BurntToShreds wrote:
I feel like talking about Avatar the Last Airbender. More specifically, the part where Aang uses Spirit Bending to get rid of the Fire Lord's powers.
I think that is stupid.
It was most likely because of executive censorship. I mean, it came almost out of nowhere. There was ONE PICTURE of the Lion-Turtle Aang talks to, and that was all the way back in Book Two, so it doesn't really count. Coupled with the vagueness of Jet's death, which the creators were pretty rustled off with having to do, it's pretty obvious that it was censorship. I mean, when you are a cosmic force for balance, and all of your past lives tell you to kill the Fire Lord, but it just so happens that you're sitting on top of an ancient creature that teaches you how to take away someone's bending, it's pretty obvious. If it was earlier in the season, then yes, I would take it, but when it's in the SECOND TO LAST EPISODE, then no, that's bollocks.
What do you guys think?
No, I liked that.
Aang was wrestling with his destiny and his morality for the whole third season - and he only got his answer just before the final battle - if he had been given the answer any earlier he would have been able to shrug off all his angst and hang ups relating to having to kill the Fire Lord too easily (recall just how many episodes called into question the contradiction between Aang's destiny and his morality - especially toward the end).In the end he made the choice - he took control of the situation instead of letting the weight of all the previous avatars control his decisions - he finally came to terms with being the avatar and listened to himself instead of everyone else and the way he took out the Fire Lord was the perfect way of demonstrating him finally being a fully realised avatar.It was a very mature way of ending the series - because killing your enemy in order to get rid of them is too easy, too primitive - and in reality rarely solves the problem because subordinates invariably step in to take the place of the fallen kingpin (plus they have a bent for revenge to boot).The way Aang dealt with the Fire Lord was a demonstration of his level of enlightenment and was a metaphor for dealing with conflict by understanding your opponent instead of killing them - and it demonstrated to an impressionable audience that there are other options to killing (albeit a fantastical way in this instance).
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