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Avatar: The Search part 3
.... hmmm.
I was rather disappointed in this one, actually, which makes me sad because I really enjoyed all of The Promise and the first two parts of this.
Part of it, I guess, was that I'd already guessed most of the big plot twists, so I wasn't really surprised -- and yeah, I know that's not really the writers' fault, and I'd probably have enjoyed it a lot more if I'd read it all at once rather than having so much time to speculate between issues. But it was still a little disappointing to have events unfold basically as I'd expected.
And the things I didn't see coming felt a little ... I don't know. I'm uncomfortable with Noriko/Ursa's decision to push the "reset button" on her life as Noriko. I expect she'll keep Noriko's memories, so it's not as if she's completely giving up her Noriko life, but it still feels like throwing out her Noriko life just as she once threw out her Ursa life, but for much less cause. Maybe if it had been set up better, as a decision she felt she had to make because she felt running away had been the wrong decision? I don't know ... it just didn't quite sit well with me, especially since we never got Noren's reaction or any resolution between them.
And Azula simply running away into the woods, with not a single loose end tied up, emotionally or otherwise, was frustrating.
I think in general, I ended up feeling as if too much of the Zuko-Azula-Ursa emotional stuff was unresolved, with too much screentime given to unrelated plotlines. The Water Tribe siblings turned out to be a complete red herring with regards to the main plot, and I felt in the end that too much time and emotional plot energy was spent on them, on their storyline, and on the search for the Mother of Faces, and not enough on the core characters and the central plotline.
I also found the "explanation" that Ozai abused Zuko to spite Ursa weak and unconvincing. One thing I've always really liked about A:tLA is the sympathetic way it handles abuse -- between parents and children, siblings, toxic friends, and in The Search, spouses. This didn't really undermine that, but it felt a little ... tropey? Simplistic, maybe? I know that Ozai was essentially using the letter as an excuse and a tool to further deepen his control over Ursa and the kids, and there's probably not as much of a direct one-to-one correspondence between the letter and his abuse of his son as this issue makes it seem like. Still, I felt that this not only doesn't really add anything, but the show's explanation for Ozai's treatment of Zuko (that Zuko's too gentle and untalented to earn anything but contempt from his father) was a lot stronger without the extra element of the letter.
... all of that being said, I did enjoy The Search overall. And Zuko really came out ahead for once -- he has an opportunity to bond with his mom, and a little sister he didn't know he had. (Zuko, I expect, is going to make a really darling big brother.)
Based just upon the cover art at the back of this issue, it also looks like the next A:tLA comic miniseries is going to have way more Toph and a lot less Zuko, which I'm paradoxically happy about -- I absolutely adore Zuko and was delighted to get two miniseries back-to-back that are largely focused on him, but the rest of the cast's gotten somewhat short shrift and I'm glad they're going to get more of a spotlight while Zuko gets some down time with his family.
I was rather disappointed in this one, actually, which makes me sad because I really enjoyed all of The Promise and the first two parts of this.
Part of it, I guess, was that I'd already guessed most of the big plot twists, so I wasn't really surprised -- and yeah, I know that's not really the writers' fault, and I'd probably have enjoyed it a lot more if I'd read it all at once rather than having so much time to speculate between issues. But it was still a little disappointing to have events unfold basically as I'd expected.
And the things I didn't see coming felt a little ... I don't know. I'm uncomfortable with Noriko/Ursa's decision to push the "reset button" on her life as Noriko. I expect she'll keep Noriko's memories, so it's not as if she's completely giving up her Noriko life, but it still feels like throwing out her Noriko life just as she once threw out her Ursa life, but for much less cause. Maybe if it had been set up better, as a decision she felt she had to make because she felt running away had been the wrong decision? I don't know ... it just didn't quite sit well with me, especially since we never got Noren's reaction or any resolution between them.
And Azula simply running away into the woods, with not a single loose end tied up, emotionally or otherwise, was frustrating.
I think in general, I ended up feeling as if too much of the Zuko-Azula-Ursa emotional stuff was unresolved, with too much screentime given to unrelated plotlines. The Water Tribe siblings turned out to be a complete red herring with regards to the main plot, and I felt in the end that too much time and emotional plot energy was spent on them, on their storyline, and on the search for the Mother of Faces, and not enough on the core characters and the central plotline.
I also found the "explanation" that Ozai abused Zuko to spite Ursa weak and unconvincing. One thing I've always really liked about A:tLA is the sympathetic way it handles abuse -- between parents and children, siblings, toxic friends, and in The Search, spouses. This didn't really undermine that, but it felt a little ... tropey? Simplistic, maybe? I know that Ozai was essentially using the letter as an excuse and a tool to further deepen his control over Ursa and the kids, and there's probably not as much of a direct one-to-one correspondence between the letter and his abuse of his son as this issue makes it seem like. Still, I felt that this not only doesn't really add anything, but the show's explanation for Ozai's treatment of Zuko (that Zuko's too gentle and untalented to earn anything but contempt from his father) was a lot stronger without the extra element of the letter.
... all of that being said, I did enjoy The Search overall. And Zuko really came out ahead for once -- he has an opportunity to bond with his mom, and a little sister he didn't know he had. (Zuko, I expect, is going to make a really darling big brother.)
Based just upon the cover art at the back of this issue, it also looks like the next A:tLA comic miniseries is going to have way more Toph and a lot less Zuko, which I'm paradoxically happy about -- I absolutely adore Zuko and was delighted to get two miniseries back-to-back that are largely focused on him, but the rest of the cast's gotten somewhat short shrift and I'm glad they're going to get more of a spotlight while Zuko gets some down time with his family.