Bitter Work
The path to learning is always a difficult one. But hey, any excuse for a montage, right?
Toph begins to teach Aang earthbending, but he finds it isn't clicking the same way that waterbending did. While he endures her strict training regimen, Sokka falls down a hole while hunting. Meanwhile, Iroh recuperates and tries to teach Zuko about how to bend lightning, but he finds he doesn't have the peace of mind required to do so.
Most of this episode revolves Aang's inability to earthbend, stemming from earth being regarded as the natural opposite of air (similar to how water and fire are natural opposites). We get a montage of Toph using various techniques, and I couldn't help but draw parallels to Obi-Wan teaching Luke Skywalker the Force in A New Hope. If Obi-Wan was played by Burgess Meredith. Yeah, her teaching style is similar to Mickey Goldmill in the Rocky films. This gets taken to an extreme level when she tries to teach Aang to stop a rock by rolling a giant boulder at him (while he's blindfolded).
Meanwhile, Iroh tries to teach Zuko a technique of his own invention which will allow him to redirect lightning. Saying that he learned the technique by observing the waterbenders, he provides some insightful philosophies about the four nations, and how we must draw knowledge from all sources rather than just one. This becomes important later in the series, so hold onto it.
Things get tense when Aang's inability to earthbend results in Toph stealing his staff and using it as a nutcracker. He later finds Sokka, who has befriended a baby sabre-toothed moose lion, only to discover its much larger mother. With the beast charging and Sokka trapped in the hole, Aang's regular strategy of baiting and evading isn't viable. Instead, he has to stand his ground; the mentality of an earthbender.
All in all, it's a pretty good episode and takes its time. The final scene with Zuko cursing the heavens is poignant.
The Library
Honestly, I could use a vacation right now. Not sure what I'd do with it though.
The party have had the same idea, taking mini-vacations above Sokka's desire to gather intelligence on the Fire Nation. Katara opts to visit the Misty Palms Oasis, where they meet Professor Zei, an anthropologist from Ba Sing Se University. He talks about his desire to find the library of the Knowledge Spirit Wan Shi Tong, hidden somewhere in the vast Si Wong Desert. Sokka opts to go there in the hopes of finding a way to defeat the Fire Lord, and invites Zei to search there on Appa. They find the library buried in the desert and scale the tower while Toph and Appa wait outside. Inside, they encounter Wan Shi Tong, but learn that he doesn't want humans visiting his library due to their constant desire to weaponise the knowledge they find there (including Zhao, who once visited the library and learned about the ocean and moon spirits).
This episode does a great job in advancing the story. While the season began with Aang looking for an earthbending teacher, this episode takes it in a new direction. After convincing Wan Shi Tong to permit them to browse, Sokka discovers that the Fire Nation have destroyed everything on their country (it's a miracle they didn't torch the whole library, considering the attitude of most dictatorships towards academics). Anyway, he finds the burnt-out remains of one scroll which discusses "the darkest day in Fire Nation history". The party is led to a machine capable of showing the positions of the sun and moon on a particular day, and Sokka discovers that the "darkest day" was referencing a solar eclipse. He immediately deduces that firebenders lose their bending when there's an eclipse (similar to how waterbenders lost their bending when the moon spirit was threatened).
I love the design of Wan Shi Tong. He resembles a giant owl, which is often associated with wisdom in Western culture (something which originated in Ancient Greece), but is also associated with death and misfortune in Chinese and some Native American folklore. Given that the Earth Kingdom is based heavily on China and the Water Tribes are based on predominantly Inuit culture, I can see the connections. He has an aura of menace, and he makes the library visit tense as the party has to skirt around him. At the same time, there is some humour as the party members present him with knowledge, especially when he snarks at Aang and Sokka's contributions.
Of course, it's only a matter of time before the party's deception is dicovered, and Wan Shi Tong becomes terrifying. His neck elongates and he takes the entire library back to the Spirit World. It really piles on the jeopardy: Sokka and Aang go back to the planetarium to find out if there's another eclipse due to take place before Sozin's Comet returns, Katara and Momo attempt to draw Wan Shi Tong away, and Toph has to prevent the tower from sinking. But as she's doing that, a group of sandbenders (who resemble the Tusken Raiders from Star Wars) show up and abduct Appa. Since she's busy with the tower and the sand hinders her tremor sense, she can't fight back.
This is probably one of the toughest cliffhangers the party has faced so far, and it makes me excited to find out what happens next.
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