Tricube Tactics

Well, I'm still flitting between different projects and not making much progress on any of them, so I decided to post something on here. This is the Writer's Block after all. Anyway, I was recently presented with an opportunity to test out Tricube Tactics, a combat supplement for Richard Woolcock's Tricube Tales rpg which I've previously talked about here. I recommend looking at that before you read further. Tricube Tactics introduces some more in-depth combat mechanics to the existing rules-lite system, including a way to determine initiative and adding an action economy. There's also a few additional details for character generation. 

Having been gifted a copy, I recently ran a few one-shots over last month, using pre-written adventures in Spellrunners (a cyberpunk fantasy involving operatives with arcane powers), Minerunners (a fantasy setting about dwarves searching an abandoned city, akin to Moria with zombies), and Interstellar Rebels (basically Star Wars with the serial numbers filed off). I was even joined by Woolcock as a player in that last one. 

One of the first changes to character generation is that Tactics uses "Combat Styles". This is an optional rule in the Tricube Tales book, which is used by default here. In addition to a Trait, you have a Combat Style which can be either Melee, Ranged, or Mental (which includes spellcasting and attacking with subordinates or the environment). It's mechanically identical to a Trait but applies to any task which involves attack and defence. On top of that, all Traits and Styles are broken down into three sub-traits and sub-styles, which I refer to as "Challenge Types". For example, Agile is broken down into Dexterity (which includes acrobatics and sleight of hand), Reflexes (which includes controlling vehicles and initiative), and Stealth (which covers sneaking and hiding). If you're Agile, you roll three dice on all those challenge types.

The other major addition to character generation is the introduction of Knacks. The vanilla system uses Perks and Quirks, which all have the same mechanical effects but require narrative sense to use. Knacks have a different mechanical effect (there's a couple of types), but you have to choose which one and explain how. For example, one type of Knack is a Reroll Knack, which lets you reroll one of your dice after making a roll, but you have to keep the second result, and the scope is limited. For example, somebody who's an ace pilot might take this kind of Reroll Knack and apply it to Reflexes, but they can only use it on such rolls which involve operating aircraft.

Running it, I found that the action economy took a bit of getting used to when explaining, although that's probably from being accustomed to Savage Worlds. In Tactics, characters have move their Movement Speed (which is three "strides") three actions: A Standard Action (which is made on your turn and requires a roll), a Simple Action (which is also made on your turn but does not require a roll), and a Swift Action (which can be made outside your turn and may or may not require a roll). For example, you can make an attack as a Standard Action, "Dash" as a Simple Action to double your movement speed, and make a "Swift Strike" as a Swift Action to attack an enemy when they withdraw. You can downgrade a Standard Action to perform a second Simple Action on your turn, or downgrade a Simple Action for another Swift Action. You can also make an Action Knack to treat a particular Simple Action as a Swift Action.

I also had to get used to the new initiative system, which remains in place for the entire encounter. Each round is broken down into three phases: Fast, Medium, and Slow. NPCs always act in the Medium Phase, while PCs make a Standard Reflexes roll at the beginning of the encounter. Anyone who succeeds acts in the Fast Phase, while anyone who fails acts in the Slow Phase. However, the players can choose to vary the turn orders in their respective phases, and don't even have to act. You can go on hold in the Fast Phase to act in the Slow Phase as a free action, and on the flip side you can Rush as a simple action to act in the Fast Phase.

While these new mechanics have been added to the system, I still found it easily accessible once I got going. Even with the new rules, I can still run a one-shot with character creation in a couple of hours. Tricube Tales has often been my Favoured System for one-shots for that reason.

Tricube Tactics is available via DriveThruRPG, and I recommend picking it up.

Happy writing.

ATLA Marathon: Wrap-Up

 

Well, here we are at the end of the marathon. That was fun, and if I haven't got my writing mojo back, at least I got to re-watch one of my favourite shows.

Avatar: The Last Airbender is a show that still holds up really well after twenty years. It's visually stunning, the characters are memorable, the stories are engaging, and it touches on a lot of political and ethical matters in ways we don't always see in shows aimed at younger audiences. It's fairly easy to jump in midway through the first season, but it's definitely worth watching from the beginning.

As part of this wrap-up, I'm going to share my "pick of the season" from each Book. However, I'm disqualifying the finales, as they span multiple episodes and choosing them would be a no-brainer if I didn't do this. Anyway, I'll choose a different winner and a runner-up from each season.

Book One is largely a road trip, with the early episodes mostly being dedicated to diversions on the journey to the North Pole. The main goal is established in "The King of Omashu" and solidified in "The Winter Solstice". However, my pick of the season has to be "The Storm". Even though it's largely dedicated to Aang and Zuko's origins, it handles them really well and signalled that this was when the series grew to something more than a series of fun adventures. For my runner-up, I'll choose "The Waterbending Scroll", because it's when we start seeing Katara's waterbending abilities develop. Also, I like pirates. It's interesting to see them working with Zuko, and I like how the party is able to pit them against each other.

Book Two initially involves the search for an Earthbending teacher, but this gets resolved in the first half of the season. "The Library" sets up the goal for the rest of the series, and the latter half of the season involves the search for Appa and securing the Earth King's support before everything goes tits up in "The Crossroads of Destiny". Since finales aren't eligible, my pick is going to be "Zuko Alone", for the emotional journey the title character goes through. For my runner-up, I'll pick "Tales of Ba Sing Se", thanks to the heartwarming nature of Iroh's tale and the humour in Sokka's.

Book Three seems to be kind of split. Roughly the first half involves the preparations for the Day of Black Sun, which results in a lot of filler. Some of it's strong, but some...not so much. "Day of the Black Sun" acts almost like a mid-season finale, and the episodes which follow mostly involve Zuko earning the party's trust before "Sozin's Comet". Anyway, I'd say the winner from this season is "The Firebending Masters", for its otherworldly nature and how it cements Aang and Zuko as true companions. For my runner-up, I'll choose "The Puppetmaster" for its chilling atmosphere and its creation of bloodbending.

Well, that was fun. As for what's next? Well, I hope give the review marathon treatment to the sequel series, The Legend of Korra. There's a lot in that to talk about, but that's for later down the line. Sadly, it's been taken off Netflix. I'll also revisit the live-action series, but that will be a simple review rather than a marathon. And the movie? I made a bet in "The Drill", so I'll cross that bridge when I get to it.

In the meantime, I'm going to have a rest and see what other comfort watches I can revisit.

Happy writing.

ATLA Marathon: "Sozin's Comet: The Final Battle"

 

Here we are at the end of all things. It's the series finale, which is comprised of four episodes that are shown back-to-back in a feature-length presentation. Since the episodes have individual titles, I'll look at them in turn. I'd get a comfy seat and stick the kettle on. This may take a while.

Part One: The Phoenix King

Sozin's Comet is due to arrive in three days, but Aang believes that it's not going to be a threat since the Fire Nation have already seized Ba Sing Se. Sokka's proposed beach episode is cut short when Zuko reveals what he'd been told in the war meeting back in "Nightmares and Daydreams"; Fire Lord Ozai intends to torch the entire Earth Kingdom using a fleet of airships on the day of the comet. They soon realise that they need to defeat the Fire Lord before the comet arrives, but Aang gets cold feet when he realises that everyone expects him to take his opponent's life; something which goes against the pacifist beliefs of the Air Nomads. Frustrated, he wanders into the sea towards a mysterious island.

This episode is largely dedicated to frantic training while Aang deals with his moral quandary. One notable scene involves Katara showing the party a picture of baby Zuko, only for Zuko to reveal it's actually Ozai. This serves to make Aang feel worse, to the point that he yells at Sokka for making a joke about it before storming off. It's a truly powerful scene.

Meanwhile, Ozai decides to name himself "The Phoenix King" and elevates Azula to the now-worthless position of Fire Lord. It was Azula who originally suggested the scorched earth plan, but Ozai intructs her to remain behind. While she was often seen as her father's favourite, the scene with them in this episode hammers home the point that he sees her as little more than a means to an end. It actually gives her some depth and almost elicits sympathy in places. 

There's still some humour, like with the beach episode segment at the beginning with Sokka trying to make a sand sculpture of Suki after Aang makes one of Appa and Toph makes a miniature Ba Sing Se (complete with the Earth King and Bosco). There's also the meme-worthy "melon lord" as they're training. And when Aang disappears and the party splits up to find him, Toph immediately latches onto Zuko, lampshading the fact that "everyone else went on a life-changing field trip with Zuko". In fact, Toph gets most of the funny lines in this episode.

One thing that strikes me as odd is Aang's firebending lesson with Zuko at the beginning of the episode. Zuko is telling Aang to be aggressive, but that's kind of contradicting the philosophy they learned in "The Firebending Masters". Then again, it's probably necessary, given the situation.

Part Two: The Old Masters

There's some great drama in this one.

The last episode ended with Zuko taking the party to the Earth Kingdom to seek out June the bounty hunter. But when she's presented with Aang's staff, she determines that he's somehow disappeared from the world. In response, Zuko suggests they find Iroh and convince him to fight Ozai. June's shirshu leads them to Ba Sing Se, where they encounter mentors from earlier in the series (King Bumi from "The King of Omashu", Jeong Jeong from "The Deserter", Pakku from "The Waterbending Master", and Piando from "Sokka's Master"), all of whom are members of The Order of the White Lotus.

The old masters lead Zuko to Iroh's tent, and it leads to one of the most powerful moments of the episode as Zuko contemplates what to say to his uncle after turning on him in Ba Sing Se. He goes inside, finds his uncle asleep, but doesn't wake him. As his uncle wakes and turns away, Zuko tearfully begins to apologise. Iroh simply cuts him off mid-speech and embraces him. He then admits that he was never angry with Zuko, just sad that he was lost. Once again, this is a moment in the series that made me tear up when I saw it. Seeing how forgiving Iroh is just helps to illustrate how awesome he is.

Meanwhile, Aang explores the mysterious island with Momo, and seeks advice from his past lives, but even they seem to be in favour of killing Ozai. Roku tells Aang that he should have killed Sozin when he had the chance, telling him to act decisively. Kyoshi states she likely would have killed Chin the Conquerer herself when he threatened her home, even though she didn't do so directly. Kyoshi's predecessor, Avatar Kuruk, talks about how a period of relative peace and stability led him to not take his role too seriously until his wife was targeted by Koh the Face Stealer. He tells Aang to shape his own destiny. Even Yangchen, the previous Air Nomad Avatar, states that Aang's spiritual beliefs are detrimental to his duty. It puts Aang in a bad position, but he then discovers that the island he's on is a Lion-Turtle who gives him some mystical gift.

Most people have said that the Lion Turtle seemed like a bit of a deus ex machima, and I'm inclined to agree. I'll talk more about that later, so hold onto it. Granted, it was foreshadowed by some wall art in the air temples, and the being's significance would be explored in the sequel series, The Legend of Korra.

As for action, there's a brilliant flashback scene which shows how Bumi escaped captivity during the Day of Black Sun and single-handedly drive the Fire Nation out of Omashu. This includes escaping his metal coffin by using his face to earthbend roof tiles and use them to pry it open. However, it's the next episode that's for the action.

Part Three: Into the Inferno

How is Toph not cooking in that metal armour?

It's the day of Sozin's Comet, and the party are splitting up: Aang has returned to the mainland so he can confront Fire Lord Ozai; Katara and Zuko return to the Fire Nation to seize the throne; Sokka, Toph, and Suki go to disrupt the Fire Nation's airship fleet; and the White Lotus move to liberate Ba Sing Se.

Meanwhile, Azula is preparing to be crowned Fire Lord, but her paranoia is worsening. She banishes a servant for not pitting a cherry, and then banishes her Dai Li agents for being five minutes late. She even banishes her advisors Lo and Li for suggesting she postpones the coronation (kind of). Eventually, she begins having hallucinations of her mother, who talks about how she's only ever been able to get what she wants by making people fear her (even Mai and Ty Lee). Ultimately, she's actually lonely.

This episode is where all the action happens. All the old masters get their moment to shine during the battle of Ba Sing Se. Pakku creates a tidal wave and freezes it so Piando can skate and lop off the soldiers' spearheads. Jeong Jeong obliterates Fire Nation tanks by redirecting the supercharged fire at them. In the Fire Nation, Zuko and Katara disrupt Azula's coronation, and she challenges her brother to an Agni Kai.

It gets intense too, when we see Ozai begin to carry out his attack. He and other firebenders torch a forest in the Earth Kingdom, and we see the devastation it causes. Aang and Ozai have a Dragonball Z-style battle across the region, and Ozai almost kills Aang with lightning until he redirects it. The look on Ozai's face makes him realise that Zuko made good on his intent, and taught Aang that move. Even then, Aang refuses to direct the lightning back at him. At the same time, Azula attempts to shoot ligtning at Katara, incapacitating Zuko when he redirects it.

Despite the intensity of the episode, there's a decent amount of humour in this one. When Sokka's team successfully hijacks one of the airships, and Sokka lures all the crew to the munitions bay under the guise of a special birthday celebration (and it actually was somebody's birthday). When Lo and Li suggest postponing the coronation, Azula asks who suggested it and they both point to each other. She then demands they settle the dispute via an Agni Kai, but neither of them are firebenders. Azula banishes Lo and permits Li to stay, but was pointing at Li when she made the declaration.

Part Four: Avatar Aang

The battles continue to rage, during which time Sokka breaks his leg and loses his space sword. All seems lost until Suki hijacks another airship and rescues him and Toph. Meanwhile, Ozai's attempt to deliver the final blow to Aang unwittingly unlocks his blocked chakra, allowing him to access the Avatar State again.

Meanwhile, Katara is able to outsmart and subdue Azula, resulting in the princess having a full-on breakdown. Some people have criticised how it was Katara who defeated Azula rather than Zuko, but I personally have no beef with it. Even Dante Basco himself has talked about how Azula's attempt to harm Katara during the Agni Kai was breaking the initial rules of engagement for the duel, in line with her character and deteriorating mental state.

As for Aang, he has Ozai on the ropes, but still refuses to end his life. Ozai attempts a sneak attack which is foiled by the tremorsense Aang learned from Toph, and he stops it. It's then revealed that the Lion-Turtle gave Aang the power of "energybending". It presents an impressive light show as the Lion-Turtle provides an expositionary voice-over, and results in Aang taking away Ozai's ability to firebend. While it's very much a deus ex machima, it does show Aang nearly being consumed by Ozai's corrupt energy, indicating there was still a risk to using it. On top of that, it's ultimately satisfying to see Aang being able to defeat the Fire Lord without taking his life. It's like Bumi said at the beginning of the series; he had to think like a mad genius by playing a hand that wasn't on the table.

The ending has a strong Return of the King feel to it, but that's not a bid thing. After all, it's such an epic story and so many characters are finishing their journey. Zuko is the new Fire Lord and declares an end to hostilities while offering to help Aang rebuild the world. He's hooked up with Mai, while Ty Lee has joined the Kyoshi Warriors. After the coronation ceremony, he visits his father in prison and demands to know his mother's whereabouts. We then cut to Iroh's tea shop in Ba Sing Se, where the party are just chilling for the first time in a long time, ending with Aang and Katara kissing.

Phew, that took some time. This is probably one of the best finales I've ever watched. It's such a satisfying conclusion to an epic journey. I hope you enjoyed sharing this journey with me, and I'll do the obligatory wrap-up post tomorrow.

Until then, stay flamin'.

ATLA Marathon: "The Southern Raiders" & "The Ember Island Players"

 

We're almost at the end now. And these episodes are pretty good.

The Southern Raiders

Wow, there's a side to Katara we've never seen before. Also, this will contain spoilers.

The party is forced to flee as Azula - who is starting to go off the rails - leads an assault of the Western Air Temple with a squadron of airships. While they celebrate with Zuko after the escape, Katara remains antagonistic towards him. Wanting to patch things up, Zuko offers to help Katara find the man who killed her mother; Yan Ra of the Southern Raiders. The pair set out to seek revenge, but Aang urges Katara to forgive him.

This is by far a pretty dark episode. It's interspersed with flashbacks of the fateful day, but from different perspectives each time: We initially see Sokka's perspective when Zuko asks about it, showing the Southern Raiders attack the village and the warriors fending them off. Later, Katara tells Zuko the events from her perspective; she went to find her mother Kya, but discovered Yan Ra in the house. Kya sent her to find Hakoda, promising to supply Yan Ra with some information in exchange for Katara's safety.

We see Katara become determined to get closure, almost with the same attitude that consumed Jet. It's heartbreaking to see one of the most caring and compassionate characters in the show be so consumed by grief. Even Aang realises that it's a journey she needs to take. As she and Zuko set out on the night of a full moon, it feels ominous. It's cool to see the pair working in tandem as they infiltrate a Fire Nation communications centre and obtain dispatches from the Southern Raiders. They later attack the Southern Raider flagship, during which time Katara's desire for closure leads her to bloodbend the captain. It shows how far she's willing to go, but then discovers that Yan Ra has since retired.

Here's where I'm going to spoil it: Katara and Zuko confront Yan Ra, who is living in a Fire Nation village with his overbearing mother. It's then revealed that he'd originally raided the Southern Water Tribe village in search of an alleged waterbender, killing Kya when she falsely claimed to be who he was looking for. Katara prepares to kill Yan Ra, but ultimately can't bring herself to do it while he's willing to throw his own mother under the bus.

The final scene tore me up. Katara contemplates her decision not to kill Yan Ra, wondering if she was too weak to take her revenge or strong enough to not do so. But as Aang commends her for not doing so, she also admits that she didn't forgive him either. However, she does forgive Zuko. It's a powerful scene, and ends on an ominous feeling; as Aang states that violence isn't the answer, Zuko asks how he's going to face the Fire Lord with that attitiude.

It makes me hyped for the finale, but there's going to be a breather before then.

The Ember Island Players

This is the penultimate episode, and it's essentially a recap. But it's done in a unique way.

Zuko has given the party a safe haven at his family's beach house on Ember Island. Meanwhile, Sokka and Suki have discovered that a theatre group known as the Ember Island Players is staging a play based on the party's adventures. They quickly discover that the production is a Fire Nation propaganda piece in which all the characters have been exaggerated for comic effect.

There's not really much to say about this one. As mentioned above, it's essentially a recap of the entire series. However, rather than just doing a clip show, they tried something different, and it pays off. The poster advertising the show mentions that the playwright learned of the party's travels from a variety of sources, including the pirates from "The Waterbending Scroll", the nomads from "The Cave of Two Lovers", and the ever-present cabbage merchant.

Most of the episode is just the party watching the play and seeing how the Fire Nation perceives them. Aang is an overly mischievous prankster, Sokka is obsessed with food, Katara is overly emotional (and obsessed with hope), Zuko is perpetually angsty (and voiced by Zuko VA Dante Basco's brother Derek Basco), while Toph is an incredibly buff guy with a scream-powered sonar sense (because nobody in the Fire Nation would admit to getting their arses handed to them by a petite blind 12-year-old girl).

While doing the recap, the play also works in some funny moments based on fan reactions. For example, they gloss over events of "The Great Divide" by saying "Eh, let's keep flying". Apparently even the show's writers weren't fond of that episode and preferred to forget it. They also describe Jet's death as being "really unclear".

There's also some moments where the play genuinely starts to get to the party. This includes Sokka's relationship with Yue, and Zuko turning on Iroh. Toph and Zuko have a heart to heart as Zuko dwells on his mistake, mentioning her chat with Iroh in "The Chase". The third act cranks that into fifth gear, depicting Azula killing Zuko and Ozai killing Aang, which leads to the audience giving a standing ovation. I did mention that the play was propaganda.

But the effects were decent.

ATLA Marathon: "The Boiling Rock"

 

Just looking at one episode today, which is a two parter: "The Boiling Rock".

Sokka asks Zuko about where the Fire Nation holds prisoners of war, hoping to find out what happened to his father. Zuko tells him that the most likely location is a maximum security prison known as "The Boiling Rock". Deducing that Sokka intends to rescue Hakoda, Zuko opts to travel with him. After their war balloon crashes, they pose as guards and reunite with Suki, but discover that there aren't any Water Tribe prisoners. They promptly devise an escape plan.

The titular prison serves as an excellent setting. Situated in the middle of a boiling volcanic lake and accessible only via cable car, inmates are subject to abusive guards. The punishment for firebending is to be locked in a literal and figurative "cooler", where the freezing temperatures make firebending impossible.

The first part has a lot of tension as Sokka and Zuko are undercover, especially when it's revealed that the prison warden is Mai's uncle and recognises Zuko, and Mai later shows up bitter over Zuko leaving her. Suki also recognises Zuko from his raid on her village, resulting in some teeth-clenched teamwork. On top of that, an inmate named Chit Seng learns they're planning an escape and threatens to rat them out if they don't let him join.

Using his incredible brand of ingenuity, Sokka devises a scheme with the three of them to use one of the cooler cells as a boat to float across the lake. But as they're carrying it out, they learn that a new batch of inmates is arriving which includes several war prisoners. Sokka opts to stay, and Suki and Zuko join him, but Chit Seng and his friends leave. However, the plan doesn't work and they get caught, while Sokka confirms that Hakoda is amongst the inmates.

I've heard people say that the first part is unneccesary and that the first exape attempt seems like padding. While I agree with the sentiments, I also quite like how it plays out, with some funny dialogue that ensues. On top of that, it creates a tense yet satisfying scene as the warden questions Chit Seng over the incident. Chit Seng claims to have colluded with a guard, creating some tension as Sokka is brought into a line-up, but then identifies the guard who bullied him. It's satisfying, but takes another tense turn as Azula interrupts the interrogation and immediately deduces he was a fall guy.

Part Two is more action-packed, with Sokka making contact with Hakoda and devising a new plan; start a prison riot and escape in the cable car after taking the warden hostage. There's a funny moment when Hakoda tries to start a riot by shoving the largest inmate he can find, only for the inmate to say he's trying to manage his anger. Chit Seng promptly grabs an inmate and shouts "Hey! Riot!" That works, and Suki quickly captures the warden after some almost Spiderman-like climbing ability.

Anyway, the climax is fantastic, but I'm going to have to spoil it. They escape in the cable car with the warden, but Azula and Ty Lee pursue them. As the party battle them on top of the gondola, the warden orders the guards to cut the line. As Azula and Ty Lee break off their attack, Mai attacks the prison guards to aid the escape, telling Azula that she loves Zuko more than she fear Azula. When Azula goes to attack, Ty Lee sides with Mai and chi-blocks her. It's an epic moment which has a ripple effect on the finale, so I had to mention it here. It also provides an interesting message about protecting those you love and standing by those who stood by you.

I love the first part for the tension, and the second part for the action.

ATLA Marathon: "The Western Air Temple" & "The Firebending Masters"

 

Most of the episodes which follow are about Zuko earning the party's trust. While going on adventures with individual members.

The Western Air Temple

That temple is not one for the acrophobic.

The party (along with Haru, Teo, and The Duke) have fled the Fire Nation, seeking shelter at the Western Air Temple, which is situated on the underside of a cliff. Contemplating their next move, they determine that Aang has to master the elements and defeat Fire Lord Ozai before Sozin's Comet arrives. Aang realises that there likely isn't anyone who would teach him to firebend except for Jeong Jeong (with Toph acting as an audience surrogate for anyone who didn't watch from the beginning). Meanwhile, Zuko has located them but is unsure about how to approach them, fearing that they won't trust him.

There's a lot of tension as Zuko introduces himself, and even offers to teach Aang firebending. However, none of the party trust him (especially after learning he'd hired Combustion Man to kill Aang). Katara is particularly bitter over his betrayal at Ba Sing Se, and threatens him into leaving. However, Toph realises that he was being sincere, and points out that nobody else is willing to teach Aang. It almost strikes up a rift as the rest of the party argue against her. Toph sneaks off to speak to Zuko herself, but he accidentally burns her feet while taken by surprise. This serves to make the party trust him even less, but then they realise they have to keep him close. Ah, the Michael Corleone school of thought; "Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer".

There's still some humour, stemming from Zuko's awkward speech (which he rehearses in front of a frog beforehand), and plenty of funny lines from the party as they discuss the situation. On one occassion, Aang briefly lets his guard down when Appa licks Zuko (whom he'd set free in Ba Sing Se), and Sokka suggests he'd engineered it by glazing himself in honey.

In the climax, Combustion Man returns and gets the drop on the party after Toph's injury hinders her tremor sense. Zuko attempts to call of the contract, but is rebuffed and almost knocked off a cliff. As he attempts to collapse the part of the temple he's hiding in, it's ultimately Sokka who saves the day with his boomerang. 

The ending is quite touching as Zuko apologises to the party and talks about how easy it is to cause harm when firebending. Aang empathises with this and agrees to take him on after his friends agree. But even when he joins the party, Katara is still distrustful of him.

All in all, it's a pretty good one, and a stark reminder that adjusting to change takes time.

The Firebending Masters

Getting an Uncharted vibe from this one.

Zuko begins to teach Aang firebending, but finds it difficult to do without being dependent on rage. Drawing from her own experiences learning from the badger-moles - regarded as the original earthbenders - Toph suggests they seek out the original firebenders; the dragons. Unfortunately, the Fire Nation hunted dragons to extinction, so the pair set out to learn from the Sun Warriors, an ancient civilisation which once worshipped the dragons. Travelling through a booby-trapped temple, they encounter the Sun Warriors and must meet "the masters" Ran and Sho.

It's interesting to see Aang and Zuko going on their own adventure in a distinctly Mesoamerican city which they both see influenced the temple of the Fire Sages. We get some funny exchanges between the optimistic Aang and more pessimistic Zuko, but even those roles get reversed at times. On one occassion, Aang narrowly avoids a spike trap and has doubts after airbending across it. Zuko then throws it back by running across the wall Prince of Persia-style, showing there's more to him than firebending. He later uses his swords to fast-track a time lock on a door that opens on the solstice. We also get some funny moments when they're entangled by a glue-based trap and contemplate their place in the universe before the Sun Warriors meet them.

The pair are then sent on a trial to take a pirce of "The Eternal Flame" to The Cave of the Masters. Aang has doubts about carrying the flame, but is surprised when he holds it, being told that "fire is life". They have to present their flame to the masters. I'll keep the exact details a surprise, but I will say that it's incredible and otherworldy.

One big thing we get from this episode is how bending is more than just a martial art, but an extension of oneself which has more uses than just combat. For example, the badger moles were blind and used their earthbending to see and interact with the world, which is how Toph developed her tremorsense. This episode applies the same philosophy to firebending, which has had a reputation as the most destructive element. The last time we truly explored that was with Jeong Jeong in "The Deserter", who rejects firebending for those reasons. But here, we see that the Sun Warriors have their own philosophy which differs from that.

It was great to see Aang and Zuko working in sync for the first time.

ATLA Marathon: "The Day of Black Sun"

 

Happy Avatar Day! Today marks the 20th anniversary of the show's premiere on Nickelodeon, which led to me doing these reviews in the first place. Of course, had to give this episode its own post, as it's a two-parter and a major part of the story, which we've been building up to since the last season. This post will contain major spoilers.

Part One: The Invasion

The day of Black Sun has arrived, and Hakoda has reached the rendezvous after locating a number of the party's allies from around the world: the Foggy Swamp waterbenders from "The Swamp", Haru and Tyro from "Imprisoned", The Boulder and Big Bad Hippo from "The Blind Bandit", Pipsqueak and The Duke from "Jet", and the Mechanist and Teo from "The Northern Air Temple". As Aang leaves to confront the Fire Lord directly, the rest of the invasion force carry out their assault. Meanwhile, Zuko and Iroh seem to be making their own plans, with Zuko removing his prince's headpiece and leaving a letter for Mai while Iroh tells a sympathetic prison guard to take the day off.

Most of this episode is dedicated to the initial assault, and everyone gets their moments to shine. There is a great amount of imagination stemming from the Mechanist's war machines combined with bending. For example, Sokka had him design submarines powered by waterbending so they could bypass the Fire Nation's coastal defences. They even have "torpedoes"; explosives encased in ice so the waterbenders could launch them. When they land, they deploy their own tanks to counter the Fire Nation's, with Katara using Appa to provide close air support and Huw gathering seaweed to assume his swamp monster form.

Once again, Sokka gets his moment to shine. He flubs his speech at the beginning, resulting in Hakoda taking charge. But when Hakoda gets injured, Sokka shows he does have what it takes to lead. He even uses his space sword to slice a spear lengthways.

Unfortunately, Aang's objectives are hampered when he reaches the palace and discovers it to be completely deserted.

Part Two: The Eclipse

Here's when the invasion goes tits up.

As Aang returns to the beachhead to report his findings, Sokka realises that the Fire Lord knew about the eclipse from the beginning, but realises he won't have left the city. He goes with Toph and Aang to find a secret bunker in the mountains, while Hakoda and Katara join Bato in pressing on the palace.

Unfortunately, it's a false positive. They reach the bunker but only find Azula waiting for them. Toph can't tell when she's lying, and she retained the services of the Dai Li, who aren't affected by the eclipse. Hell, Azula's still a tough opponent even without her firebending. When Sokka realises she's stalling them for time, she successfully baits him by revealing that she captured Suki. 

As the eclipse wears off, the party decides to cut their losses. But when they return to the invasion force, the Fire Nation deploys a fleet of zeppelins which bomb their ships. Hakoda sends Team Avatar away on Appa, while the rest of the invasion force surrenders. It's such a poignant moment as the party has to leave, with everything they built and prepared for just gone.

While all that's going on, Zuko meets with Ozai and calls him out for being a horrible father and a tyrant. It's an incredible scene, and a reminder of how it's important to stand up to abusive family members, including parents. During their discussion, Zuko announces his intention to defect from the Fire Nation and help Aang. It turns out that baiting people runs in the family, as Ozai stalls Zuko by revealing that he was ordered by Fire Lord Azulon to kill his own son to teach him a lesson. To protect him, Ursa colluded with Ozai to poison the Fire Lord so he'd inherit the throne. With that, Ozai attempts to shoot Zuko with lightning, but he uses Iroh's technique to redirect it. Zuko leaves, but discovers that Iroh has already broken out of prison.

The episode ends with Team Avatar fleeing the Fire Nation, while Zuko follows close behind.

It would be six months before the show revealed what happened next, but I'll talk about that tomorrow.

ATLA Marathon: "The Runaway", "The Puppetmaster", & "Nightmares and Daydreams"

 

I've decided to look at three episodes today, because I've got a two-parter coming up that deserves its own post. Time to wrap up the filler part of the season.

The Runaway

As much as stealing could help the war effort, it also risks drawing too much heat. You can decide whether that was a pun or not.

We open in medias res with Toph being arrested by Fire Nation soldiers, with the reveal that Katara betrayed her. Three days earlier, Toph had gone to the nearby town with Aang and Sokka, where she used her earthbending to outwit a scammer running a shell game. As she starts pulling off more scams, she begins to butt heads with Katara, whose concerns she dismisses as being too motherly. But Sokka then discovers that Katara's concerns are justified when he discovers that there's a bounty for Toph, dubbed "The Runaway".

Most of this episode is dedicated to Katara and Toph's conflicts, stemming from their opposing backgrounds. Katara lost her mother and was tasked by her father with taking care of the village, which has led to her motherly persona. On the flip side, Toph ran away from home to escape her overbearing parents, leading to her rebellious streak. This has previously been explored in "The Chase" and to a lesser extent in "City of Walls and Secrets" and "Tales of Ba Sing Se", but I suppose if the party is waiting around for a spell, conflicts are bound to arise. There is actually a poignant moment where Sokka attempts to resolve the conflict by revealing that he sees Katara as a mother figure ever since their mother's death, to which Toph admits she also admires that in Katara, finding her more caring than her mother ever was.

I do like the humour in the scam montage, which includes Toph inventing insurance fraud by claiming to be knocked down by a cart (with Sokka donning the Wang Fire beard from "The Headband" to pose as a police officer). Although it seems a little out of character for Aang to be involved in the scams. There's also a bit of slapstick when Sokka buys a messenger hawk which Momo picks a fight with.

Anyway, how did the beginning scene unfold? Wanting to prove that she wasn't acting like a mother all the time, Katara proposed her own scam with Toph by handing her in for the bounty. Unfortunately, the scam backfires when they're both captured by Zuko's assassin, Sparky Sparky Boom Man Combustion Man. Knowing that Toph can bend metal, he has them locked in a wooden cell in order to lure Aang into a trap. Katara breaks out of the cell with Toph by waterbending her own sweat. Meanwhile, Toph discovers that she can incapacitate Combustion Man by hitting him in his third eye.

All in all, this is a fun one. And it goes deeper into the nature of bending, in a way that gets expanded upon in the next episode.

The Puppetmaster

You know how the human body is mostly water? I'm getting a "Halloween special" vibe from this one.

The party are camping in the woods sharing ghost stories when they're met by an old lady named Hama. She warns them that people have disappeared on nights where there's a full moon, and invites them to stay at her inn. While she and Katara strike up an unlikely friendship, Sokka becomes wary and seeks to investigate the disappearances. They soon discover that Hama is actually a waterbender from the Southern Water Tribe, like Katara. 

This is probably one of the strongest episodes of the season so far. It was established at the beginning of the series that Katara was the only waterbender in her tribe, and this episode goes into why; over sixty years earlier, the Fire Nation periodically raided the Southern Water Tribe and imprisoned the waterbenders, including Hama. We've already seen that they've done that with earthbenders, and we know that they wiped out the Air Nomads. It's horrifying.

Tress MacNeille does a great job as Hama. She's set up to be creepy from the get-go, but we warm up and symapthise when we initially learn her heritage. But things return to creepy as she teaches Katara how to use water in the air or draw water from plants (a step up from the vinebender in "The Swamp"). But then she steps into the truly sinister when she teaches Katara a special technique which can only be taught on the full moon, known as "bloodbending"; bending the water inside a person's body to control them like a puppet. Hence the episode's title. Just describing that sends chills down my spine. This is probably the first time in the series that we've had a truly villanous waterbender, which helps establish that no one nation or group is truly good or evil.

The climax is both haunting and incredible. Aang, Sokka, and Toph discover that Hama has been abducting villagers and imprisoning them in a mountain cave, while Katara draws the same conclusion from hearing her tales of bloodbending. Hama then bloodbends Katara, and her stilted movements are unnerving. Katara is able to use her own waterbending to resist, leading to a duel. But when Sokka and Aang show up, Hama bloodbends them, making Sokka attack Katara. And when she tries to make Sokka skewer Aang, Katara is forced to bloodbend her to stop. It's a genuinely poignant ending as Hama is taken away by the townspeople but admitting that she won in teaching Katara how to bloodbend, which leaves her genuinely shaken.

Yeah, nobody should have that kind of power.

Nightmares and Daydreams

This is definitely a filler episode.

The party has arrived at the secluded island which serves as their rendezvous point for Hakoda's forces, and the eclipse is only four days away. Aang grows anxious over the impending invasion, and begins to have nightmares. He grows restless, trains constantly, and soon begins to hallucinate. Meanwhile, Zuko begins to enjoy some of the perks of being royalty as he spends time with Mai, but gets troubled by a passing mention of a war meeting he wasn't invited to (bringing with it his past trauma).

I've said previously that most of Book Three is just killing time before the eclipse, and this episode is by far the biggest offender. However, I still enjoy the episode. As someone who has issues with stress and anxiety, I relate to Aang a lot. And I'm not battling any tyrants. Not directly, anyway. His friends are worried for his wellbeing and attempt to help him relieve his stress through different ways, but none of them seem to work.

There are are some funny dream sequences with Aang confronting the Fire Lord, but is told he can't fight him because he's either not wearing pants or forgot to study for his maths test. The Fire Lord isn't the kind of villain who laughs evilly in real like, but Mark Hamill is definitely channelling his inner Joker in the dream sequences. Although the later ones get vivid and creepy, almost like when Frodo puts on the ring and gets Sauron vision.

Roughly the second half of the episode devolves into a cactus juice trip. Complete with Appa and Momo developing speech and having a samurai duel, and a multi-armed Guru Pathik singing about chakras. Unlike Sokka's trip, we see this one from Aang's perspective as well as that of his friends.

Meanwhile, Sokka is finally summoned to the meeting, being told his father wouldn't start until he arrived. But when he leaves, he's deeply disturbed by what was discussed.

I'm truly hyped for tomorrow.

ATA Marathon: "The Beach" & "The Avatar and the Fire Lord"

 

Bit of an odd couple of episodes today.

The Beach

I've heard that it's quite common in anime to have a "beach episode", and I guess that influenced this one.

Zuko, Azula, Mai, and Ty Lee are sent on a trip to Ember Island while the Fire Lord meets with his advisors. Ty Lee attracts a throng of admirers, Zuko and Mai bicker, and Azula just scares everybody they meet. After winning a game of beach volleyball, they get invited to a house party but don't reveal their true identities. Meanwhile, Aang's party is attacked by Zuko's mysterious assassin; a "combustion bender" who can fire explosive projectiles out of a third eye.

There's not really much to say about this one. Most of it is dedicated to the villains' day out, but it's clear that none of them have any idea about how to behave like normal teenagers. I must admit, Azula flirting is kinda funny, especially with the weird looks she gets with her proclamations.

After Zuko gets jealous of somebody else talking to Mai, they have an argument and she dumps him. We follow him walking back to his family's summer home, during which time we get flashbacks of him visiting Ember Island during his childhood, and even then we see that he likely spent more time with his uncle than his father.

Anyway, our antagonists later make a fire on the beach and have a heated discussion, during which we gain some insight into their characters: Ty Lee has a desire for attention which stems from growing up with five identical sisters who all had the same name, resulting in her joining the circus so she wasn't part of a "matching set"; Mai reveals that her parents gave her whatever she wanted as long as she behaved and acted "proper", leading to her bottling up her feelings and growing emotionless; Zuko is angry at himself because having his father's approval like he always wanted doesn't feel right, expressing his underlying guilt for his actions at Ba Sing Se; Azula expresses being hurt by the idea that her own mother thought she was a monster. This creates one of the most powerful scenes in the episode.

There's still a bit of action as Team Avatar escape the combustion bender, along with Team Fire Nation playing volleyball and trashing the party.

All in all, this episode is filler, but it's worth it for the campfire scene.

The Avatar and the Fire Lord

Bet you thought there was going to be a confrontation, didn't you?

Aang is visited by Avatar Roku in a dream, who tells him to come to his island on the summer solstice so he can learn of the war's origins. Meanwhile, Zuko receives a mysterious letter telling him to learn his destiny through the death of his great-grandfather. A hidden message on the letter directs him to a secret history kept by the Fire Sages, where he finds the last written testament of Fire Lord Sozin.

This is basically an origin story, similar to "The Storm", but with Aang and Zuko learning the same story simultaneously. We learn that Roku hailed from a Fire Nation noble family, where he was a close friend of Prince Sozin. During a celebration of their shared 16th birthday, the Fire Sages informed them that Roku was the Avatar. Roku left to learn the other elements, returning to the Fire Nation twelve years later and reuniting with now-Fire Lord Sozin, who stood as best man at his wedding. But Sozin expressed a desire to expand the Fire Nation's inluence and hoped Roku would be on board with it. Roku warned him against disrupting the balance, but then learned that he'd established a Fire Nation colony in the Earth Kingdom. In response, Roku confronted Sozin in his throne room and defeated him, but spared him out of their old friendship. 25 years later, a volcano erupted on the island where Roku lived, prompting him to evacuate the island's inhabitants. Sozin arrived and offered to help, but as Roku succumbed to poisonous gases, Sozin left him to die so he could carry out his expansionist policy. Knowing that the next Avatar was an Air Nomad, he utilised the power of a comet to carry out a genocide, but always feared "The Last Airbender".

The episode is largely dedicated to the flashback, but it's a pretty deep one. It's rather touching to see how Roku and Sozin were once friends. In fact, Sozin gave Roku his ceremonial headpiece as a keepsake when he left. To see Sozin leave Roku for dead at the end is heart-wrenching. The beginning of the season had Roku expressing his regret over not killing Sozin outright, believing that Aang has inherited his mess.

There's still some funny moments. For example, we see Roku learn airbending at the Southern Air Temple, where he was good friends with Monk Gyatso, and they both made their fair share of mischief. There's also a funny moment when Roku is having a "rock surfing" race with his Earthbending teacher, Thud. We see Thud race ahead to the top of the hill and enthusiastically cheer over his victory...only to see Roku has already beaten him and brewing a cup of tea.

If there's a message we can get from this episode, it's the old chestnut that those who don't learn from history are doomed to repeat it, and that power can corrupt. Sozin originally confided his grand scheme to Roku in the hopes that he'd share his ideology as a subject of the Fire Nation. He later played that card as a threat when Roku confronted him, but Roku claimed his Avatar status overrides his nationality. It certainly conveys a "Neutral Good" vibe about working with authority figures but not being beholden to them.

While "The Storm" created a strong origin story for Aang and Zuko, this one also did a good job establishing the origins of the war. There's also another pretty deep reveal on Zuko's side of the story, but I'm going to keep that one a surprise.

ATLA Marathon: "The Painted Lady" & "Sokka's Master"

 

Something I'm picking up with the first half of Book Three is that a lot of it can feel like filler. Like we're just killing time before the invasion.

The Painted Lady

This one plays out like an episode of Captain Planet.

The party is making their way through the Fire Nation to rendezvous with Hakoda's invasion force, but stop at a fishing village which is suffering due to pollution from a Fire Nation munitions factory. Although Sokka is adamant that they continue their journey, Katara wishes to help the village. But when Appa falls sick, they realise they have to stay in the region. Soon, they learn that a spirit known as "The Painted Lady" is helping the villagers. As Appa continues to recuperate, Aang discovers that the Painted Lady is Katara in disguise and they opt to demolish the factory.

Yeah, if you haven't guessed, this episode conveys a very blatant "save the planet" message. However, that's not necessarily a bad thing (even though it's one those in charge need be heeding more than us). It's not like this is new; respect for nature has been a recurring theme throughout the series, with "The Winter Solstice" and "The Swamp" touching upon this as well.

Whether the message is deemed necessary or not in regards to the subtle version within the show's story, I still think this is a good episode. We see how the industrial side of the Fire Nation's war machine is causing harm to its own people. Not only is the fishing village suffering due to the polluted rivers, but the soldiers at the factory are requisitioning all of their medicine. It makes Aang and Katara's act of sabotage more cathartic.

The schedule subplot makes Sokka a bit of a dick, especially when he discovers that Katara has been posing as the Painted Lady, and she calls him out for wanting her to turn away those in need. But when the soldiers at the factory attempt to carry out a reprisal against the village, Katara opts to save them and Sokka offers to help her. It just goes to show how much he really cares for his sister. He also defends Katara when she's recognised as the Painted Lady after they scare the soldiers away.

I did like the final scene, but I'll keep that one a secret.

Sokka's Master

There's not much concern about the schedule in this one. Kind of contradicts the last episode.

After the party save a village from a meteor, Sokka begins to feel depressed on the grounds that he can't bend. While going on a shopping trip to cheer himself up, he learns that there's a renowned swordmaster named Piando (voiced by the T-1000, Robert Patrick) who lives in the region. Sokka visits his castle, and is taken on as Piando's student when the master is impressed by how humble he is.

Most of the episode is just dedicated to a training montage as Piando puts Sokka through a series of unusual lessons, including calligraphy, rock gardening, and landscape painting, applying the logic to use of the blade. In that regard, Piando is kinda like Mr Miyagi in The Karate Kid. I mean, dancing and fencing both stress the importance of footwork, so why not apply the same logic to other activities? I do like the humour of Piando just going with Sokka's approach to his tasks. There's also a funny Terminator 2 reference as Piando claims a sword is "an extra-long really sharp arm".

As impressive as Piando's teachings are, not to mention the cool space sword Sokka forges out of a meteorite, this episode is kind of redundant. A story about Sokka proving his worth to the party without any bending would have made a lot more sense at the beginning of the series. But we've had 43 episodes before this one to solidify Sokka's role as the team's strategist and problem solver. The parts where the rest of the party are pondering what to do while Sokka's training seems rather forced.

Despite that, I love the climax of the episode. Sokka admits to Piando that he's from the Southern Water Tribe (having initially claimed to have been from the Fire Nation colonies in the Earth Kingdom), and Piando attacks him. The swordfight is impressive, with Piando repeatedly complementing Sokka's methods, like making use of the high ground (while not underestimating power). Having written swordfights in my own work, I've actually taken Piando's teachings into account. One notable moment occurs when Sokka throws dust in Piando's face to blind him, but Piando simply listens for Sokka's footsteps.

It then ends with an interesting reveal: Piando admits that he knew Sokka wasn't Fire Nation from the beginning, but states that his knowledge doesn't belong to one nation or person. He then gives Sokka a white lotus Pai Sho tile, implying that he's part of the same secret society that Iroh sought in "The Desert". Sorry to spoil it, but that's an important message.

Speaking of Iroh, we see that his languishing in prison is actually a facade while he secretly works out.

ATLA Marathon: "The Awakening" & "The Headband"

 

It's time to make a start on the third season, "Book Three: Fire". The first two episodes are...an interesting mix.

The Awakening

Man, this episode is a bleak one. But it nonetheless hooked me for the new season.

Aang wakes up from a coma on board a Fire Nation ship with a full head of hair. He soon discovers the party, along with Hakoda and Bato, wearing Fire Nation uniforms. He learns that after he was mortally wounded by Azula, the Fire Nation seized Ba Sing Se, the Earth King has gone into hiding, and the world believes that the Avatar is dead. Sokka is proposing that they continue with the invasion plan, using the different friends and allies they've met on their travels to attack the Fire Nation's capital on the Day of Black Sun. Meanwhile, Zuko returns to the Fire Nation with Azula and is given a hero's welcome by his father.

This episode is mostly comprised of drama and internal conflict. Aang believes that he's failed, and is determined to confront the Fire Lord to prove himself wrong. He even ends up sounding like Zuko when he talks about it. During the journey to the Fire Nation, they're stopped by another vessel and attampt bluff them away, but Toph overhears the other captain issue orders to sink them after they've left. There's a pretty good action sequence as they're pursued, but Sokka forces Aang to stay hidden. They later encounter the sea serpent from "The Serpent's Pass", but it ends up sinking the other ship and allowing them to escape.

It's not just Aang who's facing conflict. We also see Katara interact with her father, and it's clear that she's bitter over him leaving her and Sokka behind to fight in the war. When we compare this with Sokka's desire to earn his father's approval, it puts into perspective that they're both still teenagers and shows the effects the war had even before the series began.

Meanwhile, Zuko is perpetually troubled by his return home (despite hooking up with Mai). He meets with Fire Lord Ozai for the first time in three years, and we see the Fire Lord's face for the first time. In his previous appearances, he was always cast in shadow or his face was out of shot (kinda like Blofeld), and the big reveal shows that he isn't monstrous but is nonetheless menacing. He bluntly states that Zuko has redeemed himself and welcomes him home. However, it's then revealed that Azula has given her brother the credit for killing Aang as part of her life of machination and manipulation; if the reports of the Avatar's death were proven wrong, Zuko would be disgraced.

In the latter portion of the episode, we see Aang flee the ship and glide away in a pretty impressive sequence. He bends underwater to sneak past a blockade, later using his glider to windsail on a piece of flotsam. There's also a touching "Force ghost" moment when he's visited by the spirit of Avatar Roku, who blames himself for the war, along with Yue. Both assure him he can save the world again, and he gets a heroic second wind out of it. Arriving at Roku's island, the rest of the party catch up with him. He accepts his position and leaves, but not before burning the remains of his glider.

That final shot is so powerful. Aang's glider has been with him for the whole series, and it's something that's always been associated with him. It's sad to see it gone.

The Headband

You know, I still need to see Footloose. This episode feels like filler, but is still worth a watch.

While undercover in the Fire Nation, the party steal clothes so they can hide in plain sight. However, Aang unwittingly picks up a school uniform and is subsequently caught by a truant officer. He soon discovers that the Fire Nation's education system is very much geared towards teaching conformity rather than self-direction, and arranges a secret dance party to teach the other kids to express themselves.

A lot of this episode is built around "fish out of water" comedy as Aang tries to fit in at the Fire Nation school, wearing a headband to conceal his arrow tattoo while claiming to be from the Fire Nation colonies. His outspoken nature wins him friends while most of the teachers write him off as a troublemaker.

I guess the writers wanted to make something softer and light-hearted after how hard-hitting the previous episode was. Honestly, I don't blame them. Despite the sift in tone, this episode lends an interesting perspective to Fire Nation society. One notable scene has a teacher quizzing the class on how Fire Lord Sozin defeated the "Air Nomad Army", despite the fact that the Air Nomads didn't have an army. This is an important scene, because it addresses how imperialist countries change history to suit their narrative. It's also unnerving that the Fire Nation's definition of "Reform School" is a coal mine. I don't like the sound of that.

As for the B plot, we learn that Iroh has been thrown in prison where he's become a broken down old man. Zuko still visits him, but he refuses to speak to him. Honestly, I really feel for him. The biggest heartbreak of "The Crossroads of Destiny" wasn't the fact that Zuko chose to side with Azula, but that he turned his back on his uncle. Iroh was more of a father figure to him than his actual father, and would have gone with him to the ends of the earth. It's during this time we see Azula's machinations starting to get to Zuko. He expresses a suspicion that the Aang is still alive, and the episode ends with him hiring an assassin.

Ominous cliffhangers aside, it's ultimately nice to see Aang get an opportunity to be a normal kid, which is all he's ever wanted.