Avatar: The Last Airbender: The Deserter   Rewatch 
April 9, 2015 4:50 AM - Season 1, Episode 16 - Subscribe

Aang decides to skip that whole water and earth-bending mastery and jump straight to firebending. A Fire Nation deserter finally agrees to teach him, but is this more than Aang can handle?
posted by Katemonkey (12 comments total) 2 users marked this as a favorite
 
I'm glad to know that there are Fire Nation people who do see the problem with this 100-year-war (aside from Uncle Iroh, of course). I'm also glad to see that Aang can actually learn how to control himself, rather than jumping around all the damn time like the hyperactive lemur he was meant to be.
posted by Katemonkey at 4:53 AM on April 9, 2015 [2 favorites]


The one thing I always thought was weird about this episode was the way that Avatar Roku essentially bullies Jeong Jeong into teaching Aang, even though it's established that the Avatar is supposed to learn to bend the elements in a particular order (the one from the opening narration, starting with whatever their native element is), and unsurprisingly, it doesn't go very well--Jeong Jeong was right. It's otherwise a nice episode that explores some good character beats and establishes a number of things that pay off later.
posted by Kosh at 6:21 AM on April 9, 2015 [1 favorite]


I really enjoyed seeing the emotional side of being a fire-bender. Just, the tortured person with a burning power that he can see only destruction from. That gave it such emotional depth.

And then his hippie follower. That guy. *shakes head*

Learning that Katara can HEAL was pretty amazing. Talk about a super power!
posted by jillithd at 6:28 AM on April 9, 2015 [2 favorites]


The one thing I always thought was weird about this episode was the way that Avatar Roku essentially bullies Jeong Jeong into teaching Aang

Well, we know from later episodes that Roku's judgement is not always the best!
posted by chaiminda at 6:54 AM on April 9, 2015 [1 favorite]


And Roku can't see the future. For all he knew, this really would be Aang's only opportunity to learn Firebending. And as we see later, it seems that he often allows his desperation to have Aang correct his mistakes take the lead on his decision making process.
posted by angeline at 7:33 AM on April 9, 2015 [1 favorite]


Also, Roku really didn't specify "now". But I think this was actually a good thing for Aang to learn - caution! Care! And it scared him juuuuuust enough to keep him on the correct path.
posted by jillithd at 9:06 AM on April 9, 2015


>it's established that the Avatar is supposed to learn to bend the elements in a particular order

Wait, it is? I know that's the order in the intro but I don't remember this ever being said; I always thought they were going north in part so that Katara can learn waterbending.

I really love how Aang wins the fight by using Zhao's recklessness against him.

And I like the little easter egg in the wanted posters. Blue Spirit!
posted by tchemgrrl at 9:10 AM on April 9, 2015 [1 favorite]


They've said it somewhere, that the elements are learned in the Avatar cycle - I think they at least mentioned it in, eh, the second episode? The Wikia indicates that it's simply traditional, though.
posted by angeline at 10:31 AM on April 9, 2015 [1 favorite]


"He tried to get the first fishhook out with another fishhook!"

Pretty light on the animals this episode, so Appa wins best animal for his attempt at hiding.

There's a lot of impulsiveness in this episode - Aang/Katara/Sokka going to the festival, Aang going to see Jeong Jeong even though he was told not to, Roku stepping in to tell Jeong Jeong what to do, Aang trying to firebend anyway, Aang jumping into the battle, Admiral Zhao being completely played by Aang ... for most of the characters, being impulsive doesn't work out, but it usually turns out OK for Aang about half the time (and even when it doesn't, there's usually some result that's positive - being led to Jeong Jeong, discovering that Katara can heal, etc.). I guess that's where his hyperactive lemur nature comes in handy.
posted by minsies at 11:21 AM on April 9, 2015 [1 favorite]


Oh man. I just remembered my favorite tiny moment - when Katara looks at Sokka and Aang in their new masks and switches them to match personalities more appropriately. I always giggle at that!
posted by angeline at 12:31 PM on April 9, 2015 [1 favorite]


Long thoughts here, shorter thoughts below!

This is one of the final episodes of what I'm calling, "Aang Gets to Grow Up!" For the second time, Aang makes a mistake based on a personality trait (impatience) and hurts someone, albeit this time, physically. Throughout the series, there is definitely a theme of individuals making decisions or mistakes that unintentionally hurt others or causes regret. It's something I love and a touch upon the fact that our characters aren't infallible.

Avatar Roku. MAN. For those who haven't read the comics, Aang literally cuts himself off to this particular past life for a period of time out of frustration with his advice. We can definitely call Roku a failed Avatar (we learn more later) and it's definitely questionable how much Roku has learned from his mistakes and how those lessons should be implied. What's awesome is that we have an Obi-Wan Kenobi (Alec Guiness edition) who can be flawed, himself. What other shows provide a guiding spiritual figure that isn't right all the time? I did love his line that went something like, "I have mastered fire bending a thousand times over a thousand lives...." It gives a great idea of how long the Avatar cycle has been around and also kind of helps explains Aang's natural gift at bending, which set off Katara in "The Water Scroll."

The masks were brilliant.

Also, I don't think it was ever mentioned, but this is our first Fire Nation colony in the Earth Kingdom!
posted by Atreides at 9:09 AM on April 10, 2015 [4 favorites]


What other shows provide a guiding spiritual figure that isn't right all the time?

Not a show, but I think the Harry Potter series did this well...twice even. We learn that Dumbledore isn't infallible, and part of Harry's growing up is learning that his idolized dad was kind of a jerk at times.

Back to this episode, I liked it overall, but thought maybe they were going somewhere else when Katara ran off after being burned, that she was upset about something more than just being physically hurt. I mean, if your pain is purely physical, there's no reason to run off, so I thought maybe she was upset by Aang's carelessness, or something else. But if she was, there was no further indication of it.
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 6:36 PM on April 24, 2015


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