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Or, in which Aang stuffs up. Apologies for the delay in posting this to anyone who had gotten all optimistic about my more rapid posting schedule; my main excuses this time are visiting family, and a total power blackout for three days (a substation caught fire). The latter meant moving to stay at the much warmer but not wi-fi equipped house of a friend til the power was (hopefully - we've been warned about more outages during peak times) restored.
Bato of the Water Tribe The group run into a friend of Katara and Sokka's father's who, injured, is waiting for a message to rejoin their father and the rest of the men. I take it as a bad sign that we haven't heard about any great victories on their parts. Aang feels left out and when the overly trusting messenger (who appears to be riding a chocobo) gives him the location details, Aang conceals it from Katara and Sokka, until the guilt overwhelms him during a slightly unlikely staged Water tribe initiation ritual that sees him being described as a loyal friend. Katara and Sokka, furious, leave him briefly to go with Bato but then decide Aang's mission is more important; this is intercut with the B plot, in which Zuko hires a bounty hunter with a monstrous beast that can track scents to find Aang using Katara's necklace.
( Vague ponderings. )
The Deserter. Aang, Katara and Sokka head to a Fire Nation town holding a festival, because Aang wants to see firebenders in action (I presume ones other than those who routinely try and capture/kill him). There is a slightly embarrassing sequence where Aang's identity gets revealed when he intervenes to save Katara during what looks like a very stagy demonstration of firebending, and then their escape is aided by a deserter who takes them to Jeong Jeong, the first man to desert the Fire army and survive – as well as the firebender who trained Zhao (who, in this episode, I discover is voiced by Jason Isaacs, a discovery which ensures I will be saying hello to him in all relevant subsequent episodes).
( More detail. )
Bato of the Water Tribe The group run into a friend of Katara and Sokka's father's who, injured, is waiting for a message to rejoin their father and the rest of the men. I take it as a bad sign that we haven't heard about any great victories on their parts. Aang feels left out and when the overly trusting messenger (who appears to be riding a chocobo) gives him the location details, Aang conceals it from Katara and Sokka, until the guilt overwhelms him during a slightly unlikely staged Water tribe initiation ritual that sees him being described as a loyal friend. Katara and Sokka, furious, leave him briefly to go with Bato but then decide Aang's mission is more important; this is intercut with the B plot, in which Zuko hires a bounty hunter with a monstrous beast that can track scents to find Aang using Katara's necklace.
( Vague ponderings. )
The Deserter. Aang, Katara and Sokka head to a Fire Nation town holding a festival, because Aang wants to see firebenders in action (I presume ones other than those who routinely try and capture/kill him). There is a slightly embarrassing sequence where Aang's identity gets revealed when he intervenes to save Katara during what looks like a very stagy demonstration of firebending, and then their escape is aided by a deserter who takes them to Jeong Jeong, the first man to desert the Fire army and survive – as well as the firebender who trained Zhao (who, in this episode, I discover is voiced by Jason Isaacs, a discovery which ensures I will be saying hello to him in all relevant subsequent episodes).
( More detail. )
