Let’s dance!

Book 1: Water

Chapter 15

Bato of the Water Tribe

WHAT HAPPENED?

The team runs into Bato, a friend of Katara and Sokka’s father. He takes them to an abby where he has been resting after being hurt in battle. Bato suggests that they go with him to see their dad since it’s been two years, but they decide against it because they need to get Aang to the North Pole. However, Aang doesn’t hear this since he goes to the beach feeling as though he was cast aside. He intercepts a map that leads to their father, but hides it. After a trust exercise, Aang reveals the map, and they decide to leave him, but later change their minds.

Zuko hires a bounty hunter and captures Katara and Sokka. Aang comes to the rescue and fights them off, stealing back Katara’s necklace from Zuko.

WHAT TO TAKE AWAY

I just realized that this is the first time since episode 9 (Avatar Roku) that mentions their mission to the North Pole. That’s seven whole episodes, including the Great Divide, that have nothing to do with the main objective. Come on, Nickelodeon!

She eats rusty nails for breakfast and washes it down with broken glass!

Aside from the fact that Aang hid important information from Katara and Sokka, he’s alone. Not that he wouldn’t be alone if his fear came true and they decided to leave him to go see their dad. Perhaps because he never really had parents, he couldn’t understand the full weight of what he’d done until they decided to abandon him when they found out the truth.

I mean that he’s alone in the sense that he has no one in this world. I liken Aang to Captain America; both are individuals out of their elements. Aang lost everyone he ever knew to the war he didn’t know existed in the time he missed. Cap lost everyone he ever knew to the time after the war he fought. They are both lone wolves in a way, but not by choice. Aang, however, was willing to keep people in his life in order to not be alone even if it meant lying to them. But ‘at any cost’ isn’t something that Aang can live with, and even though he was a jerk, Katara and Sokka decide to be with Aang.

Back together again!

Zuko, however, is one to do whatever it takes to reach his goal. He hires the bounty hunter, Jun, who controls an animal that tracks primarily through smell. I think it’s a pretty awesome creature worth mentioning. Oh, and did I mention that Iroh is a bit of a creeper? Yeah, he totally cops a feel on Jun when she’s temporarily paralyzed. Thanks, Nickelodeon!

Finish him!

This episode displayed some development for Aang, although I didn’t get the feeling that he was made to learn a lesson. Maybe it’s that if you lie or hide from the people you care about, you’ll eventually drive them away. Actually, Zuko is shown as another parallel to Aang throughout the series in that sense. He does things that pushes people further away from him, probably for fear of showing that he has a heart. I guess Zuko fears letting people in because he was cast out by those he called family. Either way, I think it’s a nice parallel to Aang who does something to push his surrogate family away.

Lonely. So lonely.

Aang manages to retrieve Katara’s necklace from Zuko, and that seemingly patches things up within the group. But even though he did that, this shouldn’t immediately fix things between them. Sure, it’s a start, but this is a potential source of drama that could have been used later.

Code Red!

We also get an interesting flashback that gives us a bit more into Sokka’s character. As much as he wanted to go with his father two years ago, he was tasked by his father to keep his sister safe. I can’t believe I didn’t think of this before but Sokka’s motivation on this trip seems to be to watch after Katara more than it is to help Aang. Knowing that he can’t stop her once her mind is made up, he will naturally follow due to his need to protect her, or at least help her if she needs it. Sure, he cares about his sister, but Sokka looks to not let his father down while Zuko looks to win the love of the father he let down. Hmm…

It helps that the action in this episode was decent, as well. The battle depicted above is well worth the 18- minute wait, and I did enjoy the brief one-on-one between Aang and Zuko. This is not as much of a throwaway episode as it opens up the narrative for the potential to include characters like Sokka and Katara’s father. It furthers their development as characters and not sidekicks.

Now that we’re met up with an old friend, tensions heat up when the team meets the Deserter.

If you want to discuss this show, stop by our dedicated discussion thread on this show!