Avatar S2E20: "The Crossroads of Destiny"
The earth-shattering climax of Book 2 | Grade: A+
Thanks for tuning in to my fourtieth of 61 daily reviews of Avatar: The Last Airbender! It’s really incredible to me that we’re about to finish Season 2 after fourty days of daily writing. In hindsight, this project was kind of a crazy idea — but I’m determined to complete it and I really appreciate the folks who are reading. Thanks especially to anyone who’s left a kind word.
Yesterday, we watched S2E19: The Guru.
The Earth Kingdom has fallen.
Such is the dramatic, hopeless pronouncement made by the deposed Earth King at the end of this incredible episode, which flips everything that’s happened in Season 2 upside-down and rocks Team Avatar to its very core. At its heart, The Crossroads of Destiny is a Zuko episode; it’s the tortured prince who is at a crossroads and forced to finally make a consequential decision.
He begins the episode with the idiotic, prideful choice to not run away from Azula, who has taken control of the Dai Li, and challenges her to an Agni Kai while Iroh facepalms. She rejects his offer and he’s captured by the Dai Li, who throw him in the crystal catacombs deep under the palace. If Zuko hadn’t done this, how would the events have played out?
Zuko’s not the only prisoner in the catacombs. Katara, initially hostile, spits at Prince Zuko that “spreading war and violence and hatred is in your blood!” But her demeanor softens when Zuko reveals that, like her, he lost his mother thanks to the Fire Nation. The two share an emotional moment as Zuko proves that he’s been listening to his uncle, at least a little bit:
I used to think this scar marked me. The mark of the banished prince, cursed to chase the Avatar forever. But lately, I've realized I'm free to determine my own destiny, even if I'll never be free of my mark.
Katara tells him that maybe he could be free of it, thanks to the healing spirit water she has from the North Pole. Their moment gets cut short, but removing Zuko’s scar would be wrong for him. Zuko is actually right that his scar marks him — but that doesn’t mean what he thinks. Zuko’s scar represents the duality within him, and it’s a direct result of him conscientiously standing up to the Fire Nation war machine. I have to imagine Iroh would tell his nephew to wear that scar proudly as a badge of honor.
Zuko and Katara’s moment is cut short by Iroh and Aang, who team up to rescue them. As the young Avatar and the wise old firebender descend through the tunnels of old Ba Sing Se, their unexpected chemistry graces us with one of the most insightful scenes in Avatar. Aang confides that he was unable to let go of Katara and master the Avatar State in The Guru. But Iroh replies:
Perfection and power are overrated. I think you were very wise to choose happiness and love.
This message is similar to his statement to Zuko in Lake Laogai that “there is nothing wrong with a life of peace and prosperity.” Iroh’s wisdom sheds more light on his philosophy, which draws alternately from Buddhist observations on suffering through attachment; an Epicurean desire for restrained pleasure; the Taoist search for harmony and balance; and a modern Humanist or Existentialist belief that people can make their own meaning in life. (Disclaimer: I am no philosopher!)
The beautiful dialogue is only made more poignant by the knowledge that it’s one of the final lines delivered by Iroh’s voice actor before his death. Mako, I hope you are in a better place.
Meanwhile, Azula’s coup comes to fruition as the Dai Li capture the Earth King’s Council of Five. Sokka and Toph try to fight Mai and Ty Lee, but the ruthlessly clever Fire Nation princess immediately holds a flame to to the king’s neck, forcing them to surrender. Even a newly-freed Long Feng fails embarrassingly in his attempt to stop her — Azula has stolen the loyalty of the Dai Li, and she knows it. This episode is perhaps Princess Azula’s greatest triumph, the most perfect display of her leadership, initiative, cunning, and sheer overwhelming power.
Azula also knows exactly how to manipulate Zuko. She gives a masterful speech, dangling his honor, their father’s love, and her own love in front of him. When he talked to Katara, the banished prince seemed on the verge of finally turning against his vicious nation and choosing the side of good, as his uncle pleaded to him. But it’s one thing to abstractly think about his own destiny. It’s another thing entirely for Zuko to see his sworn enemy and finally have everything he’s ever wanted right at his fingertips: his birthright, his honor, and his father’s acceptance.
And so, Zuko makes his choice. He gets his redemption at last. But he’s betrayed his Uncle Iroh, the only person who truly cares for him unconditionally, and in the episode’s closing moments, it’s clear that the guilt will eat away at him. But today, Zuko’s decision to side with Azula feels like the crucial moment, turning the final battle in her favor (sure, there’s the horde of Dai Li, but we all know the rules of TV: one main cast member is worth an army of faceless goons).
And what a battle it is! Never have the stakes felt so high. Aang, Katara, Zuko and Azula are bringing their top game, and each of them busts out a new, powerful attack that we’ve never seen before. Every beat feels so meaningful, from Zuko’s delayed, hesitating entry, to Katara’s spar with the prince, to Aang’s game of chicken with Azula. And all of it is rendered in beautiful, painstaking detail in the sublime setting of glowing green crystals. The situation looks incredibly bleak as the Dai Li close in, swarming frighteningly down the walls.
Until Aang seals himself in a crystal tent and does the only thing he can: he lets go of Katara, and enters the Avatar State, rising transcendently into the air. For a moment, the show makes us think this finale will end like The Siege of the North: with a tremendous display of awesome Avatar power that wipes away the opposition.
But that guise only lasts a moment. It’s sickeningly shattered by a wicked lightning bolt from Azula, squarely striking Aang, who plummets down from the sky. The swelling, discordant music makes it clear something is very, very wrong, throwing us into the tumult of Katara’s mind. In what may be the most chilling, moving part of the finale, a weeping Katara draws on her deep reserves of strength. She rushes to Aang’s motionless body atop a massive wave that sends his assailants tumbling, and Iroh returns just in time to guarantee their escape.
Though it’s one of the highest achievements for the series, The Crossroads of Destiny is in many ways Team Avatar’s lowest point, the farmost depths of their abyss. Taking stock of the past season, what do they have to show for all their struggles? An earthbending teacher for Aang, and an invasion plan (but no armies). But that’s about it, and the losses are mounting — at this point, the Fire Nation has basically taken control over most of the map, with just the North Pole and some decentralized Earth Kingdom holdouts remaining. And the world’s only hope at stopping them may have just been snuffed out in one brutal strike, along with the entire Avatar cycle.
But the most brutal fall can make way for the most dramatic rise. Ultimately, without the Avatar, there’s no Avatar. The finale leaves us with one tiny sliver of hope as Katara revives Aang for a brief moment with her spirit water. But just as quickly as he awakens, he’s unconscious again. He’ll need a long rest before he’s ready to face anyone. But as we enter the final season, can Aang save the world?
In the spirit of rest, I’ll be taking a one-day break before returning on Wednesday for Book 3, Episode 1: The Awakening. See you then! I would love to hear your own thoughts on this episode in the comments.
Spare observations
“Did I ever tell you how I got the nickname ‘The Dragon of the West’?” “I'm not interested in a lengthy anecdote, Uncle.” “It's more of a demonstration, really.”
“If there was any danger at all, Bosco’s animal instincts would sense it!”
This episode is basically the originator of the Zutara ship. It’s also notable that both Katara’s moment with Zuko and her moment with Aang in The Cave of Two Lovers involve glowing green crystals.
“’Good inside him’ isn't enough! Why don't you come back when it's outside him too, okay?”
“Sometimes life is like this dark tunnel. You can’t always see the light at the end of the tunnel, but if you just keep moving… you will come to a better place.”
“You’ve beaten me at my own game.” “Don’t flatter yourself. You were never even a player.”
Toph can just bust out of jail now, because, y’know, metalbending.
Some of the highlights of the final battle: Azula’s fire-propelled dash; Zuko’s long-range double fire whip; Katara’s octopus and huge wave rush; and Aang’s charging air projection (which shows how he’s blending different styles of bending).
“Cosmic Aang” falls out of space as Aang dies.
As Aang falls, you can see the scar where the lightning exited through his foot, incinerating his shoe.
Friends of the White Lotus [SPOILERS]
Long Feng is never seen again in the series.
Until Zuko saves her, Katara actually seems to be getting the upper hand on Azula, anticipating their rematch in the series finale.
Aang’s chakra is locked after Azula’s lightning strike, and he’s unable to enter the Avatar State for most of Season 3.
After his resurrection, Aang falls into a coma for a few weeks!