 The beach is one of my favorite episodes. I feel like I say that a lot, but I like it for two very deep and emotional reasons. The first one being that it's a beach episode, and the second is that there's a lot of Azula, and as an avid Azula stan, that shouldn't come as a surprise. And as much as I love the cool fight sequences and inventive bending in this episode, I didn't really care what the gang was doing. I wanted that sweet teenage angst. It's clear that the beach excels because of its characterization. In this episode, we learn what the Fire Nation children do when they're not chasing down the avatar. We've already seen the gang lounge around and beat kids, now we get to see the other side of the equation. Beginning with Mei and Tai Lee, from the get-go, they were never on the same level as Azula. While allied with the princess, I never feared them, or considered them as truly evil as I did with Azula. They never carried that same intensity. In this episode, we see Mei and Tai Lee act in accordance with what we've seen before. Mei being reserved and stoic, and Tai Lee being happy-go-lucky, attracting all of the Fire Nation guys at the beach. The beach does play on the tropes of teenagers, and these two fill their roles quite accordingly. However, where things change is that we get a deeper look into why their personalities are the way that they are. Mei, the once-only child whose family was rich, downplays her personal issues. The loneliness and solitude she's had to deal with as a result of controlling parents, explains her whole demeanor. Azula says that she is afraid of caring, but she proved over the course of this episode that she does care about Zuko, but she won't let his hardships justify his behavior, as demonstrated in the way that she doesn't put up with his outbursts of anger, but she still does stay by his side. Mei might be afraid of caring and expressing herself, but she doesn't shy away from expressing love, as she proves not only in this episode, but in the boiling rock as well. Moving on to Tai Li, we see the first glimpse of her past when Azula tells her that the guys that have been suing over her don't actually like her for her, which immediately brings her to tears. Later on in that episode, we learn that Tai Li chases individuality, and because of a lack of it, as a result of being a sibling who looks just like her five sisters, she craves attention, and explains her joining the circus. So Azula telling her that people don't care for who she actually is goes deeper than just some boys. What I also found interesting about Tai Li is that before she tells this story, Zuko burns his family photo and she interjects. She thinks he does care about that family photo, and that she does truly know him. Tai Li and Mei have been friends with the royal family since childhood, and Tai Li being part of a match set, not being recognized for her own talents, not being given attention, considering this, maybe she does know a bit about what Zuko is going through. Who is the older, weaker sibling to a firebending prodigy, the one who got all of Ozai's attention. This demonstrated that Tai Li is someone who is not only cheerful, but empathetic as well. Speaking of Zuko, this episode was significant for him. The beach comes in at the fifth entry in the season, and it highlights the Fire Nation Prince a few days after his return to the Fire Nation. Zuko should have his life in order. The Avatar has been killed, and his honor has been restored. As he said, Ozai talks to him now. He's under the Fire Lord's good graces, and he isn't being hunted by his own family. Again, things should be normal. I once said that Zuko alone saw the Fire Nation Prince at his lowest. Though after watching the beach again, it's so clear to me that this is truly his lowest moment. Zuko has only ever had one goal in his life, and it's been regaining his honor. It's been hammered into our brains since episode one, and he did it. His father says he's proud of him. His goal is fulfilled. But he's so empty and lost. In this episode, he's so volatile and fragile. He's jealous even. Zuko is so threatened when Mei talks to another guy because Mei is the last person by his side. Zuko is throwing fits of desperation. He's holding onto this relationship because it's the last thing that he has. Ember Island, this little vacation, is just reminding Zuko of how much his life has changed, how alone he is. When he enters their old vacation home, the crown prince picks up family photos, and he sees memories of a time where his father accepted him. He sees his face and he isn't scarred. His father hasn't burned him yet. He sees his photo and his mother's there. This is what normal looks like. He thinks back to his youth, the times he spent with Uncle Airo and Luten, a relationship that he failed. Ember Island is not a vacation for Zuko. It's a place of painful memories, adding fuel to his anger. And he projects all of that guilt and rage and anguish onto everyone around him. As we get to the end of the episode, they all ask him why and who he's so angry at. And of course he says that he is angry at himself, as the fire that he built rages. He's not angry at Ozai because he finally knows that his honor was never taken away by his father. But by turning his back on his uncle, the one person who's had faith in him from the beginning, the one person who's been by his side, Zuko threw away his own honor that day in the crystal catacombs. The crown prince is so angry because for the first time, he is truly without honor. But by admitting this and understanding this, he's turning the corner. As he seeks Airo's guidance in the very next episode. The beach is Zuko's first step towards redemption. Last but not least, Azula. The princess of the Fire Nation for me brings this episode together because of her much needed humanization. After a full season of her relentless pursuit of the gang, we have come to associate Azula and her chilling theme with evil. Sometimes even more so than Ozai. This 14 year old just took down Bossing's say in weeks. She killed the Avatar and five episodes later, we see her in this new light. Of course the first half is the princess in typical Azula fashion dominating the volleyball game. But as we get to the party, she's so out of her element. The princess can barely speak without it sounding horribly awkward and she needs to learn how to be a teenager. Though when she does manage to get Chan's attention and a kiss, she ruins it moments later. Yeah, she's a terrifying firebender but this reminds us that Azula is still a kid. She makes bad jokes and she gets jealous just like any other teenager, just like any other person. But aside from her clumsy interactions, Azula shows her heart. When she gets jealous of Tai Lee, she makes her cry and immediately apologizes after seeing how her words affected Tai Lee. Later, when Zuko is taken back by the memories of their former home, Azula actively looks for him and invites him back down to the beach, removing him from the depressing memories of that place. Azula knows what happened to her brother, what those pictures are reminding him of, how things used to be. Finally, when she laughs at Zuko calling Tai Lee a circus freak, Azula genuinely seems to feel bad about it. All of these moments help in humanizing her, showing that she is a person who does feel guilt and sympathy. However, she contradicts this by calling Zuko pathetic, laughing at Tai Lee, making fun of Mei and claiming that all of their issues were sob stories. As if she isn't a victim herself. In Azula's revelation that her mother thought she was a monster, it made me think back to those clumsy and awkward exchanges at the party. The princess of the Fire Nation can barely interact with others if it isn't about Fire Nation politics. When she's not cutting into Long Feng with terrifying precision, she's just awkward. Azula doesn't know how to be a teenager, all she knows is how to conquer, and it even leaks into her moment with Chan. It was funny in the moment, but in retrospect, tragic. She doesn't know how to talk to people when she's not trying to manipulate them. More than that, this episode highlighted that Azula doesn't have her own identity aside from what other people have deemed her as. Azula believed that her mother thought she was a monster, and because Ursa wasn't there to mend that relationship, that's what she became. She felt like her mother loved Zuko more than her. Because of that, Azula sought out her father's acceptance and love, and he loved power and domination. Ozai wanted a winner, a perfect monster, so that's what she became. Zuko, Tai Li, and Mei all have their own identities. We saw from Tai Li's story that it's clear she craves individuality. Mei seems to be comfortable with who she is, and Zuko is currently cultivating his own identity. Tai Li calls Azula beautiful, smart, and perfect, but at this point it's too late. No one tells her that she isn't a monster, that she doesn't have to be perfect to have worth. Azula instead accepts and agrees that she is indeed one because that's the only thing she's ever seen herself as, and it has invaded her personality. I think the worst part is that she knows it, but she doesn't fight it. She can't fight it. So she accepts it, because in accepting that, it will bring her what she desires. Love, even if it is from Ozai. The fact that she didn't feel her mother's love and brushes it off is so telling. At the same time, Azula is being manipulated by Ozai the very same way she manipulates others. It's why she calls their stories sob stories and why she calls her brother pathetic. Zuko is coming to the realization of who their father truly is, and what he'd done to them, but she hasn't. How could she? Her father has molded his daughter into a monster built to fight, built to win. It's an obsession, and it's even more tragic when she loses the final fight with Zuko. Because when Azula loses, who exactly is she then? What is she? Those final 10 minutes, not only for the Fire Nation Royals, but for the gang as well, brings us back into reality. Both parties have spent the day relaxing, being kids, having fun for once. But as the night rolls around, the reality of war settles in, physically and emotionally. The gang gets attacked by combustion man and the Fire Nation kids are all opening emotional wounds. Particularly Ang, Katara and Saka, as well as Zuko and Azula, they are victims of this war. They're not all equal, but they've all been hurt by it in some way or another. Whether it be a physical scar, or a loss of identity, each of them between 12 and 16. The beach for me was a longing to sit with the awkward Zuko. The bubbly Tylee, the reserved Mei, and the socially inept Azula, just for a little bit longer. I wanted to see these kids, all of them, just be kids. But it's clear that for both parties, the war has taken that away from them. This video has been sponsored by Audible. Audible and their thousands upon thousands of audiobooks changed the game for me. At the beginning of my search for new books to read, I found it difficult to find time to sit down and actually read. Listening to audiobooks while I'm doing other things just makes life a whole lot easier for me. Right now I'm listening to audiobooks of my favorite titles and it has become a new experience for me. I just finished listening to Rick Jordan's The Lightning Thief and now I'm on to The Sea of Monsters. Jesse Bernstein's Percy makes a lot of sense to me and it breeds new life into the series that I already love. Audible has a bunch of genres and like I said, thousands of titles in a bunch of different languages too. So if you are interested in audiobooks, visit audible.com slash Sage's Reign or text Sage's Reign to 500-500 to start your 30 day free trial. Again, that's audible.com slash Sage's Reign or text Sage's Reign to 500-500. Who knows, maybe one day you'll hear me on the other side of one. Thank you for listening and I'll see you all soon.