Warriors – Warriors begins with Uncle Iroh (Paul Sun-Hyung Lee) looking on as Prince Zuko (Dallas Liu) thrashes his office in search of the missing Avatar journal. Iroh attempts to calm him by pointing out that it was Zuko who located the Avatar, not the journal. He offers further encouragement by suggesting there are only so many places an Avatar can hide. It is at this time at the Air Temple that Aang (Gordon Cormier) shares his plans to visit Kyoshi Island with Katara (Kiawentiio) and Sokka (Ian Ousley). Once alone, Sokka expresses an urgency to return to Wolf Cove while Katara advocates continuing along with Aang on his journey. Their attention is immediately drawn to Aang, who himself is intrigued by something moving inside Katara’s bag. It’s revealed to be a winged lemur but among the spilled contents, Katara finds an ancient scroll left by Gran Gran (Casey Camp-Horinek). This gives both Katara and Sokka further encouragement to join Aang. Before leaving the Temple, Aang gives Gyatso (Lim Kay Siu) a ceremonial burial.
As Momo (Aang’s new winged pet lemur) accompanies Aang to Kyoshi Island, Zuko and his crew visit a port city with a bustling marketplace. It doesn’t take Zuko long to express his impatience with Uncle as he gabs with a vendor (Daniel Chai). Uncle then surprises him by pointing out that the port houses the headquarters of the regional Fire Nation Commander. It’s virtually a hub of information that he hopes will lead to the location of Avatar.
Aang and his crew arrive on the Island and are immediately greeted by a huge stone statue of Avatar Kyoshi (Yvonne Chapman). When Sokka disappears inside a door located at the base, Katara and Aang are ambushed by Suki (Maria Zhang) and another Kyoshi warrior. The encounter is extremely short and ends with Katara blabbing about Aang being the Avatar. When the locals claim there would be signs of the arrival of a real Avatar, the statue’s eyes light up.
Aang and crew are brought before the village’s mayor, Yukari (Tamlyn Tomita). Yukari quickly discounts the statue’s glowing eyes while pointing out that their village has survived the last 100 years by avoiding outsiders. Although Aang makes a compelling argument for learning the ways of Avatar Kyoshi, it is Suki who ultimately persuades her mother, the mayor. After they are granted 48, Sokka attempts to impress Suki while she escorts them around the village but only embarrasses himself.
In the port city, Zuko barges into Commander Zaho’s (Ken Leung) office and demands his assistant hand over recent surveillance reports and trade maps. Zaho, in the inner office, overhears and quickly joins. This is when Uncle takes over negotiations and attempts to disguise their real intentions by claiming to be on the trail of a tasty shark squid. Although Zaho plays along, his demeanor suggests that he doesn’t believe the claims.
At the Kyoshi village, Katara doesn’t waste time advancing her skills thanks to Gran Gran’s scroll. Aang is hesitant to even begin his training, being that he’s only ever trained under Gyatso. Later that day, Aang and his friends are treated to a village feast. Some of the younger locals appear to have a hard time concealing their intrigue with an outsider, but it is Chie (Kaili Mendoza) who has enough nerve to question if he is really the Avatar. This leads to a fun and spirited showcase of his talents.
While Commander Zaho’s suspicions about Zuko having ulterior motives are confirmed, Sokka hones his training as well. Suki pays him a surprise visit and expresses an interest in his handcrafted axe. His attempts to impress her lead to a hand-to-hand showdown that ends with him being bested and embarrassed once again.
With the help of Katara, Aang finally takes advantage of the village’s resources to advance his training but finds there isn’t much to help him. A bit more research and Zuko’s journal leads to them learning that all Avatars are incarnations of the past Avatars, meaning the answers he seeks are within him.
Zuko and Uncle rush to leave the port city when they learn that Zaho left at dawn to follow a lead on reports of a flying cow near Kyoshi Island. While aimlessly wandering around the village, Sokka sees Suki training several of the locals. When he’s spotted mimicking their moves, Suki dismisses the class and invites him in for a session. Sokka catches on quickly and the session nearly becomes intimate right before it is interrupted by the village’s alarm. Not only hearing the alarm but also seeing Zaho’s ship dock, she fails to wake Aang. Kyoshi tells Aang that he not only has the power to reach past Avatars but he can call on all their strengths and harness it, like a weapon. She refers to the power as the “Avatar State.” When Zuko discovers that Zaho has already docked on the island, he’s nearly ready to turn around. Uncle, however, points out that knowledge of an opponent can be more revealing than speed. Zuko appears to get the message when he says, “Where there is one Avatar, there might be another.”
Zuho and his forces are met by Yukari in the center of town where she denies all claims of harboring the Avatar. Although Yukari agrees to let them search the island, she attacks the first warrior that comes close enough. After failing to wake Aang again, Katara puts forth a commendable effort to stop Zuko and his men but ultimately fails. The Kyoshi warriors have more luck defending the town, but Yukari realizes their advantage won’t last. During his encounter with Kyoshi, Aang expresses his fear of hurting others or only making things worse. Much to his surprise, she tells him that he will. His very presence will always make matters worse just as it has now. After bringing attention to the threat in the town, she offers to show him the power of the Avatar.
Kyoshi apparently uses Aang to force both Zuko and Zuho’s troops to retreat. As Zuho’s final man flees, Aang collapses to the ground. Aang apologizes for the trouble he brought to the village. Yukari says that nothing was destroyed that couldn’t be replaced but the hope he’s given them is much more powerful. Before leaving Suki pulls Sokka aside and gives him a kiss and one of Kyoshi’s trademark Japanese folding fan weapons.
Sokka shares his decision to permanently join Aang’s journey with Katara. Aang shares what he learned from Kyoshi with them and reveals the Northern Water Tribe Town as their next destination. Back at the port city, Zuho attempts to place the blame for the island debacle on Zuko for not being more forthcoming with his suspicions. After Zuho promises to keep the information about the Avatar to himself, they make a verbal agreement to unite in the campaign to bring down the Avatar. Later that night, Zuho is shown writing a letter to Fire Lord Oazi, revealing the Avatar’s return.
Avatar: The Last Airbender Review
As far as story development goes, you couldn’t ask for a more effective episode. I also think the shorter runtime and the fact that the episode was mostly based on Kyoshi Island helped a lot. I would give the episode a 5.6 out of 10. I have to admit that the more I watch, the more intrigued I become. Although the story feels very basic at times, it grabs my attention. I still found the case a bit oversaturated, although I can understand the need. I also feel that the creators could have been a bit clearer with the battle scene. Although we see Kyoshi doing the fighting, it is Aang who collapses in the center of town. Did she take on his form? Other than that, an enjoyable watch.
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