* REWRITE OF WORK PREVIOUSLY TITLED THE BODYGUARD*
After years of barely scraping by as a bodyguard for Beifong Security, Katara finally lands the job that could solve everything: protect Fire Lord Zuko during his time in Republic City. The pay would cover her brother's steady-growing medical bills for months. There's just one problem.
He doesn't trust her - or think he needs a bodyguard, despite the attempts on his life.
So, she challenges him to a duel and wins, using the one sense she's kept secret for years - bloodbending.
But Zuko isn't like her other clients - he's stubborn and reckless, hunting his own would-be assassins with a secret of his own. He asks questions she can't answer and looks through her walls like they're not there to begin with. Worst of all, he makes her want to trust him. To tell him the truth. And that might be the most dangerous thing of all...because once the truth comes out, it can't be taken back.
Modern AU Azula third wheeling between her annoying brother and his okayish friend who think they're so good at hiding their feelings except everyone can see they like each other so now she is stuck waiting for these two idiots (affectionately) to confess and save her from this romantic comedy.
i genuinely could never get over zuko and katara in the crystal catacombs............like why are you opening up to your enemy about your childhood trauma, a blackened part of your heart that no one else has really taken seriously or just brushes over........and why are you offering to HEAL your enemy's scar when you've done nothing but fight against one another............and why are you letting your enemy touch the scar that you've developed such a deep shame over............the war is raging on, and the world is breaking itself outside from both flame and stone, and somehow, in between, zuko and katara tethered themselves with these small pieces of tenderness and empathy.......no matter how brief it had been, and no matter how it ended, and no matter how they faced each other again from opposite sides........like it happened and for a moment, everything was possible and love drew in a startled breath
Sorry to point this out guys but they are absolutely going to have a heart-stopped-beating, lying-still, sad-dramatic-music fake-out death after Zuko gets shot full of lightening in natla s3, and Katara will look so SO devestated before realising she can heal him.
In which a plan unravels, the Gaang has a fight, and a few of our heroes get captured...
Click here for my thoughts on S2E1 "Somewhere Safe"
Click here for my thoughts on S2E2 "A Fight, Once Begun"
Click here for my thoughts on S2E3 "City of Walls and Secrets"
Click here for my thoughts on S2E4 “The Water Falls, the Stones Emerge”
Click here for my thoughts on S2E5 “Ten Thousand Things”
Spoilers below the cut, of course!
Thoughts:
The Avatar State is breathtaking to witness but would be TERRIFYING to experience in real life. No wonder Toph’s freaking out and asking if they’re under attack.
I like the change that Aang’s able to stop himself and pull out of the Avatar State without Katara having to put herself in danger to drag him back from the brink.
Oof. Aang immediately blaming Toph, just like in the original.
Katara: “Aang, stop it! We barely got out of there. Toph did what she could.”
Aang: “It wasn’t enough.”
Katara: “She saved us.”
Aang: “I don’t care.”
On one hand, you sympathize with Aang, and it’s completely understandable that he’s lashing out, even though he goes too far (just like in the original.) But my biggest gripe is that he never has to apologize for it.
Katara’s sad expression when explaining to Toph that no, Jet didn’t make it out because he sacrificed himself to save them. Oof.
Aw no, not Momo curling up in the empty bison footprint.
Time for Zuzu’s fever dreams!
“A fever is the fire of change. If you survive it, it burns away your old self and gives you new life.” I’ll try to remember that the next time I’m sick, Iroh.
Baby!Zuko is too precious for words.
I like the change of his fever dreams flashing back to watching the theatre with his mother and family, and how it ties back to the myth of the Blue Spirit.
Seriously, the whole scene of his fever dreams taking place in a theatrical format was a brilliant choice. The red and blue dragons are portrayed as puppets this time, which adds to the eerie, haunting imagery. They saved money by not having to create the CGI dragons and again tied it all back to his childhood love of the theatre. Win-win!
Interesting that in his dreams, he slays the red dragon and leaves the blue alone. Because if you’ll remember in the original show, Azula voiced the blue dragon while Iroh voiced the red. Sozin’s dragon was also blue, while Roku’s Fang was red. Lastly, when Zuko and Aang faced off against the Firebending Masters Ran and Shaw, he was confronted by the blue dragon there as well. Symbolism!
It’s the little things like the above point which make me like NATLA as its own thing. It’s not perfect, but they’ve done a lot of work into expanding on the worldbuilding and being influenced by all of the lore.
Aww. Love that he got to hug his mother one last time, even if it was only in his dreams.
“The plan isn’t planning like usual.” – Sokka, and me whenever the slightest thing goes wrong.
I like that they’ve made Aang a bit more mature here during the serious moments, as well as letting him be more lighthearted during the moments of levity.
The following dialogue was fantastic on so many levels:
*discussing how to break into the Earth King’s palace*
Toph: “Okay, so we’re walking straight into a prison.”
Sokka: “What? No. What kind of maniac would do that?”
*Smash cut to Azula in the Dai Li’s prison, smirking at Long Feng*
I love an answer cut in media, plus nice foreshadowing to the Boiling Rock if they choose to keep that storyline.
I loved the back and forth between Azula and Long Feng, as well as him countering her immortal line from the show about him coming from nothing. Seriously, there are so many good one-liners in this scene, I couldn’t pick one.
Zuko’s spiritual sickness and fever dreams should have lasted longer in this episode, but that’s me being nitpicky. Also yay for him cooking and thanking his uncle for taking care of him! Sadly, we all know this won’t last. Nice callback to Zuko taking care of Iroh earlier this season too, after he was struck by Azula’s lightning.
Love the callback to Momo “earthbending” when they’re trying to come up with a plan to get into the palace.
“I can’t even see it, and I already know it’s bad.” Toph regarding Sokka’s terrible drawings to explain his plan.
The plan to sneak in using the wine casks is a trope as old as time and reminded me of the movie “Hairspray.”
“No one’s gonna notice if only one of these [wine casks] ends up in the storeroom, right?” Loooooool.
Zuko’s working at the tea shop now!
Him recognizing the woman he stole from in the second episode, holding her baby and smiling at him, none the wiser was a nice touch.
“Afraid of babies?” “… oh, no. Babies are afraid of me.” Awwww.
Jin is so precious, I love her so much. I have a soft spot for Jinko and I loved their interactions. Also aw, he’s smiling! Iroh’s smiling because his nephew is smiling! And it’s the would-be mugger, learning to brew tea from Iroh! Now I’m smiling! Everybody’s smiling!
(Too bad that won’t last, either.)
I enjoyed the moments of raw vulnerability when Aang and Katara were talking about him needing to control his emotions, and him almost breaking down because he misses Appa so much. My poor babies.
Bosco! I get why they didn’t include him (cutting costs on CGI, etc.) but it was nice to see a nod to our favorite bear companion.
Unrelated side note, if I would be any animal, I’d definitely be a bear. Chilling in the forest as an apex predator, eating plants, berries, and honey, and catching fish all day? Hibernating every winter? Sign me up!
Anywho, I like this change of the Earth King being a gardener, it’s fitting given his fulltime occupation. Love a good Plant Dad!
Another unrelated side note, I cannot keep plants alive to save my life. People and pets, I can handle easily. Plants? Lol noooooooooope.
Hellooooooooo, King Kuei! I love that one constant I’ve seen from the fandom is that we all find his actor insanely attractive.
I also liked how the Earth King used plants at the Western Air Temple as a talking point with Aang. I also noticed on rewatch that the focus keeps switching to Katara when King Kuei’s talking about the silver amaranth at the WAT. Foreshadowing, maybe?
Kuei immediately dismissing the topic of serious matters: “I have people for that sort of thing” and “politics turns my stomach.” Well, this isn’t going to go well at all, is it?
Katara using gardening and the king’s love of flowers to make a point! (Maybe that's why the camera kept focusing on her a moment ago?)
Either way, lovely metaphor and using waterbending to control weeds and plants to convince Kuei to at least hear them out. We see you, Ambassador Katara!
“The decision has been made for him. He just doesn’t know it yet.” Azula about Long Feng, and waiting for the plan to come together. Love our scheming evil princess.
Nitpick: on one hand, it makes sense that they have Ozai’s Angels locked away in the Crystal Catacombs. However, how breathtaking would it have been for us to wait and see them when Katara and Zuko get captured and thrown in there next episode?
Like I said, it’s a nitpick, and the setting of the catacombs is GORGEOUS.
I enjoyed Azula recounting the parable of the two dragons (title drop!) to Ty Lee and Mai, serving as foreshadowing for the finale (and maybe the Last Agni Kai next season?)
“The lesson is to strike down your enemy completely when you have the chance.” She and Mike Ehrmantraut from Breaking Bad have taught us that if nothing else, never settle for a half measure.
Aw, Zuko’s date with Jin at the Firelight Fountain! He’s so awkward, bless him.
I feel for General Sung here, being blackmailed by Long Feng, as the Dai Li have her daughter held captive at Lake Laogai. That being said, boooooooo!
Long Feng, being diabolical and knowing everyone’s secrets. I’d say we love to see it, except we don’t. Still, he’s such a good villain, and this interpretation of him has really grown on me.
Exposing Katara’s vigilantism in the Lower Ring as the Painted Lady, the Beifong family being involved in manufacturing war machines for the Fire Nation, and blaming Sokka for the disappearance of Professor Zei? The callback to the plot of Sai and the assassination attempt on King Bumi in the first season? Well done, you manipulative son of a bitch.
The Earth King hesitating and asking Long Feng what he should do was sadly to be expected. I appreciate this interpretation of King Kuei, being so dependent that he can’t make any difficult decisions on his own or think for himself.
Aaaaaaand Aang is finally losing his temper at the worst possible time, demanding to know where Appa is, and starting to go into the Avatar State only to pull himself back just in time, except it’s too late. The Earth King sees him as a threat, and whatever case they had built for themselves has been shattered. Again, well done Long Feng, for being a master manipulator.
Wouldn’t it have made more sense for the Gaang to be captured and imprisoned right then and there, instead of letting them go back to their house?
I do like that the Earth King does intend to follow up and is directly interrogating General Sung about the war.
Aang immediately placing all of the blame on Katara for everything unraveling, because Long Feng exposed her vigilantism is not surprising, sadly.
Katara: “I took those nettles to help a sick kid. Everything that I did was to help people.”
Aang: “Well, it didn’t help us, did it?”
Excuse you. I wanted to throw hands at my TV when he said that.
I briefly mentioned this last review about both Jet and Aang being against Katara disguising herself to help others, and their reasoning.
Jet, because he was jaded and she was (unknowingly) helping Fire Nation refugees.
Aang because it backfired and hurt their case to convince the Earth King to help them (whereas in the original, he was on board with it.)
I’ll touch on that more in the next review, but I just wanted to point that out here.
The Gaang arguing and fracturing was well done, even if it was heartbreaking.
Katara admitting that she helped defend Fire Nation refugees and the others’ reactions = more foreshadowing for next season? Assuming we get to have Jang Hui?
If nothing else, it’s a bittersweet call forward to the final episode of this season, IYKYK.
While I hate seeing the Gaang arguing and pointing fingers, I do like the raw honesty they each brought to the table, even if they’re all right and wrong in their own way.
One thing I really appreciated was Katara actually standing up against Aang and pointing out how she had to carry the team, and telling him to carry himself because she wasn’t doing it anymore. Time will tell how long that lasts, but I do like that she was allowed to have a backbone.
I liked the brief conversation Zuko and Iroh had after he was caught getting ready to sneak out for another night of vigilantism.
“I’m not doing this out of anger, or for vengeance. I’m doing this because I want to help people.” – Zuko to Iroh on why he’s been sneaking out as the Blue Spirit. Who else does that sound like? Hm…
I also enjoyed Iroh’s introduction to the Order of the White Lotus and his conversation with Jeong Jeong and his past sins as the Dragon of the West.
Iroh: “I’m not that man anymore.”
JJ: “You cannot escape the Dragon. You and he are one in the same. Those actions are your actions, no matter how long you run from them.”
Jeong Jeong explaining that it was his desertion as an office to escape Iroh’s leadership that led to Lu Ten’s death made sense, and it hurt. I’ve really appreciated the show letting Iroh come to terms with his past, both the trauma he endured and the trauma he inflicted, and not shying away from either.
Welcome to the Order of the White Lotus, Iroh!
Aw, yay! Zuko returned the stolen rattle back to the mother and her baby!
Katara rushing towards the sound of the woman screaming.
(Yes, I'm using an old meme and IDGAF. Deal with it.)
Oh no, she’s been trapped by the Dai Li!
Cue the Blue Spirit, leaping down from the rooftops and breaking her stone cuffs.
The pair of them make such a fantastic team, even when they’re strangers.
Him grabbing her by the waist and lifting her up so she can kick was just *chef’s kiss*
You cannot convince me that the pair of them haven’t been teaming up undercover ever since their initial meeting. There are so many fics that could be spawned from this idea alone (and I have zero time + energy to write them)
Literally the only reason they lost is because they were outnumbered.
Loved that they both glanced at each other once they were apprehended.
In all seriousness, which of the show writers have been reading my fic “delicate”????
Someone also pointed out that the shot of them captured on the ground surrounded by the Dai Li resembles the Yin and Yang symbol, and I can’t unsee it.
Not gonna lie, I wasn’t actually expecting Poppy Beifong to be in the city. I thought it was going to be another trap.
Oh no, Sokka’s been captured! (Ty Lee, quit flirting with the man. His heart belongs to Suki!)
Sad little callback to the beginning of the previous episode, with Aang curled up on the ground instead of Appa, blaming himself for messing everything up and how he’s failed everyone.
“I had to feel everything, so I could feel nothing, which is the key to feeling everything.” Loved the callback to Bumi’s advice, helping Aang sense through earthbending that Appa was being kept underground.
Now on to the finale!
Favorite Scene: Zuko’s fever dreams set in a theatre. Second place would be the Gaang’s argument, as heartbreaking as it was to see.
Favorite Line: “Bitterness has its own lessons, and once you get it right, you can savor how far you’ve come.” – Iroh with the tea proverbs
im begging the zutara fandom to ship with no regrets; i see so many posts by zutara shippers being like "i respect the canon but" or "the live action will probably follow the canon and that's okay but" and its like fuck the canon. lol zutara is better than the canon. ship that shit proudly. this fandom didn't last two decades because us og shippers cared about what bryke thought lol
