LogFAQs > #941013752

#23: The Guru (2.19):

This one is the de-facto finale for Season 2, at least in terms of plot. It's where Azula moves most pieces of her plan. She tricks the Earth King into believing she is a Kyoshi Warrior. Then she realizes the key to control the city is the Dai Li. She meets Long Feng and makes an alliance with him. Then she takes down the EK's generals, captures Katara, and also has time to set up a trap for Zuko and Iroh (which is a pretty sad sequence, for how happy the two are with their new lives at the start of the episode). This is Azula's biggest moment in the show, hands down, as she conquers a city that resisted invasion for 100 years, with an army of 3 people, using just het wits.

It also features a Top 5 scene in the show: Toph inventing Metalbending. It's a short and simple scene, but the sheer impact of it, not only for Toph's character but for the entire Avatar-verse is immense. Metal was seen as this flawless anti-bending tool for the whole show, until Toph just decides to see if she can punch it into submission, and turns out she can. She takes down the two guys who captured her and yells "I'm the best Earthbender in the world!". And she is right. Not just the best Earthbender, but probably the most talented bender overall in this series, and the next one.

Next, we have a short sequence where Sokka finally meets his father, gets ready to join him in a war, but then learns Katara has been captured, so he is forced to postpone his glorious joining of the WT army to fulfill his mission with Team Avatar. It's a good moment of development for him, and a nice contrast to him abandoning Aang in Bato of the Water Tribe.

Finally, the main point of the episode is Aang opening the chakras. I usually don't enjoy this religious stuff, but here is a very welld-done sequence. It is about Aang reviewing each of his previous character flaws so far, confronting them once again, and finally defeating them for good. Then, he bumps into the one issue he hasn't solved yet, his love for Katara, and his teenage heart is just unable to let go of it, so he sacrifices mastering the Avatar State. Until he learns to do it in 2x20 anyway, I guess. Plus the Guu is just a cool guy.

It's an episode that is certainly more than the sum of its parts, as most scenes aren't heavy on impact but are all very good stuff.