'Avatar: The Last Airbender' Season 1 Episode 8 Review
Image Source: Superhero Hype
Here we are. We’ve arrived at the end. Some things have made this show a worthwhile successor to the original, others have tried to forge their own path, and in both, there were good things and not-so-good things. I think, overall, it deserves the chance to finish what it started. Are there things they can improve on in the second season? You bet. Some things are done though, and it’s a lesson to be learned for next time, or something to keep their attention on.
Zhao and his fleet have arrived at the Northern Water Tribe, en masse, and he’s got a dastardly plan to neutralize the power of the waterbenders, worldwide, once and for all. He’s learned that the moon and ocean spirits, the first waterbenders, take physical forms on the eve of their invasion, and he’s hellbent on identifying them and killing the moon spirit. Zuko learns the reality of his situation, that his sister has been manipulating the strings in the background the whole time. Katara shows Pakku just how wrong he’s been, and Sokka, love struck, watches as his girlfriend turns into the moon.
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Ken Leung’s portrayal of Zhao has been fantastic and continues to do so. Whenever he’s talking about his plans, his eyes are distant, like they’re looking at the future power he hopes to wield, and his voice is sniveling and drunk with grandeur. He goes out exactly like you would expect that kind of person. His fight with Zuko was short but exciting, and the emotion was palpable.
The Ocean Spirit was enraged, Aang made it into a huge water-fish-monster.
Image Source: Screen Rant
His wasn’t the only thing that made this a solid final episode. I would be willing to bet that the majority of their VFX budget went into this episode. When Zhao kills the moon spirit, Aang gives himself over to the ocean spirit (after a montage of memories from the season) and goes on a rampage as a massive water monster, ravaging the Fire Nation fleet. It’s beautifully done, and full of intense moments. Ships colliding, exploding. A massive, watery hand just ripping command towers from Fire Nation ships and tossing them at other ships. It was awesome.
We finally have an answer now of what they’re going to do about the impetus of the original show: Sozin’s Comet. The last thing we see is a contraption that seems to track the sun and moon, and then a comet comes into the scene, and Ozai and his Fire Sage reveals they anticipate the return of the comet. It doesn’t say how long out it is, and the aging of the characters is a concern because of development time, but the showrunners have said before that they have built that into their plans. That also includes their depiction of Omashu falling and Bumi being captured by Azula. It was a clever shaping of the plot to make the invasion of the North more of a diversion so that Ozai could send Azula to conquer Omashu. It sets up the need to find someone else to teach him earthbending in season two…which of course then leads us to Toph Beifong, the best character in the show.
I think everything comes together nicely in this episode. Pakku’s rigidity melts along with the wall of the city, and I thought the way they handled it in this adaptation was fine. Even Aang had a nice conclusion for this arc. They sort of address the lack of waterbending training in this season, but acknowledge that he’s going to kind of have to do double duty training as they return to the Earth Kingdom for earthbending training. Sokka learns a little more about who he is, as does Katara and realizing she’s strong.
The most powerful line in the show was two words, and they came from Zuko. When he responds to his uncle with just the words “I’m tired,” the gravity of the situation that makes him say that is felt by the viewer. He’s just found out he’s spent three years on a lie. Dallas Liu’s excellent job all season wrapped up perfectly in that shot, the pain, anguish, and defeat has finally gotten to Zuko’s seemingly endless supply of honor and pride. He has nothing more to give it seems.
Yue gives her life back to the Moon spirit to restore the moon.
Image Source: Screen Rant
There are some moments that were still a little forced, but it wasn’t enough to really distract from the overall quality of the episode, and ultimately, the season. There have been a few changes to Sokka’s behavior, or omissions, and I didn’t really think they were that bad. But when he says they should get something to eat, it’s probably the first time in the season that I can remember him saying anything about eating. That’s a staple of Sokka’s character, and I get that it may not have always been pertinent to the scenes…but for Katara to make a comment about it always being about food to him was just unnecessary and without context. It was forced in to show “hey, look, they’re all buddies now, they’ve gone on a journey together, and it’s not over, let’s be silly.”
Season two of the original is my favorite, along with my favorite character in Toph. I can’t wait to see it greenlit and what they improve upon for the next season.
Rating: 9/10
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Source(s): Netflix
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