Avatar Aang: The Last Airbender: ENDING EXPLAINED + What's Next & Korra Connections

[00:02] about it. Welcome back to ScreenCrush. I'm Ryan Nery and let's talk about this controversial ending of the movie Avatar Aang. Now, this movie follows Aang and the gang about 10 years after the ending of the original series. Aang is an

[00:15] active Avatar at this point in time collecting air bending relics to try to Throughout the movie we see Aang grapple with what it means to be the last member of a civilization. We saw him struggle with this a bit in the original series,

[00:28] but he was still just a kid. So, it was easier for him to move past it and focus on the present and his friends. As an adult, Aang is questioning what it means for him to be the last air bender. He's also still facing a lot of guilt from

[00:40] abandoning his people. In the episode The Storm in the original series, Aang had a series of flashbacks to his childhood and we see those expanded on longer conversation with his mentor Monk Gyatso who tells Aang that he needs to

[00:53] know when to show restraint even if he has the power to win. This is the lesson original series when he chose to show mercy to Fire Lord Ozai and in this movie where he chooses not to use the power of Sonam's staff. But, we'll get

[01:07] confronted the guilt of leaving the air benders behind in the original series, adult. He can acknowledge that he was a but he's also more cognizant of what's been lost. This movie pits him against

[01:21] another air bender, Tagaka. Aang finds out a group of non-benders are looking for a relic, the staff of a long-gone Avatar called Avatar Sonam. He goes looking for the staff, but instead finds Tagaka, a man frozen in time just like

[01:33] he was. Tagaka tells the group that Sonam granted him the ability to air bend with her staff and they all set out looking for it. This staff has the power to bring back the air benders so Aang wouldn't have to be the last bastion of

[01:45] plot line of season 3 of The Legend of into shortly. Finally, at the end of the movie, Tagaka turns on Aang and the group. It turns out that he also fought against Avatar Sozin in his time because

[01:58] his experiences in battle against the Earth Kingdom left him jaded and bitter. principles of non-violence and balance, Empire where they subjugate other nations. [music]

[02:10] battle of ideologies. Aang wants to Nomads, whereas Taga believes that those ideologies are what led to the Air Nomads being killed. Taga believes that Aang is weak and also blames him for the

[02:23] deaths of his people. In confronting Taga, Aang has to forbid himself and believe in his principles. And this is similar to the conflict with Fire Lord Ozai, where Aang had to decide that his own morals were worth upholding. In the

[02:35] end, Aang ends up with Avatar Sozin's staff. He uses it to fight Taga, but its power and influence begins corrupting him. This is another parallel to the energy bending, he was almost overpowered and corrupted by Ozai's

[02:48] spirit, but he powered through because his soul was so incorruptible. Even the visuals are similar. In this case, the color Aang's tattoos change as he begins to be corrupted. Here though, Aang is less innocent than he was when he was a

[03:00] murdered all of the people closest to Aang, his chosen family. Taga also ruined the hope that Aang had of finding another Airbender. Aang has legitimate almost makes him lose himself.

[03:14] >> You twisted MY DREAM INTO A NIGHTMARE. >> Instead of being sad in defeat, Taga is happy. He finally sees Aang as strong because he's expressing himself through kill him because it would mean that the future he wants for the Air Nomads might

[03:29] come to pass. But Aang sees a torn Air Nomad banner flying by just as he's of his childhood. He sees the peaceful children of the Air Nomads and himself as an innocent child. And then Gyatso appears to him once more to tell him

[03:42] >> must be prepared to do what frightens [music] you the most. >> Aang weeps when he makes a decision, but he chooses mercy for Taga, and he breaks the staff in two, which destroys its power. Now, I know many people are upset

[03:54] to say about it and why Korra has already proved that this was the right looks very similar to the way that the Legend of Korra, which are entrances into the spirit world. Now, this

[04:08] permanent portal to the spirit world like the ones in Korra, but I think it did return the power of air bending to the spirit world. You see, our theory is that Avatar Senna found a way to bend the essence of air bending from the

[04:21] bending that the lion turtles taught her, and that is what powers her staff. That's why when Aang breaks her staff and the power returns to the spirit created using the staff lose their bending as well. Breaking the staff and

[04:35] what the air nomads would have wanted Aang to do, and he knows it. That's why >> Not at the cost of betraying everything they stood for. >> Even Avatar Senna herself, who created the staff, agrees that it should be

[04:49] >> Thank you for giving up the power that I >> He encourages Toga to forgive himself just as Aang forgives himself. This ending is not about a miraculous save for the airbenders. That would go

[05:01] against everything the original series was about. Instead, it's about Aang learning what saving his people really means. And Toga understands that, too, in his final moments. >> I didn't return

[05:13] to the eternal wind. >> In the subsequent scene, Aang spells out what he learned from this experience. >> The true power of the air nomads It was their values. >> When he talks to Avatar Senna, she

[05:26] returns to the order of Avatar spirits. Previously, her spirit was lost, and I think that's in part because she messed around with the spirit world and energy bending in ways that upset the balance of the universe. When that balance is

[05:38] restored, she can return to her rightful place as part of the Avatar cycle. And so, he starts the order of air acolytes and builds air temple island. Now, we the temple is one of the first places Korra visits in Republic City in the

[05:51] first season. But still, seeing the meaning behind Aang starting the order is very special. Aang is the last airbender, but he is not the last air nomad. There were always air nomads who weren't benders, and he realizes that

[06:03] his culture and beliefs are something that he can pass on even if he can't give anyone the ability to airbend. The movie comes full circle with the new air acolytes and the gang joining Aang on his journey to collect relics of air

[06:15] Nation isn't dead because he, his friends, and his new followers are finding ways to carry on its spirit. And then, we get the most wonderful discovery of the movie. The new crew investigates a location that Avatar

[06:28] Sonam shared with Aang, and they discover a full herd of sky bison. Aang bison, but it turns out there were many more. And this also explains where Tenzin's bison Oogie comes from in The Legend of Korra. Now, we knew by Korra's

[06:41] time that there were new sky bison, but now we finally understand the full for a second. In seasons 2 and 3 of The Legend of Korra, when Korra opens a new spirit portal in Republic City, this change causes spirits to seep into the

[06:54] city and for more spiritual energy to enter the world. And the result of this, people begin to spontaneously develop air bending. In Korra, many non-benders day, and this includes Aang's non-bending son Bumi as well as the

[07:08] season's villains the Hear, who shares a lot of similarities with Toga. Now, we always understood this in Korra as the result of her opening the spirit portal, but actually, this would have never happened without Aang destroying Sonam's

[07:21] of its air bending energy to bring it into the mortal world via her staff. This enabled her to do great things, but it also threw the spirit world out of the mortal world and the spirit world. Katara points this out when they build

[07:36] the Air Temple in Republic City. >> The first [music] new air temple in Republic City [music] is finally complete. the spirit world and subsequently Korra opened the connection between these two

[07:50] worlds, the spirits were able to restore air bending to the mortals. To level the balance of the elements, the spirits granted air bending to people once more. The discovery of the sky bison also foreshadows this. Like the badger moles

[08:02] were to the earth benders or the dragons were to the fire benders, the sky bison are the original air benders. In the time of Avatar Wan when the people were benders learned it from the bison. By

[08:14] hints that air bending will also eventually be part of the world again. It's sad that Aang never got to see the fruits of his labors. By the time air had passed and the Avatar mantle went to Korra. And through the events of the

[08:28] finale of season 2, Korra's connection to the previous Avatars was broken. Even Aang's spirit can't know that his actions resulted in the return of air fitting that through deciding to uphold the principles of the Air Nomads, Aang's

[08:41] decision would naturally lead to air bending returning to the world. Not by upsetting the balance like Sozin's staff, but by the spirits themselves Avatar is the connection between the spirit and mortal realms and keeps both

[08:54] in balance. And through successfully fulfilling his role, he achieved more shout out to Harriet Ling Lin write who wrote this video. You can find her links of the movie down in the comments or on our free to join Discord server. And if

[09:08] subscribe, smash that bell for alerts. For ScreenCrush, I'm Ryan Aery.