Netflix has announced the cast for its live-action remake of Avatar: The Last Airbender! So far, so good, but there’s a long way to go:
With Avatar: The Last Airbender returning to Netflix earlier this year, fans have fallen in love with the animated epic all over again, and the timing couldn’t be better; after all, Netflix is making a live-action adaptation! What better way is there to get excited for a new series than to revisit our favorite moments from the original show?
And what moments they were. The Last Airbender tells the story of Aang, the one person in this fantasy world capable of controlling all four elements and restoring balance. The show is backed back to front with unforgettable scenes, and from the start fans were eager to see them rendered in live-action.
Unfortunately, it was recently announced that original series creators Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko — both of whom were supposed to be heavily involved in the upcoming remake — were departing from the show due to “creative differences.” That’s definitely dampened fans’ enthusiasm for the new show. While neither DiMartino nor Konietzko have opened up about what exactly made them leave, reports suggest that the streaming platform wanted to white-wash and age up the cast, and that they wanted a darker, grittier tone for the series overall.
There’s no confirmation that this is definitely the case, so some are still holding out hope that Netflix won’t go this route — and that this rendition of the story will, at the very least, be better than the 2010 M. Night Shyamalan film, which was met with harsh criticism from viewers for doing some of that stuff. It’s hard to believe that Netflix would make the same mistakes with its show, but stranger things have happened.
Assuming Netflix doesn’t make such fatal errors, here are the biggest moments the show needs to get right. (In addition to the casting and tone, that is. Please don’t do us dirty, Netflix.)
Katara and Sokka meet Aang
Every great story has a beginning, and Avatar: The Last Airbender truly gets going when Katara and Sokka, precocious members of the Southern Water Tribe, stumble on Avatar Aang, long thought lost to time, frozen in an iceberg.
The Last Airbender is great at marrying the mundane to the magnificent. When Katara and Sokka find Aang, the siblings are in the middle of a heated fight, far from their last. The ordinariness of their blow-up contrasts with their monumental find: the Avatar, the one person who can bring peace to a world at war, just sleeping right under their noses, completely unaware of what’s happened for the last century. Netflix will need to pay careful attention (and devote appropriate funds) to this scene; it should be big, magical and get across the importance of this find. The world has hope again.
At the same time, it needs to keep everything around it light. Once freed from the ice, Aang doesn’t seem to register how important he is; he just wants to be a kid and have fun. Netflix will need to find dependable child actors to play Aang, Katara and Sokka who can handle swinging between these two polls.
The Southern Air Temple
“The Southern Air Temple” is only the third episode of Avatar: The Last Airbender, but it’s the first time viewers truly get an idea of the damage the Fire Nation has caused while Aang was away. Instead of hearing about the Firebenders’ cruelty from Sokka and Katara we experience it firsthand alongside Aang.
Watching as Aang realizes that the Air Nomads, his family, are no more is the first truly emotional experience of the animated series, and the Netflix adaptation will have to evoke the same grief if it wants to sell us on why the Fire Nation needs to be stopped. Up until this point, the show has mainly been a light-hearted affair, but the Fire Nation is indeed a serious threat to the rest of the world. The balance between humor and drama is a big part of what makes the show so compelling.
Of course, this episode is also the first time Aang goes into the Avatar state, an important development that will also need to be done well. Our Aang is an innocent kid, but he also possesses a power that can turn the world, a power that will become important as the series goes on. Its full force needs to come across here.
The Kyoshi Warriors
Although M. Night Shyamalan’s The Last Airbender movie was originally supposed to include Suki and the other Kyoshi warriors, they were cut for the sake of time, one of many things fans criticized about the film. There’s no doubt that the Kyoshi warriors are some of the most interesting characters introduced over the course of the animated series. (I mean, seriously, what’s not to love about a group of badass women warriors dedicated to preserving the memory of Avatar Kyoshi?)
Suki and her comrades steal the show from the moment they appear in “The Warriors of Kyoshi.” Between their fierce attitudes, impressive fighting styles, and unapologetic mocking of Sokka’s misogyny, it’s difficult not to fall for them right off the bat. And if the live-action series does them justice, they’re likely to gain more even more fans.
The Kyoshi warriors appear in some of the most action-packed episodes of the series, with their introduction marking one of the show’s first big fights. Whenever they show up, you know it’s gonna be a good time.
(Also, does anyone else really want to see what the costuming for Suki and her fellow warriors looks like?)
Avatar Roku
Speaking of Kyoshi, she’s not the only past Avatar to show up. Aang is just the latest in an extremely long line of Avatars. In a way, he is their reincarnation. In another way, he is their own person, and can learn from them. Whoever writes the Netflix series must understand this subtlety, and avoid pressing out the ambiguity that makes it so interesting.
The former Avatar who shows up most often is Avatar Roku, the Avatar before Aang, and a Firebender. Wise and even-tempered, Roku is kind of like an Obi-Wan Kenobi figure to Aang, gently guiding him in the use of his powers and serving up exposition about this world and the Avatar’s place in it.
Since the main characters in this show are very young, most of the actors will be unknowns, but parts like Roku will allow Netflix to cast someone more seasoned. It might not be a bad idea to expand Roku’s role, especially since his relationship with Aang is crucial to understanding his point of view. Most of the Four Nations are at war with each other, but Avatar Roku and Avatar Aang — a Firebender and an Airbender — forge a friendship from across the grave. The Avatar is connected to something bigger than just where he was born. The Avatar sees the world as whole, no matter how hard it tries to divide itself.
Aang reaches out to Zuko
The Last Airbender is full of great characters, but if we’re talking about who has the best character arc, it’s almost definitely Prince Zuko. The son of the Firelord starts out the series determined to hunt down the Avatar, bring him to his father, and regain the honor he lost when dear old dad banished him from the country. By the end of the series, everything is different, but getting there is a slow, painful process, one that Netflix will have to keep pace with every step of the way.
One of the first big steps comes in “The Blue Spirit,” where Zuko assumes a disguise and actually frees Aang after he’s been captured by the Fire Nation, because if Zuko doesn’t capture the Avatar himself, it’s all for naught. Zuko is knocked unconscious, and when he wakes up, Aang tries to reach him with a deftly written little monologue:
"You know what the worst part of being born over a hundred years ago is? I miss all the friends I used to hang out with. Before the war started, I used to always visit my friend Kuzon. The two of us, we’d get in and out of so much trouble together. He was one of the best friends I ever had, and he was from the Fire Nation, just like you. If we knew each other back then, do you think we could have been friends too?"
Zuko, of course, responds to this moment of vulnerability by trying to blast Aang with a gout of flame, and the Avatar flees. But it’s one of the first moments we see that there’s more to Zuko than just a Fire Nation zealot. He’s a wounded kid who wants to belong, and thinks that making his awful father proud of him is the only way to do it. He’s slower than we are to realize he has other options, but he does get there…eventually.
Zuko is older than the other members of Team Avatar, so finding an actor to play him in a live-action series should be a little easier. For the right actor, it could be a career-making part, because Zuko goes through the whole range of human emotion before his journey is done.
The Moon Spirit
The first-season finale of The Last Airbender raises the stakes for our characters, taking the mostly lighthearted series to a much darker place when the Fire Nation attacks the Northern Water Tribe. Watching experienced Waterbenders take on the Fire Nation army makes for a more interesting battle than anything we’d seen up to that point, and that’s before we get to Aang’s part in the fight.
Although Aang goes into the Avatar state prior to the finale, he finally uses it properly — and viciously — in “The Seige of the North Part 2.” This is one of the first times that Aang’s potential truly shines through, and although Netflix might have a hard time replicating this scene, it’ll be powerful if done right.
Zhao’s killing of the Moon Spirit could also be very eerie in a live-action show, as the world goes dark without the moon. (How’s that for “gritty,” Netflix?) Throw in a talented actress playing Princess Yue, and this first-season finale could blow viewers away in the live-action series just like it did in the original. Fingers crossed.
Secret Tunnel!
The Last Airbender isn’t just about action; the humor in this show is delightful, and an inextricable part of its DNA. Team Avatar’s journey to the Earth Kingdom city is especially entertaining. In “The Cave of Two Lovers,” Aang and his friends join a group of nomads as they navigate a network of tunnels called — you guessed it — the Cave of Two Lovers.
The group of bards — and Sokka’s constant exasperation at their antics — exemplify the show’s humor at its finest, and that’s exactly what we want to see from the live-action series. If the show wants to follow in The Witcher‘s footsteps, some original music would also be a fun addition. It’s easy to imagine “Secret Tunnel” finding its way onto a live-action soundtrack. (And subsequently getting stuck in our heads for weeks on end.)
“The Cave of Two Lovers” is also the first episode that brings Aang and Katara’s feelings for one another to the forefront, so it’s important the live-action show include the events of this episode if it wants to make their relationship believable. Given how much of the fandom still ships Katara with Prince Zuko, chemistry between the actors who play Aang and Katara could actually change some minds about their relationship.
Avatar Day
The only thing more empowering than meeting the Kyoshi Warriors is meeting Avatar Kyoshi herself, and fans get a look into her backstory during Book Two’s “Avatar Day.”
The episode starts with our heroes in a tight spot as Aang and his companions come across a town that despises Kyoshi for murdering one of their leaders. Their hatred extends to Aang, who is her reincarnation come again.
This episode is interesting and important in a subtle way, because it forces Aang to confront several hard truths. For one, even though he’s tasked with keeping everyone in the world safe, not everyone will like him or look to him for help. More importantly, he learns that former Avatars have been forced to make terrible decisions to maintain peace, as when Kyoshi killed Chin the Conqueror to stop his tyranny from spreading across the world. That’s an internal struggle that Aang must work through when preparing to confront Fire Lord Ozai later in the series.
”Avatar Day” is also pretty relevant to our current political landscape. The humor about the injustice of the fictional prison system still lands after all these years, and we can see Netflix underlining the parallels to make them clear.
Wan Shi Tong’s Library
Book Two of the animated series leads Team Avatar to Wan Shi Tong’s Library, a legendary place of knowledge where Sokka hopes to discover something the group can use against the Fire Nation. The group’s attempts to gain access to the library — which is buried under desert sand and guarded by a spirit who doesn’t particularly like humans — is entertaining and trippy enough to warrant showing up in Netflix’s show. But there’s another reason this needs to be in there.
”The Library” marks a big step forward for Team Avatar, as Sokka and Aang discover that they can use the upcoming Solar Eclipse to attack the Fire Nation while the Firebenders are at their weakest. And although fans of the animated series know this plan doesn’t unfold exactly as intended, it still plays a major role in the series from this point onward — so it’s hard to see how an adaptation would get around covering it.
While the group is in the library, Aang’s sky bison Appa also gets taken by raiders, which shows us a side of Aang we haven’t seen before; Appa was the last thing from Aang’s time he still had with him, and losing him cuts deep. Netflix will need to dig deep to give us a convincing sky bison, but it’ll need to follow through it wants to sell us on the depth of Aang’s predicament.
The Dragon of the West
Uncle Iroh is easily one of the best characters from Avatar: The Last Airbender, and there are a ton of scenes with him we’d love to see brought to life in the live-action series. Learning how he earned the nickname “The Dragon of the West,” however, is possibly his coolest moment onscreen. Until this scene, fans have only heard of his prowess in battle. This is the moment that drives home the fact that, yes, Zuko’s uncle is more than just a wise, funny old man.
In fact, Iroh can be downright intimidating under the right circumstances, something Zuko’s megalomaniacal sister Azula and the Dai Li discover to their surprise. When Azula, who has covertly assumed control of the Earth King’s royal guard, invites her brother and uncle to have tea with the Earth king, she lures them into a trap. Cornered but calm as can be, Iroh asks her if she wants to know how he earned the nickname the Dragon of the West. Azula declines, telling her uncle she doesn’t want to hear one of his long-winded stories, but he assures her that “it’s more of a demonstration.”
Cue Iroh taking a sip of tea and literally breathing fire. This is one of the more epic displays of Firebending viewers see throughout the animated series, and with any luck, it’ll make it into the live-action one. Netflix will need a solid budget to pull it off, but it’ll be worth it in the end.
Iroh’s Backstory
Speaking of Iroh, it’s crucial the live-action series include his backstory if it wants to do his character justice. Although Iroh’s surrogate father-son relationship with Prince Zuko is the focal point of his character arc, his history sheds some light on why he’s so intent on loving his brother’s son as if he was his own. And it’s sure to make fans everywhere tear up.
During The Tale of Iroh, one of the sequences in the anthology episode “The Tales of Ba Sing Se,” fans follow Iroh going about his day, which he spends doling out helpful advice to everyone he meets, whether it’s kids playing in the streets or a guy who tries to mug him. His journey ends, however, with him paying a visit to his late son, who actually died in combat during the Siege of Ba Sing Se years ago.
Watching one of the wisest and happiest characters on the show break down makes this one of The Last Airbender‘s most emotional moments. It also adds new layers to Iroh’s relationship with Zuko, and to his perspective on the Fire Nation overall; we understand why he became disillusioned with the Fire Nation’s expansionism, and with war in general. In a lot of ways, this moment, this moment is the key to Iroh’s character, and Netflix has to nail it perfectly.
And speaking of original music, the heart-wrenching “Leaves From the Vine” is a must for any soundtrack that’s to come from the series.
Toph Invents Metalbending
Toph, the brash, blind young Earthbender Aang and company meet in the Book Two, is one of The Last Airbender‘s most beloved characters, and moments like this show why. In the original series, it wasn’t enough for Toph to be one of the most powerful Earthbenders around; she had to do the undoable and master the art of bending metal, something that was previously believed to be impossible.
There are hints that Metalbending is on the horizon scattered throughout the episodes before “The Guru,” but that doesn’t take away from the surprise and satisfaction at seeing Toph escape the metal prison she’s put in by her parents’ lackeys, Xin Fu and Master Yu. And if Netflix wants us to believe that Toph is capable of being the Avatar’s Earthbending master, it’s going to have to include this moment. (Also, why wouldn’t it? It’s fantastic.)
Including this will also be critical if the streaming service one day hopes to adapt The Legend of Korra as a live-action sequel series. Thanks to Toph, Metalbending is common practice for Earthbenders a few generations down the line, all because she was smart and skilled enough to think it up.
Crossroads of Destiny
If the Book One finale of The Last Airbender was great, Book Two’s conclusion doubles down on the excellence with “The Crossroads of Destiny.” This episode sees the tensions building in the city of Ba Sing Se explode, with Team Avatar going toe to toe with Princess Azula…with Prince Zuko caught in the middle.
Up until this point, Zuko had been slowly changing, letting go of his obsession with catching the Avatar and returning to his dictator father’s side. Ultimately, he came to accept a peaceful existence free of his father’s demands about honor. This episode even gives him a heart to heart with Katara that will no doubt have shippers jumping for joy if Netflix adapts it well.
Unfortunately, Zuko relapses when Azula offers him the thing he spent so long wishing for: the ability to return to the Fire Nation with his honor restored and the Avatar in tow.
Zuko’s backpedaling is probably the most interesting part of the second season finale because it shows that the series doesn’t settle for giving its characters linear growth. If Netflix hopes to portray Zuko accurately, it’ll need to show him failing — more than once — before he truly gets better. This is his biggest failure, so the show has to get it right.
Of course, fans will also want Netflix to tackle the action parts of the finale. From Azula striking Aang with lightning while he’s in the Avatar state and nearly killing him, to Katara’s rage-fueled Waterbending, to Iroh’s betrayal, “The Crossroads of Destiny” is full of suspenseful surprises.
Sokka Mastering the Sword
Since the entire premise of The Last Airbender revolves around Aang mastering the four elements, it makes sense that the series’ benders are often front and center. But that also means that Katara’s sarcastic brother Sokka doesn’t always get the recognition he deserves. “Sokka’s Master” puts our favorite non-bender in the spotlight as he masters an important skill of his own: learning to use a sword.
Sokka’s training sessions may not be as flashy as Aang’s, but that means it’ll be easier for Netflix to adapt in live action. And the action isn’t what makes this installment so compelling, anyway; it’s witnessing Sokka’s character growth as he comes to the conclusion that some things are more important than the divisions between the Fire Nation and Water Tribes.
“Sokka’s Master” offers plenty of life lessons for viewers to take away, sword action, and a study of Sokka’s personality and growth — what more could we ask for?
A Trip to the Beach
Any good TV series — animated or live-action — is made better by delving into the psyches of its villains, and The Last Airbender does exactly that in Book Three’s “The Beach.” Of course, the show manages to do it with humor, something that’s made easier by the fact that the majority of its villains are still teenagers.
When Zuko, Azula, Ty Lee, and Mai aren’t chasing around the Avatar, they enjoy the occasional vacation. Or at least they try to enjoy it This episode shows them heading to Ember Island, where they’re supposed to act like regular teens. Naturally, that isn’t how things go down. Instead, fans are treated to moment after hilarious moment of Azula and Zuko trying and failing to fit in with people their own age, which is bound to happen when you spend most of your time conquering cities and trying to please a father with a god complex and the power to back it up.
The comedy of “The Beach” is probably its greatest achievement, but that’s closely followed by its willingness to look at each of these characters as fully formed individuals. By the end of the episode, the teenagers are venting their frustrations with the world to one another, revealing what makes them tick. They reveal they’re more than just a bunch of villains being evil for the sake of it, which makes the conclusions of their arcs all the more satisfying.
Hama and Bloodbending
Avatar: The Last Airbender plays with a lot of different over its run, but they’re often variations on “action” or “comedy.” It doesn’t often delve into the realm of horror, except in the Book 3 episode “The Puppetmaster.”
In this episode, Team Avatar hides out in the Fire Nation with a kindly old Waterbender named Hama. But she has a secret: Hama was brought to the Fire Nation as a prisoner long ago, and the cruelty she suffered at the hands of her captors has shaped her into a dark, twisted person. She even teaches Katara an unspeakably terrible new technique: Bloodbending, controlling the water in someone’s body to make them do whatever you want.
The whole thing is pretty ghastly, and could be very effective in a live-action setting, when real-live actors can use their faces to sell the full horror of what’s happening to them. Then again, there’s a reason the show didn’t go to the horror well too often. This is, at bottom, an optimistic story, and while Hama’s tale of horror is good as a novelty, the show won’t want to lean on stories like this.
Solar Eclipse
Zuko’s not the only character from The Last Airbender who needs to fail before he succeeds. After the series spends an entire season building up to the Solar Eclipse and the assault on the Fire Nation, the plan falls apart. Aang and his friends successfully invade the Firelord’s city, only to realize that Ozai knew about their surprise attack all along. What’s worse, he was prepared for it.
In two heart-pounding installments, our heroes race the clock to track down Ozai and have Aang fight him while his Firebending abilities are at their weakest, only to fail and get trapped in the nation they’re trying to topple. When Aang and the others flee and leave their allies behind, it’s with heavy hearts. That defeat is more compelling than an easy victory would have been.
The Solar Eclipse also offers fans another moment the Netflix series needs to handle well, and one the entire series builds up to: Prince Zuko finally confronting his father and walking out on the Fire Nation. For that scene alone, Netflix had better do this episode right. It’s one of the many turning points in his arc, and the one that finally sticks.
Aang and Zuko learn the true menaing of Firebending
Every Avatar seems to struggle with one element more than all the rest, and for Aang, Firebending is the most difficult art to master. And when he finally gets a chance to learn it courtesy of a reformed Zuko, the Fire Prince’s abilities disappears along with his anger, leading both master and pupil on a journey to uncover where Firebending came from, and how they can master it without depending on rage.
The banter between these two is top-notch as they explore the ruins of a legendary Sun Warrior city, and things only become more interesting when they discover the Sun Warriors aren’t extinct after all, and have been living in secret all these years. The message here is that Firebending, something we’ve up until now associated with domination and fear, doesn’t actually have anything to do with violence and conquering, not unless that’s what you bring to it. It’s another good lesson for Zuko, and a good lesson in general.
Also, let’s be real: this episode features fire-breathing dragons, and we really want to see dragons in the live-action show. And Aang and Zuko dance together. It’s got everything.
Prison Break
When it comes to impossible situations, breaking out of an impenetrable Fire Nation prison is up there, and the attempt makes for one of The Last Airbender‘s most interesting two-parters. Sokka and Zuko are able to break in to the Boiling Rock prison in an attempt to rescue Sokka’s father, but getting out is where the real fun is.
The dynamic between Zuko and Sokka is fun and certainly needs to be included in a live-action series, but the real pleasure of these episodes is the way they build to a thrilling climax. Watching Suki take down the Boiling Rock’s warden and the Waterbenders fight back against the Fire Nation guards are just a few of the highlights here — and then, of course, there’s the arrival of Azula, which guarantees that a bad situation is about to get worse.
This episode is especially important in shaping Azula, Mai, and Ty Lee’s character development. The latter two wind up turning against the Fire Nation Princess and defying her orders. It’s a big moment for both of their characters, and it emphasizes how far they are from being one-note villains, or even villains at all. Plus, their decision is what causes Azula to start unraveling — and we absolutely want to see that transition in the Netflix series.
The Southern Raiders
Just about every member of Team Avatar gets to go on a one-on-one trip with Prince Zuko toward the end of the series, but Katara’s journey with the soon-to-be Firelord is arguably the most interesting. After spending the entire series being the motherly figure while the rest of Team Avatar gets up to questionable antics, Katara gets the opportunity to play the anti-hero in “The Southern Raiders,” and it’s amazing to see.
During the episode, Zuko and Katara attempt to track down the man who killed Katara’s mother all those years ago. As the two play vigilante, Katara nearly makes the character-altering decision to end the life of the person responsible for her family’s suffering, only to realize it’s not the right guy.
The pair does eventually find the man responsible, and we get a more in-depth look at what Katara has gone through. But by then, Katara has returned to her old self, although she isn’t above scaring her mother’s killer and holding him accountable for what he’s done.
Even if Katara never goes full-blown vigilante, it’s fun to see a new side of her character. If it wants to fully explore the depths of her character, the Netflix series needs to include these scenes. (This episode is also a pretty big deal for the Zutara shippers out there, so… there’s that.)
The Ember Island Players
If Netflix’s live-action adaptation of The Last Airbender wants to be as funny as the original, it’s going to have to give the episode “The Ember Island Players” the live-action treatment. This lead-up to the series finale is Avatar comedy at its finest.
In the episode, Team Avatar find themselves at the Ember Island Theater, where an acting troupe called the Ember Island Players is putting on a performance. The play is a reenactment of Aang’s journey over the past three seasons, giving fans a quick recap of all that’s happened so far…just in a far more exaggerated manner.
The play takes the members of Team Avatar and their adventures to their extremes, giving us an in-world parody of everything we’ve seen play out. The best part is that fans get to see the characters react to their own ridiculous behavior. From Zuko’s insistence that he’s not that intense to Toph embracing the fact that she’s played by an intimidating, muscular guy twice her size, it’s absolutely fantastic.
Azula’s Last Stand
Who cares about Firelord Ozai when Azula is right there? If fans had to choose the most interesting villain from Avatar: The Last Airbender, many would point to Zuko’s sister, and rightfully so. Watching her unravel as the animated series continues — going from the overconfident, powerful daughter of the Firelord to someone who veers increasingly toward paranoia and despair — is an entertaining and fascinating journey, and it’s one we hope is reproduced faithfully in the live-action series.
The 2010 live-action movie barely touched Azula’s character, so just getting to see her story play out in Netflix’s series is going to be a treat. But if we had to choose one moment we really can’t wait for, it would have to be her final moments on the show. Azula’s last scene sees her finally engaging in an Agni Kai — a Firebending duel — with her brother Zuko, something the series had been building to since the pair first went toe to toe with one another.
Between Azula’s natural talent with Firebending, Zuko’s new outlook, and the lifetime of conflict between the two, the fight is magnificent, and almost makes for a better climax than Aang vs. the Firelord, which unfolds at the same time. Watching Zuko outsmart his sister highlights how far his character has come since Book One, making his journey feel that much more worthwhile.
Of course, it’s also enthralling to see Azula’s increasing desperation, which takes a dark turn when she aims her lightning not at Zuko, but at Katara. If done right, these heart-pounding moments will be suspenseful in the extreme in a live-action show. Zuko and Katara teaming up to finally take down Azula is one of the most satisfying moments of the original series, made even better by the show not forgetting Azula’s own humanity in the midst of it.
Aang vs the Fire Lord
Any live-action adaptation that wants to do justice to the original source material needs to get the climax right. For Avatar: The Last Airbender, that means Aang’s confrontation with the Firelord. This battle between two of the strongest human beings in the show’s world decides the fate of every character in the series. The stakes are high, for the characters and for Netflix.
These final epic moments also force Aang to face the decision he grapples with for a final run of episodes: can he defeat Ozai without killing him? Aang consults his past selves and works through his feelings about justice, vengeance, war and peace; it’s not the most action-packed part of the show, but it’s crucial to understanding its climax and adds layers to Aang’s character that make him a stronger climax, so Netflix would do well to leave it in.
This is also a part of the animated series the Netflix adaptation could totally make bigger and better — right now, Azula’s Agni Kai with Zuko outshines Aang’s fight with Ozai for many. Prolonging this battle and making it a bit grander is one of the few ways the live-action adaptation could actually improve on the animated original.
Zuko’s Coronation
Just as it’s important to get the climax of the show right, it’s critical to show viewers that everything the characters have gone through pays off in the end, especially for a series that puts so much emphasis on hope. The Netflix series will need to capture the hope that Zuko’s coronation as the new Firelord represents if it wants to convince viewers that the hours spent watching this new series was time well spent.
Having Aang and Zuko address their people together is a huge moment for both of them considering how long the Firelord and Avatar had previously been at odds with one another. It’s a rebirth of hope into the world, promising a time of peace not seen for 100 years.
Seeing the two standing side by side, we also get an idea of the very different journeys they took to get to the same point. If the Netflix series wants to be heralded for its storytelling the way the original show was, it needs to compare and contrast these journeys as adroitly as Nickelodeon did, and show how these arcs converged at the end.
Image: Avatar: The Last Airbender/Nickelodeon
The never-made fourth season
One of the nice things about remaking a show is that you can tweak do things you originally meant to do but never got around to, or even add on extra material you never got to make! Speaking at San Diego Comic-Con a couple years back, Avatar: The Last Airbender head writer Aaron Ehasz talked about the original fourth season he and the creators were going to make, but didn’t get to because of M. Night Shyamalan’s movie.
Part of what Ehasz wanted to do was explore the consequences of Aang taking away the Firelord’s powers at the end of the third season. “My feeling about that was like there’s always a cost, right? There’s always some balance,” Ehasz said. “You can’t just be like I’m the Avatar, taking your powers away. It’s a great power, but part of it is you just took all this evil into you. To take it away from someone else you’re holding onto it to protect the world.”
"The story I wanted to tell with Aang was about him struggling with taking some of that inside and probably a considerable amount of anger and guilt and big feelings. By the way, guess who would be the best person to have a mini vacation with? It’s Zuko! Someone who’s processed a lot of anger on his own, right?"
He also had plans for a story about Azula being rehabilitated after her breakdown.
Of course, the show will have to get all the other stuff we talked about in this article right first, but if they’ve come that far, maybe they could keep it going!
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