I think it's also possible that Iroh and most members of the Order have become accustomed to thinking of the Avatar as essentially irrelevant to any peace project, given Roku's failure to stop the colonization of the Earth Kingdom and Aang's century-long disappearance. There effectively was no Avatar for the entirety…

It's from Appa's Lost Days, actually. Zuko and Iroh are on the ferry going to Ba Sing Se.

There's a lengthy discussions of this in the comments for "Bitter Work." I can see the ways in which Hayden's theory is a bit overdetermined, but I'm wholly in sympathy with his reading that Iroh, thought not prescient in any way, takes a very long view if things, that even if he wasn't envisioning some kind of…

Is that a promise?

I just wanted to applaud Hayden on this excellent recap/review. It had just the right balance and proper integration of analysis and summary. It was funny without being glib.

It's the right way to go even without considerations of audience-appropriateness. There's no challenge to conveying pathos with a dead body.

I think it's easy to read the Blue Spirit mask as a case of simple, one-to-one correlational symbolism, but I don't think such a reading holds up. As a symbol, it's a complex one, and I think it ultimately comes to encapsulate the many contradictions within Zuko's personality/psyche, contradictions that can ultimately…

I'm from Texas, born and raised, and I like beans in my Chili. I like the variation in texture. Sue me.

SPOILERS

"Tales" is a gutsy episode precisely because all of its thematic weight rests on our established relationship with the characters. I recall seeing this episode at random and ever after thought of it as pretty inessential and insubstantial. It's an episode that feels uniquely and specifically created for established…

That's an excellent point. I read the end of the Zuko vignette as another example of that dynamic. Zuko can perform his little stunt, and Jin isn't even remotely suspicious. No matter how much we may like them, Zuko and Iroh are two very, very dangerous people, and the Dai Li's campaign of suppression has not only…

While I think the reviews could do with less fine-detail recapping, I thought there were some excellent insights here. Since I saw most of these episodes out of order, I suppose I always thought of the events in the finale is inevitable in some way. I never considered the implications of Appa's kidnapping and Aang's…

Just Google "Avatar the Promise leaked" and you'll find the panels pretty easily. I skimmed through them. Truth be told, I don't think the dialogue is as well-written as the shows. Perhaps it's the genre, but the graphic novel—while well-drawn—seems pretty plot-heavy. It's a compelling plot with plenty of complexity…

I live under a rock, and even I managed to pick up on that reference AND the Dothraki wedding/GoT reference up higher in the comments.

Central Market's are better, but HEB tortillas are still crazy good.  I'm guessing this could not be done because Whole Foods is a sponsor.

If I recall, that was his justification for both the cooked shrimp AND the decision to make shitty enchiladas..

I will drive all the way across town to Central Market to get a hold of some fresh tortillas. Nom nom nom.

I am a pedantic American Literature PhD, and I have one complaint:

This. I tried to describe the first book to someone who had never heard of it, and they were pretty horrified.

I am not usually a fan of YA fiction, but I found the Hunger Games trilogy to be one of the most gripping reading experiences in recent memory. I enjoyed them in spite of some of the problems that plague YA fiction. By the third book, I think Collins figured out how to deal with her contractual obligation to…