7.8/10. A vast improvement on the opening pair of episodes. I liked both the A-story and the B-story here, as both added depth to the protagonist and the antagonist of the show thus far.
Aang visiting the Southern Temple, and realizing that only is everyone he knew and trusted gone, but they were murdered, is a pretty intense story. There's something that always gets me, whether it's anticipatory or imaginary nostalgia, about stories of a lost civilization, a way of life that was stamped out. The great design on the Air Temple evoked this very well, with glimpses of the old air bending monks, and things like the circle of stone avatars which evokes a certain generational legacy and spirituality without having to underline things too much. At the same time, I appreciate the notion of Aang as someone with "phenomenal cosmic power" but a great deal of immaturity, to where times of great emotion and stress provoke his avatar powers to come forth in a way he can't quite control. I'm sure there's a metaphor for kids not having control of their tempers or emotional stability just yet, but I think it works well just as text too.
That said, not everything in that part of the story was great. Sokka's entire M.O. in the episode being endless attempts to try to get something to eat got old fast, and made for a pretty weak attempt at comic relief in the midst of some legitimately interesting mythology and worldbuilding, not to mention character development for Aang. Beyond that, Katara telling Aang that she knows he lost his family, but that she and Sokka are his family now felt really rushed and trite. And as cute as Momo is, I don't know that we really needed a Disney-esque animal sidekick.
But the B-story picked up a lot of slack on that front too. Again, it's nice worldbuilding to show that Prince Zuko isn't a monolithic villain, that he is, in fact, something of an outcast within the Fire Nation, who's challenged by his people's generals and ostrasized by his own father. It makes him sympathetic rather than the one-note villain he's been thus far. In addition, I loved the story told in his fight with General Zhou, where he's initially overwhelmed and emotional, but finds his focus and uses the basic to recover his pride and win the match. It was a well-animated segment (and I enjoyed the design work in this episode overall even when the animation left a bit to be desired) that hewed toward emotion and flow over pure visual spectacle. To the same end, I love the hint that Prince Zuko's uncle has more power and ability than he lets on. The old master who's obfuscating goofiness and hiding his true abilities is a trope, and the hint of it here is intriguing.
Overall, it's still early, but this is the first episode that's made me excited to see what else the show has in store. Hopefully it's a harbinger of great things to come.
You know what? Even considering that this is the weaker part of Avatar, these first few episodes are still really good. Even in this one, we can still see the development of a balance between genuine drama and comedy that only grows stronger as the show progresses.
Master went down fighting, and took some with him, mad reapect
This show does a great job and blending episodic light hearted adventure with its darker themes. its also amazing how much exposition and character detail is woven in just one episode. we learn about aangs connection to gyatso as a father figure and his uncertainties about being an avatar and the weight of their air nomad genocide. as well as get so much detail on zukos whole deal, his relationship to his father and all. and its all packaged in such a trip episode. really skillful writing.
my favourite moment is probably zuko's agni kai with zhao. firstly the firebending is just cool to see but that connection between zuko and iroh where hes already affirming zukos honor was just neat.
“So this is how the great Commander Zhao acts in defeat? Disgraceful. Even in exile, my nephew is more honorable than you.”
That was better.
7/10
While it's not necessarily part of the premiere, "The Southern Air Temple" is almost a companion piece to the first two episodes in how it introduces things organically into the show. The first episode was about character setup, the second was all about the plot setup, and this one? Well, this one gets the meaty thematic setup, where the show's intentions start to slowly unravel. It's very telling that the episode opens up on a sunrise - the heat of the Fire Nation's power and rage that has infected the world and devastated so many.
And the episode then spends the rest of the runtime exploring the two sides of their power. Externally with Aang, who must come to terms with the genocide of his people, and internally with Zuko, who we see is treated poorly by his own people due to different perception of what honor is. The deadly nature of war and fascism is dealt with in a way unlike most children's programming, and even it's bursts of humor here feel more intelligent then the rest in how they are placed and used. Brilliant stuff.
More comic reliefs than what I'd naturally imagine from a show with such a premise. However, It's promising.
Shout by Julius S. PeytonBlockedParentSpoilers2017-03-01T21:33:49Z
The Sun rises on the title of this episode, giving strength to Firebenders; this is definately the best episode so far. It not only deepen our understanding of Prince Zuko as Commander Zhoa mocks him over his banishment and painful disgrace at the hands of his father- but it also shows us the best wrld map in the entire Lasy Airbender series, deepening our understanding of the world itself. Thius map is shown in Zhoa's commanders quarters; the Fire Nation being the Colonial force of this world has a complete world map, as opposed to the highly localized maps Sokka and Aang are forced to use to journey north.
Fire is the theme of this episode, whether it be Zuko and the Firebending Commander he challenges or Aang's journey to the Southern air temple and his discovery that the Fire Nation destroyed the Southern Air Temple long ago.
The best scene is Zuko's fight with commander Zhoa, at the end of which, the wise Uncle Iroh proves that it is possible to both defeat and insult your enemy, and thank them for tea in the same paragraph :)