I agree: Amazing music, wonderful animation, and amazing plot. It's both intense and hilarious, and rich with often-repeated and fantastic one-liners. I love the glimpse of Fire Nation life, especially that of children, and we finally get to see how the soldiers turn into the soldiers that they are.
Zuko's internal struggle with good and evil are extremely painful to watch. Despite the fact that Mai is obviously the one thing that makes him happy, it's clear that his decision-making is suffering as a result. I love how Mai's subtle look is a decent foreshadowing of what is to come.
One of the reasons I'm kind of glad I came to this show just this year, and missed out on fandom as it aired, is that I hear tell there was a lot of whining at the time about these so-called "filler" episodes, especially in the first half of S3. But I see these episodes as absolutely necessary to the story. We have to get to know the Fire Nation citizens as people, just as much as we did with the Water Tribe and the Earth Kingdom. It's so important to the themes of the series, and it makes for a richer, more fully realized world.
I think maybe the long gap between seasons helped people forget that season 2 opened with episodes like "The Cave of Two Lovers", which was almost entirely a character story.
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2011-10-17 06:42 pm (UTC)Zuko's internal struggle with good and evil are extremely painful to watch. Despite the fact that Mai is obviously the one thing that makes him happy, it's clear that his decision-making is suffering as a result. I love how Mai's subtle look is a decent foreshadowing of what is to come.
no subject
Date: 2011-10-17 07:11 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-10-17 07:45 pm (UTC)I think maybe the long gap between seasons helped people forget that season 2 opened with episodes like "The Cave of Two Lovers", which was almost entirely a character story.