That said, while I think it was important for Zuko to return to the fire nation, I felt that having 10 episodes to show how unhappy he was was really, really unneeded. Five would have been much better, imho.
I have read this critic on several forums, but I didn't have the chance to make a reply. I don't agree completely. I can understand why the first half of season 3 seems a bit fillery to many people, because it was mostly build-up to the first climax of the season. I liked most of the episodes and they contain many of the elements I like about Avatar aside from the characters (especially the parodies of other movies or trops), but I can understand the problems other people might have with them. However, the creators made the decision to place the Day of Black Sun in the middle of the season and coincide the eclipse with Zuko facing his father. This is in my opinion a demonstration of effective story telling, it allowed for great dramatic and exciting moments.
Once that decision was made, they had to show the build-up to this moment which brings me back to your comment and to where I really disagree. First, on a less serious side, they did tell Zuko's story in five episodes. ;) Second, I think that every episode in which he figured showed a different step towards his decision and a different moment in his inner journey. And that is the main problem with Zuko's conflict: it's entirely internal and the only things they can effectively show is how his state of mind reflects on his interactions with other people. That's what they show in The Headband, when he searches for Iroh's advice. They also showed it in The Beach when he blows up over everything and when Mai tells him that his past doesn't excuse everything, when he realises that he can never return to the moments he remembers, when he lets out for the first time that he is angry at his father, and when he finally admits to himself and to the others what's wrong with him. The execution of these scenes is not always perfect, but they show that he has really hit rock bottom. The Firelord and the Avatar and even Nightmares and Daydreams contain other turning-points, and I talked about the war meeting in my general reply.
I'm not going to touch the Mai/Zuko in detail, because they would lead to another long reply. I just think that Mai is a character in evolution, just like Zuko, and she can grow out of some her unpleasant attitudes without losing all of her character.
(I'm sorry for the long post, but I had these things on my mind for quite a while. )
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Date: 2008-05-13 09:01 pm (UTC)I have read this critic on several forums, but I didn't have the chance to make a reply. I don't agree completely. I can understand why the first half of season 3 seems a bit fillery to many people, because it was mostly build-up to the first climax of the season. I liked most of the episodes and they contain many of the elements I like about Avatar aside from the characters (especially the parodies of other movies or trops), but I can understand the problems other people might have with them. However, the creators made the decision to place the Day of Black Sun in the middle of the season and coincide the eclipse with Zuko facing his father. This is in my opinion a demonstration of effective story telling, it allowed for great dramatic and exciting moments.
Once that decision was made, they had to show the build-up to this moment which brings me back to your comment and to where I really disagree. First, on a less serious side, they did tell Zuko's story in five episodes. ;) Second, I think that every episode in which he figured showed a different step towards his decision and a different moment in his inner journey. And that is the main problem with Zuko's conflict: it's entirely internal and the only things they can effectively show is how his state of mind reflects on his interactions with other people. That's what they show in The Headband, when he searches for Iroh's advice. They also showed it in The Beach when he blows up over everything and when Mai tells him that his past doesn't excuse everything, when he realises that he can never return to the moments he remembers, when he lets out for the first time that he is angry at his father, and when he finally admits to himself and to the others what's wrong with him. The execution of these scenes is not always perfect, but they show that he has really hit rock bottom. The Firelord and the Avatar and even Nightmares and Daydreams contain other turning-points, and I talked about the war meeting in my general reply.
I'm not going to touch the Mai/Zuko in detail, because they would lead to another long reply. I just think that Mai is a character in evolution, just like Zuko, and she can grow out of some her unpleasant attitudes without losing all of her character.
(I'm sorry for the long post, but I had these things on my mind for quite a while. )