What is a random detail you'd love to see come back in the finale?
I think it would be incredibly funny if the ex-king of Ba Sing Se randomly showed up again and oh shit turns out he got really capable and formidable during his Travelling Era™
He and his bear proceed to singlehandedly fistfight Ozai and knock him out cold. Aang breathes a sigh of relief because he doesn't have to outright kill the firelord now.
Alternatively, remember how Toph was able fluidly to shape and bend the shard of meteorite material from earlier? In the finale, as Sozin's Comet II hurtles towards the earth kingdom, Toph pulls off some absolutely crazy god-tier bending feat with the meteorite mid-flight, effectively turning it into a missile and sending it hurtling toward a very-targeted someone instead. Uno reverse, Firelord Bitchass Bozo
What are your predictions for the rest of ATLA Book 3, now that you finished episode 306 (I think)? Where do you see the plot or characters going?
In the final battle, there's a moment when everything feels lost, then suddenly...
GRAN GRAN, JEONG JEONG, BUMI, PIANDAO, PAKKU AND HAMA ARRIVE AND BEAT THE SHIT OUT OF OZAI AND HIS FIRE NATION CRONIES (while Lo and Li bring Azula to her senses, deposit her with the other kids, and then join the seniors-beating-up-ozai team)
the gaang can only look on in fear and awe.
ok, i'm sorry. you were probably expecting a serious answer but i... honestly can't tell. i wanna wait and see what zuko does now, after sending combustion man after them. i haven't actually finished the ep with Hama (i just know she's SWT), so idk what her role in the story will be, exactly. i expect we'll see more of what happened to katara and sokka's mum, and get some closure in that regard. aang will try to extend a hand of compassion to azula, i'm not sure about ozai. also, whatever happens, i hope mai and ty lee stick by azula always
Favorite and least favorite episode up until this point?
FAVOURITE EPISODE-
Lake Laogai (Book 2)
Yeah, i'm sure nobody's surprised by this choice. It's just an overall awesome ep, and acts such a good lead into the last couple episodes of Book 2. The humour? ON POINT. All the storylines and characters coming together? BEAUTIFUL. "Jet's back"? YAYYY! The Dai Li and the underwater facility being creepy as hell and genuinely formidable threats? AWESOME. The return and end of Blue Spirit Zuko? Incredible. Reunion with Appa? I COULD ASK FOR NOTHING MORE.
well, toph, he sure ain't standing-
LEAST FAVOURITE-
This took me a LOT of thinking, because honestly? I didn't outright hate any of the eps. But if I had to pick, I'd probably say :
The Fortuneteller (Book 1)
Just kind of eh. Raises some interesting questions about destiny and fate, but doesn't achieve much plot-wise, as far as I can remember. Sure, we get you saving a town and fighting a volcano, but they go on to save a whole bunch of towns later down the line as well.
Nightmares and Daydreams (Book 3)
Surprisingly, I actually like this more than The Fortuneteller, mainly due to the interspersed bits about Zuko in the Fire Nation. But I ended up explaining my issues with it more... elaborately, so uh-
Yeah, yeah, I laughed at all the weird dreams a sleep-deprived Aang was having (I'm not immune to talking and duelling Appa and Momo) but like. Ok. Aang is super duper nervous. The team tries to get him to take a break by methods that are all mostly ineffectual to varying degrees
Besides, I have my own gripes with the portrayal of Guru Pathik. Sure, it's just for "haha funny" purposes, I get that, but he feels soo caricature-ish in this ep particularly, even if that was just his brief dream-version. For someone who served as "spiritual guide" to Aang, whose warning toward the end of Book 2 still has repercussions today, you'd think his character would be treated with a little more gravity. He's eccentric, but it often veers into the stereotype of illogical-sadhu-obsessed-with-weird-home-remedies-and-nebulous-spiritual-nonsense. Hell, even IROH is treated as a wiser character and afforded more dignity compared him!
Also points deducted from both the eps for overly sappy romance stuff (which i admit i'm selectively petty about).
[This is for after you finish Day of Black Sun Part II]
Where do you think the plot of season 3 will go from here on out? What about the characters? Where do you expect their arcs to go?
Alright, I plan on watching beyond Day of Black Sun Part II in *checks sundial* about two hours, so here goes:
I expect we'll finally have Zuko's joining-the-team arc. Back when I was watching Book 2, I fully expected the finale to end on that note, but... uhhh......
I don't imagine the gaang is going to react well to him showing up at all. I expect Katara and Sokka will be most opposed to this, with Toph being more ambivalent and Aang being a little more ready to hear him out? I wondered before from whom Aang was going to learn firebending, and I guess I have my imminent answer. Zuko will have work hard to earn their trust, and will be a misfit among the kids who've spent the better part of a year travelling and working in tandem. I somehow have a feeling he might get along with Toph?? Idk, her brazen and take-no-nonsense attitude might cause her to take his claims of wanting help seriously, albeit with caution, and they might gel well.
I still can't believe we haven't gotten a single Katara and Sokka flashback, AND I'M POSITIVE WE WILL NOW-
Ok. There's definitely going to be an arc about looking for and rescuing(?) Suki. I can't wait to see her again it's been so long and I'm so excited to see what her role in the story will be!! This miiiight be the situation where Zuko can well and truly help the team and prove himself to them? It's going to be a rocky road, though. Wait. Wait hold on they could very easily club this with the rescuing-the-captives-from-the-invasion subplot that has to take place. WAIT. AZULA KNOWS THEY'LL GO LOOKING FOR SUKI. OH SHIT-
I was kinda hoping to see the previous avatars this season but I guess not :( It would have been so cool, though... imagine Suki has a mini arc about leading (or failing to successfully lead, in her eyes) the Kyoshi warriors, and Aang gets to reassure her by connecting to Kyoshi herself aaaaaaahhhhhhh
I'm really hoping Iroh will try and get through to Azula, with Zuko off on his own trip, and him having busted out of jail and all, but maybe I have too much faith in him. I imagine Zuko leaving will have consequences for Azula, Mai and Ty Lee. Ozai might reprimand or otherwise punish Azula for (as he knows now) unsuccessfully "killing" the Avatar. This might further push her off the edge, and I think (hope) Mai and Ty Lee will help her through it in that time. Like I said before, it would be nice to see them stick by her, and it would be interesting to have them and the main team end up on opposite sides of the war again.
This is just wishful and biased thinking, but I just want more Teo, Haru and the Duke. Especially Teo. Idk, now that they know FN is using fully-fledged airships, maybe?? he can somehow help find ways to counter it??? It would be just be awesome to have them be less-transient fixtures in the team.
I'm not going to try and make any predictions as to how the finale showdown will go. Half the season is over, and if they want to have Zuko fully have his redemption arc alongside all the other plot points, they really have a lot to do. I still have faith that the show will do the rest of this story justice
[Don't answer this ask until you finish Book 2 of ATLA. I made sure not to include any spoilers in it, but it's meant to be answered at the end of Book 2]
Now that you've finished Book 2, what are your thoughts on where the overall story will go from here on out? What about the arcs of the major characters (Katara, Toph, Sokka, Aang, Iroh, Zuko, Azula and her friends, etc.)? What minor characters do you expect will reappear in the story? And what surprised you the most about Book 2?
I have valiantly resisted starting season 3 until I answer this, but unfortunately I've been very busy as of late and not had time to properly get my thoughts out... until now! So here goes:
For once, I genuinely have no idea where the plot might go from here after that INSANE finale. I imagine the team will now have the Earth King tagging along while generally being a naive nuisance, which could lead to shenanigans. I'm not sure, but we might see him actually grow to assume his role despite technically not having his throne anymore? As for Aang, I'm sure he'd be dealing with tremendous amounts of guilt for failing to stop the fall of Ba Sing Se and for failing to "be the Avatar the world needs". Season 1 ended on a note of triumph, while Season 2 ended on a note of defeat (as is typical in the penultimate finale of shows). I hope we get more expansion and conclusion on the avatar-as-a-living-weapon debacle from the beginning of season 2, possibly with Aang and team grappling with enormous task of ending a century-long war (and killing the ruler waging it by proxy).
Putting the rest under the cut because it got pretty long. whoops
Book 3 will almost certainly be called "Fire". Previously we saw Aang get a start on firebending, then swear it off, and then accept it again with the help of Guru Pathik. It would be nice to see him earnestly try to learn firebending now, though I'm not sure from whom. Maybe Jeong Jeong can make a reappearance?? Maybe Iroh, if he hasn't gotten carted off by Azula?? We spent Book 2 seeing more of the Earth Kingdom, so it would be nice to see more of the Fire Nation in Book 3.
Ok, onto the next part. It really surprised me that we didn't get any flashbacks/expansion on what exactly happened to Katara and Sokka's mum in Book 2, I was definitely expecting that, and now I am almost certain we'll get more about their past and the grief surrounding the event in Book 3. Like, come on. We HAVE to. It's going to be so so painful, and I will love every second of it. Katara and Sokka might clash over it, and I expect their dad might be back in the picture too, even if briefly? Otherwise they wouldn't have shown him in Book 2, right? Pleeeeaasee I NEED more water tribe siblings interactions and a dissection of their relationship and how their upbringing has shaped them
About Toph, I'm sure we'll get something about her conflicting feelings about her parents, though I doubt we'll get to see them hash it out on screen. With her newfound power, Toph could step further into the "teacher" role, if they continue to traverse the earth kingdom. She may act as confidante between the characters, occupying a neutral territory when things get heated. Here's to more Katara and Toph bonding!!
Zuko, zuko, ZUKO. Urghhh I think I get why he did what he did in the finale, and somehow that's worse. I did not expect this backslide, but it's surely going to have interesting consequences as he tries to adjust back in Fire Nation (I assume he will be going back for real) after... what? 3 years?? Azula's line about him restoring his OWN honour was veeery interesting, I'm sure we'll explore the many facets of that (what does "restoring your own honour" entail? questions about taking charge of your destiny and accountability will also arise. i think zuko might be faced again with the choice to stand up against authority) I think Zuko's character will go through a lot more internal conflict before he comes 'round eventually (i was honestly expecting book 2 to culminate in this "coming 'round" but... oh well).
I really want to see him interact more with Azula, Mai and Ty Lee - I think there's a lot of potential there. I expect Iroh will be in prison (if not straight up executed-) If he manages to get free, he might find and ally himself more with the gaang. If not, I really want to see him trying to talk to BOTH Zuko and Azula, perhaps reflecting on his own transgressions and failings? I just need more personal Azula-Iroh interactions on the whole. There's obviously a lot of layers there.
AZULAAAA oh my goodness book 3 pleasepleaseplease let us get into her head I am falling at your feet 🙏 Azula played a majorly antagonistic role in Book 2 (as I expected she would), and while I don't think too much will change in that regard, I do think we'll see her perspective more rather than as an obstacle pursuing the gaang. Her motivations, her philosophy, her relationship with Ozai and her brother, how she is as a person beyond the role of princess and prodigy firebender.... URGH there's so much to explore! I assume she will turn to more administrative duties now (she does think Aang is dead dead, right? or idk, she's so clever she might not count on it) and will clash with Zuko over it. Also am I tripping or is she literally the perfect character to be a foil to Katara? Ohohohohoho that would be a super interesting thing to explore. Azula just intrigues me so so much, and I definitely want to see more of her.
Mai and Ty Lee! I really hope we get some Ty Lee backstory because there are certainly many... implications. She was of noble enough standing to attend the Royal Academy, yet she went off and joined a circus because she felt that was her calling. Didn't her family object? Why was she drawn to that life? How does she feel about serving the Fire Nation again by helping Azula? As of Mai, I want to see how she developed her apathetic exterior. She's also from a noble family, which comes with responsibilities and ramifications, I'm sure. She also does have a baby brother, who is admittedly too little to do anything of his own accord, but might open potential for examining the family dynamics of Fire Nation nobility, especially if you also connect it with Ty Lee's implied background, and Azula's established one. We're going to see internal group conflict between Azula, Mai and Ty Lee, that I'm sure, not unlike what we saw with the gaang earlier. I'm not sure if their allegiances will shift, but either way it would be so interesting to see the inevitable strain it puts on their friendship with Azula (they're FRIENDS, ok?? I refuse to believe this is a purely professional relationship)
...WHEW this has gotten really long already, so I'll make a follow up post with the characters I hope will reappear and why!
Great to see you stumbling upon another vaguely supermarket coded ship (Jetko... Jmart)
lmao
Listen, I don't really gaf about the ships in atla (in a "yeah they're ALL interesting and sweet but i don't really prefer one over another and i'm focusing on other aspects of the show" way) but. i must shamefully admit that this particular one has tickled my neurons for reasons unknown to me. I began to entertain the idea after a misunderstood chance remark by @pjo-tvs-version , mostly from a funny haha point of view at first. And don't get me wrong, i still think it's HILARIOUS, but i also do see The Vision. The Possibilities™. The Potential™. You get my drift
Also yeah it sounds too much like Petco for my liking so here's a petition to call the ship SpiritSwords or FreeSpirit instead
(the first 'cause they both use dual swords/weapons + blue spirit connection and FreeSpirit 'cause Jet calls themselves "freedom fighters" + blue spirit)
Also a bit drawn to calling 'em "kindledspirits" as a play on the phrase "kindred spirits/souls" but also
AM I ONTO SOMETHING HERE-
Ok I'm gonna draft this response till I finish seeing wherever the hell this arc is going.
Update: WHAT THE HELL ARE THE DAI LI DOING TO JET (answer not expected)
