That Deus Ex Machina
Okay, I’ve seen some people complaining about the lion-turtle at the end of episode 319 (that’d be The Old Masters), saying that it was a deus ex machina plot point. That the whole concept of the lion-turtle was included just so Aang wouldn’t have to finish the job, that is, kill Ozai.
Truth be told, I thought so too, initially. But then, after doing some research, I discovered some random foreshadowing moments throughout the series. Here are some screenshots of the possible lion-turtle sightings throughout the entirety of Avatar: The Last Airbender.
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| From the unaired pilot episode. This is Aang presumably airbending in front of a lion-turtle statue. |
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| From The Northern Air Temple. While some people have argued that this is a bas relief of a sky bison, it lacks the arrow on top of its head that sky bison are known for. Unless it decided to get a perm, wherein the image of the arrow was lost in the process. |
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| Most obvious hint, taken from the episode The Library. The word lion-turtle is also first spoken here. |
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| In the episode Sokka’s Master. Apparently, Piandao’s garden is literally littered with statues of these noble creatures. |
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| And of course, in the episode The Old Masters. |
I don’t have a screenshot of this episode, but apparently, the door knockers in Rion Jian’s house in The Beach was made out of lion-turtle heads as well.
One forumer savant in Avatar Spirit pointed out that an interesting thing to note was that the episodes wherein the lion-turtles would make their appearances always involved learning (save for the pilot episode).
So there you have it. No flimsy plot point, the lion-turtle was. I think it was pretty interesting, even without all the foreshadowing. The concept of another, more integral creature capable of teaching the most sublime - yet the deadliest - of all the bending arts is probably one of the best things about the Avatarverse: you always learn something from somebody.
July 23rd, 2008 at 11:58 am
Why can’t they trace Aang when he was on the lion-turtle?
June 30th, 2009 at 1:18 pm
I always thought it was interesting that each of the elemental signs had an animal attached to it - Airbenders had the sky bison, Firebenders had the dragons, Earthbenders had the badgermoles, etc., and the Avatars have an animal as the Lion Turtle.
October 22nd, 2009 at 4:26 pm
Hahah. so instead of being a “surprise” deus ex machina it was an “announced” one. lol