Avatar S1E13: "The Blue Spirit"
An exciting, unlikely alliance | Grade: A+
Thanks for tuning in to my thirteenth of 61 daily reviews of Avatar: The Last Airbender! Yesterday, we watched S1E12: The Storm.
In Avatar, great episodes often come in pairs. Such is the case with The Blue Spirit, which follows up the previous episode with a whirlwind of action, meaningful dramatic beats, and a shocking reveal to top it all off.
After their near-drowning in The Storm, Sokka and Katara fall sick with a debilitating cold. Aang sets out alone in search of a cure: some frozen frogs for them to suck on. Yeah, you read that right. But after Fire Nation lookouts spot him, he’s quickly set upon by the frighteningly efficient Yuyan archers, who “can pin a fly to a tree from one hundred yards away… without killing it.” There’s a gripping chase sequence through the trees, reminiscent of Aang’s fight with Jet.
But the young airbender is a little too focused on catching frogs for someone being shot at. He’s captured and locked up in a Fire Nation outpost, where a newly-promoted Admiral Zhao tells him, “there’s no escaping this fortress, and no one is coming to rescue you.” Actually, Aang will escape that fortress, and someone is coming to rescue him: the eponymous Blue Spirit, an enigmatic figure with a theatrical mask. Dual wielding a pair of twin saber blades, the spirit evokes a mythological warrior-trickster figure after Loki and Sun Wukong.
As the shadowy figure sneaks his way past the guards, through the gates, and along the battlements, Zhao is giving a chilling speech from atop a balcony to a mass of soldiers in the courtyard below. Declaring fire “the superior element,” he announces the Avatar’s capture and roars, “this is the year the Fire Nation breaks through the walls of Ba Sing Se, and burns the city to the ground!” The crowd erupts in an adulatory war chant, and the atmosphere is filled with the frenzy of bloodlust. Zhao’s speech borrows fascist imagery and feels strongly reminiscent of Mussolini’s speeches from his balcony. Until now, we haven’t really delved into the murderous ideology of Ozai’s Fire Nation, but this powerful scene illustrates the propaganda of national supremacism and dehumanization that powers the Fire Nation war effort. It’s also an elevation for Zhao as a villain, highlighting his strengths: a remorseless brutality, and vast resources under his command.
Zhao’s victory is undermined, though, as the Blue Spirit severs Aang’s chains and the two slip out into the night. But the guards catch them scaling the walls, kicking off one of the most sublime action sequences in Avatar’s run. Once the four-minute-long scene starts, the showrunners never let up on the gas, intelligently declining to cut away. The energy pulses at a breakneck pace from one exhilarating shot to the next, each dazzlingly creative in its choreography.
In one of the most incredible parts of the scene, Aang and the Blue Spirit work together to use a stack of flexible assault ladders as stilts in an elaborate balancing act, flinging themselves forward with each successive ladder. In another perfectly-paced shot, Aang is poised to escape through the closing gates, only to gleefully charge back into the fray to help the Blue Spirit as his way out slams shut behind him. The chemistry between the duo is palpable throughout the entire escape sequence.
It’s a masterclass in managing narrative tension, which is just about ready to boil over when they drop the bomb on us: the Blue Spirit is no phantom, but Prince Zuko himself! Aang is about to flee in horror, but has a change of heart and rescues his unconscious savior from Zhao’s rapidly approaching forces.
The next scene, which lingers to let the audience calm down from the preceding action, is pivotal. In an ethereal forest tinged with morning glow, Aang watches over Zuko as he recovers consciousness. Aang tells Zuko about his old friend Kuzon.
He was one of the best friends I ever had, and he was from the Fire Nation, just like you. If we knew each other back then, do you think we could have been friends, too?
With that last line, Avatar makes a pointed statement that reveals the grand idea of the entire series. The national boundaries that divide Aang and Zuko (and in fact, all people) are illusory. The two of them are far more alike than they know. Under different circumstances, perhaps they could be friends. After The Storm drew a parallel between Aang and Zuko with separate tales, this episode follows it up perfectly by weaving their stories together and proving they have the potential to be a team. But alas, it’s not to be — Zuko blasts fire at Aang, who hops into the trees and disappears.
In the final moments, the two protagonists of The Blue Spirit can feel that a shift has taken place, but they don’t understand the full ramifications. Zuko tells Iroh not to disturb him as he goes to bed, and in a symbolic gesture, he turns his back on his Fire Nation flag. When Aang returns, a still-delirious Sokka asks if he made any friends. “No,” he replies, “I don’t think I did.”
See you tomorrow for Episode 14: The Fortuneteller! Share your own thoughts on this episode in the comments.
Spare observations
The mini deus ex machina of Zhao’s on-the-spot promotion is unnecessary, and also hilarious.
“Take that, you rock!” This is the first time the writers make the classic “Sokka is delirious” joke, and Jack DeSena nails the delivery. They’ll go on to perfect it in The Desert.
Why does Aang leave his staff behind? Also, apparently he can run at super speed now.
Watching Katara’s weak pleas to Momo become complete gibberish is one of my favorite gags in the entire series.
“Wait! My friends need to suck on those frogs!” The herbalist with her (non-hybrid!) cat Miyuki has only mildly funny lines, but her absurd remedy is a great gag. The frogs are well-employed in a number of scenes to create instant bathos.
The Blue Spirit throws a bucket of water at the final guard to Aang’s chamber, neutralizing his fire blast. It’s a clever move because Zuko must not use his firebending, lest it give away his identity. But where’d he get the bucket?
As a prince, Zuko would have had extensive swordsmanship training.
Once again, it’s good that characters in Avatar can withstand insane impacts. Otherwise, the soldiers who Aang blasts down the ladder would be shattered into bits.
We never see the tip of the arrow that knocks out Zuko, but it’s likely a blunt tip to prevent the arrow from piercing him. (Or maybe the Blue Spirit mask is just insanely tough.) That said, it’s unclear what motive Zhao has to keep the thief alive.
Iroh is playing the tsungi horn that he bought in The Waterbending Scroll. The ruby-eyed monkey statue can be seen behind him, too.
Friends of the White Lotus [SPOILERS]
Avatar has and continues to delve into the mechanics of the Fire Nation’s imperial machine, including its propaganda, its indoctrination, and its relationship with its colonies. However, the show doesn’t really dive deeper into its philosophy of superiority, which contributes to the common criticism that Fire Lord Ozai’s motives are not sufficiently explained.
This episode features the first messenger hawk. Sokka will later buy his own in The Runaway.
Aang will later use Kuzon’s name as an alias in The Headband.
Part of this episode’s significance is its major foreshadowing of Zuko’s eventual redemption, through Aang and Zuko’s teamwork and their final scene in the forest.