The wars in Star Wars have been aggrandized and always have served the purpose of instruction to the viewer. In the original trilogy, war was depicted as an appropriate when the fight is just, a rebellion against a literal evil empire. In the prequel trilogy, the depiction of war swerved to the opposite end of…
The new ongoing Marvel series, Poe Dameron, has not only brought us new adventures of the dashing Resistance pilot Poe Dameron, but also a new mystery concerning a close family friend and veteran of the Rebel Alliance, the Duros pilot, L’ulo. As we have previously discussed, L’ulo was introduced in Star Wars: Shattered Empire as…
In “The Runaway,” the previous episode, the moral question of the episode, is it okay to cheat those who cheat, was completely abandoned in lieu of strengthening the bond between Toph and Katara. The validity of doing wrong to those who have done wrong returns in “The Puppet Master,” and in one of Avatar: The…
It’s not often a television show allegedly targeted toward children will explore the moral, “Is it right to cheat the cheaters?” Much less, then throw its proverbial hands in the air and evade the morality of the question all together, it’s unexpected. It’s also exactly what happens in “The Runaway,” an episode which runs heavily…
“The Avatar and the Firelord” is the sixth episode of the third season of Avatar: The Last Airbender and it is not until this episode that we finally learn the cause and background of two things: Why the Fire Nation embarked on a century long war of invasion, conquest and colonization, and why Aang’s predecessor,…
“The Beach,” is an episode that’s inside out. Four teenagers going to a beach and talking between themselves would normally be delegated to the B-story of any episode, if included at all past the waste bin of a writer’s room. The story should have been exclusively focused on Aang and the gang encountering and dealing…
Commitment to character, story, dialogue, music and art, are four of the pillars that often support any argument as to why Avatar: The Last Airbender is a devastatingly enjoyable experience. In virtually every episode, you’re guaranteed to see an impressive debut of at least one or two of these attributes, and in the best episodes…
Remember the good old days when Team Avatar lazily made their way from village to village, resolving problems like errant spirits and misinformed villagers without significant deeper meaning? Then the third episode of Season Three is the episode for you, “The Painted Lady.” It’s an undersell of the episode, but only so much, as “The…
Periodically throughout the first two seasons, the writers of Avatar: The Last Airbender have tried to humanize citizens of the Fire Nation and crack the monolithic appearance of the Fire Nation being nothing but evil bad guys. Is it necessary? No, not if the show was a straight up story of a good guy striving…
Season Three of Avatar: The Last Airbender opens very similarly to Season Two’s “Avatar State,” in that it exists to establish the direction of the rest of the season. Season Two involved the travel to Ba Sing Se, and “The Awakening,” concludes by informing the goal of our heroes, defeating the Fire Nation and situating…
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