Aang was the last surviving vestige of a culture that was hellbent on peace and non-violence as its way of life. One of the major conflicts of Avatar: The Last Airbender was Aang figuring out how to balance his duties as the peacekeeper between the four nations and the last member of a culture that was his responsibility to carry on.
However, despite this being a large part of the personality of the character and an inner conflict that plagues him, Avatar: The Last Airbender was still able to deliver more than a few action sequences for Aang, and one such scene, that people really want to see in live action, has Aang bending circles around Fire Lord Ozai during the finale.
Aang deflecting Ozai’s sneak attack just scratches that shonen anime itch in people’s brains
Fans on Reddit have a special place in their hearts for the Ozai-Aang fight. Given that the fight started out with Ozai dominating the encounter, only for Aang to activate the Avatar State, not only putting Ozai on the back foot but also completely dominating the fight until the very end. Further, it delivered one of the most badass moments of the character, when Aang deflected Ozai’s attack, without even looking at him.
The fight scene had the perfect resolution to the conflict that Aang found himself at the center of, resolving to simply cripple Ozai by removing his bending, rather than killing him outright. This was a great solution that was unique to the character, one that no previous Avatar would have been able to come up with, given Aang’s unique circumstance at being an ending.
Some of Avatar: The Last Airbender‘s most badass scenes need to be done justice by Netflix
Be it the scenes with Zuko, Iroh, Aang, Katara, or Toph, there is a slew of great fight sequences in the world of Avatar: The Last Airbender. With ingenious and veteran benders on the cast, Netflix needs to make sure that going into Season 2, it gives the characters their defining moments, allowing their strongest abilities to be displayed on screen.
There were a lot of criticisms for Season 1 of Netflix’s Avatar: The Last Airbender. Chief among them was the fact that the show seemed keen on getting through plot points rather than letting the characters breathe in the narrative. Longer episodes would help resolve that issue. The show must also realize that Season 2 has some of the most important fights of the story, especially with characters like Toph.
Netflix will have to be very thorough with how they present these fights, seeming that CGI for the bending arts can often seem stilted and unimpressive.
Avatar: The Last Airbender Season 1 can be streamed on Netflix
