In February 2005, the first ever episode of the critically acclaimed Avatar: the Last Airbender (ATLA), aired on Nickelodeon– a decade and a half later, the series was added to Netflix, triggering another boost in its popularity. The show centers around the story of a 12 year old boy named Aang, someone who the audience soon finds out is the aforementioned Avatar in the title. The viewers follow his journey as he tries to master the four elements, air, water, earth, and fire, in order to defeat Fire Lord Ozai, the leader of the Fire Nation. Its plot seems pretty straightforward and rudimentary, and it leans a lot towards the narrative of this cartoon being just a mere kids’ show, however, it is far from it. Through this review, we wish to delineate and dissect the reasons behind why this show can connect with people of various ages, and how it managed to do so for such a long time. From its world building all the way to its characters, the nuances found in this cartoon series show the amount of blood, sweat and tears the creators have put into this project, and all of this hard work has definitely not gone unnoticed considering how the show is still incredibly well known and talked about to this day. 

Summary 

In a war-torn and Avatar-less world, the once-lost Avatar awakens a hundred years later to the present, and now, he must navigate his way through the world to make things right. Aang, the last airbender, must gather a group of benders to teach him the remaining three styles of bending; water, earth, and fire bending, all to defeat the Fire Lord and end the war. You join him throughout his journey as he develops valuable friendships, meets reliable allies, and grows, not only as the Avatar, but as a person as well.

World Building

One of the greatest aspects of ATLA is its world building. The show masterfully constructs an imaginary setting based on real world cultures and adapts it, making it their own. You might think that it is a little derivative and obvious, but ATLA constructs its world building by mixing different aspects of real world cultures and creating a cohesive environment that complements the characters of the show. Each nation has a unique set of cultures, traditions, foods, wildlife, and architecture. The world building helps the story push forward and perfectly complements the story, helping the viewer immerse themselves in the show.

The beliefs and actions of the characters perfectly reflect where they’re from. Take, for example, our protagonist Aang. He lived his life with the air nomads who go from temple to temple in the mountains and live detached from worldly politics. The air nomads are monks; therefore, pacifists explaining Aang’s choices throughout the show, which always led to compromise, as he himself is afraid of confrontation and always tries to find a situation in which everyone benefits. On the other hand we have the prince of the Fire Nation, Zuko, whose decisions rarely ever led to compromise because of his upbringing. His learning environment never taught him the virtues of peace, gentleness, or pacifism, but rather, it focused on honor, power, and pride.

We get to experience the four nations through our protagonists’  journey and how they interact with the world around them. Through this we can get a comprehensive scope of the whole lore of the show as the seasons go on bit by bit, always leaving the audience with an answer and some questions to be addressed in future episodes making the audience want to watch more.

Storyline

ATLA is a very well-written show, one of the last of its kind. The storyline tackles heavy topics such as dysfunctional/broken families, politics, and war, while gracefully incorporating these topics and contextualizing them into the plot of a kid’s show. The show never shies away from these kinds of deep-seated moments, and this is seen through scenes showing Zuko’s family environment, the Earth Kingdom’s authoritarian government, and the depiction of the ongoing Hundred Year War. However, accompany all this are its great comedic skits, lighthearted but lesson-filled adventures, and its fair share of heartwarming moments that make you want to keep on watching. The story’s main events are all laid out and presented well, with few questions left to be unanswered. Its addictive storytelling and great pacing make the show hard to put down regardless of age. 

The show is separated into three seasons with our protagonist learning one bending style each season, creating a show with good flow and organization. Each season introduces new lore, characters, lessons, adventures, a memorable climax, good conflict, conflict resolution, subplots, great surprises, and suspense that eventually gets answered satisfyingly. 

ATLA also highlights the importance of nature preservation in its plot. We can see how the show depicts the pitfalls of technology and innovation in scenes where landscapes and forests are destroyed by the Fire Nation and its military weapons. Because of this opposition against weapon advancement, the environmental narrative drives the plot by creating even more conflict between the two sides. The environmental aspect of the show can also be a reflection of current world issues as the harmful effects of technology on nature grow more prevalent in recent years, making the show feel modern and aware of present issues, thus creating a connection between the audience and the show and gaining the viewers' interest.

Character Analysis

When it comes to creating multifaceted characters, ATLA does not disappoint either. Despite the fact that the show is meant to be catered towards kids, the writers do not shy away from creating scintillating and detailed backstories for their characters, making them feel even more relatable and human. Two characters in particular come to mind when talking about well fleshed out backstories and story arcs: Zuko and Azula. 

As the sole successors of the Fire Lord, Zuko and Azula shared the same familial environment and living conditions, however, it is made evident in the story that they despise each other, mainly due to one factor: favoritism. In the story, Zuko was seen to be favored by his mother, while Azula was favored by her father. Although at first glance tiny details such as these seem insignificant to the characters’ overall plot lines, as the show goes on, the creators gradually reveal to the audience the explosive effect this discrepancy has made on their personalities and disposition with Zuko being labeled as the disobedient banished prince, and his sister, Azula, as the cunning child prodigy. This also contributes to why Zuko and Azula are some of, if not the most, complex characters in the show. The audience follows their journey as they unpack their childhood trauma and deal with it in their own different ways, Zuko’s coping mechanisms often being antithetical to Azula’s and following a more emotional approach, while Azula’s follows a more rational and guileful one. ATLA shows this contrast between characters extremely well, and creates an amazing build up to one of the final scenes of season 3, which remains to be one of our most favorite scenes from the entire franchise, wherein these two siblings finally meet for the last time in the show. 

The themes and lessons being taught throughout the series reflect the most on the show’s characters, and while not all character arcs are as intense as these two, there are still noticeable changes in mannerisms and attitude in every character that occur every season, which is exactly why ATLA’s characters are so gripping: they feel real, four-dimensional, and substantial. 

Conclusion

Avatar: The Last Airbender played a major part in the childhoods of Generation Z and Millennials, and its release into Netflix was the spark needed to ignite the nostalgia and reminiscence of many who may not have seen the show in years or haven’t seen when it first came out in Nickelodeon, such as us. Although on surface level ATLA seems to be a show directed solely for a younger audience, as you continue to plow through the episodes, you start to recognize the underlying depth behind the world, its characters, and its plot. As the seasons go by, the show evolves from lighthearted stand alone episodes to elaborate and nuanced storylines that all connect to the overarching plot of the series, and it is such a joy to watch the main cast grow as they face these thrilling adventures and overcome seemingly insurmountable challenges. Viewing ATLA once again with a more critical set of eyes has given us the opportunity to appreciate the thought and effort put into the series, and it was this that prompted us to write this review in the first place. With all that said, we highly recommend that you watch and go into this series with patience and an open mind because you will definitely not be disappointed!