There’s some confusion in the comments so to clarify, the letter Azula had about Ozai not being Zuko’s dad was not true, Ozai is his father. The half sister I refer to in the video is not Azula, it’s the daughter Ursa has with her love after she reunites with him
Cranefish Town from the Imbalance comic actually becomes Republic City and the island Aang and Katara are on at the end of the comic becomes the Air Temple Island. I just thought it's something worth mentioning that was left out of the video
I just find it strange that Aang couldn't kill the firelord to save the world despite all that his friends and even past lives told him. Yet he agreed to murder his own friend. Even promised
@@phenomenonnarutokun This didn't take place when he was older. This was like a few months after the battle. And besides, if Zuko ever did go rogue (he never actually did), Aang had already shown that there was another way besides taking his life. Yet in this weird novel, he wasn't willing to show his own friend the same mercy he showed a genocidal maniac
Maybe he only goes along if theres consent?😅😂 Ozai obviously didn't want to die, bro wanted to rule the world or something. But here Zuko willingly asks Aang to be killed. But yeah it does seem dumb
I can't remember if you mentioned that the letter claiming Zuko's father was Ikem was false because Ozai had been filing her letters away and she deliberately wrote something false to verify it by Ozai's reaction. But, yeah, that.
I’m so glad you mentioned this! I really hated the thought of Zuko not being Ozai’s son. It would erase so much of his interesting backstory. Like his great grandparents being fire lord sozin and avatar Roku! Thank you for clarifying ❤
It does have some inconsistent characterization based on what we know from the last episode of ATLA. I cannot recall exactly as it has been a while since I read it, but early on, the way Zuko and Aang start to fight quite seriously is not realistic. Definitely an entertaining read but I would not put it anywhere near the calibre of any of the seasons of the original.
Based on Aaron Ehasz's testimony, it doesn't seem like The Promise is what a potential season 4 would've been about. They were kicking around an early idea for some Azula development. Should've happened.
I didn't think The Promise was that great, Aang didn't relinquish to killing a genocidal maniac but does in promising to kill Zuko, even if you want to argue he was just trying to end the conversation, I think it's inconsistent and the line "maybe Roku was right, a promise is a promise" has never felt right, it will be fine if he realised what he was doing, a fleeting thought perhaps but he has to be calmed down by someone else. Then we have Zuko, I know the pressures of the Throne and all but I honestly doubt Zuko would secretly go to Ozai for advice or for any sort of complaint or discussion to him, in The Day of Black Sun, he realised how harmful Ozai has been to his life and he goes back, even if Ozai was in that position, I find it terribly inconsistent. What about Iroh? He was never king sure but Iroh could know a thing or two. The metal bending teaching is just annoying, the students feel like caricatures, it just seems like an annoying side plot to waste time and isn't the theme of this graphic novel, how different cultures and backgrounds can unite as one? This whole conflict just goes against the theme of the graphic novel. Sokka and Katara and The Politic Conflict is fine, I do like The Earth King's decision, it's a nice continuation of his story, he was too weak and now he has to be strong to defend his people. Overall I didn't like this Trilogy, it's probably one of my least favourites. It's just not where I thought or even wanted to see the series continue.
This video was fire the way u just saved not only me but I’m sure lots of people time and money by summarizing the major plot points “chefs kiss” I might still read some of the comics but now the pressure is off tremendously
Have you read the Avatar Kyoshi novels? I started reading it myself and it so far is pretty interesting to see the early years of an Avatar often shown has this imposing indomitable mountain. I do want to get back onto reading her novel cause I want to see how things develop.
The Kyoshi Novels are, by a massive margin, the BEST pieces of extended universe material we have gotten out of the Avatar franchise... EVER! They are that good. Admittedly I have yet to get to the Yanchen novels written by the same author, but currently that is my stance.
Also a fun FYI, Cranefish Town IS important and all of the mediocre writing from that book come back when the town is renamed Republic City and the bender/nonbender plot explodes in season 1 of Korra
I think that if Ursa didn’t remove the memories of her kids there is no way she could have kept from going back to save them. And it would have at best resulted in her death at worst the death of a LOT of innocent people.
Very cautious for the movies. I'm someone that thinks some of the "for kids"-ness of AtLA actually was to it's benefit and in a way enhanced whenever it got smart and gave a good all ages balance ultimately. Which is part of why I'm not a Korra guy, it feels like ironically, overtly trying to more mature makes it less so. I haven't read the comics or the books but it kinda sounds like they (and especially Kyoshi novel, hopefully Yangchen's is better) lean towards the "let's get mature with this universe" angle. And of course making the Gaang adults seems like the most obvious sign these movies will do that too. But we'll see...
I agree with you. They made the characters act like real world kids in a fantasy world. When the kids/teenagers have to take on some mature issues it felt more relatable because we see them joking around, playing, and acting like real kids. Even early on you see sokka and Kamara fighting and bickering like real brother and sisters , but you also find out they're struggling with their mothers death. There was a lot of depth to each of the kids
Love the recaps!!! Very helpful !!! Now you just need to read & summarize the stand alone comics- Katara & Pirates, Toph Academy, a Suki one and upcoming Azua one
Wait, Zuko is still fire lord ozai’s son and Azula isn’t Zuko’s half sibling. I thought the comic stated that the note revealing Zuko’s true parentage was a lie and Ursa made that up
I think in Zuko's mind his father was the right choice (not saying that it was). As a leader of fire nation he has a responsibility to seek his people's interest. Deep inside he agreed that Aang was in the right, so he didnt seek what he thought would be right advise but what should Fire Lord do. Issue is that he didnt trust himself in this arc, so he didnt think that protecting the fire nation people in the colonies was also a good thing. In the end Zuko and Aang realized that there was a better way Mother of faces was such a nice touch, I mapped out my headcannon of spirits, their hierarchy, origin and so on in Avatar world based on her Toph plotline would've worked much better if it included life changing trip with Zuko....just saying Also, I hope you get to watch Mushishi
extremely disappointed you didnt start the video with "hi! merphy here!" great video obviously, i didnt even know there was gonna be a movie or that these comics existed so im hyped to read them on my own
I do wonder if the reason Zuko didn't seek Iroh's advice might be because Iroh intentionally took himself out of the running to be Fire Lord. While he would surely advise Zuko, I don't think he would weigh in on what Zuko should do. Instead, he would probably advise him that over the course of his own messed up life, he learned what he can do and what he cannot. He cannot make decisions for a nation as a leader - that's why he let Ozai become Fire Lord - but he can stand beside and help liberate one. He encourages Zuko to take the Fire Lord role because he believes in Zuko's idealism and judgement, and that he will come to the correct decision so long as he trusts in himself. All that said, I think I'd prefer if the comic presented that idea to us in the form of a conversation. Even if it wouldn't be one that would leave Zuko with an easy answer, it'd be worthwhile.
I’m a little worried about the upcoming movie and the rest of the expanded Avatar universe. Aaron Ehasz was the head writer on Avatar: The Last Airbender and I think he deserves a lot of credit for turning DiMartino and Konietzko’s idea into a near-perfect show. He was not involved with Korra and I think it shows, the writing just isn’t as good. But, I know Ehasz has been called out for some bad behavior towards his employees, so I get why he wouldn’t be involved in future projects. I’m hoping for the best though because the Avatar universe means so much to me.
I have not read all of them, but I did get the ones that sounded the most interesting to me. Other ones just sounded like extra stories to sell graphic novels. I do hope the more interesting aspects of these are covered in the new Avatar content.
The Bender Supremacist Mom was definitely a special case though! It would be much easier to rehabilitate such a person by temporarily removing their bending to gain an appreciation for the life of a non-bender. Promise to return her bending at the end of the period, whether she has learned anything or not. It's not a test with bending as the prize, it's a life lesson.
The Promise does have some inconsistent characterization based on what we know from the last episode of ATLA. I cannot recall exactly as it has been a while since I read it, but early on, the way Zuko and Aang start to fight quite seriously is not realistic. Definitely an entertaining read but I would not put it anywhere near the calibre of any of the seasons of the original.
Hi ! I realy love your videos and thanks for this one, I needed that clarification about the comics. If tout want to dive even more into the avatar universe there are these novels called Chronicles of the Avatar that talk about the early lives of previous avatars lire Kyoshi or Yangchen !
While the comics have some issues, I liked many of the themes they touched upon. Ending the 100 year war didn't just magically solve all of the world's problems, it just created new challenges: a new political landscape with mixed cultures and rebels loyal to the deposed Fire Lord, the rise of industrialism, the rebuilding of nations, changing traditions and keeping the Air Nomad culture alive. Defeating Ozai was a relatively straightforward challenge compared to guiding the world into a new era.
What they should do is adapt these stories into tv movies because the majority of people will probably be confused when seeing the new movie. I could see them using a recap like the intro
Great video. I don't know if you have it, but you definitely gotta do Berserk. I know that it might be too dark for some, but the themes, messages, and characters are unbelievable. If One Piece is the master of world-building, then Berserk is EASILY, the master of character writing
the promise is great. The evolution of Zuko is fascinating. Zuko inherits a war torn Fire Nation and must keep it together but finds that while not all are evil by any means the people responded well to Ozai's style of leadership. So Zuko tries to walk the line of embracing his newer stabler life that is emotionally healing but he needs to stailize the Fire Nation. We understand Zuko's dilemma, but he puts Aang in a morally impossible position. Its incredible with political intrigue between Zuko and Earth King Kwei Its sad to see Zuko consider Ozai's style of rule, but you understand why he would, The Search is emotional fullfillment at its best.. Plus its got mystery while tracking her down with a nice supernatural element. Zuko is my favorite character. Great backstory and character development. I love Zuko taking center stage while Aang maintains relevance and moves the story along, It lives up to a hype building since 2006. The Rift I love cause its a Toph story. We finally get the pay of with her dad and Old Iron is incredibly cool. Toph is tied with Zuko
While I loved avatar the show and only found the graphic novels to be alright something that I do like about them and hope they carry into the movie is the lack of problems with easy answers. I feel like its fitting that as team avatar gets older they run into more problems where they can't always just solve it in a day or two with that group of people. Korra tried to have more complicated problems but after beating the big bad of the season it never actually seemed concerned with answering or resolving the ongoing issue of why that bad guy got power and a following behind them and sort of just let the problems fade into the background.
I don’t know… when I read the comics, I found them pretty much same as show in the level of righting. I think show has some beautiful moments but the writing there was always cheesy, simple and extra convenient. Even though it is a very lovely show, I think people tend to look at Legend of Aang with rosy glasses after witnessing Zuko’s arc.
I also want to point out that in the Rift, it also confronts Aang’s trauma of losing his entire people. These aren’t just traditions that he does cause he’s always done them, but because the culture that did them was entirely wiped out. It would be one thing if the air nomads were able to evolve and change and choose to leave certain traditions behind, but the fire nation took that away from them and Aang, as the last airbender, is the only one there to make the decisions about what traditions continue and what should evolve with the times. Aang has a lot of pressures on him: the general pressures of just existing, the added pressure of being the avatar, and the added pressure of being the only surving member of an entire peoples, practically all while 12 years old. I just like to see how they have Aang wrestle with the problems of being the last airbender, which weren’t explored a lot in the show. (edit) Also, I believe these comics were made after Legend of Korra came out and was meant to fill in the time between the two shows. I think it does a good job of that. I had tried to watch LoK a couple times but couldn’t really get into it until after I read the comics which helped me adjust to how the world was able to progress so rapidly betweeen ATLA and LoK, as well as set up some plot lines in LoK.
Totally. That's one of the reasons I liked The Rift a lot was bringing things back around to the lost Air Nomad culture. Aang's got disciples now, and he's trying to teach them, but there's things he's gotta learn himself too.
Has it actually been confirmed that the comics will still be Canon? Knowing how these things usually go, it seems more likely that they’ll just scratch all that and retcon it.
It seems like they have done a pretty good job at expanding the universe and keeping everything canon. DiMartino said on a podcast, “We've been involved in all those main ancillary stories, so in our minds, it's mostly canon.. There may be some little tweaks here and there, but as of right now we're proceeding as if all this stuff is part of the proper universe and hopefully building on it.”
Granted Ursa can't go take back Zuko because the series can play out the way it did but Ursa trying to stand up to Ozai would be interesting. I think by the time Ursa left the Fire Nation. Iroh had lost Luten. This may be somewhat fan fiction-esque but a coupe years after Ursa left the Fire nation Iroh became the Iroh we love, the peaceful kindhearted leader of the Order of the White Lotus. It'd be cool to see Ursa say enough I at least want Zuko. (Azula was already pretty cruel even as a child) Ursa finds the Order of the White Lotus and the Ordr and Iroh help Ursa reove Zuko from Ozai and Ursa raises Zuko with Iroh still being the wise seasoned mentor to Zuko he is in the series.
I wouldn’t be upset if they do some minor retconning if it’s in service of the movie having a better story. The comics are good post-series content but they’re ultimately not as popular as the animated stories and if their lore is prohibitive to a good movie it can be scrapped
Hmm.... 🤔🤔 I can understand why, upon initial thought, it seems as if Zuko going to Ozai for advice doesn't make any sense, but I think maybe it actually kinda does-I mean, Zuko is learning that there is a lot more to ruling than he ever realized, and even though you can't really trust Ozai to give sound advice on how to rule wisely or benevolently, Ozai is the only person Zuko knows who has any experience actually ruling the Fire Nation and can explain sort of how all the ins-and-outs of governship and politics or whatever even remotely works[ - plus if what you're worried about is becoming like Ozai, one quick way to check if you're doing something Ozai would do certainly could just be to simply ask Ozai what Ozai would do, and then..do just about anything except what Ozai says??]. 🤷♀️🤷♀️idkk😆 Lol Or, maybe, because Zuko always loved his family and just wanted them to accept him[ before he realized his family was kinda messed up and wrong about a lot of things]...perhaps it's just show how young and inexperienced Zuko still is, that even though his head knows that the way his father ruled was no good; when the going gets extra tough and all that stress / pressure is running super high, Zuko's first instinct is still to kinda regress back into that young boy who just wants the support of his family .. 'cause he's still working on finding his own land-legs or sea-legs or that independent solid ground beneath his own two feet or whatever. ? 🤔🤷♀️🤷♀️🤷♀️ I'm just guessing though! (I could be completely off about the logic that might've gone into it.^-^)
Zuko is Ozai's son. The letter was a lie written by Ursa to confirm whether or not Ozai was spying on her letters, which he was, and to be super petty he promised to abuse and treat Zuko like trash as if he weren't his son just to mess with Ursa
Toph rebuilding her relationship with- Toph rebuilding her relationship with- Toph rebuilding her relationship with- Toph rebuilding her relationship with- Toph rebuilding her relationship with-
These look like the oversized hardbacks, which is how I would like to own these. I didn't catch all the names, and I didn't find them in the Google Doc. Can anyone help with the line and titles?
In defense of north and south, in the show by the end of book 1 i believe the northern water tribe sends people to the south to rebuild their sister nation. So that point I get 😂
The Promise was probably my favorite, great story telling for that one. Haven't read the others yet and I didn't even know they were making an Avatar animated film. From that picture alone it looks awesome
I think as far as Zuko going to Ozai for help in regards to the Fire Nation it was definitely a poor choice. I do somewhat understand his reasons though. Iroh is essentially halfway across the world living a humble life in his tea shop. Zuko didn’t want to trouble him with political matters when he was finally enjoying some peace. Of course Iroh would be more than happy to help his nephew, but Zuko feels like he’s bothered his Uncle enough
Honestly, I'd perfer the whole lot of these comics to just be dumped from the continuity, because they SUCK. Imbalance is the only one I would consider decent. The rest are just just varying levels of mediocre to flat out bad.
I never managed to fully read these, but I did know that Zuko's father wasn't the firelord and I really disliked it. I think it completely undermines the whole plot point of Zuko's internal conflict between being a descendant of the avatar and the firelord. I really don't understand what went through the author's heads when they decided to retcon that. It feels like they wanted to add a cheap plot twist just to add drama. Therefore, I chose to ignore this as non-canon. EDIT: It turns out that Ursa was lying and I must have missed Merphy's mentioning it too, thank goodness.
That’s not true at all. Ursa plants that lie in one of her letters to prove that Ozai was intercepting them when he confronts her about it. She admits she lied about Zuko not being his kid to prove what Ozai was doing. Zuko IS the fire lord’s son
@@cassecorrea Oh, thanks a lot! I only knew that piece of information and wasn't aware that it was a lie. Did Merphy not mention that in this recap or did I just missed it too? Well, thanks again!
Once we're able to go aroung the cycle and return to an Avatar Airbender, I really want that Avatar to be a descendant of someone that either escaped from the northern air temple but had to hide their real identity (like the suspected ty lee family background) or from a multiple generations of mixed families (mixed like kyoshi). 🩵
Given the established timeline and the age of Team Avatar in this movie, I'm predicting that the movie will end with Katara learning she's pregnant with Kya (it will at least be during the movie.)
Zuko is Ozai's son. The letter was a lie written by Ursa to confirm whether or not Ozai was spying on her letters, which he was, and to be super petty he promised to abuse and treat Zuko like trash as if he weren't his son just to mess with Ursa
I don’t like that Zuko isn’t the fire lord’s actual son. It feels lazy to say “this is why zuko isn’t like x” instead of it being his mothers intervention.
Technically the whole subplot was just a red herring. He is in fact still Ozai's son, but the the fact that whole subplot existed in the first place and people were actually heavily considering during the in-between when the separate parts of The Search were releasing was just. Plain. DUMB!
One issue i have with the promise is how it just presents a very whitewashed imoact of colonization. For heck sake Zuko even says how the colonization of the earth kingdom gave them more "prosperity" however the north and south presented a better issue of the past trauma and the inability to go back the way things used to be. Just my two cents.
Honestly the creators of the Avatarverse had big ideas for a series aimed at kids, but after the main series, they started unravelling in the comics and in Korra I think. Hope they regain their footing in the new movie though!
Really didn't like the comics. The drama mostly comes from Team Avatar making some terrible decisions, which would be fine if those mistakes weren't totally uncharacteristic of them.
I hated The Promised, HATED IT! Aang seriously considering killing Zuko is completely out of character, it's an absurd story. The Search isn't much better, Yang isn't a very good writer.
There’s some confusion in the comments so to clarify, the letter Azula had about Ozai not being Zuko’s dad was not true, Ozai is his father. The half sister I refer to in the video is not Azula, it’s the daughter Ursa has with her love after she reunites with him
Legitimately the video I need.
Cranefish Town from the Imbalance comic actually becomes Republic City and the island Aang and Katara are on at the end of the comic becomes the Air Temple Island.
I just thought it's something worth mentioning that was left out of the video
Yes, this is very obvious.. so surprised the vid didnt mention that
I just find it strange that Aang couldn't kill the firelord to save the world despite all that his friends and even past lives told him. Yet he agreed to murder his own friend. Even promised
The only way I could wrap my head around this is that for Aang to be ok with assisted suicide which I'm not sure how to feel.
Maybe, just maybe, he got older and realizes how close to doom they were?
@@phenomenonnarutokun This didn't take place when he was older. This was like a few months after the battle. And besides, if Zuko ever did go rogue (he never actually did), Aang had already shown that there was another way besides taking his life. Yet in this weird novel, he wasn't willing to show his own friend the same mercy he showed a genocidal maniac
Maybe he only goes along if theres consent?😅😂 Ozai obviously didn't want to die, bro wanted to rule the world or something. But here Zuko willingly asks Aang to be killed. But yeah it does seem dumb
@@NK-dt1kp 😂😂😂😂😂
I can't remember if you mentioned that the letter claiming Zuko's father was Ikem was false because Ozai had been filing her letters away and she deliberately wrote something false to verify it by Ozai's reaction.
But, yeah, that.
I’m so glad you mentioned this! I really hated the thought of Zuko not being Ozai’s son. It would erase so much of his interesting backstory. Like his great grandparents being fire lord sozin and avatar Roku! Thank you for clarifying ❤
The Promise is so good! Honestly it’s proof that there should have been a season four of ATLA. Such a crime.
It does have some inconsistent characterization based on what we know from the last episode of ATLA. I cannot recall exactly as it has been a while since I read it, but early on, the way Zuko and Aang start to fight quite seriously is not realistic.
Definitely an entertaining read but I would not put it anywhere near the calibre of any of the seasons of the original.
Based on Aaron Ehasz's testimony, it doesn't seem like The Promise is what a potential season 4 would've been about. They were kicking around an early idea for some Azula development. Should've happened.
@@harvirdhindsa3244 Agreed
Hard disagree.
I don't think the story was good enough to merit an entire fourth season.
In fact I find it pretty bad.
I didn't think The Promise was that great, Aang didn't relinquish to killing a genocidal maniac but does in promising to kill Zuko, even if you want to argue he was just trying to end the conversation, I think it's inconsistent and the line "maybe Roku was right, a promise is a promise" has never felt right, it will be fine if he realised what he was doing, a fleeting thought perhaps but he has to be calmed down by someone else.
Then we have Zuko, I know the pressures of the Throne and all but I honestly doubt Zuko would secretly go to Ozai for advice or for any sort of complaint or discussion to him, in The Day of Black Sun, he realised how harmful Ozai has been to his life and he goes back, even if Ozai was in that position, I find it terribly inconsistent. What about Iroh? He was never king sure but Iroh could know a thing or two.
The metal bending teaching is just annoying, the students feel like caricatures, it just seems like an annoying side plot to waste time and isn't the theme of this graphic novel, how different cultures and backgrounds can unite as one? This whole conflict just goes against the theme of the graphic novel.
Sokka and Katara and The Politic Conflict is fine, I do like The Earth King's decision, it's a nice continuation of his story, he was too weak and now he has to be strong to defend his people.
Overall I didn't like this Trilogy, it's probably one of my least favourites. It's just not where I thought or even wanted to see the series continue.
This video was fire the way u just saved not only me but I’m sure lots of people time and money by summarizing the major plot points “chefs kiss” I might still read some of the comics but now the pressure is off tremendously
Have you read the Avatar Kyoshi novels? I started reading it myself and it so far is pretty interesting to see the early years of an Avatar often shown has this imposing indomitable mountain. I do want to get back onto reading her novel cause I want to see how things develop.
She has, as well as the Yangchen one. Was mentioned months ago on her vlog channel
The Kyoshi books are awesome.
The Kyoshi Novels are, by a massive margin, the BEST pieces of extended universe material we have gotten out of the Avatar franchise... EVER!
They are that good.
Admittedly I have yet to get to the Yanchen novels written by the same author, but currently that is my stance.
@@UltimatePower01 do you remember which video(s)? I just saw her vlog of the 1st Kyoshi novel, but I can't find the others =/
The Kyoshi novels are excellent! I haven't read the Yangchen novels [the second one's coming out in July], but I'm excited to!
Also a fun FYI, Cranefish Town IS important and all of the mediocre writing from that book come back when the town is renamed Republic City and the bender/nonbender plot explodes in season 1 of Korra
I’m pretty sure that Crane Town ends up becoming Republic City in LoK
Was gonna buy The Promise but in my country, the prices+ shipping costs is equal to two months worth of house rent😮👀, so I appreciate this video.
I think that if Ursa didn’t remove the memories of her kids there is no way she could have kept from going back to save them. And it would have at best resulted in her death at worst the death of a LOT of innocent people.
Very cautious for the movies. I'm someone that thinks some of the "for kids"-ness of AtLA actually was to it's benefit and in a way enhanced whenever it got smart and gave a good all ages balance ultimately. Which is part of why I'm not a Korra guy, it feels like ironically, overtly trying to more mature makes it less so. I haven't read the comics or the books but it kinda sounds like they (and especially Kyoshi novel, hopefully Yangchen's is better) lean towards the "let's get mature with this universe" angle. And of course making the Gaang adults seems like the most obvious sign these movies will do that too. But we'll see...
I agree with you. They made the characters act like real world kids in a fantasy world. When the kids/teenagers have to take on some mature issues it felt more relatable because we see them joking around, playing, and acting like real kids. Even early on you see sokka and Kamara fighting and bickering like real brother and sisters , but you also find out they're struggling with their mothers death. There was a lot of depth to each of the kids
Have you reviewed the Kyoshi novels yet? Cuz you will LOVE them!!!
Is it just me or are those books huge! Loving the content. Keep up the great work!
Love the recaps!!! Very helpful !!! Now you just need to read & summarize the stand alone comics- Katara & Pirates, Toph Academy, a Suki one and upcoming Azua one
Thanks for the summaries, Merphy!
4:07 why Zuko didn't seek advice from uncle Iroh? wasn't Iroh in the Earth kingdom, in Ba Sing Se, at that moment?
Are you gonna read the Kyoshi novels? They seem right up your alley
Thank you for the explanations and for talking about this as I've only seen the on screen.
Wait, Zuko is still fire lord ozai’s son and Azula isn’t Zuko’s half sibling. I thought the comic stated that the note revealing Zuko’s true parentage was a lie and Ursa made that up
Yeah I said that in the video. The half sister I was referring to was Ursa’s son with her love that she returned to after she was banished
What great timing for me to get engaged with the series, looking forward to it!
I think in Zuko's mind his father was the right choice (not saying that it was). As a leader of fire nation he has a responsibility to seek his people's interest. Deep inside he agreed that Aang was in the right, so he didnt seek what he thought would be right advise but what should Fire Lord do. Issue is that he didnt trust himself in this arc, so he didnt think that protecting the fire nation people in the colonies was also a good thing. In the end Zuko and Aang realized that there was a better way
Mother of faces was such a nice touch, I mapped out my headcannon of spirits, their hierarchy, origin and so on in Avatar world based on her
Toph plotline would've worked much better if it included life changing trip with Zuko....just saying
Also, I hope you get to watch Mushishi
extremely disappointed you didnt start the video with "hi! merphy here!"
great video obviously, i didnt even know there was gonna be a movie or that these comics existed so im hyped to read them on my own
I do wonder if the reason Zuko didn't seek Iroh's advice might be because Iroh intentionally took himself out of the running to be Fire Lord. While he would surely advise Zuko, I don't think he would weigh in on what Zuko should do. Instead, he would probably advise him that over the course of his own messed up life, he learned what he can do and what he cannot. He cannot make decisions for a nation as a leader - that's why he let Ozai become Fire Lord - but he can stand beside and help liberate one. He encourages Zuko to take the Fire Lord role because he believes in Zuko's idealism and judgement, and that he will come to the correct decision so long as he trusts in himself.
All that said, I think I'd prefer if the comic presented that idea to us in the form of a conversation. Even if it wouldn't be one that would leave Zuko with an easy answer, it'd be worthwhile.
I’m a little worried about the upcoming movie and the rest of the expanded Avatar universe. Aaron Ehasz was the head writer on Avatar: The Last Airbender and I think he deserves a lot of credit for turning DiMartino and Konietzko’s idea into a near-perfect show. He was not involved with Korra and I think it shows, the writing just isn’t as good. But, I know Ehasz has been called out for some bad behavior towards his employees, so I get why he wouldn’t be involved in future projects. I’m hoping for the best though because the Avatar universe means so much to me.
Korra’s character writing (minus the love triangle) was pretty great but the political stuff was pretty terrible upon rewatch
@@RonquixoteDIII The character writing was good! I love Korra, Tenzin, and Jinora.
I was surprised how true the comics were to the spirit and personality of the show.
Hell yeah I was always curies what did happen after the show was over
Still waiting for the Kyoshi series Merphy, but it's okay. Take your time.
I’d love to see a video where you do a wishlist of where you would like to see them take this universe.
I have not read all of them, but I did get the ones that sounded the most interesting to me. Other ones just sounded like extra stories to sell graphic novels. I do hope the more interesting aspects of these are covered in the new Avatar content.
The Bender Supremacist Mom was definitely a special case though! It would be much easier to rehabilitate such a person by temporarily removing their bending to gain an appreciation for the life of a non-bender. Promise to return her bending at the end of the period, whether she has learned anything or not. It's not a test with bending as the prize, it's a life lesson.
The Promise does have some inconsistent characterization based on what we know from the last episode of ATLA. I cannot recall exactly as it has been a while since I read it, but early on, the way Zuko and Aang start to fight quite seriously is not realistic.
Definitely an entertaining read but I would not put it anywhere near the calibre of any of the seasons of the original.
Hi ! I realy love your videos and thanks for this one, I needed that clarification about the comics. If tout want to dive even more into the avatar universe there are these novels called Chronicles of the Avatar that talk about the early lives of previous avatars lire Kyoshi or Yangchen !
While the comics have some issues, I liked many of the themes they touched upon. Ending the 100 year war didn't just magically solve all of the world's problems, it just created new challenges: a new political landscape with mixed cultures and rebels loyal to the deposed Fire Lord, the rise of industrialism, the rebuilding of nations, changing traditions and keeping the Air Nomad culture alive. Defeating Ozai was a relatively straightforward challenge compared to guiding the world into a new era.
"Winning was easy kid, governing's harder"
Thank you so much for this Murphy! Appreciate all your hard work!
You HAVE to read the Ever The Hunted trilogy!!! And review them! Some of my favorites!
I love Gurihiru's art so much
What they should do is adapt these stories into tv movies because the majority of people will probably be confused when seeing the new movie. I could see them using a recap like the intro
Really happy Toph finally rebuilt her relationship with that weedwacker!
The Children snatching Shadows sounds fun🏴☠️🏴☠️😭
Love the T-shirt when talking about N&S, what fandom is it from? One Piece??
Merph uploads an Avatar video, I click the notification, click like, then watch the video. ❤
The lore on the search was my personal fav.
Great video. I don't know if you have it, but you definitely gotta do Berserk. I know that it might be too dark for some, but the themes, messages, and characters are unbelievable. If One Piece is the master of world-building, then Berserk is EASILY, the master of character writing
So did Toph ever re-build her relationship with her dad or not? I don't think you ever mentioned it.
Those are some nice looking editions!
Any plans for the novels?
Cannot wait for this!!!
the promise is great. The evolution of Zuko is fascinating. Zuko inherits a war torn Fire Nation and must keep it together but finds that while not all are evil by any means the people responded well to Ozai's style of leadership. So Zuko tries to walk the line of embracing his newer stabler life that is emotionally healing but he needs to stailize the Fire Nation. We understand Zuko's dilemma, but he puts Aang in a morally impossible position. Its incredible with political intrigue between Zuko and Earth King Kwei Its sad to see Zuko consider Ozai's style of rule, but you understand why he would,
The Search is emotional fullfillment at its best.. Plus its got mystery while tracking her down with a nice supernatural element. Zuko is my favorite character. Great backstory and character development. I love Zuko taking center stage while Aang maintains relevance and moves the story along, It lives up to a hype building since 2006.
The Rift I love cause its a Toph story. We finally get the pay of with her dad and Old Iron is incredibly cool. Toph is tied with Zuko
While I loved avatar the show and only found the graphic novels to be alright something that I do like about them and hope they carry into the movie is the lack of problems with easy answers.
I feel like its fitting that as team avatar gets older they run into more problems where they can't always just solve it in a day or two with that group of people.
Korra tried to have more complicated problems but after beating the big bad of the season it never actually seemed concerned with answering or resolving the ongoing issue of why that bad guy got power and a following behind them and sort of just let the problems fade into the background.
Not the Azula story the finale set up so perfectly, I know that much 😒
What elemental power would Merphy choose to have?
Where can I get the CROC shirt!!?
I don’t know… when I read the comics, I found them pretty much same as show in the level of righting. I think show has some beautiful moments but the writing there was always cheesy, simple and extra convenient. Even though it is a very lovely show, I think people tend to look at Legend of Aang with rosy glasses after witnessing Zuko’s arc.
I also want to point out that in the Rift, it also confronts Aang’s trauma of losing his entire people. These aren’t just traditions that he does cause he’s always done them, but because the culture that did them was entirely wiped out. It would be one thing if the air nomads were able to evolve and change and choose to leave certain traditions behind, but the fire nation took that away from them and Aang, as the last airbender, is the only one there to make the decisions about what traditions continue and what should evolve with the times. Aang has a lot of pressures on him: the general pressures of just existing, the added pressure of being the avatar, and the added pressure of being the only surving member of an entire peoples, practically all while 12 years old. I just like to see how they have Aang wrestle with the problems of being the last airbender, which weren’t explored a lot in the show.
(edit) Also, I believe these comics were made after Legend of Korra came out and was meant to fill in the time between the two shows. I think it does a good job of that. I had tried to watch LoK a couple times but couldn’t really get into it until after I read the comics which helped me adjust to how the world was able to progress so rapidly betweeen ATLA and LoK, as well as set up some plot lines in LoK.
Totally. That's one of the reasons I liked The Rift a lot was bringing things back around to the lost Air Nomad culture. Aang's got disciples now, and he's trying to teach them, but there's things he's gotta learn himself too.
crane town could be the beggining of republic city
Has it actually been confirmed that the comics will still be Canon? Knowing how these things usually go, it seems more likely that they’ll just scratch all that and retcon it.
It seems like they have done a pretty good job at expanding the universe and keeping everything canon.
DiMartino said on a podcast, “We've been involved in all those main ancillary stories, so in our minds, it's mostly canon.. There may be some little tweaks here and there, but as of right now we're proceeding as if all this stuff is part of the proper universe and hopefully building on it.”
Wait, did you not get that Crane Town was Republic City?
Love the avatar update
Murphy I have a recommendation for you. It is called "Gakkou Garashi." It is a manga. It's characters are amazing.
Granted Ursa can't go take back Zuko because the series can play out the way it did but Ursa trying to stand up to Ozai would be interesting. I think by the time Ursa left the Fire Nation. Iroh had lost Luten. This may be somewhat fan fiction-esque but a coupe years after Ursa left the Fire nation Iroh became the Iroh we love, the peaceful kindhearted leader of the Order of the White Lotus. It'd be cool to see Ursa say enough I at least want Zuko. (Azula was already pretty cruel even as a child) Ursa finds the Order of the White Lotus and the Ordr and Iroh help Ursa reove Zuko from Ozai and Ursa raises Zuko with Iroh still being the wise seasoned mentor to Zuko he is in the series.
I wouldn’t be upset if they do some minor retconning if it’s in service of the movie having a better story. The comics are good post-series content but they’re ultimately not as popular as the animated stories and if their lore is prohibitive to a good movie it can be scrapped
Have you read the Kyoshi novels?
32:00 😂
Hmm.... 🤔🤔 I can understand why, upon initial thought, it seems as if Zuko going to Ozai for advice doesn't make any sense, but I think maybe it actually kinda does-I mean, Zuko is learning that there is a lot more to ruling than he ever realized, and even though you can't really trust Ozai to give sound advice on how to rule wisely or benevolently, Ozai is the only person Zuko knows who has any experience actually ruling the Fire Nation and can explain sort of how all the ins-and-outs of governship and politics or whatever even remotely works[ - plus if what you're worried about is becoming like Ozai, one quick way to check if you're doing something Ozai would do certainly could just be to simply ask Ozai what Ozai would do, and then..do just about anything except what Ozai says??]. 🤷♀️🤷♀️idkk😆 Lol
Or, maybe, because Zuko always loved his family and just wanted them to accept him[ before he realized his family was kinda messed up and wrong about a lot of things]...perhaps it's just show how young and inexperienced Zuko still is, that even though his head knows that the way his father ruled was no good; when the going gets extra tough and all that stress / pressure is running super high, Zuko's first instinct is still to kinda regress back into that young boy who just wants the support of his family .. 'cause he's still working on finding his own land-legs or sea-legs or that independent solid ground beneath his own two feet or whatever. ? 🤔🤷♀️🤷♀️🤷♀️
I'm just guessing though! (I could be completely off about the logic that might've gone into it.^-^)
Wait that picture was real? I didn't think they were actually making this movie lol. Man I hope it's as good as ATLA and season 3 of Korra.
Never had a chance to read any of these so you blew my mind in the first few minutes with the fact that Ozai isn't Zuko's real father 😂
He is, that was a lie
Zuko is Ozai's son. The letter was a lie written by Ursa to confirm whether or not Ozai was spying on her letters, which he was, and to be super petty he promised to abuse and treat Zuko like trash as if he weren't his son just to mess with Ursa
Toph rebuilding her relationship with- Toph rebuilding her relationship with- Toph rebuilding her relationship with- Toph rebuilding her relationship with- Toph rebuilding her relationship with-
What is the order of the 6 books?
I was today years old to find out there was a movie being made
I really hope that the Avatar movie is good.
These look like the oversized hardbacks, which is how I would like to own these. I didn't catch all the names, and I didn't find them in the Google Doc. Can anyone help with the line and titles?
1. the promise
2. The search
3. The rift
4. Smoke and shadow
5. North and south
6. Imbalance
@@ofthewilderwoods Thank you so much!
does the rift town become the town from korra?
In defense of north and south, in the show by the end of book 1 i believe the northern water tribe sends people to the south to rebuild their sister nation. So that point I get 😂
Ang can take others bending abilities away??? Why does he ever fight anyone?
The Promise was probably my favorite, great story telling for that one. Haven't read the others yet and I didn't even know they were making an Avatar animated film. From that picture alone it looks awesome
Awesome thanks
I think as far as Zuko going to Ozai for help in regards to the Fire Nation it was definitely a poor choice. I do somewhat understand his reasons though. Iroh is essentially halfway across the world living a humble life in his tea shop. Zuko didn’t want to trouble him with political matters when he was finally enjoying some peace. Of course Iroh would be more than happy to help his nephew, but Zuko feels like he’s bothered his Uncle enough
What movie? Am I missing something or is she talking about legend of korra?
Avatar Studios announced a new animated film following Team Avatar as adults, it’s getting a theatrical release in 2025.
@@thejustinwestra huh thanks for some reason I have been out of the loop for that. I knew movies were coming but did not know about what.
Have you read the novels?
Honestly, I'd perfer the whole lot of these comics to just be dumped from the continuity, because they SUCK.
Imbalance is the only one I would consider decent. The rest are just just varying levels of mediocre to flat out bad.
I never managed to fully read these, but I did know that Zuko's father wasn't the firelord and I really disliked it. I think it completely undermines the whole plot point of Zuko's internal conflict between being a descendant of the avatar and the firelord. I really don't understand what went through the author's heads when they decided to retcon that. It feels like they wanted to add a cheap plot twist just to add drama. Therefore, I chose to ignore this as non-canon.
EDIT: It turns out that Ursa was lying and I must have missed Merphy's mentioning it too, thank goodness.
That’s not true at all. Ursa plants that lie in one of her letters to prove that Ozai was intercepting them when he confronts her about it. She admits she lied about Zuko not being his kid to prove what Ozai was doing. Zuko IS the fire lord’s son
@@cassecorrea Oh, thanks a lot! I only knew that piece of information and wasn't aware that it was a lie. Did Merphy not mention that in this recap or did I just missed it too? Well, thanks again!
@@lukebeich she mentioned it
i can see why the neibours made this video toph recording xD
Once we're able to go aroung the cycle and return to an Avatar Airbender, I really want that Avatar to be a descendant of someone that either escaped from the northern air temple but had to hide their real identity (like the suspected ty lee family background) or from a multiple generations of mixed families (mixed like kyoshi). 🩵
A series Plot conveniences huh😂
Given the established timeline and the age of Team Avatar in this movie, I'm predicting that the movie will end with Katara learning she's pregnant with Kya (it will at least be during the movie.)
Bumi is the oldest tho
Wouldn't the new sister be a full sister (not a half sister) since Ursa's new husband is actually Zuko's dad?
Zuko is Ozai's son. The letter was a lie written by Ursa to confirm whether or not Ozai was spying on her letters, which he was, and to be super petty he promised to abuse and treat Zuko like trash as if he weren't his son just to mess with Ursa
There are 6!? I only read 4.
Read Imbalance. It's the only one that's actually good.
Toph rebuilding...
Toph reb...
Toph rebuil...
Toph...
😡
I don’t like that Zuko isn’t the fire lord’s actual son. It feels lazy to say “this is why zuko isn’t like x” instead of it being his mothers intervention.
He is tho. Ursa lied in the letter to see if Ozai was reading her mail.
I explain in the video that he is Ozi’s son. What was in the letters isn’t true
He IS ozai's son
Technically the whole subplot was just a red herring. He is in fact still Ozai's son, but the the fact that whole subplot existed in the first place and people were actually heavily considering during the in-between when the separate parts of The Search were releasing was just. Plain. DUMB!
@@merphynapier42 In that case, that red herring got me too.
For me the graphic novels were always a case of: really good concept, poor execution. Which is okay, they just round out at a 6/10 for me personally
I don't like nor believe zuko isnt ozais son
One issue i have with the promise is how it just presents a very whitewashed imoact of colonization. For heck sake Zuko even says how the colonization of the earth kingdom gave them more "prosperity" however the north and south presented a better issue of the past trauma and the inability to go back the way things used to be. Just my two cents.
Honestly the creators of the Avatarverse had big ideas for a series aimed at kids, but after the main series, they started unravelling in the comics and in Korra I think. Hope they regain their footing in the new movie though!
I liked South and North :(
🫶🏼🫶🏼🫶🏼
Uhhh. Having watched Legend of Korra believe me, the rift is not the most irrelevant out of all these.
Really didn't like the comics. The drama mostly comes from Team Avatar making some terrible decisions, which would be fine if those mistakes weren't totally uncharacteristic of them.
I hated The Promised, HATED IT! Aang seriously considering killing Zuko is completely out of character, it's an absurd story. The Search isn't much better, Yang isn't a very good writer.