Sozin's Comet

0:00 Water.

0:00 Earth.

0:01 Fire.

0:02 Air. This is what we This is ypping it. Alright! It's our podcast. One shaka. Why is it what accent is this? One shaka. Just one shaka. Wait. He actually called it a welker, like Frank Welker. Wait, how do they say it? Um geez. English, is that what they say instead of shaka?

0:30 What does Black Panther always say?

0:31 Uh Wakanda Forever. Thank you.

0:33 What what does he say?

0:36 That is what he says.

0:38 That is what he says. I'm sorry. I did not watch the whole movie.

0:41 Why have you not seen old Black Panther yet?

0:44 I'm sorry, I fell asleep.

0:46 How?

0:48 It was so slow.

0:49 No, it's one of the, if not the best superhero movies. It had one of the best villains in it, yes.

0:55 Oh my god, we need to watch this.

0:56 Okay, this is our next our next podcast. It's gonna be us watching old Black Panther in 10-minute increments. We're gonna watch 10 minutes and then we're gonna watch.

1:05 Are we listening to how the Shaka sounds?

1:09 That's fine. I was thinking, does he say Wakanda Forever? Does he say Shaka Forever? I'm like, What shaka forever.

1:17unknown What?

1:18 Troy. We're about to watch the Avatar finale, the four-part epic conclusion called Sozan's Comet.

1:32 And that's the name of all four episodes is Sozan's Comet. Oh, yeah.

1:35 It's part two movie event.

1:37 Yeah, part one, two, two, and three. So this is gonna be better than Star Wars. It god, it better.

1:44 It's gonna it's gonna be like Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones all wrapped into one little nugget.

1:49 Oh no, not those ones.

1:50 Okay, what's gonna happen?

1:53 Well, there's a conspiracy theory going on that that it the finale is actually just a dream.

1:58 It is, yeah, no, no. We're gonna find out the whole series is a dream. Aang's still in the iceberg.

2:02 He's still in the iceberg, yes. Just hanging out with Apa.

2:06 We actually find out Aang's in a time loop. And so the series ends with him going back into an iceberg, and then Aang and Katara f or Aang and Sokka find him, and then he the final shot of the show is the beam of light coming out of the iceberg again, and then we start it all over. Oh man. That's what the Avatar cycle is.

2:24 It's just Aang reliving this terrible, terrible 10-month process over and over again.

2:28 That doesn't surprise me. I mean, what else does 2020 have to throw at us? It's gonna be this.

2:32 Oh man. So, Troy, get your comment ready.

2:35 After all these months, all this hard work. Here we are. How does it feel? Just for an extru an excruciating time loop.

2:43 How does it feel to be this close to the end?

2:45 We put in our work, we've done our time. I'm excited. Let's do this. I'll be rooting for Ozai.

2:51 Troy! And we're live.

3:04 So live, live from New York.

3:09 Wait, no, we are not in New York. Live from the Oregon coast. Except for we did tell someone we were from the coast one time. He was more inland in the valley of Oregon.

3:20 Yeah, wasn't he in Corvallis?

3:21 It was in Albany.

3:22 Well.

3:23 Yeah, we're like, oh, we're from the coast. And he's like, uh, we told him like what town it it was. And his response was, that's not the coast.

3:31 Yeah. He was like, well, you're not on the beach. And we said, yeah, we didn't say we're we live on the beach. We said we live on the coast.

3:38 Like, I could ride my bike to the ocean and probably not break a sweat. I live on the coast. Anyway. Do you know who else lives on the coast? Who? The Fire Nation and the Water Tribes. They live on the coast. It seems a little ironic for where the Fire Nation lives.

3:57 Why? Because it's a volcano? No, because you don't want them to be by water. Because they they they don't want to be by water.

4:02 They're an archipelago, man. I guess so.

4:05 They're yin and yang.

4:07 Guys, friends, listeners, compadres, uh esteemed rivals, we've done it. We just finished the four-part series finale, Sozin's Comet. Oh, I heard cookies and I was like, Well, we know where Katie's mind's at. Cookies and Hercules.

4:30 Okay.

4:30 How about Hercules' cookies?

4:33 Are we in a weird space? Yeah.

4:34 I think we're hungry. Are we all hungry? The best part is we haven't even introduced ourselves yet. Yeah, Sarah. I'm T-Roy.

4:43 Okay, T-Roy.

4:44 Take it away, Sarah. I'm Katie. Take it away, Sarah. Okay, did Sarah not get the invitation?

4:50 Who are you? Sarah. Sarah.

4:52 I guess I'm Sarah. I'm Sarah. Little Sarah. It's me, little Sarah, aka little Lil Sarah. It's my rap name from uh 1994 to 1998.

5:02 It only took podcasters a whole podcast season to find out your name is really little Sarah.

5:07 Yeah. Uh surprise, guys. This is the main plot twist. It's me.

5:11 One season? And this has been a long season. Yeah. It's like 20. This is episode 28, I think.

5:17 I don't know any other podcasters that put their whole season through a pandemic.

5:21 Nobody has introduced me yet. You can introduce yourself, Sarah. Someone give me a Ellie oop.

5:27 Someone like hype me up. I need a hype man. Boo. That's not a opposite of a hype man.

5:33 Alright, and now welcome to the mic is it's me, Jordan!

5:39 Let the games begin. No, that's sorry, I totally ran it for you. What?

5:42 No, I let the games begin. Well, actually, the game is Troy and I are gonna get.

5:46 Oh, wait, wait, sorry. Ladies and gentlemen, it's time for Jordan.

5:52 It's good for Jordan. It's me. I'm right here.

5:56 Subson's Comet Part 1. I'm sorry, I was kind of rooting for Fire Lord Ozai. How many show many shows make the bad guy come out as a winner?

6:05 I don't know. A few. Probably some. I think Lord of the Rings. Yeah, the bad guy kind of is the what are you looking at?

6:11 Oh my god, we have like a cobweb sticking up from our computer. Yeah, you do? Yeah. Yeah, it's not good.

6:19 I don't know what that has to do with Avatar the Last Airbender, Katie. Unless we're talking about Aang's comments about when a spiderfly gets too much. Take it away.

6:30 Hell yeah. We were watching the finale for so long that a cobweb just formed over the computer during that time.

6:35 Yeah, we've been watching it for four years.

6:37 Okay, moving on. What did you say that you were rootin'? Rootin' rootin' tootin'.

6:43 Rootin for Rootin' another tunin'.

6:45 Rootin' for I don't know.

6:47 I don't know. I don't actually believe you're rooting for Ozai. I call baloney.

6:51 Yeah, I agree.

6:52 Not ham? Did you say ham? Yeah, I call Ham. Okay. I call straight up pork belly on that. Pork loin.

6:59 Okay, Troy.

7:00 Yes. His name's Pork Loin.

7:01 You've watched it all. What was the finale like? Let's hear your thoughts. Surprised.

7:09 I wasn't surprised, no out of ten. I knew Qatar would come out on top.

7:14 Well. I guess you do.

7:15 Moving on. No, I God, just so many emotions and expressions and reactions.

7:23 What are some what are your an instant reactions to use some words? What emotion is coursing through those veins? Tear jerking in every way of the sense. You mean tear bending? Tear bending. There you go. Why was it tear jerking bending, you jerkbender?

7:38 I don't think you were tear jerk. What?

7:41 What?

7:41 What? Troy wasn't tear bending. Jordan and I were like sobbing, which was special. It was like my tears were shooting out of my eye, like off my cheek, which I'm like, what's happening? What? Yeah. Yeah.

7:53 Okay, no, I love watching Katie cry, and I'm really sad I didn't catch that.

7:57 You know, it's like a weird little thing he's into. He's like, oh yeah. Alright, Katie.

8:02 What were the tearbending moments for you?

8:06 Uh many moments. And good diplomatic answer. The sad part is we just watched this, what, two weeks ago? And I could like anticipate all the moments from like, okay, look away from the screen, take a deep breath. You don't need to go down this path.

8:22 And I just kept look Jordan in the eyes while the tears streamed down my face.

8:27 But I think because you were crying, that wasn't helping me easily.

8:29 I d I didn't cry.

8:30 So as soon as Iroh and Zuko meet up again and they give each other a big old hug, the screen cuts to black. I see Jordan's reflection of the TV. So my boy had a tear. So I call BS on you, buddy.

8:44 Yeah, no. We're like holding hands, Jordan's kind of shaking, we're like sharing this very intense. No, it is an intense moment.

8:50 Why?

8:51 Because forgiveness and obviously just Zuko has a lot of guilt and not a lot of self-love going on, probably, and just feeling uh really bad about how their relationship or where it was at, and felt like he had ruined his relationship with his uncle or his uh old grandpa or whatever. Your creepy grandpa.

9:18 Whatever June says. I think it was forgiveness is really powerful, and I think that that was a wonderful moment.

9:28 It was Zuko's final test of forgiveness because all of the back half of season three he's been making amends with these people that he's wronged throughout the series, starting with like Aang and the Gang, and then finally this last one is Iroh, because Iroh's been MIA for the whole season, and then he f we finally get that release of having him come to terms with the actions he did, and he's fully processed them at this point.

9:56 And because Zuko, even though he's received this unconditional love from Iroh, Zuko's been conditioned to know that if you wrong this person in your life, like the obvious reaction is to cut them off and to like hate you forever, as he's seen with his abusive fa father. So for him to receive that unconditional love again from Iroh, which he's received the whole series, is a testament to their relationship.

10:21 Yeah, no. Huge respect for that whole scene. Uh the writers may not have noticed it, but they literally just describe the struggle with depression that people have. That's what I saw from that scene. That's what I got from it, is a person who's struggling with depression. On the inside, they feel like Zuko, but on the outside, they want to be like Iroh so badly.

10:42 And it's not until they learn how to forgive themselves for whatever reason or they learn to love themselves. They'll always be that struggling Zuko. And the best analogy I can give is they're always holding a hot rock and they don't know how to let it go. And it holds them down every single day. And so uh somehow if they can figure it out, they can do an act where they will embrace themselves from the inside out and give themselves an Iro Zuko hug.

11:09 And for me, that was that was when my tear jerking started and tear bending, if you will, and I just I love the show for that reason.

11:19 I just think it's so powerful when you know Zuko's blubbering out words that he doesn't need to say anything, and Iro's response isn't to like meet him and try to like meet him where he's at. His response is to just like engulf him with love. And that's like the most powerful part. Like he just like yank literally yanks Zuko to him and just embraces him with all that love.

11:42 And that just like tears start flowing. There's so many instances of of Iroh in this, even though it's not my boy Mako, it's okay. But just when we take Iroh's character and the journey that we know he's been on, like it's just so powerful that he is so centered that he knows that it's not his place to take over the Fire Nation, and it's not his place to help fight his brother.

12:06 And he's very wise in doing that, I think. But man, every time Iroh talks about reconquering Bossing Sei in like the name of like freedom and love and peace, I'm gone. Like I'm sobbing. And then when he says I'm gonna reconquer my tea shop and play Pie Show every day, done. Like, I I can't.

12:25 It's so good. You said you can't, but you did. You made we we made it through together, man. Honestly, this sea the seas the Caesar the series The Caesars finale. The Caesars finale delivered on so many different things. The one thing I've always been bummed about for the last two seasons is that Aang did not go into full-on avatar state and and just maneuver all four elements simultaneously.

12:54 That's what I've been waiting for. So this today, it was just right here, right now. Right here, right now. And they even and when the title was called The Old Masters, it well, I I didn't even have time to register in my brain what that meant.

13:11 But he registered it in his heart.

13:12 Oh man. So when you got Paku, you got Swordmaster Pi and Dao. Pi and Dao, thank you. Gini and the rest. Boomy. And Zhang Zhang.

13:23 Ah, Zhang Zhang.

13:25 Oh man.

13:26 But where's like Chang or whatever his like little lackey was who got left behind? What happened to him? Is he alive? The guy in the deserter. He's like, oh, you need to meet Zhang Zhang.

13:35 Oh yeah, yeah. Oh man, that guy. No. Just seeing those guys come together, it was like, huh. It was like, oh. It was like an event bigger than any sporting event.

13:47 White Lotus. I'm just gonna say it right now, and it's obvious it's coming from this like biased perspective of me, because we all know that I dig this show. I do think the Sozins Comets series finale is among, if not the best finale in television history. I'm gonna say it right now.

14:06 Well, I you look at other television series finales, or even seasoned finales off of TV shows. Can you remember one that you can think about? Well, I cannot name a single cartoon or show's finale that I really remember the back of my head like that.

14:23 Well, that's it. Like cartoons, they you know, back in the day they'd fill like a 52 season order or something, and so quote unquote the season finale would just be the last episode of that order, and then technically the next season would pick up wherever because it's not telling a singular story. There were some shows that attempted to do it, and especially more like adult-oriented ones, but for Avatar to go in with a clear, like basically three-season structure of like this is the goal we're going to do, and it delivered on that initial promise of Aang needing to combat the Fire Lord and bring peace to the world, and they delivered on that.

15:02 And they delivered across the board of what the the heart of this show initially was. And I think that's so special that they didn't lose their they didn't lose their track in in any way in that journey. They did. How so? The Great Divide. Oh, stop. Well that's true.

15:18 You're saying there it's not all Right. Yeah, yeah.

15:22 Day, what was that called? Uh Day The Day of Black Sun? No. Avatar Day. Day at the Beach. Nightmares and Daydream.

15:29 Nightmares and Daydreams. That's one of the best episodes of the whole series.

15:32 Avatar Day. And oh god, shall I say it that way?

15:35 Well, of course, you have a 61 episode series. You're gonna have some clunkers in there.

15:41 Fun Nickelodeon Troy. Come on. You know.

15:44 But man, so let's get into it, okay? Um, as a four-part series finale, when it originally aired in July, after that assault on my senses, the countdown to the comet in 2008. I remember it was July, and it was we were doing stuff that day, so I had it recorded, and so I made sure so I could fast forward through all the commercials because there was no way I could handle that.

16:11 And so, like a I think I started it like a half hour after it started, so I could I could fast forward and catch up in time.

16:17 But they played all four.

16:19 Yeah, all four, yeah, because they they made it like a like a TV movie, basically, and it generated like 5.6 million viewers. It was like the most Avatar ever had. Like there was so many people watching it. And I was just shaking the whole time watching it because I knew I had a feeling Toph was going down, Sokka was gonna go down, I thought Zuko was a goner.

16:42 Heck, I thought Aang was gonna die. I don't know. I was just giddy and nervous and scared.

16:49 Did you think Sozin was going down? Sozin. No. Ozai had been dead and gone.

16:55 And he was going down again. I don't know. So that is an interesting question. Like, they the first two episodes of the finale, they paint this whole like moral dilemma that Aang's having of whether or not to actually kill the Fire Lord. And everybody's telling them telling him that Ozai's not worth saving, and just make the world a better place and have this like little bit of taint on your soul and kill this guy.

17:18 And I love the fact that they spend so much time on Aang's moral dilemma. What'd you think about that, Troy?

17:25 Yeah, I'd say in a way, I'd say Aang had way more time to develop his social dilemma than most people do. Because a lot of us in life, I feel like we're just hit with that situation, and whenever it comes upon us, and we have to think within like two to three minutes if we get that much time. Whereas Aang got three to five days, and I love how he knew it was coming, and he had to question all of his past lives.

17:49 Like he literally had like hundreds of lives to go back on and ask one by one, and none of them were the answers that he was seeking. That's pretty deep for a 13-year-old monk to deal with.

18:00 No, I think it shows like just how developed Aang is and how confident he is with who he is and what he needs to be. Like he never wanted to jeopardize like his own his own beliefs and his own ideals. Like he was never going to sacrifice those. And even when he has this moment of feeling like he's gonna kill Ozai, like he's so resigned about it.

18:22 Like he knows that it's almost going to fundamentally change him as a person. And I do think it's really interesting going back to the old masters episode, where we get like that double meaning of what the old masters are: the old masters as in who taught our friends, but then the old masters as in Aang's old lives.

18:39 And so you have both of these entities coming in. And I do appreciate that each of the four past avatars kind of gave Aang a little bit of advice, but it's also interesting considering that all of these avatars, they're coming at Aang from potentially like around the time when they died, and so they're fully realized they're kind of they're adults, and they're just all worldwary, and they're all pretty jaded, I felt, because of whatever they experienced like in their lives.

19:09 But I did appreciate that Roku gave Aang the advice to be decisive. Kiyoshi, I did I really liked Kiyoshi's like only justice will bring peace. Kurok uh encouraging Aang to actively shape his own destiny and the destiny of the world. But Yang Chen's was interesting, like the the woman, female, uh air no air nomad avatar that we meet.

19:32 You know, she's very resigned to the fact like she's very separated from her identity as an air nomad versus her identity as the avatar. Where Aang is not. Aang is like, I am an air nomad first and I'm Avatar second.

19:45 But he probably connects to it and sticks to it more because he's the only one left. You know, where it's like I have to represent my people who are no longer with us. And also commenting about the masters, you don't think they were talking about the lion turtle, also?

19:58 Oh, I definitely think they're also talking about the lion turtle. Good call. Speaking about the lion turtle, um, one of the notes that I took for once is who voiced the lion turtle? That is uh Kevin Michael Richardson. What's his background?

20:11 He has appeared in the series once before as a Haru's dad. Okay. He's also the guy who's like uh Captain Gantu in Lelone Stitch. He's have a pro prolific voice career. I met him at Emerald City Comic Con, made him laugh. He signed my diary.

20:26 Oh, that's a guy?

20:27 Yeah. Okay. So interesting about the The Lion Turtle is they had this concept and they pepper it throughout the series of the Lion Turtle. Like you get images of it in, I think the the library, I think Zhao, I think there's like some reference to it. And then at P and Dao's place in Sokka's Master, he has sculptures of Lion Turtles around.

20:52 And then the idea of the Lion Turtle is that it's the most ancient, eldest, you know, wise creature in the world. And they're the first benders, kind of. Like they bestowed like the bending powers to people. Uh and the Lion Turtle, unfortunately, Brian Kanitsko, the co-creator, he was never happy with how the final result was in the episode.

21:17 Again, I'm gonna say he's never said it, but I'm assuming because it was moi animation, like they couldn't quite make what they wanted. Because I think Brian had a very specific idea about the Lion Turtle being this enormous creature that was so big that it literally had to be a background, like it couldn't be like animated as a character.

21:37 And I don't think that was quite conveyed to the animators, and it never really happened. And so he's that's been like the thing that he's never really been happy about, is how the Lion Turtle turned out. That's like some nuts and bolts kind of stuff.

21:51 Okay.

21:51 But I do like the Lion Turtle's quote that he says to Aang, that we hear later on, about how uh the true mind can weather. All the lies and illusions without being lost. The true heart can touch the poison of hatred without being harmed. And then he talks about since beginningless time, like darkness exists in the void, but it always yields to purifying light.

22:14 And that's so deep. And I miss it all the time. And so this time I actually had to like write it down. I was like, okay, this is what he's saying, and I like processed it.

22:23 Okay, well, how does break it down? No, you had all this time to process.

22:27 And I hope you mean by all this time to process, I hope you mean 12 years since disappeared.

22:32 I mean, we are taught throughout the show that the avatars are all the all-knowing people of the history of the world. And then when the sea lion turtle was just like before the era of the avatar, I was like, whoa, there's an era before the avatar. Right. I was like, well now. So I don't know. In my mind, Aang finally got the advice that he needed from a Lion Turtle than he did from all the other avatars.

22:57 That's now that's deep.

22:59 That is true. That the the answers he was seeking wasn't from someone who was tied to the world, but was kind of like removed from it in a way. Yeah. And I do this is the first time I've like watched it and thought about this, is that like the Lion Turtle being sent to Aang, it almost feels like the spirit world or like the spirit of the world was almost intervening this time because they show up to help Aang out in his time of anguish.

23:26 Aang's like hypnotized, pieces out to this island that's floating out. But I do I do really love that shot of Aang meditating. He's got like the candles going, he has like a an offering. That's like a really beautiful shot for me while he's like pondering what to do. And then it feels like the spirit world's intervening because he gets on the lion turtle, the lion turtle gives him a moment of to just kind of like contemplate what he needs to do.

23:49 And then the lion turtle, after giving him this, like teaching him this ability to bend the energy in somebody else, literally takes them to the path of fire that Ozai's gonna hit and then places him up on the rocks and said, wait for him here, he will be here.

24:03 Yeah. Also, I love that I mean the music in the finale is so good. And yeah, like the chanting when he's meditating and the lion turtle shows up to pick him up.

24:18 So that chanting, it's actually a Buddhist chant, and it appears a couple other times in the series. Uh only happened in the first season. It happened in Winter Souls, this Avatar Roku, and it happened in Siege of the North Part 2. Uh, but the the Lion Turtle chant is like Namo Ami Two Fo is kind of like how it goes, and so that's like this this rhythmic Buddhist chant that happens.

24:41 But your tight take about the score, it's interesting because like the score of the rest of the series has been good. Like it's not nothing like to write home about. Like it definitely captures that like Eastern influence. But then for the finale, uh, it was Jeremy Zuckerman and somebody else. I kind of think I don't want to get his name wrong.

24:59 Han Zimmer.

25:01 What?

25:01 No. Oh man. But he's uh he does movies. I totally got Han Zimmer vibes from No, Han Zimmer would be like brrrrrr.

25:13 Like there were so many strings in this.

25:15 Is that what he would have been like?

25:16 Just Han Zimmer's singing like brrrrr.

25:19 Jordan used to play the tuba, so that's clearly what's happening.

25:24 Hit a B flat. Brrrr. So yeah, this the score was it was like nothing I'd ever heard before in a children's series. And it's just beautiful like throughout, and there's just so many moments where like the music swells, right at the emotional beat that it's hoping for. It's incredible. It's it's the best score of any any finale I've ever seen.

25:46 It's so good. But now I have to address where the score really shines, and that's during the final Agni Kai between Azula and Zuko.

25:55 I knew you were gonna say that.

25:56 Oh my god!

25:58 Like Jordan will sometimes just play that. I'm like, I'm trying to do something. Or like leaves from the vine. I'm like, what is happening right now?

26:06 Leaves from the vine. Anyway. Falling back to So you get this moment of like, you know, Azula and Zuko got a fight, and you're like, this is like a life or death consequence here. You expect something, again, because I'm a dumb guy. You know, you expect like a really epic, like crazy, like high-energy music to accompany this, like expecting some like cheesy 80s rockstar music.

26:35 Yeah, it's it's just the theme to Dragon Ball.

26:37 Head into the danger zone.

26:40 Uh so now we gotta do edits where we take that scene and dub it over with some epic 80s music. Okay. But instead, what you get is a subversion of expectations in a finale, and instead you get this slow, like melancholy, methodical strings going on to accompany it. What did you think about that, Katie?

27:04 Well, I think we should find out what Troy thought about it first.

27:06 Hey Troy, what'd you think about that? For one, I'm so happy Katie and I never had a confrontation like that, blasting fireballs out at each other.

27:13unknown Ding.

27:14 No, but uh That was me being dong!

27:21 No, but oh god, I I enjoyed it in every in every bit of the sense. Azula hates Zuko because Mother loved him and called her a monster. Zuko doesn't like Azula because father banishes him and obviously wanted to crown Azula's Fire Lord. So at the end of the day, you have to ask yourself, was Azula and Zuko really fighting each other, or were they just fighting the ideologies that their parents had given to them?

27:51 And that's what I would I was more looking at the i ideologies. Uh, you know, the the monster versus the the the the banished. And these poor kids, they're they're told by their parents who they love and which one doesn't deserve their love. Like it makes them hate each other for that. And to me, I just thought that was a toxic family trait, and you know, it was just sad to watch Azula push everybody away.

28:19 And I'm still curious as to what happened after that fight.

28:23 Yeah, I think this episode really showcases this really I mean we already know that Azula there's sadness within her, and and yeah, it's like especially once everybody else goes away and you see how empty she is. Yeah, and it is it's just very disturbing. And and I think even in the end, Zuko's not really giving up on her.

28:49 I mean, I think that he I mean, even like with his dad, where he was like, oh, you know, maybe some time in here will do you some good. And yeah, but the battle is beautiful and just crazy. Also, I okay, pet peeve, Katara's like on the side, and I'm like, what are you doing? She like comes out of the shadows, like, I'm gonna stand behind Zuko.

29:13 That was a pet peeve. I was like, what are you thinking? It's uh battle between two firebanders. Like, let them both concentrate.

29:21 Things are getting really intense, and I'm gonna stand right about here.

29:24 Well, maybe she just like wanted to be nearby in case Zuko screwed up and she was able to heal him. I think she was like on standby. Alright, round two.

29:31 I feel like she's she should have been way more. Yeah, we all know that Azula can shoot lightning. So let's get some some defense there, Katara.

29:41 Well, I think that for whatever reason, both Katara and Zuko expected Azula to follow the rules of the Agni Kai and to just focus her energy on Zuko because I mean it was just that it's their own fault. Also, Zuko goaded her into using lightning. What? No lightning today? Yeah, yeah. Brain all redirected, which is just again another instance of Zuko not using his frickin' brain.

30:02 But I want to keep talking about how beautiful the fight is. It's like it's definitely the sadness of like these siblings who are kind of pitted against each other from their parents and by parents, mostly Ozai. Pretty much 99% Ozai. But yeah, you get these moments of them like they have their souped-up fire bending.

30:23 It's like this like beautiful, tragic, destructive thing that's happening. Like they're destroying their home to settle this squabble over who gets to be Fire Lord. Which did we ever expect when we first watch this show that Zuko would be on a path to become the Fire Lord?

30:41 I think we all think not so much.

30:43 It's just crazy, like how this show has developed. But then toward the end, like we get the sense that Zuko's got the upper hand pretty much that whole fight. And it's like, it's so obvious when they get there and he's like, uh, I don't know what it is, but I can tell she's slipping. And it's like, I don't know, is it the bags under her eyes and the miscut hair?

31:01 Like, is that the the vibe you're getting, Zuko?

31:04 There's something off. I just can't really put my finger on it.

31:06 It must be the haircut, I think.

31:08 Those lopsided bangs. I'm kind of into it.

31:11 Sometimes every time he looks at her, all he sees is her like grimacing smile. Like, he's not, yeah, he looks at the hair and he looks at the bags underneath her eyes, but he doesn't know those non-verbal cues, like, hmm. Like, I can relate to Zuko in that sense.

31:25 Well, but I don't know. Azula's always so primed and proper, like every time we see her in the series for the most part. She always comes in anticipating to gain the upper hand or come in with the upper hand. That's true.

31:37 Like her hair, like she is usually really put together. Yes.

31:41 But yeah, so Zuko remains calm, and he's very grounded that whole fight, as Azula's like manically running all over the battlefield, like shooting off fire, trying to like do anything she can. Like it's a very desperate, very frantic fight. And you get this moment where Zuko shoots a fireball, and you kind of get a close-up on Azula's eyes, and she actually looks like fearful, like she's scared of what Zuko was capable of, like, and you just get that animalistic thing that's happening.

32:09 And then Zuko does the technique that Iroh taught him to do in uh in the Southern Air Temple episode, which is Break His Roots, which he tells when he's about to go fight Zhao. And so right before he knocks Azula off, off her like balance, he does like this like little breakdancy thing that Zuko always does, and it's the technique that he's used throughout the series to get the upper hand.

32:34 So he does, he breaks her roots, and she falls, and so he he wins that fight that way by doing this thing that Ira taught him.

32:41 Yes. No, I mean it was definitely uh him versus Azula, not so much Azula, just more like her hyper-perfectionist, narcissistic personality where she's just gotta control everything and she's gotta control people, even if it's through fear. But yeah, after he throws that fireball af at her, and she sees that he's still not scared anymore, she goes, I'm not used to this.

33:05 I'm not used to somebody not being scared of me. This is weird. And then, yeah, that's of course when she started really losing it. And then lines up the shot at Zuko and at the last second, aims it at Katara. Bad on you, Katara, for even being there.

33:18 Which did you think that what was going through your mind when she was getting that lightning ready?

33:24 I was actually somewhat hoping that when she aimed it at Katara and let it loose, I was kinda half hoping that Zuko was gonna be able to catch it in with his hand in the air and redirect it somewhere else instead of it actually hitting him or Katara. But uh then he ends up taking it himself, and I'm like, well, he might be a goner.

33:45 Yeah, I mean you definitely get that vibe, like but it's interesting, I I didn't it didn't dawn on me until several other times I'd I'd watched this that the the lightning does get like shot out of his body through his chest. Like that's that scene where they kind of like pull out of the caldera and you see the lightning shoot out.

34:02 I always thought that was like Azula, but I didn't realize it was like the lightning being discharged from Zuko's body. And let's talk about that scar that Zuko now has. Because now Azula is responsible for scars on both Aang and Zuko. Aang on his back and Zuko on his chest. And so it's really interesting that the Zuko and Aang parallels keep going, where we get Azula causing these like horrific lightning-induced scars on both sides of their body, which I think is really interesting.

34:31 Also, I don't know how Zuko would have really taken Azula down. I mean, so thankfully, Zuka was down, Katara had to step up.

34:41 Zuka couldn't interfere.

34:42 You know, uh yeah, would you think about Katara putting the the chains around Azula and that scene?

34:52 The more I think about that scene, I'm like, well, how else do you get? I'm sure the writers had to like like list out their ways of putting Azula down, and they're like, death? Nope, scratch, that's not gonna work. Um what else? Well, we can take away her firebending. How? Aang's not anywhere there around, they don't even know that it even exists at that point to take away some of his bending skills.

35:13 Alright. We can capture her. Okay, well, how do you capture her? And then they have probably had to think of like, well, maybe there's a chain and some water nearby. So I just it's one of those it's what happens in a show when they have to get from point A to point B, but they're not sure, and then they realize it's not point A to point B.

35:32 It's actually point A through all the way through until they get to Z.

35:36 I do think Azula probably could have escaped those chains, especially being powered by the comet. Like she probably could have supercharged like the heat in her hands to like break the metal. I don't know. I'm just saying.

35:46 She was not in her right mind. She looked the bags under her eyes really did signify, like, no, she's worn out, she's burnt out.

35:53 I mean, it's just it's really disturbing to listen to Azula's like anguish in that scene.

35:58 She's thrashing about, and then yeah, it's like very sad, and it's you know, that she's had some like like a mental snap and where do you think that it started? I think as soon as she felt that she was losing control. You know, and you could say that when May and Tylee kind of you know turned on her or whatever.

36:21 I mean, that was pivotal. But I mean it probably was even before that. And yeah, like the fact that she didn't get it go with her dad, like their plan, and that was like a big blow to her ego.

36:34 Yeah, I mean that was interesting. And I'm curious, like, how she actually felt about Zuko leaving when he faced his father during the Day of Black Sun. Like if she expected that, or if it was actually kind of a blow that Zuko left and kind of it betrayed them. But yeah, it is interesting. Because I think a lot of people point to Mae and Ty Lee betraying her is like that first crack really happening.

36:59 Because yeah, I mean, they physically like take her down, these two people that she's like wrapped around herself. Like the only two confidants she has.

37:06 Exactly. It's like her her big support and when your support goes away and your foundation.

37:14 And yeah, you're definitely right about this blow to her ego. Like, she she had her own sense of betrayal from Ozai leaving her behind, with her, you know, quote unquote her idea to burn the Earth Kingdom to the ground, which yikes. And so that brings us back to the parallels to the first time Sozin's comet came around, the fact that the Fire Nation wanted to use the destructive power of this comet to enact genocide on another culture, and so now we have history repeating itself, and this time Aang is again in a position to save an entire race of people, like he had the first time the comet came around.

37:54 And so he had this moment of like, does he he's faced with the exact same dilemma as when he ran away a hundred years ago, is do you stay and fight or do you run away from your problems? And so I'm curious if history was a little different, if a hundred years ago Aang decided to take the time to go to the Eastern Air Temple where he was supposed to be sent, and be trained in learning the elements, if he could have had enough time to gain enough power to where he could have thwarted Sozin when they tried to fight the fire, the the when they used the comet to take out the air nomads.

38:31 It's an interesting idea. And so this time it's like the world's like destiny shifts back to Aang for Aang to finally get his chance to fully redeem himself to stop the Fire Nation from enacting genocide on the Earth Kingdom.

38:48 Exactly. That's what it's all about.

38:52 Yeah, yeah, yeah.

38:53 Okay. Another my my last note, I took two notes. You took two notes? Wow, try. Over four episodes? That's a that's a note every two episodes. Well, these are the two biggest questions to my mind that I knew I was gonna forget if I didn't type them down. Toph. Come on, man. She can bend earth. She can bend metal.

39:13 Can't bend trees. She can bend sand, but she can't bend wood. I have the biggest problem with that. That makes no sense to me.

39:22 Troy, I just think we need to really uh go back to basics with what the foundation of earth bending is. Like metal and wood aren't similar. No, but they sand. Sand and trees are also not similar. I do want to note though that Toph did struggle with earth bend or with sand bending in season two, and now she's been working on it, and now she can uh she can create a fully functioning replica of the inner ring of Bossing Say.

39:48 Her kids better be able to bend wood. Woodbenders. But why it would be water, Troy. Waterbenders would be able to bend wood because as we see, Hugh in the swamp is bending vines. Vines and trees are more similar than a rock and a tree. Hmm. Troy. I don't know. Water courses through a tree. Rocks do not course through a tree.

40:10 Wait, was this the only question?

40:11 That was the only one. It was like a statement. That was the note? That was the note. Why can't Toph bend rocks, metal, and sand, but not wood? Good god, man.

40:22 Okay, wait. What about Okay, what about when Saka's like I feel like he did a way better job kind of um making sure that Toph was protected.

40:33 Was gonna like protected and not gonna fall off the ship when they were like taking everybody down. And when she turns into Iron Man and is like taking everybody down.

40:45 Knocks on that door. Were you into her wrapping herself in the door? I did not know how they were gonna do that. And then as soon as she did it, I was like, oh, that's how you would take over a ship.

40:56 She's gotten very good at metal bending. And then she's like crawling on the roof on the ceiling. It's creepy.

41:02 Well she's she's so fearless, and like it's like, oh, like, are those the ships and just like propels everybody up? It's like, let's go.

41:10 I mean, she has no idea if I mean that's definitely something with like youth and just kind of like that that energetic naivete.

41:18 I wouldn't say it's the youth thing for me personally. I in my humble opinion, I think My humble opinion, he pulled out a pipe when he said that. Uh Zuko Alright, yeah, Zuko's girlfriend's name is May. May that's what May and Top have in common. They both come from really rich families. And so the only thing that's gonna really shake up the worlds is surprises like that.

41:38 And I think they both live for those kinds of moments. Yeah, no greater security than wealth.

41:42 Well, that's fair, that you're like always pretty protected. Yes.

41:47 So that well, that's I got all the money I'll ever need all out or that I'll ever want. I'm like, what could I be missing from life? Just a little bit of excitement. What a humble opinion, Troy. Yeah.

42:00 I do think we get a sense of what Toph would be like if she if she ever turned and became pure evil as the melon lord in the Phoenix King. She was a megalomaniac. She's like, I am not Tough, I'm the Melon Lord. And then she'd have her blind bandit core going on. I'm really bothered by that moment in the Phoenix King.

42:21 I think the Phoenix King, I don't know, it's not the best start to the finale, but you gotta put into motion so many different things. I was never into this like exhibition match thing that they do where they're all like training on how they're gonna take out the Fire Lord. Like, I thought that was kind of a weird scene, and it doesn't like, you know, it doesn't pay any doesn't pay off later.

42:43 It was a filler five minutes like those uh episodes that we don't like. Yeah, it was just like a filler thing of like this whole Melon Lord sequence, which just seems so unnecessary. This like training sequence. Okay. Suki and Suki and Sokka, you go this way and fight. It was like this isn't gonna happen.

42:59 There's no way this is gonna happen. When when how are you gonna get this moment with Ozai? Was really frustrating.

43:05 Oh yeah, no, but uh I think they did it mainly just for Toph. See, she's like, She's like, I get to be evil for once? Yeah.

43:12 Speaking of things for Toph, I feel like Toph and Zuko's little moment. Like it was nice that Toph's like, oh, you know, I want to have this moment with Zuko. But Zuko like totally brushes her off. And I feel like it could have been I feel like they could have made a moment and we didn't have to do like her same old like story.

43:30 But there could have there just been like there could have been something instead of him being like, oh, you know, it sounds tough, but like he was very dismissive of all of that.

43:38 It would have been great though if Zuko had just turned to her and said, That's rough, buddy. But I do think it's more indicative of like this bigger problem with Toph's character. Like Toph just gets like pushed to the side, she gets pushed to the background, like she doesn't get that those moments of like huge character growth.

43:56 Like what you see is what you get with Toph. And like the most like character growth we get. Is her just like learning new powers, and that's kind of what Toph is able to provide, even though there's so much potential there for Toph as a character, and she just kind of gets pushed to the background. Let's talk about this moment where Zuko like turns on Aang and he's like, I'm here to teach you a lesson.

44:17 And Katara has made it very clear that if Zuko steps out a line and tries to hurt Aang, she's taking him down. Did Katara have a change of heart or what happened?

44:25 No, Katara was surfing the waves. I'm like, why are you? I don't know. I don't know if I believe the.

44:31 And that's another issue I have with the Phoenix King is that they have like a beach party. Like the whole Phoenix, like it's just a very jumbly episode.

44:37 That opening, because I wrote it down. I was like, it was so weird that everybody wants like a break, you know, everyone except for Zuko. And then they go to the beach. And then yeah, then come to find out that the group had kind of decided that they were gonna wait. And like, why wouldn't why wouldn't Zuko know that?

44:54 I don't know. It was just ridiculous.

44:57 What did you think about the choice to wait until after the comet? Oh, Katie literally took the words out of my mouth.

45:03 What do you think about Baby Oza?

45:06 Baby Oza like the portrait of the baby. Yeah. Oh. Again. It was like, I don't know, and Katara's like, look what I found. It's like, what else did you think you're gonna find at the Fire Nation Palace?

45:18 But isn't it a good reminder that everyone we all start off with babies and so innocent and that with influence for better for worse can help shape you and to be what you become?

45:34 What is that, that argument of nature versus nurture? Like at what point, like Ozai clearly wasn't born evil. I mean, look at that that fat little baby. He looks so happy. There's no way that thing could be a genocidal maniac. But then at what point did Ozai kind of switch and turn so cruel? Was it when he knew that he'd have to like fight to like overthrow his brother?

45:54 Like, was that a plot that he had as soon as he found out how monarchies work?

45:58 It was just Oh, his mother probably called him a monster.

46:01 That's how I do appreciate that throughout this episode, like I think this four-parter could have very easily become very, very heavy. And it already was very heavy. But thankfully we had like little moments of Sokka being being Sokka that kind of helped lift it all up. Like in The Phoenix King, we have that moment where everyone's like, Where's Momo?

46:24 And Sokka's like, Oh, I knew it would happen any day. Oppa ate Momo!

46:31 Oh yeah, the gruel, the slime.

46:33 It was the it was so funny watching him crawl get Sokka get out of the bison's mouth, and Sokka's like deep into Appa's mouth, and then oozes out. Like, also Appa bites down. Like, why was Appa biting down on Sokka? And then Sokka gets that moment in the airship of like, attention, crew, we got a very special birthday today.

46:56 And it's so, it's just so so dumb. It's like that dumb humor that Avatar's so good at with Sokka.

47:03 That was a clear Marvel moment when Marvel's in in their most, I don't know, prestigious fights. Most marvelous. Most marvelous. And they have to sneak in a Joe just to ease the tension just a little bit. Whose birthday is it today? Oh my god, I can't believe they remember my birthday. They really do care about us.

47:22 So good.

47:22 You know what else I liked is I feel like this I don't know, this episode, but it's past four episodes, I think showcases that Suki and Sokka have a pretty healthy relationship. I feel like Suki allows Sokka to just be himself. And like, you know, when everyone's making fun of the like sand castle or whatever, sand sculpture, you know, and she's like, oh, I think it's great.

47:47 And and just like all sorts of stuff. Like she kind of allows him to just like she doesn't put him down, and you know, and he like isn't putting her down.

47:55 And well, I I don't think you could put Suki down because she she Well, that's also true.

48:01 But yeah, I was like uh I never really paid attention to that as much as I did this time.

48:06 Another instance to why you and I are Sokka and Suki. But Toph, I do think Toph wants to come between them because after Saksa.

48:14 And I think she should, but Toph should? Yeah.

48:17 What you want Toph to get with Suki or you want Toph to get with Sokka?

48:20 I want Toph to get with anyone she wants to get with. Maybe even Zuko. Aww. Sorry, May.

48:26 I mean that would be great. But yeah, she gets that moment where Toph's like, Suki, we'd all understand if you break up with Sokka over this. You're like, dang, Toph, step off. What about Haru? Yeah, that that was like a goofy moment of like, oh, I knew you had a secret thing with Haru.

48:42 And the music's like, okay.

48:45 Oh, June. What did you think about seeing June again?

48:48 Troy's like stroking his lips. Stroy Troy just stroked his lip with every finger on his right hand, thinking about who June is. Wow. I love Where's Creepy Grandpa?

49:01 June, that June. Okay.

49:03 Ah, that June.

49:06 Ah, man.

49:08 It was interesting that they like brought her back for this episode, and it was like it was just a moment of Avatar like unlocking fast travel. Like all of a sudden, like we are flying back and forth from the Fire Nation to Boss Singsei, like over and over again.

49:22 Oh, I enjoyed every bit of that. The fast traveling all over the place. I'm like, cool. I basically just get to touch on almost every different character they've come face to face throughout the entire series. Yeah. I forgot how chill she was. And I wish more people were like her.

49:37 You know what I don't appreciate about June coming back is the thing.

49:41 What? What don't you appreciate about June?

49:43 I don't appreciate that as a character model, when she first is reintroduced in that bar in the tavern, like fighting Ryu from Street Fighter again. Uh, she definitely looks very, uh very Asian in that episode. I don't know if you caught it, but she I mean they consciously made her look like very Asian in her in her features.

50:04 And then in the next episode with Moi, they definitely tone that back and made her look more Caucasian. And so that was kind of like too bad. Like I wish they would have kept with that original character model instead of like kind of whitewashing her. Yeah, to go back and check it out.

50:18 But also Is that all you're gonna say about that?

50:20 About June? Yeah, did you have something else? Did it spark something in you?

50:24 No, not what you said. I was just thinking that like, yeah, I think June's character is is really great. And I mean, yeah, she has this I don't I don't care attitude. But ultimately, she helps him in the end. So do they pay her? No.

50:41 Doesn't look like it. Yeah.

50:43 But uh I love that Zuko's been carrying that sandal with him since the winter solstice episode when Iroh was in that hot tub. And by hot tub, hot spring.

50:56 That is incredible. And it's still apparently like terribly stinky. I just saw that episode the other week, too. Oh, the other week. The other week.

51:05 Also, did Sokka actually lose his spaceword?

51:09 Well, uh, in terms of the canon of the series.

51:12 By space sword.

51:14 Did we think I thought Sokka and Toph were dead?

51:17 Wait. Wait.

51:18 Before we move on, my third note, dude. My third note. Uh yeah.

51:26 Good, Sokka. Very good. Very resourceful.

51:29 Light my eyes. I'm partially blind in this eye now.

51:32 June. The the June part. Oh, that June. When Sokka goes, wait, is that the same lady that uh no. With the giant mole? Yeah. Nope, she's the one that helped me hunt down uh you guys in the avatar. Or maybe Sokka said that. And Sokka goes, What? Zuko says, yeah, back in the good old days.

51:52 And Zuko sounds like genuinely like he's nostalgic for that time. He's like, oh yeah, back when I could chase hang free. I don't know why.

52:00 That was probably the best entrance to any other uh past foes that they could have done.

52:07 Back to Space Sword. Goodbye. That moment is like it's so heavy. Like, we left Suki. We think Suki maybe is dead. Like she's a goner. It's unexpectedly tearbending. Yeah, they've had this like kamikaze moment with the the the airship of like airship slicing them all. And then you have this this instance, like Sock has been protecting Toth this whole time.

52:30 Like he's been guiding her when she's like tried to walk off the walk off the top of the airship, and then he throws himself on top of her when like the debris's falling, and then yeah, he makes sure that he can grab her and keep her safe when they fall. And then Sok is able to save them with Boomerang.

52:48 Boomerang's gone, the true hero of the series. And then yeah.

52:53 And then he says, This is it, Toph, and then she's like crying.

52:56 Yeah. Oh my god. Did you it was there any moment, Troy, when you thought Sokka and Toph were going down? No. Fine. Katie.

53:05 Yeah, and I knew they weren't, but I was like, oh, they're dying right now.

53:09 It's so emotional. You're like, oh my god, they're gonna fall, or they're gonna be like fricasseed or something. Yeah, but it's like for the cause. Yeah. No, I didn't. You know, I was I was 18 years old when this came out, a fresh 18-year-old. I was a new man. And yeah, I thought anybody was up for grabs.

53:26 I didn't think anybody was safe.

53:28 Happy 18th birthday. You're gonna see Top about to fall. Yeah.

53:31 Can you imagine if Toph fell to her death?

53:33 No wonder you were shaking. Yeah.

53:35 And sweating. It was very emotional. Sweaty right now. I gotta take my shirt off. Hold on.

53:39 Also, I liked Iroh's pep talk to the group and just everyone's own destinies and and how to be a support. And I liked that the White Lotus was defending Bossing Sei. And like that was really nice to see all of them in in action, I thought.

53:56 And to get like confirmation that all of these old masters were serving like a higher cause than like just teaching these kids like a skill or just defending their nation, that they've all been a part of the secret society.

54:10 I mean it's also like, you know, yes, I love my country, but I care more about this world.

54:16 Mm-hmm. And I do think that's a lesson that more people should take to heart that maybe nationalism isn't quite the way to go, and maybe we should keep the ideals of peace and love throughout the world. And it's just so powerful when Iroh talks about having a vision as a boy of conquering Bossing Se.

54:35 And so with the trajectory his life was on, he took that as, oh, this vision is me conquering the name of my country, and then turns out Destiny has a funny way of thinking, and that Iroh's destiny was to liberate it from the Fire Nation. And there was a moment where I think I first watched it wishing that Iroh was dishing out a little more damage, but Iro's very subdued in the whole the whole episode.

54:59 He does do like the giant fire blast that takes out the outer wall in one hit, something that took him like hundreds of days before. And then you get this very symbolic moment of him standing alone at the palace and then shoots like a single like fireball to burn that that tapestry.

55:19 What'd you think about Azula what? Uh being cray cray. Looking in the mirror, thinking she sees her mom, and that kind of back and forth.

55:30 That was definitely a little hard to watch. Um though her cutting her own hair, doesn't uh it's kind of funny. That's what that's kind of the time we're living in right now. You know, I have to cut my own hair at home. So I was just like, okay, that's not bad. You know, you can you can cut it better than that.

55:47 I'm a little bit bummed that she didn't like, you know, cut more off.

55:50 Like she just yeah, it could have been like a shorter bang.

55:53unknown Yeah.

55:54 Like a really hipster, hipster bike Portland bang. I thought she was gonna like put her hair up on like on a ponytail and like cut it from there.

56:00 Yeah. Her struggling to put her hair up reminded me of when I had my man bun. I mean, Troy's currently struggling with his man bun. He's just letting his long Fabio locks flow. I mean, Troy's hair has to be like down, what, halfway down your back?

56:15 Anyway, so so she's like, It's in braids right now. So she sees her mom and her, you know, she's like, you hate me, don't you? No, I actually love you. You're just a monster.

56:25 You're just, you know, a megalomaniac uh psychopath.

56:28 You're just a little cray cray, that's all. And then Azula's like, whatever, and just decides she's gonna hate her mom. I'm like, Azula, you gotta figure out how how to let the I I don't mean to be uh being repetitive, but you gotta figure she's gotta figure out. But Toph should learn how to woodbend.

56:45 Exactly. Yes.

56:47 Let him finish his thought.

56:50 No, when she breaks the mirror, I'm just like, man, I wonder how many other people struggle with that trying to talk with people from their past who they're not able to speak with anymore, because they know that those people inadvertently have better judgment than they do.

57:03 I do think it's very powerful that they do address on like some mental mental illness in this episode. And you do feel for Azula, and you do feel I mean, there's just a lot of a lot of sadness in that.

57:14 I wish she would have gotten a redemption arc at some point in the series, but And then, you know, it ends with Zuko asking Ozai about his mother, their mother.

57:26 Which made me wonder. I was like, so I it was never confirm confirmed nor denied that the mother was like gone, like dead. Like they she just disappeared. She's just been banished, Troy. She just was banished, got it.

57:39 But maybe she's dead. Maybe she's alive. Maybe she's dead. Maybe.

57:44 Are you saying she's banished and not dead, Horda?

57:46 Oh, was I banished her. That was that is stated.

57:49 I don't know.

57:50 That's why she was gone.

57:51 So Jordan knows what happens. So can you? We own the book, it's right there. Yeah, no, after today, I'm feeling very motivated to read the book because Jordan won't tell me.

58:00 After today, maybe an episode that we do.

58:02 I wonder if the people that were banished started a Facebook group.

58:07 Uh I imagine they're not that far. I think they probably just left and like, you know, peaced out. I mean, where would they have gone? I know, five miles away, like they'll never see us from here. Also, I don't understand that Lo and Lee were non-benders, even though they're technically they were supposed to be Azulus teacher.

58:24 I don't know.

58:24 Yeah, yeah.

58:25 That seemed a little everything about Lo and Lee. I just Lee, you're banished. Lo, you can stay, but I'm Lee. That was a great line, though.

58:33 What do you think about Azula getting rid of the Dilee?

58:37 Lame. I mean, they're pretty chill about it. Can you imagine if the Dilee showed up during that Agni Kai?

58:41 Right. They would have been really helpful.

58:43 They would have been like, who do we help? We don't know. Oh well. Well, see that's Azula's problem, is that she pushes everyone away, and that's the opposite of Zuko, is that he uses the power the power of friendship to help him out, and that's Azula's biggest fault, is that she can't form bonds. Now it's time to talk about the finale and Aang fighting Ozai.

59:03 And Aang being very passive the whole time. Like, as soon as Ozai shows up on his rocket boots, may we be reminded.

59:11 Okay. My my heart really goes out to Top on this one. She was not able to see any of that.

59:17 Oh, then she could feel the fire. She could feel the fire. That's a powerful line. Like, that's a lot of fire, isn't it?

59:22 Uh-huh.

59:23 Yeah. Well, and Aang, before the fight even starts, he's like, Well, you can stop this. Like, I don't I don't want to fight you. Like, can we is there another solution here? And Ozai isn't having it. He's like.

59:34 For some weird reason, freaking Ozai writing in on his fire cloud was more believable than Azula's cheesy blue electric propulsion.

59:43 It's not electric. It's just fire.

59:45 Yeah.

59:45 Lightning boots. Lightning boots. Yeah, she's not Iron Man. So they both got uh lightning fire boots.

59:52 Everybody but Suko.

59:54 But it is like it's really disturbing when the the fleet arrives and they all just like recklessly start burning the land under them. Like that's really I mean that was really kind of powerful and disturbing, especially in like this current state of climate change where we was having that moment here for a couple months.

1:00:11 Yeah, where Oregon caught on fire and like our friend's house almost burned down and some of our other friends' houses did burn down. And yeah, you just really feel for like that destructive capability of fire and how it's like more egregious when these people are like willingly doing it.

1:00:26 Now, would you say that if you were to include the whole solar system that in within the solar system that wood is more viable than diamonds? In the whole solar system.

1:00:38 Yeah, because we uh we assign value to diamonds. Whereas you know, you know, we could do things with wood. Right. I don't know, you can ask some Venetians or Martians. I mean, do you remember in that episode of the Justice League where the Martian manhunter was presented with a gift of a tree or a gift of a diamond, and he said, screw that tree, give me the rock.

1:01:00 No, I don't know. Do you remember that episode? This is not true. This is all just this is goose. Moving on. Wait, did No. Troy, I've I've wrecked Troy. Troy, reboot!

1:01:10 Okay, we're talking about fireboots zooming over. And Angle's like, let's go, but not really.

1:01:18 Fire boots is quick change. He sees robes. I'm like, whoa, dude. Have you ever tried firebending in a full cape? Cloak? It'd be hard. You know, he wouldn't be able to like.

1:01:31 This show's got a weird they all every character's got a weird habit of just ripping off their clothes. Whenever they get the chance, Saka quick changes into his underwear. This is obviously not Oregon Coast weather in the whole show. Like every just any any time of the day, they're just a off comes the shirts.

1:01:48 Yeah, it must be warm up.

1:01:49 But Ozai is ripped. Like, that's a man. I know. They always made him out to be so scrawny in the past.

1:01:56 I mean, I wish they would have modeled him more after Mark Campbell. Like, here comes What's funny about that tri?

1:02:04 I'm just thinking of.

1:02:07 Are you picturing him with a beard or no beard?

1:02:09 With a beard. Like, like Luke Skywalker, freaking, I don't know, the the um Return of the uh no, not Return of the Jedi, no.

1:02:19 Return of the mech.

1:02:20 Oh god, which one is it? Uh The Force Awakens or the Last Jedi. The last Jedi. Mark Campbell. I wish there was a quick change in that one.

1:02:31 But yeah, Ray turns around and then it's just Luke. He's in his underwear, like milking that monster thing and like drinking the blue milk. He's like, Okay.

1:02:41 Completely topless. So Ozai strips down, zooms over.

1:02:45 I would say he strips down and then burns his clothes on the way out. He's like, I don't need this. I'm the Phoenix King.

1:02:51 I know.

1:02:52 Ozai got some of the worst lines in the finale when he was like, I will be the supreme ruler of everything. I mean, that sounded like a a 10-year-old wrote that line. Like, there was a way more eloquent way to put that.

1:03:05 That writer is now offended by you.

1:03:06 Well. And if he's listening, please, let's work together. He. They. Well, they were all the all the lead writers for the finale rollmen.

1:03:15 Wow.

1:03:15 Hey, I didn't choose that.

1:03:18 You know, I was surprised. And that's why it was lacking.

1:03:23 Uh-huh. The finale wasn't lacking. That line was lacking.

1:03:26 There were a few parts that I was like.

1:03:27 Please fire Lorzai. We don't have to do this. You can end it right now with all the power in the world. And Lorosai's like, yes, they have all the power to take you out. You know, you almost got that quote right. No, I purposely misquoted it.

1:03:41 Jordan constantly gets lines wrong all the time. It's my thing. Oh, it's definitely your thing.

1:03:47 Okay, so we get that moment. Aang like takes out the warship with like a bunch of really great earth bending and then shoots like a ball of fire at it. So we get that moment of them having to fight, and then we get this thing of like Ozai. Like, you know, he's like on this divine kick, like he thinks he's a holy Roman Emperor.

1:04:08 He's like, oh, and the universe has delivered you to me as an act of providence.

1:04:14 I love the way he said that too. It's delivered to me as an act of providence. That's what this fight should have been called.

1:04:20 Like he is taking it like the universe, and again, it's like you're the you're the you're the hero in your own story, and so Ozai believes that the universe is giving him Aang so it he could get like this final problem out of the way and finally take over the scorched world that he's gonna inherit. Like, I don't know what his deal is.

1:04:39 So yeah, we get the fight where Aang is doing everything he can not to like dish out much damage to Ozai, and he's being a pacifist the whole time. He's not engaging with him directly. But then we get the moment where Ozai decides to start shooting lightning, and it's so well choreographed that whole moment.

1:04:56 Like, you see Ozai, he shoots like three different bolts of lightning, and then you get like this wide-angle shot, you get Aang kind of like dodging, and then finally Aang gets on top of a plateau, Ozai shoots a bolt of lightning, and we cut to Aang catching it, and it's this moment of like you've got Ozai dead to rights.

1:05:15 Like Aang won in that moment, like being able to redirect lightning, he showed Ozai that no matter what he does, like Aang's ultimately, Aang has this ability, and Aang he spared Ozai in that moment. And it took me until recently to really like take on the gravity of that moment of like Aang won that fight right there.

1:05:35 And what do you think about that?

1:05:37 Yeah, he you got you come out against the kid who offers you peace because and you know that he quite possibly has mastered all four elements. And you still take him on with one element. You know, what a dummy. And then when he catches the lightning and redirects it at Ozai, how Ozai is reasoning, went goes out the window, he proves you he's got an IQ of.

1:06:00 About fifty, especially with the lines he's been spewing. And uh yeah, the fact that Aang could have ended it right then there, uh, but chose not to. I'm like, okay, they're holding off, you know. I'm like, any any minute now, I'm just waiting for Aang to just capture all four elements. Come on, buddy.

1:06:17 I think it was a really beautiful moment, though, of like you get this slow-mo of Aang kind of having to process what he has to do. And it's that thing you talked about, Troy, like when you get that moment to take someone's life, like you don't get a lot of time to ponder it.

1:06:30 No.

1:06:30 And Aang considered it, and then ultimately Aang Aang's better judgment took a hold of him and he shot it off. But then, yeah, Ozai takes that peace as weakness and that mercy is weakness.

1:06:43 Well, right, but he's mentally unstable. Clearly.

1:06:47 And so he's decided that weakness is a bad thing, yeah.

1:06:50 Well, right, and and like what you were saying, that he was like, Oh, I got some comet power, so obviously it's enough to take on the avatar, and I'm definitely gonna win this when clearly that's not happening. And then even out of the avatar state, he could have taken him down, but didn't Right.

1:07:09 So this episode, it won an Annie Award in 2008 for best directing in an animated television program, and it was given to Joaquim Dos Santos for it. For the episode Into the Inferno, which is the second to last episode. Episode 20. Yeah, this is the only season in the whole series that had 21 episodes.

1:07:29 Every other one had 20. Aw, isn't that cool?

1:07:32 Wow, that's a super fun fact.

1:07:34 It is a super fun fact. And then when we get Ozai, when he uh declares war on Aang and he like shoots fire from his fists and his mouth, it's similar to uh all the all the visions we've ever had of Ozai that Aang has generated. Anytime Ozai has appeared in a vision for Aang, you know, he's always like in a dark silhouette, and then he shoots fire out of his hands and his mouth, and so it's good to see that that vision was accurate.

1:07:59 And then Aang's like trying to figure out what to do, puts himself in the rock cage, and Ozai's like, you're weak like the rest of your people who didn't deserve to live, which is just sick. And then finally, like blows Aang out of the that rock formation he's in. And then I could just feel that moment of him like slamming his scar, like all that chakra chakra juice, chakra juice all over his back.

1:08:27 Yeah, it seemed pretty painful. But then it was like activating. So was it activating the avatar state?

1:08:33 Well, I think it's just like all of that what was blocking his chakra was in there because yeah, he went into the avatar state, was killed by Azula in that moment in his back. And I think that's just like where where all of his energy was kind of stored up and pooled around and kind of knotted up. Because Katara makes that that reference in the first episode of the season, and she's like, Oh, your energy is like all like tied up here.

1:08:58 Let me see if, and she like tries to help him. Yeah, what you need is a is a swift kick in the back. Oh yeah.

1:09:05 I mean that was like a kick, like a jab, direct hit.

1:09:10 And then Troy like audibly gasped and said an expletive when we get this moment of oh, like Aang grabbing Ozai's beard and like coming out of the rubble glowing.

1:09:24 Yeah.

1:09:24 Did I say an expletive? All I remember saying is that's Jordan's favorite part. No, you like you must have blacked out.

1:09:31 Yeah. Okay, what was going through your mind when Aang finally went into the Avatar state?

1:09:36 Oh man, I was like, is my boy gonna come through finally? Is he gonna? Yep, he did. I love the uh the ultimate look of defiance in both characters. Ozai comes in with a right cross fireball, and Aang just brushes it off, like, get out of here. Like, you got no business with your fireballs around here anymore.

1:09:59 Redirects the fire, goes straight up, and then does a right cross at himself, but with air, and blasts Ozai away. Like a football field away. Like a football field away. That's like how Ozai was still defiant is beyond me. I mean, what other option did he have?

1:10:17 Uh, sorry, take back C's! Changed my mind.

1:10:20 Then he had that option, but uh in his book, you know, that's weakness. Weakness is bad.

1:10:24 Well, we know that the the Fire Nation royals think it's sport to hunt a dragon, so I think for Ozai, this was like an extra challenge for him. He's like, no, no, I got this.

1:10:34 And it's Susan's comment, so in his mind, he's totally he has all the power that he needs to take on the Avenue.

1:10:38 But you get this moment of Ozai. Ozai tries to show a show of force by blowing his like fire breath, fist fire. So he's got like the three fireballs that he's like shooting out. And then Aang's like, check this out, Mofo, and then does five, like he's shooting it out of his feet and his hands and his mouth, and then he wraps it all into his like hamster wheel of death and destruction.

1:10:59 Oh yes. Talk about dropping the mic, leveling one up on Ozai.

1:11:04 I mean, that was like almost biblical. Like he's like moving the water, he's like bringing down columns. I mean, Aang is not happy in that moment.

1:11:13 What would have made that any better is if Ozai looked at that and went, wow.

1:11:18 But it was nice because I feel like Aang was in control. Right. You know, like he was he was aware of what was going on, and because I feel like sometimes in the Avatar state it's like, whoa, you know, he's had some crazy times and he was not in control.

1:11:34 Because that's like the point, is like he's finally because he has mastered the avatar state with the help of Guru Patik, and then this was kind of like the last straw. And so and I love that the fact that that last episode is called Avatar Aang. I think that's a super powerful way to have the series be be ended, because he actually becomes a fully realized avatar in that moment.

1:11:54 He's mastered to some degree all four elements and can go into the avatar state at will, as we've seen, at the end where he goes into the avatar state to like rise the tide.

1:12:04 Another thing that would have made the episode great, avataring, is uh Ozai looks at this as like the next big challenge, and so he starts throwing fireballs. It would have been hilarious had Aang had just hit every single one of Ozai's hits with, you know, a different element. You know, he slaps his hands with rocks, slaps the next hand with water, slaps the next foot with fire, and slaps the next one with like air.

1:12:26 I don't know, really just he's snapping Ozai with different elements. I don't know, but it's still delivered in its own way.

1:12:34 Right. You're saying he could have been slapped around a little more.

1:12:36 A little bit more slapstick, yes.

1:12:40 I do appreciate that Aang, you know, he gives Ozai several opportunities for mercy in the the first the early parts of that fight. And then yeah, once he goes into the avatar state, he's like, nah, I'm gonna rough you up a bit, so let's let's tango bud. And then just like just wallops on him the whole time, which is so satisfying.

1:13:00 Especially like Aang does some like crazy things. Like he like he compacts those like boulders and then uses them as like ammunition, like shoots them. Like a shotgun blast that obliterates a football field of other rocks. And then that moment of like him shooting off a gust of wind that was so powerful it eroded a rock pillar.

1:13:20 Oh yeah.

1:13:21 Like there was some it was bananas.

1:13:23 Ozai becomes a bug on a windshield moment. Gets hit with Maxim. Gets hit with a funnel of wind, and I mean, uh Aang's been thinking if he loses, then the end game is he gets enveloped into a a storm of fire, but it it was kind of neat how they turn it around, and Ozai gets enveloped into a a storm of wind.

1:13:43 So, what did you think about that moment where he kind of captures Ozai, Ozai's on his back, looking very frightened, and then Aang's floating over him in his hamster wheel, and it's like, Fire Lord Ozai, you and your forefathers have upset the balance of this world, and this like, again, biblical, frightening Old Testament thing, and then he's like, Later, I'ma kill you, judge, jury, executioner.

1:14:11 Like, is there was there a moment where you thought that Aang was actually gonna kill Ozai? I don't think you should be asking me.

1:14:16 Yeah, I can.

1:14:17 You've seen this show. Was there a moment in the past that was there a moment did you think that Aang was gonna kill him when he's like, you know, he's got like his basically his sword of all four elements he's gonna bring down on Ozai?

1:14:29 I mean, yeah, I mean it seems like that could happen, but then you're like, we're on Nickelodeon. How can this happen?

1:14:35 This is so dark. Yeah, no, I'm in the same boat. I'm just like, it would have been interesting had he actually finished off Ozai, but there's no way they could have gotten away with that in the show, honestly. The uh the the team that that previews the show to make sure it's appropriate to you on TV, they never would have said it.

1:14:51 But you thought that Aang Aang's character was capable of killing Ozai in that moment. I'm not talking about like business model. Like you thought Aang could have finished him and would have done it.

1:15:02 No. Aang just never had it in him. Never. Ever.

1:15:06 Which is good. I don't think it should be in him.

1:15:08 Genetically, uh spiritually, any kind of way. It's just there is not an ounce of kill in Aang, and that's what makes him such a great uh guy in in this show. I mean, there's other ways he could have done it. He could have gone on with it and zapped Ozai's head really hard and turned him into like a double Zuko scar.

1:15:26 He could have, I don't know, just electrocuted Ozai to the point where Ozai finally says, mercy, mercy, mercy, but no, he did it in the best way he possibly could have, just take away the firebending.

1:15:38 Well, and take away his power, right? It's like the thing that he uses to oppress people and to abuse his children.

1:15:46 Can I also just add they have the best music for Zuko versus Azula? They have the worst music I could have thought of for Ozai versus Aang. Why do you think it was the worst? I can't. I just the the people just doing the high-pitched, like, uh just they weren't singing. It was strings. Those are strings?

1:16:06 Yeah. I don't know why. I was expecting just as good of music for Ozai and Aang.

1:16:10 I think it was good. I think it was good in a different way. It was like this this high tension moment in like scary, surreal, frightening. And I think it evoked those feelings. Like, I don't know what else would have been satisfying. Like, what what kind of score would you have preferred for that moment?

1:16:28 The same monk chant, but just I don't know, just like on a higher, more intense rhythm.

1:16:34 But see, yeah, the the emotional stakes were were so different for Ozai versus Aang. Versus Zuko and Azula, like that music is very appropriate for them when you evoke like the melancholy and the sadness of what's going on. I don't think Aang and Ozai would have deserved that unless they like had some sort of relationship and you were kind of turning on them.

1:16:53 Instead, you're like facing like you're facing the big bad monsters, what you're facing.

1:16:57 Right. No, they've had like a hundred-year-old platonic relationship going on.

1:17:01 Well, Aang doesn't have a relationship with Ozai. He's got a bad relationship with Ozai. Well, Ozai's not the one who killed his people. No, I just grandfather.

1:17:09 I don't know, just there was the way they just brought the notes up really high. It's just like, ugh, that's just I don't know, to me, that just sound like crap. What'd you think, Katie?

1:17:16 I can't even remember the song.

1:17:18 Well, it's like the whole time it's like it's just like it's high strings.

1:17:22 So it's here.

1:17:22unknown Zing, zing, zing, zinc, ding, ding, zinc, zing, zing, zing.

1:17:26 It's not like that at all.

1:17:28 Okay. Well, I'm not sure.

1:17:29 Well, to come back to that.

1:17:30 And then so what would have happened when Aang grabs Fire Lord Ozai, and they both do their eyes from or light from their eyes in the mouth straight upward, and then you see the red engulfing not only Ozai, but most of Aang. Like, what would have happened to Aang had he been fully encompassed in the red?

1:17:50 Well, the Lion Turtle said that if your spirit was corruptible, that you would be consumed and destroyed. And so I'm assuming like I don't know if it would have bent Aang's bending away, or if Aang would have been sacrificing like his spirit, and Aang would have just been killed. Like his spirit would have been destroyed.

1:18:11 But yeah, that was a really interesting moment. And we get the sense again that Toph is one of the most important characters in this because Aang again gives Ozai mercy and then turns his back to him. But then Ozai, of course, is not gonna take that, and so decides that he's going to try to kill Aang.

1:18:30 And then you get this really wonderful moment of like seeing how Toph sees, and so Aang's able to use that technique of vibration sensing and use it to take Ozai out. And so at this point, Aang's like, You've you've literally left me no choice. Like, you're too dangerous. I can't kill you. You won't stop.

1:18:48 This is what we're gonna do.

1:18:50 Yeah, and it's like it engulfs like his arms, and I really I mean, I enjoyed that.

1:18:55 Did it freak you out the first time you saw that? I don't think so. You're like into it? Yeah, like yeah, melt away your body, turn into energy.

1:19:03 No, just some some classic restraint. I like how Ozai and Azula.

1:19:08 Oh no, no, no. I was talking about when they like melted and he like transformed. Yeah, not that part.

1:19:16 I enjoyed the the part that both Azula and Ozai both get restrained in a very similar way. On their knees, hands behind their back. That's the only way to restrain these people that have quite frankly lost their minds. They've gotten so power drunk that they don't know what to do with it, and they just are truly corrupted.

1:19:35 Did you pick up this moment like after Aang kind of binds Ozai? There's that moment of uh Ozai like takes a big breath and he shoots fire out of his mouth to Aang, but Aang anticipates it and like blows it back with air, and then he does the like forehead heart thing.

1:19:50 Oh, I did not see that.

1:19:51 Yeah, it was and again, it took me several times to watch like pick up on that little detail. But yeah, I mean, Aang is like, uh-uh, I'm no fool. I got you. But there's a lot of uh questions about this ability that the Lion Turtle gives to Aang or teaches him how to do is like energy bending. So what was your take on this energy bending scene?

1:20:14 Uh, where it totally reminds me of uh acupuncturists and how they'll try to, you know, put different, you know, st uh needles in your body, which are totally painless, by the way. More like accupressure. Acupressure, yes. And I know. Just lion turtle. When that lion turtle did that, um it really did set up the show for a completely for another series.

1:20:40 And you know, you're gonna have mind benders in that series, and I'm gonna benders. Oh man, so you got yeah, it was just so much and so little time. I was like, wow. Yeah, the fact that Aang realized he had the power to take away somebody's bending if he really did not uh like them. And you know, instead of having to be judge, jury, executioner.

1:21:00 Well, I mean, I don't think it's like necessarily you don't like them. I think Aang was like, well, my only option here is to remove your bending. I don't think Aang's gonna be walking around being like, boom, your bending's gone, boop your bending's gone, boop your bending's gone. No, that's what I got from it though.

1:21:13 This also begs the question like, can Aang bestow bending on people? Is that can he like can this work in reverse? Can he walk up to Sokka and be like, boom, Sokka, Earth Bender, have fun.

1:21:23 Do they talk about this in the books?

1:21:25 No. Not that I've seen, but I've only read two of them.

1:21:29 Two of them.

1:21:30 Do and two.

1:21:31 Okay.

1:21:32 So what did you think about that energy bending scene?

1:21:36 Yeah, I think it's powerful. I think that Aang, specifically, the Avatar, if if they are to be balance or to restore balance. Yeah, it makes sense to like take away someone's bending if they are a a threat. And I think that's a way better w way to go versus killing someone. And so it's a very surprising moment.

1:22:01 I mean, I wasn't I mean, were you surprised, Troy, that that's what happened in the end?

1:22:06 That he was able to bend and take away Fire Lord Ozai's fire bending? Yeah, I was completely shocked by that, actually. I was like, Because I I never would have thought that would be possible in this kind of a show. And so I was relieved that they could literally just take away all the Fire Lord Ozai's ammunitions, like in a way, he still has his limbs, so he can still fight physically, but the fact that he can't bend anything, I'm like, that was as the British like to say, that was um That was Cheerio, pop, pop.

1:22:37 Oh god. So soggy crumpet. I think they say genius.

1:22:44 That was genius. Only the British say that was genius. But it it does also I'm totally stuck on it.

1:22:51 That's brilliant. Brilliant, thank you. Wow, you let me just guess for that long without saying. I did. You sulky crumpet. Brilliant, just brilliant that they could just take away his bending like that.

1:23:01 I think there's some really great symbolism though when Aang decides to bend Ozai's energy and just how quickly he's he's kind of engulfed by by Ozai's hate and his evil and his malice. But being able to be firm and be uncorruptible is like the base level that Aang needs to clear to be able to stand his ground and to shine goodness back through Ozai and to kind of bend him to his will.

1:23:28 And I think that's a really great, there's a lot of symbolism there that I really appreciated and I like unpacking. And yeah, I didn't know what Aang was gonna do. When I first watched it, I thought Aang like literally bent his soul out of his body and was like, well, I, you know, sent you to hell. Have fun, Ozai.

1:23:45 I didn't want to like physically do it, but I'm just gonna.

1:23:47 I don't think they believe in hell in this show. Sent you to Ember Island.

1:23:53 You can just see Ozai's spirit just like fall out of his body. No! It's Ozai's ghost. It's like he haunts Aang for the rest of the series. Hey, that wasn't cool, man. But it is interesting that it's like Ozai is fundamentally like defeated by removing his bending versus like, don't you think he would still have all of his kind of like political power?

1:24:16 I think there's like some weakness in the Fire Nation that we see, just from the fact that you bend away his bending and then all of a sudden Zuko's like, I'm Fire Lord now. Or is it this thing that Ozai like forsake him himself as the Firelord? Like he's already stepped down as being Firelord to be the Phoenix King, and so it left a power vacuum anyway.

1:24:37 It's like, is that what's what happened?

1:24:38 I think it was more that.

1:24:40 Yeah. But I just, yeah, it's uh it's really interesting how.

1:24:46 Well, it's interesting it was written by by men, so that's why there's these plot holes.

1:24:50 So yeah, then we get then we get this moment of like, what's- No, that it's exactly it, Katie. Like the writers like they needed more females in the room. Well, there were women on the staff. That's their fault.

1:25:02 That's their fault. That's their fault.

1:25:04 They didn't have women in the writing room.

1:25:06 But then we get everyone, everyone shows back up. Suki, Saka, and Toph have survived. I don't know if the uh the crew from that one airship survived after they dumped them out, but they swam to shore.

1:25:18 Yeah, no, my my the lifeguard in me was like, oh no, the one dude's wearing armor, like, and how many of them can swim? Like, oh, you jerks, like if anybody killed somebody in the show, it was freaking Sokka murdered 700 people the next time. I'm like, I'm like, ah, Sokka, you sick. And they say Ozai's terrible.

1:25:37 One guy's birthday. Yeah, that was that guy's birthday, and he killed him.

1:25:41 No, they all swing him to draw. Everyone's fine. Everyone's struggling. So the crew shows back up. Suki's like, did you kill him? And just Ozai's like, I'm still alive. And they're just like cracking jokes about him, like while he's like, ah, chilling. He's got like a bad hangover going on. Yeah, and then I don't know if you guys noticed this.

1:26:03 He like collapses and then he's drooling. Like Ozai's laying, his face, his tongue is out, his eyes are kind of bulged off.

1:26:10 What?

1:26:11 And he's drooling. It was almost like when Oppa ate soccer and then spit him back out. That's how much saliva was coming out of Ozai's mouth.

1:26:18 It was a throwbag.

1:26:19 So this show has got a weird fetish for like oral stuff. Whether it's drool's got a weird fetish for oral stuff. Are you talking about Jet's wheat? Jet's wheat, Oppa's drool, Ozai's drool, Sokka's drool. I mean, how many people have drooled in this series?

1:26:37 You name them all. Foam guy, foam with the mouth guy. Foam at the mouth guy.

1:26:41 Wait, I want to talk about foam with the mouth guy. No beat them. At the very end where Zuko and Aang are coming out, they're like addressing the crowd, and they're like, this war's finally over, and we pan out to the audience, we see everyone like cheering. Can you imagine the opportunity lost of not having foam with the mouth guy there going, ah, ah Can you imagine?

1:27:02 It would have been so much better if Kim.

1:27:07 And then it catches everybody in the audience doing it.

1:27:14 Okay.

1:27:15 And then wait, come on now, it span it pans out, and guess who's in the front row of Earth Kingdom? The boulder. The swamp guys. All the guys without a uniform are in front row.

1:27:26 Yeah, well, I mean, you gotta have him in view.

1:27:29 That was pretty special.

1:27:31 But I do I thought it was so powerful when we get um we get Zuko coming out and addressing Aang. And we see Aang, and he's wearing like these yellow robes, and he's wearing like a necklace that looks very much like Monchiatso's. And just Aang like looks really good. He's like ready to like come into his own as the avatar in that moment.

1:27:50 And it's this great callback and reversal to how Sozin and Roku were, how they started out as friends and then became mortal enemies, and then you have Zuko and Aang, where they started out as Mortal Enemies, kind of where Sozin and Roku left off, and then they've built this bond, and now Zuko and Aang are both admitting that they're friends.

1:28:10 And Aang even shared a hug.

1:28:12 They shared a hug, and I I started tear bending. That was a nice moment. That's right. It was a beautiful moment. And then they come in. That's right. And then we finally, yeah, Zuko's finally able to make good on all these promises he's made throughout the series. He's like, We're gonna, we're actually going to usher in this era of peace and love and the Fire Nation.

1:28:32 We're gonna be, we're done with this war. Like, let's move on. Like, this is over. And it's like it's an amazing end to the series. And I don't think the beginning of the show reflects on like how powerful that moment is. Like, you're like, oh, like this kid's gotta defeat the Fire Nation. He's been there for a hundred years, and it's so powerful and it's so good.

1:28:53 And it just makes me really happy.

1:28:55 I'm so sorry, I gave up on Zuko for all of season two.

1:28:58 It's just a formal apology.

1:29:00 Yes.

1:29:01 Wait, what about what about May? Were you surprised to see her at the end?

1:29:04 I was. Yeah, she okay. Her uncle pulled strings to get her out of prison, not like Zuko. Zuko was never like, hey, is May okay?

1:29:13 Tylee bonded with the other girls in prison.

1:29:18 And we're gonna be best friends. I don't know why I didn't see that coming. Like, she totally fits in with the Kyoshi Warriors. She was born to be a warrior. Aww. That's right. So, and then uh the last we see of Iro is I think it was Zuko who gave him a nice cup of hot tea.

1:29:34 Yeah, and he's like, My belly's not that big anymore. I've really trimmed down. And then he rips off his robe showing his rippling six pack. Uh so an interesting thing, apparently Ozai was only Firelord for six years, which is an interesting idea when we think about it. Because Azulon was Fire Lord, and then Ursa, we're assuming maybe killed him, and then Ozai was able to assume the throne.

1:29:57 And so he was only Fire Lord for six years, which seems really, really short. Like you you go into it thinking that he's been Fire Lord this whole time. And yeah, he, according to Series Lore, had the shortest reign of any Fire Lord, which is very satisfying.

1:30:11 So he basically served one and a half terms for a US president.

1:30:14 No, he was, he was, he was a senator. He served one term as a senator. Oh, gotcha. That's what he got. So I do want to end this with the fact that the very last word of the show is perfect.

1:30:28 What?

1:30:28 Yeah, the last the last word spoken, and after the last airbag is not a good thing. Toph says, I think you all look perfect. Oh, I guess. And that's the last line, and it's fantastic. And it's perfect. Yeah, it was perfect.

1:30:42 What do you think about Katara going for that kiss at the end? That makes it.

1:30:46 I was so relieved she wasn't confused anymore. Aww. Took her three took her took her a year. Well, she was like, I'm your mom.

1:30:53 Wait, I'm not your mom.

1:30:54 Are you happy that she kissed Aang? Yeah.

1:30:57 Not Zuko? Yeah, no. I mean, I was I was still holding out for Zutara until the very end. Yeah. I mean, cause that moment where she heals Zuko after the lightning's like, thank you, Gitara.

1:31:11 I know.

1:31:11 And you're like, go in for the kiss, dude. Like, let's seal the deal. But apparently they're just friends. Whatever. It's cool.

1:31:17 Whatever.

1:31:18 No, I I was very happy. And you know, it is kind of like a schmaltzy way to end a series to have like the our two mains kiss, but it just felt right, you know? Just felt right. No words were needed. They just had that moment together. They had a nice hug. It was kind of like me and Katie.

1:31:36 Aww. What?

1:31:37 No words. Don't worry about it.

1:31:39 No words. Okay.

1:31:40 Troy. Us here at Yip Yapora, an Avatar Podcast.

1:31:45 Really appreciate you uh joining us on this podcast journey.

1:31:50 Perfect. Yeah, what's in there? I don't know. Why don't we take a look? I haven't looked in there yet. Why don't we take a look in that thing we're giving you? Alright, to all of our listeners out there, I dedicate this to you for your loyalty. It's 24 ounces of malt liquor. It's a t-shirt. And on it, it says Happy Camp.

1:32:10 No, it says Happy Camp. Earth Kingdom. Ba Sing Sei. They got this for me because I kept saying Bong Singsei. So now he knows how to say it. I'll always have forever and ever. And on the back it says.

1:32:24 I think that's the front.

1:32:25 Oh, that is the front. I was holding it wrong.

1:32:28 I mean, you could wear it either way. Right. It's fine.

1:32:31 I can really get away with wearing it either way.

1:32:33 Troy, thank you so much for joining us on the show. That's me clapping. Sorry. It's been a really fun ride. It's been we should have called it Yip Yip Hooray the Pandemic Podcast. Did we I was I was Did we come up with a title for the show?

1:32:50 Do we remember when our first episode was? Was that back in? Uh? Yeah.

1:32:55 Like we recorded in March, I think, but we were recorded with Jessica earlier than that.

1:32:59 March. So yeah, we literally recorded as the pandemic was starting and it was really hitting home.

1:33:04 Oh yeah.

1:33:05 Yeah, no, I I probably would have caught uh the coronavirus because I was supposed to go on a business trip that same week. But instead I stayed here and did the podcast. Hey!

1:33:14 Oh yeah, I forgot you were supposed to go.

1:33:16 Yeah, I was supposed to go to a different state that was really breaking out in positive cases. So it's crazy.

1:33:23 Like uh we started this podcast. I was in my 20s, ended it in my 30s. I'm still in my 20s. We've all had birthdays. Uh-huh.

1:33:30 We've all had birthdays.

1:33:32 We've all had birthdays. And you know what? If you're at home or in your car or in the tub listening, you too are gonna have a birthday. Since happy birthday.

1:33:41 Since we started this podcast, I've changed and uh over the course of three different shifts at my workplace. I went from graveyard to early morning. Now I'm in the middle of the day, finally.

1:33:50 Still hasn't changed his socks. They're standing on their own, they're kind of like hardened boots. Hey, come on now.

1:33:55 They're not like Iro sandals. Troy's grown a tail?

1:33:58 Wait, wait, we have to ask one last thing.

1:34:01 Oh, we do.

1:34:02 So would you recommend the show? Or what would you say to someone who's never seen the show?

1:34:09 Think of it as not as a cartoon show for kids, but as more of a religion, a soft religion for people, because that's exactly the way Jordan interprets it.

1:34:21unknown I don't know.

1:34:22 It's it's incorrect.

1:34:23 No. It's not true. It's not a soft religion. How I would r recommend it to people is yeah, it's I to me it feels more like it has more of a religious feeling to it. And if you're a martial arts enthusiast, you'll enjoy it. Um all you gotta do is go through the simple test of making it through the first six or seven episodes.

1:34:44 Uh because those are just packed with kids' jokes.

1:34:48 So are you are you happy that you watched it?

1:34:50 Yes. I learned a lot.

1:34:52 Like what?

1:34:53 Not a whole lot, actually. That you can't bend wood. That yeah. I learned that Toph can bend earth, but you can't bend wood.

1:35:01 What yeah, what did you take away from this series?

1:35:04 I thought it was interesting how much uh Tai Chi, Kung Fung, Qi Gong, how many different martial arts are in different ways of life. Uh I also learned that just I don't know how good people can get with animation. I also learned how many actors will switch between shows. Because all the voice actors in this show, there was quite a few of them that did Rugrats.

1:35:29 Voice acting and numerous other shows, Cartoon Network and Nickelodeon, and movies that I've seen, and they just blew me away.

1:35:37 Yeah, like um the guy who does Zuko, he's been in a movie called Hook, and he's um He's not Peter Pan, but he's um Roofy Yo. Roofy Yo. Yeah, um Yeah, what's his name? I can't remember. Katie, uh, what did you take away from this series?

1:35:52unknown Yeah.

1:35:53 I want to make this about Troy.

1:35:55 Yeah, let's make it about Troy. Yeah. So whose whose journey ultimately were you most satisfied with?

1:36:03 Hands down. I've been cheering for that guy since day one. So what about his journey was satisfying for you? Honestly, how he's optimistic, gets arrested by Azula and Zuko. Shut up, old man. Gets himself all jacked, trained up and jacked up in prison, breaks out of prison, and then he makes the ultimate comeback.

1:36:28 Literally his disappearance for the first half half of season for all of season three, only to watch him say, The power that only comes to a firebender once in a hundred years. And then creates the fireball. I was, I was trying. Can't do a Mako though.

1:36:44 A Mako.

1:36:45 A Mako. But a Mako he can do. Yeah, a Mako, maybe. And he just takes out the Bossing Sei wall with one fire punch, and then he burns the last.

1:36:54 He used like his mouth. That's what he He was the Dragon of the West.

1:36:57 That's right.

1:36:58 He was the dragon of the West!

1:37:00 He was the West Dragon. Not the West Dragon. Burns the Fire Nation flag, and I was like, that's the IROI no. Yeah, burn it all to the ground. Sorry, that that's whose character I was satisfied with the most. The second character who I was sat satisfied with the most is Azula. I'm talking about the character's journeys, not I mean, but She had a she had an impressional impressionable journey.

1:37:23 What about her? Did you clean up? Just hyper-perfectionist, narcissistic syndrome. Never goes the way you want it to because at one way or another, the choices you make become very contradictory. It's just the way human nature works.

1:37:37 Do you think this series taught you anything that you'll carry with you? I'm a little curious about onion juice. Not the banana aspect of onion juice? Maybe.

1:37:46 Banana and onion.

1:37:47 Onion and banana juice.

1:37:49 What does your future with Avatar look like? Where do you go from here, Troy?

1:37:54 We go straight to Legend of Korra. Dun dun dun. Dang.

1:37:59 Are you doing it? Are you gonna commit to watching it?

1:38:01 I think so. I I gotta see if somebody from Toth's family or Toph herself can one day bend wood. Then Trees. My journey's not over with her.

1:38:14 That's actually the subtitle for Legend of Korra. It's the Legend of Korra Journey to Woodbend. That's that's what that's actually season two is all about woodbending. There's a whole thing. The journey to a forest. There's elves. We actually mean elves. Like straight up wood elves. Spoiler alert. Legolus is in the world.

1:38:31 I was gonna say put on my earmuffs, but I'm wearing your earmuffs. I'm gonna lie to you. Alright, guys. Thank you for the journey.

1:38:41 Thank you for the journey. Thanks for joining us. This was good. I'm glad we were able to do it. Our fruit.

1:38:45 Another round of applause for Jordan.

1:38:48 Oh yay! Jordan!

1:38:51 Give it away to Sarah. Sarah! Good work. Thank you for being here. For being very quiet, Sarah. It's actually slow, slow methodical process.

1:39:03 Actually, Oh, it takes him forever.

1:39:05 Troy's not even a real person. He's actually, we've I've built him with sound bites. So actually, I actually Katie's not real either. It's just me.

1:39:14 Bye, just you.

1:39:15 Oh, see, and I edited her to say that. Katie, how about you? Thank you so much for being here and watching Avatar for the third for the third time. I didn't really have a choice. What was the difference between the first and the third time for you?

1:39:27 Can't remember it's first every time.

1:39:28 First every time? Perfect. Hey. Kids. This is This is story of a girl.

1:39:34 Cry the river and drown the whole world. No one's listening to all this, right?

1:39:37 Yep, yep.

1:39:38 Oh. Yep. Yep, yep. Yep. Why was it? You gotta be a shaka. Okay. Here we go.

1:39:45 Yep, yep. Why is it quite insensual? Let's all be Sokka when he's trying to yip yip jet. Yep. Yep. Yep. Okay, socka when he's trying to be sexy with UA. Yep, yep. Yep.

1:39:58 Wait, did he say that?

1:40:00 Kind of. Kids, it's been a great journey. And join us for whatever we do next.

1:40:07 How are they gonna know?

1:40:08 Yep, yep. Yep, yep. Yep, yep, yep. Yep, yep, yep. Hooray. Yep. An Avatar Podcast.

1:40:17 Is that the name of the show?

1:40:18 To quote Toph. Perfect.

1:40:31 Vocal warm-up. Ooh, you guys have a complete book of card games. Wait, what was Troy's vocal warm-up?

1:40:39 It was like, uh wait, wait, dude.

1:40:43 If the blue lightning from the show was a sound, that was my interpretation of it. Hmm.

1:40:49 I don't know if that would be the sound be like.

1:40:54 Yeah.