Avatar: The Last Airbender – Page 2 – Enneagram and Encaustic

The Blind Bandit

Oh, what a great episode to watch after a long break! Finally, Toph. Yay!

ONE

Sokka, shopping in a city, wants to buy a bag. It’s too expensive, but he gets it anyway. On the street a salesman approaches Aang with a flier for an earth bending academy. We’re reminded that the Avatar needs a teacher.

TWO

Cut to Aang in a silly uniform, surrounded by a bunch of little kids taking class. Master Yu teaches. (It’s pretty much the kind of “quick karate” school we’d see in our own time.) Aang leaves, knowing this isn’t the training for him. Two students walking by speak about an earth bending tournament. When Aang, excited, asks them about it, they ridicule him and don’t respond.

THREE

Katara will take care of this: “Hey, strong guys, wait up,” she says with a flirting voice as she pursues them around a corner. She returns, saying, “We’re going to Earth Rumble Six.” How did she do it? We get a shot of the two boys, perpendicular to the street, encased in ice against the buildings.

Avatar Day

If it lacked a couple of key beats, this is an episode I’d almost skip watching. It’s not bad, just . . . not thrilling.

ONE

The team, asleep, camps in the woods. When they’re surrounded, everyone grabs their important stuff except Sokka. His boomerang left behind, he’s told there’s no time to retrieve it.

TWO

He laments his lost identity. Aang has his tattoo arrow, Katara her hair loopies, and now Sokka’s just ponytail guy.

When they go to pay for something in town, they’re told, “Have a nice Avatar Day.” This cliffside earth kingdom village holds a festival. A giant Kyoshi statue, a rolling Roku statue, food . . . Aang smiles at it all. Then the villagers torch the statues and cry, “Down with the Avatar!”

THREE

The Blue Spirit, in some village, steals food. After hiding the mask in the forest, Zuko returns to Iroh in a cave. They eat, Iroh unaware of what Zuko’s done.

The Swamp

Not bad, just not a favorite. The only point of interest is the young woman in Aang’s vision, and she’s only interesting if you’ve seen the series before. I whine in more detail after the breakdown.

BOOKEND

Iroh sits roadside, begging. Zuko finds it humiliating because they’re royalty, while Iroh is so humble it’s embarrassing. A mean person forces him to dance for money, using swords to prod him. Zuko looks on, angry.

ONE

The team flies on Appa. Relaxed, Aang thinks and dreams. Below them is a swamp.

TWO

Appa’s headed down, waking everyone. What’s wrong? I think the swamp is calling me, Aang says. It wants us to land. Sokka resists, scoffing that the earth could be speaking.

A whirlwind attacks them. Aang bubbles Appa and everyone on his back, but the ball explodes and all are thrown clear. The humans land together, but Appa and Momo are gone.

THREE

Aang air bends his way up a large tree to look around. Nothing in every direction but swamp, and no sign of the animals.

Return to Omashu

ONE

We start up right where the last episode stopped: Omashu is under Fire Nation control. Sokka says, you’ll have to learn earth bending from someone else. No, Aang’s going in. Bumi’s my friend, he says.

TWO

He shows the gang a secret passage into Omashu: the sewer. Aang air bends the muck and Katara water bends it, while Sokka’s left to just wallow.

In the streets Sokka comes up out of the sewer like a monster. Katara washes him, and Aang dries him. A kind of cute, pink leech, a pentapus, is attached to his face. Aang tickles it and it releases, leaving behind red sucker marks. When a Fire Nation patrol comes upon them and asks what’s wrong with his face, the team invents pentapox. It’s contagious! Sokka acts like a zombie, and the patrol dashes away.

THREE

Azula’s old lady mentors offer her advice. Form a small elite team, they say.

The Cave of Two Lovers

A Three this charming should’ve been mirrored at the Six. My heart is broken at the lost opportunity, lol. Critical Notes after the breakdown.

ONE

In a shallow river Katara and Aang practice their water bending. Sokka floats on a leaf raft, soaking up the relaxation goodness. They will head to Omashu today. While teaching Aang, Katara touches his arms, sending his cheeks into a blush. He’s doing well with the bending.

TWO

Momo sounds an alert and they hear music. A group of nomads who look like ‘60s flower children stroll up. They are . . . not the brightest bunch. They’re extraordinarily cheerful, though, and good company.

Cut to Iroh examining a flower. It could be a plant that makes a delicious tea, or it could be poison. Zuko grouses that he wasn’t meant to be a fugitive while Iroh decides whether or not to chance the tea.

THREE

Appa relaxes, braids and flowers festooning his large head. Everybody enjoys the hippie vibe except Sokka, who calls it a distraction.

The Avatar State

I have one early complaint, detailed below, but mostly this is a great season opener. Questions are answered that may have dragged down future episodes. We have a clean slate now.

ONE

Fog. A dream. Aang sees himself in his first Avatar State at the Southern Air Temple. Avi Aang attacks Dream Aang. Now the Ocean Spirit Aang attacks him. He startles awake. They’re still at the Northern Water Kingdom.

TWO

Master Poku gives Katara a parting gift, a water-filled amulet from the spirit oasis. He gifts Aang a box of water bending scrolls. And for Sokka? A pat on the shoulder, lol. Our team leaves on Appa. Eventually, Aang will learn earth bending from King Bumi. They must stop first at another Earth Kingdom destination.

Iroh, after three weeks floating on a piece of driftwood, gets a massage. Meanwhile, Zuko recognizes that it’s his three year banishment anniversary. “I want it all back,” he says.

THREE

A Fire Nation ship. Everyone onboard bows as a canopied chair is carried forward. Azula steps out. (That grating voice!) She gives a speech about the shame that’s been brought on the royal family. When the captain tells her they can’t dock until the tides turn, she terrorizes him.

Book One: Water

Now that the first season of Avatar has been Enneagram reviewed, let’s look at the entire arc.

ONE

The first episode is basically the season’s One. It’s so funny to think of a time when I knew nothing about bending or the Avatar cycle. The showrunners did a good job establishing everything clearly, and our three characters are distinct and engaging. And Appa! Don’t forget our good boi! Because the believability of the Avatar is so strong, I forget how easy they made the worldbuilding of this IP look.

TWO

And episode two is basically the season’s Two. The Avatar has been missing for one hundred years, leaving the world vulnerable to the Fire Nation. Aang is now ready to tackle his destiny, go North and learn the other bending disciplines, but . . . first there’s a laundry list of distractions. Also in this section is a Zuko vs. Aang battle. How these guys will manage their relationship is definitely part of the Trouble.

THREE

The world has two Air Temples. At the Three they visit the Southern one. Aang confronts a lot of pain here, and in Zuko’s storyline Commander Zhao is introduced and even battles an agni kai against him. Everyone’s wounds are here, and the Air Temple is the visual.

The Siege of the North

As with the two episodes that began this season, these last two episodes should be looked at as one overarching Enneagram. Since they have the same title, let’s roll them into one post rather than break them apart. They mesh very nicely. Good structure when they’re looked at holistically.

PART ONE

ONE

We’re in the very shiny and beautiful Northern Water Kingdom. Dueling in Master Pakku’s class, Katara defeats everyone else and wins Pakku’s praise. Cut to Aang, kicked back in class, who bends snow onto himself, becoming a snowman. Serious vs. Silly.

TWO

Sokka takes Yue for a glorious ride on Appa. Just as they’re about to kiss, ash starts raining around them. Back at class, Aang stops his antics to notice the falling soot mixing with snow. From his vantage point on Appa, Sokka looks out and sees the armada. Fire Nation, a lot of them.

At the flagship, Admiral Zhao brags to Iroh of his great upcoming victory. He also tosses in a dig about Iroh’s loss at Ba Sing Se. As magnanimous as always, Iroh takes the hit, then finds Zuko and tells him to be ready.

The Water City rings the alarm. As Sokka parts from Yue, she says she can’t see him anymore. She likes him too much, and she has her duty to her people.

THREE

The Water Tribe Elder gives his speech to the troops, calling on the spirits of Ocean and Moon to assist them.

The Waterbending Master

Sound storytelling structure. I have only one critique at the end of the breakdown.

ONE

The team flies on a very tired Appa, who can barely keep out of the icy ocean below them. Just as they say they can’t find the Northern Water Tribe, spikes of ice knock them into the water and boats surround them.

TWO

Admiral Zhao knows where the Avatar is headed. This is no little Earth Village, he says. He’ll need a massive invasion force for the Northern Water Kingdom.

Water benders escort our team on Appa into their city. Thick ice walls and multiple gates, removed by bending, surround the compound. It’s a stunning place: canals, decorative bridges, tiers of buildings, all made of ice and compacted snow.

THREE

Sokka notices a beautiful, white-haired young woman in a gondola.

The Northern Air Temple

This is a tricky episode.

ONE

Our team listens to a tale told around a campfire. It’s about “airwalkers”, people who laugh at gravity. Aang loves this. It’s an air bender story! The bard passes around a hat for tips.

TWO

Aang mentions that this story describes events from a hundred years ago. Nope, just last week, the bard says.

THREE

Appa flies the team up to the Air Temple. As they fly, Sokka carves a piece of wood, although we don’t know what the sculpture is.