| Michael Dante DiMartino | Hey, this is Mike DiMartino, co-creator of Avatar. |
|---|---|
| Bryan Konietzko | This is Bryan Konietzko, the other co-creator of Avatar. |
| Aaron Ehasz | And this is Aaron Ehasz, head writer. |
| Mike | [Refers to the opening sequence.] So, this is the main title of the show, which, uh, took a lot of work and effort by a lotta different artists. |
| Bryan | I was driving back and forth between the Burbank studio, uh, Titmouse's studio, and Hollywood, and my friend, Andy Dill's house, where he was working on the digital stuff and compositing in some other part of LA, and everyday hitting all three, and it was pretty rough, but it came out cool. We're happy with, [Refers to the shot lowering and zooming in on Aang standing before a mountain range, the peaks shifting and obscuring each other as the camera changes elevations.] that last shot I really like. I like the way the perspective shifts. |
| Mike | [Refers to when Aang, Katara, Sokka, Appa, and Momo arrive in the Northern Water Tribe.] So, this is the-kind of the first in the trilogy of, uh, Northern Water Tribe episodes, where they finally get to the Northern Water Tribe. [Refers to when Katara is barred from training learning combative waterbending under Pakku, the foremost waterbending master in the North.] And actually, uh, I-I wrote this episode, so it was-it was kind of-I was really into it and, unlike most of the episodes from the first season, like, this was a story that we, Bryan and I, had from the beginning almost. Like, we-we wanted to have-we knew that when they got to the Northern Water Tribe that Katara would, uh, you know, finally think that she realized her vision of becoming a waterbender, and be shut down by the-the old waterbending master. |
| No commentary for a short period of time until Katara states the identity of the approaching men on boats as Northern waterbenders. | |
| Mike | And, you know, there was a lotta build up all season to get to this point, so it was, uh, it was very exciting to finally get to this-this story, and be able to do this. |
| Bryan | I kinda like the-the way the season wraps up with some familiar things. [Refers to Zhao conferring with his officers inside a furnished tent, with the admiral iterating that a massive invasion force will be needed to attack the Northern Water Tribe.] Zhao in this tent, sort of planning this big attack on the Northern Water Tribe really reminds me of episode 103, when, uh, he first learns that the Avatar is back, uh, with Zuko, and I think it's kind of a neat bookend, um, bookends for the-for the season. |
| Mike | Another thing about, uh, this guy, Admiral Zhao, uh, he was voiced by Jason Isaacs, who's in a bunch of things. He was in The Patriot, and he was in, uh, the Harry Potter movies; he's Lucius Malfoy, and he's just a really great-great actor and a great villain overall. |
| Bryan | That-we were very lucky to get him. I remember Mike kept saying to the casting department, "can we just get someone like Jason Isaacs?" And they finally said, "how about we get Jason Isaacs." [Aaron chuckles.] So... |
| Mike | [Interjects.] I was... |
| Bryan | [In the background.] Got... |
| Mike | ... "yeah, that's cool. We'll take him." |
| Bryan | [Laughs.] We-we got really lucky. |
| Mike | Yeah, he was a-he was a great actor, and, you know, as you will see in the later episodes, unfortunately he's-he's-he's dead, but... |
| Bryan | [Brief pause.] Not Jason Isaacs. [Aaron chuckles.] |
| Mike | [Laughs.] No. Yeah, the-the character. |
| Bryan | [Laughs.] The character. |
| Aaron | Yes, Mr. and Mrs. Isaacs, your son is okay. [Bryan and Mike laugh.] Not to worry. |
| Bryan | [Refers to when the Northern waterbenders raised the water level of the enclosed entrance to the city with adjacent reservoirs, elevating the group up to the first of the city's many canals.] Uh, it took a lot of discussion in the boardroom to figure out these water lock systems, and unfortunately, a lot of the scenes got cut, but it came out pretty cool, and I think you get the idea that this culture has built their... their whole s-the-they built their whole culture around, uh, water, and it's kind of like these veins going through the city and cascading down, uh, from the-the-the chief's palace, all the way down to the lower snowfields. [Refers to Sokka looking down at Princess Yue, her pure white hair intricately tied up with various headpieces.] That's a great character design by Angela Mueller on, uh, Princess Yue. And Aaron was adamant that she have silvery hair because he knew pretty early on that she was gonna be tied in with the moon, so. I remember you were... |
| Aaron | [In the background.] Pushing for Yue... |
| Bryan | ... you, like, grabbed me in the hallway and you were like, [Aaron chuckles; imitates Aaron.] "I saw a drawing where her hair was dark; it's gotta be white." |
| Aaron | Yes, there are very few visual things that I actually... |
| Bryan | [In the background.] It's true, it's true. |
| Aaron | ... involved in and bicker about, or whatever, but... [Speaking simultaneously with Bryan.] or am interested in. |
| Bryan | [Speaking simultaneously with Aaron.] When someone is that passionate about it, I just say, "okay." [Bryan and Aaron laugh.] No and, uh, it was great; it really made her stand out. |
| Mike | [Refers to when Iroh performed the vocals for the song "Four Seasons" with the crew's accompanying musical performance.] We got-we gotta mention Uncle's song here 'cause, uh, Uncle, who's voiced by Mako. Great, great actor, uh, he hates singing, but he's really good at it, so we keep giving him songs to do, [Bryan laughs intermittently.] but every time he's like, [Imitates Mako.] "no, don't make me sing another song. I don't want to do it." |
| Bryan | But I think he was on Broadway. |
| Mike | Uh, yeah. |
| Bryan | That's what I heard, yeah. |
| Mike | No, he was great, so, uh, we-we love to have Uncle sing. It's very hilarious, and I think that was the-that was the first official song we had him do. |
| Bryan | So-so if you-if you haven't noticed before, [Refers to the leitmotif that plays during Sokka and Yue interactions.] that-that love theme that he sings becomes the theme for Sokka and Yue's love story in-in this trilogy of episodes, so, um, you'll hear that melody woven into the score by Jeremy Zuckerman throughout, uh, eighteen, nineteen, and twenty. |
| Mike | [Refers to Arnook, Chief of the Northern Water Tribe, introducing Yue before his guests and subjects.] Oh, another good actor note, this is, uh... |
| Bryan | [Interjects.] Jon Polito. |
| Mike | Uh, yeah, Jon Polito does the chief's voice, and, uh, he's, you know, he was in the Coen brothers' movies, and he's just a great character actor. |
| Bryan | I... I was starstruck for the first time when I-when I [Bryan and Mike laugh.] got to meet him. That was really cool. [Brief pause.] Yeah, being a Coen brothers' disciple in art school definitely... |
| Mike | [Brief pause.] Yeah, it's-it's, you know, in our show, it's kinda hard to find actors who can really bring, like, a realism to it, but also be funny and dramatic, and all the things you need to be to be a great actor, and, uh, you know, we try to balance it out with-with actors who can-can bring a lot to the table. So, like, Jack DeSena does a great job with Sokka, and Mae Whitman, Mae Whitman is Katara; she's really wonderful. |
| Bryan | [Refers to Sokka's aggravated gesticulations and expressions as he tells Katara he is trying to have a conversation with Yue.] There's some great animation by, uh, animation director Yu Jae Myung, and, uh, from JM Animation. He just-he, ever since the pilot, he has taken to Sokka so well, just like Jack has, and, um, the two of them together just make a great, lively combination. [Refers to the dark, nighttime lighting on Aang, Arnook, and Pakku, while the large, gushing fountain behind them is colored a light blue.] I really like this, uh, that background; the lighting's really cool and that kinda glowing fountain, but the characters are in shadow, I thought that was nice. [Brief pause; refers to Pakku sardonically telling Aang that he should stay at a tropical island if he wants to relax.] Pakku, this character, is one of our favorites. He just came out really well. If you'll notice, he is the first... |
| Aaron chuckles as Arnook shrugs his arms at Aang in response to Pakku's curt behavior. | |
| Bryan | ... [Refers to the waterbender in the opening sequence.] character in the, um, ope-the main title sequence; the waterbending character in the red silhouette is Pakku, so, like Mike said, we had plans for him very early on, so we put that design in. [Brief pause; refers to Zuko and Zhao confronting each other after the admiral conscripts the prince's crew.] I just love any scene between Zuko and Zhao; it's just awesome. These guys are... their egos are so big and, uh, so much tension, and they both kinda want the same thing; they both want the Fire Lord's approval, and... it's just a great clashing of the egos. |
| Mike | [Refers to when Zhao, having seen the twin broadswords resting on Zuko's wall, flashes back to his encounter with the Blue Spirit.] This is, like, the first moment where [Clears throat.] Zhao recognizes that Zuko is the Blue Spirit. |
| Bryan | [Refers to the sepia tone color palette on Zhao's flashbacks.] I really was happy with that, the color correction on those flashback scenes. Thought it looked pretty-pretty cool. |
| Pause in the commentary until Zhao hands Iroh one of the broadswords he was holding, the blade pointing down to the ground after the admiral twirled and rotated it around 180 degrees through the air with his hand. | |
| Bryan | That was a really hard move to do in the acting reference, to flip the sword over and catch it. I didn't know if I could do it, [Mike laughs.] but actually, I got it the first time. The second time, I dropped the sword and it bounced all over the room, which was pretty scary, but I should've just stuck to the first take. |
| Mike | So, do you ever see yourself in these, uh, in the animation? 'Cause, uh, 'cause a lotta times, you do the reference for the a... |
| Bryan | [In the background.] I do. |
| Mike | ... for the acting, or the-or the kung fu. Do you ever see your moves? |
| Bryan | Oh, definitely. [Mike affirms intermittently.] I think you can recognize the hands most, um, and I definitely recognize Sifu Kisu, our martial arts consultant, in a lot of the-the action. [Brief pause; refers to Pakku leaning back and forward as he sternly tells Aang and Katara that women are forbidden from learning combative waterbending in the Northern Water Tribe.] That, just great character animation on Pakku. Got really, really lucky on that one. |
| Pause in commentary until Katara approaches and confronts Pakku about his refusal to teach her. | |
| Bryan | I love this part. [Refers to when Katara says that she did not travel the distance just to be told know, only for Pakku to respond with a simple but definitive "no"; Bryan and Aaron laugh.] |
| Mike | Yeah, he's just a-he's not a nice guy. [Chuckles.] |
| Bryan | He's a great... |
| Mike | [In the background.] Uh... |
| Bryan | ... jerk. |
| Mike | [Laughs.] Jerk is a good word. |
| Bryan | Jerk. [Refers to Pakku's tone changing from pleasant to accusatory as he tells Katara that Yagoda would be happy to teach her the art of healing, despite her bad attitude.] Great voice acting. Who-who was the voice actor? |
| Mike | Uh, Victor Brandt did the voice of this, uh... |
| Bryan | [Interjects.] Fantastic, it just matched with the character design so well. |
| Pause in commentary until Katara runs after Aang following his refusal to learn under Pakku. | |
| Bryan | [Refers to the totem poles at Pakku's training ground, decorated with animal heads carved into the ice.] I like those little spirit animal heads on the... it's sort of a motif throughout the city. There's, like, totem poles with the various animal heads. |
| Mike | Yeah, there's a lotta details like that that are in the background designs, and stuff, that, you know, are in the backgrounds if you look closely. So there's a lotta great-great detail and kinda stuff that has been thought through by the background designers and-and Bryan in the art direction, so... |
| Bryan | [Refers to the crescent moon pattern on Princess Yue's gondola.] The-lotta moon motifs for the Water Tribe, um, the idea that the moon moves the tides and is sorta the first waterbender, which Yue talks about later. [Brief pause; refers to Sokka asking Yue out for an "activity".] Think Bobby Rubio had storyboarded most of the romance stuff in this... |
| Mike | [In the background.] Yeah. |
| Bryan | ... right? Yeah. |
| Mike | Yeah. |
| Bryan | He did a great job. [Mike affirms.] A lot of personality in his drawings. |
| Aaron | [Refers to Yue traveling through the city's canals on a gondola.] I'd like to observe that the canals and-and sort of gondola-like sequences are, uh, based on my recent trip to, [Bryan and Mike laugh.] uh, Italy and that, uh, is a note directed at the IRS, so... |
| Mike | [Interjects.] Oh, wow. Are... [Aaron affirms.] |
| Bryan | [Interjects.] There you go. |
| Mike | [Refers to Oh, one of the pirates hired by Zhao, commenting on one of the coins he just bit.] Alright, here's a little-little fun fact for you, the-the, uh, pirate barker that we just saw biting the gold is actually, uh, Bryan's voice, and he is, uh, 'nother tidbit, is the, uh, all the pirates are based off-our character design's based off the, uh, animators in Korea, a lotta the animators we work with, so it was fun. They first appeared in, uh, "The Waterbending Scroll" episode, and, uh, are now reappeeing-reappearing here. |
| Aaron | [Refers to when Katara looked at the various young girls sitting in Yagoda's healing hut.] Kids are always so cute on Avatar, that's another note. [Bryan laughs.] |
| Mike | There are a lot of very cute... |
| Aaron | [Interjects.] Especially Water Tribe kids. |
| Mike | Yeah, they are cute. |
| Bryan | And another batch of great character designs by Angela Mueller. She did a great job on all the Water-Water Tribe kids; they're really cute. [Refers to Pakku eating some food while Aang moves around some water.] Some great drawings by Chris Graham, storyboard artist, here. He handled most of this Pakku-Aang stuff, and... |
| Aaron | [Interjects; refers to Pakku slurping up some noodles and tentacles.] What-what was Pakku just slurping? |
| Bryan | We thought instead of just noodles, he'd have some, like, tentacles mixed in there. |
| Mike | Yeah, they're, like... |
| Aaron | [In the background.] 'Kay. |
| Mike | ... octopus/squid tentacles, [Bryan affirms.] or something. |
| Pause in the commentary until Yagoda euphorically recognizes Katara's betrothal necklace. | |
| Bryan | Famous voice actor, there. |
| Mike | Lucille Bliss. She was, uh, she's Smurfette... |
| Bryan | [Interjects.] I think so. |
| Mike | ... I believe. |
| Bryan | I think so. |
| Aaron | No kidding. |
| Mike | She is classic, classic. Very nice lady. |
| Aaron | [Refers to Yagoda explaining how the necklace originally belonged to Kanna, Katara's Gran Gran, and that Kanna had left the North despite being engaged.] This, what's happening right here is something that I love about Avatar, which is that this necklace that we've known about for so long and that sort of had its own kind of mini-plot where it got lost and Zuko had it, now we're finding out kinda this deeper history behind it, and, like, there are so many things in this show that-that, uh, start off seemingly so innocently that pay off with such depth, and-and, uh, that's one of my... |
| Bryan | [Interjects.] It's true, even, what, the class that, um, Yagoda's teaching is a healing class [Aaron affirms.] of waterbending, and that-that plays a really important role, even in-before that sequence, and-and, uh, you-much... uh, a lot after-after that sequence in other episodes, um, [Refers to when Yagoda was moving her healing water around the chi pathways in a mannequin.] and basically, she's fo-she's moving the water along the, uh, acupressure points in the body. |
| Mike | [Refers to the pirates destroying Zuko's ship with the prince still onboard.] So, this is another-this is one of my favorite sequences I think we've done, is-it just came out great. It's great staging. |
| Bryan | [Refers to the whizzing sound that increases in volume as the hooked ropes the pirates drop down get closer to the camera.] I love that rope noise [Mike affirms.] by Ben. That was great. |
| Mike | [Refers to the pirates loading blasting jelly onto Zuko's ship.] Um, the pirates again are back. [Refers to Oh telling one of his crewmates to be careful while handling the barreled blasting jelly after he fumbled with one of them.] So, that was Bryan, right there. [Laughs.] |
| Bryan | [Laughs.] Terri-terrible voice act-it was really hard to im-imitate my friend Seung Hyun [Mike chuckles.] and whisper. That was difficult. |
| Mike | Nah, it's just really great to do sequences where there's, you know, as much as we like to write jokes and do great dramatic scenes, and stuff, to do stuff that we can rely on the animation and the acting and the staging, and stuff, to sell the story, this was... |
| Bryan | [Interjects; refers to Zuko investigating the ship's bridge just before the explosion.] Yeah, great-great storyboard by Chris Graham, here. [Refers to the pirates' iguana parrot staring at Zuko, its eyes glowing in the dark.] I love this ominous bird with the glowing eyes. [Brief pause while Zuko's ship explodes, cutting between a shot of explosions bursting through the hull, to a shot of a massive fireball shooting through the ship's interior.] A lotta shots of this ship [Aaron chuckles.] blowing up. |
| Mike | Yeah, we wanted to kind of-or Chris had the idea, I think, to, like, kind of stage it like-like a live action explosion, where they shoot it from a bunch of different angles and then we edited it all together. |
| Aaron | All the coverage. [Mike affirms.] |
| Bryan | That probably comes from the fact that it-it costs a lot of money [Mike chuckles intermittently.] to get all those cameras, 'cause you can only blow up the prop one time, so [Mike and Aaron affirm.] that's probably why the-the-the director's like, [Imitates a director simultaneously with Aaron.] "oh, We gotta put... |
| Aaron | [Imitates a director.] "We gotta get it. We gotta get it." |
| Bryan | ... we gotta put more shots in there," yeah. [Refers to the scene transitioning from the wreckage of Zuko's ship to Sokka and Yue's meeting at night.] I lo-I love coming out of that really dramatic, you know, intense scene to this romance scene that at first seems innocuous, and then... |
| Aaron | [In the background.] Uh... |
| Bryan | ... [Refers to when Yue runs away from Sokka, telling him she should not have asked him to come.] has its own drama. |
| Aaron | [Commenting on Sokka's self-whittled fish that he gave to Yue.] I love this little thing he made for her. [Chuckles.] |
| Mike | This was, uh, I remember writing this joke and thinking, "I don't know if this is gonna work." [Aaron chuckles.] But then in the storyboard, I think it was Bobby Rubio [Bryan affirms.] did the storyboard, and he drew that, the-the bad little... |
| Bryan | [In the background.] Fish bear. |
| Mike | ... fish bear design, and we're like, "that's the design. Do not change it at all. That's-it's gotta be exactly that." He just captured the-the terrible Sokka carving. |
| Aaron | I hope that will be coming to stores. [Bryan chuckles.] |
| Mike | [Laughs.] Yes. |
| Aaron | [Refers to Sokka complaining about Yue's seeming capriciousness after she abruptly left him during their nighttime rendezvous.] Oh Sokka. [Mike laughs.] |
| Bryan | [Refers to Katara falling down face-first onto her sleeping bag after Sokka asked how her training went, her hood falling over her head as a result.] I love-I love when Katara, this little bit of acting, how her hood flops over her head. I thought that was nice. |
| No commentary for a brief period of time until Katara stands and begins formulating her plan to learn Pakku's lessons from Aang. | |
| Bryan | [Refers to Momo turning up to look at Katara after she stands up while outlining her plan to circumvent Pakku.] So cute, how Momo tries to pay attention to what people are saying. [Everyone laughs.] |
| Aaron | [Refers to Katara telling Sokka that he is never happy after he contradicted her statement that her plan would make everyone happy.] I love how quickly Katara dismisses Sokka's... [Laughter from Mike and Bryan.] oh so cruel. |
| Bryan | [Refers to the enclosed space near a canal where Aang teaches Katara waterbending.] I love this background. |
| Mike | [Adding to Bryan's comment.] This is, yeah, beautiful. |
| Bryan | [Refers to part of the high wall Aang and Katara train by being illuminated by a faint, nighttime glow.] The-the reflected-the reflected light on that wall is just gorgeous. Beautiful. The-everything, [Refers to the wide staircase along and leading down through the canal water that Aang and Katara train by.] the-the stairs kinda fading into the water. It was really cool. [Refers to the shot of Pakku looking down on Aang and Katara, the light from the moon behind him casting the city's ice architecture in dark blue colors.] Really feels like moonlight on a... luminous, reflective surface; really cool. |
| Aaron | [Refers to the waning crescent moon behind Pakku when he took Katara's bending water away.] You also, if you notice, the phase of the moon in the background, that was carefully... |
| Mike | [Interjects; laughs.] Planned out, yeah. |
| Aaron | ... planned. |
| Bryan | [Refers to the large, ornately designed arch that Arnook, Pakku, and the other Northern dignitaries sit under.] That's a cool design. I think Dean Kelly, a storyboard artist, did some background design on this. I think he did that altar piece thing. |
| Mike | Think, uh, Giancarlo Volpe storyboarded this part, and he also directed this episode. |
| Bryan | [Refers to Katara trying to convince Pakku to teach Aang.] I love this scene. |
| Aaron | [Pauses in commentary until Pakku instigates Katara by mocking her as a little girl while waiting for her apology.] Ooh. |
| Bryan | Too far. [Mike laughs; refers to the ice floor cracking underneath Katara's feet as she angrily gesticulates at Pakku.] I love the cracks. They look [Mike affirms.] really beautiful. |
| Mike | And this kinda calls back to episode, uh, one where she was getting all mad at Sokka for being... [Chuckles.] being a little sexist about his attitudes, and she bre-ended up breaking the iceberg that eventually freed Aang. |
| Bryan | [Refers to Sokka telling Aang that Katara meant everything she said to Pakku.] Maybe that's why Sokka says "yeah, I think she did." He remembers. [Laughs.] |
| Mike | Yeah. |
| Bryan | [Addressing the scene involving Iroh and Zhao conversing about Zuko's supposed death.] This is a cool scene, too. |
| Mike | Yeah, there's a lotta great dramatic tension, and stuff. It's just really great that we can do funny scenes, and then we can have a scene like this where it's all dramatic tension between two dudes. |
| Bryan | [Refers to when Zhao probed Iroh by asking who orchestrated the attack on Zuko, and when Iroh rendezvouses with a disguised Zuko in Zhao's ship.] It's great because Uncle knows... they're both lying, right here. [Mike affirms intermittently.] Uncle knows Zuko isn't dead, [Refers to when Iroh told Zhao that the pirates were responsible for the attack.] and he kno-he knows Zhao did it, but he's lying and pretending the pirates did it, and Zhao thinks that Zuko's dead and knows because he set it up. It's just a cool scene with a lot of underlying... [Mike chuckles.] motivations. [Referring to the fight between Katara and Pakku.] Love this fight. It came out really great. |
| Mike | [Refers to when Katara refuses to surrender to Pakku.] Yeah, this is really the first time we see how-how much passion Katara has with her waterbending, [Refers to when Katara redirects Pakku's waterbending, freezes and liquifies ice, and momentarily taking the master waterbender aback by sending sheer ice discs at him.] and-and seeing how-how much raw talent she has kind of and, you know, after this episode she begins to hone that more, but... |
| Bryan | [Interjects.] Yeah, a lot of care went into, with-with the-the kung... |
| Aaron | [Interjects; in response to Katara water whipping Pakku as he walked away from her.] Boom. [Mike laughs.] |
| Bryan | ... the kung fu reference with S-Sifu Kisu. [Refers to Pakku generally remaining stationary during the fight.] We wanted to make Pakku look refined, like he had trained a style, a specific style, [Refers to the multiple times Katara tries to rush Pakku.] and that Katara was just kind of like a street fighter. Just raw and passion, talent but unrefined in her skills. [Referring to Sokka's getting blasted by Katara redirecting Pakku's waterbending.] Sokka's always... [Aaron laughs.] we figure he has really bad karma because he's always getting knocked around. [Refers to Pakku liquefying the frozen wave behind him, directing the torrents of water around him and toward Katara.] This is cool. |
| Aaron | [Referring to Sokka.] All that meat he eats. |
| Bryan | Great animation. |
| Aaron | [Referring to Katara as she secures her footing by digging her heels into the snow before covering them in ice.] I love that move, just [Bryan affirms.] stabilizing herself. It's so simple. |
| Bryan | Kinda the key to kung fu is just rooting, rooting yourself. [Addressing the melee portion of Katara and Pakku's duel, with the latter easily avoiding or parrying the former's blows.] This is cool. Chris Graham storyboarded this fight. [Commenting about Pakku smiling after streaming Katara into a pool of water.] Look at-so smug. What a jerk. [Mike chuckles.] What a-you just enj... |
| Mike | [Refers to the kids cheering as Katara rises up from the pool, ready to fight.] Yeah, I love the little kids who are, like, s-see her doing her kung fu and [Bryan affirms.] start cheering. |
| Bryan | It's kinda influenced by all my seven nephews who get so pumped [Aaron chuckles.] by watching Avatar and [Mike laughs.] start jumping around the living room. |
| Mike | No, it's great to see that, like, kids are actually learning, like, kung fu moves from the show because they're-they're watching over and over and over and over again. [Laughs.] |
| Bryan | My n-my nephew, Ryan, has a perfect horse stance... |
| Mike | [Interjects.] Yeah. [Laughs.] |
| Bryan | ... [Refers to the earthbender in the opening sequence beginning his form in a horse stance.] and he learned it from the opening. |
| Mike | It's cool. |
| Bryan | My favorite shot, coming up right here. This wave that she sends out. [Refers to Katara liquefying and pulling the snow at her feet back, before sending it forth in a forceful wave.] Oh, I love it. My favorite shot that's, like, [Mike chuckles intermittently.] eightee-eighteen frames long. [Refers to Pakku redirecting the torrent of water Katara sent at him, streaming it toward his opponent while freezing it, and sliding along the curved, frozen surface.] This is really cool, too. You see that he freezes it as he's coming down in the air. |
| Mike | [Refers to Katara's disheveled, let-down hair.] Oh, this is also the-the, uh, first time we see Katara's hair down, I believe, which was... |
| Bryan | [Interjects.] This was popular [Mike affirms.] with the crew. [Mike laughs; refers to Katara stubbornly trying to break out of the multiple tall, thick ice shards Pakku trapped her between.] I love that she's still defiant, yeah. |
| Mike | I think this-this ice cage thing, I was kind of inspired by-I think we had just seen House of Flying Daggers, and there was, like, a... |
| Bryan | [Interjects.] Yeah. The bamboo... |
| Mike | ... the bamboo cage that they formed. |
| Bryan | Beautiful movie. [Refers to the ice shards around Katara melting away.] And then, it melts, [In a mockingly dramatic tone; refers to Pakku discovering that Katara's necklace belonged to Kanna, his ex-fiancé.] right when his heart melts. [Dramatically sighs.] |
| Mike | Yeah, [Laughs.] that was intentional. So poignant. |
| Bryan | [Refers to the establishing shot of the Fire Nation ships at dock.] That's a cool shot. We always try to show the Fire Nation, just a militaristic organization, and... |
| Aaron | [Refers to Zuko taking off his stolen armor faceplate.] You have no idea what Zuko had to do to get that, uh, [Bryan and Mike chuckle.] that uniform helmet. |
| Bryan | [Refers to the multiple new scars Zuko has on his face.] I like, uh, I'm pretty happy with the... battle-damaged Zuko. I like the sp-the specificity... |
| Mike | [In the background.] Yeah, yeah, it's... |
| Bryan | ... of the scars. |
| Mike | It looks cool. |
| Bryan | [Refers to when Zuko, in a split-second, managed to bend a dome of fire around himself just as the explosion reached him.] If you... like, toggle through the, uh, explosion scene with Zuko in the ship, you'll see that moments before the explosion reaches him, he forms a protective fire shield around himself, and, uh, it's kinda-kinda fights fire with fire, and-and that's how he was able to survive. And so, he and the bubble of fire are pushed out of the ship through the window... in case you were wo-in case you thought it was a stretch. |
| Mike | [Laughs; refers to the long shot of Yue and Sokka on the bridge at night.] Took Sokka all night to [Bryan and Aaron laugh.] find her. |
| Bryan | To find her, on the same bridge [Mike laughs.] that he met her on both times. I was gonna say that, and I thought it was a little-a little negative, but, uh... |
| Mike | [Interjects; refers to when Katara and Pakku fought each other during the day.] It was a late-it was late in the day, though, in that last scene. |
| Bryan | Yeah. |
| Brief pause until Sokka states he knows he cannot interact with Yue given their different social standings. | |
| Aaron | [Refers to Sokka's three-fingered gloves.] I also like his glove mittens, [Bryan chuckles.] I... |
| Mike | [In the background.] They're his article... |
| Bryan | [Interjecting.] That came from snowboarding, uh... |
| Aaron | [Interjects.] Snowboarding? |
| Bryan | Yeah, it was just influenced by, [Aaron gives an affirming murmur.] when you-when you have to get into your bindings and... [Mike whistles as Sokka and Yue's kiss.] you got those split mittens, it's a lot easier. But keeps your fingers a little warmer. The-sort of the backstory, some stuff that we didn't get as much time to deal with, um, is that the-the Southern Water Tribe is-was hit harder in the war than the Northern Tribe was. Uh, they were closer to the Fire Nation, and, just through some battles and... strategic things, um, they really took the brunt of the attacks, so... their culture was sort of wiped out. Um, that's why when we see them, they're... a little bit more, um, just smaller family units, and, um, more like rudimentary camps and stuff. Whereas the Northern Tribe, uh, was able to, maybe because of the landscape or the way they'd fortified themselves, were able to preserve their culture a little bit more. So ... that's sort of the-the contrast, where Sokka thinks he's from this, um... I don't know, less cultured community. |
| Mike | Right. |
| Bryan | In-in comparison to Yue. [Refers to the tilt shot where the size of the fleet that Zhao has gathered is slowly revealed as the camera angles upward.] This is a cool shot, I love how it [Mike affirms.] takes its time. |
| Mike | Just... just a good... |
| Bryan | [Interjects.] Good job. |
| Mike | ... cliff-hanger. |
| Bryan | Good job, Mike and Aaron. [Mike chuckles; refers to the credits starting to roll.] Do we talk over this part? [Laughs.] |
| Mike | Sure, why not. |
| Aaron | 'Kay. I should say my two year old son Paul loves the closing [Mike laughs.] credit theme... |
| Mike | [Interjects.] Oh yeah, he like... |
| Bryan | ... that he will dance to it for the entire... jump up and down. |
| Mike | That's awesome. |
| Aaron | It is awesome. [Bryan chuckles.] You should try, you the listener, should try [Mike laughs.] dancing to this right now, enj-enjoy. |
| Bryan | [Refers to the kecak chanting playing in the credits.] Yeah, I-I think Ben mentioned before, but this is kecak. It's a, uh, Balinese monkey chant, it's really amazing. Just kind of group, uh, music, and Ben studied this in school. |
| Commentary ends. |