One thing I always try to impress upon fans of Avatar: The Last Airbender when I communicate with them online is that they really should be reading the Avatar comics, as they’re all canon and they expand upon the lore tenfold. And I’m here to do that again by imploring you to check out the latest one-off in the series, the Suki, Alone comic.
Now, I’ve already discussed the Katara and Toph one-off comics, so this article will do much the same for this latest one. I’m not really sure if this will be the last one-off comic, as the Avatar and The Legend of Korra comics in the past have always been three part story arcs. I also don’t know if we’ll get any more novels in the series, like the excellent two-parter, The Rise of Kyoshi and The Shadow of Kyoshi. But you can bet your sweet cabbages that if they do make more of either, then I’ll be there to read them. So, with that said, here are five things I learned about the world of Avatar after reading the latest one-off comic, Suki, Alone.
Oh, and some spoilers up ahead, obviously.
Suki Was Not Afraid When She Was Imprisoned At Boiling Rock
Suki, Alone is very much like the one-off comic, Katara And The Pirate’s Silver, in that it takes place between the events of the actual cartoon series. This is unlike the one-off, Toph Beifong’s Metalbending Academy, which takes place after the events of the show. Suki, Alone takes place during the events of my personal favorite season, Book 3: Fire where Suki and Sokka’s dad, Hakoda, are trapped in the Boiling Rock prison.
Now, I knew Suki, who is one tough cookie, would likely be able to handle her own in prison. But what I learned from this comic was that she was completely unafraid when she first got in there. Early on in the comic, Suki comes face-to-face with Azula, who mocks her, and Suki straight up gives her the silent treatment and doesn’t play into any of her mind games. She does get a bit worried when she actually sees how impossible it is to escape Boiling Rock, though. But she quickly meditates as all good Kyoshi Warriors should and quickly regains her head. Man, Suki is a badass.
It Was Dog Eat Dog In Boiling Rock Until Suki Arrived
We do get to see the general calamity of Boiling Rock in the episode, “The Boiling Rock, Part 2” when Sokka helps initiate a prison riot, but we never really got to see the conditions inside the prison until Suki, Alone. In the comic, we learn that the prisoners were nearly starved to death with the awful food in the prison, and the warden, who gets kidnapped on the show, runs a really tight ship inside the prison, leading the prisoners to really be at each other’s throats.
That is until Suki arrives. While being punished, she finds that a resilient plant grows inside the prison, and she begins to grow a garden with another inmate, which in turn feeds the prisoners. This gives them a sense of community when it was always more of a Lord of the Flies situation before Suki arrived.
Suki Had A Reason For Wanting To Leave Kyoshi Island
We were first introduced to Suki in Book 1 in the episode, “The Warriors of Kyoshi”. In this episode, we learned that the Kyoshi Warriors never wanted to leave the island, but eventually decided to when Aang and the gang arrived and they realized that their services could be better used to help others outside of the island. This eventually made Suki a fan favorite character once she helped the team and started dating Sokka.
But in the comic, we learn in a flashback that Suki had already kind of considered opening up the borders of Kyoshi Island before the Gaang arrived. Her friend, Mingxia, decided that she couldn’t stand idly by while the rest of the world dealt with the Fire Nation, and she planted the seed inside Suki’s head that it would be best to leave the island and use their skills to help others. So, again, it really pays to read the comics as there are all these relationships that were only sort of hinted at in the show that are much more expanded upon in the comics.
Suki Wasn’t Positive That Sokka And Zuko Were Coming To Rescue Her
One of the best episodes in the entire series is “Zuko Alone”, where we learn so much about his character. The very best episode of The Legend of Korra is “Korra, Alone”, and now, Suki, Alone kind of makes a trilogy of the whole “Alone” saga. But the title is apt, since even though Suki is in a prison full of people, emotionally, she feels all alone, as I’m sure many prisoners feel when they are put in jail.
Early on in the book, Azula makes it clear that her boyfriend “Socky? Sukka?” as she refers to him as, won’t rescue her, to which Suki says that she doesn’t need anybody to rescue her. But as the days and weeks stretch on, she truly gets down on her luck and believes that nobody is coming to rescue her, which brings me to the last thing I learned from this comic, which is by far the most major.
Avatar Kyoshi’s Spirit Appeared To A Non-Bender
And then, one of the craziest things in this comic, which is right freaking on the cover, is that Avatar Kyoshi actually comes to Suki at her lowest point. Now, if you’re reading this article, I think I can assume that you’re a huge Avatar fan, so you must know how massive this revelation is. From both Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra, Avatars DO NOT appear to anybody outside of Avatars. How could they, since Avatars are really the past lives of other avatars, so it’s really just their spirit talking to themselves in another body.
But in Suki, Alone, Avatar Kyoshi comes to Suki when she is at her lowest point. Now, you could always just interpret this as Suki envisioning Avatar Kyoshi as she’s mentally at that broken place in her life, kind of like how people will have deeply spiritual moments when they’re at their lowest. And I would agree with you. But then, on the very next page, something Kyoshi says is directly linked to what happens in the very last panel, so it leads me to believe that Suki really did see Avatar Kyoshi, and they actually had a conversation. Again, you could interpret this however you want, but that’s the interpretation that I’m left with—that Suki actually met the spirit of Avatar Kyoshi.
And those are five things I learned from the recent Suki, Alone comic. But what do you think? Will you be picking up Suki, Alone? Let us know in the poll below. And for all things Avatar, including information on the Avatar: The Last Airbender ending, make sure to swing by often.
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