Chapter 6: The Blind Bandit
C: They talk about the idea that Toph learned directly from the badger moles, which they weren't sure would end up in the series canon at this point. It does show up in season 3, when the Gaang discusses the origins of firebending. I like how that parallel works out; two of Aang's bending teachers learn (and therefore teach) a superior form of bending that comes directly from the source.
C: Fire Nation Man is the first sandbender to show up in the series.
I wish the series would have resolved Toph's conflict with her parents more fully. I understand there were time constraints, and I don't consider it a major weakness. I just would have liked to have seen some reconciliation.
Chapter 7: Zuko Alone
"That's what moms are like; if you mess with their babies, CHOMP, they're gonna bite you back." Nice foreshadowing of Ursa's performance of "treasonous acts" to save Zuko.
Continued from the spoiler-free post: Ursa's benediction is the wrong advice for the moment. Zuko's success and heroism in this episode—and to a certain extent, throughout season 2—is a result of abandoning his identity with all of its shackles—his shame, his misplaced quest for honor, his blind loyalty to the Fire Nation and to his father. Announcing his identity to the village causes him to be rejected again. But Ursa's advice is right for the long run. It's not his identity as Prince of the Fire Nation that she means for him to remember; it's his nature—his pure, noble spirit, which we see clearly throughout the flashbacks, as well as in the actions he takes to help Lee and his family in the present. (Though she may also be referring to his identity as the grandson of Avatar Roku.) His task will ultimately be to reconcile the heroic nature that he is able to show anonymously in this episode with the burden of his identity as Prince.
Chapter 8: The Chase
Azula gets to do her impression of Zuko when she introduces herself to Aang; I guess it's only fair Zuko gets to impersonate her in "The Western Air Temple".
<333 Zuko's reaction to Iroh getting shot down by Azula. This scene seems to foreshadow Zuko taking a hit for Katara in the finale.
Chapter 9: Bitter Work
I'd forgotten that Iroh actually does bend lightening. For some reason I thought he only knew how to redirect it, and that only
Chapter 10: The Library
The Lion Turtle! Nice to see the early placement of that bit of information.
Joie