The Dark Philosophy Of Appa’s Lost Days

the most interesting dynamic in the Avatar universe is the relationship between Ang and opa I love the idea of the avatar having an animal guide who is a companion in life and the spirit world there's an unbreakable bond which connects them spiritually we see throughout the series how close the two are they do everything together and stand by each other's side no matter what it's why we love animals so much they have an unconditional loyalty and many times seem to connect with us on levels that other humans can't apaa is Ang's last reminder of his old life the only other being in the world who can understand what it feels like to have everything you know disappear they are inseparable and then Opa was captured by the sandbenders leaving a black hole in Ang I love this story because it shows us a side of Ang that we've never seen before and particularly the episode opa's lost days which lets us understand Opa better and his philosophy on life this episode is one of the best in the series because it's the first time that we truly see Opa as a character rather than a companion the entire episode being centered around him gives us a glimpse into who apaa really is and shows us the power of having hope and fighting through pain the episode begins outside Wan shei Tong's collapsing Library while to struggles to keep it standing sandbenders capture Opa and she's unable to save him from them bounded by ropes this is the first time that Opa is separated from Team Avatar he seems to be exhausted and defeated until he hears Ang blowing his bison whistle and gets a burst of eny energ to get out of bondage he starts flying even with the ropes on but then gets Sedated by sleeping darts Opa is very strong willed so even when surrounded by enemies and in an unfamiliar land he is still eager to find Ang up until the point where he is forcefully sedated he is constantly Fighting For Freedom when he wakes he finds himself in a horrifying situation A Fire Nation circus his evil trainer is hellbent on breaking his will and making him a subservient circus act this is truly a hopeless situation imagine being captured by your sworn Enemy being forced to perform for them and be thousands of miles from anyone you know but even in those Bleak circumstances Opa fights on and does not give up when the trainer won't feed Opa unless he does a trick demonstrating with another animal Opa uses his air bending to get the cabbages that are out of reach a funny action which also displays how Opa won't submit to the wicked acts that will degrade him the night of his performance all hope seems to be lost and opa is further abusing by his trainer and dressed in colorful clothing and makeup after first not obeying he is whipped and finally complies his will starts to break he flies through the Flaming rings but after getting touched by fire he knocks his trainer out this causes the audience to laugh and a young boy reminds him of Ang which snaps him out of his hopelessness and he escapes the circus Avatar actually won a Genesis award by the Humane Society of the United States for raising awareness of animal cruelty with their depiction of the cruel treatment of opa in the circus which I think is pretty cool lost and hungry he returns to the desert hoping to find Ang but it's too late he tries to eat a cactus which he instantly learns was a mistake and gets chased out of a was PVE after taking some honey eventually he finds an empty tent and collapses completely exhausted he dreams about the first time he and Ang met when Ang said the heartbreaking line I guess this means will always be together apaa now looking very disheveled is suddenly awoken by the owners of the tent and is driven out with fire he does not give up hope though he has gone through so much pain but continues flying hoping to find Ang exhausted he passes out in a forest but his Slumber is quickly interrupted when he is attacked by a hog likee creature after an intense battle he finally defeats the other Beast looking worn out angry and completely alone this is a very Bleak situation but his fortune suddenly changes when Suki accompanied by the Kyoshi Warriors finds him in a cave but being through so much trauma he does not trust them at first I mean just think about it he was captured by sandbenders sold into slavery forced to do tricks by the fire nation was constantly attacked everywhere he went he was going to be slow to trust people then Suki says this it's our responsibility to get Opa back to him safely this could be our most important Mission yet eventually he sees their good nature and probably remembers them from earlier and they nurse him back to health but just like throughout this episode Papa's Good Fortune is fleeting as aula circus freak and emo girl pull up to capture him but with the help of the Kyoshi Warriors He's Able to escape and is once again alone he doesn't know where to go and has no clue how to find a so he goes to where he feels at home the Eastern air Temple which is completely uninhabited except for one person another Ally Guru PK who fandom defines as a nomadic super centenarian due to his spiritual knowledge he's able to feel appa's spiritual ual energy and sees the trauma that he's been through he says you're still full of love but fear has moved in where trust should be I love this addition even through all of the horrible things that he's been through Opa still has lots of love in his heart even if he started to become very cautious of new people the guru takes care of apaa and further reads his energy and is able to locate Ang in bosing SE due to the spiritual connection apaa and him share before he lets apaa find His companion Pok attaches a message to Ang on Appa Tusk finally after going through so much Opa knows how to get to Ang the episode ends with the di Le capturing Opa before he can get to Ang his final hurdle before in the next episode Zuko frees him and he is finally reunited with Ang in the gang in one of the most heartwarming scenes in the series The reason I love opa's lost days so much is because it is a lesson on Hope Opa is constantly beaten bruised and betrayed everywhere he goes but he keeps pushing forward he constantly has Ang in his mind and won't stop till they are reunited this is particularly interesting to me because it is the polar opposite of how Ang acts during the time that they are separated Ang loses all hope and has little desire to push forward the absence of opa in his life causes too much pain to focus on anything it seems all of the love and enthusiasm that he once had is replaced by anger and pessimism he unfairly blames Toth for opa's capture and lashes out on the people closest to him rather than having the mindset that apaa had to push forward through the pain Ang has no clue how to act how to be the leader that he is destined to become we see in the Serpent's past how he views hope as simply a distraction and honestly loses all emotion it's very compelling seeing this different side of Ang losing all connection and being completely absorbed by grief eventually his friends show him that being hopeless is not the route to go down if he wants to fulfill his potential and he starts to have that lost optimism come back to him but that period where Ang lost himself showed how much he needed Opa Opa on the polar opposite side of Ang wouldn't stop hoping wouldn't stop searching until they were reunited this is a beautiful lesson in life a fictional Flying Bison may not be the first place you would think to find a profound philosophy but it's exactly in that bison Journey where we can find the importance of Hope apaa could have easily given up many times and simply accepted an awful existence but he didn't and neither should you I'm sure there have been points in your life where you constantly take losses where nothing seems to be going your way and you just feel like giving up but you should never lose hope and push through just like Opa I know this is definitely relevant to me in this Journey on YouTube I would spend hours making videos only for them to get a handful of views this would make me feel like my work was wasted and there were times where I felt like quitting making videos all together but I couldn't I have this unwavering Vision to grow this Channel and will not let those setbacks deter me from that vision wherever you may be in life don't lose hope in yourself because when you do lose hope that's when you become easy to control because you will just listen to whomever has authority over you if you are at a point in your life where you seem like you just can't catch a break understand that you are in a storm and when you get out of it you will be happy that you went through it because you proved that you could survive even the toughest of circumstances please like And subscribe if you enjoyed have a great day and be like opa

Channel: dallaskid

Views: 521,113

Keywords: Avatar

Id: P7vWXTfghl0

Length: 8min 31sec (511 seconds)

Published: Mon Jan 15 2024