The tragedy to Azula's character was that she was, unwillingly so, the perfect conqueror. The only thing that separated Zuko and Azula wasn't their parents' preferences nor any natural inclination towards good or evil. Those are symptoms, not the disease. The problem really was that Azula was simply too gifted for her own good, born into a country and a family that takes those gifts and molds them to better fit into the authoritarian war machine. Where Azula was a gifted produgy and was therefore taken under Ozai's wing and radicalized into his way of thinking from a young age, Zuko struggled. That struggle allowed for him to gravitate more towards his mother, as his father saw his weakness and casted him aside, unintentionally saving him from becoming indoctrinated into the Fire Nation propaganda machine. Azula wasn't so lucky. She wasn’t born a monster, her circumstances made her into one.

Having had anger issues Zuko shouting “I’m angry at myself!” gets me every time.

This remains one of my favourite episodes, simply for how we finally get one line. "What amazing performances." Azula sees other people, her closest friends, bearing their souls, as performances. something put on for an audience. she's so detached from her own emotions she can't even comprehend a genuine emotional outpouring as anything but a play for status within the group. she’s... broken. in ways that none of the others are. she's a victim of the fire nation's war machine, and she'll never realise that because she's too close to it. and its sad. and terrifying. and sad.

One of the most interesting things about this episode is that we get the first glimpse of how the Fire Nation hurt Azula, even though she doesn't know about it yet. Azula was trained in pretty much every skill she could possibly need. Firebending, acrobatics, strategy, politics, etc. Everything except "being a regular kid". She doesn't know how to go to a party, she doesn't know how to interact with boys, she doesn't know how to make friends. Her only two friends are people who have been with her since she was born. Remember: Azula is just 14. She is a kid. But she doesn't know how to be a kid. She only knows how to be a conqueror.

Not a spoiler, since it's not directly explained: The explosions from his forehead are firebending, but, instead of releasing fire or an explosion as it leaves his body, he sends the chi in a compressed packet that explodes when it impacts something or after a predetermined distance.

I never thought I’d say this, but I think there’s good in Azula. She admitted to Ty Lee about being jealous of her after apologizing for insulting her. What really got me was that despite her vicious personality, she actually thought of Zuko and invited him to the small bonfire to join the others. She wasn’t born evil, she was just misguided.

I love this episode because it shows that Azula is vulnerable and she represses her emotions to make herself the perfect weapon for her father.

I think Azula loves Zuko on her own twisted way. If nothing else she's transferred her need of her mother's love to a need of Zuko's. Because she knows her mom loved Zuko. It also helps that at least on a subliminal level Azula knows Ozai is not capable of loving her. Of course thats sort of her own doing too. Ozai is afraid of Azula. She tried to get his approval by being like him but that just reminds him that he killed his own father and makes him afraid Azula will own day kill him.

That transition to Ty lee after Mae said maybe stupid girls was crazy 😂

I remember watching this as a kid and who woulda thought I'd resonate so much with Zuko. Such a complex but incredible character.

Azula at the party never fails to crack me up! It's so awkwardly hilarious. 😆😆😆

I love Azula. She is my favorite villain in any story.

I always love to think about the look on Chan’s dad’s face when he tells him a girl with blue fire, her brother with scarred face his gloomy gf with throwing knives and a gymnast trashed their house because he definitely has to know at least one those kids😂😂😂his head’s going to explode

I would KILL to see the conversation between Chan and his Admiral father. Cuz theres no way in hell his dad doesnt know EXACTLY who Azula and Zuko are.

Regardless, never forget that Zuko and ALSO Azula are also victims of the war and their twisted father. Azula is perfect, she's probably the most competent villain in the whole series... until we see that she can't interact with people except through fear, because she doesn't know any other way. She can't behave like a normal teenager, because as a child she was a firebending prodigy, and so she was molded by her father to be a cold, overpowering force (as seen in "Zuko Alone"). And, even though it's predictable that when she talks about her mother she says "she was right" (in that she thought Azula was a monster), her look and tone of voice says that it REALLY mattered to her. They are broken children.

I love The Beach! I love how it gives us the other sides of our "villains" and it shows that they are also hurt by the Fire Nation and the war

Combustion-bending is a specialized form of firebending in which the user channels chi through their forehead to telekinetically craft a guidable explosion. Of the two animated series, there are only two characters who demonstrate this ability, suggesting that it is incredibly rare.

"To the party!" 😁 Young at heart and twins? Their stories must be fire.

Fun fact, Azula's VA said in her mind, Azula loved Ty Lee, also touching another person's hair without consent in Fire Nation is a BIG no no, so Azula doing the thing with the drink....

8:41 The bonding between Zuko and Azula here always get my feeling, yeah they're hate each other but they're still siblings

This episode breaks the stereotype of the "beach episode" just being can service fluff. It starts out that way with everyone being in swim suits and them going to a party etc.. But love that it diverges from the cliche and is pretty meaningful.

This Avatar sport is called kuai ball. It's similar to the real sport Takraw, which is basically volleyball with your feet.

Prior to this, Katie Mattila wrote the Zuko short in the episode, "The Tales of Ba Sing Se".

This is a weird episode, but Zuko finally realizing what the root problem was makes it all with it

Aang did his last chakra actually. It was Azula's lightning injury what's blocking his chakras and ability to go in the Avatar state now.

Love this episode mainly for the fire pit beach scene. As for the soon to be nicknamed assassin, I like to speculate that the way he uses his fire bending is not only rare but dangerous to oneself and that his metal parts are from his own misfires.

Also remember when ozi made an attempt to push iroh out of his fathers eyes to become fire lord? Two siblings competing for the throne. Now its the same thing with zuko and azula. Zuko is already a descrased in front of his father. But by azula lying to ozi that zuko killed him, she knew two things the avatar could still possibly be alive and zuko has difficulty choosing a side. So either the avatar comes back alive or zuko chooses the other side. Both options would make ozi loose faith in zuko and the only child who would be in his eyes is azula. Which would lead to her being the new fire lord. She wants have ozi’s complete attention because she didn’t get any from her mom.

He is firebending directly from his chi which is why it’s so powerful. He collects chi in his stomach (the sea of chi as Iroh calls it) and fires it from his Third Eye (the metaphysical one, not the tattoo).

My own Mother though I was a monster! 🥺 That’s the perfect line to see inside Azula. That’s the key to understand her! ❤❤❤❤ I still say that she’s evil. But it’s a great point to pay attention!

Tai Lee is so underestimated. Like. Just cause someone is happy and positive doesn't mean they're stupid...

Petition to have Maple and Arianna cosplay as Chan and Ron Jon

I love the beach episode so much! It's so cool that they gave a whole episode to exploring why the "villains" are the way they are!

the guy with the eye on his head is a combustion bender. combustion-bending is a very rare sub skill of firebending but its kinda high risk high reward. there were only 2 combustion benders in all of last airbender and korra and they were both beaten and killed in the exact same way despite how rare the sub skill is.

Their faces everytime Azula talks 😂😂😂

Not sure if anybody said, but one if the saddest part is the glimpse of baby Zuko playing on the beach. In the picture someone pointed out to me it’s not ozai in the picture, it’s iroh with zuko and his son.

As a kid growing up. I always felt like zuko was talking about me. I know it’s corny to say but. It’s the reason why he’s my favorite character. I’m far from perfect. I’ve made mistakes. Great reminder of how this show isn’t just a kids show.

Ukano was the governor of "New Ozai". You might remember "New Ozai" by its former name: "Omashu".

I love how Azula is the perfect killing machine but she's absolutely useless in the real world.

Is Azula a monster? Or is it just that everyone believed she was, and the only time she felt loved and appreciated was by her father when she acted like one?

This is my third favorite episode of the season other than the finale and my second favorite Zuko focused episode overall. I really like the fact that it's an antagonist focused episode and the beach type episode takes inspiration from anime. With the shift we get to see a wholistic side to these characters and for Ty Lee and Mei you can kind of understand why they are drawn to Azula and how they are manipulated by her so easily.

If you could remember, Bumi could also bend just using his face while in a metal box. I think it’s related to the assassin, minimal movements to bend.

Some great specific explanations of the firebending we see for the first time have been commented on already, but there are a some stepping stones towards this concept from other benders, despite them not having or showing this ability. In Book Two, we kind of see, as Aang notes, King Bumi earthbending even though only his face is showing through a metal cage. I think of this a bit like singing, where - while posture and gesture matter - some people point to the notes as they sing lol, much as typically benders follow forms. However not all singers or benders need to. With the bending we see here, there are no strikes or other overt gestures but breath control matters as others mention. Another stepping stone towards this bending in Book Two is in Bitter Work, when Zuko tries to lightning bend for the first time and literally says it blew up in his face. Of course that's not to say Zuko can bend like the guy he hired, but it's the nearest concept to what's shown here. Great reactions and speculation as always :)

Ty Lee has grey eyes like Aang, she wears slightly different colors from the other Fire Nation people, and her personality is more like Aang than the Fire Nation. A lot of people speculate that she is descended from Air nomads who hid in the Fire Nation. Perhaps a Fire Nation nobleman was protecting them, and that's how she ended up in an exclusive school with Azula and Mai. I always liked Mai. I have a thing for sarcasm in friends or lovers.

Some of these flashback images were shown in the episodes, "The Storm" and "The Avatar State".

The assassin is a fire bender. He super heats the air in one direction, creating a beam of heat. This explodes when it hits a solid.

Wait... who is complaining about Arianna dissecting the stuff she sees? Why? That's the awesome thing about her! I love this trait of hers!

Similar to lightning generation, focusing the flow of energy can produce explosions! Firebending comes from the breath, so his technique is like taking a deep breathe in and blowing it all out, hard. It seem like, just like lightning, the direction can be altered, but you’re not really bending it, you’re just guiding it.

Zuko's "I'm angry at myself" gets me tear up every time even now with 33 years of age. Have seen it several hundred times propbably but it still gets me

Combustion/explosion bending is a sub-category of firebending, like lightning, though its much more rare. All of the bending styles have sub-categories, such as metal and lava bending for earth.

as always, Zuko moments just hit different

7:30 Seriously in an absolute monarchy it might be a good idea to have a rough idea what the heir to the throne looks like.

In this universe there’s the regular four standard bending types Air,Earth, Water, and Fire and within those there’s several other sub-bending abilities some that we’ve already seen such as healing for water benders, toph’s metal bending and the psychic Fire bending. Each one and the other sub bending techniques have various levels of difficulty to master. We get to see more in this series and it’s all further expanded in The Legend of Korra.

This fight is hands down the craziest one on this show. (at least thus far). You saying "manipulation of power" is actually SO accurate. It's actually crazy.

This is a fun episode, and it shows how these kids handle ordinary social situations. They can't. It's cool to see them talk about things around the campfire. And now we have Sparky Sparky Boom Man / Combustion Man for the gAang to worry about.

combustion bending is a special form of firebanding.

Okay so the "psychic" Firebender is doing what is called Combustion Bending. He adapted his firebending into tiny precise explosive points and projects it along his line of sight in a direct straight line. The line cannot move or curve or follow a target i9n any way; it locks on and hits a single point. The benefit is that as it travels towards its target the explosions get increasingly intense. So so far that's: Three variations of Firebending - Regular, Lightning and Combustion Two for Earth - Regular and Metal One for Air Two for water - Regular and Healing

Some think embers represent a past conflict that continues to linger under the surface.

I just subbed and binged all of your Avatar reactions yesterday to catch up haha. Glad to be here!

Love this episode. Helps to understand the "bad" characters, is fun, and gets into some deep psychology but also is mostly light. And I like Mei and Zuko and Azula's flirting.

Great therapy session, same time next week? 😂

6:43 And here I thought my social skills sucked....I was wrong

Combustion Bending!!! 👁----💥----💥----💥BOOM!!

They played volleyball that way because they’re literally battle hardened child soldiers. Azula ordered them around as though they were in combat, because they don’t know how to be normal teenagers. Why can’t the reactors understand?

So the assassin uses a very rare and complicated form of firebending called combustion bending. It basically consists of channeling chi into a beam that superheats the air and explodes when it hits something solid (or at least exerts enough force like Aang's powerful air block). Also he has metal prosthesis because of accidents that happened to him when he was first learning.

Aaah I'm so excited for y'all to see all of the coming episodes! Season 3 just gets better and better😌

Combustion bending. Extremely rare and powerful sub form of fire bending

Ah, The Beach. A silly fun episode about traumatized child soldiers trying to pretend to be ordinary people.

IM SO HYPE FOR THE UP COMING EPISOODESSS yall are gonna love ep 8

"Bird on Bird crime" is one of my favorite jokes you guys have made

I love this episode so much! I feel like it was done really really well.

If i was zuko omg. "Dont you know who we are? We're chan and ron jon" -"Prince zuko, heir to the throne, nice to meet you"

Such a fun episode that reminds us all these characters are just misguided kids

I kinda want to ship tylee and zuko because of how tylee said i know at the fire on the beach. Plus she’s at ray of sunshine and he is depressed

My own mother.. though I was a monster. she was right of course. ahh azula my favorite character. 😄

SPOILER ALERT on how combustion bending was created. Combustion bending is not like bloodbending or lightning. Instead of being "inherited " its made from an "experiment". In the comics , they've expanded on how combustion benders are made. SPOILER ALERT. Skip if you dont want to read all this: Theres a comic book called the dawn of yangchen. In the comic , there's was a project being developed in a group of cities know as the shang cities. Those cities were under the authority of the earth kingdom , fire nation and water tribes. As an attempt to break away from their authority, key figures(people of high economic status and politicians) of the shang cities created a project known as the Unamity project. The basis of the project was to turn nonbenders/benders into human weapons to dominate and make the other nations submit to them. A character named chaisee got ahold of some ancient documents , including ancient air nomad acupuncture maps. With those documents discovered , chaisee and his cohorts set up a "lab" where they recruited firebenders , earthbenders and even nonbenders with the incentive of good pay and advancement. The non-benders experiments had them fight to the death and hit crucial(but fatal) points ,using chi-blocking moves, based on the acupuncture maps (none survived). Earthbenders were taken to a volcanic interior in hopes to learn lava bending. A 2nd experiment involved "strange flowers and bushes". Both groups perished as well. For the firebenders, they were forced in brutal objectives, mainly being chained underwater and forced to firebend great pressure in one burst underwater without creating fire. All but 3 died from drowning and combustion bending was created. The tattoo acts as a focus point of where the energy comes from

Something tells me that’s not the first time that that bird has intercepted a message like that

Also what he's doing is Combustion Bending, it was, as described in some of the director's commentary, novels, etc, a form of Firebending, IIRC, that involved a rather life threatening process wherein among other things, a Firebender would be placed underwater, and be forced to generate fire or drown

The 3rd eye fire blasts are basically fire bending in a different form.

"... or if there can be a climax between her brother...and her..." ... ...We'll remember you said that. lol

I don't think their group is dysfonctionnal because their place of priviledge, on the contrary I think it comes from how war affected them, they're trained soldier who didn't developt social skills. In the meantime all the actually priviledge kids they met enjoyed beach and parties while they were invested in a war, and one dares bragging to be the son of a high general ? I think that's part of why they teached them a leson in the end. THey needed an humility check.

Simply one of my favorite episodes in the entire show 😍

Ty lee is the ultimate hype girl we all need in life

Sparky sparky boom man is a firebender just a different class. Like metal bending is a different class of earth bending. He's a combustionbender

Yeah, Combustion Man's bending is a bit crazy to think about. It is friebending though. Best I can tell he's generating a highly concentrated marble-sized fireball that, on impact, unleashes the full energy like a bomb. This makes sense, as every time he does this, he inhales sharply. Though, the "coming from the third eye" thing is odd even to me.

It's so interesting to me how you and I totally disagree on Azula. I pity Azula the most out of all villains. Sure, Zuko has a tragic backstory but at least he has his uncle to rely upon, to learn from. Zuko, with his banishment, actually had the chance to change. While Azula is all alone. Her father does not give two shits about her. And her mother thinks she is a monster due to the way she is. But she never tried fixing her. Sure, she had serious talks with her, but that's not help nor compassion. So she was alone from a very young age, solely relying on her talent and skills to earn any resemblance of love. She took her father as her guidance and in his world as well as hers, there is no place for weakness. And feelings of any kind are weakness. And I just think you can see how she, in this episode, has the briefest moments of vulnerability but snaps right back out of it with her typical coping mechanisms. Confidence, arrogance, ignorance of feelings. She is insecure and jelous towards Ty Lee admitting she can't do something. You won't see that from her ever again. At the campfire you can see her loneliness and pain for a second when she tells the others her mother called her a monster. It took only a second of silence, the possibility of someone thinking less of her, to make a joke out of it. Maybe she is a psychopath... maybe not. I just wish someone would've given her a hug. I really pity her and wish there was a way to help her.

Azula is 14 and has mental health issues tshatshow more later

You gotta admit, Azula is FINE.

Some say Combustion Man was a Fire Nation soldier injured in battle, who was later healed using experimental techniques, and those experimental techniques gave him the ability to firebend using his mind.

17:55 lol its fire, hes a fire bender and hes can make explosion with his mind.

3:13 do you understand why no one wants to play with you, Azula?

Random question but have either of you seen the movie Hook (starring Robin Williams)?? If you have, Zuko's voice actor, Dante Basco, plays Rufio, the leader of the lost boys, and Peter's instructor and biggest critic in the movie. :) and if you haven't seen it, would recommend it!!

Chan and Ron-Jon is obviously a play on "Chad and Ryan".

One of my faves next one too !!😊

Tell me y'all don't see Dave "The Animal" Batiata as Combination Man. He looks just like Batista.

You two finally got to see Sparky Sparky BOOM Man in action.

Third eye sparky sparky boom man is a firebender. It's a combustion sub speciality for fire benders. Like how Iroh and azula can bend lightning.

PLEASE, When you get to the last 3 episodes, do part 1 2 and 3 in one video.. Im so excited for those

One of the best beach episodes of all beach episodes lol

I understand Azula, as insane and manipulative as she is. I know how it feels like, when you just want to be loved by your mom, the way she loves her son. And no matter how good of a bender Azula is, she was never "good enough" for her mom, sadly her father has manipulated her because she only gets his approval. Don't get me wrong, she's still evil af and a liar, but on the mom-part, I'm fully on her side.

remember when you guys predicted combustion bending some episodes back