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Guess who has part 2 of ATLA: THE SEARCH?
THAT WOULD BE ME! \o/ And I'd love to talk about it!
I continue to be sad that Nickelodeon didn't pick this up for a miniseries or movie. I would SO love to see it animated.
THE PLOT DOTH THICKEN.
So far, IMHO, the canon evidence strongly supports the prevailing theory on my flist: that Zuko is going to be all relieved at finding out he's not Ozai's son, only to learn that he actually IS Ozai's son after all. It's all looking very consistent with Zuko's general character arc. Also, screwing with Zuko's head is a grand old Avatar tradition.
However ... Ozai believed he wasn't. And this is simply fascinating. It really does explain so much about the way that Ozai related to his kids. I think the previous reading of the characters also worked -- that he favored Azula because she was more talented and ruthless than her brother -- but this also fits very well.
It's also really interesting to see more of the events around Ursa's banishment and the attempted murder of Zuko when he was a child. The interesting thing is that there's nothing here, really, that we didn't know before (well, aside from Ozai's take on the whole thing); they somehow managed to convey most of this in the cartoon despite -- one assumes -- not being able to talk about any of the murder plot openly due to content restrictions.
Everyone is adorable.
I love that Zuko didn't try to hide it, but went straight to his friends with the letter.
And I love the casual diversity of the ATLA world. Here I'm thinking of the older couple with the little girl (this could so easily have been a stock young couple, but it wasn't, which made the world feel so much more rich and complex). Also, I can't tell if it's just the way he's drawn, but Noren looks like he's got something like strabismus -- which would make him the only cartoon character I've ever seen with some sort of eye-alignment disorder. And I also loved that the wolf spirit was female despite having none of the cartoon trappings of femininity.
ZUKO + KIDS = ♥.
The conspicuous lack of Toph (not even a mention of what she's up to) leads me to believe that there is a Toph side story during this part of the timeline that we're going to see eventually.
Love Katara's badass moment, and Sokka emulating the faces in the trees, and Aang being so very Aang. ♥
... at the end there, did Zuko manage to get himself zapped by lightning AGAIN? Speculate!
I continue to be sad that Nickelodeon didn't pick this up for a miniseries or movie. I would SO love to see it animated.
THE PLOT DOTH THICKEN.
So far, IMHO, the canon evidence strongly supports the prevailing theory on my flist: that Zuko is going to be all relieved at finding out he's not Ozai's son, only to learn that he actually IS Ozai's son after all. It's all looking very consistent with Zuko's general character arc. Also, screwing with Zuko's head is a grand old Avatar tradition.
However ... Ozai believed he wasn't. And this is simply fascinating. It really does explain so much about the way that Ozai related to his kids. I think the previous reading of the characters also worked -- that he favored Azula because she was more talented and ruthless than her brother -- but this also fits very well.
It's also really interesting to see more of the events around Ursa's banishment and the attempted murder of Zuko when he was a child. The interesting thing is that there's nothing here, really, that we didn't know before (well, aside from Ozai's take on the whole thing); they somehow managed to convey most of this in the cartoon despite -- one assumes -- not being able to talk about any of the murder plot openly due to content restrictions.
Everyone is adorable.
I love that Zuko didn't try to hide it, but went straight to his friends with the letter.
And I love the casual diversity of the ATLA world. Here I'm thinking of the older couple with the little girl (this could so easily have been a stock young couple, but it wasn't, which made the world feel so much more rich and complex). Also, I can't tell if it's just the way he's drawn, but Noren looks like he's got something like strabismus -- which would make him the only cartoon character I've ever seen with some sort of eye-alignment disorder. And I also loved that the wolf spirit was female despite having none of the cartoon trappings of femininity.
ZUKO + KIDS = ♥.
The conspicuous lack of Toph (not even a mention of what she's up to) leads me to believe that there is a Toph side story during this part of the timeline that we're going to see eventually.
Love Katara's badass moment, and Sokka emulating the faces in the trees, and Aang being so very Aang. ♥
... at the end there, did Zuko manage to get himself zapped by lightning AGAIN? Speculate!
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And I am loving it. Can't wait to learn why Noren is lying about not knowing anything about Ursa's whereabouts.
Really enjoying the focus on sibling love, too. The Promise gave us a lot of Aang/Katara moments; it's interesting to see them outnumbered by Sokka&Katara moments this time around (not that I object to Aang/Katara or anything, I just like it when everyone has their moment in the spotlight).
The water tribe pair at the end seemed a bit out of left field, but I look forward to seeing how they tie back into the rest of the plot. I'm guessing Ikem at least (and probably Ursa, too) got new faces? And as long as I'm speculating, conservation of characters gives good odds that Ikem is Noren. . . .
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I'm guessing Ikem at least (and probably Ursa, too) got new faces? And as long as I'm speculating, conservation of characters gives good odds that Ikem is Noren. . . .
... oh my. Neither of these possibilities had occurred to me. I think I'd gotten stuck on thinking the wolf spirit was Ikem, or was somehow connected to Ikem, and forgot when I was reading this issue that we have no idea what happened to him. Ikem being Noren is an absolutely fascinating possibility! Actually, since the idea of face-switching hadn't occurred to me, this raises the EVEN MORE fascinating possibility that the couple with the little girl (Noren and his wife) ARE Ikem and Ursa ... with new faces and (in Ursa's case, at least) a case of amnesia induced by the Forgetting Valley. This would tidily explain why she never went back for her kids. Plus, they're about the right age. Ursa with a new face, a new life, and amnesia; Noren with a new face and ... had amnesia until he saw Ursa in the flashback on page 60? Maybe? Okay, still trying to figure that one out, though I have a slightly cockeyed idea: he got a flash of recognition when he saw her but still didn't actually remember her -- so he courted her, but eventually Ursa left for the Forgetting Valley to look for Ikem, not knowing she'd already found him. Noren promised to wait for her. Then she came back with a new face and a new name. He knows she used to be Ursa (which she doesn't), so he's trying to protect her from the outsiders, but he doesn't know he used to be Ikem.
It ... fits. In a weird way. And somehow it seems like a very ATLA-esque twist if they'd already been talking to Zuko's mom (and Zuko playing with his -- adopted? -- sister) without having a clue.
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