MG Reads Embers: Chapter Ninety-One

[masterghandalf]

Chapter Ninety-One

We open with Hakoda as he sails into Dragons’ Wings and takes in the destruction. He wonders what happened to Suzuran specifically, and Iroh recognizes the effects of fire and ice. Aang realizes that Ozai didn’t send everyone he had north and hopes they can still anchor here, and Hakoda thinks they can. Aang says he’s not going ashore – the war is over, but he told Koh he was going to fix things, and that includes making sure people keep their promises. He promised Zuko he’d stay out of his domain, so he will. He does ask Iroh to give Zuko his regards, whatever the best way to do that is. He wants to know if everyone is okay, but then he spots Appa in the sky and calls for him, and Hakoda guesses he’ll know soon enough. We cut to Suyin and Jia cleaning as they complain that war is so messy. Jinhai is bored, and so is Jia, but since that means no one is currently trying to kill them, she’s happy about it. Jinhai complains that girls are weird, so Suyin uses some powder she’s stored up her sleeve to make a small spark in his face. Jinhai is stunned and wants to know how she did that; Suyin thinks their mom might tell him, if he asks nicely, but she wants some advice on how to make it look like real firebending. To herself, she thinks the war may be over, but anyone who wants to hurt her brother will have to come through her first.

We cut to Aang getting dogpiled in hugs from his friends, while Sokka still can’t believe he sent Koh to his room. Aang thinks it always used to work on him, so why not give it a try? He thinks he is going to have to visit Koh every so often, which stuns everyone else. He can’t just wander off and abandon him, though, and he thinks that sometimes, when people are acting out, they just want attention – and the Avatars since Kuruk haven’t given Koh any. Sokka isn’t sure about this, but Katara thinks Aang is just trying to be careful. She thinks he should rest and have time to think things through, and then when he’s ready he can see Koh again. Aang isn’t sure, but Suki reminds him that people sometimes write letters to the spirit world and burn them to send them on – maybe that would work? Aang doesn’t think Koh can write back, and he wants him to understand. Toph says you can’t make people understand – just ask Zuko. Sokka adds that Zuko has a message for Aang; Asagitatsu is mostly calmed down, and as long as Aang doesn’t antagonize the volcano, he should be safe here. Aang is thrilled and hopes that means he and Zuko can be friends again, though Toph isn’t sure when they were friends before. Sokka admits that the war’s over – who knows what could happen?

We cut to the Earth King, who is stunned that Captain Lu-shan has just told him he wants Master Sergeant Yakume to stay. Agent Bon and Eshe are both amused, and Lu-shan explains that the guard is still shorthanded, they need to get the Fire Nation soldiers out of the city peacefully, and having someone with actual authority over the Fire Nation working with them would help. Besides, Lu-shan and Yakume are working together to catch some smugglers, and Lu-shan wants to finish that job. Yakume asks if he gets a say in this, and he and Lu-shan start bickering; one of Lu-shan’s guards complains that things just aren’t the same without Huojin around. Finally, the Earth King interrupts – he knows Yakume is from a colony near Dragons’ Wings, with which he wants to keep close ties, so there should be a lot of trade moving their way in the near future. Yakume says he’s just a soldier and doesn’t know about that, but the Earth King says he’s a soldier who’s tried to keep to the letter and spirit of the law and prevent collateral damage. The Earth King’s been given a list of Fire officers who can be trusted to help manage the withdrawal, and Yakume’s on it. If the Lower Ring guards trust him, the Earth King would be happy to have him – or he can ship him back to the Fire Army in a block of stone. Yakume is amused and promises he won’t be a headache, though he can’t speak for Lu-shan. The two of them start arguing again; Eshe wonders if they should invite them to the wedding, but the Earth King wonders if a “simple soldier” would be up for that. Bon doubts Yakume is really a “simple soldier” – he’s well-versed in both Earth Kingdom and Fire Nation law, which is hardly ordinary. The Earth King admits he studies Fire Nation law, and Bon sighs, thinking that at least the Fire Nation is in a mess right now too.

We cut to Azula, having received a message with handwriting she clearly recognizes, and fire writing hidden around the edges. It’s from Zuko, congratulating her on her ascension and thinking better her than him. He tells her that Kyoshi’s decree has been lifted, but he has no doubt Azula can bind the loyalty of every lord who’s willing to follow her and keep the rest on their toes. He recommends Azula look up some old poetry to help ground her decision making, and that she should get in the habit of counting to ten, backwards, before burning things. Right now, Dragons’ Wings is recovering from battle, and they’re negotiating aid from Byakko and Shu Jing if the blockade will ignore those ships. Right now, Aang’s not interested in destroying the Fire Nation, the most radical Earth Kingdom generals are dead, and when Azula finds out who the current heir of Shu Jing is, she’s going to be surprised. Zuko knows Azula is looking for a consort, and recommends she pick someone from a family known for mental stability over firebending strength, and that she not tell him the details. Azula turns away from the letter and wonders what he means; Mai raises an eyebrow, and she takes a hint. Mai thinks they’re going to need to have a long talk with Ursa. Azula wonders what she can tell Zuko about Ursa; Mai says to tell the truth, and they agree this may take a few drafts.

We cut to Toph, enjoying the soothing warmth of Asagitatsu as she thinks they really did it. Nearby, she can hear Sokka telling Hakoda that Suzuran’s hawk master is from Shu Jing, and he could give him news about his hometown since he’s not been back in years. Meanwhile, Katara is getting some supplies ready to take to Amaya – almost everyone is healed from the battle, but it’s something about weird cravings and keeping Iroh alive. Suki starts snickering, but Toph and Sokka are still confused; Hakoda says Sokka’s getting to the age where a man needs to learn certain things the hard way. Sokka thinks he’s going to regret asking as Hakoda leads him off, while Teruko comes over and wonders what the Water Tribe version of The Talk is like. She and Katara snark about it a bit, and then Katara asks Suki if she’s really serious about Sokka; Suki says she is. Sokka is brave and funny, and her aunts always told her to look for a guy who knows how to laugh at himself. Katara thoughtfully agrees, and Teruko says if she’s interested in Aang, she’d better make sure he knows sooner rather than later – it takes a while to get through to him, like a young recruit. Meanwhile, Toph proposes a bargain with Teruko. If Teruko is thinking about going after Shirong, she’ll help tie him to a boulder. In return, when Toph’s a bit older, Teruko can help her find some good sake. And she’s got some ideas of her own they’ll need to talk about… We cut to Saoluan as she trims Langxue’s singed hair, thinking that someday he’ll have to tell everyone the true story about what happened to Makoto, and how he took down a dragon when he doesn’t even drink yet. Beside them, Shirong starts sneezing and they have to duck out of his way when sparks come out. Saoluan tells him someone is plotting about him; he thinks it’s a conspiracy, but she says it’s not that kind of plot. Langxue thinks she’s got an evil look on her face, so she affects an innocent look. Langxue bends up two snowballs and hands one to Shirong and one to Saoluan, saying this should make it a fair fight.

We cut to Zuko sitting on a bench in Amaya’s garden, hearing someone yelp and wondering who offended Asahi this time. Iroh comes to sit by him, complaining about his old bones and thinking Zuko needs to corral Asahi better; Zuko thinks he will only when the rattle-vipers start coming to town. At least Asahi’s not venomous. Meanwhile, they’ve gotten a new letter from Azula – or rather, the Lord of Caldera City. She’s leaving out the title of Fire Lord, allowing her to address Zuko as an honorable rival rather than a rebel. Zuko thinks she’s trying to be flexible and keep her options open, a trait that Fire Lords haven’t had maybe since Kyoshi. Azula is offering Byakko passage through the blockade, in return for Shidan’s services. He thinks it’s her way of saying “let me talk to grandfather and people don’t have to get killed,” and Zuko hopes that Azula may finally be learning to care about people. But when they get that far, Zuko still wants to send armed ambassadors. He asks what Iroh thinks about Jia for the job – she’s young, but she’s smart, she knows manners, and she’s the only earthbender who’s ever gotten the drop on Azula. Azula can respect that. Iroh agrees that above all, dragons wish for the respect they’ve earned. He thinks Azula may have finally learned some scruples, and Zuko has also grown. Zuko finally admits that Iroh was right that the Northern Tribe was going to be attacked, and Iroh admits he was wrong, too. He admits he’s been so focused on discerning the spirits’ will, he’s sometimes forgotten the here and now. He’ll have to remedy that to be a proper husband. Zuko thinks that “Master Amaya” will appreciate that, but Iroh says that’s no way to refer to the mother of your cousin. Zuko is so stunned he literally collapses, and Amaya demands to know what Iroh told him. Apparently, Zuko has been studying everything that can go wrong with a pregnancy ever since Ba Sing Se, but Amaya assures him she’ll be fine – she’s a healer, they have midwives and other healers, Zuko himself included. Zuko does not want this of all things to be his mastery test, but Iroh and Amaya assure him that everything will be fine. The fic ends with Zuko really wishing they’d not said that…

We end with a brief Author Note: A/N: Yes, that's it. I have other ideas for things that might happen down the road in this AU, including a certain group of interstellar explorers wandering through a big stone ring down in the ruins, but this is the end of the story I wanted to tell.
...Yes, one of those big stone rings. I know people have guessed it.
(And in case anyone's wondering, Amaya has twin girls.)

MG’s Thoughts

And so, we come to the end. Honestly, this last chapter just continues the biggest problem I had with the previous chapter, where it feels like the fic just runs out of steam at the end and resolves everything in a sort of halfhearted manner. I do like the idea that Aang is going to stay in touch with Koh and at least try to rehabilitate him, though I’m not sure if he’s right about Koh’s reasons for acting like he did – he says it was only after Kuruk that the Avatars stopped paying attention to him, but Koh was scheming against humanity long before that (and we’re not given any reason as to why the Avatars after Kuruk stopped paying attention to him). Beyond that, it just feels like the fic kind of fizzles out halfheartedly at the end, with plot points being tied up haphazardly if at all. We get some time with the Wen kids and the Earth King and the Ba Sing Se cast, but it’s been so long since they’ve been major players (and we haven’t even seen any of the Ba Sing Se characters in almost forty chapters – it feels like a lot happened there that we just missed) that it’s kind of hard to care. It also feels like the Fire Nation occupation is resolved too easily and painlessly, especially with the idea of Yakume as the “good” Fire Nation occupier. Sokka having to confront his dad about being press-ganged into being the heir of Shu Jing – and the potential showdown between Hakoda and Temul – seems to have taken place off page, and it sounds like Hakoda is inexplicably cool with it, if Sokka is openly talking about Shu Jing in front of him. Zuko and Iroh’s reconciliation, after how bitterly they’d been fighting over the last couple of arcs, feels like it happens way too quickly and easily, like Vathara just wanted to sweep the consequences under the rug. Aang may have taken down Kyoshi’s decree, but it sounds like Azula is already on her way to recreating a united Fire Nation anyway, which per the fic’s logic would just keep the same mess going… except everyone seems weirdly okay with this because Azula is maybe starting to grow a conscience? And, uh, I know I’m bad at reading romantic subtext, but was it ever implied that Teruko/Shirong was a thing before this chapter?

Oh, and yes, the author note seems to imply this has been an unlabeled Stargate crossover all along. I’ve heard Vathara’s a big fan of that franchise, so maybe it’s not that surprising, and I guess that’s supposed to be an explanation for where humans came from if they’re not native to the Avatar world (though I’m not sure if that explains why humans were apparently super long-lived when they originally arrived – I’ve seen some Stargate, but I’m not super knowledgeable about its lore). In any case, at least per her FF.net account it doesn’t look like Vathara has posted anything in the Avatar fandom since completing Embers, so if she ever got around to writing a sequel, I don’t think she shared it publicly.

Overall Final Thoughts

If I had anything to say about this final arc, I’d say it’s rushed. There’s lots of decent ideas in it (and some legitimately bad ones – the Iroh and Zuko conflict feels forced and painful, and not just because it’s two people who genuinely love each other fighting) but almost none of them have time to breathe. Shiyu is supposed to teach Aang firebending but then gets seasick and just up and vanishes from the story. The idea of a Fire Sage conspiracy to assassinate Zuko and Azula is introduced, and immediately abandoned. The Lion-Turtle shows up for no real reason other than to give Aang a ride. Ozai’s assault on Dragons’ Wings feels less climactic, and has less buildup, than General Fong’s. All three of the fic’s big bads – Koh, Makoto, Ozai – feel like they get taken down in very anticlimactic ways. Characters who haven’t been important for whole arcs – or, in some cases, who we haven’t seen for whole arcs – walk on to do things, then vanish again afterwards. Azula takes over the Capital effortlessly and we’re assured she’s totally changed without her ever really demonstrating it. Ursa, after how much the fic emphasizes how important she is much more than canon, gets a walk-on cameo with a single line, and that’s it. Iroh and Zuko reconcile after their fight with almost no effort on either side. And so on. It really just feels like this climax needed a lot more room to breathe and resolve everything properly, and for whatever reason Vathara wasn’t willing to give it that.

As for me, now, my next step will be to complete my overall review of Embers which I started last year – I’d intended to have one more part, but I’m thinking now it’s more likely I’ll have two instead, for three parts overall (I think characters, since there are so many of them, will deserve an entire post for themselves). This re-read has helped me organize my thoughts around the fic and think about certain aspects of it in more detail but hasn’t really changed my overall opinion of it that much. Hopefully I’ll be able to get at least the first part of that up within the next week or so. For the time being, I’ll be taking a break from the “MG Reads” series – doing a post a day for Embers for almost three months, in addition to juggling everything else I’m doing both online and in real life, was kind of exhausting, though I felt it was necessary to get things done in a timely manner. I might revive the “MG Reads” format in the future though, for things I don’t want to do a full sporking of for whatever reason but still want to take a look at – I already have some ideas for other works I might do with this format. I still might also do a full sporking of Embers over on Das Sporking someday as well, though I might want to see if I can find some partners willing to work with me on it – there’s a lot going on in this fic, not all of which I felt I was able to engage with to my satisfaction in my reread. But that’s likely a way off in the future still, if it ever happens. Anyway, for everyone who’s stuck with me along the way, I’d like to extend my thanks – I’ve appreciated all your comments, hope you’ll stick around for my review when I get around to finishing it, and I hope you’ll be willing to stick with me for future projects! Thank you so much!

Comments

[saukar99]

When this all started, I assumed that 91 chapters would be enough to cover every plot point properly, but apparently not.

Also, it's hard to believe that this series really ends with Azula about to inflict Loyalty on as many people as she can. I've never seen such a pro-mind control story.

[masterghandalf]

When this all started, I assumed that 91 chapters would be enough to cover every plot point properly, but apparently not.


In my final review, I'm going to need to tally up every major road to nowhere in this fic; it's a lot more than I'd realized.

Also, it's hard to believe that this series really ends with Azula about to inflict Loyalty on as many people as she can. I've never seen such a pro-mind control story.


But it's all right because Azula's totally a good guy now, pinky swear! /s More seriously, the fic really does seem to go with the idea that freedom for the Fire Nation just means freedom to swear loyalty to whatever great name you want instead of to the Fire Lord (even though we've also seen various ways loyalty can be coerced...) and no one even raises the possibility that you shouldn't have to swear loyalty to anyone.