Thanks to my (at the time) 5-year-old nephew, I became hooked on Avatar: The Last Airbender. I showed it to Justique. She loved it. She showed it to her friends. They loved it. Then I showed it to Neal. He loved it. Now there are at least eight of us between the ages of 20-26 that have a serious Avatar addiction.
Last week’s end of Book 3: Fire has left me with mixed feelings. [SPOILER ALERT from here on out.] I think that this Avatar season culminates in a fashion that might be a bit too happy for my tastes. We’ve still got villains in the form of a demoralized former Fire Lord Ozai and a chained Princess Azula. But just about everything else ended up in a nice, neat package.
The only cliffhanger / dangling plot thread is the mystery of Zuko’s mom (and potentially Katara’s mom as well). It’s vaguely interesting, but nothing too compelling. It feels like the creative team on the show planned for three seasons and stuck to their guns even when Avatar got renewed for three more seasons (making a total of six Avatar “Books” last that I heard).
And I think it’s awesome that they stuck to their guns. Too many “great” tales have been turned to “good” or “okay” by giving into the push for an endless bevy of serialized stories that can be marketed to an exhausted audience (*ahem* Star Wars *ahem*). But this ending is so happy that I actually wish the characters were in a bit more pain. The triumphant conclusion isn’t gratifying — it actually feels hollow. Where’s the suspense?
This time last year, I was absolutely riveted by the ending of Book 2: Earth. Now I feel a bit tired of the Avatar Universe. With so many missed airdates and never-ending plot teases, my patience was beginning to wear thin before Book 3 even ended.
I also feel like Nickelodeon has severely mismarketed this property, continuing to aim it exclusively at an adolescent demographic when the stories have an obvious appeal to the Generation Y crowd.
Speaking of marketing Avatar, what’s up with the Avatar trilogy of films directed by M. Night Shyamalan? He was quoted as saying that his first film would cover both Books 1 and 2. It’s hard to imagine how he would still make a trilogy out of this presuming that Books 3 and 4 would combine to make film number two.
So what does the future hold for this franchise? Do we follow our heroes as they rebuild a diverse world that’s free from the controlling hand of the Fire Nation? Do we get to see Aang restore the Air Temples now that he’s in touch with the spirit of the nature itself (a.k.a. will he “create” new airbenders now that he can give and take bending abilities)?
I would actually be fine if this was simply the end of Avatar. It could be nice to revisit the Avatar Universe down the road when Aang’s all grown up. Or maybe Nickelodeon should skip ahead in time significantly and let the story follow the next Avatar (you know, the one that would follow Aang). I guess all I’m wondering is: have we seen the last of the Last Airbender as we know him?
EDIT: I ask and Nickelodeon answers. According to an SDCC Avatar panel from this weekend’s Comic-Con International in San Diego, Avatar: The Last Airbender was always intended to be three Books / seasons. Furthermore, it’s just a bad rumor that there are going to be six seasons of Avatar. As we know it, the show is over.
As for the Airbender movie by Shyamalan, the first film will be a direct adaptation of Book 1: Water. At the panel, creators Michael DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko also said that they’re working to get an Avatar show soundtrack released.
Maybe Anng and his crew’s ends here and future seasons focus on previous avatars? Avatar Roku seems to have had some fun times as did Kyoshi and others. That, and more Airbenders would be more than enough to float the show for another one or two seasons.
i was so wrong about the future seasons. check out my edit to the original post above.
well, that makes a lot more sense.
That was an interesting point about not letting a series get to dragged on. Nick, what is your opinion about series that drag to a point of telling the main character as a child, adolescence, adult and eventually, parent? I’m curious because of future plot’s that I have thought of for shows I felt could go a little further
Edit: I meant are there shows that told long stories and were still enjoyable an not drag on to the point of exhausting the franchise? This is to anyone who wants to comment, not just to Nick.
i’m all about a series that takes a character from youth into adulthood. i love the serialized storytelling in comic books. spider-man WOULD have been a great example of a character that successfully matured from being a young teen into a father, but Marvel Comics got skittish and decided to de-age (well, more like de-mature) Peter Parker because of licensing, and possibly even storytelling nostalgia (because honestly i can’t see any other reasons why it was decided to decimate the character’s growth).
the thing about spidey is that these changes happened over the course of literally decades of stories. TV shows are rarely afforded over 40 years of time to tell their ongoing stories. it would be interesting, i feel, to see a show that took a season to explore an “era” in the character’s development. start them as an adolescent, put them in college in season 2, have them as a bachelor / bachelorette in season 3, and make them a parent in season 4. has that ever been done?
for Avatar, i’m glad we got the finite ending that we did. but it doesn’t feel, to me, like the story has actually completed. Robert McKee suggests that the optimal screenplay / story completes with an ending that’s so fantastic, you just can’t imagine how it could be topped. i agree with him in many respects. in that sense, i don’t feel that Avatar had that type of ending. i found the suspense and excitement of Book 2’s end to be far more “how can they top that?!” than the end of the series.
really, the ending is the hardest part when you’re taking something that was serialized and finishing it. Avatar and Y the Last Man both share a similar stumbling block in this respect, in my opinion.
WELL I THINK MOST OF YOU GUYS R RONG ABOUT AVATAR ENDEING. BUT THERE IS GOING TO BE LIVE ACTION MOVIES! I HAVE A BOOCK SAYING THEY WERE THINKING ABOUT IT. I REALY HAVE HOPE IN SEASON FOUR. I WOULD LIKE TO SEE WUT HAPPEND TO AZULA, ZUKOS MUM , IROH, AND IF BA SING SA MADE IT OK AND IF THE FIRE NATION HAS REBELS STILL LOYAL TO OZIA. IF THERE ISNT GOING TO BE A SEASON FOUR IM GOIN TO BE SAD *CRYING EYES OUT*. SO THERE BETTER BE A SEASON FOUR YOUR INTERESTED VIEW AND AVATAR FAN,AVATARROCKS08-09
THERE COULD BE A LOT OF THINGS TO MAKE FOR AVATAR SEASON FOUR
I LOV AVATAR SO MUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!. I REALLY HOPE THEY MAKE SEASON FOUR! I WANT TO KNOW WUT HAPPEND TO ZUZUS MUM AND AZULA AND IF THERE ARE REBELS STILL LOYAL TO OZIA. I WANT TO NO IF BA SING SA CHANGED MUCH. AND I WANT TO SE MORE OF IROH! IM AN IROH FAN!! PLUZ TOPH AND AANG FAN 2! OH AND A DEFFINET SOKKA FAN!
i love Uncle Iroh too. wish there was more of him in Sozin’s Comet.
Hopefully there is a short animation or mini movie that explains the whereabouts of Zuko’s mother, if there is indeed a sequel.. it would have to be about another avatar!?!???!
yeah it would have to be another one sadly… UNLESS… my friend suggested that they show Aang in the future, restoring the Air Temples, which was a good idea to me. then again, i think i’d rather see a second Avatar far in the future where there’s another situation similar to what Aang had to go thru (not the same, but an obstacle just as great). what if in that future the Air Temples were attempting to conquer the planet… interesting twist, eh?!!
Shyamalan just did an interview with MTV for the movies blog: http://moviesblog.mtv.com/2008/11/05/shyamalan-eager-to-transform-image-with-last-airbender-franchise/ i’m still very apprehensive, but i can’t wait to see the movie in 2010!!!