Netflix’s Avatar: The Last Airbender Finally Confirmed One Character’s Fate On-Screen After 20 Years

June 27, 2026, 10:00am

Netflix’s Avatar: The Last Airbender continues to make major changes to the Nickelodeon series, and one of them allows Season 2 to confirm a supporting character’s fate on-screen after 20 years. The original Last Airbender may be lighthearted and charming, but it doesn’t shy away from loss. Yue is a prime example of this, giving her life to revive the Moon Spirit at the end of Book 1 — and she’s not the only person to make the ultimate sacrifice as the show continues. Another one of Team Avatar’s allies dies during Book 2, but it’s heavily alluded to rather than outright shown on-screen.

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The live-action Avatar: The Last Airbender seizes the opportunity to make this death less ambiguous, and despite changes to the surrounding circumstances, it gives the character better closure. It’s one way the Netflix adaptation improves on the original, and it makes perfect sense. Given the series’ tonal changes, sticking to the script in this instance just wouldn’t fit. SPOILERS ahead for Avatar: The Last Airbender Season 2 on Netflix.

20 Years Ago, Jet’s Fate Was Left Ambiguous in ATLA’s “Lake Laogai”

Jet perishes in both versions of Avatar: The Last Airbender, but the live-action show finally depicts the character’s fate on-screen. When Team Avatar uncovers Long Feng’s operations under Lake Laogai in the original series, the resulting fight doesn’t end well for Jet. Brainwashed by the Earth Kingdom, Jet turns on Aang at Long Feng’s command. And although he’s able to break the spell mid-fight, the Dai Li’s leader hits him with an Earthbending attack before running off. It’s a hit that doesn’t look bad on the surface, but it leaves Jet sprawled out on the ground. That’s where Team Avatar last sees him, as his fellow Freedom Fighters cry and Jet insists he’ll be fine.

We know this isn’t true, as Toph tells Sokka that he’s lying — but that could mean anything from Jet being permanently injured to the character being on death’s door. It’s left fairly ambiguous on-screen, though we never see Jet again, so viewers can put the pieces together. And Jet’s fate has been confirmed since, with creators Bryan Konietzko and Michael Dante DiMartino admitting he’s gone in behind-the-scenes commentary for the DVDs (via Fandom). Their decision to be more subtle makes sense for the animated show. However, Netflix’s iteration goes in a different direction.

The Live-Action Avatar: The Last Airbender Gives Jet a More Obvious On-Screen Death

In the live-action Avatar: The Last Airbender, Jet’s death comes in a very different form — but it’s actually shown on-screen. After reuniting with the Gaang, Jet accompanies them to Wan Shi Tong’s Library in the Spirit World, where the owl spirit eventually learns they’re using its knowledge for war. It attacks and chases them out of the library, just like in the animated show. However, in a mash-up of Book 2’s storylines, Jet offers to distract the beast while the others escape. It’s a heroic last stand, and it gives his character closure in a more obvious manner.

While this iteration of Jet’s death still sees Team Avatar rushing off to the next problem, one detail confirms Jet’s fate with certainty: his body disappears from the physical realm. Since the group visits Wan Shi Tong’s Library in the Spirit World, their bodies are left unconscious in Ba Sing Se. When they return to their realm, they wake up…or, in the case of Professor Zei and Jet, they vanish upon their spirits ceasing to exist. That’s the best confirmation we’ll get that Jet’s gone for good, and it works for the Netflix adaptation.

Avatar: The Last Airbender Season 2’s Jet Change Makes Sense for the Live-Action Series

It’s nice to see Jet get some on-screen closure after 20 years, and the choice to actually show his death makes sense for Netflix’s Last Airbender. Although the live-action series pulls off a more faithful approach to the original’s humor in Season 2, it remains a darker telling of this story. Unlike the Nickelodeon show, it regularly depicts death on-screen. And to its credit, this does make the weight of the ongoing conflict feel heavier, adding to the stakes of Aang’s story. Its unflinching approach would make it odd to leave such a prominent character’s fate hanging in the balance, though. Just as Jet’s more ambiguous send-off is tonally consistent for the original show, this one suits its live-action counterpart. It bodes well for the showdowns coming in Avatar: The Last Airbender Season 3, too.

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