We're almost at the end of Book One. And we're beginning to see more steampunk elements in the series. Once more, I'm going to have to discuss some spoilers.
The Northern Air Temple
I guess we all need a place we can call home. And it looks like Sokka's taking a few levels in Artificer.
The party is listening to a storyteller talk about "air walkers" in the mountains. When he mentions having seen them last week, Aang realises that the Northern Air Temple is in the area and likely inhabited. Hoping to find more airbenders, he takes the party there but discovers that the inhabitants are non-benders using gliders, including an inventor known as "The Mechanist" and his paraplegic son Teo. While Sokka and the Mechanist become fast friends, Aang is devastated that his designs have desecrated the site. But the party soon discovers that the Mechanist has been designing weapons for the Fire Nation. Aang sends their official away when he comes to collect, and the Fire Nation lays siege to the temple.
This episode provides some interesting themes about nature and development. The steampunk pipes and pulley systems clash with the images of the temple, and even the untouched parts are being demolished to make a bath house. Nevertheless, the Mechanist is also portrayed sympathetically, having moved into the temple after his people were displaced by a flood, and was later forced to build weapons under threat of losing the home he'd created. Teo - who has an impressive glider that attaches to his wheelchair - shows Aang an untouched part of the temple behind an airbending door, but he's reluctant to open it. He eventually warms up and opens the door, only to find the arsenal.
The battle scene is great, with Sokka and the Mechanist developing bombs which Teo and his friends drop on the Fire Nation soldiers from their gliders. When they beat back the infantry assault, the Fire Nation deploy tanks which can shoot grappling lines to scale the mountain. They also have cockpits that rotate when they get flipped. Pretty cool designs, which make an appearance throughout the series. Teo is able to recall a weakness in their design which allows Katara to use her waterbending to knock them out.
All in all, it's a pretty cool episode which helps establish Sokka as the party's engineer.
The Waterbending Master
It's the penultimate episode of the first season (the finale's a two-parter). We also get formally introduced to the waterbender who appears in the show's intro, and...he's a prick.
The party finally arrive at the North Pole and discover the Northern Water Tribe, who have built a massive city out of the ice complete with a network of canals. They're given a hero's welcome, during which time Aang is enrolled in Master Pakku's waterbending academy while Sokka falls in love with the chief's daughter, Princess Yue. Unfortunately, Pakku refuses to teach Katara as well, claiming that it's forbidden for women to learn waterbending. Meanwhile, Zhao requisitions Zuko's crew for an expedition to conquer the Northern Water Tribe. After deducing that Zuko is the Blue Spirit, he secretly arranges for the pirates from "The Waterbending Scroll" to assassinate him.
A lot of people regard this as one of the weaker episodes, on the grounds that Katara proving her worth as a woman isn't really necessary at this point (since she's done so already). Honestly, I'm seeing it a little differently than that. It's not about Katara proving her worth, but more about challenging institutional sexism in a society. In that regard, it's pretty strong. At Sokka's suggestion, Aang gives Katara clandestine waterbending lessons, but it caught and expelled by Pakku. The party attempt to appeal to the chief to reinstate Aang, during which time Katara challenges Pakku to a duel. When he refuses, Katara hits him with a water whip as he dismisses her. The fight scene that follows is pretty badass, with the largely self-taught Katara holding her own against Pakku for a while.
The episode explores gender roles and arranged marriages. After being rebuffed by Pakku, Katara initially takes a lesson with a healer named Yagoda, learning that her grandmother Kanna was originally from the Northern Water Tribe and the necklace she wears was originally a betrothal necklace made by her fiancé. It's later revealed that Pakku was the aforementioned fiancé, and Kanna left to reject the tribe's misogynistic customs. At the same time, Sokka's attempts to grow closer to Princess Yue are hampered when she ultimately admits her feelings for him but is also in an arranged marriage. Yeah, tradition is just peer pressure from dead people, and some traditions aren't worth keeping.
Meanwhile, Zuko's subplot serves to build up tension for the finale. After his crew gets requisitioned by Zhao, Zuko pouts in his quarters while Iroh goes for a walk. As he leaves, the pirates sneak on board the ship and set explosives. Zuko sees the captain's iguana parrot before they detonate, but it's made to look like he's been killed. Grieving, Iroh opts to join Zhao as a military advisor. But in reality, Zuko survived the attempt on his life, and has stowed away on Zhao's flagship. Together, they devise a plan to capture Aang.
I'm hyped to look at the finale tomorrow.
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