WARNING: Sozin’s Comet SPOILERS EXIST IN THIS POST
I really wanted to write a review for the finale episode of Avatar, Sozin’s Comet, but I do not know what to say. I am not very skilled at reviewing things in the first place, but somehow reviewing this episode (or “these episodes,” I guess I should say) seems impossible. It has been almost a week since the finale aired, and still I do not know what to say; I am completely and utterly speechless. I mean, how can I review something when I do not know what to say about it? Well, I will give it a try.
I guess I should begin by saying that I have never been a huge fan of Avatar in the past. It is not that I did not like the series or anything like that, I just never got into it; blame it on school, not watching Nick that much at the time, or the fact that, at the time, I was so obsessed with Teen Titans that I really did not have room for another show to be obsessed with. I can say looking back now that I deeply regret not getting more involved with the show and especially the community around it. That is one of the things I liked about Teen Titans so much: the great online community that formed around it; between Animation Insider, TitansGo.net, and others. It is sad to think that I missed out on so much with this series. Luckily for me, while I still never got involved with the community, a college friend who was a fan of Avatar got me interested in watching Season 3 right from the start, and I have been watching the entire season religiously. What can I say; it is an amazing and groundbreaking series, and watching this season has made me regret not seeing more of the previous ones. Luckily, TurboNick has many, if not most of the episodes online, and I watched the entire first season from beginning to end all in one day last Sunday, and I plan on finishing season 2 over the coming days. I am so extremely glad that I was able to get into season 3 right from the beginning, so that I did not miss the awesomeness that was the finale.
Which makes a nice segue to me actually discussing what this post is all about: the absolute final episode of Avatar: The Last Airbender as we know it, Sozin’s Comet. Again, I stress that this episode has left me speechless, and there’s not much more I can do but to ramble on about how awesome it was. I have already watched the episodes and read numerous others’ reviews to try and consolidate my thoughts, but every time I watch I am just too blown away and emotionally drained…
Fire Lord Ozai commands his fleet of airships
I guess I should start with a few overall areas of praise. The animation in the series, from what I have seen, has always been stellar. However, this episode really blew all previous episodes out of the water in the animation department. Some of the scenes were so breathtaking that I really had to take a few steps back and take it all in. One such scene was near the beginning of the third part of the movie, with the Fire Nation airship fleet, right after Sokka, Suki, and Toph board the airship. The camera pan from the group climbing into the airship, past all the other airships, and then finally to Fire Lord Ozai’s ship, ending with a close up on his face was phenomenal! In fact, almost every scene with the airships was superb. The animation during the battle between Azula and Zuko was also remarkable, especially the fire and lightning effects.
Another big plus was the overall story. The entire series has had great writing and a great arc, and this episode’s writing not only provides a great conclusion to this arc, but also provides some of the best writing I have seen in the show, as well as most other animated stories. The whole moral thing Aang was going through when trying to decided whether to kill the Fire Lord when he faces them raised very valid and very adult questions about ethics, and taking a life to save others. While some others seem to think that this dilemma was overplayed, I think it had to be. Heck, it was one of the main points of the movie. It never really seemed forced to me either.
Moving on, the voice acting, of course, was phenomenal, with great performances from the entire cast through many different emotional situations. In all of the scenes I discuss in this review, the voice acting played a pivotal role. The emotions and dialogue of the characters felt genuine, and made me empathise with, or hate them in the way I was supposed to.
The Azula and Zuko battle sported great animation and spectacular music.
Finally, I have to give major praise to the music of this four-part finale. I was so involved with the story and characters during the first watch-through, that I overlooked much of the episode’s music. On subsequent re-watches, I listened more closely, and found my ears drooling with delight. It is good that the music did not overtake the story on my first watch, and blended in and complemented what was happening on screen–that is what it is there for. A couple times it did stand out though, and with good reason. The one I remember most vividly is during the battle between Azula, Zuko, and Katara. The slow strings here were so beautiful and fit the action perfectly. The kind of sadness and calming nature of the music during this epic battle between brother and sister really improved the scene tremendously, and that is saying quite a bit being that the scene was already great. Recording a live string ensemble for this episode was definitely the right thing to do, as I do not think this scene would have had as profound an effect with ones which were synthesized. The music during the credits provided a nice outro for both the movie and the series, and is now stuck in my head. Big props go out to The Track Team–Benjamin Wynn and Jeremy Zuckerman–for their outstanding work here. If the soundtrack to this series of episodes happens to appear on CD or for download, I will definitely be purchasing it.
Now onto more specific points. The small battle between Zuko and Aang at the beginning had me surprised. While I am pretty sure I knew in my heart that Zuko was just trying to force Aang to practice, I still remember thinking fairly strongly “holy crap…Zuko changed sides again!,” or possibly that he never did at all
Iroh embraces Zuko in a very emotional and heartwarming scene.
One of the best parts about this movie were the very emotional scenes. One that really stood out for me was the reunion between Zuko and his uncle, Iroh. Having Zuko finally be ready to face his uncle, only to find him fast asleep in his tent was perfect, a little funny, and in character. Once Iroh woke up, Zuko’s apology felt very authentic, and his tears almost brought some to to my eye. But when Iroh interrupted this apology, grabbed Zuko, and embraced him, I lost it. The interaction they had afterward was very well written, and it was very moving to see the two renunited. Everything really shined in this scene, from the writing, directing, voice acting, animation, and especially the music which pulled it all together.
Sozin’s Comet also had quite a few very intense moments that I would not expect to see in a “childrens’” television show, especially on Nickelodeon. Aang totally lashing out Katara and Sokka after the latter made a joke about killing was extremely intense. Aang’s voice went lower than I have ever heard it go. Definitely nothing I mind seeing on children’s TV, but I was still surprised with how fierce it was.
The breakdown of Azula deserves a special intense mention. It was quite possibly one of the most disturbing things I have seen in a cartoon. It was very entertaining to see her break down more and more over the course of the episode, starting with Ozai forcing her to stay in the Fire Kingdom. You could definitely tell something was wrong when her mother appeared behind her. That scene was very emotional and intense at the same time. I was very close to empathising with Azula for a second, and when she broke the mirror, it was apparent that she had completely lost it.
The most intense moment was in what was by far the best battle of the movie, even topping the epic confrontation between Aang and the Fire Lord: the battle between Azula and Zuko. Every part of this scene really came together and made it amazing. First off was the music, which I talked about earlier. However, what made this better was the fact that there was no dialogue. Just the almost soothing string ensemble, with the sound effects of the battle behind. This contrast between the epic and intense battle on screen and the almost calming music coming through the speakers really had a positive effect on the scene, and really, in my opinion, raised the bar for animated television alone. Azula starting becoming more and more crazy during the scene, sometime channeling the Joker, added to the intensity.
Zuko dives in front of Azula's lightning to save Katara
But the most intense moment by far of this episode, and possibly the entire series, is when Azula decides to use lightning, but not on Zuko. My emotions started to build when she started to summon the lighting, moving her arms around like they were serpents. Then her eyes shifted to the right. “Holy crap, Katara!” flashed through my brain, and them bam! Once again, the music really set the tone, and as Zuko’s eyes shifted towards Katara also, I swear my mouth was wide open in shock. The whole thing happened so fast, that I did not know what to think. I was on the verge of tears when he ran and jumped in front of the lightning, putting his own life on the line to save Katara, the person who was so hesitant to trust him. It is hard to describe exactly how I felt during this event, I think my own life may have flashed before my eyes. This was one of the best moments of the movie, hands down. I applaud the writers, director, animators, composers, and the rest of the crew for this entire scene, it definitely shines as one of the best in animation.
The followup to this scene was also great; the fight between Azula and Katara. I was really wondering if Katara could do it, and her using her brains rather than her powers to defeat Azula was a refreshing way of concluding that battle. And of course, this was followed by one of the creepiest moments in the series: Azula completely losing it. Seriously, this is provably one of the more disturbing things I have seen in a cartoon with this demographic, from her spurting out fire all over the place like a fish out of water, to her sobbing uncontrollably, this was intense.
Where's the hotcakes?
However, even with all of these intense moments, the episode was not without its classic Avatar comedy. Toph really had her comedy guns out in this episode: from her being so eager to go on a “life-changing journey” with Zuko (and being completely disappointed), to her telling Suki to “leave the nicknames to us, honey.” One classic line that stood out for me was surprisingly from Zuko, when he called Ozai the “Father Lord.” The most hilarious thing in the episode, with out a doubt, was when Sokka got his hands on an airship’s PA system. The entire hot cakes for someone’s birthday was quite possibly one of the funniest and most clever ideas I have heard from him, and the fact the the Fire Nation soldiers fell for it makes it that much more hilarious. Their reaction was great. The conversation between the two communication and engine room workers was just pure win, followed by the best comedic moment in the entire movie:
“I can’t believe the captain remembered my birthday! He really does care!” …*drop*
…”Happy Birthday.”
In fact, this moment reminded me of the comedy of The Venture Bros on Adult Swim, which is definitely a good thing in my eyes.
Some parts of the episode were just plain cool. Toph metal building a suit of armor abord the airship, and kicking some butt in the airship’s bridge was full of excellence. Sokka taking out the two guards with his boomerang and sword while desperately holding onto Toph over a ledge made me yell out “heck yeah!” Pretty much every battle in the episode was reaking of coolness, and was fairly jaw-dropping in terms of animation. Of course seeing Aang use all four elements was insane, and the element sphere, or whatever you want to call it, was just plain awesome.
Aang defeats the Fire Lord
And then there is the conclusion. I admit, when Aang trapped Ozai in the rock and began to pretty much read him his last rights in that creepy Avatar state voice, part of me was chanting “kill him” inside. I’m a terrible person. I never through I’d hear Aang say “you shall pay the ultimate price.” But Aang, being the true hero he is, manages to snap himself out of the Avatar state right at the last second to save his worst enemy. Wow. Once again, the music really shined in this moment as Aang calmed down and floated back to the ground. You didn’t need to see his face to know how he felt; the music told you everything. The way Aang finally “defeats” Fire Lord Ozai is great, and very well choreographed. I was excited to see Aang feel what Ozai was doing through the rock, just like Toph. The way he then imprisons Ozai’s wrists in the rock was very well staged and animated. The first time I watched this, all I could say was “whoa.”
Having Aang take away Ozai’s power was a good way to “defeat” him. However, it could have been terrible if it was not executed right. If Aang just went up, grabbed the Fire Lord’s forehead for a few seconds, and took away his power, it would have been awful. However, Aang had to fight the Fire Lord’s evil within. Aang had to be truly pure of heart in order to take away Ozai’s powers. The Lion Turtle’s quote, which was a little hard to understand, explains it:
“In the era before the Avatar, we bent not the elements but the energy within ourselves. To bend another’s energy, your own spirit must be unbendable or you will be corrupted and destroyed.”
Not only did Aang defeat the Fire Lord, he also showed how good and true of a person he himself is, which is a much better way to end this long battle than any other I can think of. The music at the end of this scene almost made me cheer, with it climaxing with a big four note blaring brass finish. It really made you want to scream “heck yeah!” in the commercial break that followed.
The epilogue of the episode really showcased the writers’ and director’s abilities to storytell. I remember after seeing the final battle with the Fire Lord I looked at my watch to see how much time was left, as there was still quite a few things to wrap up. To my surprise there was less than fifteen minutes to wrap up not just this entire movie, but the series as well. I didn’t know how they could do it, especially without making it feel rushed. Somehow, however, they accomplished it. From Zuko and May making up, to the reuniting of Katara and Sokka with their father, to the entire group getting together and celebrating, and many other things, they were all quite nicely concluded within a short period of time without feeling rushed at all. The scene between Zuko and Aang was very touching, and their small hug was a great moment. Zuko’s speech showed you how great of a leader he really is, and how his experiences have shaped him into a great person. I had to applaud with the crowd as Zuko was crowned the new Fire Lord right beside Aang, who not that long ago was his enemy and target. And then there is Fire Lord Zuko’s little chat with Ozai, and probably the biggest unanswered question left in the series: “where is my mother?” I am actually happy that they left this open; you know in your heart that Zuko will do everything he can to find his mother, and you know life will continue after this series has ended.
The scene with the whole group together in that room was a great final “group” scene for the series. Everyone was getting along, cracking jokes and having fun. Sokka’s painting was hilarious; “those are your hair loopies!” It was a really touching and funny scene that put a big smile on my face.
Avatar Aang and Katara kiss in this beautiful ending scene
One of the things that had me wondering throughout the entire epilogue was whether or not Katara and Aang would “get together.” I haven’t watched the series long enough to become a rabid shipper for any characters, nor do I like becoming one for any series, no matter how into it I am. However, part of me really wanted to see this final loose end concluded; I mean come on, it has to happen, right? After what happened in The Ember Island Players, they have to touch on this, correct? I remember watching the scene where everyone was together celebrating, and thinking “well, there is a couple minutes left, and no sign of anything between Aang and Katara happening, oh well.” I was prepared to just shove it aside, and say that ending with everyone there together would be a great ending for the series. Then, literally within the last minute, they finally arrived at it. I must say that that final scene between them was so perfect that it actually made me shed a tear, especially when the two embraced. They did not overdue it, but did provide closure. The final pan from the couple up to the sun with the big orchestral ending, followed by “The End” really got to me. It was probably one of the best final scenes of a television show I have ever seen.
And with that I will conclude this review. Wow! I did not thing I would be able to write anything about this. Hopefully it did not seem too “OMG THIS WAS AWESOME-ish,” but it really was amazingly awesome. Sozin’s Comet is quite possibly one of the best things I have ever seen on television, live-action or animated, and I am not exaggerating my opinion. By effectively using the two hours they had to conclude, the show has created a work of art that will hopefully be watched over and over again for some time to come. I still have a weird, but good feeling from it, and I look forward to watching it again. We have all witnessed a monumental occasion in television history, and I cannot wait to see further stories set within the Avatar universe.
Tags: animation, avatar, avatar: the last airbender, cartoon, episode, fire, movie, nick, nickelodeon, review, television
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