S01.E07: The North

[The Crazed Spruce]

Quote

As an attack on the Northern Water Tribe looms, Katara challenges a master Waterbender, Sokka meets a princess, and Aang takes Kuruk's words to heart.

 

Edited February 22 by The Crazed Spruce

[Stardancer Supreme]

Yue! The only nitpick for this one was the wig. Surely they could have given her actor a GOT/HOTD type wig that looked a little more natural than the one she had. 

I am so sick of Zhao. 

Avatar Kuruk had it tough! I do wish that he had told someone of his particular struggles so he isn't remembered as the lazy Avatar who wanted to spend all of his time in the Spirit World.

Edited February 23 by Stardancer Supreme

[thuganomics85]

Sokka's ability to make a blabbering fool out of himself in front of his crushes and they still find themselves charmed by him, might be more powerful than any actual bending power!  And he certainly doesn't play it safe.  First, it was a badass warrior and now it's an actual princess.  Impressive!

So, the gang finally get to the North Waterbenders and, well, lets just say they have a few issues.  Mainly that they are a dated society who believe that no women are allowed to fight and won't even accept Katara's help despite her experience.  Me thinks that is going to change once the shit goes down.  Certainly helps that even though she didn't beat Pakku (good old A. Martinez!), she put up an impressive enough showing to earn herself some fans.  Bonus points if this all ends with her saving his sexist ass come finale time!

Questionable wig aside, loved seeing Amber Midthunder as this Princess Yue, who was also that three-tailed fox in the spirit world because she is part spirit due to being saved by the Moon god when she was a child.  Curious to learn more about that.  I am worried though that she said something about destiny and then later Zhao says the same thing and I think had her sigil on that box he showed Iroh.  Hope she isn't a turncoat.

Well, after three different Avatars tell him the same thing, Aang finally has a little bit of a lapse and tries to push Sokka and Katara away so that they won't be in danger.  But, of course, they refuse to leave his aside and he accepts the truth.  They aren't just friends... they're family (Vin Diesel nods his head with approval.)

Azula finally has enough of her dad's little games and shows him what she is truly made of.  Which apparently is having lighting powers as well?  Either way, that got a nice evil smirk from Ozai, so she's his favorite now!

Zhao tries to take out Zuko, but naturally fails and it looks like a disguised Zucko and Iroh are trying to work an angle.  They just need a plan!  I'm sure they'll figure one out!  Maybe. 

Looks like the Fire has officially come to the Water Nation!

Edited February 28 by thuganomics85

[incandescent]

I loved the changes they made to Sokka and Yue's love story. In the cartoon, you think "Of course Yue gets close to the cute new boy when her arranged marriage is to a jerk like Hahn," but this Hahn is lovely! He's a genuinely lovely man, and Yue still breaks off the engagement because she isn't in love with him. I like that so much better than cartoonish assholery.

[The Crazed Spruce]

1 hour ago, incandescent said:

I loved the changes they made to Sokka and Yue's love story. In the cartoon, you think "Of course Yue gets close to the cute new boy when her arranged marriage is to a jerk like Hahn," but this Hahn is lovely! He's a genuinely lovely man, and Yue still breaks off the engagement because she isn't in love with him. I like that so much better than cartoonish assholery.

Absolutely. In the cartoon, he just had a crush, and eventually won her over with his goofball charm. Here, they already had a connection that was made before our eyes without our even knowing about it. Really, my only quibble is that they didn't mention "doing an activity" together.

[MissLucas]

On 2/23/2024 at 4:36 PM, Stardancer Supreme said:

Yue! The only nitpick for this one was the wig. Surely they could have given her actor a GOT/HOTD type wig that looked a little more natural than the one she had. 

I am so sick of Zhao. 

Avatar Kuruk had it tough! I do wish that he had told someone of his particular struggles so he isn't remembered as the lazy Avatar who wanted to spend all of his time in the Spirit World.

LOL! My first thought when seeing her close up was 'Where the hell is Daenerys Targaryen's wig-maker?'

Great episode - and giving Sokka and Yue a connection through the spirit world was a stroke of genius. I had been wondering about that Kitsune. Also great: giving Yue more agency and de-jerk Hahn.

[Spartan Girl]

On 2/24/2024 at 1:01 AM, thuganomics85 said:

 

Azula finally has enough of her dad's little games and shows him what she is truly made of.  Which apparently is having lighting powers as well?  Either way, that got a nice evil smirk from Ozai, so she's his favorite now!

It’s too bad that Azula wasn’t the one he did an agni kai with instead of Zuko, because she wouldn’t have hesitated, she’d be dancing on his ashes.

Oh Yup, you deserve a better wig than that. Amazing that Sokka still manages to score despite all his lame flirting attempts.

And I too love Nice!Hahn.

Iroh and Zuko duping Zhou was brilliant, but even getting stabbed in the back isn’t enough to shake Zuko’s Avatar obsession. “The plan is to capture the Avatar!” “So no plan then?” LMAOOOO.

[Lugal]

Zhao - a cautionary tale of giving a small man outsized power.  He tried to kill Zuko and of course failed at that.  Capturing the Avatar and killing Zuko, 0 for 2 there, Zhao.  Iroh caught and pointed out that Zhao was not that bright and being used by someone smarter, and we see Azula (and her lightning).  Ozai was impressed that she was willing to strike him down.  She spared him, but it was not out of compassion.  Now we set her up for the next season villain.

Agna Qel'a was gorgeous!  I wanna live there!  It's interesting to see the Northern Water tribe in comparison to the Southern Water tribe, and knowing that this is what the south probably looked like at one time, before the war.  It reinforces what Katara said about the North being frozen, having avoided the war, they haven't had to adapt.  It feels like they did tone down Pakku's sexism from the original and (I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt here) that his attitude seems less sexist and more just Men are warriors and women are healers and this is just how things are.  And Katara, having grown up in the south, learned firsthand sometimes the warriors aren't around and you have to protect yourself.  Which dovetails into her fight (Ap Kai?) with Pakku.  He defeated her, but she more than held her own and afterwards everyone rushed to her, impressed and saying they never saw anyone fight Pakku and asking about the ice disks (which she learned from earthbenders).  Now she feels like the Katara we've known from the cartoon.

And Aang meets Kuruk!  They kept the different personalities of the various avatars, although I feel for Kuruk and everything he went through.  I previously saw Meegwun Fairbrother in Burden of Truth and liked him there and I like his interpretation of Kuruk, and what Kuruk went through while he's believed to have failed when he really saved the world on many occasions.  Aang really didn't have as much to do in this one, other than fret about his friends.

It was interesting to see Sokka actually respected and valued for his experience. A nice bit with his reflection of two kids from the Southern Water Tribe who've seen the world. And the nice brother-sister moments between him and Katara.  "Quit staring!  She'll think there's something wrong with you.  More than there already is!"

I will agree that Yue's wig was not the best, but I like the changes they made to her story and that Hahn is a decent guy!  Although they did have a little shoutout with him asking Sokka about shoulder spikes on Fire Nation uniforms (in the original, Hahn was an arrogant jerk who tried to infiltrate the Fire Nation forces with a hundred-year out of date uniform.  Which had shoulder spikes.)  I like that Sokka and Yue have a connection in the Spirit World and I wonder if they'll meet up there.

And we end with the black snow as the Fire Nation arrives.

[Maelstrom]

This was a lot of fun!

Man was the Northern Water Tribe gorgeous. They've done a fantastic job with all of the locations, not only do they look photo realistic but utilize so many details/props/etc from the original it's a pleasure just to look at. I loved how the original showed that the clothing and objects of the NWT are obviously derived from the same source as the SWT but with believable regional differences, and I so appreciated this version keeping that same level of detail. And the North also has sea prunes! Except we didn't get to see Aang try them. Maybe next ep. I also really liked Han being a genuinely decent guy here instead of a stuck-up jerkass.

Loved seeing Katara get to shine here! This is the first ep that I really feel like she's the same spunky, determined awesome girl we watched in the original. I've felt that the character has been somewhat underdeveloped compared to others, and I haven't been wowed by Kiawentiio as I have with the other main cast members until now. I loved her fight with Pakku, and I always love seeing her and Sokka bond and be there for one another. And I really liked the deeper explanation of how water bending is used for healing.

A Martinez was appropriately grumpy and stodgy as Pakku. I too was distracted by Yue's wig (it had that stiff wig look at the hairline/part that always gives it away) but I thought the actress was a nice choice for the part. She had a little more personality here, which I didn't mind at all, and now I know who voiced the three tailed fox spirit! Not quite sure what I think about that change to her backstory, but it's not not cool, so what the hey. Loved her line to Sokka about the heart of the warrior mattering most, a nice echo of Suki's words.

And Yue and Sokka were just as adorably awkward as I could have asked, though I'd say the awkwardness was largely on Sokka's side. Ha, good point Crazed Spruce, it was too bad he didn't ask her if they could "do an activity sometime", hehe. Line of the night for me was "I think I should stop saying words now." Poor Sokka, couldn't stop his mouth from falling down the stairs while talking to the pretty half-spirit moon priestess princess. That's rough, buddy!

Kuruk! Meegwun Fairbrother was a standout on Burden of Truth so I've been looking forward to seeing him here. Hoping we get to see more of him in the final ep. I liked the getting more of his backstory beyond what we were given in the original. It's interesting how each previous Avatar had a focus in their lifetime - for Kuruk it was taking care of the spirit world, for Kyoshi tending to the regular world, for Roku it was maintaining the balance of all... until he didn't. Really liking the clarity and exploration of what's expected of the Avatar.

Why am I even surprised Azula et al use Earthbender prisoners for sparring/target practice? The Fire royals continually out "the worst" themselves. And.... lightning bending! We finally get to see it, and it looks even more awesome live action than it did in animation. Loved how that entire scene played out here. I'm seriously so excited to see this remake cover seasons 2 and 3 now! *struggling not to go into potential spoilers for anyone who hasn't watched the original*

Lt Ji's newfound but sincere loyalty to Zuko was wonderful to see. Loved the little exchange between Iroh and Zuko about "so no plan, then?" and a very sulky teenage "I'm working on it, Uncle" in reply. Classic!

It was a nice touch that Appa had snow stuck all over his coat when they were flying in.

Looking forward to the finale! But then it's over 😭 Please give us more, Netflix!

Edited February 29 by Maelstrom

[MissLucas]

8 hours ago, Lugal said:

Although they did have a little shoutout with him asking Sokka about shoulder spikes on Fire Nation uniforms (in the original, Hahn was an arrogant jerk who tried to infiltrate the Fire Nation forces with a hundred-year out of date uniform.  Which had shoulder spikes.)

Thanks! I knew there had been a plot about those uniforms in the cartoon but I couldn't remember the exact details. I love this little grace notes!

[Stardancer Supreme]

11 hours ago, Lugal said:

Agna Qel'a was gorgeous!  I wanna live there!  It's interesting to see the Northern Water tribe in comparison to the Southern Water tribe, and knowing that this is what the south probably looked like at one time, before the war.  It reinforces what Katara said about the North being frozen, having avoided the war, they haven't had to adapt.  It feels like they did tone down Pakku's sexism from the original and (I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt here) that his attitude seems less sexist and more just Men are warriors and women are healers and this is just how things are.  And Katara, having grown up in the south, learned firsthand sometimes the warriors aren't around and you have to protect yourself.  Which dovetails into her fight (Ap Kai?) with Pakku.  He defeated her, but she more than held her own and afterwards everyone rushed to her, impressed and saying they never saw anyone fight Pakku and asking about the ice disks (which she learned from earthbenders).  Now she feels like the Katara we've known from the cartoon.

 

I may have to rewatch this episode; were there any other male Water benders in the NWT besides Pakku?  Hahn and most of the warriors didn't seem to be benders while nearly every woman was a bender. That may have played into the placing of the women in healing huts instead of teaching them to fight.  

[incandescent]

15 minutes ago, Stardancer Supreme said:

I may have to rewatch this episode; were there any other male Water benders in the NWT besides Pakku?  Hahn and most of the warriors didn't seem to be benders while nearly every woman was a bender. That may have played into the placing of the women in healing huts instead of teaching them to fight.  

In both the cartoon and the live action there are plenty of male waterbenders.

[tennisgurl]

Sokka's charm bending powers continue! I really like these changes to Yue and Sokka's romance, them having met previously in the spirit world was a great touch and she has a lot more personality. Who doesn't want to be able to use water bending to make ice cream? That's what I might do as a waterbender, just run an ice cream stand! I also very much like them changing Han from the typical "rich asshole love rival" character to an actual nice guy who isn't even with Yue in this one. 

That hair really is an issue though, why the hell is it so hard for this franchise to find someone who can make a white wig? 

Finally Katara gets some time to shine! One of my biggest complaints about this show has definitely been Katara getting the short end of the stick, she's been most hurt by the shows changes of all the leads, so I was glad that we finally got a glimpse of original Katara. Master Pakku looks exactly like he did in the cartoon and I liked his fight with Katara, he was obviously going to win but she put up a good fight and managed to impress the crowd at least. When shit starts to go down we'll see how much the southern water tribe wants to stick to their whole "women are healers men are fighters" tradition.

The Northern Water Tribe looks amazing, the attention to detail was amazing! You can really feel that Netflix budget in every location, they all feel so unique and lived in, while also clearly being from the same world. I especially like how they clearly use the local elements and their peoples bending in the construction of the cities, we can even see differences between the clothes they wear and the clothes people wore in the South. It makes me sad thinking that this was probably closer to what the Southern Water Tribe used to look like before the war wore it down to a small village. 

Zhau really is the personification of a pathetic little man getting a whole lot of unearned power and it immediately going to his head. The reason he can take on the Northern Water Tribe and win when no one else has is because "its destiny"? He's a better commander than Iroh because he's never lost a battle, because he's never been in one? Iroh is a man with infinite patience but even he looked like he was about to face palm after that. 

Oh Zuko, he's still holding onto his "I have to capture the Avatar" plan even now, after he was almost assasinated by one of his own admirals! The "So no plan?" exchange was great, he just sounded like such a frustrated teenager. He's working on it, ok? Not only is Zuko terribly stubborn and still holding onto the idea of getting his horrible fathers approval, there is also probably a lot of sunk cost fallacy in here, he cant give up his search because that would mean admitting that not only was all of this for nothing, but it was always supposed to be nothing. 

Of course the Fire Nation uses captured earthbenders for training practice, keep it classy guys. Snap, Azula used lightning bending! Looks like she's back in the lead for being dads favorite! 

[PurpleTentacle]

Does the northern water tribe really only have a shrine to the last avatar from there? Seems a bit disrespectfull to the avatars that came before. Sure the one before would have been a while ago, since the northern and southern tribe switch off in the avatar cycle, but still.

I'm also wondering how long Aang will be dependant on the shrines. All the avatars are connected to him afterall.

Sokka and Yue really had great chemistry. No notes.

[Trini]

On 2/24/2024 at 1:01 AM, thuganomics85 said:

So, the gang finally get to the North Waterbenders and,

It's the Gaang; get with it! 😉

I think cutting and condensing some plots from the original has worked pretty well; but this is the first episode where I felt things were too rushed or just glossed over. And in fact I think they might have cut a Katara/Sokka scene? I don't feel like we got a proper buildup (or resolution) to the Katara/Pakku fight.

And I guess I'll be the outlier in that I have mixed feelings about the changes to Sokka and Yue's story, and Sokka and the North Water Tribe. The story is almost completely different, when so far the show has followed to the "spirit" if not the letter of the original series. It's not like the story they told here was bad, but there was zero conflict. Yue is already single and into Sokka! Hahn totally respects him and wants his advice! Did Sokka even have to do anything here??

That being said, I did like that Yue was a priestess with a connection to the spirit world. That made perfect sense.

Yue's hair looked just like the cartoon design, but this may be one (one!) area where that movie did it better.

You know you're doing good playing a villain when your character appears onscreen, and I'm just like, "ugh- I hate that guy". So I guess we'll find out Zhao's secret weapon next episode. Even if Zuko is banished, it seems really reckless and shortsighted for Zhao to try and asassinate the Fire Lord's son. (I don't remember exactly how this played out in the original.)

And yeah -- why hasn't Aang been doing any waterbending thus far??

#Justice for Kuruk! Nice expansion of his story, but I think some of that is from the novels? Props to casting for finding an actor who looks exactly like the cartoon.

Ugh - of course Ozai uses prisoners for target practice. Anyway, Azula finally cemented her place as favorite child!

 

On 3/5/2024 at 12:40 PM, tennisgurl said:

Who doesn't want to be able to use water bending to make ice cream?

You know, I'm glad you pointed this out, because it did not click with me that it was waterbending; I thought maybe it was some other power from being connected to the spirit world, because she was not a bender in the original series.

Edited May 5 by Trini
dropped a "but"