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There are many, many fabulous scenes and subplots throughout the series, but several episodes really hold a special place in my heart. Here's where I spazz out a bit about how cool those episodes are. And yes, those bullet points are chibi!Zuko heads. Tiny Zuko is cute. Shut up.

S01E12: The Storm

Writer: Aaron Ehasz
Director: Lauren Macmullan
Summary: In which old people's warnings about a storm are ignored, Aang has some seriously messed up dreams, and Iroh tells the crew why they shouldn't kill Zuko even though he's a jerk.



Awesome Factors:

• I love Aang's and Zuko's parallel backstories. For the first time we really get to see how much pressure they're under, and how their pasts have made them the screwed up kids they are today. Zuko is painted as potentially heroic, and Aang is given some character complications that make him more than just a sweet little kid.
• Iroh and Katara parallel each other as Zuko's and Aang's respective support, showing that despite all the craziness in their pasts, the boys are lucky enough to currently be with people who really care about them and understand them for both their strengths and weaknesses. And on a related note: Zuko ACTUALLY APOLOGIZES to Iroh for yelling at him earlier.
• Also, just to make sure you're paying attention, Iroh almost off-handedly redirects lightning for the first time...which will, of course, become extremely important later.

S01E13: The Blue Spirit

Writer: Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko
Director: Dave Filoni
Summary: In which Aang channels the Roadrunner, Katara and Sokka suck on frogs, and Zuko proves he's a ninja. No, really.



Awesome Factors:

• The real crux of the episode, of course, is Aang being captured by Zhao and rescued by the Blue Spirit. The fight sequences are clever, and the way Aang and the Blue Spirit work together shows some great foreshadowing for season three. The best part of that whole sequence is the scene in the forest after Aang discovers the Blue Spirit's true identity and talks to him about how things might've been different if it weren't for the war.
• The crazy herbalist and her cat on the mountain continue the show's tradition of super-awesome, super-crazy old people who aid our heroes but also completely confuse them. She is made of total win. ^.^
• Aang could very well have left Zuko behind once he realizes that Zuko is the Blue Spirit...but he doesn't. That's what makes Aang such a great character: The vast majority of the time, he doesn't take the easy way out (another parallel with Zuko--gee, you'd think I have a thing for those similarities ^^;;). Even knowing how determined Zuko is to take him in, Aang realizes that Zuko's also the guy who helped him escape Zhao, and therefore has the capacity for good. In addition to representing hope for so many people, Aang also represents the possibility of redemption for Zuko, and this episode is the first really definite sign of that.
• ZUKO IS A NINJA. I love this added element of his character. Given that so far we've only really seen him as an obsessively angry and not particularly gifted bender, it's so great to see that he has this other, more stealthy and clever side. While his firebending is still stunted because of his unsettled identity issues, through the Blue Spirit we get a glimpse of what a smart, competent martial artist he can be. And, y'know, NINJA FTW.

S02E07: Zuko Alone

Writer: Elizabeth Welch Ehasz
Director: Lauren Macmullan
Summary: In which the creators prove they have seen way too many westerns and samurai movies, Ursa and Azula show up in some convenient flashback hallucinations, and Zuko sucks at using a hammer.



Awesome Factors:

• This is pretty much the lowest we've seen Zuko get. He's got a bounty on his head, the Earth Kingdom hates him, he's alienated Iroh, and he's basically starving to death. But despite all that, he's actually starting to do the right thing, sticking up for the villagers against the corrupt army and getting a real sense of just how much the Fire Nation's war has affected the rest of the world. Zuko's not exactly penitent yet, but he's beginning (ever so slightly) to get a grip on what really matters.
• Fabulous flashbacks giving us some real insight into Zuko's family life growing up, especially with regard to how much Ursa loved him and how royally screwed up Azula was pretty much from the beginning. The scene where Zuko wakes up on the river bank muttering, "Azula always lies" is creepy and heartbreaking. (And makes you wonder why the hell he makes the decision he makes at the end of this season--but I digress.) Added bonus: Iroh's letter home in which he talks about burning Ba Sing Se to the ground gives us an idea of how powerful and aggressive he was in his younger years--something important to remember, given that we've mostly seen him passive and playful in the present.
• The scene in which Zuko teaches Li how to use the dual swords is some nice foreshadowing for season three, when Zuko will be forced into being a teacher again. The fact that he doesn't totally hate spending time with Li this way gives us a good idea of how he might've gotten along with a sibling who wasn't as crazy and scary as Azula.
• In spite of everything Zuko's tried to accomplish in this episode, he still gets shut down by Li once Zuko's real identity is revealed. No matter what crappy stuff Zuko's pulled in the past, you can't help but feel really sorry for him, especially over the last shot of him leaving the village as empty-handed and alone as he entered it.

S03E06: The Avatar and the Firelord

Writer: Elizabeth Welch Ehasz
Director: Ethan Spaulding
Summary: In which Aang and Zuko do some geneology, Sozin and Roku fight Mother Nature, and Sokka pontificates on the possibility of reincarnated friendships.



Awesome Factors:

• It's another Aang/Zuko parallel story, so no surprise, I love the way they both learn about their history and how it brings them (unwillingly, in Zuko's case) together. In fact, the structure of this episode is actually very similar to S01E12 ("The Storm"), this time with Roku and Iroh (via the Dragonbone Catacombs), respectively, showing our intrepid heroes what they need to know.
• I love the twist that Zuko thinks Iroh's message means he needs to know about Firelord Sozin, when actually, the great-grandfather to whom Iroh refers is Avatar Roku, Zuko's great-grandfather on his mother's side. The fact that Zuko is actually related to one of the Avatars seems to really rock his boat, leading (FINALLY!) to Zuko getting out of the Fire Nation and going to help the gAang in a few episodes. It's not quite the kick-in-the-pants I expected to be the Event That Makes Zuko Good (I thought that happened much earlier when Azula was trying to get Zuko to betray Iroh), but it is the culmination of the soul-searching of season two and his dissatisfaction with the "normal" life he's been leading so far in season three. Whatever, at least it gets his butt in gear to start acting like the awesome human being we've suspected he is for quite some time now.
• I was a little worried about Iroh, what with the death of his fantastic voice actor Mako, but this episode proved that Mako's successor, Greg Baldwin, was going to do his best to honor Mako's memory by making Iroh sound just the way we'd come to know and love him.
• Bonus: An extremely fabulous final scene with the gAang bonding over the idea of staying friends over multiple lifetimes. Complete with Toph being adorably vulnerable and Sokka being adorably dorky.

S03E11: The Day of Black Sun, Part 2: The Eclipse

Writer: Aaron Ehasz
Director: Joaquim Dos Santos
Summary: In which Zuko and Toph show some serious skillz, the invasion force tries out some nifty sunglasses, and the battle doesn't go as planned.



Awesome Factors:

• We've been waiting for the Zuko/Ozai showdown for pretty much the entire series, and here we finally get it. At last Zuko's able to stand up to his dad and show how much he's learned about where the Fire Nation is and where it needs to go. He's still angry, but now he's got enough confidence and sense of purpose to tell his dad where he can stick it. THANK GOD. Related awesome: we get to see Zuko bend lightning for the first--but not the last--time, showing how his changing emotional state is slowly improving his bending.
• I love the fierce way Sokka confronts Azula about Suki. Sokka knows he's not a bender, and he knows Azula could kick his ass into next week if it weren't for the eclipse, but he's absolutely willing to throw caution into the wind to find out what happened to the girl he loves. Very sweet. ^_^
• Remember when we met Katara at the beginning of the series? Naive, hopeful, unsure of her powers as a waterbender? Well now she is KICKING ASS AND TAKING NAMES. She can easily take down an entire Fire Nation balloon herself (okay, with Appa doing the flying), and she still has the same big heart that keeps her looking out for Aang and her father and feeling totally torn apart when her family has to go their separate ways again so that the kids can escape.
• Poor Zuko doesn't get to save Iroh from prison because Iroh, who is super awesome, has already broken himself out. This was a fabulous choice by the writers, showing us what Iroh's plotting has been leading up to and making Zuko even more unsettled about his continued alienation from his uncle. Really cleverly done.

S03E12: The Western Air Temple

Writer: Elizabeth Welch Ehasz and Tim Hedrick
Director: Ethan Spaulding
Summary: In which Combustion Man combusts, Katara gets peeved, and Zuko is crap at being good.



Awesome Factors:

• I love pretty much everything about the Western Air Temple, in particular its crazy upside down design. So much of the show's locations are amazing, but for this one the animators and designers really outdid themselves. And in addition to the inherent coolness of the design, it also gives us more insight into just how goofy and amazing the Airbenders were.
• DORKY ZUKO IS LOVE. He's so wretched at being good, he has to practice his speech in front of a frog...and he still royally screws it up. We've waited so long for Zuko to get where he is, and that whole process is made that much more believable and satisfying by how difficult it is for him to be honest with the gAang, who still don't trust him (particularly Katara, who's been burned--literally--by trusting Zuko before in Ba Sing Se). Of course, the audience knows Zuko really means it this time, but to the others, it could all be some seriously dangerous ploy to capture Aang. Zuko's evolution as a character is made that much more endearing by the fact that he has to work so hard to convince the others--and to believe himself--that he's finally prepared to do the right thing.
• Toph continues to show her extreme coolness by realizing before anyone else that, whatever issues the gAang might've had with Zuko in the past, they really have no choice but to work with him now, particularly since Aang needs a firebending teacher, and Zuko's all they've got. Toph shows a practicality and willingness to forgive that none of the others are able to show at this point. Even after Zuko accidentally burns Toph's feet, she still obviously realizes he has a genuine desire to do right. It's ironic and wonderful that Toph, so gruff and slow to trust, is really the first one to trust Zuko (other than Appa, whose life Zuko saved earlier).
• Given how supportive and naive she can be, Katara shows a somewhat surprising amount of animosity and unwillingness to forgive toward Zuko. I actually really like this because it gives her character much more depth as someone who becomes dangerously distant when emotionally hurt. We see it with Katara and her dad, and we see it again at this point in her relationship with Zuko. Part of her wants to protect Aang, but part of her is hurt for herself because she really did think Zuko was going to come around last season at Ba Sing Se (you're not the only one, sweetheart!). Eventually, of course, Katara will come to like and even care about Zuko, but for now, her warning to him at the end of the episode shows just how injured she still is and how far Zuko still has to go to really gain his new allies' trust.

S03E19: Sozin's Comet, Part 2: The Old Masters

Writer: Aaron Ehasz
Director: Giancarlo Volpe
Summary: In which June does some shipping, Aang talks to giant turtles, and Iroh leads a seriously badass collection of old dudes.



Awesome Factors:

• Okay, I admit it's cheap, but I like that June still ships Zuko and Katara. Or at the very least enjoys messing with them. ^o^
• It's so exciting that we get to see Jeong Jeong, Bumi, Piandao, and Pakku again. I love that the White Lotus folks team up for their own B plot in the finale to free Ba Sing Se. I find the mentor-has-to-die-so-the-student-can-move-on trope very frustrating, so I was extremely glad to see that, not only do all the old folks survive, but they have a big hand in saving the world. Yay for awesome old dudes!
• I know a lot of people had some issues with the way Aang ultimately deals with Ozai, and I agree it's not ideal; but I really appreciate how, in this episode, Aang is struggling with the idea that he might have to kill Ozai, which goes against everything Aang believes in and lives by. Aang's not trying to wimp out here; he really does believe that it's not right to kill (though he's done it himself before, which makes you wonder why that's not brought up here, but anyway). I'm fascinated by the idea of the Avatar's past lives and Aang being able to gain wisdom from them, so even though their words don't exactly help him in this case, I like that he takes the time to hear each of the last four out as he tries to work through his concerns about facing the Firelord.
• No contest; the real beauty of this episode is the reunion between Iroh and Zuko. I love that Katara has to help Zuko work up the courage to face his uncle, and I love that, while you might expect Iroh to kick Zuko's butt after all they've been through, he pretty much immediately forgives him. BECAUSE IROH IS JUST THAT AWESOME. The scene where Zuko is struggling to express his shame and Iroh just grabs him and hugs him is, quite possibly, the best scene in the entire series. Just beautiful and heartwrenching and so very much what we've been waiting all of season three to see.



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