Heartwarming / The Shadow of Kyoshi

• Kyoshi has discovered that she can still hold to her daofei oaths as the Avatar, and uses them as guidance to stave off the corruption that the Earth Kingdom is otherwise infected with.
• Kyoshi wonders if Rangi thinks of their time with the Flying Opera Company as a minor side event, and their friends as criminals best left forgotten. But then Rangi tells Kyoshi not to wear the facepaint to the party... because that's something for when they're pulling a job with their brothers and sisters.
• Rangi, for the sake of their privacy and safety, went to the trouble of casing the Firelord's palace to find the one blind spot in the defenses solely so she would have a safe location to kiss Kyoshi senseless the moment she arrived...and still trusted Jinpa implicitly enough to let him see.
• Hei-Ran and Kyoshi both blame themselves for what happened to Yun and Kelsang, and try to convince the other they're not to blame. Hei-Ran specifically tells Kyoshi that she would have killed Jianzhu herself if she could have, and reminds her that Kyoshi's actions, even the violent ones, are protecting others.
• Zoryu refers to Yun as Kyoshi's predecessor. Most people (especially in the Earth Kingdom) try to pretend that Yun never existed, and the rest largely refer to him as "the false Avatar." Zoryu calls Yun one of his few friends, a great help at court, and says he would have made a great Avatar.
• Kyoshi gets a look into Kuruk's memories with his friends, Hei-Ran, Jianzhu, and Kelsang.
  "Though the exercise had been his idea, Kuruk didn't still himself into meditation right away. He took a moment to watch Kelsang's breathing rustle the coarse hairs of his mustache. He felt Jianzhu and Hei-Ran's eyes on his back, their gazes filled with warmth. His friends. He loved them so much. Life was good. It was simply good, and the world was a wonderful place."
• After spending most of the series believing Kuruk to have been an unfit Avatar and then verbally tearing into him when they finally confront each other in the Spirit World after finding out that he used to hunt Dark Spirits, Kyoshi realizes the sacrifices Kuruk made after seeing his memories. She then gains new respect for her predecessor and realizes that he was worthy of being an Avatar. Considering how no one other then Nyahitha ever knew about Kuruk's sacrifice it's nice to finally see him getting acknowledged for his heroism.
  • Kuruk refering to Kyoshi as "kid" almost makes him sound like he is talking to a little sister.
• Auntie Mui, one of the last servants of the Avatar's household and Kyoshi's boss back when she was a servant, cries tears of joy when Yun and Kyoshi return, too happy to realize they're going to kill each other. The narration even refers to them as her children.
• When Kyoshi meets Yangchen in the spirit world, she mistakes her for her mother. Yangchen just calmly hugs her which might be the only maternal affection Kyoshi has ever received in her life.
  "Oh, my child."
  • Kyoshi, who turned out to be one of the biggest softies in the Avatarverse, has received blow after blow from the world, with barely any times of peace and joy. Yangchen embraces the girl and lets her cry as much as she wants, as loud as she wants and as long as she wants. It truly is a sweet moment for Kyoshi to rest after the many cruelties the world has inflicted upon her.
• According to Nyahitha, Kuruk idolized Yangchen, and she herself frets that his devotion to her legacy contributed to his suffering. Likewise, when Kyoshi finally connects with her and hopes that Yangchen can teach her how to be a real Avatar, not just a dark spirit wrangler, Yangchen is confused, asking her if Kuruk wasn't able to guide her, since she couldn't have connected to Yangchen before connecting to Kuruk— in other words, she has faith in Kuruk's ability to be a mentor to Kyoshi, and gently explains that Kyoshi is looking too hard for easy answers that don't exist.
• When Kyoshi starts going a little too far down the slippery slope in threatening Huazo and Chaejin, Kuruk pulls her back from the brink.
• Hei-Ran telling Kyoshi not to pay too much mind to Rangi's fits of temper, that Rangi loves her, and that Rangi's love for her means that Hei-Ran considers her a second daughter.
  • After Rangi's harshest and strongest moment of anger against Kyoshi, she storms off, leaving the Avatar paralyzed with fear and sadness, wondering if Rangi is truly done with her this time. A few minutes later, Rangi angrily stomps into the room again, hands Kyoshi a bowl of noodles and commands her to eat, admonishing Kyoshi for not taking better care of her health.
  • Seeing that Rangi still loves her and Hei-Ran telling her that she is like a second daughter to her causes Kyoshi to burst into Tears of Joy over having a family again after she believed she had lost that chance when Kelsang was killed.

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