Avatar Nation: S1 E06 — "Masks" - Avatar Nation

Episode Transcript
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Pauline (00:40):
Welcome to Avatar Nation, a podcast, all about the
Netflix live adaptation ofAvatar: the Last Airbender.
Whether you're a longtime fanlike us, or you're new to the
Avatarverse, join us as we diveinto each episode and analyze
the retelling of TV's greatestadventure.

(01:18):
Welcome back, guys! I'm yourhost, Pauline.
And I'm Wes, and I find myselfkind of rooting for Fire Lord
Ozai.
Oh, welcome to the dark side!Why is that?
I don't know, I feel like he'strying to teach Zuko how to be a
king.

(01:38):
Oh my goodness, I guess that'sone way to put it, but then does
that mean you're rooting forwhat he did?
I think he taught Zuko avaluable lesson.
You're being sarcastic, right?
No! Look at me in the eyes,everyone.
I'm, I'm looking at you.
Now I can look at you, you werewearing the blue spirit mask
earlier, so.
Yes.
I have got my blue spirit maskhere, I can put it on.

(02:00):
Well don't, because then.
Can you guys hear me?
Okay.
I'll take it off.
Yeah, we're not a video podcastyet, so.
What a great episode, huh?
It was! I am very excited totalk about this one.
I know we're recording this alittle bit late just because of
all of the Easter stuff over theweekend.
We, We need to figure out maybefor the next season, we need to

(02:21):
figure out a better recordingschedule, because right now Wes
and I, we usually watch and rewatch episodes during the week,
and then You know, to preparefor the podcast, and then we'll
record over the weekend but thething is, sometimes things
happen on the weekends, and itis life, but then I feel bad
because we say we're gonna comeout with episodes every Tuesday.

(02:41):
No one's going to be upset.
We're not getting paid to dothis.
Not yet.
Who wants to pay us to keepputting on this podcast?
Next up, our Patreon.
But uh, but yeah, so we gottafigure out how to improve our
recording schedule ahead oftime.
We are procrastinators.
It's not that we'reprocrastinators, it's that
usually with a lot of podcasts,people will record like, I don't

(03:01):
know, six or seven episodesahead of time, and then put
them.
Everyone that knows you thatjust heard you say that is
laughing.
Why?
You said you weren't aprocrastinator.
Okay, fine.
We're procrastinators, but notso much with this.
It's just that because we'rechoosing to watch one episode a
week and also allow time for,people to engage with us online

(03:22):
too.
I mean, we can't just record abunch of episodes all at once
and then schedule them to goout.
Again, sorry that this episodeis late, but hope you'll forgive
us! All right, are you ready todiscuss this episode?
Yes, before we do I just want toremind everybody who's listening
to follow and subscribe to thispodcast.

(03:42):
It really does help others findus.
So if you have an Avatar fan inyour life whether this is their
first time watching or they're alongtime fan, then share this
podcast with them so that waythey can join in on the
conversation as well.
Agreed.
Let's get into it.
Okay, let's begin.

(04:05):
Alright so, the Episode Tea forthis one the title is Masks,
very aptly named, of course.
It is directed by Roseanne Liangand teleplay, or the writing
credits, apparently there's adifference between written by
and teleplay by, and I guess,written by, that means that both

(04:28):
the teleplay and the story, boththose credits go to, the people
that it says written by.
But if those two things aresplit, then I guess you have to
indicate, who did the teleplay,who did the story.
It was very confusing.
Yes.
Anyways, so teleplay credits goto Emily Kim, Hunter Ries, I

(04:50):
think is how you say it, andBryan Konietzko.
So Bryan, of course, being oneof the original creators.
The Bryan.
The, The other half of Bryke.
And Roseanne Liang, she's theone that also directed the last
episode.
So I think this is the secondthat she has directed.
Well, the last episode wasn't myfavorite, if I recall correctly.

(05:11):
The last episode or the lastepisode she did?
The previous episode before thisone, which was the spirit
episode.
Spirited Away?
You didn't like that.
Yeah.
I remember I rated it lower thanyou did.
Surprisingly.
I'm still, I'm still listeningto that With our Episode Tea out
of the way.
Let's go ahead and have you readour episode recap.

(05:33):
Let's get er done.
Episode six picks up with Aangseeking guidance from Avatar
Roku to defeat Koh, the FaceStealer, and Zuko facing
challenges of his own in hismission to capture the Avatar.
Beyond the immediate threat ofCommander turned Admiral Zhao,
Zuko grapples with long standingissues with his father.
This episode peels back thelayers of Zuko's past, revealing

(05:56):
a tragic tale of banishmentfollowing his compassionate, but
ill received intervention in awar council meeting.
The forced Agni Kai with hisfather leaves Zuko scarred and
banished.
Back with Aang, his incursioninto the fire nation is met with
a confrontation with fire sages,misguided supporters of the fire
Lord, who were once loyal to theavatar.

(06:19):
A sage named Shyu proves hisfaithfulness by helping Aang
reach Roku's Shrine.
Aang's meeting with Roku hintsat a tangled history with Koh
involving a stolen totem of themother of faces.
Aang resolves to return thetotem in exchange for his
friends and villagers, but Rokuwarns him that friendship can be
a liability and he must beprepared to make sacrifices.

(06:41):
Just as Aang prepares to returnthe totem.
He is captured by Zuko and thenintercepted by Zhao.
The ensuing rescue by amysterious masked swordsman,
soon revealed to be Zuko, leadsto a budding, though
complicated, understandingbetween Aang and Zuko.
The episode concludes with Zukoreturning to his ship, and his
crew giving him an unexpectedhero's welcome after learning

(07:04):
that it was Zuko's selfless actthat saved their division.
Aang returns the Totem to Koh,liberating Katara, Sokka, and
the
villagers.
Woo, you did it.
Okay, thank you for reminding uswhat happened in this episode.
Do you want to go ahead and talkabout our personal key moments?

(07:25):
Or, you kind of skipped over thecabbage rating.
Oh, I did?
It's okay.
Oh, okay.
Yeah, let's Shall we reveal ourcabbage ratings?
Okay, yes, sorry, I didn't meanto skip over this part because I
am very interested to see whatyours is going to be.
You can already see mine becauseit's here in the notes.
Yes, very shocking.
So I'll go ahead and give mine,I gave this one a 9! Wow.

(07:51):
You sound so surprised.
No, it was a good episode.
Yes, it this, so this would bemy highest rated episode so far.
It's no surprise, especiallysince how much I've gushed about
Iroh and Zuko in the series sofar.
Is gushed a word?
Gush?
Yeah, gush.
Yeah, that's what I said.
Gushed.
Gushed.
No gushed?

(08:12):
Gushed.
Okay.
Alright.
Gushed.
But, yeah, because it was, I, Ifeel bad for saying this, but I
think since Sokka and Katara andAang kind of got pushed to the
back burner a little bit, Ithink that's why I enjoyed this
episode a little bit more,because I can't get enough of,

(08:35):
Iroh and Zuko and justeverything with their their past
and their relationship, so.
Okay.
Well, we'll talk about thatlater.
Yes.
My cabbage rating?
Lay it on me.
It's an 8, which is pretty good.
I really enjoyed this episode,and I am ready to get into it,
really.
want to go ahead and Talk aboutour personal key moments?

(08:57):
Okay, now let's get into our keymoments.
So let's go ahead and start offwith our Avatar State moment,
which is what we consider to bethe best moment for each of us.
Do you want to go ahead and gofirst?
Yes, I had a very hard time withmy notes because I just, I
enjoyed the episode, so I justwas watching.

(09:19):
Yeah.
Seeing what I might miss and.
What I might be able to writedown, but really it was just, it
was a great episode all the wayaround.
For my Avatar moment was, Ithink the 41st Division learning
that Zuko had saved their lives.
Yeah, I loved that.
And I know we'll really talkabout it because I feel like

(09:40):
that was such a key moment.
But, that's a good one.
Yeah, well what's your uh,Avatar state moment?
Like you said, it was very hardto do notes just because I was
just absorbed into the episode.
It was very hard to choose anAvatar State moment.
I think this was the first timethat I thought I was going to
have a tie or even a three waytie, but I narrowed it to just

(10:01):
one.
My favorite part was when Zuko'screw bowed down to him towards
the end.
It gave me chills.
I think similar to, you hadmentioned in the Kyoshi Warriors
episode when everybody boweddown to the Avatar.
And you said that kind of gaveyou chills and that was a cool
moment.
This had the same effect on me.

(10:21):
And I thought it was just verypowerful.
It was a simple moment, but itwas very powerful.
Do you think it was warranted?
I think he deserved that moment.
Okay, well, we'll get into that.
Okay, what about your That'sRough Buddy moment?
Wait, I gotta, let me see if Ican do my best Dante voice.
What about your That's RoughBuddy moment?

(10:41):
Or your, or for those who don'tknow, would be your least
favorite moment of the episode?
I had to really nitpick on this,which was when The Blue Spirit,
which is Zuko, comes in andrescues Aang, right?
When he breaks his shackles.
Uses his swords to break hisshackles.

(11:02):
Well, we know that Aang's handsand feet were shackled.
But the Blue Spirit onlyunshackled his hands.
Is that so?
I rewound it.
Huh?
Oh you, you, did?
I rewind it.
I'm like, What's going on?
So he only undid the chains onhis arms.
I don't know how Aang walkedoutta there.

(11:23):
Were his legs unshackled?
No.
Or I mean, I'm sorry.
Were his legs actually shackled.
Didn't Zhao say, Hey his handsand feet are shackled and there
were four guards.
I couldn't tell if Zhao wassaying that just to embellish
the report.

(11:44):
But I did wonder if both hisarms and legs were shackled
because, I can't remember whereI heard this or read this, but I
believe that in the cartoon,only his arms were shackled.
They wanted to animate it withboth his arms and legs shackled,
but because I think Nickelodeonsaid no, It's a kid's show and
that was a little bit too muchso when we were watching this, I

(12:04):
thought, oh, both his arms andlegs are shackled, they can do
that now because this isNetflix.
So I do want to go back and seeif if his legs are shackled.
I mean, that's nitpicking.
It is nitpicking, but I admirethe funny moment, but that's it.
What's yours?
So mine would be, when Aang wasspeaking with Avatar Roku, it
wasn't just the fact that itwas, well yeah, I guess it was

(12:26):
short, and maybe this is why Ifeel this way.
I almost forgot that this evenhappened after watching it.
I went to rewatch it.
I was like, Oh yeah, he didspeak with Avatar Roku.
It was just kind of a meh momentfor me that I completely forgot
that it was there.
And it shouldn't be like thatbecause him meeting Avatar Roku
should be this profound moment.

(12:48):
But it was like, Oh, okay.
Thanks.
Bye.
Yeah, I, it just didn't feellike it had the impact it needed
to.
This is also kind of nitpicking,I had to really think about what
my Rough Buddy moment was but ithad to be that one.
It was, It was a little bit, Idon't know, it felt a little bit
cringe.
Okay, let's move on to ourhonorable mention, or, anything

(13:09):
else that you liked.
Yes, it would be, and this iswhy I like Ozai, was the pain in
Ozai's face when he was scarringor burning Zuko.
You could tell that it almostlooked like he didn't want to do
it.
It looked like it was painfulfor him to teach Zuko this

(13:30):
lesson.
But his sister sure looked likeshe enjoyed it.
Yes, I have thoughts about allof that, that's for sure,
because you're right, it was anadded layer to Ozai and I can't
wait to talk about it.
I mean, he's supposed to be,like, the bad guy, but, I don't
know.
I feel like he's teaching,trying to teach Zuko how to be a

(13:51):
prince.
He's pulling you in, he'spulling you in.
Zaddy Lord.
Speaking of Zaddy Lord Ozai, sohe was also part of my Honorable
Mention.
I was gonna say just the wholeAgni Kai, but maybe that would
have been a cop out for myHonorable Mention.
So I'm gonna be very specific.

(14:11):
I'm gonna say the moment thatZaddy Lord Ozai like exploded
out of his Exploded out of hislike cloak thing.
I was like, I was like boom.
There it is.
Yeah, I very much liked thatmoment, so it was my honorable
mention.

(14:32):
I could have had five otherhonorable mentions, but I just
had to give a special shout outto to the cloak busting out
part, okay.
Moving on.
Moving on.
Are you ready to dive into thisepisode and really get into it?
Let's get after it.
Okay I wanted to try really hardto not be all over the place
when talking about this episode,but I think it's just gonna be

(14:54):
inevitable.
Because this episode was kind ofall over the place.
It was very back and forth withthe timeline.
The A plot, the B plot.
We're very much in the B plothere because we are, I mean,
we're not really focused onAang's journey as much since
this is very much a Zukoepisode.
Let's go ahead and get the themeout of the way.
This was an episode where, Ifeel like the themes were pretty

(15:17):
obvious.
I mean, it's in the title.
Ha ha.
This episode was very much aboutidentity tied around
expectations and sacrifice.
And the question surrounding thetheme is, what's the mask and
what's our true self, and Ithink it goes for both Zuko and

(15:37):
Aang, even though it, it, it, ismore overtly referring to Zuko,
I think this could go for Aangas well.
And so we'll talk about both ourboys today.
They're both trying to meetexpectations of other people.
Yes, exactly.
So let's go ahead and just getinto everything with Zuko,
starting with his flashbacks,because I feel like that was a

(15:59):
good chunk of the episode, sowe'll go ahead and talk about
those.
First, something really coolthat almost made my Avatar state
moment was the transitions.
Did you notice the transitionsbetween, Like present day Zuko,
and flashback Zuko.
No, I mean, the way that theycut from one scene to the next.

(16:21):
If you guys didn't notice this,you need to go back and watch
it, because I thought that theydid it pretty well, especially
if this is the sort of stuffthat you appreciate.
But most of the transitionsgoing back and forth between
timelines, it would Show Zukoand then cut to the flashback
and I don't know how to explainit in words because it's such a
visual thing, but it's showinghim in the same position Yeah,

(16:44):
like it's just cut so well andyou know whether it's going into
the flashback or going out ofthe flashback It's really
showing the connection betweenpast and present Zuko.
Uh, I see.
Yes.
My favorite one though waswhenever they cut from Zuko in
present day when Aang knockedhim unconscious, and so he's

(17:04):
laying there and then it cut tohim in the past getting ready to
have the Agni Kai and just theway the camera movement and ah
it was chef's kiss so that's mynerding out for today as far as
cinematography goes but i'mtelling you guys go back and
watch the transitions becausethey were amazing.
Agreed they did a good job.

(17:24):
Let's talk about the very firstflashback.
The whole episode started rightin the flashback.
And it was before Zuko wasgetting ready to enter his very
first war council meeting.
Yeah, no scar.
We get to see Zuko, what hewould have looked like without
his scar.
Cause I don't think they hadshown that.
But up until this point and weget to see the Fire Nation

(17:47):
during the day You remember whenyou said in a previous podcast
episode you said like is italways nighttime there, but it's
like it can't be because youknow the Sun they it's kind of a
big part of their day and I justloved Getting to see more of

(18:08):
Zuko's and Iroh's relationshipwith one another before his
banishment and see what that waslike before they had to spend
all that time together on aship.
He was so innocent.
He wanted to make sure he waswearing his outfit correctly and
make sure he was looking good,looking fly.
He was so cute.

(18:28):
But I was already feeling sadthere because I knew it was
coming and I was like, oh poorsweet innocent Zuko.
And of course Iroh, it's justalways there for him Yeah, I
gave him some pretty goodadvice.
Yeah.
Can you do this with your hair?
Because there's this piecethat's sticking up and I keep
staring at it.
I can see it! Okay, you're goodnow.
Thank you.

(18:49):
Okay, and then to the secondflashback.
This was during the actual WarCouncil meeting.
And they mentioned the 41stDivision, which I need to go
ahead and say I forgot that,that division was the 41st
division.
I think in one of our firstepisodes we had a listener that
referenced the 41st division andI thought, oh, is this like a

(19:10):
comic book thing?
Cause I forgot that in thecartoon, they even called it the
41st division.
So I apologize for that.
But it was from the OG cartoon.
So yeah, they bring up the 41stdivision.
And their whole plan that leadsto Zuko, speaking up.
Now I understand more why inprevious episodes, they have

(19:34):
Zuko, have these these brieflines about, like in the
Spirited Away episode, he wasreluctant to hire a mercenary
because he didn't think that wasright, or in the Omashu episode
he couldn't believe that FireNation would resort to tactics
that weren't honorable.
He's very honorable.
Yes, so now we see here, this iswhere it comes from.

(19:55):
He was always an honorable typeof prince.
What I didn't like was the waythat one general spoke to him,
after he spoke up.
I think was it General Li?
Well, he's not wrong the way hespoke to him because children
shouldn't be playing war.
But that's your prince! You'respeaking to your prince that

(20:16):
way?
He's a war general.
Okay, I think prince is, I meanStay in your lane, Zuko.
I don't know.
I was just surprised like, oh,you're gonna talk to your prince
that way?
He was also, you don't, that'salso the Fire Lord's plan too.
I felt like there wasn't a needfor that snide remark.
That's just me.

(20:38):
I guess so, my goodness.
What are your thoughts on howOzai was portrayed here?
Because in the cartoon, usuallywe saw him sitting up on his
throne.
He wasn't um, you very much hadthis feeling that he was above
everybody else.
But here he was actually, downon the floor level with

(20:59):
everybody.
Almost like more humanized, ifthat makes sense.
Well, Iroh had said somethingabout, how they used to be
private war meetings, but nowhis brother likes the attention.
If he's liking the attention,he's gonna get down there and
mingle, and take their ideas,and it's his plan now.
You notice he said that, youthink my plans, you know, Stupid

(21:22):
or what, whatever he said.
But yeah, I mean, he likes tospotlight.
Yeah.
I can see how he has garneredsuch a following, which is a
scary thing.
'cause that's how it is in reallife too.
That there's a reason people arefollowing somebody who may seem
like that they're bad becausethey must have something about
their personality that drawsother people in.

(21:45):
I just thought it wasinteresting that they, I don't
know if more likable is the wordI want to use here because he's
bad, but um, I think clearlyhe's bad.
He's just trying to spread thewealth of the Fire Nation to the
world.
Let's keep an open mind here.
Alright, let's move on to theAgni Kai.
The Agni Kai flashback.

(22:07):
This one had a lot of changesfrom the original cartoon.
First of all, Zuko fights back,whereas in the cartoon, he
doesn't fight back.
At all.
And I know you have thoughtsabout this, so tell me what your
thoughts are on the changes thatNetflix made here.
I liked it.
I also liked that, he hesitatedwhen he could have struck his

(22:29):
father with a serious blow andyou realize that Ozai realized
that as well.
He knew he was holding back atthat moment.
was very disrespectful for notgiving it his all.
So you liked the change then.
I loved it.
I thought you didn't like it atfirst.
No, I loved it.
I thought it was fantastic.
The reason why I thought youdidn't was because it changes
the reason that Zuko getsburned.

(22:51):
I like how they replaced thatwith, you're showing a sign of
disrespect for not giving ityour all.
For holding back.
To be a leader you can't holdback.
So I like the change.
I was on the fence about it, butI did like the fight sequence
and eventually, they got to thesame result.
I think what bothers me a littlebit is that it shows even back

(23:15):
then, Zuko was already veryskilled, and I guess it was
always my impression that Zukowasn't always the skilled
fighter that he is now,especially compared to his
sister.
But I think maybe it's becauseI'm pulling knowledge from the
comics a little bit, and fillingmore of Zuko's background with
that.
We were always told there was alearning curve for him, in the

(23:37):
cartoon.
Mhm.
He wasn't getting it as fast ashis sister was, picking up the
bending, but no, he's got somemoves.
I'm interested to see if thatchanges the dynamic between him
and Azula moving forward but.
It has to if she doesn't feellike she's superior over him.
Right, that'll be a bigdifference.

(23:57):
You mentioned Ozai's expressionwhenever he was burning Zuko,
and how it looked like he didfeel bad for doing so.
I don't know how I feel aboutthat.
But you said that you likedthat.
Yeah.
How come?
Because it was almost himexpressing compassion and guilt,

(24:18):
but also knowing that he neededto teach this lesson.
To become the superior FireLord.
This is what you have to gothrough.
What did you think about Ozai'sexpression?
I was also on the fence aboutthis one.
At first, I didn't like itbecause it is humanizing Zuko,
er I'm sorry, Ozai a little bitmore, but I do like morally grey

(24:41):
characters, that there's noblack or white, there's no like
pure evil pure good characters,but, like I said I think it's
just because of what I know ofthe series, and his expression
made it seem like he really doeswant better for Zuko, but if
that's the case, that's not theOzai I know.

(25:03):
Well, that's okay.
This is a I know.
This is a live action.
I know.
They brought the human to Ozai.
I mean, you have to remember,he's doing what he thinks is
right.
He's, he doesn't think what he'sdoing is bad.
I guess I just never knew Ozaito be one that actually wants
Zuko to be the next fire Lord.

(25:25):
That's all.
But I think, I think I've comearound, any additional layers
you can add to these charactersfrom the cartoon is, for the
most part, a good thing.
So I am just anxious to see howit's gonna play out in future
seasons.
Agreed.
Let's get to the finalflashback.
So this is after the Agni Kai.
Ozai comes in to see Zuko.

(25:47):
And, again, this is where, thisis another thing I am on the
fence about, whether or not thatI like that Ozai actually comes
in to, I don't know if he comesin to check up on Zuko, probably
not, but, Why wouldn't he?
It's his son.
Because it's Fire Lord Ozai!He's showing that he loves his
son.
Does he, though?
That's the thing.
He definitely has feelings forhim.

(26:08):
I think that's my big question,does this mean he actually,
loves his son and that he wantshis son to become better so that
he can become the Fire Lordbecause if that's so then this
is a big change for me that I'mgonna have to accept and I hope
it pays off in the end.
so.
I hope so.

(26:28):
I love what they're doing.
Yes and this is where we gethis, whole compassion is
weakness quote that triggersZuko.
I wonder, I've said this inprevious episodes too, some of
these characters, the quotesthat they say, I feel like it's
coming from the charactersexperiences so I'm interested to
see if this whole compassion isweakness thing, which was not

(26:51):
part of Ozai's character in thecartoon, if this is going to
come back at some point, and ifwe're going to get more of a
backstory to Ozai himself.
And why he's like this.
I feel like, yeah, I mean, atthis point I feel like they can
do anything or try to anyways,whether or not it's going to be

(27:11):
good, we'll see.
I do too.
I do too.
I just for some reason, this oneleft me feeling a little bit
nervous about uh, what they'regoing to do with Ozai.
Like I said, I'm hopeful that itdoes pay off.
This is also the scene where welearn about Zuko's banishment
and how he got his crew.
The latter being somethingcompletely new to fans of the

(27:34):
original.
They made the 41st Division hiscrew that he takes with him.
That they were gonna sacrifice.
Yes.
I really loved that they madethat connection, and I think it
was incredible writing.
So props to the writers for thisone.
What did you think?
It was really good.

(27:55):
Although, Zuko, I guess hevoiced his disapproval of them
sacrificing the Which, I guess,saves them.
But Ozai is really the one thatsaved them.
He's like, since you care aboutthem so much, you could have
them.
I mean, Zuko wasn't like, givethem to me! I'll take them.
That's an interesting way of offraming it.

(28:16):
Once again, Ozai.
Maybe not that bad of a dude.
So who did they sacrifice?
I was wondering that.
They sacrifice the 42nd Divisionor what?
The 40th?
Or maybe they ended up coming upwith a completely different
plan.
I don't know, but Like, dang it,Zuko.
Now we have to come up with aplan where we don't sacrifice
the one.
I will disagree about Ozai beingthe one that.

(28:40):
He's the one, No.
that saved them.
But the whole reason that Zukoneeded a crew in the first place
was because he stood up forthem.
Okay, but he wasn't asking forthe 41st Division.
He was probably asking for thethird.
He wouldn't be asking for anydivision because he doesn't want
to be banished.
But anyways, yes, incrediblewriting.
I think, okay, so the only thingthough, it was perfect.

(29:05):
Up until like just a small thingthat I, that almost ruined the
whole sentiment for me.
Netflix's Avatar has thisproblem with over explaining and
I've mentioned this before butyou know after that whole sweet
scene about Iroh tellingLieutenant Jee that the 41st
division became Zuko's crew.
They could have left it at that,but then Lieutenant Jee had to

(29:27):
be like, Well, wait, we're the41st division.
Maybe he just remembered.
And I, but here's the thing,they didn't have to do that.
This is what I keep saying.
They imply something, and You'renitpicking.
Yes, I am nitpicking.
They imply something, and weunderstand it.
Like, It would have been moreimpactful if they would have I

(29:49):
mean, there's younger peoplewatching this.
It's overexplaining, it's goingtoo far, and it's making it seem
cheesier than it needs to be andthey should have just left it
unspoken because sometimes themost beautiful lines are the
unspoken ones.
was almost a rough buddy momentfor me.
Don't you think that they'veover explained some things in

(30:09):
almost every episode?
Well it's a live action sothey're playing off the cartoon.
But that's the thing.
What's the thing?
This is not a cartoon.
And we're not kids.
Most of the people watchingthis, their audience, they know
they're not kids.
Yes.
Was it stupid?
Yeah.

(30:30):
They could have just went withhis facial expression of, being
sad and understanding.
Yeah.
I think that would have beenmore beautiful.
If Lieutenant Jee got like alittle bit teary eyed and was
left to his thoughts but.
With Lieutenant Jee, though, Idid like, um, how he had the
line at the very beginning aboutZuko not knowing anything about

(30:52):
sacrifice and then wrapping itup nicely, full circle moment
here, with him learning that Itwas because of Zuko's sacrifice
that they are alive.
Yes, and Zuko did a very, it wasvery powerful where you felt his
sacrifice in his acting.
Yes.
In the bed where, that last shotof him with his head up in the

(31:13):
air.
And the pain he was goingthrough.
It was heartbreaking.
Dallas's acting and how heportrayed that moment, you felt
for Zuko.
You were heartbroken for him.
Dallas is kicking butt.
Yes, I agree.
As far as these flashbacks go,was there anything that, in your
notes, that you wanted tomention?
Okay, we'll move on to Aang, andof course we'll come back and
talk about the both of them.

(31:34):
With Aang, even though thisepisode wasn't really about him,
there was still a lot going onwith him.
Um, so, It starts off with himvisiting Roku's shrine, which I
thought was such a great shotwhen he was flying into the Fire
Nation and what is that,Crescent Island, right?
The color and the whole shot wasbeautiful.

(31:56):
It almost gave me Game ofThrones vibes, all those
beautiful like wide shots of thelandscape and it makes you want
to actually go visit that place.
It looks spot on.
It looked like I was watchingthe cartoon for a minute.
Yes, yes, I felt like thatthroughout the whole episode
really.
But this was the like the firstepisode where it was like They
were going shot for shot withThe cartoon it looked like, I

(32:19):
mean, I know they didn't.
Mm-Hmm.
But it was like I was watchingthe cartoon.
Yeah.
It was the best adapted episodein my opinion.
And I don't think we're alone inthat sentiment.
But gosh, yeah, just that shotwith him flying in was
beautiful.
He meets Shyu the fire sage.
And the part where Shayu isfacing off with, I shouldn't say

(32:41):
face off, it's not like, I don'tthink there is a great big
battle, but he stood up to theother fire sages, it was another
example of a young idealistchallenging the views of people
who are older and wiser and havemore experience.
And, I've already said this inmultiple episodes that this is

(33:01):
kind of a continuing theme hereas well because it makes sense.
I mean, the original show wasfor kids, so of course it's
going to be from the viewpointof of kids, so.
Stick it to the man.
Yeah, exactly.
Shyu is the reason that, Aanggets to see Avatar Roku.
What are your thoughts?
Because I have, on Roku, becauseI have thoughts.

(33:24):
Yeah, just that whole scene oreven, even Roku himself, because
this is the first time we'reseeing him.
First time seeing him andhearing him, right?
Yeah, no yeah, yeah, yeah.
So I didn't know Roku was goingto be playful?
I thought he'd be more serious,but I guess they went with the
seriousness with Kyoshi.

(33:45):
And then Roku was like, Avertyour eyes.
Bow to your elders.
Hop on one leg.
And Aang's like, what's going onhere?
Did you like that?
I thought it was funny.
I liked it.
Cause he's like, you know, quitbeing so serious.
But I thought it was just short,like we talked about.
Aang didn't really, it was justlike, hey, Koh, how do I do

(34:08):
this?
Totem, cool, out.
Yeah, it was like, oh, we don'treally have much time for Roku
in this episode, but we have tohave Roku in this episode, so
here's how we're gonna do it andjust be quick about it.
Which, honestly, I'm okay withit being short because then it
just meant more time for Zuko.
And also, I don't think I'm abig fan of Roku's portrayal at

(34:30):
the moment.
I understand what you're sayingabout how maybe they wanted to
have more of a contrast toAvatar Kyoshi.
And show an Avatar that is alittle bit more lighthearted.
Or maybe they're trying to makehim more like, uh, This is only
a very slight spoiler alert,but, not really too much.

(34:52):
What he was like when he wasalive, and like his younger
self.
I don't know, it just felt verycheesy.
And also, because we alreadyhave two humorous older guides
to our main characters in thisseries.
We have Gyatso and we have UncleIroh.

(35:12):
So I feel like throwing a thirdone in the mix with a similar
vibe is just a little bit toomuch.
I think it's okay.
I understand what they weredoing.
Which Roku said was, you're notthe same Avatar.
You're your own person.
You are you.
You don't have to be us.
Yeah, I did like that.
What did you think of the Rokuinteraction overall?

(35:33):
I mean, it was a lot ofexposition.
I don't know if a first timewatcher would have been able to
follow it, or Maybe they couldhave followed it, but it's like,
why do I care?
So the totem that we find out iswhat was stolen from Koh.
It was the totem of the Motherof Faces.
Who is Koh's mother.
Did you, I'm curious, as someonewho was not a comic book reader,

(35:56):
did you understand the wholetotem Mother of Faces thing, or
did it I understand she was thespirit of, or the Mother of
Faces, like I get that she gaveeveryone their identity,
basically, and Roku stealingthat, took away his family,
basically, was taking away hismother, right?

(36:16):
He wants what everyone elsewants, which is family.
Right.
I'm trying to watch it from afirst time watcher's
perspective.
It just made me wonder, areother people going to get this,
or care, because this issomething pulled from the
comics.
because it didn't explain, therewas no explanation.
But, the cool thing about thembringing in the Mother of Faces

(36:38):
is now, I feel like they have tobring it back at some point.
So that means there's a veryimportant storyline in the
comics that Hopefully they'llbring in, yes, and if we get
there, I'm very interested tosee your reaction and what you
think about all of that.
But yeah, it was, since it wasso quick, it's like, oh, Mother

(37:00):
of Faces?
Okay, cool, bye.
And it leaves more questionsthan answers.
And that the totem was justthere the whole time.
Yeah.
Or did Roku transport it there?
Oh, you know, no, no, it was,yeah, it was in his shrine the
whole time because he hadpossession of it.
Shyu mentions that, oh, here areall of Roku's possessions.

(37:21):
Very convenient, right?
And somehow Aang was allowed tohold onto it even When he was
uh, arrested the mother, thetotem was like the mouths were
moving.
Okay.
That was cool.
Oh, one thing I don't wannagloss over is Roku did mention
that friends can be a liability.
Going back to what I said withOzai saying compassion is

(37:42):
weakness.
Roku saying friends can be aliability.
He's saying that for a reason aswell.
I can't wait to see how that'sgoing to tie back into the
story.
Every superhero has to worryabout it.
Yeah, so after Aang's littlechit chat with Roku, he gets
captured by, well first, by Junefor Zuko and I wish we had more

(38:04):
of the Shirshu in this episodebecause It's vision was very
cool, that orange and blue, but,Hey, was Shyu dead?
Don't know.
We didn't see a body though.
I think we did.
Are you sure?
In the background, becauseeveryone else's, all the other
fire sages' bodies were glowingred.
From their heat.

(38:24):
But I don't think Shyu's wasglowing.
Could you tell that it was Shyu?
I think so.
What?
Oh my gosh.
I'm gonna have to go back andlook.
Don't tell me he died, because Iwas hoping that maybe, maybe the
shirshu came in and paralyzedeverybody before they could
roast Shyu.
We're just proven thatcompassion is a weakness.
I'm just saying as a rule, if wedon't see a body, I don't

(38:48):
consider the person dead.
Well, he's not the bad guy, but.
If you're saying there is abody, I'm gonna be very sad now.
And, yeah.
Back to the Shirshu though,you're not gonna understand this
reference at all, but the blueand orange, it reminded me of
Final Fantasy The SpiritsWithin, that movie.
I don't think I've had you watchthat, have I?
No.
It looks like, like blue andlike orange spirits, almost.

(39:12):
So.
We gotta watch that.
I think, do we own it?
Can we get through this first?
Yeah.
Promise you'll watch it with methough?
Yeah, of course.
Let's see.
And then, real quick on Junesince she's in this scene too.
June gave us kind of the firstinsight to what a non bender
could possibly think of thebending world.

(39:35):
When she's talking to Aang,she's like, I've got the world
figured out.
You have, your earthbenders,your firebenders, your
waterbenders, and they're alwaysfighting for something.
So if you're smart enough, youpretty much just have to sit
back and let them do theirthing, and then you can, swoop
in and I don't remember what shesays, but Something about
getting the scraps.
Yeah, and I really liked theThat they added this

(39:56):
conversation because everythinghas been so focused on benders,
with the exception of Sokka, butwe know Sokka's already, he
already has his own hangups,with his dad and everything.
But the other people in thisworld that are not benders, it
kind of reminded me of, like thefirst season of The Legend of
Korra, getting more insight intohow a non bender fits in.

(40:19):
into this world.
What did you think?
She's pay to play.
They pay her to play.
Do you agree with her?
She's like, I think the world isfine just the way it is.
Of course I don't, no, I don'tagree with what she's saying.
I mean, I don't agree either.
But It shows like, another sideof this war, you know, this She

(40:40):
just learn how to capitalize.
Yes, very true.
Okay, and one last thing aboutAang being captured.
Why didn't Aang airbend at all?
When he was captured in Zuko'swagon and then eventually
transferred over to Zhao.
He did zero airbending.
I feel like he could have Imean, they brought in a ton of
soldiers, so maybe he justthought they were so outnumbered

(41:00):
that.
What about when he was alonewith Zuko and Iroh?
We can argue this, but He couldhave airbended.
I feel like they're holding backon Aang a little bit, but,
Because in the cartoon he gotcaptured, okay?
Because the plot says so.
Okay, so that was Aang.
So now I feel like we can talkabout the Blue Spirit Rescue.

(41:21):
And I want to start this portionof the conversation off by
talking about Zhao, actually.
We have our whole theme ofidentity and masks and, what's
really the mask and I feel likethis episode is really where
Zhao, took off his quote unquotemask and is showing his true
colors not to us as theaudience, because we already

(41:42):
knew something has been up withZhao this whole time, but taking
off his mask to Zuko because nowhe's shown his hand and what his
ultimate goal is yeah i stillreally like Zhao though as as a
character as an actor.
i'm realizing more and more he'sreally boring really They, he's

(42:04):
overlooked as a Oh, okay.
I see what you're saying.
There's nothing necessarilyexciting about him.
Yeah.
And that's probably why he'sjust longing for that glory.
And because of Zhao, we also getintroduced to the Yuyan archers,
which I thought they were cool.
Yeah.
Poor uncle Iroh's pony.

(42:25):
His bun.
I don't think it cut his bun offthough.
I think it was just R.
I.
P.
But, I don't think it's deadthough.
I think it just took off the, Ijust think it just took off the
the thing that holds their buns.

(42:47):
They're um, their hair, you knowwhat I'm trying to say.
Um, I love the face paint on theYuyan Archers.
It kind of reminds me of theKyoshi Warriors.
They can cut the wings off aGlowfly.
What should they have saidthere, Zo?
Firefly.
They have every opportunity tomake it a Firefly.
Cause it's Fire Nation.

(43:08):
And they can Glowfly like, Doyou think like, he messed up
that line?
They're like, let's just keepgoing.
No, I think, okay, I'm gonnahave to, I'm gonna have to fact
check this, but I think theysaid Glowfly in the cartoon.
And two, you can't say Fireflybecause that's a thing in our
real world.
It has to be different.
Quick question.
In a showdown between YuyanArchers and Kyoshi Warriors, who

(43:32):
do you think would win?
Oh, the Kyoshi Warriors.
You think so?
Yeah.
Good triumphs evil.
True, okay, but tacticallyspeaking, you have a group that
most of their fighting strategyis uh, distance, because they're
archers, and then with theKyoshi Warriors, all of theirs
is mostly up close combat.
Depends I'm going to guess a lotif that's how they Oh yeah,

(43:56):
true.
That's true.
Okay.
We'll have to put a pin in thatfor later.
Oh, and also with, I know we'resupposed to be talking about the
Blue Spirit Rescue, but beforewe get To the po what was it,
Poahui Stronghold, or, I can'tremember the name of the prison.
But the way Zuko reacted to Zhaotaking Aang.

(44:18):
He showing his frustration thathe just lost the avatar again.
The way he like screamed when heburst out.
yeah When he did that I was likethat sounds like Zuko like from
the cartoon like that is Zuko IOkay, so about the Blue Spirit

(44:38):
Rescue itself, what are yourthoughts on how they adapted
this whole sequence?
I wish the getaway was longer,but I understand you're cut for
time.
They still did the, walking onstilts, which was fun.
Aang's airbending was awesomeduring all that.
I liked it.
What did you think?
It was a really good adaptation.

(45:00):
And probably the most welladapted scene.
If we're talking about notnecessarily like shot for shot,
but just how well they took thecartoon and how it translated to
live action.
What you said earlier, it feltlike I was watching the cartoon
almost.
The setting.
was spot on and resembled thecartoon quite a bit because I

(45:22):
even went back to the cartoonand watched little clips of that
too and it's like they reallynailed it how everything looked,
felt, the music even.
So I just thought it wasprobably one of the best
adaptate adapted?
The best adapted scenes of thewhole series so far.
With the time that they had, Ithought it was great.

(45:42):
And, afterwards, they had theaddition of a longer
conversation between Aang andZuko, compared to the cartoon.
Did you like, everything theyadded?
I did, because it showed like,Zuko almost smiling at Aang
because, he said somethingfunny.
I can't remember what he said,but it was pretty funny, and
Aang, or Zuko, looked like hewas enjoying Aang's company.

(46:05):
Without realizing it.
Once Aang said that compassion.
It's a trigger.
I did like that Aang attemptedto relate to Zuko and, find some
common ground with him which Ithink is very Avatar like of
him, finding common ground withyour enemy.
And he mentioned the notebookand how it was the notebook that

(46:27):
actually informed Aang andhelped him about the previous
avatars and you know he stayedup to read Zuko's notebook and
said, so you helped me a lot andthen changed it to well your
notebook helped me a lot, buthe's right Zuko in an indirect
way and without meaning to withAang not knowing it was Aang but

(46:48):
with capturing the avatar yeahso i thought that was cool i
thought that was sweet eventhough i'm sure Zuko probably
wouldn't have appreciated thatfact that he had a hand in
helping.
Yeah, but I mean, just the factthat knowing that you helped the
person that you're trying tocapture, which I mean, he

(47:09):
technically did this episode,rescuing him.
So that's, that's interesting.
That's another layer to it.
This is also where they hadtheir conversation about
expectations.
Aang mentions the expectationsput on him.
For being the Avatar, and Imean, that's the reason why
Aang, I feel like, is alsowearing a mask, so to speak.

(47:32):
Would you agree that whole maskmetaphor applies to him, too?
That's what his talk with, Imean, that's what his talk with
Roku was about, I mean.
Be your own avatar, you don'thave to be Kyoshi, you don't
have to, you know, you are yourown person.
Roku probably has a hand inhelping, Aang take off that
quote unquote mask.
So that's another thing that himand Zuko have in common.

(47:55):
Obviously they both carry theburden of expectations and
they're both wearing a maskbecause of those expectations.
And like I said, Zuko istriggered by the mention of
compassion, and that's whatcauses him to put that mask back
on, because clearly you couldsee that Aang was kind of
getting through to him, but thenAang kind of took it too far by

(48:18):
Telling Zuko that he doesn'thave to be like his father,
basically implying like, Hey,your dad is not a good guy.
You don't have to be like him.
And I feel like there's somepart of Zuko that knows that.
But then realizing that alsomakes him angry.
And says, how dare you, because,it's like, how dare you try to

(48:39):
turn me against my father ormake me think that way, but,
yeah, that whole compassionthing was just a switch.
Zuko's very honorable, and,yeah, you shouldn't talk about
his dad like that.
It was a good way of showingZuko's inner conflict.
But Aang and Zuko's timetogether concludes with Zuko
being back on a boat.

(49:00):
Yeah, and they did the line.
Which line?
I'm really glad.
In a different time or backthen.
Oh, something that Aang says?
We would have been friends.
Yeah, I would have been mad ifthey didn't put that line in.
They did a really good job ofit.
Zuko firing at him and Aang,airbending away and also pushing
the boat away at the same time.

(49:20):
So I feel like there's just alot of symbolism going on there.
It was a good added scene.
So then that leads us to theconclusion of this episode.
Aang and Zuko are putting theirmasks back on.
And Zuko goes back to being theloyal prince that's expected of
him.
I don't know if Aang's puttinghis mask back on, is he?

(49:42):
The only reason I say yes isbecause Aang is then going back
to his Avatar duties and, tryingto save everybody, which is
expected of him.
Huh?
Aang's gonna be more changed.
There's going to be more of aneffect immediately with Aang
than they will show with Zuko.
That's true.
Do you think it's, the seed hasbeen planted with both of them,
though?

(50:02):
Yeah, of course.
But you're right, I think Zukohas a much longer journey to go.
Overall, this episode's got meready to watch the next episode.
I agree.
We talked about, Zuko's crewbowing down to him and how that
was a good scene.
And, you know, when Zuko uh,goes to his room and he lays
down.
Have you heard of the fan theoryabout Zuko only laying on his

(50:25):
good side whenever Iroh isaround?
Do you know what I'm talkingabout?
I mean, I get what you'resaying, no, I never, I haven't
heard that.
So there's this fan theory thatat least for the cartoon, I
don't know if this tracks withthe Netflix version, but the
theory is that you only ever seeZuko laying on his good side,
without the scar, only wheneverIroh is around, and so that

(50:48):
indicates that he feels safeenough with Iroh, because he
probably doesn't hear as well.
Or, see as well, on his scarredside.
He only leaves that side exposedwhenever Iroh is around.
So this scene, when Zuko laysdown in his bed, Iroh is in the
room and he lays on his rightside, which is his good side.

(51:08):
Leaving his scarred side, youknow, exposed.
So, I wonder if Netflix ispicking up on this fan theory
and if they're gonna take it andI'm gonna keep an eye out for
that in the future, if they evershow Zuko sleeping again.
So that's that fan theory foranybody that hasn't heard of

(51:29):
that.
And I think that's where itleaves off with Zuko, and then
with Aang, you know, Katara,Sokka, and the other villagers
get saved because Aang returnsthe totem.
I felt like the whole Koh thingis very anticlimactic.
Did you?
Yeah like, we don't have timefor this It's it's a trade off.
There's something about thattotem that is huge, because he

(51:53):
gave up a lot of victims.
Yeah that prisoner release wasHow was Aang so sure that Koh
was going to even Like, is thetotem going to give Koh more
power?
I mean, there was noconfirmation that if Aang gives
this totem back to Koh, Koh isgoing to release everybody.
There is also no conversationbetween him and Koh at the end.

(52:14):
Aang, lays it down and we seeKoh a little bit and he backs
off and releases everybody.
Which, I mean, I thought it waslike a beautiful scene and
everything, but you could tell,it's like, okay, we need to wrap
this up and finish up thisstoryline with Koh and Sokka and
Katara.
That totem's huge.
We will see.
We will see what comes of it.

(52:35):
Oh, and then, I almost forgot,Aang going back to Gyatso's I
don't know what that was, hislike house or place that he was
staying at in the spirit world,and he's gone!

Wes (52:49):
Yeah, that was super sad.

Pauline (52:50):
I knew he was gonna be gone! Yeah,

Wes (52:53):
what did they say, something about time, I don't
know, but yeah, it was supersad.

Pauline (52:59):
Even though I knew he wasn't gonna be there, it was
still heartbreaking, and itdoesn't explain exactly why he's
not there, which, I mean, Ithink it's fine because then
we're left to kind of fill inthe blanks.
We discussed it a little bit inthe previous podcast episode
that, maybe once Gyatso feelslike he's done what his duty is,

(53:21):
which is guiding Aang, Then

Wes (53:23):
gets to move on next stage of enlightenment.

Pauline (53:26):
yeah, but it's like, Gyatso couldn't you have just
waited just a little bit and atleast have a goodbye?

Wes (53:33):
I like the sad ending.
It's the I think it's the firsttime they've done like a not so
uplifting ending.

Pauline (53:41):
Which I do like, I'm a sucker for.
For the sad moments but gosh, itwas just so heartbreaking and
I'm worried that it won't feellike closure to Aang.

Wes (53:55):
Oh, we'll see.
We'll see what they do.

Pauline (53:57):
I have a theory surrounding Gyatso and Iroh,
actually.
Our daughter Zoe, she askedthis, I think, after the last
time we rewatched it?
She was wondering, how come it'sIroh that's narrating this
episode?
And, you know, you could easilysay well, this is an episode
about Zuko, so maybe that's whyIroh is narrating it, because,

(54:20):
Iroh was to Aang, or Iroh toZuko is like Gyatso to Aang.

Wes (54:25):
So what's your theory?

Pauline (54:26):
So my theory is that maybe, moving forward, we won't
have any more narrations fromGyatso, and maybe Iroh is Gonna
be the one to take over thenarrations.
Of course, other peoplelistening who've already seen
the rest of the season, they,know whether that's true or not.
But, we have not

Wes (54:47):
rolling you.
I quit looking into it so

Pauline (54:51):
I think, my theory is that Iroh narrated this episode
because Gyatso has moved on.
Because in other episodes, itwas always Gyatso, right?

Wes (55:03):
Sure.

Pauline (55:04):
Gyatso and Iroh kind of, play similar roles for our
two young uh, characters.
Yeah, they're mentors.
And yeah, I think now thatGyatso's no longer like, really,
really not here uh, then wewon't have any more narration
from him.
Do you think I'm right?

Wes (55:23):
I'm right?
Are you looking

Pauline (55:27):
looking into it too much?
Okay,

Wes (55:29):
much?
Okay.

Pauline (55:30):
will the next one.
Let's go ahead and get into ourfavorite

Wes (55:41):
We will

Pauline (55:42):
Okay, was there anything else in your notes
though about

Wes (55:50):
Let's go ahead and get into our favorite bending

Pauline (55:53):
we didn't get to?
Nothing at all?

Wes (55:58):
I don't have anything.
No, I didn't take a lot ofnotes.

Pauline (56:01):
because

Wes (56:02):
Just cause I enjoyed the episode so And I'm enjoying
talking to you.

Pauline (56:08):
Are you?
Yeah.
Okay, so you said favoritebending moment?

Wes (56:13):
What is your favorite bending moment of this

Pauline (56:16):
Okay, I feel like I've been talking so much, so I will
let you go first.

Wes (56:19):
you go first.
Okay, I, mine was Aang,airbending during their escape.
I mean, just airbending.
Really, it was cool.
I liked it.
What was yours?
Oh

Pauline (56:32):
no! You just looked at the

Wes (56:34):
jump on my, Jump on my back.

Pauline (56:36):
No, you saw that it was already in my notes.
Mine is, Aang airbendingspecifically when he and Zuko
were on the wall, and it did theslow mo like, Wait, that was a
bad sound

Wes (56:50):
that was a bad That wasn't very good.
But yeah, he also pushed Zukoback

Pauline (56:56):
Yeah, and it's

Wes (56:57):
it was good.

Pauline (56:58):
it's a reminder that, what do you call it whenever uh,
it's like when you're playing avideo game and, you're
attacking, but you can also hurtyour teammates.

Wes (57:06):
teammates?
Yeah, it's friendly fire?

Pauline (57:08):
yeah, like friendly fire, I mean, you gotta be
careful with your bending,especially, if you have allies
around

Wes (57:14):
if you look into that?

Pauline (57:16):
I just, actually just did, and I just thought of
something, and

Wes (57:20):
it, Pauline.
I was joking, so

Pauline (57:22):
But the thing is, but I think, I think it already, it
was supposed to happen in thisseason.
It happened in book one.

Wes (57:32):
don't know if anyone can hear our dog biting

Pauline (57:34):
Oh, no, yeah, that's right.
Baymax!

Wes (57:36):
So loud.

Pauline (57:37):
Yeah, if you guys hear like, grinding in the

Wes (57:39):
back I guess if I was, if I was being like specific, if I
was being like pacific,

Pauline (57:45):
Oh, don't.
Specific.

Wes (57:46):
ocean um, when Aang brings up all the dust to cover him and
Zuko's escape, that was pretty,that was, it was a cool bending
moment.

Pauline (57:56):
I forgot about that one.
Okay.
Yeah, that's also a good one.
I'm still sticking with my

Wes (58:02):
I know, you want to pick, you want to pick what I picked.

Pauline (58:04):
wanna pick?
No.
Okay.
What about your favoritecharacter or,

Wes (58:10):
I would say in this episode, my favorite.
say character?

Pauline (58:17):
Is it Ozai?

Wes (58:19):
No.
Oh no.
I think my favorite characterwas probably Iroh, just because
we got a lot of explanation fromIroh.

Pauline (58:37):
Well, before we Iroh, I just remembered at the end,
whenever Zuko is walking pasthis crew and they're all bowing
down to him, did you notice thatIroh had a tear?
He shed a tear?
Oh my gosh.

Wes (58:51):
that bow Now, I really didn't have a favorite character
because they all did a greatjob.
I had a least favoritecharacter.

Pauline (59:00):
Who is?
Do we need to make that a new

Wes (59:04):
It was Aang.

Pauline (59:05):
Why?

Wes (59:06):
And look, I understand that the actor,

Pauline (59:10):
Gordon,

Wes (59:12):
just a but you can really tell that he's acting.

Pauline (59:17):
Yeah, I can agree there.
No shade.

Wes (59:20):
It's okay.
No shade.

Pauline (59:22):
because

Wes (59:23):
He's getting better.

Pauline (59:25):
I think it's just a matter of somebody trying to
adapt a cartoon

Wes (59:29):
And maybe it's the way they're editing his scenes that
make him, I don't know.
Maybe they want him to seemmore,

Pauline (59:36):
cartoon character

Wes (59:37):
I guess, maybe?

Pauline (59:39):
That's fair.
I can see where you're comingfrom.

Wes (59:41):
Who was your favorite

Pauline (59:43):
My favorite.
Okay.
You already know.
Take a guess.

Wes (59:48):
Did he shed a tear?

Pauline (59:49):
No.
Wait.
Yes.

Wes (59:52):
just told me he did.
That

Pauline (59:55):
It's Zuko.
My boy.
Zuko.
I mean, come on.
This whole episode was about himand this is my favorite episode.
So of course it's Zuko.
He shed many tears.

Wes (01:00:05):
But

Pauline (01:00:05):
I mean, I, Zuko stole the show.

Wes (01:00:08):
I mean, it was his

Pauline (01:00:09):
was his episode, but he killed it, just like you said.
And I feel like he is, for me,he's stealing the show with the
whole series so far with thisseason.
Him and Iroh,

Wes (01:00:21):
I've been on that boat.
I agree.

Pauline (01:00:23):
So it's, I mean, yeah, it's just gotta be Zuko.

Wes (01:00:27):
Okay.
Do we have anything to report inthe hybrid animal department?

Pauline (01:00:33):
No I even looked back and I didn't find any new
animals.
We still had the ostrich horse,we had the shirshu, which we
talked about already a littlebit but there wasn't anything
new.

Wes (01:00:45):
anything

Pauline (01:00:46):
on?
I don't know, maybe there justisn't a budget for that.
That's, can we start a GoFundMe?
I know, right?
Did we even get, well, I guessat the end they did show Momo
and Appa just a little bit.
But I, I mean, like I said, Iwould've loved to see more of
the shirshu.
One thing we didn't get in thisepisode that was in the cartoon

(01:01:09):
was the shirshu and Appashowdown.
So they did

Wes (01:01:13):
and blinding the Shirshu.

Pauline (01:01:15):
that could be with a perfume,

Wes (01:01:16):
That could be a spoiler, we don't know.

Pauline (01:01:18):
I mean, I don't know if it's gonna happen or not.
And.
Well.

Wes (01:01:22):
Could.
She could return, June couldreturn.

Pauline (01:01:26):
I hope June returns, because I like her character.
Yeah, she drinks a lot.

Wes (01:01:30):
need

Pauline (01:01:30):
How do you know a lot?
She took one, one

Wes (01:01:33):
was a couple

Pauline (01:01:34):
Oh.
I don't know.
I'm a fan of, I'm a fan of June.
So yeah, nothing really with thehybrid animals.
So let's go ahead and jump toour memorable quotes.
What was your favorite quote?

Wes (01:01:46):
was your favorite So was it Iroh?

Pauline (01:01:57):
Boom! The theme.
So yeah.
twist.

Wes (01:02:03):
Really?
I thought the opposite.
I thought that there were toomany quotes.

Pauline (01:02:09):
Really?
I thought the opposite.
I thought that there were toomany quotes

Wes (01:02:13):
like stood out.
I can, I

Pauline (01:02:17):
that there wasn't like one that like stood out.
I can, I agree with you there.
You're right.
That was my problem, there wereso many good quotes that it was
hard to find one that reallystood out amongst them all.

Wes (01:02:28):
all.
So

Pauline (01:02:29):
So what I chose I chose Zuko.
Surprise.
It's something Zuko said when hesaid sometimes the weak can
become stronger and sometimesyou just have to give them a
chance.

Wes (01:02:39):
to give them a chance.
So I mean,

Pauline (01:02:43):
So I mean, it's a simple quote, but I think it
wasn't necessarily just what hesaid, but how it was delivered
and I don't know, I like a goodunderdog story, and I think in
life, you do just have to givepeople a chance,

Wes (01:03:00):
but not the weak

Pauline (01:03:02):
Sometimes, you just have to give them a chance and I
can relate to that, becausethere have been times in my life
that it's like, you know,somebody gave me a chance
whenever, maybe they shouldn'thave and yeah, it was very
helpful or proved to be lifechanging or yeah.
Whether it's in professionallife or a personal life.

(01:03:23):
You'd be surprised What canhappen whenever you give people
a chance.

Wes (01:03:28):
Sure there are a ton of heartfelt stories

Pauline (01:03:35):
Okay, do you have any last thoughts before we wrap
everything up?
I know we're not doing a, we'renot doing our question of the
week this week because I don'tthink we got any

Wes (01:03:45):
we didn't get any,

Pauline (01:03:46):
No, but I did kind of put it out late too,

Wes (01:03:49):
Okay.
I'm sure they were replying, intheir heads.

Pauline (01:03:57):
And this next question will probably be put out there
late too, so we'll see if we getanything.
Um, So that's my

Wes (01:04:02):
Uh, No, I think just overall, this episode really had
me conflicted, but in a goodway.
And conflicted in my feelings.
Uh, like I said, Ozai didn'tseem as bad as

Pauline (01:04:18):
Yeah.
Yeah.
I was very Me too.
With everyone, and like yousaid, in a good way, it had me
questioning things a little bitand it made me re examine what I
thought I knew about some of thecharacters and what, I mean,
like we keep saying, cartoon isa cartoon and then this show is

(01:04:39):
separate, so it does give us afresh look

Wes (01:04:44):
Great job,

Pauline (01:04:44):
our

Wes (01:04:46):
This episode was

Pauline (01:04:47):
Yes, loved it.
I hope that Netflix keeps upthis momentum.
I do have a feeling though thatthis will probably be my highest
rated episode of all of thisseason so far.
We only have two episodes left.
There's a lot to cram in, but Imean, it tracks with what the
cartoon did.
And I know that we're headed tothe North Pole, and I mean, it

(01:05:10):
has to be, right?
If I'm completely wrong, I'mgonna be like, well, but I know
we're headed to the North Pole,I'm assuming anyways that's what
the last two episodes are gonnabe, because in the cartoon, it
did take two episodes to wrapeverything up, so I am excited
to see how that plays out, andI'm kind of worried about
anything that they may havechanged so that's why I'm

(01:05:32):
thinking this episode, masks isgonna be my favorite and I don't
know if I'll feel as stronglyabout

Wes (01:05:37):
Change is not always a bad

Pauline (01:05:39):
I know.
So I'm just nervous.
Alrighty, let's go ahead andwrap everything up.

Wes (01:06:04):
That's our show for today.
Thank you guys so much forlistening.
If you've been enjoying theseepisodes, we would be grateful
if you leave us a rating onApple podcast or Spotify.
It really helps other peoplefind us.
And if you don't want to missout on any upcoming episodes,
make sure to follow andsubscribe to this podcast on all
your favorite podcast apps.

Pauline (01:06:24):
And we would also love to connect with you guys.
Um, So we encourage you tofollow our socials and join in
on the conversation.
Our Facebook and Instagram andTikTok pages can, toktok, and
TikTok pages can all be foundunder Avatar Nation Pod.
So yeah, we would love to hearfrom you.

(01:06:44):
So that's it for today.
I'm Pauline,

Wes (01:06:47):
And I'm Wes.

Pauline (01:06:48):
and you've been listening to Avatar Nation.
See you next

Wes (01:06:52):
Love ya.

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Avatar Nation: S1 E06 — "Masks"

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.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}Avatar Nation: S1 E06 — "Masks"