Avatar Nation: S1 E03 — "Omashu"

In this episode of AVATAR NATION, Pauline and Wes discuss episode three of Netflix's adaptation of Avatar: The Last Airbender. They explore character dynamics and new character introductions, particularly focusing on Team Azula, Teo and the Mechanist, and the Freedom Fighters. They also delve into the episode’s theme of deception.

01:13 Opening

04:51 Episode Tea

08:39 Cabbage Ratings

11:30 Personal Key Moments

16:56 Episode Analysis

48:41 Favorite Bending Moment

50:04 Favorite Character

51:56 Animal Watch

54:09 Memorable Quotes

56:07 Question of the Week

59:00 Closing Thoughts

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0:35

Welcome to Avatar Nation, a podcast, all about the Netflix live adaptation

of Avatar: 0:40

the Last Airbender. Whether you're a longtime fan like us, or you're new to the Avatarverse, join us as we dive into each episode and analyze the retelling of TV's greatest adventure. Start your engines. Hello everyone! I'm your host, Pauline. And I'm Wes, and on behalf of Pauline and I, I would like to apologize for being late with Avatar Nation this week. Yes, we had a crazy week last week, started with an ER trip Yes. and ended with Planet Comic Con. So yeah we had our ups and downs. Mostly up. It was Mostly up. except for when it was down, because I literally passed out in a driveway, it was a first for me, but nothing serious, just had a scare. She's fine now. Yes, but it did throw off our week, and we also spent a lot of time preparing for Planet Comic Con. Saturday was when we went and it was insane. It was packed. It was super packed. It was our very first con so we had no idea what to expect and I thought I had planned it out perfectly, to arrive early, try to find parking, get in, but I underestimated the number of people that were gonna be there. Yeah, you always go in with a plan, but when you get hit in the mouth I was doing like a Mike Tyson thing. Oh, I don't know much about Mike Tyson. So, um, it was still a lot of fun. We dressed up, of course, as Avatar. We dug out our old Halloween costumes from several years ago. And so I dressed up as Azula. And I dressed up as As Toph from Ember Island Players. And then Zoe went as Toph and we made it just in time to catch the Avatar panel with Dante Basco, Greg Baldwin, and Michaela Murphy. I was really worried that we weren't going to be able to get inside in time. And I was panicking cause that was the main reason that I wanted to go on Saturday. But we made it just in time and got to listen to them for an hour and that was pretty cool. The panel was great. I had a great time. We also got to meet Mikaela Murphy. So she's the one who voices Toph and so we got a picture of Zoe with her, Zoe being our daughter for those who don't know since Toph is her favorite character. So she was super excited and I love the way the photo turned out. They were both dressed up. Mikaela was dressed up as Toph, so that was pretty cool. Yep. And she was super nice. Yes, and we got to meet a lot of other Avatar fans, so that was pretty fun. Shout out to all the people I got pictures with. Yeah. What'd you think? I loved it. People are crazy. All the outfits and costumes and people get into character. they don't break character. I don't even want to think how much money some people spent on their costumes because they were so impressive. I know there were a lot of professional cosplayers there and it makes me want to step up my game for next year, yeah, and Yeah, my least favorite part though was trying to find food because those lines were so long, and I felt bad for anybody that didn't get in. I guess some people waited several hours outside to get in, and then for some of the photo ops with celebrities and whatnot, and I read that a lot of people were in line for four, five, six hours, and some people even got cut off and didn't get to, get their autograph or photo so I'm glad that wasn't our experience but yeah, we did miss Avatar Trivia, though. Yeah, my feet were hurting. Yeah, do you think we would have kicked ass? Oh, definitely. Alright. You ready to talk about episode three? Before we do, I want to remind all of our listeners to subscribe to this podcast. We're on all of the main podcasting apps. So whichever your favorite one is, make sure you follow us and subscribe so that way you don't miss any future episodes. And again, we apologize for being late with this one. Sorry, let's get into it. Alright, let's begin with our Episode Tea. So this episode is episode three, and it's titled Omashu. It's directed by Jabbar Raisani, so he's the one that did past work Game of Thrones, Stranger Things. And writing credits go to Christine Boylan. Some of her past work includes Cloak and Dagger, The Punisher, which I believe both are Marvel shows or movies, I'm not quite sure. I think one of them's on Netflix. And then Once Upon a Time as well. Plus, various other shows and movies too. Wes, do you want to go ahead and read episode recap so that listeners can remember what happened in this episode? Cause there were a lot of things that happened. Let's do this. The episode opens with rebels attempting to assassinate Fire Lord Ozai in the Fire Nation, only to be ambushed by him and his soldiers. Ozai reveals their insider is his daughter, Princess Azula. Ozai burns the rebels and reveals to Azula that her brother Zuko has located the Avatar. Meanwhile, Team Avatar heads to the Northern Water Tribe. but detours to when Aang spots what he thinks is another airbender. They sneak into the city with help from Jet. Inside Omashu, Aang chases down the airbender, only to find that he's just a boy in a glider chair. An explosion goes off, and the boy's father rushes him to safety while Aang and Katara use their bending to help clean up the aftermath. They meet up with the boy named Teo and his father Sai, who's a mechanist for the city. And they learn that the fire and issues in. is behind recent bombings. Despite wanting to continue their journey north, Team Avatar decides to help defend the city. In the Fire Nation, Princess Azula complains to her friends about Zuko's hunt for the Avatar. While Zhao shares news of the Avatar's arrival in Omashu with Zuko and suggests an infiltration plan using his men. However, Zuko and Iroh insist they go alone. Shortly after, Zhao receives a letter from Azula instructing him to inform her of her brother's activities, promising to reward him for his loyalty. Back in Omashu, Katara discovers Sai's suspicious activities with the Fire Nation, and Jet informs her that Sai is a traitor. Jet and Katara follow a Fire Nation figure, leading to a confrontation, but Jet calls in reinforcements. A youthful band of rebels called Freedom Fighters! After winning the fight, Jet brings Katara back to their base while he explains that the King Omashu is the reason for the city's corruption. The two bond over their loss of family to the Fire Nation. Meanwhile, Aang Teo check out a cave where they believe the Fire Nation attackers have been gathering. They find the blasting jelly used in the explosions, along with the disguises Jet loaned them when sneaking into the city. Aang realizes he's the one behind the attacks, not the Fire Nation. When he shares his discovery with Sokka, Katara returns to tell them that Sai is the one helping the Fire Nation with the attacks. The two siblings get in a heated argument over who's innocent, and Katara storms out to find Jet, only to learn that Sokka and Aang were right. Jet reveals he planted a bomb on Sai to be detonated when Sai meets with the King. As Team Avatar rushes to stop the plan and prevent innocent people from dying, they encounter Zuko and Iroh. Katara and Sokka raced to the palace to stop the bombing as Aang is chased down by Zuko. Katara uses her water bending just in time to stop the bomb from being detonated. Aang and Zuko fight through the market streets and Zuko's fire bending draws attention to himself. Iroh pull Zuko out of the fight to escape getting caught. As Earth Kingdom guards head their way, Iroh distracts them with his own firebending, giving Zuko a chance to escape before the gates close. The episode ends with Zuko getting separated from Iroh, and Aang getting captured by the Earth Kingdom soldiers. All right, thanks for reading that. That was a long one. Do you need a drink of you guys hang in there? Alrighty so let's go ahead and get right into our cabbage ratings. I am so interested to see what your cabbage rating is. And just as a reminder, if this is your first episode with us our cabbage ratings are rating from 1 to 10. How much we like the episode, 1 being the worst, 10 being the best. Okay, I want you to start with your cabbage rating. Okay. my cabbage rating, drumroll, we can add in drumrolls, I don't know, My cabbage rating is is a A 5? Yes. Really? I felt like everything was like, you know when you uh, I have a friend that listens to our podcast and he has to do it times two so he can get through it on his way to work. I felt like that episode was like on times five. Do you mean the speed? That's fair, I can see how that Yeah, I mean, that's fair. I can see how that is. I am the opposite. I rated this one an eight, which is my highest rating so the other episodes. So this was, I just really enjoyed it because it wasn't trying to be beat for beat with the original, and they went about it in a completely different way, like a remix, I felt like it was refreshing, and I was able to just sit back and enjoy it instead of, trying to compare it in my mind to the original and there were lots of parts that made me laugh, and I don't know, it was just the whole range of emotions in this episode, so I gave it an 8, and it made me excited to start the next episode, I'm really surprised, I thought you liked this episode better than the other ones. I'm really surprised. I thought you liked better than the other ones. 2. Okay, did you like it better when you first watched it, or? No, No, it did not. I know this is the first time that's happened where I didn't quite enjoy it the second time. But I mean, I, my expectations weren't extremely high, but like I said, it felt rushed, and I'm curious as we, talk about this episode, what are some things you're going to bring up? Because for those listening, Wes and I, we don't talk about the episode really before discussing on the podcast, so I have no idea what you're going to say, Wes, and I have lots to say, so I have no idea what you're going to say, Wes, and I have lots to say, so, Also, another reminder that we're not watching ahead before we discuss it on the podcast episode, so we're trying to keep things spoiler free for new fans and hopefully everybody else will, who, everybody else that's already binged it a while ago and finished the whole first season will keep it spoiler free for those of us that are, new to it. Spacing it out a little bit more. Okay, let's move on to our personal key moments. Again, these are our favorite moments, least favorite moments, and then just, an honorable mention. Our favorite moment, we call our Avatar state moment our least favorite moment we called our That's Rough, Buddy moment. And then just any honorable mentions. Since we like to keep things Avatar related. All righty, let's start with our Avatar State moment. Do you want to go first or do you want me to go first? I would like you to go Okay, so my Avatar State moment was Aang and Zuko's fight. Just that whole sequence was so much fun. It was actually really hard to choose an Avatar State moment because I had multiple that I wanted to throw in the ring for this one. But I landed on their fight. You know where they're going through the market streets i thought it was fun it was great choreography i really loved the random lady that had the broom. Don't hit that little boy. yeah to us filipinos we call it the walis and she started like hitting him with this so i thought that was pretty funny and then their part of the fight when they were in all those colorful scarves was very visually appealing, and it just gave me Bollywood vibes, they're fighting with the scarves, so that was pretty cool. What was your Avatar you know, Um, They're fighting with so that cool. Okay, your Avatar State moment? Yes. Okay. think those I think those are fighting words. I don't think Aang was trying to hurt him. to hurt him, um But they didn't But they didn't mean to, and they, what, he was mostly trying to get away. That's the Airbender in him. He's trying to evade, Zuko is on the attack, Aang is on we'll see some growth here. yes. So what was your Avatar Okay, I had a really hard time finding an Avatar state moment. I would say I don't have one, but I'm gonna go with, I'm gonna go with when, I'm gonna go with when the cabbage The cabbage merchant? Yeah, merchant finally got to say it. in the sky like, MY CABBAGES! I thought that was hilarious and I'm glad he finally got to get that out. out. Yes, I, oh my gosh, we are so opposite! Avatar moment for that All right, so then for the That's Rough Buddy moment, I'll go ahead and go first. This is the one that I had trouble finding a That's Rough Buddy moment, and I feel like I really just had to nitpick and choose something. So I chose Aang and Katara's interaction at the beginning, where Katara is practicing her waterbending by the creek, and Aang is trying to make suggestions and advise her on bending. Out of all the scenes in this episode, I feel like this one felt the least natural, and it did feel just very scripted and a little bit awkward, so I think Aang and Katara they're still trying to find their groove as far as their friendship, cause this just didn't feel as natural to me. I didn't think it was terrible, but if I had to choose, that was the one that I clocked. What was yours? My That's Rough Buddy Jet willing to just kill anyone or everyone. Why was that your that's rough, Buddy Oh so, okay. so In the cartoon, no spoilers, right? This is not a no because if we've already if it's already happened in this episode, Okay, so in the cartoon, wasn't Jet willing just to flood the, it was a Fire Nation. With With innocent people. That's kind of That's the big question. In the cartoon Katara did say to him, innocent people are going to die, or something along say to him, Innocent are going to die. Just willing to kill innocent earth Kingdom residents, I thought was like, dang, that is rough. Saying that this version of him was darker, I'm going to respectfully disagree because I think it was right on par with the originals. But that's just my opinion. Thank you for being respectful, I try. Alrighty, so then, our honorable mention, which is something that's just good but didn't You know, make it to our favorite moment. Mine was Katara and Sokka's argument. I really enjoyed their argument when they're in Sai and Teo's house and seeing them just explode at each other, as siblings do. I thought it was just really well done and added layers to their, yeah, and added layers to their character especially Katara since, we've been talking a lot about how she just fades into the background, so this is the emotion that I've been waiting for from Katara, and they both had it, Okay. I mean, I Okay. Yeah, just I mean, I can see both sides, yeah, and they had some humor was pretty cool. I did love that. I loved that. My honorable mention, which was hard to find, my gosh. It was one that they just, they showed it and they didn't talk about it. It was Iroh finds the white lotus tile. I thought that was cool. They showed it and moved on, but that's my honorable mention. Wow, we had very different I'm I'm Okay, I'm ready to really dive into this episode because I am disappointed. This is going to be interesting just for everybody listening. Trying to listen to two very opposite people talk about something. And also just fair warning. My brain is still super foggy from the weekend and, the ER visit. And so we might be all over the place. I think they've been listening they already know Yes we didn't want to miss recording this week, that's for sure. We are rolling with the punches here. So yeah, we'll see what this episode brings us. Maybe you will love it like I loved this episode of Avatar. Maybe you'll be severely disappointed with us like Wes was. With back me up here Alrighty to kick things off with this analysis first I really just want to touch on what we thought about the plot and how it was executed. With this episode, there were several storylines being intertwined. How did you feel about them pulling from different episodes from the original and combining it into this one episode? one episode? I feel they had to do it so fast. I mean, they brought things from multiple episodes into one and it was just super fast. The pacing was not okay with I can see that. It did feel like it was bam bam bam with the pacing. It's just what you expect whenever they do combine different elements of the plot into one episode. But personally, I loved how they did it. Yeah, because I was wondering with some of these side plots from the original, I was wondering how they were gonna do it. If they would have done it more like the original, it would have felt too linear. And side quest y. I was really hoping that they weren't going to dedicate just one episode to this part of the plot and then another episode to just this part of the plot because with the live action, and with us being older, I feel like we can keep up with more complex plots multiple storylines happening at once, A plot, B plot, that sort of thing. I liked how they did it, and I thought it made things more efficient, if like you're calling me like, I might be a little slow. No! can deal with multiple things going on at once, it's just, I didn't see No, back up. you're not slow. Backpedal? Backpedal. Okay. I still Agree that the pacing was crazy but I think other things about the episode made it up for me. I'm curious to see what first time watchers think about it. I thought the way that they combined everything was good. I am noticing a pattern with what I like and don't like with the episodes. I find that I love the parts where Netflix does deviate more from the original, which is a little bit surprising to me, but I think that's why I enjoy this episode so much because. Like I said earlier, I wasn't subconsciously trying to compare it in my mind. Since they went about it so differently, I was able to just watch and enjoy. And I think that's where the show shines is whenever they are trying something a little bit different. Because think about, previous couple episodes, the parts that we really loved, like them showing the Airbender genocide and the stuff with the Fire Nation, things that weren't in the cartoon, those were the parts that we really loved. I, hot take, I think I want Netflix to deviate a little bit more or, take those risks because I'm really enjoying them. them I agree. I like it too. You're not sitting there comparing it with the cartoon when they're throwing you something that you weren't ready Yes, but I also can appreciate that there are people out there that are completely opposite and they would rather it stick as close to the original as possible, so I understand that too. What about your thoughts on the city of Omashu and how they brought that to life? They did a great job. It was beautiful. You know, Looking down on Omashu, the shoots, the delivery system. I thought that was awesome. What did you think about It really gave me Aladdin vibes at first, when they first revealed Omashu, I think it was a mix of the music that they had and just the overall vibes, especially the part where Aang was chasing down Teo through the city. It reminded me of Aladdin when he was, going through the city trying to escape being caught with all the cloth and, yeah, one jump ahead of the net. That song. That's a good comparison. It did have Aladdin vibes. I don't think it was like this in the cartoon necessarily, but it was obvious that they were trying to model Omashu after India or, other South, Southeastern, model it after India and give it those feels. Yeah, the city was great. Alrighty, so let's move on to the characters and I mostly want to focus on the introductions to the new characters. We have a few different groups, so first we have Teo and Sai, the Mechanist. Did the Mechanist have a name in the cartoon? Was his name Sai? Or was he just the mechanist? Or was just the Mechanist? I don't think he had think he, I don't think he had a name, but I could, I don't know. I could be wrong. Somebody let me know. But to me I just know him as the mechanist. What did you think about the two of them? It was okay. Teo is very spirited and His dad is just there to protect him. You can tell something shady is going on, obviously, but I don't know. Did you like their casting? Yeah, I think that the actors were great. The Mechanists really inspired Zuko. Or not Zuko. Sokka. Yeah. I never wrote Zuko. You keep getting them mixed up. Sokka. I liked both of them, but I especially liked the Mechanist, and just his demeanor and, he seemed super kind and a little bit kooky like in the original as well. And Sai, something that I noticed immediately was Their interactions together as father and son reminded me back in the first episode with Iroh and Aang. Remember when we talked about their conversation when Aang was first captured and he was on the Fire Nation ship and he was in the cell and how I talked about that Aang represented that young idealistic kid and then Iroh represented, an older, wiser, more realist, Type of person. So with Teo and Sai, it's the same thing here. Teo does say something about this is how we changed the world, and then Sai mentioned that how they survived was working hard and keeping their head down. Iroh and Aang's conversation in the first episode echoed through Teo and Sai. Okay, so then what about Jet and the Freedom Fighters? First, what did you think about Jet's portrayal? I don't like it. Why? Really? I think he's too dark. I mean, maybe it'll get better. But, I didn't, I don't know, I don't like Jet. Not the actor, the actor was, he was okay. What would you have liked to see different? see different? Um, Jet come he's not going to be in this Haru, now I like the Fighters Pipsqueak, The Duke, and Longshot. I thought they nailed that although Pipsqueak apparently knows how to take out the trash. I don't know if that means kill them. mean, yeah, What happened to the fire, the firebender that got pinned to the tree with the arrow? They never showed us what I guess they're taking out the trash. Yeah. I wish we got to see more of those characters, but I understand, they crammed so much into this episode, I don't think they could have fit in anymore. I thought Jet was perfect. I personally feel like they got his personality perfect. I disagree, respectfully. But he's just willing to kill, anyone and everyone. I understand if he's okay with killing, Any of the Fire Nation residents. But he's like willing to kill his own people. People are gonna have to back me up.'cause he was exactly the same way in the cartoon. No, with the Fire Nation. But there were innocent people in that Fire Nation Village too. In the cartoon. So I think he is exactly what the cartoon was. But that is my opinion. Maybe other people What do you guys think? help us settle this jet debate. This is our great divide. But yeah, and then the Freedom Fighters, I agree with you, I loved seeing them. They seem like the good guys, but they're the extremists. And I feel like that's something true of our world. Again, Avatar getting into some pretty heavy topics here, but the cartoon did as well. Yeah, I, that was crazy, the, his line uh, that's the cost it's the the price of freedom. of freedom. I was like, dang, I mean, they're, they're dark. Jet, is a baddie. Oh my what did you think about their base? The base was cool. I thought there, I thought the base is going to be, up in the trees, but I mean, the Fire Nation could find them. They're on the ground hanging out down there, but Trying to suspend your disbelief that a bunch of kids are living way up there kids are living way up there I thought it did have Lost Boys vibe. Because you even said you even said when we first watched it, you're like, oh, Lost Boys. Why are you were like, oh, Lost Boys. You just You just, you respectfully disagree with yourself. Alright, let's move on. All right, let's move on to Team Azula. I have some thoughts about this one, but what did you think, first of all, about... Someone's gotta pee. Okay. Now that you're back from your restroom break, so first, to know that. I mean, you can Cut that that out. I could, but it's funny. Last week we had our daughter calling 9 1 1 by accident this week you had your bladder, so It's okay, if you have to pee, you have to pee. Thank you, If you have to pee, pee. That was a horrible yeah, nevermind. Moving on. What did you think about Azula's reveal at the beginning of the episode? Very crafty, I liked it but I gotta say, I'm not crazy about Azula right now. I couldn't tell if there was, like, if she's evil or if she's just playing like, that's what her dad wants to see, because when her dad lit up the uh, he burned? Lit up is a very good word. Okay. When he murdered With flames. roasted. There we go. When he flamethrowed the You know. it must have stunk in that room, huh? Anyway, moving on. I get it. They're the bad guys. But does it always have to be super dark and menacing? What else would they do? I mean, do they ever go outside? Is the sun ever out in the Fire They don't don't need it. Anyway, Azula I thought would be conflicted, which I thought she was. or is she that evil? I don't know. That's so interesting because the things that you're saying that you aren't sure about or don't like, those are the things that I actually loved. So first I loved the way they revealed Azula. I knew what was coming because I recognized her face and I was like, oh my gosh, that's Azula. But I thought it was clever the way that they brought her character on. As far as her actual character, I think there's something to say about people who are evil necessarily seem like that they are, upon first impression, like with Ozai, so I think We're supposed to be questioning whether she truly is evil or if it's all because of her dad. And I don't know, maybe it's a mix of both because clearly she's trying to impress her father and she's worried about Zuko undermining that, but the way that she looked at those people burning looked at those people burning, and also I And then she smiled and I was like, But maybe from the lens of somebody who's watching it for the first time and they don't know anything about Azula. Then why is she mad at her brother? Why does she hate her I will find out. I know. I'm glad that they're leaving crumbs right now and it's causing people to ask questions. She said, oh, he's out there on a cruise. I'm here working behind enemy. Like you didn't do anything. She was never in danger. maybe that's just to show that she's just that good. We'll see. Speaking of like leaving crumbs and stuff, I also did note Ozai's line when he said, don't talk to me about loss or something like that. And didn't makes you wonder, what is he referring to? And That also adds another layer to Ozai's character, because we don't know much about him. We don't know much about Azula at this point in time. But I liked Azula. Azula's portrayal. It's a little different. I know some people don't like it, maybe I'm in the minority. I don't think they mentioned their names in this episode, but we know that's Mai and Ty know I am unsure. I think I need to see more of them. I don't know if I like how they're having Mai talk. oh gosh, we are so different on this. I thought Mai killed it, Ty Lee was not as. Bright. bubbly? Yeah. Not like smart wise. Her character is very cheerful and playful and, and it just, they didn't show that at all. But Mai was, I think she, she killed Killed it. It's almost like, come on, spit it out. But I know that's how her character is. Maybe if there was like a middle, like a sweet spot, it would be better. But that's just my personal opinion. I, I was worried that it was going to start feeling like They were trying too hard to have her sound like Cartoon Mai and that it would come off as unrealistic, so I don't have full judgment just yet because I need to see more of those two. Other than that, I like them, but they had such a short amount of screen time. do you have anything else about these three main groups? I do not. Let's move on. Okay, so I want to take a moment to just briefly talk about theme here, since we talked about theme so much in the last episode. So in the last episode, it was all about the theme of hope and what is the cost of hope. That's echoed a little bit here. I think it was Azula that said hope can be a dangerous thing. And I don't know if hope was mentioned in any other part of the episode, but I do like that that theme of hope is being pulled into this episode here somewhat. what I think the main theme is, is the theme of deception and what causes people to turn to deceit. Throughout the whole episode, there was just a lot of deception going on. Let's start first with the obvious one: Jet. His whole character was about deceiving Katara and his reason, though, is for justice slash revenge, which I think in his mind, he's seeing those two things as the same. The Freedom Fighters started off with good intentions, but then now we see that they are more of the bad guys because they are willing to hurt innocent people to reach their end goal. But you tell me, do you fault him for the decisions that they've been making? Absolutely. Like I said, it's okay for some reason if he wants to bomb a Fire Nation Colony or, I'm okay with that for some but, isn't that war? But he's willing to do it to his own people, Well, I mean, Is he not part of the Earth Which means they're at war with the he's on the side of whoever's fighting the Fire Nation, correct? In he's willing to kill them. I think I see what you're saying, I think I see what you're saying. Because in the cartoon, it was just a Fire Nation village, even though some of those are innocent Fire Nation people. We have to look past that, because this is war. But that was the whole question of the episode. Is that right? Is that wrong? I think it's wrong. I mean, look at what's happening in our world today Is, is it right or wrong? What do you mean? Would you Sacrificing innocent people regardless of which side that they're Are you asking if that's right or wrong? or wrong? I'm just generally out of wrong. There are some people But you just said that's war. you just this is uh, I know, it's deep. Avatar is I know, it's weak. Avatar is weak. Wow, this sounds horrible, doesn't it? Especially with what's going on in world today. I didn't put two to two together. I don't look into it as much as you do. Some of the things I said might sound bad now, but well, I don't think there's a right or wrong answer here as far as whether or not we fault him jet and his, band of rebels, they've experienced a lot of trauma. I can see how they got here.. But then obviously a line is crossed. I think there's a lot of grey area there, and I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing. I think good stories have a lot of grey area, but, For a story, he's a great character, right? Agreed. Very complex. And we love those. Let's move on to Azula, because her whole introduction was on the basis of deception. She deceived those rebels, who in our eyes, they're innocent, but of course of the Fire Nation, they're not innocent because they are rebels. Her whole reason is to impress her father, the Fire Lord but unlike Jet and the Freedom Fighters, she had bad intentions from the get go Yes. Zhao too was doing some deceitful things in this episode. He seems like a good guy one moment and then he turns around and does something that's like, he's just doing what's in his best interest. what's his reason for going getting, in the game. Yeah, he goes behind Zuko's back. First acts like that he wants to cooperate with him, telling him, hey, we can send our men there to confirm that the Avatar is in Omashu. By the way, he was trying to protect Zuko there. He if something happens, we can't help I feel like it's foreshadowing, and this is where I am making a prediction here because this is completely different from the cartoon. But I felt like it was foreshadowing that they had plans to make something bad happen or for things to go wrong with. Zuko and Iroh in Omashu, I did not get that, but I don't think he wanted him to go to Omashu. True, because he wanted to send his own men. But then the moment he gets the letter from Azula and she says, keep tabs on him and I'll reward you for your loyalty. That was his reason for going behind Zuko's back. I like Zhao's character. do A lot. Same question I asked like with Jet. Do you fault Zhao for going behind Zuko's back? bad side, but to themselves, he's doing his job. Reports to the Fire Lord uh, Princess Azula is not a banished princess, so she's his superior as well, yeah, I agree with you, because who are you going to listen to between Zuko and Princess Azula? You're going to listen to Azula. And then Sai, the Mechanist, first we're led to believe that Sai is doing something sneaky whenever Katara discovers him. what Yes, what he's up to is still to be revealed, so I'm interested to see where they're gonna go with that but you can just tell, if you rewatch it, how he interacts with his son, you can tell that there's something else that Sai is thinking about, that it feels like he's holding something back. So we have yet to see what that is. But whatever it is, I feel like he's gonna always be motivated by his son because Teo is his number one priority. wants to take care and protect his son. Especially since they lost Teo's mom. right, Sokka that's right. Sokka did say that. I did forget about that. So yeah, we don't know what's going on there just yet. But either way, people here are not being upfront with everything, and then, one that I want to mention, this isn't intentional deception but Teo he didn't mean to deceive Aang and make him think that he was an airbender, obviously but, Aang did think that he was another airbender and it led to a lot of disappointment. This was actually almost my rough buddy moment. I feel like they just glossed over Aang's disappointment. I feel like that's a very powerful moment and You can tell but then the explosion happened almost immediately And I really wish they would have just sat with Aang's feelings longer Because that is a big deal. Like you thought that maybe there was another airbender After being told that you're the last one Yeah, I get what you're and thinking that it's your fault that they're all gone and then having that hope again, back to the theme of hope, and then it just all comes crashing down and, you know, there's, yes there's a lot to dig into there, but. Like you said, everything is rushed, the plot has to keep moving, and I feel like we really missed out on that. And then they never come back to it. Maybe next episode, they might address Yeah, it Yeah, it was so quick though, I feel like Aang is being robbed of some emotional moments. And if this was real life, this isn't healthy for a 12 year old boy that you constantly have to keep pushing your feelings aside to help other people. It's part of being the Yeah, and it's not fair, Alright, let's move on. Alrighty, so, Moving on from the theme, I also want to talk about the dialogue and the interactions, because this was a big reason that I gave it an 8, I really loved a lot of the dialogue, I think it was all written so great, the interactions between some of the characters had me legit laughing and yeah, I thought there were just a lot of great moments. Zuko and Iroh, for example, just being able to see more of their relationship, Iroh is always interested in food, Zuko, being his dramatic self. The part on the ship at the beginning when Zuko snaps at that one officer, and Iroh's like, eh, maybe you shouldn't be so harsh, and Zuko's like, well, he was gossiping about another officer, and Iroh's like, yeah. Someone you don't like. Yeah, I thought that was just uh, that Yeah, I thought that was just that was funny. Firebender spies and he's you don't do that's not honorable Yeah, because I was surprised Zuko said that, but I like that he still does have that, no pun intended, honorable side to doesn't like to play dirty Yeah. I like that. Jet, Sokka, and Katara, when, they were first trying to get into Omashu, I loved that whole interaction with Jet trying to flirt with Katara, and then Sokka's just eye rolling in the background, And then Jet's like, oh yeah, and he's mute. They also showed a little easter egg, in my opinion, about how quick Katara can be on her feet when thinking of something to say. Cause in the cartoon, there was the whole, I'm June Pippinpaddleopsicopolis, you know, following Aang's lead. And in this one, she followed Jet's lead pretty well, I don't remember who he was talking about, but she was like, Irrigation, am I right? Paddle, got it. Pippinpaddleopsicopolis, I've practiced that so many times. Bonzu Pippinpaddleopsicopolis the third. Just in case it came up in trivia that we haven't participated in yet. But what did you think of their interaction at Whose interaction? Jet, Sokka, and Katara when they were outside Omashu waiting to get in and then they put on the disguises and I thought that was, I thought that was okay. Like I said earlier, I didn't think that was Jet. So I thought it was going to be Haru. Didn't change anything for me, but I just thought that was Haru. And I was like, oh, this is cool. But it was not Haru! It was Jet. But it was the worst character so far. Jet. I respectfully disagree. What what about Sai and Sokka? they had their scenes together, which I'm glad, I think it's great for Building, it looks like Sai is inspiring Sokka to become an engineer. Yeah, and pursues talents. I really did like that because, like you said, it adds to Sokka's character, and it shows how smart Sokka actually is. I feel like up to this point we see Sokka as almost like a blockhead. We see here that there is more to Sokka. He has brains. He may not be the best fighter, but there's more to him than that. And then him mentioning his dad, it just adds another layer that dad, it adds another layer. Pay attention to this kind of stuff. Yeah, that was kind of sad. Sokka. What about Sokka and Katara and their interactions? Um, Just mainly was the fight, right? We kind of already talked about how good we thought that interaction was. Sokka throwing in that whole, then grow up, Which is harsh, Then Grow Up, which is harsh, but, sokka, his character was building up a little better. what did you think of Katara I think, didn't I say this was my honorable mention, was this interaction of theirs.. Yeah. and Katara's like, I'm gonna go prove that you're a jerk, and then Sokka's like, I don't need proof of that! I laughed there too. they did have another really cute interaction at the beginning of the episode when they were flying on Appa and Sokka was admiring the fan that Suki had given him and and Katara was sweet she's like I liked her too but then said something funny about how I don't know what she saw in you though what is there not so I love seeing more of that brother sister relationship come out you know they have their fights but they're also sweet to each other so I thought that was really nice to see anything else on Katara and Sokka? No. Anything else on Katara Sokka? Yeah. Zuko? please. Didn't put up any fight really. Just a coward like he always does so far. He's just a runner. I thought that could have been better. I get it. He's not trying to hurt Zuko, but I mean Zuko's trying to hurt him. Right? Fight boy! He's an airbender, and a monk. I like the part where Aang asks him, this is why you've been chasing me for three years? And then Zuko, all dramatic, is like, you have my notebook! You read my diary! That was good. Zuko would have a diary. Let's move on. Okay, and then, last one that I wanted to mention, of course, you already shouted him out, but The Cabbage Merchant, the reason for our cabbage ratings I thought that was so fun. They did great with him the whole whole episode. They kept robbing him of the chance to say cabbages, and we were waiting for it, and then it's like, oh, it didn't happen, and then it, they come across him again, he wants to say like, oh, my, and then he doesn't get to say it, and then finally Yeah, they give him that shot of the camera going up in the the air, Yes. hands in the air. MY Classic, and it, I feel like it just mirrored how we felt inside Yes, cabbages! He finally got to say it! And do you think we'll see more of him in future episodes? Or do you think they're keeping it to this one Well, I'm sure he'll, he's gonna be sprinkled throughout the whole know, I don't, I can see them not doing it. To, I don't know, make it more realistic, I'm thinking that's why they sprinkled him throughout this one episode. he is the comic relief. I hope he comes back. Fun fact the actor is James Sie, and he is the original voice actor for The Cabbage Merchant, oh, well he nailed it. He sounded just like cartoon. I think he had lots of practice already. So, So at the end we have Iroh out of the way. that necessary though? He pushes Zuko first, and then he says, I think it's just for dramatic effect and to get the attention of the guards, saying, for the Fire Nation, to make it obvious that, hey, I'm the one you guys Well, I mean, the firewall was pretty obvious Why did Iroh push him? Couldn't they have both gotten away? Cause I didn't think that they had been caught at that time. No, they were right But you're right. Probably could have got away, Maybe, to me it just wasn't as obvious, but When I watched it the second time, I was like well, okay, maybe the guards were already heading in their direction, but it's like, Maybe there was another option? I mean, I love the drama that it adds, though. And getting to see another side of Iroh firebending. But, I felt bad for Zuko, though, when he, left through the gates and he got separated. It's his fault. And then, after that, we see Aang being captured by Yeah. Which are the earth bender, like just oblivious to what's going on. clearly he's an airbender. They're like, oh, let's arrest that guy. Probably the Avatar, maybe their focus is just the fact that things are getting destroyed. And so Aang and Zuko were the ones causing all of that, so they're just focused on capturing whoever's, responsible for the destruction. some of them went after Iroh, them thinking that Iroh is the one that caused it all, and then other soldiers captured Aang. it's like, obviously this is a guy of interest and we want to look into this, because yeah, we have an airbender in our city. Yeah. city. I wasn't crazy about the ending. I thought they were, like, they didn't know how to end that episode, so they were like, oh, Aang's captured and Zuko's walking away. Cause, The plot says they need to be captured by the end of the episode. I can see where you're coming from. I will say though that this ending made me excited to watch the next episode because it was a cliffhanger. So it's like, oh I, I want to watch the next one. What happens? But yeah, before we move on to favorite bending moment, is there anything else in your notes that you wanted to mention that we haven't talked about yet? we haven't talked about Okay, Alright, then let's talk about our favorite bending moment. Do you want to go first or do you want me to go first? Go one. I have one. My favorite bending moment was Uncle Iroh I was trying to decide between this or Katara saving the day with her waterbending because obviously she's the one that saved the day so that deserves special recognition. So I would say that was my runner up but I chose Iroh because I don't think we've seen him firebend until this moment, right? We should know this, we have a podcast about I, sometimes I'm trying to make sure I don't get what happens in the cartoon, and then this mixed up. But I mean, the whole reason I chose it is because I was like, yes, Iroh, you have a bad ass side. A way, the firebending? Firebending? The reason why I gave such a low cabbage rating is because I don't have a favorite bending just because it didn't really show a lot of bending. I mean, there was a little bit of water, a little bit of air, bit of fire, but I mean it wasn't heavily on bending. so I don't have a I apologize. Man. I can take one of the listeners, tell me your favorite bending moment I'll uh, I'll steal it. Okay. I missed something, but I was not impressed with the bending in this episode. Gotcha. Okay. I have another question for you. I don't think this is something I've asked before, but I want to start adding it into our discussion for each episode. Yep. Curveball. Who was your favorite character for this episode? didn't realize you were going I didn't realize you were going to be so harsh on it. Okay. So we know it's not Jet. not of elimination. an elimination. Uh, My favorite character in this um,, I'll just say it was Pipsqueak, the Duke, and Longshot. They were my favorite characters How come? Geez. Because it was refreshing to see them. I thought that they they did a good job character wise. It's what I would picture in a live action I just liked. I like how they did the, you know, I did like that too. and Long Shot was awesome. When you see him like, hanging from that tree, that was pretty what was your favorite character in So mine was Sokka, which was surprising to me. The episode wasn't focused on him. Like he had his moments, but he wasn't in the spotlight for this episode but I chose him because his lines and just his interactions with everybody and facial expressions and the way he rolls his eyes that it just had me laughing He definitely grew the most in this episode, right? He had character growth, it some uh, some layers added to his character so I do agree with that. Katara did too but The episode was more focused on her but every time Sokka opened his mouth it was just, it was, funny so he was my favorite just because I and so yeah. Okay, what about our animal I only noticed the ostrich horses again, aka the chocobos. That was pulling Jet's yeah. But I think that was it. I saw things flying in the distance, but they were way too far. You couldn't tell what they were. So, Netflix! I need to see more hybrid animals. Why we're talking about animals, Momo and Sokka at the beginning were, that was hilarious and super cute. Okay, can I say something about Momo though? This is also a hot take, but so at first I was like, oh, Momo is so cute. But, I don't know, there's something about Momo that's a little unnerving. Almost in the same way that, do you recall the you recall the first version of Sonic the Hedgehog, that remake? And how Sonic just, there was just something about the way he looked that was like, unnerving, I don't know. Momo was not that level, let me just clear that up. Momo was not You know the, I feel like you're here. probably, but Okay. He's cute, but it's almost like he's too cute I feel like they made momo's eyes. So cute that he almost doesn't look like a I don't know what to say to that. Look look at the, okay, I'm If the eyes are, or what, what are you, what are you saying? I think it's the eyes. really doing this. Okay. If listeners here, she's pulling up comparisons for Momo from the cartoon in the live action. he looks okay, but there Now she's backtracking. No, You should do your homework before you bring I was re watching it and When I saw Momo in this episode, his, you know what, nevermind, because I am she's, find it. See, here he looks, his eyes look a little bit more like a lemur's, but then in this episode when he's like carrying the fruit, he almost looked like a toy version of himself. Does that make sense? I'm gonna disagree. I still love Momo, guys. I, don't worry. I still like him. All I'm going to say about any? Yes. this was also hard because I feel like there were a lot of good quotes in this episode. But I put down Sai's quote when he was talking to Sokka and he said, The world is filled with warriors, but there are far too few great engineers. feel like it's relative to our world today too, we have too people interested in getting into more what do you call that type of career? You know working with your hands. I took it as there's too many people willing to kill and die, there needs to be more people that want to save, like the planet, or people, or, Yeah, I think you're right. I think it is more to that effect so that's what I picked. What did you pick? in the past, like to war and we don't have to be afraid of our pain, we just need to decide what we're gonna do with it. So I thought that was a great quote. It's something she needed to hear. That's really good. Can I steal that one? I That's really good. Can I steal that one? I should have chosen that one. You can. That's something that I would wanna write down and refer back to during tough parts of life. know, During tough parts of life. But in But in his head, he's the good guy. And I think that's a scary thing, is that in. The real world, they are people that are just like Jet. Jet. Yeah, I agree. And I have another quote if you want to hear It's more. But it was Aang when he If I'm going to save the world, I have to do it one person at a time. a cliché. it's true though. What was your guys favorite quote? Who are you talking to? though they don't like to interact with us, which we're trying to figure out why. Is it This is This is where we would normally do our question of the week, and go over people's answers. But, we did not get any responses this week. Which is kind of surprising, because we did say last week, That if you do, you can save an Airbender or a Winged Lemur. So we didn't save any Airbenders. so to get Oh my god! Oh my It's how it works, people. Okay, Jet. I don't make up the rules, okay? That is terrible! So, Yeah, we didn't save any Airbenders this week. I talking about killing airbenders, I had to kill a lemur. lemur. Still! Yeah, I know, but that's not as bad. bad. That is still, it's still bad in my opinion. That's still killing an innocent life, so. Um, instead of reading responses from people for question of the week, I thought that you and I can discuss it. So our question of the week was, what did you think of the characters introduced in this episode, which we talked about already, but which group was your favorite? So again, that's the Teo and the Mechanist, Freedom Fighters and Team Azula. Which group was your which Was your favorite? liked how So, So you liked how the Freedom Fighters were portrayed in this episode minus were portrayed this episode? This one was tough. It wasn't Team Azula.'cause I feel like team Azula I'm not even really sure why they were included in this episode. I can see why Azula was included, but I felt like Mai and Ty Lee were a little bit random. I am gonna have to go with I'm gonna go with Teo and the Mechanist, because I feel like you did that just because you didn't want to copy me No like, it was almost a tie, but Teo and the Mechanist, I feel like they were perfectly portrayed. With the Freedom Fighters, if I were to choose them, it would be because of Jet. Oh my out here, people. here, both groups were portrayed and adapted very well, in my opinion, including Jet. But yeah, so that was our question of the week. I do want to remind everybody that we do post our question on our Facebook and Instagram, so if you're interested in having your comment read or, your voice message be played on our podcast, which we've done for past episodes, then, just check out our page, you can, you Comment, you can email us, you can send us a voice message and our email is avatar nation pod at gmail. com. It's because some people want to send their answers privately, yes, and reach out, we want to hear from you. Don't want to have to kill another lemur, people. gosh, Okay, before we wrap up, do you have any closing thoughts? I just want to say that it is Baymax is sniffing the I thought he was gonna lick the microphone. I just want to say that it was really, really hard to not watch the next episode after this one and waiting is killing me because I wanted to just jump into the next one but I know we're the next one, but I know Oh my My prediction is that I will not like the next episode as much. I hope I hope I'm wrong too, but my feeling is that the next episode will be more of a bridge episode and maybe, setting some additional stuff up. But we'll see and maybe I'll be surprised, like I was surprised with this episode. It's gotta Like I said, we will see, go in with realistic expectations, Wes. Do you have any closing thoughts? No let's pick up the ball a little, Netflix, come on. I thought it was great, so. Alright, let's wrap this episode up. Alright guys, that's our show, thanks for listening. If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a rating to help others find this podcast. And if you don't want to miss out on any upcoming episodes, make sure to subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or anywhere else you listen to your favorite podcasts. Yes, we also encourage you to follow our socials at avatarnationpod and we're on Facebook Instagram is where we post all of our questions of the week, as I mentioned before, and make sure to keep an eye out for those so you can join in on the conversation. Your comments and voice messages might be featured in one of our future podcast episodes. So yeah, that's our show for today. I'm Pauline. And I'm Wes. And you've been listening to Avatar Nation. See you next Love ya.