PercyBoleyn said:
Thaius said:
Filler? As a fan who's seen the show 8 times from beginning to end, I can guarantee there is only one episode in the entire series that is entirely irrelevant to later episodes (The Great Divide). Book 1 did have a lot of seemingly disconnected and meaningless episodes, but they got better with it after that, and even then all but one of those episodes meant something later.
Those "disconnected" episodes were filler and have virtually no or very little revelance to the actual plot.
If you say so. But no.
You've now activated my detail-oriented fanboy mode.
You don't have to read it if you don't want to, but this will be really fun to write anyway. And this only for Book 1; there's no way in which later seasons can be accused of having significant amounts of filler.
The first three episodes set up the entire plot. No filler going on there at all.
Episode 4 introduces Suki and 5 introduces Bumi, both of whom are very important and play huge roles later in the series.
Episode 6 introduces Haru (who returns briefly in Book 3), introduces the concept that earthbenders cannot bend metal, gives the first real background into Iroh, and also launches the side story regarding Zuko's acquisition of Katara's necklace.
Episode 7 and 8 are the Winter Solstice episodes, which first explore the spirit world and introduce the Sozin's Comet as one of the most important plot devices in the show.
The Waterbending Scroll (9) introduces Iroh's fondness for playing Pai Sho (a very important game later regarding the Order of the White Lotus) and introduces the pirates (who are important near the season finale).
Episode 10 is Jet, which makes it absolutely vital for Book 2 (not to mention it's the first time the series attempts to tackle deeper moral issues than most children's shows ever do).
The Great Divide is useless. That's the single episode in this entire show that has absolutely no bearing on the rest of it.
The Storm gives the all-important background on both Aang and Zuko. This is absolutely vital to understanding them, especially Zuko. It also gives our first glimpse of Azula, though that's more an easter egg than a meaningful plot point.
The Blue Spirit (13) introduces Zuko's alter-ego, which is vitally important to his development. It also gets a brief callback in Bato of the Water Tribe a few episodes later.
The Fortuneteller (14) lays some of the primary ground for the budding romance between Aang and Katara (including the prophecy that Katara would fall in love with a "very powerful bender," which was an important indicator for the future romantic events of the series) and also briefly comes up in future episode Bato of the Water Tribe.
Bato of the Water Tribe (15) introduces Jun (an important character in the finale), has some serious development for all three of the protagonists, and lays the groundwork for the later reunion of Sokka and Katara with their father.
The Deserter (16) introduces Jeong Jeong (important later with the Order of the White Lotus), develops Zhao as a villain, and is an extremely important episode for Aang's character growth/development and his later fear of learning to firebend. This is also the episode that reveals that waterbending can be used to heal.
The Northern Air Temple (17) has characters that return later and, most importantly, lays the grounds on which the Fire Nation later develops the war balloons that are so important in the latter half of Book 3.
The last three episodes effectively comprise the finale (though the last two are technically the finale). All three encompass the story of Yue (absolutely, incredibly important for Sokka later on), the death of Zhao, foreshadowing for The Great Library, a defining moment for Zuko, and an incredibly important encounter in the spirit world for Aang. I don't think I even need to say that these three are some of the most important episodes of the entire series.
And no, I don't have too much time on my hands. I just used to when the show originally aired, and it's still my favorite show to this day. So I know it pretty well. Think what you will about it; I can't force you to like it, after all. But to say it's full of irrelevant episodes is simply untrue.
