The Siege of the North, Part 1

Here the unvarnished facts: I discovered this series in 2012 and was hooked. I binge-watched. Days passed. i think it was summer. No matter. I was watching Last Airbender.

When I finished the series, I returned to the real world only to discover there was a sequel, Korra. I patiently waited until all the episodes of Korra were aired, collected them, and started to binge-watch.

And somewhere in the middle of the second season of Korra, I just gave up. And now I am watching the original Airbender series top to bottom for the second time.

Where Korra was occasionally cute, LAST AIRBENDER is consistently brilliant from episode to episode. Even the lulls in the action contain dialog so sharp it could cut you ("My father says my sister was born lucky ... I was lucky to be born") and profound spiritual lessons.

Frankly I cannot even believe the same team was behind both productions.

The original series is astonishing.

This episode starts off with a sense of "calm before the storm" as we know Zhaos fleet is approaching The Northern Watertribe! Great detail with the black snow!

The action was great n this episode! Everything from Aang fighting of the crew on the slips, to Katara Vs Zuko, which is just as great as it sounds! You can feel the tension and excitemrnt as you know how high the stakes are!

Zuko was also great in this episode and I got emotional when he and Iroh had a Heart-to-heart moment where Iroh opened up to how much Zuko means to him and why!

The ending was a great cliffhanger that leaves you excited for the conclusion!

Disclaimer: If you're not priorly conversant with the characters of Avatar, this review will not make any sense at all. On with the review

The Good 1) Prince Zuko and Uncle Iroh's plan to capture the Avatar 2) Uncle Iroh revealing that he lost his son and now regards Zuko as his own and Zuko knows and appreciates this 3) The contrast between Zuko and Commander Zhao (yes, I still call him that.) 4) The build-up from the Spirit World 5) Sokka and Princess Yue's relationship 6) The further exploration of Zuko's backstory

The Bad 1) Some aspects of Sokka's relationship with Princess Yue are a bit rushed.

I love it when Iroh becomes Zuko's father figure. Zuko's story arc gets a good boost. And he's a legendary breath holder haha.

Overall a good lead up to the second part.