Overanalyzing Avatar: The Cave of Two Lovers

this is the first time we ever see the gang in their swimming clothes which come back a few times mostly guitars though let me see your stance so katara comes in to tell him that his stance is too wide and helps hank close it up but then aang immediately takes the widest stance imaginable that always kind of weirded me out we see katara throw four icicle shots in this shot here but aang only has to dodge out of the way of three of them i love the animation on this water tentacle the way it scrunches up really makes it feel like when it goes smooth again it's the surface tension of the water that's grabbing katara that's a really cool way to help visualize that don't fall in love with the traveling girl [Music] you [ __ ] fairweather trustfully in love fans are all fired up about secret tunnel this secret tunnel that i bet you don't even know that this song they play right here is called traveling girl track seven from their first studio album moment for two yeah that's right i'm gatekeeping we're nomads happy to go wherever the wind takes us you guys think this exact line is why they made the air race of people the air nomads seems to fit really perfectly its leaves make a tea so delicious it's heartbreaking that oh it's the white jade bush which is poisonous we need food not tea i'm going fishing hmm delectable tea oh deadly poison you're worried too much about where you're going you got to focus less on the where and more on the going oh ma saka's right we need to find king boomi so ann can learn earthbending somewhere safe well sounds like you're headed to omashu okay this scene just reminds me that these are fan beloved characters right and yeah i love them too but i can see them getting really old really fast if they overstayed their welcome pretty smart move to just have them in this episode and then never again if you ask me soccer fills in for the audience too here in this episode something that avatar doesn't often do soccer represents the audience face palming their way through the episode with them which in a story that's as character driven as avatar is a pretty rare thing [Music] all right i'd let this whole song play out if i wouldn't get a copyright claim from it but i just love these two they actually get like no lines in the episodes and they're just like background dancers super funny [Applause] through the mountains remember that plant i thought might be tea you didn't i did and it wasn't wait [ __ ] if ira gets sick from the plant then that patreon made from earlier doesn't read very well cut that out what do you mean they already saw it what the [ __ ] do i pay you for when the rash spreads to my throat i will stop breathing but look what i found these are pakui berries known to cure the poison of the white jade plant that oh macaulay berries that cause blindness that's another thing about this episode it's got good comedic writing like not even meaning with the hippies or whatever ayurveda have like banger after banger jokes both written and visually it's crazy if the earth kingdom discovers us they'll have us killed but if the fire nation discovers us will be turned over to azula earth kingdom it is while this is a good joke and i often do just take it at face value as a joke it is cool to hear airo and zuko just so easily come to that decision azula is still new to the viewers at this point so having characters that we know aren't slouches themselves talk her up and actually be afraid of her drives home the fact that she's a problem all you need to do is trust in love according to the curse curse this is a little weird right sock is far from the superstitious type he's the one that's always saying there's a logical explanation and he's usually right they did mention the whole labyrinth thing though so not wanting to go in there because of that i understand but the curse i feel like shouldn't really bother him also in the show you can see these statues of uh i don't really know what that is actually you think when they carved out this cave she was like come on let me put my deviantart oc at the start it'll be sick hold on it's too dangerous haven't you heard the song just close them in hey yo it's mr ipad from the jet episode i told you that guy came back chong how long do those torches last uh about two hours each and we have five torches so that's ten hours it doesn't work like that if they're all lit at the same time oh right i think this is my favorite hippie moment she's so [ __ ] high dude so where are you traveling from yes we're travelers i like that zuko stumbles over his words here they haven't thought of a cover story yet so they got to come up with the one on the fly i love little stuff like that i'm lee try lee there's a million leaves and this is my uncle uh mushi like look at this this is all written jokes but the punch line is in the animation i love that kind of stuff too there's something strange here there's only one explanation the tunnels are changing [ __ ] dude that was some good dramatic timing with the cave rumbling here just let me add one of these too the tunnels are changing [Music] the fire nation raided our farming village all the men were taken away that was the last time i saw my father i haven't seen my father in many years all right i really like this scene but more mouth movement thinking first zuko starts this line with his mouth on screen before moving it off screen but his mouth should move before it goes off screen that was the last time i saw my father boom bombshell this is the first time zuko can see himself in someone else and it's a girl from the enemy nation and you can tell he opens up a little bit right after seeing himself in the song i haven't seen my father in many years it's a short quiet moment but it's big for where zuko's character ends up going he instantly closes back up too because it's only the first crack on the armor which feels very real it's a giant flying thing with teeth no it's a wolf what do you mean no he was right it's a giant flying thing with teeth you could both be right this airbending looks weird right it's usually more transparent but here it's blue as hell the fire nation has hurt you song trying to touch zuko's scar here sets up a little character moment for later it's a ways off though so i'll mention it when we get there it's okay they've hurt me too [Music] boom bombshell number two zuko not only sees himself in song but now he can begin to see that the fire nation doesn't just hurt their enemies they hurt people they hurt people like him like they heard him and he just looks at her because he suddenly has a lot to think about and his views are being challenged i heard someone say once that zuko has a 50 episode character arc that ends with his talk with ozai during the eclipse i don't think that's the case at all i don't think zuko's character eric really starts until right now this is when he starts to think differently but not quite act differently yet zuko for the most part was single-minded on catching ang for the entire first season and that didn't change much with some moments of bound to show us he's not a monster sure but it didn't really change much from chapter 1 to 20 nothing huge at the very least here's where it starts to me at least and i don't think it ends at the ozai confrontation either i don't think that gives season three zuke on enough credit [Music] oh don't let the caving get you down yeah i bet that you don't even know that this is their single released in 97 ag named don't let the cave in get you down it went triple platinum put some respect on the name it must be the two lovers from the legend that's who's buried here these pictures tell their story [Music] this is a really cool way to do an ancient story it's animated in a way that we're not being told what the characters are reading we're seeing the same painting stills or rock etchings or whatever that they're actually seeing plus it looks really nice that's a plus too i also like that this martial arts form that we've seen used primarily for combat and warfare has its roots in a love story it could make you stop and think for a sec this story obviously has more than a couple parallels with romeo and juliet a love that has to be kept secrets because the lovers are from two opposite sides of a disagreement except in this one instead of it ending in a double suicide it ends with one of them being like hey yo what the [ __ ] right now and then ending the dispute the curse says we'll be trapped in here forever unless we trust in love right and here it says love is brightest in the dark and has a picture of them kissing where are you going with this well what if we kissed us kissing god younger awkward ass me watching this for the first time must have been like jesus christ dang this is your one shot do not miss your chance to blow this opportunity comes once in a lifetime definitely wouldn't want to kiss you no the scene has also voice acted like terrifically i love how aang says his line in particular what i'm saying i would rather kiss you than die that's a compliment secret even if you're lost you can't lose the love because it's in your heart damn i bet you didn't even know this was the first song to hit the top ten even if you're lost you sicken me this is a big part of what makes zuko a compelling character he doesn't just immediately flip when his views are challenged they've been deeply ingrained into him so one night with a girl that he has a lot in common with isn't gonna do it it's just the start and since it's just the start it still feels like zuko when he decides to be a scum [ __ ] bastard and steal their horse song on the other hand is on the other side of the coin she's had these hopeful thoughts and helpful nature and grain into her as she grew up we can see the similarities between them so the last action they take in regards to one another speaks volumes zuko steals song's horse song sullenly accepts it and closes the door accepting that maybe they need the horse but also that zuko was just another bad guy they're similar but all too different i know it's a moment between kids but this is a romantic moment as the light dims they get closer and the lights go out and we're not sure if they kissed or not that's a really tasteful way to do it i like that the badger moles are the first earthbenders the idea that humans learn to control nature from nature itself is a really cool concept and it's one that i'm gonna bring up again in an episode or two and the badger moles being blind and then being intrigued by something auditory like music is a nice touch good job it's a good way to tie two elements of the story that could have been throwaway elements together so it feels like they fit the big bad vegetables yeah and this was the bonus track of their third album season of echoes named aptly badger moles secret tunnel get real yeah i don't think guitar and kissed i know there's two camps on that matter but it just never felt like they did to me and if you feel differently i'm sure you'll let me know in the comments [Music] yeah they actually really characterize open the first bit of the season too i wonder why they would do that it's not like they have any dastardly plans in store right sucker's got the red mark on his forehead as early as this shot yeah it was crazy in there man i'm glad you're here you'll never leave again right you'll never get kidnapped by sandbenders or something right are you guys gonna come to omashu with us nope okay chong give saka's flower necklace here on a little loki type beat that's a nice gesture chong i like you time to never see you again i present to you the earth kingdom city of om oh no [Music] and yeah good cliffhanger too this episode honestly leads better into the next episode than the spirit world two-parter did not a lot of avatar episodes end leading directly into the next but this one is written like really well so i'm not surprised to see that it leads directly into the return to homashi i know there's some dissension amongst the ranks when it comes to this episode some people really love it i think most people think it's good and then some people really don't like it at all i think i'm somewhere between like and love the writing in here is poignant when it needs to be and there's like a joke every minute or so and they're good jokes that aren't all just dumbbell hippie jokes the zuko story despite it only being a few minutes long really stands out to me for this episode for the reasons that i described but most people don't really remember that with all the hippie songs and badger moles or whatever but yeah to me good episode patron shout outs if you want to be one episode ahead going forward the next episode of over analyzing avatar is available on patreon for just a few bucks if you support me on there you'll get the next episode one week ahead of the youtube release biggest shout out of all goes to fritz sullivan who lent me his lamborghini last week that was really cool of you dude i appreciate that other absolutely towering shout outs go to my other top patrons coconut derrick gornwell dj jacks dude mutual aid garmer glintlock mana nicholas abbott parker glass come on dude skylo super sniper and thiago nacimento next up is return to omashu which is a weird one for me actually i'll save it for next video you'll see [Music]

Channel: Overanalyzing Avatar

Views: 407,453

Keywords: Overanalyzing Avatar, React to avatar the last airbender, The cave of two lovers, Avatar secret tunnel, Avatar secret tunnel song, Avatar book 2 chapter 2, Avatar season 2 episode 2, react to avatar, the legend of aang, Aang, Sokka, Zuko

Id: J-kR2bY9nx4

Length: 13min 12sec (792 seconds)

Published: Tue May 04 2021