Avatar: The Last Airbender nailed the Star Wars blueprint
By Javier Reyes
After coming to Netflix, Avatar: The Last Airbender serves as a reminder of what many fantasy stories should aspire to
It’s become exceedingly rare that we, the species known as humans, agree on anything. This is especially true of pop culture; whether it be movies, music, video games (I’m looking at you, The Last of Us Part II), or any number of television programs, there is hardly ever a place of sanctity and universal agreement that doesn’t foster some sort of toxic culture. And yet here we are, collectively, in large part to its landing on Netflix, worshipping the beloved Nickelodeon animated series that is Avatar: The Last Airbender.
The series, which originally ran from 2005 to 2008, hit the streaming service back on May 17th and has been one of the most-streamed titles on the platform since. By just casually perusing the vast realm of internet discourse you’ll find both re-watchers and first-timers alike (or, in my case, ninth-timers) express their love for the show.
Avatar: The Last Airbender, especially in the age of COVID-19, has been a desperately needed bright spot for our collective consciousness.
Do you know what the best part is? The praise is anything but hyperbolic; Avatar: The Last Airbender is a genuine masterpiece. It’s so good that even the most pompous of pop culture gatekeepers tend to concede it’s of extraordinary quality.
The “You know why I don’t watch cartoons? Because I’m an adult!” crowd are in a tough spot; down by 28 points at halftime, they desperately await the release of Christopher Nolan’s Tenet to change the tides of conversation.
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Perhaps most impressively, however, is when you further inspect the series and realize just how much better it tells its story better than other fantasy properties. One of the most profound franchises that best exemplifies this is Star Wars.
On a myriad of levels, each season of Avatar: The Last Airbender shares some core similarities with each film of the original Star Wars trilogy.
Each season is structurally similar to the classic trilogy
Season 1, like A New Hope, serves us a look at a world that’s fallen into chaos and tyrannical rule by both the Fire Nation and Empire, respectively. They both introduce us to our heroes and the reveal that there is hope, whether it be in the form of the Avatar returning after a hundred years or Luke Skywalker and the rebellion.
See where I’m going with this? Even down to some of the little things, like the death of Luke’s stepparents and Aang’s friend Monk Gyatso, share some strong similarities.
The conclusions of each even feature grand, final battles where Luke and Aang channel the hidden powers within themselves to yield a victory against the overwhelming forces at hand. Like A New Hope, Season 1 of Avatar: The Last Airbender is, well, hopeful! There’s a true sense of discovery, and optimism in that discovery, that makes them special.
But then the sequel happens, that’s where both stories differentiate just a bit. Much of The Empire Strikes Back, at least tonally, is a bit more bombastic and romantic than Season 2 of the show. The Empire Strikes Back is known for having one of the great twists in cinematic, while Avatar doesn’t quite reveal its cards just yet.
Instead, Season 2 of Avatar: The Last Airbender focuses more on themes of conspiracy, spirituality, and corrupt government sovereignty about the Earth Kingdom city of Ba Sing Se. It’s a lot more intricate, modern, and political than Empire in that sense.
It also focuses on the inner battle raging inside its main antagonist, Prince Zuko, all concluding with an appropriately named “The Crossroads of Destiny” episode.
The two stories differentiate plenty in terms of the subtext and themes throughout. But in terms of the major plot developments, they both conclude in eerily similar, and dark, ways; Luke loses his arm to Darth Vader, beloved scoundrel Han Solo is captured, and the aforementioned twist changes everything; Aang is momentarily killed by Azula and Ba Sing Se falls to the Fire Nation.
Even the way we get to these climactic points is similar, as Luke and Aang both abruptly leave their training after sensing their friends were in danger. Do you see what I mean? If you hadn’t realized some of these similarities until now, I hope your mind is absolutely blown to smithereens.
Endings aren’t easy, but Avatar comes full circle
To shorten this article (or collection of words that’d best be described as ramblings, whichever terminology you prefer), I’ll wrap things up by saying the final season is essentially “The Return of the Avatar.”
The main antagonists have their redemption, the main protagonist saves the world, and there are some cheerful parties at the end; you get the point. They’re both about bringing balance to the world — both perfectly paced and ending with a real sense of finality.
Now while my original thesis would claim otherwise, I don’t necessarily think Avatar: The Last Airbender is a better trilogy than the original Star Wars saga. The former may be more progressive — especially in terms of its character diversity — and politically substantive than the latter, but that doesn’t mean it’s better. I guess you could say I lied. However, what I will say is that the current era of Star Wars could seriously take a queue from what Avatar: The Last Airbender accomplished.
After The Last Jedi, there was a clear (and rightful) attempt made to reinvent and channel one of the most classic and beautiful lessons of fantasy stories: That anyone can make a difference. But then The Rise of Skywalker happened and threw all of that out the window, choosing to abandon what it had set up in its previous two movies to cater to nostalgia.
Avatar: The Last Airbender one-uped everything that the original Star Wars trilogy did. It has all the heart, all the beloved characters, all the jaw-dropping action, and is even more complex than most would associate with a Nickelodeon show.
Some would say it did Star Wars better than Star Wars did Star Wars. While that opinion won’t receive any dissent from me, I think the greater point to be made is that fantasy stories should, over time, adapt to the current state of our culture at large. Avatar: The Last Airbender showed how any medium is capable of that, while Star Wars didn’t seem to have an interest in actually trying.
Is Avatar: The Last Airbender one of the best shows of the decade? Sound off in the comments below! And if you haven’t checked out the show, you can watch all 3 seasons streaming now on Netflix.