Hmm, I really should go back and re-watch everything with a more critical eye. I'm surprising myself with so much that you're pointing out that I don't remember too clearly.

It's hard to say for me right now if Iroh was deliberately slowing Zuko down. Perhaps, if that's true, he was doing it in order to protect him? Or not even that, to protect the world. It makes you wonder, then, if he knew so much about what was going wrong and what needed to be done, why he didn't take a more proactive role instead of sitting back and allowing Zuko to continue thinking that he would have redemption by eliminating Aang. There are many levels to Iroh and his motivations. How could he have foreseen that Zuko would ultimately realize he was supposed to help Aang? If things had gone differently, would Iroh had continued to take the backseat and allowed Aang to be killed? Iroh nudges Zuko in the right direction, but Zuko was so volatile and backpedaled often.

Layers, lovely layers.

There are many levels to Iroh and his motivations. How could he have foreseen that Zuko would ultimately realize he was supposed to help Aang?

Yeah, it's tricky. I love Iroh, but I'm inclined to believe he wasn't thinking that far ahead just yet. Basically, I think his primary motivation was to help Zuko find the right path; I don't think he yet knew what that path was.

I never thought Iroh was so much trying to slow Zuko down, as that he simply didn't think that achievement was all it was cracked up to be, and was trying to get Zuko to see this. Ultimately he knew that Zuko's happiness, worth as a person and "honor" really didn't come down to presenting Ozai with Aang's head on a pike. Iroh was fighting a different battle.

As for Katara->Aang hints, yeah, they are few. There are certainly forebodings of their relationship in all sorts of things, like the Cave of Two Lovers and the Fortuneteller, but to explicitly see signs that Katara views Aang romantically? The only one that I feel was really worth mentioning was ep 3.02 The Headband, when she is obviously jealous to see him dance with another girl and then blushes when they dance together. And that one was definitely present and significant.

And while it's true Aang didn't defeat Ozai before the comet came, he did defeat Ozai before the comet left — and before Ozai could wreak horrible destruction on the rest of the world. And that's what really mattered, I think.

And while it's true Aang didn't defeat Ozai before the comet came, he did defeat Ozai before the comet left — and before Ozai could wreak horrible destruction on the rest of the world. And that's what really mattered, I think.

That is what mattered. But what I was trying to get at is that Avatar Roku putting it that way implies that defeating the Fire Lord on fire bending crack the day of the comet was going to basically be impossible. But it wasn't.

I have no thinky-thoughts on Avatar (although I really enjoyed it!), but those two name pronunciation/spellings drive me insane too. It actually makes me twitchy. >.>

That doesn't surprise me. I feel like I heard or read somewhere that they were using some names in the general east Asian milieu that makes up the culture of Avatar that came from Korean or maybe something else besides Japanese and Chinese, so I thought there was maybe a tiny chance Mai's name was spelled accurately if it was based on a Korean (or some other) romanization. Therefore, I feel that I don't know enough to say it's wrong. But it sure does drive me crazy.

And Ha-RU? Sounds like a dog howling to me.

I imagine it's possible, but I can't really wrap my head around how anyone could get that sound out of "Mai"--I mean, it's still a romanized version, so why spell it that way...? Ugh.

And Ha-RU? Sounds like a dog howling to me.

Yeah. :/ Unfortunately, it also just makes me think of conversations with casual Furuba fans who can't wrap their heads around Japanese pronunciation.

I'm still peeved that we never did find out about Iroh's trip to the Spirit World, it's one of the major loose threads in the grander scheme of things. I also want to second peachespig's argument that Iroh was fighting a different battle - he knows that given time, Zuko would come to see the light, he just wanted to make sure Zuko didn't do anything too rash or regrettable in his pursuit of the Avatar.

I like how elemental bending is fundamentally neither good nor bad, it's all in how one uses it. Of course, we don't really get the sense of fire being as such until Book 3 when Aang and Zuko meet the Firebending Masters, but anyway. I was sort of hoping to see that not only can each element be used for help or for harm, and that elements can be considered opposites, but also that elements could work in synchronization (I blame this notion on having read and watched too much Naruto). How cool would it have been to see Aang have a ball of fire in one hand, and a ball of wind in another, and mix the two?

I honestly never got into the entire shipping thing for Avatar. I mean, I support Sokka/Harem, and Iroh/Lovely Ladies of the Earth Kingdom, but otherwise? Meh. :)

I'm still peeved that we never did find out about Iroh's trip to the Spirit World, it's one of the major loose threads in the grander scheme of things.

That and Ursa's whereabouts. It's hard for me to not feel that the two things might somehow be related. I just have to wonder if the creators will really leave those things hanging, or if they intend to (and will be able to) reveal the answers in later Avatar-related projects.

How cool would it have been to see Aang have a ball of fire in one hand, and a ball of wind in another, and mix the two?

I feel like what he was doing in the last battle sort of *did* do that, though maybe not to the extent you are thinking of. Also, I wonder how deeply mixing the elements could really be explored in this series when there is only one character who can bend more than one element. Unless it could be done by two or more characters working in tandem, which could be very cool.

I honestly never got into the entire shipping thing for Avatar. I mean, I support Sokka/Harem, and Iroh/Lovely Ladies of the Earth Kingdom, but otherwise? Meh.

:D I'm a shipper by nature, so I can't really help myself. Most of the series I was looking for Zuko/anybody cute and female and not an immediate relative. So when it became clear to me that canon would be Zuko/Mai, I latched on to it. Other than that, I was a bit blind to anything else in the romance department, so I'm trying to make up for it the second time around.

That and Ursa's whereabouts. It's hard for me to not feel that the two things might somehow be related.

I wouldn't count this out, although - admittedly based on nothing substantive - I have a gut feeling that Iroh may have visited the Spirit World well before this time in his younger days. I can't imagine that Bryan and Mike haven't thought about these major loose threads.

Like I said, it's probably a function of having read/watched too much Naruto, but I was thinking something like, for instance, combine wind and water to make a superpowered hurricane. The comparison is a little wonky, though, the elemental bending/techniques are set up differently.

I'm a shipper by nature, so I can't really help myself.

Heh. No worries, I was dreaming up totally convoluted action/suspense thrillers one could imagine occurring in the Avatar universe when I was watching the show. For instance, I tell myself that the Order of the White Lotus actually has a secret role in keeping the Four Nations peaceable and balanced in the years between the passing of an Avatar and the maturation of the next Avatar. Given that I figure most Avatars are under far more leisurely schedules to master all four elements, that's at least 20 to 25 years where the Avatar is not at his or her peak.

I wouldn't count this out, although - admittedly based on nothing substantive - I have a gut feeling that Iroh may have visited the Spirit World well before this time in his younger days.

Maybe. My first guess would be a twist on the Orpheus legend--that he had some idea of finding, and maybe even reviving, his dead son.

I don't really think that his previous journey had something to do with Ursa's disappearance; it's more that I think he may have some knowledge, as a result of his journey, that could help find her. OTOH, that doesn't really seem to fit with the creators' recent statement that they were going to resolve Ursa's disappearance in the finale, but that it got cut. If that's the case, it would seem the answer to the mystery must be rather simple.

For instance, I tell myself that the Order of the White Lotus actually has a secret role in keeping the Four Nations peaceable and balanced in the years between the passing of an Avatar and the maturation of the next Avatar.

I think that would make a lot of sense; I'm not sure the creators' were really thinking that deeply into it, but it's a cool idea and it seems to fit what we do know about the Order.

I don't know if you saw this anywhere, but in an interview after the finale came out, Bryke actually told us that one of the writers had storyboarded a sequence involving Zuko seeing his mother again that wa sgoing to go in the final episode, but Mike told him to cut it. It was not explained why they removed it, but when asked whether it would be resolved, Mike said "hopefully someday".

I consider the story of Iroh's trip to the spirit world to be a bit of unexplored character backstory, which is cool but they aren't really under any obligation to explore it. The fate of Ursa, on the other hand, is a major unresolved plot thread. If there is never a sequel, I would consider leaving it out bad storytelling. But I try not to get my hopes up too far for a sequel to ever actually come around. I kind of wonder whether they are trying to get Nick to sign onto something like a one-shot movie.... I doubt they are going to make more seasons of the show, but animated TV movies I could definitely imagine.

Yeah, I was aware of that statement. Check my comment to spin1978 above.

I agree that if they never do anything more to answer the question of what happened to Ursa, it would seem like a flaw in an otherwise well-crafted story.