I'd like to point out, in the play it is Zuko who fights the blue spirit, not Zhao, which is very interesting because if you remember back to season 1 Zhao's main motivation is to be remembered by history, and here less than 1 year later he was already forgotten
One of the things I just learned recently about Zuko's firebending post-meeting the dragons. Zuko no longer grunts or yells in anger when he is firebending. Let's take his 1 v 1 matchup here w/ Azula as a prime example. Beautiful!
The neat thing about Zuko's field trips with Aang, Sokka, and Katara is that he basically serves the role of Iroh to them - he acts as mentor (to Aang), muscle (to Sokka), and emotional support (to Katara), all free of judgment. The reason why Toph didn't get a field trip with Zuko is because Iroh already helped her to overcome some of her hangups.
@@chazo1367 was talking more about the speech about how success isn’t linear and you’ll have to fail over and over (which is like 50% of Zuko’s arc as a character)
@@YT_AKai_ yeah he falls into all three categories for all three, and he does give Sokka the “you’re going to keep failing” speech that was reminiscent of Iroh telling Zuko that pride is not the opposite of shame, but its source. But his presence in Sokka’s arc is far more physical than with Aang and Katara
It's a nice small touch that Suki looks at Sokka after she sneaks him back stage in a way that says, "what a dummy... But he's my dummy." Both annoyed and then happy he's happy. Love the little things they didn't otherwise _have_ to do.
The wording in The Southern Raiders confuses a lot of people. "The man was gone, and so was she" meant "he killed her and got away." There's a surprising amount of times death is mentioned in AtLA, but it definitely seems like Nickelodeon was pushing back against it getting too dark. Using indirect wording to describe killing is something they use every now and then to get around it, like "I'll make sure your destiny ends, right there and then."
@@destroyerofnirn3537 It's hard to explain how it's different, but for example, having a a fairy tale where the princess goes, "And the monster killed my parents" is ok, but having the scene of the monster going, "I'm going to kill you!" isn't. It's like death is ok as long as it's this far away mystical thing to characters we haven't seen much of.
Yeah, when I first watched this episode I immediately picked up on the sad tone in Katara's voice and the hurt look on her face when she mentioned her mother also being gone, realizing that by her being 'gone' she meant that she had passed, but looking at it from someone else's perspective I can completely understand that they might see that moment differently.
The look on Zuko's face when he realizes that not only is Katara a stupendously powerful waterbender but that exactly one day a month she possesses the ability to effortlessly kill virtually anyone on the planet with Bloodbending always makes me laugh. His eyes are screaming "what the actual fuck" and "Boy am I glad I was her enemy BEFORE she learned how to do this."
It also speaks volumes about the level of hatred and anger she felt. Katara despises blood bending and what it means, yet in a moment of complete rage she fell back into Hama's teachings. Basically using what is for all intents and purposes the Dark Side of the Force for Waterbending.
Yeah, being on Nickelodeon meant that they had to work hard to dance around death. One of my favorite ways they did that was actually this episode where Azula can't say 'I'm here to kill you', so instead we get the amazing line "I'm about to celebrate becoming an only child" You can see them poke fun at this restriction in Ember Island Players with "Did Jet just die?" "It was really unclear wasn't it"
Fun fact: there was initially not supposed to be a recap episode but Nickelodeon made them have one, and they decided to make it the best recap episode of all time
What makes this better is that if you remember from the first season, she was only able to slightly shade her head from the rain. Now in the 3rd season we see her pretty much stop it COMPELTELY. This shows how Katara arguably has the best growth out of all the benders
Katara is not a naturally talented bender as is shown when Aang picks up waterbending and like you mentioned; at the start of the show. But it is shown throughout the show and when she is with master Pakku; Katara is willing to put in the work. That causes her amazing growth.
@@psymetric3684 Actually, it is clear she IS a very naturally talented bender. She taught HERSELF for the first couple of years, as there was no one left to teach her. When they reach the Northern water tribe, she even holds her own, for a while, against master Pakku. All with nothing more than what she taught herself and just one scroll. Once she studies with master Pakku, she definitely puts in the work, but also surpasses the rest of the class in record speed, even the avatar, to such a degree she can act at his master from that point. With Hama, she was not YET taught how to bloodbend. But when Hama pushed her, she did what took Hama ages to master. Saying Katara is not a naturally talented bender is quite wrong I feel.
The way I always interpreted it, Katara walked into the tent with her dad, and they found her mother's burnt body. Obviously Hakoda wouldn't have time to get Katara out before she saw it, but Sokka wasn't there, so he got spared from having to see that. Which would in a way explain why Katara finds it so much harder to move on.
2 things to add: 1. For Sokka, he never saw the man who did it so for him he didn't have really have a singular person to focus on, his mother was just a victim of the fire nation. 2. Their mother died pretending to be the water bender to save Katara. That's a recipe of grief and self blame that just resulted in Katara's feelings being more difficult for her to move on from.
I’m pretty sure when katara told the stories a couple times she said that when they went back her mother was “gone” and they couldn’t find her, I could be wrong but I don’t think so
@@yomamma.ismydaddy216I interpret it in the way that she's "gone" as in her life is gone. Also them saying their not taking prisoners basically says they killed her and i don't see any reason why they would take her dead body and not just leave it.
@@skyubu yeah I feel like they intentionally left it vague enough for peoples imagination to fill the details of the story in with different and personally meaningful ways
When you realize they stopped taking waterbending prisoners because of Hama breaking out. In a round about way Hama inventing bloodbending killed Sokka and Katara's mom.
@@coryluso941 If you remember Hama was young when she broke out so that definitely happened before. Also Hama talks about there being other waterbenders but when their mom dies Katara is the last waterbender.
Seeing the absolute HORROR in Zuko's eyes when he saw Katara pull out the bloodbending never gets old. I can't even imagine the amount of thoughts going through that boys head when he saw that lol
@@lisak8492 There was a portion of the paper on the Nickelodeon website when the original show was airing on their network. Both doctors were women, and they started watching the show because their kids watched it.
That and "I'm sorry it has to end this way, brother" which, as Zuko points out, is a blatant lie. Reminds us that she'd wanted to kill Zuko since they were kids
I also think that it's a great indictment on how far gone her marbles are at this point. Ty Lee and Mei were pretty much the only people looking out for her, so their rightful betrayal dealt a MASSIVE blow to her mental state. This ultimately causes her to become less strategic/balanced and far more unhinged/homicidal
and its the first moment you can HEAR her sanity slipping. When Mei and Ty Lee betrayed her she was angry and thrown, but the only child line definitely feels more...fanatic? Like she hasnt slept in days... amazing foreshadowing
Here's a theory: The reason why Toph was played by a muscular guy because when the writer searched for infos about the Avatar and his team, no one dared to admit they was defeated by a small girl. So they lied... just a fun theory.
This is my favorite theory, but its also a call back as Toph was originally supposed to be a large man but they decided against it and we have the Toph we have now
It’s understated because it’s really Katara’s episode, but it’s also fitting that Sokka closes part of his character arc under a full moon. Last time he and Suki spent a night together in The Serpent’s Pass, the half-moon visibly came between them. This time, he and Suki got together, and the full moon overhead didn’t stop them. And yes, Sokka got lei’d.
40:50 The animators' attention to detail is actually amazing. Did anyone else notice the actor playing Aang in the play briefly peeking from under the Avatar State glowing eyes to look out for the blue "lightning" ribbon that the actor playing Azula threw at her, so that she knew when and where to catch it? 😁😁
I think it's hilarious how much stake Zhao put into how history will remember him, and in the play he was literally replaced with Zuko. "Zhao the conqueror, Zhao the Moonslayer" became "who?".
Unconfirmed likely fact: Boy in the Iceberg from the Ember Island Players is the only source material used by M. Night Shyamalan to produce the Avatar: the Last Airbender movie.
You may be right XD I'd say that the end comments the gaang has for the show fits too, except for Sokka's quote "But the effects were decent" (Tho you could fit it too :P)
I love how adamantly you want to believe Katara's mother isn't dead, but in this context, 'gone' means dead. For the most part, because it was meant for kids, they weren't allowed to kill off characters unless it was vague enough for the censors, like with Jet
@@Alvaro89Rusand they got taken off the air for it 😂 after a certain point (iykyk) Nickelodeon only put new episodes on Nick’s website. Which, in the age before streaming became popular, was a death sentence.
Katara has become an extremely powerful waterbender throughout the course of the show, and i dont think until the moment on the ship that Zuko realized how powerful she could be. Reminds me of the time Aang went avatar state against the sand benders. Imgine being toph inthat moment, your new friend who usually has an upbeat young boy sounding voice, suddenly speak with the voice of a furious legion followed by hurricane force wind. I think Toph "knew" he was the avatar, but didnt understand until that moment what it actually meant.
Imagine the horror of hearing that voice though, like being blind just would mess you up so bad because your hearing is gonna be way better. She could probably hear way more voices in that than we did. That’s just scary and feels Godly when you think about it
In the intro to this video, you described my relationship with this show perfectly. When I was a child, it was a well animated, well choreographed, epic funny romp. When I was a preteen, it was an inspirational and empowering story. When I was a teenager, it helped me understand the good and bad within my own family and what to do when you feel like you lost your way, when I was a new "adult" it helped me understand and accept my grief, and now it helps me understand duty, ego, purpose, and a million other things. This show has been one of the defining guides of my life, and I couldn't be more grateful for it.
I love the genius way they recapped the whole show just before the end. ABOUT Katara's mother. My fear is that there was no body in their house, just a pile of ashes. Add that the white out from the memory suggests, to me, that Katara has either blocked the memory of coming upon that scene or that her father stopped her from entering and simply told her she was gone.
My favorite part of The Southern Raiders episode is Zuko's reaction to the bloodbending. His eyes widen and you can see the thought, 'HOLY S***, I didn't know she could do that!'.
There's a theory among the fans about why the Fire Nation killed Kya (Katara's mom): Remember Hama, the creepy old lady bloodbender? Obviously she escaped Fire Nation custody, and she was the last known waterbender of the Southern Water Tribe. And she just invented a brand new super dangerous form of bending. So maybe the Southern Raiders were never looking for Katara, they were looking for Hama. Think about it: when Yon Rha comes to the Southern Water Tribe Katara was still a child, and there were only a few dozen people left in the whole tribe. No way they would have let word of a new waterbender child being born get out, not when they know that could get her taken away. Why else would Yon Rha have accepted that an adult was the waterbender he was looking for? The intel didn’t say that a new waterbender was born, the intel said that there’s one waterbender left. And they know she escaped and they can't find her, so the most obvious assumption is that she went home. Kya offers herself up as prisoner to Yon Rha because she knew from past raids that the Southern Raiders took waterbenders prisoner. But that changed. Why would their procedure have changed? Why did they stop taking waterbenders as prisoners? Because of Hama. They stopped taking waterbenders prisoner after Hama's escape.
Them saying gone in that moment was a gentler way of saying that she had passed away. Burned to death would have been harsh for a kids show. Edit: Which the implication is even more horrifying because we know Katara and her father both saw her body. So Katara has been carrying that horrifying image in her head this whole time and still has somehow remained a beacon of hope in the show.
That is the point I often try to bring up. "Gone" is a euphemism for deceased. It is implied Katara saw the body and seeing as there was no 'graveyard' around the village I can only assume they gave their dead some form of burial at sea as would be fitting to that elements culture. Hama subtly pointed out that the Fire Nations policy on dealing with water benders shifted from capture and imprisonment to outright genocide, likely after her escape and the horrific means by which she achieved it.
@@Dilligff Plus the guy outright says, 'I'm afraid I'm not taking any prisoners today." Heavily implying he's about to kill her without directly saying it. Again, probably because they had to dance around a-lot of language to tell this story since it is a kids show.
Some people give Zuko a hard time for encouraging Katara to take vengeance after all he's learned. This isn't just about getting Katara on his side though, he relates to Katara heavily because of what happened to his mother. This is a chance for Katara to get closure about her mother, something Zuko can't get for himself so he is living vicariously through her. There are some things Zuko will never be at peace about (at least as of the show timeline), and his mother is very much one of them.
The "Ember Island Players" episode is amazing, because it's a recap episode, intended to remind us of all the important things that happened across the series ahead of it's finale, but instead of using flashbacks that would just show us things we've already seen, it uses the play as a framing device, making the episode original, entertaining and hilarious 😄
It isn't just a play. It's Fire Nation war propaganda. They're LYING, and making Team Avatar out to be incompetent, who end up losing to the Fire Lord. It's meant to invigorate their citizens.
Katara is so bad ass. Important to remember that she's emotionally powerful, and that can lead to some dark thoughts sometimes. Also fun fact: Katara and Sokka's mom's voice actress is Grey DeLisle / Griffin, who also voices Azula.
Toph is such a great character. Aang Sokka and Katara all were hurt by Zuko, other than physically. To repay his mistakes, they each go on a “field trip” with Zuko, where he can heal that damage. Toph never had this experience with Zuko, so its pretty cool that she is the one who heals his damage to himself on her “field trip”, during the play when she talks to him about Uncle Iroh.
Fun fact, Tophs play version of herself was a reference to her original character design. She was originally going to be a super tall buff dude that was more like The Boulder but they kept discussing it amd thought it'd be funnier having Toph be a small skinny dude and eventually got to the Toph we know and love!
What's hilarious about the whole Zuko and Blue spirit on the same stage is that at the time, it was Zhao who had captured Aang, not Zuko. Zhao wasn't just a failure, but completely forgotten. That's such a cool touch
the fact that toph was cast as a big burly man because of defeated fire nation soldiers describing her as such in order to not sound wimpy from being beat by a little blind girl lives rent free in my head
Katara is my favourite character, and I love the darker moments of the show, so The Southern Raiders is my number one favourite episode. Somebody like Azula may cultivate a very scary image, but even she can't match up with Dark Katara. That confrontation, with the rain, and the line...."She was protecting the last waterbender. ME!" is the highest level of chills.
Also, there's something chilling about the end of "Ember Island Players". That moment you realize this wasn't just a butchered attempt to tell the Avatar story - this was anti-Avatar propaganda. You wonder how much the playwright got wrong and how much was mandated by the state to make their enemies look like idiots. All the while claiming authenticity. The fact that they have adult actors playing children sort of adds to that, even if there are glimmers of truth in their portrayals, it's all in bad faith. EDIT: So while the gang are initially framed as being comedically offended by this, I think they were right to be concerned about the way the truth has been twisted.
So - for context: When death comes up as a subject in ATLA, the show makes a very strong effort not to use the actual term. They will say things like, "I will end you" or "and she was gone". It makes it difficult to interpret sometimes, but the show often will give enough context clues to key you into what they mean. In the last flashback between Yon Rha and Kya (Katara's mom), Kya says, "I'm the last waterbender. Take me as your prisoner". In reply, Yon Rha says, "I'm not taking prisoners today" insinuating that he was there to execute the last waterbender in the Southern Water Tribe. It's also the reason why in the second flashback when Sokka and Hakoda run to the tent, it fades into white, not because Kya wasn't there, but probably because Yon Rha had killed her in a way that wouldn't be suitable for what was a children's show (probably burned her alive - or if stabbed, it would probably be a bloody scene). I wish there was hope in this story for you...
@@BornInsane0 thing is in season 1 the word kill was used too, like Katara telling Aang during the storm if he stayed he would’ve been killed with the other airbenders.
I heard a theory Why do you think they killed katara’s mother but captured hama Well Hama is the exact reason her being captured lead her to developing blood bending so to prevent that from happening again They decided to get a bit more drastic Also o fully believe that toph is a six foot muscular beast in the ember island players because none of the firbenders could admit that they got their asses handed to them by a 12 year old short blind girl
I really love how well The Ember Island Players works as a recap episode - it leans into the references and the ways the fandom responded to the show. It pokes light fun at itself. And then it brings everything into perspective by showing us Aang losing, telling us what the stakes of the finale are
And here it is: My favorite episode the southern raiders 🐦⬛ We never saw Katara like that. She’s mad, destroyed, and she’s thirsty to find the man who took the most important person for her away. Blood bending, Crying and sad, that’s Katara in this Chapter. Such a great reaction. ❤❤❤❤
Aaah love your reactions ❤ About your question on what exactly happened to Katara's mom, you were so upset when she said to take her instead as their prisoner that you missed the answer to your question :) He responded, "I'm afraid I'm not taking prisoners today." So yeah, he killed her in that tent. 😔 Since it's a kids show, they can only hint at it.
I love how much Zuko respects Katara. When she confronted him back at the western air temple when they first accepted him he didn't try to plead his case or push back when she threatened him. He knew she was right, his reasons for his past betrayal were not excusable, and he believed her threats. He just took it. But after proovng himself his frustration was enough to now confront her. After hearing her response he didn't fight or argue again he just took it, interpreted what he could, and went to Sokka for clarity. He then got to see her passion, power, and control as they went on their "life changibg adventure". Finally he got to experience her compassion as she forgave him and I think his respect for her grew even more. And somehow threw it all he ended up helping Aang realize the question he has been avoiding. Great episode.
I really appreciate the rate at which you’ve been giving us these reaction videos. It’s always challenging for me when I find someone doing a reaction to a series I love, but they only release a reaction to a single video once every couple of weeks or something haha. Obviously there’s nothing wrong with that, but I’ve really enjoyed having your reactions to watch so regularly. ATLA is my favorite series of all time, and it always brings me joy seeing other people’s reaction to it ☺️
I think Katara's resolution in the end of the southern raiders is strong and important, especially because this angle of dealing with pain is rarely shown. Our grief process is often centered around the Christian ideal of forgiving to heal, which puts a lot of pressure on these that are in a position of pain. The reality is, not every act can be forgiven, and there are ways to deal with pain long term that does not involve forgiving, but accepting of the past and moving on, without giving the bad actor absolution. When I was a young teen, we had at the end of the street a catholic foster home for children with behavioral problems, and we had a nun that we would talk sometimes to when we were out on the streets. My family at the time went through a rather rough break up where my own foster father cause a lot of harm, so my mother asked the nun how to deal with it. The nun, after experiencing decades of trauma in her fosters, basically mirrored the lesson here. One way to deal with the trauma inflicted is to forgive, but this is nothing that can and should be forced. There are simply situations and children that couldn't move one when they get in their head that forgiving is a primary condition for it, because it is not something they can't manage to do, and that is okay. There should never be an obligation for a child to forgive, just to heal, and Katara has shown this here. Aang on the other hand is a different type of child that can forgive, and thus, it is the best way for him to move on.
Katara's mom was for sure killed and left there. Her mom is wearing that necklace in the scene...which I always understood as either Katara or her dad taking it off of her body and passing it on to Katara. Even if they were "taking prisoners" I doubt that man would've given her the chance to leave the necklace behind. Also a popular theory about why she was killed and not captured was to prevent another Hama. If the fire nation were to learn that another water bender existed from the same tribe as someone who used blood bending to escape imprisonment why would they risk imprisonment again? Hamas escape would've most likely prompted a kill order rather than a capture for any future water benders especially ones from that same tribe.
100% Agree with how to feel about Azula. She's a monster, she was horrible even as a kid. But now that we have context on their family dynamics, she's very much a descendant of Roku and Sozin as much as Zuko is. Zuko and Azula are the different sides of the same genetic coin. Capable of great good and great evil. The biggest difference is that Ursa and Iroh are Zuko's true parental figures (and even with their teachings and guidance, he struggled a lot because of the cultural baggage of Fire Nation toxic patriotism). Whereas Ozai and Azulon are Azula's key figures during her developmental stages. Her perception of the world, her personality, how she treats people/her friends, etc was shaped by these war mongering men. Again, Azula seemed to have these psychotic tendencies even as a child, there's no excusing that. But as we've seen in Zuko's character arc, it's so hard to reject the ideologies ingrained into you. Zuko got to see the world and gain other people's perspectives and top tier mentorship from Iroh. Azula was very much caged and drowning in Fire Nation zealotry.
Funny thing about the Sokka Suki tent moment... The next morning, Sokka is fiddling with a lei necklace. A pun that he got.... Well, put 2 and 2 together... And what's worse, Toph has a crush on Sokka. She sees through vibration waves... Poor Toph...
it's implicit in the way that the scene plays that their mother was killed, you don't see the corpse because it would be really crude to see a charred victim of such murder, the image that get burnt into katara's mind. it gives a whole different perspective in how she feels about that in comparison to sokka...
3x16 is probably my favorite epidsode, but the "your scar is on the wrong side" always makes me laugh so hard. Some people have said, Hama blood bending was the reason why fire nation no longer took captives and therefore killed Katara and Soka's mom. Another one I heard is that Toph was portrayed as a huge buff dude 1) because she basically is lol and 2) how embarrassing for the fire nation to have a little blind girl taking out fire nation armies. So excited for you to watch the finale!
Oh, about the opening speech. Being emotional is absolutely a good thing! I wish I was more emotionally available or I wouldn't have burnt out at work. I rely on watching reactions to release my emotions and you are a huge help! :D The way you get caught up and find the emotion in things is triggering my tears as well and that's amazing!
The thing I really love, talking about details, is that now Zuko doesn´t grunt or scream while bending, because he doesn´t rely on anger anymore. Now he is focus and controls his breathing.
Katara holding onto this grudge more than Sokka makes a lot more sense when you consider that Hakoda and Katara ran back to the tent moments after Yon Rha, who we know is a firebender, killed Kya, meaning Katara and Hakoda probably barged into the tent only to stumble upon Kya's burned corpse. They might have even gotten there in time to hear her last words, whereas Sokka probably didn't see her corpse like that and can't even remember her face.
Katara blood bending that guy is a very relatable feeling. We all know what behaviour is abhorrent, and Katara certainly has categorized blood bending in that class. But anger that's allowed to stew into rage and hatred fuels the desire for revenge, and that often can be used to justify taking actions in which we normally wouldn't. I enjoyed following your reactions to this show, as it refreshes my memories of watching this when it first came out. It is bitter sweet seeing the end to this, but you've been enriched having seen this. See you for the finale!
When Katara was yelling at Sokka in the first episode of book 1, she mentioned that their mom died. 55:28 Oh lord, please don't. For all that is good & holy, do not watch that Shyamalan disasterpiece.
@@_.soymilk It might be because they are showing the actual moment her mother died. Much like how they never fully confirm that Jet died in his death scene, Nick might not have wanted them to say she died in a scene where she had been seen on screen not long before
They did know whole lot of things through the 2 seasons but they didn't know the blue spirit was Zuko himself.... Two people knew the fact... One was Uncle Iroh and the other was General Zhao.... So It's been kept as a secret
Toph as a big, muscle-bound guy was a nod to the original character concept. Other creators had to convince the show runner to go with a petite, blind girl. She still has the same personality, though. 😁
Angela, your "Katara noooo" got me in the feels. I knew you'd have a reaction to it, and it still made me tear up hearing your pain at the moment. I had the same reaction first time I saw it too. On the plus side, this episode does show just how powerful she has really become. I would love to see her have a rematch with her the northern master now =)
the thing with Southern Raiders and "he was gone, and so was she", you cant really spell it out cause of the censors, but, Kataa and Sokka's mother was killed, and considering what we know from The Puppetmaster, it's heavily implied it's because Hama developed Bloodbending, so the Fire Nation wouldnt take that risk again. i dont think it's a coincidence that this is the episode Katara uses bloodbending. It's because she's so angry yes, but the more i think on it, the more i suspect it's actually a bit of foreshadowing. Because we know the Air Temples got wiped out cause of Sozin hunting for Aang, but the Raids on the Southern Water Tribe, everyone was taken prisoner. Hama eventually breaks out and escapes and then, one more raid. Sokka sees the ash, Katara runs to their house, she goes and gets her father, and then she and Hakoda find what happened. which makes it all the more heartbreaking cause we know Sokka doesnt really remember what their mother looked like, but i guarantee you that Katara remembers, vividly, what she saw before Hakoda could do anything. more importantly, what a performance by the cast in that episode, Mae Whitman especially. but, Sokka's hurt after Katara says that he didnt love their mother like she did, that's honestly so well portrayed.
DON’T WATCH THE MOVIE!!!! It’s a COMPLETE waste of time! It’s so sad that one of the best shows of all time has one of the worst movie adaptations ever!
For what it's worth, I'm not sure if Ty Lee necessarily chose Mai *_over_* Azula. My instincts is that she chose her friends not killing one another. Ty Lee struck Azula because Azula was out for blood and likely would not have stopped until she killed (or severely harmed) Mai, and Ty Lee knew this. Had the situation been reversed or both ways (i.e. if Mai was going to go all out to harm Azula), I am nearly certain Ty Lee would have struck Mai (too).
It an interesting idea you have with the comet, but honestly if you have power to bend an object millions of kilometers in space, you would have power capable of destroying the entire planet in few minutes. I don't think that is even close to the power level we saw so far.
The details in this series is just incredible, we saw Aang still had his scar from Book 2 as he turned around in the beginning The Ember Island episode.
OH FUCK I just realized why Yon Rha had no problem killing a mother. His own mom is a piece of shit who treats him like dirt. _He doesn't know what a mother's love even is._ So how can he even value a mother's life? If he had been raised differently, then he would've still killed Katara's mother, it was what he was required to do, being sent to eliminate any waterbenders, but he wouldn't be smug or cruel about it, he'd see the woman's daughter and know then and there what sort of pain he was about to inflict. Once confronted years later, he would've actually felt guilty and shameful about what he did, and would've likely accepted death at Katara's hands.
If they ever do a Game of Thrones level live remake of Avatar, he will probably rape her before killing her. And certainly Hama was raped by every guard before she broke free, driving her insane. She definitely left behind only desiccated corpses of all the guards. After that, the ‘no water bending prisoners’ rule was certainly created.
@@RLucas3000 That is one powerful theory, not the rape part, but the fact that Hama escaped: The fire nation believed she would try to get back to the southern water tribe and this is why the attack happened which killed Katara's and Sokka's mother. But they did not get an accurate description of the escaped waterbender, hence the mother was killed.
Yeah the Southern Raiders episode is intense for sure, and the play episode is a pretty fun way to recap the series :) Have you ever seen “Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood”? If not, I could see you potentially really enjoying it, it’s also got fantastic, complex characters, an interesting plot, solid animation, emotional moments, etc :) It’s one of my favourite shows, and I’ve rewatched it several times.
It’s funny when you realize Toph’s actor is a man because most if not all of the witnesses the writer interviewed didn’t want to admit they got beat up by a 12 year old girl
My favorite detail about this episode is that Sokka's and Katara's mother has a face that very closely resembles Sokka's face. A few episodes ago during "the runaway", Sokka said "I can no longer remember my mother's face. When I try to picture it, Katara's is the only one I see."
2 fun facts about the play: 1.They play with the very popular idea of Zuko and Katara being a couple, which actually WAS the original plan before the writers decided it was better for her to be with Aang. 2. Toph being played by a man is actually a reference to the fact that Toph was originally supposed to be introduced in season 2 as a boy instead of a girl
Well well if it isnt a double feature of one of the most fun and ailly episodes of this season and one of the most intense episodes, this should be amazing Dont worry maam youll love korra, it got flack and had some writing issues because they didnt know how long of a show theyd get and didnt wanna be another firefly situation, but it is a great show written very well for the young adults who were kids for avatar, and now were learning lessons about the world and how grey and complicated it can be
It's an awful feeling when you realize that the reason the fire nation 'wasn't taking prisoners' when they killed Katara's mom was because of Hama. Hama showed the fire nation that taking prisoners from the water tribe is risky because they can bloodbend. So the next time they came for the last waterbender left (Katara), they had full intention to eliminate the threat
This is such a great show, not even just a great kids' show. But I would just add that if you like the greatness of the show, there are a lot of great anime that also explore similarly deep themes. This show definitely modeled in that pre-existing tradition, even though this is now nearly 20 years old). Not necessarily saying that "for the channel," as some anime studios are harder on reactors than others, but there are decades worth of Grade A entertainment out there in that category. "Grave of the Fireflies" is a great anime movie, that I think everyone should watch on the same level that I would place Saving Private Ryan or Schindler's List.
Agreed on Grave of the Fireflies. I think that movie shaped who I am as a person. Before that, though I was just a snot-nosed brat of a kid, it never really occurred me to have empathy for the "enemies" in a war. Not at that level, at least, where I could fully imagine myself being on that other side. Powerful film.
There's one fan theory that the waterbender they were actually looking for was Hama, who was from the Southern Water Tribe and had escaped; it would make sense for them to expect that Hama returned to her tribe. And they were not taking prisoners, because they knew how dangerous she was. I'm afraid the mom (Kya) is definitely dead. Also Suki and Sokka losing their virginity is confirmed by the creators; we see Sokka make a chain of flowers the next day, which is a pun that he got lei'd, and Suki got deflowered! Ah, the things they got away with. But they still had to be very vague with the wording around the killings of Kya, and Jet; because this was supposed to be a fun animation show on Nickelodeon for kids 8 years and older. The recap episode. The cheap, lazy cliche of serialized television. And this is what they did with it; so creative. The Ember Island Players still did a better job than M. Night Shyamalan- at least they were funny! And the effects were decent! Will you be watching his movie?
While Katara didn't forgive Yon Rha for killing her mother, I think she at least let go of the hate she had for him when she saw the kind of pathetic man he'd become, so that could've healed her or given her some closure. She had built him up as some kind of monster in her head, so seeing him as someone who has lost all self-respect to the point where he's grovelling, not to mention letting his own mother treat him like a doormat, it probably just made her pity him more than anything else.
The more they have to talk about Katara and Sokka's mom, the more they have to carefully word it to be kid-safe. Their mom is 100% dead, and they have said such in previous episodes, but only in passing. But now in this episode, we are deep in the heart of it, so they have to avoid saying kill or dead because it is a very present thing that Nickelodeon wouldn't likely permit.
