| "I dedicated my life to people like you. [...] I wanted you to thrive. I wanted you to prosper. I tried so hard." |
| — Yun loses his patience with the teahouse occupants for refusing him water. |
"Interlude: The Man From The Spirit World" is the twenty-fifth chapter and second interlude of The Shadow of Kyoshi.
Overview[]
After consuming Father Glowworm, Yun wakes up in the physical world.
Synopsis[]
Recalling his training with Sifu Amak, Yun checks his body for poisoning symptoms after consuming Father Glowworm. Finding none, he proceeds to dig into the spirit earth, losing all sense of direction the deeper he goes and eventually falling unconscious.
He awakens in a gully devoid of life, dirty, tired, and thirsty but otherwise unharmed, his thoughts briefly drifting to what Kyoshi would say if she saw him like this. As he staggers down the path where water once flowed and takes in the barren landscape, he wonders for a moment if he is still in the Spirit World until he catches sight of a dilapidated town in the distance.
Despite the stares, Yun stays silent as he makes his way through the boomtown, keen to avoid trouble. He loses all composure, however, after spotting a well in the center of the square and runs over to it. Noticing his franticness, a large man sporting a heavy club blocks his path, declaring that only those with the proper tags can drink from Governor Tuo's well. Yun attempts to reason with the guard, rhetorically probing whether Tuo himself dug and filled the well, but to no avail. He considers offering a bribe but feels too exhausted to try and quickly realizes he no longer has any claim over the riches stored in the Avatar mansion.
Relenting at the guard's suggestion to ask one of the shops, Yun heads toward a teahouse, trying not to lose hope. His thoughts wander back to Kyoshi as he navigates around the establishment, looking for the entrance. Despite knowing her current whereabouts in Taihua, an awareness of which Yun cannot explain but chalks up to her status as the Avatar, he senses her warmth as if she were standing next to him.
Situated below one of the teahouse windows, Yun overhears what he deduces to be an employee complaining to the owner for docking his pay. The owner chides him for missing his shift, but he retorts that it is only because of the owner's insistence on using the archaic Avatar calendar. Yun freezes at the mention of his name but continues to eavesdrop as both men and another patron discuss how the employee, revealed to be named Gow, ought to show the Avatar more respect for saving him from the pirate queen Tagaka.
At this revelation, Yun enters the building, knocking on the wooden strut where a door should have been to get the occupants' attention and politely asking for some water. The patron, whom Yun wagers is a shift boss from the mines based on her appearance, laughs. The owner asks if Yun has any money, then promptly tells him to get out when he answers in the negative. Taking his shot, Yun starts to explain that he is the man to whom they were previously referring when discussing the Avatar calendar, finding himself unable to lie by directly referring to himself as the Avatar.
Privately surmising that he might have been more convincing had he not hesitated over his identity, he kindly and desperately asks again if he could have some water. Still unsure, however, the owner asks Gow if he recognizes Yun, to which Gow explains that it was Fire Navy sailors who rescued him, not the Avatar. Yun struggles to come up with a quick way to correct Gow and explain the complexities and logistics of the rescue mission, which the teashop owner takes advantage of by placing a large pot of water on the stove and challenging Yun to prove his identity by bending the water out of it if he is that in need of a drink. Finding the situation amusing, Gow and the shift boss forget their previous argument and goad Yun on.
Yun's jaw drops while a ringing fills his ears, having reached his breaking point and in disbelief for how the occupants are treating him. He raises a trembling finger, declaring how he risked his life for Gow and wishing with exasperation that the other two would have just helped him. Unsettled by his change in demeanor, the shift boss trembles and haphazardly attempts to give Yun the rest of her drink, but he notes it is too late for that. Unable to tell if he is laughing or crying, Yun furiously replies that he dedicated his life to people like them, having wanted so desperately for them to thrive and prosper. The owner rushes to flee at this remark, but Yun slashes him with a makeshift earth whip, formed on the spot out of a string of ceramic cups. Unsure whether or not he enjoyed seeing Gow and the shift boss quivering in place unable to move out of fear, Yun decides it does not matter. He reaches over Gow's shoulder to close the door curtain to shop from the inside while giving him a conspiratorial smile.
Some time later, Yun returns to the town square and drinks his fill from the well, the former guard lying dead at his feet. Unfazed by the corpse, Yun spills some water over its face and asks how it tastes. Meanwhile, he notes the silence of the town around him, everyone able to run having already done so, and determines he will need to control his power moving forward if he does not want people to flee on sight after seeing him.
His thirst quenched, Yun moves on to rinsing the blood off his body, repeatedly pouring buckets of water over his head until clean. The act reminds him of a conversation with Kyoshi where she did not think he could bathe without hot water. Still keenly aware of his new spiritual connection to her, he senses her presence beckoning to him, believing it to be a byproduct of Father Glowworm's connection to Avatar Kuruk. He then declares aloud to nobody in particular that he has been fired and finds himself pleased with his newfound free time as he decides there is much personal business for him to attend to, starting with a visit to Jianzhu. Filled with new purpose, he sets off down the road, whistling as he goes.
Production notes[]
Series continuity[]
- Similar to how the titles "The Boy in the Iceberg" and "Avatar Aang", the first and last chapters from Avatar: The Last Airbender, highlight Aang's considerable growth over the course of the television series,[1][2] the titles "The Boy From Makapu" and "Interlude: The Man From The Spirit World", the first and last chapters from the Kyoshi novels told from Yun's perspective, highlight Yun's substantial transition over the course of the book series.[3]
Trivia[]
- Chronologically, this chapter takes place between The Rise of Kyoshi chapters "The Spirit" and "The Return".
References[]
- ↑ DiMartino, Michael Dante, Konietzko, Bryan (writers) & Filoni, Dave (director). (February 21, 2005). "The Boy in the Iceberg". Avatar: The Last Airbender. Season 1. Episode 1. Nickelodeon.
- ↑ DiMartino, Michael Dante, Konietzko, Bryan (writers) & Dos Santos, Joaquim (director). (July 19, 2008). "Sozin's Comet, Part 4: Avatar Aang". Avatar: The Last Airbender. Season 3. Episode 21. Nickelodeon.
- ↑ Yee, F. C. (author), DiMartino, Michael Dante (author). (July 16, 2019). Chapter Three, "The Boy From Makapu". The Rise of Kyoshi. Amulet Books.