Hi folks! Welcome back to our weekly recap of Avatar: The Last Airbender. We’ve reached the season finale, “Legends,” and it’s directly based on “The Siege of the North,” although (of course) this live-action adaptation has its own flavor. Let’s dive right in!
1. Evening the Odds
I have said this many times before so maybe you are already tired of it, but the main problem of this show is how everything feels rushed. I say this because at this point, Katara has earned her place as a master, and she’s even in charge of one of the flanks of the defense, but we as viewers have seen just brief moments of her water bending, and I worry that it may feel a little bit “unearned.”
But on the other side, I’m very glad to have this version of Katara, a natural talent, ready to make mistakes and act confidently. She wasn’t scared of going against Pakku in the last episode, and in this one, Aang even asks her to go easy on Zuko: we now have a master for the Avatar.
2. Pull and Push
All of the mythology of the Avatar world is great. Here, we learn every so often the spirits of the Ocean and the Moon cross to the natural world to be mortal for a brief time, so General Zhao’s plan is to kill the spirit of the Moon, given that it’s connected to the water bending abilities of the Water Tribe. And when the spirit dies, the Moon literally dies, which endangers the entire world.
That’s where Yue makes a choice: she was saved by the spirits, and now she’s going to sacrifice herself to revive the Moon. Yue represents one of the main motifs of the entire season, sacrifice; Aang sacrifices himself to try to save the world (more on that later), Katara and Sokka left their tribe, Zuko was exiled, every kid (and Iroh) make sacrifices for what they think it’s right.
3. Zuko is Tired
Zuko went through hell this season: he was exiled, he was rejected, Zhao tried to kill him, the Avatar is still free, and if it wouldn’t be for the fact that the Moon was briefly dead and Katara lost her powers, he might even be dead.
So when he and Iroh flee after the battle, and he says that he’s tired, I found a lot of significance to it: of course he’s exhausted by the battle, but he also might be done, he got confirmation that even in exile, he was still just a pawn for his father. Now he’s broken, and he’s beginning the path to redemption… granted we are still far away, but this is the exact point of inflection.
4. The Fall of Zhao the Moon Slayer
The arc of Zhao was fascinating, a mediocre official that was just lucky to be at the right time and place, who is being used by Azula, but he believes that he’s the one in command. One can even argue that he started to become delirious at the end, claiming to be the next Fire Lord, though it’s clearly an act of treason.
It’s funny to see someone so out of touch with reality, suffering delusions of grandeur that made him endanger the entire world – yes he killed water bending, but with it the Moon died, which would mean no life in the oceans. It’s foolish to think that he’s anywhere close to being a ruler, or even defeating Ozai, and in the end, before his defeat by Iroh himself, he proved himself to be a coward by attacking Zuko from behind too.
5. Ocean Spirit Godzilla
After the death of the moon, Aang ends up believing that the sacrifice that Kyoshi, Roku and Kuruk were talking about was himself, and he merges with the Ocean Spirit to become pure wrath. The monster was a great design, it reminded me of (of course) Godzilla, and other kaijū from Pacific Rim. Obviously, the effects are a little limited, but they managed to make a recognizable creature within the constraints of the budget, runtime, and TV format.
Of course, that is not the sacrifice that the other Avatars meant, and Katara manages to make him come back. He saved the Northern Tribe and now they must go on the next adventure, leaving behind a ton of tragedy, but that’s not Aang’s fault, this is just war, and that is what must be stopped.
Continued belowBONUS: I have seen some creeps criticizing the casting choice for Princess Azula, folks, don’t be weird! That’s how a teenage girl is supposed to look! And Elizabeth Yu is a perfect casting choice, her portrayal was even scary!
And that’s it for this episode, my final opinion is this: it was a good show, a competent adaptation within the limits of live-action, and a charming and heartful love letter to the original material. Of course it’s not perfect, it has a lot to critique, but I enjoyed the ride a lot and it was worth it. I can’t wait for the next two seasons, where we’ll have Toph, and I hope we’ll get to see a faithful adaptation of “The Tales of Ba Sing Se.”
What did you think of this season? Leave your comments below and join us, well… in two years, probably, for the second season of Avatar: The Last Airbender. In the meantime, why not reread Nick Palmieri’s pieces on the animated series? Thank you very much for reading mine!
