For those who’re an Avatar: The Final Airbender fan and have a eager ear and a penchant for heart-wrenching, melancholy moments, you might need heard a devastating musical callback within the live-action Netflix sequence.

In episode 4, “Into the Darkish,” the present takes a beat to give attention to the merciless impression of conflict. It is right here we be taught of the tragic loss suffered by Uncle Iroh (Paul Solar-Hyung Lee), whose son Lu Ten died in battle. It is also the second when the Netflix sequence pays homage to the unique animated sequence with a tune referred to as “Leaves from the Vine.” This was the primary piece of music that was licensed to be used from the unique animated sequence, particularly for the scene described under.

Within the Netflix sequence, there is a confrontation within the woods past Omashu between a captive Common Iroh and an Earth Kingdom captain, whose 19-year-old brother was killed in motion through the Fireplace Nation’s siege of the town of Ba Sing Se. As he is confronted together with his nation’s impression and lectured on loss, Iroh merely sits and absorbs the captain’s hate. Nevertheless, Iroh’s expertise with loss runs deeper than this captain is aware of, having misplaced his personal son Lu Ten, a Fireplace Nation soldier, throughout the exact same siege. Destroyed by his son’s loss of life, Iroh deserted the siege.

Following this face-off, Iroh has a flashback to Lu Ten’s funeral. His nephew, Prince Zuko (Dallas James Liu), pays him a terrific kindness when he palms Lu Ten’s medal, which had been gifted to Zuko by his cousin, again to Iroh for power. It is a second that bonds Zuko and Iroh deeply, and one which exemplifies their whole relationship.

Paul Solar-Hyung Lee as Uncle Iroh and Dallas James Liu as Prince Zuko.
Credit score: Robert Falconer / Netflix

To amplify this second, the rating — composed by Takeshi Furukawa and carried out by the Synchron Stage Orchestra and Choir — turns into an orchestral model of the tune “Leaves from the Vine,” because the digicam strikes towards the grieving Iroh. It is tailored from a tune carried out by Mako Iwamatsu, who voiced Iroh within the first two animated seasons of Avatar earlier than his loss of life in 2006.

The tune is from the episode “Tales of Ba Sing Se” in Season 2, which is top-of-the-line episodes of Avatar: The Final Airbender. Iroh sings “Leaves from the Vine” as he marks his late son’s birthday by erecting a short lived memorial for him on a hill above the town the place he died. Iroh tearfully sings to a portrait of Lu Ten this story of a younger soldier coming back from battle — a destiny his son wouldn’t share.

Leaves from the vine

Falling so sluggish

Like fragile, tiny shells

Drifting within the foam

Little soldier boy

Come marching residence

Courageous soldier boy

Comes marching residence

It isn’t the primary time we have heard it within the episode; Iroh sings it earlier to consolation a younger boy crying on the street together with his mom throughout a candy, paternal second. However when Iroh sings it for his personal son, alone, it is a uncooked, melancholy second, and one of the crucial poignant of the entire sequence.

Adapting Iroh’s lament as a delicate second within the Netflix sequence rating not solely elevates the tragedy of the funeral scene, nevertheless it additionally invitations followers to revisit a reminiscence we could have forgotten. “Leaves from the Vine” left me inconsolable once I heard it within the animated sequence, and its presence within the adaptation is an genuine, considerate inclusion. However greater than something, the second serves to solidify Iroh’s protecting, paternal bond with Zuko, whose personal relationship together with his father is flamable at finest, abusive at worst. Now all they’ve is one another.

Avatar: The Final Airbender is now streaming on Netflix.