Avatar: The Last Airbender Nearly Ruined it’s Flawless Ending With Season 4 Plans
Getting an ending satisfactory to fans and showrunners alike is a rare event. There are times when the showrunners want a different direction and times when fans want to see the story take another turn. However, the animated Nickelodeon show Avatar: The Last Airbender is one rarity with a perfect ending, loved by all fans. Even though they wished the show would go on, it was a pleasure to see Aang and his companions get the ending they deserved.
How Did Avatar: The Last Airbender End?
A perfect ending is one where the character’s story comes a full circle or eventually resolves the plot’s central conflict. In Nickelodeon’s Avatar: The Last Airbender, protagonist Aang starts his journey to master all the elements and become an Avatar after the Fire Nation begins erasing other nations from the planet. Following his awakening, Aang is subsequently able to defeat Lord Ozai and regain peace for the realm.
Fans absolutely loved the ending as it fulfilled Aang’s destiny and the primary issue was resolved, making it one of the most satisfying series finale. The three seasons of the animated show were precisely mapped and plotted to make each character’s growth evident as they grew up. Various threads of the story were ultimately tied together to form a concise bigger picture that the show was working towards.
Despite the fan-favorite four-part series finale, there were plans for another season to air and continue the story. This made fans wonder what the fourth season would entail since the story was resolved by the end of season 3. Aang receives a satisfying end to his story, enabling him to move on and go on more adventures. Not just Aang, even Zuko, Katara, and Azula receive accurate character arcs in the finale episode titled Sozin’s Comet.
Plans for Avatar: The Last Airbender Season 4
The season 3 finale of Avatar: The Last Airbender witnesses Zuko’s fight with his sister Azula, who is enraged and hell-bent on destroying her brother. Zuko focuses on saving Katara and eventually succeeds in emerging victorious. The writers of the show revealed that season 4 would have focused on Azula’s redemption arc with the help of her brother Zuko. Similar to how he leaves the Fire Nation to chart his path in life, Azula would have followed a similar path to rediscover her destiny and redeem herself. In an interview with Den of Geek, writer Aaron Ehasz shared,
“The story I wanted to tell with Aang was about him struggling with taking some of that inside and probably a considerable amount of anger and guilt and big feelings. By the way, guess who would be the best person to have a mini vacation with? It’s Zuko! Someone who’s processed a lot of anger on his own, right?”
Also Read: Avatar: The Last Airbender Potential Season 4 Plot Details Revealed by Head Writer
Although this aligns with the show’s overall theme of staying true to oneself, fans were skeptical about having the attention taken off of Aang completely to have the secondary characters in the spotlight. While Azula’s story can make for a good spinoff series, the show did not need an additional season after Fire Lord Ozai’s defeat. Considering both original creators Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Kotnietzko are working on the live-action adaptation by Netflix, it might be possible that the unused season 4 plans can be put to use in the latest show. This will add more value to the secondary characters’ storyline while giving Aang the finality he deserves.
