It’s easy to forget that they rarely re-use locations, introduce new characters in nearly every episode and fights are choreographed with bespoke choreography that barely repeats any moves. More than that, we get no flashbacks during fights or much cutting to spectators. Avatar: TLA eschews many of the shortcuts many shows of this type (typically anime) employ to save on budget. The series looks very cinematic as it feels like you get something genuinely unique in every single episode.
Honestly it’s good that Jeong Jeong wasn’t Aangs permanent teacher. He taught Aang important stuff like restraint and control, but i don’t think it would be good long term. JJ’s self-hatred of his own element wouldn’t be good for the Avatar, someone who is meant to honor, learn and appreciate each element. It could also paint a bad picture in Aang’s mind regarding firebending and the fire nation when it’s time to rebuild the world after the war
Another reason it is better the way the show did it is that Zuko being Aang's teacher required him to transition from student to master and this helped him grow his own understanding of Firebending. After all, the best way to learn something is usually to teach it.
I think it would be his arc to find the duality of fire. Just like what he and zuko did. I really hope IRoh or zuko took him to sun warrriors. If someone deserved some peace with himself its jeong-jeong
It was better that Zuko taught him. Both Aang, who was afraid of fire’s destructive power, and Zuko, who always used hatred to bend, learned the true nature of firebending and became stronger than they ever could’ve before
It might just be me, but does anyone else feel like the scene where Aang burns Katara is one of the most horrifying moments in the show? I mean, grew up with stories kids with magic powers, but then seeing someone accidentally hurting someone with their powers is just so… visceral
Absolutely! Obvs that is a bit diminished because that's exactly when Katara discovers healing powers (this is still Nickelodeon after all haha), but seeing the hero just straight up burn his friend with the "enemy" element really struck a chord with me even as a small lad watching for the first time.
Agreed, it had a pretty big impact. And learning Katara’s screams was so sad. It’s especially sad cuz it’s her, she’s so kind and was always determined to defend Aang
Especially as we all know how painful it is to be burned, her hands are the most important part of her bending, and our interaction with the world, we know (before she discovers her healing powers) how painful to burn our hands is
Another thing I really like about this episode is the interaction between Katara and Jeong Jeong. It's also the first episode where Katara uses water to heal. It brings Aang fear of the destruction fire can cause, but also helps Katara to learn that she has healing capabilities too. It's a nice contrast between fire and water that again leads to what we see in the future with how much damage water bending can do too.
DESTINY!? What would a boy know of Destiny? If a fish lives his whole life in this river, does he know the river’s destiny? No! Only that it goes on and on, out of his control. He may follow where it flows but he cannot see its end. He can’t imagine the Ocean.
I knew Zuko was gonna be Aang's teacher once Toph showed up. Pakku is supposed to be his teacher, but then it's Katara, Bumi is suppose to teach him, but then it's Toph. Aang's first two teachers are kids, it'd be out of place for his last teacher to be an adult, it's gonna be a Fire Nation kid . . . wait, no need to introduce one, there's already one hunting Aang X3
The dragons only taught Aang the fire bending techniques since fire and earth are the hardest elements for Aang to learn like how water bending and air bending were the hardest elements for Roku because prior to the retcon in Whorra the hardest elements for the Avatar isn't the element that doesn't match their personality, but the hardest elements for the Avatar to master are elements they're not born naturally gifted at@@naurrrre.
Book 1 in general is underrated. Not as deep and impactful as 2 and 3, but still vital into setting the stage for the characters and the world they breathe in.
@@LuisSierra42 It is underrated. Just see how may people recommend this show with a line like "season 1 is not that great but just wait until season 2 then it will really pick up steam". I mean its not wrong, the later seasons get better (especially since the showrunners got more confident that Nick won't cancel it if its "too mature"), but without the setup of season 1, most of the character arcs or plot twists of season 2 and 3 would have been so much weaker, especially when it comes to Zuko and the Fire Nation as a whole.
Agreed. Season 1 is actually my favorite season and I love the “filler” episodes because they contribute to character development and the world building.
Roku saying " i have mastered the elemnents a 1000 times over a 1000 lifetimes. Now i must do it once again" Sound sooo heavey. There's been an avatar for this long and still MUST go on. Sounds more like a burden or a curse than anything phrased this way. Almost kinda sad
Well in a way it is both. for one it must be lonely. As they are the only avatar there is no other to speak to outside well them selves. The rest of the world also knows that and will likely demand from that person to act as they see that a avatar should. Then do to them having to relearn that every time in a way the person being the avatar is expensive and you depend on them being trained again and again. Making them deployable as a avatar only after about let say about 25 years after the last died. based on that most will learn that they are the avatar at 16 years and it normally taking years to master a element. So most likely only starting to learn the none native elements after that.
For sure! Aang's struggles with earth and fire are easily some of my favorite story beats. Kinda wish they had more episodes to dive a bit deeper about how he overcomes that, but now I'm just getting greedy 😅
Definitely, and NATLA just completely skipped over this massive character development. I mean you can become a master by just practicing 1 scroll now so...
Definitely, and NATLA just completely skipped over this massive character development. I mean you can become a master by just practicing 1 scroll now so...
Here’s a short list of important things this episode does: - Further reinforces the “fire is bad” theme that ultimately pays off when Aang learns that it isn’t inherently bad from the dragons making the pay off that much better. - Introduces healing abilities for water benders which allows a realistic misogynist in Paku to have a cultural belief to represent in believing women can only become healers not true benders. - Introduced the first “good” fire bender in Jong Jong (we don’t know for certain that Iroh is a good guy yet). - Makes Aang learn about the dangers of uncontrolled power and why someone like the fire lord/fire nation are so dangerous. - Gives Aang a challenge very unique to the avatar that’s unique to fire similar to how earth is a challenge for an air bender, making the reward of him WILLINGLY learning fire bending later much more of a moral victory.
The scene with Jeong Jeong and Avatar Roku is awesome; one of my favorites in the whole show. Jeong Jeong tells us the rules that have never been broken and must be followed: the avatar must learn the elements in the same order and accordance to the Avatar Cycle, which means Aang is far from ready for fire. But here we have Roku, seemingly coming out of nowhere. As the previous avatar, he knows this rule better than even the guy who just told it. And he says to break the rule. It just gives so much life and dimension and nuance to the Avatar as a concept, that it's this incredible journey of learning power and responsibility, and yet for Aang, it has to go against so much of what it had been for "a thousand" past lives, presumably - nay, assuredly - out of desperation caused by the scenario that the world is currently facing. It is so cool to see Aang's ultimate mentor tell one of the wisest people in the world to break the rules for Aang.
Yeah I think aang could've learned fire bending if he was more focus and just listen what jeong jeong said I don't think the avatar has to follow the order of the avatar cycle to learn the elements you just need focus and patience
I feel like jeong jeong erred in his teaching method because he missed his chance to "strike while the iron is hot." When aang burned katara, the consequence of his action was very fresh, making him extremely open to guidance towards not making the same mistake again. Instead, aang was essentially abandoned with no way to learn proper control, forcing him to run away to avoid the mistake instead of learning restraint/control to avoid making the mistake. Basically, jeong jeong only ended up teaching aang to fear the element, not respect, something that took most of the series to overcome. This is why I typically don't intervene the first time when a research assistant is about to make a non-critical experimental mistake, so that the experience will make them open to learning. I can tell them repeatedly to watch out for this, watch out for that, but it's usually only when the mistake happens that they take my warnings seriously.
I totally agree with your point, but I also think this fits his character as well. Jeong Jeong is a fire bender who is afraid of his own element. He didn’t even want to teach it to Aang in the first place until he was ready. So I think seeing what happened to Katara solidified not only his initial expectations of Aang, but also the fear he has in himself of what fire can do. While he should have enforced the dangers into Aang in the moment, I think this is what he would have chosen to do no matter what due to his morals and fears.
Same with me and my students. As long as they are not doing something that will cause true harm to a patient I will let them make any attempt and treatment plan they want. Afterwards I have a discussion with about the correct way and relate it to the patient so they can have a real world concept and application to it. Typically I see my students learn from this and do not make the same mistake twice.
There's another really meaningful detail about this episode. This happened immediately after the episode that Sokka, upon finding that Aang had been keeping from him and Katara the map to their father, impulsively, and out of anger, decided to abandon Aang to go find their father. But then they both agreed that they had to stay with Aang because it was their duty to protect him. But then in this episode when Aang hurts Katara, it likely made Sokka, and Katara also, start thinking that they maybe should've left Aang after all. It also ties into the running joke in Jet about "Sokka's instincts" and how Sokka is more in self-conflict about whether he truly can rely on his instincts. After his foolishness burned Katara, Sokka would probably feel confirmation that he should indeed listen to his immediate instincts for the sake of his sister's safety.
An interesting point. Had not thought of this. And also, likely led to Sokka going with his instincts later I the show, such as with the one with Hama.
This is amazing. The Deserter has always been my favorite book one episode. There are so many things done perfectly in this episode and, as a kid, watching Aang pick up his first tinge of firebending so quickly and then schooling Zhao got me so excited for what was to come.
Jeong jeong is one of my favorite characters, because of what he went through in his life he ended having this flawed idea about fire being only destruction. Avatar always went out the way to show the wise people were also not perfect. Jeong jeong never bends fire from his limbs and his movements match that of a water bender
I always really enjoyed this episode, but I never see it high on anyone’s tier list. Then again, I’m weird since I say Bitter Work is my favorite episode
It's not even that people don't rank this episode high, I just don't see people even talking about 😅 As for Bitter Work, I wouldn't say it's my favorite, but it's an excellent episode imo
Bitter Work isn't my favorite, but it's in that stretch of "Oops all bangers" episodes from season 2. Most people that I've seen talk about the series put all those episodes high on the list.
23:59, so funnily enough, the episodes prominently featuring the Dai-Li and The Puppetmaster all share a head writer with The Deserter. He also wrote The Swamp, pretty neat.
What a surprise to see this pop up almost immediately after I've finished rewatching the series, especially one on Jeong Jeong, a character who I didn't really thought that much of as a kid(most likely due to his very little screen time) but has grown to become one of my favourites as of late & this vid just captures the reason why.
Roku knew it was not a wise decision teach firebending to aang, but he also knew the situacion of the world. If not at that moment, maybe aang wouldn't have a chance to master firebending at all. (English is not my first language, sorry for any mistake i'm still learning)
Bro had less than year he needed to break some rules if he was gonna win Roku believed in aang that he could understand fire before the other elements however we see he shouldn’t of
Fun fact: the reason it’s spelled with a T like in French is because of the Norman invasion of the British Isles’ influence on English, a Germanic language, especially with regard to government and political words.
@@anjafrohlich1170 yeah like imagine being Roku, with all the power in the world, which you learnt to control and restrain, only to realize as you are dying that maybe it would have been better to use the power a little more here and there
The first video that TH-cam recommended from your channel to me was AoT overanalysis. I have watched it because of you. Now i've seen Avatar first, only after your videos. And I can truly understand this depth in your videos! Thanks!
Thought we'd all know that it's possible Jeong Jeong was moving into the spirit world due to his time spent in meditation. Explains why Roku showed up and Jeong Jeong was not scared and just did as he was told. It was not an unusual occurrence.
Wow beautiful video honestly my favorite i think Ive always loved this episode You talked about it in the best ways possible and made me realize alot Thankyou:3
There was a videoby "My little thought tree" on this very episode not so long ago, which I really enjoyed. He said it was his favorite episode of book 1, and talked about Jeong Jeong's fear impeding him from teaching Aang properly the way of firebending, of control and restraint.
I think that this is not just an underrated episode but also the best episode in this season. I like how this shows how good an episode can be, even without any extremely significant character moments or interactions. This is no storm or blue spirit where the focus is on character interactions or actively moving the plot forward. Of course, there is that scene where Aang accidentally burns Katara but this episode didn't even need that to be good. It purely focuses on fire nation and fire as an element; world building (as dry as it can be) is fun atleast for me.
I absolutely love this analysis. I know a lot of people hate on Legend of Korra, but this kind of makes me think on Zaheer and how he was written, the dynamic he played in the story and the effect he had on Korra. He gives me similar vibes to Zhao, but he's vastly different.
6:12 That statue isn't of Kyoshi. Kyoshi's statue is in that room it's just not next to Roku because the statues in that room aren't set up in any obvious order.
Funny that The Great Divide is controversial I don't like it as an episode, but I have a lot of nostalgia for it because it's literally the first episode I saw and where I originally picked the story up from
I love The Great Divide the most out of all of Book 1 because it shows the true reality of the wealthy elitists pricks and extremely dirty poor families like myself, and having DIE and ESG scores won't truly fix the solutions in this society, and the true way of fixing society is by having the wealthy elitists pricks distribute their money equally across the globe.
i think its over-hated tbh. i mean, its definitely one of the weaker episodes. its one of my least favorites from book one and i get why people would dislike it or skip it. but i could not find a single thing in it that would make it understandable for so many people to hate it so passionately. its weak, but it doesnt commit any crimes against humanity, s'far as i could tell.
6:19 I wonder if that’s a statue of the guy everyone thought was the avatar before discovering kyoshi. I can’t remember his name, but maybe the southern air temple never encountered the avatar or just never updated it
I really love JJ, his malice is actually deep rooted and unwavering. Most characters with malice completely undermine it by being too cartoony, not justifying it well enough, or becoming hopeful. (You could say his second appearence ruins this but it is so quick its’ too hard to gauge)
I sometimes wonder what it would've been like in Jeong Jeong traveled with or returned the Team avatar to teach Aang firebending when he has had the experience with Water and Earth bending. Especially with Aang's fear for firebending and the Avatar state. I like that Zuko is eventually his teacher and it was the right choice, but I still have that "what if" in my head of Jeong Jeong's philosophy shaping Aang's bending and having a true older Master teach him instead of a peer.
About the scene with Roku, this scene always reminded me of the exodus story from the Bible, specifically the part when God reveals itself to Moses through a burning bush. Just like in the story, the tree here is on fire but does not look burning or decaying- which conveniently also ties perfectly to Jeong Jeong's take on fire bending. Also just like in the biblical story he looks away from the tree as a sign of respect as he is tasked with his mission. I think it really shows Jeong Jeong views the avatar as literally God. This is later emphasized when he says "I have never seen such raw power".
10:00 Cheng: "He's the first one to leave the army and live". You: "Maybe he meant to say he's the first one to leave and live." No, he didn't mean to say that. He *did* say that, lol.
Bro beat me to it, and finally spoke about this episode. I haven’t seen anyone mention THIS or how Aang didn’t firebend either in the Netflix show.( Ima still make my video tho 🗿)
What’s really funny to me is that the first episode of Avatar that I watched was the “Great Divide” episode. I watched it on CN when they still showed episodes. Even the worst episode still got me interested in ATLA so I can’t hate it that much
It would be really cool to have a prequel animated series that explores the birth of aang in relation to rokua death we could see young bumi and a character we never get to see kuzon. We would get to learn more of the fire nations internal struggles for the thrown. And see more of the picture as to why Roku and ozai grew separate morales. And I've always thought it would be a strange twist to reveal fire benders are actually airbenders. That have focused particularly of bending the heat of the air. This would have explained why one of aangs best friends was a fire bender perhaps in the past fire benders were more peaceful like the sun warriors and airbenders and together could do amazing things. This would also play into the Airbender temple drama of giatso not wanting aang to train at the wrong age growing up to quickly and the other monks feeling like evading responsibility will be an issue. Perhaps the other monks had also been aware that the tribe was split between adult thinkers and free minded children. Aangs connection with giatso was his guiding light to remain true to his air bending nature while the other who were less at peace with giatso's decision may have surrendered to the fire nation. Leaving only aangs friends and giatso murdered by the fire nation. Other surviving airbenders join the fire nation and learn fire bending through heating of air. Tho I gotta admit I don't fully believe this theory I like pondering other stories as to why things happened the way they did
Funny I just saw another TH-cam video saying this was the author's favorite episode of season 1. He also makes a good case for the quality of this great episode. I really hope to see many more of your episode-by-episode deep dive "overanalysis" ATLA videos. Long before your Attack on Titan Overanalysis series began, I often told anyone that would listen that AOT and ATLA are essentially two of the deepest and most intelligent shows ever created. Almost every single episode has enough nuance and complexity that you can write a 30+ minute analysis video *without* going into "Overanalyzing" territory. Finally, I apologize in advance for possibly being negative. That's what I thought if the right person makes such videos. I am MUCH more interested in what you have to say concerning Jeong Jeong's toxic philosophy and the shows nuanced discussion of the regular people living and growing up in a propaganda brainwashing military dictatorship in the midst of a war that has lasted longer than practically every single person's lives...rather than, oh let's say, spend hours upon hours complaining that they animated the full moon in meaningless glancing shots in far too many episodes. Or that in real life Aang's bending in episode X would have resulted in the accidental death of some soldier in the background, therefore his claim of "never taking a life" is some sort of monumentally critical plot-hole. (It's not even hearing it over and over that becomes exasperating. It's the "smarter than the writers" subtext, when I find it far more interesting that perhaps the writers purposely snuck in many of the background deaths as a joke on the TV-Y7 Nickelodeon censors. We know they actively pushed the censors, such as doing everything they could to get away with Jet's death while technically following Nick's "no murder" commandment (then even joking about it in "The Ember Island Players.") But I digress. I admit my insults are far less veiled and more obvious than anything on ATLA. My point still stands that I'd LOVE to keep seeing you do episode-by-episode deep dive "analysis" (no "over" needed) videos on ATLA. (But please don't stop AOT either! Lol 😜)
The Top-Knots on the Poster might have a deeper meaning. If cutting of the knot represents cutting ties with the Fire-Nation depicting the Deserters with the Knot means You still belong to us, you still are under our jurisdiction. Especially since historically Deserters face the death penalty.
Honestly I don’t get why the great divide gets as much hate as it does. Is it the best episode? I don’t think so, but I think it’s good in the way that it shows that the avatar is there to broker peace among others, at whatever cost, even if lying gets that peace.
I feel like a lot of people gloss over the significance of the leaf exercise.... They see him destroy the leaf in a burst of flames and consider it a success, like: "yay! He learned it!" But that completely misses the point of the lesson....
Is it underrated? I and every friend of mine who likes avatat all agree that it's one of the best episodes in book 1, and even in the top episodes of the show in general. The beginning of the episode just feels a little meh before it finally picks up and becomes glorious at the end
HUGE recommend. I enjoyed the Kyoshi ones a bit more then Yangchan, but they're all really good. Way more mature in themes too. AND there's a Roku one coming out this summer! The audiobooks are also really good btw.
The great devide was arguably a bad episode but a good lesson. Like Dora the explorer in a way. Lesson, don't make assumptions about people, forgive and forget is the only way to move forward, enemies become friends when faced with a collective threat, and people don't (usually) let go of life long grudges. Sad episode really.
The only disappointing element in this episode was how Zhao got fooled a bit too easily. Sure they foreshadowed him being impulsive. But he is a far cry from the insightfull and cunning admiral from a few episodes ago. Aang s plot to exploit zhao s flaw could have been a bit more complex. Otherwise it was an incredible introduction to fire bending and how not all fire nation are evil ..
Those videos make the Netflix series look even worse, we'll ignore that Aang didn't water bend at all in the first book of *WATER*, revealing the Firelord so early, completely removing this episode, it feels like they want an action series and nothing more, and even that pales in comparison, because animated fights just look flatout better because there is no burden of physics and effects needed. They rush every plot point, the Air Nomads extermination, there was no reason to show it at the very beginning, Iroh's son plot point, WE HAVEN'T EVEN LEARNED ABOUT IROH YET, why would we feel sad about it, because they relay on people already knowing that plot point and the character, for those that don't know, why would they be sad, or at least as sad as the revelation was in Ba Sing Se, which was foreshadowed by Iroh's capture by the earth benders and than followed by Zhao talking about the death of Iroh's son. That series is infuriating because it had the budget and talent to be good, but the writers completely missed the point of the whole show entirely, all the lessons, the symbolism, the build up, everything feels either gone or rushed.
Wolf Cove was established in the canon after the original run (don't remember whether it was a game or the RPG book that first mentioned it, but it's definitely called that), Netflix just yoinked it :) avatar.fandom.com/wiki/Wolf_Cove
I need this to make sense………Okk commander Zhao gets taken by the Water spirit in the like the first or second book right with the water ……..SOOOO HOW IS HE BACK ? What happened ? How is he alive now ? Did I miss something ?
Uhhh, what do you mean he's back? 😂 He gets yoinked into the spirit world at the end of book 1 and we don't see him until the fog of lost souls way later in Korra.
Kinda off topic but obviously i get that not everybody wants or even likes kids but it's mildly frustrating seeing many reactors be so annoyed or even angry at aang in this and the previous episode
The live action remake should've focused on Sokka's father teaching Aang to master the Water Bending perfectly; Jong Jong teaching Aang to master fire bending perfect, and Bumi teaching Aang earth bending perfectly.
Lowkey I feel like people rarely mention just how good the show looks visually
It’s easy to forget that they rarely re-use locations, introduce new characters in nearly every episode and fights are choreographed with bespoke choreography that barely repeats any moves. More than that, we get no flashbacks during fights or much cutting to spectators. Avatar: TLA eschews many of the shortcuts many shows of this type (typically anime) employ to save on budget.
The series looks very cinematic as it feels like you get something genuinely unique in every single episode.
Ye
Probably because it doesn't
@popakontas328 haha lol funny joke
@@SonGoku-qn1nc what if he’s not joking
Honestly it’s good that Jeong Jeong wasn’t Aangs permanent teacher. He taught Aang important stuff like restraint and control, but i don’t think it would be good long term. JJ’s self-hatred of his own element wouldn’t be good for the Avatar, someone who is meant to honor, learn and appreciate each element. It could also paint a bad picture in Aang’s mind regarding firebending and the fire nation when it’s time to rebuild the world after the war
Another reason it is better the way the show did it is that Zuko being Aang's teacher required him to transition from student to master and this helped him grow his own understanding of Firebending. After all, the best way to learn something is usually to teach it.
I think it would be his arc to find the duality of fire. Just like what he and zuko did. I really hope IRoh or zuko took him to sun warrriors. If someone deserved some peace with himself its jeong-jeong
It was better that Zuko taught him. Both Aang, who was afraid of fire’s destructive power, and Zuko, who always used hatred to bend, learned the true nature of firebending and became stronger than they ever could’ve before
True! I never thought of it like that. Good point
It might just be me, but does anyone else feel like the scene where Aang burns Katara is one of the most horrifying moments in the show? I mean, grew up with stories kids with magic powers, but then seeing someone accidentally hurting someone with their powers is just so… visceral
Absolutely! Obvs that is a bit diminished because that's exactly when Katara discovers healing powers (this is still Nickelodeon after all haha), but seeing the hero just straight up burn his friend with the "enemy" element really struck a chord with me even as a small lad watching for the first time.
Agreed, it had a pretty big impact. And learning Katara’s screams was so sad. It’s especially sad cuz it’s her, she’s so kind and was always determined to defend Aang
It’s is but I was expecting more graphic burns which made me sag slightly
Especially as we all know how painful it is to be burned, her hands are the most important part of her bending, and our interaction with the world, we know (before she discovers her healing powers) how painful to burn our hands is
nah for me i was fr fr just laughing when i saw her get burned early into the show i did not like her
Another thing I really like about this episode is the interaction between Katara and Jeong Jeong. It's also the first episode where Katara uses water to heal. It brings Aang fear of the destruction fire can cause, but also helps Katara to learn that she has healing capabilities too. It's a nice contrast between fire and water that again leads to what we see in the future with how much damage water bending can do too.
DESTINY!? What would a boy know of Destiny? If a fish lives his whole life in this river, does he know the river’s destiny? No! Only that it goes on and on, out of his control. He may follow where it flows but he cannot see its end. He can’t imagine the Ocean.
i think about this line all the time
I knew Zuko was gonna be Aang's teacher once Toph showed up. Pakku is supposed to be his teacher, but then it's Katara, Bumi is suppose to teach him, but then it's Toph. Aang's first two teachers are kids, it'd be out of place for his last teacher to be an adult, it's gonna be a Fire Nation kid . . . wait, no need to introduce one, there's already one hunting Aang X3
As a kid, I thought Zuko would teach him simply as a what if
the dragons actually taught him 🤭
The dragons only taught Aang the fire bending techniques since fire and earth are the hardest elements for Aang to learn like how water bending and air bending were the hardest elements for Roku because prior to the retcon in Whorra the hardest elements for the Avatar isn't the element that doesn't match their personality, but the hardest elements for the Avatar to master are elements they're not born naturally gifted at@@naurrrre.
My bro predicted that as early as book 1 lol
Me personally, thought it would be iroh
Book 1 in general is underrated. Not as deep and impactful as 2 and 3, but still vital into setting the stage for the characters and the world they breathe in.
It is not underrated, it's just that the story develops so much more in the later seasons
@@LuisSierra42 It is underrated. Just see how may people recommend this show with a line like "season 1 is not that great but just wait until season 2 then it will really pick up steam". I mean its not wrong, the later seasons get better (especially since the showrunners got more confident that Nick won't cancel it if its "too mature"), but without the setup of season 1, most of the character arcs or plot twists of season 2 and 3 would have been so much weaker, especially when it comes to Zuko and the Fire Nation as a whole.
Agreed. Season 1 is actually my favorite season and I love the “filler” episodes because they contribute to character development and the world building.
Especially since book 2 is the best season in the show. Doesn’t look as great when side by side with that. Definitely underrated
@@LegioXXIthats most media you have to get through the setup to have the groundwork for the meat
Roku saying " i have mastered the elemnents a 1000 times over a 1000 lifetimes. Now i must do it once again"
Sound sooo heavey. There's been an avatar for this long and still MUST go on. Sounds more like a burden or a curse than anything phrased this way. Almost kinda sad
Well in a way it is both. for one it must be lonely. As they are the only avatar there is no other to speak to outside well them selves.
The rest of the world also knows that and will likely demand from that person to act as they see that a avatar should. Then do to them having to relearn that every time in a way the person being the avatar is expensive and you depend on them being trained again and again. Making them deployable as a avatar only after about let say about 25 years after the last died. based on that most will learn that they are the avatar at 16 years and it normally taking years to master a element. So most likely only starting to learn the none native elements after that.
True
It's cool how this episode still impacted Aang's ability to firebend all the way up to Book 3
For sure! Aang's struggles with earth and fire are easily some of my favorite story beats. Kinda wish they had more episodes to dive a bit deeper about how he overcomes that, but now I'm just getting greedy 😅
Definitely, and NATLA just completely skipped over this massive character development. I mean you can become a master by just practicing 1 scroll now so...
Definitely, and NATLA just completely skipped over this massive character development. I mean you can become a master by just practicing 1 scroll now so...
@@LynzuAndersoncan you say it again for the people in the back
Here’s a short list of important things this episode does:
- Further reinforces the “fire is bad” theme that ultimately pays off when Aang learns that it isn’t inherently bad from the dragons making the pay off that much better.
- Introduces healing abilities for water benders which allows a realistic misogynist in Paku to have a cultural belief to represent in believing women can only become healers not true benders.
- Introduced the first “good” fire bender in Jong Jong (we don’t know for certain that Iroh is a good guy yet).
- Makes Aang learn about the dangers of uncontrolled power and why someone like the fire lord/fire nation are so dangerous.
- Gives Aang a challenge very unique to the avatar that’s unique to fire similar to how earth is a challenge for an air bender, making the reward of him WILLINGLY learning fire bending later much more of a moral victory.
I think Sokka saw air ball & thought “wait I DO WANNA PLAY THIS” & invented soccer.
Or ah real football, rather than touchdown.
The scene with Jeong Jeong and Avatar Roku is awesome; one of my favorites in the whole show. Jeong Jeong tells us the rules that have never been broken and must be followed: the avatar must learn the elements in the same order and accordance to the Avatar Cycle, which means Aang is far from ready for fire. But here we have Roku, seemingly coming out of nowhere. As the previous avatar, he knows this rule better than even the guy who just told it. And he says to break the rule. It just gives so much life and dimension and nuance to the Avatar as a concept, that it's this incredible journey of learning power and responsibility, and yet for Aang, it has to go against so much of what it had been for "a thousand" past lives, presumably - nay, assuredly - out of desperation caused by the scenario that the world is currently facing.
It is so cool to see Aang's ultimate mentor tell one of the wisest people in the world to break the rules for Aang.
Yeah I think aang could've learned fire bending if he was more focus and just listen what jeong jeong said I don't think the avatar has to follow the order of the avatar cycle to learn the elements you just need focus and patience
I always found it amazing that zong zong knew aang hadn't mastered water and earth just by the way he walked.
I feel like jeong jeong erred in his teaching method because he missed his chance to "strike while the iron is hot." When aang burned katara, the consequence of his action was very fresh, making him extremely open to guidance towards not making the same mistake again. Instead, aang was essentially abandoned with no way to learn proper control, forcing him to run away to avoid the mistake instead of learning restraint/control to avoid making the mistake. Basically, jeong jeong only ended up teaching aang to fear the element, not respect, something that took most of the series to overcome.
This is why I typically don't intervene the first time when a research assistant is about to make a non-critical experimental mistake, so that the experience will make them open to learning. I can tell them repeatedly to watch out for this, watch out for that, but it's usually only when the mistake happens that they take my warnings seriously.
I totally agree with your point, but I also think this fits his character as well. Jeong Jeong is a fire bender who is afraid of his own element. He didn’t even want to teach it to Aang in the first place until he was ready. So I think seeing what happened to Katara solidified not only his initial expectations of Aang, but also the fear he has in himself of what fire can do. While he should have enforced the dangers into Aang in the moment, I think this is what he would have chosen to do no matter what due to his morals and fears.
Same with me and my students. As long as they are not doing something that will cause true harm to a patient I will let them make any attempt and treatment plan they want. Afterwards I have a discussion with about the correct way and relate it to the patient so they can have a real world concept and application to it.
Typically I see my students learn from this and do not make the same mistake twice.
There's another really meaningful detail about this episode. This happened immediately after the episode that Sokka, upon finding that Aang had been keeping from him and Katara the map to their father, impulsively, and out of anger, decided to abandon Aang to go find their father. But then they both agreed that they had to stay with Aang because it was their duty to protect him. But then in this episode when Aang hurts Katara, it likely made Sokka, and Katara also, start thinking that they maybe should've left Aang after all.
It also ties into the running joke in Jet about "Sokka's instincts" and how Sokka is more in self-conflict about whether he truly can rely on his instincts. After his foolishness burned Katara, Sokka would probably feel confirmation that he should indeed listen to his immediate instincts for the sake of his sister's safety.
An interesting point. Had not thought of this. And also, likely led to Sokka going with his instincts later I the show, such as with the one with Hama.
This is amazing. The Deserter has always been my favorite book one episode. There are so many things done perfectly in this episode and, as a kid, watching Aang pick up his first tinge of firebending so quickly and then schooling Zhao got me so excited for what was to come.
Jeong jeong is one of my favorite characters, because of what he went through in his life he ended having this flawed idea about fire being only destruction. Avatar always went out the way to show the wise people were also not perfect. Jeong jeong never bends fire from his limbs and his movements match that of a water bender
I always really enjoyed this episode, but I never see it high on anyone’s tier list.
Then again, I’m weird since I say Bitter Work is my favorite episode
It's not even that people don't rank this episode high, I just don't see people even talking about 😅
As for Bitter Work, I wouldn't say it's my favorite, but it's an excellent episode imo
Bitter Work isn't my favorite, but it's in that stretch of "Oops all bangers" episodes from season 2. Most people that I've seen talk about the series put all those episodes high on the list.
Bitter Work is my favorite episode of book 2 after The Blind Bandit and Zuko Alone
My favourite part is when Angg stops, turns to the camera and says "I know who I am, I'm a goofy kid"
"I like to play airball, eat banana cakes, and goof off with my friends"
Amazing writing. 10/10. Totally will not make any aspiring writer vomit.
I prefer the part when Aang says "i'ts Avatar time, yip yip"
23:59, so funnily enough, the episodes prominently featuring the Dai-Li and The Puppetmaster all share a head writer with The Deserter. He also wrote The Swamp, pretty neat.
One episode has to be the worst. It's nice that it's at least one where Aang ends a cultural rivalry peacefully.
Even then, The Great Divide is just the "least good" in a line of sixty-one phenomenal works of art that are each akin to a Picasso painting.
What a surprise to see this pop up almost immediately after I've finished rewatching the series, especially one on Jeong Jeong, a character who I didn't really thought that much of as a kid(most likely due to his very little screen time) but has grown to become one of my favourites as of late & this vid just captures the reason why.
I never liked how Roku, an aged and experienced avatar said "teach him fire you prick"
Like of course it went wrong...
Roku knew it was not a wise decision teach firebending to aang, but he also knew the situacion of the world. If not at that moment, maybe aang wouldn't have a chance to master firebending at all.
(English is not my first language, sorry for any mistake i'm still learning)
Bro had less than year he needed to break some rules if he was gonna win Roku believed in aang that he could understand fire before the other elements however we see he shouldn’t of
Fun fact: the reason it’s spelled with a T like in French is because of the Norman invasion of the British Isles’ influence on English, a Germanic language, especially with regard to government and political words.
@@anjafrohlich1170 yeah like imagine being Roku, with all the power in the world, which you learnt to control and restrain, only to realize as you are dying that maybe it would have been better to use the power a little more here and there
That's what I said about the wise older folk were always shown to be not perfect, even a previous Avatar. That's one of the beauties of this show
This is my absolute favorite episode of Book 1. The impact The Deserter has on the series in terms of Aang learning firebending is amazing
Bro. Omg. The amount of detail in this video?!? U did an amazing job with describing the IMPORTANCE of this episode and foreshadowing! Great work❤
at first I was curious why it had 8 views then I realized I’m actually new for once
Early I mean words are hard
Me as a non-native English speaker:
Hard words make head ouch ouch
I always love the avatar videos! Much love
In the repeated words of Dante Basco on the Braving the Elements Podcast: Lotta good folks in the Fire Nation.
Great reflections and views on everything related to this awesome episode and it's implications. Your content is top tier for me!!!
Many thanks for the kind words! 🙇♂️🙇♂️
I really enjoy your thoughtful analysis of this show I’ve loved for nearly 20 years.
your editing is top tear!!
The first video that TH-cam recommended from your channel to me was AoT overanalysis. I have watched it because of you. Now i've seen Avatar first, only after your videos. And I can truly understand this depth in your videos! Thanks!
(Just can laugh from your MEMES now)
Thought we'd all know that it's possible Jeong Jeong was moving into the spirit world due to his time spent in meditation. Explains why Roku showed up and Jeong Jeong was not scared and just did as he was told. It was not an unusual occurrence.
Wow beautiful video honestly my favorite i think
Ive always loved this episode
You talked about it in the best ways possible and made me realize alot
Thankyou:3
16:00 Aang doesnt remember turning into Kioshi. So the same goes with Roku
Love your videos man keep it up!!!
There was a videoby "My little thought tree" on this very episode not so long ago, which I really enjoyed. He said it was his favorite episode of book 1, and talked about Jeong Jeong's fear impeding him from teaching Aang properly the way of firebending, of control and restraint.
Ah, perfectly timed video to watch while I eat hehe
I think that this is not just an underrated episode but also the best episode in this season. I like how this shows how good an episode can be, even without any extremely significant character moments or interactions. This is no storm or blue spirit where the focus is on character interactions or actively moving the plot forward. Of course, there is that scene where Aang accidentally burns Katara but this episode didn't even need that to be good. It purely focuses on fire nation and fire as an element; world building (as dry as it can be) is fun atleast for me.
1:15 Jet and the pirates would like to know your location
I absolutely love this analysis. I know a lot of people hate on Legend of Korra, but this kind of makes me think on Zaheer and how he was written, the dynamic he played in the story and the effect he had on Korra. He gives me similar vibes to Zhao, but he's vastly different.
6:12 That statue isn't of Kyoshi. Kyoshi's statue is in that room it's just not next to Roku because the statues in that room aren't set up in any obvious order.
The REAL most underrated episode was when Team Avatar went to the Library and got plans for the Day of Black Sun.
True and real, but that's book 2
I remember when Nick hyped up that episode so much, and combined it with the Desert for "the fury of Aang" special
Funny that The Great Divide is controversial
I don't like it as an episode, but I have a lot of nostalgia for it because it's literally the first episode I saw and where I originally picked the story up from
I love The Great Divide the most out of all of Book 1 because it shows the true reality of the wealthy elitists pricks and extremely dirty poor families like myself, and having DIE and ESG scores won't truly fix the solutions in this society, and the true way of fixing society is by having the wealthy elitists pricks distribute their money equally across the globe.
Honestly, even though I can stand and enjoy The Great Divide, it suspiciously feels like a one-off in an otherwise tight, cohesive show.
i think its over-hated tbh. i mean, its definitely one of the weaker episodes. its one of my least favorites from book one and i get why people would dislike it or skip it. but i could not find a single thing in it that would make it understandable for so many people to hate it so passionately. its weak, but it doesnt commit any crimes against humanity, s'far as i could tell.
6:19 I wonder if that’s a statue of the guy everyone thought was the avatar before discovering kyoshi. I can’t remember his name, but maybe the southern air temple never encountered the avatar or just never updated it
16:42 this was definitely a spiritual interaction, he was meditating 🧘 when aang got there he’s connected
Jeong Jeong is such a cool character I wish he had more screen time
This is such a good video!
I really love JJ, his malice is actually deep rooted and unwavering. Most characters with malice completely undermine it by being too cartoony, not justifying it well enough, or becoming hopeful. (You could say his second appearence ruins this but it is so quick its’ too hard to gauge)
This episode set things up so well and so subtly we don't even think about how good its setup was. It's underrated because it did its job well
The measure of your maturity is how spiritual you become during the midst of your frustrations.
I sometimes wonder what it would've been like in Jeong Jeong traveled with or returned the Team avatar to teach Aang firebending when he has had the experience with Water and Earth bending. Especially with Aang's fear for firebending and the Avatar state. I like that Zuko is eventually his teacher and it was the right choice, but I still have that "what if" in my head of Jeong Jeong's philosophy shaping Aang's bending and having a true older Master teach him instead of a peer.
About the scene with Roku, this scene always reminded me of the exodus story from the Bible, specifically the part when God reveals itself to Moses through a burning bush. Just like in the story, the tree here is on fire but does not look burning or decaying- which conveniently also ties perfectly to Jeong Jeong's take on fire bending. Also just like in the biblical story he looks away from the tree as a sign of respect as he is tasked with his mission. I think it really shows Jeong Jeong views the avatar as literally God. This is later emphasized when he says "I have never seen such raw power".
10:00
Cheng: "He's the first one to leave the army and live".
You: "Maybe he meant to say he's the first one to leave and live."
No, he didn't mean to say that. He *did* say that, lol.
Bro beat me to it, and finally spoke about this episode. I haven’t seen anyone mention THIS or how Aang didn’t firebend either in the Netflix show.( Ima still make my video tho 🗿)
What’s really funny to me is that the first episode of Avatar that I watched was the “Great Divide” episode. I watched it on CN when they still showed episodes. Even the worst episode still got me interested in ATLA so I can’t hate it that much
Why tf is the fish giving "f*ck me" eyes at 0:22?
It would be really cool to have a prequel animated series that explores the birth of aang in relation to rokua death we could see young bumi and a character we never get to see kuzon. We would get to learn more of the fire nations internal struggles for the thrown. And see more of the picture as to why Roku and ozai grew separate morales.
And I've always thought it would be a strange twist to reveal fire benders are actually airbenders. That have focused particularly of bending the heat of the air. This would have explained why one of aangs best friends was a fire bender perhaps in the past fire benders were more peaceful like the sun warriors and airbenders and together could do amazing things. This would also play into the Airbender temple drama of giatso not wanting aang to train at the wrong age growing up to quickly and the other monks feeling like evading responsibility will be an issue. Perhaps the other monks had also been aware that the tribe was split between adult thinkers and free minded children. Aangs connection with giatso was his guiding light to remain true to his air bending nature while the other who were less at peace with giatso's decision may have surrendered to the fire nation. Leaving only aangs friends and giatso murdered by the fire nation. Other surviving airbenders join the fire nation and learn fire bending through heating of air.
Tho I gotta admit I don't fully believe this theory I like pondering other stories as to why things happened the way they did
I did notice nd always liked that about Jeong Jeong never left fires behind, not even Iroh could do that lol
Wolf Cove is what it’s called in the Netflix show, not the original.
Nah, the name was introduced in a game I believe. It's canon, Netflix just yoinked it from there.
@@Koroto Well, don’t use it!
Wut, why not 😅
@@Koroto Because I love you
what matter most in the roku scene is not the tree being set ablaze, it is that the whole scene is epic
I like the great divide tbh
glad someone else noticed Jeong Jeongs impressive control over fire
Funny I just saw another TH-cam video saying this was the author's favorite episode of season 1. He also makes a good case for the quality of this great episode.
I really hope to see many more of your episode-by-episode deep dive "overanalysis" ATLA videos. Long before your Attack on Titan Overanalysis series began, I often told anyone that would listen that AOT and ATLA are essentially two of the deepest and most intelligent shows ever created. Almost every single episode has enough nuance and complexity that you can write a 30+ minute analysis video *without* going into "Overanalyzing" territory.
Finally, I apologize in advance for possibly being negative. That's what I thought if the right person makes such videos. I am MUCH more interested in what you have to say concerning Jeong Jeong's toxic philosophy and the shows nuanced discussion of the regular people living and growing up in a propaganda brainwashing military dictatorship in the midst of a war that has lasted longer than practically every single person's lives...rather than, oh let's say, spend hours upon hours complaining that they animated the full moon in meaningless glancing shots in far too many episodes. Or that in real life Aang's bending in episode X would have resulted in the accidental death of some soldier in the background, therefore his claim of "never taking a life" is some sort of monumentally critical plot-hole. (It's not even hearing it over and over that becomes exasperating. It's the "smarter than the writers" subtext, when I find it far more interesting that perhaps the writers purposely snuck in many of the background deaths as a joke on the TV-Y7 Nickelodeon censors. We know they actively pushed the censors, such as doing everything they could to get away with Jet's death while technically following Nick's "no murder" commandment (then even joking about it in "The Ember Island Players.")
But I digress. I admit my insults are far less veiled and more obvious than anything on ATLA. My point still stands that I'd LOVE to keep seeing you do episode-by-episode deep dive "analysis" (no "over" needed) videos on ATLA. (But please don't stop AOT either! Lol 😜)
The Top-Knots on the Poster might have a deeper meaning.
If cutting of the knot represents cutting ties with the Fire-Nation depicting the Deserters with the Knot means You still belong to us, you still are under our jurisdiction.
Especially since historically Deserters face the death penalty.
Jeong Jeong deserved more episodes around him
10:02 that's exactly what he did say 9:50 10 seconds ago
Honestly I don’t get why the great divide gets as much hate as it does. Is it the best episode? I don’t think so, but I think it’s good in the way that it shows that the avatar is there to broker peace among others, at whatever cost, even if lying gets that peace.
Ok this gonna be weird, but did anyone else kinda find Jeong Jeong hot when first watching the show? 😅😂
Same with Master Piandao
Daddy issues lol
@@dharshandas3865 🤣🤣
Love this video 📹 ❤️
Jeong Jeong should consult the dragon masters to learn peace.
This is actually one of my favorite Book One episodes
I feel like a lot of people gloss over the significance of the leaf exercise....
They see him destroy the leaf in a burst of flames and consider it a success, like: "yay! He learned it!"
But that completely misses the point of the lesson....
Pain is life’s greatest teacher.
12:44 I don't understand what this is trying to say, the meaning and expectations behind these words
This episode is the most underrated S1 for no other reason than (for me) "YOU THINK I AM WEAK"
Not trying to be annoying. Just wondering when the next walking dead retrospective will be I’m hype ! 🔥
Is it underrated? I and every friend of mine who likes avatat all agree that it's one of the best episodes in book 1, and even in the top episodes of the show in general.
The beginning of the episode just feels a little meh before it finally picks up and becomes glorious at the end
I still think it was JonJon that went with Iroh to meet the sun warriors, he deserted after the thrown changed hands.
I can’t lie i really gotta read the light novels of yangchen and Kyoshi so much cool lore I’m missing out on
HUGE recommend. I enjoyed the Kyoshi ones a bit more then Yangchan, but they're all really good. Way more mature in themes too. AND there's a Roku one coming out this summer! The audiobooks are also really good btw.
Ouch! You burnt my hands!
At night. 😎
The great devide was arguably a bad episode but a good lesson.
Like Dora the explorer in a way.
Lesson, don't make assumptions about people, forgive and forget is the only way to move forward, enemies become friends when faced with a collective threat, and people don't (usually) let go of life long grudges.
Sad episode really.
Dang, "uploaded 11 seconds ago"
_Fast_
It’s always been my favorite from season 1
6:21 Hm, it's the same image.
Imma share my own opinion of the most underrated episode of atla, it's The Library episode.
Might want to keep an eye out for that... because, you know, that's book 2. This video is just book 1 👀👀
The depth of all of this is why we will never have another masterpiece like this series again
The only disappointing element in this episode was how Zhao got fooled a bit too easily.
Sure they foreshadowed him being impulsive. But he is a far cry from the insightfull and cunning admiral from a few episodes ago.
Aang s plot to exploit zhao s flaw could have been a bit more complex.
Otherwise it was an incredible introduction to fire bending and how not all fire nation are evil ..
Kora/Aang vs the Colossal Titan, who you got?
In my top 3 fav episodes of season 1. I cant believe how many think its not good. And f the live action for cutting him completely. 🙄🙄🙄🙄....🙄🙄🙄🙄!!!!
You think that ozai breathing fire was propaganda he enforced after seeing iroh do it?
I love my life and I hope everyone on this video loves their life too
Those videos make the Netflix series look even worse, we'll ignore that Aang didn't water bend at all in the first book of *WATER*, revealing the Firelord so early, completely removing this episode, it feels like they want an action series and nothing more, and even that pales in comparison, because animated fights just look flatout better because there is no burden of physics and effects needed.
They rush every plot point, the Air Nomads extermination, there was no reason to show it at the very beginning, Iroh's son plot point, WE HAVEN'T EVEN LEARNED ABOUT IROH YET, why would we feel sad about it, because they relay on people already knowing that plot point and the character, for those that don't know, why would they be sad, or at least as sad as the revelation was in Ba Sing Se, which was foreshadowed by Iroh's capture by the earth benders and than followed by Zhao talking about the death of Iroh's son.
That series is infuriating because it had the budget and talent to be good, but the writers completely missed the point of the whole show entirely, all the lessons, the symbolism, the build up, everything feels either gone or rushed.
Wolf Cove is only for the live action, in the actual series it's just called the South Pole.
Wolf Cove was established in the canon after the original run (don't remember whether it was a game or the RPG book that first mentioned it, but it's definitely called that), Netflix just yoinked it :)
avatar.fandom.com/wiki/Wolf_Cove
Somewhat UNRELATED, the dance Aang does is called Hamboning. You can do a TH-cam search to see examples.
love this ep when roku comes hahaaaaaa
I need this to make sense………Okk commander Zhao gets taken by the Water spirit in the like the first or second book right with the water ……..SOOOO HOW IS HE BACK ? What happened ? How is he alive now ? Did I miss something ?
Uhhh, what do you mean he's back? 😂
He gets yoinked into the spirit world at the end of book 1 and we don't see him until the fog of lost souls way later in Korra.
@@Koroto nope we see him again in avatar when aang needs firebender. Zhao was figthing aang and burning up all his boats.
That's this episode. 😂
The Deserter is in book 1
6:22 are you a programmer, no one else writes not equal that way
Kinda off topic but obviously i get that not everybody wants or even likes kids but it's mildly frustrating seeing many reactors be so annoyed or even angry at aang in this and the previous episode
Jong jong deserved more screen time
The live action remake should've focused on Sokka's father teaching Aang to master the Water Bending perfectly; Jong Jong teaching Aang to master fire bending perfect, and Bumi teaching Aang earth bending perfectly.