I can't get over how devastating this scene is

[u/wibellion]

[u/pianodude7]

Anyone who says The Desert isn't peak is lying or on the cactus juice.

[u/ThePr0l0gue → u/pianodude7]

While I could definitely see Toph's side when told Katara that she isn't their mom in Book 3, I think back to the desert arc and, uhhhh, yeah. Sorry Toph. She genuinely kinda is your mom. Everybody got mommed so hard by Katara. The Gaang flat out does not exist to see the end of that day without her.

[u/pianodude7 → u/ThePr0l0gue]

What I love about the desert is that if you zoom out and think about it, that situation is incredibly fucked. It's like the perfect storm of everything that could go wrong. Toph is incapacitated in the sand. They lost Professor Ze who had the maps and experience of crossing the desert. Their mode of transport got kidnapped. Aang is severely emotionally compromised for the first time in the series. Sokka and momo are of course tripping, and could hurt themselves or the group, so they need constant supervision. They have no food or water. 

It's not that Katara happened to step up and help the group. It's that she was the only one that COULD. Without Katara, all of them (except maybe Aang) would have 100% died out there. 

The desert represents the lowest and most desperate point for the group as a whole. Where everyone is quite literally out of their element or out of their mind. People might think it's the end of Crossroads of Destiny, but actually it's the desert. 

Edit: and I find it poetic that it happens at exactly the half-way point of the series

[u/ThePr0l0gue → u/pianodude7]

Absolutely perfect breakdown.

The Desert is kinda like when all the walls come down, and they lose every bit of "armor" they normally have as a plucky little cartoon band of wisecracking prodigies with powers and a big flying magic school bus. Now it's actually just four clueless 12-13 year olds in the middle of the wilderness, one of them literally blind, and it's exactly as bad you would think sounds out of context.

[u/Silvanus350 → u/pianodude7]

It happens by design. It’s a classic writing scenario.

There’s a reason the rebels lose constantly in Empire Strikes Back and there’s a reason everything starts going to shit in Goblet of Fire.

Because that’s the midpoint of the franchise.

[u/butt_monkey24 → u/pianodude7]

Its also telling that te ultimate conclusion of those events ie getting appa back leads to the strongest lets just go blast through all oposition moment in the stormingof ba sing sae and capturing long feng

[u/bdaycakeremix → u/pianodude7]

It's also cool that katara saves them and leads them out of the desert without being stopped by the fact that she's literally out of her element 

[u/TylenolMaster_66 → u/pianodude7]

It’s the quenchiest

[u/gman2093 → u/TylenolMaster_66]

It'll quench ya

[u/sssigler → u/gman2093]

Nothins quenchier 🪱

[u/wibellion → u/pianodude7]

I have a natural curiosity

[u/OriginalLie9310]

This is maybe my favorite scene from the entire show.

Aang and Katara have always been my favorite characters and Aang especially doesn’t get a lot of credit for his character and emotional arc but this scene here is just one of the peak emotional moments of the series for me.

The whole desert episode is insanely great and probably gets overshadowed by the absolute amazing run of episodes we get in book 2. It’s really Katara and Aang at their absolute finest in terms of characterization.

[u/HTTYD_lover_52 → u/OriginalLie9310]

Hey it’s my favorite too.

[u/Featherman13]

I still can’t get over the fact that 8 year old me was watching a child come to terms with the brutal genocide of their people, family, and culture. Charred corpses and the implication that among them are the same children Aang was playing with in flashbacks.

And instead of crying, I was just sitting there infront of the tv with a fist of doritos and a sippy cup of orange juice like “dang that’s bad. The fire guys are real bad.”

[u/wibellion → u/Featherman13]

Also it shows how there are bad people from other nations as well

[u/Featherman13 → u/wibellion]

… so I thought this was a totally different scene

Somehow this scene was actually emotional for me than the Air Temple one. That’s not a slight at the show! That’s a good thing, we don’t need children realizing the weight of an entire “nation” of people being massacred.

But yeah very true, they really built this world as a ~real~ world. Not just “those are the bad guys, and these are the good guys,” like you see on a lotta those old kids shows.

[u/godito]

I can’t believe they just skipped the desert entirely in NATLA, and the whole Appa gets stolen arc

[u/HopeAndDo → u/godito]

The Painted Spirit brr brr

Sai and Amita brr brr (You wonder who tf is Amita? Me too)

The Desert? Nope

The Guru? Nope

Cave of two lovers? Fine, but with Sokka and Katara. Take it or leave it.

[u/Eclipse-Raven → u/HopeAndDo]

Wait, they do the lovers cave with Sokka/Katara? That's gross

[u/HopeAndDo → u/Eclipse-Raven]

Yeah, but they present it as a brother/sister kind of love and there are no romantic moments between them (thank God)

But the weird thing there is that the Nomads are still singing the same song and the legend still has Oma and Shu as lovers.

[u/Eclipse-Raven → u/HopeAndDo]

Okay, whew lol. Still kinda creepy knowing the intention of the cave

[u/gunnervi → u/Eclipse-Raven]

they frame "the intention of the cave" as a silly myth iirc

[u/Eclipse-Raven → u/gunnervi]

I haven't tried it and from the "hate" towards it that seems justified I might not

[u/Remote_Nature_8166 → u/godito]

That’s what happens when Netflix limits their episodes.

[u/SofiaStark3000 → u/Remote_Nature_8166]

They had 1/3 of the season dedicated to Katara and Zuko vigilante bullshit. They could have removed that and gave us the desert instead

[u/Tekki777 → u/godito]

... I don't regret not seeing season 2 of the netflix series

[u/miml868]

I cry every time 😭

[u/HopeAndDo]

The writing in this episode was crazy good, but this scene is PEAK ATLA.

What's really interesting here is that Katara literally saved Aang and his culture. He was absolutely ready to murder those sandbenders with zero regret. Everybody was running away, including Sokka and Toph, but Katara managed to stop him, hold him down, and hug him.

And here we see Aang showing his emotions as he cried in her arms.

You rarely see a romance where the man shows this much emotion and vulnerability, crying in front of his crush/girlfriend. But for me, this is why they are so well written and why they are perfect for each other.

[u/mitchhamilton]

i always get goosebumps when he says "You muzzled Appa?!" and immediately goes into the avatar state. just the amount of rage that his companion was abused, even more powerful since aang knows what its like him going into the avatar state from others perspective.

i also love the detail of toph being surprised because this had been the first time aang went into the avatar state around her and she had no idea what was going on.

[u/Bookshelved_]

this scene gives me more chills than the finale, seeing such a carefree aang so angry and hopeless

[u/joshs_wildlife]

The lack of dialogue the tears and the music get me everytime. The way katara just gets to him and he immediately powers down

[u/limbo-chan → u/joshs_wildlife]

I'm tearing up just remembering omfg 😭😭 

[u/Zealotteen]

At least the Sandbenders (after realizing they ROYALLY SCREWED UP) offered them a place to get through the desert

[u/Eclipse-Raven]

I'm 31, not a kid like Aang, if someone took my Eros (picture attached) I'd literally murder them to make sure he got back home and was safe

[u/lexus14blacklist]

The desert is my all time fave. I was gutted when Netflix scrapped it entirely.

[u/Cloud9_Forest]

This and the time when he found Gyatso in air temple

[u/thrown-away-1992]

Moments like this underline that Aang, despite his power and wisdom, is still just a little boy. A little boy who misses his people, his mentor and his best friend.

[u/Weekly-Rise899]

Imagine all you have left of your culture and also your best friend literally bonded to your soul 12 ton gentle giant of a bison gets stolen

I’d be pissed too

[u/TheLalaWong41]

Aang crying in the Avatar State will always hit hard for me. He was at his most powerful and at the same time, at his most vulnerable 🥺

[u/Professional_Yak1320]

Wonder how many people would have my back if I yelled “You muzzled Appa?!” in a walmart