8/3/20 - Book 1: Chapters 1-4
Book 1: Water
Part 1 - Nick’s February Revolution
I don’t think we - as audiences - have yet realized how much streaming has changed how we watch TV.
Streaming services like Netflix, Hulu, and Disney+ have fundamentally changed the way we engage with television programming. In 2020, audiences are now free to tailor their viewing practices to their lifestyles and their schedules - Netflix started the trend of dropping entire seasons of television at once, and now that’s practically industry standard.
I think there is plenty to unpack about the perks and drawbacks of the modern age of streaming, but something rather simple I miss about the pre-streaming years are programming blocks.
Now - to be clear - cable and broadcast TV are a far cry from dead, but they have definitely fallen out of vogue - and with them, the mundane delight of the programming block. As opposed to the self imposed marathons implicitly created by binge-watch culture, audiences used to be treated to multi-course visual array of different shows in primetime, multi-hour long blocks.
On Nickelodeon in the 2000s, I have distinct memories of the network pairing two of their flagships - Spongebob Squarepants and The Fairly OddParents - together on weeknights.
And it was on one, special, brisk Monday night in February 2005 that Nickelodeon followed up that cartoon block with the premiere of Avatar: The Last Airbender.
A premiere I might not have seen were it not for classical network programming.
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In the opinion of this author, Avatar: The Last Airbender (ATLA), and its sequel series, The Legend of Korra, are - by light years - the most artistically impressive projects ever produced by Nickelodeon (as a disclaimer moving forward - of course art is subjective, and of course Nick has created other excellent programming - I just think ATLA and Korra are on a different level).
Both series were initially devised by animation veterans and Rhode Island School of Design alumni Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko (collectively known as “Bryke” by the ATLA fandom). In the late 90s and early 2000s, the two cut their teeth on Fox’s King of the Hill and Family Guy, and Bryan also storyboarded for Nick’s cult classic Invader Zim.
Around the time of Zim’s cancellation in 2002, Michael and Bryan were given the opportunity to pitch their own show to Nickelodeon, who at the time were looking for an answer to the titanic success of high fantasy juggernauts Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings.
In 2002 (and still today, honestly), practically all high fantasy lived in the shadow of Tolkien and Lord of the Rings. “Swords and sorcery,” as it were, drew almost exclusively from European tradition and mythology - stone castles, wizards, elves and dwarves - the old standbys of Dungeons and Dragons.
One of the first unique things Bryan and Michael chose to do with their story was craft a fictional world inspired by a diverse array of Asian and global cultures. The pair shared a powerful interest in Asian philosophy, history, and mythology; and saw the opportunity to bring that passion into their new project, and bring a truly unique setting to American mainstream television.
It was in tandem with brainstorming a main character for the project that the rest of the pieces of Avatar’s first season began to fall into place. Aang and Appa developed from old doodles of a more sci-fi character Bryan had been imagining, and once the idea of Aang as one of the “air people” developed, Katara, Sokka, Zuko, the four nations, and the world of Avatar really began to click into place.
(My primary source for research for this project has been and will continue to be Avatar: The Last Airbender - The Art of the Animated Series (Dark Horse Books, 2010). I’m giving an accelerated summary of the show’s origins here but for more in depth information I recommend the book thoroughly)
Michael and Bryan broke a lot of television rules in getting Avatar to air - their formal pitch for the show (which is supposed to be a concise sale of the story) was extremely in depth and ran for hours; they created a system of magic (bending) for the show that heavily featured water and fire - two things notoriously difficult to animate; and they further pushed their intrepid animators in getting the team to basically learn cinematic techniques and digital camerawork in order to visually give the show its epic scope.
Across both Avatar and Korra, “Water” is definitely the rockiest season of both shows - there’s evidence the animators are still getting some of the looks of the characters down, and across both shows it features the one episode of either series I think is justifiably skippable (if you know, you know). However, when Book 1 shines, it really shines, and I think it is a testament to the diligent work of Bryke and their team that as a complete text, Avatar is a rare example of a story and piece of art that gets exponentially better until it’s ending.
Avatar is like nothing else Nickelodeon has ever made. If you’ve seen it, you know. If it’s your first time watching the show, I’m so excited to make this journey with you.
1.1 - The Boy in the Iceberg
The benders in the iconic “Water, Earth, Fire, Air,” intro are Pakku, “Sud” (the prototype design for Toph’s character); Azula, and Aang
The calligraphy in the background of both ATLA and Korra’s intro says:
“Water is benevolent”
“Earth is strong”
“Fire is fierce”
“Air is peaceful”
As near as I can tell, it’s never explicitly mentioned onscreen in Avatar, and only alluded to in Korra, but there is a link between the Avatar/element cycle and the cycle of the seasons - namely, each element corresponds to a particular season (Water/Winter, Earth/Spring, Fire/Summer, Air/Autumn), and there is a distinct uptick of benders being born in their element’s corresponding season - i.e. more firebenders are born in summer.
The first episode is the only time in the whole series we don’t get the “but I believe, Aang can save the world,” standard intro.
It is a bit mind boggling to me that the war with the Fire Nation has lasted a century. Like, I suppose the x-factor of magic plays some role in extending that timeline, but the Fire Nation is explicitly the most technologically advanced of the four (three) nations, and their bending is arguably the most “overpowered” as it can be generated from thin air. After Sozin’s slaughter of the Air Nomads there isn’t much explicit detail about the progress of the war during Azulon’s reign - from a real-world, 21st century perspective, 100 years just seems like an absurdly long time to have a war.
Note: While I intend to use “magic” interchangeably with “bending,” I don’t mean it as a dig at the show - just as a way to examine bending as a magic system and a cog in the world of the show.
Sokka - who gets the first line of the series - is voiced by Jack de Sena, who is otherwise known for his roles on Nick’s All That (1994-2004) and Netflix’s The Dragon Prince (2018-Pres.).
Katara is voiced by Mae Whitman, a very hardworking and capable actress whom this author knows from Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010) and The Perks of Being a Wallflower (2013).
Even the clothing design of this show is nostalgic and inviting for me - the varied, huge Water Tribe parkas look so cozy, I want.
So, as someone who watched the show over the four years that it aired, I need to constantly remind myself that the actual narrative of the three Books only spans about nine months (winter to summer’s end/Sozin’s Comet); to that end, the main cast are the following ages throughout the run of the show:
Sokka is 15
Katara is 14
Aang is 12 (chronologically 112)
Zuko is 16
As pointed out to me by tumblr - Sokka’s sexism, as a catalyst for getting Aang out of the iceberg, indirectly leads to the end of the war.
On the note of 100 years - wild that all it took was a few smacks of a bone club to free Aang when a century of polar sea currents apparently had no effect.
Enter Zuko, our angsty emo boi; and Iroh, our retired general and casual philosopher who just wants to play solitaire and eat his roast duck.
Zuko is played by Dante Basco, 90s kid darling for his standout performance as Rufio in Steven Spielberg’s Hook (1991); as well as the title role in Disney Channel’s American Dragon: Jake Long (2005-2007), and a supporting role in But I’m a Cheerleader (1999).
Iroh is voiced by the late, great, Mako (Makoto Iwamatsu), a prolific Japanese-American actor with decades of filmography on his resume; but fellow Millennials will recognize him as the voice of Aku in Samurai Jack (2001-2004).
To the end of this show airing on Nickelodeon - Aang’s “can I ask you something” feels like a spiritual parallel to Spongbob’s “I need… a tailor,” from “Ripped Pants.”
Enter Appa, our best boy (whomst, in The Art of the Animated Series, Bryke happily acknowledge was inspired by Miyazaki’s Catbus from My Neighbor Totoro).
Hardly the biggest detail in a magical world, but one wonders if the sky bison were bred for their arrows or if the airbenders copied the design for their tattoos from the bison - we see wild bison in Korra with the arrows so at minimum they’re not artificial.
Unlike some fantasy shows of great scope (looking at you D & D); ATLA appreciates the technical considerations of travel very well in this world - with Appa swimming and not flying, it takes the group at least half a day to get Aang back to the village.
It is after Aang falls asleep we get our first glimpse of the Storm; we’ll circle back to that in about 10 episodes.
Gran Gran and the slide whistle is such a small but delightful joke.
Aang’s glider is such an incredible and iconic design - instantly recognizable.
“Power in firebending comes from the breath,” - both good worldbuilding, and subtle foreshadowing of Iroh’s moniker “The Dragon of the West.”
While they’re exclusively called “penguins” in this episode, like most animals in the Avatar world, these creatures are hybrids and are technically “otter-penguins”
Aang has such a delightful laugh.
“I haven’t done this since I was a kid!” “You still are a kid!” (Correct. DON’T MAKE CHILDREN FIGHT YOUR WARS).
It is a rather short beat, considering the weight of the realization, but I do think the emotion in Aang’s realization he’s been out for a hundred years is appropriate.
The premiere, the finale, and some fan-favorite episodes of Book 1 were directed by Lucasfilm superstar and executive producer of Rebels, The Clone Wars, and The Mandalorian - Dave Filoni.
1.2 - The Avatar Returns
So, the first two episodes are intended to be watched back-to-back, and there’s no better evidence of that than, when watching the show on Netflix - Katara introduces Aang as the Avatar in the intro before she learns that fact in the show; which yours truly finds quietly hilarious.
“Aang’s taking me to the North Pole!” “I am? Great!” - Protect this child.
Bold of Sokka to assume there would still be Fire Navy in the South Pole when it’s later revealed that - courtesy of the Southern Raiders - the Fire Nation knows the Southern Tribe has been decimated within an inch of its life. I read it as Sokka being overprotective..
Sokka and Zuko’s spar is cute - they’re both children but neither is incompetent.
“You’re just a child!” “Well, you’re just a teenager,” - Millennial/Gen Z interactions be like.
The beat the creators give Katara and Sokka to sit in after Aang leaves with Zuko is a tiny thing, but a nice moment of reflection for a kid’s show.
“He’s not my boyfr-” “Okay!” - Siblings be like.
Supportive, kind Gran Gran is the best. Save a flashback in Book 3, this is the last we see of her onscreen.
Speaking of great old people - Iroh’s casual antics on the ship - “Hey, you mind taking this to his quarters for me?”; napping like a king while Aang searches for his glider? - Icon.
It’s one thing if Katara and Sokka haven’t seen an airbender in their lifetime - but the fact that they don’t know about flying bison is a testament, I think, to the fact that war can and does destroy history.
To that end; while rewatchers know this changes by Sozin’s Comet - at this point in time, flight is still a supernatural ability only achieved through bending.
Aang and Zuko’s first real fight is small-scale and quick; but intense and excellently choreographed.
Aang’s first Avatar State is so effing cool. The Avatar state and its “glowing eyes of doom” is an icon of the series and marketed on every piece of merchandise under the sun; but I do think it’s sincerely one of my favorite magical mechanisms across not just animation, but storytelling as a whole.
Katara’s first, sloppy use of offensive waterbending is so wholesome and funny.
The one time in the whole series Iroh attacks Aang is when he tries to help Zuko stop Appa from escaping.
“Why didn’t you tell us you were the Avatar?” “Because I never wanted to be…” - So much weight and unspoken emotion for such a simple piece of dialogue.
The simple, peaceful piece that plays at the end of this episode (and becomes a leitmotif for Aang and Katara) is called “Safe Return,” - it is played on a kalimba and one of my side-goals with this project is to a.) acquire a kalimba, and b.) learn to play this piece halfway decently before this project is done.
1.3 - The Southern Air Temple
To the note of Book 1 uniquity - I believe this is the only episode without a standard white title card
Jason Isaacs (Lucius Malfoy) as Zhao is such an unrepentant corporate climber you have to adore him for being so unabashedly shitty.
I am curious as to how the Fire Nation did lay siege to the Air Temples in Sozin’s time; like I get the impressions that their tanks (that are capable of climbing up cliff faces) are a more modern invention.
Zhao mentions in passing the Fire Nation’s plan to seize Ba Sing Se by summer’s end; one wonders if Azula was factored in before or after her encounter with the Kyoshi warriors.
Gyatso is utterly old-man goals.
Zuko mentions he has been hunting the Avatar for two years, making him 14 (and Azula 12 as she stares on with glee) at his “duel” with Ozai.
While I’m not precisely sure how firm the Avatar world timeline was by this point in production - in reference to the Avatar statues in the temple sanctuary - by Aang and Korra’s time, the Avatar had existed for about 10,000 years. Going off an average lifespan of about 100 years (we have outliers like Kuruk who only lived into his 30s and Kyoshi who lived into her 230s) - that gives us roughly 1,000 Avatars between Aang and Wan.
“Lemur!” “Dinner!”
“If your father really wanted you home, he would have let you return by now, Avatar or no Avatar.” - Zhao really knows how to make an effective cut. On some level, Zuko HAS to know this, and won’t admit it to himself.
So, regarding Gyatso’s corpse… as the internet has speculated for a while (and as Korra has explicitly confirmed) airbending can be devastating when used offensively. Aang uses it almost exclusively in a traditional, defense-oriented style; but Gyatso is surrounded by a lot of dead Fire Nation soldiers. It is a widely embraced internet theory that Gyatso’s last stand could’ve been a truly horrifying display of what airbending is truly capable of.
I neglected to mention Aang’s voice actor (Zach Tyler Eisen) earlier (in no small part because Zach appears to have fallen off the face of the earth since finishing Avatar; and good for him, not everyone needs to be a celebrity); but there are a lot of little nice moments where Zach’s work really shines, for example Aang’s quiet sobs upon finding Gyatso ring really genuine to me.
Another tiny thing - Avatar does not shy away from using the word “kill,” - something you don’t see a lot in children’s animation. In contrast, something like Steven Universe would often sub in words like “destroy,” or “shatter,” - it’s a tiny thing, but it keeps the stakes of Avatar real for me.
Aang’s Avatar state in this episode triggers a reaction at Avatar temples across the globe. I have to assume this was because Aang was on-site of one of these temples, and they work like some kind of spiritual network - otherwise the temples would’ve lit up when Aang used the Avatar state to attack Zuko in the South Pole; let alone staying activated while he was in a continuous Avatar state the whole time he was in the iceberg.
Zuko and Zhao’s Agni Kai slaps. The score, the choreography. Pitch perfect.
“Even in exile, my nephew has more honor than you. Thanks again for the tea. It was delicious.”
“Did you really mean that uncle?” “Of course, I told you ginseng tea was my favorite.” (Iroh is best character and I will fight you).
“We’re your family now!” - Katara said Found Family.
“I really am the last airbender…” (Oh he said the thing - but also I really appreciate that Bryke took care of this story beat this early on; would’ve been tough if Aang deluded himself into thinking the airbenders were just in hiding or something).
1.4 - The Warriors of Kyoshi
I do appreciate the importance of emotional control in bending; in this episode we have Zuko accidentally supercharging his candles in fury, and in the pilot Katara shatters a glacier in a moment of accidental waterbending. It’s an interesting element (ayy) to include in your magic system.
I’m not sure one could classify Avatar as steampunk (in contrast, Korra absolutely is); but ATLA definitely has the DNA of steampunk in it, and over the course of the show we see more mundane fantasy machinery of the Fire Nation evolve into the [redacted for first timers] we have by Book 3.
Bryke are refreshingly honest about the “growing pains” of Book 1 - the animation of Aang running across the water is some of the funkiest animation in the show.
So - Kyoshi herself and the Kyoshi Warriors have come back into vogue in particular in the ongoing George Floyd protests; and I am (somberly, I wish it hadn't happened under such horrific circumstances) excited Kyoshi has become a (albeit minor) modern symbol of decisive, active justice.
I personally have always had a fondness for the Kyoshi Warriors and their island; the isolationist, neutral island draws inspiration from a snowy, pre-industrial Japan and looks so cozy and peaceful; the Warriors themselves are badass and are some of the most instantly recognizable designs from the whole series; this was one of the episodes that was always in the rerun rotation on Nick and it was always one of my favorites
At least surprisingly to me - weaponized hand-fans were and are a real thing! The martial art is called “tessenjutsu” (literally “iron fan technique”), and is very hard to find a trainer in - at least in places I’ve lived.
If you have any interest in reading up on Avatar Kyoshi herself, F.C. Yee and Michael Dante DiMartino recently collaborated on an excellent pair of novels chronicling her exploits as the Avatar - The Rise of Kyoshi (2019) and The Shadow of Kyoshi (2020). At time of writing, I’ve only had the chance to read the first, but I personally found it was extremely well-written and exciting; plus, on top of being a 7-foot tall, fan-wielding badass, Kyoshi is explicitly LGBTQ+. We stan a sapphic queen.
“No, don’t hurt him! He didn’t mean it! My brother is just an idiot sometimes.” (That’s it, that’s Sokka and Katara’s initial relationship, right there).
Foaming Mouth Guy is top 5 visual gags of the entire show.
I’ve seen the show so many times at this point that Sokka’s growth with Suki and the Warriors is just a natural part of the plot for me, but it was and is a great way to get Sokka to confront his own preconceptions and grow as a person - as early as episode four.
On the note of growth - Aang and Katara’s subplot with Aang getting showered in attention is both cute and smartly written; it’s not given undue weight and after some very minor verbal spars Aang and Katara talk about their feelings, learn, and move on. It’s not a drawn out thing and I appreciate the writers just letting characters communicate and develop.
This episode has a Chekov’s sea monster in the form of the Unagi.
It chases Aang when the group first gets to Kyoshi
It attacks Aang when he’s messing about in the water trying to get Katara’s attention, and finally
Aang uses the Unagi to put out the fires in the village as the group flees Zuko’s forces
Additionally - I believe the shot focusing on the Unagi’s scary green eye is a direct visual reference to Neon Genesis Evangelion (specifically the first time Shinji sees Unit 01 without its “helmet” in the second episode; Bryke openly acknowledge taking inspiration from NGE).
When Zuko’s ship shows up, Katara whisper’s “Zuko!” to herself. At this point in the story - how does she know his name? To my knowledge the pair haven’t had a one on one encounter, and I’m not sure Sokka or Aang picked up his name yet either. This is absolutely a nitpick - it just stood out to me.
Zuko riding into town on his triceratops-rhinos (effing triceratops-rhinos tho) and the ensuing battle with the Warriors is - down to the score - very Yojimbo/Seven Samurai.
So - we learn later that the fans were part of Kyoshi’s ensemble because they helped her channel her airbending. Aang uses a pair of fans to yeet Zuko through a house with airbending - I know Aang’s got his glider/staff but why on Earth didn’t he take a pair of fans with him as a backup?!
Sokka and Suki’s farewell is the extremely rare instance of teenage romance I actually think absolutely works.
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History & Culture Corner: Shackleton and the South Pole
So, as a new feature for my Avatar series, each week I’d like to take a short moment to examine something that helped inspire Bryan and Michael in the creation of ATLA.
This week I’d like to briefly talk about Ernest Shackleton - an early 20th century Irish explorer famous for his expeditions into the Antarctic. Arguably Shackleton’s most famous voyage was intended to be a “Trans-Arctic” expedition across the continent from 1914-1917; this expedition fell to pieces when its ship, the Endurance, was trapped and then crushed by antarctic ice.
Some eighty-odd years later, Michael and Bryan were reading up on the Shackleton expeditions while brainstorming their new show for Nickelodeon. The aesthetic of the barren geography of the South Pole really inspired the duo, and helped lay the groundwork for the the homeland of Katara, Sokka, and the Water Tribes.
Furthermore, some of the most spectacular artifacts from the 1914-1917 expedition are the sepia photographs of the ice-trapped Endurance. It’s like the very icy sea around the ship has been frozen in a violent consumption of the comparably tiny bastion of warmth that had carried the team south. These fascinating images in particular went on to inspire the trapped Fire Nation ship Aang and Katara explore in the first episode.
Perhaps surprisingly, Shackleton and his entire crew actually survived the Endurance disaster and eventually made their way back home. Not all of Ernest’s journeys were without loss however - in total Shackleton made three journeys south: in 1907, 1914, and 1921. On his 1907 expedition, Shackleton brought, among his provisions, 25 cases of scotch (for those in the back that’s 300 bottles) for him and his crew, and at the conclusion of the journey, was forced to make the tragic decision to leave three of said cases behind.
In 2007, nearly a century later, the cases (containing eleven intact bottles) were recovered on another expedition. Glaswegian spirits producer Whyte and Mackay worked with the salvage team to produce a new Scotch named for Shackleton, and as both a man of Scottish heritage, and knowing the connections with Avatar, I have always endeavored to keep a bottle on my shelf to share with friends.
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Next time we’ll move on to King Bumi, Haru, and Avatar Roku. Till then, be well, be safe, and May the Force be with you.
And flameo, hotman!
- JMC