Avatar S2E19: "The Guru"
Aang can’t let go of his attachments | Grade: A-
Thanks for tuning in to my thirty-ninth of 61 daily reviews of Avatar: The Last Airbender! Yesterday, we watched S2E18: The Earth King.
After all the positivity of the previous episode, Team Avatar’s best-laid plans start to go awry. The Gaang all went their separate ways at the end of The Earth King, and much of this episode is devoted to Aang’s spiritual journey as he trains to master the Avatar State with Guru Pathik.
At the Eastern Air Temple, the guru uses the clever visual metaphor of a clogged creek to teach Aang about the seven chakras, which are pools of energy in the body that can be blocked by attachment. The guru’s philosophy seems to take much inspiration from Buddhism, which teaches that we should shrug off our earthly attachments, which are the root of our suffering, in order to achieve enlightenment. (His character design certainly takes inspiration from Hindu or Jain holy men, and perhaps his teachings do too, but I’m less familiar with those traditions.)
Through a series of visions, Aang delves into his own psyche and works to let go of his negative emotions: grief over the loss of the Air Nomads, guilt for the people he’s hurt, and insecurity under the weight of his duties. Aang’s time with the guru is a meaningful element of his character development, but it suffers from feeling expository and somewhat rushed, without time for the young Avatar to truly reckon with his emotions.
Aang vows to do whatever it takes to harness the Avatar State, but in the end he can’t take the final step and let go of his most powerful attachment: Katara. It’s undoubtedly a difficult choice for him that harkens back to, of all things, the wisdom of the canyon guide from The Great Divide. “Lonely, isn’t it, being impartial?” As the Avatar, Aang is the bridge between the human and spirit worlds. Is he destined, or perhaps cursed, to remain at a distance from both worlds forever?
Ultimately, Aang has a vision of Katara in danger, and bolts on Appa from the temple before he can unlock the final chakra. But Guru Pathik leaves him with a dire warning:
By choosing attachment, you have locked the chakra! If you leave now, you won't be able to go into the Avatar State at all!
Aang goes to retrieve Sokka from Hakoda’s encampment. There, the Water Tribe boy has finally gotten the uplifting reunion with his father that he’s been dreaming of. He’s full of nervous, feeling the pressure to prove himself to his dad. But Hakoda reassures him:
Sokka, you don't have to prove anything to me. I'm already proud of you and I've always known you're a great warrior.
A grateful Sokka prepares to join the other warriors to raid a small fleet of Fire Nation ships. But when Aang arrives, he knows it will have to wait.
Meanwhile, Toph is also sprinting back to Ba Sing Se, with a marvelous new feat under her belt: she’s just invented metalbending! Locked in the metal cage, her heightened senses help her realize the same wisdom that Guru Pathik gives to Aang: “even metal is just a part of earth that has been purified and refined.” Feeling the earthen impurities within the cage, she busts out and locks her captors within.
A lot happens in this somewhat rushed episode, and although it’s significantly better than The Earth King it’s similarly burdened by setup. We’ll have to wait until next episode for what’s sure to be a climactic finale — true to Aang’s senses, a great danger awaits them all in Ba Sing Se. Azula has captured Katara, and struck a bargain with Long Feng. If she’ll exploit the Earth King’s trust to reinstall the disgraced Grand Secretariat, he will deliver her the Avatar.
It’s a promise Long Feng can’t keep, but the tactical princess has her own hidden agenda. She reveals to her squad, “we're in perfect position to organize a coup and overthrow the Earth King.” And Even wildcards Iroh and Zuko (who’s unusually cheerful after his sickness) are on their way, at the behest of an invitation to serve tea for the king. The wheels are in motion for an earth-shattering collision between four powerful groups. Who will be vanquished, and will anyone emerge unscathed?
See you tomorrow for Episode 19: The Crossroads of Destiny! Share your own thoughts on this episode in the comments.
Spare observations
Those two massive badgermole statues are the largest thing we’ve seen anyone throw with earthbending so far. The previous record holder was still
Bato is there with Hakoda. He’s removed his bandages from Bato of the Water Tribe, leaving burn scars behind.
“I am the greatest earthbender in the world!” If there was ever a time to let Toph have her moment, this is it. It’s her greatest, most memorable feat in the series.
Friends of the White Lotus [SPOILERS]
This episode was originally aired together with the finale as a two-part special. Taken together, the two stories complement each other, and The Guru has a lot of necessary set-up, but The Crossroads of Destiny is the real triumph that drives the most narrative and emotional impact.
This is the only one of the four air temple episodes that isn’t named after the temple.
The loose-lipped Earth King tells Azula about the invasion and the solar eclipse. That will come back to bite them on The Day of Black Sun.
“It's terrible when you can't trust the people who are closest to you,” Azula says. The Earth King will learn that lesson again very soon. But Azula will learn that lesson, too, in The Boiling Rock.
The Earth King’s invitation to Iroh is just a trap laid by Azula. But how did she find them?
It’s retconned that Xin Fu and Master Yu eventually escaped their predicament (somehow), but they’re never seen again in the series. Things are definitely looking grim for them here.