Book 2, Chapter 1: The Avatar State
Welcome to my take on The Avatar State! Welcome. And let's rejoice, for what a vibrant and fantastic episode this is!
Well, I know what you may be thinking... "Why should I read your blog?" After all, you may already adore this episode and may have seen it a dozen times by now. On the other hand, you may be impartial to it; you may even dislike it. You may have seen it once, and not another episode past this. This presentation of mine is for ALL of you, no matter your history with The Avatar State. But above all, I'm moved to write this for myself in an attempt to gain a larger and deeper appreciation for the show. If you love Avatar even a little bit, then I think you'll enjoy following along with me.
"But why, Bonzu? Why should I read all of this, and look at 77 still images of a show I've already seen? I think I have a pretty good grasp of the concepts, the story, the imagery!" you might wonder. Oh, but do you really?
At 30 frames per second for 22 minutes (not including credits), every episode has 40 THOUSAND still frames. Have you ever wondered that some of them may be exceptional? That some of them were deliberately created by the animators to be much more than meets the eye? Although I'm not going to pretend to have a complete grasp of the episode, I really surprised myself with how much I learned from analyzing The Avatar State. I was shocked at how much I missed on my first 3 viewings. You may still be skeptical of how much you could possibly learn from this silly yet ambitious blog, but I think we can both agree that there are tons of gems waiting to be uncovered. Yeah, I may reach out of my bounds and take myself too seriously sometimes, but I can't help it! These episodes are deeper and richer than you may realize.
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Every great story starts with a dream. This opening sequence isn't merely the beginning of the episode, it must set the tone and framework for all of Book 2. It does so by accomplishing two things in particular: recapping the main, shaping events in Book 1, and showing us Aang's deep fear of the Avatar State. Aang's fear is a central theme for all of Book 2.
But why is he afraid of the Avatar State? Is he not the Avatar? Well, recall one of the main points throughout Book 1, which was Aang lying to himself and not accepting his role as the avatar. He struggled a lot, and he continues to struggle with accepting his true nature. He's afraid because he isn't sure he wants to be the Avatar, he's afraid because he doesn't know what the Avatar State IS, but most of all, he's afraid because he can't control it. There is great potential to hurt the ones he loves, which this episode explores beautifully.
The next morning, Aang, (Master) Katara, and Sokka each receive gifts from Master Paku.
We find Iroh and Zuko in a paradise.
Yet someone is still lost and unhappy...
These two trees are a symbol for their relationship. While they may have been planted far apart, their destinies grew to become intertwined just like the branches of these cherry trees. Beautiful screenshot.
"If I were to have you thrown overboard, would the tides think twice about smashing you against the rocky shore?" Great intro for Azula.
This episode introduces many creative and unique earthbending techniques. More on that later!
General Fong guilt trips Aang into trying to use the Avatar State to stop the Firelord. We later learn that this was in fact a selfish ploy to gain power.
"These are the lucky ones."
No, I don't have an obsession with Azula. I just thought these were really cool screenshots.
Now THIS was an interesting find to me. These next two screenshots transition into each other, leading me to theorize that Azula's lightning practice actually startled Iroh from a deep sleep. Now let's think about this... The technique of lightning bending is only known to the Fire Nation royal family. In fact, it's kept a secret. We know from The Storm and later in this very episode that Iroh can redirect lightning. And not only that, he is very in-tune with all forms of energy and practices meditation and awareness. So it's my theory that because this is such a rare and powerful technique, Iroh actually sensed the energy release. Why else would these two scenes be together?
Aang agrees to help General Fong defeat the Fire Lord, and therefore must figure out how to induce the avatar state. Their first experiment is to try a natural stimulant that supposedly increases a normal soldier's strength "ten-fold." I really like this screenshot because of how the city is framed in the background. It brings perspective to the serene gazebo where Aang drank the caffeine-like substance.
Sokka tries to scare Aang into the avatar state. Well it succeeded in scaring me at least!
What a silly attempt at inducing the avatar state. Some doofus earth nation guy mixed together the 4 basic elements (which just resulted in mud) and tossed it on the Avatar. If I were Aang, I'd be frustrated too!
Azula pays Iroh and Zuko a visit...
Why is she playing with the sea shells? Perhaps alluding to her childhood on Ember Island as a ploy to get to Zuko's heart? :)
Also understandably, Iroh doesn't believe her for a second. "I have never known my brother to regret anything."
"And if Ozai wants you back, well, I think it may not be for the reasons you imagine."
"Zuko, I only meant in our family, things are not always what they seem," says Iroh.
"I think you are exactly what you seem: a lazy, mistrustful, shallow old man who's always been jealous of his brother," Zuko retorts.
Awwwww...
The following day, Iroh swallows his pride and accompanies Zuko to Azula's fire nation ship (supposedly leaving for "home"). Of course Iroh knew it was a trap all along. "Family sticks together, right?"
Now back at the earth kingdom city, Aang expresses his feelings about the whole thing. With the help of Katara's wisdom, Aang now realizes that this isn't the right way to end to the war. However, he's already too deep in the general's plan... Fong has one last idea on how to induce the avatar state: "Attack the Avatar!"
The ensuing fight is outstanding for a number of reasons. The stakes couldn't be higher. The fight took place because Aang actually had the maturity and foresight to suppress the avatar state. Several exciting new earthbending techniques were introduced, and not just for the fun of it--these techniques added meaning and new depth to the art.
These circular disks, a staple of the earth kingdom, provide for some amazing interactions:
Aang jumps through the center square hole cutout, does a flip, and airscooters away. What a badass.
Aang uses the extra propulsion from airbending to run up the city walls, a jaw-dropping technique that is integral to the story of a later Book 2 episode.
I love all the creative ways they used the center square in the disks. So neat!
Azula welcomes Iroh and Zuko aboard the ship. "Set a course for home." But a stupid soldier ruined the trap, "Take the prisoners home."
Interesting transition--zooms in on Zuko's wild expression then zooms out on Aang's terrified face. Continuing to draw parallels that they're both connected!
If you've studied Algebra, then you'll recognize this formation as a parabola. The point where Katara is standing is known as the focus. How cool is that? The creators used the objects in the show to form a graph that actually somewhat describes what's going on in the story. Tell me I'm reaching, but I'm willing to bet that it was intentional... it's just too perfectly set up. Even the ground tiles look exactly like graphing paper!
Why am I seeing math equations everywhere? Interestingly, Katara has the ability to bend mud later on in the series. I'm not sure if this was an oversight or what. Perhaps she isn't advanced enough to pick the water out of the mud yet? I guess that makes sense, but I'm not sure.
A power-crazy General Fong uses Katara to force Aang into the avatar state. Fuck that dude!
"What have I done???"
Now back to the battle on Azula's ship. Fire daggers! Thrilling hand-to-hand combat:
Unable to control the avatar state, Aang destroys the whole town square:
In one of my favorite parts of the episode, Aang projects into the spirit world for a talk with Roku about the purpose of the avatar state. "It's time you learned," says Roku.
The avatar state is the culmination of the power of all his past lives. In Legend of Korra it is explained further, but this is a great illustration at this point in time. Through Roku, Aang sees each element bent at the highest level by each Avatar native to each respective element. How awesome is that? Then we have to connect the dots that the avatar state is MORE powerful than all of these feats COMBINED! "It's a defense mechanism."
Kyoshi:
Kuruk:
Yangchen:
The Fire avatar before Roku... lavabending entire volcanoes:
"If you are killed in the avatar state, the cycle will be broken, and the avatar will cease to exist."
Now Iroh and Zuko really ARE traitors. They will be hunted for the remainder of the series.
In Eastern culture, the hair bun is a symbol of family lineage, respect, and honor. They had to leave their identities behind. Fugitives. Castaways. Untouchables. They're on the run.
Conclusion:
I seriously can't think of a better way to start off the new season. All the themes are mature and handled well. I wouldn't change a single thing about The Avatar State, so it pains me how some viewers aren't able to recognize the genius at work here. It would be extremely difficult to seamlessly thread together all the storylines in a mature way and to provide such enriching imagery and tones. When a story is done right, the average person won't even notice or appreciate the subtle power of what they witnessed. I believe that's the phenomenon on display here. Bravo to the creators of this wonderful show!!!
I give The Avatar State a 10/10. This doesn't mean it's "perfect," and it certainly doesn't mean this is one of my favorite episodes (not even a personal top-20). The rating just means it accomplished everything it needed to in a beautiful and believable way. And for that, The Avatar State should be celebrated. This is an episode that, in my opinion, continues to raise the bar for the media of children's television shows.
Thank you so much for reading, and until next time, peace!
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