16:55 You asked how Iroh and Zuko had passports for the ferry ride. That's the help they got from the White Lotus members a couple episodes ago, all the papers necessary for the journey.
@@eileensnow6153 being nice always helps! Most people underestimate how far being nice can take you! But yea... they already had everything they needed... just Iroh doing Iroh things!
If Jet hadn’t heard Iroh complain that the tea was the “coldest in Ba Sing Se”, he probably wouldn’t have thought anything about Iroh drinking hot tea. But put “one” and “one” together and you get “suspicious”.
It's a really clever and subtle detail, having him complain right before and then having the subtle heat of the tea right before Zuko calls him out for it. Shows just how watchful, suspcious and alert Jet is that he immediately picked up on that
Zach Tyler Eisen really was incredible as Aang. He puts so much raw emotion into his performance. You can see the diagrams for The Drill back on the Mechanist's workbench in The Northern Air Temple.
11:04 In Japan, telling someone that the moon is beautiful is a poetic indirect way of saying “I love you”. The Japanese word “suki” is almost always translated to “love”. This is a really clever moment that no one ever mentions.
Poor cabbage guy...but this time it was justified! Lol ;) If you look through the frames when the platypus bear destroys the cabbages, (when the pieces are flying across the screen) you can actually see at least 1 cabbage slug! The attention to detail in this show is truly next level.
The bad boy team up you didn't know you needed till you saw it. A dual wielding duo of emo and angst. One is a banished prince out to restore his honor, the other an orphan of war looking to make a fresh start. Together they are Zuko and Jet, two hot heads with cool moves.
Iroh managed to pierce through the 1st wall but couldnt make it into the 2nd or 3rd. the city is walled off into several rings with the poor people living in the outer city and the richer people living further in with better protections. it also took Iroh several years to get through the outer wall and was quickly repelled after Lu Ten died
Also the distance between the outer wall and the city proper is huge. There is all that farm land and country side befor you get to the city. Technically I think there are 4 walls all together, the outer wall and then the 3 that divide the city proper into Lower, Middle, and Upper class. I dont think in the show they actually label them 1,2,3 as such.
What I love about her is that people tend to thinks she's Op when she's not, She actually fail almost every time agaisnt the Avatar Team, BUt she's so talented it's doesn't feel that way, the team still dread the next encounter against her.
I can definitely see Iroh making that mistake; this is after all the same man who was unsure if a plant was delicious tea or deadly poison and took his chances, much to his own detriment.
I always assumed that shopping trip was Iroh trying to find an excuse to lose the Avatar because he didn't want Zuko to find Aang... it just... backfired a little bit.
I think the confusion on whether or not Iroh penetrated the walls of Ba Sing Se is coming from the fact that it may not be clear yet that the city of Ba Sing Se is protected by 2 walls, not one. The first, the Outer Wall (the one the Gaang was protecting), leads into the farmland and countryside of Ba Sing Se, whereas a much further one, the Inner Wall, protects the actual city and citizens. Iroh made it through the Outer Wall, but not the Inner Wall. So Iroh saying he never made it into Ba Sing Se is technically true as he didn't actually get to the city itself.
Regarding Iroh, we're talking about a man who knowingly drank a deadly poison on the off chance that it was a delectable tea. It doesn't matter how wise and intelligent he is, the man just loses his mind when it comes to tea, so, yeah, he didn't think that heating the tea would reveal he was a fire bender, or he thought of it but didn't care: the tea was _cold,_ and it needed heating; whatever consequences the reveal of his identity might have, they can't possibly be worse than cold tea.
I love how this series provides peaks at future events and revisits things after the fact. For example, in Episode 27: Zuko Alone they introduce the pregnant couple when Zuko chose not to steal from them In Episode 32: The Serpent's Pass the story was structured around getting them to the city and the birth of Hope. At the end of Episode 33: The Drill Iroh complements the couple on how cute their baby (Hope) is. There were probably other times they appear. In Episode 30: The Library one of the scrolls they glance at depicts something very important that doesn't come into play until episode 58. Seeming unimportant at the time and easily forgotten in the 28 episodes between them, especially since during the broadcast the episodes were broadcast 2 years and 5 days apart. But a great little easter egg to find in a rewatch. The whole series is sprinkled with things like this. The cabbage vendor is one of the earliest and most in your face versions of it, but others may only be happening in the background and get carried through to be seen multiple times sometimes remaining nothing but a background gag, other times going from seemingly insignificant to becoming a key element to the series. It seems like with every rewatching there is something new to find.
These two episodes set up so much for the rest of the season and next. I love seeing Katara's growth in combat as well as guiding the team. Sokka gets great emotional growth and some development toward a relationship. People from 1st season return. And yes, that's the pregnant woman and her husband that Zuko didn't attack. And of course, the Drill features some amazing combat and a step in the right direction for the team.
29:15 FLG: "SUKI is thinking of you, sir!" That's the Sokka specialty right there. Aang's an airbender, Toph's an earthbender, Kataara's a waterbender, Zuko's a firebender, but Sokka is THE backbender!
It is an such cool fact, that Toph say "What about the dragon of the west?", because she had spoken with him and to this point, the strongest connection with Iroh. And the feelings of Sokka and Aang about losses are so greatful done.
When we talk about how it is uncharacteristic of Iroh to make a mistake and heat up his tea, we have to consider that Iroh's weakness has always been tea. We reference when he drank that poison tea it was because he had hopes of getting a delicious tea instead. The risk was worth it to him.
How many people would actually be able to notice anything wrong with Iroh sneakily heating up his tea? For one, this scene shows us what a driven and essentially competent person Jet is, for all his personal flaws. For another, we see that Uncle Iroh is not without his "old man" foibles, and that he also has his somewhat "clumsy", stubborn - "I want my hot tea, damnit!" - human moments, for all his wisdom. He himself would certainly be the first to admit that, too. This is absolutely brilliant, three-dimensional character writing! All of these traits of both of them were set up long ago when we got to meet them for the first time and now that these two characters are brought together in the same scene their pre-established characteristics are brought into conflict with each other beautifully and organically and heart-brakingly. That is how you drama!;)
the background watch w Iroh being sloppy was fantastic. even the facial expressions, the delighted face he makes before zuko slaps the tea out of his hand. this show was sooooo well made
Another great Toph moment with her sarcastic comment about not being able to see in the hole of darkness! And yes, I could see Iroh being so tea obsessed that he just forgets himself for a moment and heats up the tea, which would be second nature to him.
The Drill starts a series of banger episodes that carries through until the end of this season. This run is almost unparalleled in its execution and that goes for any media not just animation. Thanks for the uploads! Enjoy this next run because it is seriously some of the best stuff there is. Period.
You're the first reactor I've seen to realize that the pregnant woman is the same one that Zuko decides not to steal from in "Zuko alone". This series has those little details that string the story together even more, it's beautiful. By the way, I see how you love Mai's apathy to everything, I think you would enjoy watching Raven in Teen Titans (2003). It's an Avatar style series (American anime), maybe not as perfect, but very enjoyable. Obviously at the time I first watched the series I didn't even think about it, but rewatching it now, I'm not sure whether to consider Smellerbee a trans character (which would have been hugely innovative for the time). I always thought she was simply a girl, but understanding that Iroh got confused, and that line about "as long as I am confident with who I am, it doesn't matter what other people think", makes me rethink the character. Ba Sing Se is one of the most interesting places in the Avatar world, there really will be great episodes here. I will never get tired of saying it but: Azula is terrifying. Not always (and especially in series aimed at a child audience) there are villains THAT capable. Oh, and yes, Sokka is a complete stud, for some reason we'll never quite understand. But then again, they're all characters entering puberty, so it's not that unusual.
This pair of episodes is called the "Secret of the Fire Nation" since the Drill was being kept secret, and Suki even referenced it: "The Fire Nation controls the western lake. Rumor has it they're working on something big on the other side of it and don't want anyone to find out what it is." They are also sometimes called "Journey to Ba Sing Se parts 1 and 2".
Your codes for how to split up episodes is proving excellent. Your next release which you've for sure seen by now had to be the biggest stress ball ever.
I think others have already explained it, but while Iroh breached the outer wall, he didn't reach the city proper. They don't really explain it, but you will see in the next couple episodes that the outer wall protects the city's farm lands and such, but Ba Sing Se is a city of many walls.
Ty Lee has got to have super powers. She can cling to walls 29:20 and it's nothing short of a miracle she survived 31:15 when both Katara and Toph pushed her in the pipe that's building pressure to help the giant mech drill tank explode.
Notice how all earthbenders have green eyes, all firebenders have amber eyes, and all waterbenders* have blue eyes? Nonbenders might have those eye colours too, and nonbenders from any nation can have brown eyes. But two people have grey eyes: Aang... and Ty Lee. * I can't remember if that goes for the swampbenders, but every bender from the Water Tribes at least.
Before I watch, notice this one is misplaced on the Book Two playlist. Iroh did breach the Outer Wall, but his son died before he could reach the Inner Wall, so he gave up and left. 38:24 Don't forget Toph, who was fawning over Sokka when she thought he had saved her. Appa lovers, fasten you belts. Drink water. For some reason I wasn't too much into Sukka (Suki+Sokka) at first; I still wasn't over Yue, and I was too busy shipping Maiko and Kataang to care otherwise. Also I was into Ty Lokka and even Tokka. However I think these chapters are also amazing for the Kataang dynamic; they look so cute in these. Iroh doing anything for tea is very character-appropriate. I've watched this show for the very first time this year: I binged Book One and Book Two up to Episode 13 in a two days, then stopped for a couple months, then I binged the rest of the show in another two days. So I can attest it's hard to control oneself.
I love seeing my baby Azula receiving recognition for the wonderful character she is. Whenever I see reactions, people are quick to dismiss any type of action she does or act with any type of understanding for the character and the dimension tha she has. For me, she was always the one who screamed loudest for help and the one who helped her was the most wrong person possible. I'm loving your reactions. Please go easy on my girl ❤😿.
This is where some of the best humor in the show really starts to come into play; the Aang/Sokka "we share a brain cell between us" moments are priceless.
Aang's arc in this episode and the desert is one of the most mature stories in any TV show I've ever seen. We see him go through SO MUCH grief and anger to the point of lashing out against his friends. When he realized how destructive he was being, it scared him and he cut himself off from all of his emotions, repressing all of that pain and bottling it up, not allowing himself to feel anything. It is just as destructive to himself to lock himself off from his emotions and when he finally allows himself to feel love again it is truly beautiful. I think more people, in my case a young man, can learn from what Aang went through.
"The moonlight on them is like a blessing I think", wow, what a beautiful observation, I never considered that. You took it back but I really think you were on to something. I've loved hearing your thoughts and reasoning throughout this show; you're a very empathetic and intuitive person
Notice that when Toph fell in, Sokka was starting to take off his shoes when he yelled I'm coming Toph. Also with the tea incident, as jet and Zuko were waking away you could see Iroh looking around to make sure no one was looking. It isn't until Zuko is walking back that Jet notices his tea is hot.
My guess is that Iroh managed to destroy / bring down part of the wall of Ba Sing Se but that he wasn't then able to capitalise on it and convert it into an actual breach - i.e. where his troops get through the opening to attack positions behind the wall.
I love how this show doesn't rush things along, really makes things feel like an epic journey. Team Avatar have been trying to get to Ba Sing Se for like 4 episodes but we haven't even seen much past the outer wall. Really gives the show an epic sense of scale.
Longshot's words of wisdom always bring tears to my eye. Anyway brace yourself. Episodic fun one-off adventures are (with one exception) over for the rest of this season.
I love Azulas bad girl squad. Tai Lee is such a sweet soul and the Wednesday Addams energy coming off Mai is so great. Azula scares me in the best way. She's so broken, from her first appearance when we flash back to Zuko being scarred we see her sadistic glee.
To add to your Sokka shipping: Don't forget about Toph thinking that she was giving Sokka a peck when Suki saved her from drowning. Tea is Iroh's kryptonite, his weakness. It just brought on a momentary lapse in his common sense.
Funny thing: the inventor in the northern air temple was working on the schematics of the drill, but Soka didn't saw it because he was prying around. I love this kind of details on the show.
Sokka sometimes struggles with feeling insecure because everyone else in the Gaang is such a powerful bender. Little does he know, he's the most powerful backbender in the four kingdoms.
No one saw Iroh firebend to heat up the tea, not even us. His mistake was proclaming "..the coldest tea..". That is how Jet knew, otherwise Jet wouldnt have noticed.
It literally just struck me how deeply profound and beautiful that Aang put Katara on the same level as the last part of the world Aang was born to, and now Im feeling feelings.
I believe what happened with Uncle Iroh is that he breached the wall, sent the letter with the knife and doll to the firelord, and then shortly after Lu Ten died. I think he may have been able to take the city if that didnt happen, but in his grief (and what was probably the turning point for him in terms of his outlook on life) he decided to retreat and return to the fire nation. This is how I remember it, but Im not 100% sure!!
inconsequential fun fact: the guy in charge of the Drill project is the same one who used to collect the new tech the Professor made at the Northern Air Temple, and the same one who got his hands on the war balloon prototype at the end.
Iroh drank poison in the (misplaced) hope that it was a deletible tea, so i think he's be willing to heat his cold tea and just let chips fall where they may.
Xander's editing is impressive as always. Angela: Episodes, not chapters. Nathanael: [Chapter Thirteen: The Drill] *chef's kiss* Edited to use the correct name.
Since this one is published, it means that Angela is up to episode 17. I've kind of been dreading episode 16 for Angela's sake since about the first third of season 1 when almost every other remark was concern for Appa.
That thought of how Ba Sing Se might not be as safe as they think, especially when Sozin’s Comet comes into play: Heh. She hit that nail right on the head with the wrong end of the hammer, didn’t she? 😆
"Hope" is a good name. Some friends of mine had their first child this year on the Fourth of July. They named him Oliver, but I've been calling him "Firecracker." I'm not sure if the nickname will stick but I'm going to give it my best shot.
It was very hard when I watched this show as it aired. Good as these episodes were, at the start of each I was ready and waiting for them to get Aapa back...and it was week after week of them getting out of the desert then corssing the Serpent's Pass then the Drill.... I suspect that the frustration of having to wait week-to-week (and having tiime to discuss it with others at length) may have helped me to appreciate the show more. (But, if I could have binged it back then, I certainly would have!)
In terms of how Uncle Iroh acted, I think this season has both Iroh and Zuko take off their armour and garp of their positions and just be father and son. Sometimes Iroh is just old, passionate about what he's pasionate about and willing to stick with it. He was hungry on the boat and I think with the tea he was just sticking to his creature comforts. It seems the same as when Iroh ate the leaves at the beggining of the season and was willing to eat the berries but zuko stopped him. They did this right after they cut their Qu's/fire prince pony tail things. Zuko's dad is just a little bit old sometimes and Zuko is more vulnerable without trying to inhabit the armour of a fire soldier. Iroh also just wanted to brew tea when he was recovereing and training Zuko without noticing it had calming signifacance.
“now sokka’s an engineer?” my friend and i call sokka the renaissance man of avatar. he for real is an inventor, warrior, casual engineer, battle strategist, etc etc (some spoilers) who dabbles in fashion art and poetry
No spoilers, but you're going to get many answers soon Angela. _The Serpent's Pass_ never fails to make me bawl. First time I saw it I was not long out of a very traumatic breakup. Back right there again today. Can't wait for Friday's upload!!
In case it wasn't mentioned before, I think the name the fandom settled on for the group was either Team Avatar or *_the gAang_* . Needless to say, I like the second one more. 😁😁
Breaching a wall is different than winning a war. Especially when fighting people who can raise new walls with their bending. 😆
I literally never thought about this!
Season 3 is the Best 3× times better... Dont stop :)
I believe he gets the knife when they break thru the outermost set of walls
@@funnylilgalreacts Iroh got his passports when he met with his friends in the White Lotus.
@@funnylilgalreactsPLEASE don’t ever watch previously on…. Spoilers all the time
16:55 You asked how Iroh and Zuko had passports for the ferry ride. That's the help they got from the White Lotus members a couple episodes ago, all the papers necessary for the journey.
woah i actually didn't even catch this either. thats a great lil easter egg.
I always thought that was why Iroh was flirting with her! So he was just being nice? 😂
@@eileensnow6153Probably so she doesn't pay much attention. The passports are forgeries so better if she doesn't look at them for too long.
It was last episode but yeah
@@eileensnow6153 being nice always helps! Most people underestimate how far being nice can take you!
But yea... they already had everything they needed... just Iroh doing Iroh things!
"Katara, stop her water from breaking!" 😂🤣🤣
That's actually something Sokka would say. 😀
But would he know that term… 🧐
Suki: "I lost someone I cared about. He was smart, brave and funny"
Sokka: "Who is this guy?"
Suki: "He was brave and funny. Scratch smart"
Sokka is a tactical genius but socially dumb.
If Jet hadn’t heard Iroh complain that the tea was the “coldest in Ba Sing Se”, he probably wouldn’t have thought anything about Iroh drinking hot tea. But put “one” and “one” together and you get “suspicious”.
It's a really clever and subtle detail, having him complain right before and then having the subtle heat of the tea right before Zuko calls him out for it. Shows just how watchful, suspcious and alert Jet is that he immediately picked up on that
Zach Tyler Eisen really was incredible as Aang. He puts so much raw emotion into his performance.
You can see the diagrams for The Drill back on the Mechanist's workbench in The Northern Air Temple.
11:04 In Japan, telling someone that the moon is beautiful is a poetic indirect way of saying “I love you”. The Japanese word “suki” is almost always translated to “love”. This is a really clever moment that no one ever mentions.
Aang finishing the drill off is one of the most epic moments in the entire series.
bruh
@@mattchris01 ???
Plus it had that extra level of being (possibly one of his first?) a blending of air, water, and earth together for the strike!
That and that spin firebending move Azula did to break his earth shield.
I really love that they keep making the team forget that Toph is blind because it really goes to show how capable the team sees her
Good catch!
Iroh and Zuko got the passports from the White Lotus in the episode The Desert.
Poor cabbage guy...but this time it was justified! Lol ;)
If you look through the frames when the platypus bear destroys the cabbages, (when the pieces are flying across the screen) you can actually see at least 1 cabbage slug!
The attention to detail in this show is truly next level.
Probably the *worst* way to destroy them if they are worried about spreading parasite's and such honestly XD
@@LoricSwiftThey just wanted to make sure it would get destroyed on the other side of the water.
The bad boy team up you didn't know you needed till you saw it. A dual wielding duo of emo and angst. One is a banished prince out to restore his honor, the other an orphan of war looking to make a fresh start. Together they are Zuko and Jet, two hot heads with cool moves.
Now read it in the narrator’s voice from Legend of Korea 😂
@@eileensnow6153 lol,Yes. Verrick productions presents a brand new mover. Tune in next week as Zuko and Jet take on...a lake?
This sounds like the narration for a movie XD I can hear the movie trailer voice guy saying these exact words.
Iroh managed to pierce through the 1st wall but couldnt make it into the 2nd or 3rd. the city is walled off into several rings with the poor people living in the outer city and the richer people living further in with better protections. it also took Iroh several years to get through the outer wall and was quickly repelled after Lu Ten died
Also the distance between the outer wall and the city proper is huge. There is all that farm land and country side befor you get to the city. Technically I think there are 4 walls all together, the outer wall and then the 3 that divide the city proper into Lower, Middle, and Upper class. I dont think in the show they actually label them 1,2,3 as such.
I wonder if Attack on titan got the idea from avatar.
@@stu2729 They are both inspired by real walled cities primarily in China and a few in Europe
Iron didnt fully breach the city when he was a general. Just the outer wall.
Remember, they comment on the walls (plural) of Bahsingsay, so the outer wall is just the first layer of protection.
@@andrewmarks2636 nah yea, my comment is in reply to her saying in the video that she thought they said the wall was impenetrable.
38:10 Remember, Iroh is the guy that knowingly brewed tea from a poisonous plant on the off chance it was a white dragon bush lol
Azula is such an amazing written character. Every time she's on screen, the increasing tension is palpable.
Right about that I was scared of her when I was a child 😅
What I love about her is that people tend to thinks she's Op when she's not, She actually fail almost every time agaisnt the Avatar Team,
BUt she's so talented it's doesn't feel that way, the team still dread the next encounter against her.
Amazingly*
She was just so dynamic and not some regular one dimension villan and that just made her great
@@elvisochieng6267 exactly
Uncle Iroh hasn't had his Tea fix in a long time, he was bound to make a mistake.
38:25 dont forgot Toph fawning over Sokka saving her before she finds out it wasnt him. Sokka is Darth Rizzler confirmed
Earth, Fire, Water, Air, Rizz, only the Avatar can master all elements
I can't believe people called him a non-bender, he is a bender, backbender
I can definitely see Iroh making that mistake; this is after all the same man who was unsure if a plant was delicious tea or deadly poison and took his chances, much to his own detriment.
after all, he did make the navy fleet go back to shore for a pai sho tile 😂
@@jaciel.121to be fair he didn't actually care about capturing the avatar but he was itching for a shopping trip
His passion for tea often seems to override his good sense.
I always assumed that shopping trip was Iroh trying to find an excuse to lose the Avatar because he didn't want Zuko to find Aang... it just... backfired a little bit.
In D&D terms, it's the difference between wisdom and intelligence: Iroh is high in wisdom... maybe not quite as high in intelligence XD
I think the confusion on whether or not Iroh penetrated the walls of Ba Sing Se is coming from the fact that it may not be clear yet that the city of Ba Sing Se is protected by 2 walls, not one. The first, the Outer Wall (the one the Gaang was protecting), leads into the farmland and countryside of Ba Sing Se, whereas a much further one, the Inner Wall, protects the actual city and citizens. Iroh made it through the Outer Wall, but not the Inner Wall. So Iroh saying he never made it into Ba Sing Se is technically true as he didn't actually get to the city itself.
Three walls.
I still love that if you pause at the right time you can actually see a Cabbage Slug fly by meaning she was right about them.
Regarding Iroh, we're talking about a man who knowingly drank a deadly poison on the off chance that it was a delectable tea. It doesn't matter how wise and intelligent he is, the man just loses his mind when it comes to tea, so, yeah, he didn't think that heating the tea would reveal he was a fire bender, or he thought of it but didn't care: the tea was _cold,_ and it needed heating; whatever consequences the reveal of his identity might have, they can't possibly be worse than cold tea.
Oh man, I'm excited for Friday's video.
Wait for the thumbnail 😭😭
Me too! Ive been waiting anxiously for EP 15
@@funnylilgalreactsLmao please tell me Tales Of Baa Sing Se is one of the episodes 😂 I can only imagine the thumbnail now hahahaha
Yesss turn on the sprinkler!
@@funnylilgalreactsthose 2 episodes are the epitome of EMOTIONAL DAMAGE! 😢
I love how this series provides peaks at future events and revisits things after the fact.
For example, in Episode 27: Zuko Alone they introduce the pregnant couple when Zuko chose not to steal from them In Episode 32: The Serpent's Pass the story was structured around getting them to the city and the birth of Hope. At the end of Episode 33: The Drill Iroh complements the couple on how cute their baby (Hope) is. There were probably other times they appear.
In Episode 30: The Library one of the scrolls they glance at depicts something very important that doesn't come into play until episode 58. Seeming unimportant at the time and easily forgotten in the 28 episodes between them, especially since during the broadcast the episodes were broadcast 2 years and 5 days apart. But a great little easter egg to find in a rewatch.
The whole series is sprinkled with things like this. The cabbage vendor is one of the earliest and most in your face versions of it, but others may only be happening in the background and get carried through to be seen multiple times sometimes remaining nothing but a background gag, other times going from seemingly insignificant to becoming a key element to the series. It seems like with every rewatching there is something new to find.
Peek: to sneak a look
Peak: the highest point of something
[/Pedantic]
These two episodes set up so much for the rest of the season and next. I love seeing Katara's growth in combat as well as guiding the team. Sokka gets great emotional growth and some development toward a relationship. People from 1st season return. And yes, that's the pregnant woman and her husband that Zuko didn't attack. And of course, the Drill features some amazing combat and a step in the right direction for the team.
6:10 Definitely, cabbage guy could be the final villain of the show and would have more reasons than anybody 🤣
Lil: "Part the sea, Katara"
Katara: "Roger that!"
29:15
FLG: "SUKI is thinking of you, sir!"
That's the Sokka specialty right there. Aang's an airbender, Toph's an earthbender, Kataara's a waterbender, Zuko's a firebender, but Sokka is THE backbender!
A moon girl, a warrior, and even an enemy: Sokka's a menace, almost as much as Iroh.
Sokka the rizz master. If this were a Japanese anime he would have had a harem.
It is an such cool fact, that Toph say "What about the dragon of the west?", because she had spoken with him and to this point, the strongest connection with Iroh.
And the feelings of Sokka and Aang about losses are so greatful done.
The cabbage man is an icon, he's the legend and he is the moment
When we talk about how it is uncharacteristic of Iroh to make a mistake and heat up his tea, we have to consider that Iroh's weakness has always been tea. We reference when he drank that poison tea it was because he had hopes of getting a delicious tea instead. The risk was worth it to him.
Toph is a great example of representing someone adapting with a disability without erasure of said disability. And she's an awesome character to boot!
How many people would actually be able to notice anything wrong with Iroh sneakily heating up his tea? For one, this scene shows us what a driven and essentially competent person Jet is, for all his personal flaws. For another, we see that Uncle Iroh is not without his "old man" foibles, and that he also has his somewhat "clumsy", stubborn - "I want my hot tea, damnit!" - human moments, for all his wisdom. He himself would certainly be the first to admit that, too. This is absolutely brilliant, three-dimensional character writing! All of these traits of both of them were set up long ago when we got to meet them for the first time and now that these two characters are brought together in the same scene their pre-established characteristics are brought into conflict with each other beautifully and organically and heart-brakingly. That is how you drama!;)
the background watch w Iroh being sloppy was fantastic. even the facial expressions, the delighted face he makes before zuko slaps the tea out of his hand. this show was sooooo well made
Another great Toph moment with her sarcastic comment about not being able to see in the hole of darkness!
And yes, I could see Iroh being so tea obsessed that he just forgets himself for a moment and heats up the tea, which would be second nature to him.
I remember seeing a comment saying Sokka is not a traditional bender but he is a bender of the ladies
the back bender ^^
The official title is backbender.
Sokka is the Rizz master.
The White Lotus provided Iroh and Zuko with safe passage to Ba Sing Se, as well as forged passports. :)
The Drill starts a series of banger episodes that carries through until the end of this season. This run is almost unparalleled in its execution and that goes for any media not just animation. Thanks for the uploads! Enjoy this next run because it is seriously some of the best stuff there is. Period.
You're the first reactor I've seen to realize that the pregnant woman is the same one that Zuko decides not to steal from in "Zuko alone". This series has those little details that string the story together even more, it's beautiful.
By the way, I see how you love Mai's apathy to everything, I think you would enjoy watching Raven in Teen Titans (2003). It's an Avatar style series (American anime), maybe not as perfect, but very enjoyable.
Obviously at the time I first watched the series I didn't even think about it, but rewatching it now, I'm not sure whether to consider Smellerbee a trans character (which would have been hugely innovative for the time). I always thought she was simply a girl, but understanding that Iroh got confused, and that line about "as long as I am confident with who I am, it doesn't matter what other people think", makes me rethink the character.
Ba Sing Se is one of the most interesting places in the Avatar world, there really will be great episodes here.
I will never get tired of saying it but: Azula is terrifying. Not always (and especially in series aimed at a child audience) there are villains THAT capable.
Oh, and yes, Sokka is a complete stud, for some reason we'll never quite understand. But then again, they're all characters entering puberty, so it's not that unusual.
This pair of episodes is called the "Secret of the Fire Nation" since the Drill was being kept secret, and Suki even referenced it: "The Fire Nation controls the western lake. Rumor has it they're working on something big on the other side of it and don't want anyone to find out what it is." They are also sometimes called "Journey to Ba Sing Se parts 1 and 2".
Your codes for how to split up episodes is proving excellent. Your next release which you've for sure seen by now had to be the biggest stress ball ever.
I think others have already explained it, but while Iroh breached the outer wall, he didn't reach the city proper. They don't really explain it, but you will see in the next couple episodes that the outer wall protects the city's farm lands and such, but Ba Sing Se is a city of many walls.
Ty Lee has got to have super powers.
She can cling to walls 29:20 and it's nothing short of a miracle she survived 31:15 when both Katara and Toph pushed her in the pipe that's building pressure to help the giant mech drill tank explode.
Notice how all earthbenders have green eyes, all firebenders have amber eyes, and all waterbenders* have blue eyes? Nonbenders might have those eye colours too, and nonbenders from any nation can have brown eyes. But two people have grey eyes: Aang... and Ty Lee.
* I can't remember if that goes for the swampbenders, but every bender from the Water Tribes at least.
@@SunlessNickShe also looks like Aang
Before I watch, notice this one is misplaced on the Book Two playlist.
Iroh did breach the Outer Wall, but his son died before he could reach the Inner Wall, so he gave up and left.
38:24 Don't forget Toph, who was fawning over Sokka when she thought he had saved her.
Appa lovers, fasten you belts. Drink water.
For some reason I wasn't too much into Sukka (Suki+Sokka) at first; I still wasn't over Yue, and I was too busy shipping Maiko and Kataang to care otherwise. Also I was into Ty Lokka and even Tokka. However I think these chapters are also amazing for the Kataang dynamic; they look so cute in these.
Iroh doing anything for tea is very character-appropriate.
I've watched this show for the very first time this year: I binged Book One and Book Two up to Episode 13 in a two days, then stopped for a couple months, then I binged the rest of the show in another two days. So I can attest it's hard to control oneself.
Longshot basically says: "I am Groot" just with fewer words.
I love seeing my baby Azula receiving recognition for the wonderful character she is. Whenever I see reactions, people are quick to dismiss any type of action she does or act with any type of understanding for the character and the dimension tha she has.
For me, she was always the one who screamed loudest for help and the one who helped her was the most wrong person possible.
I'm loving your reactions. Please go easy on my girl ❤😿.
definitely not ur girl
This is where some of the best humor in the show really starts to come into play; the Aang/Sokka "we share a brain cell between us" moments are priceless.
Aang's arc in this episode and the desert is one of the most mature stories in any TV show I've ever seen. We see him go through SO MUCH grief and anger to the point of lashing out against his friends. When he realized how destructive he was being, it scared him and he cut himself off from all of his emotions, repressing all of that pain and bottling it up, not allowing himself to feel anything. It is just as destructive to himself to lock himself off from his emotions and when he finally allows himself to feel love again it is truly beautiful. I think more people, in my case a young man, can learn from what Aang went through.
The backgrounds in this show were all hand-painted in Korea.
The music is also epic. Especially the Avatar theme. It still hits hard to this day.
"The moonlight on them is like a blessing I think", wow, what a beautiful observation, I never considered that. You took it back but I really think you were on to something. I've loved hearing your thoughts and reasoning throughout this show; you're a very empathetic and intuitive person
Notice that when Toph fell in, Sokka was starting to take off his shoes when he yelled I'm coming Toph. Also with the tea incident, as jet and Zuko were waking away you could see Iroh looking around to make sure no one was looking. It isn't until Zuko is walking back that Jet notices his tea is hot.
My guess is that Iroh managed to destroy / bring down part of the wall of Ba Sing Se but that he wasn't then able to capitalise on it and convert it into an actual breach - i.e. where his troops get through the opening to attack positions behind the wall.
I love how this show doesn't rush things along, really makes things feel like an epic journey. Team Avatar have been trying to get to Ba Sing Se for like 4 episodes but we haven't even seen much past the outer wall. Really gives the show an epic sense of scale.
A cool detail to go back and spot: In The Northern Air Temple episode, the Mechanist had plans for the drill on his desk.
Longshot's words of wisdom always bring tears to my eye.
Anyway brace yourself. Episodic fun one-off adventures are (with one exception) over for the rest of this season.
I love Azulas bad girl squad. Tai Lee is such a sweet soul and the Wednesday Addams energy coming off Mai is so great. Azula scares me in the best way. She's so broken, from her first appearance when we flash back to Zuko being scarred we see her sadistic glee.
To add to your Sokka shipping: Don't forget about Toph thinking that she was giving Sokka a peck when Suki saved her from drowning.
Tea is Iroh's kryptonite, his weakness. It just brought on a momentary lapse in his common sense.
Funny thing: the inventor in the northern air temple was working on the schematics of the drill, but Soka didn't saw it because he was prying around.
I love this kind of details on the show.
"Abandon hope?!"
- "You don't have to do what the sign says."
Love it.
16:55 Iroh and Zuko got boat tickets from the White Lotus member that helped them in the desert. I think they explained it in the previous episode.
Jet: "I knew who you were the moment I saw your scar, we're both outcasts.."
Also Jet: "He heated his tea himself!, those guys are firebenders.."
Ok, but he's right xD
@@irasemam3146 But heating the tea is hardly the proof he needed after admitting he knew Zuko was the prince of the fire nation lol
@@BobGnarley. he didnt admit that, he said outcast just referring to his scar not his wanted posters
Fun fact: You can spot designs for the drill on the inventor's workshop at the Northern Air Temple episode.
YUP that is exactly the same couple Zuko saw
I love that Sokka couldn't kiss Suki while his ex was watching but was fine with it once she went away
Your reaction to Suki coming is so good. also "im just in love with somebody whose the moon" LMAO.
I love Mai, she’s hilarious!
Also the world building element of Ba Sing Se, and even for the story it becomes such a great setting
this show's music never misses.
Sokka sometimes struggles with feeling insecure because everyone else in the Gaang is such a powerful bender. Little does he know, he's the most powerful backbender in the four kingdoms.
Iroh gets a bit stupid when it comes to tea. Remember when he tried to make tea out of that poison plant?
22:38 Sokka smacking world leaders doesn't get old.
No one saw Iroh firebend to heat up the tea, not even us. His mistake was proclaming "..the coldest tea..". That is how Jet knew, otherwise Jet wouldnt have noticed.
It literally just struck me how deeply profound and beautiful that Aang put Katara on the same level as the last part of the world Aang was born to, and now Im feeling feelings.
Always a bright moment when you upload another avatar video! Thanks!
I just love her little jig at the end while dancing to the credits music lol
"Momo's not enough for me." Wow, so that and Sokka trying to sacrifice him to the serpent. Momo needs more love here!
I believe what happened with Uncle Iroh is that he breached the wall, sent the letter with the knife and doll to the firelord, and then shortly after Lu Ten died. I think he may have been able to take the city if that didnt happen, but in his grief (and what was probably the turning point for him in terms of his outlook on life) he decided to retreat and return to the fire nation.
This is how I remember it, but Im not 100% sure!!
inconsequential fun fact: the guy in charge of the Drill project is the same one who used to collect the new tech the Professor made at the Northern Air Temple, and the same one who got his hands on the war balloon prototype at the end.
Iroh drank poison in the (misplaced) hope that it was a deletible tea, so i think he's be willing to heat his cold tea and just let chips fall where they may.
I've been really sick for the past few days, my head and body have been aching so much, but your video today made me laugh and feel good! Thank you!!
The music during aang's plunge into the drill gets me every time
34:50 Fun fact: the most popular group name among many fans is "The Gaang," so Sokka wasn't far off with "The Aang Gang."
Xander's editing is impressive as always.
Angela: Episodes, not chapters.
Nathanael: [Chapter Thirteen: The Drill]
*chef's kiss*
Edited to use the correct name.
Nathanael edits these, he’s awesome 🖤
@@funnylilgalreacts Ah. Apologies, Nathanael. You're not mentioned by name enough. Great job!
Yes! That is the pregnant lady!! Yesss I love good writers so much
Sokka's fine with kissing Suki, just, not in front of his ex, y'know?
But Sokka's ex is always hovering around. Like literally EVERY NIGHT she's somewhere watching him. At a certain point it's just stalking.
Plus I think Yue would want Sokka to move on and be happy
Since this one is published, it means that Angela is up to episode 17. I've kind of been dreading episode 16 for Angela's sake since about the first third of season 1 when almost every other remark was concern for Appa.
That thought of how Ba Sing Se might not be as safe as they think, especially when Sozin’s Comet comes into play: Heh. She hit that nail right on the head with the wrong end of the hammer, didn’t she? 😆
"Hope" is a good name. Some friends of mine had their first child this year on the Fourth of July. They named him Oliver, but I've been calling him "Firecracker." I'm not sure if the nickname will stick but I'm going to give it my best shot.
32:56
I remember watching this episode for the first time and this part to this day still gives me chills
It was very hard when I watched this show as it aired. Good as these episodes were, at the start of each I was ready and waiting for them to get Aapa back...and it was week after week of them getting out of the desert then corssing the Serpent's Pass then the Drill.... I suspect that the frustration of having to wait week-to-week (and having tiime to discuss it with others at length) may have helped me to appreciate the show more. (But, if I could have binged it back then, I certainly would have!)
In terms of how Uncle Iroh acted, I think this season has both Iroh and Zuko take off their armour and garp of their positions and just be father and son. Sometimes Iroh is just old, passionate about what he's pasionate about and willing to stick with it. He was hungry on the boat and I think with the tea he was just sticking to his creature comforts. It seems the same as when Iroh ate the leaves at the beggining of the season and was willing to eat the berries but zuko stopped him. They did this right after they cut their Qu's/fire prince pony tail things. Zuko's dad is just a little bit old sometimes and Zuko is more vulnerable without trying to inhabit the armour of a fire soldier. Iroh also just wanted to brew tea when he was recovereing and training Zuko without noticing it had calming signifacance.
Iroh and Zuko got passports in the desert episode, when Iroh found a White Lotus hideout.
“now sokka’s an engineer?” my friend and i call sokka the renaissance man of avatar. he for real is an inventor, warrior, casual engineer, battle strategist, etc etc (some spoilers) who dabbles in fashion art and poetry
No spoilers, but you're going to get many answers soon Angela. _The Serpent's Pass_ never fails to make me bawl. First time I saw it I was not long out of a very traumatic breakup. Back right there again today. Can't wait for Friday's upload!!
my favorite line " It's so dark down here I can't see a thing" "Oh no what a nightmare!" 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
In the northern air temple you can actually see the mechanist working on the drill on a parchment.
Uncle Iroh is awesome in every episode he is in i absolutely love him ❤️
One of the most commonly used squad name is "The Gaang" i like it so i use it often lol.
In case it wasn't mentioned before, I think the name the fandom settled on for the group was either Team Avatar or *_the gAang_* . Needless to say, I like the second one more. 😁😁
The Drill is the first episode of this show that I ever saw; it was quite the place to start.