Man, that's a cool door. Although commander is actually a lower rank than captain in most navies.
The Southern Air Temple
While most of the first season is akin to a road trip comedy with fun adventures, it doesn't shy away from darker moments and this is one of them. I actually tore up while watching it.
The first stop on Aang's trip to the North Pole is his old home at the Southern Air Temple. While he's excited to see it again, Katara and Sokka are apprehensive, knowing that the Fire Nation carried out a genocide against the Air Nomads. Meanwhile, Zuko and Iroh sail to a Fire Nation naval facility to repair their ship and meet the ambitious Commander Zhao. It's here we learn that Zuko was banished from his homeland by his father, the Fire Lord, and has to capture the Avatar to redeem himself. Since the Avatar hadn't been seen in a century, you get the idea that it was meant as a wild goose chase. But when Zhao learns that he did find the Avatar, he decides to capture Aang for his own prestige.
This episode provides an ample opportunity to explore Aang's past and his relationship with his mentor, a monk named Gyatso. We see that Aang doubts his status as the Avatar, having been told of his status four years earlier than what's traditional. After all, a twelve-year-old learning of that kind of power and having the weight of the world on his shoulders is going to bring all sorts of stress and trauma. Chosen ones never have it easy, do they?
While that's going on, we see the beginning of another conflict as Zuko and Zhao settle their dispute with a firebending duel. While Zhao has more resources at his disposal, the stakes are higher for Zuko. We also get some badass moment from Iroh. He might come across as goofy and more interested in tea than questing, but he also knows when to get serious when Zhao resorts to underhanded methods. To quote a meme I once saw, we see one of Zuko's lessons being to "behave honourably, even in exile".
If there's any moment that deserves special mention, it's when Aang chases a flying lemur (later dubbed Momo) and discovers Gyatso's remains. In despair, he goes into the Avatar State and almost throws Sokka and Katara off the mountain until Katara calms him down. It's a truly poignant moment, but shows something greater: We get scenes around the world in which the statues of previous Avatars get glowing eyes. This includes one at a temple in the Fire Nation, prompting the sages to report to the Fire Lord that the Avatar has returned. That's the only dialogue in the sequence, but it's clear that people in the Northern Water Tribe and Earth Kingdom have likely reached the same conclusion. Hope has been rekindled.
All in all, it's a powerful episode and helps solidify Team Avatar as a family.
The Warriors of Kyoshi
It's nice to see that Sexist Sokka didn't last long.
Carrying on with the road trip vibe, Aang's next diversion is to ride the gigantic "Elephant Koi" that inhabit the waters near Kyoshi, an island off the coast of the Earth Kingdom. His surfing is cut short by a giant water-spout shooting sea creature, and he and his friends are promptly captured by a group of all-female warriors who live on the island. After initially being mistaken for Fire Nation spies, Aang convinces the village he's the Avatar, learning that both the island and the warriors are named after a previous Avatar. Initially enjoying the attention and fan club, it soon goes to his head as he begins to show off. As word of his presence spreads off the island via a fishing boat, it's only a matter of time before it gets back to Zuko.
While Aang enjoying his celebrity status does provide some funny moments (like the portrait scene), it does seem to contradict his previous comments about not wanting to be the Avatar. Nevertheless, he's still a kid and that's probably more attention he's got from a circle that's different to the monks at the Air Temple. Katara is not buying it either, and seems uninterested that Aang wants to ride the sea serpent, but still cares enough to check up on him after his fan club leaves.
If there's anyone who does get some nice development, it's Sokka. The episode begins with him being a sexist douchebag, and he feels stung after being captured by the Kyoshi Warriors. Once again, there's some schadenfreude as he challenges their leader Suki to a rematch and gets utterly trounced again. Nevertheless, he's ultimately humbled by his experience and even asks Suki to teach him her techniques.
Zuko doesn't have his own sub-plot this time. He learns early on that Aang is on Kyoshi Island, but doesn't turn up until the end. It provides a sense of underlying tension, akin to Hitchcock's bomb analogy; the audience knows Zuko is coming, but the characters are too engrossed in their own stories to notice until it's too late. Nevertheless, it provides a great climax as his men ride into the village and the Kyoshi Warriors ambush them.
Out of those two episodes, I definitely think the first one's the stronger of the pair. I'm still looking forward to see more adventures.
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