Entry tags:
ATLA, book 1, eps 15 and 16, Bato of the Water Tribe and The Deserter
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. )