Azula hallucinating her mother, always. No matter how many times I watch it, it never loses its punch, both in the sense of "Jesus, poor Azula" and "I can't believe they're going there!" It's just such a fantastic character moment for her.

I love, love when Sokka walks into the tent Hakoda's in, in...whatever episode that is. And Hakoda looks up and just goes "Sokka." And Sokka just says in this ridiculously heart-melting voice, "Hi, Dad." It's just this simple moment but you know that it means so much. We see in the beginning of the show how intensely Sokka wants to prove himself and be a great warrior and make his father proud and the reunion just gets me every time.

This part of The Tale of Katara and Toph:

Toph: It’s ok. One of the good things about being blind is I don’t have to waste my time worrying about appearances. I don’t care what I look like. I’m not looking for anyone’s approval. I know who I am.
Katara: That’s what I really admire about you, Toph. You’re so strong and confident and self assured. And I know it doesn’t matter, but…you’re really pretty.
Toph: I am?
Katara: Yeah. You are.

Perfect.

And of course:

"Heh heh. Gravity."

The less overall plot-oriented character moments.
..."filler", if you will.

I just adore that kind of development. Creates a bond between the character and the viewer, y'know?
I suppose that's why it's such a hit, with so many loyal and creative fans.

"I can't believe the captain remembered my birthday, he really does care!"

>>78669
This.

The shot in The Siege of the North pt. 2 where we see the Koizilla-d water spreading through the city from above and the music just swells...it was that moment, specifically, when I knew I loved the show.

Speaking of that episode, that shot of Yue's face right before she dies. She's just shown all this conviction and assurance but that last look on her face is, first of all, beautifully drawn, but also kind of scared. Always gets me. ;3;

>>78669
Also thirded.

>>78669
I didn't know that the Fire Nation hired out of the Xtacles.

>>78663

I love all the Hakoda-and-his-kids moments period. I tear up at "and your mother would be proud too."

Iroh and Zuko's reunion in the finale. I cried.

Anything involving THE BOULDER

>>78680
omg I cry EVERY TIME

Zuko rechanneling Ozai's lightning in the fantastic NO U after the eclipse.

Seconding all the Hakoda love here, and adding in that moment he sees Sokka in TBR pt. 2--where he just looks at him, says his name, and tears up. Such a good Daddy.

Also, because I'm watching TBR right now--Mai's fuckawesome sacrifice. Standing up to Azula, curbstomping all those guards, and delivering what, in my opinion, is the most romantic line in the whole series. AND, quickly followed by a ridiculously awesome moment from Ty Lee.

TBR is such a fantastic two-parter.

Seeing Zuko stand up to his abusive father was incredible and...cathartic, on a level for me personally.
There is nothing more difficult for an abused child to do than to stand up to the abuser. I don't think I can articulate how that made me feel, except to say that I was, well, proud of him.

Azula tries to flirt - The Beach, Sokka getting annoyed in Cave of Two Lovers,
ALL OF APPA'S LOST DAYS because it almost made me BAW, poor Appa.

I also really liked The Great Divide's story telling moments for Jin Wei and Wei Jin. Just the art. It was cool and new for the show.

>>78691

Seconding every word of this.

This sequence.

  So many... can't choose... ;_; I like a lot of the ones already listed. I'll have to think about this.

>>78694
I don't know why someone doesn't just make an Iron Toph AMV already. Or even a trailer. This one's pretty good, though.

>>78695
I thought about that myself too. Maybe since she can bend metal, she can control its temperature too? It's a stretch, but that's the only way I can excuse that. I also think the arena where Zuko and Azula had their Agni Kai should have been way more scorched.

>>78684
This. I sometimes have to pause at this point and go have a cigarette.

>>78680
>>78699
Seriously, is there anyone here who didn't cry bitch tears during this scene? The only one that tops that is the very end of Iroh's tale in season two.

>>78700

Me, because I fucking can't stand Iroh.

>>78698>>78695
No need to worry at all. I rewatched the segment. The only time Iron Toph gets hit with fire, it's at the very beginning, and for no more than 2 seconds. And while I have neither the resources nor the physics know-how to actually do the calculations, I don't see an impossible situation from an inch-thick sheet of metal getting hit with a flame for two seconds, particularly when the side of the metal Toph's touching is the opposite one from where the flame's hitting.

I could press my hand to a cast-iron skillet that's been heated for a few seconds, just to check if you'd like.

>>78702
>I could press my hand to a cast-iron skillet that's been heated for a few seconds, just to check if you'd like.
Do it in the name of SCIENCE! Sciencebending! ...Just make sure you have a bag of ice ready.

>>78701

> I fucking can't stand Iroh.

>>78703

Forget it, Cast Iron's way too dense, even at the thicknesses of skillets, he wouldn't feel a thing. If she'd taken it head on, she'd have trouble, but this was a thick as hell door.

It's kinda like how in Star Wars: Episode 1, when the shield generator gets hit, once it gets fixed, they don't get hit again. It's a moot point.

>>78700
Me neither.
Since I haven't really cried in a long time.

At least, not naturally.

Mai yelling "LEAVE ME ALONE!" in The Beach. Her voice acting was really great in general, but that moment in particular is really strong. You really can tell in that line how repressed she is.

And of course, "I will never EVER turn my back on people who need me!" Along with Katara meeting the real Painted Lady in the end. :3

>>78725
While we're on the subject of good voice acting, this moment in "The Awakening" is really something. ;_;

>>78728

It's funny, but the things she was chastising him for doing to her were the exact things she would eventually do to her village and grandmother. Leaving family behind to try and protect the world against near impossible odds and face the great possibility of death and perhaps never again return home.

>>78729

Not quite. Katara and Sokka weren't the leaders of their village, that was apparently Kanna's job while Hakoda was away, she just sorta shoos Katara to her chores in the first episode after all.

>>78731
Well he was apparently the oldest one physically capable of hunting fish and the like, but while he seemed to think he had authority over all the kids younger than him, they didn't seem to respect him or take him very seriously.

Remember this scene?

>>78740

Which was eventually made official when Kanna said so. Katara tried arguing at first by appealing to her.

>>78743
About his beliefs of his own authority, but not of the accuracy thereof.

>>78730

I don't really think my point has that much to do with whether or not they we the leaders of the village.

I was simply saying that it's funny how Katara was angry at her father for putting the safety of the world before his own personal life, even though she eventually did the same thing when faced with the choice. And it was in the middle of that choice that she eventually confronted her father about her feelings. It's hypocritical, but very very understandable. I was just musing over whether or not someday she ever realized that she did the same thing he did and if she felt even worse for being mad at him for it.

>>78747

I think if you look at it that way, she did realize it. She told him she knew why he'd left, but didn't understand why she still felt like he'd left them behind. I think her aversion or ill will was definitely a bit mis-placed though, I'm just not entirely sure it was hypocritical.

>Sokka's position in the tribe
I think while he had some authority, he probably played it up too. This is Sokka we're talking about. He and Gran-Gran were probably the ones that kept the tribe running, although I'm sure Katara did her share too.

>>78747
>Katara was angry at her father for putting the safety of the world before his own personal life
It wasn't just that. It was the fact that he was going away at all. They'd already lost their mother, and she probably needed him in her life. She had Gran-Gran and Sokka, but she needed her father as well and had a hard time accepting that the world needed him too.

I would say the bedroom scene in 3.1 is up there. It so summarizes Azula's relationship with Zuzu....

Katara bringing Aang out of the Avatar State in "The Desert". Just... her sad look as she watches him flip out and then how her hand comes into the frame and grabs his wrist and the way her hair blows as she's holding him until he calms down and they're both CRYING. Add the perfect dramatic music and it's a bonafide tearjerker for me. (That little xylophone "pling" at the end gets me every time.)

Aang striking the final blow that brings down the Drill. This is the moment I knew I was pretty much completely in love with the series.

All of "The Beach" for reasons I can't quite articuate. I think it's mostly Zuko's reminiscent walk on the beach while flashing back to his more innocent childhood and the foursome's fireside chat, especially Mai's subdued and somber, "As long as I behaved... and sat still...". Plus the whole episode just feels like a nice breath of fresh air.

Sokka tearing up at Azula's taunts before charging her and angrily demanding, "Where... is... Suki?!"

Mai in The Boiling Rock. 'nuff said. Also seconding the Zuko/Iroh reunion.

Avatar Aang curbstomping Ozai. And the finale kiss between Aang and Katara. Probably the prettiest drawn kiss in all of western animation. Plus the music is awesome.

"I'll save you from the pirates" Don't lie, it's fucking hot, and it does things to me but I'm not insane about it.

Water finale. Shit made me cry.

Toph's introduction episode, or anytime they show the way Toph sees.

"YEAH, let's smash stuff!" *brings down wall* *everyone exits through the front door*

Iroh getting buff.

Mai/Zula/Ty flag at The Boiling Rock.

The tunnels, they're a-changin'!

Suki coming from nowhere with her hijacked airship! Such a FUCK YEEEAHHH moment.

>>78792
>"I'll save you from the pirates" Don't lie, it's fucking hot
If that's what you like, whatever, but honestly, did none of the Zutarians notice the irony in that statement? Not a one? They honestly thought Zuko was being sincere? This is another reason why I can't take that ship seriously. :|

I still can't think of any favorite moments. Scratch that, I can't think of any to post because there are just too many. I'd end up flooding this whole thread.

>>78792
...Are you serious? you found that line hot? That's messed up.

After taking Ozai's bending, Aang collapses. When he stands up, the music swells around him, and we know he's not just Aang anymore - he's Avatar Aang. Then he goes into the avatar state willfully, and puts out all the fires (symbolic and real).

Also:
>WATER TRIIIIIBE

Two of them.
in "the storm" when munk Gyatsu gasps and quickly turns around after reading the note.

and the avatar and the firelord when Sozin leaves Roku to die. not all of it but the tiny look they exchange just before he flies off. that mother fucking expression.

>>78902

I love the fire bit too. It's so symbolic--the first thing he does as a fully realized Avatar is help heal the damaged earth.

>>78884
I get what you're saying now, but I've seen a lot of fangirls who somehow think he really meant what he said there and it's rather perplexing. And I guess I've just never been a fan of that trope. Even with her weak Waterbending skills at that time, I still think Katara could kick Zuko's ass if he actually tried something, and the Stockholm Syndrome good-girl-falling-in-love-with-hawt-bad-boy thing doesn't strike me as being particularly romantic either.

>>78662
I loved the bit where Aang kicked the dust.

Cause he's fucking annoying, and now he's gone.

Then i hated the bit where he did a Jesus.

Cause he's fucking annoying, and now he's back.

>>79025

1. I'm pretty sure the term is "bit the dust," like the Queen song.

2. You're a dick.

>>79025

>>79025

hi dietotaku

I'm surprised no one mentioned that little look on Zuko's face when Katara uses bloodbending on that ship captain. A real subtle look of "what the fuck..." even if he recovered from the shock quick. She probably never explained it, and I doubt he wanted to even ask.

That whole episode had to be one of the most powerful bits of story telling done in western animation.

Iroh in prison.
"You should take the rest of the day off!"
"W-what?"
"You look sick. You should go lie down."
"I feel fine..."
"...Trust me. It is better for you to /not be here/ this afternoon."
And then she just sorta knowingly nods.


I'm not on my own computer, so I can't get the exact quote, but DAMN, that short bit gives me chills every time.


Also, seconding THE BOULDER love.
And also the entire Cave of Two Lovers episode.

>>79329
Yeah, and then she goes home, not because she likes the general, but because she knows that there's no fucking stopping him.

The end of the beath, when the four of them are walking together framed by the dudes house in flames, and it's drawn like a painting. You just know that all four of them will look back to this moment after the series ended, and remember it as the shining moment before the relationship turned to shit.

>>79566

So true. That episode always makes me wish we could've seen more of the Fire kids' antics, but when you think on how they fell apart after that...sniff. ;_;

>>79329
What was the name of that guard Iroh was talking to? Because I ship that.
Hard.

>>79574

Her name was Ming.

>>79574
You and me both, man.

Katara calming Aang down at the end of The Library was an excellent character moment.

I also found Katara's speech to her dad in The Awakening to be really affecting, also. I think Mae Whitman really knocked that one outta the park.

Also, in The Desert when Iroh first contacted the Order of the White Lotus, my respect for the show's worldbuilding pretty much exploded. "You mean there's a... a SECRET SOCIETY? YOU'VE GIVEN ME ALL THIS AND NOW THERE'S A SECRET SOCIETY? Fuck, show. I think I love you."

>>79591
Don't forget they laid the seeds for that when Iroh lost his white lotus tile back in the Water Bending Scroll.

>>79595

I know! SO AWESOME.

the. fucking. quenchy-est.

>The Boulder is going to win this battle

>IN A LANDSLIDE!

Stealing is wrong.

Except when it's from pirates.

When Sokka tripped on peyote.

>>78695
You know when you're boiling water and it takes a minute or two for the metal to start getting hot? It's like that.

>>80381

The little wiggly fingers movement he makes (and the look on his face) when he says that just makes it.

>>80391

The whole sequence when they storm the Earth King's palace. I love it, because there are no action discretion shots where you're lead to assume the gang was being awesome somewhere else. Every moment is shown, from the time they land to when Aang and Toph bust down the Earth King's door. It's like the writers and animators sat down and said, "Okay, they're busting into the palace, and it's going to be awesome. What happens?" And then they put every single idea into the episode. Fantastic.

>>80381
>The Boulder is over his conflicted feelings and now he's ready to bury you IN A ROCKALANCHE!

>>80488
THIS. Particularly when Aang is being all badass and just nonchalantly punches a giant boulder out of midair like "Bitch, please. I'm the Goddamn Avatar."

>>80488
I love how it's almost one long continuous shot. It is pure concentrated FUCKING AWESOME.

I DON'T THINK WE'RE GONNA MAKE IT, TOPH

IT LOOKS LIKE THIS IS THE END

;_;

So much of The Runaway.

"Well, it sounds like a sheet of paper, but I guess you're referring to what's on the sheet of paper. "
...

"Well then, what's this?"
"I don't know! I mean, seriously, what's with you people?! I'm blind!"

Much as it's probably mentioned anyway, and even overhyped:

Azula in general during "The Beach". Up 'til then, she was basically on a steamroll of psychotic awesome, but you were still fairly sure something would have to give if she was to be defeated in the end.

The way they showed her character there was a pleasant way of establishing it. No melodrama, though a fair bit of goofiness (true to the series in general). We see that despite her charisma and ability to manipulate, she's just inept when it comes to basic socializing. We see that even people who *try* to like her (Ty Lee, particularly) really can't, and her admission at the end, the rather low-key line of "Mother thought I was a monster" was simply all that was needed to establish the true nature of her relationship with her parents.

Cartoon villains usually just aren't that well done. There's subtlety to the way they let us on to her weaknesses, rather that either overdramatic nonsense or sheer silliness that other shows would give, which makes her stand out as one of the more memorable bad guys out there.

>>80694
That part kills me.

>>80735
>Cartoon villains usually just aren't that well done.
>usually
Smart move.

>>80792

It's always smart to use qualifiers. Only the sith deal in absolutes.

>>80797

Isn't a philosophy such "only the Sith deal in absolutes" in an of itself an "absolute"?

>>80802

Yeah. But the sith came up with it.

>>80803

I thought it was just a common Jedi mantra?

>>80806
But the Sith came up with it.

>>80807

Okay, could you just tell me which Sith came up with it, if there is a single author to this quote? Or, where exactly in what comic or novelization or game it's attributed to them as a whole? I'm not trying to be a dick, and fully well believe you, I just want the specifics so I know for future reference.

>>80812

You dense motherfucker.

It's been said a million times, but I love every second of The Beach. I find it amazing that an American kid's cartoon bothered showing that the villains actually did things besides pillage and burn and murder puppies. In most Western shows it seems like they keep the villain in a closet and only trot him out to laugh maniacally and do EVIL. It was just so nice to see these people sitting around talking. The Beach forces you to remember that not only are they real people, they're children.

That said, pretty much any scene that reminds the audience that the Gaang and Fire Kids are children is great.

>>80832
>they're children.
...Hey!

I really liked Zuko's agni kai with Zhao. It had amazing music, great lighting and effects, and it was a very memorable character moment for the three main Fire Nation guys in Season 1.

I realized, the last night, that Iroh's line "today destiny is our friend, I know it" in the finale makes the hair on my neck stand on end. Every. Single. Time.

I love the scene where Aang goes into the Avatar state for the first time:
Sinking into the water, Katara's voice going "Aang, Aaaaaang, AANG!!" and bam, the music kicks in, he glows it up and shoots towards the surface.

Every single avatar state scene. Ever.