And we wait...V

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You may need to download this one to see it full-size.

For those who may not know the history...

The Season 2 premiere of DP, "Memory Blank" had Danny's memory and powers wiped. His powers had to be restored. In the process, Sam put an emblem on his costume - the "DP" emblem that he's had since. Now, the DP fandom was split over the emblem. The chief issue was whether or not Danny needed it, if I remember correctly. But there was also a lot of controversy over how the emblem got on him. Since his memory was erased and Sam never really explained the emblem - or asked Danny's permission when she made it permanent - some felt she was very underhanded and selfish, and some even thought that it permanently damaged her character. My best friend in the DP fandom was one of those people, and to this day she and I disagree over that scene (I liked the emblem and have no issues with Sam, for the record.)

Now, Sam's making it "Emblemgate" to be a bigger deal than it actually was (possibly because it involved her actions, heh). The reality is that it pales in comparison to the hoop-la raised by Zuko's choice.

For those who may not know *that* history...

In the second season of Avatar, Zuko went through a lot of changes. He went from having little to nothing as his sister tried to capture and imprision him on their father's orders, he left his uncle, he was exposed to the effects of the war on others and bonded with people from the Earth Kingdom, and had several pivotal moments. He had been established as an anti-hero with a dark past in Season 1 (burned by his father three years ago and banished, ever allowed home 'til he captured the Avatar for any who don't know the story) and that was just reinforced throughout this season as Zuko defended an Earth Kingdom village, went on a date, and freed Appa from the Dai Lee in Ba Sing Se. Nevertheless, at the Season 2 finale - the "crossroads of his destiny" - Zuko was tempted by the chance to regain his honour, throne, and father's love by his sister. He took it, and fought against Aang, betraying his uncle Iroh in the process. However, it was indicated (rather strongly IMO) at the end of the episode that - having gotten what he thought he wanted most - he was very unsure of his choice and very torn over what he'd done.

Now, I may be exaggerating this slightly, but at the time, I can recall that many were not very happy with Zuko's choice. Many expected him to join the Avatar and friends at the end of the season (as, I confess, did I), and saw his choice as horribly out-of-character and a cheap plot device. Some took it as a betrayal, and I actually saw people vow never to draw/write Zuko again and to stop watching the show.

Now, I admit - I was shocked (to say the least) the first time I saw the finale. And it's a hard episode for me to watch. In both cases, it wasn't just Zuko's choice that knocked the wind out of me - it was a shocker throughout. But though I can't really watch it, I find it an absolutely brilliant episode - and one that keeps to character and enhances all of them beautifully.

I more than respect people's right to disagree with that interpretation of the episode. But what struck me was that many of the people I saw getting so irate over the episode were not so because of reasons involving story or character, or a disdain for the overall direction the show had taken. Many of them appeared to be fangirls who had been swooning over Zuko before the finale. Many of them were writing things such as "OMG i lurve zuko hes so hot&emo1000111!!!" and took great attraction towards his dark and complex personality - supposedly. And yet in their writing/artwork, they always seemed to turn him into a stalwart hero who happened to possess a dark past that had little effect on him in their stories. From my perspective, it looked like these people loved Zuko only so long as they could twist his image to fit what they wanted him to be. The second he made that choice - which arguably demonstrates his complexities and the traits they claimed to love better than anything else - they dropped him like a rock. A similar thing seemed to happen with Captain Jack Sparrow in the Pirates films.

No offense intended towards anyone, of course.

Avatar and DP copyright of Nickelodeon and created by Michael Dante DiMartino & Bryan Konietzko and Butch Hartman, respectively.

And now there will be a nice, long wait before the last page, as it involves the new DPs and I want to be sure Nick's not going to pull a fast one on us again.