AVATAR: THE LAST AIRBENDER : BOOK TWO, EARTH (2006)

 

PHENOMENALITY: *marvelous*
MYTHICITY: *fair*
FRYEAN MYTHOS: *adventure*
CAMPBELLIAN FUNCTION: *metaphysical, sociological*                                                                                                                          Season Two is a considerable improvement over Season One, though the more intricate plots would not have been possible without the scaffolding provided by the earlier episodes. This season also has twenty episodes, all under the rubric "Earth," since the trio's main mission is to find an earth-bending master able to bring forth Aang's talents in that department.                                                                           

  In Season One the viewer didn't see very many scenes of Aang being trained in water-bending by his female companion (and possible romantic interest) Katara. The same pattern prevails in Season Two with respect to Aang's earth-bending trainer, the young blind girl Toph. Whatever training Toph gives Aang is mostly off-camera, because when she joins the group, her main purpose is to shake up the ensemble character-wise. Whereas Katara's brother Sokka provided (and continues to provide) comedy relief with his sarcastic remarks and foolish antics, Toph has a more caustic attitude, despite being no older than the rest of the teens. Because of her blindness, Toph's royal parents sought to shelter her from the world, though her earth-bending talent gives her a "sixth sense" to perceive her surroundings in a general manner. She joins Aang's group in part because she supports their cause, but also in order to enjoy a life of adventure. Because she, unlike the other three, was raised as an aristocrat, she's occasionally able to help them negotiate social situations outside their experience.                                                         

 One such situation involves mustering other tribes to carry the fight against the Fire Tribe. The foursome spend a lot of time in Season Two seeking to gain the help of the Earth Kingdom, which means that they have to oust an oppressive "grand vizier" type at the same time. For a time, they're spared the pursuit of Prince Zuko, whose obsession with the Avatar dims thanks to the benign influence of his uncle (voiced by the actor Mako in one of his last roles). However, Zuko's power-hungry sister Azula, only seen a few times in Season One, becomes a major player. With the help of two talented female confederates, she also infiltrates the Earth Kingdom. She also finds Zuko and plays on his filial responsibilities, so that he joins her in a big climactic assault upon Aang's group.                                             

  Two episodes stand out as more mythic than the rest of the season. It's often not clear to what extent the human inhabitants share their world with mystical entities, but the episode "The Library" is an exception. Sokka persuades the others that they need more historical perspective on the Fire Tribe, so they seek a unique library, overseen by a talking owl-man, Wan Shi Tong. At the library Sokka does learn of a comet due to pass the world, one that will bestow great power on the fire-benders and give them total dominion. In addition, he learns that the Fire Tribe also has a vital weakness-- but the owl-man takes exception to their using his precious tomes to gain military advantage. The heroes just barely escape the library with their lives, but by coincidence desert raiders abduct the sky-bison Appa, bringing all sorts of heartache to the teens, particularly Aang, until they eventually find their beloved pet.                                                                                          

Thanks in part to Appa, the quartet make contact with a guru named Pathik. Though Aang has not yet mastered fire-bending, which is necessary for his ascension to Avatar status, he's had some bad experiences whenever he assumed an incomplete Avatar state, resulting in his going berserk. Pathik puts Aang through a series of exercises based on the yoga-discipline of "opening chakras," and while these exercises are partly made-up for the purposes of this fantasy-world, the writers kept a basic sense of the symbolic associations for the seven power-centers of the body. In fact, when Aang reaches the highest center, he's required to renounce his earthly affections, much like Luke Skywalker in THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK. Luke interrupts his training but doesn't really pay a price for this failure. Aang loses a battle at the end of Season Two, but I don't yet know if there's a more long-range penalty to come in the third and final season.