Time Lord patreon

Day of the Black Sun Part 2, Gallifrey Gals Get Bendy! S3Ep11

🕑 Added 2021-06-04 17:00:07 +0000 UTC

Comments

Ben Chan

Considering how everyone used to get along forever before the war, it's surprising that firebenders losing their ability during an eclipse wasn't common knowledge as there was no reason to keep that hidden before. I guess I'll just overlook that...?

Oliver Sharp

When you're finished with the show I would highly recommend watching The Psychology of Azula l Avatar: The Last Airbender from Hello Future Me, it's a great insight into her character.

Joshua Gosdin

Katrina being utterly wrecked by this two-parter is quite relatable. Kudos. Now we finally see what I believe to be a through-line weaving Aang and Zuko together that began in season one: lightning bending and the Avatar state are both metaphors for trauma and abuse. Consider the first episode to illustrate the explicit thematic connection between Aang and Zuko as deuteragonists: "The Storm." In the flashback to Zuko's abuse at the hands of Ozai and Aang learning he is the Avatar, we see that their shared experience is trauma. Zuko is traumatized by his abuse and Aang is traumatized by learning he is the Avatar. We see the first time Aang goes into the Avatar state when he flies off into the storm, attempting to escape his situation and emotions. The Avatar state, which is repeatedly and explicitly described as a defense mechanism when the Avatar feels threatened, freezes Aang in his emotions for a century. This is also the first episode where we see lightning bending when Iroh redirects a 1.21 gigawatts of electricity to protect the ship. Fast-forward to "Bitter Work," when Iroh is teaching Zuko lightning bending and lightning redirection. He explicitly describes the danger of allowing the lightning to pass through Zuko's heart, and instead implores Zuko to allow the lightning to move through him. And, finally, in this episode, we see why. Ozai doesn't just hurl lightning at Zuko - he hurls abuse in the form of insults, gaslighting, threats, and emotional manipulation. Zuko, in his moment of authenticity, is able to redirect all of this abuse and let it pass through him. And, he does the same to Ozai's lightning. So, if lightning bending is a metaphor for trauma, then lightning redirection is a metaphor for healing from that trauma. We'll have to wait to talk more about the Avatar state as trauma.