First things first, Piandao referencing Lion-Turtles doesn't count as foreshadowing for the magic talking Lion-Turtle who enables Aang to take away Ozai's bending and that Lion-Turtle is still a Deus Ex Machina. Second things second, this episode is great.
Aang: Does basically nothing but I don't care
Katara: Does basically nothing but I don't care
Toph: Does basically nothing but I don't care
Zuko: Wasn't even in this episode but I barely care
Sokka: Is as great in this episode as he believed himself to be in his first appearance (almost as if humility leads to self-improvement.)
I know some people (meaning Doug Walker) have questioned the point of this episode on the (admittedly reasonable grounds) that no one on Team Avatar actually regarded Sokka as useless dead weight. In response to that, I would say that it's not Sokka's actually useless to the team but more that he feels useless to them and even the other characters openly tell Sokka in this episode that that's not how they view him. Also, Sokka's feelings of inadequacy hardly come from out of nowhere, the episode begins with Team Avatar fighting off a meteor shower and Sokka being completely ill-suited for so doing, hence his introspection.
Also, I'm not the first to say this but Sokka trained in the non-bending fighting styles of all surviving nations (Water Tribe back home in the South Pole, Earth Kingdom under Suki in the Kiyoshi Warriors and Fire Nation under Piandao in this episode.) Sokka is essentially the non-bender equivalent of the Avatar.
Aang: Does basically nothing but I don't care
Katara: Does basically nothing but I don't care
Toph: Does basically nothing but I don't care
Zuko: Wasn't even in this episode but I barely care
Sokka: Is as great in this episode as he believed himself to be in his first appearance (almost as if humility leads to self-improvement.)
I know some people (meaning Doug Walker) have questioned the point of this episode on the (admittedly reasonable grounds) that no one on Team Avatar actually regarded Sokka as useless dead weight. In response to that, I would say that it's not Sokka's actually useless to the team but more that he feels useless to them and even the other characters openly tell Sokka in this episode that that's not how they view him. Also, Sokka's feelings of inadequacy hardly come from out of nowhere, the episode begins with Team Avatar fighting off a meteor shower and Sokka being completely ill-suited for so doing, hence his introspection.
Also, I'm not the first to say this but Sokka trained in the non-bending fighting styles of all surviving nations (Water Tribe back home in the South Pole, Earth Kingdom under Suki in the Kiyoshi Warriors and Fire Nation under Piandao in this episode.) Sokka is essentially the non-bender equivalent of the Avatar.
