1.17: "The Northern Air Temple"

[lizbee]

Comments

[lizbee]

When I first watched this ep, knowing that we were coming up to the finale, I was like, WHATEVS, FILLER.

Reviewing, I appreciate it more. Aang being faced with the destruction of his culture by people who aren't evil, but simply have different priorities, is heavy stuff for a kids' show. So is the Mechanist creating weapons in exchange for his people's safety.

In other news, Sokka is AMAZING. We see War Minister Qin for the first time. And Teo is lovely and great, though I confess I don't understand the urge to ship him with Toph, except that they're both disabled.

[yukinoomoni]

I agree with you about Teo/Toph. They don't interact much later in the series, so I'm not quite sure why they're paired at all.

[nam_jai]

I didn't make the connection until I rewatched this that the Mechanist had invented those same tanks that Bumi stacks up at Ba Sing Se. Then, I didn't catch this one myself, but checking the Avatar Wikia, it says he designed the Fire Nation's drill, among numerous other weapons. I'm wondering to what degree we'll see his more civilian-oriented inventions in Korra's world.

And I can't believe it took a rewatch for me to recognize Rene Auberjonois' voice! Overall, I feel not very observant. :)

[neigedens]

OMG I DID NOT KNOW THAT WAS HIM! I can't believe it took me until right now to realize that. :D

[lizbee]

And I can't believe it took a rewatch for me to recognize Rene Auberjonois' voice!

I know! And I missed him in "The Great Divide" as well! Stealth!Odo is stealthy.

[nam_jai]

I didn't realize he was in that one too! Uh, possibly because I've only watched it once. Well, whoever he played in that one I'm sure was a much less interesting character than the Mechanist, so I'm glad they brought him back for a new role.

[yukinoomoni]

Speaking of Rene, I'm glad they gave him another part. I was sad when I realised that he was voicing a one-episode character, and I really hoped he would return. The Mechanist is such an interesting character, so I'm glad he came back to be him.

The entire episode is something to be pondered. It's somewhat easy to ignore the first time around, but I found that with rewatching this episode, most of the foreshadowing is here (including the blatant kind). And if you really think about it, the Mechanist is really an amazing genius, with all of the inventions he's created.

I like to think of him and Sokka spending days together just inventing together. It's neat to speculate just how brilliant Sokka is and will become - does he play a major part in the Korra years? Will we see a legacy of some kind that he left behind?

And Teo is just a wonderful bundle of joy and happy. I love how his father is his hero, and how despite the Mechanist's obviously well-meaning betrayals, that love never dies. I want to be Teo's friend, lol.

[nam_jai]

Oh, I didn't even think about inventing being a big part of Sokka's future, and it makes total sense, because he's obviously got a knack for that kind of creative problem-solving.

[yukinoomoni]

Exactly. It really excites me to think about, because he has such an ease for invention. I mean, come on - SUBS. That is amazing.