3/1/21 - Book 3: Chapters 9-12
Book 3: Fire
Part 3 - Cards on the Table
In a testament to my youth at the time, I actually first saw the Day of Black Sun by accident.
I’d followed Avatar pretty religiously in the latter half of Book 2, but for one reason or another, I wasn’t keeping as close tabs on Book 3 as it premiered - perhaps on account of my nonexistent attention span as a twelve-year-old.
In any case, it was with barely contained shock and excitement I remember stumbling into the basement of aunt and uncle’s house - ostensibly to hang with cousins as the adults socialized upstairs - to find Sokka’s dad onscreen, telling his troops that “this was the Day of Black Sun.” At that point for me, the eclipse and the invasion had been built up for over a year, so I rather violently seized control of the remote and was glued to the TV as my other cousins got on with board games while they casually watched along.
I don’t remember my reaction to the finer plot points of that initial viewing, just that almost immediately after I bought the two-parter on iTunes and pored over it on my palm-sized iPod Nano for months waiting for the next episodes. After then years of buildup to Aang’s destined confrontation with the Fire Lord, that day was fast approaching, and I couldn’t be more excited.
By the conclusion of this set of episodes, we truly enter the endgame of Avatar. All the cards are on the table, all the pieces are on the board - there aren’t many surprises left, just a question of how these final stages will play out. For those who might be taking this journey with me for the first time, I don’t want to say more than that, so let’s dive into this week’s episodes.
3.9 - Nightmares and Daydreams
With the crazy visuals of Aang’s pre-invasion anxiety, it’s easy to overlook the fact that this episode is likely the most in-depth look we get at Zuko and Mai’s relationship.
The site of the invasion rendezvous is the Black Cliffs - uninhabited by humans, but home to flocks upon flocks of wild koala-sheep.
The looks of Aang and Ozai in Aang’s anxiety nightmares are designed to mirror famous anime and video game characters.
In Aang’s first nightmare, he is styled reminiscent of Goku from Dragon Ball; in the second, Vash the Stampede of Trigun; and in his last dream of confronting Ozai, Aang sports long hair and a topknot typical of wuxia action films.
In Aang’s first and second nightmares, Ozai is comically huge and styled reminiscent of Bowser from Super Mario; curiously, despite never having met Ozai, in all of Aang’s dreams the Fire Lord is voiced by Mark Hamill, who seems to be having a blast performing Ozai as a more goofy villain for a change.
Mai’s family has a residence directly adjacent to the Royal Palace - though it is unclear whether or not they occupied this building before or after Mai and Zuko became involved.
It occurred to me in this episode - what precisely was the invasion team’s plan for conquering the Fire Nation after the Day of Black Sun? Like, even with a deposed Ozai, Aang & Co. didn’t know of Zuko’s change of heart and plans to defect - even if the royal family was captured or replaced, there are still thousands of soldiers in the Fire Nation’s forces who could (and do) overwhelm the invasion force - it’s (sadly) not as simple as taking down one bad man when most of a nation is radicalized.
Katara knows yoga! At time of writing, this is the singular mention of yoga in Avatar canon, but it tracks with her knowledge of healing techniques for Katara to have yoga in her knowledge base.
Aang’s third nightmare is by far the most disturbing - featuring the apparent deaths of most of Team Avatar and culminating in the scorching of the Earth by Sozin’s Comet.
Probably don’t need to point out, but Aang’s imagined kiss with Katara is so cringe. Boy, you bent cringe.
The noodle (macaroni) Ozai that Aang “spars” against was acquired from the Fire Nation school in “The Headband.”
Appa and Momo’s VA, Dee Bradley Baker, provides the goofy voices the pair have in Aang’s hallucination.
Casual standing Appa is so good.
Momo’s chin scratch before his duel with Appa is a sendup to samurai film legend Toshiro Mifune.
Brian George returns to reprise Pathik for Aang’s worsening hallucinations.
“You’ve been training for this since the day we met. I’ve seen your progress. You’re smart, brave, and strong enough.” - Katara good :’)
3.10 - The Day of Black Sun, Part 1: The Invasion
It has been 20 episodes (a full season) and 14 months in the airing schedule, but we have finally arrived at the Day of Black Sun.
We have our first explicit mention of the Avatar State this season when Aang explains to Toph that he won’t be able to use it against Ozai - further clarifying for the audience the extent of Aang’s injuries from Azula’s lightning.
This episode also sees the return of Gaang’s standard outfits and national colors, each slightly tuned up for their “end of series'' looks. Aang has the most notable change, transitioning from his Book 1 and 2 Air Nomad tunic to robes styled after real world Tibetan monks - in the words of Bryke, they wanted Aang to look “vulnerable, but powerful.”
The invasion force is commanded by Chief Hakoda, Sokka, Bato; and Haru’s father Tyro. Their fleet is composed of five Southern Water Tribe cutters, supporting five waterbending-powered submarines, which in turn carried earthbending-powered tanks, Earth Kingdom supply trucks, and the invasion force’s infantry into battle.
The earthbending tanks in particular draw inspiration from real-world caterpillars, Leonardo da Vinci’s “fighting vehicle” sketches, and United States’ prototype CLB 75 tank.
The Mechanist fabricated the vehicles for the invasion force at the Northern Air Temple before joining up with Hakoda’s fleet.
The named characters who make a return as part of the invasion force include Hakoda, Bato, Due, Tho, Huu, Haru, Tyro, The Hippo, The Boulder, The Mechanist, and Teo.
Notably the Northern Water Tribe doesn’t aid in the invasion. It is never said why they didn’t participate, but the Northern Tribe was likely spread thin having sent a detachment of benders to rebuild the Southern Tribe; furthermore the North was likely still recovering from Zhao’s siege only months earlier.
It is pretty well known now by the fanbase that Ming, the kind guard at Iroh’s prison, is voiced by tennis legend and Avatar superfan Serena Williams. She gets a pass from Iroh’s ensuing rampage via the “because you were nice to me” trope.
Sokka and Hakoda use the “expensive atlas” Toph bribed Sokka with in “The Runaway” to explain the invasion plan.
Thus far I’ve neglected to shout out Hakoda’s VA - Andre Sogliuzzo. He is a veteran voice and live action actor also known for supporting roles in You’ve Got Mail and The Polar Express. On ATLA he also voices the Earth Kingdom captain who captured Iroh in Book 1, the head of the Dai Li, and King Bumi.
To the note of series finale looks - Zuko undoes his topknot and sheds his royal armor in favor of his red and gold tunic for the remainder of the series.
“I already failed the world once at Ba Sing Se. I won’t let myself fail again.”
The Great Gates of Azulon were self-entitled (Azulon named them for himself) and draw inspiration from a massive chain barrier used to enclose the Golden Horn of Constantinople prior to 1453.
In a nice bit of quiet continuity, Toph pukes from seasickness into the Duke’s helmet. When the subs surface to replenish oxygen, we cut to the Duke washing his helmet out with seawater.
While it is still appropriately awkward for a first kiss between adolescents, Katara’s reaction to Aang’s now or never kiss is more nuanced than I initially realized.
This rewatch of the show has given me a greater appreciation for Mai. As revealed in the next batch of episodes, she is not as ride or die for the Fire Nation as she initially appears, and I’m convinced if Zuko had offered, she would have left with him during the invasion.
The Invasion of the Fire Nation is easily the largest fielding of infantry seen onscreen in Avatar - and it got me thinking as to just how big the populations of the Four Nations are. An excellent, in-depth tumblr post from “danseru-kun” explores both the notion that 1.) the world of Avatar is geographically, much smaller than our Earth (ATLA’s more comparable in size to Charon, a moon of Pluto); and 2.) the correspondingly smaller national populations of this hypothesis. I’ll include a link to the original post below, but their national population estimations (as of the invasion) come out to:
Earth Kingdom - 70% of landmass - pop. of 35 million
Fire Nation - 10% of landmass - pop. of 14 million
Northern Water Tribe - 5% of landmass - pop. of 50,000-1,000,000
Southern Water Tribe - 5% of landmass - pop. of approx. 50
Air Temple Territories - 10% of landmass - Unpopulated
I take the time to consider these numbers to explain how an invasion force of - at maximum a few hundred - are able to pose threat to the Fire Nation Capital.
Continuing on in that train of thought - Ozai knew that the defensive forces being fielded on the day of the eclipse were fodder for the meat grinder, and furthermore so did as least some some of the commanding officers who recognized the timing of the eclipse; but spare a thought for the poor infantry enlisted into the doomed initial conflict.
The inlet where the invasion makes its landing is the First Lord’s Harbor. The harbor consists of two main sections - the Royal Plaza (the long, walled expanse before the Fire Army garrison and tower) and the Harbor City at the foot of the capital’s volcano.
In the climactic moments of the episode, I appreciate that Aang literally just runs up the stairs of the Royal Palace to confront Ozai. (Attempted) direct action.
Additionally - Aang reaches the palace a good while before the eclipse kicks in - was the strategy to engage Ozai and then overpower and constrain (kill?) him once his firebending got knocked out?
3.11 - The Day of Black Sun, Part 2: The Eclipse
Another solid moment of quiet continuity - Huu and most of the Foggy Swamp waterbenders form the rear guard for the invasion - staying near an ample source of water (and seaweed, in Huu’s case).
I’ve seen this episode close to a dozen times at this point - the combined tracking shot and Sokka’s delivery of “They knew,” gets me every time.
Timekeeping tech is never explored thoroughly in Avatar, but I do think it’s notable that the Mechanist progressed from his sparking time candles to the eclipse timing devices in a matter of months.
The invasion plan has a lot of luck on its side throughout these two episodes - it is immensely fortunate the royal family sheltered in a bunker so nearby.
The Fire Lord’s bunker is part of a network of labyrinthe bunkers under the Capital constructed during Sozin’s reign.
The Water Tribe soldiers employ a tactic similar to real-world Roman “testudo” shield formations to protect themselves as they climb the volcano.
As Aang, Sokka, and Toph search the bunker, they have a run in with War Minister Qin. This marks Qin’s third and final appearance - he previously led the siege of the Northern Air Temple in Book 1, and commanded the Fire Nation Drill in Book 2. He was voiced by Kristoffer Tabori, known for his role as the fan-favorite HK-47 in Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic and its sequel.
While Ozai is the Big Bad - I personally would have found it more chilling to face Azula in the Gaang’s situation (note at this point we had yet to see Ozai firebend).
It is implicit in the episode but I think it needs to be underscored - Zuko is armed in self-defense because even with the eclipse in play he is afraid for his life confronting Ozai.
On cue, the entire invasion force dons specially made eclipse glasses - each solider more responsible than our thankfully former president.
The Mechanist’s design for the glasses is drawn from eyewear created by the Inuit and Yupik people to protect against excess light reflected off snowy landscapes.
At least for me - there was a split second I was terrified that Azula had somehow learned to earthbend the first time I saw this episode; before the reveal of her Dai Li bodyguards.
I appreciate that - after all of this buildup - there is precisely one poor schmuck firebender who tries and fails to bend during the eclipse.
“For so long, all I wanted was for you to love me, to accept me. I thought it was my honor that I wanted, but really, I was just trying to please you.” - There is so much great Zuko dialogue in this episode (he’s so articulate here, and so clumsy in the next ep I love it).
“It was cruel! And it was wrong.” “Then you have learned nothing!” “No! I’ve learned everything!”
Zuko’s condemnation of his father and the war is one of the most charged, and sadly resonant monologues in the show. Last June (2020), Michael Dante DiMartino made a resonant Facebook post discussing the frightening similarities between the Fire Nation and the modern United States - citing two countries “addicted to an increasingly hollow sense of greatness and… superiority,” led by a government “more concerned with [its] own glory than caring for [its] people.” Personally, I found this - as Mike put it - sobering, but a useful step in being critical of my own country’s place in the world and how we can improve our status both domestically and internationally - to that end;
“Growing up, we were taught that the United States was the greatest civilization in history, and somehow, war was our way of sharing our greatness with the rest of the world. What an amazing lie that was… the people of the world are terrified of the US. They don’t see our greatness. They hate us, and we deserve it. We’ve created an era of fear in the world, and if we don’t want the world to destroy itself, we need to replace it, with an era of peace, and kindness.”
“Your uncle has gotten to you, hasn’t he?” “Yes, he has.”
“It’s a trap. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.” - This is a full bluff on Azula’s part. She and her father have taken significant defensive steps between the bunker and the false throne room - notably, before he dismissed them, Ozai was even defended by Imperial Firebenders armed with melee weapons. Nonetheless - if Aang & Co. had rushed Ozai in this moment, there is the very real chance they could’ve subdued him.
This is the first episode in which Azula refers to a (current) member of Team Avatar by name, taunting Sokka. This is also the first episode in which Suki is mentioned since the Book 2 finale.
The dagger Azula intended to use on Sokka appears to be part of Mai’s set.
“I’m powerless. You’ve got your swords. Why not just do it now?” - In addition to Zuko’s moral reasons from not killing Ozai on the spot, the political implications of killing his father would be immediately messy. Ozai deftly handled the string-pulling that got him on the throne instead of Iroh - a much more explicit coup would probably not go over as well; in fact probably ending up with the more powerful and more violent Azula on the throne over Zuko.
“My father… had commanded me to do the unthinkable,” - Dancing around the “kill”-word does not undercut the fact that child-murder is an important plot point of a Nickelodeon all-ages show. Geez.
Perhaps more so than his display of lightning, Ozai’s ability to sense the re-empowerment of firebending as the eclipse ends is a testament to his immense skill.
Additionally, Ozai is the one firebender across all Avatar canon known to be able to generate lightning with both hands at once.
On this rewatch of the Day of Black Sun in particular, I was reminded of another eclipse-centered show I watched in the late 2000s - NBC’s Heroes. I realized that Heroes became something of a replacement show for me following the conclusion of ATLA in summer 2008; I fell into the hard press marketing for the third season of Heroes that aired that fall (which notably featured a few pyrokinetics i.e. firebenders that scratched a certain itch for me). Heroes is pretty thoroughly trash TV in my current opinion, but I do think it has a curious number of similarities with Avatar - not the least of which is a two-part special episode focused on an eclipse in the middle of the third season of both shows.
In an act of self-defense Zuko gives up the secret of lightning redirection.
The Gaang’s retreat is made all the more tragic for the knowledge that, for a moment, Aang & Co. were mere steps from Ozai.
The revelation that the Fire Nation has air power is still one of the more devastating reveals of the series.
This fleet of Fire Nation aircraft consists of five massive airships (crewed by up to fifty) supported by five war balloons.
It’s left vague as to how specifically Iroh overpowered his guards, but a popular fan theory is that he busted out of his cell right before the eclipse kicked in, and physically overpowered his jailers with his newly honed strength.
After the fall of Ba Sing Se and now the capture of (seemingly) every anti-Fire Nation ally, this special does an excellent job raising the stakes for the latter half of this season.
“We lost today, but we’ve never been this close. We tasted victory, and that counts for something.”
“Thank you all for being so brave and so strong. I’m gonna make this up to you.” - Again props to Zach Tyler Eisen for excellent delivery.
The shot of Zuko following Appa was the last we saw of the show for a cool eight months in 2007. Luckily, we no longer need to wait that long to press on.
3.12 - The Western Air Temple
“The Day of Black Sun” aired in November 2007. “The Western Air Temple” aired in July 2008, and kicked off a much hyped marathon of the last stretch of episodes called the “Countdown to the Comet.” I will be covering the remainder of the “Countdown” in my next post.
The temporary members of Team Avatar in this next stretch of episodes - the “Team Avatar Cousins” if you will - include Haru, the Duke, and Teo.
The Western Air Temple is the largest of the original four Air Temples and was the home temple of Avatar Yangchen, the Air Nomad Avatar preceding Aang.
This temple complex is located on a chain of islands north of the Fire Islands and west of the Earth Kingdom’s northwestern borders.
Curiously, historical Air Nomads segregated along gender lines - namely male monks lived at the Northern and Southern Temples, and female nuns resided at the Eastern and Western. However, the Air Nomads were noted to be open-minded regarding subjects like sexual orientation - so they didn’t necessarily subscribe to heternormative structures, so I’m at a loss as to why their society was divided this way to separate men and women.
The designs of the inverted towers of the Western temple were inspired by the roofs of real life Bhutanese monasteries.
My memory of this last set of episodes will always be kind of condensed seeing as how they all aired in a week, but I do appreciate the bookends of Zuko and Iroh’s first trip to the Western Air Temple at the opening and closing of this ep.
“...The new plan, is the old plan!”
“Like we’ll ever run into Jeong Jeong again.” “Who’s… oh, never mind. If it’s important I’ll figure it out.” (If you know you know).
Pan up - “Hello, Zuko here… anyway, I’m good now.” - Bless this dork.
Zuko’s practice audience in this episode are badgerfrogs.
Aang is the first to start to (quietly) come around to Zuko when Appa licks him and Zuko doesn’t respond violently.
Zuko’s redemption arc is a modern gold standard for the struggle it takes to transition a villain into a hero - not the least of which is our original protagonists calling him out and forcing Zuko to come to grips with his past mistakes - namely attacking the Southern Water Tribe, hunting Team Avatar with Katara’s necklace, and most recently, sending Combustion Man after them.
“Wait, you sent Combustion Man after us?” “Well, that’s not his name, but-”
Of Team Avatar, Katara is the one who has spent the most time thus far one-on-one with Zuko, during their time imprisoned in Ba Sing Se. Therefore, she likely feels the most personally betrayed by by him, and justifiably throws the first strike when he refuses to leave.
“I could feel it! It’s my throatal flap!” (Something something “dangly dang.”)
On the opposite end of the spectrum as Katara, I appreciate Toph, who has been the least personally wronged by Zuko, being the first to try and bridge the gap.
Nonetheless, she has no qualms about absolutely bodying Zuko after he burns her. Mess with the Toph and you’ll get the horns.
“Why am I so bad at being good?” - Dante Basco is a legend.
Combustion Man’s failures to kill Aang continue to be extremely lucky on the part of Team Avatar; had Zuko not Tarzan-ed into CM at just the right moment, the assassin would’ve gotten his kill shot.
It is my conclusion after careful review (and after some 12+ years) that Sokka was unaware of the effect his boomerang would have on Combustion Man, and that blocking the assassin’s powers were also a lucky fluke.
With his demise, it seems as good a time as any to close the book on Combustion Man trivia - firstly it was rumored that CM was initially a Fire Nation solider, injured in battle - the experimental techniques used to heal him are what unlocked his combustion abilities.
Combustion Man sustained his injuries while learning to control his abilities, leading to the creation of his prosthetic right arm and leg. Once he could control his abilities, he made a name for himself in a series of quick and brutal Agni Kais.
Combustion Man is the eighth character to have his death depicted onscreen in ATLA. The others include Tui and Yue in Book 1; Chin the Conqueror, Jet, and Aang (albeit briefly) in Book 2; and Roku and Fang earlier in Book 3.
“I’ve been through a lot in the past few years, and it’s been hard. But I realize I had to go through all those things to learn the truth… no one can give you your honor. It’s something you earn for yourself, by choosing to do what’s right.”
“Unpack? Lunch, soon? Uhh… welcome aboard?”
Of all the things Zuko took with him - a painting of Iroh makes me emotional.
“...Destiny is a funny thing. You never know how things are going to work out. But if you keep an open mind, and an open heart, I promise you will find your own destiny someday.”
Katara is - obviously - the mom figure of Team Avatar;making her lethal threat to Zuko that much more chilling (if, again, warranted).
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History & Culture Corner: War Machines
Book 3 is composed of many episodes rich in lore and character developement - as such, my reflections are already running longer, so this week I just want to briefly explore the real-world parallels to some of the war machinery introduced in the Day of Black Sun.
Historical record places the first record of submarine precursors in the mid to late 16th century. The technology became a proper fascination in Europe and America in the 18th and 19th centuries (notably, of all things, a weaponized submarine was used by the Confederate States of America in the American Civil War); before proliferating into wide, militarized use during the First World War. Submarine tech has continued to be refined over the course of WWII and the Cold War, and in the modern day subs can be both powered by nuclear energy and armed with anything up to nuclear warheads.
Tanks are “the 20th century realization of an ancient concept.” Some attribute the “invention” of the tank to Leonardo da Vinci, who drew up sketches of an armored fighting vehicle armed with cannons (as mentioned above, the earthbending tanks draw from this design). After independent developments in the United States, France, Britain, Germany, and Russia, the first modern military tanks saw their fielding, likewise, in World War I. Combat tanks were staples throughout that conflict, WWII, and the Cold War, but now in a post-nuclear age are being reconsidered for their usefulness and phased out to various degrees.
Finally, flying machines are as old as the human imagination; but the style of airship flown by the Fire Nation at the end of the Day of Black Sun - namely rigid airships - have a much more condensed history. Rigid airships are called such for their design of using a framework to contain the envelope (i.e. hot air balloon) intact within its superstruce as opposed to having the gas pocket exposed to the elements like a blimp (non-rigid).
Rigid airships are commonly called zeppelins on account of the proliferation of this style of aircraft by Germany’s Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin after 1900. The zeppelin saw its heyday from 1900 until the late 1930s (being in fact a noted component of Germany’s strategic bombing campaigns in - again - the first World War). The infamous Hindenburg disaster in 1937 crippled the public reputation of rigid airships, which plummeted out of fashion to be succeeded by airplanes as the primary form of military and commercial air travel.
As of 2021, only some 20ish airships are known to be in operation in the United States, including the iconic Goodyear blimps (which, as of 2014 are in fact “semi-rigid” airships, as opposed to “non-rigid” true blimps). A fanciful relic of the era of airships is in fact the Empire State Building, who’s spire was constructed as an airship docking station - sadly, of course, never coming to be used for that purpose.
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And on the note of dreams of airships, we close on the events surrounding the Day of Black Sun. The end of this project is fast approaching now - my next post, covering the “Countdown to the Comet” will be my penultimate. The closing episodes of Avatar are some of the richest and most interesting in the season as we see the group prepare for the Comet, and watch Zuko grow into his own as the newest member of Team Avatar.
I’m excited to take these final steps over the next few weeks, and I hope you’ll join me for them.
Until then, be well, be safe, and may the Force be with you,
- JMC
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Theory: The World of Avatar is tiny, smaller than pluto.
https://danseru-kun.tumblr.com/post/102875665699/theory-avatar-world-is-tiny-smaller-than-pluto#:~:text=Population%20in%20LoK%20estimates%3A,airbenders%2C%20unknown%20number%20of%20acolytes