I watched Avatar The Last AirBender again and did an unconventional review you’d absolutely love: Part Two.

Crystabel Nnamdi
8 min readFeb 28, 2022

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“Failure is only the opportunity to begin again”

-General Iroh

If you read the first review, you deserve a tight hug. If you haven’t, now is a good time to catch up because we are now diving into other interesting characters.

I always begin with a quote from my fave who is supreme and really hacked this wisdom thing. Since we are on the subject of wisdom, I’ll proceed with the wise mother of Team Avatar, Katara.

TEAM AVATAR L-R: Aang, Sokka, Iroh, Zuko, Toph, Katara and Suki (The leader of the Kiyoshi warriors).

THE GREATEST WATERBENDER FROM THE SOUTHERN TRIBE — Re-watching this show, I realized the barriers Katara had to break as a woman so other women could materialize later on. Her mother died while they (Sokka and Katara) were young in a bid to protect her as the last water bender in the southern tribe, and she challenged the Great Master Pakku of the Northern Water Tribe in order to earn his respect to teach a female, water bending.

As we remember Katara for her bravery, never-die spirit, ability to balance the turmoil of life and enjoy the successes, we remember how much of a good friend she was to everyone. Katara always saw the good in everyone the team came across; from Haru, to Jet to even Zuko during the first Ba Sing Se takeover. She was never afraid to admit a person could do better. This perhaps made her such a phenomenal woman who deserved the honor of taking down an ambitious beaver-like Azula. Katara was a gift that never stopped giving. She put others before herself but never in a way she would jeopardize her self-worth. Being the strongest female lead of the show (I know Azula stans will hate), she dashes into pieces, certain stereotypical beliefs widely held about women. She involuntarily learns blood bending from the vengeful Hama in the last season, and in the most creative of ways, finds a means of drawing water from the atmosphere whenever needed for a fight.

Katara the Master Waterbender. Photo Credit: Deviantart

Katara has healing powers through the magic of water and you could literally see the “Water is life” narrative play out every time she healed someone with water. We might’ve even lost the Avatar after the Ba Sing Se takeover if not for her powers. During the show, we also get to see her trust in Aang morph into a crush, and as I heard from those who have watched The Legend of Korra (The Last Airbender’s sequel), marriage.

Even though this isn’t a bad thing, I honestly found it so cliché that she would end up with Aang. Jet gave attractive bad boy energy and let us not lie, she had a few “moments” with Zuko and even the brave Haru but hey, I’ll be proceeding to another character before Mai throws knives at me any minute.

AZULA — If you have read the 48 laws of power, the character Azula will seem quite familiar. She employs every technique so skillfully you would think she co-authored the book with Robert Greene. Azula is one of those the Fire Lord described to Zuko as “born lucky”. She is fast on her feet, quick to think up out-of-this-world ideas, and her manipulation skills are unrivaled. Azula manipulates every single person who shows a hint of weakness. Her greatest flaw however is, she was so weak a person, she only derived her strength from preying on others. This is why I love Mai’s response after she saved Zuko and Azula brought to her attention, the consequences of that treacherous act. Mai replies “You miscalculated. My love for Zuko is greater than my fear of you”.

Azula’s ambitiousness led to a painful sibling rivalry throughout the show between her and her only sibling Zuko. She spared no resource or deceitfulness in ensuring Zuko was constantly at his lowest. Women like Azula are the ones who give assertive women a horrible repute. If encountered in the world place, a cold-blooded manipulator who will always sacrifice others rather than act with compassion and selflessness can wreak untold havoc. Of course, we saw the extent of the damage she caused in this story, and the writers were intelligent enough to expose her frailty in the end. She shrouded herself in some much evil as it was revealed later on that her hate for Zuko hinged on the jealousy of Zuko being their mother’s favorite. I didn’t like her, but I definitely admired her guts, her grit, and how defiant she was to those who looked down on women. Let’s not even talk about how her FireBending was either lightning or blue flames; awesome!

Azula the fierce.

MAI — Indeed Ember Island helped Mai, the eventual Fire Lady of the Fire Nation, realize how much easier life would be when you open up. Mai and Zuko had a childhood crush we later get to see materialized into a lifetime of love. Incredibly skilled in martial arts and the perfect craftsman to turn everything into a deadly weapon, Mai started off the show bored with everything (Sokka even described her as the girl who sighs a lot, much to Zuko’s displeasure hehe) until she realized her stiff childhood of prohibited expressions was to blame. Her character is significant as we see her being the first person to stand up to a tyrant like Azula.

Mai. Photo Credit: Qutosx

A KIYOSHI EVER AFTER — Ty Lee is a sunflower. A cheerful little muffin who ordinarily would’ve been a wonderful friend to Azula other than a manipulated fighter. Ty Lee had no identity based on her family background, and in a bid to find her place in life, she fell into the wrong hands. Ty Lee had an uncommon mastery of human anatomy which allowed her to knock out any opponent by attacking vital power points of the body thereby rending them weak. She is a kind-hearted fellow who lost her way but later earned the trust of the imprisoned Kiyoshi warriors before joining them to put her special abilities to good use. You have to admit, their make-up looks gorgeous on her.

Ty Lee
The fighting trio: Azula, Ty Lee and Mai.

Before talking about other characters and I know the most anticipated, Aang, I’d like to drop a few lessons about parenting I learned from the show.

It is important to draw wisdom from many different places.

-General Iroh

If there is one lesson this cartoon repeatedly emphasized, it is why everyone who intends to birth a child should prepare to be a good parent. We see Monk Gyatso the caretaker in charge of Aang — how he defended him in the face of the other monks and sought to chide the child privately before realizing he had fled the temple. We learn from Hakoda the warrior Father of Sokka and Katara, conscious about building up his children with words of affirmation by telling them how proud of them he was, treating their ideas as human contributions, and buying into their ideologies while offering the necessary parental guidance along the way.

Aang and Monk Gyatso

Toph’s parents also reveal how influential parents have a tendency to over shield their kids and make them useless in a world that demands value and bravery every day. No matter how much you love your child, you must let them see the world through your eyes first before they are thrown into life’s complexities; else, they may not survive well. Toph’s Father is seen shielding her from the simple independence of being an earth bender, and Toph well, turned out great because she learned from those whose parents raised them right.

Zuko and Azula are cut from the same tree­­ — an ambitious father who pressurizes his children into a life they are not called for; who will treat every mistake like treason and force his children into a state of perpetually seeking his approval through the vilest of ways. He burdens his children with his desires, not taking into consideration the fact that they are humans who have a mind of their own.

The sorrows of parenting are not hidden either. “Leaves from the vine” is a heartbreaking song (still makes me cry) that General Iroh sings in remembrance of his son Lu Ten who died during the war; a war the young man had no business fighting if his Father had realized the devastating perils of war timely. Yet, I find consolation in how destiny used Iroh to present a better Father-figure to Zuko. The best lesson from their Uncle-Nephew turned Father-Son dynamic was how Iroh always believed Zuko would find his way and choose the right path. Parents need to console themselves with this hope especially when it seems like everything that needs to be done is done.

Leaves from the Vine, falling so slow

Like fragile tiny shells, drifting in the foam.

Little Soldier Boy, Come marching home.

Brave Soldier boy comes marching home.

The song of Iroh in remembrance of his late son Lu Ten.

Photo Credit: Pintrest

In honor of Makoto Iwamatsu, the voice-over of General Iroh in Book one and two.

I am truly appreciative of your reading so far. Stick with me, the last part of this review is ready.

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Crystabel Nnamdi

Stringing the alphabet into the most beautiful articles.