Avatar: The Last Airbender (TV Series) The Firebending Masters (2008) User Reviews

Favorite chapter of Book 3

[stevenlebeef · 10/10 · 29 May 2020]

I watched this series at the exact target age when I was a kid, and after over a decade of not seeing this show this was one of the few episodes I completely remembered the visuals of. I think this is the sleeper for best episode. A lot of good stuff in this episode

The best animation in all of A:TLA

[oscarpayne-99114 · 10/10 · 8 July 2020]

This episode is good. But what makes it great is the animation. It has a very distinct flow and the mix of colours is transcendent. While it isn't the best in terms of story, it's up there with the world building done and small character moments. It's a nice mix between the character moments of The Beach and action from book 2.

Easily my favorite episode so far

[sevskirita · 10/10 · 6 September 2021]

This episode may not touch on thoroughly deep emotional beats, but it goes above and beyond in philosophy, worldbuilding, characterization, and lore.

I couldn't help smiling for so much of it. The beginning with the origin of bending and learning from nature, the middle with the unique concept of the ancient Sun Warriors, and finally the beauty of true firebending, and how both Aang and Zuko react to and reflect on it.

The writers and directors and animators did a truly wonderful job in making firebending seem powerful, mysterious, and beautiful.

I also thought it was a neat touch to have the civilization modeled after the Aztecs to be the ones who realized that fire shouldn't be fueled by rage.

10/10, perfect episode. Favorite so far.

I usually don't care much about animation, but the visual in this episode had me in awe.

[jackywu-90399 · 10/10 · 1 December 2022]

I usually care more about story rather than visual. ATLA has already demonstrated their story telling skill.

And since ATLA is a show that produced in 2005-2008, I never expect them to present animation as visually magnificent as anime nowadays.

But this episode, the whole "Masters", dragon dance, and the final "judgement time" sequence are so well done, and truly put me in awe.

How can an animation debut more than ten years ago produced something so gorgeous and magnificent. I watched those few minutes sitting at the edge of my chair, and all I can do is just appreciate how brilliant the ATLA production team are.

I'm so glad that I decided to pick up this show and watch. Can't wait to see what ATLA are going to offer next, I can already feel it's gonna be wild!

The true meaning of Firebending

[matitya-33937 · 8/10 · 18 February 2024]

Is "supposedly extinct dragons turn out to have been secretly alive all this time" a cliché? Yes. Is there a "but" coming? No, it's just a cliché. That having been established, why did the writers go with that. Presumably because Roku and Sozin both had Dragons but we have not seen any living Dragons in Aang's time over the course of the show so the writers felt compelled to provide an explanation. Fire Lord Sozin being the one who started the practice of hunting dragons for glory doesn't work for the simple reason that Sozin had a Dragon and him becoming a Dragon-killer seems out of character for him.

That said, I like how this episode extends Iroh's backstory (even if him covering up the survival of Dragonkind before Zuko was born raises questions about why he continued to fight for the Fire Nation at the Siege of Ba Sing Se or when his legendary journey to the Spirit World was.) I like how the episode builds on the revelation from Bitter Work that Firebending is fuelled by "emotion or aggression" and how it shows that fire can be a source of light and warmth rather than only destruction. I also like how Aang gets to see Zuko's resourcefulness first-hand.

I also like the original sources of elemental bending (though it's strange that for Waterbending it isn't an animal but the Moon) as well as Toph's backstory and I find the episode's humour funny.

This is a solid episode.