Summary
Avatar’s Season 1 finale has some resonant emotional beats and large-scale action, but it’s just the beginning of a much larger story.
The ending of Avatar: The Last Airbender is only the beginning of Aang’s journey. Episode 8 of Season 1 certainly feels like a climax, with all the large-scale action and emotional beats you’d expect, but it’s far from it. The final scenes reveal a classic bit of Fire Nation misdirection that capably sets up Season 2 if the live-action adaptation is a hit – which it will be – for Netflix.
Avatar: The Last Airbender Season 1 Episode 8 Recap
The time has come for the “final battle”, so to speak, and the finale opens with Aang, Sokka, and Katara ambushing one of the Fire Nation’s ships. What they don’t realize, though, is that they have an enormous fleet coming over the horizon that Agna Qel’a’s warriors can’t hope to compete with.
Did Sai design the airship?
And this is the least of their problems. Agna Qel’a’s only advantage is its location, which only makes it accessible from the front, and then only by the water. But Zhao has gained access to a giant hot air balloon, a design courtesy of “spies in Omashu”, which will allow them to float straight over the capital’s defenses.
Side note: This is one of Sai’s designs which Sokka helped him with. So, his traitorous actions against Omashu had much more significant repercussions than he expected. I hope nobody tells him.
The Ice Moon
While the Northern Water Tribe prepares themselves for a traditional fight, with Katara convincing Pakku to allow all of the tribe’s women to join the battle, Zhao outlines to Iroh that he has another plot. The siege is taking place on the night of the Ice Moon when the Ocean and Moon Spirits take mortal form for one night to better understand humanity. Zhao plans to kill the Moon Spirit, from which all of the Waterbenders derive their power.
Kuruk appears to Aang and warns him of this plan since he can sense his dagger – which Zhao plans to use to kill the moon – nearby.
Zhao Kills the Moon
Aang goes with Sokka and Yue to prevent Zhao from carrying out this plan, leaving Katara to duel Zuko, who has snuck into Agna Qel’a alone to capture Aang. In the grove, Zhao spots two fish, one black and one white, swimming in a yin-and-yang pattern. Figuring this must be the spirits, he grabs the white fish, the Moon Spirit, and prepares to stab it.
Despite Iroh’s intervention, Zhao is able to skewer the fish, blotting out the moon and stripping the Waterbenders of their powers. The tide of the battle immediately turns, and the Fire Nation makes their move, crushing the resistance along the way.
Aang Turns Into Water Godzilla
To save the day, Aang gives himself to the Ocean Spirit, allowing it to channel through him and gain the powers of the Avatar. He becomes a giant rampaging kaiju-style monster and immediately sets about the Fire Nation fleet.
Water Godzilla decimates the Fire Nation while Zuko takes on Zhao, besting him easily. However, even in defeat Zhao can’t help but be petty and tells Zuko that his entire mission has just been Ozai’s way of inspiring Azula. Zuko is crushed. Iroh finally kills Zhao, and uncle and nephew escape together.
What happens at the end of Avatar: The Last Airbender Season 1?
At the end of Avatar: The Last Airbender, the battle is won by Water Godzilla, but Aang is doomed to a fate of roaming as a vengeful spirit, wandering the world looking for his partner, whom he’ll never find. Yue, who has some of the Moon Spirit inside her, rectifies this by becoming the new Moon Spirit, ending her mortal life but saving the day.
Aang, inspired by a speech from Katara about how much she needs him, returns, though he feels bad about the outcome of the battle and how much destruction was caused. However, he’s inspired by his friends to continue his journey and begin learning the other bending arts.
And he’ll need them since the end of the season reveals that the attack on Agna Qel’a was just misdirection so that Azula could conquer Omashu. With the return of Sozin’s Comet imminent, the Fire Nation’s conquest is far from over.
What did you think of Avatar: The Last Airbender Season 1 Episode 8 and the ending? Let us know in the comments.
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