anyone have the discord link for this server? :)

Could they be filming his scenes soon? 👀🎬

So in short the reason I dislike the Chase is because it's the epitome of the Broken Aesop trope. The episode's main conflict is about Toph being as unhelpful as possible, to the rest of the Team. She justifies her behavior by saying that she doesn't want anyone's help and when Katara accuses her of being selfish she says that she left her old life behind to teach Aang Earthbending, which is kind of flimsy because she really ran away for personal reasons not to teach Aang or save the world. She later runs into Iroh, who tells her that receiving help from others isn't a bad thing, but I thought the whole thing had a lot of mixed messages.

Personally I think it would have been better if Toph ate some humble pie and learning to become less selfish.

Anyway, now that season 2 is in production how do you all think the live action show can make the Chase better?

drop it down below! just want to see what you guys think

According to Rekha Sharma's recent Instagram post, Anu Menon, will apparently be helming episodes in the upcoming second season. It states: "Still grateful for the very fun news over here - excited to play with all these wildly talented folks who I’ve so far only met on the Zoom! Can’t wait to meet their legs! and with u/directormenon (!!)"
https://www.instagram.com/p/DCcPZD6yKj6/

Menon previously directed episodes of The Day of the Jackal, The Winter King, Killing Eve, and Four More Shots Please.

We can barely contain the excitement with cast announcement, the moment we see the blind bandit it's gonna be epic chaos!

I see the first look coming out around march or april when the wrap up the production

He acted his heart out last time. I hope he has a bigger role in s2 and 3

sauce: @/zukokins on X/Twitter

It’s finally here, you guys. The journey I started more than eight months ago is coming to a, well not a close exactly because I still have Legend of Korra to do and then I’ll come back for season 2 of NATLA. But my watch of Avatar the Last Airbender is ending! I can hardly believe it.

I won’t lie to you guys, it’s been a really rough time while I’ve been gone. In addition to discovering that we have bed bugs, a certain historic event happened that makes lesbians such as myself rather nervous. So my commentaries haven’t been taking priority lately and I do apologize for that. But I’m trying to get back on the horse, and soon I’ll start my Legend of Korra commentaries (reminder that you can read those on r/TheLastAirbender and r/legendofkorra) and I’m also doing commentary for this super hot, super gay vampire show called Interview With The Vampire if anyone’s interested in that lol

Since this final episode is an hour and a half long, it’s going to take me a long time to do this commentary so we should probably get started now lol

Here it is: my commentary on the series finale of Avatar, the Last Airbender.

Episode 16- Sozin’s Comet

1. Not skipping the intro this time. Lay it on me, Katara.

Hey, Aang’s breathing fire. Also look at them having a normal training session like the show isn’t ending. And now Sokka’s trying to get his own beach party episode started lol and succeeding?

I’m on Zuko’s side here. If Sozin’s comet is three days away, then Aang definitely isn’t ready yet. Now is not the time for fun! They took the invasion of the Fire Nation more seriously than this.

Okay, on second thought, I can see where Team Avatar is coming from. The Fire Nation’s already won the war so why fight Ozai when he’s at his most dangerous?

2. Oh, we’re finally going to see what happened at that war council! Well shit, that’s horrifying. He’s literally going to genocide most of the human race. I wonder what Sozin himself would think of this plan. Would even he, a genocidal maniac, think this plan is too much? I mean… when you think about it, what is the point? Why would anyone want to be ruler of a dead world? In a way, it’d be the ultimate way of making the entire war even more pointless than it already was. After everything and everyone has burned away, and there’s only the Fire Nation left… he’s still just the ruler of the Fire Nation. It accomplishes nothing.

Okay, this new information actually has me going WTF Zuko? You literally could have killed Ozai on the Day of Black Sun and stopped all this but you just pawned the responsibility off on Aang?

3. Yeah, why didn’t you tell them about this plan sooner, Zuko? And that’s a lame excuse and you know it! Okay, deciding to all fight Ozai at the same time is probably the smartest decision they’ve made so far lol even if it was just Toph, I feel better about their chances.

Yeah, re-directing lightning is probably an important skill for the avatar to know.

Hey, Melon Lord! I’ve seen you guys reference that before lol

4. Poor Aang. I get it, it’s lot to ask of a twelve (or thirteen by now?) year old kid to kill someone. But on the other hand, you’ve literally killed so many people at this point lol just because you didn’t see the broken mangled bodies of the dozens of firebenders you threw off cliffs or sent crashing to the earth when you destroyed their balloons doesn’t mean you didn’t still kill them! (and don’t give me that cartoon logic justification either. One of those cliffs he threw a firebender off was the same one that Chin the Conqueror died after falling off of)

Amazing that seeing a picture of Ozai as a baby is the most character development we’ve ever had for him on this show lol

“This goes against everything I learned from the monks” uh… are you sure about that? Because Gyatso literally killed a room full of firebenders before he died. I’m fairly certain the Air Nation would be okay with killing in self-defense (especially when you consider how gung-ho they were about finishing Aang’s training specifically so he could fight in the coming war). Stopping someone from killing most of the world counts as self-defense!

5. “Hey Momo, I don’t suppose you know what I should do.” Momo literally tries to kill every small animal and insect he comes across. I think we can guess what his opinion would be lol

Aang just got hypnotized into swimming out to an island that disappears in the daytime. If that’s not spirit world shenanigans, then I don’t know what is! But the subtitles said there were men chanting. Could he be going to commune with the spirits of the Air Nomads? I would love to see Gyatso again!

Oh yeah… forgot about the body thing.

Ha! Yeah, we haven’t had a Zuko+Toph episode yet, have we?

6. “Appa ate Momo!” such concern from the guy who kept trying to eat Momo when they first met lol

I love how Ozai and Azula have separate palanquins lol is that a metaphor for their relationship?

“You can’t treat me like this! You can’t treat me like Zuko!” and then “It was my idea to burn everything to the ground! I deserve to be by your side!”

I’m still holding out hope that Azula overthrows Ozai (I know, slim chance this late in the game). Maybe when I hit play that’s how it happens? Probably not lol But man, she is so much more compelling than Ozai. So far, Ozai has failed to impress me at all. He’s not even really a character, he’s more like a plot device that moves the actual characters’ stories along. I’d say that even Zhao had a better arc than Ozai, but honestly I don’t think that Ozai’s even had an arc.

...okay, of all the scenarios I imagined of Azula seizing power, Ozai literally handing over the throne was not one of them.

Nevermind lol “The Phoenix King!” Sure, buddy.

7. June! Ah! I’ve missed the only hot adult character that I can thirst over! (Kind of sounds like Suki might have taken an appreciative look too lol)

Aang being stuck on a teleporting island was not on my final episode bingo card.

8. “Where’s your creepy grandpa?” yikes lol yeah, I suppose that was an odd choice on the writer’s part for Iroh the last time they met. I like NATLA’s version better.

That was too fast of a denial from both Zuko and Katara. They feel the Zutara chemistry too.

Momo trying to murder a squirrel. It’s nice to be able to count on some things in this chaotic existence.

They’re going to find Iroh! About damn time! I’ve missed him so much! Aw, he went back to Ba Sing Se. Probably the only place in the world where he was really happy.

9. lmao at Aang forgetting that he can commune with his past lives. Oh! I love that imagery! Roku’s spirit comes out of Aang, because he’s part of Aang. I think I have a feeling about what Roku’s advice will be concerning Ozai since it’s pretty clear Roku himself regrets not stopping Sozin when he had the chance.

Was that Bumi, Pakku, and Jeong Jeong all hanging out together with a guy I don’t recognize? And they’re wearing matching clothes!

10. Yep, makes sense. Roku’s hesitation literally doomed generations.

Pakku and Gran Gran are getting married? Huh. Wonder if Gran Gran feels like she just wasted most of her life. Oh! That was Sokka’s sword master! I forgot about him. Okay, so… all of the old people on this show are part of Iroh’s secret club lol I joke, I know they’re more serious than that, but… really? All of these guys? Even Pakku? To be fair, they may be recent recruits.

YES! Let me see Kyoshi again! “But you didn’t really kill Chin…” Buddy, that’s called justification and it would not hold up in a court of law (in fact, it literally didn’t lol). If I set a bomb, tell someone to get out of the way and they refuse and die, I’m still responsible for killing them. But yeah, I figured Kyoshi would be pro-kill the Firelord.

“I knew I shouldn’t have asked Kyoshi.” It is kind of funny. Being able to talk to different versions of yourself should be the ultimate echo chamber but so far they’re all kind of gently nudging him towards the reality of the situation.

I do have to wonder though… where was all this moral conflict during the invasion? He was fully planning on fighting Ozai on the Day of Black Sun. Did it just not even occur to him that everyone expected him to kill Ozai? Or was he hoping to capture him alive (which honestly doesn’t seem like the best idea to me given how hard it is to imprison regular benders, let alone masters)? Or was he just gonna knock him out and then let the water and earth warriors execute him?

11. Okay, that was pretty cool! Bumi taking back Omashu all by himself lol and then destroying the bridge so they couldn’t come back once their firebending was back (I have been saying since NATLA that taking out the bridge is the best way to deal with a fire nation invasion)

Kuruk! I’ve missed this guy! He was one of the more interesting avatar in NATLA. But this is cartoon Aang’s first time meeting him. Crazy.

Huh, his description of his life is very different from the Kuruk in NATLA.

12. Oh god, I’m not ready. He’s just going to sit there and watch him sleep! Aw, I’m getting teary eyed! I love watching my girlfriend sleep.

YAAS finally we get to meet Yang Chen! Oh wait, the subtitles say Yangchen. Which one is right? Also, interesting point… the fact that Aang said “I’m even a vegetarian” to Yangchen, who is an Air Nomad, suggests that not all Air Nomads are vegetarians because otherwise wouldn’t she just assume that he, as an air nomad, is vegetarian? Could it be that Aang actually has a stricter approach to the sacred nature of life than other Air Nomads?

Buddy, you are lying to yourself lol you’ve killed a ton of people in self-defense.

Wow. I think that Yang Chen’s talk was my favorite of the three. It’s kind of sad, actually. The avatar can never achieve spiritual enlightenment because of their duty to the world. I imagine it probably hurts a lot to hear that from a fellow Air Nomad (kind of. She and him are the same person, so he’s still talking to himself). But yeah, sacrifice and compromise are necessary if you’re fighting evil. Pacifism in the face of an aggressor maybe noble if it’s only you who suffers the consequences, but standing by and allowing an aggressor to commit unspeakable crimes on others because of your pacifism isn’t noble at all.

I feel for Aang, but he literally doesn’t have a choice. Ozai is too much of a threat to leave alive. His skill and power with bending means he can’t safely be imprisoned and his military will fight on to free him and continue the war. He has to die, and Zuko has to take his place as Fire Lord.

13. I want you all to know I am sobbing right now. Zuko and Iroh are my favorite characters on this show. “I was never angry with you. I was sad because I was afraid you’d lost your way.”

Oh! The island doesn’t teleport! It floats with the current! Damn, nevermind, it’s not an island! I love how Aang’s reaction to finding the biggest animal in the world is to swim as close to its mouth as he can.

Okay, Iroh makes a pretty compelling case for not taking on Ozai himself. You do have to consider the optics of wartime tactics. I love how it’s only just now occurring to Zuko that he’ll be the new Fire Lord. Okay, Iroh is going to lead the fight to take back the Earth Kingdom, Zuko and Katara are going to face Azula, and Aang will fight Ozai. But then what does the rest of Team Avatar do? (literally as soon as I hit play they address it)

14. A lion-turtle. I’ve heard that name before. Okay, it can talk! And it just did something to Aang. Oh, I bet he unlocked the avatar state for him. Well, I guess it was too much to hope for that Aang beat him without that particular plot device. But hey, if he can enter the avatar state again, then maybe he can just let Kyoshi take the reins and do the killing for him lol

“It’s time for this world to end in fire…” dude, shut the hell up. No one takes you seriously, “Phoenix King” lol

Alright, the comet’s here!

15. Not gonna lie, I probably would have taken Toph too if they’re going to fight Azula. But then again, Katara is basically the greatest living waterbender in the world. Hey, maybe since it’s a full moon every day in this world she can bloodbend Azula!

Well, it’s nice to see being Fire Lord hasn’t gone to Azula’s head. But seriously, what is it with this show and feet? Did Quentin Tarantino help write this?

Well, the airship fleet looks small enough to be manageable, at least.

I love that flames of Azula’s throne room are blue. It’s so much cooler than Ozai’s. But what is going on with her? Banishing the Dae Li is not a good strategic move. Is she super paranoid now because Mai and Ty Lee betrayed her?

16. Damn, Toph is so cool. I notice her metal suit of armor didn’t have eyeholes this time lol “I can’t believe the captain remembered my birthday!” Well, it wasn’t too hard to take out that airship and there are what? Ten left? Twelve, maybe? They ought to slow down so Aang has something to do when they reach land

Yep, Azula’s cracking. At least the fact that she banished basically everyone from the palace means Zuko and Katara won’t have to fight their way through an army to get to her.

“Only once every hundred years can a firebender experience this kind of power.” I’ve got chills (they’re multiplying). He blasted right through that wall. I guess it’s not the first time he’s burned one of Ba Sing Se’s walls, eh?

Lol all of these powerful benders laying waste to the military and there’s Sokka’s master running around with his sword. Also, is Jeong Jeong flying? Well, hovering. Same difference.

17. Hey, their mom! But is she real or is Azula having a full-blown psychotic breakdown? Yeah, breakdown. Damn it, this is sad though. I saw how Ozai pushed and manipulated Azula in NATLA, and I’ve seen how much of a weapon she’s become for him in this show. She never had a chance to be anything else.

And that’s exactly why I’m anticipating her fight with Zuko and Katara so much more than I am Aang vs Ozai. I have emotional investment in Azula’s character, I’ve seen her arc play out over the seasons. I don’t give a fig about Ozai.

But I will admit it looks amazing when he’s blasting the earth with that much fire. I can’t wait to see what Azula’s capable of with the comet!

18. Okay, for as much as I dunk on Ozai, this is actually pretty spectacular. And I’m so happy that Sokka has his moment to shine too. Damn even Toph can feel how much fire there is. And Sokka just took out basically the whole fleet.

Damn it, Zuko. Why are you so stupid? Lol I know, I know, it’s more dramatic this way but the only reason Azula wants an agni kai with him is because she knows she’s much more likely to beat him and Katara separately. Stick to the damn plan! Even Iroh said he couldn’t do it alone! But oh, Zuko not listening to his uncle. Imagine that lol

Okay, yeah, with Azula going through a mental breakdown Zuko might actually have a chance this time lol

Holy shit. That is beautiful. Maybe it’s my emotional bias but it inspires more awe than Ozai’s power-up scene.

19. Ozai’s lightning is beautiful too, though. Damn it, Aang that was your opening! And now you’re all weakened and now he knows you’re not willing to strike a lethal blow so he’ll be more on the offensive!

Wow. Azula and Zuko are pretty evenly matched now. I wish I could express to you all just how much I love this animation, and these colors, and this whole fight in general. It’s like whenever I get overwhelmed by something I get stupid and can’t think of words anymore.

Oh my god! I don’t think Zuko’s going to die but he is definitely out of the fight now. Now it’s Katara vs Azula. Ha, the funny thing, I think Zuko had a decent shot of winning if it was just the two of them. But we saw back in Book 2 that Azula’s sneaky, and even when she’s outmatched she still has her brain. Actually, this is a pretty big parallel to the scene where she shot Iroh, isn’t it?

20. I think I see where this fight is going. Aang can’t beat Ozai right now, he’s getting his butt whooped. But he’ll be able to enter the avatar state again (thanks, lion-turtle!) and then it’ll be a more even fight. But I bet if he kills Ozai in the avatar state, he might swear off ever going into the avatar state again, choosing to live a peaceful life as a monk and a diplomat rather than a warrior.

I swear I was holding my breath that entire sequence with Sokka and Toph. I legitimately could not think of a way they’d survive that scene lol I guess all the excitement made me forget Suki exists. They’ve come a long way from her whupping Sokka’s butt in Book 1!

21. Oh hey, I was right! But… if Aang hit his back on the rock and that’s what gave him back the avatar state, then what exactly did the lion turtle do to him? Also, why would hitting his scar on a rock let him go back into the avatar state? Lmao him grabbing Ozai’s beard like that was peak hype!

Okay, so it’s not going to be an even fight lol the insta-win move strikes again!

Iroh burning the Fire Nation flag is possibly one of the best shots of the series. It really does sum up his journey perfectly.

22. You know, the environmentalist in me does not like just how many of these beautiful natural rock formations are getting destroyed in this fight.

Azula’s getting quicker with her lightning. Usually she needs to charge it up first but now she’s just shooting it almost immediately like Ozai does.

That was hands down Katara’s best move! I think they kind of foreshadowed it too when she froze the rain in place during the Southern Raiders. But the fight’s not over! Azula can still fire bend with her feet and there’s fifteen minutes left in the episode! Oh hey, now Zuko has a new scar, and this one matches Aang’s!

This really fills me with a lot of confusing/conflicting feelings. They won, they beat the bad guy, but there’s no feeling of triumph. Azula screaming and sobbing while chained to the grate is literally making me want to cry too. Like, I know she was evil, but I loved her! I loved her energy and ruthlessness even back in NATLA season 1! To see her lose like this, and be powerless… it feels wrong, even though it’s the best possible outcome, you know? Fuck you, Ozai. She could have been great.

23. Bro, just put Ozai out of his misery already. You’re like a cat chasing a half-drowned mouse around, letting it go every time you catch it.

“Fire Lord Ozai, you and your forefathers have devastated the balance of this world, and now you shall pay the ultimate price.” ...I was just joking when I said he should let Kyoshi take the reins.

And by “ultimate price” he meant splashing him in the face with some water lol

“Even with all the power in the world, you are still weak.” Hmm… what was Ozai said earlier? Oh yeah… “I have all the power in the world!”

Hey, he can use seismic sense too, just like Toph! But honestly, even if you weren’t going to kill him, why would you let him out of his restraints in the first place?

Okay, the lion-turtle is back. Something about bending the energy in themselves? And he can bend someone else’s energy. Oh… the lion-turtle gave him the ability to take Ozai’s bending away.

24. “I learned there was another way to defeat him and restore balance.” Yeah, right at the last minute too.

Mai! Ah, I’m so happy to see her (R.I.P. Zutara ship)! Where’s Ty Lee?!

“I have to admit, I kind of missed the face paint.” I sense some interesting role play games in Sokka and Suki’s future. Oh, and Ty Lee really bonded with the girls in prison, eh? Lol but that’s cool that she’s a Kyoshi warrior now. Her fighting style really complements theirs.

Oh wow, Aang in monk robes is touching. And he and Zuko are best friends again… the Fire Lord and the Avatar’s story coming full circle! Roku must be watching from inside Aang, remembering his days with Sozin.

Hah! I bet those Fire Sages are feeling pretty awkward right about now.

Oh yeah, Zuko’s mom is still missing. Are we just not going to get an answer to that?

25. They’re all hanging out in Ba Sing Se! Can we get an episode of this?

Oh, Aang and Katara are alone! Time to sail this ship to its destination. I’m just so happy that Aang finally got a consensual kiss from her!

Okay, I’m gonna have a good cry and then I’ll be back to write up my final thoughts.

Concluding thoughts: That was amazing! Man, there’s so much to talk about here I think I have to break it down.

Aang’s struggle: I liked this, despite all of my ribbing about him having killed a bunch of nameless soldiers before (still true!). Killing someone, even in self-defense, isn’t something that should be taken lightly. It should be a decision we struggle with. But I also liked that the show didn’t shy away from the fact that killing Ozai is absolutely the right thing to do. Even Aang admits that the world would be a better place without him. The only thing I wish was done better was how they resolved it. Giving Aang a new ability that we’ve never heard of, that’s never even been hinted, by some super-powerful being we’ve never met before, is all a bit too convenient. I don’t mind that Aang found a way to resolve the conflict without death, that is in his nature after all, but I wish the writers could have come up with something better. As is it feels like they wrote themselves into a corner and needed a deus ex machina to get them out. It feels lazy. Hopefully NATLA can improve on this.

Azula: I thought it was a really great decision to have Azula start breaking down, not to mention handy for Zuko to give him a fighting chance lol but as convenient as it is it still feels earned this time around, like it was a long time coming. It’s an understandable and believable consequence of Azula’s upbringing and the recent events of her life. In a way, Mai and Ty Lee are responsible for her downfall. But like I mentioned before, there was a sense of tragedy to it as well. Azula is a villain, yes, but she’s a villain that I think a lot of viewers come to admire in a sense. She’s always had layers to her that Ozai just didn’t have, and some of those layers are of a little girl who just wanted to please her father. She also desired companionship, even if it was colored by trauma and malice. She didn’t need Mai and Ty Lee’s help in Book 2 but she wanted their company. She didn’t need to offer to bring Zuko back into the fold either, but underneath their competition for Ozai’s approval she still feels for her big brother.

From her point of view, Zuko chose someone else over her, and so did Mai and Ty Lee. Without them, she has only Ozai, who uses attention and approval as knives to sculpt his children into what he wants them to be and nothing more. No wonder she cracked so hard.

But damn it, it breaks my heart that the last thing we ever see of her is her screaming and crying on the ground. She may be a monster… but she’s our monster.

Zuko: I bawled so hard at his reunion with Iroh. I never expected anything else than total acceptance from Iroh though. He’s just that good of a person.

I will say that the best writing of this episode, this season, and maybe even the entire show, was all for Zuko. We don’t need to rehash how good his arc is but I do want to draw attention to what I think might be the single best piece of writing on the show: I love that Zuko lost the agni kai. His whole arc on this show has been about shedding the problematic and toxic aspects of his Fire Nation upbringing and learning a better way through Iroh and the Sun Warriors and dragons. His destiny is to restore the Fire Nation’s honor.

But an agni kai is not honorable. It is a violent and cruel practice developed by violent and cruel people. It’s a way of rejecting diplomacy, discourse, and peace and solving all problems with violence. If Zuko had actually beaten Azula in the agni kai, it would have justified the ideology of the Fire Nation. It would have been proving that Sozin, Azulon, Ozai, and Azula were right all along, and that their way is the only way to victory. The right thing to do would have been to turn down the agni kai and work with Katara to beat her (which is what ends up happening anyway) but he slipped back into the Fire Nation ways one last time and paid a heavy price for it.

Ozai: I’m not impressed. Sure, he’s a great bender, in the same way that a rock is a great thing to bludgeon someone with. But as a character he’s completely flat and one dimensional. He doesn’t even have any original thoughts of his own! His ideology is Sozin’s, his victories belong to his generals and to Azula, his fiendish master plan is literally Azula’s (rather childish) idea. He doesn’t ever show any depth or growth whatsoever. It really detracts from the final fight with Aang, I’m sorry to say. I found myself more excited about Azula vs Zuko, and their fight was also way less predictable. NATLA definitely made huge improvements to his character with those extra scenes, even if they’re technically not the different in the end.

Honestly, I’m sure there’s more to say but I’ve been at this for almost five hours now and I’m bushed so I’m going to wrap it up.

I want to thank everyone who’s read my commentaries for the last most-of-a-year. Reading your comments is why I do this! And now I can’t wait to go back and look at all the comments hidden by spoilers and see what you’ve been saying this whole time! Thank you so much for sticking with me. I hope to continue interacting with you with Korra and future shows (I think I’m going to do Berserk after Korra’s done and maybe start Buffy the Vampire Slayer soon). I love you guys!

And let me say a very special thank you to my girlfriend! You may remember that she was the one who convinced me to start watching Avatar (Netflix version first, but don’t hold that against her lol). It’s one of her favorite show, maybe even her favorite animated show period! Every time I post one of these commentaries the best part is waiting for her to get home and read it. I like to stand behind her and read along with her! She’s reading this too! My girlfriend is one of you!

Hi, baby! Hope you liked this one. Was it everything you thought it would be when you introduced me to the franchise? Thank you for that, and for always supporting me in my hobby and everything else. You always have great ideas and I honestly don’t know what I’d do without you. I love you! Mwah!

And hey, I had an idea for what’s next. What do you think of this…

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Will you marry me? (Go ahead and turn around now, please)

And on that note, I am going to put the computer down. I’ll post this tomorrow and then stew in my anxiety for six hours until she gets home and hope really really hard that she finds me proposing in the last commentary post of her favorite show to be romantic and not stupid lol

Thank you all so much for reading and being with me on this journey. I’ll see you again (hopefully) for Legend of Korra and NATLA Season 2!

Goodnight! I love you!

we got the best cast

I was so excited for this adaption. Had a countdown on my phone and was always looking forward to it. When it came out, I didn’t even finish it. Simply could not get into it. Is the general consensus that it was good? I think I was expecting too much. Is it worth checking out again?