Overanalyzing Netflix's Avatar: Episode Four - Into The Dark 

In case you missed it, here is the video explaining why you are seeing episode 4, instead of episode 2 or 3. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-4Wo1_WAVdZQ.html

And when the world needed him the most… the fair use disputes made him vanish…

Something that always really bothered me was Sokka asking, "Were you helping the fire benders?" Why not say "the fire nation"? They refer to others by their bending ability and not by their national allegiance a bunch of times and it always rubs me the wrong way.

This whole "Sai is afraid of the Fire Nation attacking Omashu hence why he's giving them designs" is some bs. In the original he was protecting a community of refugees that had no real defenses against the most powerful military in the world. But here, he's behind Omashu's high walls with dozens of earth kingdom soldiers. Why the heck would he cooperate with the fire benders? It would've been a lot better to just introduce the mechanist in this season but not as a 'traitor' and save him making weapons for the fire nation for next season when Omashu would be occupied. That's probably what they're gonna do anyway so why replicate the original storyline in such a clumsy nonsensical way?

I think the mechanist is even less sympathizable than in the Original. At least in the original he was working with the fire nation because he was basically out on his own w/ a small band of people he was trying to protect and was basically at the mercy of the fire nation. In the Live Action he is literally sitting inside the fortress city of Omashu. WTF is so easily blackmailed by the fire nation when they can't even get to him or his kid? Before he was a guy in a tough situation being extorted, now he's just a strait up traitor.

5:30 I believe Bumi would've had the following thought process >I knew an Airbender >I knew *this* Airbender >Wait... the avatar was supposed to be an Airbender before he disappeared >Wait... my friend is still alive after the genocide 100 years ago... >... >... Did the Avatar Cycle pause while Aang somehow survived because *he* was the Avatar???

"Different temperature induced fates" lmao This writer's a genius XD

Everything in this show is just so clean and polished. The clothes for example always look like they're worn for the first time. It feels too much like a stage play.

11:02 never noticed before, but this is another great use of zuko’s scar being used to characterize his choices. Scar faces away when thinking about following iroh, scar faces the screen when thinking about chasing aang

my problem with Bumi is it feels like he's saying the same points just SO MANY TIMES it gets tiring. the Storm was great because it was said once and then we are left with Aang's thoughts on the matter. whereas here it's said again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again. heck, even the scene between the soldier and Iroh gets tiring, not because it itself is bad, in fact I'd say it's great. but because of the repeat ad nauseum we had before.

I always took Aang using earth bending to immobilize the Fire Lord as something that had to be extremely precise. Toph level precision

I really do not understand how the writers could ABSOLUTELY miss what they were TRYING to go for so hard. Bumi as well as Kyoshi's WHOLE argument of Aang needing to take responsibility and make the hard choices fall on deaf ears and rolled eyes because _HE WAS GOING F**KING BAAAAAAAAAAACK._ It makes their arguments completely null and void. All Aang had to do was screech at Bumi (which animated Aang absolutely would've done cause even that saint of a boy had limits) "I was going back!" while sobbing over his loss and THAT would hit home way freakin' harder than whatever the heck they were trying to go for here. GOD I hate everything about this change. Changing Aang to being a victim of his own circumstance just...it damages so much. If you are going to fundamentally change something from one medium to another, you need to analyze HOW that change will affect literally every single part of the story. From character motivation to interaction to plot points to action scenes to intimate moments that allow characters to breath and simply exist. And it's clear the writers here just didn't do that. They fell into the Disney remake trap of just changing sht to change sht. Just look at Kyoshi saving the day on her island. People defend that with "well it's her island so it makes sense." not it does NOT. Aang in the animation could take care of himself just f**king fine by that point in the show. He BODIED Zuko with one Airbending slice powered up by his predecessor's fans. Her coming in teaches no one anything, it undermines Aang's skills, it doesn't allow him to grow, it's literally just there for a cool moment. And it's a LESS COOL version of Aang's elemental sphere at that. What Kyoshi did in the animation and books is 10x cooler than the big save the day moment here. Point blank.

5:54 "before they all meet very different temperature-induced fates 60 seconds later" hit so hard I fell off my bike

Honestly Earth Benders callously breaking ceramics makes perfect sense because they can basically make them effortlessly anyway.

23:52 Yeah, so not into pose bending! Totally kills the suspension of disbelief for me. I think it could've worked if they clearly showed that Aang was making two streams of air from his hands that combined into a tornado, but there doesn't seem to be any logical conection between his body motions (or lack there of) and the air he's bending. I just feel he's standing there completely disconnected from the effects happening around him.

A little nitpick I’ve got is that Bumi only does his signature laugh in the 20 second flashback and when he’s revealed to be Bumi. He laughs other times but it’s not the same laugh. Pretty lame to have his signature laugh ONLY for the really bad set up and payoff but then it’s just ignored as a trait.

The take that this is like a rollercoaster based on something is crazy accurate.

16:57 Imo, he puts on the best performance of anyone in the show... And he's basically an extra. He doesn't even get a name...

I'm sorry, but... Bume got character assassinated in the live action version. They changed him from a mad genius who managed to keep his people safe with or without the avatar to a psychotic tyrant who tells off the people who do what he asks. I can't see this version of the character inspiring faith in his people or single handedly saving his city during the eclipse.

I don't understand why you blame yourself when the show has bad execution or pacing. You're not being hard to please, the show is hard to like.

Still a weird choice to put SIBLINGS in the lovers tunnel

Better watch it before netflix strikes it down

"The WORLDS On Fire!" ...how 'bout yours...

It's interesting to me how most people's favorite scene in the entire show is the funeral scene. As you mentioned, it's one of the few good examples of departure from the original show, AND it's about Zuko and Iroh who have been people's favorite adaptations. I'm not sure why the show only seems to know how to handle Zuko and Iroh in (mostly) satisfying ways but drops the ball for the rest of the main cast.

I think what they did with bumi is interesting but I think just in general having aang not choose to run away just makes all the scenes of him really hit less. Like obviously he didn't know like it makes perfect sense but emotionally it just didn't connect with me at all cause its like no he didn't run away so he's not actually got much to be sorry for

Iroh responding to the earth soldier's monologue about his dead brother with "wah wah, wars happen" was so bad. It's so out of character for Iroh to get defensive in that scene. It's stupid because Iroh getting defensive makes him seem like he doesn't really care about his war crimes or his role in the war. And in the present moment, it doesn't get him out of that situation at all, it's just going to make the guy more angry.

No Flopsie? No fucking thank you.

This episode is exactly why I strongly believe that whoever wrote this show were huge Zuko and Iroh fans. Because they are the only characters that actually feel like the writers understood. I think every original scene they gave them was fantastic and this episode in particular did an excellent job with them. I love the scene between Zuko and Iroh at Lu Ten's funeral, and I honestly believe that the Earth Kingdom soldier is one of the best written and acted characters in this show. It's honestly something that I wish had been on the cartoon and I think would have fit really well. The cartoon touches on what Iroh lost and we see what the Earth Kingdom keeps losing, but we never see what the people of the Earth Kingdom lost BECAUSE of Iroh's actions. It's a great way of expanding on his character and an overall excellent addition of the story.

At 2:41 I never noticed that Aangs eyes watered when he told Bumi he’s a mad genius. It’s so sweet! 100 years have gone by and Aang has been forced to try and adjust to this vastly different world. But after all that time, the one thing he can latch on to aside from Appa is the fact that one of his best friends is still freaking Alive! A century later! That is so freaking amazing!

I feel like everyone should immediately recognize that aang is the avatar. The avatar was supposed to be an air bender, they all died supposedly, the avatar didn’t show up again in the water tribe, oh wait there’s an air bender right here, he has to be the avatar. The thought process is reallyyy straight forward.

I can't get over the hair the actors wear in the series. Anyone who has a large beard or big hair style just looks like prop hair. Even Pakku looks like he's wearing a bald cap instead of a guy who is just naturally bald. It's a small thing, yeah, but once you notice it you can't not notice it.

I actually hate the funeral scene. What made Leaves On The Vine so powerful in the original is because it gave insight that throughout the entire 1.5 seasons to that point, Iroh was helping others as a nation-neutral father figure because he felt he couldn't be the protective father his son needed. It comes full circle. In the adaptation, that journey is shoved in our face right in the beginning. Also, the new version of Iroh comes across as pro-fire nation and frankly condescending in many of his "teachings". Not the jovial, calm, and wise Iroh that was so beloved.

I only cared about the mechanist because he's Abed.

I actually got the opposite impression with the mechanist in terms of being likable he went from a refugee living in the ruin of a dead people to escape the evils of the fire nation, forced to make a dark deal or face the destruction of his people. In this he's living it good in a proper well-fortified city safe behind earthbender walls, and then decides to help tear down those walls (metaphorically) because the fire nation threw some threats his way. In the original series he's a well-meaning leader making tough decisions to save his people, in the second he's a spineless coward who betrays everyone around him at the slightest threat.

Like and comment or be laughed at by everyone who did like and comment.

Thank God “The Mechanist” actually has a real name

2:16 I love when Aang travels back in time from the headband, just to show past Aang that dancing is how to actually defeat Ozai.

ngl you disassembling this show kinda made me wish they just invited some of the more well known media critics to do a script review or something. The way the show is written really seems like they did a writing circle jerk (among the management) while dismissing the original writers

To all the weirdo's worked up about the lesbians in the Tale of Two Lovers: You are mad Shu is woman, I am mad that they killed Oma instead of Shu, we are not the same

"opposite temperature induced fates" is WILD omg

Bumi is fine when he’s being his goofy self in the beginning. The jokes usually don’t land well (especially the ones they adapted from the show) but that’s because they are bad jokes but the other characters around him have a forced laugh at jokes which comedy comes from how not funny it is. The real problems with Bumi really start to show their hand when he voices his anger. He’s angry at Aang for not being around for the 100 year war and not being mature enough to make responsible decisions. This is a very interesting concept to have a friend of Aang’s be mad at him for. But it doesn’t belong in this show. Aang did not run away from his responsibilities in this show. The most irresponsible thing he has done in this show so far is not try and learn water bending when he had the chance. But throughout the episode Bumi is complaining to Aang about how he wasn’t there and the responsibilities of being an Avatar. And a big part of why this concept doesn’t work falls onto Aang. Aang is very responsible and expresses his immediate responsibilities to Bumi. Sadly Bumi dismissed them for no discernible reason. But Bumi also consistently brings up the fact that he is upset that Aang has left the world for 100 years, and the result of that is that Bumi has had to participate in a war he never wanted to. Now the fault that falls on Aang in those moments is that he knows that he was frozen in an iceberg that he couldn’t break out of all that time. And he never tells Bumi any of this. Unlike the multiple times Aang tells Bumi his immediate responsibility, whenever Bumi brings up his absence in the war he shuts up like it’s his fault that he was frozen. It’s more of Kyoshi’s fault that he was trapped in that iceberg before it’s his fault.

the empath poligloth badgermoles hurt so hard. da hell was netflix trying to do? like did they tot it would make more sense than a blind monster that feels the world by vibrations liking music? idk maybe netflix dont know sound is vibration... whats the empath monster going to do when they find toph? fall in love with her?

I hate the way Bumi is changed in this adaptation. He just comes off as a senile asshole. In the cartoon we're made to think he's senile but he actually turns out to be really sensible and wise in a lot of ways. It makes him being a part of the White Lotus make sense. Nothing makes sense in this goddamn adaptation and it drives me crazy; how is there zero consistency??

I think people assume aang is the avatar because they assume that if the avatar was reborn he'd be around and he's not so the last air bender must be the avatar

I absolutely hated Bumi in this. The acting, the bad aging prosthetics, the more cynical characterization. All of it. I get that he's supposed to be cartoony like the original, but this type of cartoonishness just doesn't work for me. It's just bad.

Katara Whipping the Badger Mole pissed me off more than anything in this whole show.

I think earth bending is definitely the most broken of the elements if you think about the logistics of war. It'd just be literally impossible to invade an earth kingdom city in a mountainous area. Tunnels would be everywhere, and tiny lookout posts. Squads of earth benders would appear on the ridgeline as you passed through launch one or two volleys of massive rocks onto your heads and then there gone. Not to mention that they could simply start making the mountain passes change so when your army tries to retreat they just go deep into uninhabited mountain ranges with nothing in them. Maybe that's a cool alternative universe. Like an earth kingdom if the phinox king won type thing. The surviving earthbenders end up surviving and thriving deep in mountain ranges where the lookouts send warnings days in advance of any firebenders to get underground.

Combining the Mechanist and Freedom fighters episodes is a really good idea, but I think it should have taken place at the Northern Air Temple, that way Aang is dealing with his home being gone, both the Temple and his people, and Sokka spends time with the mechanist, and Katara with the Freedom Fighters, and learns that Jet plans on destroying the temple, and killing the Mechanist to stop the Fire Nation getting weapons, and then they have to defend against the Freedom Fighters, using non-lethal means, e.g. Smoke and Stink Bombs, and at the end of the episode the Mechanist promises to help Aang restore the 4 Air Nation Temples after the war is over.

The confrontation between Iroh and the Earth Kingdom soldier is well done, but there's one line I really don't like. After the soldier tells Iroh he's responsible for his brother's death, Iroh says "We were at war". It's true, but it doesn't make much sense. Iroh was so devastated by the loss of his son, that he abandoned the war effort and went home. He was never just like "this sucks but he died in a war, war is war" it completely changed him. Now he's confronted by someone experiencing a similar loss from the same event. He knows how devastating it is. And its Iroh's fault; he's responsible for causing the same pain he knows all too well. I feel like Iroh would be able to relate to the soldier, or at the very least, be so overridden by guilt and shame that he can't even say anything in response.

Right away I do have something to note, that iirc that earthbending lock your opponent in thing was also used in the first part of the winter solstice episode, where Iroh gets jumped by the earthbenders and they sort of trap him with the rock spikes.

Pov you're watching this before Netflix copyright strikes it

I nearly choked at "very different temperature-induced fates". that's why I love this channel.

I personally didn't like the Bumi change cause almost every adult character is pissed at Aang up to this point. If he was actually goofing off and people were loving him all around like in most of the original this would have worked better more me.

I like your perspective on Bumi's changes, and while I agree that it does work well in a vacuum, I think there are two things that really throw it off. Having Aang called out like this would hit really hard if it was the first time, but when we've already seen it twice, especially from people who should know better, it just feels like the show is repeating itself. Like, we've already done this, it felt mean spirited and unnecessary then, and even if it actually makes sense this time, it still feels even more mean spirited and unnecessary now. Secondly, and you did touch on this, but Aang doesn't need this lesson. Aside from already hearing it twice, Aang already feels guilty about leaving and is focused on his responsibility, that's like one of his only strong character traits in this adaptation. It all just makes it feel like the show is constantly ragging on Aang for no reason.

18:19 i feel like dialogue like this comes from the effect of fans writing the show, there has been long arguments on how people should perceive Jet in the fandom, and Katara basically saying this line is the writer of the episode expressing their opinions through the characters, which comes of as clunky because it doesn't feel natural, and Katara wouldn't say this. if she already feels sympathetic towards him in episode 4 of the first season, how will she respond to him in Ba Sing Se.

Here before Netflix decides to take it down

NAH TF IS THAT LIVE ACTION BOOMI?

Honestly my biggest problem with this series is its just boring. They repeat themselves so often i get so sick of it and just wanna sleep through it

This review is even better than Episode 3's. Because I can actually watch this one.

2:15 look at our boy Aang bustin a move 😮‍💨

I love that you re-edited the secret tunnel song for the live action. Truly a masterpiece.

secret secret secret secret secret secret secret secret secret secret

24:31 THANK YOU I absolutely cackled at the Sokka ice slide. It looked so slow that I think I said almost exactly the same thing when I watched it. A casual jog would have gotten him there faster

Didn't Bumi also immediately know Aang was the Avatar in the original cartoon? He says "There's an airbender in our presence, and not just any airbender.. the Avatar". I think its safe to assume Aang told him who he was.

14:35 ok the hippies are hands down the best part of this show, this is just straight up funny and i am almost mad at myself for laughing

9:56 heavy Star Wars-vibe with that horrible "fight against something NO, saving YES" line... I was cringing so hard

19:25 "What's stopping them from doing a wide shot?" The volume. Without a cinematographer that actually knows how to use it correctly (AKA Greig Fraser) it reduces every shot to a close-medium shot. There's like one far shot that I remember and it's when Aang first arrives at Roku's temple, and it's good! But we barely get any of them overall.

The Zuko and Iroh scenes seem to have decently competent people working on them, while the squad… is uhhhh being questionably managed.

22:13 Lol when I was watching this I literally yelled at the screen “DONT TAKE THE THING YOUR STABBED WITH OUT ZUKO, YOU IDIOT!”

the Oma and Shu story is more of an annoying thing imo than anything super bad, but if its not important why change it in the first place. You can only say "well it doesnt matter they exist." so many times without writing actually interesting gay characters instead of just shoving them in places randomly. Like that doesnt feel awful to anyone else?

Bumi goes way too long on the point it gets tiring and annoying. The kid is not even goofing off. He just wants to go North to do his job

🤓aang probably knows Iroh is a general because he has Zuko’s notebook I’m commenting to give engagement

Jets hair makes me irrationally angry.

Aang being able to telekineticly move and hold rocks and other objects in the air essentially makes Earth bending obsolete. Since he can effectively use air bending to do anything an earth bender could do.

Bumi knows Aang is the avatar because he is the only remaining airbender and the avatar cycle didn't continue

In the final battle, the way Aang incapacitated the firelord with Earth bending makes sense because he's doing it with martial arts techniques while ozai is throwing wild haymakers. I've always actually enjoyed that little touch to the final fight.

17:15 I personally hate the funeral scene, for one, we don't know Iroh enough yet, he isn't as wise nor likeable as the original(potentially yet, though I doubt the writers will get up there with time), so this scene doesn't hit you hard at all, because why would it? It's the bad guy that lost his son in the war, and so far he hasn't shown significant change yet, we still see him as the bad guy, he is far more formal and far less layed back, especially in that scene, we see him be brutally honest to the earth bender, than we see him sad, but why is he sad? is it because he actually regrets it or is it just because he is sad he lost his son in that war? because it feels like the latter. And of course the bigger reason is that once we potentially grow to like Iroh and see he isn't the ruthless general he used to be, we won't get that moment of sadness that hit us back then. Let me ask this, does this scene evoke anything close to the emotions it evoked and potentially still evokes when you see the original scene, and why? Is it because you actually care about THIS Iroh, or because it bring memories of the old Iroh. The TLDR is, the scene was given to us too soon and thus was wasted, even if it was "ok"

Damn, nailed so many points I'm kinda sure I'd feel exactly the same if I bothered watching the source. I'm so glad I have your RU-vid over Netflix

Interesting to not have a premiere this time, but with all of the copyright hell that’s been going on, this is the least of my worries.

That horse bit fucking got me

Bumi preaching neutral jing next season is going to feel really schizophrenic with how he acts in this one. If it even happens...

I don't know why, but I thought the scene where Bumi and Aang were talking before the duel was in the elevator. I haven't questioned it at all until now

The only thing i didnt understand about the oma and shu change was that the story says they were the "first" earthbenders right? Do how would they have reproduced more earthbenders? Did more people learn from the badgermoles? Maybe im just overthinking it

Gotta watch this before it gets claimed and taken down. And then reuploaded. And then claimed again. Fight the good fight OA!

Ooh Katara finding her water skin thing is actually really cool it’s not explicitly said she’s gonna use it for waterbending she’s just like ‘huh neat’

I get that they are doing with bumi but it just makes him feel like every other "you left me to deal with pain" character.

Any else catch that the mechanist designed the Omashu delivery system, but it's present in the 100 year flashback?

I completely agree about Bumi’s characterization! I really enjoyed the idea that he’d be bitter and upset with Aang for leaving the world torn apart by war. It doesn’t mean he can’t still have some of his cartoon silliness, but I really enjoyed him being jaded by what he’s been through. I hope RU-vid goes easy on your copyright strikes, in the meantime I’ll keep enjoying your other content for the 3rd or 4th time! 😊

I sort of dislike the change to Oma and Shu being gay, because I liked the original version being like "Its romeo and juliet except in this one, Juliet doesnt kill herself, she fucking wrecks everyone all at once and ends the war herself", and with two women, it doesnt feel as meaningful that a woman did it.

INCONCLUSIVE EVIDENCE OF NORMAL HORSE

I just realised this after watching this show 30+ times. The part where in the anime where Zuko is contemplating going after his uncle and the Avatar, when he looks at the ostrichhorse footprints, we see the side of his face that does not have the scar, showing his softer side, only wanting to get his uncle because he's family, while on the flip side, when he turns to look at Aang, we see the side of his face with the scar, a reminder of the side of him that we know him to be, as someone who was banished and not to return until he captures the Avatar, the scar being the first thing he received prior to going on his journey to reclaim his honour. Great metaphor by the writers and animaters.

The Mechanist being a better person doesn't make him a better character, the old Mechanist incited a conflict with Aang. New Mechanist is doing a B plot with Sokka while Aang meets Bumi so yeah there is no place for the Mechanist and Aang to beef.

Quick! Watch it before it gets taken down!

21:17 Oooh, look at the Dragon of the West over here, casting *burning hands.* Really? Not even a fireball? I feel like almost every fire attack in the show was a projectile, but now it seems like someone just waves, and then we cut to their enemy being burnt.

I cried at Iroh's funeral flashback, despite the fact that this series is like a 6 out of 10. What? I'm not made of stone. It was a very emotional moment that they did beautifully.

I think one of The show's biggets problem that no one talks about is how the show will sometimes asume the viewer saw the original show in detrimment of it's own story Example: Mai and Ti Lee, these two in the entire season do NOTHING important and are not even given names, now of course the fans of the original would know who these characters are,but new viewers who didn't see the original show would see them has pointless characters who didn't deserve screentime. There is Also the Gran Gran exposition scene that is suppose to mimic the intro of the OG show, for the fans of the original it's (suppose to be) an homage to the original show, but for the viewer (who was already given another exposition scene prior), this is an extremely redundant and pointless exposition scene. And the examples don't stop there. - Azula and Zhao are introduced by menacing music when their names ( and not their title and role) are first brought up in their introduction scene, for fans of the OG show those are regonizable characters who's roles we already know,but in the show the viewer doesn't even know their title yet,so they will be confused on why they are presented so menacingly when they didn't even do anything. - there are other examples such has Hei Bai in the OG show we know that Aanga attempt to calm him worked but in the new one,the viewer doesn't know so it leads the viewer to think this storyline is unfinished. - For Kho the face stealer the netflix version does not explain that Ko will steal the face of anyone who shows the smallest bit of emotions which leads the moment where Aang confronts him to be less tense. - and the last example (that i admit is a bit nitpicky) Jun Liking Iroh instead of the opposite is a good gag for OG fans but not for new viewers who might confused has to why this rather young lady would like such an old man. This problem is rather stupid since the goal of this new adaptation is to introduce a new audience to avatar, yet they have a bunch of moments that you need to watch the OG to get. Which is extremely weird.

"There is no Easter bunny, there is no tooth fairy, and there is no Episode 3 !"

What song is that for the "I'm an empath" bit? I recognize Blind Guardian - A Voice in the Dark for "I'm also a polyglot", but it's killing me I can't get the other one.

why question is ---- who in real life -- laughs with their shoulders? nobody "chuckles" like that. You laughs with your mouth and eyes. It is like they are doing shoulder shrugs for a workout

1:45 yknow, it was really unclear.