What's the best ATLA episode?

And why is it pic related?

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Why do you ask if you post the answer?

>doesn't know how Sup Forums works

Best ATLA episode is a Zuko episode. Any of them.

I was actually questioning this aspect of Sup Forums, but whatever.

Because Zuko having to choose which side he's on are the best moments of the series followed closely by his duel with Azula.

>can you help me?
Dude kill him lmao!
>can you help me?
Dude my wife lolz
>can you help me?
Uhhh, nah here's a story about what happened to me. So I'll let you decide.
>can you help me?
Nah senpai sorry.

OP here, for me it was more the music throughout the whole ep, actually.
*still gets chills from it*

Without Zuko the show wouldn't have been anywhere near as good as it was. In fact it probably would have been leagues better with more focus on him and his family.

I will agree with you the show needs more zuko

Absolutely not. While the parts with Zuko were indeed better on average, dragging out his indecision even a little bit more could literally have destroyed the quality of the show. I'd argue it dragged on too long as it is, actually.

Azula pls

You never question Sup Forums, user.
Or any Sup Forums board actually.
Don't you know that already?

The Southern Raiders is the best episode. Which is surprising since there is a distinct lack of Toph.

I heard that ep was heavily rewritten by Bryke to strip out Zutara.

>The only thing he did right
Good.

Good. I don't ship Zutara at all.

Because that ending.

>he
>not knowing Bryke is two people
kek

Wasn't this episode also wrote by one of Bryke?

Will Sup Forums go back and admit that they can do some great stuff sometimes?

>Let go your earthly tether
>Enter the void
>Empty, and become wind

Nah son, there was a lot more that could have been done.
Fleshing out Iroh more, Azula could have been more well rounded, not to mention Ursa. There was a comic tie-in to the movie that basically retold Zuko's origin from 'The Storm' with lots of added bits in that was actually pretty great. Just a few little things could've really bolstered Zuko's side of the story.

>pic
>waifus head gets blown open. Kek that was great.

No, it was written by Aaron Ehasz.
It was, however, the ONLY ep directed by Bryke, which is why some people claim they told him to change the script to have Zuko betray his uncle.

Good decision in my opinion.

>What's the best ATLA episode?
THE

B O I L I N G R O C K
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>Tfw when they fucked up the entirety of this ark in the hack movie.

As usual, they say it was to stop Zutara though.

>tfw your girlfriend turned into the moon

Two times better them.

That's two episodes you cheater.

...

dude, that's the lion turtle episode. this is a still from the book 2 finale.

I finally got the post
Thanks random user

>they told him to change the script to have Zuko betray his uncle.
Is that true?

>tfw watching ATLA in 1080p

feels good

Nah. Zutara is pure.

it happens. to be fair, that Ozai finale WAS a horrible asspull. I wouldn't mind that it was the solution, I just wished it had literally any foreshadowing to excuse it, like Avatars saying there was a lost power even the Avatar never mastered or something.

But is also right. Avatar had the perfect amount of Zuko. He went from an intimidating but sympathetic villain pushing the plot forward to a worthwhile and nuanced character in his own right to a flat out protagonist by Season 3 (before he joined the Gaang officially.

...

Energybending was NOT an asspull.
Not everything has to be foreshadowed - as long as it fits with what has been established before, it's fine.

What IS actually an asspull is that fucking rock.

For me and my friends who watched it religiously together, it was the shock from all that development for Zuko over the course of the season. All that breaking down, all that inner turmoil, and he thought he was finally at peace. But then when the chips were down he saw his one, singular, possibly FINAL opportunity ever to regain his "honor", he fucked up so hard he practically broke the space time continuum. We were practically howling with rage and excitement.

shit, I almost forgot that bullshit rock.
I'm not saying energybending HAD to be foreshadowed, but it would have helped for me at least. the combination of the two I think is what made it feel meh.

That's the question, isn't it?

Well, is there any evidence, or is it pure conjecture? If so, then it seems silly to make that assumption.

...

There's a lot of info on Tumblr that's supposedly from Aaron Ehasz himself, claiming that Bryke hated Zutara so much they forced him (and others) to rewrite key parts of the show. It's also claimed that this is why Book 3 is generally felt to be worse than Book 2.

Now, Tumblr posters obviously aren't the most reputable around in general, but the number of people claiming to have verified this independently definitely makes one think.

Should've just made Aaron Ehasz showrunner. Bryke are hacks.

This sums it up perfectly.

>Zutara so much they forced him (and others) to rewrite key parts of the show.


But Zutara was ever meant to have any chance to begin with, no matter of he tried to pull a Zuke off.

Never*

Also, zutarans are fags.

Oh yeah, they also say the show was supposed to keep going after Book 3 (with Book 4: Air and perhaps even further to Book 5: Spirits) but the movie deal changed things.

I think it helps that as far as I remember, none of us were even remotely involved in online fandom stuff, just a few good friends who liked cartoons, especially this one. No shipping drama, just analysis and speculation.

And now look at me.

Just rewatched that scene, Aang was actually flying instead of floating in an air-bubble like he did with his fight with Ozai.

Zutara. Is. Pure.

to be honest, I don't give a fuck since the romance in ATLA was so shit anyway. Kataang was HORRIBLY written in season 3

Didn't he float while in the Avatar state before? I seem to remember Katara hugging him out of one or two and not being blown away by a wall of air.

You're not the first one to notice that, user. Pic very much related.

They tried to do Boiling Rock in the movie?

But that's a season 3 plotline.

that's what I was implying, is that Aang did the same thing Zaheer did, if only for a brief moment

nope, he was in an air ball then

A ship that sunk before it got out to sea.

Well! That's cool. I doubt it was intended all along, though. Don't think Pathik never said anything about becoming wind.

You're thinking of the time with the Sandbenders, he was in an air-bubble.

>all those ""best"" moments

>no Agni Kai scene where Zuko takes the lightning for Katara

DROPPED

Yeah I doubt that that was fleshed out that far back(though apparently the bare basics for "Beginnings" have existed since ATLA) but it's cool in retrospect that it fits with what Zaheer and Laghima did.

Zutara might be shit but Zaang is way worse

Could've been great if they brought Zuko into the Gaang earlier in season 3, and had an additional season. So basically let Aaron have it his way.

No it wouldn't.

You are just projecting your headcanons of your cancerous ship.

Not really. In canon they had great chemistry in Southern Raiders and the finale. It could've worked if they wanted it too. The same goes for practically any ship.

Katara having sex with Sokka would be vetted because they had a better chemistry to be honest.

It would even make sense and add some nice layers to their characters. I'm sure a writter could have made it work. Zutara? Not likely.

That's rough, buddy.

Quality shitpost user.

I'd say that we had just the right amount of Zuko wavering but it left us with too little of Zuko as a member of the Gaang.

Zuko Alone, The Beach, The Avatar and the Firelord, or The Firebending Masters. Zuko is the best character, besides Sokka, and all four of those include some of the absolute best character advancement and storytelling in the series.

The concept of energy-bending itself wasn't why it was such a problem - the problem was that it completely undermined Aang's entire emotional conflict for the last half-a-dozen episodes.

Aang's entire arc in the finale is the question of whether or not Aang is able to or willing to compromise his own ideals for the sake of serving the greater good - taking a life, no matter how horrible a thing that might be to do, for the sake of preserving the lives of others or stand by his people's beliefs and allow the Fire Lord to live. It's a fantastic dilemma and the finale does a great job of setting up how conflicted Aang (and even Aang's past-selves) are about the decision.

I'm not saying the finale had to end with Aang ripping Ozai's still-beating heart out of his chest, but surely there had to be a better compromise that would allow Aang to defeat Ozai without killing him - like Aang sparing Ozai after clearly defeating him and then Ozai causing his own death when he tries to attack him or something.

Instead of having to make a decision one way or the other and stand by the consequences of his decision, Aang is given an out that allows him to save the day without having to face any tough moral dilemmas. That is a textbook Deus Ex Machina.

I really wish they would have foreshadowed "Enter the Void" in ATLA, making it a much bigger deal when Zaheer achieves it.

Tales of Ba Sing Se is objectively the best episode. Yes it's the most common choice, for a reason.

Azula zapping him with lightning (as well as most of the shit Azula pulled off) was pretty bullshit in hindsight.

Pretty much every time in the series when Aang enters the Avatar State, he either enters it instantly, or there's some kind of hurricane that prevents you from doing shit. The Book 2 finale is the only time he just kinda floats there.

...

Yes, but this was the first time he was in control of the avatar state. The other times he entered it he was in a fit of rage.

Crossroads of Destiny actually had quite a bit of shit writing. It's still the best episode of the series, though, which is rather unflattering for many other episodes.

>Crossroads of Destiny actually had quite a bit of shit writing.
Would you care to elaborate?

You really doesn't know what Deus ex machina is.

"an unexpected power or event saving a seemingly hopeless situation, especially as a contrived plot device in a play or novel."

i thought it was kinda genius. Anyone else would have just stood there in awe and fear in the avatar's magnificence. Only Azula had the audacity to try and turn this moment to her advantage

Besides what user already noted:
Why were Katara and Zuko dropped into the catacombs, while Sokka and Toph were placed into an actual prison?
Why did the oh-so-careful Azula not check for any water on Katara's person before doing so?
Why did Aang only use earthbending - HIS WEAKEST ELEMENT at that point - in the climax fight?
That's just off the top of my head.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deus_ex_machina

>The term has evolved to mean a plot device whereby a seemingly unsolvable problem is suddenly and abruptly resolved by the inspired and unexpected intervention of some new event, character, ability or object.

merriam-webster.com/dictionary/deus ex machina

>a person or thing (as in fiction or drama) that appears or is introduced suddenly and unexpectedly and provides a contrived solution to an apparently insoluble difficulty

en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/us/deus_ex_machina

>an unexpected power or event saving a seemingly hopeless situation, especially as a contrived plot device in a play or novel.

>Why were Katara and Zuko dropped into the catacombs, while Sokka and Toph were placed into an actual prison?
That's a good point. I guess because Zuko/Katara were caught at approximately the same time, they're both considered high priority prisoners, and it was in the midst of a coup where communication was low. I can buy it enough.

>Why did the oh-so-careful Azula not check for any water on Katara's person before doing so?
Okay, that's a bit bullshit. Best explanation I can come up with is Azula didn't personally oversee their imprisonment and the Dai Li agent that did was either incompetent, or didn't think it was important.

>Why did Aang only use earthbending - HIS WEAKEST ELEMENT at that point - in the climax fight?
Because it looked cool. But yeah, this was always a grievance of mine too. I can overlook it.

see: I didn't mean JUST Zuko.

>A plot device which provides a sudden, unexpected, and contrived solution to a problem facing one or more characters.
I'd say he's right on the money.

Energy bending came out of nowhere (no, one stray painting of a lion-turtle 20 episodes before doesn't count, energy bending did not come up until ~40 minutes before the end of the show) and for no other reason than to give the main character an easy way out of a difficult moral dilemma.

Self propelled flight is 100% pure nonsensical Bryke bullshit.

Dozens of Air Nomads have achieved enlightenment and let go their earthly tethers and ties. NONE ever flew except Laghima and for some reason no one in the generations surrounding Laghima tried to replicate him.

maybe they took issue with his more radical teachings (I don't remember what else he supposedly said) and said nah fuck that guy
and if I wanna get pedantic pretty sure most of them were just nomads, not reclusive hermits

He has no radical teachings.

Zaheer is just shaping some of the guys quotes to be in favor of destroying the system. Laghima was not some heretic or outcast from the Air Nomads.

And hermit doesn't matter, they achieved enlightenment. Laghima wasn't some reclusive hermit either since they got his quotes down, there's a Mountain Peak named after him and there's jewelry with his stuff on it and statues of him

There's shit named after Firelords too... doesn't mean they weren't dicks.

Firelords were the leaders of their nations. Laghima wasn't one. And most of the things named after the Fire Lords we know were because they specifically looked up to them.

Those dick firelords also had thousands of zealous followers so you're kinda proving his point there.

Where?

You know, I think the reason the energybending resolution to the moral conflict doesn't bother me too much is this: the moral conflict should never have come up in the first place! Or if it did, it should have come up way before THE FINALE OF THE SERIES.

Using a plot device to resolve a problem that was only just introduced feels way less... problematic than if it's something a character has been struggling with for a long time.

The internet.

>realize I haven't seen this series in about 7 years

I'd say maybe any episode from Book 2 is a contender. There was not a single dull/pointless filler episode in that entire season and it was great for it.

Fair enough, that's on the fault of the writers for waiting until basically the last minute of Southern Raiders to bring the conflict up.

They should have at least alluded to it during the lead-up to the invasion.