Airspeed Prime back once again with some ATLA episode reviews. I took a break from these last week to give myself the time to do a review of The Promise Part 3, but now these will be back to being a weekly thing.
This time the 3 episodes I will be reviewing are: 204 The Swamp, 205 Avatar Day and 206 The Blind Bandit
The Swamp, an episode filled with mystery and spirituality. It is a bit of an oddly placed episode coming directly after such a plot important episode like 203, but it plays a very important role in terms of character development and keeping the plot going forward, add to this the wonderfully insightful scene with Huu at the end and it all makes for a great episode.
I will start with what is just a small part at the start and end of the episode, that being Zuko and Iroh's section of the story. We see what a bad position to two are in, no money and no allies, so they are forced to beg and perform for money. The interesting thing here is the contrast between Zuko and Iroh, while Iroh has no problem and in fact embraces the chance to perform, Zuko's pride and want to keep some sense of his royal heritage means he refuses to join in and hates every second of this. Iroh's people skills and infectious personality draw people in and they do actually make money, but when a swordsman humiliates Iroh, Zuko has had enough despite Iroh having no problem as he did earn money from the man. It is then we see the return of The Blue Spirit as Zuko attacks the swordsman and steals his swords, which starts Zuko on a path of stealing to help himself and Iroh. This scene is also notable because we get to hear that stunning song that is "It's A Long Long Way To Ba Sing Se" thanks to a stirring rendition from Iroh.
I suppose the next part of the episode to cover is the various mysteries in this episode, the first and most unresolved one is "Where on earth did the tornado come from?" Not even Huu knows about it and it does appear again in the comic "Divided We Fall" this may just be part of the fact that the Swamp seems to have the power to draw people into it as shown when a Zoned out Aang steers Appa down to it. My guess is that the Swamp needed to show Aang, Katara and Sokka their visions to aid their journey, with Everything being connected as a theme of this episode and the show as a whole this makes sense....kind of, though I would like an explanation.
Next has to be a property of the swamp that is explained, that being it's ability to show people in it visions of the past and in Aang's case, future. These visions that Aang, Sokka and Katara have are a key part of the episode that presents us important issues for these characters. For Katara she has a vision of her Mother, with this we see from Katara something we have not really seen before, how big the loss of her mother was to her, we know that she was dead in like episode 1, but the impact it had on Katara has not been touched on, because Katara is such a strong character. But here we see her feel about her mother, the sheer joy that she feels when she thinks her mother is there is clear to see, she is crying tears of joy and when it turns out to be just an illusion, she breaks down into tears of despair on her knees, this was so important to show, that the loss of her mother was a huge event in Katara's life, a much needed and well done scene. Then Sokka's vision deals with something not yet addressed from him, how he feels now after Yue's sacrifice in the Northern Water Tribe. His vision is of Yue who tells Sokka that he did not protect her, but this is how he feels about what happened not her, why is this so important for Sokka you may ask, because his father also tasked him with a mission of protecting, in that case his sister and tribe, so for him to fail at protecting someone really affects him. Then we come to Aang's vision, we later learn that this is Toph, who will become Aang's earthbending teacher, but in the vision she looks nothing like an Earthbender, she is dressed in fancy clothes and is mischievous, Aang is ultimately led back to his friends as they talk about their visions. Which itself is a good scene as Sokka's scepticism comes out again as he tries not to take the vision seriously, but admits that he thinks about Yue a lot, but the group realises there visions are leading them though the swamp.
Leading off of this has to be when Aang, Sokka and Katara after a confrontation with Huu and his plantbending, realise they are not enemies and sit down with Huu to talk about the swamp. He was after them because Sokka was hacking up the swamp with his machete, Huu reveals that he too was called to the swamp and then achieved enlightenment under the banyan tree which is at the centre of the swamp and is the focus of the swamps mystical properties. Huu stresses to the group and Aang specifically that everything and one is connected, just like the swamp is just one tree spread out.
"Sure. You think you're any different from me? Or your friends? Or this tree?If you listen hard enough you can hear every living thing breathing together, you can feel everything growing. We're all livin' together, even if most folks don't act like it. We all have the same roots, and we are all branches of the same tree."
It is a powerful line that even makes you yourself think, which for a show to be able to make you think so deeply about something like this is huge and shows that there is so much more to this show than humour and bending, it can deal with more serious and spiritual topics well. In the end this is kind of the theme of the whole show, as Aang ultimately gains allies from all nations and together - connected they bring balance to the world and this theme even continues into "The Promise" with the idea of the 4 nations being connected a big thing.
"In the swamp we see visions of people we've lost, people we love folks we think are gone. But the swamp tells us they're not. We're still connected to'em. Time is an illusion, and so is death."
Lines like add to the depth of this show in that the show can teach you these life lessons, how to get over grief and a reminder that death =/= gone forever, that is powerful stuff and from a Nick show. Aang even uses this newly learned lesson to locate Appa and Momo, everything is connected and so through the swamp he connects to them and locates them.
I suppose the last thing is just the newly introduced tribe of The Foggy Swamp Tribe, another water tribe unknown to the north or south, nor do they seem to know of the other tribes themselves. It is interesting to note the history of this tribe, in that they originate from the SWT thousands of years ago and stayed in the swamp because of all the water, which I suppose adds to the already interesting history of the water tribes, in that the Southern Tribe originally came from the north, so all tribes have their origins in the north. Their unique bending style and culture makes them very interesting and by Korra time it will be very interesting to how they adapt to new technology.
Overall this is a great episode, that delves into our main character's issues and they all learn an important lesson from a new tribe. Some deep themes and odd mysteries also add to this episode. Only negative would be some unexplained things.
Favourite Moment/ When Huu explains to Aang that everything is connected, such a deep scene.
Favourite Line/ "Sure. You think you're any different from me? Or your friends? Or this tree?If you listen hard enough you can hear every living thing breathing together, you can feel everything growing. We're all livin' together, even if most folks don't act like it. We all have the same roots, and we are all branches of the same tree." - Huu
watson Katara, this was great in the episode, Sokka loses his Boomerang at the start of the episode and thinks it defines his identity and so when he sees a chance to be a detective with Aang's situation, he jumps on it so hard with Hat, monocle and A BUBBLE PIPE!!!, it is so well done with his interaction with Katara. She tries to assist Sokka in investigating, but ends up stealing a lot of Sokka's limelight, which Sokka humourously points out,
"Special outfit, hat and pipe, do these things mean anything to you?"
Not to mention the great scene when Katara is about to blurt out the answer and Sokka smashes her out of the way to say it himself and Katara just smashes him over the head with the pipe for being so rude. Lovely interaction.
I have to mention the scene between Aang and the prisoners. They look and sound like hardened criminals when they first see Aang, even complimenting him on some stereotypical criminal traits, shaved head and tattoos. But when they start to talk to him, they are just normal guys, even with completely unexpected personalities like being very sensitive and giving Aang love advice
Prisoner 1: Hey! You're smart, handsome, funny, not to mention you're the Avatar.
Aang: You guys are great.
Prisoner 3: Don't be afraid to tell her how you feel.
You do wonder what they did to get thrown in prison, they clearly got lucky on the Wheel of Punishment ;)
The Zuko and Iroh side of the story is very much a part 2 to what happens with them in the previous episode. Zuko has stolen a lot of stuff for them, money, food and fancy teapots. Iroh never gets angry at him for stealing it, but rather explains to Zuko that he does not care for living the rich life, and that "There is a simple honour in poverty", but again Zuko needs his father to give him his honour back and tells Iroh he needs the Avatar for his honour. What happens next is so important for Zuko as a character and tells Iroh something important about Zuko, he explains to Zuko that capturing Aang now would not solve their problems given their standing with the Fire Nation and current situation, Zuko says that he has no hope to which Iroh epicly answers,
"No, Zuko! You must never give in to despair. Allow yourself to slip down that road and you surrender to your lowest instincts. In the darkest times, hope is something you give yourself. That is the meaning of inner strength."
He tells Zuko to not give up hope and remain strong, but Zuko takes this very much literally and decides to go off on his own, this is a huge moment for Zuko's character. He is in such a state of mind that he wants to leave his Uncle who has supported and helped him for so long. What is even more interesting is that Iroh realises that Zuko does need to go off on his own and give himself hope and find his inner strength, realise that he can survive without the need to capture Aang. The moment where Iroh breaks the silence by giving Zuko the Ostrich Horse was all that was needed to show Iroh's support and acknowledgement of Zuko needing this. So well done in a small part of the episode.
I guess a final note would be that we do return to Kyoshi Island and get numerous 104 references, Foamy returns and foams for no reason, Koko wants to know where Aangy is, Oyaji has much respect for them as seen at the end of 104 and Sokka likes Suki and is overly eager to see her. Even adding to Suki's character by the group having such an impact on her by their visit that she wants to help out with the war.
Overall a fantastic episode that is funny, epic and has some great continuity moments. One of the funniest episodes of the show, right up there with 105, and 317.
Favourite Moment/ Kyoshi telling the story of her conflict with Chin
Favourite Line/ "I created Kyoshi Island so my people could be safe from invaders." - Kyoshi
204 The Swamp
Written by: Tim Hedrick Directed by: Giancarlo Volpe Animated By: JM Animation First Aired: April 14th 2006
The Swamp, an episode filled with mystery and spirituality. It is a bit of an oddly placed episode coming directly after such a plot important episode like 203, but it plays a very important role in terms of character development and keeping the plot going forward, add to this the wonderfully insightful scene with Huu at the end and it all makes for a great episode.
I will start with what is just a small part at the start and end of the episode, that being Zuko and Iroh's section of the story. We see what a bad position to two are in, no money and no allies, so they are forced to beg and perform for money. The interesting thing here is the contrast between Zuko and Iroh, while Iroh has no problem and in fact embraces the chance to perform, Zuko's pride and want to keep some sense of his royal heritage means he refuses to join in and hates every second of this. Iroh's people skills and infectious personality draw people in and they do actually make money, but when a swordsman humiliates Iroh, Zuko has had enough despite Iroh having no problem as he did earn money from the man. It is then we see the return of The Blue Spirit as Zuko attacks the swordsman and steals his swords, which starts Zuko on a path of stealing to help himself and Iroh. This scene is also notable because we get to hear that stunning song that is "It's A Long Long Way To Ba Sing Se" thanks to a stirring rendition from Iroh.
I suppose the next part of the episode to cover is the various mysteries in this episode, the first and most unresolved one is "Where on earth did the tornado come from?" Not even Huu knows about it and it does appear again in the comic "Divided We Fall" this may just be part of the fact that the Swamp seems to have the power to draw people into it as shown when a Zoned out Aang steers Appa down to it. My guess is that the Swamp needed to show Aang, Katara and Sokka their visions to aid their journey, with Everything being connected as a theme of this episode and the show as a whole this makes sense....kind of, though I would like an explanation.
Next has to be a property of the swamp that is explained, that being it's ability to show people in it visions of the past and in Aang's case, future. These visions that Aang, Sokka and Katara have are a key part of the episode that presents us important issues for these characters. For Katara she has a vision of her Mother, with this we see from Katara something we have not really seen before, how big the loss of her mother was to her, we know that she was dead in like episode 1, but the impact it had on Katara has not been touched on, because Katara is such a strong character. But here we see her feel about her mother, the sheer joy that she feels when she thinks her mother is there is clear to see, she is crying tears of joy and when it turns out to be just an illusion, she breaks down into tears of despair on her knees, this was so important to show, that the loss of her mother was a huge event in Katara's life, a much needed and well done scene. Then Sokka's vision deals with something not yet addressed from him, how he feels now after Yue's sacrifice in the Northern Water Tribe. His vision is of Yue who tells Sokka that he did not protect her, but this is how he feels about what happened not her, why is this so important for Sokka you may ask, because his father also tasked him with a mission of protecting, in that case his sister and tribe, so for him to fail at protecting someone really affects him. Then we come to Aang's vision, we later learn that this is Toph, who will become Aang's earthbending teacher, but in the vision she looks nothing like an Earthbender, she is dressed in fancy clothes and is mischievous, Aang is ultimately led back to his friends as they talk about their visions. Which itself is a good scene as Sokka's scepticism comes out again as he tries not to take the vision seriously, but admits that he thinks about Yue a lot, but the group realises there visions are leading them though the swamp.
Leading off of this has to be when Aang, Sokka and Katara after a confrontation with Huu and his plantbending, realise they are not enemies and sit down with Huu to talk about the swamp. He was after them because Sokka was hacking up the swamp with his machete, Huu reveals that he too was called to the swamp and then achieved enlightenment under the banyan tree which is at the centre of the swamp and is the focus of the swamps mystical properties. Huu stresses to the group and Aang specifically that everything and one is connected, just like the swamp is just one tree spread out.
"Sure. You think you're any different from me? Or your friends? Or this tree?If you listen hard enough you can hear every living thing breathing together, you can feel everything growing. We're all livin' together, even if most folks don't act like it. We all have the same roots, and we are all branches of the same tree."
It is a powerful line that even makes you yourself think, which for a show to be able to make you think so deeply about something like this is huge and shows that there is so much more to this show than humour and bending, it can deal with more serious and spiritual topics well. In the end this is kind of the theme of the whole show, as Aang ultimately gains allies from all nations and together - connected they bring balance to the world and this theme even continues into "The Promise" with the idea of the 4 nations being connected a big thing.
"In the swamp we see visions of people we've lost, people we love folks we think are gone. But the swamp tells us they're not. We're still connected to'em. Time is an illusion, and so is death."
Lines like add to the depth of this show in that the show can teach you these life lessons, how to get over grief and a reminder that death =/= gone forever, that is powerful stuff and from a Nick show. Aang even uses this newly learned lesson to locate Appa and Momo, everything is connected and so through the swamp he connects to them and locates them.
I suppose the last thing is just the newly introduced tribe of The Foggy Swamp Tribe, another water tribe unknown to the north or south, nor do they seem to know of the other tribes themselves. It is interesting to note the history of this tribe, in that they originate from the SWT thousands of years ago and stayed in the swamp because of all the water, which I suppose adds to the already interesting history of the water tribes, in that the Southern Tribe originally came from the north, so all tribes have their origins in the north. Their unique bending style and culture makes them very interesting and by Korra time it will be very interesting to how they adapt to new technology.
Overall this is a great episode, that delves into our main character's issues and they all learn an important lesson from a new tribe. Some deep themes and odd mysteries also add to this episode. Only negative would be some unexplained things.
Favourite Moment/ When Huu explains to Aang that everything is connected, such a deep scene.
Favourite Line/ "Sure. You think you're any different from me? Or your friends? Or this tree?If you listen hard enough you can hear every living thing breathing together, you can feel everything growing. We're all livin' together, even if most folks don't act like it. We all have the same roots, and we are all branches of the same tree." - Huu
205 Avatar Day
Written by: John O'Bryan Directed by: Lauren Macmullan Animated By: DR Movie First Aired: April 28th 2006 
206 The Blind Bandit
Written by: Mike Directed by: Ethan Spaulding Animated By: JM Animation First Aired: May 5th 2006
