User Reviews

This episode to me is flawless. I loved every moment this episode brought to the table. The animation, fight scenes, dialogue, narrative, and humor are all on point.

I'm so glad that every character trying to escape the prison made it out. I know that most TV shows would have a few characters not survive the prison break, and I respect those storytelling choices, but this episode makes me satisfied. Then again, I forgot about the big dude's girl and best guy in the first half of The Boiling Rock, but I'll let that slide because of how excellent this episode is.

I'm so glad Mai was given more story depth and for her to go against Azula makes the story more engaging because Mai wasn't just created to be a right-hand person to Azula. That would be a bore to watch her if that who she'd be for the rest of the series.

I almost subtracted points when Mai was just standing there after Ty Lee paralyzed Azula, which that too was a spectacular moment. However, I realized Mai was still left in shock after Ty Lee chose to be on her side. Ty Lee has been Azula's loyal servant since the previous season. I was in shock to see her betrayal too.

Loved it! Loved it! Loved it!

Back in Return to Omashu, Mei joined Azula entirely out of boredom so Azula tested her loyalty by asking her to choose between her brother and Azula's mission and she chose the latter instantly implying that Azula needn't have worried about love getting in the way. At least that is what the episode would have implied if it weren't for the episode ending with Mei having a lovestruck smile on her face after hearing she was looking for Zuko.

Thus we get Mei confronting Zuko and realizing that she still loves him to the point of betraying Azula to save him resulting in her taking Azula down a peg with the phrase "I guess you don't know people as well as you thought. You miscalculated. I love Zuko more than I fear you" while perfectly aware Azula would attempt to strike her down with lightning for it. I cannot help but applaud that level of bravery.

Tai-Li, since her first appearance, served Azula exclusively because Azula clearly but implicitly threatened her with a torturous death if Tai-Li didn't serve her. So it's good to see that Tai-Li's friendship with Mei is stronger than her fear of Azula.

The best part is, Azula has failed by her own standards. Her gimmick was always using fear and manipulation to control others and now that clearly doesn't work. She didn't anticipate Zuko's defection or Mei's betrayal or Tai-Li's. She also failed in relation to her original mission since she not only failed to kill the Avatar (which her father now knows) but she also failed to capture Zuko, who comes across as more powerful following his adventure with the Dragons (and torching the cable cars so no one could follow was a nice touch.)

Also, I find Chit-Sang starting a riot by simply shouting "let's riot" to be hilarious in its simplicity (and yes, the general humour of this episode is funny as well.)

The reunion between Katara and Hakoda at the end was likewise heartwarming. This is a great episode.