YMMV / The Shadow of Kyoshi

• Alternative Character Interpretation: Yangchen is noted for having failed to find balance between spirits and humans, something Aang would have to face in The Rift. Many fans remember the general disposition of spirits being constantly racist and disrespectful towards humanity in The Legend of Korra. Combining the two, it makes one wonder exactly how angry we're supposed to be with Yangchen for failing in her duties, or whether the actions of the time meant that Yangchen had to come down harder on the spirits to protect humanity.
• Harsher in Hindsight:
  • Kuruk had to kill the dark spirits, with each victory taking years off his life. Korra would later learn a method that would allow spirits to be purified. If only Kuruk could have figured that out by then, it may have benefited both spirits and humans in the long run.
  • Yangchen tells Kyoshi that she could spend a hundred years talking to a hundred previous Avatars and still not know what to do. In The Dawn of Yangchen, we find out that Yangchen did exactly that, and indeed, it did not prevent her from screwing up time and again.
• Heartwarming in Hindsight: By helping ending the Hundred Year War and leading the Fire Nation into a new era of peace at the end of Avatar: The Last Airbender, Zuko (presumably unknowingly) fulfilled Zoryu's dream: that "a Fire Lord of his bloodline would look upon his strong, united country, and sit the throne in peace."
• Hilarious in Hindsight:
  • In this novel, we learn that in the Fire Nation, it is the greatest slight to touch someone's hair (at least in public). Fast forward to "The Beach," where Azula did this◊. And then there's the fact that Aang had to grab Ozai's head to strip him of his firebending.
  • Kuruk's thinking and understanding of the four elements was actually very much ahead of its time. He got into arguments with his earthbending teacher about Kuruk's stance being a waterbender despite using Earthbending. Kuruk himself realized that the four elements are actually one in four different forms, and thus he had a much better understanding that the four elements were indeed united, information we'd learn from Iroh and Pathik in the series proper. It would also be revisited come The Legend of Korra, during Korra's battle against Kuvira in which she metalbends, but uses strokes and movements akin to waterbending (which makes sense since mercury is basically liquid metal).
• Moral Event Horizon: See here.
• Rescued from the Scrappy Heap: Kuruk. While seen as benevolently fun-loving based on his very limited appearances before Rise, Kyoshi fans who read the first book began to share her low opinion of him. Shadow goes much deeper into the tragedies of his short life, and helps contextualize why he made the decisions he made and acted the way he did.
• Squick: When Yun merges with Father Glowworm, he does so by eating his eye.