I have a theory about why Ren and Shaw accepted Iroh despite who he was at the time. Iroh has always shown great respect towards the spirits, essentially gods in this world, and dragons count as spirits in this world, and they were the symbol of the Fire Nation, so maybe he saw it as wrong to end such a fantastic race. Ren and Shaw, seeing this and that Iroh's heart could be open to change in the proper circumstances, granted him their teachings.
@@ahumanbeingfromtheearth1502 I hate Korra,but what you've just said is essentially proved by "What in the flameo is this" from the second season,so yeah.If Korra's canon and we take the joke literally,then Aang is definitely telling everyone in the fire nation to fuck off
When Aang gets given the flame to hold and says “it’s like a little heart beat” is one of my favourite moments of this journey to understand fire bending as more than “the thing bad guys do”. I really feel like I understand the same thing he does in that moment
I love that the show frames the elements differently in every season, especially fire. But it also makes me sad that they didn't make season 4. The message would have been "There can't be fire without air" (probably foreshadowed by Azula's quote about fans making the flames stronger, but that's just a guess). The gaang would have found hidden, non-monk air nomads. It would have given the whole framing of elements an even better close imo. Like, imagine the framing of air as an element that can become invisible if needed for example.
Avatar does such a great job of teaching the lesson that the power is never the problem, abuse is the problem without ever saying it outright; as if it has to be spelled out for people to understand it.
makes you think also, you could easily get addicted to firebending, Zhou clearly was. there's a hidden lesson about letting the power and rush of it take over an otherwise intelligent, strategic person(Zhou invading the north) and turn them into a raging moron (Zhou's end scene)
@@cageybee7221 Firebending, Chi, my people are addicted to it. Their dependence made manifest after Zosin's comet left. Welcome to the future... a pity you’re too late to stop it. No one can stop me now.
@@SerenadeURA I felt this was more so explaining that we shouldn't shun or neglect natural _elements_ of human experiences because of preconceived notions or stigmas we hold against them.
You can kinda justify the timeline of Iroh’s spiritual journey with the dragons by looking at Zuko’s. Zuko also had the opportunity to kill Appa, but chose to free him instead. This event did not completely switch him over to the other side, but it was the first moment where he realized the good he was capable of.
@@janesvirtualworld Well he was at least going to hold him hostage and probably threaten him. It's possible he'd kill Appa but that was never his plan.
The way I see the Iroh "inconsistency" is that his encounter with the dragons did have an impact on him, but not enough for him to turn his back on all of his life, making him a little less ruthless overall and perhaps adhering more to the original Sozin motto of sharing the glory of the Fire Nation, only to come to realize later with his son's death that even that was a bad ideal.
Or, like Zuko, he started to get better, then backslid. Family tradition and all. And extremely realistic for anyone trying to break a cycle of generational sin and trauma.
@@AtarahDerek I agree with that as after Zuko’s dream in Ba Sing Se he was trying really hard to change but when presented with an opportunity to go back in his old ways for glory he took it. Aka joining Azula to attack Aang. This could be what happened to Iroh after visiting the sun warriors. But instead it was the prospect of taking over a major city like Ba Sing Se that might have caused Iroh to take a step back. If that’s true it makes it even more interesting because that would mean Ba Sing Se indirectly caused both Zuko and Iroh to go back on the positive changes they tried to make. To instead to pursue twisted ideals for glory.
I feel like Iroh found the dragons with intent to kill and found something he couldn't really put into context of what it meant until his son died. He lied about it to cover up something that he knew to be bigger than him and the Fire Nation.
It great how every episode up til now you view fire as this inherently destructive thing for villains but it changes our perspective not retconning. The end music was there all along the true nature of fire.
I'd like it better if it was more thematically significant to the show as a whole, or to the "ending" of each episode. I guess you could say that like, the twisting of firebending and the fire nation and all that, is sort of what spurns the overarching plot, and all of the character plots that come from that, and so perhaps the ending song being the dragon dance chant, is representative of how aang and zuko and everyone has to go on this quest to sort of fix the fire nation. That all feels a little bit like a dubious connection to me, though. I think the music in this series as a whole could've probably used some work to give characters and ideas some themes and leitmotifs that actually make sense, as well as structuring the music in a way that parallels the plot or characters, and the ending scene music being used here is just an extension of everything being kinda cobbled together. It's TV scoring though, so it's understandable, that's how it's always going to be. There's the idea that since the ending music is also played every time zuko and aang fight, it's kinda for the parallel between their characters and how they intertwine right here at the end, but if that's the case, there's still really no reason to play it at the ending of every episode. The problem with playing your ending or opening theme throughout the show is that the ending or opening isn't really "about" anything in the same way that your other themes will come to be by association. Unless something specific happens during the opening, or during/right before the ending, there's not a whole lot they can become associated with except for "the show", or maybe the concept of something ending. So maybe it's because their character arcs are "ending", but aang's character arc still hasn't really ended yet, and neither has zuko's if you count beating azula as the end, rather than him deciding to leave the fire nation. I think the music at the ending would actually work better if it was swapped out for a separate track, and the chant was kept in for the dragon dance, if you redid the animation timings a little bit.
Im willing to bet that one shot was flipped because they accidentally animated the spiralling flames in the background going in the wrong direction. It was probably easier to flip the shot than recomp the layers, especially that its not something most people would notice
They mightve been able to just not have it flipped and reverse the footage. It might look fine as the flames dont really look like they're spiraling up. Maybe they thought it would be a problem and just said itd be fine to flip it, i mean i never noticed till now.
@BookWyrmOnAString Basically, my theory was that the whole shot was done, but they wanted to change the direction the fire was moving in. so instead of getting it redone, they just mirrored the whole thing. that would mean both characters would be mirrored as well.
The sheer scale of the dragons flying around Zuko and Aang is just pure awesomeness. “So… how do we make Aang and Zuko figuring out Firebending?” “Add HUGE EFFING DRAGONS they have to dance in sync to.” “GENIUS.”
I always thought this: imagine how cool it would be if Zuko's fire became the same kaleidoscopic mess like the Dragons' fire, imagine that in the final battle with Azula. Tho it would have been a pain to animate...
@@bevvvy1374 i mean imagine iroh went on this adventure to kill the last dragon, and comes back with a rainbow fire. would of been pretty weird for the fire nation lol. they’d probably make him teach them, making them even more powerful
I wish they’d have had a small scene where zuko asks where aang heard something as ancient as “hotman” aang responding with how he froze himself in ice 100 years ago, and zuko just pauses before going “suddenly a lot of things make sense about you”
Yeah I'm a huge sucker for explanations between characters, something which we almost never get, and certainly didn't get until the last decade or so when casual character conversations became more of a thing. It totally changes the flow of a story, but it's so... relatable! I noticed there was a lot more of that in the new dub of dbz kai, i assume no new dialogue was rewritten during the abridging process, so that means those lines were there originally and just didn't get dubbed the same way.. they had explanations and like, misconceptions that made sense for their limited information..
@@KairuHakubi there's actually a lot of that in manga thinking back on it. Like Luffy's classic opening line when he meets Brooke the skeleton "do you poop?" The answer was yes
I'd like to imagine Iroh having not an overnight enlightenment, but a complex struggle between defining himself by others and by himself like Zuko did. I think it is more realistic that Iroh didn't just turn good upon meeting the dragons. It would have been a point in his change, akin to those Zuko has along the series.
Jet: Have you ever been to Ba Sing Se? “Once……when I was a different man” I love how Uncle Iroh delivers that line. You can tell he’s thinking of his son Lu Ten and how that changed him forever: I can relate because my older brother died in 2016 and it makes you realize what is actually important in life. The most important thing in life is Family
@@wattsnottaken1 I cannot speak from experience like you but your insight does make perfect sense. As for you and your close ones, I wish you are doing okay.
I mean it’s quite the slow burn transformation but he wasn’t even fully on the side of right at the start of the story if you think about it. More peaceful than most, but not taking a stance. I figure he did it to help Zuko but still. I guess it was moments and catalysts that changed him from within. The dragons, losing his son, becoming a fugitive.
@@LaloMacKenzie Iroh literally just wanted Zuko to give up and aside of the 2 episode he never attacked Aang and i think he didn't picked a side because in his mind the Avatar had the upper hand to win
I like this interpretation not only because it seems to line up more with human nature being such that lifelong habits are harder to break than experiencing one cool moment or being given one single lesson (no matter how profound, since the person might still need time for all that profundity to fully sink in). It also gives more weight to Iroh's speech to Zuko earlier in the series about figuring out whether capturing Aang is his own destiny or a destiny that was imposed on him. Iroh is not only wiser as Zuko's mentor figure, but he also has direct prior experience with the very same crisis of identity and purpose in his own past.
It makes sense that Iroh met the dragons prior to his siege on Ba Sing Se, because he was already known as the Dragon of the West by that point and as Zuko specifies in this episode the title of Dragon is only earned after defeated a dragon in combat. So the timeline all makes sense.
Yeah, that makes the timeline make sense, but shouldn’t Iroh’s motivations change? If he discovered that fire bending shouldn’t be fueled by rage/used for harm and whatnot, why did the name “Dragon of the West” become synonymous with a vicious general? Why wouldn’t he have changed his ways after meeting the masters? Idk, I’m just a little lost on why he only changed after his son died, feels like it should’ve happened sooner following this timeline.
I do love the "I don't usually play this card" - I can never tell whether Aang believes it or doesn't, the writers definitely are doing a "we know the audience realises he does this a lot" a moment
Aang brought dancing into the fire nation school when the headmaster and teachers were trying to restrict it. This episode revealed that fire is all about energy and is exactly what Aang was trying to introduce to those kids earlier in the season.
That or maybe he thought he could make the firenation better from within. He also received a vision that told him he would conquer Ba Sing Se. Maybe he got other visions too, maybe the vision said that by conquering Ba Sing Se he would redeem the firenation or something.
@@DaDunge Dannnng I want to fully agree, but he does tell his family "I hope you get the see [the grandure of the ba sing se] if we don't burn it to the ground first". I'm kind of stuck on that line for accepting his intentions fully like you said.
He was next in line for the throne at that point so he also may've potentially wanted to avoid doing something that would have him disinherited so that he could change the fire nation for the better as firelord. Alternatively, this experience simply wasn't enough on its own to cause such a major change to him but rather became one of the things that ultimately led to him changing for the better.
@@timothywilcox1539 uhh lol it sjust not what it says tho 😭😭 like how is that pacifist and how does that make the airbenders pacisifst as if the airbender come from the yuyan?
Did he ever mention that before, whenever Zuko produced fire, he grunts in exertion, but once he learned the true source of firebending, the grunts stop?
I think it's kinda logical that Iroh continued on his "evil" path after his encounter with the dragons. As you pointed out, it makes sense for Zuko to take a long time to understand he is wrong. The same was probably true for Iroh to. Hunting the last dragons might be the beginning of his journey to become good, or somewhere halfway. With the death of his son being the end.
My theory is that the dragons saw that his heart was one capable of redemption which is what made them decide to teach him. I mean we do see in Siege of the North Part 2, Iroh's respect for the spirits is powerful enough he turns against his own nation in order to try and save the Moon Spirit despite it giving the Fire Nation a boost.
It also give a precedence for his patience with Zuko. Iroh was a grown man before he finally understood the truth, and Zuko is wrestling with the same things as an adolescent.
Another important note about Iroh to add to what many commenters have already pointed out: at that point, Iroh was the crown prince of the Fire Nation. He couldn't just quit everything and abandon his family after one encounter. If you really think about it, Iroh had to grapple with all the stuff he was raised to believe vs all rhe shit his family is responsible for perpetrating much in the same way Zuko had to.
Something to note about Iroh meeting the dragons, the dance of the dragon is done as a pair. If Iroh met the dragons, and passed the same ritual, it means he probably had to have a partner with him... Which was most likely his son. The lesson he learned there may have taken some time to sink in, and after losing his son his mind would of course go over the things they did together.
Aang and Zuko only did the dance because they lost the eternal flame. Presumably, how Iroh did it and how it’s normally done is just by presenting the fire.
There might also had been a tribesman who wanted to go through with it, since it would had been very likely the knowledge of dragon killing campaign had not yet reached them.
For me, Iroh knowing about the dragons and the real meaning of firebending still fits into his personality, despite still being a fire nation general at the time. I kinda think that Iroh's change might've been a slow burn, and maybe even wanted to make his fire stronger to be a better general, but perhaps seeing the dragons made him think about his ways, and maybe that changed completely after he tried to siege Ba Sing Se years later.
If that's the case and he only wanted to be a stronger fire bender for military purposes why would the dragons find him worthy? I guess they could see he had the capacity for goodness but it still seems strange to boost his bending knowing his current intention is to colonize the world. unless Ren and Shaw only test for strength and power rather than character but this episode implies they test character since aang got shit for disappearing
I think Iroh's decision to continue to be a general still makes sense. He would have learned the true ways of firebenfing and his people's crimes, but he was still next in line to the throne. He could have thought he would be able to reform the Fire Nation, while at the same time seeking glory for his nation through conquest
That's actually a good point, maybe Iroh just planned to take the city, end the war, become fire lord himself, then give it all back and undo the damages later. It's not that solid, but a lot of times people make fairly tenuous jumps in logic when they're changing, it's less of a sudden turn and more of a slow process of shaping your own ideas for the world and the future, and it might even lead you down a dark path on the way there.
I think it also could be parallel to Zuko freeing Appa, but still going back to his old beliefs. It still affected Iroh to choose to learn from the dragons instead of slaying them, but it wasn't enough to turn him away from the path he was on already. When Lu Ten died was Iroh's final turning point, like Zuko learning his father's plan for Sozin's Comet.
The scenes with the Sun Warriors and Dragons, and the scenes of Jeong Jeong discussing firebending are some of my favorite scenes in the show. Fire as an element is just so different from all the others and its so mesmerizing to hear people who truly understand it talk about the beauty while respecting the danger of it. Theres no other bending where even a master recognizes a fear their element could become too strong for them to control. And thats also seen in what happened with Sozin. Wanted to share the beauty of the Fire Nation, but then that beauty and ambition consumed in and took over his life and he himself became the wildfire out of control
They are both extremely skilled martial artists. Aang has mastered 3 entire martial arts by this point and zuko is a master with the sword and pretty good at firebending. It's kinda believable that they can memorise a single set of moves in one go.
There’s the argument that where the opening theme is Aang’s, the ending one is Zuko’s. You can hear a simplified version in a lot of his fights, especially early on. Other than the final agni kai and reconciling with Iroh, this is largely the conclusion of Zuko’s personal development. So hearing the song here at the climax of his & Aang’s first journey together is just a cherry on top of their equal and opposite journeys converging.
You can look at this like this is the end of his character arc, and from now on it's reformed Zuko applying the lessons he has learned to the circumstances. I mean that the final Agni Kai wasn't the end of Zuko's journey, it was the "new Zuko" saving his nation from his crazy sister, and properly apologized to his uncle. These events are not the end of his arc, but a begging of a new one
There is an episode from Sideways called 'The Perfect Musical Symmetry of Avatar the Last Airbender" which is an absolute must-watch. It will change your mind on the ancient drumbeat/ending song. And give one more dimension of genius to the show
Ran and Shaw showing the true meaning of Firebending is one of my favorite sequences of the whole show. Until now we were lead to believe Fire was a horrible element only used for destruction but we see that fire itself is a wonderful element of energy and life and only destruction when misused. It ties in Zuko and Aang stories together perfectly the incredible storytelling Avatar has been beloved for.
One of the best moments in any fantasy story that tries to send some kind of message is when they show that the bad guys aren't doing something irrevocably evil, just... _doing a good thing the wrong way._ whether it's some lesson about mana depletion or necromancy or drugs or whatever, you have to show that these things exist in the world for a purpose, and have a non-harmful version. otherwise it's just.. what cruel fate brought this nonsense into the world that cannot be done in a positive way no matter what?
Canyons are actually higher elevation than you'd think. The way canyons are made is when the crust becomes uplifted, causing a river to downcut, eroding away sediment at a faster pace than usual.
i completely disagree with you and at the same time several parts of that make a lot of sense, so I've decided to just hate you But you're a badger so you're okay again.
@@georgewhite8118 honestly i loved to watch him do this types of overanalzing not only cartoons but anime like ghibli moviews must be alot of things in there we missed would be awesome!!
Iroh learned the true meaning of fire bending and lied about killing the last dragon, but he was still general of the fire nation army. He probably faced a conflict within himself just like Zuko does, not knowing whats right and wrong, and when Lui Ten dies its the catalyst for him to change his ways
I don't agree that jeong jeongs philosophy is the opposite of the sun warriors, more just incomplete. He very clearly understands the destructive potential of fire bending very well, and destruction is a part of life as well. "fire is life, not JUST destruction" to quote the sun chief. The problem is that his view of firebending has been so shaped by the culture of the fire nation that he sees that destruction as the whole of firebending rather than merely an aspect of it. Also i never noticed the detail that Iroh must have seen the dragons before he ceased being a general. That's super interesting.
The way he frames the sun as being the sole exception actually reinforces his view as well. He uses "yet it is in complete balance with nature" to imply fire, being reduced to a force of destruction by the Fire Nation's military prowess, only upsets the balance of nature. Much like how the Fire Nation upset the balance of the world, yet it is simultaneously an integral part of that world so it can't simply be done away with once the war is over.
That's what I felt too. It's not that the Sun Warriors simply contradicted Jeong Jeong. Rather, they expanded on his philosophy as his was partly correct, just incomplete. They acknowledge the same perspective that Jeong Jeong held when the chief gives a piece of the Eternal Flame to Zuko and warns them "make it too big, and you might lose control." But at another point, he tells them "fire is life, not just destruction," implying that fire can be deadly and destructive if abused in such a manner, but it can also be helpful and good if used in a more benevolent manner. Additionally, they offer a third perspective to complete a firebending philosophy, one that addresses Aang's past trauma from accidentally burning Katara, hinted at when the chief told them that if they make the flame too small, it might just go out. Like the overall experience and duty of being the Avatar, one must achieve balance when handling fire. So while Aang had restraint, he used too much from his anxiety of accidentally hurting someone innocent, so he needed to learn that he does need to give his fire some juice and force behind it in order to actually be able to do anything with it.
True. The blue dragon is associated with good in his dream, since it was Iroh's voice. So it's nice to see that Zuko has fully turned to the "good" side
Iroh seeing the dragons before Lu Tens death makes more sense to me. I think he may have gone there with intent to kill them, but in the end somehow he was allowed to learn, maybe he shared a cup of tea with a fascinating stranger (or whatever he said to Toph lol). Then he starts grappling with what the fire nation has become as opposed to what fire can be, and losing his son in a pointless war finally pushed him over the edge and made him see clearly. It would give the line "He had a complicated past, family tradition I guess" more weight since it's not just covering the dragon reveal.
Aang and Zuko's enemies-to-friends arc is one of my absolute favorite things in the whole show, so this episode is also among my top favorites just because of that.
I can't imagine Aang disrupting the structure of this ancient temple, given how (rightfully) offended he was when he saw how the Northen Air Temple was destroyed. Even when he could earthbend the structure back, I always thought he just didn't want to be disrespectful towards another culture 🤔🤔🤔
I always interpreted that Iroh before the siege of Ba Sing Se was already close to being the person he was in the show. He showed respect for the other nations as he bought Earth Kingdom gifts to Zuko and Azula. I think he already was pretty wise and respectable and studied the ways of the other nations. The death of his son set him being more humble and less loyal to his heritage and the role in the war and more to just being helpful to those who are in need. I think even Pre-Siege Iroh would have mopped the floor with Zhao when he was threatening the Moon Spirit at the North Pole.
I thought the same. He was already more wise and spiritually inclined than anyone else in his family, but he still followed the wrong "destiny". Maybe that's one of the reasons why he knew he HAD to guide Zuko through this. Zuko inherited that part of his destiny, and while he had less time than Iroh did (since the era was getting to a close), he also had the chance to break free much younger and sooner, not being forced to live the fire nation's ideals for 50+ years, and losing his son, before he actually woke up completely.
Yea. Iroh doesn't seem the type of person who'd be rotten to the core, then do a 180° when they go through something tragic. He seems like a genuinely kind person, who was extremely misguided by his nation's propaganda before his son's death catalyzed his rapid growth
There is also the fact that since Azulon is less of a prick than Ozai, he probably had an easier time stomaching what the Fire Nation had been doing back then compared to now
@@anaionescu8913 My theory is that he did come with the intention to kill the last remaining dragons, however, he ended up being judged by them instead and they saw that at his core he was a man capable of change and redemption and decided to teach him the true meaning of firebending.
This might have been just an animation limitation. But if you look at the fire the dragons created its all kinds of different colors, except blue like Azulas, looking back at what Iroh said when teaching zuko lightning, blue flame is the cold hearted fire. Meaning it's not natural. Ya the fire nation corrupted firebending making it rage and hatred instead of its natural life, but never to the extent that Azula did. Her flames are unnatural to the point that even the original firebenders can't produce it. What do you think?
@@garrettcooper58 ya, I do remember him saying that. But it's weird to think about how he just mentioned Azula in that case, when Iroh and Ozai can generate lightning. Almost implying about Azula's fire is also cold hearted. It also shows in flashbacks that her fire wasn't always blue, so her getting older and more cruel might have made it that color. Because even Ozai wasn't as cruel, but arguably way more powerful. So her fire color doesn't mean power, so it has to be something else, and since bending is both physical and mental it would have to be her mentality. It could also be from her mental illness.
@@worldwidegamer7937 I’m pretty sure it’s supposed to be a symbol of her perfectionism, since perfect combustion is blue and imperfect combustion, like all of the other firebenders fire, is orange
@@garrettcooper58 oh ya, that can be it. I just thought it was a good theory that her fire is chaotic and dangerous that not even the dragons can produce it
I imagine that Iroh really did think he killed off the last of the dragons for sport before Zuko was born, but once he went off on his journey of enlightenment, he realized that Ren & Shaw we're still alive and went to learn from the true masters for himself.
Dude, I really just have to say it now. The end is getting close, not just ATLA but also your series is ending. You have to promise us that wheb Aang defeats Ozai you will you the “that’s good” line. And make the last episodes nice and long, like 30 minutes long to over analyse the shit out of the whole series as a whole 🤙🏻. It was really great watching your videos man.
Is it just me or do the dragons in this episode look exactly like the ones when Zuko has his fever in Ba Sing Se with Azula and Iroh as dragons? That dream always creeped me out.
I completely understand why this is your favorite episode. It feels like a huge payoff for the series, Zuko's redemption, Aang's training, the history of Firebending. After so long without Team Avatar and Zuko interacting much at all, he joins their team and fits in incredibly well as if he was always part of the gang. Aang finally unlocks all four elements, and we see him firebending for real this time on his own without someone else to make the fire for him. Firebending gets expanded to make so much more sense, and be given the same spiritual grace and importance as the other elements. It feels like the most "Avatar" episode of Avatar in a long time. It's where the show always felt like it was meant to end up eventually. Also, I like how the Solstice is a plot point in this episode in that the door is supposed to only open on the solstice, and you uploaded this video on the Winter Solstice. Also, I like that none of the Sun Warriors ever make their own fire. From what we see, they always use pieces of the pure first flame, even taking part of the pieces Aang and Zuko brought to aid in the ritual. Their fire more than any other feels incredibly controlled, and almost like Waterbending in a way.
My complaint about this is that it's too late. This should have been the first half of Book 3, giving us more time to build on the characters and their relationship with Zuko
@@ShinobiPXO I agree that I'd like more episodes with hero Zuko but where would they fit them in? All of the field trips with Zuko could only realistically happen after the Western Air Temple. They'd have to fit more episodes in before the finale but that might throw off the pacing.
Impact, Zuko finally realized what was wrong with everything, he finally understood what is really be alive and understand your own self, your own fire
The use of colors is always so good . Aang lines up with the blue dragon , that belonged to Firelord Sozin , that then helps him learn firebending to beat the Firelord . Zuko is with the Red dragon that belonged to Avatar Roku , his great-grandfather . He's aligned himself with team avatar to regain control of his life and him lining up with a past avatars dragon helps him relearn firebending , gotta love it .
Another reason I love the Dancing Dragon form: lots of martial arts moves, both in real life and in fiction, are named in a similar fashion. Some sort of animal doing something. And it's usually really hard to see how they got their names. But this episode makes it very clear, and I really love that about it
Yup. However it is for a large part shaolin kung fu's wu bu quan (5 stances boxing/form). Would have preferred they at least took a look at the tiger form although I do see elements of it. (There is an actual dragon form but I believe it is a sabre form. Would be great for Zuko but less fitting for Aang. Actually I checked. It's sabre and staff and a few other weapons. So I'm Actually kinda sad they went with the Wu Bu Quan. But well, the wu bu quan is Borderline iconic at this point and almost anyone will recognize it as shaolin kung fu which I believe is the idea here.)
As for the naming many chinese forms are named, Snake, Tiger Dragon, turtle or crane. These are the five guardians of Beijing each guarding a certain cardinal direction and embodying certain aspects and traits. They are essential to old chinese philosophy which does have a strong influence on chinese martial arts.
I like how sokka’s hair growth is actually noticeable from last episode (makes me think a lot of time passes between episodes than we’re left to realize) Also I’m pretty sure zuko uses the dancing dragon to beat azula and I mean it saved katara’s life in a sense
I always justified it with the idea that Iroh was always an outsider in his family, and more spiritually inclined than most people in the modern Fire Nation, but he still held on to his family for most of his life, and the thing that finally pushed him over the edge was his son's death. It also would make him understand Zuko and his missteps better, since he himself still made wrong choices after he already was not completely on board with his family's ideology. Lastly, it also makes his philosophy that family, love and a happy life are more important than power even more meaningful imo.
The one detail-inconsistency that wasn't pointed out was that in this episode we are given a SECOND explanation as to Iroh's title of "Dragon of the West". We're told that it is because he killed (or is believed to have killed) a dragon. However, in the episode "The Crossroads of Destiny" in book two, Iroh himself seems to suggest that his "nickname" comes from his unique ability to breathe fire after drinking tea. So which one is it?
"Do you know why they call me the Dragon of the West?"..."It's more of a demonstration, really..." He's showing off his firebending prowess, not just that specific technique. His firebending prowess was how he defeated the dragons.
@@GammaPunk Well, It's just that he specifically chose to perform a fire breath. He has demonstrated greater firebending prowess elsewhere in the series, so this seems like it was a deliberate play on "dragon = fore breath". At least that's what I think the writers were going for. The more than likely they just forgot that scene (because it's just an offhand joke) and wrote a second explanation for the title "dragon" without realising the consistency error.
@@nessiteras_rhombopteryx It's not really inconsistent. He's a badass firebender, at the very least the best in the series that we see, yes, even more than Azula. And you'd have to be a pretty big badass in general to kill a dragon. It's like in Warhammer Fantasy, there's one Vampire Bloodline known as the Blood Dragons, and their shtick is going around fighting champions and monsters so they can eventually cure themselves of their literal bloodlust, which the cure happens to be dragon blood specifically, but than you'd still have to be a huge badass to fight all the crazy things encountered in Warhammer, let alone a dragon, so it works out. So uh yeah, Iroh is called the Dragon of the West cause he's a huge badass, and you'd have to be a badass by the standards of badasses in order to fight and kill dragons, or at least have people believe you did it.
@@tylermcneeley3136 I Don't think you understand my problem. In this episode, we're told that Iroh received the Honorific title of "Dragon" after killing a dragon (or at least pretending to). In an earlier episode, he himself implies that his moniker "Dragon of the West" is a nickname given to him for his unusual fire bending ability to breathe fire after drinking hot tea, rather than it being the traditional honorific title of "Dragon" given to those who have killed a dragon.
Here's a crazy analogy, Uncle Iroh most likely had a partner who danced with him when he faced the dragons - that partner would most likely be his son Lu Ten
I don't think his son could be his partner (if he had any), by that point he would be way too young, considering he wasn't that much older than zuko probably not even a decade
They never stated you have to do the dance when you meet the dragons, you are just supposed to present your fire to them. Here it was just Aang's idea to do the dance because they both lost their fire.
The only time we ever see Lu Ten and Zuko together is in flashback, and there Zuko is a baby while Lu Ten is at the very least a young adolescent, probably younger, so that wouldn't make any sense.
I always thought of the flame tornado as a psychedelic experience. Partly the colors, but also the way Zuko says “I understand…” like he’s having a grand spiritual epiphany.
If I was to face the trial of Ran and Shaw, I'd definetely screw up. There's no way I could memorize the statues' moves by following said moves just once.
yeaahh i wonder if that's just dramatic license or if trained martial artists simply gain the ability to 'sight-read' the way a lifelong musician could instantly grasp a song from sheet music
@@KairuHakubi That's a really interesting thought. It would have never crossed my mind but it totally makes sense that a martial artist, dancer, or other professionals that use their bodies have a quicker understanding and easier memorization of movements. I'd really like to know if this is true, if someone who knows is reading this.
@@KairuHakubi I’m pretty sure it’s the latter. Just like how chess grandmasters can play a game in their head. Besides it’s only like 10 moves or so, and visual choreograph is much easier to remember than most things. Plus modern technology has weakened our memories. People used to recite entire stories from memory and navigate through open ocean using only the ever-changing positioning of stars
@@benlewis5312 sure but it probably took them just as long to memorize that stuff, or slightly less. they didn't navigate in the ocean chartless having glanced at the chart once.
I mean its also possible the dragons weren't actually expecting perfection, they are after all supposed to be teachers. They wouldn't be very good teachers if they killed you for making a single misstep.
ive never met someone or heard someone talk about this episode in the exact same way i feel about it. 100% my favorite episode as well and its all because that ending scene. well done.
So, I'm writing an essay about why Toph is such a great representation of disability in media, and I LOVE how she learned earthbending from the badgermoles. It's like a blind person learning life skills from another blind person. It also teaches Toph, and this other blind people, that they are MUCH more capable than able bodied people think they are. Toph learns a skill that no one in her life thought she could "truly master" BY a creater who's MASTERED the skill. This showed Toph that she's MUCH more capable than people think she is, and thus she KNEW she could be an amazing earthbender. Even if the writers weren't aware of it in this sense, it's still fucking cool! Also also, just like for Toph, Earth bending isn't just an ability, like it is for cited vendors. She treats it like the Badgermoles do, as an extension of herself. This is just like learning life skills from a blind person AS a blind person. It's not just a cool party trick, "hey I can get around with my eyes closed." It's a skill that you use every day. That's how Toph treats earthbending.
@MansaMusa It's pretty impressive she could do it while still blind though, presumably before learning how to see with the earth. she mimicked them by just.. what, feeling their energy? the badgermoles didn't Helen Keller her by holding her hands or anything, with their giant claws XD
@@KairuHakubi I don't think it's remarkable. No. My educated guess, as an actual blind person, is that she always had the skill, but the badgermoles helped her hone it, similar to how, as kids, we blind people can hear cars and such, but we're taught what they mean and how to navigate them properly. We're also taught how to logic out what we hear and feel. For instance, if the TV is on, odds are someone is watching it. Plus, there are probably elements of it that even Toph doesn't remember, because she was so young when she met the badgermoles. Also, it's a fantacy show, so, even though Toph is VERY similar to actual blind people, and VERY well actualized as such, she still has an ability that, though I wish I did have, real blind people do not. Hope this helps answer your question.
@@ZeldaWolf2000 Huh, using text-to-speech or something? I'll try not to use any made-up words it wouldn't know how to pronounce... Let's see uh... I mean, we see her doing the exact movements with her hands that the badgermoles are doing with their paws.. doesn't that sort of indicate.. whatever I said?
I always thought that Sozin wasnt bending any smoke he was taking the heat from the volcano. We see that advanced fire benders can manipulate the heat of an object without creating fire. Like iroh with his cuffs.
yeah but creating heat out of nothing to heat something up is definitely different from REMOVING heat from something and sending it out somewhere else. I think he was unique in doing that move, probably learned it from adapting the lightning-redirect technique, and the animators made it look way too much like he was smokebending (fair enough the fast moving air would take smoke with it, but..)
@@KairuHakubi I mean sozin at that point is also most likely the strongest fire bender. Avatar takes a lot of artistic freedom to show things that cant be seen normally. Like airbending. The root of firebending comes from energy so it all connects logically
@@KairuHakubi Its probably just more it was the only way they could think of to represent it, similar to how Aang isn't literally throwing around blue air when he does stuff, that's just for you, the audience.
I think that, unlike other movies/series that greatly peak in a single scene and then are just average for the rest of the run-time (Like Up's first minutes), this episode has the perfect raising tempo, with the first 2/3 slowly unraveling the themes of the episode, and then goes on a full climax with the final dragon dance.
I always loved the scene where they perform the Dancing Dragon along with the dragons. Like you said, visually stunning. I find it so interesting to watch the dragons perform the same moves as Aang and Zuko in perfect sync.
I think the ending being used for the song here is beautiful and special - if it was used for other stuff in the show then yeah I’d think it was weird, but this is the only time we hear it in the show and therefore it makes it pretty special. And a nice foreshadowing to Zuko and Aangs eventual close friendship.
Perhaps much like Zuko, Iron also stuggled doing the right and wrong things. Lying about killing the last dragons might've been one of the first seeds planted, and the death of Lu Ten was the thing that set everything into motion.
The scars on Jiang Jiangs face represent his scared perspective of fire bending. I like how they had him actually master all the 4 elements before actually learning fire like Jiang Jiang said he should.
I love to think of the chant being the ending song foreshadowing the ultimate union of Aang and Zuko. Their journeys have paralleled each other’s and it has all come to a culmination of them uniting and climbing the steps together
I think this episode deserves a lot of credit for the simple pay-off that led-up to it. Here we have Aang - the main protagonist of the show and Zuko - the former main _antagonist_ of the show who has effectively become just as much a main protagonist as Aang is... _finally_ working _together._ It's the first time they've really done it since the Blue Spirit. And this time, they are working toward the same purpose. There's just something so satisfying about seeing the Dragon Dance at the end, seeing Zuko and Aang synchronized with the Dragons, and knowing their parallel stories throughout the series. It felt like the definitive moment where the two stories became _one._
Zuko tool a long time to face away from the fire nation, and he had Iroh. I think meeting the Dragons was Irohs first step, but he had to take all subsequent steps alone. I bet he got stuck somewhere along the way, and his son's death pushed him to take those last few steps and become the man we see today.
I think Iroh meeting the dragons earlier makes sense. It gave him a new perspective on fire, but not necessarily the fire nation, at that point he was likely still disillusioned by the idea that they where spreading prosperity and innovation rather than death. It’s not until his sons death that he understand what the fire nation is, how it spreads uncontrollably, but by that point there’s nothing he can do, it’s too late… Zuko however gives Iroh the second chance he needed, to raise a son to love rather than destroy.
i just want to say that even though I cant support you on Patreon I will help grow this channel by sharing it to everyone I know i hope to see this chanel hit 500k by the end of this serres
Iroh was next in line to become the next Firelord. He probably thought "If I can hold out until my father dies, then I can change the world." Then Lu Tuan died, and Ozia used his moment of weakness to take the Throne. It is probably far more complicated than we realize.
Isnt Irohs nickname “The DRAGON of the West” ? What if his “confrontation and killing of the last dragon” was really him meeting Shen and Rha, confronting the wrongful use of fire-bending, and killing that idea of him?
The only explanation I can think of for Iroh is that he met the dragons on a spiritual quest after he is son died, but when he told Zuko about it, he made it seem like he killed the last dragon decades ago so the recently “dishonored” Zuko would not go seeking them out to kill them in a misguided attempt to restore his “honor”. I feel like Iroh wanted to share this story yet he didn’t want his still confused nephew to hunt them down because at the time he told the story, Zuko was not at peace and would have likely chosen violence. Zuko would either have killed the last dragons or died trying (most likely at that point in his journey died trying).
ya know the swamp benders, these sun warriors, and that joke about the yu yan really makes me think about the monopoly the air nomads had on their element and it's extra weird since they're in a pretty strict theme. aang was pretty well traveled before he got avatar pressure too so it's not like they were isolationist.
Maybe a lesser desire for conflict and their pacifist philosophy led the air-bending culture to be less diversified than other kinds. In korra we can see that the four elements originated from four lion turtles around the world, so for instance, at some point during their history what would be the polar water tribes separated from the swamp water benders and became two distinct cultures. Meanwhile with the air benders we already see a monastic tradition that managed to survive all that time. Still, we do see a divergence and variations of air nomad philosophy with some thinkers like Guru Laghima and his (honeslty) pretty extremist philosohpy on detachment, that I can't imagine your run of the mill, globetrotter and world-loving air nomad adhering to. Lastly, the four air temples are pretty distinct architecturally, and that suggests deeper regional differences from one temple to another, even inside that "samey" and unified air nomad culture, that we don't get to see on screen because, well, they are dead.
9:40 I would also like to point out a small detail he missed, you can see Aang with a much smaller flame than Zuko. I believe this could be due to Zukos experience and Aangs fear of firebending
I always liked that Aang’s flame stays smaller for basically the entire episode because he’s still being so apprehensive about firebending after his previous attempt
Did anyone else notice in the scene Sokka approaches Zuko and Aang's lesson, it goes back and forth with him wearing his blue fingerless gloves? I noticed that after my 100th time rewatching it on Netflix so I'm surprised that wasn't caught here Also separate question. Are going to get more overanalyzing episodes with Legend of Korra when we are done with The Last Airbender??
9:07 so the reason that the drums don't match the theme, as I understand it, is that they outsourced the animation to a south Korean animation studio, and they only gave them the script. I don't think the voice lines or any audio had been recorded yet. This is why the mouth movements don't match at all in the show, because that studio was given the freedom to focus on the emoting of the faces, rather than strictly animating the words in their mouths. It's little things like that that go into why so much more of the show has movement in every shot, like how sokka is moving and emoting while toph talks. It's because they had more time and liberty to go nuts with the expressions of the characters.
Unsurprisingly,one of the greatest shows of all time has Small and miniscule details that really make the show special 👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
I don't know what it is about it, but the scenes with the dragons circling them and with the flames cycling around them make me tear up every time. Easily one of my favorite episodes.
I always imagined iroh did find and kill what he may have believed to be the last dragon and on reflection following the siege he sought out the sun warrior civilization for similar reasons to why zuko did. That’s when he discovered them.
At 8:39 Zuko confidently says he and Aang can beat the two masters, while the sole reason for this trip is for him (and Aang) to learn firebending again.
Tbh, Aang has like three other elements mastered and Zuko is very good with the swords. But it's probably the case of Zuko just not thinking things through, that's kind of his character trait
Like and comment on this video and it'll help you achieve your ultimate destiny. Somehow.
What time zone are you in?
Done
Eleven whole days ago, holy cow
I have a theory about why Ren and Shaw accepted Iroh despite who he was at the time. Iroh has always shown great respect towards the spirits, essentially gods in this world, and dragons count as spirits in this world, and they were the symbol of the Fire Nation, so maybe he saw it as wrong to end such a fantastic race. Ren and Shaw, seeing this and that Iroh's heart could be open to change in the proper circumstances, granted him their teachings.
I like to imagine that the whole "Hotman" and "Flameo" thing was just a prank from Kuzan that had a 100 year long payoff.
Well Aang has been to the fire nation before so...
I like the headcanon that they are actually curse words and aang, unknowingly, is essentially going around telling everyone "fuck you"
@@ahumanbeingfromtheearth1502 I hate Korra,but what you've just said is essentially proved by "What in the flameo is this" from the second season,so yeah.If Korra's canon and we take the joke literally,then Aang is definitely telling everyone in the fire nation to fuck off
@@Tu_Lenin that's amazing
@@Tu_Lenin would explain all the negative reactions he got in the headband lol
It’s pretty cool when the chief says, “the decline of the dragons” instead of the extinction, kinda subtle hint that the dragons aren’t extinct
The chief knew that there were few dragons alive in secret.
@@luisvelez1952 yes
@@luisvelez1952
Yeah that's... what the other guy was saying.
@@thalmoragent9344😂😂
@@mertarican5456
Yeah, that had me laughing to myself as well 😅
When Aang gets given the flame to hold and says “it’s like a little heart beat” is one of my favourite moments of this journey to understand fire bending as more than “the thing bad guys do”. I really feel like I understand the same thing he does in that moment
I love that the show frames the elements differently in every season, especially fire.
But it also makes me sad that they didn't make season 4. The message would have been "There can't be fire without air" (probably foreshadowed by Azula's quote about fans making the flames stronger, but that's just a guess). The gaang would have found hidden, non-monk air nomads. It would have given the whole framing of elements an even better close imo.
Like, imagine the framing of air as an element that can become invisible if needed for example.
Avatar does such a great job of teaching the lesson that the power is never the problem, abuse is the problem without ever saying it outright; as if it has to be spelled out for people to understand it.
makes you think also, you could easily get addicted to firebending, Zhou clearly was. there's a hidden lesson about letting the power and rush of it take over an otherwise intelligent, strategic person(Zhou invading the north) and turn them into a raging moron (Zhou's end scene)
@@cageybee7221 Firebending, Chi, my people are addicted to it. Their dependence made manifest after Zosin's comet left. Welcome to the future... a pity you’re too late to stop it. No one can stop me now.
@@SerenadeURA I felt this was more so explaining that we shouldn't shun or neglect natural _elements_ of human experiences because of preconceived notions or stigmas we hold against them.
You can kinda justify the timeline of Iroh’s spiritual journey with the dragons by looking at Zuko’s. Zuko also had the opportunity to kill Appa, but chose to free him instead. This event did not completely switch him over to the other side, but it was the first moment where he realized the good he was capable of.
Awesome paralel, I'd never seen it that way and it's really cool
He was going to kill appa?
@@janesvirtualworld Well he was at least going to hold him hostage and probably threaten him. It's possible he'd kill Appa but that was never his plan.
@@janesvirtualworld yeah when he noticed the missing sign of him in ba sing se
@@janesvirtualworld yeah when he noticed the missing sign of him in ba sing se
So Aang and Zuko learning Dragon Dance means they increased their Attack and Speed stats by one stage each.
don’t forget stamina. 😤
@@danielledefoe669It's a pokemon reference,my dude😂.
@@danielledefoe669HAH grass toucher
An attack buff on the avatar goes crazy
@@grease7425 but the avatar is a special attacker
The way I see the Iroh "inconsistency" is that his encounter with the dragons did have an impact on him, but not enough for him to turn his back on all of his life, making him a little less ruthless overall and perhaps adhering more to the original Sozin motto of sharing the glory of the Fire Nation, only to come to realize later with his son's death that even that was a bad ideal.
Or, like Zuko, he started to get better, then backslid. Family tradition and all. And extremely realistic for anyone trying to break a cycle of generational sin and trauma.
@@AtarahDerek I agree with that as after Zuko’s dream in Ba Sing Se he was trying really hard to change but when presented with an opportunity to go back in his old ways for glory he took it. Aka joining Azula to attack Aang. This could be what happened to Iroh after visiting the sun warriors. But instead it was the prospect of taking over a major city like Ba Sing Se that might have caused Iroh to take a step back. If that’s true it makes it even more interesting because that would mean Ba Sing Se indirectly caused both Zuko and Iroh to go back on the positive changes they tried to make. To instead to pursue twisted ideals for glory.
Well it's no secret that sozin meant domination when he said he wants to share the glory of the fire nation.
People are inconsistent. But I admit this one’s weird if you don’t see it illustrated
I feel like Iroh found the dragons with intent to kill and found something he couldn't really put into context of what it meant until his son died. He lied about it to cover up something that he knew to be bigger than him and the Fire Nation.
I always really liked the chant being the ending song. It felt like a cool retcon as opposed to a lazy insert
It great how every episode up til now you view fire as this inherently destructive thing for villains but it changes our perspective not retconning. The end music was there all along the true nature of fire.
I'd like it better if it was more thematically significant to the show as a whole, or to the "ending" of each episode. I guess you could say that like, the twisting of firebending and the fire nation and all that, is sort of what spurns the overarching plot, and all of the character plots that come from that, and so perhaps the ending song being the dragon dance chant, is representative of how aang and zuko and everyone has to go on this quest to sort of fix the fire nation. That all feels a little bit like a dubious connection to me, though.
I think the music in this series as a whole could've probably used some work to give characters and ideas some themes and leitmotifs that actually make sense, as well as structuring the music in a way that parallels the plot or characters, and the ending scene music being used here is just an extension of everything being kinda cobbled together. It's TV scoring though, so it's understandable, that's how it's always going to be.
There's the idea that since the ending music is also played every time zuko and aang fight, it's kinda for the parallel between their characters and how they intertwine right here at the end, but if that's the case, there's still really no reason to play it at the ending of every episode. The problem with playing your ending or opening theme throughout the show is that the ending or opening isn't really "about" anything in the same way that your other themes will come to be by association. Unless something specific happens during the opening, or during/right before the ending, there's not a whole lot they can become associated with except for "the show", or maybe the concept of something ending. So maybe it's because their character arcs are "ending", but aang's character arc still hasn't really ended yet, and neither has zuko's if you count beating azula as the end, rather than him deciding to leave the fire nation. I think the music at the ending would actually work better if it was swapped out for a separate track, and the chant was kept in for the dragon dance, if you redid the animation timings a little bit.
@@234fddesa I think you're looking way too far into this, even if you are on a channel called Overanalyzing Avatar lmfao
@@김균우 I watched it after making that reply and I still stand by it, if only because he's just parroting that video
@@bevvvy1374 Do you disagree with the video itself or just the OP’s point? Let me think how I should phrase my reply.
Im willing to bet that one shot was flipped because they accidentally animated the spiralling flames in the background going in the wrong direction. It was probably easier to flip the shot than recomp the layers, especially that its not something most people would notice
They mightve been able to just not have it flipped and reverse the footage. It might look fine as the flames dont really look like they're spiraling up. Maybe they thought it would be a problem and just said itd be fine to flip it, i mean i never noticed till now.
@@Ambyli true but then you have the issue of the shot weirdly panning down instead of up which is the natural direction of the shot.
Editors: What about Zuko’s scar?
Animators: 😳 …crap
How would that change aang's clothes?
@BookWyrmOnAString Basically, my theory was that the whole shot was done, but they wanted to change the direction the fire was moving in. so instead of getting it redone, they just mirrored the whole thing. that would mean both characters would be mirrored as well.
The sheer scale of the dragons flying around Zuko and Aang is just pure awesomeness.
“So… how do we make Aang and Zuko figuring out Firebending?”
“Add HUGE EFFING DRAGONS they have to dance in sync to.”
“GENIUS.”
I always thought this: imagine how cool it would be if Zuko's fire became the same kaleidoscopic mess like the Dragons' fire, imagine that in the final battle with Azula. Tho it would have been a pain to animate...
Spoilers for the comics
In "Smoke and Shadow," we see Zuko replicate the fire spiral, so it is something he's capable of doing
@@coiler_119 i screamed when i read that part
Honestly I had fingers crossed for that the entire finale. Shame they didn't go for it
Would be cool but it would make Iroh seems lame since he went through the same thing and doesn't do it either
@@bevvvy1374 i mean imagine iroh went on this adventure to kill the last dragon, and comes back with a rainbow fire. would of been pretty weird for the fire nation lol.
they’d probably make him teach them, making them even more powerful
I wish they’d have had a small scene where zuko asks where aang heard something as ancient as “hotman” aang responding with how he froze himself in ice 100 years ago, and zuko just pauses before going “suddenly a lot of things make sense about you”
Yeah I'm a huge sucker for explanations between characters, something which we almost never get, and certainly didn't get until the last decade or so when casual character conversations became more of a thing. It totally changes the flow of a story, but it's so... relatable!
I noticed there was a lot more of that in the new dub of dbz kai, i assume no new dialogue was rewritten during the abridging process, so that means those lines were there originally and just didn't get dubbed the same way.. they had explanations and like, misconceptions that made sense for their limited information..
@@KairuHakubi there's actually a lot of that in manga thinking back on it.
Like Luffy's classic opening line when he meets Brooke the skeleton
"do you poop?"
The answer was yes
@@FrancisR420 That's why Luffy is the shit.
As neat and wrapped up as that would be, Aang tells Zuko he lived 100 years ago in the Blue Spirit episode when Aang's telling the story about Kuzon.
@@zervexon Oh buttnuggets you're right
I'd like to imagine Iroh having not an overnight enlightenment, but a complex struggle between defining himself by others and by himself like Zuko did. I think it is more realistic that Iroh didn't just turn good upon meeting the dragons. It would have been a point in his change, akin to those Zuko has along the series.
Jet: Have you ever been to Ba Sing Se? “Once……when I was a different man”
I love how Uncle Iroh delivers that line. You can tell he’s thinking of his son Lu Ten and how that changed him forever: I can relate because my older brother died in 2016 and it makes you realize what is actually important in life. The most important thing in life is Family
@@wattsnottaken1 I cannot speak from experience like you but your insight does make perfect sense.
As for you and your close ones, I wish you are doing okay.
I mean it’s quite the slow burn transformation but he wasn’t even fully on the side of right at the start of the story if you think about it. More peaceful than most, but not taking a stance. I figure he did it to help Zuko but still. I guess it was moments and catalysts that changed him from within. The dragons, losing his son, becoming a fugitive.
@@LaloMacKenzie Iroh literally just wanted Zuko to give up and aside of the 2 episode he never attacked Aang and i think he didn't picked a side because in his mind the Avatar had the upper hand to win
I like this interpretation not only because it seems to line up more with human nature being such that lifelong habits are harder to break than experiencing one cool moment or being given one single lesson (no matter how profound, since the person might still need time for all that profundity to fully sink in). It also gives more weight to Iroh's speech to Zuko earlier in the series about figuring out whether capturing Aang is his own destiny or a destiny that was imposed on him. Iroh is not only wiser as Zuko's mentor figure, but he also has direct prior experience with the very same crisis of identity and purpose in his own past.
It makes sense that Iroh met the dragons prior to his siege on Ba Sing Se, because he was already known as the Dragon of the West by that point and as Zuko specifies in this episode the title of Dragon is only earned after defeated a dragon in combat. So the timeline all makes sense.
Nice observation. For some reason, that glided right past me.
!!! Your analysis skills are legendary and your children will be revered
Yeah, that makes the timeline make sense, but shouldn’t Iroh’s motivations change? If he discovered that fire bending shouldn’t be fueled by rage/used for harm and whatnot, why did the name “Dragon of the West” become synonymous with a vicious general? Why wouldn’t he have changed his ways after meeting the masters? Idk, I’m just a little lost on why he only changed after his son died, feels like it should’ve happened sooner following this timeline.
@@aaryabatchu1831 changes doesn't happen in a day, he is in the right path, his son died just push him further to be wiser
@Lex Bright Raven Exactly! His outlook on the war was changed by his son's death, not the dragons!
I do love the "I don't usually play this card" - I can never tell whether Aang believes it or doesn't, the writers definitely are doing a "we know the audience realises he does this a lot" a moment
Right its so fun bcuz it would be in character for aang to say it earnestly or duplicitously
Aang brought dancing into the fire nation school when the headmaster and teachers were trying to restrict it.
This episode revealed that fire is all about energy and is exactly what Aang was trying to introduce to those kids earlier in the season.
It’d be funny if those kids became actually pretty good firebenders in the future or something because of that day, lol
Yea
I'm thinking the seeming inconsistency in Iroh's story could be that he continued to be a general because he didn't want to betray his family.
That or maybe he thought he could make the firenation better from within. He also received a vision that told him he would conquer Ba Sing Se. Maybe he got other visions too, maybe the vision said that by conquering Ba Sing Se he would redeem the firenation or something.
or because he was next in line for the throne he might've wanted to change the fire nation for the better
@@DaDunge Dannnng I want to fully agree, but he does tell his family "I hope you get the see [the grandure of the ba sing se] if we don't burn it to the ground first". I'm kind of stuck on that line for accepting his intentions fully like you said.
And once that decision got his son killed, he relented. Makes a lot of sense to me.
He was next in line for the throne at that point so he also may've potentially wanted to avoid doing something that would have him disinherited so that he could change the fire nation for the better as firelord.
Alternatively, this experience simply wasn't enough on its own to cause such a major change to him but rather became one of the things that ultimately led to him changing for the better.
The Yu Yan being the first Airbenders explains why Airbenders are pacifist. The Yu Yan couldn't hurt a fly and that is their strength
A Yu Yan can fly to yard a hundred tree from a pin away without flying
@@toe_sucker_4165the Yu Yan can tree a pin to a fly from a hundred Yu Yan archers away without killing Yu Yan
what does this mean
@@Sushigabby It means that the Yu Yan can fly a pin from a killing yards away without archering it.
@@timothywilcox1539 uhh lol it sjust not what it says tho 😭😭 like how is that pacifist and how does that make the airbenders pacisifst as if the airbender come from the yuyan?
Did he ever mention that before, whenever Zuko produced fire, he grunts in exertion, but once he learned the true source of firebending, the grunts stop?
I think it's kinda logical that Iroh continued on his "evil" path after his encounter with the dragons. As you pointed out, it makes sense for Zuko to take a long time to understand he is wrong. The same was probably true for Iroh to. Hunting the last dragons might be the beginning of his journey to become good, or somewhere halfway. With the death of his son being the end.
My theory is that the dragons saw that his heart was one capable of redemption which is what made them decide to teach him. I mean we do see in Siege of the North Part 2, Iroh's respect for the spirits is powerful enough he turns against his own nation in order to try and save the Moon Spirit despite it giving the Fire Nation a boost.
It also give a precedence for his patience with Zuko. Iroh was a grown man before he finally understood the truth, and Zuko is wrestling with the same things as an adolescent.
Kinda like how Zuko letting Appa go was the start of his journey to good.
Another important note about Iroh to add to what many commenters have already pointed out: at that point, Iroh was the crown prince of the Fire Nation. He couldn't just quit everything and abandon his family after one encounter. If you really think about it, Iroh had to grapple with all the stuff he was raised to believe vs all rhe shit his family is responsible for perpetrating much in the same way Zuko had to.
Something to note about Iroh meeting the dragons, the dance of the dragon is done as a pair. If Iroh met the dragons, and passed the same ritual, it means he probably had to have a partner with him... Which was most likely his son. The lesson he learned there may have taken some time to sink in, and after losing his son his mind would of course go over the things they did together.
Well in the image of the carved wall Zuko and Aang saw only showed one person soo i think you can do the ritual with one person
Good catch. Nothing really hints that it was lu ten, but it's a decently appropriate assumption.
*BRUH*
Aang and Zuko only did the dance because they lost the eternal flame. Presumably, how Iroh did it and how it’s normally done is just by presenting the fire.
There might also had been a tribesman who wanted to go through with it, since it would had been very likely the knowledge of dragon killing campaign had not yet reached them.
For me, Iroh knowing about the dragons and the real meaning of firebending still fits into his personality, despite still being a fire nation general at the time. I kinda think that Iroh's change might've been a slow burn, and maybe even wanted to make his fire stronger to be a better general, but perhaps seeing the dragons made him think about his ways, and maybe that changed completely after he tried to siege Ba Sing Se years later.
Also, he was next in line to become the Firelord. Just a little patience, and he could have changed the world.
If that's the case and he only wanted to be a stronger fire bender for military purposes why would the dragons find him worthy? I guess they could see he had the capacity for goodness but it still seems strange to boost his bending knowing his current intention is to colonize the world.
unless Ren and Shaw only test for strength and power rather than character but this episode implies they test character since aang got shit for disappearing
I think Iroh's decision to continue to be a general still makes sense. He would have learned the true ways of firebenfing and his people's crimes, but he was still next in line to the throne. He could have thought he would be able to reform the Fire Nation, while at the same time seeking glory for his nation through conquest
That's actually a good point, maybe Iroh just planned to take the city, end the war, become fire lord himself, then give it all back and undo the damages later. It's not that solid, but a lot of times people make fairly tenuous jumps in logic when they're changing, it's less of a sudden turn and more of a slow process of shaping your own ideas for the world and the future, and it might even lead you down a dark path on the way there.
I think it also could be parallel to Zuko freeing Appa, but still going back to his old beliefs. It still affected Iroh to choose to learn from the dragons instead of slaying them, but it wasn't enough to turn him away from the path he was on already. When Lu Ten died was Iroh's final turning point, like Zuko learning his father's plan for Sozin's Comet.
The scenes with the Sun Warriors and Dragons, and the scenes of Jeong Jeong discussing firebending are some of my favorite scenes in the show. Fire as an element is just so different from all the others and its so mesmerizing to hear people who truly understand it talk about the beauty while respecting the danger of it. Theres no other bending where even a master recognizes a fear their element could become too strong for them to control. And thats also seen in what happened with Sozin. Wanted to share the beauty of the Fire Nation, but then that beauty and ambition consumed in and took over his life and he himself became the wildfire out of control
I always wondered how good of a memory aang and zuko have they did the dragon dance once and then much later were able to replicate it perfectly
They are both extremely skilled martial artists. Aang has mastered 3 entire martial arts by this point and zuko is a master with the sword and pretty good at firebending. It's kinda believable that they can memorise a single set of moves in one go.
There’s the argument that where the opening theme is Aang’s, the ending one is Zuko’s. You can hear a simplified version in a lot of his fights, especially early on. Other than the final agni kai and reconciling with Iroh, this is largely the conclusion of Zuko’s personal development. So hearing the song here at the climax of his & Aang’s first journey together is just a cherry on top of their equal and opposite journeys converging.
Nice!
You can look at this like this is the end of his character arc, and from now on it's reformed Zuko applying the lessons he has learned to the circumstances.
I mean that the final Agni Kai wasn't the end of Zuko's journey, it was the "new Zuko" saving his nation from his crazy sister, and properly apologized to his uncle. These events are not the end of his arc, but a begging of a new one
God, I love how many layers this show has.
There is an episode from Sideways called 'The Perfect Musical Symmetry of Avatar the Last Airbender" which is an absolute must-watch. It will change your mind on the ancient drumbeat/ending song. And give one more dimension of genius to the show
This video is awesome!
Hells yes! That episode of Sideways is breathtaking and makes Avatar MORE breathtaking
I was looking for a comment talking about his vid lol
if i hadn't found this i would've made it myself
My music and spirituality Professor put this on in class. Want to guess what my favorite class was that semester?
Ran and Shaw showing the true meaning of Firebending is one of my favorite sequences of the whole show. Until now we were lead to believe Fire was a horrible element only used for destruction but we see that fire itself is a wonderful element of energy and life and only destruction when misused. It ties in Zuko and Aang stories together perfectly the incredible storytelling Avatar has been beloved for.
Yeah, it's so different from how JKR treats ANYONE in Slytherin.
One of the best moments in any fantasy story that tries to send some kind of message is when they show that the bad guys aren't doing something irrevocably evil, just... _doing a good thing the wrong way._
whether it's some lesson about mana depletion or necromancy or drugs or whatever, you have to show that these things exist in the world for a purpose, and have a non-harmful version. otherwise it's just.. what cruel fate brought this nonsense into the world that cannot be done in a positive way no matter what?
I love the fact that when Aang compliments Zuko saying he is pretty smart, you can see Zuko smile a little.
It's probably the first time he's gotten a legit compliment like that
@@DepravedCoTApologist true
2:57 "The origional airbenders were the-
YUYAN
this and sokka's master may be two of my favorite episodes of the show
Yes
What great taste you have
Both are fantastic episodes
Agreed
Same. Something about the lesson from both episodes feels really motivating when you're feeling down
Canyons are actually higher elevation than you'd think. The way canyons are made is when the crust becomes uplifted, causing a river to downcut, eroding away sediment at a faster pace than usual.
i completely disagree with you and at the same time several parts of that make a lot of sense, so I've decided to just hate you
But you're a badger so you're okay again.
@@KairuHakubi lol I'm a geologist
@@obliviousbadger7905 so what you're saying is you have no credibility
@@KairuHakubi no I was trying get across that I found your comment funny. Then I stated my credibility outright
@@obliviousbadger7905 well now I've got agate on *my* face
It's amazing to see how much this channel has grown in the last few months keep up the great work.
Yeah what the hell is gonna happen when he gets to the finale?
@@balazsbelavari7556 prolly go to Korra, maybe the books? Or maybe the movie
@@georgewhite8118 honestly i loved to watch him do this types of overanalzing not only cartoons but anime like ghibli moviews must be alot of things in there we missed
would be awesome!!
@@balazsbelavari7556 hopefully arcane
Iroh learned the true meaning of fire bending and lied about killing the last dragon, but he was still general of the fire nation army. He probably faced a conflict within himself just like Zuko does, not knowing whats right and wrong, and when Lui Ten dies its the catalyst for him to change his ways
I definitely think Iroh would be the exact person to say "I faced the last dragons and I killed them" just to mean that he killed the dance moves
I don't agree that jeong jeongs philosophy is the opposite of the sun warriors, more just incomplete. He very clearly understands the destructive potential of fire bending very well, and destruction is a part of life as well. "fire is life, not JUST destruction" to quote the sun chief. The problem is that his view of firebending has been so shaped by the culture of the fire nation that he sees that destruction as the whole of firebending rather than merely an aspect of it.
Also i never noticed the detail that Iroh must have seen the dragons before he ceased being a general. That's super interesting.
I really hope Iroh told Jeong Jeong about the Sun Warriors at some point as part of the White Lotus, so that he might get some peace after all
The way he frames the sun as being the sole exception actually reinforces his view as well. He uses "yet it is in complete balance with nature" to imply fire, being reduced to a force of destruction by the Fire Nation's military prowess, only upsets the balance of nature. Much like how the Fire Nation upset the balance of the world, yet it is simultaneously an integral part of that world so it can't simply be done away with once the war is over.
That's what I felt too. It's not that the Sun Warriors simply contradicted Jeong Jeong. Rather, they expanded on his philosophy as his was partly correct, just incomplete.
They acknowledge the same perspective that Jeong Jeong held when the chief gives a piece of the Eternal Flame to Zuko and warns them "make it too big, and you might lose control." But at another point, he tells them "fire is life, not just destruction," implying that fire can be deadly and destructive if abused in such a manner, but it can also be helpful and good if used in a more benevolent manner.
Additionally, they offer a third perspective to complete a firebending philosophy, one that addresses Aang's past trauma from accidentally burning Katara, hinted at when the chief told them that if they make the flame too small, it might just go out. Like the overall experience and duty of being the Avatar, one must achieve balance when handling fire. So while Aang had restraint, he used too much from his anxiety of accidentally hurting someone innocent, so he needed to learn that he does need to give his fire some juice and force behind it in order to actually be able to do anything with it.
I nearly choked on my water at the Yu Yan. You’d think I’d learn to expect your shenanigans by now.
I also noticed that Zuko mirrored the dragon that had the same coloring as the dragon in his dream with Iroh’s voice
True. The blue dragon is associated with good in his dream, since it was Iroh's voice. So it's nice to see that Zuko has fully turned to the "good" side
Iroh seeing the dragons before Lu Tens death makes more sense to me. I think he may have gone there with intent to kill them, but in the end somehow he was allowed to learn, maybe he shared a cup of tea with a fascinating stranger (or whatever he said to Toph lol). Then he starts grappling with what the fire nation has become as opposed to what fire can be, and losing his son in a pointless war finally pushed him over the edge and made him see clearly. It would give the line "He had a complicated past, family tradition I guess" more weight since it's not just covering the dragon reveal.
Aang and Zuko's enemies-to-friends arc is one of my absolute favorite things in the whole show, so this episode is also among my top favorites just because of that.
I can't imagine Aang disrupting the structure of this ancient temple, given how (rightfully) offended he was when he saw how the Northen Air Temple was destroyed.
Even when he could earthbend the structure back, I always thought he just didn't want to be disrespectful towards another culture 🤔🤔🤔
Also they could just fly over the wall with Aang's glider staff, since he had it before it was lost in the glue
@@olafthebear2327 I thought that too, but it's not a wall but a whole temple with only one opening on the top for lighting.
You have a point, aside from that 'rightfully' nonsense. it's an abandoned building, it's okay to damage it in the name of progress.
@@sebastiengendron6427 Ohh yeah, you're right
@@KairuHakubi I guess the pyramids and mayan temples are just abandoned buildings too then? Better bulldoze them and make space for a parking lot.
I always interpreted that Iroh before the siege of Ba Sing Se was already close to being the person he was in the show. He showed respect for the other nations as he bought Earth Kingdom gifts to Zuko and Azula. I think he already was pretty wise and respectable and studied the ways of the other nations. The death of his son set him being more humble and less loyal to his heritage and the role in the war and more to just being helpful to those who are in need. I think even Pre-Siege Iroh would have mopped the floor with Zhao when he was threatening the Moon Spirit at the North Pole.
I thought the same. He was already more wise and spiritually inclined than anyone else in his family, but he still followed the wrong "destiny". Maybe that's one of the reasons why he knew he HAD to guide Zuko through this. Zuko inherited that part of his destiny, and while he had less time than Iroh did (since the era was getting to a close), he also had the chance to break free much younger and sooner, not being forced to live the fire nation's ideals for 50+ years, and losing his son, before he actually woke up completely.
Yea. Iroh doesn't seem the type of person who'd be rotten to the core, then do a 180° when they go through something tragic. He seems like a genuinely kind person, who was extremely misguided by his nation's propaganda before his son's death catalyzed his rapid growth
I8
There is also the fact that since Azulon is less of a prick than Ozai, he probably had an easier time stomaching what the Fire Nation had been doing back then compared to now
@@anaionescu8913 My theory is that he did come with the intention to kill the last remaining dragons, however, he ended up being judged by them instead and they saw that at his core he was a man capable of change and redemption and decided to teach him the true meaning of firebending.
This might have been just an animation limitation. But if you look at the fire the dragons created its all kinds of different colors, except blue like Azulas, looking back at what Iroh said when teaching zuko lightning, blue flame is the cold hearted fire. Meaning it's not natural. Ya the fire nation corrupted firebending making it rage and hatred instead of its natural life, but never to the extent that Azula did. Her flames are unnatural to the point that even the original firebenders can't produce it. What do you think?
Blue flames are natural, they're the hottest flames but I guess that means she's more enraged than others
Iroh said that lightning was the cold blooded fire, not blue fire
@@garrettcooper58 ya, I do remember him saying that. But it's weird to think about how he just mentioned Azula in that case, when Iroh and Ozai can generate lightning. Almost implying about Azula's fire is also cold hearted. It also shows in flashbacks that her fire wasn't always blue, so her getting older and more cruel might have made it that color. Because even Ozai wasn't as cruel, but arguably way more powerful. So her fire color doesn't mean power, so it has to be something else, and since bending is both physical and mental it would have to be her mentality. It could also be from her mental illness.
@@worldwidegamer7937 I’m pretty sure it’s supposed to be a symbol of her perfectionism, since perfect combustion is blue and imperfect combustion, like all of the other firebenders fire, is orange
@@garrettcooper58 oh ya, that can be it. I just thought it was a good theory that her fire is chaotic and dangerous that not even the dragons can produce it
I imagine that Iroh really did think he killed off the last of the dragons for sport before Zuko was born, but once he went off on his journey of enlightenment, he realized that Ren & Shaw we're still alive and went to learn from the true masters for himself.
*Ran and Shao
Fun Fact: Iroh wasn't originally meant to be Zuko's peaceful uncle, He was originally gonna be Zuko's mentor and he was meant to be very harsh
Dude, I really just have to say it now. The end is getting close, not just ATLA but also your series is ending. You have to promise us that wheb Aang defeats Ozai you will you the “that’s good” line. And make the last episodes nice and long, like 30 minutes long to over analyse the shit out of the whole series as a whole 🤙🏻. It was really great watching your videos man.
I mean naturally he has to do Korra next right?
Is it just me or do the dragons in this episode look exactly like the ones when Zuko has his fever in Ba Sing Se with Azula and Iroh as dragons? That dream always creeped me out.
Yeah I think this is really Zuko's episode because of it, and the theme that plays at the end of each episode is supposed to represent him too.
I completely understand why this is your favorite episode.
It feels like a huge payoff for the series, Zuko's redemption, Aang's training, the history of Firebending.
After so long without Team Avatar and Zuko interacting much at all, he joins their team and fits in incredibly well as if he was always part of the gang. Aang finally unlocks all four elements, and we see him firebending for real this time on his own without someone else to make the fire for him.
Firebending gets expanded to make so much more sense, and be given the same spiritual grace and importance as the other elements.
It feels like the most "Avatar" episode of Avatar in a long time. It's where the show always felt like it was meant to end up eventually.
Also, I like how the Solstice is a plot point in this episode in that the door is supposed to only open on the solstice, and you uploaded this video on the Winter Solstice.
Also, I like that none of the Sun Warriors ever make their own fire. From what we see, they always use pieces of the pure first flame, even taking part of the pieces Aang and Zuko brought to aid in the ritual. Their fire more than any other feels incredibly controlled, and almost like Waterbending in a way.
My complaint about this is that it's too late. This should have been the first half of Book 3, giving us more time to build on the characters and their relationship with Zuko
@@ShinobiPXO I agree that I'd like more episodes with hero Zuko but where would they fit them in? All of the field trips with Zuko could only realistically happen after the Western Air Temple. They'd have to fit more episodes in before the finale but that might throw off the pacing.
This is my favourite episode , idk why I always tear up when the dragons show them the colourful fire & Zuko says “I understand” 🥹
Impact, Zuko finally realized what was wrong with everything, he finally understood what is really be alive and understand your own self, your own fire
The use of colors is always so good . Aang lines up with the blue dragon , that belonged to Firelord Sozin , that then helps him learn firebending to beat the Firelord . Zuko is with the Red dragon that belonged to Avatar Roku , his great-grandfather . He's aligned himself with team avatar to regain control of his life and him lining up with a past avatars dragon helps him relearn firebending , gotta love it .
Another reason I love the Dancing Dragon form: lots of martial arts moves, both in real life and in fiction, are named in a similar fashion. Some sort of animal doing something. And it's usually really hard to see how they got their names. But this episode makes it very clear, and I really love that about it
Yup. However it is for a large part shaolin kung fu's wu bu quan (5 stances boxing/form). Would have preferred they at least took a look at the tiger form although I do see elements of it.
(There is an actual dragon form but I believe it is a sabre form. Would be great for Zuko but less fitting for Aang. Actually I checked. It's sabre and staff and a few other weapons. So I'm Actually kinda sad they went with the Wu Bu Quan. But well, the wu bu quan is Borderline iconic at this point and almost anyone will recognize it as shaolin kung fu which I believe is the idea here.)
As for the naming many chinese forms are named, Snake, Tiger Dragon, turtle or crane. These are the five guardians of Beijing each guarding a certain cardinal direction and embodying certain aspects and traits. They are essential to old chinese philosophy which does have a strong influence on chinese martial arts.
I like how sokka’s hair growth is actually noticeable from last episode (makes me think a lot of time passes between episodes than we’re left to realize)
Also I’m pretty sure zuko uses the dancing dragon to beat azula and I mean it saved katara’s life in a sense
I always justified it with the idea that Iroh was always an outsider in his family, and more spiritually inclined than most people in the modern Fire Nation, but he still held on to his family for most of his life, and the thing that finally pushed him over the edge was his son's death. It also would make him understand Zuko and his missteps better, since he himself still made wrong choices after he already was not completely on board with his family's ideology. Lastly, it also makes his philosophy that family, love and a happy life are more important than power even more meaningful imo.
yeah Iroh was their Rommel.
The one detail-inconsistency that wasn't pointed out was that in this episode we are given a SECOND explanation as to Iroh's title of "Dragon of the West". We're told that it is because he killed (or is believed to have killed) a dragon. However, in the episode "The Crossroads of Destiny" in book two, Iroh himself seems to suggest that his "nickname" comes from his unique ability to breathe fire after drinking tea. So which one is it?
"Do you know why they call me the Dragon of the West?"..."It's more of a demonstration, really..." He's showing off his firebending prowess, not just that specific technique. His firebending prowess was how he defeated the dragons.
@@GammaPunk Well, It's just that he specifically chose to perform a fire breath. He has demonstrated greater firebending prowess elsewhere in the series, so this seems like it was a deliberate play on "dragon = fore breath". At least that's what I think the writers were going for. The more than likely they just forgot that scene (because it's just an offhand joke) and wrote a second explanation for the title "dragon" without realising the consistency error.
@@nessiteras_rhombopteryx It's not really inconsistent. He's a badass firebender, at the very least the best in the series that we see, yes, even more than Azula. And you'd have to be a pretty big badass in general to kill a dragon.
It's like in Warhammer Fantasy, there's one Vampire Bloodline known as the Blood Dragons, and their shtick is going around fighting champions and monsters so they can eventually cure themselves of their literal bloodlust, which the cure happens to be dragon blood specifically, but than you'd still have to be a huge badass to fight all the crazy things encountered in Warhammer, let alone a dragon, so it works out.
So uh yeah, Iroh is called the Dragon of the West cause he's a huge badass, and you'd have to be a badass by the standards of badasses in order to fight and kill dragons, or at least have people believe you did it.
@@tylermcneeley3136 I Don't think you understand my problem. In this episode, we're told that Iroh received the Honorific title of "Dragon" after killing a dragon (or at least pretending to). In an earlier episode, he himself implies that his moniker "Dragon of the West" is a nickname given to him for his unusual fire bending ability to breathe fire after drinking hot tea, rather than it being the traditional honorific title of "Dragon" given to those who have killed a dragon.
@@nessiteras_rhombopteryx Why would he have a title for that? It just seems like a really basic thing for firebenders to do, to breath fire.
Here's a crazy analogy, Uncle Iroh most likely had a partner who danced with him when he faced the dragons - that partner would most likely be his son Lu Ten
I don't think his son could be his partner (if he had any), by that point he would be way too young, considering he wasn't that much older than zuko probably not even a decade
They never stated you have to do the dance when you meet the dragons, you are just supposed to present your fire to them. Here it was just Aang's idea to do the dance because they both lost their fire.
The only time we ever see Lu Ten and Zuko together is in flashback, and there Zuko is a baby while Lu Ten is at the very least a young adolescent, probably younger, so that wouldn't make any sense.
I was surprised to see a premiere notification earlier than usual but I would never complain about more overanalyzing.
I always thought of the flame tornado as a psychedelic experience. Partly the colors, but also the way Zuko says “I understand…” like he’s having a grand spiritual epiphany.
I’d say the only connection is psychedelic experiences are entirely within, and Aang/Zuko had a deeply personal, internal epiphany
If I was to face the trial of Ran and Shaw, I'd definetely screw up. There's no way I could memorize the statues' moves by following said moves just once.
yeaahh i wonder if that's just dramatic license or if trained martial artists simply gain the ability to 'sight-read' the way a lifelong musician could instantly grasp a song from sheet music
@@KairuHakubi That's a really interesting thought. It would have never crossed my mind but it totally makes sense that a martial artist, dancer, or other professionals that use their bodies have a quicker understanding and easier memorization of movements.
I'd really like to know if this is true, if someone who knows is reading this.
@@KairuHakubi I’m pretty sure it’s the latter. Just like how chess grandmasters can play a game in their head. Besides it’s only like 10 moves or so, and visual choreograph is much easier to remember than most things. Plus modern technology has weakened our memories. People used to recite entire stories from memory and navigate through open ocean using only the ever-changing positioning of stars
@@benlewis5312 sure but it probably took them just as long to memorize that stuff, or slightly less. they didn't navigate in the ocean chartless having glanced at the chart once.
I mean its also possible the dragons weren't actually expecting perfection, they are after all supposed to be teachers. They wouldn't be very good teachers if they killed you for making a single misstep.
ive never met someone or heard someone talk about this episode in the exact same way i feel about it. 100% my favorite episode as well and its all because that ending scene. well done.
So, I'm writing an essay about why Toph is such a great representation of disability in media, and I LOVE how she learned earthbending from the badgermoles. It's like a blind person learning life skills from another blind person. It also teaches Toph, and this other blind people, that they are MUCH more capable than able bodied people think they are. Toph learns a skill that no one in her life thought she could "truly master" BY a creater who's MASTERED the skill. This showed Toph that she's MUCH more capable than people think she is, and thus she KNEW she could be an amazing earthbender. Even if the writers weren't aware of it in this sense, it's still fucking cool!
Also also, just like for Toph, Earth bending isn't just an ability, like it is for cited vendors. She treats it like the Badgermoles do, as an extension of herself. This is just like learning life skills from a blind person AS a blind person. It's not just a cool party trick, "hey I can get around with my eyes closed." It's a skill that you use every day. That's how Toph treats earthbending.
@MansaMusa It's pretty impressive she could do it while still blind though, presumably before learning how to see with the earth. she mimicked them by just.. what, feeling their energy? the badgermoles didn't Helen Keller her by holding her hands or anything, with their giant claws XD
@@KairuHakubi I don't think it's remarkable. No. My educated guess, as an actual blind person, is that she always had the skill, but the badgermoles helped her hone it, similar to how, as kids, we blind people can hear cars and such, but we're taught what they mean and how to navigate them properly. We're also taught how to logic out what we hear and feel. For instance, if the TV is on, odds are someone is watching it. Plus, there are probably elements of it that even Toph doesn't remember, because she was so young when she met the badgermoles. Also, it's a fantacy show, so, even though Toph is VERY similar to actual blind people, and VERY well actualized as such, she still has an ability that, though I wish I did have, real blind people do not.
Hope this helps answer your question.
@@ZeldaWolf2000 Huh, using text-to-speech or something? I'll try not to use any made-up words it wouldn't know how to pronounce... Let's see uh...
I mean, we see her doing the exact movements with her hands that the badgermoles are doing with their paws.. doesn't that sort of indicate.. whatever I said?
I always thought that Sozin wasnt bending any smoke he was taking the heat from the volcano. We see that advanced fire benders can manipulate the heat of an object without creating fire. Like iroh with his cuffs.
yeah but creating heat out of nothing to heat something up is definitely different from REMOVING heat from something and sending it out somewhere else. I think he was unique in doing that move, probably learned it from adapting the lightning-redirect technique, and the animators made it look way too much like he was smokebending (fair enough the fast moving air would take smoke with it, but..)
@@KairuHakubi We see waterbenders change temperature of water all the time by turning it from water to ice back to water again.
@@KairuHakubi I mean sozin at that point is also most likely the strongest fire bender. Avatar takes a lot of artistic freedom to show things that cant be seen normally. Like airbending. The root of firebending comes from energy so it all connects logically
@@KairuHakubi Its probably just more it was the only way they could think of to represent it, similar to how Aang isn't literally throwing around blue air when he does stuff, that's just for you, the audience.
I think that, unlike other movies/series that greatly peak in a single scene and then are just average for the rest of the run-time (Like Up's first minutes), this episode has the perfect raising tempo, with the first 2/3 slowly unraveling the themes of the episode, and then goes on a full climax with the final dragon dance.
I always loved the scene where they perform the Dancing Dragon along with the dragons. Like you said, visually stunning. I find it so interesting to watch the dragons perform the same moves as Aang and Zuko in perfect sync.
"Don't patronise me! You know what it's supposed to look like!"
Poor Zuko, can't get his fire up 😭
Hell yeah! One of my favorite episodes of ATLA is finally being covered!
This is my favorite episode too. The feelings that the colors invoke and Zuko's "I understand" are beautiful
Don’t forget Zuko’s smile
I think the ending being used for the song here is beautiful and special - if it was used for other stuff in the show then yeah I’d think it was weird, but this is the only time we hear it in the show and therefore it makes it pretty special. And a nice foreshadowing to Zuko and Aangs eventual close friendship.
easily my favorite episode too. the scene where Zuko and Aang are surrounded by flames gives me goosebumps EVERY TIME
It's also the first episode Aang and Zuko are together as full allies, trusting each other, developing a brotherly bond.
Yeah. But I like how their relationship progresses throughout the seasons
These next 8 episodes are all so good man, can't wait to see them. Also, enjoy your break!
Perhaps much like Zuko, Iron also stuggled doing the right and wrong things. Lying about killing the last dragons might've been one of the first seeds planted, and the death of Lu Ten was the thing that set everything into motion.
The scars on Jiang Jiangs face represent his scared perspective of fire bending. I like how they had him actually master all the 4 elements before actually learning fire like Jiang Jiang said he should.
I love to think of the chant being the ending song foreshadowing the ultimate union of Aang and Zuko. Their journeys have paralleled each other’s and it has all come to a culmination of them uniting and climbing the steps together
I think this episode deserves a lot of credit for the simple pay-off that led-up to it. Here we have Aang - the main protagonist of the show and Zuko - the former main _antagonist_ of the show who has effectively become just as much a main protagonist as Aang is... _finally_ working _together._
It's the first time they've really done it since the Blue Spirit. And this time, they are working toward the same purpose.
There's just something so satisfying about seeing the Dragon Dance at the end, seeing Zuko and Aang synchronized with the Dragons, and knowing their parallel stories throughout the series. It felt like the definitive moment where the two stories became _one._
This episode and the finale are what I’ve been waiting for. Keep up the great work. Love everything you do
i've been looking forward to the southern raiders one
Damn dude you killed it this episode. That wrap up speech was fucking amazing.
Eating half an apple in one massive bite is a power move if I’ve ever seen one
Its actually possible. Just this damn seeds on way.
Zuko tool a long time to face away from the fire nation, and he had Iroh. I think meeting the Dragons was Irohs first step, but he had to take all subsequent steps alone. I bet he got stuck somewhere along the way, and his son's death pushed him to take those last few steps and become the man we see today.
I think Iroh meeting the dragons earlier makes sense. It gave him a new perspective on fire, but not necessarily the fire nation, at that point he was likely still disillusioned by the idea that they where spreading prosperity and innovation rather than death.
It’s not until his sons death that he understand what the fire nation is, how it spreads uncontrollably, but by that point there’s nothing he can do, it’s too late… Zuko however gives Iroh the second chance he needed, to raise a son to love rather than destroy.
i just want to say that even though I cant support you on Patreon I will help grow this channel by sharing
it to everyone I know i hope to see
this chanel hit 500k by the end of this serres
As a retired content creator, I can tell you this will always be one of the best things you can do :)
i really used to like your videos! i never had an account so i couldn't ever comment or like
Thank you :) I appreciate the kind words, especially since it has been several years haha
Iroh was next in line to become the next Firelord. He probably thought "If I can hold out until my father dies, then I can change the world."
Then Lu Tuan died, and Ozia used his moment of weakness to take the Throne.
It is probably far more complicated than we realize.
Isnt Irohs nickname “The DRAGON of the West” ? What if his “confrontation and killing of the last dragon” was really him meeting Shen and Rha, confronting the wrongful use of fire-bending, and killing that idea of him?
The only explanation I can think of for Iroh is that he met the dragons on a spiritual quest after he is son died, but when he told Zuko about it, he made it seem like he killed the last dragon decades ago so the recently “dishonored” Zuko would not go seeking them out to kill them in a misguided attempt to restore his “honor”. I feel like Iroh wanted to share this story yet he didn’t want his still confused nephew to hunt them down because at the time he told the story, Zuko was not at peace and would have likely chosen violence. Zuko would either have killed the last dragons or died trying (most likely at that point in his journey died trying).
ya know the swamp benders, these sun warriors, and that joke about the yu yan really makes me think about the monopoly the air nomads had on their element and it's extra weird since they're in a pretty strict theme. aang was pretty well traveled before he got avatar pressure too so it's not like they were isolationist.
Maybe a lesser desire for conflict and their pacifist philosophy led the air-bending culture to be less diversified than other kinds. In korra we can see that the four elements originated from four lion turtles around the world, so for instance, at some point during their history what would be the polar water tribes separated from the swamp water benders and became two distinct cultures. Meanwhile with the air benders we already see a monastic tradition that managed to survive all that time.
Still, we do see a divergence and variations of air nomad philosophy with some thinkers like Guru Laghima and his (honeslty) pretty extremist philosohpy on detachment, that I can't imagine your run of the mill, globetrotter and world-loving air nomad adhering to.
Lastly, the four air temples are pretty distinct architecturally, and that suggests deeper regional differences from one temple to another, even inside that "samey" and unified air nomad culture, that we don't get to see on screen because, well, they are dead.
9:40 I would also like to point out a small detail he missed, you can see Aang with a much smaller flame than Zuko. I believe this could be due to Zukos experience and Aangs fear of firebending
And when the world needed Avatar over analyzed the most… he vanished…
Avatar need as ever today.
6:34 In german, "anteater" is literally "antbear" (Ameisenbär)
I always liked that Aang’s flame stays smaller for basically the entire episode because he’s still being so apprehensive about firebending after his previous attempt
Did anyone else notice in the scene Sokka approaches Zuko and Aang's lesson, it goes back and forth with him wearing his blue fingerless gloves? I noticed that after my 100th time rewatching it on Netflix so I'm surprised that wasn't caught here
Also separate question. Are going to get more overanalyzing episodes with Legend of Korra when we are done with The Last Airbender??
been loving this channel and it’s been so awesome to see you grow this year.
happy holidays, excited for the rest of this to come in the new year!
9:07 so the reason that the drums don't match the theme, as I understand it, is that they outsourced the animation to a south Korean animation studio, and they only gave them the script. I don't think the voice lines or any audio had been recorded yet. This is why the mouth movements don't match at all in the show, because that studio was given the freedom to focus on the emoting of the faces, rather than strictly animating the words in their mouths. It's little things like that that go into why so much more of the show has movement in every shot, like how sokka is moving and emoting while toph talks. It's because they had more time and liberty to go nuts with the expressions of the characters.
Unsurprisingly,one of the greatest shows of all time has Small and miniscule details that really make the show special 👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
I don't know what it is about it, but the scenes with the dragons circling them and with the flames cycling around them make me tear up every time. Easily one of my favorite episodes.
I love that ran and sha move just like tui and la did, and it connects back to the original firebending requiring balance
Hope to see more from you as we near the end of ATLA!
Sideways does a cool analysis about that chanting the sun warriors do, it's very cool, highly recommend.
I always imagined iroh did find and kill what he may have believed to be the last dragon and on reflection following the siege he sought out the sun warrior civilization for similar reasons to why zuko did. That’s when he discovered them.
So who else is wondering where our next episode is, I’m getting concerned been bout 2 weeks hope everything’s ok :(
he was taking a small break to see family it's all good
I think Irohs journey must have been like Zukos , many small steps to break down his entrenched beliefs
At 8:39 Zuko confidently says he and Aang can beat the two masters, while the sole reason for this trip is for him (and Aang) to learn firebending again.
Tbh, Aang has like three other elements mastered and Zuko is very good with the swords. But it's probably the case of Zuko just not thinking things through, that's kind of his character trait