Hello, Zuko here.

Flatter Earth, fire air. This is loaded. It's our podcast. Okay. Oh my gosh. It happened. It finally happened. Zuko's with us. He's here.

What? Can we get an intro? Don't just jump in. Oh, okay. And welcome back to our podcast.

What's it called? I don't care. Well, you probably should. No one knows what it's called.

I'm gonna butcher it. What's it called, Troy?

Yip, yip hooray, an avatar podcast. I'm Kate.

Is it an avatar podcast?

Or is it just an avatar podcast? I don't claim to be the. I'm not the like official person. This is not an official podcast.

Welcome back.

I'm Troy. Hello. I'm Jordan.

Hi. I already did mine.

Why are you seven voices?

I don't know. Okay.

Our seven listeners, which thank you guys so much. They're gonna think we have seven different female co-hosts.

And then me. Okay. What did we watch today?

So today we watched Book Three, Chapters 12, The Western Air Temple, and chapter 13, The Firebending Masters. And Zuko's hanging out with the group. Like he is He's here and he's not being an antagonist.

Mm-hmm. Alright, Troy. Let's hear it.

As the resident Zuko hater. How'd that go for you, Troy?

Well, finally, they made him not lame anymore. What do you mean he was? I was literally booing that kid from season one because it's like, I've gotta capture the Avatar. I've got to capture the Avatar. It's my destiny. I'm like, yep, shut up, Zuko. What are you gonna do after you capture the Avatar? He had no plans after that.

Just like how Aang said in the Firebending Masters episode, I don't care what everyone else says about you, Zuko. You're pretty smart.

Yes.

So is that it? That you were annoyed? I'm not talking about the past.

I thought it was impossible, but he managed to pull it off. He has finally redeemed himself. You think he's officially redeemed himself.

What, just by showing up?

Just by showing up. Well, what'd you think about Katar's reaction to Zuko?

It was totally justified. I would not expect her to give him any less of a reaction.

Yeah. No, I think anything less would have been uh betraying her character and her experiences with Zuko. What'd you think?

It was emotional. I felt very wet.

Emotional?

I felt very emotional. The whole episode, like my heart was racing, my eyes were kind of wet. Yeah.

Was it pride? Were you proud? No. Well, guys, every season it's like Zuko's good. Now he's back to bad. And then the second season, he was like, he was this close listening to his Uncle Iroh and then he turns on the avatar again. I'm just like, this darn kid, I I've had it with him. I've had it with him.

I've just I've had it up to here with you, Zuko. Well, here's a little nugget. So apparently in the original series Bible, when Mike and Brian and the team kind of outlined what their three seasons would look like, uh, the plan was for Zuko to join the group in the end of book two. Well, they failed.

Well, no, so they they they changed their plan, but the original idea was for Zuko to join up at the Crossroads of Destiny. Yeah, they failed. Is this not are is no one like surprised?

Like, oh you mean like when Zuko joined?

Right, when he had the choice.

Like it was the most irritating thing for me to watch that kid just like, maybe I'm a good guy. Nope, I want to take sides with the Zula and shoot the Avatar in the back. I'm like, okay, I'm done.

I'm done. I'm so done. With what we know now, I do appreciate that Zuko did go with the Fire Nation. I don't think it would have been as satisfying with him joining up had he done it at the end of book two. He needed a little more growth and he needed that experience of going back to the Fire Nation and being like, oh, maybe this nostalgia trip that I that I have like isn't actually reality.

It was the ponytail.

Right, and he finally got achieved his goal in a way and got back home and got to reconnect with the family and his people. But yeah, it wasn't satisfying.

But you know what is satisfying? Racing Appa and the crew to the Western Air Temple, setting up camp with like the the tarpy part of his hot air balloon, and then taking a rope down to the Western Air Temple and then waiting for them.

He was like, hey guys.

Also, he had the little frog friend for his job interview, which he failed on himself. Oh god, I loved the job interview. It was like, it was it was so out of character with what we know of Zuko to see him like kind of let loose in a way. Which I think is like true, Zuko, in my opinion. Like that's how he really is.

Believe it or not, he did such a good job uh in this episode. I actually totally forgot about Combustion Man. Like, when that guy showed up again, I was like, what's this guy do? Oh, that's right. That's sorry I hired that assassin.

Yeah, sorry I had the You sent him after us.

Yeah, no, he's just like, you idiot, you could have totally blamed Azula on that.

Okay, the job interview though, can we talk about his impersonations of his uncle and Azula?

Which did you like better?

Uh Azula surprised me more. Listen here, Avatar. It was just like, I can imagine Dante Bosco in the recording booth being like, hey, so you have to pretend like you're being Azula in Iroh, but you can't be too good at it because Zuko's not that good at really anything. So how did you like that job interview, Katie?

I always like it. I like his little Zuko talking to Zuko and practicing and you know the frogs not giving him the reaction that he's looking for.

How many other times do we think Zuko's had a Zuko conversation about something Zuko should do that we just haven't seen? Do you think he's he's done this before? Like he's like getting jazzed up before like the Siege of the North. He's like, okay, Zuko, you gotta go. You gotta go capture that little kid, and that waterbending girl's gonna be there, but you gotta take her down.

I assume that this is a common theme. You know, Zuko's kind of alone, so he's gotta pump himself up.

So during Zuko alone, you actually see him he gets off the ostrich horse, he's like, Okay, Zuko, this is what you're gonna do. But I do appreciate that we see him his job interview thing that he does, he seems like he's gonna do a pretty good job. Like he's making some pretty valid points when he's talking to himself.

But then when he goes down to the temple and he's actually talking to them, he's fumbling over his words. He's got no game. He like he sounds like he sounds even sketchier than what before.

Well, it's in his his interview when he finally approaches the gang is totally reminds me of every job interview I've had. Like, I will talk to myself before a job interview, and then I'll go to the job interview, and the first question they ask me is like, why do you want to work here? Or do do you you know do you consider yourself a hard worker or whatnot?

No. And I'm just No. And I'm like, how can I prove to you that I'm a hard worker? Like, I can't just tell you I'm a hard worker because I think you and I have both have different descriptions of what a hard worker is. And so when he goes to the group, he goes, 'cause he goes, I know I'm a I've been a bad guy, but now I'm a good guy.

It's like, how do you prove to you to everybody right then and there that you're a good guy? And so I can understand his fumbling over his own words. I would have sounded just as idiotic as he did.

Did you think the gang was going to react differently to Zuko when he approached them?

To be honest, I didn't really care how they were gonna react.

Did you think that they were gonna be like, yeah, Zuko? We do need a firebender teacher.

I just kind of kept whispering to myself, like, Zuko.

You weren't whispering, we were sitting right next to you. You were doing no whispering at all. You're a liar. You don't get this job.

unknown No.

So, no, I was mouthing to myself along with me. Do not don't firebend on them, Zuko. Don't lose your nerve. Don't lose your nerve.

Yeah, I guess that's true. You were mouthing because I was looking over and Troy's just going.

For those of you that can't see, Jordan is literally impersonating me right now.

It's very loud.

So, yeah, with Zuko, I don't think there was there was no way they could have like accepted him in that moment. Because actions speak louder than words, as we know. And Zuko's shown before he can talk a good talk, but then yeah, when when the pivotal moment comes, he's proved that he can't be trusted to make the right decision.

So, yeah, of course they're not gonna trust anything he's gonna say. And so Katara was totally justified in not buying it, and so is Sokka. But Katara saw like she saw all of it. She gotta see Zuko pour his heart out to her to an extent, and then just be crushed when he makes makes the wrong decision.

So of course she's gonna be really apprehensive to it.

Well, right, because she almost wasted her little magic water on Zuko, and that would have been a huge bust, had had the same ending. Okay, moving on. But it was I thought it was interesting like the flashback to when he and Iroh were at the Western Air Temple, and then they say like a week after he was banished.

What did you think about that, Troy?

Uh, you know, I just the guy that voices Iroh now, it's like sometimes I can't tell that Mako's gone, and other and other times I'm like, oh dude, just stop talking. Mako.

But yeah, no, it's it's hard. And I'm trying, I'm trying really hard not to compare him to Mako. It's so hard. But I tried to listen to what Iroh was saying. But I think it was interesting with the Iro Zuko flashback because there's a it's not intentionally supposed to be a a foreshadowing or parallel to what this episode is, but I took it that way when Zuko says, uh, look, the only way for me to regain my honor is to find the Avatar.

And now we have finally Zuko's trying to find the Avatar to regain his honor with actions.

Yeah, no, I uh this episode literally posed two questions in my mind. One, well not really a question, but more of like, I wanted to see what Iro was like in his days of glory when he was still like a general in the firebending nation. Like, how dangerous, how ruthless was he really before he totally chilled out?

Because he's got this incredible reputation. Dragon of the West. Mm-hmm. And every once in a while you get to see him use his talents, but you don't I really want to know what he was like back then when he was still like leading firebending soldiers in the battle. And second of all, I want to know what the combustion man's real name was.

Sparky.

Boom.

Sparky McBoom. So the first point about Iroh, we learn in the Firebending Masters that Iroh, before Zugo was born, found the dragons and was taught the true meaning of firebending. And so we can assume that was like it maxed maybe 20 years before Iroh's on there. And so we can maybe look at that as maybe Iroh's turning point because we don't get any sense that Iroh went out with an altruistic purpose to find the dragons.

Like, it does seem like he went out to find the dragons to kill the dragons. And so at that point, maybe Iroh was a different person, and then the dragons kind of set him on a different path.

He was enlightened.

That could have been an enlighten enlightening experience, but let's put a pin in that because we can talk a lot about when Zugo and Aang were enlightened by the dragons.

Well, that's true. Okay, also going back to Combustion Man, like when he shows up, but I thought when last time we saw him, didn't Toph, you know, mess up his little third eye.

Yeah, she like nicked him in the forehead.

So I was surprised to see that that was functioning at full capacity again. And then obviously Sokka's boomerang was MVP. Finally.

Can we talk about like like just Sokka being so good at like fundamental like geometry, he can like find like the path of where it went and be like, okay, I can just throw this just this way.

As we've established, Sokka probably shouldn't be able to do all these things, but he's apparently talented and just has these skills.

I mean, I understand the boom-t Boomerang one I don't I don't question. I mean, he's got he and Boomerang go way, way back. So instead of a snipe rifle, he's got a boomerang. But that moment where Sokka throws the boomerang, it's like kind of goes quiet. You see boomerang go, that was literally a one in a million chance.

So No way. Sokka, that was a one in two chance. Sokka had a 50% chance of hitting Combustion Man. The other one, he would have hit Zuko. You know, plunged to his death.

Sliced through that vine that he was like, oh, Zuko's trying to climb back up.

But we can all agree that the MVP of the Western Air Temple is Toph, as Toph is always the MVP of every episode. Because Toph, like, she has clarity when it comes to Zuko because Aang, and especially Katara and Sokka, I mean, their their opinions of Zuko so clouded from everything that happened in book one before Toph even joined the group.

And so everything that they are reacting about, Toph's like, that doesn't sound like too bad. Like, you guys are kind of like like letting all this cloud your judgment here. And I really appreciated that Toph took that stance. What'd you guys think?

Well, she met Iroh, and she thought Iroh was a heck of a guy, so I could see her wanting to give Zuko a chance.

Yeah, I almost think like had Toph not been there to like talk everyone through it, and then to go out and kind of like address Zuko and kind of confront him in a way, I don't know if he would have ended up joining the group.

I don't know. In my mind, Aang would have come around and like he would have been like tossing and turning and kind of like, oh, maybe I should go talk to Zuko.

Right, you kind of snu snuck off. You do get the sense that Aang was buying what Zuko was selling.

But I think out of respect for Sokka and Katara, that he didn't want to just because it was like, yeah, that does make sense, and I probably shouldn't trust him, but I also think Aang's all about those gut feelings and So's Sokka. Oh god.

Because Sokka I don't think necessarily was like super anti-Zuko, but he was more like, what's Zuka done for us?

Mm-hmm.

And I think Katara really is the only one that had like serious beef.

unknown Right.

And just for how privileged uh Zuko's been and how much he's had at his advantage, like the only thing that that the kids have had at their advantage is the fact that you got you have Aang, the Avatar, who can bend any element. And so I think they're also holding that against Zuko. Um I do I do appreciate that they didn't just like let him into the group, and that when they finally did, like Zuko was offering himself as a prisoner on a silver platter, like Tough said.

But and I and I understand why everybody reacted the way they did, but at the same time, they don't have time on their side. Susan's comments right around the corner, figuratively speaking. So between the time running out and they don't have any time to look for a Zhang Zhang. Uh Zhangzhang. Zhang Zhang.

Like they w they would have accepted Zuko's offer sooner or later. Um, but I thought it was very appropriate for Katara to establish her own sense of insurance and say, look, if you betray us one more time, I will end you permanently. I was really surprised by that line. I was not surprised. I was like, that's right, you give it to him.

What'd you think, Katie?

I mean it's like an uncomfortable scene for me. And clearly it's justified. But yeah, it's like this like bad girl coming into the room. It's like, listen here.

Well, a weird thing too is that us as viewers, like, we know Zuko so much better than these guys know Zuko. And so for us as viewers, we watch it and we're like, yeah, let him in. Zuko deserves this. Like, we've seen all the things he's been through. We've seen his flashback. It's that saying, like, there's nobody you couldn't love once you know their story.

And I feel like at this point, we know Zuko's story. They don't know his story. Katara's gotten snippets, and I think Aang sees some good in Zuko. Uh, and it's also interesting about like that moment that Zuko brings up about him saving, saving Aang when he was the blue spirit. I was really interested that they brought that up, and I was like, oh, it probably was like a big moment.

Yes.

But then uh apparently Aang never told Katara and Sokka about that.

Yeah, it was like all the secrets. It was like, oh well.

I got I got something to admit, guys.

Yeah, why did he keep that a secret? It's like the end of an election cycle. Like, you're just now bringing out these secrets to us. Just now it's a little late in the game, eh? You are a lizard man? Come on, man. Yeah. I will pay you to stop attacking them. I will pay you double to stop attacking them.

I think in that moment you definitely see Zuko being like this little princely twerp toward a combustion man.

In desperation to make things right, and he doesn't really know how. But actions speak louder than words, right? So he was trying to stop and and make it right, and it was a hot mess, but whatever.

Uh because Zuko doesn't think things through.

Right. Okay, going back to when he's like, oh, take me as your prisoner. I was like, what is happening? Get off the floor.

I mean Zuko's in a pretty low place.

Oh god. And then, you know, where Katara just like throws water at him.

And it's not even that like harsh. She just like gets him wet and he kind of like, it's definitely very insulting to Zuko, I thought. He's like soaking wet and he's like, okay, I'm gonna go. But poor Zuko, I mean, this is like really his last chance at redemption.

So I mean poor writers, like, how do they make him redeem himself in a integrous way? But then they're realizing there's probably no way to save his dignity, so they'll just splash him, we'll we'll banish him, and then Toph is ultimately, as always, the one that gets the domino going. The dominoes going, so shout out to MVP Toph.

Why am I so bad at being good?

Do you think her feet have healed?

No.

I know, I was gonna- I was kind of like, okay. I I thought that in that moment, like, she's like crawling away, and I feel like he could have been like, let me help you, let me take you back there, okay, let me carry you.

He could have said that, but in Toph's mind, like, she's if she's blind without her feet and she's already blind in her eyes, there's no in heck. She's trusting anybody except her gang. So that's true.

I mean I mean, and you know, in those moments when like something crazy happens that you don't expect and you're already like feeling a little on edge, like I think Zuko probably just short circuited.

There was a there was plenty of awkward moments in this episode, but it was also plenty of highlights that made this episode one of the best ones. Like what? Uh awkward in terms of like Toph and Zuko both on their knees, one's for redemption.

Oh, I guess Zuko was on his knees. Okay.

Yeah. One's on his knees for redemption, she's on her knees trying to crawl away from him, all scared like. Um, and then I don't know, you got the kids, all four of them pretty much on their knees trying to hide from combustion, man. Uh that those were all the awkward moments.

I'm like, oh boy. We're not addressing the awkward moment where Aang kind of reverts, talking about the seriousness of needing to find a firebending teacher, and Aang kind of brushes it off because he doesn't want to face that.

Right, so he's just gonna go zip around the air temple.

Yeah. It was this had to have been quite the challenge to get off the writing table and into the uh uh booths.

I do think it was the best way that Zuko could have entered the group. I don't I don't think there would have been a better way for these characters to kind of get him back in.

I mean, the only way that he could have the only way they could have up the ante is when right when Combustion Man's about to blow up the group. He blows up Zuko's arm. Or Zuko blows up his arm. Oh god. Or pushes him off the cleft.

So wait, why was it one of the best episodes, do you think?

It just uh we get to see a part of Zuko where he finally has um uh that kind of intellect where he's you can see he's really good at being angry, as we've seen for the last three seasons, but you finally see the human side of him where he's really trying his hardest to make friends, but then he realizes he's not good at making friends.

Better than Azula. Way better than Azula. But that's I think that that's the cost of coming from royalty is that you don't know how to talk to people who you think are inferior inferior to you. And so he's just like, oh god, like these people are actually superior to me in a way. So he's always like, Oh, come on, Zuko, think, think, think, think.

How do you make friends?

I know where he was like, oh, like, oh, looks like like thanks for letting me into your group, and they're like, wait a minute. Yeah. Like you're not really in the group.

Another awkward moment where they just kind of like walk off as he's as he's like, thanks for letting me into your group, and they just all walk off.

I do appreciate that we uh kind of address like all the awful things Zuko's done. Like everyone kinda like even like small things like the pirates kind of get brought back up. I mean, they are holding a grudge. So, I mean, this episode also has probably Katie's singular favorite like most favorite moment in the whole series.

Any guesses onto what that is, Troy?

The frog.

No. Well, I guess kind of.

You're used to being into frog so much. So much.

So much. Frog! What's my favorite line?

Katie's favorite moment is hello, Zuko here.

So much that Jordan made me a Valentine.

It's true. I did. What it was it, Katie?

It was Zuko saying hello, Zuko here.

It says hello, Valentine here. Oh, fine. Very nice, right?

You're right.

So taking it back to your first experience watching this, Katie, what was your reaction with this whole episode?

Oh god, like I could even remember. This is like my first. Time, remember? I think for me, I'm kind of like Katara. You know, I'm like, ooh, I don't want to trust Zuko, and I'm not really sure, even yeah. Screwing up so much. Right. So I was like, oh, like, is he really, you know, is he is he doing this for real or not?

So again, I would like to remind everyone that there was an eight-month gap between the day of Black Sun episodes.

As somebody who loves this show and you had to wait that long, did you have a tear in your eye when you first when you watched the show again? I almost think I was angry with how long it took.

So when Zuko said Zuko here, were you like, yay, or are you like, uh.

Oh no, Jordan was literally firebending during this whole episode. I was very happy. I was f I was so satisfied that Zuko was finally there. But again, like I had eight months of just like considering every single way of Zuko meeting the group, and so I'd already like played out a bunch of scenarios.

But you thought he would be good for real. Oh yeah, especially after what he did Day of Black Sun. I was waiting for that turn since Crossroads of Destiny because I knew Zuko had it in him, and I could tell intuitively that the writers were gonna put him in that direction. So waiting that long, it's hard because for me watching it, like everything Day of Black Sun and before is like all very vivid, and it's all like episodes I've seen many, many, many times.

And then the back half of book three I haven't seen as much because of how shoehorned they were put through. And that's Nickelodeon's fault 100% because they waited eight months between Day of Black Sun airing in the US. So Day of Black Sun aired in November in 2007.

Right, who can remember that? Oh yeah, I think it was a sunny Wednesday afternoon, maybe like 3 30.

I distinctly remember going to a football game in high school for the pet band where I'd played Tuba and being like, guys, Day of Black Sun's recording right now at home, and I'm gonna go home and watch it, and it was like blew my mind. So and then the next month in December.

He was just saying it to whoever was listening.

Hey guys!

Hey guys! Telling Mr. Coughlin Jordan, play the song.

No, Day of Black Sun. So the next month, they aired it in Canada in December, and then they didn't air it in the US until July, where every single day for a week, they played one new episode every day in July. They called it Countdown to the Comet, and I was just mad, and I hated the whole thing. It was so dumb.

I feel like watching it a a first person watching it, like you can kind of have this like seamless transition. But for me, there's like everything before the day of Black Sun and everything after. Because in the show, there's like maybe a day goes by between those two episodes. And then for me, in real time, I had to experience complete agony of the rest of my senior year waiting for this, thinking that like, oh man, I'm gonna die and I'm not gonna know it's gonna what's gonna happen.

So I ended up having to watch this episode and the Firebending Masters and the next and the Boiling Rock. I watched it on our gross like 2005 era computer with like some really funky internet connection. So I just didn't get like a very good experience with it. I was just so hungry for what happened next.

So I felt it was like a really guilty thing for me watching it. I was like, this is my only option. I'm gonna pirate it.

Wow.

So that's my tirade. And just like Sokka says after he introduces Zuko to his bedroom, this is really, really weird.

So did Nickelodeon ever explain why it took them so long?

There's probably something internal that they did. I've always had this theory that Nickelodeon got scared of the potential of Avatar the Last Airbender of being this like high budget, high production value series that was serialized, that you had to have a serious writing team being like, okay, this is our like season goal, this is our episode goal, this is how we're gonna progress all these characters, versus a show like SpongeBob SquarePants, where like every, you know, 11-minute episode is its own self-contained thing.

It becomes a lot more work to put on something of the scope of Avatar. And I think again, this is just my own like paranoia. I just assumed that Nickelodeon was scared of having to do more of that, and they didn't whoever was in charge maybe didn't want that to be the direction Nickelodeon was going.

Gotcha.

So that's my theory on it. That's a good theory. And so they just held off on doing it, just kind of like got rid of it. And then Nickelodeon did a bunch of sketchy things with Korra, too, of the sequel series, which I can get into later.

Is it gonna is uh Avatar gonna be doing like a multiverse like every other show is right now?

A shared universe, probably not a multiverse. But yeah, they they currently have two novels uh based on Avatar Kyoshi, and they have a bunch of uh graphic novels on the adventures of after after the show ends. So makes sense.

Moving on to Firebending Masters.

The first official episode with Zuko as part of the group.

Yeah, and Zuko can't firebend very well.

What'd you think about him losing his firebending, Troy? I legitimately felt sorry for him. And then it made me wonder, like, well, what's been driving his firebending this whole time? And of course, they throw the answer at you right out of the gate, you know. His his firebending came from his rage, and then he realized I was this episode basically taught you that there's uh a good way and a bad way to practice firebending in the way he's been taught, the way he's been raised.

That is like the darkest way to firebend, and um the most twisted way. And so I I really give a huge shout out that uh this whole series I've really underestimated the meaning of firebending, and this episode really educated me as to uh the uh potential of firebending and what it can be meant for.

Yeah, because they painted as like the villain, the villainy of the whole series. And I don't think we could have gotten that reaction from you, Troy, had they had they had that experience with uh a culture or a group that was associated with the Fire Nation. They had it to go with a culture that was so completely removed.

No, I and I really appreciated that for sure. It gave me a fresh look on the Fire Nation in a way that not a whole lot of shows are capable of doing.

So it's really interesting. Iroh in Bitter Work, he teaches Zuko about what fuels each of the elements. And when he gets to firebending, he says rage and emotion fuels this. Which after we find out that Iroh knows the true meaning of firebending, I don't know why he didn't tell Zuko that.

To protect the dragons. Well, but I don't know.

Yeah, maybe. Because he didn't quite know where Zuko was gonna land.

Yeah, maybe. And that Zuko wasn't ready for the truth.

That's true. Another thing about this episode is that uh Zuko no longer like grunts when he is firebending after this. Oh wow. Okay, I did not notice that until you said it. So yeah, every single time Zuko firebends, it's like And now after this, no longer grunts. So pay attention to that going forward.

So that voice actor is like, oh, finally, no more grunting.

Dante's like, oh my throat feels so much better now.

Oh my god. So what'd you think about this? Wait, do you know who the voice actor is for Zuko?

Roofy, yo. Roofy.

Look at the Oh, that's right.

That's right. We kill lawyers around here. I am a lawyer. Kill the la- I'm not that kind of lawyer. Uh I want to watch Hook now.

Yes, if you give a shout out to Hook.

Uh, Dancing Dragon was my favorite.

Just everything around it, or what do you mean?

Uh, just where it's like, okay, like, you know, Aang's like, oh, Zuko, like, will you dance with me? And he's like, what? Uh, you know, and then they do the little thing, do the dance. And then, okay, wait. But they do it one time and then have to perform it later for the dragons. I'm like, oh, great memory.

I don't know.

You know, kids pick these things up pretty easily. And they're both like well-versed in martial arts. They're like, okay, these are our forms. I got this.

Yeah, yeah. But I was like, this would not be me. I'd be like, wait, what's the move?

Okay, with the dancing dragon thing, two things. One, it was based off Long Ying Mokun, which is a traditional southern dragon kung fu. Yeah. Oh yeah. I could pick that up immediately. Alright, Troy.

Okay.

And then uh thing two, not me. I don't know if it was intentional, but like their ending pose definitely looks like the fusion move in Dragon Ball Z.

I was gonna say that. I was like, oh, I know that move.

And then they fuse into one. Remember, no more grunting. Oh, sorry. Fusion. Huh. There you go. Ha ha ha. Okay, so the Sun Warriors, what do we think about them? They totally remind me of the uh Mayan Aztec. Aztec, yes. Well, it's interesting that they they kind of like squish a bunch of cultures together because yeah, they're like loosely based off the Aztecs, but then like the architecture is like Indian Buddha stupas and like Tibetan monasteries couple.

I thought that was really cool that they decided to do that, like tweak it just a little bit. Yeah, no, and the way that the culture and the uh the tribe just all formed, I thought that was all incredible. This episode finally shows the viewers, especially the viewers like me that have no experience with the show, uh, where the end credits song originates from the ancient firebending chant.

Are you happy with that? I was d blown away. They definitely hired a little orchestra.

Chick-a-ch-chick-it chica, chick it chuck it chick. Katie, what'd you think about that?

The song.

Mm-hmm. And how they incorporated it in the end.

I mean, I wasn't as into it.

Now I'm insulted with how mild the end credits are on every single episode now that I know how far they can take that song. I'm like, why have we why have we not been getting this version every time? Why are we getting the radio edit?

Like, what the heck, guys? Okay, so I do appreciate that you have that take on the end credits song. I hate it. Like, it bothers me so much that they have the end credits song. What would you want for the end credits song?

Well, there was a an original.

An original. I mean, there was a moment where I was like, okay, this is fitting. Like, I'm happy with this. But it just because it was like with moi animation and it was it was the exact same track that they do for the end credits. Like, if they had like re re-recorded it with like kind of a different a different sound, you know.

Maybe some flutes. You know what song really doesn't fit the show that's on, but it's still awesome. Samurai Jack. That soundtrack does not fit the show at all, but it's still a really good soundtrack. Like, you would expect that soundtrack from the Avatar on Samurai Jack, not the hip-hop remix it's got going on.

That's true, that's true. So, Avatar, we could have done a little bit better with the end credits song, but I'll let it slide.

Okay, more with the end credits, I'm sorry. But then we go to like the Sun Warriors, like, like they look like they're chanting, they look like they're playing the drums, but nothing's in time. The whole thing.

I think one night they were all just kind of like having a little too much to drink on music night, and they just decided to make it that song I'm.

That is nice.

I definitely think it could have been better, but whatever.

But it's nice thematically, like you have the song that's in the end credits, and you're able to tie it into something that's culturally important to the series, and for that I appreciate it, so it's no longer just this like kind of random song.

Right, but going back to like it's almost you know, right, where we're meeting these firebenders that are more like indigenous people that are removed from the Fire Nation and their BS. And yeah, you have these two little punks that are like Aang and Zuko are definitely the odd couple. Oh yeah. Uh, but it's very sweet, kind of romantic.

They're sharing that.

Are you shipping Zhang?

Oh, Zang. Zhang. Yeah.

I think I am.

Isn't that nice?

Is anybody else surprised that the dragons were blue and red instead of black and white?

Why would they be black and white?

Yin and yang. Oh. That would have made it a little bit more um, I want to say philosophical, but that's not the right word.

Well, I think that the dragons were more of uh like spiritual creatures, but they are of the of the material plane, and so I just think it was coincidence that they happened to be red and blue. And it also goes along with the visions that Zuko had of the red dragon and the blue dragon. So they kind of they kind of tied it together with it.

Yeah, okay, I understand now.

Alright, with the Sun Warriors, I just kept getting the vibe because of how the like the monasteries were and the architecture. Do we think that the Sun Warriors were more like the air nomads in terms of like the what how they viewed the world? Like they were more like like monks in a way.

Keep to themselves.

And then like the the culture changed with the Fire Nation.

Yeah. I think they definitely had their own views, like the Air Nomads. So I'm start- I'm getting I'm getting strong vibes between the air nomads and the uh uh fire sun warriors. Sun warriors, thank you. That all four of the elements have like their own ancestral uh population that's not even connected to it.

Like Earth Kingdom, like they have their earth like they have bossing say, but then they probably have like I don't know, the Earth nomads living somewhere else.

That's fair, like ancient indigenous people who learned from like the badger moles.

Water tribe, you know, like where's their where did their ancestors come from? They must have sea Atlantis. Oh that that took a turn. The Atlantis nomads, you know what I mean? Living underneath the Fire Nation, probably know, deep in the sea.

Speaking of ancient things, I did appreciate when Toph was talking about like the original source of the bending powers, and we know that Toph is clearly the greatest earthbender in the world. She is. And it's it's interesting to learn that because she learned from the Badger Moles, like maybe that's the reason she's so good at earthbending.

And I did appreciate that the the distance between bending as a fighting style and a martial art versus bending as like the way you interact with the world. And I do think that was an important thing that Toph says, and more like what the actual meaning of bending is in this world.

And I guess that's what makes Azula and her dad and Zuko so boring when they are all villains. I'm just like, okay, you guys are just blowing stuff up, send people on fire, boring.

But just think how cool they are when they're heroes. Imagine what Azula and Ozai is gonna be like when they turn. I know. Let's go to Ember Island.

Let's let's take a few steps back to season one during that podcast. Uh what Toff said really highlights what I was talking about, how Tai Chi, the peasants on the farms were teaching themselves how to fight using yard tools. And Tai Chi is not has never been meant to be used as a fighting style. It was just a way for them to learn how to defend themselves, but they had to incorporate it into their farm work somehow.

And so for her to say, you know, earth bending was never about fighting, it was just about a way of getting around on the earth, I was like, that's beautiful right there. So wondering what was the original use for the firebending? Life, you know, to you know, to heat up the food to keep warm during the cold days.

I it was just the very, very the most elegant, most beautiful episode they've done today.

And they talk about the flame having a little heartbeat and that fire is life and Yeah, no, that was really creative stuff by the writing team for sure.

I mean, we do get that Aang finally finally sees what firebending should be. And it was interesting that they kind of do a callback to the deserter episode. And it's really interesting that both of these episodes had like a Zhang Zhang deserter episode like reference. So in this one, because I've watched the show set 7,000 times, and I can just re-watch it in my brain right now.

Hold on. Aww, that's so nice. So when Aang first learns firebending from Zhang Zhang, he's like holding the leaf, and then he gets the fire, and he's like, you know, being a punk kid. And then he does that thing where he kind of like shoots out the fireball, and you get that thing in the deserter episode where Aang's like smiling as like the flame kind of dissipates around him before it hits Guitara.

And the exact same thing happens in this episode after Aang shoots his first fireball. You get that exact same moment of like the flame dissipating around Aang, and he's got this big smile on his face. And I thought that was a really important way to show how far he's come with like his interpretation of firebending.

Was I the only one that thought he was gonna accidentally burn Zuko? His other side of his face? You're sick. Like he's all like he's just all firebending, all happy. I was like, hey, this looks familiar.

Ouch! I'm sorry, Zuko. Okay, what did we think about Aang and Zuko finally hanging out together as friends?

Well, it was a much different conversation than what he has with Katara and Sokka. Like, they're both driven but in their own way. And you have Zuko, who for the first time in his life is driven to find the Avatar, but not necessarily capture him, but now he wants to teach the Avatar. And it's just kind of interesting.

With Zuko's past, it kind of put me on the edge of my seat, figuratively speaking.

Yeah, he was relaxed in the chow.

Yes.

He was whispering to himself.

He just might firebend just out of pure temper.

But So do you think Zuko's still kind of like like a little unstable?

Do you think he's That's the way I'm viewing him? Like he wants to redeem himself, but he's still unstable. Uh he keeps saying how his rage is gone, but it's just too funny because he said that so many times in the past, that's why I gave up on him for the first two and a half seasons.

But he just saw the rainbow fire.

There were colors in there I never even imagined. That's how I feel every time I see a piece of artwork. They're like, oh, those colors, how'd they mix that? So it was like they had this like life-altering experience with those dragons.

Oh yeah. They're kind of tripping out.

I was gonna say, like, that must have been like the original like LSD acid experience.

Iroh's like, hey, Prince Zuko, go see the dragons. But I do think it's like this great bonding moment for Zuko.

Puff the magic dragon. Okay. Wow.

Wow, Troy. I just had to do think that Zuko and Aang are like bonding in this episode, and Zuko has traits of I think Katie's favorite archetype of character, which is Grumpy Good Guy.

Mm-hmm.

Oh, that brings me to Zuko's favorite line that I have. They are both stuck after that setting up that trap. And Aang goes, help. And Zuko says something I would have said too. Who are you yelling to?

Okay, do we talk about like Aang's obviously comfortable enough with Zuko to like, while they're waiting for the dragons to show up, he's like crawling on his back, like, share your fire with me, man. That was pretty intimate.

I was like, whoa, Aang, whoa. They were getting pretty cozy. We are in the middle of a pandemic and you feel comfortable crawling over somebody else. As like the Sun Warriors are just watching.

What are they doing up there? Right. Well, my fire is fine.

You're a fire. No, get take one of their fires.

And that's why I'm shipping Aang and Zuko. Zang.

Okay, so were you surprised that the masters were dragons?

No.

Because it you seemed like at some point when the like the cave started to rumble, you were like, Yeah, I knew it.

Yeah. It was like literally at the second, right before they did the rumbling, I was like, I was like, of course it'd be the dragons. Of course they have a couple still alive.

See, I think I was surprised until the dragon showed up. Like I wasn't anticipating it.

Okay, because they just said all the dragons were gone.

Yeah, they say it several times to make you like really believe.

But then on as they were calling up the steps, I'm like, I'm like, okay, who is this Ran and Shao? I'm like, who are they? I'm like, these two guys that are just gonna look at the boys up and down, like, hmm, I don't know if they're worthy or not. I don't know. Like, how can you tell? How could two firebending Sun Warriors guys tell from two boys holding flames that they are worthy or not?

And then as soon as it did the rumblings, I was like, oh yeah, it's gonna be two dragons.

It'd be great if like Iroh had showed up instead, like, hey, what's up?

That would have made it all the more better. Watch this, Zooka.

I'm the original firebending master. I've been here since the beginning. You find out Iroh's just immortal, he's a spirit.

So did those dragons, have they just been hanging out in that cave all this time in the sun where old are they? Yeah, like did they just build their village, their their tombs around the dragons, or did the dra or did they train the dragons like how to train your dragon? That's what I was thinking of, you know, how to train your dragon.

Avatar version. Like, I mean, like, what is the relationship between the villagers and the dragons?

Well, because they're the original masters of firebending, the sun warriors are the original practitioners. I imagine that they just revere dragons in general, and so maybe these dragons are especially old, maybe.

Those dragons would be so disappointed in the dragons from Game of Thrones.

Yeah. I mean, I think that the dragons are just respected and that they kind of worship the OG firebenders, and I mean, obviously they thought Well, it seemed like they thought that the dragons were gonna eat them. And like that that was gonna be the sacrifice. But maybe they have to sacrifice themselves.

The dragons to the Sun Warriors, what would that be the equivalent of, let's say An animal to Americans. The bald eagle. I was just thinking that, but I was just like.

The turkey. If you're listening to Benjamin Franklin, he was like, this is our mascot, this thing. Yeah, true story. Turkey. True story, man. Katie got hungry for turkey yesterday. Okay, real quick, let's talk about the original benders. So we got the dragons, we got the sky bison, we got the badger moles, and we have the moon.

So we have three animals or like living creatures, and then we have a celestial object.

For waterbender.

The moon? So the moon is the original waterbender. But that's not an animal. I know. So I don't know. It seems like a bit of a lapse in my mind. Like, and I see where they're going from because you get a lot of good moments in book one of like, oh, the moon was the original. And you get the sense that the sun is that for the firebenders, with what Zuko says in book one.

So it doesn't have to be an animal, it's just it was an element. Yeah, the moon. Yeah, I could see that.

But right, but why isn't it the sun instead of a dragon?

Yeah, no, three animals and a moon. No, two animals. Three animals and a moon. Three men and a little lady.

Well, wait. Maybe there's another animal. Or it was like, okay, we had the moon and then we had polar bears.

Or it was like an animal that is lung has been extinct and they don't remember what it was anymore. I mean, I could see that.

Okay, first animal you think of when you think of water.

Fish. It was a fish. Well. A fish that shoots water. Well, you do get the like the unagi. The unagi and like the serpent in the serpent's bass. The Nagi definitely s like spews water. So I mean that could be it. Good point. Obviously, it's not. The whale. But yeah, I think it's interesting that you get three animals in the moon.

But also, every single one of those, minus the badger moles, has been like has been sought after to be destroyed. Like all the Sky Bison minus Apa are destroyed. All the dragons minus the like the original fire, like the masters are destroyed.

So we got bisons, we got Zhao destroyed the moon.

Right. And so everything's been like tried to like everyone's tried to go after it except the badger moles. They're the only safe ones. Badger moles.

Just like Bossings say.

Bison's. I'm sorry.

Bison, dragons, badgermoles. Okay, so it was not badger moles.

Nobody wants the badger moles.

But no, the the moon's for the water. Badger moles are for the earth.

But maybe it's because you have to dig up the whole earth to find them.

Yeah, maybe.

Yeah.

Oh, I remember last time when the Tyler. Oh Tyler's going cousin Tyler's going by on his motorbike. Okay, so what do you think about that? Like every everything's been. Antagonists have tried to destroy every one of the original benders except for Badger Moles. Like, what do you think about that?

Yeah, I just think that they were too they're too good. Well, I mean, I'm just working.

I'm just talking about like the act of like trying to destroy the original benders.

Well, I think, yeah, it's a it's a power move, and in a our way's the best way, and we gotta dominate everyone else type of thing. That's that's a demented way of thinking, but that's that's a way of thinking.

Okay, going back to like just some some trivia nuggets, this is Zuko's second time on Opa. You dig your brain and you find your nuggets.

Is it making you hungry? Just me. Did I eat breakfast?

Okay, so this is uh Zuko's second time on Oppa.

The first time he was unconscious because it was during the Siege of the North Part 2 when Zuko's like, Yeah, I feel like we never really uh talked about Zuko being like, and I saved Appa.

No one reacted to that. No one was like, oh my gosh, thank you. That was so good of you to do.

Like, I feel like Zuko and Aang could have shared it a moment and he was like, hey, so thanks for Hey, you're welcome. Okay, moving on.

Uh other trivia nugget, we get a Ragers of the Lost Ark moment where Aang's like, I'm just not, I don't trust like shiny things on pedestals.

unknown Hmm.

What was that stuff that stuck them? That stuff that stuck them.

What'd you just say?

The trap. What was that stuck?

What was that goo, that glue like stuff? I can only imagine. Must have been.

Whatever it was, it was delicious to those anteaters. We had that semi-erotic scene of them licking on the phone.

I don't know what they're protecting.

I don't know what that thing is. It was just like some gem.

Yeah, that yeah, that that does not get um referenced again for the rest of the episode.

No, it was just a McGuffin thing to Wow. Yeah. What a What a goof. Okay, rewinding to the very beginning of this episode, I didn't like Sokka's characterization. Like he was just really like jokey jerk bending. Jerk bending was hilarious, but then it just kind of kept going. He's like, I just gotta make Zuko mad.

Yeah, because Sokka's annoying.

Okay, I'm glad you brought that up because it did uh I don't want to jump ahead too far, uh, but now that we're there, I love how at the beginning of the season Aang was full of the corny jokes, and Sok and Katara were a little a little bit serious. Now, Aang is finally serious, and now Sok and Katara are having the corny jokes.

No, no, she doesn't have the corny jokes, she's trying to kill Zuko. Grow up, Sokka. Grow up, dude. Like, how Sokka grew up in day of black jokes. Jerk. Jerk bending, you know, jerks, jerk bending. I'm like, dude, I still got it.

He's got a sword now.

It's true, he does have a sword. He's a sword master. Yes. But we can also talk about the other greatest line, Sifu Hotman.

Don't call me that.

Your Zuko impression. I don't know why.

That totally felt like a Napoleon Dynamite moment right there. Sifu Hotman.

Don't call me that. Teeny Fat Lard.

Whatever. Jordan hasn't even seen Napoleon Dynamite.

Yes, I was sick once and we had rented it for three days, and on one of my sick days, I watched it and did not laugh at all. Not funny. Terrible movie. Personal problem.

Oh man. Dad had a vote for Pedro shirt. Remember that?

Well, dad hated that movie too.

I know, and I was like, why do you have vote for Pedro on all the time?

I think it was like the third time.

He always wore it.

You was this mustache? You were watching it for like the third time, I think, and dad walks in from the bar, and he's, you know, he's he's trying to change his. It's not like he's at the bar. From the barn. Barn. Fucking from the barn. And he glances over. Every time he glances over at the TV, he's like cracking up at whatever they're saying in the movie.

I was like, you're just now finding that funny? I was too into my computer games at the time to care what the movie was, because uh Katie had bought movie tickets, or dad had bought movie tickets, and I'm sitting there in the theater thinking like this is the dumbest movie ever. But I couldn't help myself.

It was still funny. Especially when Canned Heat came on. So now, referring to back to the show, Sokka.

Yeah, let's bring it back.

Sokka and uh Aang and Zuko. Man, you're really naming off all the boys.

What about Toph? What about Katoph?

Just the boys, because in Napoleon Dynamite, they're totally acting like Napoleon. Napoleon, Kip, Kip, Kip, and Uncle Rico. Like, they're just acting just as dumb. It's like, oh, come on, you guys.

Never, never in my life did I ever expect to have a conversation about Avatar that's segued into Napoleon Dynamite, and I don't know what to think about this.

Well, no comment.

Is this a life bingo card moment I gotta knock off? 2020 really is the worst year.

Jordan's like, I've never felt so disrespected with Napoleon Dynamite on my podcast.

Alright, you guys stop jerkbending.

Let's wrap this up.

Do we agree that both Zuko and Aang are kind of jointly at fault for the decline of the dragons?

Yeah.

Cool.

Troy? Yes or no? Spitfire.

Yes. Tori? Jordan? Uh I think it's unfair. It's not fair.

It's a yes or no question.

It's unfair.

That's a yes. Okay. Uh, Troy, what's gonna happen?

Well, is that the wait and find out?

No, boo. Come on. We have an opinion. Katie, what's gonna happen? Let's spoil it all for Troy.

Um, Zuko is a bad boy.

Zuko's gonna grow a mustache. Troy's hungry. His stomach is crumbling.

Oh my god, that's so rude. How many episodes do we have left? I've never seen this.

Five. I'm not gonna tell you how many episodes we have left, but we have five. The next two episodes.

You already looked it up?

No, that's we don't have five episodes. Don't listen to Troy. Troy just winked at me.

I don't like it.

We have.

Okay, it's fine. How many. What do we have? We have nine. What do we have? No, eight.

We have eight episodes left.

Eight.

Eight episodes left. I was gonna get to eight. The next two are called the Boiling Rock. Part one. And the Boiling Rock. Part two. It's gonna be part three? Can't tell you.

What do you go? You go. I don't have anything to say.

I have nowhere to go. Alright, kids. Until next time, practice your jerk bending and make sure to keep all of your jerk bending forms as jerky as possible.

Also, PSA, don't be a jerk. We got enough of those rolling around.

Thank you, Sifu Hotman. Hot woman. Yep, yep. Yep, yep.

Yep.

So I remember in a previous podcast, you had expressed that you would have been really upset if Zuko was going to be Aang's firebending teacher. Oh yeah, that guy's upset.

What you're feeling. Yeah, where are we at right now?

Yeah, so when uh he burns Top's feet because proving to me that he's not gonna be a good teacher, that he just like can't control himself. And then Aang's like, I also couldn't control myself. You'll be a great teacher. I was like, no, Aang, this is why he's not a good teacher. What are you talking about?

No flying pig. Top's the perfect person for me. Like Top is like, oh, look how good she is. She's done exactly what um it's not Binky. What's his name?

Oh, uh uh Boomy.

Boomy.

Binky. King Binky of Omashu.

Yeah.

Well, King Binky.

I feel like you're justifying it for yourself, but you don't have any other options. I mean, Toph's right, like, he's your best option.

Yeah, I do. I think Toph was definitely MVP in that episode, again, for like convincing everyone. Because they're like uh we we talked with Troy about, they're so clouded in their judgment about Zuko because of everything that has happened. And most of what he did against them was in book one versus Toph, who joined in book two, who really has no relationship with Zuko or like what he did to them.

No firsthand experience with that.

I thought it was funny that Appa was like, hey, my friend.

Hey, remember that time you saved me? Blah blah.

But I feel like they were like, I feel like they didn't even really address it. They were just like, yeah, yeah, I don't know. I don't think Zuko actually saved Appa.

But Zuko is so chill about Appa licking him. Like he just sits there as he's just doused by Appa's gigantic tongue.

Well, I think he's just trying to like not do anything. He's like, I'm trying to look as meek as possible. Like, you can trust me. And like, of course they're not gonna trust you. There's nothing you can do by just showing up and being like, hey, remember those times where it seemed like I was almost on your side, but this time, actually on your side.

Although Top can tell he's not lying. I mean, he's a terrible liar.

What about Combustion Man? Oh, the assassin. And then Zuko's like, oh, sorry, I sent this guy.

Which did he die at the end of that episode, Combustion Man?

It's assumed that he died because his arm like flies off of the canyon after Saga smacks him in the face of the boomerang.

So I mean So is this the last we see of Combustion Man and like his like origin story? Like, okay, he's an assassin for the Fire Nation, does not explain how he has this like eye thing in his forehead.

And his mechanical robot hand. Penchant for not speaking.

And like, why didn't Fire Lord Ozai hire him to like defeat the Avatar as soon as they knew the Avatar was like out in the world?

Maybe only Zuko knew about this guy.

Like, obviously, he never thought Zuko was really gonna do it. Right. So why wouldn't you hire someone like that?

That's true. You think Ozai would go go all out to like take him down.

He had a lot of faith in his little army.

Yeah. So ultimately, I feel like we deserve more backstory, other than like Zuko hired this guy. Which it's not a good look for Zuko.

In this episode, I do feel like Zuko's personality like changes. Because we know that Zuko has this ability to be kind of like just super awkward at all times. But it's like he's doing impressions of Iroh and Azula. He's like, like, oh, why am I so bad at being good? It's just like it's a bit of really interesting evolution for Zuko to see in this episode.

I liked his impressions of Iroh and Azula.

I mean, they're fantastic. He's like talking to the frog. Uh something about the Western Air Temple, and I think I probably mentioned it to you before, is that after the Day of Black Sun, when this was originally airing, Nickelodeon went on an eight-month hiatus, and there was like no word on when the show was gonna come back.

And so it was like complete radio silence for eight months. So it aired.

All you see is Zuko riding off into the sunset, chasing them. Yeah.

Can you imagine me not having that resolution for eight months? So Nickelodeon didn't. That's almost one baby.

Well, and like, how was he able to track them? That balloon was going way slower than Appa.

Maybe he just like he's like, uh they're getting smaller in the distance. Like, oh, I think they're gonna be going here. I don't know. I mean, but we know Zuko's really good at tr like he's not good at much, but he's really good at tracking down Aang.

That's true. And they've established that he's already been to the Western Ear Temple once before, so Which probably helped make that s have that make sense.

So what did you think? What do you think about what's gonna happen now for the second half of book three?

Um, well, I mean, Iroh I'm interested to see what's gonna happen with Uncle Iroh now that he's escaped. Uh, because he doesn't know they're at the Western Inner Temple. And so, like, now I'm getting sad that like, is he gonna hook up with them again? Team Avatar? Is he gonna do like some like Dolly Shenanigans in the background of the Fire Nation?

And is he gonna like sabotage things like Zuko should have? Um should have uh recruited like May to be on his side. I mean, I wonder if she would There's a lot of things, Zuko.

I don't know.

That would have been an interesting conversation to see if she would have portrayed Azula. Like, hey, I'm where do you stand with loyalty here, babe? Yeah, let's pick up.

She doesn't really care. Yeah. That's not her problem.

Mm-hmm.

It's pretty new.

But I feel like um Circus Girl. Tiny. I feel like she could be convinced.

Oh yeah. Tell like this is gonna be way more fun, and you get hang out with Sokka.

Yeah, she'd be like, okay, I'll come. I mean, come on, Zuka. Recruit some other Fire Nation people.

unknown I know.

Recruit a Fire Nation Underground. I mean, has there there's been no hint that there's like a Fire Nation Underground.

Not that we've seen. It sounds like they have a pretty iron fist in the Fire Nation. Because I think Zhang Zhang would have been one to have like an underground, but he kind of did, but it was in the Earth Nation or Earth Cre Earth Kingdom, so maybe it has to be off the off the Fire Nation.

Off the Fire Nation. In the colonies, as they say.

Yeah. Um that's a colony thing.

That's a colony thing. Um, but yeah, I guess I mean obviously they have to go back and eventually face Fire Lord Ozai. And they no longer have a convenient date of an eclipse. So I guess I predict that Aang is gonna learn firebending. Um he'll maybe go back to that yoga teacher to like unlock his seventh chakra so he can go to the Avatar State, and then he'll go fight the Fire Nation.

Um But yeah, I mean I guess their sense of urgency. Well, I guess well, when does the comic come, right? That's the other thing that's the time frame.

By summer's end.

And then what season are we in now?

So we're book three, we're in the final season.

No, no, no. I meant like, is it summertime when they happened?

Yeah, it's been summer. So and theoretically summer for a couple months.

So Okay, so they gotta get on it. So I mean, Aang should be able to pick up firebending. Well, again, I don't think Zuko's gonna be a good teacher, so it's probably gonna take at least a couple episodes.

The rest of the season is just Aang trying to figure it out.

Yeah. But it's not the opposite of air, so it shouldn't be as hard as roofbending, presumably.

I mean, because Aang picked up waterbending pretty quickly, better than Katara in the early episodes.

So yeah. I mean, I still have hope that they'll need some cabbages and a cabbage bender will show up.

The cabbage bender is secretly the the greatest firebender in the world. Okay, real quick, so yeah, the clock is ticking on the rest of the season to take down the Fire Lord before the comet arrives. Do you think they're going to be able to do that?

Before the comet arrives?

Mm-hmm.

It'll probably be like as the comet is like about to like streak across. Get him, get him! Yeah.

Katie, anything to say about the Western Air Temple or Day Black Sun?

Nope.

You've said it all?

I've said it all.

Perfect.

Uh yeah, excited to re-watch the rest. Because yeah, Jordan's been wanting to watch these episodes, and I want to have an organic reaction because it's like my first time again. And so I don't even remember what's coming up.

Because I'll say it again. So there was an eight-month hiatus after the Day of Black Sun, and then Nickelodeon, what they did, and it doesn't sound like that big of a deal in 2020, but in 2008, they dumped the back half of book three over the course of one week. Like every day of the week was a new episode leading up to the series finale.

The four-part series finale, and I was so angry about that.

It's not much like process time. So it was like a different year by the time the end of the same.

Yeah, so no so they did like an I mean that is weird.

Because didn't they make a big deal about the Black Sun eclipse episode on Nickelodeon?

Yeah.

So then they were like, now we're gonna do an eclipse of information about Avatar.

Yeah, and then like it was before the internet was like as prevalent as it is today. Like, I had to like go on message boards, I was like commiserating with other people online. Like Nickelodeon was like not talking about it at all. And I was like, oh great, they're gonna cancel it, and I'm never gonna know what happens.

Bold.

Which is crazy, you know, that I think they probably just didn't anticipate. I'm sure back then they weren't anticipating that there would be such a huge fan base.

But it it wasn't that big until book three, and book three is when it got really big.

Mm-hmm. So look at it now. Trending on Netflix and there's podcasts and all sorts of good stuff going on.

Alright, Jessica. Who's your favorite character right now?

Um Azula. Who's your second favorite?

It's all Azula. Top three's Azula.

Azula, Azula, Azula.

Um don't say that in a mirror, she'll show up.

Yeah. I mean, would I want to meet Azula in real life? No, she's terrifying.

I met Azula in real life.

Yeah, Jordan met her.

The voice actress. Oh, yeah.

I I met Gray Delisle, who's the voice actress of Azula at Seattle Comic-Con in 2012, and it was very satisfying. She signed my book too. I was like, hey, can you sign this? And she did. And then on Twitter, a couple years later, she uh had like some tweet about how it's really sad when people like have them and celebrities as like their profile picture, and I definitely had me and her as my profile picture for a hot second.

And I was like, oh, she's talking about me.

Me. I forgot about that. Thanks, Azula.

Which is a weird thing.

It's not like I met Azula.

I made her laugh.

Not enough to be in a profile pick.

I also met Christopher Lloyd and made him very uncomfortable.

Hmm.

Yeah.

Yeah. Uh yeah, second favorite character. Yeah, it's Mavon, Jessica. I guess. I mean, are we talking about for the series overall, or just like currently with what's happening in the story?

I think where you're at right now, like just your organic, like, oh, this is my second favorite character.

Um, I think my second favorite character is tough because one, obviously, Team Avatar, I don't even know where they'd be without her. Exactly. Like that, she's straightforward, cuts to the crap. She's just like a realist, like, this is what we have to do, guys. I'm sorry. We gotta do it this way. Um, so I appreciate that.

Um and then uh third character, Appa. I mean, he's MVP.

Time to get a flying bison chick-dit-ticket ticket.

Fire dancing. No, dragon dance. Dragon. Wait, wait, wait, and we'll all do the form. Ready? And bend. Troy. Oh. And bend it.

And bend it, and jerk it, and bend it. No, no, do not say and jerk it.

Okay, just cut it off.

Hello, Zuko here.

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