Okay, I’m in, I had doubts but now I’m in.
Hi folks! Welcome back to our weekly recap of Avatar: The Last Airbender. This week’s episode is named “Warriors” and hey! It was written by comic book author Joshua Hale Fialkov! I haven’t seen him in a while, so I’m glad to know that he’s rocking around in other media! Let’s dive right in!
1. To Save the World First
A recurring thing during this episode is Sokka’s desire to go back to what he knows, and leave Aang behind as an adventure to remember. That reticence to help is questioned by Katara, then by Suki and later by himself… after all, what is a kid who pretends to be a warrior (but was taught by no one) and who has no bending powers going to do to save the world?
Katara, on the other hand, is convinced that this is their chance to do something good, something different that helps the world, and that feeling is amplified by the fact that she has gotten much better in her water bending abilities, and that her Grangran hid a scroll in her bag.
We have a brief moment when we are being read the message for Katara, when her grandmother looks briefly at the camera: usually that would be an editing or acting mistake, and maybe I’m putting way too much into that micro-second, but I felt like a message was sent, that Grangran is signaling that she knows we “are seeing,” meaning to me that she is aware that the world is watching how these three kids are going to save it.
2. There Would Have Been Signs (… of Humor!)
Aang, Sokka and Katara arrive at Kyoshi Island, where they first visit the monument to the past avatar. There, they are stopped by some mysterious warriors, who question the truth of him being the new avatar, when he’s suddenly illuminated by light coming out of the statue’s eyes.
This was a very funny moment, in fact there were much more laughs in this episode, this was a little more lighthearted than the first one, although it’s still far from the comedic approach of the original animated series. I’m glad we got a little bit of humor here, we even saw the classic image of Aang riding an air scooter and hitting a statue!
3. “The Avatar is a Coward”
If Sokka has some doubts on his mission, then Aang is having it much worse: he is a child from a pacifist tribe of monks, and war is not something that he wants to do, but when he manages to enter the avatar state and talk to avatar Kyoshi, he is confronted by an unkind warrior.
Kyoshi knows that people have died, and what’s worse, people are going to keep dying until Aang finishes the job. She’s that mean teacher who at the beginning of the course tells everyone that half of the students are not gonna make it, and the other half are going to be left sad and regretful… but the work has to be done, and someone has to do it, so Aang, who is a child, may I remind you, has pretty much no choice.
On the other side, we see Zuko, who is confronted by disappointment, because he is angry that Aang fled instead of fighting with him, and he is scared, because he had spent three years with no hope of coming back home: you can tell the glimpses of his subconscious knowing that he was sent on an impossible mission, and now that the chance of coming back is real, it’s almost scarier – what if he fails and he truly can never come back?
4. The Kyoshi Warriors and Suki
On the island, we are introduced to the villagers of the town, led by Suki’s mother. They all live outside the war, unbothered by the Fire Nation, but they seem also separated from the Earth Kingdom. We are introduced to the Kyoshi Warriors, a team of girls-turned-fierce soldiers following the path of the last earth-related avatar.
Suki is the leader of the warriors, and she is fascinated by the weird guy from the Water Tribe; Sokka, on the other hand, is equally enthralled by Suki and her fighting abilities. She opens up a little, a thing that she is vocal to her mom that she has never done before, leading them to train together, and prove they had great chemistry in their fight against the fire soldiers.
Continued below5. Bringing the World to the Island
At the end of the episode, after Kyoshi possesses Aang and deus ex machinas the day, Suki kisses Sokka and gives him her war fan, assuring him that he is a warrior, and thanks him for bringing the world to her. After that, Sokka leaves happy, and convinced to keep helping Aang.
And I think that this is the main ability that Aang and his team have, they are able to bring the world to wherever they go, and with that, they spark the idea of freedom, of the hope for a new, better world. The series focuses on the wandering tales of the team, learning something new in each town, but they also leave something, and that’s something I didn’t notice until now.
And that’s it for this episode, I loved it! It is definitely a different take on the story while also being (mostly) faithful to the original, so let’s see how it evolves with each episode. What did you think of this one? Leave your comments below and join us next week for our take on chapter 103, “Omashu.”
