Avatar: The Last Airbender

***Avatar: The Last Airbender*** (known as *Avatar: The Legend of Aang* in Europe) is a North American animated Nickelodeon television series that aired from 2005 to 2008. The series has a spin-off sequel, *The Legend of Korra*.

## Plot

The world is divided into four nations - the Water Tribes, the Earth Kingdom, the Fire Nation and and the Air Nomads - each represented by a natural element for which the nation is named. Benders have the ability to control and manipulate the element from their respective nation, with a single person known as the "Avatar" having the ability to master all four elements. The ruthless Fire Nation sets out to conquer the world... but the Avatar, the only person powerful enough to stop them, mysteriously vanishes. 100 years later, a pair of Water Tribe siblings named Katara and Sokka discover a young airbender named Aang frozen in an iceberg. They soon discover that he is the long-lost Avatar, and they must now safeguard Aang on his journey to master all four elements and save the world from the diabolical Fire Lord Ozai.

## Why it Rocks

1. A very solid and exciting plot that's full of suspense, gripping action, tight drama and hilarious comedy.
2. Solid world-building where each of the four nations mirrors a real world culture:
	* The Water Tribes are based off of the Inuit people.
	* The Earth Kingdom is based off of China.
	* The Fire Nation is based off of Imperial Japan.
	* The Air Nomads are based off of Tibetan monks.
3. Great at balancing many mature and light-hearted themes, without being jarring at all.
4. Despite being targeted towards younger audiences, the show tackles some very serious topics such as mass genocide, oppressive class systems and Imperialism.
5. Incredibly well-written and likeable characters, such as Aang, Katara, Sokka and **especially** Toph and Iroh.
	* Zuko stands out as one of the best characters, with a very believable turn from evil to good that doesn't feel forced.
6. Amazing villains such as Fire Lord Ozai, Princess Azula, Admiral Zhao and Koh the Face Stealer.
	* Azula is a great ''love-to-hate'' character and Ozai, despite being a Complete Monster and Hate Sink, is a very menacing and threatening villain.
7. "Sozin's Comet: The Final Battle" is not only one of the greatest animated finales ever made, but one of the greatest series finales of all-time.
8. The show's trademark "Element Bending" is an awesome concept and makes for many of the show's most astounding action scenes.
9. Perfect vocal performances, featuring talented voice actors such as Grey DeLisle as Azula, Dante Basco as Prince Zuko, the late Mako Iwamatsu as Uncle Iroh and Mark Hamill as Fire Lord Ozai, all of which are very convincing in their roles.
10. Wonderful anime-esque art style and very gorgeous animation, especially in the series finale.
11. Fantastically hilarious moments, such as the running gag with the cabbage merchant (*"**MY CABBAGES!**"*) and Sokka's funny sense of humor.
12. Excellent amounts of continuity, including characters who didn't appear that often.
13. The show's debut on Netflix in 2020 tremendously boosted its popularity.

## Bad Qualities

1. The ending where Aang strips Ozai of his bending abilities, while rewarding for the audience and in-character for Aang, could be considered a Deus Ex Machina by some.
2. "The Great Divide" is generally considered to be the weakest episode in the show by many, with "Avatar Day", "Bato of the Water Tribe" and "The Painted Lady" not far behind. Thankfully, they're not terrible episodes in the slightest, they're just not on par with the rest of the series.
	* "The Headband" is also an episode fans aren't too fond of, with its plot basically being a homage to *Footloose*.
3. M. Night Shyamalan's 2010 live-action film adaptation was universally panned by critics, audiences and fans alike due to its very poor quality and sheer disrespect towards the source material.

# Reception

Avatar: The Last Airbender received critical acclaim. The series is regarded to be the best Nickelodeon show. It sits at 9.2/10 on IMDb and a 9/10 on TV.com.