ENTERTAINMENT

A Legend for the New American Century

“Avatar: The Last Airbender” tells a revolutionary humanitarian parable.

Five generations of “Fire Lords”: dynastic rulers of the Fire Nation. Their combined reign corresponds roughly to the Edo period in Japan (1603–1868).

Water. Earth. Fire. Air.

Long ago, the four nations lived together in harmony. Then, everything changed when the Fire Nation attacked. Only the Avatar, master of all four elements, could stop them… But when the world needed him most, he vanished.

Avatar is back — and not a second too soon. Forged in the flames of post-9/11 America, the show is as timeless as a folk song: like it was never new, but will never get old. Avatar: The Last Airbender is a classic fantasy epic that confronts audiences of all ages with hard questions about war, redemption, family, responsibility, imperialism, and tyranny.

Civilizations in the Avatar universe are based on the four elements: the Water Tribes, the Earth Kingdom, the Fire Nation, and the Air Nomads.

Each character belongs to one of four ancient civilizations: the Water Tribes, the Earth Kingdom, the Fire Nation, or the Air Nomads. But some characters are “benders”: they have psychokinetic powers over the element…