Elizabeth Culmer (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
edenfalling) wrote2009-12-13 12:58 am
edenfalling) wrote2009-12-13 12:58 am
Avatar season 2 episode 9: Bitter Work
Still watching Avatar! Here are some thoughts on season 2 episode 9:
Bitter Work:
1. "Previously on Avatar" says this episode will be about Toph teaching Aang earthbending, about redirecting lightning, and about the aftermath of Iroh's grievous wound. Let's see how well that holds up.
2. We are in a dry, stony land, reminiscent of the canyon they traveled through in "The Great Divide." That area was on the way to Ba Sing Se, wasn't it? Come to think of it, is the Gaang traveling anywhere in particular at the moment? I don't think they are. They're probably just moving randomly so Azula can't pinpoint them to any specific location.
3. Aang's a morning person. Toph... is maybe a morning person? Katara can fake it. Sokka... really not so much. *has quiet giggle fit* And yet while he isn't awake enough to speak actual English, he can pogo-jump without losing his balance while still in his sleeping bag? Oh well, humor trumps realism, I suppose.
4. Aang is so ridiculously enthusiastic, all eager for huge, dramatic moves. Toph is just standing there unmoving, but you can tell she's thinking something along the lines of, "What, exactly, have I gotten myself into?"
Hmm. Now I am trying to remember if Aang was like this with waterbending as well, and I think he sort of was. Once he got past the basics of moving water and that water whip, what he spent his time at the North Pole doing was learning to turn himself into a snowman. And from the evidence, he was a little like that with air, too -- note the way he loves to play around with that spinning ball of wind. But at least with air, he has all the basics down cold -- no, better than cold; he airbends without even thinking about it, even when he isn't paying attention, and he does it perfectly every time. But air is his native element, and his teacher was Gyatso, someone he deeply respected and loved. With water, he has a huge crush on Katara and wants to impress her and do everything right for her. With earth and Toph... I think he sees Toph as a kid on his level, not someone to look up to. This may become a problem.
5. *giggles over Aang's first attempt to move a rock* I think anyone else would have just fallen down, but Aang is so used to pushing at things to move himself -- that is presumably part of what he does when he makes those exaggerated jumps -- that he skids all the way across the campsite and crashes into Appa.
6. Wah, Iroh playing with Lu Ten in sepia-toned flashback, accompanied by sad music. And then Iroh kneeling at his son's grave in the rain. *weeps* Oh, see, this is how to be a good father! (Ozai, take notes, damn you.)
7. Continuity speculation time! Iroh had brown hair at Ba Sing Se when he wrote his letter home. But within a year -- probably within a month or two -- Lu Ten was dead, the siege was called off, and Iroh's hair had gone gray all over. I think, had Lu Ten not died, Iroh would be salt-and-pepper at most. He is noticeably older than Ozai (given that his son was of age to be at war -- probably sixteen at youngest, more likely eighteen to, say, twenty-five -- when Zuko was about ten years old, but he's not ancient the way some people write him. I'd peg Ozai at, oh, forty-ish (take Zuko's age and add twenty-five years), and since they are full brothers, it would be weird for Iroh to be more than twenty years older than Ozai (women without modern medical techniques cannot extend fertility the way we can, after all), thus making Iroh probably fifty-five to sixty years old, sixty-five at most.
This can be adjusted upward by five to ten years if Ozai married later than I am assuming, but it seems a reasonable first guess. And since we know strong benders can live to well over a hundred and still be formidably active, I am quite sure Iroh has at least another fifty years ahead of him. (Barring, of course, war, assassinations, plague, cancer, or horrible accidents. But he's not going of old age any time soon.)
8. Zuko made Iroh tea. *sparkles at him* It's horrible, but Iroh drinks it anyway. *sparkles more* And then he casually tosses the second cup out the window while Zuko's not looking. *dissolves in sparkly glee* Oh, I love these two beyond the telling of it.
9. I am trying to figure out where Zuko and Iroh are. There are trees in the background, which argues for Zuko having found his ostrich-horse and hauled Iroh out of the ghost town, but the ground still looks fairly dry and bare, so presumably they are still in the dry country. Also, they are in another ruined house. I wonder if there are so many run-down or abandoned settlements in this region because at one point there were mineral deposits of some sort that people came to gather, or if the war depopulated villages until the remaining inhabitants left for more forgiving lands, or if the spirits are mad and screwing up the climate, or what.
10. Zuko: "I know what you're gonna say. She's my sister and I should be trying to get along with her." Iroh: "No. She's crazy and she needs to go down." Zuko: *sad face* (...I get the feeling he almost wanted Iroh to convince him there was still good in Azula. Oh, Zuko. He doesn't want to give up on his family, no matter how much they hurt him. *wibbles*)
11. Man, Toph is intense as a teacher. Also, Katara... Hmm. How to phrase this. There is an economy of praise, maybe? If you give out lots of praise and encouragement, it's very nice and comforting, but after a while it stops meaning much of anything. If you are sparing, praise means a LOT. Now, this may not apply to Katara and Aang specifically, because Aang really, really likes Katara and any positive words from her mean at least twice as much as they would from someone else, but still. Just because Katara does things one way does not mean that will work for Toph, nor does it mean Toph necessarily should try to copy those methods exactly. I am pleased to see that Toph doesn't. By the end of this training montage, her own methods seem to be working -- Aang did push her back along the stone alley, and he did keep catching that little stone weight even when she raised the pillars -- and Aang smiles with pride when she gives him a little nod, so you know, I don't think this is going so badly. (However, since we have over two thirds of the episode left to go, something is obviously going to go wrong.)
12. What is that cute little baby animal? Judging by the horns and the facial structure, I think it has some deer or moose in it. But its feet are paws and the tail is kind of feline, so maybe some type of hunting cat as well? The way it bends down and switches its tail while facing Sokka is almost stalking behavior. (Sokka is such a doofus in this scene. *giggles at him*) Also, judging by the fracturing of the ground, this area might be rather like the Dakota Badlands in geologic terms. That would be interesting. (Also, if this area is not like the Badlands, that crevice is a plot device of the worst kind. Only humor redeems it.)
13. I cannot make Iroh's 'separation of positive and negative energy' spiel jibe with actual science. I mean, lightning is a stream of electricity -- negative charge -- flowing down to the positively charged earth. So it seems to me that to create lightning, you would not separate the energies and then let them recombine; that would just blow up in your hands. You would need to separate the energies and then, I dunno, either shove the positive down through your feet and aim the negative out through your hands (but that is clearly not what is happening), or maybe gather the negative while letting the positive disperse (hence the swirly hand motions that shed sizzling electric sparks) and then release all the negative at once in a focused discharge rather than letting it shed away as the positive did. ...And yes, I know, that's not really good science either, but it's slightly less nails-on-chalkboard wrong. *sigh*
14. Zuko kind of sucks at emotional control, doesn't he? (Also, interesting that this episode is built around paired training sequences. We are getting less potential-BFF Aang-and-Zuko this season -- mostly because they haven't been interacting at all -- but I like the way they are mirrored here.)
15. I see the point of the boulder exercise -- Aang's instinctive response would be to jump and float out of the way -- but I am not sure Toph has really introduced it as well as she could. It might help if she sat both Aang and Katara down and explained the philosophy of earthbending (standing your ground, waiting for the right moment, being strong, etc.) rather than just demonstrating by example. Because I don't think they quite understand what she's trying to get across, and that is why Katara keeps jumping in and Aang is so nervous. (Katara is also jumping in because I think she's possessive of Aang's attention, though she doesn't seem to realize it -- and even if she did realize, I think it's more of a 'he was my friend first' reaction than anything else.) And cut to commercial break as the boulder crashes down.
16. Mmm. It is good to break the tension and pull Aang out of self-defeating gloom, but I think Katara could have phrased that better -- talking to Toph as well as to Aang would be a good first step. Even if they're not great friends, they are both Aang's teachers, and they would do well to consult each other professionally... and as equals, not as an old friend and a Johnny-come-lately.
17. "What turmoil?!" Zuko yells with rage all over his face. *headdesk* Oh, you silly, silly boy. *pets him, gingerly*
18. Sokka and his boomerang and the little baby whatsit! SOCUTE! *dies of mingled squee and laughter*
19. That is a gorgeously drawn marshy pond, with the grass and the striped cattails and the frog on the rock. (Poor Momo, food always seems to get away from him.) I like the exercise Katara and Aang are doing, passing the water around in a circle -- trading off control, but gently and deftly so the water never wobbles. A useful skill, which probably has a lot of fighting applications when turned toward taking control of an opponent's water.
20. Well, at least in the water, with Katara, after doing a bunch of waterbending, Aang's reflex when Katara throws a reed at him is to split and deflect it with a wave rather than to make an air shield or jump out of the way. Then again, water is a bit more like air, in that they both flow and deflect around obstacles. (...And I cannot believe I am treating elemental symbolism as if it were a proper science. ARGH. What is this show doing to me?)
21. The highlights in Katara's irises wobble a little when Aang calls her Sifu Katara. I think she has a little sheen of tears in her eyes. D'awww. *pets her*
22. I love Iroh's little lecture on the nature of the elements. It's appropriately wise old master-ish. Plus, who can resist this exchange?
Iroh: "Also, they apparently had pretty good senses of humor!" *grin*
Zuko: *blank face*
Iroh: *sigh*
23. Aang is not much of a monk, but he does, at least, meditate on occasion. That's nice.
24. Toph is sharing the nuts with Momo. D'aww. (Even if she is being a bit of a meanie to Aang right now.)
25. Sokka the meat and sarcasm guy! *collapses in giggle fit* And his hair. Seriously, first the explosion and then the Mohawk... *collapses again* And the baby moose-cat-thing has gone scurrying off. I hope it brings back another apple rather than, say, its family.
26. I like that this world has the concept of karma. It fits the whole Asian/Pacific theme. I am also amused that Sokka is bargaining with "karma person or thing -- whoever's in charge of this stuff" as if either karma is a somewhat foreign concept to the Water Tribes (which, well, it would be to the Inuit and the tribes of the northwest coast), or as if he hasn't paid much attention to religious and/or spiritual concepts and therefore does not realize that karma is a sort of impersonal force. (That would make sense, actually; Sokka is not big on spirits.) Oh. And I am especially amused that Sokka promises to become "Sokka the veggies and straight talk fellow" if he gets out of the crevice, but as soon as Aang appears, his first question is whether Aang has brought any meat. Oh, Sokka. I love you, but you are such a doofus.
27. Aang refuses to even try earthbending to rescue Sokka. And cut for commercial break.
28. Why can't Aang go ask Toph to earthbend Sokka to freedom? Because it would be really uncomfortable. "Uncomfortable. Well, I wouldn't want you to feel uncomfortable," says Sokka, trapped and cramped in a narrow crevice. "Thanks, Sokka," says Aang, as the sarcasm flies right over his head. *thwaps Aang*
29. "Awkward position -- I think I know the feeling," says Sokka. And the sarcasm goes right past Aang again. Oh, Aang, honey, I love you bunches, but get your head out of your ass and help your friend.
30. The baby animal is a sabertooth moose-lion! Ha! I was right about the components! (Except the saber teeth, but I think I can be forgiven there.) And yep, it came back with its family. Oh dear.
31. Ocean of chi. Riiiiight. And again, Zuko is completely blank-faced at Iroh's jokes. D'aww.
32. Iroh's little vaguely disco undulating arms dance move thing is just... I am not sure whether to go "aww" or stare in horrified disbelief. Possibly both at the same time, which is a very strange feeling.
33. And Zuko runs off to find natural lightning in the conveniently approaching thunderstorm. *sigh* Iroh, you know what he's like. Couldn't you have managed that conversation a little better?
34. Aang blows the moose-lion over Sokka's head. It turns and prepares for another charge. Aang jumps aside and tries to distract it, luring it into chasing him rather than Sokka; that doesn't work, and he jumps back in time to blow it aside. It turns and prepares for another charge... and this time Aang stands his ground and blows the moose-lion directly ass over teakettle backwards. It gets up, shakes itself, and walks away. ...And Toph applauds.
35. Yay, Aang stood up against Toph, too! Which was the point all along. Toph's not much for verbal explanations, is she? She's very much a kinesthetic teacher, a learn-by-doing type. Which is fair enough; if she learned from badger-moles, it's not as if they could exactly give her lectures on their techniques and philosophy.
36. I love the sound effect as Toph pulls Sokka up out of the crevice -- sort of like uncorking a wine bottle.
37. The little reunion scene for the Gaang is so cute. Sokka is having a deep meaning-of-life moment, but before he can say much of anything Aang interrupts by showing off his new skills to Katara. And then Appa licks him and sends him flying. Meanwhile, Katara assumes Toph used the positive encouragement, and Toph doesn't bother disillusioning her. Aww. *melts*
38. Except we don't end there. We cut to Zuko up on a mountain in the raging storm, yelling at the world (and the spirits?) to strike him, because it's never held back before, and now he can strike back. But the lightning only flashes in the distance, and when he shuts his eyes you can see he's crying as he shouts, wordlessly, and falls to his knees while the storm begins to lighten and fade. Oh, Zuko. Oh you poor, damaged boy. *wibbles helplessly*
-----
Well, that was an unexpected downer of an ending.
...
I am really not sure what to say. I mean, the episode started out feeling like filler, but then there was serious discussion and character moments and stuff, and the whole Sokka-in-the-crevice sequence was hilarious, and oh, Zuko, break my heart, why don't you???
So yeah. Emotional whiplash up the wazoo. I am going to have to sleep on this one.
Bitter Work:
1. "Previously on Avatar" says this episode will be about Toph teaching Aang earthbending, about redirecting lightning, and about the aftermath of Iroh's grievous wound. Let's see how well that holds up.
2. We are in a dry, stony land, reminiscent of the canyon they traveled through in "The Great Divide." That area was on the way to Ba Sing Se, wasn't it? Come to think of it, is the Gaang traveling anywhere in particular at the moment? I don't think they are. They're probably just moving randomly so Azula can't pinpoint them to any specific location.
3. Aang's a morning person. Toph... is maybe a morning person? Katara can fake it. Sokka... really not so much. *has quiet giggle fit* And yet while he isn't awake enough to speak actual English, he can pogo-jump without losing his balance while still in his sleeping bag? Oh well, humor trumps realism, I suppose.
4. Aang is so ridiculously enthusiastic, all eager for huge, dramatic moves. Toph is just standing there unmoving, but you can tell she's thinking something along the lines of, "What, exactly, have I gotten myself into?"
Hmm. Now I am trying to remember if Aang was like this with waterbending as well, and I think he sort of was. Once he got past the basics of moving water and that water whip, what he spent his time at the North Pole doing was learning to turn himself into a snowman. And from the evidence, he was a little like that with air, too -- note the way he loves to play around with that spinning ball of wind. But at least with air, he has all the basics down cold -- no, better than cold; he airbends without even thinking about it, even when he isn't paying attention, and he does it perfectly every time. But air is his native element, and his teacher was Gyatso, someone he deeply respected and loved. With water, he has a huge crush on Katara and wants to impress her and do everything right for her. With earth and Toph... I think he sees Toph as a kid on his level, not someone to look up to. This may become a problem.
5. *giggles over Aang's first attempt to move a rock* I think anyone else would have just fallen down, but Aang is so used to pushing at things to move himself -- that is presumably part of what he does when he makes those exaggerated jumps -- that he skids all the way across the campsite and crashes into Appa.
6. Wah, Iroh playing with Lu Ten in sepia-toned flashback, accompanied by sad music. And then Iroh kneeling at his son's grave in the rain. *weeps* Oh, see, this is how to be a good father! (Ozai, take notes, damn you.)
7. Continuity speculation time! Iroh had brown hair at Ba Sing Se when he wrote his letter home. But within a year -- probably within a month or two -- Lu Ten was dead, the siege was called off, and Iroh's hair had gone gray all over. I think, had Lu Ten not died, Iroh would be salt-and-pepper at most. He is noticeably older than Ozai (given that his son was of age to be at war -- probably sixteen at youngest, more likely eighteen to, say, twenty-five -- when Zuko was about ten years old, but he's not ancient the way some people write him. I'd peg Ozai at, oh, forty-ish (take Zuko's age and add twenty-five years), and since they are full brothers, it would be weird for Iroh to be more than twenty years older than Ozai (women without modern medical techniques cannot extend fertility the way we can, after all), thus making Iroh probably fifty-five to sixty years old, sixty-five at most.
This can be adjusted upward by five to ten years if Ozai married later than I am assuming, but it seems a reasonable first guess. And since we know strong benders can live to well over a hundred and still be formidably active, I am quite sure Iroh has at least another fifty years ahead of him. (Barring, of course, war, assassinations, plague, cancer, or horrible accidents. But he's not going of old age any time soon.)
8. Zuko made Iroh tea. *sparkles at him* It's horrible, but Iroh drinks it anyway. *sparkles more* And then he casually tosses the second cup out the window while Zuko's not looking. *dissolves in sparkly glee* Oh, I love these two beyond the telling of it.
9. I am trying to figure out where Zuko and Iroh are. There are trees in the background, which argues for Zuko having found his ostrich-horse and hauled Iroh out of the ghost town, but the ground still looks fairly dry and bare, so presumably they are still in the dry country. Also, they are in another ruined house. I wonder if there are so many run-down or abandoned settlements in this region because at one point there were mineral deposits of some sort that people came to gather, or if the war depopulated villages until the remaining inhabitants left for more forgiving lands, or if the spirits are mad and screwing up the climate, or what.
10. Zuko: "I know what you're gonna say. She's my sister and I should be trying to get along with her." Iroh: "No. She's crazy and she needs to go down." Zuko: *sad face* (...I get the feeling he almost wanted Iroh to convince him there was still good in Azula. Oh, Zuko. He doesn't want to give up on his family, no matter how much they hurt him. *wibbles*)
11. Man, Toph is intense as a teacher. Also, Katara... Hmm. How to phrase this. There is an economy of praise, maybe? If you give out lots of praise and encouragement, it's very nice and comforting, but after a while it stops meaning much of anything. If you are sparing, praise means a LOT. Now, this may not apply to Katara and Aang specifically, because Aang really, really likes Katara and any positive words from her mean at least twice as much as they would from someone else, but still. Just because Katara does things one way does not mean that will work for Toph, nor does it mean Toph necessarily should try to copy those methods exactly. I am pleased to see that Toph doesn't. By the end of this training montage, her own methods seem to be working -- Aang did push her back along the stone alley, and he did keep catching that little stone weight even when she raised the pillars -- and Aang smiles with pride when she gives him a little nod, so you know, I don't think this is going so badly. (However, since we have over two thirds of the episode left to go, something is obviously going to go wrong.)
12. What is that cute little baby animal? Judging by the horns and the facial structure, I think it has some deer or moose in it. But its feet are paws and the tail is kind of feline, so maybe some type of hunting cat as well? The way it bends down and switches its tail while facing Sokka is almost stalking behavior. (Sokka is such a doofus in this scene. *giggles at him*) Also, judging by the fracturing of the ground, this area might be rather like the Dakota Badlands in geologic terms. That would be interesting. (Also, if this area is not like the Badlands, that crevice is a plot device of the worst kind. Only humor redeems it.)
13. I cannot make Iroh's 'separation of positive and negative energy' spiel jibe with actual science. I mean, lightning is a stream of electricity -- negative charge -- flowing down to the positively charged earth. So it seems to me that to create lightning, you would not separate the energies and then let them recombine; that would just blow up in your hands. You would need to separate the energies and then, I dunno, either shove the positive down through your feet and aim the negative out through your hands (but that is clearly not what is happening), or maybe gather the negative while letting the positive disperse (hence the swirly hand motions that shed sizzling electric sparks) and then release all the negative at once in a focused discharge rather than letting it shed away as the positive did. ...And yes, I know, that's not really good science either, but it's slightly less nails-on-chalkboard wrong. *sigh*
14. Zuko kind of sucks at emotional control, doesn't he? (Also, interesting that this episode is built around paired training sequences. We are getting less potential-BFF Aang-and-Zuko this season -- mostly because they haven't been interacting at all -- but I like the way they are mirrored here.)
15. I see the point of the boulder exercise -- Aang's instinctive response would be to jump and float out of the way -- but I am not sure Toph has really introduced it as well as she could. It might help if she sat both Aang and Katara down and explained the philosophy of earthbending (standing your ground, waiting for the right moment, being strong, etc.) rather than just demonstrating by example. Because I don't think they quite understand what she's trying to get across, and that is why Katara keeps jumping in and Aang is so nervous. (Katara is also jumping in because I think she's possessive of Aang's attention, though she doesn't seem to realize it -- and even if she did realize, I think it's more of a 'he was my friend first' reaction than anything else.) And cut to commercial break as the boulder crashes down.
16. Mmm. It is good to break the tension and pull Aang out of self-defeating gloom, but I think Katara could have phrased that better -- talking to Toph as well as to Aang would be a good first step. Even if they're not great friends, they are both Aang's teachers, and they would do well to consult each other professionally... and as equals, not as an old friend and a Johnny-come-lately.
17. "What turmoil?!" Zuko yells with rage all over his face. *headdesk* Oh, you silly, silly boy. *pets him, gingerly*
18. Sokka and his boomerang and the little baby whatsit! SOCUTE! *dies of mingled squee and laughter*
19. That is a gorgeously drawn marshy pond, with the grass and the striped cattails and the frog on the rock. (Poor Momo, food always seems to get away from him.) I like the exercise Katara and Aang are doing, passing the water around in a circle -- trading off control, but gently and deftly so the water never wobbles. A useful skill, which probably has a lot of fighting applications when turned toward taking control of an opponent's water.
20. Well, at least in the water, with Katara, after doing a bunch of waterbending, Aang's reflex when Katara throws a reed at him is to split and deflect it with a wave rather than to make an air shield or jump out of the way. Then again, water is a bit more like air, in that they both flow and deflect around obstacles. (...And I cannot believe I am treating elemental symbolism as if it were a proper science. ARGH. What is this show doing to me?)
21. The highlights in Katara's irises wobble a little when Aang calls her Sifu Katara. I think she has a little sheen of tears in her eyes. D'awww. *pets her*
22. I love Iroh's little lecture on the nature of the elements. It's appropriately wise old master-ish. Plus, who can resist this exchange?
Iroh: "Also, they apparently had pretty good senses of humor!" *grin*
Zuko: *blank face*
Iroh: *sigh*
23. Aang is not much of a monk, but he does, at least, meditate on occasion. That's nice.
24. Toph is sharing the nuts with Momo. D'aww. (Even if she is being a bit of a meanie to Aang right now.)
25. Sokka the meat and sarcasm guy! *collapses in giggle fit* And his hair. Seriously, first the explosion and then the Mohawk... *collapses again* And the baby moose-cat-thing has gone scurrying off. I hope it brings back another apple rather than, say, its family.
26. I like that this world has the concept of karma. It fits the whole Asian/Pacific theme. I am also amused that Sokka is bargaining with "karma person or thing -- whoever's in charge of this stuff" as if either karma is a somewhat foreign concept to the Water Tribes (which, well, it would be to the Inuit and the tribes of the northwest coast), or as if he hasn't paid much attention to religious and/or spiritual concepts and therefore does not realize that karma is a sort of impersonal force. (That would make sense, actually; Sokka is not big on spirits.) Oh. And I am especially amused that Sokka promises to become "Sokka the veggies and straight talk fellow" if he gets out of the crevice, but as soon as Aang appears, his first question is whether Aang has brought any meat. Oh, Sokka. I love you, but you are such a doofus.
27. Aang refuses to even try earthbending to rescue Sokka. And cut for commercial break.
28. Why can't Aang go ask Toph to earthbend Sokka to freedom? Because it would be really uncomfortable. "Uncomfortable. Well, I wouldn't want you to feel uncomfortable," says Sokka, trapped and cramped in a narrow crevice. "Thanks, Sokka," says Aang, as the sarcasm flies right over his head. *thwaps Aang*
29. "Awkward position -- I think I know the feeling," says Sokka. And the sarcasm goes right past Aang again. Oh, Aang, honey, I love you bunches, but get your head out of your ass and help your friend.
30. The baby animal is a sabertooth moose-lion! Ha! I was right about the components! (Except the saber teeth, but I think I can be forgiven there.) And yep, it came back with its family. Oh dear.
31. Ocean of chi. Riiiiight. And again, Zuko is completely blank-faced at Iroh's jokes. D'aww.
32. Iroh's little vaguely disco undulating arms dance move thing is just... I am not sure whether to go "aww" or stare in horrified disbelief. Possibly both at the same time, which is a very strange feeling.
33. And Zuko runs off to find natural lightning in the conveniently approaching thunderstorm. *sigh* Iroh, you know what he's like. Couldn't you have managed that conversation a little better?
34. Aang blows the moose-lion over Sokka's head. It turns and prepares for another charge. Aang jumps aside and tries to distract it, luring it into chasing him rather than Sokka; that doesn't work, and he jumps back in time to blow it aside. It turns and prepares for another charge... and this time Aang stands his ground and blows the moose-lion directly ass over teakettle backwards. It gets up, shakes itself, and walks away. ...And Toph applauds.
35. Yay, Aang stood up against Toph, too! Which was the point all along. Toph's not much for verbal explanations, is she? She's very much a kinesthetic teacher, a learn-by-doing type. Which is fair enough; if she learned from badger-moles, it's not as if they could exactly give her lectures on their techniques and philosophy.
36. I love the sound effect as Toph pulls Sokka up out of the crevice -- sort of like uncorking a wine bottle.
37. The little reunion scene for the Gaang is so cute. Sokka is having a deep meaning-of-life moment, but before he can say much of anything Aang interrupts by showing off his new skills to Katara. And then Appa licks him and sends him flying. Meanwhile, Katara assumes Toph used the positive encouragement, and Toph doesn't bother disillusioning her. Aww. *melts*
38. Except we don't end there. We cut to Zuko up on a mountain in the raging storm, yelling at the world (and the spirits?) to strike him, because it's never held back before, and now he can strike back. But the lightning only flashes in the distance, and when he shuts his eyes you can see he's crying as he shouts, wordlessly, and falls to his knees while the storm begins to lighten and fade. Oh, Zuko. Oh you poor, damaged boy. *wibbles helplessly*
-----
Well, that was an unexpected downer of an ending.
...
I am really not sure what to say. I mean, the episode started out feeling like filler, but then there was serious discussion and character moments and stuff, and the whole Sokka-in-the-crevice sequence was hilarious, and oh, Zuko, break my heart, why don't you???
So yeah. Emotional whiplash up the wazoo. I am going to have to sleep on this one.
no subject
I think you would get a lot more feedback and discussion. You have great thoughts on the series so I sort of wonder what other people would think about your thoughts (I would give thoughts but I'm still back at S1 ... * sigh *).
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I am, you see, ambivalent about a lot of online forums. (Fora? No, English rules trump Latin: forums it is.) I find some forum posts and threads interesting to read when I have been linked to them, but my general impression of gamer-oriented forums has been that they are A) male-dominated, and B) therefore prone to a certain style of discussion and analysis that I would not be comfortable participating in. Basically, they seem aimed toward picking things apart and have little to no room for squee -- and when there is squee, it is directed toward more flashy action-oriented stories with semi-naked women and more attention paid to technical details than character developement. Also, they are very twitchy about slash and female sexuality.
Of course, as I say, I do not make anything like a regular practice of reading forums, nor do I keep track of their URLs to see which forums I have been linked to now and then, so my impressions may well be wildly off base!
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... Bwahahahahaha. >:D
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I cannot make Iroh's 'separation of positive and negative energy' spiel jibe with actual science.
Forgive me if I've misinterpreted anything. (I had a season 3 marathon with two friends yesterday, so we were talking about this while we were watching it.) I always took that lecture to be along the lines of ying and yang philosophy. Put that way, I think it'd make a lot more sense; ying = dark and cold, while yang = bright and hot. Furthermore, ying and yang is essentially two forces working against each other, but at the same time, *with* each other. (My wikifu is still in effect!) The lightning analogy would certainly work with yang there. I'm less certain about the earth, since apparently earth = a balance of both ying and yang. If one looked at it from a comparative POV, it could work, I suppose.
What my friends and I were talking about in regards to bending was that Avatar presents a lot of it as being not just a martial art, but a completely different way of thinking (and I think firmly rooted in philosophy?). I think it has been stated in canon that Avatars have had trouble learning the opposite of their natural element - Aang's natural element is Air, and Earth is currently giving him a bit of trouble because how they work directly contradicts each other.
I am slightly irrational on this point; I admit it
But. That cannot be the explanation for natural lightning. Natural lightning is made of electricity. Period. (You can invoke all the magic you want and you will not convince me otherwise, unless you get so far away from realism that you make lightning a sort of golden weapon flung by the gods... at which point I will say something to the effect of, "Okay, this world doesn't have real lightning, but the thing they call lightning has such-and-such properties..." and go from there. Because lightning is electricity, always and forever.) Anyway, Iroh's lightning redirection works on natural lightning as well as firebended lightning... so clearly firebended lightning must be electricity, and therefore subject to scientific laws.
Which leaves me right back where I started, beating my head against my computer desk because Iroh's explanation makes no sense. About the only way I can reconcile it is to say that he is explaining what he thinks is happening, but his theory is wrong because the Avatar world does not yet have electrical power and a proper science of physics and stuff.
...
It's a minor point, but it nags at me.
Re: I am slightly irrational on this point; I admit it
Martial arts = philosophy (a real life philosophy, which I believe you referred to as “mystical mumbo jumbo”, thank you for your consideration of thousands of years of thought) = the actual, physical, scientific laws of the Avatar universe. Google "tai chi", and you'll find that many will talk about how tai chi and taoism is interlinked. Baquazhang (what airbending is based off) literally means "eight trigram palm", which refers to the trigrams of the I Ching (Yijing), one of the canons of Taoism.
Zuko is learning the martial art. Therefore, he is learning the philosophy. Iroh is explaining that philosophy- not in Western, modern, scientific terms, which do not exist in Avatar- but in the Eastern philosophical terms in which the martial arts of Avatar are explained. The two are intertwined. Even today, in wushu, you do not learn the physical aspect without the mental. To ignore the mental aspect is to demonstrate a poor understanding of the meaning of the art that you are learning. To ignore the mental aspect is to ignore half the skills.
You can say that Iroh’s explanation makes no sense from a scientific POV. But that POV does not exist within the show. You do not seem to understand that this POV does not exist within the show. You do not seem to understand that the 'mystical mumbo jumbo' you so derisively mention is what makes up much of Eastern philosophy, and way of life, that it is a practice and ingrained and you do not understand that in actuality, it is translated exceedingly well into the world of the Avatar. Your expectations are unreasonable and your expression of your frustration disrespectful.
long answer, part 1
However. While I can and do accept that the philosophies of Eastern martial arts lie behind the spiritual aspects of Avatar, I am afraid that when such philosophies get out of the realm of the spiritual, the moral, or the magical/impossible and into areas for which there ARE actual scientific explanations for various phenomena -- such as lightning -- I lose my ability to go along. (At that point, I classify them as mythology, which for me means 'stories that purport to explain the world and which often contain moral, emotional, and spiritual truths, but which generally fail to explain external natural phenomena in a scientifically accurate fashion.' They become religion, not science, and I do not like confusing science and religion. I am aware that this is an idiosyncratic reaction, but it is how I think and it would be easier to learn another language than to learn a different pattern of mental classification.)
I can accept bending in general, because 'elemental' manipulation is counter to the physical laws of our universe and therefore any explanation is as good as any other. Some fantasy worlds use magic; the Avatar world uses chi, Taoism, some Hinduism and/or Buddhism, and so on. The problem comes when the explanations get too detailed and draw my attention to the stuff I am mentally tabling in my 'just call it magic and go with it' file in the interest of enjoying the story.
Once my attention is fixed on an in-world explanation for a phenomenon, I almost invariably try to reconcile that explanation with what I know of science, because I generally assume that everything in a secondary world works by the same natural laws as our world until and unless the story explicitly states otherwise. This is especially true if the phenomena in question behave observably as they would in our world.
So far, natural lightning in the Avatar world has acted like real lightning, notably in "The Storm" and again with the thunderstorm at the end of "Bitter Work." This natural lightning can be channeled via Iroh's redirection technique. Iroh does not say that natural lightning is any different from bended lightning; in fact, the way Zuko rushes off to challenge the storm supports the assumption that both forms of lightning are the same thing. Therefore, bended lightning must involve the gathering and directed discharge of electricity.
long answer, part 2
This is why I say that Iroh is wrong. To say that is not in any way a denigration of any philosophical system that seeks to explain the physical workings of the world; most such systems over the history of the world, from every culture and every nation, have been wrong. That does not mean they cannot still be beautiful, inspiring, spiritually meaningful, and even useful -- it just means that when they try to explain physical phenomena like lightning, their explanations are provably inaccurate.
You are willing to accept that Iroh's explanation is valid in his world, whatever your assessment of its validity in our own world. I am not. My need to reconcile secondary world phenomena to science whenever possible is an effect of the way I react to stories and secondary worlds, and the assumptions and knowledge that I bring to reading/viewing/experiencing them. You clearly bring different knowledge and a different perspective, and are perhaps more adept at compartmentalizing real world rules away from secondary world rules. That is fair; if everyone reacted exactly the same way to every story, our world would be a very boring place.
Re: I am slightly irrational on this point; I admit it
I meant to write, "To say that is not in any way intended as a denigration of any philosophical system that seeks to explain the physical workings of the world." Clearly it may come across that way -- and did, in my original comment to you -- but that is not what I was trying (very badly) to express.
(I proofread this reply three times and still missed that omission. *headdesk* I have editing fail; sorry.)
Re: I am slightly irrational on this point; I admit it
I don't see it as compartmentalizing real world rules away from secondary world rules in the least, because the rules Iroh explains to Zuko are not just the real world rules of the Avatar rules, but real world rules for the practice of martial arts even today. It's not fantasy mumbo jumbo in the slightest.
(At that point, I classify them as mythology, which for me means 'stories that purport to explain the world and which often contain moral, emotional, and spiritual truths, but which generally fail to explain external natural phenomena in a scientifically accurate fashion.' They become religion, not science, and I do not like confusing science and religion. I am aware that this is an idiosyncratic reaction, but it is how I think and it would be easier to learn another language than to learn a different pattern of mental classification.)
As to this, it's just that the line between religion, philosophy and science, particularly in ancient times, particularly in Asian cultures, is more blurred than you seem to realise. Nor is the definition of 'science' fixed throughout history and cultures. The scientific method is a relatively recent and decidedly Western development; it does not mean that all that came before that was automatically not science. Nor are Taoism or Confucianism religions like Christianity- though they may incorporate supernatural explanations for natural events, they are also ways of life. They are philosophies. Calling it 'mythology' is simplifying it more than a little, and not quite accurate.
Iroh's explanation … could arguably be based on philosophy (which, as mentioned before, was strongly linked to the science of the time); this I’m less certain of. However, it’s part of the wushu canon; it fits into the mental aspect. Wushu artists will say (in fact, any martial artist will say) that to do the physical aspect well, you need to understand the mental aspect.
Once my attention is fixed on an in-world explanation for a phenomenon, I almost invariably try to reconcile that explanation with what I know of science, because I generally assume that everything in a secondary world works by the same natural laws as our world until and unless the story explicitly states otherwise.
In a very real way, the story did explicitly state otherwise. Even if this is not the case, the laws of yin and yang were natural laws, as culturally and historically appropriate. The show talks about restoring the balance time and time again – and Iroh’s explanation is yet another building block to support that.
I understand your point about Iroh's explanation being scientifically wrong. In that, I would support you. Lightning- in our world- does not work that way. Lighting in the Avatar world probably works our way – but there is a strong historical and cultural reason for the explanation Iroh gives. It’s explained as a science in the way that Iroh and the people of that time would’ve understood it. I think it’s great that you’re applying real world physics to it – and I’m sure your explanation is perfectly valid – but dismissing the explanation that Iroh gives is dismissing Chinese culture.
To clarify: my issue with what you’re saying doesn’t lie in the fact that Iroh’s explanation is scientifically incorrect. I would be a fool to ignore that. My issue lies with the dismissal of the historical and cultural reasons behind that explanation, as well as forcing modern, Western concepts to the exclusion of the aforementioned historical and cultural background.