Book 2, Chapter 3: Return to Omashu

Taking off directly after the giant cliffhanger in The Cave of Two Lovers, we find Aang lamenting over the possible loss of his old friend, King Bumi. In a valiant act of bravery and selflessness, Aang decides to infiltrate the city. "This isn't about finding a teacher. This is about finding my friend."

Ha, Sokka looks like Commander Zhao! (or a great number of ordinary fire nation men, if you haven't noticed 😉)

How cute! In case you forgot, this little fellow is a purple pentapus:

"Hey, I think I've heard of Pentapox! Didn't your cousin Cheng die of it?" Oh, how easy it is to blindly believe something and then create an entire web of beliefs to explain it. Many of us participate in this self-deception on a regular basis...

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"When tracking your brother and Uncle, traveling with the royal procession may no longer be an option. 

It may no longer be wise,

If you hope to keep the element of surprise."

This small scene is SO COOL... and creepy. Unsettling. Ironically, it's the attention to symmetry that makes it so:

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This introduction to Mai is making me feel nauseous...

If there's anything bad to say about the episode, it's that some of the fight scenes are less than stellar, probably due to allocating the budget to where it really counted (not here). More of a nitpick, honestly. Case in point, this next shot:

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Now THAT'S a unique perspective!

And so is this. LMAO:

Hey there, cutie:

"Of course, before I leave, I'm going to catch your show," Azula says.

"Uh, yeah, uh, of course!" We're already getting strong hints at their dynamic here. Surprise, then fear and worry were the first emotions that Ty Lee expressed.

Time to visit some old friends. I think that meant something else entirely for Ty Lee than it did for Azula.

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The day the fire nation attacked Omashu, Bumi decided to surrender. "I am going to do... NOTHING! HE HE snort HE!"

A master of neutral jing looks like a fool to those who can't see the big picture:

King Thanos???

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Aang says to the commander, "You're directing all your energy to fight the fire nation, but you're outnumbered. You can't win. Now is the time to retreat so you can live to fight another day."

Upon hearing the murmuring of agreement in the crowd, the commander swallows his pride and decides to take Aang's advice. But there's just one problem: How do they all escape the city?

Sokka, always thinking fast on his feet, immediately comes up with the plan. "Suckers!"

The Walking Dead: Plague of Omashu.

I love the sound effect here. Ta-Da!

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"Pentapox? I'm pretty sure I've heard of that..."

LEAVVEEEE!!!!

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Yip... Yip?? Oh, I guess it doesn't work like that.

What an exciting and hilarious sequence this is!

That moment you realize gravity is going to make you her bitch:

This next pic is a little out of order, but it fit better here for the purposes of the review. :)

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Now back to the Ty Lee and Azula subplot. Azula made it just in time to catch Ty Lee's acrobatic performance:

Just to make things more exciting (and persuasive), Azula ordered the safety net to be set on fire:

I don't think the ringmaster was too happy to see his star performer in real danger...

After the show, and seemingly out of nowhere, Ty Lee decides to join Azula on her quest. Why? I think it's obvious that Azula was going to torment her until she went. Did she really have a choice? But instead of complaining, Ty Lee turned the situation in a positive light. "The universe" sent her signs for a career change! That already says a lot about her character:

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Having all escaped Omashu, the Gaang and the Earth nation citizens camp outside the city:

"Does that look like the face of a killer to you?"

"Sure he's cute now, but when he gets older he'll join the fire nation army. You won't think he's so cute then." Way to put it in perspective...

A majestic eagle hawk comes to deliver the news: We'll trade our baby for... KING BUMI!

I felt this was an interesting interaction from Princess Azula. It shows that she commands immediate respect as the Fire Nation Princess:

The mighty statue of Firelord Ozai under construction... pay attention! :)

What a wonderful angle that returns later on in the series in a satisfying way! The real treasures of ATLA reveal themselves to those who pay careful attention to cinematography and framing... a testament to the genius of Mike, Bryan, and the animators. Zooming in through the eye:

Azula is straight up a badass fighter and gymnast:

Perhaps my favorite screenshot this episode!

Mai in combat:

Mai: "How are you going to fight without your bending?"

"I seem to manage!"

Bumi can earthbend with his face?!?!

They got away...

Uh, there are eighty-five! 😂

WUUUUTTT?!?!

The terrifying trio, reunited:

The episode concludes with Aang returning the baby (Tom-tom) to his home. How sweet!

Conclusion:

Overall, a decent episode with some apparent budget cuts on action scenes. Return to Omashu isn't as thrilling or spectacular as the rest of Book 2, imo, but it's still worthwhile and sets up a lot of story and conflict for future episodes and Comics!

I apologize that it took me so long to release this review! No, really, I've been asleep at the wheel with a lot of personal issues recently, and I feel bad for leaving you hanging! Now I truly understand how important this review series is to me. I'll also strive to drastically decrease screenshots in the future while simultaneously increasing the quality and depth of my writing. I'm pleased with my blog so far, but I have a vision for how much better it could be. The coming episodes will demand more nuanced writing, but I honestly wanted to get this episode over with and move on.

Love you guys, and thank you if you made it all the way 'til the end!

I give Return to Omaha  7.5/10 pentapi (wait, that's the plural spelling, right?).