Netflix is changing Avatar. Here's Why | EPISODE BREAKDOWN

[@jaycee945]

I'm sure casting Utkarsh was because it's easier to have a younger actor be aged up with makeup than expect an elderly dude to be as insanely shredded and athletic as Bumi is. Could also be that he was just the best at portraying Bumi and older actors couldn't cut it.

[@martacastillo6272]

Just watch Bill and Ted against the Music, they made Keanu look 95. And Utkarsh posted a reel while they were shooting where he was getting covered in sfx silicone.

[@jorrit_8292]

If you've seen The Irishman, you'd know how awful it looks to have an old athletic person (DeNiro deaged). I'd much rather they have an athletic person "disguised" as an old man

[@tetsatou2815]

@@TheTrueDoomSlayer Chuck is an exception because the problem isn't the age itself. It's that de-aging them in post is far more blatant and difficult to do well than vice versa.

[@2Pac71x96x14]

Jackie Chan has entered the chat

[@shippendales8543]

​@@2Pac71x96x14 I think Asian martial artists are an exception Dornie Yen Michelle Yeoh Jet Li Jackie Chan Aren't moving like old people at all😂 Because they are basically athletes in great shape Hollywood actors can't compete I also think some older people don't move like their age generally The singer Cher for example doesn't walk like a old lady for example and she is 77

[@montygreen5826]

I think the deserter is an important episode. There are huge lessons in there, and I especially love the dynamic between Aang and Zhao both being students of Jeong Jeong but Aang has learned restraint whereas Zhao has none. It sets up Zhao's character for the North Pole episodes.

[@ushijimawakatoshi1675]

It also introduces the third white lotus grand master after Iroh and Bumi. If they cut out Jeong Jeong will he not be there in the Final during Sozin's comet or will he be just some random? I hope he gets included.

[@princessthyemis]

Definitely!

[@MrE_]

I just don't know where it fits in the series

[@sacha7958]

I think Jeong Jeong will play a roll but it’s not gonna get the same 20 minutes of runtime as in the original

[@cisalzlman]

​@@ushijimawakatoshi1675they could always throw him in as an Easter egg

[@Iam74YL0R]

Adding in "The Water Bending Scroll" into Omashu honestly works. They could explore the city, steal the scroll, practice with it but then be found by the person they stole from. They run away but get split up. Aang can't find Katara and Sokka then is summoned the Earth king. Bumi mentions they caught Sokka and Katara and forces Aang through trials to save them.

[@dresdenwarlock7978]

That is ACTUALLY great

[@shinigamis_like_apples4797]

That’s actually a really good use of run time too. Covers a bunch of stuff while saving time for other eps that might need more build up. I’m more worried about them bringing in azula too early. I also feel like we’re gonna get barely any North Pole action and then kataras waterbendjng journey will be kinda underwhelming cz she just randomly gets good or something Or play it off as her being a natural- instead of having her jealousy arc during the scroll episode

[@MsKillerBee]

slight correction, Bumi isn't the Earth king.. that's the guy with the bear in Ba Sing Se

[@Ouvii]

And then instead of the river fight scene, they can fight in the mail chutes of Omashu.

[@alinac5512]

It also gives Bumi a more believable justification to threthen them in Aangs eyes. If his friends actually stole something it makes Bumis threat more believable and justified. In the original it was always just like "ok, I'll just threthen them cause I'm crazy now do what I say" abs later his true motive was revealed, of course. But this would add authenticity and make it more realistic and less cartoonish. I like it.

[@monstresswitcher]

I really hope they won’t delve into Aang’s backstory too quickly because I really love how we get to know him as a kid who wants to have fun, to the Avatar with a lot of baggage, to a victim of genocide as the last airbender. Stories that have tried to emulate some of those aspects of him ignore that we essentially got to know his personality before we knew him as a victim of the Fire Nation

[@watchmesquatch]

The original creators were forced to back out because these people were so unfaithful to the original content.

[@NickDe3]

@@watchmesquatchwe’ll see. Could be they wanted to update the lore to be too close to Korra.

[@_Hewman_]

you mean, a survivor of genocide?

[@johnpaullogan1365]

@@watchmesquatch i heard the opposite. there were quite a few alterations they wanted done because over the years they had things they found themselves wishing had been done differently and netflix wanted fewer major changes

[@adimiss]

​@watchmesquatch well fuck. I'll hold off on watching till we get confirmation on that.

[@SuperGakman]

Jeong Jeong has such a great introduction that I hope they keep it. Roku showing up and telling him to train Aang is one of my favorite moments.

[@PETEandhisBEANS]

I agree 100%. It really established to the viewer how much power and sort of status the Avatar has and what it means to be the Avatar. Not just one, but an accumulation of the many past Avatars too

[@craigpayne3265]

@@PETEandhisBEANS And also help demonstrates that the Avatar, while powerful, is still fallible, even Roku: it probably was a mistake for Aang to learn firebending at this point in his journey, but Roku still pushed the issue

[@alyssabell-padgett8730]

I think the most important parts of ‘The Deserter’ are Aang hurting Katara, as you called out, and maybe even more - the fight between Aang and Zhao. Aang uses cleverness and airbending techniques to evade Zhao’s advances and distract him while he destroys his entire fleet. It shows the audience a great deal about Zhao’s character and hints to the nature of his down fall at the end of the season - he leads with might and pride and this is not always effective

[@ramondelgado4927]

Also , Zhao is the epitome of wrong firebending based on violence and hatred instead of life and selfcontrol, which is how Zuko was able to kick the ass of someone with far more experience and power

[@iolairmuinnmalachybromham3103]

It’s really crucial that they delve into what it means to be a firebender in the way they did in that episode. If they do repeat the events of the Deserter in this new series I hope they tone down Zhao’s impulsive rage a bit. Him being an example of a bad student who has gone on to be destructive is a good feature. But it doesn’t make sense to me that a person with no self-restraint, as he is portrayed in that episode, would make a general. To get promoted he must need to show plenty of it. His getting carried away on his arrogance and viciousness, and being blinded to what’s happening to the boats still falls in line, but it’s got to be a bit more subtle.

[@craigstephenson7676]

@@iolairmuinnmalachybromham3103 yeah, maybe something like Zhao only sets one boat on fire and then Aang is able to push him into the river so he can't follow them.

[@Ichigo2058]

i actually thought they might put it in masks since zhao already meets aang. maybe they capture him there PLUS the festival of the firenationtown is full of masks :)

[@cristinaferguson1267]

*is

[@charleshockenbury353]

I think combining Jet and the Blue Spirit would be an inspired adaptation choice 1. It’s a great commentary on appearances. Jet is a seeming ally but is revealed to be a bit of a monster. The mysterious blue spirit is at first intimidating, but then is a friend, but is then revealed to be Zuko and we don’t know what to think. 2. I don’t think Aang is so necessary to Jet story that he needs to be there, meanwhile Bluespirit is just Aang because Sokka and Katara are just sick that week. So while Aang’s not there for the Jet stuff, which is really a Katara and Sokka episode anyways, instead see it as giving Katara and Sokka something productive to do while Aang’s alone. 3. It sets up the parallel of Jet and Zuko that gets expanded on in Ba Sing Se. 4. I think it would be a really easy mash up. Aang has been captured and is being held by Zhao. K&S need help to face them, so they meet the nearby resistance movement lead by Jet. While Blue Spirit is breaking Aang out, K&S have to stop Jet doing war crimes in their own pursuit to save Aang. I think those are strong reasons to do this

[@ellysemilton1309]

They may decide to have Jet's darker nature appear after Aang is rescued, allowing the masked individual with two swords be initially mistaken for Jet saving Aang, before revealing Zuko as the Blue Spirit. Unsure if it would work given Jet's hooked swords but it might be a way to tie the stories together.

[@jamesshepard3]

I could totally buy that Katara and Sokka find Jet and the freedom fighters after Aang gets captured. Like maybe they’re looking for help and they happen upon Jet’s crew.

[@princessthyemis]

That sounds like a cool way to combine Jet's story with the Blue Spirit!! I was thinking exactly the same thing!! It'd be so cool if we're right! Can't wait to find how they do it!

[@princessthyemis]

​@@jamesshepard3yeah!!

[@jakesonkaze]

Yeah that would be nice too

[@ImCarpet]

Something you didn’t touch on with the King of Omashu episode was the scenes showing young Bumi and Aang. They could really dive into their friendship and even show things that happened after Aang disappeared and show how exactly Bumi became King. I think most of the episode is going to be flashbacks.

[@eamoncarpenter3189]

The fact that boomi was aangs only living friend and the fact that boomi went 100 years with out omashu falling is enough by itself to expand on. Boomi was best earth bender b4 Toph

[@LittleRavenSonofMatt]

I love this idea

[@pokeluv101]

For the Mask episode, I think they can combine them well. They meet Jet early in the episode and befriend the group. Then, Aang gets captured. Katara and Sokka go to Jet for help. Unfortunately, Jet is too focused on his revenge. Jet lies that he will send people to save Aang is they help destroy the dam. We can still follow the same plot points with Sokka's distrust contrasting Katara. On the other hand, Zuko goes to save him. Aang assumes it's Jet. They escape together like in the episode all the way to the reveal that Zuko is behind the mask.

[@tannerpresswoodmusic]

This makes perfect sense. I love the idea that Aang thinks the Blue Spirit is Jet at first. I can also definitely see them emphasizing the tension where Katara chooses to trust Jet when Aang goes missing, whereas Sokka would want to go after Aang himself.

[@HerculeYakko]

Jet and the Blue Spirit would actually work better as a single episode. Aang's primary motivation for most of the first season is his attraction to Katara and in order for Jet to work as an episode Aang just had to passively watch as Jet made moves on his girl. Aang was very off in that episode of the original series. Better just to have him in jail at the time.

[@MrHoll87]

I also really like this idea and think it's brilliant. My only hang up on it though, is that it feels some what important for Aang to be present for the whole Jet stuff. It's not an episode that focuses on Aang, but leaving him out of all the Jet stuff would make for a weird disconnect later when they run into Jet in Ba Sing Se. Other than that though, again, this idea is brilliant and is the best solution. Well done.

[@blakelandry9313]

That’s a really good idea. I hope they do something like that.

[@Kayla-ep5gm]

The fact that Zuko as the Blue Spirit and Jet also both wield dual weapons would be enough to convince Aang that the Blue Spirit is Jet come to rescue him if you ask me! I just think back to the two of them fighting outside the tea shop in Ba Sing Se

[@olaftheblack2012]

I hope that they do include the great divide but as a super quick almost rogue in cheek joke when it skips everything and you just have the gAang being like, "oh hey, the great divide, how awesome! Hope nothing goes bad!" Then just jump cuts to after where they are all scraggled and haggard and just like, "wow that sucked." That or they just fly over and say, "man, I'm really glad we didn't have to travel through there!" 😂

[@dresdenwarlock7978]

Definitely needs a throw away joke. Like an episode starts with "Man, I'm glad we don't have to travel with those tribes anymore. At least the custard tart was good."

[@guinevereeastes8519]

They could totally do like the ember isle players and they're riding on Appa when they notice, "Oh hey! That's the Great Divide!... Eh let's keep flying."

[@sarahmunson1778]

I was actually thinking that Masks would be the place for The Deserter to appear - the kids wear masks at the beginning, then meet a man who comes off as very unpleasant but is actually a very good and helpful person, then Zhao's mask of being an unbeatable force falls. Ironically given that point about Zhao, I think it would also lead perfectly into the Blue Spirit - instead of Aang beating Zhao just by tricking him into burning his ships, maybe we can have a good moment where Aang feels triumphant but then is captured anyway. I wonder if that could also provide the perfect time for Katara and Sokka to end up with Jet's team, maybe getting rescued/captured by them when Aang is captured by Zhao. Then, the very town that the kids just experienced the culture of and met everyday people in is the one that Jet wants to destroy. The Deserter even took place right next to a river. Combining Jet and The Deserter makes a lot of sense to me, since both deal with whether someone is bad simply for being from the Fire Nation. Plus, as a bonus, The Deserter and Jet are Zuko-free episodes, which gives them more time to cover the events of both and still have time to integrate the Blue Spirit. It would also be quite a moment for them to have an episode exploring whether people from the Fire Nation can be good/innocent, then the reveal that Zuko just helped Aang escape. I think I've actually talked myself into hoping this is how they do it, cause it sounds awesome!

[@DimaJeydar]

Yes, me too 😅 This is excellent

[@settheshallow8913]

This is a great suggestion, though it is tonally difficult. Having Jet occur after they meet Jong-Jong would definitely feel weird. Turning things around so that Aang is captured by Zhao there is a good idea though. Tim was saying he really thought Aang should be there for Jet's moments, but I'm not sure that's true? As he notes, it's mainly a Katara/Sokka story. Actually, thinking about it more I could see Jong-Jong being part of the inspiration for Katara and Sokka to turn against Jet. Hell, they could possibly do something interesting if Jong-Jong comes across them again, helping in stopping Jet. Part of me (the fanfic part :P) considers the idea of Jet deciding to follow Jong-Jong, but the problem is that I don't think Jet's arc would quite be ready for that, and that would have significant ripples going forward. (Though Jet joining the White Lotus is a much better ending, IMO, than dying in a cave)

[@settheshallow8913]

So here's my idea on how you could maybe do that; First, the Gaang meet Jeong-Jeong, and Aang starts with firebending, but fails to really internalise Jeong-Jeong's lessons. I think it would have the maximum impact if he ends up hurting Katara *while fighting Zhao*. While he gets dragged off, Jong-Jong disappears, and the rest of the Gaang run away up-river. Katara manages to heal herself, and then Jet shows up, explaining that water-bending healing is a thing. Says he heard about it from a travelling warrior of the Southern Water Tribe, and big respect to them! Sokka throws out some names, and then they learn it's Batou! Apparently got injured and was travelling north, seeking treatment. (This could then be a lead in to the start of The North, where the meet Batou, to weary to make the journey alone, and all start heading there together) We spend some more time with Jet, as he works to induct them into his group, but Sokka doesn't like this; he wants to go to rescue Aang, and Katara agrees but thinks Jet's their best shot. The rest of the episode is now cutting away, between Aang trying to break out, and Sokka investigating Jet, keeping tension high on both fronts. Once Aang escapes, we cut back to Katara and Sokka, who confront Jet, stop him, and then take off to find Aang- Only for Aang to come in from the treeline, smiling "Hey guys! What did I miss?" ...or something like that. The ending is the tough part, because adding The Blue Spirit into the blender is not easy. It's funny to think, that despite them prolly cutting out at least 40 minutes of content and adding another 20, that it still feels like it needs time?

[@luke0980]

I was thinking that they could do exactly this. So let's hope.

[@tiph3802]

This is some big brain plotting right here!

[@dengmandang]

When Aang realizes this crazy old man/king is his childhood friend from before the war and Aang is happy to see a familiar face in a world that’s changed is a heart moment. ❤ It’s also from Bumi in Omashi where Aang learns for the first time Ozai’s name and how he’s running the war present day and that he’s gonna have to end up defeating him for the war to end.

[@Duckly97]

I for one want a 3-part Great Divide remake. I want to see every single step they take in that valley!

[@matthewpaul6904]

If Tolkien adaptations take out Tom Bombadil, the Avatar live action can cut out The Great Divide.

[@fenexus404]

I'd love to see the complete backstory on those 2 clans. And create 2 new characters, who become essential to the plot

[@DegenGambaAddict]

Based and Great Divide-pilled

[@Draconic_Incenerator]

Thats the only episode i never understood. I mean how could a series like this even have "filler"? Thats exactly what that episode was yet this series isnt based off anything. So no, lets just pretend that never happened.

[@-N0V4-]

Nah, baby. Their own spin-off!! I need to know what that story was between those tribes.

[@andrewfields3053]

What is Into The Dark was them cutting WAY ahead to when they go through the "Secret Tunnel". This is HUGE for Aang and Katara's relationship story.

[@whahala555]

I was think the Spirited Away could feature the Blue Spirit, since Zuku does resucue him, thus Spiriting him Away.

[@davemccage7918]

But none of this is as vital to the series as a random side quest to hike The Grand Canyon! Avatar just isn’t Avatar unless there’s a solid 60 minutes of our favorite characters overcoming such a difficult a task that 65 year old retired boomers can barely sometimes do.

[@_Hewman_]

@@davemccage7918 like in life, sometimes things lead to nowhere.

[@craigpayne3265]

I was thinking that, and if they go with having Suki featuring more, it could provide a way to deepen her and Sokka's relationship as well as Aang and Katarra.

[@deannakay6607]

I was thinking that, too (about the secret Tunnel). Even though it comes later in the series, re-adaptations often flip scenes around. This could be them leaving Omashu instead of returning to it, for instance. The episode also gives more backstory to the Earth Kingdom, which fits with what they learned in Omashu and with Katara' imprisonment to save the earth benders.

[@heek8964]

I could see them moving episodes from S2 into S1 and vice-versa, so "Into the dark" might cover the cave of two lovers episode as well as the storm, since it can be placed at any point where Katara Sokka and Aang are traveling across the earth kingdom, as well it would make it's connections to omashu a bit more relevant since they'd have just left it. And the northern air temple might be placed early in S2 as they're leaving the northern water tribe, show us with the siege of the north how bad fire nation attacks are, to make the possibility of them getting worse with air balloons more impactful.

[@NamelessKing1597]

I could see episode 4 combining "Imprisoned" and "The Waterbending Scroll" since both are Katara centric. Also I could see "The Storm" and "The Blue Spirit" being combined for episode 6.

[@pn2294]

I don’t see those working since both episodes have entirely different plots.

[@alexandrac6177]

Two Katara episodes crammed together wouldn’t make much narrative sense

[@SuperDestroyerFox]

Yeah although the storm and blue spirit are a bit like the drill and the serpents pass which were aired together like a 2 parter and it should be one given how it goes from a mental problem to a physical problem so they fit together well.

[@dresdenwarlock7978]

Tyro and Haru haven't been cast so it's very unlikely Imprisoned is an episode.

[@kylecyrus9457]

No way. The storm needs to be stand alone. It's too important to both zuko and aangs character.

[@25thJamzy]

I do agree that Bumi was kind of that joke episode when he first came out but I felt that it had bits and pieces of it that were a bit important and that flew past us as kids. That Bumi was a kid when he and Ang met, and how it would feel 100 years after seeing your friend who you thought died appear in front of you after all those years. I might have dug a bit for that but it only really hit me when I saw that last scene years later when I rewatched it. I do hope they put more nuance into it.

[@Kayla-ep5gm]

I also feel Bumi introduced us to this idea that Airbenders were true nomads with friends all over the world, and that could lay the groundwork for him to speak more about Kuzon, a friendship he shares about with Zuko and contrasting the dynamic between them. But it also might help the audience remember that reference when Aang uses that name at the Fire Nation school down the line in Book 3.

[@andrewgross144]

The thing I hope for the most is that they have a group of passionate fans like you, who have analyzed the themes of the show and why the original story works, to be a part of the “screening” process. So that characters aren’t shortchanged or cheapened for the sake of the live-action.

[@paracosmic4124]

they should hire nerds to check over everything every time anybody does anything like this

[@curtiswfranks]

At some point, Azula needs to be introduced and Zuko probably needs more early-season attention. So, maybe "Into the Dark" is about at least one of them.

[@sealink129]

You know, it hadn’t hit me until now… imagine Koh in live action 😭 if he ain’t nothing less than nightmare fuel, i don’t want it

[@dresdenwarlock7978]

They've spent 18 months in vfx, Koh better be shit-your-pants scary

[@HackersRUs]

I think Batou and the Water Tribe is important to show Aang's flaws. He's just a kid and he feels like he's about to lose his only family again, but in doing so he hurts his family

[@matthewgarrett6839]

I think Batou and the deserter could pair very well together. Aang could learn fire bending while katara and Saka spend time with Batou. The distance that aang starts to feel growing between them can still come up naturally when they’re separated during their respective training. And while aang is struggling with fire bending, Saka and Katara can be explaining to him how they’re having a great time with Batou just like the show. Then aang can accidentally burn katara to be the catalyst of them wanting to leave with Batou and what keeps them together is Zhao attacking.

[@mackenziecarver6807]

Honestly, I can’t live without those two episodes

[@nellym46664]

I for one dislike that episode specifically for the way they tried to create unnecessary conflict amongst the cast.

[@egalomon]

Don't you think Jet's story could fit with the Kyoshi warriors into one episode? Have both factions aim for the village but then realize Jet is fighting "the wrong way". Afterwards let the Kyoshi warriors accompany the Gaang to the island. If they do it right they could kill like 5 birds with one stone - show the good and the bad of BOTH the rebels AND the fire nation, civilians and mercenaries

[@karnewarrior]

Way too clever, this is Netflix we're talking about

[@Jay-gq1mo]

That's exactly what I was thinking

[@Jay-gq1mo]

​@@karnewarriorsame Netflix that brought us One Piece so I'm cautiously optimistic that they'll do a good job

[@pn2294]

Not really

[@theosm2976]

Was actually thinking about this placement for Jet AS Tim was talking about Warriors.

[@ixelhaine]

It might be interesting to see Bato of the Water Tribe & The Northern Air Temple mixed together, with Random Village #11 being switched out with the Temple.

[@lainiwakura1776]

I thought Bato was staying at a nunnery?

[@SarahMay-g2w]

Oh no, my heart breaks for Aang just thinking about it...!

[@hassanalkhalaf1115]

​@@SarahMay-g2whe'd be double heartbroken seeing what happened to his old home and fearing for his current home (his friends)

[@edo.creative]

That's my favorite village.

[@settheshallow8913]

There was actually one thought I had that I'm shocked Tim didn't consider; have Batou escort the Gaang up to the north? June could easily be the replacement for the pirates that Tim suggested, or otherwise slotted in earlier in the series.

[@silfredpalero]

I think the Into the Dark episode might actually be the Winter Solstice because I remember it as something dark for the disappearances of villagers thing and when Hei Bai actually kidnapped Sokka and they all got worried because it became dark and Sokka hasn't come back yet, without having a clue what happened to him or how could they rescue him... plus spirits is a good topic to explore with when it comes to "the dark."

[@NickDe3]

And then Spirited away might have more to do with Wong Sho Tong’s library in the B plot and the Events of the crescent island in the A plot. We know that Wong Shi Tong was cast so they are probably going to show Zhao searching for the scroll that reveals the moon spirit’s identity. It might also be interesting to see Iroh go along with him or interact with him regarding this. We get a moment in the finale between Zhao and Iroh where Zhao is warned and then they fight at the climax after Zhao kills the spirit. It could give us more insight into Iroh’s experience with spirits and would better setup Iroh’s conflict with him.

[@mightheal]

Into the Dark and Masks can actually be two stories you've suggested that might be combined that are Blue Spirit and Jet. Blue Spirit could be used for Into the Dark to explore Zuko's past and the darkness could also be talking about Ang being captured I can also see the darkness that Jet displays in his episode as the meaning behind the title as well. But both episodes also work with Masks as well considering the literal mask for Blue Spirit and the mask that Jet puts up lying to team avatar. In terms of making a big change I can also see Into the Dark being the Northern Air Temple story where they also combine it with learning about Ang running away from his destiny. It would also spread out big battles more evenly through the show instead being back of the show heavy.

[@olso8621]

Remembering when Aang finds out hes the only airbender left always makes me tear up

[@dragonbane44]

Lol nah, he ditched them airheads

[@-Teague-]

​@@dragonbane44what is wrong with you

[@chukwuemekaezidimma8085]

​@@-Teague-😂

[@lainiwakura1776]

@@-Teague- lmao imagine getting offended over a joke about fictional things

[@-Teague-]

@@lainiwakura1776 why are you arguing with me on every reply I've left? Can you please leave me alone?

[@Carl-iq4zq]

I think they’re gonna put jet in into the dark. seems like jet would fit that title to me. that also means they can give all of masks to the storm and blue spirit, two very important episodes that flow into each other nicely

[@nancyjay790]

Did Jet... die?

[@vorisitoxd2934]

@@nancyjay790 Yes, during season 2.

[@yveltalsea]

@@vorisitoxd2934 this is a reference to a line in the show haha

[@AM-tl1xi]

@@yveltalsea It's in the episode Ember Island Players( S03E16), when the gaang goes to watch the play. Zuko asks and Sokka replies something like "You know it was really unclear".

[@BobaT0]

You know, It's very unclear.@@nancyjay790

[@robhillen8007]

I've got to wonder if The Deserter will somehow be folded into masks. Maybe Aang becomes interested in fire bending after learning that Zuko saved his life, having been inspired by the idea that firebenders don't have to be all bad. I could see him encountering Jeong Jeong in the forest surrounding the same village Jet wants to drown, and taking part in the fire's day festival can be how the Katara knows the people there are worth saving. It shows both Katara and Aang the good in people of the fire nation, and Aang burning Katara can show that neither of them are fully ready to accept that yet; even if they have enough empathy to save them, they still see the fire nation as enemies.

[@nyahtonks3914]

as someone that is disabled, the northern air temple episode matters a lot to me. the representation there where it wasn’t like sad that teo is disabled, but it’s also no smth that is like never mentioned, that matters so much. and like he’s just a kid that becomes friends with the crew rly quickly! i hope that they keep all of that in, altho i can see it working pretty well in the beginning of the second season too. maybe it’s aang’s “mini vacation” or smth

[@jameswhatsit]

My theory is that into the dark will contain a bunch of the flashbacks that you get in the storm, but layered into the story of the blue spirit. It makes alot of sense for Iroh to be talking to an angry crew while zuko is away doing his blue spirit thing. Also, I think zuko could be injured much worse when he 'rescues' aang from zhao resulting in aang needing to nurse him back to health (sokka and katara could be present but unwell, or they could have been separated from aang by the storm which results in him being captured in the first place). The aang flashbacks can then be done through aang talking to a delirious zuko. This would make zuko's eventual aggression at the end of the episode hit way harder, hence the episode name, aang is crying/extremely upset because he naively poured his heart out to zuko by the time katara and sokka come back. This fixes alot of the pacing issues you were running into with your last episodes. I believe "the mask" episode will contain Jet as you said (elements of the fortuneteller may also be included here if you combine the villages from the original series, dam burst is an oppurtunity for some epic bending), but will also include zuko being found out as the blue spirit with that storyline being expanded upon, this would be a good opportunity to include azula in the first series storyline (as you said, the pirates may well be written out) if zhao commissions her to take out zuko, she will probably hurt him, but intentionally leave him alive with some azula style capture the avatar manipulations in the tail, giving more story background to his desperation in the siege of the north storyline.

[@Red.501]

I don't know whether I am excited or not for this new series On one hand new content of the show i love On the other hand this could go wrong real fast

[@-Teague-]

I'm just scared

[@Zeyox96]

I'm cautiously curious

[@annienunyabiz6627]

I'm not. The new content is coming without the input of the original creators. They left for a reason, stating they felt their "creative vision for the show wasn't being supported."

[@Red.501]

@@Zeyox96 that is exactly how I feel

[@-Teague-]

@@annienunyabiz6627 TL;DR the original creators are not the be all end all of Avatar and I think an adaptation may have actually been harmed by their input. so, the thing about that is, while they are the original creators of the show, a lot of the best elements of the show didn't come from them. Aaron Ehaaz did a looooot of heavy lifting story wise and many other people contributed. And, judging by Korra, they may not be the best storytellers overall, even if they are wonderfully creative people.

[@josiahfriesen4552]

“Masks” could be a combination of The Deserter and The Blue Spirit - the title relating both to the blue spirit mask and to the masks at the festival in The Deserter. Maybe instead of the Aang / Zhao fight going how it did in the show, Zhao captures Aang at that point and the Blue Spirit is integrated in that way. It would be an episode exploring the idea that not everyone in the Fire Nation is evil, through both Jeong Jeong and Zuko.

[@567secret]

Oh I wonder if "Into the Dark" could be referring to the Deserter and kind of a reflection of how Jeong-Jeong sees firebending? I also think Jet might work with that title, and I could definitely see a way they tie those two stories together, but it would of course be a rather drastic change.

[@BlockO008]

I genuinely think that “Into The Dark” episode is going to be combination of “The Northern Air Temple” and “The Storm” just because they both make sense to be put together thematically if you think about it. The beginning of the episode can start off with them going through the storm to get to the Northern Air Temple, and then end off with the big fight at the temple when things start to get grim with the battle. They can also still play off of a lot of flashbacks from both Aang’s & Zuko’s pasts at the same time throughout the entire episode, especially since Zuko isn’t present at all during the Northern Air Temple arc. I could also see Netflix moving the NAT episode sooner in the story because it would be the 4th episode in the series (which would be the midway point through the show) and they would want to have a cool action battle scene in between the middle of the series to keep people hooked on wanting to watch the next episodes.

[@WolfricThorsson]

When you say "Into the Dark", the first thing that comes to mind for me is "The Cave of Two Lovers" where they navigate the labirynth on the way to Omashu... problem is, that's S2E2 in the cartoon when they're going BACK to Omashu, and "Into the Dark" comes after the episode "Omashu". Really hoping they're not going to move things around THAT much lol

[@deannakay6607]

I've seen a book to movie re-adaptation where they did move things that dramatically , but it actually worked.

[@BostonChattanooga]

I can see combing Imprisonment and the Kyoshi Warriors episodes together. All you need is to have Haru be from Kyoshi Island. Katara spends most of the animated episode being jealous of Aang getting attention from all those girls so have her meet Haru while Aang is being a jerk. Keep the Prison break scenes with Sokka and Suki coming in at the end to help them escape. Then while flying back they come in on Zuko and his armada attacking Kyoshi island forcing the gaang to leave in an attempt to draw Zuko away.

[@gabrieldossantos1116]

Honestly, good idea. I don't think that jealousy little arc makes much sense in te context of the tone they're trying to convey so by implementing it subtely into another arc more relevant they're gaining time and still keeping the maximum amount of content.

[@martneb]

Also would explain why there were barely any earthbenders on the island, despite being descendants of Kiyoshi. They got kidnapped.

[@Legendary0202]

Instantly thought about that. Make the Kyoshi Warriors save the imprisoned people, would add a lot of character and screen time to Kyoshi Warriors, Suki and even Sokka.

[@pn2294]

I don’t think that makes sense since Kyoshi Island explicitly wasn’t part of the war before that episode.

[@animegopher]

​@@pn2294 Nah, it makes perfect sense. There aren't any earth benders on Kyoshi Island, so it would make sense that they would all be imprisoned, meaning Haru could be a part of the village and his father was imprisoned for earth bending. The time difference in the show isn't major, so combining these two make complete sense, and can give you outlook into the mindset and abilities of the Kyoshi Warriors.

[@leffeup8117]

I think the episode called “the north” might be similarly structured to the Guru in season 2. They arrive at the northern water tribe at the end of episode 6, with a dramatic teaser of the icy walls. And at the start of episode 7 aang hears about people supposedly living in the northern air temple (which is the closest temple to the northpole) and he takes appa there, has that whole story play out, maybe with sokka also being there. While katara has her whole story arc in the northpole. Aang and sokka return to the north pole but are scared because they are the first people to see the fire nation fleet. They go back and katara has completed her training arc with paku. The episode ends with the fleet arriving at the north pole. Episode 8 would have aanga spirit journey, zuko capturing him. And katara and sokka both having their coming of age story while defending the north. Katara in defending aang, with her sick new moves paku learned her. Sokka might get a small ship of water tribesman as his warrior trial, and he successfully leads them on a small mission. The only issue with this, is that Yue is sidelined even more than normal. But i think that can be fixed by her and katara bonding during episode 7, and yue bringing aang to the spirit pool.

[@lainiwakura1776]

Doesn't make sense, Sokka's ability to be a great strategist needs to be set up before the season 1 finale. Also, it's far enough away that it still took the Gaang days to hit the Northern Water Tribe because they didn't realize the distance.

[@brianalambert1192]

I have to admit, after so many poor adaptations over the past decade, this is one that has me worried. I'm hopeful, but I'm worried

[@hez859]

One Piece was sick though

[@user-gf4nu8mw7z]

There is more than one adaptation of ATLA other than the Shyamalan movie?

[@groofay]

I think the fact that the Shyamalan movie exists gives me hope that this will be at least okay. They have an example of what happens when an Avatar adaptation screws up, and they (should) have a vested interest in not doing that, to this fandom specifically, again. They know we remember.

[@Megistrus]

@@hez859Rangz of Power and WoT were both trash though.

[@StudioHannah]

Same here

[@jasonp7423]

I hope they give Aang a moment like he had in The Fortune Teller. Its one of my favorite moments in the whole show and plants the seed of Aang and Katara's relationship...

[@danielbrandstetter8713]

My Predictions: Ep 1: The Last Airbender. - > The Boy in the Iceberg - > The Avatar Returns - > The Southern Air Temple Ep 2: Warriors. - > Imprisoned - > Bato of the Water Tribe - but not Sokka’s trials - > Warriors of Kyoshi Ep 3: Omashu. - > The Great Divide - As a cameo where they fly over and see them, but don't stop. - > The Fortune Teller - As a cameo, she's offering fortunes inside Omashu, but they don't stop. - > The Waterbending Scroll - > The King of Omashu Ep 4: Into the Dark. - > The Storm + Expanded Backstory with Zuko, Azula, Mei, and Tai Lee - > The Deserter Ep 5: Spirited Away. - > Winter Solstice Part 1 - > Winter Solstice Part 2 Ep 6: Masks. - > Jet - > The Blue Spirit Make this an episode where the Gaang are side-characters and make Zuko and Jet the MC's and have them run parallel stories where you can contrast Zuko's struggle to honorably let Aang free after Aang saves his life, meanwhile Jet is willing to sacrifice a village of civilians to eliminate an enemy. Ep 7: The North. - > Northern Air Temple - > Bato of the Water Tribe - Sokka's Trials - > Waterbending Master Ep 8: Legends. - > Siege of the North Part 1 - > Siege of the North Part 2

[@ghostrider0778]

Here's my idea on how they break it up. Moving the order around *a bit* , have the Northern Air Temple behind The Blue Spirit, so during the fight at the Northern Air Temple Aang gets captured by Zhao, which leads them to Jhett promising that he might know where Aang is being held if Sokka and Katara help him with a mission

[@lainiwakura1776]

That doesn't make sense, the Northern Air Temple was literally the very last thing the Gaang did before they the finale episodes in the Northern Water Tribe. It's that far north.

[@vismaykedilaya1318]

I actually think the episode "Into the dark" could cover the Northern Air Temple. I don't think the severity of the battle was emphasized in the original, and i think there's a lot of room for aang's character arc, maybe there's elements of "the storm" in there, but i think it would be more impactful to see aang getting a second chance to save the place his home. I do think it is possible for Jet to be worked into Omashu. this is more of a stretch, but Jet could be a freedom fighter based in Omashu, whose ruthless determination to defeat the fire nation results in the deaths of Omashu citizens and soldiers.

[@milesparker557]

That seems too early. The gaang is travelling North, so the Northern Air Temple has to happen near the end of the season, right before they get to the North Pole.

[@NamelessKing1597]

@@milesparker557 Maybe in "Masks"? *The Storm + Northern Air Temple + Blue Spirit.* "Into the Dark" could be *Imprisoned + Waterbending Scroll + Jet*

[@names_are_useless]

@@milesparker557 You're assuming the geography of Netflix!Avatar will be the same as the Animated Series. If they need to, they will change things around.

[@Luey_Luey]

@@milesparker557 they could just say its a different air temple. They could even discard the idea of a single northern/southern/etc air temple and give them actual names if they wanted to

[@vismaykedilaya1318]

@@names_are_uselessit is an adaptation. i don't see a reason why they'd change the map. It's a pretty important part of the world and story, so if they did change it, that's already a massive red flag.

[@semicolonizer]

Something I thought of is Azula, Mai and Ty Lee appearing in the 'Omashu' episode. Afterall, their appearence is confirmed and, though this takes place in season 2, the first time we see them is in fact in Omashu. Maybe they're gonna have them be the antagonists of that episode somehow? Or even perhaps combine the 2 Omashu episodes entirely, focusing on the Fire Nation taking the city. I highly doubt they're gonna stick to the original layout of the King of Omashu consisering the whole 'darker and more mature' themes, let alone have that take a whole hour, so this could be one way to go about it.

[@HD-eg4gf]

They are also listed to appear in that episode

[@TMtheScratcher]

Hm I think with Zuko and Zhao they already have two villains which need at this point much more time to be truely established. Before completing this it is not a good move in my opinion to introduce a third villian. I'm pretty sure, that Azula, Mai and Ty Lee appear in flash backs during the storm, as they played an important role in Zukos past.

[@Tupadre97]

That would be awful. There's no reason not to save azula for the end since her arc is so great. It would be moronic to have the season 2 omashu episode in the first season. The only way it would make sense is if they show up in a zuko flashback which is what I think we're actually getting in that episode.

[@waterdragon55]

Just going to say if u don't want your kids to watch something dark then don't let them watch this series in live action as it is more dark or scary kind of vibe but still sad as people do die

[@lainiwakura1776]

@@Tupadre97 And the whole reason for it being in the second season is because it pushes Aang to look for an earthbending teacher who isn't Bumi, which is the season Aang focuses on earthbending too.

[@Ali-zn6sg]

My thoughts: 1) The Last Airbender: (The Boy in the Iceberg, The Avatar Returns, The Southern Air Temple) 2) Warriors: (The Warriors of Kyoshi, Bato of the Water Tribe) In Bato of the Water Tribe, we get flashbacks from when Sokka was left behind when his father went to war. It would be interesting to see these episodes combined because it simultaneously addresses the source of Sokka's sexisim / need to be a warrior and the present-day repercussions of his sexism. I also think having this conflict of Bato of the Water Tribe earlier on could be a better placement for testing Katara and Sokka's commitment to helping Aang. It makes more sense why Aang would question whether Katara and Sokka will stick by his side when they've just begun their journey, realized that Zuko is hunting them down and the danger they have yet to face-rather than after they're already almost at the North Pole. 3) Omashu: (The King of Omashu, Imprisoned) I think this could be a good opportunity for Katara and Sokka to be literally imprisoned, while also introducing some true conflict into the plot. It can also be a great opportunity to get into what it means to be an earthbender, by putting these two episodes into conversation with one another. There isn't a real reason Aang needs to go to Omashu besides showing Katara and Sokka how much fun it is, but maybe Aang needs to get the King's help because he doubts that Katara can help the imprisoned earthbenders all on her own, and Bumi agrees to help only if Aang can pass his three challenges. It's an opportunity to ask several questions about Omashu's place in the war and why they aren't helping the neighboring towns. Maybe Katara really does get imprisoned, instead of it being a ploy. The moral of The King of Omashu is looks can be deceiving, creative thinking is important in battle, and Aang will need to put trust in his friends. Now, they can operationalize those lessons by displaying creative thinking by giving the imprisoned earthbenders coal to bend, and letting Aang and Sokka trust Katara's judgement. 4) Into the Dark: (The Waterbending Scroll, The Deserter) These would be interesting to put into conversation with one another because they are both about Aang and Katara trying to learn new forms of bending, but completely missing the point. Katara agrees to show Aang a few waterbending moves and becomes frustrated with how naturally talented he is. Instead of being patient with herself, she steals a waterbending scroll. Meanwhile, they come across Jeong Jeong and, in his high-confidence at being so good at waterbending, Aang is convinced he can learn firebending at the same time and comes to the brutal realization that he doesn't yet have the mindset necessary to control fire. He burns Katara, and Katara finds that she can heal-bringing her inferiority complex to a close and giving her a newfound confidence in her own innate bending abilities. Zuko teams up with the pirates to get the waterbending scroll back and capture the avatar, while Zhao goes after Jeong Jeong. They all meet in the middle (both episodes take place on a river, so it works geographically) and the big battle ensues. 5) Spirited Away: (The Winter Solstice (The Spirit World / Avatar Roku)) 6) Masks: (The Blue Spirit, Jet, possibly The Storm) Aang doesn't have much screen time in Jet. To me, it makes sense that this episode about unmasking can be about The Blue Spirit and Jet. On one side, you have Aang getting captured, getting rescued by the Blue Spirit, and have him wrestle with the realization that one of his enemies has saved him. You also have something about Aang trusting his instincts about whether to trust Zuko. In a parallel story, you have a foil to this where Katara has to learn not to put all of her trust into people who appear to be on her side (and Sokka's instincts). Maybe it's the fire nation festival that is going to be flooded, so Aang goes to warn them and is captured-where Zuko saves him. It could make for this interesting conversation about whether all of our villains are all bad and whether all of our heros are truly all good. I also think this could be a good plot that either sets us up for Aang and Zuko's backstories to be told-or we can hear their backstories then potentially lead into this plot. 7) The North: (The Waterbending Master, The Siege of the North) I honestly think they'll cut out a lot of the plot about sexism, but we will get to explore Northern Water Tribe culture. It's also possible that we get to see the Northern Air Temple here. 8) Legends (possibly The Northern Air Temple?) I think it's possible this can be about Aang hearing the legends of airbenders in the past-only to find out that there are actually "airbenders" in the modern Northern Air Temple. Probably not, but it's an idea. I think it'll mostly be about the Siege of the North.

[@Hadeks_Marow]

One thing that's worth considering is the idea of the team splitting up where each character covers a different episode. Soka meets his moon girlfriend in the north while katara seeks to learn how to be a healer after aang burned her. Soka went cause he wanted to check for his father in the north poll. Meanwhile aang goes to the norther air temple on his own. By having the gang split up alot, you have alot more room to cover other episodes together via A-plot, B-plot, C-plot structure.

[@Chilie5678]

I think into the dark is going to be the jet episode, with possibly pairing that with the Jeong Jeong episode. 1. The Deserter is very similar to Apocalypse Now, which is based of the novel Heart of Darkness 2. Those two episodes really change the narrative of "fire is all bad guys, while the other nations are all good." 3. Aang swears off fire bending, a sort of going into the darkness. The fortune teller also in theory could be combined with the keoshi warriors, since its more sokka episode and this would give aang and katara more to do.

[@Strollerlove]

If I had a limited number of episodes to work with I would combine the Southern and Northern air temple episodes. The theme of both episodes is Aang struggling to overcome the loss of his culture and finding hope in new relationships. So instead of finding the Southern air temple empty we meet Theo l, the inventor and their people. Aang struggles with coming to terms with his people being gone and other people now living in his home, taking all sorts of liberties. He walks around having flashbacks about his friends and monk Gyatso and we se how all these places filled with memories are now destroyed. He finds the untouched chamber with the Avatars and we learn about the avatar cycle. They find and chase momo which leads them to the storage room, where the inventor is now inventering weapons for the fire nation, in the very temple where the genocide took place. Aang is pissed, and so are Sokka and Katara. The temple is attacked just like in the Northern air temple episode but as the explosion sets of an avalanche, the skeletons of the air benders are uncovered from underneath the snow. Aang looks from skeleton to skeleton, faces flashing before his eyes and then as his eyes lands on monk Gyatso he explodes into the avatar state, blowing the fire benders of the mountain. The wind grows stronger and stronger reaching up towards the sky and threatens the air forces still in the sky. That’s when Katara steps in, telling Aang how his family may be lost, but he is part of a new family now. Their family. The inventor only now, after having seen the remains of the air benders, realizes what they have been trespassing on offers to make amends, switching sides in the war effort and offering to give the air benders a proper funeral. They offer to leave, but Aang has a change of heart remembering all the happiness he experienced growing up in the temple and realizes he’d rather have the temple live on through them than to see it left empty and life less. He makes the hermit crab metaphor from the end of the northern air temple. But instead of it being a hermit crab who is the descendant of the air temple creatures, it is Momo who accompanies them on their journey. It would change the tone of the episode, slowly building up towards the Avatar state rather than getting choked into it by finding monk Gyatso. But that way you could touch on all the important and reoccurring themes from both episodes.

[@mikeljasonallas1860]

No

[@jessetorres8738]

There needs to be a prequel series that shows the lives of the 6 named Avatars who came before Korra & Aang; Roku, Kyoshi, Kuruk, Yangchen, Szeto, & Salai. I like how the novels & comics have given them more backstory & we got a few episodes featuring some of them, but I want to see the 6 of them in an actual show.

[@NapaCat]

Yangchen and Kyoshi have their novels, though?

[@clonetrooper2003]

The. Just adapt the novels@@NapaCat

[@LARKXHIN]

And Roku is getting his book next year.

[@TheJordanK]

An anthology series with like an hour and a half for each avatar would be sick.

[@clonetrooper2003]

@@LARKXHIN hopefully kai and jinora are next lol

[@tardisinthesgc]

You missed the most important casting of all: THE CABBAGE MERCHANT!! Also the only cast member to not only have been in both the cartoon and this Netflix adaptation, but also to be reprising his most iconic character from the original cartoon!!

[@person9846]

I think it’s good it won’t just be a retelling in live action but It’s going to be hard to run through all the major points in everyone’s arcs and change the story. Hopefully that make imprisoned, the great divide, the painted lady, and season 1 better

[@dragonsword2253]

I think the Jet/Blue Spirit dichotomy could work very well. The episode starts with the group (sans Sokka) being taken in by Jet's charms, but his tactics are quickly revealed to be brutal and against what the team stands for. It is one of Jet's barbaric plans that gets Aang captured by Zhao. That provides ample opportunity for drama between Katara and Sokka and between the both of them and Jet while also providing an opportunity for Zuko to rescue him, since Aang's team will be occupied by dealing with Jet

[@daisygunning7366]

I think/kinda hope, that into darkness is a reference to the spirit world, and they will lean into the airbender spirit world. I really like how the airbender is incredibly dark and mysterious, and it's sort of one of the main areas where I feel Kora was not to my liking, so I hope we get a more airbender-esk spirit world episode.

[@pn2294]

Why would it be darker just because it’s the Spirit World or Airbender focused?

[@daisygunning7366]

@@pn2294 Just that for me, I found the airbender spirit world much more spooky and unknown than the Kora spirit world.

[@swampert564]

I'm getting more and more excited for this show. Still definitely in the cautious optimism stage but Netflix has been kinda killing it with adaptations recently. I'm not sure if they are actively encouraging creators to try hard or just staying out of the way but it seems to be working. They managed a surprisingly solid attempt at Sandman in particular which should be reasonably much more difficult to adapt than Avatar. Here's to hoping that I don't have to eat these words in a few months to a year. At least it can't be as truly awful as the Dark Tower movie was.

[@benjamindebo9283]

Also I hope the don't cut a lot of the storm because that's also the first time we see anyone (Iroh) redirect lightning.

[@dresdenwarlock7978]

My guess is The Storm is getting combined with the Blue Spirit episode in "Masks". One leading into the next. I really hope the Yuyan archers are in this. It's a very important episode, series and character defining. My guess is most of the stuff for Azula is in that episode in a flashback before the Agni Kai, or after.

[@generalkindle3308]

I think Jet’s story line makes a lot of sense to be that into the dark episode. Might be a little too early but I think it’s their best option.

[@silvermoon2608]

I wonder if into the dark could be skipping way ahead to the secret tunnels episode in season 2. That’s the first thing that comes to mind when I think of darkness in avatar. Maybe instead of traveling through the tunnels to return to Omashu later on, something in episode 3 forces them to escape from Omashu via the tunnels?

[@karnewarrior]

Thought along similar lines myself. Netflix isn't limited to picking just season 1 episodes after all, so they could move stuff around quite significantly if they think it'll be good. And honestly, the think there is carrying quite some weight, because it need not be an actually good decision to be one they make.

[@lainiwakura1776]

Sounds like a bad idea to me, especially since after they leave the cave, they find out Omashu had fallen.

[@princessthyemis]

Ooo cool idea!

[@cloudwatcher608]

I had this thought too and commented it. Honestly, there isn’t anything in “Cave of Two Lovers” that is season 2 specific, other than the revelation at the end. I bet they are bringing it into season 1 to increase the romantic drama between Aang and Katara.

[@SplendidNinja]

What about the war where Yue/moon spirit dies? I think into the Dark could be referring to that possibly?

[@anaelisam1]

As you were talking about the episodes, I thought of the possibility of The storm being merged in the Blue spirit episode. Like, we see their backgrounds as Aang and Zuko work together in the present. I'd be sad if we lost the beat of Zuko letting Aang go for the sake of his crew but maybe they could put it into another episode or maybe make it take another form in this version of the Storm

[@jamoecw]

you missed the purpose of the craziness of King Bumi. Bumi being over the top wacky makes it impossible to take him seriously, yet he was the strongest earth bender, and he was brilliant in a way that one doesn't see due to that craziness. this shows that Saka can be a genius and unconventional. before this Saka kept trying to be serious in order to do important things, after this he tends to lean into his craziness when he does important things. it might no need 20 minutes, but toning it down would be a mistake.

[@lainiwakura1776]

Sokka* You literally can Google this crap.

[@GooeyChewie]

My predictions on the potential cuts: •They cut The Great Divide, but have a scene where the gang flies over a huge canyon. They don't even need to point it out; fans of the cartoon will pick up on it. •The Fortuneteller gets cut entirely. Maybe the fortuneteller herself gets added in Omashu for a quick prediction, but I'm not really expecting even that. •The Deserter I'd like to see stay in, though I can see your rationale. •I predict the Northern Air Temple gets put into the first part of The North. I expect they'll connect it to the Northern Water Tribe by having the gang escape directly to the North Pole and the Fire Nation follow them.

[@dresdenwarlock7978]

I like your picks, but after years of watching cast announcements they haven't cast Jeong Jeong, so I think Deserter got bumped to book 3.

[@GooeyChewie]

@@dresdenwarlock7978 Sad, but true.

[@bronkobjama3154]

The nice thing about season one is that so many of the episodes are one off, not necessarily filler but their own self contained story so reordering them matters a lot less

[@erikm8373]

If they already have Azula, Mai, and Ty Lee cast, with plans to expand on their role in the story, maybe they're going to accelerate the Omashu storyline, and have it get (or already be) conquered in that season one episode. Because, if we're being real, the Return to Omashu episode isn't all that plot-critical. The only relevant thing is that Bumi tells Aang to find an earthbending teacher who "listens to the Earth," as a way of foreshadowing Toph. Outside of that, it really just serves to show the Fire Nation continuing their expansion to places once thought of as safe. Here, it could be Aang bringing the Gaang to Omashu under the impression it would be safe, only for the reveal that it has long since been captured by the fire nation, and the episode revolves around rescuing the captured king, who is revealed to be Bumi. You could introduce Azula and her team as this unexpected threat who conquered the city, and have her set in motion her plan to get Zuko out of the way and kill the Avatar herself.

[@Nani.101]

For the into the dark episode: if it is still a Heibai episode, I hope that we follow Sokka's experience entering the spirit world. That's one thing I wish we got in the animated show!

[@HD-eg4gf]

Into the dark will be the jet episode. They are also listed for this Episode in imdb. And i think Azula Ty Lee and Mai will conquer omashu already in season 1 because they also appear in Episode 3

[@theperfectbotsteve4916]

watching them make another avatar show is always like: CAREFUL SPONGE BOB! CAREFUL SPONGEBOB! AHHH!!!

[@JohnBainbridge0]

The Winter Solstice is the shortest day / longest night of the year. "Into the Dark" seems a fitting title.

[@Mediados]

What worries me is that in the latest shows on streaming services you can see a trend. Yes they have more time because the episodes don't have to be 20-30 minutes, but what usually happens is that they make 40-50 minute episodes with about 20 min of actual story.

[@drummersnare6276]

right, they just add a crap ton of boring dialogue to fill the time.

[@BaldorfBreakdowns]

What I hate is when they remove important moments in favor of their "new and improved" version that's less effective and takes longer to convey the same information and usually misses the real reason those original moments worked, then say they didn't have time to include those important moments that were removed.

[@Leufjcjwjw]

9:02 The trials of Omashu are incredibly important for King Bumi and the White Lotus Society. Each test was designed to see Aangs progress in mastering the elements and to see if Aang in the past hundred years had lost his compassion or memory.

[@dresdenwarlock7978]

Hell yes, thank you!

[@evilwelshman]

My prediction on how _Mask_ will adapt Jet and the Blue Spirit storylines..... my prediction is that they meet up with Jet, something goes wrong and Aang gets captured. Jet will claim to agree to help Katara and Sokka to rescue Aang but it turns out he's just using them for his own ends. Meanwhile, Aang gets rescued by Zuko.

[@derekmims6903]

Thanks!

[@sophiehallen6048]

Honestly this is the first time I am this involved in a fandom and it is really fun. Even though I try to not get my hopes up to up to not jinx it.

[@dresdenwarlock7978]

Same. I've been following the development from the beginning and have been stunned at almost every turn

[@BlackXSunlight]

They could pepper the search for this "Deserter" throughout several episodes, perhaps a reason to draw Aang away during the Jet episode. It'd be especially poignant if taken place after the Blue Spirit, as Aang would clearly be more certain he has no option for a teacher outside of Jeong Jeong after being locked up in a Fire Nation prison.

[@midnightbard3935]

I feel like Jet could work pretty well as part of the Warriors episode. His freedom fighters and Kioshi warriors are kind of two very differing ideas on how to fight the war and that storyline establishes the whole conflict in a very interesting and kind of grey way. Also he and his crew are a group of warriors. Fits the title well.

[@dvklaveren]

You could tie Jet and Jeong Jong into the same episode by having Aang train under a fire bending master while Katara and Sokka are helping Jet fight the fire nation. Everyone except Aang and Katara would think firebending is evil, until Aang ends up hurting Katara. Jet can express his anti-Fire sentiments when he sees that Katara is hurt, blaming it on Jeong Jeong and see this as a reason to attack the fire nation village, even though the village has nothing to do with Jeong Jeong.

[@Naoise012]

I'm not sure where if at all this would fit but I could absolutely imagine them combining Jet and Jeong Jeong's stories as part of that idea of showing not all firebenders are evil.

[@foxfire9124]

One thing I had a huge issue with in the original show was how Sokka and Katara is that they both seemed to take turns being the irresponsible one with the other chastised them. Not a huge issue but it did feel a little weird at times

[@lightningg252]

That's kinda how group dynamics work, people have their own blind spots where different sides of their personality come out. When one person is off, another takes charge. Although, everyone has their primary role as comedic relief, leader, mentor, skeptic, etc, those roles are often shared and shift to another person, like real life. Everyone would be boring and insufferable if they were always their character archtypes🤷‍♀️

[@curtiswfranks]

I think that the Northern Air Temple almost must be part of "The North", although I could also see it as part of "Masks" (the Mechanist is wearing at least one mask). The Northern Air Temple gives Aang and Sokka important character beats which could parallel the Bato and Katara training montage, as well as Aang's betrayal of Katara and Sokka in the Bato episode. I am not completely sure how to make it work structurally, but the thematics work for me.

[@deannakay6607]

Oh my goodness - what if they do this? Aang betrays Katara and Sokka, and the siblings separate from Aang. Katara and Sokka meet Jet. Aang gets captured.

[@icefang111]

ok maybe I'm crazy but hear me out: So I'm with you here E1 - The Last Airbender: Same vibes episodes 1-3 E7 - The North: 17-18 with a mix in of 15 for Soka's right of passage (maybe to impress Yue as we build up his rivalry w her fiancé?) E8 - Legends: 19-20 no duh But I think these episodes might break down like this: E2 - Warriors: episode 4 of course but mixed with water bending scroll to give Katara and Aang a more interesting b plot in that episode (and furthering Katara and Aang as warriors which fits the title! Also the jealousy even worse with pushing the avatar worship aspect of the town) E3 - Omashu: Meeting king Bumi but I think they could actually split up the storm and give us Aangs story here and Zukos later- it hurts the direct parallels but it arguably flows better in this 60 minute format than the more quartered off 20 it was built for before. It makes sense it crops up as Bumi questions Aangs readiness and how this all happened in the first place. (You could also ig throw in some fortuneteller stuff??? but not have the whole volcano bit, just as a catalyst for bringing up more of Katara and Aangs romance and maybe Aang trying to grapple with his fate and his refusal of it previously to hang in his mind before they meet Bumi, and have Katara's revelation of Aangs strength as a bender come from the tests. Or even sidestep that and instead prove the fortunes don't mater and focus on what really maters in a relationship: being supporting each other in as Katara helps Aang deal with the choices he made, also showing emotional growth from the warriors episode) Now I go really off the rails E4 - Into the Dark: Wildest take but combining Jet, Imprisoned, and Deserter all here. How? look in my brain it works ok. I think they all deal interestingly with the moral complications of the war and how its effecting people in more nuanced ways (for both sides!) and how bad things have gotten without the avatar. Jet and Jeong Jeong being interesting parallels in a way- both easily combined with a colonized fire nation city having a festival Jet wants to drown! And I think mixing elements of imprisoned could 100% work here, showing off Jets motives in a good light and why he's so zealous, maybe even getting his help in taking down the prison! Crazy I know, but it could. E5 - Spirited Away: Ok ok ok.... we make the town having spirit troubles? BE THE NORTHERN AIR TEMPLE. Boom worked it in baby. Giving it focus by instead by splitting some of the solstice episodes into masks! (here me out!) E6 - Masks: oh no! In doing the whole crossing of enemy lines to get info Aang DOES get captured in this version! (much more compelling than caught getting frogs don't you think?) and then we lead into masks proper! With Zuko saving Aang as the true climax of the episode. I also think here might be where we get Zuko's half of the storm (if its not just interspersed throughout previous episodes) as Iroh convincing his crew to why they should help Zuko in re-escaping the fire nation after he goes in despite being exiled (choosing to leave the crew behind and keep them safe while pressing on alone when Aang and co enter the fire nation -perhaps mixing in the storm moment- to keep that precursor of good in Zuko but also his desperation). Also a technical DEFEATE here makes the war coming to their door as we hide in the north more tense. Aang lost the last big fight he had with these guys! Can he really beat them now? look I'm not stoked for this adaptation (Animation is the best medium for this story and is not lesser than live action fight me) and they prob wont do it like this, but idk I think something more to this mindset, of cutting things up and reformatting it could be what they NEED to do. Re-contextualizing the themes of those episodes into smaller character threads to build into larger key narratives and arcs might be how they'd have to restructure a once episodic 20 minute show into the more serious linear building 60 minute show they seem to want to tell. Kind of the Arcane way of doing it, you know what I mean? At the very least I enjoy this weird fanfic that now lives in my mind. I don't think they'll do it this way at all tho lmao oh where is June in all this? uhhhhhhhhhhhhh Zuko hires her in 2 and 3 before she gets sick of him and Iroh and bounces. Then Zhao hires her in 5-6 when he catches Aang instead of arrow guys who came out of nowhere and did nothing else. Sure lets go with that.

[@michaellane5381]

We have to keep in mind Bumi not only has to be shredded and mobile, he has to maintain that until Book 3, they can't hire old enough for a buff AF Centinarian anyways.

[@DeerDrinksBeer]

wish we could see a more realistic, brutal and bloody version of the avatar,feel like it would give the show some much needed power factor

[@closeben]

Figuring out where to place the Northen Air Temple was also my biggest question when reading those episode titles - until you mentioned the idea of combining the siege against the Air Temple with the Siege of the North. This would make so much sense as I think it’s unlikely they want to have 2 major battles scenes in comepletly different episodes. I think it’s likely that they will make the location of the Air Temple distinctly very close to the North Pole, and the Fire Nation is attacking on both fronts at the same time. The Air Temple may almost act like a first defense, and once they are defeated it is like breaching the wall of Helms Deep and they have much better access to attatcking the North Pole.

[@subinmdr]

Imagine if we get a 60-minute The Great Divide episode.

[@Brick_One_A_Lego_Story]

This could be "Into the darkness" as it would be the descent into the lowest point in the series :)

[@markusbiewer9153]

I don't think they will try to force some of the episodes together. Instead, I think they will cut some of the one-off episodes (The Fortuneteller, Imprisoned, The Great Divide) and have three plotlines in this, similar to Books 2 and 3. So, that could involve the White Lotus, Fire Nation politics, etc.

[@siriusblack6057]

I have no idea what the episode into the dark will be about, but it's funny how we are into the dark about the episode "into the dark". Actually it can be clever if it's new content and we, the old fans, are into the dark bc it's nothing we've seen before, or could have predicted.

[@jj947]

I hope there’s a meta-joke about the great divide. Like they’re flying over it on Appa and a scene goes like: “What’s that?” “It’s a massive canyon.” “They call it The Great Divide…” “So glad we don’t have to go down there”

[@dresdenwarlock7978]

Or something to infer that they did do that, but off screen. "Glad we aren't dealing with those tribes anymore.. did we get any of their meat?" "Nope, but I got an extra tent!" "..delicious"

[@meander8458]

Very interesting to look at how the story might be adapted for the current day, and in the streaming situation. In terms of changing things like Waterbending Scroll and Imprisoned, I think the show really needs the substance of their very necessary characterisation of Katara, her optimism and dedication, her fierce defence of people, and her frustration over trying to learn waterbending. Both episodes contain significant moments for her that are built on throughout the series, so I hope that the core parts of them remain.

[@FabulousKilljoy917]

If I typed my thoughts on every speculative episode I’d write a book in the comments 😅but you know I’m still holding out hope for this to be good, but I also feel (begrudgingly like Alan Moore) that a story doesn’t need to be adapted to another medium if it’s original form was so beloved. That being said I’m with you Tim for the first half of the episodes, but this is being typed at [ 20:18 ] and I’m realizing the subtle character development beats that carry so much weight for later seasons-even just in the Desserter and what it holds for Zhou in the season 1 finale-and in that regard I do worry about rushing over those little things too much…but idk we’ll see.

[@OmegaCalamity]

I really hope the martial arts are given the same care and attention as the shows. It was one of the many things that made avatar different from other family/youth programming.

[@deannakay6607]

Into the Dark - my first thought was the episode where they had to travel through the cave. I know it's out of order, but if the series plans on meshing episodes together, mixing up the order of events and even switching the direction of travel (I've seen this happen with another book to movie adaptation) is a viable option.

[@SnailHatan]

Doing Katara’s struggle with Aang being better at waterbending I think would work a lot better if they spread it out over the whole season. Little bits of her anger and jealousy growing. Small, biting comments and terseness seeping through over time, really building up right into her fight with Master Paku. It would make the growth and emotional development much more impactful. And that goes for most of these episodes. Splitting up the emotional beats and character appearances to small bits in multiple episodes as the Gaang travels would even make stories like Jet’s more impactful. Coming across village after village that they saved, and then seeing how far he’s willing to go in a big climactic moment. I dunno. It makes sense to me. I really don’t love combining so many episodes into one if all they’re doing is rushing through them even faster than the cartoon.

[@serthiag7373]

Wouldve been cool if aang waterbended at least once tbh -.-

[@pyrosymphonyfireworksdesig5690]

The timeline is already convoluted as it is... I actually hope to see The Northern Air Temple episode bumped into the first episode of season 2 where the gaang left Paku's boat to the Earth Kingdom since I can feel like it makes much more sense... After his momentous avatar state in the seige, we can actually deal in episode 1 how he actually feels with... 1: how devastating it is to be in the avatar state this will flow kinda same with how season 2 episode 1 on the original series would flow. We can also sprinkle a few night dream scenes here and there to introduce Toph and the Swamp 2: how the world has truly changed while he was gone. This is where we can put his dilemma with the mechanist right after he deals with general in the earth kingdom base. He will be put in a position right after his avatar state situation to deal with how the earth kingdom people slowly crept up the mountain into the temple and made it their refuge while also adding changes to the temple that would make their lives easier and safer. We can frame this as the world just getting on by with technology just like how Kuvira argued with Korra regarding "taking responsibility while you were gone". Also, it would make much more sense for the battle with the mechanist to be an episode ender and making it like a mini full scale seige to the mountain. The ending of that episode will be the fire nation troops finding the war balloon and we can also have a post credit scene of a quick flash of a dream of toph's laugh at the swamp as her introduction or even Ozai's order to Azula... whichever makes more sense... This episode structure would also make sense geographically speaking since they could frame the earth kingdom base somewhere closer in the northern earth kingdom. We could set up the scene where the gaang left paku's boats just a few days after setting sail from the northern water tribe which would kinda make their location still closer up north than what the Earth Kingdom base is which I believe is closer to the equatorial region of the earth kingdom... Just my two cents :)

[@dresdenwarlock7978]

Northern Air Temple is happening because Teyo and The Mechanist were cast. So. It isn't getting bumped.

[@pyrosymphonyfireworksdesig5690]

@dresdenwarlock7978 I know... its just my wishful thinking that I hoped it was bumped to Season 2 for the timeline's sake...

[@handsanitizer5127]

What I like about the great divide episode is the talk that Aang and the guide have. He tells him something about being neutral is being lonely or something like that. We see Aang lie and people have had whole discussions about Aang and lying idk. Also, it may be a filler or whatever, but I like it.

[@LilyNaikiir]

I feel like the waterbending scroll would be a great addition to the warriors of kioshii. That story is in a way about katara's hubris a bit, so it would make a nice paralalel to soka's arc. Also island + pirate is a natural fit imho.

[@deannakay6607]

That would make sense. Katara and Aang practicing water bending - and Katara dealing with her pride - while Soka is learning how to be a warrior and dealing with his pride.

[@10freekie2]

14:35 But I lóved the great divide! It is really showing how Aang has a diplomatic role to fulfill and he is actually good at.

[@mr.pumpkin1983]

The title of the episode spirited away is not necessarily a reference to the film, it is an actual term used in the winter solstice episodes i believe

[@jackrichardson7020]

Jeong Jeong could be in a prisoner in the Northern Warer Tribe? He willingly surrendered himself years ago in the place his firebending is least powerful. When Aang grows frustrated with Pakku he tries to learn Fire. Burning Katara then naturally leads into her learning healing. Also, you could frame the Zhao/Jeong Jeong confrontation as part ofvthe Siege of the North, as Zhao's final obstacle/Point of No Return before killing the Moon Spirit

[@Luey_Luey]

i doubt this is it but this is an interesting idea

[@driezzy]

Episode 3 maybe a combination of season 1 and 2, where we get to know Omashu and the King and ultimately the downfall of the city to the fire nation. In the end Bumi tells Aang he needs to find a teacher who Waits and Listens.

[@evilwelshman]

This is going to be WILD speculation, but what if the show folds the Mechanists' story into _Into The Dark_ , with the episode focusing on the loss brought about by the war. Maybe they merge it with the first half of the Winter Solstice episode, with an angry Hei Bai kidnapping the Mechanists' residents out of anger for what they've done to the Northern Air Temple and Aang having to placate it that the Airenders' heritage lives on through them, at the same time coming to the realisation himself.

[@lainiwakura1776]

That doesn't make sense, the Northern Air Temple is so far north that it was the Gaang's last stop before they go to the Northern Water Tribe and would place it too close to the finale.

[@evilwelshman]

@@lainiwakura1776 Or, they swap it out to a different Air Temple. Or relocate where the Northern Air Temple is located.

[@racool911]

I really hope they reference the Great Divide some way in the show, even as a joke. Cause we all know they're clearly skipping it

[@chapablo]

Omashu has to be a moment where they can show how bending truly works in the world. Up until now you’ve only seen a handful of combat benders and non bending warriors in an isolated island. Omashu is the opportunity to truly world build. Seeing the ramp system in a large urban setting, introducing earth bending, adding additional uses for it in construction and transportation long before Ba Sing Se. Showing other uses for that skill in ordinary life can really shape the rest of the series outside of “mystical fighters throw elements at each other in villages”

[@santosic]

Since the episodes are going to be roughly 60 minutes long now, and each episode in the original series is ~22 minutes or so, The Northern Air Temple and The Waterbending Master's runtimes combined are about ~44, ~45 minutes. So, they could definitely combine both episodes in "The North" and still have 15 minutes to expand both of them. Essentially, what they could do is, instead of a commercial break, we see them fly from the Northern Air Temple directly into The North Pole in one scene (likely with them commenting on that during the transition), cueing the start of The Waterbending Master episode. They could make some changes to make it feel more natural, like perhaps the Northern Air Temple being a little closer to the North Pole than in the show, and the episode starting off with them intending to land in the North Pole that very day, but, *gasp* are those... airbenders over there?? Which explains why they detour there at all, and then land in the North Pole shortly after leaving while still in the same episode as that was set up at the start, that they'd arrive there and that is pretty close by. Making it feel less jarring at the locale change, assuming they handle all that correctly. One way they could seamlessly combine both storylines is having the fight at the end of The Northern Air Temple be THE trigger for The Siege of the North: Admiral Zhao gets word of Aang being this close to the North Pole and THAT is how he realizes that he's heading there and does his whole invasion plan. So, in the very same episode, at the end (using that extended runtime), we have a small scene of Admiral Zhao getting news of Aang being at the Northern Air Temple and how they've lost that place now because of him and the episode ends with a similar cliffhanger as the original The Waterbending Master of Zhao deciding to invade. ALL of that to say, there is definitely a good chance they could combine both storylines together in a way that ties into each other pretty well.

[@dresdenwarlock7978]

See, this is the kind of fan speculation I just f**kin' LOVE to see. Well put, dude.