Horyo
RP Admin
All your bending are belong to us.
Posts: 2,572
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Post by Horyo on Jul 18, 2008 10:02:16 GMT -5
...I still have yet to figure out how Azula tracked them down so quickly.
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riverbird
Zhao
Flying with the wind
Posts: 812
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Post by riverbird on Jul 18, 2008 10:10:05 GMT -5
I don’t think that Zuko was that out of character, while he has gone to the good side, that hasn’t stopped him from trying to harm people. I don't know. Back when Zuko desperately wanted his father's love, he had to capture the Avatar to accomplish that. The main person who stood in his way was Zhao, who was set on capturing "the prize" himself. Zuko got the chance to get rid of his competition twice. In The Southern Air Temple, he could hurt or end him at the time. And in The Siege of the North, he stepped up and extended his hand to help him. It showed that Zuko knows compassion and isn't the blood-thirsty type. Even on his Avatar quest, he never intended to kill him or anyone else. Zuko has never been so ruthless even when he was the "villain". Yes, he was most likely channeling his own sadness and anger on Katara's anger and yes, he was desperate to get on Katara's good side. But just a day before that, he showed concern for Azula, his psycho-sister who has bullied him for so many years. So it just felt a bit misplaced that he was the one to come up with the revenge plan. I wasn't implying that Zuko was blood thirsty, just that he tends to resort to violence faster than Aang does when he lets his anger get the best of him. I also understand and agree that he does have a habit of bouncing back and forth between his good and bad ideas/attitudes. I think another thing that bothered me was that Zuko did exactly the same thing he did in Ba Sing Se when he went out to face his sister. Iroh was the one trying to hold him back then, this time it was Aang. It did show that his firebending has improved a bit, but I thought it was a bit self centered of him to go out when everyone was trying to escape, all it did was make them worry about him.
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West
Finale Katara
Posts: 8,335
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Post by West on Jul 18, 2008 10:10:10 GMT -5
^^That amazed me too! Sorta surprised Zuko knew it was her too.
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Post by admirality on Jul 18, 2008 10:13:57 GMT -5
I didn't really like the southern raiders...... I found it kinda tame.... and there was no Ozai not cool..... Katara's mum was pretty though... I think the hottest woman poll has a new contender
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Post by Akira Takahashi on Jul 18, 2008 10:19:46 GMT -5
This is going to be a most awkward review for me, because I, admittedly, haven't read a lot of the posts on this thread yet. I'll do that next and actually throw in some real discussion.
The Boiling Rock was amazing, except for the Rocket Azula bit, and I, naturally, had burned it to DVD when it was leaked onto the Internet and distributed it to family, friends, and everyone in between. After that, I sort of turned off to the Avatar community for a spell, seeing as how there were no signs of anything coming out soon. I spent my days eagerly awaiting the arrival of the new and even more psychotic Azula, reading tons of Norse Mythology, studying Japanese, and looking forward to the E3 conference, which bombed.
Anyway, I couldn't remember what Southern Raiders was supposed to be about, but I was all ready when it aired. In the end, I have very mixed reviews.
First of all, the good parts were, obviously, Sokka waiting for a midnight fling with Suki. Maybe that wasn't the correct wording, but that's what it looked like. I also enjoyed the flashbacks of the raid on the Water Tribe.
However, things just seemed out of place in this episode. First of all, Katara really seems angry at Zuko. We haven't seen much of her in the past few episodes, but she always seemed to be on good terms with him, generally speaking. This anger seemed somewhat out of the blue.
I was also disappointed when she actually confronts the soldier who killed her mom. Poor guy, he retired with no benefits, and it would seem that the guy has no backbone and was therefore tossed out of the navy. The writers say different, but it's just too hard to connect a man who was once so ruthless to someone who is now so pathetic - save for burning a tree, he couldn't even stand up for himself! At the very least, the guy could have left the military with regrets and turned to farming. When Katara found him, it didn't feel epic. We all know that Katara wouldn't actually kill the man, but I didn't feel the tension I thought I would. Her confrontation with the man Zuko mistook for the killer was much more epic. Complete with blood beniding it was!
As a side note, it also seems that it's just to difficult to work with such a large group of characters - they've split up again! And why did Katara forgive Zuko after that! He's done a whole lot more for the characters than identify the fleet that attacked Katara's tribe! What about ensuring their father's freedom?
Well, I don't have much hope for tonight's episode, either. Maybe I'll be pleasantly surprised. I hate Nickelodeon's previews anyway, so that might mean that the actual episode is a lot better than the way Nick presents it.
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Horyo
RP Admin
All your bending are belong to us.
Posts: 2,572
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Post by Horyo on Jul 18, 2008 10:33:23 GMT -5
The reason Katara just forgave him was the whole quest they went through and his willingness to help her. I think you guys are downplaying by bringing up his past assistances because she wasn't there to observe him help.
SHe probably just thought Sokka did most of the work.
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Post by mahatista on Jul 18, 2008 11:00:53 GMT -5
akira Takahashi: I agree with your whole post. *karma* I thought Katara's anger at Zuko in the beginning -- especially after the fight with Azula -- was bizarre. In TBR she was joking around with him at the beginning and at the end he was part of the team that brought her father back to her. It's just more of the overall incoherence of season 3 that they totally ignored what went before IMO. The villain was indeed pathetic and a complete let-down. The whole thing with his mom was stupid and unfunny (again, IMO -- everything is IMO of course ). The forgiveness came from almost nothing. It should have come at the end of TBR. I did NOT like the way Aang appeared in this episode. A lot of people did so maybe it's just my preference, but he's a gushy nothing now who doesn't seem to get anything or handle anything properly. How fricking arrogant is it to tell Katara when she's in that state that she needs to forgive? He sent her over the edge with that tone-deaf advice as much as Zuko with his. In fact one of the things I loved was leading up to the hug when she told Aang she hadn't forgiven the killer. Aang needs to learn that forgiveness is not something that magically happens. She may never forgive that man. But she can start working on getting past it now and that's a much more important step. My favorite moment of the entire episode is Zuko's last line. It was the most relevant and important line in the entire epi. Don't get me wrong. Every nanosecond that Zuko and Katara are on screen together is right and sublime, but the story line of the episode left much to be desired. And sadly, even as a hardcore Zutarian, just like most of the rest of Season 3, I can't see myself seeking out this epi to watch again. There were things I liked of course. Liked a lot. Kaya, watching Hakoda fighting again *sigh*, the Zutara aesthetic, Zuko running into Suki then surprising Sokka, the fight with Azula, Haru finally doing something useful (creating a hole for all the awkward, useless characters to disappear into. LOL), and the water bending. Sorry if that whole bit I just typed is hard to understand. I've had a LOT of interruptions.
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ilyFiRE<3
Momo
iLOVEavatarthelastairbenderFOREVERRR :D
Posts: 45
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Post by ilyFiRE<3 on Jul 18, 2008 11:19:18 GMT -5
...I still have yet to figure out how Azula tracked them down so quickly. i agree when she came i was like: how did she find them XD how'd she track them down
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uverworldluv
Casual Zuko
That's what you get when you let your heart win. ♥
Posts: 914
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Post by uverworldluv on Jul 18, 2008 11:57:44 GMT -5
...I still have yet to figure out how Azula tracked them down so quickly. i agree when she came i was like: how did she find them XD how'd she track them down She must've found some way to track down her stolen balloon and figured that wherever it was, they were. That's just my guess. lol
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Post by Victim ~*of *~Circumstances on Jul 18, 2008 12:07:11 GMT -5
^First thing I thought of was she planted some homing device but then this is Avatar so that thought is out of the question. As much as I loved Azula in this ep (that line of hers was hilarious) I bet she was just a plot device to get things going.
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uverworldluv
Casual Zuko
That's what you get when you let your heart win. ♥
Posts: 914
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Post by uverworldluv on Jul 18, 2008 12:24:53 GMT -5
^First thing I thought of was she planted some homing device but then this is Avatar so that thought is out of the question. That's exactly what I thought at first. I was like yea, I don't think the Avatar era has that kind of technology yet. lol But now that I think of it, the FN does know how to make huge tanks that can drive up walls, so is it possible they could make something like a homing device?
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Horyo
RP Admin
All your bending are belong to us.
Posts: 2,572
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Post by Horyo on Jul 18, 2008 12:32:18 GMT -5
In fact one of the things I loved was leading up to the hug when she told Aang she hadn't forgiven the killer. Aang needs to learn that forgiveness is not something that magically happens. She may never forgive that man. But she can start working on getting past it now and that's a much more important step.
Possibly one of the most remarkable comments I've seen for this thread. I loved the fact that Katara did not forgive him, but couldn't sink so low as to slaughter him like that. Now we know that she can at least deal with her issues. My question is, will she be ready to kill if the fight against Azula escalates to such an extent? ^First thing I thought of was she planted some homing device but then this is Avatar so that thought is out of the question. That's exactly what I thought at first. I was like yea, I don't think the Avatar era has that kind of technology yet. lol But now that I think of it, the FN does know how to make huge tanks that can drive up walls, so is it possible they could make something like a homing device? Maybe whatever crew that was on the ship saw the direction it went.
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historyman12
Fugitive Iroh
IS IT JULY 14TH YET?
Posts: 4,822
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Post by historyman12 on Jul 18, 2008 12:42:54 GMT -5
Sokka and Suki had sex. That is the only thing that I feel is worth discussing. Well, not exactly. They were about to, but Zuko kind of stopped it. To absolutely hysterical effect.
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Post by spiritmage234 on Jul 18, 2008 12:46:54 GMT -5
Okay.
This finale HAS to be TV-14 to my liking.
Or else Avatar will turn into some after school special.
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manzai
Toph
Everybody have fun tonight! Everybody Wang Fire tonight!
Posts: 152
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Post by manzai on Jul 18, 2008 13:13:50 GMT -5
I thought this episode was mediocre. It had good parts, but it definitely wasn't one of my favorites.
I didn't feel like the plot was rushed, so much as hollow. Because Katara didn't really even get closure either way. She didn't kill the guy (his name is Ran Ya, BTW), but she didn't really forgive him either. She said herself she didn't know if she spared him because she was strong or because she was weak. In some ways I guess that's a more mature conclusion, but it left me going "So, what did I just watch?" Maybe it's just because I'm concerned with the show wrapping up all the loose ends before its over, and it seems like they could have used this episode to resolve more things. IMO, the only significant thing in terms of the overall series plot is that Katara now forgives Zuko. But maybe they can show Katara gaining some kind of closure about it in the remaining episodes. that would be okay.
I liked the flashbacks. it was good to get that backstory fleshed out a little more. I don't ship, but if you ask me, the similarities between what Kya and Ursa did point more toward Zutara than any scene of Zuko and Katara hugging or whatever. Come to think of it, didn't Mike & Bryan say Zuko would spend time looking for his mother in Season 3? What happenned to that?
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