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.
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