I love that when Katara threatened Zuko after he joined the Gaang, Zuko knew she was serious but had no idea to what extent. He came with her thinking he would need to be bad cop for her, and seeing her bloodbend changed his whole perspective. He didn't know it was even a thing, and in that moment he had to realize that up until that point, she had always pulled her punches with him. He knew that the power really was in her hands. When they face Yan Rah, he takes a back seat, he doesn't interfere, he doesn't have to. I think he gained immeasurable respect and fear for her from this trip.
Zuko was never able to beat Azula before. Azula had ALWAYS overpowered Zuko. And now they are so equal at fighting. And if you notice there's major difference on how Zuko firebend now. He used to be like 'grunt' or 'groan' when he firebends, means that he used anger and rage in his firebending. After learning from the dragons (the original source of firebending), Zuko understands and is now much more calm in his firebending and didn't produce any sound of grunt or groan at all.
I love this episode. It portrays trauma and grief so well. And I love that Katara forgave Zuko but didn't forgive the man who killed her mother. You don't always need to forgive someone in order to heal.
One of the best things about this episode when showing of Katara's feats. Blood bending then stopping the rain, then the ice spikes. All things that Zuko didn't know she was capable of and he was constantly surprised. Mainly the blood bending and his face. He was like "Wait.. She could do that to me if I cross her again?" It was Zuko trying and gain her trust then Zuko gaining respect for Katara, plus Katara getting closure and peace. An Amazing episode
Azula has always firebended with two fingers, demonstrating her control and restraint. This episode she bent with her fist like every other firebender. Perhaps she's losing a bit of her stability? Zuko knows what it's like to lose a mother. I think he believed she deserved the opportunity to face the man who hurt her like he got to
I know this is way too late, but I still feel the need to mention a certain thing about this episode and three episodes prior to it. As we all remember, Katara said that she isn't trusting Zuko considering his betrayal during the final episode of second season, which is very understanble. However, for someone who distrusts Zuko so strongly (to the point of being ready to end him) she let him go with Aang on a several day trip to some unknown place quite easily. If I were in her shoes, I'd most definetely joined the expedition, even if only to ease my paranoia. In a situation with Sokka there is more leeway since Sokka never specified where did they go and it was HIS initiative, but still - they were missing for several days and even if everything turned out for the best, I'd still not trust Zuko. So, I believe that Katara was using the same mechanism as she described in S2 finale - whenever she remembered everything bad done by the Fire Nation, she applied all of it to Zuko. I think the moment Zuko learnt about the day Kya died he understood that Katara is still haunted by those memories and it's the reason for "distrust". Also, there is a parallel between Katara and Zuko - both of their mothers sacrificed themselves to protect their children, so Zuko might understand her pain and desire for closure all too well. I think that Katara's "field trip with Zuko" (@ Toph) helped her separate her issues regarding Fire Nation and denial of Zuko's earnest actions in the Gaang exactly because she had the opportunity to face Yon Rah, the very source of her trauma. People can be pretty stubborn when it comes to acknowledging their bias and while understandable in Katara's case, it would sooner or later come down to everyone asking "Why do you still distrust Zuko?" which would only make matters worse for the whole group. In summary - Zuko was quite perceptive and gave Katara the opportunity to find closure - something he only gets to do once he becomes the Fire Lord.
Honestly, while it kinda makes sense what you're saying, I always thought it was just bad writing that they let Aang and Zuko go off together. Very unbelievable.
@BrianStorm742 well, like I said, if I were in Katara's place, I'd have joined even if ultimately nothing would've changed. I too don't really buy into those series of "Zuko gaining trust of the Gaang". It's rather noticeable that the structure of "Zuko's field trips" came prior to the Gaangs reaction towards Zuko's newly changed beliefs (although Tophs and Aangs reactions are more understandable - the first never witnessed Zuko trying to capture Avatar and goes about the situation logically and the second was shown to strongly believe in what's been taught by monks, specifically forgiveness). How much can you forgive/excuse this situation is ultimately up to each person's suspension of disbelief.
17:19 she couldn't have done it when she found the guy you need a full moon for blood bending. I know Zutara is a pretty big ship, but imho this episode kinda demonstrates why it doesn't work. Zuko would have just stood by and Let Katara kill that guy if she wanted to. You could argue he deserves it but even so killing someone would take a huge toll on her mental state.
I think you might have mentioned you’re doing live action before Korra. Since it doesn’t seem to be too late, I think you should maybe reconsider. We were introduced to Korra long before the live action. And while it’s not entirely dominant, some general stuff from Korra does make it into the live action (I tried to be as vague as possible without spoiling.)
@@PelafinaLievre I appreciate that! My drive to start this series was because of the live action coming out. After almost finishing this series I could definitely see myself going into Korra before the live action, a lot more people seem interested in that!
I have a theory as to why Katara didn’t do it. In that moment, everything came together for her- >Yon Rah was under orders not to take prisoners >Hama was the cause of this - they couldn’t just capture waterbenders, they had to kill them It wasn’t Yon Rah’s “fault” she died. He did the deed, but he didn’t make the choice. The fire nation as a whole killed her mother, anybody would have done it. Under the Fire Lord’s orders. So he didn’t kill her mother, the Fire Lord did. I think it’s at that moment she realized the futility of taking it out on him, and I don’t even think this was fully conscious, given she can’t explain it herself.
Although it makes sense that the Fire Nation might decide to kill waterbenders after Hama's escape, the creators actually dispelled this theory and said that Yon Rha killing Katara's mother being related to Hama's escape isn't something that they had ever even thought of. Regardless, such a connection creates this negative pattern of blaming other victims. There's no, how dare Hama escape and lead to Katara's mother's being killed so it's Hama's fault. Hama was a victim and had every right to do what she could to try and escape, Yon Rha is responsible for his own actions, and if the Fire Nation did give such orders, that decision was on them period. The Fire Nation is the connective tissue between Hama and Katara's mother (they are both victims of the Fire Nation), Hama is not the connective tissue between the Fire Nation and Katara's mother (the Fire Nation soldiers in the prison is not victims of Hama).
@@solonec.4285 Yeah, I don’t believe it was Hama’s fault. To say it is a cause and effect is not to necessarily blame her. She did what was necessary and it had very, very unfortunate results. It was still the Fire Nation’s choice that killed her mother. I simply am saying that Katara knows the story from Hama - she knows now that the Firebenders were all 100% on order to execute them. Which means it wasn’t a personal choice by the man who killed her. Even if it was his choice to execute it, any other commander would have done it. Killing only him solves no problem because the idea didn’t originate from him. That’s what I mean.
That's very debatable. Aang absolutely didn't trust Zuko anymore when Katara did, if he ever even did. Just because he tried talking to Zuko after Zuko freed him, doesn't mean he trusted him.
I love that when Katara threatened Zuko after he joined the Gaang, Zuko knew she was serious but had no idea to what extent. He came with her thinking he would need to be bad cop for her, and seeing her bloodbend changed his whole perspective. He didn't know it was even a thing, and in that moment he had to realize that up until that point, she had always pulled her punches with him. He knew that the power really was in her hands. When they face Yan Rah, he takes a back seat, he doesn't interfere, he doesn't have to. I think he gained immeasurable respect and fear for her from this trip.
@@alexanderbraum that’s something I didn’t think about for sure!
Zuko was never able to beat Azula before. Azula had ALWAYS overpowered Zuko. And now they are so equal at fighting. And if you notice there's major difference on how Zuko firebend now. He used to be like 'grunt' or 'groan' when he firebends, means that he used anger and rage in his firebending. After learning from the dragons (the original source of firebending), Zuko understands and is now much more calm in his firebending and didn't produce any sound of grunt or groan at all.
I love this episode. It portrays trauma and grief so well. And I love that Katara forgave Zuko but didn't forgive the man who killed her mother. You don't always need to forgive someone in order to heal.
One of the best things about this episode when showing of Katara's feats. Blood bending then stopping the rain, then the ice spikes. All things that Zuko didn't know she was capable of and he was constantly surprised. Mainly the blood bending and his face. He was like "Wait.. She could do that to me if I cross her again?" It was Zuko trying and gain her trust then Zuko gaining respect for Katara, plus Katara getting closure and peace. An Amazing episode
Azula has always firebended with two fingers, demonstrating her control and restraint. This episode she bent with her fist like every other firebender. Perhaps she's losing a bit of her stability?
Zuko knows what it's like to lose a mother. I think he believed she deserved the opportunity to face the man who hurt her like he got to
Next episode in a few days and then finishing the show over the next week and a half!
I know this is way too late, but I still feel the need to mention a certain thing about this episode and three episodes prior to it. As we all remember, Katara said that she isn't trusting Zuko considering his betrayal during the final episode of second season, which is very understanble. However, for someone who distrusts Zuko so strongly (to the point of being ready to end him) she let him go with Aang on a several day trip to some unknown place quite easily. If I were in her shoes, I'd most definetely joined the expedition, even if only to ease my paranoia.
In a situation with Sokka there is more leeway since Sokka never specified where did they go and it was HIS initiative, but still - they were missing for several days and even if everything turned out for the best, I'd still not trust Zuko.
So, I believe that Katara was using the same mechanism as she described in S2 finale - whenever she remembered everything bad done by the Fire Nation, she applied all of it to Zuko. I think the moment Zuko learnt about the day Kya died he understood that Katara is still haunted by those memories and it's the reason for "distrust". Also, there is a parallel between Katara and Zuko - both of their mothers sacrificed themselves to protect their children, so Zuko might understand her pain and desire for closure all too well.
I think that Katara's "field trip with Zuko" (@ Toph) helped her separate her issues regarding Fire Nation and denial of Zuko's earnest actions in the Gaang exactly because she had the opportunity to face Yon Rah, the very source of her trauma.
People can be pretty stubborn when it comes to acknowledging their bias and while understandable in Katara's case, it would sooner or later come down to everyone asking "Why do you still distrust Zuko?" which would only make matters worse for the whole group.
In summary - Zuko was quite perceptive and gave Katara the opportunity to find closure - something he only gets to do once he becomes the Fire Lord.
Honestly, while it kinda makes sense what you're saying, I always thought it was just bad writing that they let Aang and Zuko go off together. Very unbelievable.
@BrianStorm742 well, like I said, if I were in Katara's place, I'd have joined even if ultimately nothing would've changed. I too don't really buy into those series of "Zuko gaining trust of the Gaang".
It's rather noticeable that the structure of "Zuko's field trips" came prior to the Gaangs reaction towards Zuko's newly changed beliefs (although Tophs and Aangs reactions are more understandable - the first never witnessed Zuko trying to capture Avatar and goes about the situation logically and the second was shown to strongly believe in what's been taught by monks, specifically forgiveness). How much can you forgive/excuse this situation is ultimately up to each person's suspension of disbelief.
17:19 she couldn't have done it when she found the guy you need a full moon for blood bending.
I know Zutara is a pretty big ship, but imho this episode kinda demonstrates why it doesn't work. Zuko would have just stood by and Let Katara kill that guy if she wanted to. You could argue he deserves it but even so killing someone would take a huge toll on her mental state.
I think you might have mentioned you’re doing live action before Korra. Since it doesn’t seem to be too late, I think you should maybe reconsider. We were introduced to Korra long before the live action. And while it’s not entirely dominant, some general stuff from Korra does make it into the live action (I tried to be as vague as possible without spoiling.)
@@PelafinaLievre I appreciate that! My drive to start this series was because of the live action coming out. After almost finishing this series I could definitely see myself going into Korra before the live action, a lot more people seem interested in that!
I have a theory as to why Katara didn’t do it.
In that moment, everything came together for her-
>Yon Rah was under orders not to take prisoners
>Hama was the cause of this - they couldn’t just capture waterbenders, they had to kill them
It wasn’t Yon Rah’s “fault” she died. He did the deed, but he didn’t make the choice.
The fire nation as a whole killed her mother, anybody would have done it. Under the Fire Lord’s orders. So he didn’t kill her mother, the Fire Lord did. I think it’s at that moment she realized the futility of taking it out on him, and I don’t even think this was fully conscious, given she can’t explain it herself.
Although it makes sense that the Fire Nation might decide to kill waterbenders after Hama's escape, the creators actually dispelled this theory and said that Yon Rha killing Katara's mother being related to Hama's escape isn't something that they had ever even thought of.
Regardless, such a connection creates this negative pattern of blaming other victims. There's no, how dare Hama escape and lead to Katara's mother's being killed so it's Hama's fault. Hama was a victim and had every right to do what she could to try and escape, Yon Rha is responsible for his own actions, and if the Fire Nation did give such orders, that decision was on them period. The Fire Nation is the connective tissue between Hama and Katara's mother (they are both victims of the Fire Nation), Hama is not the connective tissue between the Fire Nation and Katara's mother (the Fire Nation soldiers in the prison is not victims of Hama).
@@solonec.4285 Yeah, I don’t believe it was Hama’s fault. To say it is a cause and effect is not to necessarily blame her. She did what was necessary and it had very, very unfortunate results. It was still the Fire Nation’s choice that killed her mother. I simply am saying that Katara knows the story from Hama - she knows now that the Firebenders were all 100% on order to execute them. Which means it wasn’t a personal choice by the man who killed her. Even if it was his choice to execute it, any other commander would have done it. Killing only him solves no problem because the idea didn’t originate from him. That’s what I mean.
No Katara, Aang was the first to trust him, not you.
That's very debatable. Aang absolutely didn't trust Zuko anymore when Katara did, if he ever even did. Just because he tried talking to Zuko after Zuko freed him, doesn't mean he trusted him.
@@BrianStorm742 Aang did trust Zuko to leave the Southern Water tribe alone if he was taken prisoner. Then during the blue mask episode.
@@DecentSilver no? He just had no other choice