Ember Island Podcast: An Avatar The Last Airbender Podcast

and Barbara) as we analyze, review, and rave about every episode of

Avatar: The Last Airbender (and The Legend of Korra) from start to

finish!

This episode's discussion includes: Aang's emergency spirit call from Roku, the framing of this episode compared to The Storm, why Zuko is a light sleeper, Zuko's invisible ink destiny scroll makes no sense and it makes Barbara angry, Toph can feel hundreds of empty houses and graves under the volcano and can somehow sleep at night, how Zuko's surroundings make him look small and alone, the awesome dragon catacombs, how Roku and Sozin both tell the truth in their stories from their different perspectives, Roku and Sozin were best bros, how condensing the story of a lifetime in twenty minutes somehow works well, how smart Avatar is with showing relationships, Roku and Sozin's fight for power and dominance, Roku unleashes the Avatar State onto Sozin and doesn't talk to him for twenty five years, Roku's roll in the 100 year war, Spirit World appearance theories, Roku/Sozin/Zuko's crown prince crown metaphors, Roku's tragic final acts and Sozin's final betrayal, Fang being a good boy and we're both sad, Roku's death to Aang' birth, Sozin's Roku-hate fueled Avatar paranoia and Zuko's banishment, Zuko's internal war and mixed legacy impacting his destiny of restoring balance, "Is this the push Zuko needs to commit to the good side?", Iroh and Zuko's imprisoned framing, the message of choice, we rewrite the episode, and a friendship so strong it transcend lifetimes (and us gushing over it). Warning: Brief Legend of Korra spoiler 7:00 - 10:00 and the novel Foundryside by Robert Jackson Bennett spoilers 17:35 - 18:45
 

This episode includes the sixth episode of Season 3 of Avatar: The Last Airbender: Book 3: Fire: Chapter 6: The Avatar and the Firelord

Contact us at: [email protected]

and Barbara) as we analyze, review, and rave about every episode of

Avatar: The Last Airbender (and The Legend of Korra) from start to

finish!

This episode's discussion includes: Sparky Sparky Boom Man's deal, Zuko's hair, Ember Island, Lu and Li's old-lady house, Zuko's angst (and seagulls), Azula acting 'normal', Ty Lee in her element, Zuko's terrible dating skills, Mai is done with Zuko's brooding, Ty Lee's extremely popular (and Azula is jealous), Azula skills and personality in a different context are a detriment, Azula and success. awesome volleyball, the royals weren't invited to the house party, Azula trying to be normal and accidentally succeeding, possessive Zuko and mourning, Breakfast Club fire, Azula and Zuko's strained strange relationship, Ty Lee's individualism and agency, Mai's ennui and forced subservience, Azula's view of emotion as performance, us trying to be couch psychologists with no training, Zuko reading Mai's signals 100% wrong, Zuko's bottled emotions, Frozen asides, Azula and Ty Lee's relationship, Azula thinks she's a monster, trashing Chan's house, and the Gaang is here too?
 Warning: Obligatory anime beach episode ahead!

This episode includes the fifth episode of Season 3 of Avatar: The Last Airbender: Book 3: Fire: Chapter 5: The Beach

Contact us at: [email protected]

and Barbara) as we analyze, review, and rave about every episode of

Avatar: The Last Airbender (and The Legend of Korra) from start to

finish!

This episode's discussion includes: Sokka-centric episodes are great, Toph's blind jokes, Iroh's amazing deception, the logistics of Iroh getting swole, alternate timelines stemming from Lu Ten not dying, Aang's DLC armor, Sokka's weapons skills, Avatar beards, the Gaang is terrible at being undercover, Sokka's humbleness making him worthy, Sokka's 'special' warrior training, Sokka makes a space sword (and it's kind of realistic), Master Piandao wasn't born yesterday, Sokka vs Master Paindao, Sokka and Iroh's mirroring progression, Sokka's smart enough not to fight fair, Master Paindao's scabbard skills, and another sign of the Order of the White Lotus (showing the writer's planning and foreshadowing since Book 1).
 Warning: Hot side-characters, terrible naming side conversations, and Sokka's terrible art skills ahead!

This episode includes the fourth episode of Season 3 of Avatar: The Last Airbender: Book 3: Fire: Chapter 4: Sokka's Master

Contact us at: [email protected]

and Barbara) as we analyze, review, and rave about every episode of

Avatar: The Last Airbender (and The Legend of Korra) from start to

finish!

This episode's discussion includes: Difference in opinions, what is the line in helping/stopping progress, industrialization versus nature (but in a bad way), Sokka is 100% right (and Katara is wrong, but with good intentions), Appa is a hill now, weird hat guy's split personalities, Katara asserting her ideals on the village and the village's oppression, Impulsive Katara, pretending to poison Appa, Katara's fancy Painted Lady costume, Katara's secret night waterbending, does destroying the factory actually help?, Sokka and Toph upset with Aang and Katara, sideburns, The Painted Lady Versus Jet, the heart of our problem with this episode, spirit bending and the Gaang's implicit trust in each other and their bending, and our frustration with the 'moral' of the story.
 Warning: MORE Stealing (not from pirates), our frustration, creepy horror movie children, and spooky spirits ahead!

This episode includes the third episode of Season 3 of Avatar: The Last Airbender: Book 3: Fire: Chapter 3: The Painted Lady

Contact us at: [email protected]

and Barbara) as we analyze, review, and rave about every episode of

Avatar: The Last Airbender (and The Legend of Korra) from start to

finish!

This episode's discussion includes: Undercover Gaang, costume changes, FLAMEO HOTMAN and our catchphrases, Sad vegetarian Aang, Aang goes to school and makes macaroni art, Aang socializes with children his own age, bowing, dictatorship and the Fire Nation, Zuko's mean to Iroh and we hate it, dissecting Iroh's love and disappointment with Zuko, the Fire Nation's propagandist version of the 100 Year War, 80's Teen Movie tropes (Save the Rec Center! Footloose!), Azula walks circles around Zuko, Azula's concern for Zuko, awesome secret cave dancing, headband-based subversion of authority, and Sparky Sparky Boom Man.
 Warning: Stealing (not from pirates), Zuko breaks our heart some more, and dancing (GASP) ahead!

This episode includes the second episode of Season 3 of Avatar: The Last Airbender: Book 3: Fire: Chapter 2: The Headband

Contact us at: [email protected]

and Barbara) as we analyze, review, and rave about every episode of

Avatar: The Last Airbender (and The Legend of Korra) from start to

finish!

This episode's discussion includes: Discussing the gap between Book 2 and Book 3, the Book 3 trailer, exposition without too much exposition in medias res, Aang's head injuries, bye bye Earth King, Aang's lack of agency, Katara and Zuko, how scary the Dai Lee's double cross was, we finally see Ozai's face, Katara's feelings of abandonment and her father, Zuko's daddy issues, Zuko's guilt concerning getting 'his honor' back, Azula's masterful plan (and her hair), and cyclical story telling.
 Warning: Real-life and in-series time-skips ahead!

This episode includes the first episode of Season 3 of Avatar: The Last Airbender: Book 3: Fire: Chapter 1: The Awakening

Contact us at: [email protected]

and Barbara) as we analyze, review, and rave about every episode of

Avatar: The Last Airbender (and The Legend of Korra) from start to

finish!

This discussion includes:

the best and worst, our most favorites and least favorite things, episodes, and characters from ATLA Book 2: Earth 

Warning: Opinions about and spoilers for the entire book ahead!

This episode includes all episodes from Season 2 of Avatar: The Last Airbender: Book 2: Earth

Contact us at: [email protected]

and Barbara) as we analyze, review, and rave about every episode of

Avatar: The Last Airbender (and The Legend of Korra) from start to

finish!

 Note: Episode 20 discussion starts at 1:03:50

This episode's discussion includes:  Part 1: Why Barbara and Leslie like to be angry, Last Time on Avatar, Zuko's forced anger repression, Sokka and his (very) hot dad, Sokka's worries and abandonment in becoming a 'real' member of the water tribe and planning with his dad (who is proud of and loves him), the grand opening of The Jasmine Dragon, Tylee and Mai's acting against the Dai Lee, the masterful explanation of chakras to a young western audience, Aang's chakra visions and his self acceptance in relation to his control over the Avatar State, Toph discovers metal bending, Aang tries to let go of Katara but he can't, and visual metaphors.Part 2: planned Dai Lee coup by Azula, Zuko and Katara in the crystal cave of betrayal and love, Katara explains her anger to Zuko, political intrigue, Zutara and emotional sexy scars, magic water possibilities, Azula's masterful manipulation and thought process, Iroh framing Zuko's choice for good, Zuko makes his hardest choice and why he makes that choice, the fandom after the twist, one of the best fight scenes in this series, Star Wars analogies, Aang in the Avatar State, Azula's lightning strike, Aang falls, Iroh willingly lets himself e captured, magic water what-ifs, Azula capturing Ba Sing Sae, and Zuko's conflicted betrayal and honor. Warning: Zuko breaks all of our hearts (while Azula crushes our dreams happily) and we talk about it for thirty minutes.

It's a double feature! This episode includes the nineteenth and twentieth episode of Season 2 of Avatar: The Last Airbender:
Book 2: Earth: Chapter 19: The Guru, and
Book 2: Earth: Chapter 20: The Crossroads of Destiny

Contact us at: [email protected]

and Barbara) as we analyze, review, and rave about every episode of

Avatar: The Last Airbender (and The Legend of Korra) from start to

finish!

This episode's discussion includes: why we don't like this episode, the triumphant Appa reunion we've been waiting for, the Gaang finally tries to talk to the Earth King, Toph does not trust Positive Sokka, Saddle continuity, Long Feng and Bite Continuity, Katara only heals potential future boyfriends, Zuko's sick after doing a good deed (We can change him!), Zuko's dream sequence hallucinations and the meaning of his missing scar, Zuko has a drinking (and throwing things) problem, how strange and sudden the Earth King's change in loyalty is, Long Feng is Long Gone, The Earth King finally learns about the Day of Black Sun, Sokka and Katara sibling moments, Group Hugs, Famous Last Words, Toph's captured, Missing Suki, and 'Kyoshi Warriors' ahead. Warning: Zuko has Angsty Pretty Fever Syndrome, Regular Bears, and King Fools ahead.
This episode includes the eighteenth episode of Season 2 of Avatar: The Last Airbender:
Book 2: Earth: Chapter 18: The Earth King

Contact us at: [email protected]

and Barbara) as we analyze, review, and rave about every episode of

Avatar: The Last Airbender (and The Legend of Korra) from start to

finish!

This episode's discussion includes: Brainwashing, Sokka's amazing drawing skills, Classic Blind Jokes, Zuko wants so much more than this provincial life, We dream of Tea Time with Iroh, Sleeper Agent Joo Dee, Lake Laogai Vacation Posters and Slogans, the search for Appa, how confusing the Dai Li's plan is, Iroh sees his simple Jasmine Dragon dream, Toph is a lie detector now, Brainwashed Jet, creepy Dai Li hand metaphors and Lake Laogai coloring choices, Zuko's choice to free Appa (and finally let the Avatar go?), Jet's final act and loss of agency, Jet and Zuko similarities, BAMF Appa's reunion with Aang, "Don't listen to Zuko!", Iroh finally reaches his limit, and the metaphor around Zuko relinquishing his Blue Spirit mask. Warning: The Earth King invites you to Lake Laogai. You are honoured to accept his invitation.
This episode includes the seventeenth episode of Season 2 of Avatar: The Last Airbender:
Book 2: Earth: Chapter 17: Lake Laogai

Contact us at: [email protected]