1x16 The Deserter

9.3/10. There's a lot of cool and important stuff that goes on here, but something has to be acknowledged out of the gate -- Sokka is funny. He was likely my least favorite character out of the gate, but he's settled nicely into a Xander-esque role in the main trio, and his sarcastic asides and near-meta jokes about how their seemingly innocuous adventures never go well really landed for me. He's become something of a one-man greek chorus, and I appreciate it.

But man, there's a lot of cool stuff in this one. I just loved the training between Aang and Jeong Jeong, and the chance to learn a little more about the Fire Nation and firebending in general. The idea that fire is the most temperamental of the elements, that firebenders have to walk "a razor's edge" to control it without destroying everything in its path gives an added dimension to the differences in powers among different tribes. Thus far, the powers have mostly been interchangeable, more of a rock/paper/scissors setup than abilities with meaningful differences. But Jeong Jeong's philosophical description of what it means to wield fire powers, and the importance of discipline in controlling it relative to the other bending disciplines adds more character to the world and its central mythos.

It also leads nicely into a fairly simple but solid story of growth for Aang in learning how to use Zhou's impatience against him. Aang himself spends much of the episode learning lessons from his own lack of patience and overeagerness. He exposes the gang in the midst of a Fire Nation festival by diving in too quickly; he grows frustrated with the slow pace and lack of fireworks in his initial training from Jeong Jeong, and his attempt to take on too much too fast with regard to the firebending causes him to burn Katara. Sure, that last one is a bit of a cliche in terms of character beats, but it still works as a means of Aang recognizing the importance of taking Jeong's lessons seriously and controlling the fire he can now summon, not just treating it as something else he can play around with. The way he turns around and uses that lesson to defeat Zhou, by goading the General into fireblasting his own boats, is a nice button for that story.

Zhou's part of the episode was interesting in and of itself. It's not shocking in a show that's playing in the same Joseph Campbell monomyth space, but there was a lot of Star Wars and Harry Potter here, with an old master trying to train the new chosen one, while telling him of a former apprentice who was too thirsty for power and became a major evil in the world. The tropes are familiar, but in a good way, and it instantly adds character to both Jeong and Zhao.

Lastly, it's some of the best designed and animated the show's been thus far. There's a golden hue to the whole region around the Fire Nation City. The way the episode depicts the fireworks and flame tricks amid the fire festival was legitimately dazzling, and the final fights between Aang, Zhao, and Jeong (not to mention the lighted hue of Katara's healing power) were all creative and visually arresting. Even the brief lighting shift when Avatar Roku confronts Jeong to train Aang (a really cool scene) helped sell the weight of that moment. The show's stepped up its game in terms of art direction, and it's great to see.

Overall, this is the show firing on all cylinders, giving us comedy, worldbuilding, character development, action, and art in one exciting package.