new moon

the first phase

It was anything but a fairy tale beginning. Sure, the prince showed up, but he also threatened her grandmother’s life and destroyed her village. Early on, the determined, exiled Zuko chased the Avatar relentlessly, and anyone who got in the way was disposable. To her, he was the enemy; a member of the Fire Nation trying to take away the world’s only hope for peace. It was literally a cat and mouse game, culminating in some very intriguing interactions.

“I’ll save you from the pirates.”

When Katara lost her grandmother’s betrothal necklace while freeing imprisoned earthbenders from the Fire Nation prison, as fate would have it, Zuko discovered the necklace. Later, while visiting the same pirate ship that Katara had stolen a waterbending scroll from, he managed to capture her as she was running away from the pirates he solicited to help.

This became the first up close, full on interaction between Katara and Zuko. While having her tied to a tree, Zuko teased and provoked, offering her the necklace back in exchange for information about Aang’s whereabouts. He appealed to her kindness, explaining that he needed the Avatar to restore his honour. Katara flat our refused and spit her defiance back at him, unwilling to risk world peace for a necklace that means the world to her.

Oh this scene. It is so ripe with tension and seductive energy, that I honestly don’t know how either of them managed to keep their cool. It was filled with a special chemistry, and allowed each of them a glimpse into each other’s motives and mission.

“Your girlfriend run off on you?”

We all know that teasing plays a special part in any young couple’s relationship. Enter June, money hungry bounty hunter and the first one to call it (now affectionately canonised as St. June, the patron saint of Zutara). Her pet shirshu, Nyla, is capable of tracking down anyone’s scent, and Zuko hires her to find Katara using the necklace. After tracking down Katara, who conveniently was separated from Aang at the time, she comments, “No wonder she left. She's way too pretty for you.”

After Aang manages to outsmart the shirshu with perfume, he recovers the necklace from Zuko and presents it to Katara, pretending that Zuko wished for her to have it. Her reply? “Oh, that's so sweet of Zuko. Would you give him a kiss for me when you see him?”

“You rise with the moon. I rise with the sun.”

After finally reaching the North Pole, Katara, through sheer determination and a little family connection, manages to convince the sexist Master Pakku to teach her waterbending, which she became extremely adept at. Amidst the Fire Nation army attacking and General Zhao plotting to kill the moon spirit (to take away all waterbending), Zuko somehow manages to crawl through the ice and reach the oasis where Aang has entered the spirit world and Katara was left to protect his body.

Zuko smugly remarks, “Well, aren't you a big girl now?”, until he discovers that she actually is. Zuko is annoyed (but a little impressed) that Katara had found a master and was now a worthy adversary. The battle starts in the early hours of the night, where Katara, boosted by the moon, manages to keep Zuko away by constantly encasing him in ice. However, when the sun rose from the horizon, Zuko’s firebending got a boost and he knocks Katara out. Words don’t do this battle justice, so see below for a visual reminder of the awesomeness.

I enjoyed this fight immensely, because this is when we first begin to see the beauty in the opposing symmetry of the red and blue, fire and water. This epic battle marked the start of Zuko and Katara as equals, both in determination and skill. Just something wonderful to watch.