Aang must master all four elements if he's to restore harmony to a world out of balance. The problem is, the Avatar's got off to a rocky start when it comes to earthbending. That's where Netflix's live-action adaptation of Avatar: The Last Airbender season 2 kicks off, with Aang in search of someone who can help him master the third element he needs to take down the Fire Nation.
Enter Toph Beifong, an earthbending master who secretly kicks ass in tournaments by night while keeping up appearances as a posh girl by day. A lot rides on Toph's introduction, not just in a world-saving capacity, but also when it comes to Avatar itself as a show.
Aside from Appa and Momo, it's no exaggeration to suggest that Toph might just be the most beloved character in the entire Avatar franchise. How could she not be? Looking back at the original series this show is based on, it's easy to forget Toph wasn't even in the first season. That's how integral she quickly became upon her introduction in season two, instantly establishing herself as a key pillar of the group.
As such, season two of this new adaptation really needed to get Toph right. It's the least Netflix could do for the self-proclaimed "greatest earthbender in the world." And thankfully, they did. In fact, Toph's introduction in live-action is easily the best thing about season two, so any fears you might have should immediately be put to rest.
Earth shattering
Winning out over 6000 hopefuls, it's clear that Miyako simply is Toph in almost every way possible. And not just because she looks like Toph, either. It's as if she stepped barefoot out of the cartoon into live-action, exuding the exact same sass that made us fall in love with Toph in the first place, 20 years prior.
While some fans naturally hoped that the show would cast a blind actress to bring more authenticity to the role, Miyako worked extensively with a blindness consultant on set who helped ensure this version of Toph remained true to the character. It wasn't just about wearing contact lenses that would limit Miyako's sight, either.
Together, she and Joe Strechay worked hard to make the earthbending prodigy as confident as she is in the original, navigating the world in her own unique way. Because Toph is blind, of course, but she senses the world around her through a connection to the earth itself, much like how Daredevil interprets his surroundings using a radar sense.
Speaking to IGN, Strechay compared it to "doing a no-look pass in basketball," making sure Toph looked effortless in her bending without needing to physically see her opponents or the earth itself that she manipulates in order to fight them. Whether she's battling a grunt named The Boulder or just flipping soup in Aang's face, every mannerism calls back to the Toph we first met in animated form.
"Learning how to portray a fully blind character was one of the biggest insecurities I had about this role," Miyako said. But it's clear she was determined to put herself in Toph's shoes (or lack thereof, like when she kept her shoes off between takes, no matter how cold it got shooting in Vancouver).
Chip off the old block
Beyond the physicality of the role, this version of Toph even sounds like the Toph that so many of us grew up watching. Michaela Jill Murphy's voice work in the cartoon is legendary, imbuing the earthbender with grit but also vulnerability when the story called for it.
Miyako told Screen Rant that she "wanted to be as close to the character as possible," explaining that "there are parts in the season where you can hear a little tinge of her voice mixed with my register. I really felt that was something I needed to do. I'm glad it played well, because I remember just slaving over vowels."
By channeling Murphy's original performance, Miyako's own take really nails how Toph uses sass as a kind of emotional armor, much like the actual walls she builds around herself in battle. The young Beifong is as sturdy as the metal she eventually learns to bend, proving herself to be quite the taskmaster for Aang.
"No wonder it took you years to learn how to waterbend," goads Toph at one point. "You’re nothing but a 'half-atar!'"
When Katara suggests trying positive reinforcement, Toph says she'll "bear that in mind if [Aang] ever does anything positive."
Jokes that Toph used to make about her own blindness in the original cartoon return here too – all sensitively developed with help from Strechay – because Toph isn't Toph if she's not teasing the others and occasionally making them squirm.
"It's an honor to help the Avatar, see?" says Katara early on, to which Toph bluntly replies, "No, I don't see."
Strong foundations
Toph brings some much-needed laughs to season two, which even goes out of its way to update the original cartoon at points, like a new scene where Toph discovers she can access the mystical books in the library using Braille. That series was already ahead when it came to depicting blindness like this in family fare, but it's heartening still to see the new show strive to improve this even further, two decades on.
Such depth is also threaded into Toph's struggle with her rich lineage and the problematic behaviour of her parents, who it turns out are selling weapons to the Fire Nation for profit. A major betrayal later on in the season hits especially hard because we can see just how sensitive Toph actually is under that rock-hard exterior.
The brashness of her persona quite literally grounds the group with a big shift in energy upon joining, much like it did in the original series. Toph's "neutral jing," as the show describes it, counters the signature calm that Aang and Katara embody, balancing out their personalities with grit and steely resolve.
In doing so, Toph's introduction brings harmony to the gang and season two alike, not to mention a fandom that might disagree on a lot, but can hopefully all agree on just how perfect this new version of the beloved character has turned out to be.
Avatar: The Last Airbender season 2 is streaming now on Netflix. For more, check out our spoiler-free Avatar: The Last Airbender season 2 review, or dive into our spoiler-packed Avatar: The Last Airbender season 2 ending explained if you're all caught up.
