Line #53 Recap/AvatarTheLastAirbenderSozinsCometPart2TheOldMasters


1	[[quoteright:333:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/avatar_lion_turtle.png]]
2	[[caption-width-right:333:Aang asks the Lion Turtle for wisdom on how to confront Ozai.]]
3
4	->''"Today, destiny is our friend. I know it."''
5	-->-- '''Grand Master Iroh'''
6
7	On the island, Aang seeks guidance from his past lives, but they too insist he must take violent action against the Fire Lord. The island turns out to be a giant lion-turtle, which gives Aang the guidance he has been seeking. After June is unable to find Aang, Zuko decides to ask June to find his uncle instead. After June leads them to the outer wall of Ba Sing Se, they meet King Bumi, Jeong Jeong, Master Pakku, and Master Piandao, who are members of the Order of the White Lotus. The group soon finds out that Iroh is their leader. After reuniting with Iroh, the team decides to split up and go in different directions to help stop the Fire Nation: Zuko and Katara will handle Azula at the capital of the Fire Nation; Sokka, Suki and Toph will attempt to deflect the Fire Nation airships encroaching on the Earth Kingdom; and Iroh is to lead the Order in the liberation of Ba Sing Se. Sozin's Comet arrives and Phoenix King Ozai prepares to destroy both the Earth Kingdom and the Avatar.
8	----
9	!!Tropes in this episode include:
10
11	* AncientTradition: The Order of the White Lotus.
12	* BackForTheFinale: Iroh, Jeong Jeong, Bumi, Pakku, Piandao, and June.
13	* BaitAndSwitchComment:
14	-->'''Bumi:''' Wait! Someone's missing from your group. Someone very important. Where's Momo?
15	* BigDamnReunion: After encouragement from Katara, Zuko braves himself to meet his uncle again. At first he admits that he's guilty and he doesn't expect his uncle to forgive him, but then Iroh suddenly hugs him and tearfully says that he missed his nephew and he's glad that he finally found his way. Zuko, with tears in his eyes, then returns the embrace.
16	* BigGood: Iroh fills this role as the Grand Master of the Order of the White Lotus.
17	* ChekhovsGun:
18	** All the way back in "[[Recap/AvatarTheLastAirbenderTheWinterSolsticePart1 The Winter Solstice]]": Zuko uses Iroh's sandal to find him.
19	** Bumi's Neutral Jing, the philosophy of doing nothing until the right moment, finally pays off (in flashback) when he learns that the Fire Nation soldiers occupying his city lose their firebending during an eclipse. He breaks free and single-handedly takes back Omashu.
20	* {{Cincinnatus}}: Iroh turns down the position of Fire Lord, saying it must next go to Zuko.
21	* CometOfDoom: Sozin's Comet, which gives the firebenders unrivaled power, finally appears at the end of the episode.
22	* ContinuityNod:
23	** June muses that Zuko must have made up with his girlfriend, alluding to [[Recap/AvatarTheLastAirbenderBatoOfTheWaterTribe her first appearance]] where Zuko had her track Katara through her necklace. Cue SheIsNotMyGirlfriend reactions from both Zuko and Katara.
24	** During Aang's encounter with [[Recap/AvatarTheLastAirbenderTheSiegeOfTheNorthPart2 Koh]], the Face Stealer mentioned that a previous Avatar tried to slay him as retribution for stealing the face of a loved one. We find out here it was Avatar Kuruk.[[note]] However, Koh stated this had happened 800 or 900 years prior to his encounter with Aang, while Kuruk lived only 400 years prior to Aang's time. Whether this is due to Koh's [[TheFogOfAges fuzzy memory]] or a simple SeriesContinuityError is up to the viewer to decide.[[/note]]
25	* DoubleMeaningTitle: The title "The Old Masters" can refer to the members of the White Lotus, the past identities of the Avatar, and the Lion-Turtle, the ''oldest'' master still alive.
26	* EasilyForgiven: [[Heartwarming/AvatarTheLastAirbender Iroh forgives Zuko instantly, to Zuko's utter shock.]] He claims that it was never Zuko's betrayal that disappointed him, but that he simply lost his way. It fills Iroh with joy that his nephew has finally found it again.
27	* EurekaMoment: Bumi realizing the Eclipse is his best chance to take back Omashu.
28	* FreudianSlip: Zuko asking Iroh for help in defeating the "Fatherlord".
29	* IronicEcho: When encouraging Zuko to take the throne, Iroh tells him that he restored his own honor--the same thing Azula told him to quell his doubts at the end of "[[Recap/AvatarTheLastAirbenderTheCrossroadsOfDestiny The Crossroads of Destiny.]]"
30	* GreaterNeedThanMine: Yangchen, Aang's Air Nomad Avatar predecessor, advises Aang that as the Avatar, his duty is to the entire world than just the Air Nomads had he been born as a normal airbender.
31	* {{Irony}}: On the Day of Black Sun, Bumi's off-screen (at the time) [[OffScreenMomentOfAwesome moment of awesome]] taking back Omashu was far more successful than Team Avatar's invasion of the Fire Nation. The irony is, Bumi didn't know before-hand about the solar eclipse but nonetheless made good use of it when the opportunity fell in his lap. Team Avatar spent months and months planning for the invasion, and it kind of failed (due in part to Azula tipping off Ozai).
32	* JerkassHasAPoint: All four of the past Avatars that Aang speaks to give him harsh but valid advice.
33	** Roku warns that Aang's waffling over what to do with Ozai runs the risk of the conflict starting up again later, citing the catastrophic fallout his own failure to decisively stop Sozin.
34	** Kyoshi stands out even compared to the others. She refuses to split hairs over her responsibility for Chin's death, and warns Aang that there will be no peace if Ozai is not brought to justice.
35	** Kuruk is the most downplayed of the four, but he still warns Aang of the danger he is heading for if he doesn't take an active role in deciding Ozai's fate.
36	** Yangchen argues that the Avatar's duty supersedes all else and implicitly accuses Aang of being selfish by prioritizing his own spiritual needs over the world's wellbeing.
37	* HumbleGoal: After General Iroh reconquers Ba Sing Se and helps save the world, he's going to get back his tea shop and play Pai Sho all day.
38	* LastEpisodeNewCharacter: It's the 4-part series finale and Lion Turtles are only ''now'' being featured. While their existence was hinted at a few times before, this is the first time one actually appears.
39	* LetsSplitUpGang: With the White Lotus being preoccupied with taking back Ba Sing Se and the rest of the group trusting that Aang will be ready to fight the Fire Lord when the time comes (which they are right about, as the Lion Turtle is transporting Aang to the place Ozai will be headed), the rest of the Gaang split up into two groups. Zuko and Katara get on Appa and head towards the Fire Nation royal capital to fight Azula, so Zuko can take the throne when Ozai is defeated, and Sokka, Toph, and Suki head off to take down the airship fleet so Aang can focus on the Fire Lord.
40	* TheLostLenore: The key part of Kuruk's story; Koh the Face Stealer stole the spirit of his wife, and Kuruk's own inattentiveness made him unable to stop it. The lesson for Aang is clear; if he doesn't stop Ozai, the people he loves will die.
41	* MassOhCrap: The Fire Nation soldiers at Omashu during the Day of Black Sun flashback, when they realize that Bumi is free and they're facing him without being able to firebend.
42	* MurderIsTheBestSolution: Aang contacts four of his past lives for advice, hoping to find a way to defeat Ozai non-lethally. Instead, all of them, including his fellow Air Nomad Yangchen, are adamant that the only way to stop the Fire Lord is to kill him. They don't outright say so, however, and their advice turns out to be applicable to Aang and the lion-turtle's alternate solution.
43	* NewOldFlame: Pakku reveals that he's proposed to Kanna again, and she accepted this time.
44	* NeverSayDie:
45	** After dancing around it in the last episode and this one, with "take his life" being used instead, it is finally averted, dramatically as hell, when Aang finally says, "I have to kill the Fire Lord."
46	** This happens in-universe, as past Avatars all but tell Aang that he must kill Ozai, but it seems none of them will say so outright.
47	* OldMaster: Everyone in the Order of the White Lotus, as well the ancient incarnations of the Avatar.
48	* OminousLatinChanting: As before, Chinese Buddhist chanting is heard when each of the past Avatars is summoned and while Aang is talking to the lion turtle.
49	* OneManArmy: It is revealed that Bumi took back his city ''all by himself, within minutes''.
50	* OnlyICanKillHim: Aang has to be the one to defeat Ozai if they want the war to end peacefully. Justified, as Iroh points out that if he defeated Ozai it might provoke a civil war, but since the Avatar is a neutral party, and tasked with bringing balance to the world, people would accept it. No matter where Aang is, he will end up being the one to face Ozai.
51	* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: During the Solar Eclipse, Bumi's firebending captors question what he thinks he's doing. Bumi answers, "Taking back my city. You've got no firepower. And it's payback time." One knows this is [[LetsGetDangerous Bumi's time to shine]] when he dispenses with his usual "[[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} pleasantries]]" and tells it as it is.
52	* PayEvilUntoEvil: The crux of Kyoshi's "Only justice will bring peace" advice to Aang.
53	* PhysicalGod: The lion turtle isn't God, but it's the largest and wisest being on the planet. It's also the oldest being on the planet, being older than the Avatar Cycle.
54	* PowerGlows: The avatars Aang consults are glowing in the dark.
55	* PragmaticHero: All the past Avatars whom Aang consults tell him, some more forthrightly than others, that he must be ready to kill Ozai if he wishes to bring peace to the world.
56	* ProphecyTwist: Iroh realizes that this applies to his old prophetic dream of one day taking the Earth Kingdom capital Ba Sing Se. As a young man, he had believed that he was thus destined to take it as a conqueror for the [[TheEmpire Fire Nation]], but in the GrandFinale he reveals that he now realizes he was instead supposed to liberate it ''from'' the Fire Nation.
57	-->'''Iroh:''' Destiny is a funny thing, Prince Zuko. It never happens the way you expect.
58	* RedSkyTakeWarning: When Sozin's Comet skims along the atmosphere.
59	* RuleOfSymbolism: Iroh cites this as part of why it ''needs'' to be Aang rather than himself who faces Ozai. Even if Iroh did (or, given his power level, ''could'') defeat Ozai, symbolically it would be the ''wrong'' way to end the War. As Iroh argues, history would see it as just more senseless violence -- a brother killing a brother to grab power. The only way for the War to end peacefully is if Ozai is stopped by the Avatar.
60	* ShesNotMyGirlfriend: Utilized when Zuko leads the Gaang to Jun so they can find Aang.
61	-->'''June:''' ''[noticing Katara standing next to Zuko]'' I see you worked things out with your girlfriend.\
62	''[Zuko and Katara blush in shock and become indignant]''\
63	'''Zuko:''' She's not my girlfriend!\
64	'''Katara:''' ''[simultaneously]'' I'm not his girlfriend!
65	* ShootTheDog: Avatar Yangchen is a proponent of this and Kyoshi shows shades of it as well.
66	* ShoutOut: Phoenix King Ozai saying, "It's time for this world to end in fire," sounds very similar to the opening line of the Robert Frost poem "[[http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Fire_and_Ice Fire and Ice]]".
67	* SoProudOfYou: Iroh expresses nothing but pride for Zuko throwing off Ozai's influence and shaping his own destiny by helping the Avatar stop his genocide.
68	* SurrogateSoliloquy: Aang does this with Momo.
69	-->'''Aang''': I know you can't really talk. Pretending you can just helps me think.\
70	''[Momo chitters angrily]''\
71	'''Aang:''' I'm going to pretend I didn't pretend to hear that!
72	* TechnicalPacifist: Discussed and Defied. Aang insists that Avatar Kyoshi didn't technically kill her enemy Chin (he died because he was too stubborn to get out of the way when she split off her island), but she herself doesn't see that as a valid distinction--recall that in [[Recap/AvatarTheLastAirbenderAvatarDay "Avatar Day"]], she outright states, "I killed Chin the Conquerer."
73	* ThouShallNotKill: Aang ''really'' doesn't want to kill Ozai. He tries talking to four different Avatars, seeing if they can offer a more peaceful solution. None of them do. Even Yangchen, a member of Aang's people, advises him that he can't be constrained by the morality of an Air Nomad, as the Avatar's duty to the world supersedes his own desires.
74	* TimeAbyss: The lion turtle has lived for long enough to know the era before the Avatar.
75	* TurtleIsland: Aang leaves his friends' camp and wanders to the shore, where he sees an island. When he visits it, true to form, the island isn't there in the morning. The island is a giant lion turtle, that actually turns out to be pretty important to the plot.
76	* WhamShot: Wulong Forest appearing in Aang's view, showing the true nature of the island.
77	* WorldsStrongestMan: Bumi finally shows why he is considered the greatest earthbender in the world, taking back Omashu ''and'' destroying Ozai's statue in minutes.
78	* YouAreBetterThanYouThinkYouAre: After Iroh informs Zuko he has to be the one to become Fire Lord, Zuko protests because of all of the mistakes he's made in the past. Iroh tells him that, while he has struggled in the past, his ability to overcome them and restore his own honor make him the perfect candidate to restore the Fire Nation's honor after the war ends.

Context Recap / AvatarTheLastAirbenderSozinsCometPart2TheOldMasters