Avatar Finale
Jul. 20th, 2008 12:47 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
joiedecombatSo, the finale of Avatar was - and I say this as someone who wasn't all that impressed with either "The Southern Raiders" or "The Ember Island Players" - Nearly Perfect In Its Beauty. There was so much that was awesome about it that I can't possibly mention all the things I really loved.
The first thing that made me shriek laughing: Toph glomming onto Zuko. "What? Everyone else got to go on life-changing field trips with him!" And Zuko's incredibly embarrassed reaction.
The first thing that made me flail in incoherent, wibbly squee: ZUKO AND IROH. Their reunion was just... gorgeous. My heartstrings. ;_;
I was completely thrilled with the Order of the White Lotus, and all of the final battles were so completely epic. Sokka hanging onto Toph and Suki swooping into save them both was gripping, and Zuko vs. Azula, and the end of Aang's battle with Ozai, were gorgeous. As a Zuko fan, I especially liked his showdown with Azula, and the whole thing was so awesome that I didn't mind the slow-mo NOOOO! diving save, which I usually find too cheesy to work. Oh, Zuko. And then Katara got her turn, and I wouldn't have minded it lasting a little longer, but it worked well.
I admit, I was hoping that Azula would die - not necessarily that anyone would kill her, but when even IRoh said "she's crazy and she needs to go down"... but seeing her gradually break down, and the state she was in after she was beaten, I think that was probably worse than killing her would have been.
On a similar note, I was a bit concerned about how heavily they were telegraphing that Aang wasn't going to kill Ozai, not because I thought he should - because, after all, this is Aang - but because it left me doubting how well they'd resolve the matter. Especially when they ventured into Never Say Die squeamishness and kept having people say "take his life" instead of actually using the word "kill." But I'm pleased with what they did with it, and it's a credit to how well the rest of the finale came off, because it could have seemed cheap and forced, and instead it seemed entirely appropriate to Aang's character. And that moment after Aang came out of the Avatar state and spared Ozai (again) and Ozai (inevitably) tried for the backstab, and Aang effortlessly put him down... that was so hot, guys.
I was disappointed that Mai and Ty Lee were not included in any of the final battles, but really, there were so many characters to wrangle and so many plotlines to wrap up that I'm not dissatisfied with the closure they did get; Mai and Zuko in particular were cute. And Zuko's coronation... I'm over here being ridiculously proud of a fictional character, it's a little silly.
However: way to cocktease with the bit about Zuko's mother, guys! Are they planning to follow up on that late on in another form, or something?
The Aang/Katara: well, yeah, it was a forgone conclusion from the first episode, fandom wars notwithstanding. I would have been behind it more if they'd, you know, finished puberty yet. But.
The overall verdict: this is how it's done.
Dr. Horrible, on the other hand... ow. :(
Tomorrow, The Dark Knight.
The first thing that made me shriek laughing: Toph glomming onto Zuko. "What? Everyone else got to go on life-changing field trips with him!" And Zuko's incredibly embarrassed reaction.
The first thing that made me flail in incoherent, wibbly squee: ZUKO AND IROH. Their reunion was just... gorgeous. My heartstrings. ;_;
I was completely thrilled with the Order of the White Lotus, and all of the final battles were so completely epic. Sokka hanging onto Toph and Suki swooping into save them both was gripping, and Zuko vs. Azula, and the end of Aang's battle with Ozai, were gorgeous. As a Zuko fan, I especially liked his showdown with Azula, and the whole thing was so awesome that I didn't mind the slow-mo NOOOO! diving save, which I usually find too cheesy to work. Oh, Zuko. And then Katara got her turn, and I wouldn't have minded it lasting a little longer, but it worked well.
I admit, I was hoping that Azula would die - not necessarily that anyone would kill her, but when even IRoh said "she's crazy and she needs to go down"... but seeing her gradually break down, and the state she was in after she was beaten, I think that was probably worse than killing her would have been.
On a similar note, I was a bit concerned about how heavily they were telegraphing that Aang wasn't going to kill Ozai, not because I thought he should - because, after all, this is Aang - but because it left me doubting how well they'd resolve the matter. Especially when they ventured into Never Say Die squeamishness and kept having people say "take his life" instead of actually using the word "kill." But I'm pleased with what they did with it, and it's a credit to how well the rest of the finale came off, because it could have seemed cheap and forced, and instead it seemed entirely appropriate to Aang's character. And that moment after Aang came out of the Avatar state and spared Ozai (again) and Ozai (inevitably) tried for the backstab, and Aang effortlessly put him down... that was so hot, guys.
I was disappointed that Mai and Ty Lee were not included in any of the final battles, but really, there were so many characters to wrangle and so many plotlines to wrap up that I'm not dissatisfied with the closure they did get; Mai and Zuko in particular were cute. And Zuko's coronation... I'm over here being ridiculously proud of a fictional character, it's a little silly.
However: way to cocktease with the bit about Zuko's mother, guys! Are they planning to follow up on that late on in another form, or something?
The Aang/Katara: well, yeah, it was a forgone conclusion from the first episode, fandom wars notwithstanding. I would have been behind it more if they'd, you know, finished puberty yet. But.
The overall verdict: this is how it's done.
Dr. Horrible, on the other hand... ow. :(
Tomorrow, The Dark Knight.
