Avatar The Last Airbender

If you don't know this one, you've probably missed out on one of the best masterpieces in animation history.

It is an honour to introduce you to "Avatar: The Last Airbender", spanning three seasons (or "books"), and currently in its sequel, "The Legend of Korra".

The story takes place in a divided world where people could control specific elements of earth, fire, water and air. However, the fire nation started a war against the other nations in a conquest to take over the world. The people's last hope was the Avatar, the only person who could control all four elements.

In each generation, the Avatar is born as a descendent of the next element in the cycle after the previous Avatar passes away as follows.

Fire -> Air -> Water -> Earth -> Fire

After Avatar Roku (Fire Nation)'s passing, the next Avatar was presumably an airbender. However, during the Fire Nation war, the Fire Nation exterminated all the Air Nation nomads. Thus, it was assumed that the Avatar cycle was broken.

ATLA is a story of Aang, the last of his kind - an airbender - who was found frozen in an iceberg in the South Pole by Katara, a waterbender, and her non-bender brother, Sokka. With this discovery of Aang, later found to be the Avatar, came hope of stopping the Fire Nation's tyrannical rule.

From there, Katara, Sokka and Aang begin their journey to help Aang master the four elements, starting with water. Along the way, they find new friends and allies as they learn that the world is a lot more complicated than it seems.

The three seasons are entitled as such to show Aang's growth as he masters the respective elements in each season: "Book One: Water", "Book Two: Earth" and "Book Three: Fire", which culminates in an epic all-out final battle.

It is a story which has adventure, comedy, loyalty, friendship, family, war, sacrifice, teamwork, romance, etc. Great for all ages, no matter how young or old.

It breaks boundaries and taught me that:

People make mistakes and can change.
Do not stereotype. Not everyone in the Fire Nation is bad.
Do not judge people by their cover. E.g. Iroh is no "lazy old man". Toph may be blind and young, but she is not a "helpless and fragile" little girl.
Non-benders may be disadvantaged, but they can be amazing in other ways too. E.g. Sokka, Suki & the Kyoshi warriors, Jet & the Freedom Fighters, Mai & Ty Lee, Jun, etc.

Avatar ended after 3 amazing seasons/books. I'm sure many were hoping for a Book 4: Air continuation, but the producers have confirmed that there will only be 3 books. :'(

Nonetheless, the finale left fans hanging with many questions unanswered.

Here are some of my speculations and afterthoughts:

<< SPOILERS >>

Unanswered questions

What do you think happened to Zuko's mother?According to many fans, she's probably living in Ba Sing Se or in some Earth kingdom colony after she was banished from the Fire nation.

Do you think Jet really died?

Yes and no. He could have died, or he could be recovering under Longshot & Smellerbee's care.

What do you think happened to Hawkie? Do you think the letter reached Toph's parents?

Hawkie may have returned to its original owner (probably Fire nation), or the letter could have been intercepted by Sparky Sparky Boom man. I highly doubt Hawkie found Toph's parents.

Isn't Aang the last airbender? So won't the avatar cycle be broken? What will happen to the next air avatar?

That's true. But I doubt the cycle will be broken. I'm sure there are people who have mixed blood or are indirect air nomad descendents. Maybe Aang & Katara's children?

Who is/are your favourite character(s) and why?

Briefly, Toph, Sokka, Iroh & Suki. There are many other characters I like, but these are the few that stood out. I won't go into an in-depth character study, because that would be very tedious. But I will elaborate on my choices.

Toph

She's tough (pretty obvious) and makes the wittiest comebacks. Confident and stays true to her beliefs. Being blind not only makes her unique, it has also made her stronger.

Sokka

I have to agree with other fans that he's the only "normal" person in the group for a reason - to show the audience the Avatar story from a down-to-earth perspective through an ordinary person. However, his contribution of sarcastic comedy and numerous self-inflicted situations makes us laugh at him yet with him. At times, we also can't help but sympathise this meat and sarcasm guy.

Iroh

Sensible, smart and strong. Very strong. Did you see his prison training? Not only that, he's one of the most patient people I've ever seen. It's amazing that he cared for Zuko till the end. One more thing, tea. With humour.

Suki

She provided the best support to the group and helped them at critical moments (e.g. taking care of Appa, taking the warden hostage, saving Sokka & Toph).

An awesome music video montage showing clips from all three seasons: