Azula is a straight menace. She strolled in after beating the Kyoshi warriors, overthrew the city and took over their military, eliminated the other leaders, manipulated Zuko, didn't hesitate and let the "Protagonist powers up for several minutes" trope happen, AND she ended up on top while the heroes ended this season with a major loss. That girl knows how to manipulate people. "You were never even a player". Absolutely fantastic character.
When Guru Pathik instructs Aang to let go of his attachment to Katara, he doesn't mean that Aang should stop loving her. Instead, Guru Pathik is guiding Aang to release the intense, possessive attachment that can cloud his judgment and prevent him from achieving spiritual balance. This type of attachment is more about fear of loss and emotional dependency rather than the pure love itself.
Exactly. This is an important real life lesson, and is perhaps one of the most difficult things you can master about your emotional wellness. You know you shouldn't feel an obsessive attachment, you know it's unhealthy and not due to love, but it's so hard to learn to let go in that manner
as disappointing and tragic as this is, i agree with angelo that it wouldve been a bit too easy and quick, if zuko had a total change of character immediately. it needs to feel earned. but MAN i remember seeing this for the first time and being ready to THROW HANDS at zuko, especially bc he kinda betrayed iroh 😭💀
They confirm it in the next episode, Aang did actually die. Azula murdered him, and if Katara hadn't had the healing water right away the Avatar cycle would have ended there
If you think about things in real time. Aang was dead for at least 20-30 minutes before katara was able to use the spirit water. No wonder he spent a month in a coma
If you think about things in real time. Aang was dead for at least 20-30 minutes before katara was able to use the spirit water. No wonder he spent a month in a coma
11:24 This red mark on the bottom of Aang's foot is quite realistic - when you are hit with lightning up high like that, the lightning wants to get to the ground as quickly as possible, therefore the lightning entered his back and exited out the bottom of his foot until it hit the floor. Kudos to ATLA crew for the realism!
Wonder how she would have fared if she was there in the time we had to wait for Book 3...and Mike and Bryan were absolute trolls with how they edited (or at least approved) the teaser trailers for Book 3. Seriously, search for Book 3 trailers, preferably the ones with the audience reactions in the cons it was first shown in. Imagine what Zutarra shippers feel when they see those.
Can we talk about how Katara was holding her own against Azula? The "little peasant" was literally about to solo her. Like, the only thing that stopped that was Zuko's intervention.
"The Earth Kingdom... has fallen" is one of my favorite lesser-quoted lines. This moment is enormous. At this point, it's the Water Tribe plus any sparse resistance groups against a nation that has now conquered two of the four nations.
Azula toppled a kingdom that had stood strong against the Fire Nation for over 100 years, successfully lead a quiet coup d'état with an elite secret police force that swore loyalty to her within DAYS of her arrival (with one of the sickest verbal burns in history), and nearly KILLED Aang in the Avatar State (almost breaking the Avatar Cycle and at the same time breaking the whole "let them transform" trope) AT 14 YEARS OLD. She's a true menace and a worthy contender of the "Greatest Villan" debate. Pair all of this with the sickening end of the Book 2 Finale with our heroes defeated, Zuko's betrayal, and the fire nation victorious, you can't even IMAGINE how hard it was for us original watchers to wait OVER 9 MONTHS for the Book 3 premier.
I knew I was cooked as a kid when I liked Azula instead of Ty-lee but damn, find me a woman that has conquered Ba Sing Se and killed the avatar in the same day, bet Ty-lee couldn't do that shi 💀💀💀
When you notice that Aang has two burn marks in his body... One on the back when Azula shot lightning at the point of entry and at the base of his left foot where the lightning escaped....
as absolutely frustrating and terrifying as azula is, she does have some incredible, legendary lines lmao. "you were never even a player" has been living in my brain since i first heard it in the late 2000s 💀🙏🏻
Thank you! I have seen a lot of avatar reactions and people always hate the decision zuko does and cant seem to understand why it happened but you already knowing that zuko would pick azula beforehand really shows your understanding of zuko. Healing isnt always linear and I think an important part of zuko really finding his destiny is to actually get what he has always been chasing this whole time and find out for himself if its what he really wants so the story progressing this way is really the perfect choice. Cant wait for book 3 which as everyone says ofcouse is the best.
i think zuko's "i have changed" just means that he has finally decided for himself what he wants, rather than going along with what everybody else is putting on him, although yeah, azula is still very good at manipulating him lol
Something that doesn't get mentioned a lot - Katara beat Azula in a 1v1 and had her restrained. Only Zuko's intervention saved her. We see Azula as this insane bending prodigy, who strives for and achieves perfection, but Katara is even more insane. And there's still a whole book left for her to get even stronger. Let's just be glad she's on our side.
@@Austin.Kilgore Yeah, at the very least they're about on par. The top 3 young benders IMO (besides Aang, being the Avatar is cheating,) are Toph, Katara and Azula and they kind of rock-paper-scissors eachother. Katara beats Azula, Azula beats Toph and Toph beats Katara.
@@flameemperor7047 Exactly. Fire benders are at half strength when the sun goes down, while water benders get a boost proportional to how full the moon is that night. During a daytime fight Katara would have gotten steamrolled just like Zuko stomped her easily up north.
The Empire Strikes Back of the ATLA universe. A shattering, epic, brutal end to one of the best animated seasons I've ever seen. I remember watching this live, and every kid on the block running outside after the episode to chat about it because we were all in shambles.
Azula is such an enjoyable villain, if only because she's very good at what she does. Unlike dorky Zuko she was born with both talent and high social intelligence and ironically the ability to pick up on what was expected of her AND deliver on it put her straight onto the highway to sociopath town.
Im not sure how obvious these things are to others, but something from these past 2 episodes that i never really understood/noticed on my 1st few watches of this show: 1) The guru isnt telling Aang to not love Katara. The lesson is to learn to not be too attached, but Aang sees attachment as love, and thinks that that means he cant love Katara, and then we think that too. But the point is just for him to not put his earthly attachments above everything else, and to learn to let go of the things he loves if he loses them, instead of holding on. 2) Azula kills Aang in the avatar state. He isnt dying or wounded, he is full-stop dead. And it is only Katara healing him with spirit oasis water very quickly afterward that revives him and brings him to life, which is shown as the light from his arrow briefly glows before he starts breathing again. Even after watching the show 5 times, I still hadnt fully understood that Azula had actually killed him and the Avatar cycle wouldve ended if it wasnt for Katara
@mustachinhogrosso3535 I believe what he actually says is something along the lines of, "I went down! I didn't just get hurt, did I?" So, while Aang did not explicitly say he "died" or "was killed, " it is heavily implied. But because it's not explicit, plenty of people didn't pick up exactly what he meant until later on, myself included.
@@blakeverdon4492 thats crazy. He even told katara that she brought him back. How someone who didnt get it was capable of finishing this show without having to look for people explaining Zuko's character or the finale's Avatar state? Lol
So at 14 years old, Azula toppled the Earth Kingdom capital in a matter of days, completely without bloodshed, and the one person she did nearly kill was the Avatar, almost single-handedly ending the entire Avatar cycle. Azula is one of the greatest villains in animated history. I will not accept arguments to the contrary.
Last word's "The earth kingdom has fallen" is great. I love this voice, emotions, tragedy of situation. I have tears every time, when I hear it. The end of 2nd season is my favorite. 1 and 3 end more like fantasy, cartoonish... Twists of 2nd seasons looks like Game of Thrones
Can't believe I'm caught up now... I knew I should've waited till you finished the series to avoid this feeling of longing, but I've got to say I really enjoyed your takes on this show, and I'm excited for Book 3 ^^
Been binging these reactions. You guys are right on about Zuko in a way a lot of reactors aren't. This episode was too soon for him to turn. Iroh was able to get him to stop just doing what was expected of him. He managed that, to get Zuko thinking about what he wanted instead of what he thought he was supposed to be. But the supposed great turnaround afterward was really actually Zuko giving up and trying to be what Iroh wanted him to be instead. Iroh pushed too hard. Iroh had always been there for Zuko. Zuko loves Iroh. So he tried to be happy where they were because Iroh was happy. But it wasn't actually what he wanted, just what he thought he was stuck with. Then Azula offered him everything he ever thought he wanted. Like in his dreams, he listened to the blue dragon, and he fell. But it's necessary. Zuko has to get everything he ever thought he wanted in order to realize he was wrong. More, he has to choose to do something he knows is wrong instead of just doing his duty before he can later make the choice to do things differently. He's built agency over the course of Book 2. Now he has to figure out who he is. Azula, I think, is much more complicated than you give her credit for. She goes for violence against Zuko exactly once in all of Book 2, in the ruined city before everyone else shows up, and it shows she's more invested in her family spats than in the fight against the Avatar. BUT, every other time they've come face to face, Azula has elected NOT to use violence against her brother. Her father orders her to bring him in, she tries to do it peacefully. He attacks her at the Earth King's palace, she has the Dai Li restrain and imprison him. Azula is catty, insulting, and hostile to her uncle. Him, she does try to attack with lethal force. But Zuko? Him she calls pet names and teases. When they were younger, remember Azula was always trying to get Zuko to play with her. She asked their mother to intercede for her. She dragged him around. She snuck into his room to terrify him. She loved teasing him, tormenting him, bragging about how much smarter and how much better of a firebender she was-but she LOVED having him around to do it. She didn't hate him. Far from it. She loved him, as much as a little sociopath encouraged in her viciousness and competitiveness by her psycho father could. When Azula found out Zuko was in Ba Sing Se, she saw a way to restore the life *she* wanted, where Zuko was her brother again, not a prisoner, not an exile. She absolutely doesn't want him to be Fire Lord someday. She means to follow daddy's example and usurp him. But she wants him around to mess with and crow over. For once, in this final episode, she isn't lying to him at all. She doesn't think he's a traitor like their uncle (and she's right; he was forced into exile. The one traitorous thing he's ever done was a political thing so he got the credit for Aang's capture instead of Zhao). She knows she needs his help (and she does). She absolutely is willing to give him his choice to join her in the end, and after the battle's over, she intends to bring him back a hero, though a lesser hero than she herself. She's so twisted and toxic and crazy it's hard to see the little girl there, the sister. But it is there. Tye writing for Avatar is just that good.
Just remember that this was the last time we´ll listen to Mako´s voice in the series. At some point you´ll have questions regarding Iroh and that will be the answer.
Y’all hit the nail on the head a lot of times redemption is to easy and quick. Like Carlie said this was his first time being tested after “changing” and when push came to shove Zukos addiction won. But that’s a very realistic portrayal of change it’s not always easy sometimes you fall back down.
Iroh blowing fire out of his mouth seem more like a flex then actual necessity because its not like his hands were bound or anything. The time he took to do that he could do a tipical fire bender move with his hands. They are already fast enough. But it does raise the cool factor so no complain 😂
Zuko betraying his uncle will also give Zuko everything he thought he wanted. It's going to show him the difference between what he think he wants and what he actually wants.
Zuko was confused, he had spent so long wanting to go back home, plus we have seen him try to be good and help others but the moment they found out he was a fire bender they immediately rejected and hated him, so why would he not jump on the chance to return to his home, family and nation? He has grown, but he needs to figure the last bit out on his own, without Iroh to guide him.
And then there was an 8 month hiatus! When I first watch this episode, I was absolutely DISTRAUGHT and realized then that Zuko was (is) my favorite character, because I wanted nothing but GOOD for him. And knowing that this couldn't be the way, it felt like he tumbled backward and was only going to hit rock bottom. But it is not out of nowhere, either. His trauma ultimately controls him and until he confronts it, it always will.
Kataang supremacy! 🩵 I love katara and zuko bonding over their trauma from the fire nation, katara has always been a very caring and loving person it’s no surprise to me she would try to reach out to zuko after seeing him so lost.
well, as they say: "Always remember, when you hit rock bottom, the only way to go is with a pick and shovel." {ok, maybe it was just me who said that....}
I absolutely love your reactions!!! I follow you guys since you reacted to Arcane. Avatar is my favorite animation of all, since I was a little kid. So when I saw you guys were reacting to it, I got beyond excited!!!! I count the days between your Avatar videos and I watch them the minute they’re out. , haha. Can’t wait to see what you guys will think of Book 3, since it’s the best one and concludes the show in a very beautiful and wholesome way. Also, I really hope you guys will watch The Legend of Korra, she’s badass, I love her!
Probably obvious but there's a lot of pararells with Empire Strikes back. The gang visits a seemingly peaceful beautiful place filled with "allies" Our protagonist visits a guru to train, but has to leave because he gets a vision of his friends in danger. And because he leaves he fails. There's a massive betrayal that leads to a major character getting captured. Both end on bombshell cliffhangers. Only difference is, Season 3 of Avatar actually delivers on the cliffhanger and is equally good if not better than the latter. (Sorry ROTJ fans)
I like how they didnt notice Toph cuddling Sokka on Appa or that she had jelous overprotective girlfriend energy with Ty lee when she was flirting with Sokka like hello!!! Soph/Tokka exists!!!!
14:16 Zuko had decided to be good after he woke up from his moral ill he suffered, but that's not how it works. Being good is not something you just decide you are, it is something that you choose not even every day, but every single time you're faced with a choice, no matter how tempting it is. It is very easy to be good when your life is calm and devoid of tough choices, and very easy to fall and get lost when it forces you to make them.
Yeah, not sure if y'all are Star Wars fans, but this ending is very Empire Strikes Back. I'm surprised you guys preferred the Book 1 finale vs. Book 2. Not saying that's bad or anything. This one does leave off on a low note, but I'm still surprised. Also, at 3:30, the way Ange looked at Carlie when he saw that Katara was down there too was hilarious! 😂
There’s something that you talk on in the discussion portion that I think is really important but I don’t want to actually speak on it til a future episode
9:00 Cut some of her hair because she missed. What was she going for? The old classic decapitation? What kind of moves did you teach that girl Pakku :D
Uh he died so no more avatar state. Azula shot him through the back through his heart. Small detail but you see a scar on the bottom of his foot. Cuz when lighting hits you it travels and leaves through your feet.
I think about how if Iroh didn't save Katara and aang, they both would have died. Katara's defeated, in tears holding aang's dead body. It was almost over. Thank god for IROH!!!! the goat Also imagine all of us that watched this in real time!! that wait was so HARD
decades of fighting won by a 14yo child.. way to go, Fire Nation.. they are lucky they have her.. and yeah.. they straight up killed Aang in this episode, damn.. Azula broke the no. 1 rule in fighting like it's nothing.. good thing Katara didn't waste her water fr..
You can see a lot of parallels with the classic 3 Star Wars movies. Aang leaving before his training is complete. Zuko tempted by the dark side. And just overall the second book ending on a loss.
dude Book 3 is like....so much better. the action and drama gets ramped up so much. buckle up! they are all 10/10 but book 3 in particular is REALLY good.
