The shortened run (a mere 12 episodes, compared to the 20+ in each season of Avatar: The Last Airbender) resulted in a localized focus and a more cohesive, cinematic story.
Fans of the series were introduced to a drastically different protagonist than Aang, which ensured that The Legend of Korra would be much more than a retread of what we saw in Avatar: The Last Airbender. My Favorite Episode: “And the Winner Is…”īook 1: Air saw the Avatar reincarnate like Michael Jordan coming back to wear the 4-5. When Aang, Katara, and Sokka reached the Northern Water Tribe in Episode 18, viewers got a glimpse of the potential for expansion in both the physical and spiritual worlds of the Avatar Universe, a potential that we would see fully manifest over the next six seasons. Episodes like “Jet” and “The Blue Spirit,” presented a moral gray-area, setting the stage for complex conflicts in future seasons. We were introduced to a cast of diverse, well-rounded characters, in an animated show with a lot of heart. But Water laid some solid foundations for the franchise. The universe was also very small at this point, and the show's capacity to amaze expanded as its universe grew. Zuko, one of Avatar's best characters, was still very early in his character arc. Water had yet to see the introduction of great heroes, such as Toph, and great villains, such as Azula. Avatar is a franchise that got better with time, and therefore, as great as Water was, things only got better from there. My Favorite Episode: "The Siege of the North, Part 1 & Part 2"īook 1 of Avatar: The Last Airbender falls at number 6 entirely by default. All of these things combined to form a dense fog around Spirit's flashes of brilliance.Ħ. Not to mention that the protagonist went so far left in her character development that a lot of fans began to hate her. And what it was, was poorly paced, kind of disjointed, and a little boring. And we can't judge Spirits for what it could have been we have to judge it for what it was. Book 1, Book 2, and the collective of Books 3 and 4 were all ordered separately, hence the disjointed stories, awkward pacing, and the greater continuity between Books 3 and 4, than between any of the other books. Korra was never supposed to be four books long. That would have provided the overall cohesion and pacing that sets Avatar: The Last Airbender (as a complete series) just a notch above The Legend of Korra (as a complete series).īut the conception of Korra was disjointed, preventing a huge arcing story like in The Last Airbender. Finally, after Korra faced all the lesser villains and the world was on the brink of plunging into 10,000 years of darkness and chaos, Korra should have faced UnaVaatu, restoring Balance at the end of the series.
Vaatu should have influenced all of the Korra villains' attempts to bring chaos and darkness to the world, growing stronger as the Harmonic Convergence neared. The Dark Avatar concept should have been introduced in Book 1 of The Legend of Korra. Unfortunately, the Dark Avatar concept is also the point when you start to realize everything that Spirits could have been. Not to mention the Dark Avatar concept, a villain concept so groundbreaking for the franchise, that it made you rethink everything you knew about the Avatar universe. It included two of the best episodes of the entire franchise, in "The Beginnings, Part 1 & Part 2." It introduced fan favorites such Varrick, Zhu Li, Bumi, Kya, and Eska, and reintroduced one of the most beloved Avatar characters of all-time: Iroh.
Spirits facilitated a massive expansion of the Avatar universe.
If we're perfectly honest, it was good, but it could have been great. My Favorite Episode: "The Beginnings, Part 1 & Part 2" Since "The Beginnings" episodes also serve as a stand alone origin story, I will include another episode: "A New Spiritual Age."īook 2: Spirits ranks at the bottom of all the seasons of Avatar mostly due to unrealized potential. **Spoilers for all of Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra to follow** In this article, I will countdown the 7 seasons, or books, of the two shows to establish the best and worst seasons of the Avatar Franchise. The show was commended for its diverse characters, expansive universe, and complex stories. The follow-up series, The Legend of Korra, aired in 2012, and managed to uphold the legacy of its predecessor, while pushing the franchise forward into new territory.
First airing in 2005, Avatar: The Last Airbender, was met with near universal acclaim and has been held up over time as a beloved animated television series.