Yes, time does that weird thing where child actors grow between years. No, Gordon Cormier does not look or sound now or in the third season like a college student or a man, and Aang not being exactly as small as before doesn't make the series bad. And hanging onto this as the ultimate criticism to hate the Live Action just makes you annoying and stuck.
On set of Avatar: The Last Airbender season 2 with Toph, more practical sets, and 'Fire Nation succession' (exclusive)
In early March 2024, the principal stars of Avatar: The Last Airbender, Netflix’s live-action retelling of the beloved Nickelodeon cartoon, gathered over Zoom under uncertain pretenses. A request for a seemingly general meeting about season 2 came “out of the blue, completely random” within weeks of the season 1 premiere, Ian Ousley (boomerang-throwing Sokka) tells Entertainment Weekly.
The show seemed like a success on paper. Based on the publicly shared stats, the show reached 21.2 million views within four days on Netflix, topped the streamer’s English-language TV chart, and broke into the top 10 in 92 countries. Yet, when it came to the prospect of a renewal, “Some people felt confident and some people were really very nervous,” Kiawentiio (waterbending Katara) notes.
“You just never know,” Elizabeth Yu (Fire Nation Princess Azula) adds. “Sometimes a show could be huge and there just isn't a place for it to get to see the story through.”
Ousley, Kiawentiio, and Yu joined the call with Gordon Cormier (Aang), Dallas Liu (Zuko), and Paul Sun-Hyung Lee (Iroh), with Daniel Dae Kim(Fire Lord Ozai) taking charge of the conversation. It wasn't long before he dropped a bomb: “I’m sorry if this was unexpected, but they are not able to announce a season 2 for our show.”
The faces of the young stars — who grew up on set making season 2 — said it all. “I'm not hiding it very well,” the star behind the titular Avatar admits of that Zoom call, “but I feel like I was almost so shocked that I was smiling out of a coping mechanism.”
Ousley has one issue with that video in hindsight. “They zoomed in on my face and I'm tearing up. That was [from a different call] when Albert Kim, who was our season 1 showrunner, told us how proud of us he was,” the actor recalls. “When Daniel was like, ‘Season 2’s not happening,’ I was like, ‘Hmm. I don't know if I'm buying this.’”
He had good reason to be suspicious. Seconds later, Kim broke the real news: “They’re not able to announce a season 2 because they would like to announce season 2 and season 3.”
“[We] group FaceTimed within three minutes of the Zoom finishing,” Cormier recalls. “We all talked for like 45 minutes, all just expressing our joy to get back to it.”
The Aang gang officially reassembled later that September, about three years after filming season 1, to shoot both 2 and 3 back-to-back over the course of a calendar year — all to see the full live-action adaptation through to the end.
A significant time jump was built into the season 2 plan to account for the cast’s real-time aging. When Jabbar Raisani, a lead season 2 executive producer, first met Cormier, “He literally went up to my belly button,” he points out, “and now he's taller than me.” Returning to Netflix this June 25, the story picks up when the characters are noticeably older, though Raisani mentions, “We don’t get into how many months it is” after the events of that season 1 finale.
It’s at least clear that a lot happened during that span off screen, including Aang and Katara becoming much more adept at waterbending. Raisani and his EP counterpart, Christine Boylan, used that time jump to solve a time-and-resources problem. “There are so many adventures that exist in the animated series that we couldn't put in the show,” Boylan says. “A lot of it falls in between seasons, and it can happen even in between episodes.”
There’s still plenty of ground to cover, including what transpires in the Earth Kingdom capital of Ba Sing Sei and the arrival of fan-favorite Toph (Miyako), the blind earthbender and a crucial member of Team Avatar.
The seat of Earth Kingdom power
Boylan, promoted from her season 1 position of co-executive producer, says they had two requests heading into the sophomore run: more practical sets and what she calls “Fire Nation succession.”
The impact of the first point is apparent on a gloomy day in late February 2025 on the Vancouver production. Raisani, who also served as a director and visual effects supervisor on season 1, estimates they had “10 times” more sets and locations this time around, while the Volume, an LED-lit stage used for virtual production, was scaled back.
One such set lies in the city’s Flavelle, Port Moody location, where a sprawling makeshift village depicts different boroughs of Ba Sing Se, the next target in Fire Lord Ozai’s mission for global domination. Imagery of Badgermoles and Lion Turtles adorn the nearby roofing as Easter eggs.
It’s the same location where Shōgun, FX’s Emmys-sweeping historical epic, previously set up shop. Boylan acknowledges, “Are we going to look like Shōgun?” became a recurring question, given the Asian influence and medieval time period. To ensure the answer remained no, they went back to the cartoon for inspiration.
“The rules are specifically that the Earth Kingdom is Japan and China, the Fire Nation is Southeast Asia, the Air Nomads are very much Tibet, and then the Water Tribes are First Nations,” production designer Michael Wylie mentions on a stroll through the upper and lower rings of their Ba Sing Se — distinctions established by Avatar: The Last Airbendercreators Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko.
This cultural fusion — visible through the various food markets, bazaars, and tea shops along the main streets — is reflective of the writers’ launching pad for the season arc, which the executive producers describe as “the immigrant experience.” It came straight from the source material, while the writers’ room also pulled from personal experiences and historical research.
As civilians of the surrounding areas become displaced by the Fire Nation, more and more refugees, including Zuko and Iroh, who’ve been living off the grid, make their way to the capital. However, upon arrival, a propaganda machine is in full effect to persuade the Earth King’s subjects that “there is no war in Ba Sing Se” (to quote a familiar phrase from the animated original).
“Underground” (i.e. the indoor stages at the neighboring CMPP Studios in Vancouver) lies a sprawling network of gravelly tunnels illuminated by glowing gems embedded in the walls. These are the Crystal Caves, where Joo Dee (Amanda Zhou), Ba Sing Se’s Cultural Ambassador, is undergoing a reprogramming of sorts. On set, Boylan makes references to Get Out and HBO’s The Sympathizer.
“This is a show about life during war time,” Boylan says. “This is a show about these kids bonding. This is a show about these kids trying to come of age in this world and remake the world in a better way.”
Cormier calls himself "the Half Avatar" at this point, a reference to how Aang now has two elements under his belt but still needs to master earth and fire. “We have this banger first episode where everything comes together and we reintroduce everybody," he says.
Viewers have already seen glimpses of the premiere, which involves Aang and Katara subduing a sea serpent while guiding refugees across a treacherous path. Cormier filmed the sequence atop a surfboard rig in front of blue screen to emulate the Avatar skating across the water’s surface.
“It was on a wire so it would sway, but we’re also trying to move our bodies in the sense that we’re waterbending,” he recalls. “That was quite difficult. Not for Kiawentiio, though. She got it within the span of like 40 minutes of rehearsing.”
As Katara mentors Aang in waterbending, Kiawentiio did the same for Cormier, who says his costar was “incredible coaching me in between takes.”
Katara is a formidable bender and healer at this stage of the story, and Kiawentiio was eager to adapt a particular arc from the cartoon: the Painted Lady. Katara dresses as this figure from folklore to help immigrants going through tough times.
“I felt so beautiful as the Painted Lady,” she says. “And, sure, the makeup took longer than I had ever been in this chair beforehand, but it was totally worth it. The girls ate it up. I want to shout them out because of how much detail is in the makeup.”
The Painted Lady arc doesn’t come into play until the third season of the animated original, but according to Kiawentiio, the writers tried various ways to adapt this plot point before realizing “it’s not going to be able to fit anywhere else” in their grand plan.
Following the tone of season 2, similar animation-to-live-action remixes are in store again, including with Sokka. “There’s so much weight that gets shifted around,” Ousley acknowledges. “The original animated show is amazing and also very emotionally deep, but it also touches on a lot of very mature topics that translate differently.”
For him, it was important to make sure Sokka wasn’t moving on too quickly from the loss of Princess Yue (Amber Midthunder), his love interest whose spirit returned to the moon in the season 1 finale’s Water Tribe battle. “That was just trying to make sure it didn’t look like he was a playboy, to be honest,” Ousley continues. “When you find him here in season 2, he has gone through something very traumatic where he’s still feeling a lot of responsibility.”
Toph as nails
Another member of Team Aang enters the fold in season 2. On set, it’s easy to point out her home in Ba Sing Se. Just look for the Beifong family crest: a winged boar.
Toph Beifong is the daughter of an affluent family in the Earth Kingdom city. She’s blind, so her parents treat her like a delicate child, when in reality she’s one of the most proficient earthbenders in the world. In between takes, Ryan Halprin, another EP, plays footage on his laptop of “Toph vision” — what it looks like when the girl uses her bending to see by tapping into the vibrations of the earth.
Batman’s SONAR surveillance system in Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight became an inspiration for the visuals. “I really started with Miyako,” Raisani says of developing that element. “It is about how she moves and how she functions as an earthbender.”
The team auditioned a wide swath of performers for the role, including blind, visually impaired, and low-vision actors. According to Boylan, a challenge emerged because “Toph can see, just not in the traditional sense.”
Miyako was someone who auditioned “for a couple parts” on season 1, the actress says, but she surmises she was too young at the age of 13 for any of them. The casting director kept her self-tape on file and, five years later, the Toph role came around. “That was a blessing in disguise,” Miyako says.
“She is the blunt truth teller of the group,” Boylan describes the new addition. “She has no shame about pretty much anything, which is the best kind of person to have along with you. She's also a tank.”
Blindness consultant Joe Strechay and his assistant trained with Miyako for six months prior to filming, in addition to attending every stunt rehearsal. The actress wore various contact lenses, some of which restricted her vision, to enhance the look. “My biggest concern was actually portraying a character who's blind or has low vision because I am not and I will never know what that's like,” Miyako says, while acknowledging Strechay’s team “took a lot of pressure off.”
A self-professed “hardcore fan” of the Nickelodeon series with her older brother, the actress describes her first day on set: filming the character's introduction. Aang and friends first witness her in action as “the Blind Bandit,” a participant in the underground “Earth Rumble” fighting tournament facing down the Boulder, a beefy sumo wrestler-type earthbender.
“I felt very nervous,” she remembers of that day. “It was not only Toph’s entrance, but it was mine. I needed to show what I was made of. I needed to show what I was gonna do for the rest of the season, and this sets the tone.”
Heated sibling rivalry
Inside the Crystal Caves stage in summer 2025, the team prepares a different kind of fight scene, one between Zuko and Azula. Liu, with his prior martial arts training, performs a backflip on command to dodge oncoming fire blasts (to be inserted in post). He lands with ease and performs a bending move with his arms, indicating the dispersing of his sister’s blue flames.
Yu, too, appears confident in her element. This time around, she arrives to set with sharp, extended fingernails to emulate that character feature in the animated show. The actress, also known for Todd Haynes' film May December, later comments on that subtle addition in a May 2026 interview.
“I went to Rebecca, who was the head of the makeup department,” she recalls. “I was like, ‘Can we try it?! What do you think?’ Because it's so iconic from the animation. They're very claw-like. She was like, ‘If you're down with wearing long nails for a year straight, then yes, we can do it.’”
Discussing their Crystal Caves clash, Liu remembers how “the nail punctured a hole in my hand at one point.”
“I felt terrible,” Yu responds, “but I felt like Azula did her job…. They were a real-life weapon, almost.”
The sibling rivalry remains heated throughout season 2 as that idea of “Fire Nation succession” lingers in the characters’ minds. Zuko remains in exile but always with the promise of redemption should he capture the Avatar, while Azula is determined to prove herself as the rightful heir.
It's all about “trying to become dad's favorite" and "trying to play the game in order to try to succeed,” Yu says.
“I love royalty stories, I love sibling rivalries,” Boylan adds. “I am a reader of history, and pulling from different battles and different monarchies and all of those unstable world events was super interesting to inform the Fire Nation side of things.”
To enhance this sibling dynamic, the writers’ gave Zuko and Azula’s mom, who features in a much smaller storyline in the original, an expanded presence in the live-action drama. Lily Gao (Twisted Metal) portrays Ursa, whose memory plagues both of her children in their teenage years.
“The reason they can be so feisty with each other and so hurtful towards each other is because they are family, because they experienced trauma on such a deep level,” Liu explains. “It was only the two of them that know truly what happened. It really adds another layer to this sibling dynamic. It's not just a rivalry. It is an older brother and a younger sister trying to figure out who they are and how to handle healing from this [in] two very, very drastically different ways.”
Liu adds, "Two different ways, two different colors of fire."
It's a long road ahead for these children of the Fire Nation, and the actors already shot more standout moments coming for the final season. Those include the “Agni Kai” firebender duel, which Liu enthusiastically calls “the coolest thing I've ever done in my life."
Another is the final face-off against Ozai. While on set, an executive producer mentions how they had to preemptively save a chunk of their budget on season 2 “knowing we’re going to need to go all-out.”
"It was huge," Cormier remarks. "Everything about it was big. I don't think we've ever shot a fight sequence as long as that one took. It was probably over the span of two weeks, and I think we went back to it quite a bit...Lots of wires, lots of insane stunts."
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The ending of the live-action Avatar: The Last Airbender is on everyone's minds even while filming season 2 last year. Boylan carries around a giant white binder labeled “season 3” while filming the Crystal Caves episodes. At one point, her assistant runs over to pull her away from the shoot, saying, “Season 3 Netflix meeting in 15 minutes.” Gabe Llanas, a co-executive producer, mentions in between takes, “We’re rewriting season 3 while working on season 2."
Liu and Yu remain deeply grateful and visibly enthused to be able to tell the entirety of the main Avatar story, even if the double-renewal first came with a fake-out.
“While we thought season 1 was good, we knew that we could do better,” Liu says. “Because so much time had passed, we were really ready to prove ourselves as actors. As young indigenous actors, we really wanted to show the world [that] this is an opportunity that has been presented to us that we're not gonna take for granted."
Most Zutara in SuperHeros settings AUs is usually spiderman or ladybug, so I tried to do them in DC aka with DickKory (Nightwing/1stRobin x Starfire) from TeenTitans or Titans.
But I couldn't figure out which version I liked more, so I decided to do both))
I really struggled with Katara's second design..
Like, I really wanted to do second designs in their Book 3 outfits, so I tried Katara being a full warrior of the South Water Tribe! I decided to do her in Sokka's design in Book 1 episode 2 (when Zuko came to them) (and I really liked this warrior makeup), but still keep her in her Book 3 outfit. In the end I didn't like it, so I tried to put her in traditional Inuit bone armour with some shoulder pieces from live action. I like this more, but I'm still not fully satisfied...
I always found aang's jealousy ooc in 3x17. I mean, he didn't care about jet , even though katara obviously had feelings for him. thought
I don’t think it was ooc as such, but I thought it wasn’t properly built narratively (the romance writing in Book 3 was just off all around, except for Sokka/Suki).
In Book 1, Aang has developed slowly a puppy crush on Katara, which we saw go into full swing in The Fortuneteller (which is set after Jet), but it was something he was easily distracted from as well whenever there were lots of people around him.
It was mainly during Book 2 that his feelings started to become increasingly intense and possessive, to the point where it became the biggest hurdle of his growth as Avatar, and he couldn’t master the Avatar state at the end of S2.
Then S3 dropped this narrative thread and was a mess in terms of romantic development. 3.01 still seemed to set up an Aang willing to cut himself off from his attachments to regain his honor.
This really illustrates how all over the place to Kataang development was. If kataang was going to be endgame,otp etc there should be at least one scene, somewhere on the back half of season 3 where we see Katara’s feelings change. But even on Aang’s side, he’s only jealous when the plot demands it, so it never feels consistent/a progression of his character.
It irritates me to no end when blushing becomes the short-cut to writing actual proper bonding between the characters and keep building it step-by-step. It’s not only in ATLA. Many shows write one “love interest episode” and instead of giving subtle but consistent time to develop it, we just get reminded by blushes that hey these two are still supposed to be each other’s love interest. And then wonder why canon pairings are so unloved.
Yeah, and honestly as someone who blushes really easily (like over nothing — sometimes it feels like I just have to breathe and I’ll blush), it’s super annoying to see this used as the “big tell”.
Blushing doesn’t always mean you like a person. It certainly shouldn’t be used as a cheap shortcut to get around proper foundation and development. Like I definitely believe that Aang has feelings for Katara, but Katara? That one is much shakier.
If blushing is supposed to be The One True Sign of Romantic Love, what does that mean for Sokka and the fisherman from The Storm?
Even the show acknowledged that blushing isn’t explicitly romantic, and yet a few blushes are supposed to be the only build-up that Katara’s feelings needed? Excuse me if I don’t believe that for a second.
You want me to comment on that link pretty badly, don’t you–since you sent it to my inbox twice?
Behold, ladies and gentlemen, a prime example of Bryke shooting themselves in the foot to ratchet up the nonexistent tension between Aαng and Katara!
It’s a fascinating piece of Avatar history, really. That link appears to lead to Giancarlo Volpe’s Deviantart gallery, in which he showcases a storyboard from “The Day of Black Sun” and comments thusly:
Okay, one more today since you’ve all been good little Avatar fans. I throw you this bone to chew on while you wait for the finale.
Look closely at the notes for 208, panel A. It clearly states, “Katara watches AαngO.S. (off screen) smiling and blushing.”That’s right. SMILING AND BLUSHING. Aang kissed her and she LIKED IT.And yet, if you look at the actual drawing, her cheeks look flush, but she’s anything but smiling.How could this be? An innacuracy in the storyboard? Why does it say one thing, but depict another? It is as though the board artist (me) subconsciously chose sides in the Kαtααng/Zutara war, clearly depicting Katara’s happiness that Aαngkissed her. BUT THEN was instructed by a …“higher authority” to change that specific reaction.Note that Katara’s face in 208 panels A and B are not my actual drawings, but are in fact the work of a…. revisionist.What does it all mean? We must look to the actual episode to see that her final, official, actual reaction is in fact…..vague.
Thank you, Anon, because I could not have found a better example of shipping self-sabotage if I tried. Bryke were obviously gunning for Kαtααng to be endgame, but because they thought it would be a good idea to keep us in suspense to the very end about Katara’s feelings, they took a prime opportunity to have Katara reciprocate Aαng’s affections and turned it into ammunition for the anti tags.
Here is the final shot of Katara’s reaction to Aαng’s kiss. Looks like the opposite of a smile, doesn’t it?
We are witnessing one of Bryke’s biggest flaws as writers: their desire for unexpected twists in a story, even if those hairpin turns override a more sensible narrative path that is more rewarding in the long run. As has been said before:
This one really gets at the heart of what I dislike about Mike’s storytelling attitude.
“I find it fascinating when readers or viewers are upset by an unexpected turn of events in a story, because this is the very reason we like to read them — to be surprised, to find out what happens next, to have a vicarious experience through another’s eyes. When stories don’t deviate from the expected, they become boring. And no one likes a boring story.”
Oh my gawwddd I just want to slap him in the face for this one.
Because this, right here? This is why Legend of Korra’s writing isn’t as good, guys. Because to Michael, stories are (apparently) supposed to be like theme park rides. We’re just supposed to be there ‘to be surprised.’
Kαtααng was constructed in that same “thrilling” fashion. “Aαnglikes Katara, but when will he confess his feelings? In ‘The Fortuneteller’? Strike one! In ‘The Earth King’? Strike two! In ‘The Day of Black Sun’? No, but he kisses her, and after two and a half seasons, that’s got to count for something! But oh no, what’s this? Katara’s confused and Aαngpushes a kiss onto her? Oh boy! We’ve got a real nail-biter on our hands. Wait, something’s happening in the finale. Is it–yes! She’s smiling at him, even though they didn’t have the conversation they obviously should have about personal boundaries! Now she’s kissing him! Folks, it’s a home run!”
Hooray, weren’t you surprised that Aαnggot the girl? (No.) Didn’t that make Kαtααng so much better? (No.) Aren’t you more emotionally invested in their relationship now than before? (No.) Well, stay tuned, because they may pointlessly break up in “The Promise” if Aαngdecides they shouldn’t be together because they’re from two different nations! (No, they won’t, and no one ever thought they would.)
I am not by any means opposed to excitement and thrills in a good story, but you can’t just bypass Katara’s inner journey to accepting Aαngas a romantic partner and expect it to yield a healthy relationship. Maybe that ride was fun the first time–maybe it wasn’t. But if you take it again and again, as diehard fans love to do, eventually, the wheels come off because that twisty, windy rollercoaster didn’t follow those basic construction codes that are just so boring to read about.
You’re angry that people don’t ship Kαtααng? Great! The lion’s share of the blame lies with the creators who were Kαtααng’s biggest proponents, yet intentionally wrote Katara’s feelings out of the story because they felt that would somehow make it better. It doesn’t lie with the people whose adrenaline rush has worn off and who want a real, substantive journey to replace it.
Couldn’t agree more!! I hate “twistitis” in storytelling more than anything. I love clever twists, but you have to set them up properly. The subtle clues must be there all along the way, so when the twist happens, we go “whaaat?” and then after the initial shock wears off, we go “how did I not see that coming? It was hidden in plain sight…” And the more you re-watch / re-read it, the more evident those clues become. That’s smart writing and it’s very hard to pull it off.
What doesn’t work though is to throw in the “twist” out of nowhere, and your audience goes “wtf?” and the more you re-watch it, the less sense it makes.
Also, a lot of the time the most powerful emotional moments are the ones that were built up properly, where we know (hope, anticipate) it’s coming with the tension increasing, and when it finally happens, you just go jumping up and down in your seat, going “Yes!!! Yes!!!” (Think Zuko’s chatartic confrontation with Ozai).
And with romance, especially with young love, twists don’t work, because those first loves (on a children’s show) have that sweet, innocent, fairy-tale quality to them that has to be built on a strong firendship, but also on an emotional connection that transcends gradually that friendship on both sides (see Stranger Things Mike x Eleven).
ATLA built Zutara with these emotionally charged moments (apparently as a misdirection), to keep KatAang as a “surprise” for the end. I think the effect they went for was the audience to feel bad for Aang as seemingly the romance slips away from him, and then feel relief when he got the girl.
Except, that disregards the fact that not all of your audience identifies with Aang the most strongly. A significant portion will identify with Katara and they just spent the last 6 episodes building a strong emotional connection with Zuko. And for them the twist doesn’t feel like “Ah, ok - I see what you did there ;)”, but more like “Why would MY Katara do that?”
All of this, exactly. That’s the thing about plot twists–a good one is only a twist until you know what the twist is. This is something that JKR, whatever you might think about her as an author these days, was very very good at with the original Harry Potter books. Someone who was particularly astute and genre savvy might have been able to guess some of the reveals, but the fact is, especially amongst the intended audience–no one knew Quirrel had Voldemort in his turban, or that Mad-Eye was really Barty Crouch, Jr, or that Sirius Black was really a good guy and the rat was evil. But all of these things made sense with hindsight, because the clues and build-up were there, they just didn’t have that final piece of the puzzle to tie it all together until the reveals.
But this is also a very good example of why plot twists don’t usually work with character relationships.
For the most part, plot twists should be saved for main or side-plots, not for character development, unless you really know what you’re doing and have a solid plan. (Someone acting seemingly massively out of character until the rest of the scattered pieces fall into place and you figure out the underlying reasons, for example. But it’s tough to pull off well without making the ‘excuse’ seem like an asspull.) This is especially true with romantic relationships, where much of the magic is in watching these two characters fall in love. You don’t get to see that if the ‘plot twist’ comes at the tail end of making one of the characters seem as disinterested as possible (via making sure their relationship never once changes, despite things like cutesy dances and unexpected kisses) so that ‘no one could guess’ who she was going to choose.
This is, I think, why so many people were so dissatisfied with Kataang, when all was said and done. Because they didn’t get any build-up, at least not on Katara’s side of things. (And even Aang was shafted, because his feelings were never allowed to grow beyond the selfish possessiveness he showcased in book 3, especially in the Ember Island Players episode.) Her relationship with Aang never changes. They kiss in the Cave of Two Lovers, and it’s a ‘life or death’ situation so Katara clearly didn’t feel anything about it, and immediately they go right back to the status quo. Aang kisses her before the Invasion, she frowns and looks unhappy afterwards, and… after the invasion, they’re right back to the status quo of their relationship. Ditto the kiss he sprang on her during EIP, with a bonus shot of this being their last one-on-one interaction before The Very End where she…. suddenly develops romantic feelings we had little to no indication of before, and goes to make out with him. When and how did she go from ‘You kissed me and I explicitly did not like it’ to ‘let’s be in a relationship now sweetie!’???
Especially since Katara spent most of the last chunk of the season going through massive relationship development and growth with Zuko, not Aang, including spending the entire emotional climax of the show with him.
And then she chooses Aang. For reasons, I guess. -shrug emoji-
So someone on twitter said they like NATLA!aang more than cartoon!aang and someone else followed it up by saying that they didnt like how cartoon!aang was acting towards the water tribe food in that Bato episode, and now aang stans are excusing it with “he’s a kid!! He’s 12!” “characters aren’t allowed to have flaws now? Lol”. So when Zuko was disrespecting aang’s culture in the Southern Raiders episode, the fandom rightfully calls him out for being disrespectful…but ofc when aang does it as a comedic gag towards another culture ofc the fandom will scramble to excuse him.
I'm so sorry, I didn't see this!
I haven't seen NATLA in its fullest, but I actually did start taking a liking to NATLA Aang myself. Mostly because unlike with original Aang, they seem to be hammering in that Aang can't run from his responsibilities. It's setting him up for great character development. His feelings towards Katara are also way more platonic, which I love. Do I like him better than original Aang? Can't say yet, but I definitely see where they're coming from.
So, my response to the excuse that Aang is twelve is, "So you agree? He's not mature enough to be with Katara?"
Not even just for his actions in BOTWT either. Aang stans have a nasty habit of excusing all of Aang's actions with "He's 12/13!" And yes, that's true. And yeah, we can make the argument that he deserves leeway for that. But if Aang is too young to be respectful of Katara's culture, mindful of his emotions around her, and conscious of how his actions effect her, he doesn't need to be in a relationship with her.
Aang stans need to realize they can't have it both ways. Either Aang is too young to understand his actions and too immature to be in a relationship with Katara, or he's mature enough to be in a relationship with her and needs to be held accountable as such.
(The third ideal option would be that he has the capacity for growing and learning to be a good partner- not just for Katara, but anyone- he just needs to acknowledge and own his actions and make that change himself. But of course, that didn't happen: not in Book 3 or the comics)
But yeah, I hate the excuse that he's a kid. Not only is everyone else also a kid, using that as an excuse for his actions instead of a reason for him to learn to be better is doing Aang's own character an injustice
what's your opinion on whether or not canon zutara could have made sense to happen by the finale?? i can't decide if i would have preferred them getting together or just hints at it and then it's revealed in tlok that they got married (and ig the comics would include the story of them getting together then)
my stance has always been that the show should have ended with no canonical romantic relationships, or a hint of future zutara at best. we didn't need anything more than a quick, intimate scene where zuko and katara discuss their futures and promise to keep in touch, with maybe a lingering glance or two to foreshadow romantic feelings. no kiss or grand declarations necessary.
that being said, if a romantic relationship had to happen, zutara was both built up more and made more sense narratively than kat.aang and mai.ko. i wouldn't have liked a zutara kiss in the finale for many of the same reasons i didn't like the kat.aang one, but it would've at least been thematically fitting and consistent with the characterizations of everyone involved - unlike zuko ending up with someone who never underwent any of the growth he did, and katara entering a lifelong romantic relationship without even so much as a word to give us insight into her sudden change of heart.
the only way to really do justice to zutara would've been with book 4, allowing plenty of time for a proper slowburn friends-to-lovers arc, but the reason so many people ship them today is because their relationship at the end of the show is the perfect jumping-off point for a romance. canon didn't actually have to give us anything more - the seeds were all planted already, and the imagination of the fandom would've done the rest.
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