, an anteater and a star-nosed mole. It was such an unexpected choice to me for them to show Ozai's eyes welling up with sadness as he burns Zuko's face. It's very clear that this version of Ozai has a somewhat different relationship to his children, and that teaching Zuko his 'lesson' hurt him as well, but he saw it as a necessity, and when Zuko showed that he still hadn't taken the lesson of shedding his compassion to heart during their post-agni kai conversation, that's when Ozai decided to exile him. He concluded that Zuko was weak himself, and that by exiling him he was shedding himself of his own weakness, whatever love and compassion he had for his son. I don't sympathize with Ozai's pain over hurting Zuko at all, but I do find the changed dynamic interesting.
Love your “I’m on a boat reference.” Went on a cruise right when that song came on, we wore shorts that said it and everything. No I’m not ashamed :) love your reactions as always, you’re a lovely person! Can’t wait for you to see the last 2!
Great episode! At this point it feels more like a Zuko and Iroh show, with team Avatar as a sideplot XD. Can we also give an applause to the actor playing Admiral Zhao? He really made the character his own and you love to hate him. That's a good actor.
This episode was really well done and I loved the twist with the 41st division. What a great addition and so much more meaningful. Great reaction as always!! :)
Whenever I see the scene between aang and zuko about the calligraphy strokes, it calls to mind what katara said back in the episode 2 about how this avatar is different, about how his special ability is his ability to connect with others. It was a perfect way to get Zuko to open up.
Having seen this before ever seeing the animated series, I can honestly say that combining story arcs does reduce filler, but sometimes a little bit of character development is sacrificed. That being said, I think they did a really good job with this live action series. I also appreciate that the tone is slightly darker and slightly less playful than the animated series. Another beautiful reaction!
My only suggestion would be...have him actually speak up for his speech. He sounded like he was talking to someone in a normal conversation, I can't imagine the troops in the back heard him until "cel-e-brate!"
This episode, I Cry so much. Zuko transition from Young and happy, to scarred and driven, parroting his father "Compassion is a weakness" and calling him a great man, take the 41st as your crew, every single fire salute down that procession showing respect and gratitude after the revelation. I never understood tearbending till now. All the changes here added to the story and showed a true respect and understanding of the character and cartoon/anime.
I was watching some other people reacting to this episode recently and they had an interesting take on Ozai showing emotion burning Zuko. It humanizes Ozai somewhat, but more than that it shows that he feels empathy and compassion as well but unlike Zuko he pushes through that to do cruel things that he feels needs to be done. He feels compassion but he ignores it. Also I think in a way this shows why Zuko acts the way he does to his crew, and while yes it probably is him trying to lose his compassion I can't help but wonder if he feels some amount of resentment. They are the reason he spoke up in the meeting and thus why he's in this whole situation in the first place. I don't think he hates his crew, but everyday he's surrounded by people who indirectly caused all of this.
I'm loving this adaptation. I really am just floored by how many people who claim to love the original series and the ideals it stood for.... are acting like Azula. "It's not perfect so it's not worthy." Aang wouldn't approve of the vitriol, but Ozai sure would.
I cried when they revealed that Zuko's crew were the ones he saved and if anyone's concerned about this show being a little too violent I suggest you read the Kyoshi books 😊
@JrE-il7cf yeah but probably not as hard in fact I saw this other reactor cry during that scene and she hasn't watched the original animated series yet
12:09 lol I thought the video went to commercial when the boat scene cut in. Great editing choice 19:15 lol another great editing choice to put the ricola
I found the Agni Kai in this live-action adaptation to be more impactful than its animated counterpart. Not to discredit the animated version, as I do appreciate it, but in live-action, the scene gains a heightened sense of precision. In the animation, the massive blast of flames pouring over Zuko's face seemed somewhat imprecise. It left me questioning why his entire face and hair weren't more severely burned. However, in this adaptation, the attack is depicted with much closer and exact detail, lending it a greater sense of realism. More importantly, this closer depiction creates a more "intimate" confrontation, which significantly enhances the emotional resonance of the scene.
I feel like this episode manages to actually adapt the animation to the new show much better than a lot of the rest of this version, and ironically it's one of two episodes that has an OG creator as a credited writer. (Bryan Konietzko)
4:52 They didn't actually meet June during "The Fortuneteller". That was the episode right before they met June and as they were tracking they ended up passing through that city and briefly encountered Aunt Wu, but where the actual episode was "Bato of the Water Tribe" and they met up at the Abby Bato had been staying at.
What's funny is this is one instance where Iroh was actually wrong: waiting for Zhao to make a mistake was not the correct strategy. Aang is already in Fire Nation territory and his friends are incapacitated. In this particular moment, Aang is isolated and bound, and nobody outside the Fire Nation even knows it. If Zuko hadn't intervened and rescued Aang, Zhao very likely would have successfully delivered Aang to Ozai.
The one thing that bug me about this episode is the spirit of the forest felt unresolved, Anng never really calm down the panda spirit (forgot its name) he just made a deal with a different spirit
It’s a shame they put koh in this episode instead of the final one, considering how much Koh ties in with Kuruk and Kuruk’s incorporation in the final episode, I think it would have been interesting
The change of making his crew the 41st, and making the 41st the division he sacrificed himself for, is freaking brilliant, and easily my favorite change in the entire live action series.
It's such a great enhancement of the already existing characterization to see Ozai intend to hurt Zuko by punishing him and reminding him of his failures by sending the 41st with him as crew, and Iroh being able to turn it into a reminder of compassion and gratitude because he understands Zuko so well.
I was looking forward to watching your reaction to this episode. I just knew I was going to be crying buckets with you! And I was! Lol! Love your reactions to Avatar. ❤
What i also love about this live action is the encounter or conversations of the siblings' Iroh and Ozai coz in the animated one, we didn't get to see that.
Yeah, when Aang saw Roku in the animated show Roku was always generally a serious tone. But the animated show did mention that Roku and Monk Gyatso were friends when Roku was learning airbending, which is why Aang got along with Gyatso's shenannigans so well. It's a small flashback scene of young Roku and Gyatso messing with each other. But I do like this Roku. Looking forward to seeing him more, hopefully. But I loved how they shove it in your face when Aang is talking to Zuko about compassion and you can see that it triggers Zuko. And then we see the Agni Kai where he held back from landing a blow on his father, and that's when Ozai finished the fight and called him out on that compassion. The same compassion he'd had for the soldiers of the 41st. So it immediately makes sense why Aang highlighting it as something good would trigger him.
This episode had one of the seasons best moments (in my opinion) and also one of its most lost opportunities as well. The best moment for me was the moment when we discover that the 41st fleet that Zuko saved was realized among Chopps and its crew that Zuko saved them all, what an AMAZING moment that the animated series never really covered as to how the crew saw Zuko (At least i really do not remember it every playing out that way) I dont think the 41st fleet was ever written in such a way in the animated show right? or was i remembering it wrong!. But the biggest missed opportunity for me was that we had an introduction to Hei Bai set it the perfect moment when MoMo gave Aang the Seed that was placed in the ground, It would have been amazing at the end of episode 6 when Roku was doing the dialogue, to have seen the seed start to bloom and then show the spirit of Hei Bai transform back into the Panda showing that Aang was making a small difference even been there at that moment! im really sad that did not get translated as well as it was in the Animated series. Great reaction once again thanks i look forward to the last 2 episodes.
Zuko’s scene at the end with the crew lining up for him brought me to tears. In the same way as in the Clone Wars finale, when Ahsoka is reunited with the 501 and their painted helmets.
12:08 Y'kno..... I asked that very same question too. 😂😂 Must be those magical teleportation abilities characters often have in Fiction Land every time they are away from a scene. 😁😁
I've been so looking forward to your reaction to this episode. When you realized about the war council and immediately started crying i knew what we were in for. Glad to see that zuko actually put up a bit of a fight but in the end, just like you said, hes a good person and didnt attack his father. Also, the addition of the 41st as zukos crew and their newfound respect for zuko made me tearbend. How you made the connection before it was mentioned is beyond me, i know i didnt catch it. Keep up the good work, cant wait to see your future reactions.
We are not SEEING all of the adventures that the main trio are going on as Netflix squeezes over 11 hours (22 episodes @1/2-hour) of animated content into eight hours of live action. However, we are hearing about the adventures and seeing how the characters interact with one another.
24:18 this is one of those dialogs that made me and my friends laugh, it could have been written a bit better, it just felt like "41st Division.... oh shit, thats me! thats us! We're the 41st Division!" Something about the way he delivers it, gets me out of it
I really appreciated the way the "Do you think we could have been friends?" line worked in this episode, because the live action made it an even more obvious "yes," and now Aang knows it too. LA Aang has been trying to connect to Zuko in EVERY encounter they have had. It's symptomatic of the different world he comes from, where the Fire Nation and the other nations weren't enemies. He's still struggling to actually wrap his mind around the war, around such automatic enmity with a person just because of their ethnicity and origin. It's particularly difficult with Zuko because Zuko is a boy like him, and also like Sokka, who is one of his closest friends. LA Aang has had deep insight into LA Zuko's mind that animated Aang didn't through his journal. In a way, *Zuko* has been Aang's most prominent mentor as he tries to figure out being the Avatar. Iroh, who has never antagonized Aang in the live action and in fact has always been pleasant and courteous and noticeably ambivalent on the status of the Fire Nation hostilities with the rest of the world, has consistently advocated for Zuko to Aang. Now, Aang has had a conversation with Zuko where he establishes that 1) they actually have common ground to build a relationship on and 2) he, Aang, actually does feel some gratitude to Zuko for what Zuko has taught him through the journal and 3) it is actually possible for them to talk civilly, in addition to fighting together like they were born brothers in arms. In the animated series, I think there is a greater poignancy to Aang's question, particularly to Zuko's response, where his actions later back on his ship silently reveal he knows he had an opportunity there and, for the first time, he shows some resentment toward the Fire Nation when he turns away from their flag. But I do think the live action has built a much more solid foundation for Zuko and Aang's friendship than existed in the animated series at a comparable point. I actually believe that at this point in the live action, Aang loses all animosity for Zuko. He recognizes Zuko as a victim of indoctrination and abuse, though he doesn't know how yet. He knows Zuko is doing what he's doing not because he's bad but because he thinks he has to. And while Zuko may be hesitant to exercise compassion, Aang now has a great deal of compassion for Zuko. I also think he renounces their enmity in his mind (which actually does a great deal to disarm it; an advantage of pacifism-it takes two to fight). I'm interested to see how the new dynamic will play out in Season 2. I feel they're kinda building a new Aang-and-Zuko thing.
I dont think i will EVER stop praising Dallas Liu's portrayal of Zuko, he feels so much more like his age, LIKE HE IS 16! i love how adorable and sweet and innocent and naive pre scarring zuko was, and i love how obvious scarred zukos anger comes mostly from a place of hurt, masking his insecurities and trying to overcompensate as a TEEN leading a crew of adults. i also wanna mention i think zuko and aang were literally destined to be like brothers even. its actually a headcanon of mine that zuko is sozin reincarnated like aang is rokus reincarnation, and the universe has given them a new chance to be friends again, a chance to fix their mistakes of their past lives. (like i had my lightbulb moment when i rewatched "the avatar and the firelord" for the millionth time and toph asked wheter aang believed if friendships really could transcend lifetimes, which was proven in the same episode with gyatso and later in lok with toph and korra. but i feel like that question was implying more, and specifically towards the avatar(s) and the firelord(s) to me this fits, especially bc of how zuko and aang sometimes acted towards eachother after zuko joined the gaang, they became friends rather quickly and at points acted more like brothers annoying eachtother, like how roku and sozin were in the veru beginning. giusbgusbgusbg im sorry all this rambling bc yea i think zuko FEELS deep down that yes, he and aang could have been friends if things were different, WILL be friends when things are differnt,
So why did Sozin end up becoming a bad person so hell bent on conquering the entire world? What the hell happened to Sozin in the 12 years that Roku was off training to master the other elements? I mean when Roku and Sozin were in their teens Sozin seemed like a kind and good natured person, what happened to that guy, why did he change for the worse?
Sozin didn't really change, though. He just became more powerful by ascending the throne and more determined to force the new technology and the firenation way of life on other people.
I do love the additions, because it answers a couple of really obvious questions from the show - firstly - why would the rest of the fire nation want Zuko over Iroh? and secondly why would the rest of the world would accept Zuko? But here it's made plain that it's exactly because he's an outcast and exactly why he was made an outcast that he can take over the throne. He explicitly has no ties to the old regime the way Iroh does and it's precisely because he's a kind and gentle person, worthy of *voluntarily* following. The mark on his face reminds everyone who he really is, it just needs Zuko himself to recognise it. It's hard to recreate a masterpiece and they should be applauded for coming so close and for the additions which make the OG better.
@@markwilliams125 In the OG it's never explicitly shown why Iroh is not going to work as firelord, Iroh just mumbles something about it looking bad to history.
@mark : You are will- and forcefully missing the point here. Iroh was the crown prince, but in the live action show he conciously made the decision to not ascend the throne, but join his nephew Zuko instead. In the OG series Iroh just mumbled on about not wanting to ascend the throne after what happened to his son and basically saying he had nothing to do as a lesser royal so he just goes on an adventure with Zuko. The live action series version of that story makes more sense and gives us more insight into the inner workings of Iroh as opposed to his powerhungry brother who ends up becoming firelord.
I think the actor for Zuko had the best performance for the series and the scenes with Uncle Iroh are just spectacular. I do think the spirit world adventure could've been done better with revealed truths rather than just revisiting trauma that they already knew and have been carrying with them. I also think more could've been done with the face-stealer rather than him just automatically releasing all of his food when Aang returned the statue. Other than those minor gripes,though, I really enjoyed the season as a whole.
Not a fan of most of the Netflix ideas, but I enjoyed the fight scene with the Blue Spirit and Aang. Also tying Zuko's backstory in the blue spirit episode was pretty naturally paced. Glad there are some salvageable moments for me.
You said Ozai seemed to have a hard time hurting Zuko ( and Azula even if it's different for her) but we can wonder if Ozai isn't himself the product of that kind of education, after all Iroh seemed to be the favourite of their father, who knows how Ozai was treated? That doesn't excuse him but that could explain a lot.
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One thing I will say in regards to the early comment on being able to interact with the past Avatars on at the shrines is almost certainly a change from the original creators during their time on the project. It became well known that a certain plot/story in Korra was done mainly to undo the prior aspect of the past Avatars being so available. Cause each plot/problem the audience would ask how come one of the past avatars did not help. How come Aang is not helping. And so forth. Unfortunately fans hated losing the nostalgia, so this seems to be a compromise to those two extremes. Limits the past Avatars from being this ever present problem fix but does not remove them from the world entirely.
I wasnt down with the fight and it makes me wonder if this story change is what convinced the creators to leave. Zuko fighting his dad is absolutely something he would not have done, hes not there yet. Its so important that happened later in his journey. Its why its so powerful when he finally stands up to him in the third season. And the fact they are making us love Zuko so early is kinda jarring. Hes the baddie of the first season, we see and love him for his changing journey in season 2. I understand they werent totally sure they were getting a second or third season,so they needed to get the feels out there to make sure they can get those numbers to get more seasons (vicious cycle). However it wasn't a bad adaptation cause we've seen terrible, cant wait to see their growth in the next seasons.
Fortune teller won't ever happen. They mention 3 things when brushing over things the avatar has already done. One was the great divide and another was fighting a volcano. Can't remember what the other was, but was sad to see that storyline go.
In case you didn’t know the live action was renewed to have all 3 seasons so it will be the full thing which is nice. Can’t wait to see who they cast as toph as well as the final fight between Aang and Ozai
36:51 i just finished the animated series for the first time last night and am getting my son an Appa Pillow Pet for his upcoming 21st birthday, along with some Dragonball Z and Zelda stuff. He's still a big kid! I love that we have this show to bond over. We watched the live action together.
As you said, whatever genuine pain and disappointment Ozai felt scarring Zuko didn't stop him from doing that unnecessary act of cruelty. It's like 12 Years A Slave where Ford knew slavery was evil but was still a slave owner. The worst ones are always the ones that know it's wrong but do it anyways.
This is easily the best episode of Season 1. I’m still a bit indifferent on the decision to make Roku more goofy and aloof than the stoic version we got in the animated series. But Zuko’s story not only being perfectly retold but the addition of the detail that his Crew is the reason for his scar and banishment really adds a chefs kiss level of depth I didn’t know I needed.
Yes, but keep in mind that Nickelodeon wouldn't allow any violence on screen, because it was and still is a kids network with kids as the target audience.
