The Crossroads of Destiny

0:00 Water, earth, fire, air. This is what we're hooray! That's our podcast. Okay. Well, hey everybody.

0:20 Hey.

0:21 Wow. Who are you?

0:23 Katie. Katie.

0:25 Is there two Katie's?

0:26 Anyway.

0:27 It's like fourth grade all over again. There's just like a bunch of Katie's and a bunch of Britney's in the classroom.

0:31 Don't talk about you don't even know about you don't even know the woes of a million katies in the classroom.

0:36 That sounds like a good book. Are you gonna write that? The woes of a million katies? No, because probably some other Katie's written about it. Well, see, you were a Katie class. I was a Britney class. Jessica? What kind of class?

0:46 I was a Jessica class. Multiple Jessica's, always. Really? Jessica, most popular name of 1989.

0:53 Dang. Ew.

0:55 What?

0:56 That's a very impressive fun fact.

0:58 Is it?

0:58 I mean, I feel like mine was probably, I don't know, Jason. Jason was hot in the 90s. Everyone was Jason.

1:03 Why does everyone always think your name is Jim?

1:06 Everyone thinks I'm Justin.

1:08 Justin. Yeah. Jordan always gets called Justin. But I guess they're called Jennifer.

1:13 Did you call me Jennifer? Oh, you get a Jennifer.

1:15 Yeah.

1:16 You got like Emma a few times.

1:22 No, I don't think so.

1:23 No.

1:24 Anyway.

1:25 No, the only other Jordan in my school was a girl. So we definitely like split it 50-50 based on this unisex name.

1:31 Wait, who?

1:33 I don't remember her last name.

1:35 Wow.

1:35 But her name was Jordan. She wasn't in my clash. She was a grade below. We didn't hang out. We weren't like, hey Jordan. She's like, hey Jordan. No, but Jessica, were you ever friends with other Jessicas?

1:45 Yeah. Well, you want the whoa that is Jessica. Yeah. Um so in grade school there was another Jessica, and she was a a mean girl. I don't know.

1:57 Jessica, if you're listening, you should fix your ways.

2:00 I mean, I think she knew. Uh so anyway, she was Jessica S. I was Jessica M, but everyone calls her Jessica, and I was Jessica M. And then in uh third grade, my teacher asked me if I wanted to change my name, and I said yes. So I went by Regina. And then Jessica S left. After fourth grade, fifth grade, everyone called me Jessica anyway, so I went back to Jessica, and then that's when everyone started calling me Regina.

2:30 True story. Then for freshman year of college, walking along the campus, I hear a Regina across the quad, referring to me, one of my friends from grade school.

2:43 Wow. That's that's an amazing tale. I think you should bring it back.

2:47 Okay, so it's a good name. Welcome to Yip Yip. Whatever. What's our pod? What's our name? What is our name, Katie? Whatever. Who's here? I've only done I've introduced myself.

2:57 But it was Katie and Katie.

2:59 Yeah, yeah. Who are you?

3:00 Well, Regina's here. Jessica might join.

3:03 Later.

3:04 And it's me, the OG. Welcome to our podcast, Yip Yip Hooray. An Avatar podcast. Wow. Me 17 episodes in, and Katie got the name eventually. We just finished book two, Earth, with the two-part finale.

3:22 That was so intense. Jessica. Let's just hear about it. What did you think about that crazy time?

3:31 It was crazy. It like starts out chill. We're like, ooh, we're learning about chakras. We're bringing Hinduism into this. This is fun. And then it ends with like betrayal. You're like, what is going on? It's not a happy ending. It's the Empire Strikes Back of Avatar. And it's very upsetting. And Empire is my least favorite of the Star Star Wars trilogy, original trilogy.

3:57 But I've got to say it made me really excited to watch season three, and I do think it's like a highlight of Avatar, but I'm just saying I'm not into downers.

4:04 No, no, I think it's a rule in storytelling. Like any middle portion needs to end in the most like terrible way possible to get you to that like redemption area in like the last section.

4:15 You gotta go low before you can go high. I don't know. Whatever. Uh Empire Strikes Back, that is Jordan's favorite. That's Jordan's basic. It's what the heck? Jessica, her favorite character is the little thing that you don't like.

4:34 What, Jar Jar Binks?

4:35 Yeah.

4:36 That's not that's gross. Why would you say that? No one likes Jar Jar Binx. Jessica, Regina, do you like Jar Jar Binks?

4:42 I I do like Jar Jar Binks. He's not my favorite character in all of Star Wars. But when I saw Phantom Menace, I was like, Jar Jar Binks is funny. He's a good time, and I don't understand all the hate.

4:53 Have you read this theory that Jar Jar Binks was supposed to be like the antithesis to Yoda? He was supposed to be like there's this theory that maybe he was supposed to end up being like the Dark Lord controlling everything. A la Yoda with the light. And so he was supposed to be a physical antithesis to Yoda, but also he also has like this funny like speech pattern like Yoda does, in a way.

5:15 But there's things in Phantom Menace that are too perfect to just be him bumbling and this is how conspiracy theories work. Well, it's not some QAnon thing.

5:28 Also, is this the Star Wars podcast? Yeah, we've got to get back.

5:33 I have a lot to say about Jar Jar Binks when we start our Jar Jar Binks podcast.

5:37 Okay. Uh my hot take with this finale is that I watch it too many times and I tried to watch it with like a fresh, a fresh pair of eyes and a heart this time, and I got so emotional at the end, like the betrayal with Zuko, because I definitely thought he was leaning toward the side of good, and I think that was probably the intent for that episode.

5:58 And then Aang, like going down. Did Aang die?

6:02 Can he go back in the Avatar state? Or did he die while in the Avatar state? So even though Katara brought him back to life, which Katara willing to give that water to just anybody.

6:13 I don't know. It's like good things she had waste on Zuko's scar. God.

6:18 Okay, I was like hoping that she was gonna use that water on Zuko's scar.

6:22 Five minutes after maybe forgiving him, it was like, okay, I haven't seen whatever star Superman versus Batman, but I do know that in that movie they like hate each other, but then they find out their mom both is named Martha, and then they become like best friends. And I like felt that when he was like, My mom is hurt by the Fire Nation too.

6:42 And then she was like, Oh, okay, well, then all's forgiven.

6:45 Yeah, that's what happens. Yeah, at a low point. I it is sad because like Zuko can't catch a break. He's just I feel like he's trying to be on the right path, obviously. And then just goes, just can't get it together. Sis comes in. I don't really think it was the worst.

7:04 I was also on like, oh, Zuka's changed to leave. I mean, Uncle Iroh was like, he's changed, he's like helping out at the tea shop. Which did he change clothes before going to the palace? Because I swear they're in matching like Earth Kingdom green. And then they get to the palace, and Zuka was all of a sudden in this like dowdy brown color.

7:24 Do you guys notice that?

7:26 No, I think he was, I kind of think he was in the brown, definitely in the guru episode. He might have been wearing something over the brown.

7:34 Oh, like a little green band or something. He wears layers, Jessica.

7:39 As we see when he comes down to like kick some butt, like all of a sudden he's like in a tank. You're like, what what part did he remove of that tunic? He's just showing off his guns? I don't know. He's gonna cut off.

7:49 But I mean the brown was the first indication that maybe he wasn't so changed as we thought. The brown?

7:57 Yeah, like what is let's get into some color theory here. Why would you believe the brown to not be not green, not red?

8:04 Well, he wasn't in full alliance with Uncle Iroh, and Uncle Iroh was in like full-on green. Like he looked like an Earth Kingdom dude. He was like, whatever, Fire Nations behind me. I'm living my new dream life of being like Master T guy. I'm really excited to meet the Earth King. He was like so excited.

8:21 He's like, the Earth King cares about my tea. It was very sweet.

8:25 I know. Zuko was excited. He was like keeping up that positivity. He was like excited to make some tea. I was like, oh yeah, this is nice.

8:34 They share a warm embrace.

8:35 Yeah.

8:36 Yeah, but then as soon as he shows up, what what I noticed now is to be brown at the Earth King. I'm like, he's like less enthusiastic, seeming, and then of course, obviously his sister, that's a shock. But I don't understand, I don't understand his turn. So he was like, I mean, he seemed good. Was he pretending for Uncle Iro, or was he like really?

8:55 And then when push come to shove, it just seems like he's never trusted his sister before. Why would he trust her now?

9:02 You know, as Zoo always lies.

9:04 I'm like, is he like a deep agent? Is he like his new strategy to like ingratiate himself with the sister so that he can ultimately betray her further down the line? But I Zuka's not that smart. I mean, from what we've seen.

9:18 Oh yeah.

9:19 Well, but you know, family dynamics and like when you're longing for that love from someone who's really not capable of giving it to you, you know, like his father, and then by extension it's Zula. And it's like, but it doesn't change where you still are desperately wanting that love and affection. And yeah, with a low point.

9:42 My take with the Zuko turn is that he did genuinely have a change because I don't think it's in Zuko's character to ever like put on a false face. Like what you see is what you get with Zuko, I think, probably like 100% of the time what we've seen so far. Like he's always wearing his emotions on his sleeve.

9:59 Right. This is how he feels in that moment. It's just uh heat of the moment.

10:03 Because yeah, I don't think it's in Zuko's character to like pretend things are chill with Iroh, because he's never had that with Iroh. He's always just like, I'm gonna show you whatever I'm feeling right now, Uncle. I'm really mad right now. I mean, he's always very open with Iroh, which I really appreciate.

10:19 But yeah, that desperation where I think he was content with where things were gonna go in that pseudo fantasy world with Iroh, but then once Azula appeared and kind of gave him that ultimatum, all of a sudden that like the option.

10:35 It was like the ball was in his court.

10:37 And like ultimately, I think desperation is what fueled that because when Azula's facing off in like the Mexican standoff with Aang and Katara and those catacombs, Zuko shoots that fireball between the two of them, Aang and Azula, which I thought was nice. But then he comes down and he kind of shares a tense moment with everybody, and then ultimately shoots like a bunch of fireballs at Aang, but then you cut to Zuko's face and he looks insane.

11:02 Like his like he's got this crazy scowl, his eyes are really wide, and he's like, Right. I just think it was like all these emotions bubbling over, and he just like went berserk.

11:13unknown Right.

11:14 And if you think about that, he's been trying, you know, he did that little detox where he's freaking out and trying to like process all this stuff, and so you know, it'd kind of be more zen, and then to have all these feelings come back so strongly in a very short amount of time. Then I was gonna say about what's interesting about Zuko's relationship with everybody else is I think that they, you know, he knows what his father wants him to do, and Azula and and everyone.

11:41 I think like he it's very clear, but with Iroh, I think that he has shown this unconditional love that it doesn't matter. It's like if Zuko messes up or makes you know, he's allowed to make his own decisions and the Iroh's gonna support him regardless.

11:57 But also like gently guiding him toward the light.

12:00 Well, I right, I agree. But in that moment, even though Iroh's telling him what he wants him to do, it's still like yeah, he had to make a decision, but knowing that it wasn't on the table, like Iroh's like, oh, Zuko, if you do this, then you know, we're done. So yeah, it's tough to watch. It's crazy.

12:24 Well, and it's like almost more intense after he and Katara like connect and he like pull out, you know, kind of be like, yeah, Fire Nation's not great. Like, my mom, we don't really know what happened, but it wasn't good. Took her boat away from him, obviously. So just so shortly after that, then be like, No, I'm gonna do this for my dad, who I mean, Zuko doesn't believe his dad's a good guy, right?

12:52 Right.

12:52 No, there's no way.

12:53 Right.

12:54 That idea of like you're you need your honor, and his destiny, because he has a vision of what he needs to be and what path he needs to be on in that moment.

13:03 Well, right, and then Azula's coming in, it's like you're Prince Zuko, and like you're not a traitor, are you? And it's like all this BS.

13:11 So what was your take, Regina, with uh when Zuko and Katara get stuck in the catacombs together?

13:19 Well, I mean, I I mean that was very nice for Katara, but I did feel like so she was like so mad at him, and then I mean, maybe we missed most of the conversation, obviously, but it did seem like it was just like, hey, you know, my I lost my mom too, and then like okay, I'm gonna heal you, I'm gonna like bring you over to our side, but it's like they didn't really have a tough conversation about like the avatar and like his past, other than just stating it at the very beginning.

13:50 So I don't know, I don't feel like it was Urned that Katara was already about to like heal his um scar. I could see her talking about like we could find some kind of solution, maybe go back to the what was it, the North Pole. That's where the waters were, right? Yeah, you know, back to your favorite place where you almost died in the snow.

14:12 And you tried to like take it out.

14:18 Like time-wise, I think probably a couple months maybe.

14:22 No, is this the first time that we the Katara hears more of Zuko's story that knows that he's banished and like is trying to regain his honor? Have they had that conversation before?

14:34 Well, they haven't really, I mean, Zuko could have monologued, but the only times that I can remember Zuko really talking to Katara was when he took her necklace and he was like, I have something of yours. Uh, and then when he kind of berates her when they fight in the North Pole. I think that's really the only time that he's really talking, besides like the the pilot where he's like, I'm looking for the avatar.

14:56 Yeah. No one ever really like has a heart to heart with Zuko. I mean, there's never like that time to like have a conversation and to you know humanize this enemy. And I think they've team avatars kind of moved away from seeing Zuko in Iroh is like the bad guys because they'd just been MIA for most of the season.

15:16 And the last like last time they really interacted with Zuko and Iroh was when Azula shot Iroh in the heart with fire, and as and Katara in that moment was like, I can heal your uncle. So Katara's like always, seems like she's willing to help Zuko and Iroh when the time comes.

15:34 And it's almost like I mean, I guess they did also help them with Opa.

15:37 But you don't know, they don't know that Zuko did that.

15:40 Oh, they didn't see them at all in that episode?

15:42 Mm-mm. Yeah, because they they didn't even find Oppa at any point, remember?

15:47 Mm-hmm.

15:48 Yeah, all of a sudden, like they get out and then here comes Oppa.

15:51 Yeah. Yeah, that's crazy. So, what did you think about Toph being able to metal bend?

15:58 Okay. Can we talk about metal bending?

16:00 Yeah.

16:00 Like where who metal bends in the world of Avatar?

16:04 Nobody metal bends. It's not a thing. Like Toph like created it.

16:08 Oh, so they have they just have like blacksmith.

16:10 I think that's that's mostly it because I think the uh the Fire Nation is like on the cusp of like they're an industrializing nation. And so I just think they are creating these technologies. But it would have been really handy if the Fire Nation had metal benders to create their like war machines.

16:26 Yeah. Well, I thought that giant drill was they had metal benders, but I guess they just were industrialized. I don't know. I thought in that episode they name checked metal bending, but maybe they didn't. Because like obviously there's the weird like swamp water benders. I feel like we've seen, oh, the sand.

16:42 Like, I don't understand how the people who are sandbenders aren't earth benders. Why is that different?

16:47 Well, I think they are. I think it's like a specialized version of earth bending. I think if you put those guys like in the middle of a field, they could like earth bend, but I think it's just like what their climate has got them like accustomed to. They're like, oh, I live in the desert, so I'm used to bending sand and I can bend on this like shifty, shifty place.

17:07 I think that's more the idea. Well, the firebenders, they have lightning, which is kind of a weird one, I think.

17:12 No one said Avatar is perfect, okay? No, I'm not trying to poke holes, I'm trying to understand like the world. So I thought there were metal benders. So we're thinking now that Toph has like revolutionized the idea of metal bending, which is pretty impressive. But it also brings me back to then why couldn't she sandbend when they were back in the desert?

17:30 I mean she kind of did. I mean, she I mean she shot sand with to try to save APA. Like that was the extent of it. But yeah, the sandbenders, I think the most that they do is they kind of make like little like dusty tornadoes to like power their sand sails. I think that's pretty much their like specialization.

17:48 Right. Well, okay. And I guess also it's just like anything, you gotta practice. It's like you can't just like do it, you have to learn how to do it. Because even with like the metals, like she could just like touch it and do it. It's like it took a lot of concentration and um.

18:04 The the moment though, where Toph is metal learning how to metal bend, and you get Guru Pati kind of explaining that idea that all the elements are interconnected and things that are different are just an illusion, and then he gets that moment of like, oh, and even metal is just an extension of the earth, and then you kind of pan over to this black and white image of Toph like seeing with her vibration ability, uh, even though she's blind, she can like detect that the fine pieces of of earth in there, and that's like a really powerful moment for me.

18:37 I got kind of choked up. I was like, oh my god, she's right, it's all connected. Yep, it was really good for me. So, what do we think about chakras? Like, I going into this, I didn't I I had known the word chakra. I didn't really You did? I knew of the word, I couldn't tell you how, I don't know, life.

18:58 I found the word somewhere. I was like, oh yeah, chakra. But then I was surprised and impressed about how much effort the creative team went into like properly incorporating the idea and the concept of chakras into uh this episode and this world, because they actually go into pretty much exactly like each chakra and what it represents and what blocks it and what it what unlocks it, and then each uh vision that Aang has is tinted in a different tone.

19:32 So like they're talking about like the root chakra, and then all the visions that Aang has in that episode are all tinted red, which is associated with that chakra. And so they actually went through the effort of like making sure each of those visions was tinted properly, and then if you play, if you pay close attention, while he's meditating on those chakras, he has him and Guru Patik are having different like hand positions, and those hand positions were like the proper ones for those chakras when you're trying to unlock them.

20:00 That was I was just really impressed by that.

20:02 Yeah, Jessica, what'd you think? I thought it was really cool. I thought the um premise that and you didn't know anything about the chakras, so it was like it was an easy way to explain to everyone, including the audience, like what it is and walk through it. I thought the like water pools and like blocking it and then having the energy flow through was a really great visual metaphor for like a viewer.

20:26 So even if you're like, I don't know, what's like what's the youngest age viewer, we think? Like eight years old. Sure. Watching Avatar. Yeah. You can kind of like kind of understand, even like if like most of the chakra stuff is like going over your your mouth, uh sorry. Going over your head, yeah. Going over your head, yeah, it's like your mind, that's not it.

20:46 Going over your head, but you can like understand that it's like okay, they're interconnected, and you need it to like flow through each one of these like states basically. Um, but I did feel like they made it look like Aang could get go overcome them. Like he was like, fear, yeah, I'm over it. Guilt over it.

21:05 Open shock. And I was like, what is the difference between guilt and shame?

21:11 Guilt is like something you did and you know it's wrong. Shame is maybe something like you thought it was correct in that moment, and then maybe on reflection, you're like, oh, actually, uh, maybe that wasn't very good. And it's pretty, they're pretty similar, but I think guilt could prevent you from doing things, and shame is something that probably stays on your heart longer.

21:32unknown Yeah.

21:33 Yeah, I do think some of the chakras were kind of related. And I do like that Aang kind of brings up some of the hypocrisy with it where he's like, dude, you want me to like get rid of all my attachments? Three chakras ago, that was a good thing. But I I still I was having trouble, I think when I initially watched this, like having trouble like conceptualizing this idea of like the the attachment and how it was so maybe unnecessarily focused on Katara.

21:56 And I think the writers maybe made a lot of his chakras. Too intertwined with his relationship with Katara, I thought.

22:04 Well, I mentioned that when we were watching it, and Jordan was like, no, no, it's about Katara and everybody. And I'm like, no, it's like 90% Katara. And like I've already established she's yeah, he's he's too young and he can't he can't focus. He doesn't even he doesn't even know.

22:26 We just had a series of episodes showing his connection with Appa and how important Appa is to him and how angry he is about losing and those like and he doesn't show up at all about in these like visions, he's clearly attached.

22:38 This is what I'm talking about. He's all messed up. It's like whatever.

22:41 But the guru didn't even like reorient him. He's like, well, it's not just you know, you have a crush on this girl, Aang. Like, you know, you have other connections and attachments in this world, right, Aang?

22:52 Yeah, I feel like that could have been done a little bit better.

22:56 See, I have an issue with the guru episode in general. Like, I think a lot of the concepts that are introduced are really powerful, and overall the episode's really strong and a really good like penultimate episode for the season. But I hated the animation. It was done by Doctor Movie, the like the number two studio, and it was like distractingly ugly at times.

23:15 Like I was watching it and I was like, I just want to like bash my eyes out. I can't look at this anymore. Like, none of these character models look good. I don't like how you're presenting this. And I just kept fantasizing about what would have happened if the other studio had done it, and I was like, oh, this would have been so much prettier.

23:31 Oh, I'd be crying right now if this other studio had done it. And I think I was getting a little too kind of into the what-ifs.

23:39 You know what you need to do.

23:40 I need to go unlock my chakras.

23:42 Yeah, you need to find balance within yourself before you can bring balance to the world.

23:48 Thank you, Katie. I have like wanted to kind of go through and like unlock the chakras. I think that would be probably really good for me. Especially the second one, the one that's uh it's controlled by pleasure. It was the pleasure and guilt. Was that the one? It was the second one. It's the sacral, sacral.

24:06 Again, I read words, I don't speak words. Anyone have an opinion on how the pronunciation of that is?

24:10 No opinions.

24:11 It's the pelvis one?

24:13unknown Yeah.

24:13 The pelvis one.

24:14 No, the lowest flower is the one on the crown of your head.

24:17 I don't know.

24:18 Come on, Katie. I don't know. Okay, so that one, that's the second one that was unlocked. That one deals with like creativity and creativeness, and yeah, it'd be good if I could if I could do that.

24:29 I'm just gonna you should do that before season three.

24:31 Should I go unlock my chakras and tell you how it goes? I could probably glow through it in 20 minutes, just like Aang did. Yeah, probably. Hey, you're good.

24:39 Five minutes. He was like, let's go. Give me some more of that banana juice.

24:43 Yeah. Oh, what did you think about meeting uh Sokka and Katara's dad?

24:47 Oh, that was fun. Well, it made me think actually about Sokka and Katara and like where are the rest of the kids their age? Because I feel like back when we originally saw them in the South Pole, everyone else was like much younger than them. There's like no one around their age, but there's no boys like around Sokka's age that we see with the you know Water Nation tribe.

25:10 Disease ran raises.

25:14 Or did they all die already? Like, I don't know.

25:16 Too much uncured seal meat.

25:19 Something I do want to discuss is we see Azula after she's like, I'm not gonna pretend to be a Kyoshi warrior, and she has a sweet like Earth Kingdom outfit. It is pretty cute. Yeah. Azula, cute but psycho. Oh, she is sweet, but she's psycho. Uh-huh.

25:36 So is that gonna be your new cosplay?

25:38 No.

25:38 Okay.

25:39 I was gonna say, Azula is like a much, much more compelling uh villain than just like Zook. I mean, even more than like Zoo, because even from the beginning of Zuko, because you know his like sad, his like you have like understand his um perspective of why he's doing it. And like their Fire Nation, what do they call him?

25:57 The Fire Nation. The Fire Lord. He is like this like unknown evil like force thing, but Azula is just like this like badass girl who's like clearly like a psychopath, and like, but somehow has like friends that at first you're like, oh, they're just hanging out with her because they like feel pressured to, but then you kind of feel like they do kind of like Azula and they kind of like all hanging out together.

26:23 I don't know, it's a very interesting dynamic. I like enjoy it, even though I like I obviously don't like her as a person and would never want to meet her in real life, but I do appreciate her as a very dynamic, like villain.

26:33 Her buddies, Tylee and May, like you know, you don't get the sense that their heart's in it, like they just kind of are they're just hanging out.

26:39 Like, well, I feel like they're doing it because Azulin needs them to or like asked them to, and so they're such great friends. But yeah, or it was like, yeah, where May was like, Oh yeah, take the bear. Like, I don't really care. I'm not I know.

26:52 May was like, I don't care, let's just take it.

26:55 Or like even Ty Lee, like when Saka shows up and Tylee's like, Oh, hey, it's that cute boy. You guys like you want to hang out? Like that. But like Toph like sees through it immediately and like like shoots her off with like earth bending.

27:07 Yeah, because Top's amazing.

27:08 Okay, Azula, like she's such a dynamic character, and she just overshadows all the other villains at this point. And like Long Feng shows back up in this finale to not really do anything.

27:20 Oh, I loved how Azula showed like how terrible Long Feng ultimately was. It's like she's like, even your little Dali don't think that you're an effective leader, like poor guy. Yeah.

27:32 But yeah, Long Feng. It was interesting in the guru episode where he tells Azula that he could get her the avatar.

27:38 Like, what yeah, where was that coming from? And what did that even? It was all BS, I guess, to get him out of there.

27:45 He was basically do the thing for me, and he thought he could double cross her before and she was like, No man, I don't say that way.

27:51 I'm like really confused about what happened to Katara because they take her out, and then in Aang's vision, she's like shackled to a wall. Is that like was that like a vision that Aang was creating? Like when he like felt the force or whatever. Because it was a very Empire Strikes Back moment where Luke's like, Oh, I got a vision, Yoda, I gotta go.

28:11 You know what I'm talking about? Yeah, no, I didn't even think about that. How you never really see Katara in that, like because yeah, she's just hanging out in the catacombs and like he gets the vision of her like shackled to the wall. And it's weird that they so the catacombs, can we talk about the catacombs?

28:26 Yes.

28:26 Okay, so first I was like, ooh, what's this like fancy uh cave area with like the crystals that glow? Like it's pretty nice. Then they call them the crystal catacombs, and then I'm like, aren't catacombs where dead bodies are?

28:40 Yes.

28:40 Are we to believe that this is where like the prior Earth Kings are?

28:45 Or like So apparently where they were at was called old Bossingsei. And so the lore is that Bossingsei existed as kind of like a subterranean settlement before it went above ground. I don't know what was going on. Uh, and then when they had their like final fight in the season two finale, it was called the Grand Central Plaza.

29:08 And so I don't know, maybe at this point they like it's maybe it's like Winterfell and they are using this underground area to store the bodies. I don't know, because then there was like a like a series of like statues at one point. I don't know what they're using it for. There's a water source, there's just like lakes and well, waterfall, and it looked like a nice place, so why aren't they using it?

29:28 It just seemed like a weird place to be like, oh, we gotta put Katara somewhere. Let's put her in the catacombs.

29:33 This is nice and beautiful.

29:34 Yeah, but yeah, but like the Earth King and the rest of them, they go in like what are normal gel cells.

29:40 Yeah, I don't know. That was weird.

29:41 Yeah, it served the plot in those cool crystals.

29:45 Um, also in the finale, we gotta see Dragon of the West and Uncle Fire.

29:53 I I did like it. He's like, they ever tell you why I was told the Dragon of the West.

29:58 I'm not interested in one of your lengthy anecdotes, Uncle. Because you know Azula has heard so many and has never cared at all about any of his wisdom at any point in her life.

30:09 I know they had this like sassy testy relationship.

30:12 Oh yeah, uh Iroh does not like Azula. Remember earlier in the season, she's crazy and has to go down.

30:17 She's 14! Give her a chance. Uncle's like, no.

30:22 But just like in the the Earth Kingdom episode, the Earth King episode where Zuko's tripping out and having visions of two dragons telling him what to do, you get that exact scene in the book two finale where Zuko has literally Azula on one side and then Iroh stuck in crystals on the other, and each like pleading for his soul to like try to get him onto their side.

30:44 God. It was kind of on the nose with how much imagery they were using, but I did really like that after everyone kind of left Zuko to make up his mind, you get like the the quick portrait shot of Zuko, no scar with like a timpani, and then it goes again, and you get Scarface, and then you get him from behind.

31:02 Like Zuko's just so God, he had a rough episode. But can we go back to like Katara berating him really quick? Like when she's telling him that he's like a terrible person and that she basically wants him to go, like go jump off a cliff, he just like is curled up in a ball, like squatting, and he cuts in the wall, like looks over his shoulder at her, doesn't react, just kind of goes back to sulking.

31:27 And then uh Sokka tells Aang to go find Katara and the jerk. And then the angry jerk. Oh, the angry jerk.

31:38 Yeah, and then he like apologizes to Iroh for calling him that.

31:41 He's like, I don't know.

31:44 Yeah, yeah, no offense, none taken.

31:46 So this was the only the first episode in the entire series where Team Avatar actually name drops both Azula and Iroh. None of them at this point have ever like said their names.

31:56 Yeah.

31:57 So it was really weird to hear Sokka say that. Like, oh, you go with Iroh. I was like, you know their name? It was just weird for me. Yeah. Also, Iroh totally like tied up and captured, like, subdued that Dilee agent and like you know, tied him up, put like hog tied him and put him on the porch.

32:14 And then he just told him everything.

32:16 I know. I was like, this guy, wow. Almost as much of a blabbermouth as the Earth King, which to go back to the very beginning when the Earth King's like, oh, uh Yoshi Warriors, let me tell you every little thing. I was like, this guy.

32:30 Well, imagine from the Earth King, like, he's just learned so many things he's never known before. You know he's gotta be excited. He's gotta tell somebody. Guys, did you know there was a drill? Oh my goodness.

32:43 Okay, and we have to talk about when Iroh and Aang finally make it to Zuko and Katara, and then they each embrace their people, but then Aang and Zuko share this like really tense look at each other. It's like this glare.

33:00 Well, Aang, as always, initiates. Like Katara goes and hugs Aang, and he immediately like looks up to Zuko and he's like, I know.

33:08 Okay, well, you can't see that, but Jordan just had a face.

33:12 It was exactly what Aang did. Cheer terror. But going into it, I really enjoyed watching Iroh just interact with Team Avatar. Like, really, we got a little bit of it in the North Pole episode when he shows up to like kick Commander Zhao's butt to like convince him not to kill the spirit. And then he kind of like hangs out and like offers his wisdom.

33:34 And it's interesting that they are willing to just kind of trust him. They must get some vibe from Iroh, like just from what he's done historically, to be like, oh yeah, we trust you. Like, we'll go with you. I also am unimpressed.

33:49 So that helps. And then, like, I mean, they haven't really seen Uncle Iroh do anything like they have Zuko, you know what I mean? So they have like less reason, and then yeah, he gives good advice. But it was kind of like when Aang's like, oh, let me just ask you for some advice. I was like, you know, this guy's Fire Nation, right?

34:09 Like I mean, yeah, it's but but Top told him that he gives good advice. Good advice.

34:16 Uh speaking of that scene, I really enjoyed watching Aang and Iroh be together because Aang was kind of off with it, like he was kind of awkward with Iroh. Yeah, I like that he was ready to disperse some good advice, and you know, the secret to both is is proper aging, tea and tea and wisdom. Yeah, that was a nice scene.

34:35 Okay. When Zuko's sitting there between Azula and Iroh, and it's like one of the only like really two times in the series where Iro's like pleaded for Zuko's soul. And he literally tells Zuko to choose good, like like openly admitting that the Fire Nation is bad and capturing the Avatar is bad, and also saying the type of redemption Azula offers is not the kind like he is looking for and that he needs.

35:06 So I thought that was an interesting point. What was that do for you, Jessica?

35:10 Yeah, in the moment you're like, yes. I mean, that's like you it's like basically stating flat out what we believed Uncle Irada believed the entire time. Is like, yes, he's on ultimately what we consider the side of good. And I think empirically you can say that, you know, what Fire Nation and their genocide is bad, and uh trying to stop that is good.

35:30 And if you want true redemption and true thing, finding redemption from a man that you don't ultimately probably respect anymore is not gonna fulfill you. And maybe that's what he should have said. He should have been like, Zuko, this man you're trying to get redemption from. Like, do you respect him?

35:48 Do you think he's a good person? Is it even worth it? Like, try to take that tactic almost.

35:54 I mean, easy to say now. You know, it's like when you reflect on convers conversations, you're like, oh, I should have said that. Ira.

36:01 Uh some trivia about the Crossroads of Destiny episode. Uh Katara is the first person we've seen in the series to touch Zuko's Scar.

36:12 No. No.

36:14 It was like a really intimate moment for me. I mean, there was so many sparks flying in that scene. And I think that scene so many in that cave. That scene specifically.

36:25 I mean, that was true Zutara shipping moment right there, obviously. Yeah.

36:29 I mean, uh you feel it so much. I mean, just like the the over-the-shoulder glances like Katara gives him.

36:37 No, it's true, and that's what's difficult about not having Troy here is because he was from the beginning.

36:44 And what's your take on that? I think Zuko and Katara would make a great coupling, a shipping.

36:50 Well, I mean, obviously, like with most ships, Katara deserves better than Zuko. Oh Zu. He has a lot to do and a lot to learn before he can um partner for Katara. But say with Aang, Aang's not gonna be a good partner for Katara either. He also has a lot of learning and growing to do, and like Katara does too, but like obviously I think of all the characters around their age, Katara has the most um maturity.

37:19 I mean, I think they're cute. I think like they could go to a school dance together and it'd be very cute.

37:26 Okay, bringing it back though, is I I do think it's kind of, and I'm guilty of this, like an immature thing to like watch any sort of media read, any sort of book, and to just like start coupling characters. Like, why can't Katara just like have some genuine concern about Zuko, who's clearly screwed up?

37:43 And I think that's probably where it was coming from. Like wanting to help this damaged boy.

37:48 It's because you grew up in the 90s, and that's what it was all about.

37:51 Oh, you also grew up in the 90s.

37:53 Yeah, but I've moved on. I'm like, yeah, not chipping anybody. Oh yeah, 2000s girl. Now everyone needs to be single and just keep to themselves. Are you breaking up with me? I'm breaking up with breaking everybody up.

38:04 Oh, okay. That sounds like a good story, the heartbreaker. Like you just go around like breaking hearts.

38:09 Jordan's all about, like, oh, that's a that's a good story. You should write that story. What about Regina?

38:15 What about Regina?

38:16 What about Regina?

38:18 Aang's journey to like unlock his chakras and like find his true potential. Do we think that it mirrors a little bit with like what Zuko's doing, kind of like in his own kind of grassroots approach of like trying to get himself on like this path to where he needs to be? And so I think that was interesting too.

38:34 Like Aang. Aang and Zuko both had had moments where they needed to make a critical decision to kind of take control of their destiny. Uh Zuko obviously does it. He takes he takes agency of what he needs to do, clearly makes the wrong decision based on the stuff. No, no.

38:51 He just makes a decision.

38:53 Thank you.

38:53 There's no right or wrong decisions.

38:56 And then Aang also needs to make a decision where they're being overwhelmed by the Dilee and by Azula, and then Aang puts himself into the Crystal Catacombs to, I don't know, just think about being detached from Katara. And then blows out of the crystal in his like avatar state. But it was interesting because when he comes out of that, you get a shot of the Dilee in Zuko, and Azula's not there because obviously Azula was like, Oh, he's up to something.

39:24 I'm gonna go around and kill him. And so that was it was really interesting to see Aang like kind of go into the Avatar state, and you get this savior moment, and then Azula's just one step ahead and takes him down.

39:36 That was a pretty intense moment. I totally forgot about that. And uh, it was like the first time for me. And Jordan and I are like crying, it's just us. We usually have Troy like as a buffer.

39:47 Jessica was super intense, and it's like clearly Aang thinks, oh, the Avatar State will solve everything, and then to just be like instantly like nope. Yeah, it doesn't get a heart, she pays attention, she knows what she wants, and she's gonna do everything like she's like we said, like a higher villain, like that totally would have worked on like Zuko because Zuko has like no planning, he's just like is in the moment, just like Aang is in the moment, you know?

40:14 And so to have someone who's a little bit more of a strategy and like yeah, and then but to see like just like one shot of lightning and just takes them out, that was like crazy. You're like the after state doesn't give you any kind of defense against that.

40:29 I don't think so.

40:30 No, I don't think you have defense.

40:32 I mean I think it's um I think you would have defense if you were. I mean if he knew that Azula was behind him, because like he didn't know.

40:44 He was just activating, okay? He was just getting started.

40:47 Yeah, Azula, cold-blooded killer, shoots him in the back with a direct shot to of lightning. It's like crazy. But there's uh there's a scene too, because she gets him in the back and then his Aang's foot also has a scar too. So I think the assumption is like she shoots him with the lightning and it like shoots out of his foot because it needs like a path to go.

41:05 Yeah, but then when Katara, Katara's like sobbing watching Aang fall out of the sky and then creates like this tidal wave overwhelms the Dylan Zuko. Did you catch that?

41:16 Like Zuko gets caught in the wave and he's like, go to bed, Zuko. You need to sleep it off, we got some problems. Okay.

41:25 But then she catches Aang, and then this was interesting. I never knew this is that the pose that Katara has holding Aang in her arms is similar to the famous sculpture La Pieta, which is a sculpture of the Virgin Mary holding Jesus after he comes down from the crucifix. And so it's this like the way Aang was in her arms, and the way Katara's body language was apparently mirrored that sculpture really well.

41:50 And I thought it was really interesting to put that into this show that's very much about Eastern philosophy and to have this kind of biblical moments with a very Christ-like imagery of the savior being killed and the savior needing to be resurrected.

42:09 But switching gears, how did Iroh escape the crystal? You don't want to talk about that! Well, what's there to say? Yeah, the creators are pulling from everywhere, like they're ripping off Star Wars. Yeah, they are. That they got Jesus and Mary.

42:27 Joseph Campbell's something of myth. Have you read that, Jordan?

42:31 What?

42:32 It's like Joseph Campbell's uh I forget what it's called, something of myth.

42:37 Oh, the hero with faces.

42:39 But it goes to like the hero's journey and like myth, and like how like yeah, they have to come down before they go up. Like all these places are ripping off the same things.

42:47 Right.

42:48 But yeah, I mean, obviously all the people who made Avatar have seen Star Wars. Like, let's be honest.

42:53 I thought you were gonna say have read the Bible.

42:55 Yeah, but it wasn't. I've read the Bible and have read uh Siddhartha's journey. I mean, that is interesting, right? That you're to your point that they're now doing a Christ-like narrative, but that's gonna be familiar to most of the viewers of Nickelodeon, is more of the Christ-like narrative than any of these other Eastern culture things.

43:12 So I think it makes sense to pull that in as well to like you don't know the statistics. Who's left in Nickelodeon in the 90s? Nickelode Christians.

43:23 This was in the mid-2000s, Regina.

43:25 Yeah, give it a big one. It was right 2000s. Uh also maybe it was just a great pose.

43:30 Why would you say that about Jesus coming off the crucifix? It wasn't a great pose. He was dead.

43:36 I mean, it's a it's a statues pose. We don't know what actually happened. Yeah.

43:41 Touche, okay. Okay, but then this idea that Aang potentially died, because I never watched this with the idea that Aang died, but also watching it with the knowledge of like getting struck by lightning is a fatal thing, usually, especially when you got shot in the back.

43:58 Yeah, I don't remember that last. Time that it was so uh like devastating. I was like, oh my god. And I know someone who's been struck by lightning and lived.

44:09 Is it the other Jesse?

44:10 Because the thing with lightning is it just like as long as it goes down the side, like it doesn't hit your heart and it goes through, you'll be okay. But it's like a gamble, like obviously you don't know.

44:21 Because we learned that.

44:32 Who do you know that got struck by lightning?

44:35 A magician never tells.

44:37 Oh no.

44:39 Yeah, you wouldn't know them, Katie. It's her friend from Canada.

44:45 I'll tell you off the pod. I'll tell you off the pod. Oh god. I mean I don't know why I wouldn't tell it. It just seems weird to like name check people on the podcast.

44:56 Give me a hint. Is it Ferret? No.

44:59 Okay, you guys.

45:00 We're getting into like no, the podcast shows there's a person that we called Ferret, so that's cool. Yeah, yeah. We're not talking about an actual ferret because that's like kind of cool. But anyway. Okay.

45:17 Okay, so yeah, this this thing where like Aang goes down, they have to save them. Like, okay, I just want to know like, do we think Aang died and like Katara brought him back to life with that spirit water?

45:28 I don't think the spirit water can bring people back to life. That hasn't been established.

45:32 It has special properties. Well, we don't I mean, it's true. We don't know if it can heal a scar. Like, who knows? Like, how can it bring the avatar back to life?

45:40 But I think he was definitely on the brink of death. But I mean, if he did die, then yeah, back to could he ever go back into the avatar state? Because it would just bring back yeah, because like so one level did it just bring back his like human airbender body, air nomad, or did it bring back also the ability to have an avatar and have a future avatar?

46:04 Right.

46:06 But I think the simplest one would be to say that he was on the brink of death and she brought it back before that, and then everything else makes sense.

46:15 Don't we talk about this in season three? Or we just don't talk about it. About what him almost dying? Yeah, or actually dying and coming back. Oh, you have to watch season three.

46:25 Yeah, is do they talk about the episodes? Are they like, hey, well, he's the only one at this point that knows that if he dies in the avatar state, he loses the ability to be an avatar. Right, I don't know about that wrinkle. So I don't see Aang wanting to talk a lot about it.

46:43 Okay, back to Katie's question about Iroh escaping the crystal catacombs. Clearly, those crystals aren't very strong because Aang encased his body in them and got like blown up by Azula just like smacking him.

46:57 Oh, right. Also, like, that's crazy. Why did it take Iroh so long to like bust out of there? You know, he was surveying the scene.

47:04 His timing was a little also he was probably like, oh, Zuko didn't make the right choice. Maybe he thought he was gonna make the right choice. He was like, I'll just take my time. Like, Zuko's got this under control.

47:16 Maybe Kitar's wave broke him free. He like floated up out of it.

47:21 So much water. But yeah, I do like that Iro had this heroic moment of coming down and like again making sure that the kids are safe, and like I'm gonna hold them off for as long as possible. But like as soon as Katara was out of that waterfall, Iroh just gave it up. He's like, No, no, we're good. Capture me.

47:38 And then that scorned look he gives Zuko.

47:40 Oh, it looks away. Yeah, and Zuko deserves that.

47:44 Yeah. But then, of course, at the very end, you get Zuko like immediately questioning what he did.

47:51 Yeah, good.

47:52 So what path is Zuko?

47:53 His chakras are not open, obviously.

47:56 No, I mean I agree with what we were saying earlier. He definitely needs to go through the chakras, do some learning about himself, let go of some things.

48:05 Oh, Zuzu. Alright, so what path is Zuko on right now, Regina?

48:10 Yeah. I think at this point in time he is on the path towards the Fire Nation and trying to get redeemed back with his father, but I think he's already questioning if that was the right decision. And I think he's already feeling bad about Uncle Iroh. And he's like really thinking about the repercussions of his actions.

48:30 So I don't know if how long he'll be on this path. Like, I still think there's a chance that he'll I don't want to say betray the Fire Nation, but push the Fire Nation to be better than they are. Because obviously he has a lot of loyalty to his people, and it's really hard to like grow up in a society and then just be like push it all away, everything about it.

48:51 I mean, you have some good memories related to Fire Nation, I'm sure. So I'm sure he just wants them to be better. And uh he probably wants his sister to be better too, and he keeps trying to give her second chances. Come on, Azula, like shocking myself into being on like trying to understand Zuzu.

49:11 So you're optimistic that the Fire Nation will come to a better place throughout season three?

49:16 Yeah, I mean I don't really see at the end of season three that Team Avatar has caused a genocide at the Fire Nation. I don't really see that playing out. Right, right.

49:27 It turns total Game of Thrones, like Aang becomes Daenerys, and he's like, well, actually, an eye for an eye, friends.

49:33 Yeah, in the Avatar stay, you don't know what's gonna happen.

49:36 So what uh what trajectory is Aang on?

49:38 Um I think Aang is gonna screw up a little bit after this. He's probably gonna be, I don't know, like paranoid. I feel like he's gonna actually almost like shut down a little bit again. Because he'll feel like he failed and he'll feel weird about that happening while he was in the avatar state. And so I think it's gonna take him a while to like come back to where he was, actually.

50:02 I think it'll set him back a little bit.

50:04 And so book three is called Fire, and so each season has been named after an element in the Avatar cycle that Aang needs to master. And so it being fire, Aang has already professed to Guru Patik that he's never going to firebend. So my question for you is will he uh master firebending? And if so, who's gonna teach him?

50:25 I think he will. I think whatever part of book three will be his journey to accept that he can safely firebend and it's like not implicitly bad to firebend. And who's gonna teach him is a good question. Iroh's been captured. Zuko doesn't seem like a great teacher in any even if he was like that good team avatar, I don't think he would be a very good teacher.

50:49 Uh so I guess some new uh firebending, someone else who has a flying pig.

50:55 It's gonna be the pig. The pig's gonna teach him.

50:59 Alright.

51:00 Alright, kids. Well, we did it. We're two-thirds of the way through.

51:05 Well, can you believe you've watched two whole seasons, Jessica?

51:10 I know, it's crazy. It's been I'm excited for the third season. It's only gotten better with age.

51:17 Just like Iroh's Wisdom. And now to the Fire Nation, to book three. Fire. Scary. Scary? Yeah. Why is it scary?

51:27 Fire Nation.

51:28 Spooky. Do you remember what happens in this season, Katie? No. It's always a new journey. Yep, new every time. You know, life's like this cave. You know? Sometimes you can't see the light, but if you just keep going soon, you'll end up in a better place.

51:44 Secret tunnel.

51:46 Secret tunnel. Wow. Through the mountains. Secret, secret, secret, secret tunnel.

51:53 Bedremoles.

51:54 Wow.

51:55 Okay, Jessica. AKA Regina.

51:57 Alright, Katie, aka Katie.

52:00 Katie.

52:01 Katie. Katie, aka Kurtie.

52:03 Okay, Jordan. AKA.

52:06 Sokka.

52:07 You win. Socka, you wish.

52:20 We've all just got done doing all of our vocal exercises because uh two out of three of us are drinking a cream-based drink.

52:27 No, Troy is not. Oh. Did Troy just leave Troy?

52:31 Troy either. Only one. Troy has decided to water our plants with a cup of coffee.

52:35 You know, gotta do it sometime.

52:38unknown What?

52:38 What does that mean? Oh, you know, gotta do it. You know, sometimes your uh your little spider plant needs uh a latte to be.

52:45 Alright, cut the bull. We're here. We're here to ask Troy.

52:52 Which today is a very special day for Troy. No, no, it's not a very special day for her. Okay, well, we're moving on to It's not special.

53:00 It's just his birthday. Okay.

53:04 Okay, so it's a season two finale of the Avatar. And I am the Avatar. And I am gravely disappointed of Avatar The Last Airbender, the season two finale. Why okay, so why was it so divisive for you? Okay, well, should we go into episode 17 first or should we just cut straight to the finale? Why 17?

53:22 There's only 19 and 20 were the finale episodes. Should we go into 19 first? We can talk about Lake Lao Guy again if you want. It was a great episode. I mean, starting with that, Lake Lao guy.

53:33 Let's talk the guru. Yeah, the guru. Uh, it was such an interesting change of pace between the last two episodes. You got the guru, and he's just The Guru. The guru. It's like gorilla. Yeah, we got the gorilla guru. And what does he give Aang?

53:52 Banana and onion juice.

53:54 Onion and banana juice.

53:55 And I'm looking at that and it's gotta be like somewhat to like apple cider vinegar. I don't know.

54:00 What do you think onion and banana juice taste like? Do you think he pureed it both or had like a mortar and pestle? Right. I mean it's like onion skin or kind of chunky.

54:08 It's probably pureed.

54:09 It looked very puree. Did you see the look on Aang's face when he had just like it was just a mess all over himself? It was disgust- it was like baby food.

54:17 Okay. Let's hear it, Troy. So what do you think about the chakras?

54:20 The chakras, they made sense at the same time. It's like, because it's a 30-minute show. 22-minute show. 22-minute show. They gotta kinda like speed it up. It's like, okay, Aang, just admit that you feel guilty, that you feel ashamed, that you feel the pain, that you're afraid. Boom, boom, boom. They're just going right through the chakras.

54:42 I'm like, I feel like in any other class, it would take your average student like two years to fully fulfill all the uh chakras. Like, Aang's just like five minutes. I I feel ashamed. I feel afraid. I feel guilty. And I can't let go of love. And the govern the guru is just like, okay, if you can't do that, then you'll never unlock the avatar state.

55:03 I'm standing there like the kid's only been meditating for ten minutes. Of course he's not gonna unlock the avatar state. That's where it's just the show got super choppy. I was always like, oh, this is gonna be a rough finale. So, um, and of course, you know, it comes down to the love chakra.

55:18 It doesn't surprise me that Aang Well, not necessarily the love chakra, it was like the pure cosmic energy chakra, the the one at the top of the head. And so, yeah, it was interesting that it was it still came back to love. Like that was what the focal point had to be for the attachment chakra. Uh, it couldn't be about his friends or these other people or Apa.

55:38 It was like specifically focused on Katara, which I thought was kind of weak. Yes. Katara was the only thing attaching Aang to the material world. No Sokka, no Zuko, no Apache. Can you imagine Zuko? Yeah, keep your friends close, keep your enemies closer.

55:57 Okay, okay.

55:58 So uh Well, yeah, because that one time that the blue spirit saved him from the Fire Nation, and as soon as Zuka wakes up, Aang looks all defeated a little bit, and he goes, I used to have a friend from the Fire Nation in my other avatar state. Do you think we could also be friends?

56:12 Oh he doesn't say in the other avatar state. When I was in the other avatar state, that was pretty close.

56:18 Alright, Katie, what did you know about chakras going into this episode? Oh, was that you a uh opening your throat chakra?

56:27 No. Uh I know a very base level. I know that you right, that your whole body had is made up of energy and you could open, open up the energy.

56:39 But it's interesting to me, like the the concept of chakras, like it doesn't consider your whole body. Like it's every image you see of the chakras, it's like you're in the lotus position and it kind of kinda goes from like the base of the spine up to the top of your head. Doesn't care about your feet or legs at all, which I find a little offensive.

56:56 I'm a thigh guy.

56:57 Yeah, what about the reflexologists? What do they say?

56:59 Yeah, they're like, hey, feet what about the foot chakra? That's important. You're grounded to the earth.

57:04 Anyhow.

57:05 Yes, exactly. And uh no, the closest thing that that episode got to was my experience with Tai Chi, Qi Gong, all these moves. Before we started class, we'd spent a good 20 minutes at least going over eight different qi gong exercises. And qigong is mainly just to help uh people, mainly elderly people, open up their uh their bloodstreams.

57:28 You know, um they they're you're moving your arms in a circular motion, specific circular motions, but that's my experience with chakras. Like it takes a while to open those things up, so that that's where I'm just kind of slaughtering episode 19, because they went they just went right through all that stuff.

57:44 I'm like, I don't know, I just don't buy it that Aang can open up his chakras that fast.

57:48 But wait, have you ever tried to open up your chakra?

57:51 Uh no.

57:52 Well, in Aang's defense, you know, he's he's experienced a lot, but at the end of the day, he's only a 12-year-old boy, and so maybe the idea is like he didn't like his baggage was a little easier to work through. Granted, the entire genocide of your of your culture would be pretty heavy on your heart, and he lets that go pretty easily.

58:11 He's like, uh yeah, everyone's gone, but they're still in my heart, isn't that nice? Well, he's been working through something, you know?

58:17 He's been working through it for two seasons. I don't know.

58:20 Was the the one that he had the most difficulty with was the the firebending one? Or like the the one he felt ashamed of. Was that the one he was like, uh, the burping bison?

58:29 I guess.

58:30 I mean, he didn't let that go very easily.

58:32 Okay, let's move on.

58:33 So, straight to the finale or straight to the finale to what about the Kiyoshi Warriors?

58:39 What happened to them?

58:40 Apparently they got beat up by Azula and her friends. Do you think they were left for dead? I don't think so. I mean, this show is just It's a kid's show still, so I don't think they're gonna kill them. I think they're just gonna like knock them all unconscious. I don't think Azula has it in her to kill somebody.

58:58 Alright. Okay.

58:59 Well let's hear. What do you what do you think about the finale?

59:02 Okay, so we get to the finale. Iroh, Mako, Mako. Mako, there. I'm so sorry, guys. I did not mean to butcher that dude. Oh no, it's fine.

59:13 It's like it's like I have this thing too. I read words, I don't speak words.

59:17 Yes. So for that guy's last episode voicing that character, I think he did a phenomenal job. Iroh definitely saved the episode, and I was gravely disappointed by Zuko's betrayal at the very end.

59:30 So why do you think Iroh was the savior in that episode?

59:33 Because he was basically the bridge between the two, between the Fire Nation and all the other nations. I mean, he was able to make friends with with Tov. He was able to Tov. We're gonna do this again, aren't we? He was able to make friends with basically with all the kids. At first, Sokka and Aang didn't trust him, but then even Aang, the Avatar, ends up asking Iroh for his advice, and Iroh gave the the best advice you could give a kid, you know.

1:00:02 Just if life gets hard, just take another step. Eventually it'll take you somewhere else. And uh, you know, it just goes back to even though Iroh is so full of fire, he can still be full of love at the same time. And that's the secret ingredient in his tea. That's what makes him the savior of the finale.

1:00:20 Uh what ruined it for me though. So you got Aang and Katara versus Azula and Sokka. And I thought, okay, cool, this is the time where But Azula and Sokka.

1:00:33 Azula and Zuko.

1:00:35 Get it together.

1:00:35 Sokka, Zuko. They're both they're both beautiful men.

1:00:38 Could you imagine Sokka and Azula?

1:00:41 I kinda want that.

1:00:43 Should we ship them?

1:00:44 Oh, okay. Sakula. Wait, wait, wait. So Zuko, like, his whole episode was about him being kind of tormented and like having to choose. And we discussed this with Jessica. Like, Iroh specifically says, Zuko, it's time for you to choose good. And so this is like the first time Iroh's admitted that the path Zuko was on was not the path of good.

1:01:03 And basically saying, like, this whole time I've been with you, Zuko, I've been trying to guide you to the path of good. Iroh, like, for the first time, like, tells the audience what we've known since season one, that he is he is actively working on the side of good. But then did you think that Zuko was going to take his advice?

1:01:19 Like, were you surprised by Zuko's turn? What did you think was gonna happen?

1:01:23 I was thinking that this would have been a perfect episode for Zuko to take a hero's death the way Jet did. That's why I'm saying that character is is dead to me, pretty much, just because I just the kid has gone so wishy-washy-wishy-washy. This is driving me nuts.

1:01:38 But can you feel for Zuko in that way? Like he's so conflicted in his heart. Like, can you understand like where he's like having difficulty like choosing a site and sticking with it? Like he's so tormented.

1:01:49 No, I don't can't do that with him because he should be looking at Azula, who probably has the same principles as his uncle or his dad, whichever one I can't remember, that gave him the scar on his face. She's pure evil.

1:02:04 Wait, who do you think gave Zuko the scar?

1:02:06 Do you think Iroh gave him the scar? No, no, no. Fire Lord Ozai. No, it's his dad. It was his dad, that's right.

1:02:13 So get it together, true. So he fell and he scuffed his face. And then he it was a road rash scar.

1:02:22 He should be looking at Iroh and being like, hey, you know, wherever whenever I'm with this guy, you know, like we're gonna have a good time, we're gonna make tea, we're gonna have a peaceful life together. But every time he looks at Azula, he should be thinking, like, because of our family is the reason why I got this scar on my face.

1:02:37 You know, Katara had a chance of healing me. So the fact that at the very end he just decides to go after Aang and Katara, I'm just like, you little rat.

1:02:45 But right, but I mean a lot of people make poor decisions all the time, and you know, and like that you still want that love and acceptance from people that don't matter. I mean, that you could apply that to all sorts of different scenarios, like, oh, like in school, it's like, oh, you want to impress the jerks, and you're like, why?

1:03:03 It's so dumb. So, same same.

1:03:06 But it's like Zuko finally gets the opportunity, and I think he feels the the support to finally get his honor back. Because before it was like Zuko's kind of acting alone, like in the season one finale, where it was like he got Aang, and he didn't have any support. He was like, uh, what am I gonna do?

1:03:24 Uh he's like, you know, it's like the Joker. He's like, Oh, I'm like a dog chasing a car. I wouldn't know what to do if I caught it. And so Aang, like Zuko finally catches Aang, and because he doesn't have support backing him, he makes a dumb decision, and so he just pieces out to the Tundra. This time, he's like, Oh, Azula, enter army of Dai Lee, like have my back right now.

1:03:43 I'm gonna make this decision to get my honor back and take down Aang, and then my life's gonna be great. And so he makes that decision, but then at the end of the episode, he's immediately like questioning it, which is Zuko's character. So what do you what do you what would what did that scene do for you when Zuko was like, I I betrayed Uncle?

1:03:59 Are Zuko, Aang, and Sokka, are they all about the same age? Zuko's 16 at the beginning of the series, Zaka's 15, Aang's 12. But then by the the the entire series takes the the place over the course of a year. So technically they all age up.

1:04:14 Okay, gotcha. Yeah. I guess Zuko's got his honor back. Whoopde-doo.

1:04:20 Does he Okay, wait. What'd you think about Katara and Zuko in the cave?

1:04:25 I thought that was some time for some excellent uh character growth, which turned out to be a lie. What do you mean? Why do you think it was a lie? Because, like, you know, Zuko's like trying to like figure out who he is, and then he sees Katara and he's trying to like comfort her after she's starts crying and all that stuff, and no, and I'm just like, like, okay, so he's finally coming around.

1:04:44 We finally get to find an interesting side of Zuko instead of just going after the Avatar. This is good for his character.

1:04:51 Well, it's been most of season two. He hasn't been going after Aang. I mean, so like the season two's just been all about Zuko's growth, really. Yes. And then to find out all that growth was for nothing. Well, he did confidently tell Katara after she said, I thought you changed. He went, I have changed.

1:05:08 Yep.

1:05:10 Unless he's officially a Fire Nation spy. Double agent. Everyone's Fire Nation. Oh yes.

1:05:16 What about Azula taking Aang down?

1:05:19 Well, I was about to get to that. So funny you asked. Funny you ask. So you got, yeah, you they're all surrounding Aang and Katara. Aang finally says, I'm so sorry, Katara. Finally goes into his avatar state. Super Saiyan comes out of those rocks. I'm like, hey, buddy, you're showing off your powers a little too long.

1:05:40 Let's let's start using all the elements now. I mean, come on. Speed it up, speed it up, speed it up, speed it up, speed it up. And then quickly. And then Azilla takes the winning shot. And I was like, ah, you schmuck. Wow, you totally blew it. You totally blew the. And I know that's it was such a letdown.

1:06:00 Finale, I'm like, what?

1:06:01 No. You should have seen Troy's Twitter rampage. He just talked forever about how Aang deserved it. It was very aggressive.

1:06:08 I'm glad Azula shot him in the back, you know.

1:06:11 Um so here's the question: Do you think when Azula did that that she killed Aang?

1:06:17 Oh yes.

1:06:17 So you think Aang was dead? I was like, either that or a severe kidney shot.

1:06:22 It wasn't a kidney shot. It was straight in the back. Okay. Either that or handicapped him. Yeah, it was like she either killed him or handicapped him.

1:06:29 So when he fell and he was like laying in Katara's arms, like what was you what was going through your mind?

1:06:34 I know that one of the avatars said that he could die if killed in the avatar state by permanently deceased, but I mean I don't know. I just figured he was a little tougher than that.

1:06:45 When she shot him. I thought you could take a lightning direct. Exactly.

1:06:50 What kind of show is this? No, it was you know, I I could see how that'd be a tear jerker, but for me But for me, I was just like shaking my head like, eh, you had the shot, but you let Azula take it.

1:07:01 Wait, so you weren't crying at all?

1:07:02 No, I was just I was furious.

1:07:05 Oh god.

1:07:06 So where do you think the show goes from here? I feel like since he was handicapped or killed in the Avatar State and brought back to life or just Do you mean like paralyzed? Paralyzed?

1:07:20 He was handicapped. He well, he what you didn't see was Azula handed him one of those like parking stickers. You're gonna need this, Aang.

1:07:30 Okay, so you think Aang was paralyzed or so basically the finale was nothing more than the Great Divide for me. Oh stop. Oh, it was so disappointed. I think where you got Zuko. Growth for nothing. The only redemption he gets is if he's working as a double agent and he's actually working on the side of Iroh.

1:07:51 Well, what's gonna happen season three, Troy?

1:07:53 Okay, in season three. Well, my expectations are pretty low at this point, so I'd say anything they do.

1:07:59 They've been low. They've been so low the whole time.

1:08:02 Wait, wait, wait. But I would say the way the reason you're having this reaction to the season two finale was that you thought they were setting it up on this like typical hero's journey where he would come through. Well, both Zuko and Aang would come through and they would like come together, like they would take everyone out, they would like free the city of Bossingsei.

1:08:22 But it being the middle chapter of the series, traditionally in storytelling, like the middle chapter is like the place where the heroes experience their greatest loss.

1:08:31 Yes.

1:08:31 And so with that, a lot of drama happens in this where you get all the characters are now in like a like pretty much across the board, all the characters are in a really low place going into season three.

1:08:41 Except for Azula.

1:08:42 Azula's always high. She's on. Oh yes.

1:08:47 So uh I mean, even we even got a demonstration from from Iroh. Oh, yeah. What'd you think about the Dragon of the West? Dragon. Oh, I thought it was a Dragon Breath. Well, I just figured with how much tea he drinks, his breath couldn't smell that bad, but I was definitely impressed with that scene.

1:09:07 You just see Iroh's just open mouth, just Oh yeah. No, and like Zuko knew what was happening. Like when they were when that happened, he kind of gave like a side glance to Iroh and kind of smirked.

1:09:17 Yeah, like, yeah, Zuko was ready to to throw down, but even season one gave us a demonstration of Aang's abilities. In season two finale, we just get shiny Aang shot down by Azula.

1:09:32 Hey. So I appreciate that Aang didn't get the opportunity to like go all out in the Avatar state. It was definitely this thing, it was like, it doesn't matter if you have achieved like the greatest power, if you don't know what to do with that, or if you're not gonna be confident enough to to outsmart or outthink your enemies, like it's a learning opportunity for Aang.

1:09:53 I mean Azula knew that he was gonna had something cooking, and then Azula like made the wise decision to get behind him and then shoot him with lightning. And so, I mean, she was just Aang was just outsmarted the whole time.

1:10:04 You said it was an opportunity for Aang to learn from? If he didn't have Katara there, yeah, he that would not have been a learning experience. I he just lost.

1:10:13 Well, he would have lost the whole time if he didn't have Katara there. Yeah, yeah.

1:10:16 Katara MVP.

1:10:17 After the season finale, like my final thoughts are literally, I'd be happy with a spin-off series of of the girls.

1:10:24 Yeah, because the girls are the best characters. Like they're so tough, they're so strong, they're so grounded.

1:10:29 Sokka, Aang, Zuko, they're all just kind of like one side. I'm done with the boys at this point. Okay, so season three is Wait, wait, tough.

1:10:37 We didn't even talk about her like metal bending. What did you think about that?

1:10:41 I thought that was spectacular. Her and Iroh stole the show in this finale. I just, you know, yeah. The rest of them. Okay, wait, what's gonna happen season three? I think Aang and Toph might be earth bending a little bit more. I feel like Solid. I can see I can see uh Fire Lord Ozai double crossing Azula telling her the same thing she told uh the Daily guy.

1:11:07 Oh dang, that'd be brutal.

1:11:09 You were not even uh you're not even a player to begin with. Yeah, I just feel like there's gonna be a lot more b betrayal.

1:11:15 So season three, book three, is called Fire, and each book has been titled after in a sequence in the avatars, uh the avatar sequence, and each season has been Aang trying to learn that element. Season one, water, season two, earth, book three, fire. Do you think, one, do you think Aang is going to learn firebending, even though like this whole time he's like, I'm never gonna firebend again?

1:11:38 And two, if he does learn firebending, who's gonna teach him?

1:11:42 I don't think he's gonna learn firebending. I expect him to do firebending. I expect him to just go all out with every single one of the elements, just well, who's gonna teach him? And then I feel like Iroh's gonna teach him. I did like the Iroh Aang dynamic.

1:11:57 That's nice.

1:11:58 I feel like I feel like he's got Katara, he's got Sokka. I just feel like the last mentor that Aang is missing is Iroh. Alright.

1:12:07 Why was it Katara and Sokka? Not Katara and Tav.

1:12:14 What's soccer do you see? Sokka's taught him the ways of love, the ways of the boomerang.

1:12:19 Okay, okay. Let's start season three.

1:12:21 All right. Yep, yep. Yep, yep. Yep. Yep.

1:12:31 Yep, yep. I know who got electrocuted.

1:12:34 No, we're we're recording! We're recording. Stop, Regina. Stop for the love of God! Say your yip-yips and say goodbye.

1:12:42 That sounds like a threat. Yip-yip. You say your yippy-yips right now. Yip-yep. Yip-yip. Okay, yippers.