What an Idiot!/Western Animation/Avatar: The Last Airbender

You'd expect: After reading her the obligatory riot act for sneaking out at night, and probably a bonus one for associating with such "riff-raff" - he'd assign her a seeing-eye maidservant, fire the so-called instructor who was supposed to teach her only breathing exercises, and allow her to instruct the Avatar. Instead: He announces that he has been permitting her too much freedom by letting her wander the gardens of the family compound on her own, and that she will from now on be guarded 24/7, while ordering the Avatar and his companions to leave. When Toph bolts, he compounds matters by hiring the guy who kidnapped her, who was one of the earthbenders that she beat to bring her home by any means possible. You'd expect: He'd demonstrate the good sense possessed by even the most scatterbrained Cub Scout and not touch the thing with a ten-foot-pole until he's 100% certain it's the right one. Instead: He drinks it and almost dies. You'd expect: The General would NOT try to piss off the AVATAR. Or to just realize that you CANNOT control a supernatural force. Instead: He has his men attack Aang for twenty minutes of the episode, and when he finally does go into the Avatar State, the crazy bastard doesn't seem to mind that he and his men are getting their ASSES WHOOPED. Even when Aang's finally finished his mad rampage, he wonders out loud how to control him when he's in that state. Thank you for interfering, Sokka. You'd expect: That Zhao would realize it's extremely unlikely that a newborn baby would have time to master one element let alone all four and would thus decide to kill Aang. Instead: Zhao decides to imprison Aang. You'd Expect: Zhao to realize that killing the moon is not only a mite bit overkill, but also would hurt the Fire Nation just as much as the rest of the world. So he'd think of some alternative that isn't nearly as stupid. Instead: Zhao kills the moon. Brilliant. And it's pretty clear that to him, the destruction of waterbending was a bonus. He just wanted to be able to brag that he killed the moon. You'd Expect: He would tell this to only those who absolutely need to know it when they absolutely need to know it. Only top commanders and soldiers involved in the operation, and those soldiers only on the eve of the invasion. The information is useless, after all, if anyone in the Fire Nation finds out, and all that would take is an unreliable lower ranked soldier to sell what he has learned. Instead: He tells it to three arriving Kyoshi Warriors... who he has never met before and who just happen to be Ozai's Angels in disguise, completely ruining the surprise attack before it even gets into the planning stages. There is no reason to give them this vital piece of intelligence and he only has Sokka's word that they're trustworthy (without Sokka getting the chance to confirm their identities) before he starts spouting off vital military intelligence to them. The result is that the invasion fails and many of the Gaang's allies end up in prison. You'd expect: for the King to tell Team Avatar that he mentioned the secret invasion plan to the fake Kyoshi Warriors. Or at least for the Team Avatar to, upon finding out about the deceit, asked whether the King told them anything important. Instead: the King doesn't say anything and Team Avatar never asks. It doesn't cross their mind, either, that the officials who knew about the plan might reveal it to the Fire Nation, under torture if nothing else. So the heroes go on with their plan, only to be promptly defeated by the not-so-surprised Fire Nation. You'd expect: Roku to try and talk him out out it, to use the experience he gained in traveling the world for 12 years to explain why taking over the world is a bad idea, to take Sozin on a Diversity Tour of the world, to latch onto Sozin's arm and not let go until he is sure that one of the 5 most influential people in the world doesn't let go of his megalomaniac ideas. Instead: Roku blows Sozin off and tells him to just forget it. And when Sozin implores him to listen, Roku says that he doesn't want to hear anymore of this, leaving Sozin feeling betrayed by his best friend, bitter and isolated. This war really IS your fault, Roku. You'd Expect: If Zuko really wants to take up chasing Aang again, he makes use of Aang's address on the flyer. Instead: He infiltrates the base of the local Secret Police, which is made up mostly of elite earthbenders, planning to steal a huge, flying furry monster which has horns, but no reason to be cooperative, what with having defended Aang against Zuko before. And Zuko has no idea whatsoever what he'd do if he actually got Appa out of there. To top it all off, he has no idea if the Dai Li actually have Appa - He goes there on a guess. You'd Expect: Iroh would take Zuko and give him a long talk to find out just whether or not Zuko is happy with their life, and if he is unhappy, how Zuko could possibly become happy, helping Zuko to divorce himself from his original obsession with trying to please his horrific father, Ozai and carve out a life for himself as per Iroh's lecture. Instead: Iroh takes it at face-value that Zuko, proud, honor-focused, dedicated, desperate to claim recognition for his own self, is happy being a faceless refugee in Ba Sing Se, lying about who he is. Zuko promptly betrays Iroh when Azula dangles a very real chance in front of Zuko that he can have everything that he believes he has ever wanted and still wanted; to go home and have things "go back to normal"... Being Fair: One of the most certain ways to get Zuko absolutely determined to do something is to try and pressure him not to do it, so Iroh has reason to believe taking the slow approach and letting Zuko convince himself will work better than lecturing him. He's also not at all expecting Azula to show up and actually offer Zuko a chance to sell out and get back home -- they are, after all, smack dab in the middle of the one fortress on the planet that the Fire Nation has never successfully conquered in decades of trying.
 * Avatar: The Last Airbender, "The Blind Bandit": Lao Bei Fong, a wealthy Earth Kingdom merchant, discovers that the blind 12-year old daughter he kept hidden within his estate has been sneaking out to participate in quasi-legal underground pitfights. He then witnesses firsthand how great of an Earthbender she really is when she beats half a dozen experienced adult earthbenders into submission and makes it look easy.
 * While wandering the Earth Kingdom in the beginning of season 2, Iroh, the Eccentric Mentor of Avatar: The Last Airbender, comes across a plant that is either "the rare White Dragon Bush, whose leaves make a tea so delicious it's heartbreaking!", or else "the White Jade Bush, which is poisonous."
 * During one of their trips through the Earth Kingdom, we had a crazy general trying to force Aang into the Avatar State.
 * In the first season of Avatar: The Last Airbender, Zhao captures Aang who has less than a year to master all four elements if he is going to stop the villains' plan to take over the world. However, if Aang is killed he will simply reincarnate as a baby.
 * And of course, the defining idiocy of the series comes from Admiral Zhao during the first season finale. Zhao is invading the Northern Water Tribe in order to stop Aang from learning waterbending. Zhao is also aware that the Ocean and Moon spirits (the entities that power waterbending) are in the heart of the Tribe's city in the form of relatively harmless koi fish. Killing the Moon Spirit would destroy waterbending.
 * The Earth King gets a major one. He has just received vital information that could turn the tide of the war against the Fire Nation, an eclipse that will happen in a few months and deprive firebenders of their power for long enough to defeat the Fire Lord.
 * What happens next is even stupider, though. The disguised enemies take over the city of Bao Sing Se, and the King is forced to flee. Team Avatar saves him, and he hangs with them for a while. The other Earth King officials who know about the eclipse plan are now prisoners of the Fire Nation.
 * The newly minted Avatar Roku is celebrating his wedding, when he is approached by his best friend Fire Lord Sozin. Sozin tells Roku that it would be just swell to Take Over the World.
 * Zuko does a few less than brilliant things, but consider the time he finds out that Aang in in Ba Sing Se, too, thanks to the "lost pet" flyer about Appa.
 * Iroh's whole plan of settling down as a refugee with Zuko in Ba Sing Se is pretty stupid, if you think about it, given Iroh knows very well that Zuko is a bundle of issues in a "Well Done, Son" Guy coating. For particular irony, Iroh gives Zuko a very intense spiel about how Zuko needs to think for himself and decide upon his own course in life shortly before Zuko does just that... by choosing to grab with both hands the slim hope Azula dangles before him that he really can come back to the Fire Nation and reclaim everything he's ever wanted.


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