I also love the parallel between the old man Sokka saves and the old man Haru saves. the earth kingdomer betrayed his savior, while the fire nation man vouched for Sokka and helped him save the village.
I hate that the old man who betrayed Haru was forgotten about after the fact. I wanted to hear his justification as to how he could repay his savior by selling him out to the enemy.
I forgot to mention that the reason Katara gets so much better at waterbending in this episode is because she and Aang now have the scroll from the last episode. When Sokka's sleeve catches fire and Katara puts it out, the cinematography specifically chooses to zoom in on her water-skin to show she's gotten to the point now where she instinctively uses it.
Honestly, Katara for the most part is just an absolute Bitch! A really arrogant, self-righteous and even hypocritical one! Seriously why has there never been an episode that addresses this or make Katara learn to be humble and less disingenuous?!
I love this episode solely for the reason that Jet is basically the reverse of Zuko and Iroh. They are proof that not every member of the Fire Nation are evil, and Jet is proof that not every enemy of the Fire Nation is good.
Oh ya, this is the episode when we see Sokka's jaw bone knife and incredibly useful tracking skill. We see these exactly once and never again throughout the entire show.
@@theoaky8924 Well they don't find her until part way through the second season. And it's not like redundant skill sets is an issue in the series with team avatar at full strength they have 2 water benders, 2 earth benders, 2 fire benders, and 3 elite marshal warriors.
When she asked "Where's Sokka?", it's worse when you think about it. Her mom is dead, she doesn't know if her dad is still alive, and she left her grandma back home months ago. Sokka was the last of her family that she KNEW was alive.
It still floors me that there are people out there who feel that the series did Jet and Hama dirty because they are people effected by the actions of colonizers and "deserved to take their anger out on people who are from the invading country." These people forget that both of them were targeting CIVILIANS WHO HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH THOSE ATROCITIES.
It's just people who think colonizers in show = bad and therefore anyone and everything affiliated with them deserves to suffer even if its just regular people
I think another showcase of this is when Katara confronts the man who killed her mother and the guy’s a pathetic old man who’s not really a threat to anyone and has little to nothing to do with the war now. So killing him would be pointless and gain Katara nothing.
I appreciate you mentioning that Jet’s really the first guy Katara’s ever truly encountered. Some people bash the episode _because_ she crushes on him hard when, honestly, it’s totally normal and in-character. She’s like, what? 14 during ATLA? She’s definitely reached her crushing years and Jet’s a mysterious, handsome, charismatic guy who’s literally swept her off her feet and has experienced the same things Katara’s experienced through the war. And while, yes, she’s known Sokka for longer, siblings tend to disregard each other’s abilities. The beginning of the episode is her ragging on him for not being that great of a leader and now here’s this rogue kid keeping his band of misfits alive and fed in treehouses right in the middle of Fire Nation territory. Jet appears way more competent by default. Also, this episode’s supposed to show Katara (and the whole Gaang) that you can’t just trust that someone’s good because they claim to be for a good cause. Up to this point, the Gaang have only had their beliefs affirmed (ie Other People Good, Fire Nation Bad) and it’s during this episode and others where this notion’s fought (The Blue Spirit, The Deserter, The Avatar State, etc.) Really the episode just suffers for not having a _little_ more time to establish Katara’s crush/why she’d trust Jet so staunchly. Otherwise I think it’s fine.
I noticed a continuity problem with this episode. In this one Katara says "I've never tried my bending on water I can't see." But she has. In the kiyoshi Island episode she bent water out of Aang's chest when the unagi almost drowns him and in the one with Haru and the metal prison we see her bend water out of a ground pump and into a bucket.
jet is basically how the line between freedom fighter and terrorist is crossed with how he protecting people like himself to about to drown a whole town of people innocent or not. wish they did more wore work with jet as his story could have been interesting to see than dying immediately after becoming normal again. he just went backwards on his ideals as somehow iroh and zuko were the first firebenders he saw after losing to the gang. like zuko he could have had some solo stories with his group
In Jet's defense, he and Zuko did have a moment of comradery when they raided the ship galley for food; he even offered both of them a place in his group, until he saw Iroh firebend. Not only did he feel betrayed, but as far as he knew, Iroh and Zuko were spies infiltrating the Earth Kingdom capital to bring the nation down from within.
@@MM-xn6tn that's literally showing he is narrow minded by assuming they were spies thinking all fire benders are bad just because they are fire nation much like the innocent people he was gonna drown. They helped him raid the captains food for people they didn't even know. Double ironic is he went to the biggest earth kingdom and the dai li are the very curruption he was looking for. Basically jet is a flip flopper
Jet was a tragic character in the show. He generally wanted to help fight the fire nation and help people, however his methods were clouded by hate for the fire nation almost killing many civilians.
This episode with Jet really propels the concept of total war. I can't fathom what it would be like to lose my family my village and be a child refugee. The fire nation used total war tactics to demoralize their enemies, now jet and his FF are doing the same. They know that they're also hurting innocence, but in their minds the ends justify the means.
I wanna say jet went about his revenge the wrong way and others (like the old man) were just caught in the crossfire of that. On top of that Katara really agitated me this whole episode in not believing her own brother and almost threw everything away for a guy she just met 🙄
Tbf, throughout season 1 sokka makes alot of bad calls, this is this start of sokkas journey to being the team strategist and the smart guy of the group
I'm pretty sure Team Avatar wouldn't be down with mass murder whether innocents are involved or not. Honestly Katara wasn't alone I remember alot of people catching the Jet bug back then. It's just so happened that he was a terrorist too.
Meanwhile, people often put this episode on their top 10 worst ATLA episodes because it shows a strong smart independent woman (who don't need no man) crushing on a dude. "It's out of character," they cry, as if crushes aren't out of character in real life.
If you pay close attention when the freedom fighters first appear SmellerBee is holding the poison dagger that is used to frame the old man. Jet used his charisma and intelligence very well in this once scene.
Something I just noticed and it's thanks to you calling Jet a dark reflection of Sokka. Hama and Jet are dark reflections of Katara and Sokka and both were, in a sense, created by the fire nation.
I remember the short lived abridged going into the episode with Sokka going “Awww come on the writers don’t hate me that much-“ *into the fire nation camp*
Anger can be a powerful force, but hatred is blinding and corrupting. There was a quote in the GI Joe Renegades episode (the one with the October Guard) from a general about how if you fight the same enemy too long, you'll adopt their tactics I may be misquoting, but it's been a while. Point is, that's another case of hatred being born of justified anger and leading someone astray, becoming no better than those they fight.
This was (and still is) one of My favorite episodes of the whole show, that as well as the puppet master. I think what made it so compelling was the fact that even though he was part of the “good guys” side, it didn’t mean he was a good person. And I think the show was great in portraying that yeah- some people that aren’t part of the fire nation are complete assholes. And those who are in the fire nation aren’t always aaa holes. It was never black and white with this show, and even as a kid I appreciated that so much. Hama and jet are both great examples of what happens when you take an ideology too far when it comes to fighting back against your oppressors. It comes to a point where you’re not getting back at only the people that hurt you. You’re just hurting people. And ATLA never pulls it’s punches on showing that they have completely derailed in their purpose.
Regarding the freezing scene, I think Katara mastered phase change in this episode. I don't like how she words it, but she wasn't confident bending steam into water earlier. She says she had never bent water that she couldn't see, which contradicts previous parts where she bends water out of various vessels and freaking Aang when he drowns! I think she was talking about water vapor behaving much more like air and how she had never thought about the hidden sources of water around her. That concept gets revisited when she discovers blood and sweat bending. After practicing a lot of condensation, I wouldn't put it past Katara to whip out some ice on the fly like that.
Not gonna lie the jets hook swords made me want a pair lol i love how they demonstrate each use of the swords with the climbing, the pommel blades, even hook link for long rang hits and yes the hooking
Jet is one of my favorite parts honestly. He’s the perfect way of showing how freedom fighters can become outright terrorists or even mix themselves for being freedom fighters. He is an absolute monster and only thinks that he’s in the right because of the heinous things fire nation soldiers have done. At the end of the day, Jet’s intentions are nothing but pure in his own mind, he’s a well intentioned extremist, but unlike someone like the illusive man, who treads the line and respects it, until his indoctrination, Jet’s plan are fully to cause harm to as many people of the fire nation as possible.
Man it's crazy how good your content has gotten. Scripts are tighter, delivery is so concise, and the mic quality. I still remember your old mic quality. Keep up the good work.
Oh nothing about Jet in later episodes and his grand finale as a character? I thought we were getting the full breakdown, but this is also very well constructed and engaging! Videos like this further cements my love for AtLA and its enriching story and characters. Always a great watch from the great Shady Doorags ✊🏾
I like the detail that Katara figuring out to freeze water isn't counted as a mary-sue moment. it sets some real boundaries as to what is and what isn't a marysue moment
I agree with your notion on Sokka. He’s such an awesome character (though every character is) as well as an example of comic relief done right. Korra really did dirty!!
Sokka is more of a Chief-of-Staff. He is in charge. Overall they all turn to him, even the avatar. I think it’s a nice detail since Sokka isn’t a bender and Team Avatar has to learn this the hard way
This episode holds a special place in my heart because this was the first episode I saw and I became obsessed. This was back when it was brand new, so I had to wait a week to see what came next. It's not my favourite episode of the series, but it gets an honourable mention when I list episodes.
Jet is clearly dealing some PTSD due to what happened with his parents however unlike the GAang, Jet is dealing with it in the worst way possible by blindly following his bias and ready to kill any fire nation member and comes his way.
Something else I noticed: Aang's fight against Jet kind of hit harder after that one scene in the last four episodes when Aang' talks to an airbender past life and explains that he never uses violence except as a last resort. That entire time he fights Jet, he never actually hurts him despite learning Jet's true nature. I didn't realize for the longest time that this was one of the earliest scenes showing the pacifist in Aang's character
What I find so sad about Jet , he tried fighting against the fire nation trying defend the earth kingdom yet he dies by the hands the very thing he tries to defend and it’s sad how he became kinda like a anti hero
Watching this video made me realize that I really don’t need you to review a particular show, I can listen to you talk about any show and be entertained.
aparently jet was also katara's first kiss as shown in the special funfact version of the show, and the official avatar yt channel. i was surprise, but teenage infatuation goes far
I mostly saw myself in jet. Says a lot about me but i loved jet from his start to his dramatic finsh. I never saw him as a traitor but a kid who was willing to get the job done that most adults can't handle/do.
All of Book Water takes place in winter, hence the Winter Solstice. (Even though the group travels through hemispheres and thus half of it SHOULD take place in summer as well).
i love your take on popular media. your videos are always insightful and interesting. i look forward to your uploads shady. thank you for your contributions
They say one man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter. And it looks like these Earth Kingdom kids were the freedom fighters, but Jet was the terrorist.
This is my favorite episode of Avatar. Going in I knew the show had some moral complexities that showed that the Fire Nation isn't a faceless army of mooks the heroes can mow down indiscriminately but this episode was particularly ambitious. Showing that just because someone is fighting the bad guys, and for a good reason, isn't necessarily a good person is a very in depth topic especially for a kid's show. The difference between a freedom fighter and a terrorist can be a thin one but this perfectly displayed where and when the difference can lie. I guess this is probably what also cemented Sokka as my 2nd favorite of the Gaang, sorry Toph is still #1.
I do love Sokka but ngl I relate SO MUCH to Toph. As someone with a disability myself, I understand just how limited her reality and her world is and the only way to push through it all is to find something, anything, that you’re good at and accept the disability and your own limitations for what they are. On top of this Toph was born with her incurable disability, as was I, so we both have to find ways to just deal with it. We have to work around the disability because our circumstances cannot be manipulated into something good, which is a luxury most healthy or “normal” people can afford. Toph and I both tease at our disabilities, her playing on her blindness and me laughing at a broken brain. Toph is headstrong and willful and works with what she has, so do I. She’s underestimated and yes she IS restricted by her disability but can still do exceed expectations. Plus. LAWD HAV MURCY that girl is sassy and sarcastic and I have not related more to any character’s personality than I do with her. Love Sokka but he’s never really put in a position of impossibility. If he lacks confidence that’s something he can build up over time (this being an example since Sokka is almost ALWAYS confident), but Toph can’t fix her eyes. She’s just stuck that way but makes the most of it.
Yeah that old man scene. Even if he was bad that was messed up as a kid watching i was like wooooaahh bro stunned me turned evil real quick like I get you and what you mean but in every situation before retaliation put yourself in their shoes. Life's crazy life's hard.
Sokka was my favorite character too, he was a normal guy, a tracker, a swordsman, a strategist, and a chad. Dude dated the moon, got one of the strongest benders in the world to fall head over heels in love with him by just being himself, and the dude secretly lost his virginity and got married off screen during the run of the show.
If you haven't seen Wolfwalkers, I highly recommend it. There's a character in there who reminds me quite a bit of Jet. He's a side character, but like Jet he leads a gang of orphans who are sick of being oppressed by a certain empire--in his case, the English (the most recent "Fire Nation" of western history). He too is at risk of becoming just like those he hates most. At one point, he's seen doing a mocking impression of Oliver Cromwell, the villain of the story, and he's completely unaware of just how much his hatred for Cromwell is, ironically, making him exactly like Cromwell.
I wonder if from a military and pragmatic point of view, Jet's plan to destroy a town of civilians would have been worth it. The only thing he would have achieved is that the Fire Nation saw him as a threat and wanted to kill him and his team. In the end, Jet didn't know how to beat the Fire Nation, so he just tried to hurt them.
This is an extremely interesting question and I won't pretend to be any kind of authority but I'd judge it's likely not worth it from a strategy standpoint. The way I see it, it's not impossible that he would be able to gain more people on his side before taking out his plan. As you mentioned though it would only likely have him marked as a terrorist and made into an example by the fire nation
It would do damage, but not as much as you'd think, and it would DEFINITELY ensure an immediate response. The primary reason, to my understanding, that the Fire Nation was taking over was for resource acquisition. Destroying a village that was likely producing food was going to hurt them economically and weaken their position in the region, but there are several problems with this- one, the supply shortage WOULD weaken their position in the region (an army fights on its stomach), but such a loss would be a HUGE propaganda boom for the Fire Nation, describing Jet and his freedom fighters as genocidal hypocrites and prompt them to deploy even MORE forces in the region, and the resource loss would result in crack-downs of other occupied towns. All and all, would it have pragmatic value? Yes, but unless you were able to follow up with multiple similar attacks on other towns, it wouldn't matter much. Plus, destroying a town like this would deny the rebels supplies as well, and force them to live off the land, which by this time was getting harder and harder as the fire nation pushed ever onward into the Earth Kingdom.
The Nationalist Chinese pulled this same stunt when fighting the Japanese occupation. It killed several hundred thousand civilians and made hundreds of miles inhospitable corpse chocked marsh for years. While ultimately doing little to the Japanese and eroding Nationalist support worldwide. It is the single largest war crime in modern history. Unless this village had a huge war factory like the one in The Painted Lady then no it would not. It would ruin the area indefinitely unless and until heavy machines or a joint water and earth bender force could clean up and drain the area.
Jet was definitely a much needed, if technically minor, character. We had seen not all the fire nation is bad now we needed to show not all of the fire nation's enemies are good and the fact they showed the gaang had lines they won't cross was also a very good addition. Though like you I kinda wished they gave the question "is civilian casualties except able?" The other half. Maybe if the town jet was going to drown had a more prominent military, like maybe 75 percent soldiers and 25 percent civilians, probably by showing us the inside of the town, it would be less obvious what the truly right choice is and with it made whatever stance the boomeraang squad took a stronger show of there character.
Sokka is the best character by FAR. His super power is his creativity. That's it. He's the Idea Man. Armed with his ability to have ideas and make decisions, he is able to keep pace with the most powerful magic usera in his world. But he is just a normal guy like us. If that's not inspiring, nothing is.
I connect with Sokka as well. Despite being the second oldest, I was the example for my younger brother and sister growing up and I feel I didn't do a good enough job. I'd rather not get into it.
Thank you for reminding everyone that even a shouvanistic egotistical meat head can adapt and change to be the moral compass of everyone's favorite ragtag team of boomerang buddies
Not only was Jet going to kill fire nation civilians, who had nothing to do with what their military had done to him, but he was going to kill civilians of the earth kingdom as well! This isn't justice, this is revenge. The difference being, justice is about what's fair for people as a whole, whereas revenge is largely about making ones self feel better, a much more selfish option by comparison. Now I'm not saying that revenge can never be an effective road to take, especially if it also benefits others around you, but if it's at the expense of those around you, it enters the realm of selfishness, like it did here.
Y'know Aang complaining about carrying the pack made me wonder something. Why are they walking anyway? I understand traveling on the ground to avoid being spotted, but why are they not riding Appa? He's right there, meaning it's not gonna affect their visibility whether they're on his back or walking in front of him, so what's the point of exerting themselves?
I always saw sokka as a funny guy strategist but never the leader. It seems they all take turns leading (aang, sokka, katara and toph when she joins). But sokka does take charge more however henever seems to mind when the other 3 take lead at moments. I always saw this series as one on friendship and familial love. We rarely see relations here except for sokkas many attempts with suki n moon goddes (hehe) but aang n katara go as friends more before succumbing to their feelings. Idk but sokka fortunately never was annoying as an oaf, they showed he was intelligent but enjoyed humor
I don't mind at all that Sokka got the last word in when Jet called him a traitor. I think if the Gaang had been silent, it almost would have felt a slight bit ambivalent if they felt bad about turning on Jet when they were fighting a war. Thing is, they was no ambivalence, Sokka and the others had their lines they wouldn't cross, so when Jet accused them on turning traitor, Sokka could say with confidence that he felt he was in the right.
Being someone in the same boat as you, Shaddy, as a kid. I was the one that was the oldest with the same sort of way in my family. Jet was interesting to me, since I did grow up with the orginal story of Peter Pan. This was like a darker version of Peter Pan. I also hate that a lot of people try to argue this episode could've gone a different way. I don't personally, since Jet is so stubborn and sure of himself, that it takes only when he's literally forced down a level or so. Is he forced to realize he was wrong. That's why what happens later with Jet is so important. Also Shaddy what's your opinion on Xialon Showdown? I do like it but I see it as water down Avatar the Last Airbender to be honest. What you think?
I really, REALLY want to see your take on the Finale. I've said for a long time now that I think the Finale was terrible, since the message of Aang's character arc always seemed like "You cannot fight your duty".
Until Toph came along their was no official leader. Then everything changed when The Melon Nation attacked and obliterated all with Flaming Meteors! MUHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!
Jet's feelings are understandable but it doesn't really justify what he's willing to do to bring down the fire nation. I love how this show was able to show that just cause you're with the bad guys, doesn't mean you're with the good ones either.
I don't like that Katara trusted Jet after knowing him for one day Why did she defend Jet for attacking an old man for taking a walk? Him being from the Fire Nation is not a good enough excuse It probably goes without saying that my favourite lines from Sokka in the episode was "Who would be free,Jet? Everyone would be dead." and "You became the traitor when stopped protecting innocent people"
Now I like Katara but this episode, the painted lady, and a bit in southern raiders (what she said to Sokka and Aang was not cool) she annoyed me. She's a great character but she usually never gets called out on the insensitive things she says to Sokka, Toph, or Aang. Sokka as you mentioned had an episode that addressed his sexism and has been called out for his other issue's.
Agreed. I'm aware about how well written her character was written, but my GOD was she annoying in some parts. And because of bias BS towards her, people forget about what a pest she could be.
Sokka is definitely the planner of the group, but I think Katara is the actual leader of the group. The team each have their strengths and weaknesses, and most importantly, they work as a team.
I also love the parallel between the old man Sokka saves and the old man Haru saves. the earth kingdomer betrayed his savior, while the fire nation man vouched for Sokka and helped him save the village.
I genuinely never thought of that before, it was written in such an understated way.
I hate that the old man who betrayed Haru was forgotten about after the fact. I wanted to hear his justification as to how he could repay his savior by selling him out to the enemy.
ye i wish jet attacked the old man haru saved
Dude i never even realized that! Thats actually incredible
ironic. the supposed enemy had more honor then the supposed ally.
Katara: "I've never bent water that I couldn't see before."
_You literally performed waterbending CPR on Aang on Kyoshi Island in Episode 4..._
I forgot to mention that the reason Katara gets so much better at waterbending in this episode is because she and Aang now have the scroll from the last episode. When Sokka's sleeve catches fire and Katara puts it out, the cinematography specifically chooses to zoom in on her water-skin to show she's gotten to the point now where she instinctively uses it.
Also interesting how she instinctively went to using ice in a moment where she made prioritized Sokka over Jet after using only water for so long🤔
At first I read that as "waterboarding", and the ensuing imagery was...something.
Honestly, Katara for the most part is just an absolute Bitch! A really arrogant, self-righteous and even hypocritical one! Seriously why has there never been an episode that addresses this or make Katara learn to be humble and less disingenuous?!
Yep Katara steals a scroll from pirates, then next season lectures toph about stealing from scammers.
... Good ol self righteous Katara
Do the midevil king of the hill reveiw
I love this episode solely for the reason that Jet is basically the reverse of Zuko and Iroh. They are proof that not every member of the Fire Nation are evil, and Jet is proof that not every enemy of the Fire Nation is good.
Another great showcase the episode zuko alone where it’s probably one of the earliest times the audience is rooting for zuko
"Did Jet just... die?"
"Ya know, that was really unclear."
Oh ya, this is the episode when we see Sokka's jaw bone knife and incredibly useful tracking skill. We see these exactly once and never again throughout the entire show.
Haha glad it irritates someone else besides me too :D
To be fair, Toph's ability to detect people with vibrations kinda made Sokkas skill a little redundant.
@@theoaky8924 Well they don't find her until part way through the second season. And it's not like redundant skill sets is an issue in the series with team avatar at full strength they have 2 water benders, 2 earth benders, 2 fire benders, and 3 elite marshal warriors.
When she asked "Where's Sokka?", it's worse when you think about it. Her mom is dead, she doesn't know if her dad is still alive, and she left her grandma back home months ago. Sokka was the last of her family that she KNEW was alive.
It still floors me that there are people out there who feel that the series did Jet and Hama dirty because they are people effected by the actions of colonizers and "deserved to take their anger out on people who are from the invading country." These people forget that both of them were targeting CIVILIANS WHO HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH THOSE ATROCITIES.
It's just people who think colonizers in show = bad and therefore anyone and everything affiliated with them deserves to suffer even if its just regular people
I think another showcase of this is when Katara confronts the man who killed her mother and the guy’s a pathetic old man who’s not really a threat to anyone and has little to nothing to do with the war now. So killing him would be pointless and gain Katara nothing.
A good take on this idea is from a channel called hellofutureme which is all about the cycle of violence
@@matthewpinn4 Just watched it. It's a good video and explains how I feel about all this.
That's pretty the line vengeance and justice. Overly sarcastic productions (osp for short) also have a good video on this
I appreciate you mentioning that Jet’s really the first guy Katara’s ever truly encountered. Some people bash the episode _because_ she crushes on him hard when, honestly, it’s totally normal and in-character. She’s like, what? 14 during ATLA? She’s definitely reached her crushing years and Jet’s a mysterious, handsome, charismatic guy who’s literally swept her off her feet and has experienced the same things Katara’s experienced through the war.
And while, yes, she’s known Sokka for longer, siblings tend to disregard each other’s abilities. The beginning of the episode is her ragging on him for not being that great of a leader and now here’s this rogue kid keeping his band of misfits alive and fed in treehouses right in the middle of Fire Nation territory. Jet appears way more competent by default.
Also, this episode’s supposed to show Katara (and the whole Gaang) that you can’t just trust that someone’s good because they claim to be for a good cause. Up to this point, the Gaang have only had their beliefs affirmed (ie Other People Good, Fire Nation Bad) and it’s during this episode and others where this notion’s fought (The Blue Spirit, The Deserter, The Avatar State, etc.)
Really the episode just suffers for not having a _little_ more time to establish Katara’s crush/why she’d trust Jet so staunchly. Otherwise I think it’s fine.
“You either die a hero, or live long enough to see yourself become a villain.”
We’ve heard it over and over, and it’s still a powerful statement.
I noticed a continuity problem with this episode. In this one Katara says "I've never tried my bending on water I can't see." But she has. In the kiyoshi Island episode she bent water out of Aang's chest when the unagi almost drowns him and in the one with Haru and the metal prison we see her bend water out of a ground pump and into a bucket.
Given that was one episode early on in the grand scheme of things isn’t a big deal
Oh that’s true
Observant eye, Rusty Shackleford.
I almost forgot to read this in Rusty's voice.
jet is basically how the line between freedom fighter and terrorist is crossed with how he protecting people like himself to about to drown a whole town of people innocent or not.
wish they did more wore work with jet as his story could have been interesting to see than dying immediately after becoming normal again. he just went backwards on his ideals as somehow iroh and zuko were the first firebenders he saw after losing to the gang. like zuko he could have had some solo stories with his group
In Jet's defense, he and Zuko did have a moment of comradery when they raided the ship galley for food; he even offered both of them a place in his group, until he saw Iroh firebend. Not only did he feel betrayed, but as far as he knew, Iroh and Zuko were spies infiltrating the Earth Kingdom capital to bring the nation down from within.
@@MM-xn6tn that's literally showing he is narrow minded by assuming they were spies thinking all fire benders are bad just because they are fire nation much like the innocent people he was gonna drown. They helped him raid the captains food for people they didn't even know.
Double ironic is he went to the biggest earth kingdom and the dai li are the very curruption he was looking for.
Basically jet is a flip flopper
Jet was a tragic character in the show. He generally wanted to help fight the fire nation and help people, however his methods were clouded by hate for the fire nation almost killing many civilians.
And in the end he p much dies without doing much for the cause
@@fumothfan9seems like a missed opportunity for a reverse zuko plot
This episode with Jet really propels the concept of total war. I can't fathom what it would be like to lose my family my village and be a child refugee. The fire nation used total war tactics to demoralize their enemies, now jet and his FF are doing the same. They know that they're also hurting innocence, but in their minds the ends justify the means.
Jet being The Guerilla fighter with a cruelty streak is something pretty cool addition to their world and is a more grounded story
Jet was an underused character. They killed em and just said “forget about it”
Zuko: Did Jet just die?
Sokka: You know, it was really unclear.
@@Nx57ytre like what was unclear? Even though that joke was golden!!!
I... actually didn't realize that he died upon first viewing 😶
I wanna say jet went about his revenge the wrong way and others (like the old man) were just caught in the crossfire of that. On top of that Katara really agitated me this whole episode in not believing her own brother and almost threw everything away for a guy she just met 🙄
Tbf, throughout season 1 sokka makes alot of bad calls, this is this start of sokkas journey to being the team strategist and the smart guy of the group
I'm pretty sure Team Avatar wouldn't be down with mass murder whether innocents are involved or not. Honestly Katara wasn't alone I remember alot of people catching the Jet bug back then. It's just so happened that he was a terrorist too.
@@Fatalbeast22 tbh I think that was when they were still playing around with the dynamics of the characters with eachother
Women
Yeah going back through the series after a few watches it felt extremely out of character for katara to be this distrustful of sokka
Meanwhile, people often put this episode on their top 10 worst ATLA episodes because it shows a strong smart independent woman (who don't need no man) crushing on a dude. "It's out of character," they cry, as if crushes aren't out of character in real life.
The tree fight felt like Tarzan vs Clayton. Ang effortlessly hopping between trees and Jet having to catch up with him.
If you pay close attention when the freedom fighters first appear SmellerBee is holding the poison dagger that is used to frame the old man. Jet used his charisma and intelligence very well in this once scene.
Something I just noticed and it's thanks to you calling Jet a dark reflection of Sokka. Hama and Jet are dark reflections of Katara and Sokka and both were, in a sense, created by the fire nation.
I remember the short lived abridged going into the episode with Sokka going “Awww come on the writers don’t hate me that much-“ *into the fire nation camp*
Can we also appreciate how this episode showed how a non bender can be on par with a bender in the right circumstances?
Anger can be a powerful force, but hatred is blinding and corrupting.
There was a quote in the GI Joe Renegades episode (the one with the October Guard) from a general about how if you fight the same enemy too long, you'll adopt their tactics
I may be misquoting, but it's been a while. Point is, that's another case of hatred being born of justified anger and leading someone astray, becoming no better than those they fight.
This was (and still is) one of My favorite episodes of the whole show, that as well as the puppet master. I think what made it so compelling was the fact that even though he was part of the “good guys” side, it didn’t mean he was a good person. And I think the show was great in portraying that yeah- some people that aren’t part of the fire nation are complete assholes. And those who are in the fire nation aren’t always aaa holes. It was never black and white with this show, and even as a kid I appreciated that so much.
Hama and jet are both great examples of what happens when you take an ideology too far when it comes to fighting back against your oppressors. It comes to a point where you’re not getting back at only the people that hurt you. You’re just hurting people. And ATLA never pulls it’s punches on showing that they have completely derailed in their purpose.
Bruh keep ATLA content coming?! I would love to see you break down episodes of ATLA like you did KoTH
Regarding the freezing scene, I think Katara mastered phase change in this episode. I don't like how she words it, but she wasn't confident bending steam into water earlier. She says she had never bent water that she couldn't see, which contradicts previous parts where she bends water out of various vessels and freaking Aang when he drowns! I think she was talking about water vapor behaving much more like air and how she had never thought about the hidden sources of water around her. That concept gets revisited when she discovers blood and sweat bending. After practicing a lot of condensation, I wouldn't put it past Katara to whip out some ice on the fly like that.
Bro you just reminded me why I flipping hatted Jet he is unhinged and a loose cannon with no regard for anyone but himself.
Shady Doorags: The Freedom fighters are based on Peter Pan and the lost boys
Robin Hood and his Merry men: are we a joke to you?
Not gonna lie the jets hook swords made me want a pair lol i love how they demonstrate each use of the swords with the climbing, the pommel blades, even hook link for long rang hits and yes the hooking
Jet is one of my favorite parts honestly. He’s the perfect way of showing how freedom fighters can become outright terrorists or even mix themselves for being freedom fighters. He is an absolute monster and only thinks that he’s in the right because of the heinous things fire nation soldiers have done. At the end of the day, Jet’s intentions are nothing but pure in his own mind, he’s a well intentioned extremist, but unlike someone like the illusive man, who treads the line and respects it, until his indoctrination, Jet’s plan are fully to cause harm to as many people of the fire nation as possible.
my favourite part of this is how casually you just call them the boomerang squad. i love that so much.
Zuko, Sokka, Toph and Aang are four of my favorite characters
Man it's crazy how good your content has gotten. Scripts are tighter, delivery is so concise, and the mic quality. I still remember your old mic quality. Keep up the good work.
I love your King of the Hill videos, I never thought I’d see you talk about this amazing show too!
Oh nothing about Jet in later episodes and his grand finale as a character? I thought we were getting the full breakdown, but this is also very well constructed and engaging! Videos like this further cements my love for AtLA and its enriching story and characters. Always a great watch from the great Shady Doorags ✊🏾
Rent Due, time for an Avatar of KOTH video. We peep Doorags
I like the detail that Katara figuring out to freeze water isn't counted as a mary-sue moment. it sets some real boundaries as to what is and what isn't a marysue moment
I agree with your notion on Sokka. He’s such an awesome character (though every character is) as well as an example of comic relief done right. Korra really did dirty!!
Sokka is more of a Chief-of-Staff. He is in charge. Overall they all turn to him, even the avatar. I think it’s a nice detail since Sokka isn’t a bender and Team Avatar has to learn this the hard way
This episode holds a special place in my heart because this was the first episode I saw and I became obsessed. This was back when it was brand new, so I had to wait a week to see what came next. It's not my favourite episode of the series, but it gets an honourable mention when I list episodes.
Jet is clearly dealing some PTSD due to what happened with his parents however unlike the GAang, Jet is dealing with it in the worst way possible by blindly following his bias and ready to kill any fire nation member and comes his way.
I am obsessed with your account. Everything you say it's stuff I've been wanting to hear for YEARS
Something else I noticed: Aang's fight against Jet kind of hit harder after that one scene in the last four episodes when Aang' talks to an airbender past life and explains that he never uses violence except as a last resort. That entire time he fights Jet, he never actually hurts him despite learning Jet's true nature. I didn't realize for the longest time that this was one of the earliest scenes showing the pacifist in Aang's character
What I find so sad about Jet , he tried fighting against the fire nation trying defend the earth kingdom yet he dies by the hands the very thing he tries to defend and it’s sad how he became kinda like a anti hero
And that my friend is what we call irony.
Jet needed to hear Pain's cycle of hatred speech
Watching this video made me realize that I really don’t need you to review a particular show, I can listen to you talk about any show and be entertained.
aparently jet was also katara's first kiss as shown in the special funfact version of the show, and the official avatar yt channel. i was surprise, but teenage infatuation goes far
The Dnd Character sheet is an awesome touch and I need more in my life.
I mostly saw myself in jet. Says a lot about me but i loved jet from his start to his dramatic finsh. I never saw him as a traitor but a kid who was willing to get the job done that most adults can't handle/do.
I love how this takes place in Autumn.
The end is drawing near for the freedom fighters.
All of Book Water takes place in winter, hence the Winter Solstice. (Even though the group travels through hemispheres and thus half of it SHOULD take place in summer as well).
i love your take on popular media. your videos are always insightful and interesting. i look forward to your uploads shady. thank you for your contributions
I love this and it helped me to see a fuller version of Sokka because until now Sokka had Usopp energy in my eyes lmao
Avatars 'Inglorious Bastards' moment
Always nice to start my day with one of your videos 👍🏾❤
Fun fact: According to the Avatar Art Book, the fight between Aang and Jet was inspired heavily by Naruto 😁
Now I feel like rewatching this series soon :)
They say one man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter. And it looks like these Earth Kingdom kids were the freedom fighters, but Jet was the terrorist.
I forgot about this character 💀💀💀
Just caught up on your little series here, and am looking forward to the rest!
This is my favorite episode of Avatar. Going in I knew the show had some moral complexities that showed that the Fire Nation isn't a faceless army of mooks the heroes can mow down indiscriminately but this episode was particularly ambitious. Showing that just because someone is fighting the bad guys, and for a good reason, isn't necessarily a good person is a very in depth topic especially for a kid's show. The difference between a freedom fighter and a terrorist can be a thin one but this perfectly displayed where and when the difference can lie. I guess this is probably what also cemented Sokka as my 2nd favorite of the Gaang, sorry Toph is still #1.
I do love Sokka but ngl I relate SO MUCH to Toph. As someone with a disability myself, I understand just how limited her reality and her world is and the only way to push through it all is to find something, anything, that you’re good at and accept the disability and your own limitations for what they are. On top of this Toph was born with her incurable disability, as was I, so we both have to find ways to just deal with it. We have to work around the disability because our circumstances cannot be manipulated into something good, which is a luxury most healthy or “normal” people can afford. Toph and I both tease at our disabilities, her playing on her blindness and me laughing at a broken brain. Toph is headstrong and willful and works with what she has, so do I. She’s underestimated and yes she IS restricted by her disability but can still do exceed expectations. Plus. LAWD HAV MURCY that girl is sassy and sarcastic and I have not related more to any character’s personality than I do with her. Love Sokka but he’s never really put in a position of impossibility. If he lacks confidence that’s something he can build up over time (this being an example since Sokka is almost ALWAYS confident), but Toph can’t fix her eyes. She’s just stuck that way but makes the most of it.
I like it when Shady does anything, and this is a cool video too. i hope you do more Avatar stuff, and maybe some other great shows from my childhood.
Yeah that old man scene. Even if he was bad that was messed up as a kid watching i was like wooooaahh bro stunned me turned evil real quick like I get you and what you mean but in every situation before retaliation put yourself in their shoes. Life's crazy life's hard.
Sokka was my favorite character too, he was a normal guy, a tracker, a swordsman, a strategist, and a chad. Dude dated the moon, got one of the strongest benders in the world to fall head over heels in love with him by just being himself, and the dude secretly lost his virginity and got married off screen during the run of the show.
Love your channel. Hope you upload more videos!
If you haven't seen Wolfwalkers, I highly recommend it. There's a character in there who reminds me quite a bit of Jet. He's a side character, but like Jet he leads a gang of orphans who are sick of being oppressed by a certain empire--in his case, the English (the most recent "Fire Nation" of western history). He too is at risk of becoming just like those he hates most. At one point, he's seen doing a mocking impression of Oliver Cromwell, the villain of the story, and he's completely unaware of just how much his hatred for Cromwell is, ironically, making him exactly like Cromwell.
Always happy to see some Sokka love
I wonder if from a military and pragmatic point of view, Jet's plan to destroy a town of civilians would have been worth it. The only thing he would have achieved is that the Fire Nation saw him as a threat and wanted to kill him and his team. In the end, Jet didn't know how to beat the Fire Nation, so he just tried to hurt them.
This is an extremely interesting question and I won't pretend to be any kind of authority but I'd judge it's likely not worth it from a strategy standpoint. The way I see it, it's not impossible that he would be able to gain more people on his side before taking out his plan. As you mentioned though it would only likely have him marked as a terrorist and made into an example by the fire nation
It would do damage, but not as much as you'd think, and it would DEFINITELY ensure an immediate response. The primary reason, to my understanding, that the Fire Nation was taking over was for resource acquisition. Destroying a village that was likely producing food was going to hurt them economically and weaken their position in the region, but there are several problems with this- one, the supply shortage WOULD weaken their position in the region (an army fights on its stomach), but such a loss would be a HUGE propaganda boom for the Fire Nation, describing Jet and his freedom fighters as genocidal hypocrites and prompt them to deploy even MORE forces in the region, and the resource loss would result in crack-downs of other occupied towns.
All and all, would it have pragmatic value? Yes, but unless you were able to follow up with multiple similar attacks on other towns, it wouldn't matter much. Plus, destroying a town like this would deny the rebels supplies as well, and force them to live off the land, which by this time was getting harder and harder as the fire nation pushed ever onward into the Earth Kingdom.
The Nationalist Chinese pulled this same stunt when fighting the Japanese occupation. It killed several hundred thousand civilians and made hundreds of miles inhospitable corpse chocked marsh for years. While ultimately doing little to the Japanese and eroding Nationalist support worldwide. It is the single largest war crime in modern history.
Unless this village had a huge war factory like the one in The Painted Lady then no it would not. It would ruin the area indefinitely unless and until heavy machines or a joint water and earth bender force could clean up and drain the area.
4:51 I can’t get enough of Aang’s “Booty Master.”
Jet, the discount Rufio.
Considering he directed this episode, this could have been Dave Filoni's inspiration for Saw Garrera.
Jet was definitely a much needed, if technically minor, character. We had seen not all the fire nation is bad now we needed to show not all of the fire nation's enemies are good and the fact they showed the gaang had lines they won't cross was also a very good addition. Though like you I kinda wished they gave the question "is civilian casualties except able?" The other half. Maybe if the town jet was going to drown had a more prominent military, like maybe 75 percent soldiers and 25 percent civilians, probably by showing us the inside of the town, it would be less obvious what the truly right choice is and with it made whatever stance the boomeraang squad took a stronger show of there character.
Sokka is the best character by FAR. His super power is his creativity. That's it. He's the Idea Man. Armed with his ability to have ideas and make decisions, he is able to keep pace with the most powerful magic usera in his world. But he is just a normal guy like us. If that's not inspiring, nothing is.
I connect with Sokka as well. Despite being the second oldest, I was the example for my younger brother and sister growing up and I feel I didn't do a good enough job. I'd rather not get into it.
5:16- 5:21
It's embarrassing that I didn't notice that until this video....
5:20 Huh, I always thought Jet & the Freedom Fighters were inspired by Robin Hood & his Merry Men 🤔
...I might have mixed those two up.
@@ShadyDoorags 😆 We can say they’re a mixture of both & leave it at that, since both groups mess with their respective villain after all.
Love the Atla talk.
You should definitely talk about iroh next
Thank you for reminding everyone that even a shouvanistic egotistical meat head can adapt and change to be the moral compass of everyone's favorite ragtag team of boomerang buddies
Not only was Jet going to kill fire nation civilians, who had nothing to do with what their military had done to him, but he was going to kill civilians of the earth kingdom as well! This isn't justice, this is revenge. The difference being, justice is about what's fair for people as a whole, whereas revenge is largely about making ones self feel better, a much more selfish option by comparison. Now I'm not saying that revenge can never be an effective road to take, especially if it also benefits others around you, but if it's at the expense of those around you, it enters the realm of selfishness, like it did here.
Y'know Aang complaining about carrying the pack made me wonder something. Why are they walking anyway? I understand traveling on the ground to avoid being spotted, but why are they not riding Appa? He's right there, meaning it's not gonna affect their visibility whether they're on his back or walking in front of him, so what's the point of exerting themselves?
Hell, even could even just put the packs on him if they needed to walk so bad
Sokka's instincts would've put a strain on poor Appa's back if they rode him
I always saw sokka as a funny guy strategist but never the leader. It seems they all take turns leading (aang, sokka, katara and toph when she joins). But sokka does take charge more however henever seems to mind when the other 3 take lead at moments. I always saw this series as one on friendship and familial love. We rarely see relations here except for sokkas many attempts with suki n moon goddes (hehe) but aang n katara go as friends more before succumbing to their feelings. Idk but sokka fortunately never was annoying as an oaf, they showed he was intelligent but enjoyed humor
I actually thought the Freedom Fighters was inspired by the kids from the movie “Red Dawn”. Cause you know? Red. Child soldiers. War.
HARU MENTIONED!! Love that dude great mustache
I don't mind at all that Sokka got the last word in when Jet called him a traitor. I think if the Gaang had been silent, it almost would have felt a slight bit ambivalent if they felt bad about turning on Jet when they were fighting a war. Thing is, they was no ambivalence, Sokka and the others had their lines they wouldn't cross, so when Jet accused them on turning traitor, Sokka could say with confidence that he felt he was in the right.
ATLA content? All for it.
Honestly, relying on your instincts can work. Just not all the time
5:21 I would have went with Robin Hood and his merry men myself.
Being someone in the same boat as you, Shaddy, as a kid. I was the one that was the oldest with the same sort of way in my family.
Jet was interesting to me, since I did grow up with the orginal story of Peter Pan. This was like a darker version of Peter Pan.
I also hate that a lot of people try to argue this episode could've gone a different way. I don't personally, since Jet is so stubborn and sure of himself, that it takes only when he's literally forced down a level or so.
Is he forced to realize he was wrong. That's why what happens later with Jet is so important.
Also Shaddy what's your opinion on Xialon Showdown? I do like it but I see it as water down Avatar the Last Airbender to be honest. What you think?
Damn man can't believe you rolled for your stats
I really, REALLY want to see your take on the Finale.
I've said for a long time now that I think the Finale was terrible, since the message of Aang's character arc always seemed like "You cannot fight your duty".
Until Toph came along their was no official leader. Then everything changed when The Melon Nation attacked and obliterated all with Flaming Meteors! MUHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!
Jet's feelings are understandable but it doesn't really justify what he's willing to do to bring down the fire nation. I love how this show was able to show that just cause you're with the bad guys, doesn't mean you're with the good ones either.
I don't like that Katara trusted Jet after knowing him for one day
Why did she defend Jet for attacking an old man for taking a walk? Him being from the Fire Nation is not a good enough excuse
It probably goes without saying that my favourite lines from Sokka in the episode was "Who would be free,Jet? Everyone would be dead." and "You became the traitor when stopped protecting innocent people"
DOES THE FIRE NATION GOT SUM BI-
My name is Atlas, and every time you say ATLA my ears perk up 😅
Now I like Katara but this episode, the painted lady, and a bit in southern raiders (what she said to Sokka and Aang was not cool) she annoyed me. She's a great character but she usually never gets called out on the insensitive things she says to Sokka, Toph, or Aang. Sokka as you mentioned had an episode that addressed his sexism and has been called out for his other issue's.
Agreed. I'm aware about how well written her character was written, but my GOD was she annoying in some parts. And because of bias BS towards her, people forget about what a pest she could be.
Sokka is definitely the planner of the group, but I think Katara is the actual leader of the group.
The team each have their strengths and weaknesses, and most importantly, they work as a team.
I think they should have sokka teach Aang sword combat
Really, Peter Pan? Huh, I never noticed that; I always saw Robin Hood (minus the robbing part), nice catch 👍