started session with Atka and Bao facing down Hanako, ~7 fire nation scouts, and ~7 earthbending thugs, while Zo was upriver taking Yating to safety
Atka had never been in a real fight before, was feeling tense, but still hopeful, that they wouldn't actually need to fight
so Atka proceeded to try and convince Hanako that they didn't need to be here, that they could all just go home, with no problems. this ... flumoxed Hanako a bit, as he wasn't sure what to make of this.
eventually, Hanako says sure, you all can go home, but we have to fix up our ship, clean up this mess, and then we'll follow you
Atka almost believes this, but Bao tries to convince him that they're just lying, and they have no intention of this
as this conversation is going on, Zo gets Yating out of her manacles and starts to head down. Yating has no intention of going back, wants to get away from Hanako and the Fire Nation. Zo pleads with her, but to no avail. Yating: "some day you'll realize that sometimes, nothing can be done, and you just have to move on".
this unsettles Zo, pushes her towards restraint and makes her angry: this was someone she likes and looked up to as results-oriented, but that led her to being fine abandoning the three children and moving on
Zo heads back down to the confrontation and scouts out the situation. based on how things are set up, and what she knows of Hanako, she realizes his main objective will be to get to Weishan's grove and interfere with the spirit -- has no real interest in the party. so they should try to block their advance somehow if they want to frustrate them
Atka is continuing to talk with Hanako and has really dumbfounded him -- it's not every day that the person who sabotages your ship tries to claim you're all cool afterwards and why can't you just be friends. this unintended distraction let the party get the drop on them
Zo comes out of the woods creating a fire ring around the earthbending thugs, accidentally puttin too much oomph behind it, catching the surrounding trees on fire
as she senses Zo doing this, Bao tries to sink the ground fire nation scouts are standing on, but at the last moment, Atka, totally oblivious, grabs her arm to make a point, throwing her off so that the ground underneath the scouts simply tilts a little bit instead
they then enter combat, with Zo and Atka engaging Hanako, Bao engaging the scouts, and the thugs left unattended
exchange 1
Bao twists the ground underneath the scouts, sinking them into it and trapping them, while parkour-ing past them to stand behind Hanako
as she does this, the scouts shoot fire at her (strike), shifting her balance further away from center, as she questions her ability to lead
the thugs manage to raise up a bunch of dust, smothering the flames surrounding them
Atka waterbends to quench the flaming trees
Hanako tries to talk to Zo, convince her to join him again, and then uses Flame Blade to set the grass around them on fire while knocking Bao and Zo off-balance
Zo yells at Hanako, claiming that her father wouldn't want him to do this, to which he responds "what do you mean? your father sent me"
Zo settles herself, suppresses those flames
exchange 2
all three are engaging Hanako, leaving the thugs and scouts unattended
they take this opportunity to free the scouts, getting them up out of the ground
Atka readies himself to retaliate against any strikes
Hanako does the same
Zo presses the attack, using Zuko's advancing and firing technique to try press Hanako, who requires increasing effort to keep blocking her attacks
at the end, Bao shifts the ground under his feet just enough that he falls down, stunned
Hanako: "what are you doing Zo? you've trained your entire life to join your father, your brother and me in spreading the glory of the fire nation. why are you fighting me?"
Zo: "not anymore. you don't get to decide what's better for other people." ... she's done with this conversation
Atka then freezes Hanako, hand outstretched, so that only his head is free
Zo, to Atka: "that's not the worst thing you've ever done", guiding and comforting awkwardly. she presses the point that sometimes, when other people try to stop others from being free, you have to stop them. you can't be neutral in the face of oppression. this hits home for Atka
Atka then turns to the scouts and thugs, who are milling around awkwardly, unsure what to do now. Atka, still somewhat believing that Hanako was forcing them to go along with this and that now they can just go home, turns to them and says "so we can all go home now or... you can end up like this"
the earthbenders are convinced by this and start to back away nervously, but the fire nation scouts step up and say, "well, can we take our commander with us? [turning to Zo] you know that we can't just return without our sergeant, we'll be court martialed"
Atka turns to Bao, "you told me they were lying earlier, can we trust them?", then has an idea, leans in and whispers to her. she turns to him and goes "yup" and then the camera cuts to show all the fire nation scouts, frozen into little human ice cubes, floating down the river, through Jiangbu and out to sea. Hanako, as the first one frozen, less well done than the others, keeps getting jostled and knocked head-over-heels, constantly soaked