Season three of Avatar: the Last Air Bender turned heads with its anodyne natured episodes the show displayed at the outset. Day of the Black Sun brought back the emergency that the show had when season two ended. However, it now had less time to introduce Aang to fire bending and finish developing the characters. The six episodes succeed not only in accomplishing those goals, but also in providing some of the best episodes in the shows run.
A Prince’s Show
The first episode, “The Western Air Temple”, starts off with Zuko pursuing Aang’s group in order to help Aang stop the Fire Lord. Unfortunately, Zuko’s hired assassin still has plans to destroy Aang. The assassin always intensifies the action, and his last bout did not disappoint. Zuko got the expected reactions when he tried to persuade the group that he had changed. It was a very bitter sweet moment to see the characters attack Zuko. After all he’s done to them in the past, the characters rage felt justified. However, after Zuko’s sincere words it’s very easy to feel sad for him despite his past. While his induction into the group is satisfying, Katara's words at the end felt validated.
Zuko’s presence in the show is really outstanding. The character feels like he’s the missing piece in the group. The tribulations Zuko faced connect with the other characters problems and fuel the development of each character. In “The Fire Bending Masters” it’s apparent that Aang is reluctant to learn how to fire bend due to his past mistakes. However, Zuko’s reluctance to continue fire bending with anger give both characters their congeniality that fuels their relationship as they search for a new way to fire bend. “The Fire Bending Masters” was fettered from a fight sequence, but the unique perspective it crafted on fire bending was interesting.
Tying Loose Ends
The "Boiling Rock Parts 1 & 2" finds Zuko and Sokka going to a fire nation prison to bust out Sokka's dad and girlfriend Suki. It's always nice to see Sokka be more than just comedic relief for the group, and he was granted a very strong story arc. This episode marks the first time we've seen Zuko hold his own against Azula. It was gratifying to see him not only develop mentally, but physically as well. Mai and Ty Lee's betrayal of Azula will undoubtedly have an effect on her later on in the series.
The most emotionally powerful of all the episodes belongs to "The Southern Raiders" What made the episode so great was how Zuko's adamant assault to help Katara is him obviously feeling remorse for his own mother's fate. The episode does an amazing job of bringing out Katara's character, and it's the strongest issue the writers have done. This is also the first time the characters have had to contemplate death. The writers have done a good job conveying the fact that they're all still children, and their uneasiness with the situation is tangible. There's a very strong lasting effect when Aang fails to answer what he will do to Lord Ozai when the time comes.
"The Ember Island Players" finds the group watching all their past adventures being performed by actors. It does a good job poking fun at some of the writer’s mistakes, and making fun of the characters themselves. On a more heart breaking note, Katara gives Aang a very ambiguous answer when asked about their relationship.
“Sozin’s Comet” has a lot to answer, but it looks to be a thrilling conclusion to a great series.
