Book 1, Chapter 2: The Avatar Returns

The Avatar Returns, the second part of the Book 1 premiere, aired together with The Boy in the Iceberg. We pick up right after we left off, with Aang accidentally signaling the fire navy ship with the booby trap. Understandably suspicious, Sokka accuses Aang of being a fire nation spy and banishes him from the village. In a sudden act of desperation, Katara exclaims that she'll go with Aang to the north pole alone. See, Katara knows that Aang is her only chance to become a true waterbender. But as close as water bending is to her heart, she values family even more. I believe this is an important character defining moment for Katara, as she could have easily ran away in a teenage rage. Sokka asks her, "Would you really choose him over your tribe? Your own family?" She becomes visibly embarrassed and goes back to her tribe, leaving Aang to travel alone to the air temple in search of any remaining airbenders.

Before he leaves, Aang comments, "I haven't cleaned my room in a hundred years! I'm not looking forward to that." So he just found out about the 100 year war, and what he's concerned with most is how dirty his room is? Well, yeah. This is because he simply can't fathom a war or the possibility of his friends being gone... he'll just have to see it with his own eyes to truly understand the situation. Is ignorance bliss? Probably not for long.

I have to commend the show for how well the tension is built up over the next few scenes. The fire navy ship is steaming towards the village and Sokka is the sole warrior to defend it. We'll soon see just how unprepared he is for the task.

Sokka looks badass in his tribal war outfit as he's preparing for battle:

Prince Zuko gets ready for battle. From the 1st episode, we know that his Father, Grandfather, and Great Grandfather have tried and failed to capture the Avatar, and that his honor hinges on the Avatar's capture. Even though we don't know much so far, we know that this is a very important moment for Zuko. The tension builds even more:

Not too surprisingly, Zuko totally crushes Sokka in combat. I'd like to point out that Zuko bonks Sokka on the head with butt end of the spear exactly like Sokka bonked Aang in the head in the last episode!

Thankfully Aang slides in on a penguin to save the day! But when Zuko threatens the village, Aang quickly surrenders himself in order to save the tribe. This selfless act speaks volumes about Aang's character.

As a musician, I am drawn to how dramatic the music is in this episode. It's actually quite a noticeable difference from episode 1. Jeremy Zuckerman's compositions absolutely elevate ATLA to greater heights.
Not gonna lie, I'm pretty disappointed that an official soundtrack has never been released. 😔

With Aang now captured, Sokka and Katara bravely decide to go rescue him, but not before Gran-Gran eavesdrops and says something that actually gave me chills. "Aang is the Avatar. He is the world's only chance. You both found him for a reason. Now your destinies are intertwined with his." Do you believe in destiny? Do you believe we all have a purpose? Whether you believe it or not, ATLA makes a pretty convincing case for it.

Now would be a good time to talk about fighting styles. The creators of the show hired Sifu Kisu, a professional martial artist, to help develop the fight scenes. It paid off immensely. Each nation has a unique fighting style based on a real life martial art that compliments their respective element. How amazing is that?! The following info was gathered from atla.avatarspirit.net/martialarts.

• Firebending is based on Northern Shaolin, which applies long, aggressive techniques that explode and drive through an opponent.
• Waterbending is based on Tai Chi, an internal style that focuses on the control of energy. It is soft, gentle and flowing, but devastating when mastered.
• Earthbending utilizes the Hung Gar system, a mix of Tiger and Crane animal styles. Emphasis is put on having firm, solid stances.
• Airbending is based on Ba Gua, which teaches the practitioner how to move and change direction without pausing or losing momentum. By outflanking and outmaneuvering, one is able to stay behind the opponent's back. The inverse of Tai Chi, Ba Gua surrounds the opponent and delivers energy inward.

Aang clearly demonstrates Ba Gua in this episode. Just looking at the following photos, we can see that Aang uses the surroundings to his advantage and likes to stay behind the enemy's back.

By using airbending to directly engulf Zuko's flames, Aang demonstrates the tactic of "surrounding the opponent and delivering energy inward."

To deepen the wisdom of these styles even further, each martial art is tailored to that particular nation's way of life and philosophy. Nowhere is that more apparent and fitting than with the airbenders. When Zuko confronts Aang on the ship, he remarks about his own father, then says, "I guess you wouldn't know of fathers...being raised by monks."  This is our first hint to the air nomads' way of life. Aang was raised by peaceful monks and lived in extreme modestly with few worldly possessions. Aang is a peaceful, old soul who's unfortunately surrounded by war and strife.

His fighting style mirrors his own philosophy. He never picks fights. When he has to fight (more of a self-defense), he uses a style meant to avoid and evade. By actively staying behind enemies, he eventually is able to use their own power against them. Damn, this show is so amazingly crafted...

AVATAR STATE! It's not explained just yet, so I won't really talk about it here. However, I just wanted to point out that he was able to waterbend in the Avatar State. How was he able to without any knowledge of waterbending? Hmm, mysteries, mysteries. But for now, can we just appreciate how awesome Aang is in the Avatar State?  I really enjoyed this scene (also depicted by my first screenshot):

"I'm just a guy with a boomerang, I didn't ask for all this flying and magic."

Again, someone is bonked in the head with a staff! There probably isn't a deeper meaning here, just something funny. xD

From what we've seen of Iroh so far, he doesn't seem like the type to shoot fire at the Avatar. He loves Jasmine tea, he loves playing games, he loves eating delicious food, and he generally has a level head. We can see that Iroh is just there for Zuko, and probably doesn't really jive with the whole Avatar capture thing. This act seemed a little out of character for Iroh, even just from what we know so far... and this is, in fact, the only time in ATLA where Iroh attacks Aang or his friends. But in the end, both Iroh and Zuko get a little serving of poetic justice. :)

I love this next scene. Katara asks Aang why he didn't tell her that he was the Avatar. What he responded with really hit me: "Because... I never wanted to be." Aang is just a kid, has never seen a war, and just wants to go home to see his friends and family. Sokka said he never asked for this, and, well, honestly no one did. These kids were flung into a horrible situation with no say in the matter.

It's understandable that Aang would lie about his true identity, because at that time he felt it didn't fit his character. It didn't mesh with his self-image of being a normal kid who wanted to grow up and have fun. Aang coming to terms with being the Avatar is a wonderful development and a great lesson in growth and coming-of-age. Expertly handled. And this is just the beginning!

Aang just fought off a fire navy ship and barely escaped. He was just told that there has been a terrible war raging for the last century. The entire world is in danger! Yet Aang still has not grasped the situation. He just wants to have fun and travel the world. What kid wouldn't?

All I'll say is that Aang has quite a journey ahead of him:

Conclusion: The Avatar Returns is another solid episode! The music is great, not to mention the first appearance of the "Avatar's Love" theme played during my final picture. Seriously check out the music on Youtube and Jeremy Zuckerman's soundcloud. We got some important character development for the Gaang (clever pun for the group of Katara, Sokka, and Aang). But what stood out the most to me was the fighting choreography on Zuko's ship. It is really quite impressive when you watch it with the bending styles in mind. Every character comes to life and speaks through their movement.

The one thing I didn't like about the episode was Iroh shooting a fireball at the Gaang. It just seemed out of character. One thing that might help explain this is the fact that Zuko and Iroh were the last characters to be developed and finalized. Iroh was meant to just be a mentor, not his Uncle. Many of these details on motivations and character didn't get finalized until near the deadlines, and I'm sure some minor details were tacked on later where it still made sense. Perhaps this is just an example of the growing pains of the first few episodes.  

Yes, this episode does seem a little slow and kiddish at times, but that's completely justified because of our main protagonist's current mind set. That's how it's supposed to be.

I give The Avatar Returns a 7.5/10.

Hope you enjoyed this episode, and I'll see you next time!