2x20 The Crossroads of Destiny

I could swear I wrote a review for this one already. Long story short, I thought it was good that the episode went "Empire Strikes Back" with this one, with our heroes suffering a major blow, but making it out at the last minute. The two-on-two fight with Aang and Katara vs. Azula and Zuko was very well done, and the interactions with Iroh were great as usual.

EDIT: [7.8/10] On rewatch, there’s still a number of things I admire about this episode -- the final fight is gorgeous and epic, seeing Aang and Iroh interact is a real treat, and even giving Katara and Zuko a “not so different” moment softens both characters in a way and shows each maturing. Hell, I particularly admire the show for going for an Empire Strikes Back-style ending for its second season.

But I can’t help but feel like this jerks the audience around a bit re: Zuko’s transition. There’s something to be said for AtLA preemptively taking a page out of the Mad Men playbook here, showing that progress is not a straight line and that shedding your demons and becoming a better person often involves backsliding and giving into old impulses. I appreciate where they take Zuko after this, and I can accept this as a means to make that happen, but at the same time on first watch it definitely feels like we went through all of Zuko’s struggles and growth just to have him turn into the same old Fire Prince again.

That said, there’s some nice parallelism with him and Aang both having to choose a path here. Zuko obviously chooses the path of the bad guys with Azula, turning his back on his uncle but having a chance to fulfill the mission he’s wanted for so long. Aang, for his part, seems to choose the path of fully embracing his spiritual side, severing his connection to Katara in the process.

I approve of the show subverting that choice a bit. The lightning strike from Azula is an interesting way to have Aang make the hard choice while sparing him from the dramatic consequences of it which would change the makeup of the show. There’s poetry in Katara saving him, both with her catching him, Madonna and Child-style, and using her magic oasis healing water to bring him back to life (“sorry ‘bout your scar, Zuko”). Iroh is usually the voice of reason on this show, and him telling Aang that it’s better to pursue happiness than power has force coming from someone who sought the latter and lost the former in the process. It’s not clear what, exactly, the show is trying to say with all of this, but there’s at least some interesting thematic meat there.

As I mentioned, the fight is well done, with nice mix-and-match combat between Aang and Katara vs. Azula and Zuko. The show’s really found its knack for this fantastic elemental combat at this point, and it creates great visual sequences, inventive uses of the kids’ powers, and tells a story to the fight beyond just the visual splendor of it.

Maybe I’m warmer on this episode than I think. There’s something about it that still feels a little less than brilliant for the finale of the show’s best season, but there’s still a lot of good stuff in it. The pieces are there; I think what holds my enthusiasm down a bit is that we’ve had two big storylines this year: Aang trying to master the Avatar state, and Zuko’s transition, and the conclusions to them are each a little wonky. In Zuko’s case, it feels like he reverts awfully quickly to his old ways after making such a dramatic and difficult transition. In Aang’s case, hinging everything on his romance with Katara is a tack that’s never really worked for me on the show.

Still, the show makes hay from both of these approaches, and throws in some amusing stuff with Toph and Sokka saving the Earth King and Bosco to boot, so perhaps I shouldn’t complain too loudly. Whether I find them fully satisfying or not, Avatar pays off its central storylines for this season, and does so with emotional conflicts and details it has previously set up (unlike, if I’m being pointed, magical water godzilla creatures and moon spirits). It may not feel totally in sync as the capstone of AtLA’s best year, but it’s still a quality episode that works with the stories the show’s chosen to tell, and sets up some meaningful material to be explored in Season 3.

It all comes crashing down. Two destinies are tested and, in a tragic way, both of them fail. Aang's refusal to let go Katara until the last second is what causes him to lose his connection to The Avatar State completely, and Zuko's refusal to let go of his abusive's father hold leads him to betray Iroh. The shambles that episode ends on is a ballsy note, and I appreciate the writer's willingness to go to dark places with it's cast, particularly with Zuko. Redemption is not easy, and you will screw up and make mistakes, sometimes big ones. And while it's painful to watch, the decision is ultimately a very human one, and one where you completely understand where he is coming from.

Plus, it helps when the action here is so good. The scale of the action is on a much more personal level then "Siege of the North" from last season, but it certainly feels just as big thanks to the fantastic leg work the series has done up until this point. It's a nigh perfect climax to a nigh perfect season, and honestly showcases why Avatar: The Last Airbender is one of the best shows ever made.