I Finally Watched AVATAR:THE LAST AIRBENDER and I Get What Y'all Are Talking About Now

The blog post wherein tons of my friends respond with "I told you so!"

By: Josh McCormack

Avatar: The Last Airbender is so fucking good, man. 

Most of you probably already know that, but I'm practically a newcomer to this whole thing. I had some exposure to this iconic animated series when I was about eight years old when the first season premiered in 2006. However, in time I just lost interest and never thought much of it. But as I grow older, Avatar: The Last Airbender seems to be a very formative piece of media for most fellow twenty-somethings. So—like many of you—I was ecstatic when all 66 episodes finally dropped on Netflix, finally giving me an excuse to give this whole saga of earth, air, fire, and water a watch from beginning to end.

Over the course of a little over a month, I became entranced with the story of Aang's journey to become the Avatar (master of all four elements, not a big CGI blue person) just as my peers had in their younger years. The characters are lively, distinct, and easy to relate to. The show balances so many tones with ease, sometimes over the course of a single episode constantly jumping from funny to deadly serious in a matter of minutes and in a way that isn't sloppy. The animation is simple, but gorgeous. The score is wonderful. The action is epic. It is as addicting a fantasy show as something like Game of Thrones, only ten times more satisfying.

However, what stuck with me the most is the show's complicated themes of friendship, pacifism in the face of war, and forgiveness to those who have wronged you. All of these are presented in ways that are actually quite subtle for a kid's show. They're also wonderfully expressed by the tremendous character development of each of the main player's in this story.

Sokka, the cynical comedian turned master swordsman, finds inner strength and an ability to trust those outside his tribe over the course of three seasons. His sister, the water-bending Katara, goes from an idealistic young woman to a hardened warrior, tempted by revenge, but never losing her grasp on hope. Zuko—going through the most substantial change over the course of the series—goes from prince of the evil fire nation to an eventual mentor for our lead, Aang. And of course, Aang's transformation is what the entire story is built on and every development of his character is handled expertly with so much time to breathe that you actually see this boy believably become a man over the course of just 30 hours of screen time.

What I'm trying to get at is that no character finishes the show the way they start, and that's an example of great storytelling. That's not to say that these characters don't still carry along with them the qualities that make you fall in love with most of them in the first place, but there are stakes here and knowing that a decision one character makes will affect not only them, but the world around them, makes for an incredibly engaging television show that just had to blow the mind of little kids watching it at the time. Hell, it blows my mind now.

This is indeed a story of good and evil, just like Star Wars or Lord of the Rings, but it's also a story about rising above the damaging acts of violence. Within the parameters of a Nickelodeon show wherein our main characters can't die, nor can they kill, creators Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko use what would be a limitation in most people's eyes and use it to their advantage in telling a story that deals with the ramifications of murder and revenge.

Azula, the evil sister of Zuko and daughter of the evil Fire Lord Ozai, shows what happens to a being who is so insistent on backstabbing those who she feels do not respect her and destroying everything around her, it winds up leaving her tormented and making her final moments on the show surprisingly tragic. On the opposite end of the spectrum is her uncle Iroh (aka the greatest character EVER) who's life is full of personal tragedy and horrible life choices, but instead of being consumed by grief or continuing to reign terror on his enemies, he chooses to find the joy of life and seek friendship and forgiveness in a world where that seems to be in increasingly dwindling supply.

These themes all culminate in an epic four-part finale that just perfectly wraps up this story in such a satisfying way without seeming like it's pandering. It is an epic of sight, sound, fury, but mostly heart. After so much anticipation, the final confrontation between Aang and Ozai is so incredibly worth it and the way it concludes —driving home that idea of finding forgiveness and rising above barbaric violence— is just wonderful.

I found so much to love about Avatar: The Last Airbender. I loved the constant, always hilarious comedy. I loved Toph. I loved Sokka and Suki's love story, as well as Aang and Katara's. I loved that the show is willing to take breaks and feature more low-key episodes like Appa's Lost Days or the brilliant Tales of Ba Sing Se. I loved just being around these characters. Hell, I even loved the Great Divide episode that all of you guys dunk on.

There's talks of more Avatar:The Last Airbender content in the future. A new live-action tv show is in the works, perhaps even a whole new season for the original series. And though I haven't seen The Legend of Korra at the time of writing this, I can't imagine it feels necessary to the overall Avatar story. What I'm trying to say is that, Avatar: The Last Airbender seems pretty perfect as it stands now. Sure, we got a shitty M. Night Shyamalan movie adaption, but nothing could ever trample this wonderfully constructed fantasy story for all ages and honestly no adaption could rise to its level either...so why bother. 

Avatar: The Last Airbender is every bit as good as you guys have always told me it was, if not better. I'm happy to *finally* be on your wavelength now. I'm just sorry it took me so long.