Since beginning-less time, darkness thrives in the void,
but always yields to purifying light...
When Avatar: The Last Airbender premiered on Nickelodeon in 2005, I couldn't have been at a worse age. Heading into high school, I assumed it was time to grow out of stupid cartoon shows and watch REAL TV, like Family Guy and American Idol. Hindsight's a bitch, huh? I really missed out, because Avatar is a fantastic series; its creative successes are spread between its incredibly well-developed world and its endearing characters, not to mention its stellar action scenes. Like the best television, the show finds its footing and just keeps running to the finish line. Mixing Eastern and Western styles of animation, creators Michael DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko deliver a show filled with poignancy and genuine emotion, dealing with heavy themes like genocide and government conspiracy while being damn funny in equal measure.
Let's get acquainted with Avatar's world by way of the opening narration:
"Water. Earth. Fire. Air. Long ago, the four nations lived together in harmony. Then, everything changed when the Fire Nation attacked. Only the Avatar, master of all four elements, could stop them, but when the world needed him most, he vanished. A hundred years passed and my brother and I discovered the new Avatar, an Airbender named Aang. And although his airbending skills are great, he has a lot to learn before he's ready to save anyone. But I believe Aang can save the world."
We are all one people, but we live as if divided...
In a world where ordinary humans (called "benders") can control the elements, a teenage girl named Katara (Mae Whitman) and her brother Sokka (Jack DeSena) live in the Inuit-like Southern Water Tribe. One day, as they row their canoe through the icy waters, they discover a giant ball of ice containing a boy named Aang (Zach Tyler Eisen), who sports a blue arrow tattoo on his bald head and arms. Also trapped in the ice is Aang's animal companion Appa (Dee Bradley Baker), a flying bison thought to be extinct. Katara and Sokka discover that Aang is an Airbender, also thought to be wiped out years ago. Not only is Aang the the last Airbender, he is the Avatar, bringer of balance to the world, as he is able to control all four elements and can bridge the human world with the spiritual world. The reason the four nations have fallen into such chaos is because Aang was frozen for a hundred years. Discovering this broken world and attempting to mend it on a micro level is what takes up most of season one, all the while the trio makes their way to the Northern Water Tribe to find Aang a Waterbending master. Along the way, they are endlessly pursued by Prince Zuko (Dante Bosco) and his uncle Iroh (Mako Iwamatsu) of the Fire Nation. Banished from his homeland and heavily scarred over his face, Zuko's only hope to regain his honor is to capture the Avatar and deliver him to his father, the Fire Lord (Mark Hamill).
If you want to be a bender, you have to let go of fear...
Pride is not the opposite of shame, but its source...
Season two (Book Two: Earth) is a powerhouse of a middle chapter. It's darker, more complex, and less episodic than season one. It builds upon the story, characters, and larger mythology already established, but takes things a step further. On Aang's quest to learn Earthbending, he meets Toph Beifong (Jesse Flower), a spoiled rich girl who happens to be the best Earthbender around. Did I mention she's blind? She joins the trio on their quest, becoming Aang's Earthbending master while frequently pissing off Katara. Meanwhile, Zuko and Uncle Iroh, after failing to capture the Avatar all this time, are on the run from the Fire Nation and Zuko's own sister, Azula (Grey DeLisle). Team Avatar (Sokka dubs them) discovers that the Fire Nation will be extremely vulnerable when a solar eclipse hits, which is the perfect time to plan an attack and bring them down. This is made even more urgent with the enormous Sozin's Comet on the way, which will give the Firebenders insane amounts of power and they will undoubtedly win the war.
Little soldier boy...
So many fantastic episodes pop up in season two, and the status quo is constantly shaken up. Bad circumstances give us new insight into the characters, while continuing to expand the world and set the stage for what's still to come. Some of the best episodes include The Blind Bandit, The Library, and The City of Walls and Secrets (which won the show an Emmy for Outstanding Animated Program). My favorite episode of the season has to be Zuko Alone, which not only tells its own classic American Western story featuring Zuko, but gives us much-needed flashbacks to his home life and his relationship with his family. This is when Zuko, who at this point was simply moody with a good reason, really comes into his own and becomes sympathetic. Toph is also a welcome addition to Team Avatar; she gives Katara a nice bit of rivalry and her edgy attitude contrasts the rest of the team's relative "good guy" mentality. And what can I say about Azula and her posse of sidekicks? She's a fantastical villain, able to be threatening and funny all at once. She's much more "evil to the core" than Zuko, but that doesn't mean she's not complicated. One more character I haven't been talking about is Zuko's Uncle Iroh, the warmest presence on the show. Bubbling beneath his eccentricities (he really loves his tea) is a powerful sadness, displayed beautifully in the episode The Tales of Ba Sing Se. If you don't get a little choked up at the end of his segment, my condolences. It must be rough living without a soul. The ending of season two owes more than a little to The Empire Strikes Back, but the story and emotions are strong enough to let me look past any similarities.
So now that you see who I really am, I hope it doesn't change
the way you feel about me...
Now we enter season three (Book Three: Fire), the season that pushes the show from being "outstanding children's television" to just plain "outstanding." Zuko has been welcomed back home by his father, Aang seeks out a Firebending master in the Fire Nation, Sokka finds catharsis with being the only non-bender on the team, Katara learns responsibility when given access to a new level of her power in the form of Bloodbending, and Toph's "tough guy" exterior breaks away just enough to let us see the real little girl beneath it all. This of course happens between phenomenal action scenes, climaxes (and false climaxes), gut-wrenching twists that leave the viewer speechless and heartfelt messages that are never sappy or soap-boxy. Living among the people of the Fire Nation humanizes the team and changes the characters' perspectives on war in general. They see firsthand the propaganda that the royal family pushes in schools and the misleading "noble cause" the nation uses as justification for their horrible, genocidal actions.
Perfection and power are overrated...
The finale is masterful; a four-part epic string of episodes that showcase Aang's final confrontation with Firelord Ozai while the rest of Team Avatar fends off airships and Azula. However, the season isn't all action; the penultimate episode The Ember Island Players involves the team watching a Fire Nation play that reenacts their adventures leading up to this point. Not only is this a creative way to get the audience up to speed before the big finish (much better than any money-saving clip show), but the play is freaking hilarious. It's self-referential but never detracts from the actual drama that it pokes fun at, even forcing the characters to admit that while the play depicts them all as over-the-top caricatures, there is some truth to what they're seeing. Other notable episodes in season three are The Beach, The Avatar and the Firelord, The Day of Black Sun, and The Boiling Rock. One of my favorite episodes of the season is The Southern Raiders, which involves Katara confronting the man who killed her mother. It's great stuff.
It is important to draw wisdom from different places.
If you take it from only one place it becomes rigid and stale...
What never did much more me was the romantic relationship between Aang and Katara. While it's certainly not poorly done, it doesn't add much to the story overall and tends to feel forced in places. I think it comes down to the characters being a bit too young to be having a romantic relationship in the first place; a kiss at the end is fine, but we don't see much "falling in love" happening. I would have been alright if the characters had just been close friends, but as it is, it's fine. Another gripe I have with the series as a whole is the underdevelopment of the Fire Lord as a real character. He has a threatening presence, and getting the great Mark Hamill to voice him was a great move, but in a show filled with such fleshed-out characters, he comes across as a standard cartoon bad guy. It's also criminal that one of the coolest and creepiest characters on the show, Koh the face-stealer, is seen only once and never even mentioned again. As far as other flaws go though, aside from the aforementioned tonal issues in the early episodes, Avatar comes up amazingly short.
If you listen hard enough, you can hear everything breathing together...
The Avatar series was followed up by The Legend of Korra, detailing the adventure of the next Avatar, and it's a fantastic series as well. But nothing quite matches the original series' boundless creativity and sense of joy. The characters, with all their strengths and weaknesses, are frequently taken to unexpected places, and the world becomes more and more fascinating with every rewatch. All of this is bolstered by great music by Jeremy Zuckerman and Benjamin Wynn, who lend the show a cinematic sound. I haven't even touched on the religious and spiritual aspects of the show, which are rooted in East Asian mythology and philosophies (Buddhism, Hinduism, etc.). The show is truly an experience from beginning to end, one that's destined to be a classic. My biggest takeaway from Avatar: The Last Airbender is that no matter how harsh life can be, what terrible things you may have done, or how hopeless the future looks, the answer always lies in finding balance.
