Avatar: The Last Airbender Season 2’s Controversial Ending Change Sets Up Aang’s Biggest Season 3 Conflict

The ending of Avatar: The Last Airbender Season 2 makes a controversial change to Aang’s story, but it does have one benefit: it sets up his Season 3 conflict nicely. SPOILERS ahead for Netflix’s Avatar: The Last Airbender Season 2. Netflix’s ATLA shifts away from its source material on multiple occasions, with some instances serving the narrative better than others. Expanding on Sokka’s grief and giving Jet an on-screen death are positive ways the adaptation builds on the original. Yet choices like altering Mai and Ty Lee’s dynamic present more problems heading into the final season.

And there’s one difference that straddles the line between being controversial and being effective. It arrives at the end of Season 2 and resolves one of Aang’s greatest challenges without the crucial development seen in the original. In doing so, the Netflix series alter Aang’s character and could hurt his story going forward. But despite the problems surrounding this change, it does lay the foundation for a major Avatar: The Last Airbender Season 3 conflict.

Aang Entering the Avatar State & Almost Beating Azula Is ATLA Season 2’s Most Controversial Choice

In both Avatar: The Last Airbender Season 2 and Book 2, Aang avoids going into the Avatar State following the Siege of the North. He’s afraid to lose control of it again, so he resists the suggestions that he should use it to his advantage. It’s only toward the end of Book 2 that he seeks out Guru Pathik in the hopes of mastering his strongest form. And even after their training, he fails to reach it, as he refuses to let go of Katara. Aang runs off mid-session to save her, and he doesn’t truly try to let her go until they’re losing to Azula. Even then, he makes that choice to save Katara, so it’s clearly still an issue. We never find out if Aang would’ve reached the Avatar State here, though, as Azula strikes him down while he’s transforming. It marks a win for the Fire Nation in the Crystal Catacombs, and it nearly kills Aang. It also prevents him from accessing the Avatar State for most of Book 3.

Netflix’s live-action series keeps Aang’s fear of the Avatar State as a key conflict, but it changes resolution to this story. Aang never meets with the Guru, nor does he choose Katara over his duty as the Avatar. And during his fight with Azula, he actually reaches the Avatar State and controls it. It’s a controversial choice, and it feels unearned. After all, it removes all the character work the animated series does to get there. It also doesn’t make much sense story-wise, as Azula shouldn’t be able to do so much damage when Aang’s fully in the Avatar State. It goes without saying, then, that this change is getting a lot of flak online. It’s certainly the most questionable one Season 2 makes to the original show. There is one clever moment of foreshadowing that comes from it, however.

Aang Sparing Azula Sets Up His Avatar: The Last Airbender Season 3 Conflict Nicely

Aang mastering the Avatar State at the end of Avatar: The Last Airbender Season 2 is a dubious choice, but it lays the foundation for a major Season 3 storyline. After entering the Avatar State, Gordon Cormier’s lead gains the upper hand against Azula. He evades her attacks and bombards her with his own, eventually leaving her at his mercy. The main reason she’s able to land a hit on him is because he hesitates before he can go too far. I’m still not convinced she’d be capable of nearly killing him while he’s fully transformed, but logistics aside, this moment demonstrates the depth of Aang’s compassion. When he has control over the Avatar State, he refuses to kill anyone with it — even someone as cruel as Azula.

This is the product of his Air Nomad upbringing, and it perfectly sets the stage for Aang’s biggest conflict in Season 3. Avatar: The Last Airbender Book 3 sees Aang agonizing over killing Fire Lord Ozai because it goes against his pacifist beliefs. Even his past lives tell him he needs to kill the villain, but he desperately seeks another way to defeat him. This inner struggle dominates much of Book 3, and it should be central to Avatar: The Last Airbender Season 3. Aang sparing Azula bodes well for its inclusion, as it sees him making the same choice in a similar situation. Hopefully, the Netflix show gives this Aang story the weight it deserves. It’s easily the most important part of his arc over all three seasons.

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