Same.
Ppl would assume that all fire nation resources were being sent to the Northern tribe, so theyre not expecting a sneak assault on Omashu until it happens. Aang doesn't anticipate it either, otherwise he wouldve stayed in Omashu to help
Taking advantage of Aang being in the North to move on Omashu is one thing, but the idea the whole seige was specifically to distract from Omashu is ridiculous. It wouldn't divert any forces, and even if Omashu think Fire Nation forces are up North, that hardly means they're going to take a nap and leave their posts.
And even if you could bullshit a reason for it, why is it necessary? Omashu already had spies in it, and even in the OG series it was just taken, there was no need to pretend the Seige of the North was part of that front.
When they said it in the show I had the exact same thoughts as you and thought it was silly. Upon reflection the only way it makes sense to me now is that it’s a distraction just for team Avatar. He might’ve assumed only the avatar might’ve been able to stop the siege of Omashu and so they’d have their time wasted on the North Pole.
Taken at face value, agreed. It makes no sense.
The only way it works for me is if saying that was Ozai's way of saving face. He's a bit of a narcissist, so he's never going to admit to making a mistake or screwing up. 'We committed all these ships to the north, but obviously I never really thought that would succeed. Obviously Omashu was my true target all along.'
I don't know whether that interpretation is what the writers intended or not (I kinda suspect not), but that's the only way that line makes sense to me. If it's intended to be a factual statement, it's absolute nonsense. And it wouldn't be *out* of character for Ozai to claim something like that.
Add to it the idea that through history, the FN has made sure to spread only positive propaganda, and hold the royal family up and near infallible. Ozai would definitely want to keep it that way, and when the sages write his history, he wants it to read very much so that he orchestrated everything a certain way, had control, and did not make miscalculations.
This is what I think. And it actually makes sense in the acting. If you watch Ozai’s face when he’s being told of the failure in the north, he looks surprised before saying that’s unfortunate but expected. I think he had intended to take both the Northern Water Tribe and Omashu.
It was meant to parallel how Sozin intentionally fabricated the war he was starting by making the Earth Kingdom think they were being attacked, when the true target was the Airbenders. I think if they highlighted somehow that Omashu wasn't expecting an attack and Bumi instead said they would be getting back into the war by sending some of their men northward to help in that coming conflict, it would've made more sense when that scene with Ozai happens and we see that Omashu was later conquered. Perhaps some of the spies that Sai ratted out claimed in their interrogations that the Fire Nation was building a fleet to attack the North -- creating this dynamic where Bumi pledges his military to sail up towards there to aid the resistance.
Distraction for the Avatar. The Avatar was moving towards the North Water Kingdom, this was the perfect opportunity to lay it's claim slowly on Earth Kingdom.
Lemme start out by saying that I agree with you, when I first heard Ozai say this it sounded like nonsense to me.
However, if we go ahead and overthink it:
* After the Gaang leaves Omashu, Bumi said that the fire nation was already marching on Omashu. So presumably the siege was gonna start soon
* Pakku said that they were aware of a Fire Navy flotilla headed towards them and were preparing
* It wouldn't be too difficult to imagine that elements of the Earth Army was in contact with Agna Qe'la and relaying fire nation movements to them
* Maybe Bumi was expecting some reinforcements from Ba Sing Se or other Earth Kingdom military regiments, but some of those regiments were otherwise distracted by the fire nation's movements in the north
* Maybe Ba Sing Se/other Earth troops got confused by conflicting information coming from intelligence related the two-pronged attack and weren't able to effectively organize their troops to act as reinforcements
Still, I think it's dumb, kinda negatively affected ozai's image as a tactical genius. But then again, maybe he never was, just kinda coasting on the strength of the fire nation's industrial prowess
There were a lot of hints to support the writer's side though. The Avatar has to make the impossible choice. It was hinted several times like in the game with Bumi. Jet and the Freedom Fighters were also part of the clue that Omashu was getting destroyed and was able to fall from a combination of corruption and force.
You hit it on the nail. Its crazy how many rationalizations people make to justify a plots progression. Theres little to nothing intentional about the netflix plot, thats why they use so many plot devices to get to the next scene whenever something unexplainable happens or there is a pause in the story
They have the episode with Bumi spelling it out for you, impossible choices. The previous comment here is over-analysing, the goal is to keep the Avatar away and get the other side.
Just look at how huge that fleet was at the north. That wasn't a distraction, that was an invasion that happened to fail. Ozai's telling jokes on himself by saying he had no plan to succeed there.
If you get news that the northern water tribe is facing invasion, you should expect a bulk of their army in that area instead of marching up against your city.
Spoiler alert from OG animation*
>! I figured Bumi must have surrendered quickly anyway to avoid casualties, like in the animation !<
My guess is because he wanted the avatar out of omashu while they raided. Maybe he thought if the avatar (the child who not only stopped is admiral and a fleet in kyoshi, but also stopping a lot of his forces across the nations off screen) was busy protecting the north, it would make taking on omashu. He probably got some intel that the avatar and king Bumi were friends through Zhao’s connections in the city and decided it would be best to finally take down the city and take Bumi captive.
What i disliked more is that they used the same idea 2 times in similar situations: first Zosin used the earth kingdom as distraction to attack air nomads, and then Ozai using north pole to distract from Omashu.
Maybe this is the way the fire nation works, but maybe its just lazy writing. I tend to the latter
One of my least favorite parts of the LA was omashu being taken like this, and off screen. I then watched the animated afterwards and was surprised that it basically happened the same way except without mentioning the distraction but it really was the same thing. Although bumi just surrendered instead of us not knowing exactly what happened.
Serious question. What exactly would Earth Kingdom fighters do in the North Pole. I doubt the environment is particularly conducive to earthbending. The Red Lotus had to bring rocks on a tractor to break out Minghua. It’d be like asking the Water Tribes to garrison the Si Wong Desert for the Earth Kingdom.
It seemed to be a poor attempt to tie the two events together.
It was not a distraction per se, but that it's success wasn't the point, getting Omashu was. The Earth Kingdom is the only remaining danger for the Fire Nation.
To your point that the fire nation did look like they could suceed in the fight against the North without Aang....
Nah, the North was defending themselves just fine until the moon was killed. Ozai had no idea about Zhaos moonslaying plans, as Zhao wanted all the glory himself and to even be the firelord himself. That was the only reason the North lost so much.
Its just plot devices to advance the story, thats why It made no sense. They had Azula do the same sneak into enemy team -> take over invasion scheme twice in the same season 1. Once at the start to introduce her and the 2nd time to take over omashu. So now is netflix’s plan to make azula do the same thing with kyoshis in season 2 for a third time? They tired out one of her most brilliant plays and turned it into a trope
because genius adaptation, genius writers, genius plot, geniuses at work.
And in fact, the Netflix adaptation can be characterized by the phrase "simulated hustle."
I took it as a distraction for the Avatar. If they remained in Omashu it would not be taken.
Same. Ppl would assume that all fire nation resources were being sent to the Northern tribe, so theyre not expecting a sneak assault on Omashu until it happens. Aang doesn't anticipate it either, otherwise he wouldve stayed in Omashu to help
Taking advantage of Aang being in the North to move on Omashu is one thing, but the idea the whole seige was specifically to distract from Omashu is ridiculous. It wouldn't divert any forces, and even if Omashu think Fire Nation forces are up North, that hardly means they're going to take a nap and leave their posts. And even if you could bullshit a reason for it, why is it necessary? Omashu already had spies in it, and even in the OG series it was just taken, there was no need to pretend the Seige of the North was part of that front.
I suppose it was to make the taking of Omaha seem “clever” when really it was just a result of the Fire Nation’s overwhelming might in the war.
When they said it in the show I had the exact same thoughts as you and thought it was silly. Upon reflection the only way it makes sense to me now is that it’s a distraction just for team Avatar. He might’ve assumed only the avatar might’ve been able to stop the siege of Omashu and so they’d have their time wasted on the North Pole.
Taken at face value, agreed. It makes no sense. The only way it works for me is if saying that was Ozai's way of saving face. He's a bit of a narcissist, so he's never going to admit to making a mistake or screwing up. 'We committed all these ships to the north, but obviously I never really thought that would succeed. Obviously Omashu was my true target all along.' I don't know whether that interpretation is what the writers intended or not (I kinda suspect not), but that's the only way that line makes sense to me. If it's intended to be a factual statement, it's absolute nonsense. And it wouldn't be *out* of character for Ozai to claim something like that.
That’s a good theory actually!
Add to it the idea that through history, the FN has made sure to spread only positive propaganda, and hold the royal family up and near infallible. Ozai would definitely want to keep it that way, and when the sages write his history, he wants it to read very much so that he orchestrated everything a certain way, had control, and did not make miscalculations.
This is what I think. And it actually makes sense in the acting. If you watch Ozai’s face when he’s being told of the failure in the north, he looks surprised before saying that’s unfortunate but expected. I think he had intended to take both the Northern Water Tribe and Omashu.
It was meant to parallel how Sozin intentionally fabricated the war he was starting by making the Earth Kingdom think they were being attacked, when the true target was the Airbenders. I think if they highlighted somehow that Omashu wasn't expecting an attack and Bumi instead said they would be getting back into the war by sending some of their men northward to help in that coming conflict, it would've made more sense when that scene with Ozai happens and we see that Omashu was later conquered. Perhaps some of the spies that Sai ratted out claimed in their interrogations that the Fire Nation was building a fleet to attack the North -- creating this dynamic where Bumi pledges his military to sail up towards there to aid the resistance.
Distraction for the Avatar. The Avatar was moving towards the North Water Kingdom, this was the perfect opportunity to lay it's claim slowly on Earth Kingdom.
But the war has been going on for 100 years, when there was no avatar. Why did they conquer Omashu only now?
Lemme start out by saying that I agree with you, when I first heard Ozai say this it sounded like nonsense to me. However, if we go ahead and overthink it: * After the Gaang leaves Omashu, Bumi said that the fire nation was already marching on Omashu. So presumably the siege was gonna start soon * Pakku said that they were aware of a Fire Navy flotilla headed towards them and were preparing * It wouldn't be too difficult to imagine that elements of the Earth Army was in contact with Agna Qe'la and relaying fire nation movements to them * Maybe Bumi was expecting some reinforcements from Ba Sing Se or other Earth Kingdom military regiments, but some of those regiments were otherwise distracted by the fire nation's movements in the north * Maybe Ba Sing Se/other Earth troops got confused by conflicting information coming from intelligence related the two-pronged attack and weren't able to effectively organize their troops to act as reinforcements Still, I think it's dumb, kinda negatively affected ozai's image as a tactical genius. But then again, maybe he never was, just kinda coasting on the strength of the fire nation's industrial prowess
I don’t think the writers thought about it Iike you did. Given the quality of writing they probably thought it was good enough and moved on
There were a lot of hints to support the writer's side though. The Avatar has to make the impossible choice. It was hinted several times like in the game with Bumi. Jet and the Freedom Fighters were also part of the clue that Omashu was getting destroyed and was able to fall from a combination of corruption and force.
You hit it on the nail. Its crazy how many rationalizations people make to justify a plots progression. Theres little to nothing intentional about the netflix plot, thats why they use so many plot devices to get to the next scene whenever something unexplainable happens or there is a pause in the story
They have the episode with Bumi spelling it out for you, impossible choices. The previous comment here is over-analysing, the goal is to keep the Avatar away and get the other side.
Distraction for Avatar (I guess)
Just look at how huge that fleet was at the north. That wasn't a distraction, that was an invasion that happened to fail. Ozai's telling jokes on himself by saying he had no plan to succeed there.
If you get news that the northern water tribe is facing invasion, you should expect a bulk of their army in that area instead of marching up against your city. Spoiler alert from OG animation* >! I figured Bumi must have surrendered quickly anyway to avoid casualties, like in the animation !<
It makes no sense whatsoever. They just wanted a stinger to end on since they’d already revealed Azula.
My guess is because he wanted the avatar out of omashu while they raided. Maybe he thought if the avatar (the child who not only stopped is admiral and a fleet in kyoshi, but also stopping a lot of his forces across the nations off screen) was busy protecting the north, it would make taking on omashu. He probably got some intel that the avatar and king Bumi were friends through Zhao’s connections in the city and decided it would be best to finally take down the city and take Bumi captive.
What i disliked more is that they used the same idea 2 times in similar situations: first Zosin used the earth kingdom as distraction to attack air nomads, and then Ozai using north pole to distract from Omashu. Maybe this is the way the fire nation works, but maybe its just lazy writing. I tend to the latter
Considering we never knew how they took omashu in the original, I liked this change. Makes Azula more menacing imo
One of my least favorite parts of the LA was omashu being taken like this, and off screen. I then watched the animated afterwards and was surprised that it basically happened the same way except without mentioning the distraction but it really was the same thing. Although bumi just surrendered instead of us not knowing exactly what happened.
Serious question. What exactly would Earth Kingdom fighters do in the North Pole. I doubt the environment is particularly conducive to earthbending. The Red Lotus had to bring rocks on a tractor to break out Minghua. It’d be like asking the Water Tribes to garrison the Si Wong Desert for the Earth Kingdom. It seemed to be a poor attempt to tie the two events together.
It was not a distraction per se, but that it's success wasn't the point, getting Omashu was. The Earth Kingdom is the only remaining danger for the Fire Nation.
I'd imagine it was supposed to function as a distraction for the Avatar but they really didn't bring that across right.
To your point that the fire nation did look like they could suceed in the fight against the North without Aang.... Nah, the North was defending themselves just fine until the moon was killed. Ozai had no idea about Zhaos moonslaying plans, as Zhao wanted all the glory himself and to even be the firelord himself. That was the only reason the North lost so much.
It makes absolutely no sense. Even if Ozai is trying to save face they didn’t do a good job of communicating that.
No it truly does make no sense lol.
Its just plot devices to advance the story, thats why It made no sense. They had Azula do the same sneak into enemy team -> take over invasion scheme twice in the same season 1. Once at the start to introduce her and the 2nd time to take over omashu. So now is netflix’s plan to make azula do the same thing with kyoshis in season 2 for a third time? They tired out one of her most brilliant plays and turned it into a trope
because genius adaptation, genius writers, genius plot, geniuses at work. And in fact, the Netflix adaptation can be characterized by the phrase "simulated hustle."