The animated series Avatar: The Last Airbender, which was one of the most successful shows on Nickelodeon, was recently adapted into a live-action series on Netflix. The show received mixed responses from audiences and critics who felt that many nuances of the original were missing along with certain modifications that did not work well.
While the animated show is still regarded by many as a solid series with excellent development of narrative and characters, there were still some aspects of the story that fans believed were costly mistakes that could have been avoided, especially with regard to the central protagonist, Aang, attaining the Avatar state.
Fans Discuss One Error That Could Have Been Avoided In Nickelodeon’s Avatar: The Last Airbender
The 2005 animated series Avatar: The Last Airbender became one of Nickelodeon’s most successful shows that ran for 3 seasons. The narrative follows the central character Aang who sets out on a journey to conquer the 4 elements to attain the Avatar state, through which he can ultimately bring peace to the world.
The show has a plethora of characters who help Aang attain his destiny including antagonists who try to thwart his efforts. Over 3 seasons and many new characters who make their presence felt, the series succeeded in keeping the audience engaged with a solid and entertaining screenplay.
But hardcore fans of the franchise have also not let go of a few aspects that could have been portrayed better over the seasons. With regard to Aang’s journey to becoming an Avatar, a discussion between netizens threw up a debate between benders and nonbenders.
To put it into context, benders possess the power to manipulate and control various elements like fire, air, water, and earth. The central character Aang must learn these skills in order to fulfil his destiny. According to Avatar Wiki, this ability that benders had gave them a higher status in society which led to tensions with nonbenders who felt excluded and marginalized.
According to a Reddit discussion between fans, one of the mistakes that the animated show made was its failure to settle this dispute between these two groups through the actions of the protagonist Aang.
“I still think Aang’s biggest mistake was not being able to reduce tension between non benders and benders. It actually lead to many of the problems in legend of korra. Non Benders basically get treated as second class citizens even though they tend to be amazing engineers.”
To elaborate on how this decision affected the follow-up series, The Legend of Korra, a masked man named Amon causes further confusion and chaos between benders and nonbenders after the death of Aang.
When Korra, the next Avatar after Aang enters into the mix, Amon announces that he possessed the power to permanently erase bending. (via Avatar Wiki). Another Redditor took this discussion between benders and nonbenders into greater detail and echoed similar sentiments regarding the feud between both groups.
“I’ve always taken the division in benders and nonbenders to have grown to be a major issue in the gap between Aang’s passing and Korra. We see only benders on the council, for example, in LoK but in flashbacks we know that Sokka was on the council and it would follow that there may well be other nonbenders on the council.”
An article in CBR also laid out a few other missteps in the show that could have been avoided to make it even more relatable. According to a lot of fans, the romantic undercurrents between Aang and Katara did not hit front and center. While many viewers felt that it was contrived, others believed that the characters were far too young to be sharing a romantic relationship.
The Original Avatar: The Last Airbender Missed Out On One Potent Strength Of Aang
While the animated series Avatar: The Last Airbender gained a lot of popularity, fans of the franchise are continuing to analyze it with a fine-tooth comb even today. Despite being hailed as more superior to the recent live-action series, the 2005 show is also being called out for omitting a key component from the illustrated comics.
In the books, Aang is seen to possess the unique ability to bend the four elements namely fire, water, earth, and air. Arising out of each these elements are different subtypes of bending like Bloodbending, Energybending, Plantbending, and the like.
Among these forms, a report in CBR states that Energybending is regarded as one of the most potent forms in which a practitioner can manipulate the core energy of a person along with their breath and life force in order to alter their inner spirituality. In the legacy of the airbenders, this skill is said to be taught by Lion Turtles.
In the book, this power is used by Aang to defeat Phoenix King Ozai. In doing so, he becomes the first person to achieve this feat after being tutored by the Lion Turtle. Energybending is also seen as one of the riskiest and oldest forms of bending. Unfortunately, neither the original nor the live-action series have fleshed out this significant power into the narrative.
This form of bending is seen to be stronger than its darker, more twisted variant Bloodbending in which the water and blood inside a person is manipulated to alter their spirituality. With Netflix confirming that season 2 and 3 of the live-action show has received a green signal, it remains to be seen if the series will attempt to highlight this significant bending power.
Avatar: The Last Airbender (animated series) can be streamed on Netflix.
