Netflix’s Avatar: The Last Airbender Recreates Lightning Bending IRL

Avatar: The Last Airbender has been taking over Netflix since the live-action series made its debut, and one of its big moments recreated Azula’s Lightning Bending in real life! Avatar: The Last Airbender made some key changes to its adaptation of the original Nickelodeon series for Netflix, and many of those changes included showcasing more of Azula and Fire Lord Ozai than seen in the first season of the original work. The live-action series reveals more of how Azula had an influence over things that went down with Zuko, and queued up some of the big moments she gets later. 

One of the big reveals it made with Azula was the fact that she seemed to be the only Fire Bender capable of wielding lightning. Revealed in Episode 7 of Netflix’s Avatar: The Last Airbender as Fire Lord Ozai continues to put her through trials, Azula showed her father that she could use this elevated form of Fire Bending in a destructive matter. It’s something that likely impressed Ozai, and will be showcased even more if the live-action series comes back with a second season in the future. 

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Avatar: The Last Airbender – What Is Lightning Bending?

Lightning generation was explained to be a rare form of bending that uses the inner energies of a person and flows it through their fingertips, and in the original Avatar: The Last Airbender it was revealed to be a skill that Azula had easily acquired despite how rare it was supposed to be. In Netflix’s version, it’s just something that Azula is able to do without any explanation of how it works just yet. But if the series returns for more episodes, it’s likely a technique we’ll see much more of. 

Avatar: The Last Airbender has yet to announce whether or not it will be returning for Season 2 with Netflix in the future, but it’s currently getting some impressive ratings with the streaming service in the first few days of its debut. Taking the top spot in over 80 countries as of the time of this writing, you can check out the eight episode first season for yourself now streaming with Netflix to see more of Azula and the other Fire Benders. 

How do you feel about Lightning Bending in Netflix’s Avatar: The Last Airbender? Let us know all of your thoughts about it in the comments! You can even reach out to me directly about all things animation and other cool stuff @Valdezology on X (formerly known as Twitter)!