Netflix's Avatar: The Last Airbender Skips Through Aang's Most Important Arc In One Episode

This is Aang's most important trip, and it's also at the heart of the whole show, Avatar: The Last Airbender. It only has one show left.

Netflix's Avatar: The Last Airbender smartly concludes Aang's main storyline in one episode rather than over the season. Most of the pilot follows the original animated series. 

Except for a frigid beginning showing Sozin's killing of the Air Nomads, the episode follows its animated counterpart, where Water Tribe siblings Katara and Sokka locate a mysterious iceberg child.

After two years producing the Netflix live-action adaptation, Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko, the creators of the animated fantasy adventure series, left owing to creative differences.

Fans and "intimidated" showrunner Albert Kim were surprised and asked if there was "a way to improve upon the original" (Entertainment Weekly). 

Aang's character makeover occurred faster than in the original animated series, therefore fans may say nay.In Avatar, energetic, fun-loving Aang struggles with being forced to take on a mantle he doesn't want. 

This battle and his blunders are crucial to Aang's character and development as an Avatar. The pilot shows that Aang denies knowing the Avatar when Katara asks him about him. 

 In "The Storm," Aang informs Katara that he fled his duty because he was afraid of becoming the Avatar and leaving home and Gyatso.

The Netflix pilot portrays Aang as a playful kid through a Southern Air Temple soliloquy: "I like to play airball, eat banana cakes, and hang out with my buddies. That's me—not a Fire Nation stopper.

The short moments of post-century Aang playing with the Water Tribe youngsters and entertaining the Kyoshi Island kids don't capture his innocent charm.

I don't want to leave," he says with tears. I don't want the duty. I'm afraid." Instead of running away, Aang rides with Appa to clear his thoughts "where things always make more sense." He heads back, and the storm hits.

The live-action emphasises Aang's Avatar tasks and minimises character growth. Removes the flaws that make animated Aang compelling. He's responsible and mature. What to learn? Netflix only shows Aang how hard life is and what the Avatar does. 

Being the Avatar first required more than power and politics. Learning from friends and foes.The first episode ends with Aang saying, "I'm the Avatar, and this is just the beginning." Alterations include ending Aang's first episode arc. 

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