![]() ![]() You see Roku and Sozin grew up together in the Fire Nation royal court. So Zuko sneaks away to the catacombs of his ancestors to read his last testament. In the Fire Nation capital Zuko is greeted by a mysterious note that implores him to learn the secret history of his great-grandfather Sozin. It’s the summer solstice and Roku brings Aang to his desolated home to tell him the story of his life. The tale of two friends turned bitter rivals and the world suffering the more for it. But while the stories in “The Storm” were small and personal, “The Avatar and The Firelord” is filled with grand sweep and operatic tragedy. ![]() It once again posits Aang and Zuko not as pure combatants, but polarized protagonists, with the narrative engine of the show propelled in equal parts by their decisions. In a way “The Avatar and The Firelord” serves as a spiritual sequel to “The Storm” a story of paralleled flashbacks that provide major revelations to both the audience and characters involved in the story. Finally we learn the life and times of Roku, and how his difficulty in balancing the personal with the worldly lead to the situation our heroes find themselves in right now. It’s a question that arguably lead to his defeat at Ba Sing Sae, but Aang is not alone in his struggles, as Avatar Roku so clearly demonstrates here. It’s a proposition that befuddled Aang in “The Guru” where he must recount what his personal connection mean, and that he must sever ties with them. For Aang this transition from normal kid to Avatar was too much to bear the first time around, and it brings up the question that drills deep into the Four Nation’s messiah: is it possible to both be of the world and take action as the most powerful person on earth? They are not immediately born with the knowledge of their place in history and what role they play in the world. In the lore of the series, The Avatar is a person who is mostly unaware of their distinction until they find out of their heritage. There is an undercurrent in Avatar that runs through the narrative with deep implications but never becomes the primary topic of conversation for the show. ![]()
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