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

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Avatar Ang is back in action on screen after 18 years and we are here to talk about it. Welcome back to Screen Crush. I'm Ryan Ary and let's talk about this controversial ending of the movie Avatar Ang. Now, this movie follows Ang and the gang about 10 years after the ending of the original series. Ang is an active Avatar at this point in time, collecting airbending relics to try to maintain the history of his people. Throughout the movie, we see Ang 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, 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, Ang is questioning what it means for him to be the last Airbender. He's also still facing a lot of guilt from abandoning his people. In the episode, The Storm in the original series, Ang had a series of flashbacks to his childhood, and we see those expanded on in this movie. We get to see him have a longer conversation with his mentor, Monkeyatso, who tells Ang that he needs to know when to show restraint, even if he has the power to win. This is the lesson he carried with him throughout the 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 Sonum staff, but we'll get to that in a few minutes. Ang had confronted the guilt of leaving the airbenders behind in the original series. But again, it's more complex as an adult. He can acknowledge that he was a kid who is scared of responsibility, but he's also more cognizant of what's been lost. This movie pits him against another airbender, Taga. Ang finds out a group of non-benders are looking for a relic, the staff of a longgone avatar called Avatar Sonum. He goes looking for the staff, but instead finds Taga, a man frozen in time, just like he was. Taga tells the group that Sonum granted him the ability to airbend with her staff, and they all set out looking for it. This staff has the power to bring back the airbenders, so Ang wouldn't have to be the last bastion of his culture. This is very similar to the plotline of season 3 of The Legend of Kora, but that's for a reason I'll go into shortly. Finally, at the end of the movie, Taga turns on Ang and the group. It turns out that he also fought against Avatar Sonum in his time because his experiences in battle against the Earth Kingdom left him jaded and bitter. He lost sight of the air nomad principles of nonviolence and balance. and instead he wants to spread an air empire where they subjugate other [music] nations. Ang and Taga fight and this is a battle of ideologies. Ang wants to uphold the peaceful ways of the air nomads whereas Taga believes that those ideologies are what led to the air nomads being killed. Taga believes that Ang is weak and also blames him for the deaths of his people. In confronting Taga, Ang has to forgive himself and believe in his principles. And this is similar to the conflict with Fire Lord Ozai where Ang had to decide that his own morals were worth upholding. In the end, Ang ends up with Avatar Sodom staff. He uses it to fight Taga, but its power and influence begins corrupting him. This is another parallel to the Ozai fight. When Ang first learned energy bending, he was almost overpowered and corrupted by Ozai's spirit. But he powered through because his soul was so incorruptible. Even the visuals are similar. In this case, the color of Ang's tattoos change as he begins to be corrupted. Here though, Ang is less innocent than he was when he was a kid. Taga betrayed him and almost murdered all of the people closest to Ang. his chosen family. Taga also ruined the hope that Ang had of finding another airbender. Ang has legitimate reasons to be angry, but that anger almost makes him lose himself. You twisted my dream into a nightmare. Instead of being sad and defeat, Taga is happy. He finally sees Ang as strong because he's expressing himself through violence and anger. He wants Ang to kill him because it would mean that the future he wants for the Air Nomads might come to pass. But Ang sees a torn air nomad banner flying by just as he's about to strike. The site reminds him of his childhood. He sees the peaceful children of the air nomads and himself as an innocent child. And then Guiatso appears to him once more to tell him that he must be prepared to do what frightens [music] you the most. Ang weeps when he makes the 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 about this decision, but we have a lot to say about it and why Kora has already proved that this was the right choice. The line of light this creates looks very similar to the way that the animators draw the spirit portals in the Legend of Kora, which are entrances into the spirit world. Now, this explosion of power doesn't create a permanent portal to the spirit world like the ones in Kora, but I think it did return the power of airbending to the spirit world. You see, our theory is that Avatar Sonum found a way to bend the essence of airbending from the spirit world. perhaps using the energy bending that the lion turtles taught her and that is what powers her staff. That's why when Ang breaks her staff and the power returns to the spirit world, all of the air benders that Taga created, using the staff lose their bending as well. Breaking the staff and returning the balance to the world is what the air nomads would have wanted Ang to do. And he knows it. That's why he says to Taga, "Not at the cost of betraying everything they stood for." No. Even Avatar Sonum herself, who created the staff, agrees that it should be destroyed. Thank you for giving up the power that I could not. He encourages Taga to forgive himself just as Ang forgives himself. This ending is not about a miraculous save for the Airbenders. That would go against everything the original series was about. Instead, it's about Ang learning what saving his people really means. And Taga understands that too in his final moments. Then we return to the eternal wind. In the subsequent scene, Ang spells out what he learned from this experience. The true power of the air nomads was never their bending, it was their values. When he talks to Avatar Sonum, she 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 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 should have known this was coming since the temple is one of the first places Kora visits in Republic City in the first season. But still, seeing the meaning behind Ang starting the order is very special. Ang is the last air bender, but he is not the last air nomad. There were always air nomads who weren't benders, and he realizes that 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 Ang on his journey to collect relics of airbending culture and society. The Air 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 Sonum shared with Ang and they discover a full herd of sky bison. Ang thought that Apa was the last sky bison, but it turns out there were many more. And this also explains where Tenzen's bison ooi comes from in the legend of Kora. Now, we knew by Kora's time that there were new sky bison, but now we finally understand the full story. So, now let's talk about Kora for a second. In seasons 2 and three of the legend of Kora, when Kora opens a new spirit portal in Republic City. This change causes spirits to seep into the city and for more spiritual energy to enter the world. And the result of this, people begin to spontaneously develop airbending. In Kora, many non-benders suddenly gain the ability to airbend one day. And this includes Ang's non-bending son, Boommy, as well as the season's villain, Zahir, who shares a lot of similarities with Taga. Now, we always understood this in Kora as a result of her opening the spirit portal. But actually, this would have never happened without Ang destroying Sonum's staff. Sonum stripped the spirit world of its airbending 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 balance. Ang restored the balance to the mortal world and the spirit world. Qatara points this out when they build the air temple in Republic City. The [music] first new air temple in centuries. Republic City [music] is finally complete. Now, because airbending was restored to the spirit world and subsequently Kora opened the connection between these two worlds, the spirits were able to restore air bending to the mortals. To level the balance of the elements, the spirits granted airbending to people once more. The discovery of the sky bison also foreshadows this. Like the badger moles were to the earth benders or the dragons were to the fire benders, the sky bison are the original airbenders. In the time of Avatar 1, when the people were learning bending from animals, the airbenders learned it from the bison. By returning the bison to the world, it hints that airbending will also eventually be part of the world again. It's sad that Ang never never got to see the fruits of his labors. By the time airbending was returned to the world, Ang had passed and the Avatar mantle went to Kora. And through the events of the finale of season 2, Kora's connection to the previous Avatars was broken. Even Ang's spirit can't know that his actions resulted in the return of airbending to the world. Still, it's fitting that through deciding to uphold the principles of the air nomads, Ang's decision would naturally lead to airbending returning to the world. Not by upsetting the balance like Sonum Staff, but by the spirits themselves restoring balance to the world. The Avatar is the connection between the spirit and mortal realms and keeps both in balance. and through successfully fulfilling his role, he achieved more than he would ever know. Guys, huge shout out to Harry Lingalenright, who wrote this video. You can find her links below. And let us know what you thought of the movie down in the comments or in our free to join Discord server. And if it's your first time here, please subscribe. Smash that bell for alerts for Screen Crush. I'm Ryan Ery. [music] [music]