nandireya
Zuko's Path to Redemption Mod
...tickled pink...
Posts: 6,822
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Post by nandireya on Sept 24, 2007 6:04:58 GMT -5
I agree that the King departure was definitely Deux Ex Machina. That was my only complaint about the time gap fill in. Personally I would have just dropped him off at the nearest resistance movement or underground area. Just having him roam the countryside just doesn't feel right, given his power. Not to mention dangerous for him. Remember when Zuko and Iroh first became fugitives? At least they knew how to defend themselves...they possessed some survival skills...Kuei's got nothing!
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Post by marsa on Sept 24, 2007 7:00:59 GMT -5
I enjoyed the Zuko part a lot, though I don't understand why they made such a big deal about not showing Ozais face - and then give it away so soon. It being a handsome, but rather "ordinary" face too. I disliked the Katara-Hokoda thing. For me it came out of nowhere. And I could have done without Yue - I thought that was corny. Though Aang windsurfing and surfing was cool
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Post by Lt. Dan on Sept 24, 2007 7:23:19 GMT -5
Yue? wtf?
'nuff said.
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The Blue Chibi
Cabbage Merchant
you cannot push the river... nor can you hold it back
Posts: 4,130
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Post by The Blue Chibi on Sept 24, 2007 10:27:18 GMT -5
It definitely needed an hour ~ they could have really used the time to open up that story and let it breathe. Could have been fascinating ~ it's a shame the creative team probably wasn't given a choice. Did they not show us Ozai's face for so long because they didn't want us to wonder why he was so much younger than Iroh? Did they have different mothers? And am I supposed to feel sorry for him because he has such a kind-looking face, or is that just an animation mistake that he didn't look all-out evil? Yue... I wanted her to get more screentime. Boom, she creates a tsunami, and she's gone. Where's the profundity? I didn't mind her showing up along with Roku, though; deus ex machina as it might be, consider that Aang is exhausted and in pain at that time. He's not necessarily on the point of death, but certainly there must have been thinning in the division between the two worlds. And Kuei, yeah, that's like setting a lab rat free. No, wait, the rat has better chances. XP If his story really does parallel that of The Last Emperor, however, then it may be that he has no political power left. The last emperor of China in real life ended his days outside the Forbidden City as a poor, unremarked gardener, if I remember right. Aang was, within the first episode, at the Fire Nation and his friends magically find him right when he wakes up? Wtf? ^ I'm still trying to work that one out. I was a bit lost more often than I wanted to be, and this even after reading the magazine (went to four stores at 10-11 pm last week just to get it). Still, better than anything else I've seen on TV for a long time. (gee, just about 10 months, actually)
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Post by anitajob on Sept 24, 2007 11:29:50 GMT -5
I thought it was great. They packed a lot of punch into 22-24 minutes. Not sure why people are complaining about the Earth King leaving ASAP - he was a complete idiot anyway, relying on his BEAR to make decisions for him!
One thing that really bothered me about the episode is how stupid, I mean REALLY stupid, Zuko is. Once Ozai told him that Azula gave him credit for slaying Aang, he should've denied it. Instead, he took the credit Azula all-too-willingly gave him and decided to confront Azula later about it, as if he would get an honest answer.
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Post by ILZ on Sept 24, 2007 16:56:55 GMT -5
I agree with others, the episode was good but could have been better. I think that after waiting all this time we are expecting something out of this world. In my opinion the gap between episodes could be explained better and not in a magazine (which I still haven't found).
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Post by falthor on Sept 24, 2007 17:09:47 GMT -5
The creators and the rest of the staff should just go back to their roots and just explain everything within the episode. Now they have to use magazines? That isn't fair. Not everyone is an Avatard. I'm just an avid fan. All I have is my knowledge of the episode and dedication to this forum. That really doesn't say much. >>
I was really disappointed in the episode and in Mike and Bryan. Truly. And Tungsten, the King's departure is not Deus Ex Machina. Aang overcoming his Aangst in a single episode, Katara coming to grips with her father, and Zuko being accepted by his father are all elements of that plot -- or lack thereof -- device.
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Firework
Avatar Aang
Free like a butterfly instead of a flying boar... butterflies are prettier anyway.
Posts: 1,172
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Post by Firework on Sept 24, 2007 18:57:56 GMT -5
One thing that really bothered me about the episode is how stupid, I mean REALLY stupid, Zuko is. Once Ozai told him that Azula gave him credit for slaying Aang, he should've denied it. Instead, he took the credit Azula all-too-willingly gave him and decided to confront Azula later about it, as if he would get an honest answer. Good point; but keep in mind that Ozai's good mood would have been spoiled if his newly redeemed son was to tell him that not only did Azula, his beloved daughter, turn the elite Dai Li against their leader, conquer Ba Sing Se, and capture Iroh, she also "killed" the Avatar whereas Zuko merely stayed loyal... Ozai may not have been so happy if he learned that after praising his son when Zuko hardly did anything.
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Post by falthor on Sept 24, 2007 22:05:23 GMT -5
Good point; but keep in mind that Ozai's good mood would have been spoiled if his newly redeemed son was to tell him that not only did Azula, his beloved daughter, turn the elite Dai Li against their leader, conquer Ba Sing Se, and capture Iroh, she also "killed" the Avatar whereas Zuko merely stayed loyal... Ozai may not have been so happy if he learned that after praising his son when Zuko hardly did anything.None of this seems logical. Zuko assisted Azula. Remember, the time it had taken for Aang to recover was 3 weeks. The events that occurred in the two creepy ladies' propagandic speech of success were all mentioned solely in that episode. Zuko might have had part in doing so with Azula, because he had no choice to not do so, considering that he had made the choice to be with Azula in "The Crossroads of Destiny" in Book 2.
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Post by conspiracytheorist on Sept 24, 2007 22:10:56 GMT -5
Sorry if this is completely off-topic, but why do at least 50% of the members of this forum seem to lack the ability to spell the word "premiere" correctly? It's driving me off-the-wall nuts. *Edits the angry face out.*
I voted "disappointed", by the way.
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The Blue Chibi
Cabbage Merchant
you cannot push the river... nor can you hold it back
Posts: 4,130
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Post by The Blue Chibi on Sept 24, 2007 22:38:43 GMT -5
Well, see, the Season Three Premier was Kuei, of course. ...okay, fine, I'll go change it. More on-topic: I'm guessing the rushed attitude had something to do with nick not signing on a team for the third season soon enough: if, while negotiations were still going on and the future of the show was unclear last year, the creative team hadn't finalized whether the storyline would continue beyond three seasons or not, then they might have thought there was more time to move the characters around, more wiggle room. If a three-season storyline was then finalized, then they might have had to tail up the current arc sooner than they expected, and needed to cram a lot more storytelling in each ep than they expected. (Hence the inra-season canon comic book, too.) And girls crying suddenly and then dealing with it suddenly is not deus ex machina. PMS, maybe, but not entirely without the realm of reason. Get used to it.
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Post by wiiboy on Sept 24, 2007 22:50:12 GMT -5
Mmkay, now I am really getting annoyed here. Why is it that it seems like I am the only person in the entire Avatar community that seems to have understand the entire episode? Last night, I happened to buy the new Avatar magazine as well and that made me understand more about the episode. Like a prequal to "The Awakening." I am seriously getting annoyed that I am possibly the only person who fully understood the entire episode. Why is that?
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Fizzywig
Teo
Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo.
Posts: 445
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Post by Fizzywig on Sept 25, 2007 0:43:21 GMT -5
Sorry if this is completely off-topic, but why do at least 50% of the members of this forum seem to lack the ability to spell the word "premiere" correctly? It's driving me off-the-wall nuts. I voted "disappointed", by the way. i dont know about anyone else but i was talking about the premier of the season. personally i would like the season 3 premier to come from a more liberal background with a bit of foreign policy experience. but i also want him to lower taxes and run the house of commons in a non corrupt manner.....
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fuego
Pabu
Four Nation Health Care
Posts: 3,430
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Post by fuego on Sept 25, 2007 9:29:22 GMT -5
I guess they use the magazine to speed the production of this episode cause this is a big moment in the avatar world and they want to use it all of the rest of "blank" episode for something better ahead....everything well retrun back to "normal" this week.
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Post by conspiracytheorist on Sept 25, 2007 9:31:25 GMT -5
Whew. Spelling spaz-out over. =)
Zyro, just because you enjoyed the episode doesn't mean you were the only one who understood it. I was disappointed because I know it could have been a lot better. I actually looked at a boatload of the magazine scans when they were up about a week ago (I think they've been taken down?), so I "understood what was going on." That doesn't mean that the episode didn't feel really uncomfortable to me. It's not just a matter of knowing what's up.
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