#(Hakoda isn't really seen but yeah)

[chaotic-tired-bastard]

Bato face squishies

[narrativelysignificantturtleduck]

ok so hear me out (i'm here to ruin your day).

sokka's arc in natla is about learning that he wasn't meant to be a warrior, but that he is useful because of his engineering skills. this is evidenced by his conversations with the mechanist, with yue, with arnook, with yue but this time as a fox, and by what hakoda said about him in the flashback. the setup here is for sokka to realize that he isn't a warrior, he's a scientist (he can't be both because that would require better writing).

another thing that's very obvious if you've ever seen atla is that natla doesn't care about sokka. at all. in fact, they don't really care about any of the characters. this makes me think it's extremely unlikely for them to devote a whole episode (or any time at all) to a plot that's essentially just character study.

so. and this is me ruining your day. i don't think piandao is even going to be in this.

yeah. that's a very good point. i might make the case for him being in it the same way i made the case for jeong jeong but like what i said about this aang not needing to learn jeong jeong's lesson this sokka doesn't need to learn piandao's lessons. he doesn't have inadequacies about being a nonbender all the women are praising him for being so brave the mechanist tells him he's got creativity and intelligence oh god THE MECHANIST. @viejoyaoi made a joke about how bumi seemed to be merged with jeong jeong (bitter old men) and it seems like the mechanist absorbed piandao. oh that does NOT bode well

i won't rule it out until we're absolutely certain but yeah. you're right

[theowritesfiction]

'The Awakening'

Alright, I'm just going to say the quiet part out loud. Aang looks better with hair.

The Maiko scene really is genuinely sweet. And yes, the Maiko antis definitely misrepresent this scene a lot, usually by making it appear that the 'I didn't ask for your life story' line is where the scene ends, but... uh it doesn't. Sometimes context really is a bitch, huh?

Damn the tension between Katara and Hakoda is so painful. And they've been on this ship for weeks. Imagine it lasting that long, my heart aches for them both. The way their reconciliation is written by tying it in with Aang taking off on his own was just brilliant. I think Katara is clearly the best written character on the show, and I suspect that the problem with her writing for some people is that in a way, Katara feels almost too real for some.

The flashback about the Earth King deciding to travel the land incognito just reminded me of how useless and pathetic Kuei truly is. You know what a great leader worth following does when they're deposed? They try to form a resistance and fight back. Kuei just throws in the towel. Fuck this guy. Why would anyone ever want him back after the war? (unless the White Lotus want someone weak to manipulate - there, I guess I answered my own question) Anyway, Kuei gets first Jerk Points of Book 3 - 60 of them.

Sokka is right. The whole world thinking that the Avatar is dead is very good news indeed. It's a surprise weapon the rebellion badly needs. Of course, we shouldn't expect a 12 year old to have a very deep understanding of these matters, so I'm cutting Aang slack here. His role is to bring hope to the world, and he can't do that if the world thinks he's dead - of course he's miffed about that. I still think that Aang makes it way too much about himself as the episode progresses, though. And it's just too funny to hear him channeling Zuko about how he now needs his honor back too. I have to give Aang a few Jerk Points for this, though, but not too much, 20 will do.

It's great to see Toph's metalbending having progressed, and Katara's waterbending also becomes more impressive by the day. Aang is probably feeling a little superfluous having seen that.

The turtleduck pond scene is... yeah, I mean, it's Zuko's habit to implicate himself, isn't it? He does the same in a later episode confirming to Azula that he's been visiting Iroh in jail. Azula doesn't even have to try all that hard. Also, 'Azula always lies' is clearly a myth, but 'Zuko can't lie to save his ass' is definitely 100% truth.

So, I think that we're all in agreement here that Azula is not omniscient and can't know that Aang survived Ba Sing Se. But after speaking with Zuko at the turtleduck pond, Azula probably has her suspicions that Aang might have survived. So, I think this would make her a lot more cautious about trying to claim the credit for the Avatar herself. She also knows that Zuko just helping her capture Ba Sing Se and betray Iroh would not satisfy Ozai. Zuko needs the credit for killing the Avatar. Azula setting Zuko up to claim the credit for Aang means that she's killing two birds with one stone - she gets her brother back, and she also gains a measure of control over said brother. (Even if Aang is dead, Azula still has control over Zuko, because there are witnesses that she struck the killing blow, not Zuko) This is incredibly clever from our girlie <3

The bedroom scene... I think is a very wholesome sibling encounter and I don't read anything else into that, I mean, why would anyone. But I'm giving Zuko 50 Jerk Points for failing to close the door.

Also, Yue cameo... *sniffles*

Jerk Points for Book 3:

King Kuei - 60 Zuko - 50 Aang - 20