This is why the show is called “Avatar: The Last Airbender” instead of just “Avatar.” Being the last airbender shapes Aang and the story as much as or more than his avatar status.
Oh my god you're right! He literally did it before it even became a meme. Aang basically submitted Ozai to a fate worse than death by taking away his bending permanently.
What other people fail to realize is the fact that the Air Nomads essentially won in the end through Aang. Their ideals live on, showing that no, Ozai and Zhao were wrong, they are not weak, they are powerful and their morals still exist strongly in Aang.
If aang had died he would’ve been right😳 he would’ve successfully wiped out an entire people. Imo those guys were right, the air nomads just got lucky aang ran away right before a genocide and century old war was about to start.
This is so true, considering that the ideals of the air nomads live on and the ideology behind the egotistical attempt of Sozin, Ozai and Zhao to take over the world was completly erradicated, giving birth to a new and more integrated society as we can see in Korra's world. Of course this evolutionary step brings up new challanges that the avatar must face, but your point was absolutely precise.
@@leilanidru7506 Even if aang got killed, the responsability to stop this madness would've passed to the next water tribe avatar. And so on, because in the end (it doesn't even matter) this ideology based on ego "values" is unsustainable and unnatural. Just like in our world.
@@leilanidru7506 No, you're missing the point. Aang respects and loves his culture. It's not about Aang being weak because he could've died if he didn't kill Ozai. He had the CHOICE to kill Ozai, but he didn't because the teachings of the monks were ingrained in his soul. Everyone was pressuring him to kill Ozai but he chose to hold on to what was taught to him. He defeated Ozai and he could've killed him but he didn't. It takes a special sort of strength to do this, to be firm in your beliefs even when everyone tells you to take the other option.
Leilani Dru That’s what I keep trying to tell people!!! But nobody gets that if he didn’t run away, he’d have been killed too. He was just a regular kid. He needed time and healing before he could do anything. People forget Aang started the show only knowing airbending. And clearly that didn’t help the monks. He would have been as dead as everyone else.
I always thought that Aang didn't want to solve this with violence. Because if he did why shouldn't anyone else not solve problems with violence. It would probably go down in the history books if Aang killed the fire Lord. So most likely people would use that as justification for killing someone. That why I love the ending to Avatar so much. It teaches kids not to solve violence with violence.
This is why it makes me happy that avatar is becoming so popular all over again today. Kids today must see this and learn the powerful messages that this show has, That violence only causes nothing but pain and suffering. There are other ways to fight back in order to protect others.
Mostly, when a main character makes a choice to not kill a villain, it mostly makes me cringe as it feels pretty forced as either a forced way to keep the villain returning or some dumb redeeming shit. In Avatar, it didnt come off as any of that and I really like how it just made you think about it.
@@theonesuperx yea in avatar, you actually believe that aang doesn't want to kill. It is ingrained in our brains from the first time we see his innocent monk-like appearance and throughout all his decisions and actions in the series.
I don't find nonviolence when dealing with someone who wants to harm you and others particularly virtuous especially if the nonviolent path is riskier than a fast kill.
Listen, there's a reason why Aang is such a beloved character. No matter who anyone had lost in the war (and this is not invalidating anyone's pain), Aang is the only one that had lost his entire culture and people. Katara is perhaps the only one that can understand some semblance to this since she lost the Southern Waterbending culture. Even that isn't entirely the same. There literally is no one in the entire Avatar universe and into Korra, that can understand the burden Aang felt. He could've destroyed the Fire Nation. Instead he chose to save it. Think about that.
Its the way of the empath. When one feels pain, the energy goes not towards hatred and blame, but towards preventing and healing that same kind of pain in others.
Aang’s approach to how he dealt with Ozai is different from what his immediate predecessors would’ve done. Kyoshi would’ve crushed him, Roku would have defeated him but spare him. Aang chose not to crush him underfoot or leave him in the world to do bad like Roku had with Sozin. Rather, he picked a path that would allow him to simultaneously remove Ozai as a threat and spare him from a violent death. He chose forgiveness over revenge. Aang proves that he doesn’t HAVE to kill the fire lord, he only had to defeat him.
True but they didnt write energy bending in the story for Roku or kyoshi, infact I dont like the fact that they gave aang an out. The Avatar's duty is to the world not himself rather he likes it or not.
Not just defeat too. But also remove their ability to become a threat which prevents him from doing any more harm than he already did. Had Aang not conveniently learnt to bend the energy within, he would be forced to result to more... unappealing and morally complicated methods that Kiyoshi would def have done.
The thing is, even the other Air Nomad Avatar said that she would have killed Ozai. Aang got a cop out in the way of energy bending, even if it makes sense in the world. He had a tool that no other avatar had, and thus no other avatar's choices could be comparable to his. Don't get me wrong. Energy bending is super cool and makes sense in the world, but it would have been a more interesting and difficult choice for Aang if that wasn't an option for him. Without the option to simply remove Ozai's bending, what would Aang choose to do? THAT would have been more interesting to me. But instead, they gave him a tool that no other Avatar had and thus could not consider using in their decision making. That's honestly pretty cheap, especially after all of the moral questioning leading up to the final choice. It wasn't really a choice, because he didn't have to choose. An answer that perfectly fits his ideals just appears to him. Imagine if in Captain America Civil War, Steve Rogers somehow just pulls out of nowhere a solution that satisfies Tony's side and his side, and didn't require him to make a difficult choice. What makes a story like Civil War interesting is the characters having to make that difficult choice, and not be saved from the consequences of that choice with an asspull. Avatar the Last Airbender had always portrayed itself as not treating it's world as overly kid-friendly where everything wraps up nicely by the end. It grounded itself it more believable wartime events, where choices have consequences even if you're the protagonist. But when it comes to the ultimate choice, suddenly the universe just gives Aang a morally convenient out that nobody else had access to, conveniently and neatly leaving him with no guilt or challenges to his ideals. While it's definitely far from a terrible decision to end the conflict, the energy bending to take away Ozai's power is one of my least favorite things that happened in the original series, especially the more I think about it. And a large part of that is because it's the ultimate resolution for the entire series. I like energy bending as a concept. But I don't like it essentially being the deus ex machina that takes away all the moral difficulties of Aang's choice.
It always broke me that monk Geatzo was the only one that saw Anng was not yet ready for the responsibility, and how much lose Anng really felt. Even when letting go of those he loved to master the avatar state, monk Geatzo was one of the first ones that came to his mind aside from Katara. How he lost everything, and yet still had to continue the very fight that took everything from him.
If you look at it from a different perspective although sad, Geatzo actually saved Aang in the end. Imagine he would've just been chilling at the temple and when the comet arrived he along with the other air benders would've been wiped out. I believe Aang begins to realize this towards the end though.
I thought the same thing as well. But at the same time he was also a monk who's belief systems differ from other nations. Given if he was an older monk his decisions would've been wiser and a lower failure rate. A lot of his failures were due to the fact that he was in fact just a kid trying to Master elements in one summer.
Not killing Ozai was not a mature decision. He would have lost if he wasn't thrown against that one rock and he would have lost because he didn't end Ozai when he had the chance when Ozai shot lightning at him. If he would have lost the fight. The world would have been screwed and Ozai would go on to cause way more suffering. And aang would have been the reason Ozai wasn't stopped.
This video made me realize how much responsibility aang really had, and how many people don't understand his loss and the responsibility that was placed upon him.
@Filip Gasic What really would have been selfish would have been not fighting him at all... it's not like he absolutely had to do anything. He could've just fucked off and drank some cactus juice, disguised himself as a fire bender, or lived away from society.
I agree with his decision for a different reason: the 100 years of war had brought so much violence, only an act of peace could truly bring an end to the world’s suffering.
I agree with that belief. However, if energybending was not conveniently introduced, he should have killed Ozai. Each time he spared his life (redirecting the lightning) he was putting the entire Earth Kingdom at risk. If Aang knew energy bending was possible before the lion turtle, he would have never had this dilemma.
@@alannalyc I agree that energy bending help Aang out with this difficult decision to kill Ozai or stay true to his culture and died by the Phoenix King flames. Maybe Aang should've just killed Ozai. But it wouldn't severe a good message to the audience or the Avatar World. It would've been better if he defeat him the old fashioned way and knock him(made him unconscious) and imprison him in a fire bending proof cage in the Water Tribe.
I'll admit, I used to be on the "Aang should have killed Ozai" bandwagon, but as I get older, I start to realize that the conflict he faced and how he went through every possible means to avoid having to kill someone is a lot more mature and wise than many of us would like to admit. He didn't take the easy way out, he didn't sacrifice his morality, and he was willing to give up his own life and soul to try and find an alternative to even more bloodshed. To me, this puts Aang above so many other characters.
@@gibbous_silver because it's about strength of character. A weak person will be blown about by the wind like grass, bending to whichever outside force exerts the most influence. A strong person is like a sturdy tree, not bending to the will of the wind but instead standing tall and firm no matter what.
A moment in Avatar that almost made me cry was when Aang, during a vision, saw his entire air nomad population in front of him, and for a moment he didn’t feel alone. But then, like everything, one by one, each air nomad dissolved into clouds, and Aang was heartbreakingly alone once more. This was just so tragic and tear jerking that it’s hard not to feel the immense sadness and loss of Aang's hope with him, and how he has to make his own even with everyone else gone is even more saddening.
People rip on Aang for this moment but man, is it powerful. Not only is it nonviolent, it is Aang completing his character arc by staying true to himself underneath this responsibility he learned to carry.
Lol okay it's good in its own function but wkwt moral do you carry on in the real world? You don't have energy bending you don't have the force. If you have the power to stop someone with a weapon that can and will kill people what do you do? SOMETIMES there isn't a better way. Rather than be honest avatar gave us a feel good ending that is ultimately hollow.
Spock Spock nah man it's not. if his job is to restore balance, then ending the war nonviolently is an important part in keeping it that way, that, conflicts can always be resolved without violence. past avatars didn't have this knowledge, but Aang did. it's not just about his moral code.
Avatar's spiritual and philosophical ideology is derived from eastern religions such as Buddhism, Hinduism, and taoism. If you are moved by the message of the show, I highly suggest looking into these, especially Hindu and yogic philosophies.
I personally think keeping Ozai alive is a worse punishment for him , not only is his bending taken away , but the world around him which he so desperately wanted to rule over , begins to mend itself and become peaceful , under the guidance of Fire Lord Zuko , who he despises
Legit. That monster does not deserve to gloriously die in combat against a demigod, inspiring future people to avenge him. He deserves to rot in shame. A living testament to all his follies.
4:58 “With that title also grants the avatar the liberty to choose. The same way Roku decided not to end Sozin’s life when he had the chance; in the same way that Kyushi would have killed Gin the conquerer if given the chance. That choice is what defines the person. “ Amazing quote with keen insight into the duality of preceding avatars with respect to Aang. You have earned yourself a sub.
"To not give in to what war does to a person is commendable." YES!! I hate when people comment saying Aang's choice was cowardly or deus ex machina or whatever. It was HIS CHOICE, and killing the Firelord would have been just like Zuko following what his father wanted; it would be doing what others wanted for his life, not what he wanted. One big theme of Avatar is, as you said, a person's ability to shape their own destiny. Aang did it here when he chose to honor both his role as the Avatar AND as the last airbender. "To simultaneously grieve the loss of his entire family and his culture and to save the world. That is a burden he carries on his shoulders every single episode." You tell it like it is Sage's Rain! This Video is SO GOOD!!
While I don't have an issue with Aang refusing to kill Ozai, it absolutely was a deus ex machina, literally depending on how you interpret the lion turtles. First, this whole kill or not to kill conflict almost came out of nowhere. While Aang had espoused a non-confrontational approach, he had a) killed people, albeit unwittingly, at the North Pole and b) seemed fine killing Ozai leading up to the Day of Black Sun arc. Like, were everybody on completely different pages to that point? What was Aang's plan during the invasion? For this not to have been a deus ex machina, this inner conflict needed to have been brought to the forefront way, way earlier, along with the idea of energy bending. Maybe have the library arc go a bit more to properly foreshadow the solution. In the end, Aang's way out simply wasn't earned. He was faced with a difficult more dilemma right at the end. But instead of having to work through it, he just gets the perfect solution dropped into his lap out of nowhere. That's the definition of a deus ex machina. That's what made the end frustrating for me; the writers punted on the morality struggle and handed Aang what he needed without Aang having to have done anything.
@@jonathangardner8306 I agree that energy bending help Aang out with this difficult decision to kill Ozai or stay true to his culture and died by the Phoenix King flames. Maybe Aang should've just killed Ozai. But it wouldn't severe a good message to the audience or the Avatar world. It would've been better if he defeat him the old fashioned way and knock him out(made him unconscious) and imprison him in a fire bending proof cage in the Water Tribe.
@@kingnamor777 That's fine and I don't have a problem with Aang's choice. Nor do I have a problem with the solution, exactly (although it was still incredibly violent and morally questionable). My issue was how they got there. To have the lion turtle show up out of nowhere and drop the perfect solution in Aang's lap without him having to do anything to earn just felt cheap and lazy way out of the great moral dilemma the writers had put him in. They needed to have foreshadowed energybending a lot more than they did and make Aang have to go on a journey (and no, sleep-walking on to the turtle does not count) and put in work to earn it like he did all the other elements. That's what makes it a deus ex machina and unsatisfying.
@@jonathangardner8306 people say that in 'The Swamp', that Aang did energy bend to find Appa and Momo. Barring that, energy ending was supposed to be a concept no one but the Lion turtles knew about. Like the lion turtle even said "In the era before the Avatar, we bent not the elements but the energy within ourselves..." Doesn't this technically mean that some people did discover how to bend energy but not the energy in themselves and other people for example, finding Momo and Appa in 'The Swamp'. After all, the lion turtle did say" within ourseleves", not humans but lion turtles. Even if he meant humans, after bending the elements was introduced the technique was lost, which makes sense when the lion turtle presents the conditions to bend the energy in other people. Also, the lion turtle was foreshadowed too.
@@Moxy125 Nothing in the show connected the "energy bending" (if that's what it was) in the swamp to the energy bending Aang did to Ozai. Had they connected those dots, that would've been better but they didn't. The same goes for the lion turtles, which were absolutely not foreshadowed at all. One reference in a drawing is not foreshadowing (and no, the Easter eggs of lion turtles appearing in artwork that you only notice if you're really looking for it doesn't count either). Again, I have no problem with the solution but the path to the solution which is absolutely a deus ex machina and therefore problematic from a storytelling perspective. First, Aang does nothing to earn his "get out of moral dilemma free" card. It's handed to him on a silver platter without him having to earn it. Consider how he had to work for learning the other elements. He spends the first book literally going across the world to find a water bending teacher, learning it bit by bit along the way. He then spends half another season traipsing across the earth kingdom to find a earth bending teacher. His fire bending involves the disaster with Jeong Jeong, struggling to trust Zuko, and then going on a field trip to relearn true fire bending. His energy bending? Take a nap and have the solution dropped into his lap. No journey, no struggle, nothing. That is, by definition, a deus ex machina. The thing is, the pieces were there to make a compelling energy bending arc. First, they would've needed to have highlighted Aang's moral dilemma way earlier, like leading up to the Day of Black Sun arc (that this wasn't brought up then still baffles me). Second, they would've needed to have adequately foreshadowed the lion turtles by which I mean not just that they exist; that's not foreshadowing. Instead, lay the groundwork of their significance to bending, especially the avatar. The Korra "Beginnings" episodes going back to Avatar Wan would've been perfect for this arc. Third, if not that, they could've used the energy bending pieces in place. Like you said, the idea of energy bending from the swamp, as well as the chakras from Guru Pathik, laid potential groundwork for Aang to discover energy bending on his own (like Toph with metal bending). Additionally, Ty Lee's chi-blocking is something else that could've been explored more. An arc with them rescuing Ty Lee (and Mai too, if they had to) for her to teach Aang how to chi-block. Point is, there are a lot of ways they could've properly foreshadowed and put Aang on a journey similar to the other elements. As it stands, they opted for an unearned, out-of-nowhere solution that completely punted on the moral dilemma they set up, which again, is by definition a deus ex machina and very unsatisfying. Maybe they were trying to hide their hand and over did it or maybe there were network constraints that forced them to rush the ending or maybe they just messed it up but it wasn't well done.
I thought Aang's final decision was powerful, and truly shows his pure spirit. Aang is still only 12 years-old and fully believed in the teachings of the Air Nomad Monks, having him kill Ozai just would have been out of character and who knows how he would have even processed it.
"I wasn't there when the Fire Nation attacked my people. I'm going to make a difference this time." I think this quote from Aang really highlights the points made here perfectly.
People forget that fact that, had he killed Ozai history would have repeated itself like when Kyoshi got Chin killed. It would have ended up making Ozai be seen as a beautiful and heartful leader murdered in cold blood by an unjust Avatar and would have made the fire nation most likely rebel way further than what we saw happening had he been killed. It would have turned him into a martyr. Instead he got turned into a pathetic loser placed in one of his own prisonens to rot. What Aang did was help avoid a whole other fight that would have otherwise most certainly taken place. He helped keep the peace by not killing but rather imprison the dictator.
This is why Aang imo is the strongest member of Team Avatar mentally. He has to carry the burden of not only being the Avatar, but also being the last air nomad, and yet still carries on with life, and that takes strength
“It takes nothing to follow a crowd, but it takes everything to stand alone” I love this quote because it applies so clearly to aang in book 3 on the first assault despite his clear opinion on not killing he was ready to from sokkas encouragement, however ever since then the internal struggle and external struggle between preserving his beliefs in not killing ozai or preserving the would in killing him. The external being zuko katara and sokka, internal being his past lives. However despite his allies telling him this is what he must do, he sticks to his beliefs and culture by not killing him. Which is why i respect aang’s character so much despite everything he stood alone metaphorically and literally and stuck to his own morals.
Remember what Aang said when Katara was thinking about getting revenge on Yon Rah? " _Killing is never the answer. Revenge is easy. Forgiveness is hard_ " (paraphrasing here but you get the gist) He explored his anger multiple times during the series. His fear of losing control was a major character storyline throughout the series. His compassion knows no bounds and even though anger, violence and revenge are natural human urges, his ability to be self aware and push against it is what made him such an exemplary avatar and character. His neverending goal to attempt pacifist approaches made him almost Christ-like, if you can forgive a biblical reference.
Aang is definitely presented as a Christ-like figure in some ways. He even “dies” and “resurrects”. He stays true to his pacifistic convictions and ultimately wins through non-violence. While I personally am not Christian or religious at all, I can appreciate the references to some of its more benign qualities.
Even thought the avatars are the same but they show each avatar have their own identity and choices by different nation but aang is different he show his pure heart for life and compassion. He may be the Avatar but he’s a twelve year old boy with a big responsibility and the hardest job
Facts because at the time when this show aired I wasn’t really interested in it until the start the start of book 3 and now I love this show more than any other
When I was 10 I didn't really think much of the underlying themes in the series, but I still love watching ATLA- Now that I'm 22, rewatching all the episodes again- I deeply fell inlove with the series again. This show will always have a special place in my heart.
@@victoriasvideos7224 same, I've also started meditating and doing yoga on top of my regular work outs. I literally have never been this fit in my life. I now understand why people who exercise are so full of life. I feel like I have a sun inside me.
AnimeTime oh my gosh that’s so awesome!! How do you find meditating? Do you use an app for those ‘guided meditations’? And I’ve always wanted to get into yoga because everyone that I know that does it is obsessed! It’s so nice to hear that you’re enjoying it so much :)
There was always a reason why Aang was my favorite character growing up and watching the show. He was brave, kind, and even though he was the Avatar to the world, he found a way to be true to himself and all his people who had passed away, and the culture that is forever lost, on top of being the Avatar. He went from a boy who didn't want any of that responsibility (and honestly, I don't blame him for running, because not only was he only 12 years old, but he would have undoubtedly died along with the rest of the monks at that Temple that night), to excepting that he needs to do what is right to bring balance to the world, but honoring what he believed. Even if he didn't know if his soul would be corrupted or not, he still took that risk in the end and succeeded; he chose pacifism over violence even though no one would judge him on taking the fire Lords life. There is something truly powerful about his decision, and at the age of 14 when I watched the finale of the show, I felt the weight of the situation, of the risk, and it cemented Aang as one of my all-time favorite characters in any show. It was truly a one-of-a-kind show. Also, I loved the video. Thank you for it.
I think the fact that he stayed true to himself and his beliefs and restrain from killing Ozai when all his past lives at that moment wanted to is what made his soul incorruptable
Aang felt like an old friend he held on to his morals and beliefs even when everyone was determined to tell him has to kill the fire lord I love how he reflects zuko aang left to keep his happiness zuko left to regain his honor zuko dealt with feeling alone in this world and feeling like he wasn’t good enough aang constantly thought he wasn’t good enough and doubted his abilities In the end zuko realized peace over violence and aang realized there is always a will and a away he become someone who truly never changed he realized along the way happiness comes from acceptance and recovery aang was powerful enough to destroy the entire nation had aang did what everyone asked he would forever be different more violent he would never forgive himself aang really was the greatest avatar ever he dealt with the sins of his past life and on top of that was the last of his nation aang embodies what and airbender is he has to deal with their isn’t anyone mike him there anymkre he is at peace with himself and realizing u don’t have to kill to end it is great
i think the line that ozai says in the end, that even with all the power in the world aang still couldn't off him, that the airbenders were weak and didn't deserve to live in his world really solidified aang's philosophy that non-violence is vital to the balance of the world. edit: the difference between roku and aang's execution of non-violence (roku didn't off sozin when he had the chance) is that aang not only refused to off ozai but he also IMPOSED non-violence on ozai. ozai literally had his capacity for firebending taken away from him. in sozin's case, he basically was let go and he became free to execute his violent plans.
But Ozai was very adaptable with that 1 trick though. That's what years of practice can do for you. Should've practiced some better morals and social behaviors as well though. Now he's in Iroh's old cell with no bending & no allies & his wife living happily with another man & no memories of him.
@@19Pyrus70 he was very arrogant to believe he could take on the avatar, when he evaded the fire nation for 100 years by sleeping in an iceberg which they couldn't find but was found by two water tribe kids 🤣. the fire nation were extremely incompetent and there incompetence created alot of resentment which lead to their downfall.
I grew up watching avatar as a kid when it first came out. I can’t bring myself to rewatch it on Netflix even though it is one of my favorite shows ever because I might cry when I finish it.
Aang was able to remove the fire lords bending because his will was unbendable, this is shown by the fact that no matter what, he wouldn’t kill the fire lord
Love how Aang was able to come to a balanced decision in the end. He was able to still fulfill his role as a savior for the world, without compromising his spiritual morals as an airbender. Great vid!
The only reason he was able win was because he hit a pointy rock wich triggered the avatar state wick was some extreme luck. He had the chance to kill Ozai with the lightning and he didn't take it knowing that he was most likely going to lose wich would have resulted in countless deaths. It was selfish to not break his spiritual oath to stop the deaths of countless people. If he didn't hit the rock and lost i think. More people would realize how stupid his choice was.
I think Aang's soul being pure & resilient enough to overwhelm Ozai was already shown by the fact he tried to do the energy bending. The whole world, his friends, and his past life, all told him "Kill Ozai", and he still decided to stuck to his principles rather than give up on the Air Nomad's way. That's already a proof of great willpower, most peoples would have accepted the "kill ozai" plan once their friends told them it's the only choice, let alone their past lives. He rejected the "corruption" of the hundred years of war, which made everyone so desperate that they saw murder as the only hope, while Ozai was a product of this corruptions.
I think an even better way is that Aang learns spiritbending. A waterbending form that combines healing with spiritual knowledge, it calms agitated spirits and restores internal balance. The dark side of this art can destroy which implies it can affect humans, so Aang using the light side on Ozai, his inner balance would be restored along with healing any potential internal scars. What happens him afterwards either could be he sent to the spirit world to find eternal peace and balance like Iroh or he spends his days as a fire sage shaman.
Aang is really respectable as a person, I really admire how he stands by his beliefs. As someone who is against violence and sees all races in the world as one big human race, I can relate a lot to him. He is the prime example, when my family wants me to do fighting sports like boxing and stuff, and I tell them that I rather do parkour and aikido. And also a reason to harness the child in yourself. It's important to be an adult yes, but only when needed. Always try to look for the positive and humble view to other people and the world, when possible.
I feel like it's both, really. I have very mixed feelings about the ending, since, even though it was the best possible note to end the series on for Aang's character and as an ending message for the series as a whole, it still nevertheless fits the bill for a deus ex machina. Not to mention the whole "hitting your back just right on a stone to get back the Avatar State" thing, which loudly shrieks of convenience. More foreshadowing was definitely needed for energybending. But how the series was ended was literally the only off point I can find in the whole series, and it's not even entirely bad. That's saying a ton.
@@CupcakeDruggie330 I guess I understand where your coming from. Maybe if they described more what exactly bending is so that energy bending didn't seem like it's out of no where. I personally don't see it as deus ex machina but I understand that more set up was needed. Hopefully the Netflix show will show that set up since the creators are involved as well as they said more details will be added to flush out plot points.
Of Team Avatar, Aang is my least favorite character. When I watched the series when it originally debuted Zuko was by far my favorite and still is! Zuko has the best character development and redemption arc! But this is about Aang, what I do like about him is that he never wavers from who he is. Had moments, yes, but never fully committed. I think in a way, as a kid you're trying to figure out who you are and where you belong in the world. For Aang he knew exactly who he is and where be belonged. I think most of us are probably jealous of the by nature! Aang is probably one of the best written protagonist ever, because he is the embodiment of pure 'good'! And I think most people have a problem with that as well because despite his failures, he remains pure. Thus for the rest of us we would eventually break. For people are fickle and flawed!
Murder my entire people best believe I coming for your head, period. So, yeah, he is a great protagonist. Mr. guru goody goody-_- most times it's annoying, but this time...we're impressed, lol
Omg you said everything I’m-literally thinking !!! I just couldn’t put it into words. And yes, maybe we do envy aang for staying pure even after going through so many hardships & failures.
Awesome thanks guys/girls! I was going to write something long but it didn't feel/flow right. I'm glad Netflix picked the show up, so now everyone can watch it and enjoy what I enjoyed as a teenager! New or old fans alike, the show is absolutely AMAZING! And I love Sage`s videos on Avatar, but I know he can't do them forever. Sage if you read this bro, I think a good highlight to hit on for your next video would be diversity! Considering all the negativity happening in the media.
Going back to the idea of whether it was irresponsible for Aang to not kill Ozai, I think it wouldn've been impossible for Ozai to corrupt Aang's soul without Vaatu because Aang's soul is bonded with Raava. I believe that the lion turtle knew this and passed on the knowledge to Aang because even if Aang would be slowly corrupted by Ozai, Raava wouldn't allow Ozai to fully corrupt his soul and would intervene, whether by forcefully driving out Ozai's corruption or perhaps by talking to Aang and reminding him of not just all the lives on the line but also the people who need him in their lives. But that's my 2 cents.
Great analysis sage, as always. i hope the live action fleshes out more of Aang's character and the amount of burden, grief and guilt he carries around underneath his happy smile. which is a lot to ask from Netflix, especially now since Bryke left. oh well
This video made me appreciate Aang's character tenfold. Even after countless rewatches, ATLA never seizes to amaze me by how clever the writing of every character is. We did not deserve this show.
As a kid I just accepted the lion turtle as a part of the story and was just in awe of the pure emotions the finale held in itself. As I grew up people started calling the lion turtle a "deus ex machina" and I agreed, because as a teen I didn't have much of an independent thought. XD Then people pointed at "hints" of the lion turtle (e.g. the library) But on my last rewatching of the series I started thinking about Bumi. He talked about jing: Aang knew positiv jing (attack) and negativ jing (defence) But Bumi pointed at neutral jing. At this moment he was talking about Aang's earthbending master, Toph. But you could say that "taking the firelord's bending" is neutral jing in the final battle. I'm sure there are exampkes earlier than Bumi, but that is what was prominent to me this time.
At first, I thought that this video would be just repeating the stuff I already know from the series, but I am amazed by how you took it soo deep and I really learned so much. Thnx!
This video changed how I think about the ending. I always felt it was selfish of Aang to risk it all by sparing Ozai's life, and that the story missed out on a powerful metaphor for how war forces all people to do darker things and make personal sacrifice. I hadn't considered that he was abiding by the air nomad's cultural beliefs not just for himself, but on behalf of all his people destroyed by Ozai's ancestor. When he took the risk by not killing Ozai he achieved justice for them in a way that was impossible otherwise. You sir have got yourself another subscriber.
While I'm glad Aang didn't kill Ozai and stayed true to himself, I think energybending came out of nowhere with little to no foreshadowing about it. For me it's one of the weak points in the series.
This! Spirit bending was NEVER a thing. A huge deus ex machina- looked cool, but still a copout, in my opinion. Maybe, if they had freed Tylee & Mai, and he learned chi blocking, turned permanent with the aid of the avatar state (cus chi blocking was the ONLY thing known to do that) Idk, just some foreshadowing, a lesson like with lightning redirection, an explanation, would have made it PERFECT! Xd
It’s annoying they didn’t go deep too express aang’s emotions and suffering in the show. Like when you wake up tomorrow everybody you new is killed. your family friends everyone. You become sad for one day then you go back to being cheerful kid why because the people you knew for few days say they would be your new family It’s not just this so many times they could express more of his emotions but left it with a joke
I’m sure a part of Aang wanted to kill Ozai and avenge his people getting slaughtered. But even after all of the battles, all of the times he was pushed to his breaking point of losing control and even after DYING, Aang just couldn’t do it. That wouldn’t have solved anything and it could’ve lead to even more trauma to the world. That’s what makes him even more powerful. The power to walk away and find another solution. Revenge and hate would only corrupt him. That was the bigger battle he was fighting within. He could never go against his moral code. He was an air nomad, basically born into a lifetime of peace of mind, body, and soul. But I think with the help of Katara, Sokka, Toph, Appa and Momo, he was able to recover what he lost: family. He had everything he would ever need to push forward. I also believe that his relationship with Zuko in Book 3, helped him tremendously as well. They both were similar and on the same path of destiny. They just took different routes until they came together. Because of Zuko, Aang was able to fully forgive himself for failing his loved ones and learned to let go of what was holding him back. It was all about “seeing the ‘good’ in others”. With Ozai, deep down, Aang gave him the benefit of the doubt, even if it was small. He couldn’t kill him but he took his bending away. That’s a fate worse than death for any bender. Aang was able to find another solution to this problem and it was his decision to not kill Ozai, that finally brought balance to the world again.
Ozai: "Even with all the power in the world, you're still weak." In the final moment when Aang was about to kill Ozai, the teachings of the Air Nomads was still with him and he did not allow himself to lose that part of his life. He wasn't weak for not killing Ozai, he was strong because he did not become someone he was not. The Air Nomads believed that all life was sacred, even those who have done horrible acts. He was the last airbender, not only for his bending powers, but for the teachings that went along with it and how they lived. Aang did not kill Ozai because he wanted keep his people's beliefs alive and to have not died for nothing.
I think that energy bending help Aang out with this difficult decision to kill Ozai or stay true to his culture and died by the Phoenix King flames. Maybe Aang should've just killed Ozai. But it wouldn't severe a good message to the audience or the Avatar world. It would've been better if he defeat him the old fashioned way and knock him out(made him unconscious) and imprison him in a fire bending proof cage in the Northern Water Tribe.
I think he meant that aang felt that him being the Avatar made it impossible to have connections. He was going to be separated from his basically dad since Giatso wanted aang to be a child.
I know this show is suddenly blowing up with it's recent release on Netflix but I just watched it a few months before it's release on Netflix after buying it on Blu-ray and the show is just so good. This video makes me want to watch it another time especially with a lot of my friends watching it again or for the first time.
Maybe they could implement alternative timeline scenes like that into the live action version. Like how if he did it, humanity would only be worse or something.
To be fair, I always thought when he went into the Avatar state trying to save Katara from the Earth general trying to activate his avatar state, it felt like he was bending to kill. Someone he loved was being threatened and God damn if he was going to let that happen.
I do not personally, there is an infinite amount of characters that take the easy road of rage and revenge, but aang one of the few who decided to go against that urge.
I think what's even more impressive in that final battle was that despite the pain, the anxiety, knowing that he was done, he didn't want to kill Ozai and then the avatar state took over, and just in that final moment, Aang regained control because his empathy and his willingness to preserve his culture, his code, his belief system were so strong that it could not controlled it. And I believe that at that point he KNEW that he was incorruptible, and he could energy-bend.
Although it's admirable that Aang stuck to his morals, even when facing Ozai, it isn't always that simple in real life. More often than not there's no hidden solution or way to bend the problem as you wish. You have to face reality and remove the root of the problem or it will very likely return. Also it's naive to think someone with such evil intentions as Ozai would stop scheming and being a threat when just his bending is taken away. His mind and words are still just as powerful. His influence would still remain over groups inside the Fire Nation.
You do realize that because the ending of Avatar seemed like a happy one. Doesn't mean it caused every other nation to be at peace immediately, right? Everything you mentioned that usually happens in the real world, did happen. Ozai never "stopped being bad" He actually convinced Zuko at some point and almost made him begin another war and there was a coup led by Mai's father that were planning to overthrow Zuko as firelord and give back the throne to Ozai lol. I hope this helps you not believe that the four nations were at peace immediately and that Ozai stopped being bad just for the plot. Luckily, the comics still decided to show how "powerful" He is even without the ability to bend anymore.
the world didn't get back together just like that actually, there's more to it, like the comment above me says: read the comics. albeit even those conflicts are resolved in a very simplistic manner but for christ's sake its a cartoon, the story needs to be kept simple enough for the underlying message to be understood. As for the values and compassion Aang believes and carries with him not being applicable in real-life situations is albeit more likely to happen but isn't one hundred per cent accurate. Humans are strange creatures, if you have enough will and faith in what you believe in, it has the capacity to move mountains. I know it sounds very poetic and far fetched but its actually very true if you really think about it.
@@skadoosh7000 That’s cool that they actually addressed the fallout of the war in the comics. Thanks for sharing that! Just to be clear though, that part was more of an aside. My main point is that the resolution to Aang’s problem (to kill or not kill Ozai) is too convenient and unrealistic. And I’ll explain why I feel that way. You mentioned faith, which I agree is real and can bring about extraordinary and unbelievable things, but faith requires more than just hope or desire. There has to be work, diligent work. Aang didn’t even come up with the way to spare Ozai - the ability to bend others’ bending - and he definitely didn’t practice to obtain that ability. A random, magic turtle shows up (never hinted at the whole show) and hands him the ability. How often do things just get handed to us in life, especially the most crucial things? Never. You have to seek, fight, sweat, and grind until you get the “prize” yourself. If Aang would’ve had to run the gauntlet to obtain the aforementioned ability, then it would’ve been so much more earned and believable. But he didn’t. The ability is handed to him. That’s why it’s an unrealistic and lazy resolution.
I feel that the burden Aang felt of being the last being the last Airbender was pass more down to his son Tenzin, I feel that Tenzin is more of the manifestation of Aang hopes and desires for what could be last Airbending line and so I feel you see that rage and despair in Tenzin because Aang was able to push down his feelings and move them on to another. The Take did a video on Monday on how Tenzin is living embodiment of Aang choices and how Aang wanted to pass down the nomad culture along with having a heir who could Airbend.
Everyone kept comparing Aang with Kyoshi, and how he should have killed the Fire Lord, and that they said that his decision was morally wrong. Everything in this video summed up why he did otherwise. To me, him killing Ozai makes him no better than the Fire Nation themselves. Plus, having him not killing is also to stay faithful to his culture...
Iwano Morgan killing Ozai DEFINITELY makes him better than the fire nation themselves. They’re a fascist and terrorist nation and killing the dictator doesn’t put you in the same level as someone who committed mass genocide. What sense does that make🤦🏿♀️ morality and justice is more complex than “all killing, no matter what, is wrong”. Even the other avatars understood that context matters, they all stood for justice and balance and all that and still understood what had to be done.
Personally I'm not a fan of it, it is a cop out to present a riskless 3rd option that resolves the tension between putting an end to a threat to the peace and maintain one's pacifism, an option that was apparently denied to the other avatars he consulted who in the process are put into direct contrast with Aang. Either Aang should have killed him or let him live but WITH the acknowledged possibility that one day Ozai starts hurting people again with firebending.
Not sure if you'll ever see this, but thank you truly for these videos. I hadn't watched the series in years, and your videos reminded me of happier times when I was a kid watching avatar. Thank you :)
Aang: See... I ended the war and I didn't have to kill Ozai. Kyoshi: Dodging the issue rather than confronting it directly and resolving it absolutely. Aang: *Gestures at Ozai* He's harmless now! Yangchen: One of these days, your desire to spare a life through your new ability to take bending away is going to result in a crisis caused by your opponent establishing a legacy dedicated to your downfall. *A generation later* Tarrlok: I'm Yakone's son... and Aman is my brother, Noatak. *Yangchen and Kyoshi intensify critical glare at Aang* Aang: Uh... I'm certain they were born and raised before I took away Yakone's bending. Kyoshi: Lets find out... Korra... ask him. Korra: This is going to sound weird Tarrlok... but my past lives want to know when you were born relative to Yakone's last encounter with Aang. Tarrlok: I don't see how thats... later... much later. Yangchen: We hate to say we told you so, Aang. Aang: Oh come on... I know that you love to say you told me so. Kyoshi: We don't... dear *GOD* we don't! Korra: OW!!! My ear... mind... my mind's ear? Roku: They... really do hate saying they told you so. They still won't let me live down sparing Sozin. Tarrlok: That whole past lives thing sounds like it's an awful lot of trouble.
I'm happy you brought up that point about Yangchen not carrying the burden of being the last of her kind. I've seen many people vehemently criticize Aang on the premise that someone from his own culture advised him to kill Ozai. I'm not saying that Yangchen's sentiments are wrong, but Aang was certainly in a greater predicament than she ever was because of his position as the LAST Airbender. He carried so much guilt for the fate of his people, so to do the one thing that is so against Air Nomad culture would be (in Aang's mind) to fail them for the last time.
His compassion is the reason Aang will always be superior to Korra. I could never stand Korra because of her hot temperament and stubbornness. And I guess its safe to say, most of us can never forgive her for losing her connection to all her past lives. I do like LoK but it will ALWAYS fall short compared to ATLA. LoK was honestly by the end of book 4, nothing but a huge mess (tho that's the fault of Nick themselves).
@@kingnamor777 the biggest blame goes to Nickelodeon. They rushed the whole thing and pushed Korra from TV to online. That was a huge dick move on their part. Still, writing could have been thousand times better if they hadn't rushed them.
@@MonalisaS I agree. If they haven't rushed on season two and many other seasons. The series could've have been better in my opinion. I was highly disappointed with Korra and Mako breaking up after first few episodes of season 2. That's just mess up in my opinion. Plus having Korra lose her connections with the past Avatars was a dumbass move by the writers, animators and Nickelodeon as well.
@@MonalisaS In other words season 2 is the worst season in the legend of korra in my opinion. The only good thing I found interesting in season 2 was learning about Avatar Wan and how the Avatar world flow into creation.
I guess you didn't watch the whole show? Her temperament is part of her personality, which is understandable will not disappear maybe until she is older, but if you watch the whole show or even listen to her talk with tenzin in s4 finale episode, she learned to be compassionate to both her allies and enemies. There is no "should i kill or not?" dilemna, Because Korra's principle is she will do what is best as an avatar. And taking away someone's bending is violent as shown in TLOK S1, you are taking a life value from a bender, which she experiemce so she avoid doing, what korra did was show her strenght in S4 finale and let kuvira decide and Korra will act according to what kuvira will do. Aang is static and was given energy bending on a silver platter, on a surface it seems it is the right thing to do, but if aang is compassionate, he would know that taking way someone's bending is like taking away a very valuable part of life as a bender, he should know because he is the last air bender. But, aang is selfish on this regard, as long as he kept ozai breathing, and he feels good about not killing a person face to face, (not considering the people he killed before), then he did nothing wrong. Korra has to earn almost everything before she became a fully realized avatar, aang, who all throughout the show trained the elements, only defeated ozai by hitting a pointy rock, letting the past lives defeat ozai, and use the energy bending that was given to him out of nowhere, the only useful things he did from his training was the seismic sense, for all the stans of aang out there, Korra has flaws, and aang has flaws too, so i don't get why put aang in a pedestal when he isn't as good as other avatars like kyoshi and yangchen. TLOK isn't mess as anyone perceived to be, you just hate it for the sake of hating it, people are more appreciative now of TLOK because the hate wave during the airing of the show has already passed.
I originally thought Aang refusing to kill the firelord was a weakness in the story as we see duty and sacrifice being important to the story and development of Characters. I assumed Aang's journey was to come to grips with his duty and accept being the Avatar as that is the truth. But you changed my outlook on Aang deciding against everyone that would have him kill Ozai even his past lives. At first I saw a weakness and a way for writers to keep their PG rating, now I see Aang for once coming to peace with being the Avatar as he finds balance in himself with what he was taught and grew up believing among the Air Nomads and then realizing he is the last one. So in effect, Aang finding another way is not weakness by any means. He had the opportunity to kill Ozai, but found a means that allowed him to balance his identity as an Air Nomad and the Avatar by simply taking the bending/power away from the very symbol of world hatred and evil for his time. He essential taught the world that to end a cycle of violence and bloodshed, we must have mercy and maintained/preserved/honored the wisdom/culture his people died for in accepting.
I'm a bit unsure as to why I began crying during this video... Maybe it's due to Sage's voice? Sage's articulate speech and in depth analysis on Aang?? The fact that I've always gotten goosebumps when I watch ATLA??? The world may never know
doppelman, Aang would have just restrained Ozai with his Earth bending if he had captured Ozai during the Solar Eclipse because Aang is a pacifist, and he’s never wavered away from his pacifists ideals all throughout Avatar the Last Airbender.
what really made his battle with Ozai so unqiue and special was the way he controlled aggression, all the moves that he did.. a reminiscences of training..... people he met...thus leading to a build up that is emotional.....
This is video #3 of Avatar month. One more to go!
Keep it coming
Keep it coming,very good job!
Thank you brother your videos help me in my own life when times get difficult. Your videos and your thoughts keep me anchored
See i was gonna say first but i think youre first...
Ill win next time sage ^-^
Korraaa
Literally everyone: *Kill the Firelord*
A giant lion turtle: _Just bend his chi bro_
Bet that it was Kyoshi talking when Aang was about to dunk Ozai in his avatar form.
@@thecommentguy9380 definitely 😂
“Just bend his chi, bro...” LMAO
I laughed way to hard at this, thank you
Lol.
This is why the show is called “Avatar: The Last Airbender” instead of just “Avatar.” Being the last airbender shapes Aang and the story as much as or more than his avatar status.
m8 really???
@m8 And in Germany, it is called "Avatar: The Lord of the Elements".
Dianne - i 100% agree.
@m8 in Portugal too, unfortunately
Also because it would be confusing for the movie avatar
he didn't kill him but he ended his whole career
Edit thanks for the likes benders
Oh my god you're right! He literally did it before it even became a meme. Aang basically submitted Ozai to a fate worse than death by taking away his bending permanently.
underrated comment 😂🤣
Aang: I'm bout to end this man's whole career
@@xDinomanx A fate worse than death in Ozai's mind, I'm sure.
We know Sokka has a good life.
Ozai was a bitch he is a perfect example of your greatest strength being your greatest weakness.
What other people fail to realize is the fact that the Air Nomads essentially won in the end through Aang. Their ideals live on, showing that no, Ozai and Zhao were wrong, they are not weak, they are powerful and their morals still exist strongly in Aang.
If aang had died he would’ve been right😳 he would’ve successfully wiped out an entire people. Imo those guys were right, the air nomads just got lucky aang ran away right before a genocide and century old war was about to start.
This is so true, considering that the ideals of the air nomads live on and the ideology behind the egotistical attempt of Sozin, Ozai and Zhao to take over the world was completly erradicated, giving birth to a new and more integrated society as we can see in Korra's world. Of course this evolutionary step brings up new challanges that the avatar must face, but your point was absolutely precise.
@@leilanidru7506 Even if aang got killed, the responsability to stop this madness would've passed to the next water tribe avatar. And so on, because in the end (it doesn't even matter) this ideology based on ego "values" is unsustainable and unnatural. Just like in our world.
@@leilanidru7506 No, you're missing the point. Aang respects and loves his culture. It's not about Aang being weak because he could've died if he didn't kill Ozai. He had the CHOICE to kill Ozai, but he didn't because the teachings of the monks were ingrained in his soul. Everyone was pressuring him to kill Ozai but he chose to hold on to what was taught to him. He defeated Ozai and he could've killed him but he didn't. It takes a special sort of strength to do this, to be firm in your beliefs even when everyone tells you to take the other option.
Leilani Dru That’s what I keep trying to tell people!!! But nobody gets that if he didn’t run away, he’d have been killed too. He was just a regular kid. He needed time and healing before he could do anything. People forget Aang started the show only knowing airbending. And clearly that didn’t help the monks. He would have been as dead as everyone else.
I always thought that Aang didn't want to solve this with violence. Because if he did why shouldn't anyone else not solve problems with violence. It would probably go down in the history books if Aang killed the fire Lord. So most likely people would use that as justification for killing someone. That why I love the ending to Avatar so much. It teaches kids not to solve violence with violence.
YESSS!!!! To quote General Iroh, "history would see it as just more senseless violence, a brother killing a brother to grab power."
This is why it makes me happy that avatar is becoming so popular all over again today. Kids today must see this and learn the powerful messages that this show has, That violence only causes nothing but pain and suffering. There are other ways to fight back in order to protect others.
Mostly, when a main character makes a choice to not kill a villain, it mostly makes me cringe as it feels pretty forced as either a forced way to keep the villain returning or some dumb redeeming shit. In Avatar, it didnt come off as any of that and I really like how it just made you think about it.
@@theonesuperx yea in avatar, you actually believe that aang doesn't want to kill. It is ingrained in our brains from the first time we see his innocent monk-like appearance and throughout all his decisions and actions in the series.
I don't find nonviolence when dealing with someone who wants to harm you and others particularly virtuous especially if the nonviolent path is riskier than a fast kill.
Listen, there's a reason why Aang is such a beloved character. No matter who anyone had lost in the war (and this is not invalidating anyone's pain), Aang is the only one that had lost his entire culture and people. Katara is perhaps the only one that can understand some semblance to this since she lost the Southern Waterbending culture. Even that isn't entirely the same. There literally is no one in the entire Avatar universe and into Korra, that can understand the burden Aang felt. He could've destroyed the Fire Nation. Instead he chose to save it. Think about that.
Its the way of the empath. When one feels pain, the energy goes not towards hatred and blame, but towards preventing and healing that same kind of pain in others.
He did something nearly impossible he didn't let hate and rage destroy he's kind heart
@Arigato Senpai ummm, air nomads were destroyed, if air nomads can be destroyed any nation can
@@Trathien- well they were brought back because balence or whatever during korra.
The reasoning is kinda dumb but it happened.
Sonic Einstein I don’t consider Korra as a continuation. It has too much shitty writing for me to appreciate it
Aang’s approach to how he dealt with Ozai is different from what his immediate predecessors would’ve done. Kyoshi would’ve crushed him, Roku would have defeated him but spare him. Aang chose not to crush him underfoot or leave him in the world to do bad like Roku had with Sozin. Rather, he picked a path that would allow him to simultaneously remove Ozai as a threat and spare him from a violent death. He chose forgiveness over revenge. Aang proves that he doesn’t HAVE to kill the fire lord, he only had to defeat him.
True but they didnt write energy bending in the story for Roku or kyoshi, infact I dont like the fact that they gave aang an out. The Avatar's duty is to the world not himself rather he likes it or not.
Not just defeat too. But also remove their ability to become a threat which prevents him from doing any more harm than he already did. Had Aang not conveniently learnt to bend the energy within, he would be forced to result to more... unappealing and morally complicated methods that Kiyoshi would def have done.
Nah, be got lucky with energy bending
Just imagine getting your bending Y33TED
Damn. Gg, gitgudFeelsBadMan
The thing is, even the other Air Nomad Avatar said that she would have killed Ozai. Aang got a cop out in the way of energy bending, even if it makes sense in the world. He had a tool that no other avatar had, and thus no other avatar's choices could be comparable to his. Don't get me wrong. Energy bending is super cool and makes sense in the world, but it would have been a more interesting and difficult choice for Aang if that wasn't an option for him. Without the option to simply remove Ozai's bending, what would Aang choose to do? THAT would have been more interesting to me. But instead, they gave him a tool that no other Avatar had and thus could not consider using in their decision making. That's honestly pretty cheap, especially after all of the moral questioning leading up to the final choice. It wasn't really a choice, because he didn't have to choose. An answer that perfectly fits his ideals just appears to him.
Imagine if in Captain America Civil War, Steve Rogers somehow just pulls out of nowhere a solution that satisfies Tony's side and his side, and didn't require him to make a difficult choice. What makes a story like Civil War interesting is the characters having to make that difficult choice, and not be saved from the consequences of that choice with an asspull. Avatar the Last Airbender had always portrayed itself as not treating it's world as overly kid-friendly where everything wraps up nicely by the end. It grounded itself it more believable wartime events, where choices have consequences even if you're the protagonist. But when it comes to the ultimate choice, suddenly the universe just gives Aang a morally convenient out that nobody else had access to, conveniently and neatly leaving him with no guilt or challenges to his ideals. While it's definitely far from a terrible decision to end the conflict, the energy bending to take away Ozai's power is one of my least favorite things that happened in the original series, especially the more I think about it. And a large part of that is because it's the ultimate resolution for the entire series.
I like energy bending as a concept. But I don't like it essentially being the deus ex machina that takes away all the moral difficulties of Aang's choice.
It always broke me that monk Geatzo was the only one that saw Anng was not yet ready for the responsibility, and how much lose Anng really felt. Even when letting go of those he loved to master the avatar state, monk Geatzo was one of the first ones that came to his mind aside from Katara. How he lost everything, and yet still had to continue the very fight that took everything from him.
If you look at it from a different perspective although sad, Geatzo actually saved Aang in the end. Imagine he would've just been chilling at the temple and when the comet arrived he along with the other air benders would've been wiped out. I believe Aang begins to realize this towards the end though.
Anng?
@@iamwhoiam7887Geatzo?
I think the things we need to understand is that he is a child dealing with war while the past avatars are a lot older and mature
I thought the same thing as well. But at the same time he was also a monk who's belief systems differ from other nations. Given if he was an older monk his decisions would've been wiser and a lower failure rate. A lot of his failures were due to the fact that he was in fact just a kid trying to Master elements in one summer.
Ironicly to me at the end Aang made the most mature decision
Not killing Ozai was not a mature decision. He would have lost if he wasn't thrown against that one rock and he would have lost because he didn't end Ozai when he had the chance when Ozai shot lightning at him. If he would have lost the fight. The world would have been screwed and Ozai would go on to cause way more suffering. And aang would have been the reason Ozai wasn't stopped.
@@yeetmaster7957 But he didn't lose so it doesn't matter.
@@joshheralal8758 that's like saying nothing happened so it was ok that is drove while drunk.
Aang has such a pure energy that will lighten your mood even in the worst times, love this character and love this video ! Awesome 👏🏼👏🏼
Any time I feel weak or like my spirit is running on low I always watch something with Aang and then guru or the lion turtle.
Thank you!
Not for me, there were times when he irritated me.
@@ANTH0NY.VII. lol
Just... Don't take his Bison.
This video made me realize how much responsibility aang really had, and how many people don't understand his loss and the responsibility that was placed upon him.
At least it better than the movie
@Filip Gasic What really would have been selfish would have been not fighting him at all... it's not like he absolutely had to do anything. He could've just fucked off and drank some cactus juice, disguised himself as a fire bender, or lived away from society.
@@NeoDeity He also could have tried to destroy the fire nation as revenge.
I agree with his decision for a different reason: the 100 years of war had brought so much violence, only an act of peace could truly bring an end to the world’s suffering.
Joe Romano Not according to Kyoshi! 😂
I agree with that belief. However, if energybending was not conveniently introduced, he should have killed Ozai. Each time he spared his life (redirecting the lightning) he was putting the entire Earth Kingdom at risk. If Aang knew energy bending was possible before the lion turtle, he would have never had this dilemma.
@@alannalyc I agree that energy bending help Aang out with this difficult decision to kill Ozai or stay true to his culture and died by the Phoenix King flames. Maybe Aang should've just killed Ozai. But it wouldn't severe a good message to the audience or the Avatar World. It would've been better if he defeat him the old fashioned way and knock him(made him unconscious) and imprison him in a fire bending proof cage in the Water Tribe.
@@kingnamor777
Like Legend of Korra did to P’Li
That actually makes much more sense. You can chi block him too to stop him from resisting.
@@joshuahecht6866 I agree. That would’ve been the more appropriate method of defeating the Fire Lord.
I'll admit, I used to be on the "Aang should have killed Ozai" bandwagon, but as I get older, I start to realize that the conflict he faced and how he went through every possible means to avoid having to kill someone is a lot more mature and wise than many of us would like to admit. He didn't take the easy way out, he didn't sacrifice his morality, and he was willing to give up his own life and soul to try and find an alternative to even more bloodshed. To me, this puts Aang above so many other characters.
“Your own spirit must be *unbendable* or you will be corrupted and destroyed.”
Why is this lion turtle quote here
oh, the key was earthbending your spirit, okay
@@gibbous_silver because it's about strength of character. A weak person will be blown about by the wind like grass, bending to whichever outside force exerts the most influence. A strong person is like a sturdy tree, not bending to the will of the wind but instead standing tall and firm no matter what.
A moment in Avatar that almost made me cry was when Aang, during a vision, saw his entire air nomad population in front of him, and for a moment he didn’t feel alone. But then, like everything, one by one, each air nomad dissolved into clouds, and Aang was heartbreakingly alone once more. This was just so tragic and tear jerking that it’s hard not to feel the immense sadness and loss of Aang's hope with him, and how he has to make his own even with everyone else gone is even more saddening.
People rip on Aang for this moment but man, is it powerful. Not only is it nonviolent, it is Aang completing his character arc by staying true to himself underneath this responsibility he learned to carry.
Yes his character arc wouldn't be complete without it.
This is aang's alt account
ok but its still selfish
"im gonna risk destroying the world bc I have morals"
like cmon man
nobody cares
Lol okay it's good in its own function but wkwt moral do you carry on in the real world? You don't have energy bending you don't have the force. If you have the power to stop someone with a weapon that can and will kill people what do you do? SOMETIMES there isn't a better way. Rather than be honest avatar gave us a feel good ending that is ultimately hollow.
Spock Spock nah man it's not. if his job is to restore balance, then ending the war nonviolently is an important part in keeping it that way, that, conflicts can always be resolved without violence. past avatars didn't have this knowledge, but Aang did. it's not just about his moral code.
Lest tace it
Avatar the last air bender held some philosophically underrated themes that we need to go and look back on
Victor Ikegwuoha 10000% omg
Avatar's spiritual and philosophical ideology is derived from eastern religions such as Buddhism, Hinduism, and taoism. If you are moved by the message of the show, I highly suggest looking into these, especially Hindu and yogic philosophies.
@@michellechen8461 thanks may look into it
Guess I’ll have to watch the whole series from start to finish again. What a shame 🤷♂️ 😂
I personally think keeping Ozai alive is a worse punishment for him , not only is his bending taken away , but the world around him which he so desperately wanted to rule over , begins to mend itself and become peaceful , under the guidance of Fire Lord Zuko , who he despises
YES!!! FINALLY!!! THANK YOU!!! SOMEONE ELSE WHO GETS IT!!!
Legit. That monster does not deserve to gloriously die in combat against a demigod, inspiring future people to avenge him.
He deserves to rot in shame. A living testament to all his follies.
4:58
“With that title also grants the avatar the liberty to choose. The same way Roku decided not to end Sozin’s life when he had the chance; in the same way that Kyushi would have killed Gin the conquerer if given the chance. That choice is what defines the person. “
Amazing quote with keen insight into the duality of preceding avatars with respect to Aang. You have earned yourself a sub.
"To not give in to what war does to a person is commendable." YES!! I hate when people comment saying Aang's choice was cowardly or deus ex machina or whatever. It was HIS CHOICE, and killing the Firelord would have been just like Zuko following what his father wanted; it would be doing what others wanted for his life, not what he wanted. One big theme of Avatar is, as you said, a person's ability to shape their own destiny. Aang did it here when he chose to honor both his role as the Avatar AND as the last airbender.
"To simultaneously grieve the loss of his entire family and his culture and to save the world. That is a burden he carries on his shoulders every single episode." You tell it like it is Sage's Rain! This Video is SO GOOD!!
While I don't have an issue with Aang refusing to kill Ozai, it absolutely was a deus ex machina, literally depending on how you interpret the lion turtles. First, this whole kill or not to kill conflict almost came out of nowhere. While Aang had espoused a non-confrontational approach, he had a) killed people, albeit unwittingly, at the North Pole and b) seemed fine killing Ozai leading up to the Day of Black Sun arc. Like, were everybody on completely different pages to that point? What was Aang's plan during the invasion? For this not to have been a deus ex machina, this inner conflict needed to have been brought to the forefront way, way earlier, along with the idea of energy bending. Maybe have the library arc go a bit more to properly foreshadow the solution.
In the end, Aang's way out simply wasn't earned. He was faced with a difficult more dilemma right at the end. But instead of having to work through it, he just gets the perfect solution dropped into his lap out of nowhere. That's the definition of a deus ex machina. That's what made the end frustrating for me; the writers punted on the morality struggle and handed Aang what he needed without Aang having to have done anything.
@@jonathangardner8306 I agree that energy bending help Aang out with this difficult decision to kill Ozai or stay true to his culture and died by the Phoenix King flames. Maybe Aang should've just killed Ozai. But it wouldn't severe a good message to the audience or the Avatar world. It would've been better if he defeat him the old fashioned way and knock him out(made him unconscious) and imprison him in a fire bending proof cage in the Water Tribe.
@@kingnamor777 That's fine and I don't have a problem with Aang's choice. Nor do I have a problem with the solution, exactly (although it was still incredibly violent and morally questionable). My issue was how they got there. To have the lion turtle show up out of nowhere and drop the perfect solution in Aang's lap without him having to do anything to earn just felt cheap and lazy way out of the great moral dilemma the writers had put him in. They needed to have foreshadowed energybending a lot more than they did and make Aang have to go on a journey (and no, sleep-walking on to the turtle does not count) and put in work to earn it like he did all the other elements. That's what makes it a deus ex machina and unsatisfying.
@@jonathangardner8306 people say that in 'The Swamp', that Aang did energy bend to find Appa and Momo. Barring that, energy ending was supposed to be a concept no one but the Lion turtles knew about. Like the lion turtle even said "In the era before the Avatar, we bent not the elements but the energy within ourselves..." Doesn't this technically mean that some people did discover how to bend energy but not the energy in themselves and other people for example, finding Momo and Appa in 'The Swamp'.
After all, the lion turtle did say" within ourseleves", not humans but lion turtles. Even if he meant humans, after bending the elements was introduced the technique was lost, which makes sense when the lion turtle presents the conditions to bend the energy in other people. Also, the lion turtle was foreshadowed too.
@@Moxy125 Nothing in the show connected the "energy bending" (if that's what it was) in the swamp to the energy bending Aang did to Ozai. Had they connected those dots, that would've been better but they didn't. The same goes for the lion turtles, which were absolutely not foreshadowed at all. One reference in a drawing is not foreshadowing (and no, the Easter eggs of lion turtles appearing in artwork that you only notice if you're really looking for it doesn't count either).
Again, I have no problem with the solution but the path to the solution which is absolutely a deus ex machina and therefore problematic from a storytelling perspective. First, Aang does nothing to earn his "get out of moral dilemma free" card. It's handed to him on a silver platter without him having to earn it. Consider how he had to work for learning the other elements. He spends the first book literally going across the world to find a water bending teacher, learning it bit by bit along the way. He then spends half another season traipsing across the earth kingdom to find a earth bending teacher. His fire bending involves the disaster with Jeong Jeong, struggling to trust Zuko, and then going on a field trip to relearn true fire bending. His energy bending? Take a nap and have the solution dropped into his lap. No journey, no struggle, nothing. That is, by definition, a deus ex machina.
The thing is, the pieces were there to make a compelling energy bending arc. First, they would've needed to have highlighted Aang's moral dilemma way earlier, like leading up to the Day of Black Sun arc (that this wasn't brought up then still baffles me). Second, they would've needed to have adequately foreshadowed the lion turtles by which I mean not just that they exist; that's not foreshadowing. Instead, lay the groundwork of their significance to bending, especially the avatar. The Korra "Beginnings" episodes going back to Avatar Wan would've been perfect for this arc. Third, if not that, they could've used the energy bending pieces in place. Like you said, the idea of energy bending from the swamp, as well as the chakras from Guru Pathik, laid potential groundwork for Aang to discover energy bending on his own (like Toph with metal bending). Additionally, Ty Lee's chi-blocking is something else that could've been explored more. An arc with them rescuing Ty Lee (and Mai too, if they had to) for her to teach Aang how to chi-block. Point is, there are a lot of ways they could've properly foreshadowed and put Aang on a journey similar to the other elements. As it stands, they opted for an unearned, out-of-nowhere solution that completely punted on the moral dilemma they set up, which again, is by definition a deus ex machina and very unsatisfying. Maybe they were trying to hide their hand and over did it or maybe there were network constraints that forced them to rush the ending or maybe they just messed it up but it wasn't well done.
Long story short the monks taught Aang well and they taught him that all life is sacred and he told avatar yang-chen that he is vegetarian!
I thought Aang's final decision was powerful, and truly shows his pure spirit. Aang is still only 12 years-old and fully believed in the teachings of the Air Nomad Monks, having him kill Ozai just would have been out of character and who knows how he would have even processed it.
"I wasn't there when the Fire Nation attacked my people. I'm going to make a difference this time." I think this quote from Aang really highlights the points made here perfectly.
People forget that fact that, had he killed Ozai history would have repeated itself like when Kyoshi got Chin killed.
It would have ended up making Ozai be seen as a beautiful and heartful leader murdered in cold blood by an unjust Avatar and would have made the fire nation most likely rebel way further than what we saw happening had he been killed.
It would have turned him into a martyr.
Instead he got turned into a pathetic loser placed in one of his own prisonens to rot.
What Aang did was help avoid a whole other fight that would have otherwise most certainly taken place. He helped keep the peace by not killing but rather imprison the dictator.
This is why Aang imo is the strongest member of Team Avatar mentally. He has to carry the burden of not only being the Avatar, but also being the last air nomad, and yet still carries on with life, and that takes strength
And all while being hopeful and optimistic. Aang is the best.
This is why I love avatar the last airbender because all of the characters are fantastic
Tevya Smolka they’re soo good oh my gosh!!
Victoria’s Videos indeed
I’ve always thought this throughout my rewatching: “God, every main character is like, THE BEST character.”
@@ViltrumiteIsRite99 I bet it was... spectacular to witness.
Ikr
If Aang killed Ozai
then the world would be Coffin Dancing
No Aang slander allowed in these parts
i love how the whole community stans aang
“It takes nothing to follow a crowd, but it takes everything to stand alone” I love this quote because it applies so clearly to aang in book 3 on the first assault despite his clear opinion on not killing he was ready to from sokkas encouragement, however ever since then the internal struggle and external struggle between preserving his beliefs in not killing ozai or preserving the would in killing him. The external being zuko katara and sokka, internal being his past lives. However despite his allies telling him this is what he must do, he sticks to his beliefs and culture by not killing him. Which is why i respect aang’s character so much despite everything he stood alone metaphorically and literally and stuck to his own morals.
Now it's Respect Aang hours, my dudes.
Welcome back 🤝
@@SagesRain Good to be back. 🤝
@@SagesRain nice work
We need ppl to respect Aan because alot of ppl are sleeping on him
it's always respect aang hours
Remember what Aang said when Katara was thinking about getting revenge on Yon Rah?
" _Killing is never the answer. Revenge is easy. Forgiveness is hard_ " (paraphrasing here but you get the gist)
He explored his anger multiple times during the series. His fear of losing control was a major character storyline throughout the series. His compassion knows no bounds and even though anger, violence and revenge are natural human urges, his ability to be self aware and push against it is what made him such an exemplary avatar and character. His neverending goal to attempt pacifist approaches made him almost Christ-like, if you can forgive a biblical reference.
I DO understand. And I adore it.
Aang is definitely presented as a Christ-like figure in some ways. He even “dies” and “resurrects”. He stays true to his pacifistic convictions and ultimately wins through non-violence. While I personally am not Christian or religious at all, I can appreciate the references to some of its more benign qualities.
Even thought the avatars are the same but they show each avatar have their own identity and choices by different nation but aang is different he show his pure heart for life and compassion. He may be the Avatar but he’s a twelve year old boy with a big responsibility and the hardest job
Avatar the last airbender is a *masterpiece* but was under looked when it came out ...
We were kids, we didnt know this show would be uncomparible to other a animated shows.
Facts because at the time when this show aired I wasn’t really interested in it until the start the start of book 3 and now I love this show more than any other
I mean a lot of people were really really young when this came out... 18 years old were like 3 in 2005
When I was 10 I didn't really think much of the underlying themes in the series, but I still love watching ATLA-
Now that I'm 22, rewatching all the episodes again- I deeply fell inlove with the series again. This show will always have a special place in my heart.
Loved this show! I rejoiced when I saw it on Netflix. This was the only cartoon that got me moving as a child.
ive been on an avatar kick lately i just started rewatching the series and watching yt videos thank you for putting these out
Johnny Average literally all I’ve been doing since quarantine 😂
Same
@@victoriasvideos7224 same, I've also started meditating and doing yoga on top of my regular work outs. I literally have never been this fit in my life. I now understand why people who exercise are so full of life. I feel like I have a sun inside me.
AnimeTime oh my gosh that’s so awesome!! How do you find meditating? Do you use an app for those ‘guided meditations’? And I’ve always wanted to get into yoga because everyone that I know that does it is obsessed! It’s so nice to hear that you’re enjoying it so much :)
I love Aang so much. Showing that love and mercy are not inherent weaknesses, but true strength. I owe a lot to this show bro.
I don’t see enough videos on Aang. He’s such a great character and he goes through a lot of emotional and philosophical struggle and depth.
There was always a reason why Aang was my favorite character growing up and watching the show. He was brave, kind, and even though he was the Avatar to the world, he found a way to be true to himself and all his people who had passed away, and the culture that is forever lost, on top of being the Avatar. He went from a boy who didn't want any of that responsibility (and honestly, I don't blame him for running, because not only was he only 12 years old, but he would have undoubtedly died along with the rest of the monks at that Temple that night), to excepting that he needs to do what is right to bring balance to the world, but honoring what he believed.
Even if he didn't know if his soul would be corrupted or not, he still took that risk in the end and succeeded; he chose pacifism over violence even though no one would judge him on taking the fire Lords life. There is something truly powerful about his decision, and at the age of 14 when I watched the finale of the show, I felt the weight of the situation, of the risk, and it cemented Aang as one of my all-time favorite characters in any show. It was truly a one-of-a-kind show.
Also, I loved the video. Thank you for it.
I totally agree. Aang has got to be probably my favorite protagonist. He didn't let the world take away his kindness.
I think the fact that he stayed true to himself and his beliefs and restrain from killing Ozai when all his past lives at that moment wanted to is what made his soul incorruptable
Aang felt like an old friend he held on to his morals and beliefs even when everyone was determined to tell him has to kill the fire lord I love how he reflects zuko aang left to keep his happiness zuko left to regain his honor zuko dealt with feeling alone in this world and feeling like he wasn’t good enough aang constantly thought he wasn’t good enough and doubted his abilities
In the end zuko realized peace over violence and aang realized there is always a will and a away he become someone who truly never changed he realized along the way happiness comes from acceptance and recovery aang was powerful enough to destroy the entire nation had aang did what everyone asked he would forever be different more violent he would never forgive himself aang really was the greatest avatar ever he dealt with the sins of his past life and on top of that was the last of his nation aang embodies what and airbender is he has to deal with their isn’t anyone mike him there anymkre he is at peace with himself and realizing u don’t have to kill to end it is great
See Avatar I click! You make amazing Videos Sage thank you for them!!
i think the line that ozai says in the end, that even with all the power in the world aang still couldn't off him, that the airbenders were weak and didn't deserve to live in his world really solidified aang's philosophy that non-violence is vital to the balance of the world.
edit:
the difference between roku and aang's execution of non-violence (roku didn't off sozin when he had the chance) is that aang not only refused to off ozai but he also IMPOSED non-violence on ozai. ozai literally had his capacity for firebending taken away from him. in sozin's case, he basically was let go and he became free to execute his violent plans.
Ozai: a one trick pony.
Aang: a bag of tricks.
But Ozai was very adaptable with that 1 trick though. That's what years of practice can do for you.
Should've practiced some better morals and social behaviors as well though. Now he's in Iroh's old cell with no bending & no allies & his wife living happily with another man & no memories of him.
@@19Pyrus70 he was very arrogant to believe he could take on the avatar, when he evaded the fire nation for 100 years by sleeping in an iceberg which they couldn't find but was found by two water tribe kids 🤣.
the fire nation were extremely incompetent and there incompetence created alot of resentment which lead to their downfall.
I grew up watching avatar as a kid when it first came out. I can’t bring myself to rewatch it on Netflix even though it is one of my favorite shows ever because I might cry when I finish it.
Aang was able to remove the fire lords bending because his will was unbendable, this is shown by the fact that no matter what, he wouldn’t kill the fire lord
Love how Aang was able to come to a balanced decision in the end. He was able to still fulfill his role as a savior for the world, without compromising his spiritual morals as an airbender. Great vid!
He killed in the Northernern Air Temple
The only reason he was able win was because he hit a pointy rock wich triggered the avatar state wick was some extreme luck. He had the chance to kill Ozai with the lightning and he didn't take it knowing that he was most likely going to lose wich would have resulted in countless deaths. It was selfish to not break his spiritual oath to stop the deaths of countless people. If he didn't hit the rock and lost i think. More people would realize how stupid his choice was.
I think Aang's soul being pure & resilient enough to overwhelm Ozai was already shown by the fact he tried to do the energy bending.
The whole world, his friends, and his past life, all told him "Kill Ozai", and he still decided to stuck to his principles rather than give up on the Air Nomad's way. That's already a proof of great willpower, most peoples would have accepted the "kill ozai" plan once their friends told them it's the only choice, let alone their past lives.
He rejected the "corruption" of the hundred years of war, which made everyone so desperate that they saw murder as the only hope, while Ozai was a product of this corruptions.
I think an even better way is that Aang learns spiritbending. A waterbending form that combines healing with spiritual knowledge, it calms agitated spirits and restores internal balance. The dark side of this art can destroy which implies it can affect humans, so Aang using the light side on Ozai, his inner balance would be restored along with healing any potential internal scars. What happens him afterwards either could be he sent to the spirit world to find eternal peace and balance like Iroh or he spends his days as a fire sage shaman.
Aang is really respectable as a person, I really admire how he stands by his beliefs.
As someone who is against violence and sees all races in the world as one big human race, I can relate a lot to him. He is the prime example, when my family wants me to do fighting sports like boxing and stuff, and I tell them that I rather do parkour and aikido.
And also a reason to harness the child in yourself. It's important to be an adult yes, but only when needed. Always try to look for the positive and humble view to other people and the world, when possible.
This video definitely helps to argue why the ending was justified instead of what some consider to be a cop-out.
I feel like it's both, really. I have very mixed feelings about the ending, since, even though it was the best possible note to end the series on for Aang's character and as an ending message for the series as a whole, it still nevertheless fits the bill for a deus ex machina. Not to mention the whole "hitting your back just right on a stone to get back the Avatar State" thing, which loudly shrieks of convenience. More foreshadowing was definitely needed for energybending.
But how the series was ended was literally the only off point I can find in the whole series, and it's not even entirely bad. That's saying a ton.
@@CupcakeDruggie330 I guess I understand where your coming from. Maybe if they described more what exactly bending is so that energy bending didn't seem like it's out of no where. I personally don't see it as deus ex machina but I understand that more set up was needed. Hopefully the Netflix show will show that set up since the creators are involved as well as they said more details will be added to flush out plot points.
Of Team Avatar, Aang is my least favorite character. When I watched the series when it originally debuted Zuko was by far my favorite and still is! Zuko has the best character development and redemption arc! But this is about Aang, what I do like about him is that he never wavers from who he is. Had moments, yes, but never fully committed. I think in a way, as a kid you're trying to figure out who you are and where you belong in the world. For Aang he knew exactly who he is and where be belonged. I think most of us are probably jealous of the by nature!
Aang is probably one of the best written protagonist ever, because he is the embodiment of pure 'good'! And I think most people have a problem with that as well because despite his failures, he remains pure. Thus for the rest of us we would eventually break. For people are fickle and flawed!
Murder my entire people best believe I coming for your head, period. So, yeah, he is a great protagonist. Mr. guru goody goody-_- most times it's annoying, but this time...we're impressed, lol
Omg you said everything I’m-literally thinking !!! I just couldn’t put it into words. And yes, maybe we do envy aang for staying pure even after going through so many hardships & failures.
He was flawed. He failed as a dad. That's big
Awesome thanks guys/girls! I was going to write something long but it didn't feel/flow right. I'm glad Netflix picked the show up, so now everyone can watch it and enjoy what I enjoyed as a teenager! New or old fans alike, the show is absolutely AMAZING! And I love Sage`s videos on Avatar, but I know he can't do them forever.
Sage if you read this bro, I think a good highlight to hit on for your next video would be diversity! Considering all the negativity happening in the media.
@@BillyBasd He never said he was perfect and had no flaws whatsoever tho.
Going back to the idea of whether it was irresponsible for Aang to not kill Ozai, I think it wouldn've been impossible for Ozai to corrupt Aang's soul without Vaatu because Aang's soul is bonded with Raava. I believe that the lion turtle knew this and passed on the knowledge to Aang because even if Aang would be slowly corrupted by Ozai, Raava wouldn't allow Ozai to fully corrupt his soul and would intervene, whether by forcefully driving out Ozai's corruption or perhaps by talking to Aang and reminding him of not just all the lives on the line but also the people who need him in their lives. But that's my 2 cents.
Toph: “Cause twinkle-toes couldn’t even hurt a turtleduck if he tried”
Get this guy a voice over contract for movies and books or something because wow.
your voice is the most soothing voice i've ever heard. i could listen to you talk all day long.
I’m so excited to see what the 4th video is going to be!!
Great analysis sage, as always. i hope the live action fleshes out more of Aang's character and the amount of burden, grief and guilt he carries around underneath his happy smile. which is a lot to ask from Netflix, especially now since Bryke left. oh well
This video made me appreciate Aang's character tenfold. Even after countless rewatches, ATLA never seizes to amaze me by how clever the writing of every character is. We did not deserve this show.
As a kid I just accepted the lion turtle as a part of the story and was just in awe of the pure emotions the finale held in itself.
As I grew up people started calling the lion turtle a "deus ex machina" and I agreed, because as a teen I didn't have much of an independent thought. XD
Then people pointed at "hints" of the lion turtle (e.g. the library)
But on my last rewatching of the series I started thinking about Bumi. He talked about jing:
Aang knew positiv jing (attack) and negativ jing (defence)
But Bumi pointed at neutral jing.
At this moment he was talking about Aang's earthbending master, Toph.
But you could say that "taking the firelord's bending" is neutral jing in the final battle.
I'm sure there are exampkes earlier than Bumi, but that is what was prominent to me this time.
Avatar had more art and thought provoking scenes than most, if not all Art Museums
Wouldn’t go that far chief. One must understand art museums and the pieces within them before making such a claim.
At first, I thought that this video would be just repeating the stuff I already know from the series, but I am amazed by how you took it soo deep and I really learned so much. Thnx!
There are many choices but I believe Aang made the right one.
This video changed how I think about the ending. I always felt it was selfish of Aang to risk it all by sparing Ozai's life, and that the story missed out on a powerful metaphor for how war forces all people to do darker things and make personal sacrifice. I hadn't considered that he was abiding by the air nomad's cultural beliefs not just for himself, but on behalf of all his people destroyed by Ozai's ancestor. When he took the risk by not killing Ozai he achieved justice for them in a way that was impossible otherwise. You sir have got yourself another subscriber.
While I'm glad Aang didn't kill Ozai and stayed true to himself, I think energybending came out of nowhere with little to no foreshadowing about it. For me it's one of the weak points in the series.
This! Spirit bending was NEVER a thing. A huge deus ex machina- looked cool, but still a copout, in my opinion. Maybe, if they had freed Tylee & Mai, and he learned chi blocking, turned permanent with the aid of the avatar state (cus chi blocking was the ONLY thing known to do that) Idk, just some foreshadowing, a lesson like with lightning redirection, an explanation, would have made it PERFECT! Xd
It was the weakest part of the show for many people because it was a Deus Ex Machina. Hell, some people didn't even like the fight either.
It wasn’t talked about or referenced because only the lion turtle knew how to do it
@@trinityhauyne doesn't change the fact it came outta nowhere in a somewhat pre established world.
I swear, if you touch Sarada I'm gonna genjutsu you so hard
please make more videos. i’m growing to love this channel watching every single video. i love the voice too.
It’s annoying they didn’t go deep too express aang’s emotions and suffering in the show. Like when you wake up tomorrow everybody you new is killed. your family friends everyone. You become sad for one day then you go back to being cheerful kid why because the people you knew for few days say they would be your new family
It’s not just this so many times they could express more of his emotions but left it with a joke
I think the air nomad culture was probably inspired by Tibet. There is a lot of emphasis on "wind yoga" in Tibetan Buddhism.
I’m sure a part of Aang wanted to kill Ozai and avenge his people getting slaughtered. But even after all of the battles, all of the times he was pushed to his breaking point of losing control and even after DYING, Aang just couldn’t do it. That wouldn’t have solved anything and it could’ve lead to even more trauma to the world. That’s what makes him even more powerful. The power to walk away and find another solution. Revenge and hate would only corrupt him. That was the bigger battle he was fighting within. He could never go against his moral code. He was an air nomad, basically born into a lifetime of peace of mind, body, and soul. But I think with the help of Katara, Sokka, Toph, Appa and Momo, he was able to recover what he lost: family. He had everything he would ever need to push forward. I also believe that his relationship with Zuko in Book 3, helped him tremendously as well. They both were similar and on the same path of destiny. They just took different routes until they came together. Because of Zuko, Aang was able to fully forgive himself for failing his loved ones and learned to let go of what was holding him back. It was all about “seeing the ‘good’ in others”. With Ozai, deep down, Aang gave him the benefit of the doubt, even if it was small. He couldn’t kill him but he took his bending away. That’s a fate worse than death for any bender. Aang was able to find another solution to this problem and it was his decision to not kill Ozai, that finally brought balance to the world again.
Ozai: "Even with all the power in the world, you're still weak."
In the final moment when Aang was about to kill Ozai, the teachings of the Air Nomads was still with him and he did not allow himself to lose that part of his life. He wasn't weak for not killing Ozai, he was strong because he did not become someone he was not. The Air Nomads believed that all life was sacred, even those who have done horrible acts. He was the last airbender, not only for his bending powers, but for the teachings that went along with it and how they lived. Aang did not kill Ozai because he wanted keep his people's beliefs alive and to have not died for nothing.
I found the way Aang got his energy bending as the weakest part of the show for me. But I think keeping him alive was a better decision.
The only redeeming thing was they did mention the existence of lion turtles early on in the series
I think that energy bending help Aang out with this difficult decision to kill Ozai or stay true to his culture and died by the Phoenix King flames. Maybe Aang should've just killed Ozai.
But it wouldn't severe a good message to the audience or the Avatar world. It would've been better if he defeat him the old fashioned way and knock him out(made him unconscious) and imprison him in a fire bending proof cage in the Northern Water Tribe.
Why is it that every one of your videos makes me cry, their so good and each one touches my heart
Actully he left because he heard that he was gonna finish his training somewhere else
I think he meant that aang felt that him being the Avatar made it impossible to have connections. He was going to be separated from his basically dad since Giatso wanted aang to be a child.
I know this show is suddenly blowing up with it's recent release on Netflix but I just watched it a few months before it's release on Netflix after buying it on Blu-ray and the show is just so good. This video makes me want to watch it another time especially with a lot of my friends watching it again or for the first time.
I'm glad he did it his own way, but does anyone want to see a bloodlusted aang? Like not avatar state but aang just fighting to kill
Maybe they could implement alternative timeline scenes like that into the live action version. Like how if he did it, humanity would only be worse or something.
I always wanted to see a bloodlusted Aang cause seeing him using his bending to destroy would be amazing
Just imagine him manipulating the air in your lungs and making your chest explode. Might have to up the rating but I see potential here
To be fair, I always thought when he went into the Avatar state trying to save Katara from the Earth general trying to activate his avatar state, it felt like he was bending to kill. Someone he loved was being threatened and God damn if he was going to let that happen.
I do not personally, there is an infinite amount of characters that take the easy road of rage and revenge, but aang one of the few who decided to go against that urge.
I think what's even more impressive in that final battle was that despite the pain, the anxiety, knowing that he was done, he didn't want to kill Ozai and then the avatar state took over, and just in that final moment, Aang regained control because his empathy and his willingness to preserve his culture, his code, his belief system were so strong that it could not controlled it. And I believe that at that point he KNEW that he was incorruptible, and he could energy-bend.
Although it's admirable that Aang stuck to his morals, even when facing Ozai, it isn't always that simple in real life. More often than not there's no hidden solution or way to bend the problem as you wish. You have to face reality and remove the root of the problem or it will very likely return.
Also it's naive to think someone with such evil intentions as Ozai would stop scheming and being a threat when just his bending is taken away. His mind and words are still just as powerful. His influence would still remain over groups inside the Fire Nation.
You do realize that because the ending of Avatar seemed like a happy one. Doesn't mean it caused every other nation to be at peace immediately, right? Everything you mentioned that usually happens in the real world, did happen. Ozai never "stopped being bad" He actually convinced Zuko at some point and almost made him begin another war and there was a coup led by Mai's father that were planning to overthrow Zuko as firelord and give back the throne to Ozai lol. I hope this helps you not believe that the four nations were at peace immediately and that Ozai stopped being bad just for the plot. Luckily, the comics still decided to show how "powerful" He is even without the ability to bend anymore.
@@tidepods5506 I didn't like the comics at all even though it had an interesting conflict
the world didn't get back together just like that actually, there's more to it, like the comment above me says: read the comics. albeit even those conflicts are resolved in a very simplistic manner but for christ's sake its a cartoon, the story needs to be kept simple enough for the underlying message to be understood. As for the values and compassion Aang believes and carries with him not being applicable in real-life situations is albeit more likely to happen but isn't one hundred per cent accurate. Humans are strange creatures, if you have enough will and faith in what you believe in, it has the capacity to move mountains. I know it sounds very poetic and far fetched but its actually very true if you really think about it.
@@skadoosh7000 That’s cool that they actually addressed the fallout of the war in the comics. Thanks for sharing that! Just to be clear though, that part was more of an aside. My main point is that the resolution to Aang’s problem (to kill or not kill Ozai) is too convenient and unrealistic. And I’ll explain why I feel that way. You mentioned faith, which I agree is real and can bring about extraordinary and unbelievable things, but faith requires more than just hope or desire. There has to be work, diligent work.
Aang didn’t even come up with the way to spare Ozai - the ability to bend others’ bending - and he definitely didn’t practice to obtain that ability. A random, magic turtle shows up (never hinted at the whole show) and hands him the ability. How often do things just get handed to us in life, especially the most crucial things? Never. You have to seek, fight, sweat, and grind until you get the “prize” yourself. If Aang would’ve had to run the gauntlet to obtain the aforementioned ability, then it would’ve been so much more earned and believable. But he didn’t. The ability is handed to him. That’s why it’s an unrealistic and lazy resolution.
Yes thank you !
Beautifully well put, a great summary of his character development and as a person
Love Avatar month, keep up the great content!
I feel that the burden Aang felt of being the last being the last Airbender was pass more down to his son Tenzin, I feel that Tenzin is more of the manifestation of Aang hopes and desires for what could be last Airbending line and so I feel you see that rage and despair in Tenzin because Aang was able to push down his feelings and move them on to another. The Take did a video on Monday on how Tenzin is living embodiment of Aang choices and how Aang wanted to pass down the nomad culture along with having a heir who could Airbend.
When a monk takes down Luke Skywalker
So it was HIM who started the sequels.
I seriously love your videos so much. Much peace and success to you, man.
Everyone kept comparing Aang with Kyoshi, and how he should have killed the Fire Lord, and that they said that his decision was morally wrong. Everything in this video summed up why he did otherwise. To me, him killing Ozai makes him no better than the Fire Nation themselves. Plus, having him not killing is also to stay faithful to his culture...
So aang just goes around ripping the bending from the bad people okay.
Also we know aang has killed b4 have you seen the Northerner Air Temple?
Iwano Morgan killing Ozai DEFINITELY makes him better than the fire nation themselves. They’re a fascist and terrorist nation and killing the dictator doesn’t put you in the same level as someone who committed mass genocide. What sense does that make🤦🏿♀️ morality and justice is more complex than “all killing, no matter what, is wrong”. Even the other avatars understood that context matters, they all stood for justice and balance and all that and still understood what had to be done.
Personally I'm not a fan of it, it is a cop out to present a riskless 3rd option that resolves the tension between putting an end to a threat to the peace and maintain one's pacifism, an option that was apparently denied to the other avatars he consulted who in the process are put into direct contrast with Aang.
Either Aang should have killed him or let him live but WITH the acknowledged possibility that one day Ozai starts hurting people again with firebending.
Avatar Yanchen could truly understand the struggle Aang went through, with her being a fellow Air Nomad.
Not sure if you'll ever see this, but thank you truly for these videos. I hadn't watched the series in years, and your videos reminded me of happier times when I was a kid watching avatar. Thank you :)
This was just good story telling. Whenever someone tries to tell me the Man of Steel murdering of Zod was the only way I point to this show.
Uh... A last minute ass pull power up
bro how would superman defeat Zod then?
I think this is like when Katara spared the man who killed her father. Both him and Ozai did not need to be killed, only defeated.
Aang: See... I ended the war and I didn't have to kill Ozai.
Kyoshi: Dodging the issue rather than confronting it directly and resolving it absolutely.
Aang: *Gestures at Ozai* He's harmless now!
Yangchen: One of these days, your desire to spare a life through your new ability to take bending away is going to result in a crisis caused by your opponent establishing a legacy dedicated to your downfall.
*A generation later*
Tarrlok: I'm Yakone's son... and Aman is my brother, Noatak.
*Yangchen and Kyoshi intensify critical glare at Aang*
Aang: Uh... I'm certain they were born and raised before I took away Yakone's bending.
Kyoshi: Lets find out... Korra... ask him.
Korra: This is going to sound weird Tarrlok... but my past lives want to know when you were born relative to Yakone's last encounter with Aang.
Tarrlok: I don't see how thats... later... much later.
Yangchen: We hate to say we told you so, Aang.
Aang: Oh come on... I know that you love to say you told me so.
Kyoshi: We don't... dear *GOD* we don't!
Korra: OW!!! My ear... mind... my mind's ear?
Roku: They... really do hate saying they told you so. They still won't let me live down sparing Sozin.
Tarrlok: That whole past lives thing sounds like it's an awful lot of trouble.
Damn, I am so glad I found this channel. I nearly cried towards the end, what a beautiful video essay.
Yes, it's true. He didn't kill him, Avatar give Aang and Zuko hope to save the world from destruction. Proud hero.
To be honest, having your bending taken away is a fate worse than death.
Was he really still a monk even after he got married with katara
nothing says monk's can't get married or have families.
bro how do you think air benders procreate
@Elizabeth Anderson hmm ok
I'm happy you brought up that point about Yangchen not carrying the burden of being the last of her kind. I've seen many people vehemently criticize Aang on the premise that someone from his own culture advised him to kill Ozai. I'm not saying that Yangchen's sentiments are wrong, but Aang was certainly in a greater predicament than she ever was because of his position as the LAST Airbender. He carried so much guilt for the fate of his people, so to do the one thing that is so against Air Nomad culture would be (in Aang's mind) to fail them for the last time.
His compassion is the reason Aang will always be superior to Korra. I could never stand Korra because of her hot temperament and stubbornness. And I guess its safe to say, most of us can never forgive her for losing her connection to all her past lives.
I do like LoK but it will ALWAYS fall short compared to ATLA. LoK was honestly by the end of book 4, nothing but a huge mess (tho that's the fault of Nick themselves).
In my opinion I don't blame Korra or the series. I blame the bad story writer😒.
@@kingnamor777 the biggest blame goes to Nickelodeon. They rushed the whole thing and pushed Korra from TV to online. That was a huge dick move on their part. Still, writing could have been thousand times better if they hadn't rushed them.
@@MonalisaS I agree. If they haven't rushed on season two and many other seasons. The series could've have been better in my opinion. I was highly disappointed with Korra and Mako breaking up after first few episodes of season 2. That's just mess up in my opinion.
Plus having Korra lose her connections with the past Avatars was a dumbass move by the writers, animators and Nickelodeon as well.
@@MonalisaS In other words season 2 is the worst season in the legend of korra in my opinion. The only good thing I found interesting in season 2 was learning about Avatar Wan and how the Avatar world flow into creation.
I guess you didn't watch the whole show? Her temperament is part of her personality, which is understandable will not disappear maybe until she is older, but if you watch the whole show or even listen to her talk with tenzin in s4 finale episode, she learned to be compassionate to both her allies and enemies. There is no "should i kill or not?" dilemna, Because Korra's principle is she will do what is best as an avatar. And taking away someone's bending is violent as shown in TLOK S1, you are taking a life value from a bender, which she experiemce so she avoid doing, what korra did was show her strenght in S4 finale and let kuvira decide and Korra will act according to what kuvira will do. Aang is static and was given energy bending on a silver platter, on a surface it seems it is the right thing to do, but if aang is compassionate, he would know that taking way someone's bending is like taking away a very valuable part of life as a bender, he should know because he is the last air bender. But, aang is selfish on this regard, as long as he kept ozai breathing, and he feels good about not killing a person face to face, (not considering the people he killed before), then he did nothing wrong. Korra has to earn almost everything before she became a fully realized avatar, aang, who all throughout the show trained the elements, only defeated ozai by hitting a pointy rock, letting the past lives defeat ozai, and use the energy bending that was given to him out of nowhere, the only useful things he did from his training was the seismic sense, for all the stans of aang out there, Korra has flaws, and aang has flaws too, so i don't get why put aang in a pedestal when he isn't as good as other avatars like kyoshi and yangchen.
TLOK isn't mess as anyone perceived to be, you just hate it for the sake of hating it, people are more appreciative now of TLOK because the hate wave during the airing of the show has already passed.
I originally thought Aang refusing to kill the firelord was a weakness in the story as we see duty and sacrifice being important to the story and development of Characters. I assumed Aang's journey was to come to grips with his duty and accept being the Avatar as that is the truth.
But you changed my outlook on Aang deciding against everyone that would have him kill Ozai even his past lives. At first I saw a weakness and a way for writers to keep their PG rating, now I see Aang for once coming to peace with being the Avatar as he finds balance in himself with what he was taught and grew up believing among the Air Nomads and then realizing he is the last one.
So in effect, Aang finding another way is not weakness by any means. He had the opportunity to kill Ozai, but found a means that allowed him to balance his identity as an Air Nomad and the Avatar by simply taking the bending/power away from the very symbol of world hatred and evil for his time.
He essential taught the world that to end a cycle of violence and bloodshed, we must have mercy and maintained/preserved/honored the wisdom/culture his people died for in accepting.
Just rewatched tla in 3 days, yes im ok
Μπράβο αγόρι μου
same
I'm a bit unsure as to why I began crying during this video... Maybe it's due to Sage's voice? Sage's articulate speech and in depth analysis on Aang?? The fact that I've always gotten goosebumps when I watch ATLA??? The world may never know
Makes you wonder what Aang was going to do with Ozai during the Solar Eclipse Invasion...
Probably would've just restrained him with his earth bending
doppelman, Aang would have just restrained Ozai with his Earth bending if he had captured Ozai during the Solar Eclipse because Aang is a pacifist, and he’s never wavered away from his pacifists ideals all throughout Avatar the Last Airbender.
what really made his battle with Ozai so unqiue and special was the way he controlled aggression, all the moves that he did.. a reminiscences of training..... people he met...thus leading to a build up that is emotional.....
Forgiveness, can you imagine...
Like if you get the reference.
ALEXANDER HAMILTON
Katara