Avatar The Last Airbender Book 2 Episode 19 & 20 Group Reaction 

Its funny that since Toph's only interaction with Iroh was their talk over tea, she never knew about his relation to Zuko so seeing the shock on everyone's faces while she just smiles is great.

22:11 *from Reddit The thing that gets me about Azula is the whole purpose of her leaving the fire nation in the first place was to retrieve Zuko and Iroh which she did, but she also decided to just conquer all of Ba Sing Se while she was already out. Azula: "Well... I'm already IN Ba Sing Se, I might as well conquer it."

Azula straight up KILLING the main character mid-transformation was insane, I don't think anyone in the world could've predicted that

I like that Zuko gave in and joined Azula. It feels realistic. He has spend so long trying to catch the avatar, trying to get his "honor" back, trying to return home. And yes had given up and had started moving on. But now it suddenly got presented to him on a silver platter, everything he ever wanted. Its like putting some pills in the oalm of the hand of a recovered drug addict. Its difficult not to have a fall back

NOT ALL OF YOU FALLING FOR THE FIRE GIRLS DISGUISES I'M SCREAMING 🤣🤣🤣

I love that toph at such a young age literally CREATES METAL BENDING it just shows how talented she is

Azula's "Don't flatter yourself, you were never even a player" remains one of the most savage takedowns on this show. Any show, maybe.

4:04 This actually IS what was supposed to happen to Aang. Guru Pathik is well over 100 years old. As he says in this episode, he was a personal friend of Monk Gyatso, and he had a vision long ago of helping to train the next Avatar. When the monks were talking about sending Aang to the Eastern Air Temple to complete his training, Guru Pathik was the one assigned to be his new mentor, instead of Monk Gyatso. My man literally waited 100 years to train the avatar. He had no idea the time, but he certainly knew the place. He always knew Aang would someday return.

i love how zuko is one of the few fictional characters that actually is set up for the perfect redemption moment and fails, he goes back to his old ways that’s very human and extremely realistic

I can't imagine how sad Iroh must've been to see Zuko's progression shatter.

The moment you guys realize the Kyoshi Warriors are actually Azula, Mai, and Ty Lee is funny because the average person would see through their disguises in the previous episode.😅

you know usually in a show when a character say something like *"I'm the best X in the world"* they are full of themselves and need to be humbled not Toph, Toph is just spitting facts

Toph bending metal is one of my favorite moments in the series. Toph, because of her blindness, not in spite of it, has a far more spiritually enlightened relationship to earth than other benders. She doesn't just see rocks, Toph sees everything with her bending unclouded by things like appearance. Thats why she can tell when people lying, she can trust Iroh independent of nation, she can tell Ba Sing Se is all appearances. And she can tell that metal and earth are made of the same stuff. Its like the guru says, division is an illusion. And Shin Fu telling her "even you can't bend metal" parallels her conflict with her parents. Toph's bending for her is FREEDOM. She knows who she is, and doesn't let anyone move or shake her. When she steps, it's the earth around her that moves, not her. And no cage, no supposed disability, no expectation can hold her. And who is she? The Greatest Goddamn earth bender in the WORLD

As an adult, I actually view Zuko's demeanor after his fever dreams as a bit of a mask. He looks like he's sorta forcing himself to be happy about his circumstances in hopes that it will become genuine. But Azula dangled that carrot before the change stuck

The finale of Book 2 is so perfect, but heartbreaking at the same time.

"Even you can't bend metal" "F-ing watch me..."

I absolutely love Zuko's regression here. It adds a layer of depth and realism to his redemption arc that very few stories do. Everything he goes through in this season, everything he learns is more than enough to justify a face turn. If Zuko had turned good right here, nobody would have complained. No one would call it forced or rushed; he earned his redemption. However, the writers weren't content with mediocrity. That would have been fine, but they wanted to do better. They had him regress, turn back into a villain, and then be forced to climb his way back out a second time. He's already earned redemption at this point, but by going through everything in the next season, he earns *atonement*. He doesn't just join the good guys, he truly becomes a good guy. This is what elevates Avatar above standard writing: the willingness to go beyond and put in extra effort where it really counts the most.

I will forever adore the writers of the show for having Zuko make the choice to team up with Azula. Have him revert back and relapse from healing. It's so real, it's so humane, it's so in character. Especially with how manipulative Azula is and how he was raised, it's hard to change and break the habits when you grow up in an abusive household. Him relapsing when Azula offered him everything he wanted... it's so real and makes all the sense. Just goes to show how amazingly built his character is.

What a lot of people forget about Aang when it comes to the chakras is he IS a monk! For 12 years of his life, he learned the art of meditation along with Airbending. So his ability to introspectively observe his own emotions and come to terms with them is not surprising (especially when guided by a 100+ year old spiritual mentor and guru who himself is a spiritual brother of the Air Nomads… and if fan theories are to be believed- there may be even MORE to explain that man’s age, spirituality, and knowledge…) While a large portion of it is narrative convenience, the other portion does have to do with the legit competency of the characters involved. Oh! Also the location helps too! The Air Temples are very spiritual and sacred places. It’s no mistake that they climb the temple in the same why they climb through the energy pathways of the body!

Fun fact: For all of the chakras, Guru Pathik explained where they are and what opens/closes them. The one exception is the water chakra; he doesn't mention what part of the body that one is in. That is because it's in the junk.

it's important to keep in mind that Aang was raised and trained by monks who knew that he would become the Avatar. him being able to open all his chakras with relative ease makes sense in that context.

"They better not have anything happen to Sokka." Little did they know that the character who would die in the season finale, was Aang.

The Dai Li are a disgrace of a police force. Imagine betraying your country side because you’re impressed by the enemy’s leadership skills and just going with the winning team.

Long Feng: "I concede. You played me like a fiddle." Azula: "No. Fiddles require skill to play. I played you like the cheap kazoo you are."

“Oh my god it’s THEM!” Hey, it’s at least it’s not as bad the time you didn’t recognize Jesse & James dressed as Poké-Vikings with meowth right there as the hood ornament. 😆

Azula overshadows her by quite a bit, but Ty Lee herself is a master tier manipulator. Pay close attention to her upon a series re-watch, it's really something to appreciate

It’s always a joy to watch Azula fight

Man I remember being literally 12 and crying because I was absolutely devastated by that betrayal. I wasn't even mad, I was upset because we really watched him struggle to even get to that point in his life that he would decide what he wanted for himself, he spent not just the years in exile, but his entire life beforehand being groomed to behave as his father wanted him to. Even being closer to his mother, he never intentionally disrespected Ozai, he never says his father is abusive or in the wrong for scarring him, he views his exile and mark as something deserved. Looking back, even with his Uncle supporting him, he could never truly see that act as cruel and merciless. It's not enough that people can see good in him, what he needs is confrontation with the act that damaged him in the first place. In the moment he chose to follow Azula, I was heartbroken because I really wanted to see him team up with Aang and co, but now that I'm older I realize just how tragic the entire thing is in Zuko's arc and how he views himself, and just how programmed he was to believe Azula so quickly. And no spoilers but Zuko's psychology really reveals itself in the next book and it drives the point home evermore.

so much i love about this finale. even though zukos decision is frustrating, i think its a smart move to give him everything he wanted so the writers could show its not what he needed. Already you know he’s regretting betraying iroh and that he’ll have to cope with letting go of the only true family who loved and cared for him sokka and toph just become such an iconic duo the further you get into the series-you can see some of it here and throughout with how often they get teamed together in the show-and their dynamic and development as individuals just SHINES in the series finale in one of the best couple scenes and im so excited for them to see while i wish the writers gave more attention to aang’s internal struggles, because people often forget how much the air nation genocide influences his actions and reactions to things, but i get they can’t spend too much time on it with it being a kids show. Also guru pathik as big joel says in his avatar video essay is just “so embarrassingly wrong” about certain things and its important to remember that iroh saying happiness and love > power is framed as correct in this episode since its a big recurring theme in the series for power to = corruption and family (not just blood related) and your own sense of self being worth more katara im so ashamed to often forget how great she is. people make fun of how often she brings up her dead mom, but in retrospect she doesnt actually bring it up THAT much and never really unprompted. She brings it up when she talks about the war because her mom dying was what the war did to her and it ultimately forced her to grow up too fast. and her nurturing personality and maturity is a cover for a scared and hotheaded young girl who never fully got to grieve/process what was a very traumatic moment for her, so zuko betraying that kindness after relating about that trauma hits her REALLY hard and i appreciate how it comes back later

I agree that Aang opens his chakras very quickly, but remember, being an Air Nomad, Aang's upbringing was already very spiritual, so stuff like this comes naturally to him.

Azula straight up ignoring the rules of anime and not letting the enemy power up

For the chakra teachings, do also remember that this show was for a younger audience, so really anything more might be too complicated for kids to retain. They did their best to explain it I think. As for Zuko, Azula is a master manipulator. Its one of greatest gifts. She knew EXACTLY what to say to push Zuko back over the edge to her side. Just enough to trigger his dormant hope at a high stress moment for him where he clearly was not thinking clearly.

Toph proving once and for all she is LITERALLY the best bender in the world that isn't the Avatar is my favorite moment of this season. Iroh yelling at Zuko in, I think, 17 is a very close second. Also, it is exceptionally rare that a scene outright makes me yell "NOOO!" at the screen, especially as a kid. Azula's final blow to Aang was one of those moments. It's SO well done.

Always strive to be the person Uncle Iroh would be proud of.

Something about Zuko's choice. Remember his dream when he got sick after releasing Appa? The blue and red dragons had exactly Azula and Iroh's voices. This moment was literally bound to happen and he saw it in his dreams. He listened to the blue dragon.

24:36 Zuko disappointed all of us in this moment .

The way i am and was mad at Zuko for this finale but also understanding why he does it makes everything sooooo augh Cause when he starts bring nicer its not because he gave up his desire to go home and win his dad's love snd acceptance its him letting go of any lingering resentment he had towards having to be in ba sing se with his uncle. He was happy to be there but when you're given the choice of your life goal of 3 years and your new attachment to your life now its a very difficult but ultimately unsurprising choice (no matter how bad that life goal was and is for you)

23:00 I was laughing my ass off with that comment.

The thing about Zuko! He did changed even his goal might have been changed, maybe he didn't even wanted to capture avatar. But sadly he can't get over how his father treated him, shame he feels and his scar as a sign of it constantly reminding him of that. He sees opportunity to restore his honor, to be forgiven and welcomed by his father, it's really sad.

If this was an Anime, they would have spent one Episode per Chakra.

The cycle of abuse is not easy to break.

Aang is already very monk-like since he was an air nomad, so him flying through the chakras makes sense. He had master air-bending as evidenced by his tattoo, so it's likely that teaching him about all the chakras would have followed after they told him about his duty as the avatar, but then he ran away and froze himself.

The Crossroads of Destiny holds a special place for. It is first cliffhanger I remember. It is also the first time I time felt the pain of waiting for a new season to start. I was a kid when watching Avatar so a lot went over my head. Now I can appreciate it better as an adult. God I wish more shows took more care into their writing like ATLA.

One of the things I think of with this show and the whole letting go to unlock the chakra, it’s dark but more of a bitter sweet thing, no one lives forevor and at one point or another you are gonna lose someone you have to come to terms with that and not lose sight of what’s important beyond just that person

When Boom said “how’s your mom and them”😳😳DONT ASK KATARA THAT!!!

1:18 Ruff saving the whole squad from mean RU-vid comments

I LOVE that they didn’t realize it wasn’t the kyoshi warriors until THIS episode 😂😂😂 even tho Azula’s theme song played and she spoke last time 😭 never change guys I love y’all ❤️‍🔥

Crossroads of Destiny is such a great episode, before doing a rewatch of the show last year I had only watched it when I was little and it was still airing on tv, didn't remembered most of the series but that scene with Azula killing Aang mid transformation was ingrained in my memory to the point that it was one of the only things I remembered about it

The absolutely craziest thing is that Azula is canonly only 14 years old

I think it helps that Aang is a monk and monks are known to be more spiritually inclined. I'm assuming that he's already adept with the meditation and understanding of the concept not to mention he is also a fast learner based on the way he learned the other bendings within a year

The Dai Li member that Iroh catches is the same guy who was terrified of Azula earlier (note the scar)

1:19 wait...so you guys didn't realise that last episode?

I'm glad you guys aren't ending the video immediately after the episode ends. I like hearing your thoughts.

I spoke with a friend recently who first watched this around college age and I did as a kid (9 year age differences are wild) and although at the time I was heartbroken about Zuko's flip my friend was much more devastated about Iroh's reaction to it, and although I still think for Zuko's mental health to take a dip after such an uphill battle is just awful to watch, Iroh's disappointment feels like a twist of the knife. This has such intense ramifications for Zuko but this obsession he has has him not seeing it. All that aside, this is Katara's finale. She's brilliant. Her holding Aang in her arms with tears streaming down her face is such an iconic image.

Toph: “I am the greatest earthbender in the world…” I believe it, no arguments from me! 😁

I actually really like that zuko chose azula (from a narrative point). Restoring his honor and finally going back home is something he wanted for the past years every day and night. He has changed a lot but only over the past few months and not because he doesn't want to go back home or because he actually thinks of the fire nation as evil but instead only because he lost all hope of ever getting back. So when he gets the choice to either get everything he wanted for the past years or betraying his nation and losing the last bit of hope he had to return it's pretty obvious what he would chose in the heat of the moment. As shown later when he talks to azula he acted on impulse and immidiatly regreted his decision to betray Iroh. But he still is unsure what he really wants and Azula is a master manipulator and knows how to play him. I don't think his decision is right or that he shouldn't be hold accountable but it makes sence for his charakter.

4:05 fun fact the idea of chakras started with Hinduism and then like 1000 to some years later it spread to Buddhism, while the air nomads are based off of Tibetan Buddhists and by that time the chakras were long baked in (tho there's a bit if a difference, they have it be 4 or 5 chakras) it's kinda fun to think of this interaction as this world's equivalent to when Buddhism adopted the idea of chakras

"The Earth Kingdom...has fallen." What a haunting line even all these years later. AND WE HAD TO WAIT A YEAR for book 3.

Despite what happened at the end, I love that we start to see zuko listen to Iroh by taking inspiration from other sources. When he tried to fight azula, he attacked while bending like a water bender.

I think the reason Aang could just sail through the Chakras is because he was already such an accomplished monk. Essentially he already has the talent, he just needed the direction.

Toph is such a goat she just created a new sub bending element out of spite

Holy shit, these guys just called the gondola beytayal while at the book 2 finale. Ive never seen anyone call it before.

Fun fact: each chakra is also associated with a specific color, and Aang’s visions are filtered with those respective colors.

Watching this when it first aired was TOUGH. A lot of us didn't know it at the time, but because of Mako's death, Book 3 was heavily delayed. What felt like years later, I had almost forgotten about waiting for the new episodes until I went to my buddy's place one day and his brother was watching part of Book 3 On Demand, they had randomly released the first 5 episodes on the Kids On Demand channel (for those that remember what On Demand was).

The Guru is my mom's favourite episode. It has so many great messages!

Zuko betraying Uncle Iroh hurts so much since you know Iroh is doing his best to help Zuko, but Zuko’s obsession about restoring his honor is like an addiction. When we saw positive and optimistic Zuko, it felt bizarre and out of character. That’s because Zuko believed that after freeing Appa, he had no chance of going back to the fire nation and regaining his honor. He was going to settle for the life Iroh wanted for him. So when Zuko sees Aang in the crystal catacombs, he saw that he still had a chance. So he took it. And Azula skillfully manipulated Zuko by saying that he was “free to choose” while Iroh told him to “choose good.” Iroh, though he meant well, was kind of telling Zuko to follow what Iroh decided, which goes against Iroh’s previous advice to choose his own destiny and not what was forced upon him. That’s why Zuko says that he’s changed. He had given up on capturing the avatar but with Azula encouraging him, now he’s more determined than ever to regain his honor and go back home.

I played a video during high school on the Chakras and after doing the Chakra Opening, I felt a surge of energy and felt more alert (I think, really bad memory). Also the Guru only meant you let go of Earthly Attachments for just having control over the Avatar State, you can have them but if he wants to gain control over the State, he needs to let go because the Chakras will always get blocked and get unblocked as many times as possible.

For a while, it was very conflicting to me that Aang letting go of the people he loves was how to activate the Avatar state. I was originally so mad because Aang is such a pure-hearted being to where he wouldn’t go into the Avatar state if it meant letting go of Katara unless, in this case, she was in too much danger and he had no choice.

When Aang's downvote starts glowing white, you done screwed up.

“Everything is going to be fine Billy” -uncle iroh betrayed -aang practically dies -The fire nation takes over ba sing se Are we sure everything will be fine?

Fun fact, the Water chakra doesn't have its location in the body mentioned here like the others do because it's actually located at the *groin* (hence why it deals with pleasure) Nick wouldn't've been very happy about that lol

when he said "you just gonna pop up out of nowhere" all could think was that is what they do

I think the chakras are basically just quick recaps of the struggles aang has had to face a long his life as the avatar, his experiences as well. Information we've already seen through the show, to show his growth as a character as he works through those emotions. I don't think there was much reason to linger on them anymore then what they did.

So the lightning actually did kill Aang. Without the water healing Aang would be gone and the Avatar Cycle would be over. Azula did what so many antagonists should do which is attack during the drawn out powerup sequence.

Toph in episode 19 is what made me consider her one of the best benders ever... at her age with her advantage of her blindless connecting with her, and her literally INVENTING metal bending, which becomes the biggest technology in TLOK.

I saw a really cool theory video. They never mention it in the show but in the series bible (The Worldbuilding/animation notes for the show) there is information about how Earth Benders are Stronger near fault lines. They mapped out the possible tectonic plates of the avatar world and figured out which path the kidnappers would have taken Toph and then discovered that when Toph figured out Metal Bending she was right near one of the world's strongest fault lines so it's almost like the Earth itself gave her the push she needed!

28:00 to end. Ruff and Sean are talking up a storm the whole time but Erik looks like he just lost his soul. lol

This was the part where the fandom was collectively disappointed in Zuko. Before the premiere of S3, Nickelodeon released a game on their website called Escape from the Spirit World. That Spirit Oasis water is a lot more powerful than Katara thought.

I LOOOOVVVEEEEE Seeing Iroh and Aang together, the two people who are the most absolutely op (arguably, as I'm sure ppl will comment lol) but who actually share so much in common and are the biggest advocates for peace. Everytime I watch Avatar, I actually think it's Iroh and Aang who share the most similarities, personality wise, Iroh is almost like a growm up version of Aang.

I love they had the balls to double down on Zukos redemption arc.

What I really love is that if you pause as Aang is entering the avatar state during this whole section and go through it cut by cut. You can see Azula disappear partway through just for the eagle-eyed people who spot that.

You really didnt recognize them?! I thought you were trolling! 😁😂

Even you cant bend metal. Toph: wanna bet? Guru: You need to surrender earthly attachment. Aang: Wanna bet? Zuko: Im a good guy now. Azula: wanna bet? Dai Li: We serve our leader. Azula: Wanna bet?

A lot of things have to go right before it all goes wrong Though in some cases it starts bad anyway; under the guise of the Kiyoshi warriors - and the blind endorsement by Sokka - Azula is now privy to the invasion plans, Katara and Zuko are captured, Long Feng is allied with Azula (until the Dai Li back her at least) and then the princess fully takes over Ba Sing Se, achieving the feat Iroh's siege failed at. On the plus side, Sokka got some quality time with his dad, and Toph just awakened a new art of bending as she became the first Metalbender, a slow burner teased throughout the last two books. Aang's chakra training sat in the middle, the chakras and their blocks are based off of actual practices for chakras, but at the same time it is indeed 'become one with the universe', training with master Yoda on Dagobah, complete with Luke leaving early to save Han and Leia. Alas, even that turns sour, Zuko was pressed to choose between change or comfort and promises of something he had spent several sleepless nights dreaming of, and he chose wrong. Even Iroh cannot look him in the eye as his betrayal led to Aang being forced to forsake his love and earthly attachment for Katara in order to try and save them, only to be blindsided by Azula's lightning while in the Avatar State - his most vulnerable - and fully lose connection with that state, Aang was just barely brought back by the spirit water gifted to Katara in the water tribe, but the Earth Kingdom has fallen, the book is closed, the Empire Struck Back.

23:21 try saying that to the fandom

Remember how you said Sokka needed the validation from their father more than Katarra? In a way, that's why Katarra couldn't understand Zuko, since he is, in a way, a twisted version of Sokka.

It's always funny seeing people get shit mad about Zuko cause we were all there when we first saw this episode so we can relate hard

I remember watching this finale as a kid and the devastating disappointment u feel after zuko chooses to regress back to his old self is universal 😭😭😭

24:26. The first time I watched this when Zuko showed up in this scene, it felt like time literally froze, every time I rewatch it I’m amazed it was just like 2 seconds 😂

Fun fact: The Earth King is voiced by Phil LaMarr, best known as the voice of Hermes in Futurama and Jack in Samurai Jack.

There are channels that do a read through of the books that take place after the show ends if you guys would like to check that out after.

"It's not a love triangle" Excuse me? Zuko and Aang absolutely could end up toge-... oh wait that's not what you meant

I actually drew that scene where he was meeting his giant self cuz it meant a lot to me as a kid

Toph is an icon for inventing an entirely new type of bending purely out of spite.

in the last episode, when you said that Toph has always been OP, ive been waiting for this episode cuz I was like "oh yall have NO IDEA"😭

2:32 "Sometimes foreshadowing is relatively obvious"

The fact that these guys didn’t realize it was Azula and her girls until a little bit into the episode…

Aw, I was hoping to hear the discussions about chakras. This is one of the most profound episodes and was basically spirituality 101 for me as a kid. Great reaction regardless

This episode is always hard to watch, it really is the Darkest hour and our heroes are at their lowest point.

22:23 I was perfectly fine with this part . The Dai Li got outed as traitors and Long Feng got humiliated like he deserved 💁‍♀