The Tales of Ba Sing Se

Leaves From The Vine

Falling So Slow

Like Fragile Tiny Shells

Drifiting In The Foam

Little Soldier Boy

Come Marching Home

Brave Soldier Boy

Comes Marching Home

This episode consisted of several vignettes giving us more insight into the main characters. Katara convinces Toph to go to a day spa. Uncle Iroh makes his way through town, on his way to commemorate a special day. Aang goes looking for Appa and ends up using his "way with animals" to help a zookeeper and his run-down zoo. Sokka wanders about and finds himself entangled in a haiku showdown. Zuko reluctantly goes on a date. Momo goes looking for Appa and makes friends with some (eventually) helpful cats.

I have loved Uncle Iroh pretty much from the start, and his segment was most excellent. We get to see more of the depth of his kindness, wisdom, humor, and humanity. The other stories were quite good too, but if the episode contained only the tale of Uncle Iroh, I would still give it a 10.

I am.not going to rate something less than a 10 if it is truly perfect. And this episode is truly perfect. The tale of Momo had no dialogue and made me cry. Toph and Katara were simultaneously fun and uplifting. Sokka spat bars that will never die. Zuko gave us a glimpse into vulnerability and had us rooting for his happiness. The titular character became an afterthought. And then there was Iroh. He was nothing other than himself from start to finish. And he hit us the the most emotional left hook that we still have yet to recover from. They gave us highs and lows with zero connection that somehow worked flawlessly and will forever stand as a cornerstone of the series.

Best episode so far in my opinion, cried my eyes off.

Every now and then, this show goes from being incredibly entertaining to truly special - and this episode is a definite example of that trend. My skepticism at what the writers could do with only five minutes apiece was quickly blown out of the water as I was reminded how exceptional each one of the characters are. Even Momo, arguably Ang's sidekick's sidekick, is more fully drawn and realised than some protagonists I've come across. But by far my favourite of the stories belongs to Iroh. His five minutes are some of the best I've ever experienced, a beautiful portrait of a complicated man that brought me to tears. You could come into this episode completely cold, knowing nothing about the show or its players and I'm still almost certain you would have the same reaction. That is the mark of excellent writing. And then, the touching goodbye to Mako right at the very end wrung just a little bit more out of me, a beautiful final punctuation for the most impactful piece of television I've seen in quite some time.

The haiku rap battle was fun too, I guess.