Thanks for tuning in to my fifty-second of 61 daily reviews of Avatar: The Last Airbender! Previously, we watched S3E10 / S3E11: The Day of Black Sun.
In the wake of their stunning defeat in The Day of Black Sun, Team Avatar is in low spirits, literally reduced to walking to the eponymous Air Temple. Aang is ashamed, feeling like he’s failed in his duty as the Avatar once again. He regresses to his avoidant self when his friends broach the difficult subject of finding him a firebending teacher, literally running away from the problem, and his destiny, like he did one hundred years before.
But this episode isn’t about Aang, not really. It’s about Zuko, who after multiple seasons of character growth, finally confronted his father, the Firelord. In that dramatic climax, he took Iroh’s words to heart at last, rejecting the destiny that was foisted onto him and charting a new course to atone for the sins of his own past and of his nation. In The Western Air Temple, Zuko faces an even more difficult challenge: winning over the people who he’s spent the entire series hunting.
The scene of Zuko awkwardly rehearsing his speech to the Gaang is absolutely hilarious. So are his impressions of Azula and Iroh, and the frog who stands in for Aang, sporting an arrow on its little head. (It’s a badger-frog, which apparently has those markings, but I like to think that Zuko painted the arrow just for this.) Not only is this scene so funny, it’s also purposeful. Rather than just having Zuko charge in like a knight in shining armor, we get a look behind the curtain at his own trepidation and inexperience, helping to make him even more sympathetic.
Of course, it fails horribly, and Team Avatar won’t accept Zuko, even as a prisoner. Their back-and-forth is a tense airing out of all the grievances they’ve piled up Toph seems the most amenable, because she doesn’t have the history with him that the rest of them do — by the time she joined the group, Zuko was already on the lam and didn’t attack Aang until The Crossroads of Destiny (and she wasn’t even present in the catacombs). But the hapless prince bungles that opportunity by burning Toph’s feet when she sneaks up on him at night.
It’s only thanks to Combustion Man that Zuko finally convinces Team Avatar to give him a second chance. When the fearsome assassin shows up and prepares to snipe Aang from afar, Zuko disrupts him and (unsuccessfully) commands him to stand down, before getting blasted over the edge. There’s not much of a fight, as Combustion Man pins the Gaang down with his overwhelming firepower. For once it’s actually Sokka who wins the battle, striking the assassin right in his third eye with his boomerang and causing his next blast to backfire. As a massive explosion consumes him, his metal arm flies towards the camera as the Gaang watches in stunned silence. You know he dead!
This time, Prince Zuko rises to the moment and gives the speech he needs to. You can hear Iroh’s wisdom in his words:
I've been through a lot in the last few years, and it's been hard. But I'm realizing that I had to go through all those things to learn the truth. I thought I had lost my honor, and that somehow my father could return it to me. But I know now that no one can give you your honor. It's something you earn for yourself, by choosing to do what's right. All I want to do now is play my part in ending this war, and I know my destiny is to help you restore balance to the world.
The Western Air Temple deserves high praise on multiple fronts. The temple itself is a gorgeously creative setting with its upside-down pagodas. Probably the most impressive aspect of the episode is its consistency; every scene feels successful and made with a purpose, and nearly all the jokes land. After the heavy plot and action of the last two, this episode leans heavily on character dynamics, one of Avatar’s greatest strengths. Though this action scene doesn’t feel super high-stakes (is Combustion Man’s best idea for killing Aang, an airbender, really just to blast the floor over and over again?), his death is pretty brutal for this typically squeamish show.
See you tomorrow for Episode 13: The Firebending Masters! Share your own thoughts on this episode in the comments.
Spare observations
Avatar thankfully knows to waste as little time possible on Haru, Teo, and The Duke. They’re given about three lines each this episode, and spoiler alert, we’re not getting a Duke episode. I mean, The Duke.
We learn that Zuko came to the Western Air Temple with Iroh immediately after his banishment (which makes a lot of geographic sense, hooray). It’s a bit jarring to hear Greg Baldwin as Iroh in a scene that’s set in the past.
Zuko’s impression of Azula recalls her own impression of him in The Chase. Who did it better?
Zuko as Iroh: “Zuko, you have to look within yourself to save yourself from your other self. Only then will your true self reveal itself.”
Zuko as Azula: “Listen, Avatar, I can join your group, or I can do something unspeakably horrible to you and your friends. Your choice.”
“I know you must be surprised to see me here.” “Not really, since you’ve followed us all over the world.” “Right…”
Appa likes Zuko because he freed him back in Lake Laogai. Using animals as a judge of character is a common trope, and it also showed up in The Earth King when Bosco licks Aang.
“You once said you thought could be friends.” This was an incredibly significant line at the end of The Blue Spirit, and now we know Zuko heard it too.
“Gah! Why am I so bad at being good!?”
Zuko kicks Combustion Man right after he already fired his beam, and then it gets diverted. Not how projectiles work, but I’ll allow it.
“If you keep attacking, I won't pay you!” [Gets manhandled.] “All right, I'll pay you double to stop!” Presumably he doesn’t stop because he’s loyal to the Fire Nation, knows Zuko betrayed his father, and thinks Ozai will reward him for killing the Avatar.
Great delivery from Jack DeSena on the final joke, highlighting how strange it must be to work with Zuko after months of being hunted by him. “So, here you go. Home sweet home, I guess, you know, for now. Unpack? Lunch, soon? Uh... welcome aboard?”
Katara is not buying Zuko’s transformation at all, and she’ll be watching him. After she let herself be vulnerable with him in The Crossroads of Destiny, the pain of that betrayal still stinds for her. I must say, the chemistry between Katara and Zuko is very good even when she’s hating him and he doesn’t say anything.
Friends of the White Lotus [SPOILERS]
The Western Air Temple will be Team Avatar’s hideout until Azula forces them to flee in The Southern Raiders.
Casual foreshadowing from Toph here: “Who’s [Jeong Jeong]…? oh, never mind. If it’s important I’ll find out.” (It’s important!)
Zuko will do an impression of Iroh again for advice in The Boiling Rock. It’s really cute, actually, and shows how much he looks up to his uncle as the arbiter of good and truth, even carrying a portrait of him.
Zuko somewhat incongruously remarks that he’s learning to be careful so he doesn’t hurt people with his fire. It reminds Aang of his guilt over burning Katara in The Deserter, and also sets up the resolution of that arc in the next episode.
Katara remains cold towards Zuko until their adventure in The Southern Raiders.