I wonder.... is it possible that tree is the spiritual center of the earth kingdom, the way the Spirit Oasis was for the water tribe? Maybe the tree is like the koi fish-- some spirit incarnated. I guess it can't be the "earth spirit" though because that's supposed to be what the Avatar is.

I'll start off with this...

*the peddler pulls his cart by*
Me (thinking): Is that the Blue Spirit mask?

*later, at the end of the episode...*
Me: (Thinking: ZUKO IS BACK AS THE BLUE SPIRIT!!!! What is he doing?)

Oh how I love foreshadowing! He could have been planning this for awhile. The way he was looking at that gold piece that guy was holding...it seemed like he was thinking, "Just one more gold piece (or a few more gold pieces) and I could buy that mask...".

Anyway, this was a great episode...and a good one to use for Halloween. I actually thought that clump of vines the gang was fighting was actually the spirit of the swamp ^_^;;. And there was a valuable lesson I learned: If you're a waterbender who lives in a swamp and chases lemurs and flying bison for food.............you might be a redneck! XD

This was a great episode, really suspenseful and you still don't know at the end what caused the tornado and the tree to whack the bird. Everyone had their moment to shine. The only thing that was a little off was all the babbling in the end about time and being connected. It seemed a little too out there to swallow.

yeah after seeing this one i think i decide to be an earthbender.....

but no that was not jojo it did not look like her..

Gah, I really wish I could stay and discuss the episode this week since it's my fav (why is it that this one seems a lot more popular than "return to omashu"), but I cant! >.<

So before I have to get off of her, I just need to post this. While watching the episode again, I just had a random thought, a theory: I was wondering how Zuko learned to fight so well without bending, and how to use those Broad Swords, and I thought, Mei: being the weaponsmaster that she is, what if she taught Zuko how to use the broad swords or something?
Just a random thought, I don't even back it up myself. Just felt that I should throw. Any ideas on how he could have learned?

I didn't see the blue spirit at the end coming!!

I liked the fight scene between the bender-in-the plant-thing and Aang, Katara, and Sokka. I guess I can see now why Katara was made a waterbending master.

I felt The Swamp was a filler/foreshadow episode. A satisfying episode, though it wasn't as action-packed, event filling, and ship-crazed as the last episodes but this is possibly my favorite episode of Book 2: Earth so far. Aang learning the unity of the world, Zuko's choice, the longings and sadness of the Water Sibs. My heart went out to Sokka when he said "I think about Yue all the time." Poor boy, nothing good ever seems to last for him, his life is as tragic as Aang???s.

Going back to the unity of the world bit, I LOVE Avatar???s spiritual themes. Though I???ve been getting into Naruto a recently it lacks the depth Avatar has. It???s not the fantastic animation, developed characters, or solid plot that captures me. Those are wonderful, but what makes Avatar: The Last Airbender truly magical is its ethereal essence. It still shocks me such a show is on Nickelodeon.

I adored the swamp setting. Being a Floridian and the Traveling Trio trekking through my turf made me squeal. Welcome to the wetlands, my friends. Loved the swamp-dwellers as much as the hippies! XD They???ll eat anything they find! Scary thing is I???ve actually MET people like that in real life.

Almost forgot the unidentified girl! Echo (my current name for her, because of her echoing laughter) probably is going to be of MAJOR importance to Aang, I wouldn???t be surprised if she DID end up dying for him. Oh, did anyone besides me catch the irony of the flying big? Haven???t heard that joke in awhile.

Katara rocked so hard in this episode. She's not just a skilled Waterbender, she's a genius! Dedication is part of Katara's strength and character. She's come a LONG way since last season, I'm liking her a lot more now.

"That means we're kin!"

Me: O_O BUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! LMAO LOL ROFL *falls out of chair*

Oh man, best part of the episode.

I found the philosophy element in it cool, but none of the information in it was new to me. Cool that we saw Katara's mom... Katara looks just like her, and Yue.. OMG.

Was it me, or did she say, "You didn't protect me" to Sokka?? O_O

OMG! Did anyone see the look on Zuko's face when that guy had his swords? And then when he took them out and made Ihro "dance" man, that guy had it coming. Oh, and the cart thing that passed, did anyone else notice that it had the blue spirt mask on it? it looked like someone was digging through Zuko's stuff after the ship got blown up.

The Swamp is definetly my fav epi so far i loved the bit where sokka sais I was looking for you and then katara sais i wondering around looking for you aswell and then aang goes I was chasing some girl. I laughed so hard when that happened, oh and at the end when we see the blue spirit i was just speechless cause i was so happy!! But what i must interested in is what the girl has to do with aang, and will we see zuko i mean the blue spirit kick some butt???

i hope da other thread wasnt deleted cuz i put my opinion of da episode there!