LogFAQs > #937369158

#57: Sokka's Master (3.04)

Sokka has a pretty great character arc, overall. In Kyoshi Warriors, he becomes a warrior. In Bato of the Water Tribe, he becomes an adult. In the Day of the Black Sun, he becomes a general. In Boiling Rock, he becomes a hero.

So it's strange that in the middle of that, we have this little episode where he regresses all the way back to the start of season 1. Sokka suddenly starts making a big deal about not being a bender, after 43 episodes of not minding that. He also suddenly decides he needs to be a swordsman, after being fine with the boomerang for a long time. He seeks a master, and then he spends the entire episode telling himself that he is not worthy of being a warrior while the master tries to convince him otherwise. Before rewatching this, my memory of it was the master being much less friendly to Sokka, and Sokka having to prove himself to him. When I actually watched it again, I realized the master was all in on Sokka from start to end, just Sokka himself couldn't accept it. Eh I just dislike character regression, honestly. Sokka has inferiority complex issues but here it felt like the writers forced it.

Of course, this episode has some highlights. Iroh working out in prison is badass. Katara trying to come up with jokes in Sokka's absence is hilarious. And the final fight between Sokka and the master is pretty good, in a classic Sokka way. It's just that in this show, nearly every episode has highlights, so the ones with things I dislike more will show up closer to the bottom.

By the way, what was up with the master giving them that white lotus piece at the end? It's never used for anything! The white lotus just introduces themselves in the finale. Feels like an abandoned plotline.