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Aang wasn’t the only one with the power to save the world
19 years ago, Avatar: The Last Airbender reframed its central conflict
One of the things that makes the world of Avatar: The Last Airbender so rich is how much thought series creators Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko put into its history. The introduction to every episode explains the beginnings of the Hundred Year War, where the Fire Nation disrupted the harmony between the Four Nations, and the Avatar wasn’t there to stop them. The show’s plot is primarily focused on the new Avatar, Aang (Zach Tyler Eisen), as he attempts to fulfill the destiny he once fled from and restore balance to the world. But, 19 years ago, one of the show’s best episodes redefined that core conflict.
The season 3 episode “The Avatar and the Fire Lord” tells the same story from two perspectives. Avatar Roku (James Garrett) reaches out to Aang through the spirit world to tell him about his own life and death in the Fire Nation while Prince Zuko (Dante Basco) follows a mysterious message to learn the secret history of his great-grandfather, Fire Lord Sozin (Ron Perlman). The episode, which was written by Elizabeth Welch and directed by Ethan Spaulding, shows both Roku and Sozin in a new light.
One of Avatar’s greatest strengths is its ability to blend the playful and the serious, and that mix is particularly striking when Sozen and Roku are shown playfully sparring. Sozin messes with his clumsy friend by sprinkling blades of grass on his face while he lies flopped on the ground. The strength of their bond is reinforced when Roku learns that he is the new Avatar on his 16th birthday. He seems just as overwhelmed as Aang was by the news that he would have to leave behind everything familiar to take on the burden, and Sozin gives him a hair ornament traditionally worn by the Fire Nation crown prince as a token of home.
While Roku spent 12 years mastering the elements, Sozen began dreaming of using their bond to conquer the world. Roku warned him against the plan, and handily defeated his former friend when he learned that he had begun capturing Earth Kingdom territory. The two didn’t speak for 25 years until a volcano erupted on the island where Roku lived. Sozin ostensibly showed up to help, but wound up leaving Roku to die so he could carry out his imperial ambitions without interference.
“I have a vision for the future Roku,” Sozin says as he flies away to begin his war. Yet he admits in his final testament that he wasted the rest of his life looking for the new Air Nomad Avatar — the same quest Zuko finds himself on at the beginning of the series. Zuko realizes the message must come from his uncle Iroh (Greg Baldwin, replacing Mako who died in 2006), who has been jailed for helping Aang evade capture at the end of season 2. When he confronts his uncle, Iroh reveals that while Zuko traces his lineage to Sozin on his father’s side, his maternal great-grandfather was Roku. “Evil and good are always at war inside you,” Iroh explains. “It is your nature. Your legacy. But there is a bright side. Born in you along with all the strife is the power to restore balance in the world.”
The Avatar is destined to be the ultimate force of balance, holding within them the power of all four elements and even serving as a connection to the spirit world. But Iroh makes Zuko realize that he can be just as pivotal to ending the Hundred Year War. The crown prince of the Fire Nation and the young Avatar had been best friends, and then became bitter enemies. "Some friendships are so strong, they can even transcend lifetimes,” Roku explains to Aang when he reveals that he trained with Gyatso, the airbender who would become Aang’s mentor and father figure. Roku’s bond with Sozin was so strong that Aang could accept that one of his greatest enemies could become his friend.
The episode is a key step in Zuko's redemption arc
Because Aang lived before the Hundred Year War, he’s more open-minded than his allies who have only ever known the Fire Nation as the aggressors. “The Avatar and the Fire Lord” builds on season 3’s second episode, “The Headband,” where a dance party helps them realize that while the Fire Nation’s leaders may be monstrous, most of its citizens are just regular people who would also prefer to live in a kinder world. Hearing about Sozin’s betrayal of Roku, Toph (Jessie Flower) says she feels like people in the Fire Nation are born evil, but Aang corrects her. The story is really about how everyone is capable of doing both good and evil, and thus defined by their choices.
Iroh gives Zuko the same ornament that Roku wore, setting him on the path to redemption. Six episodes later, Zoku leaves the Fire Nation to track down Aang to teach him firebending and help him defeat Ozai. By the end of the series, the Avatar and the Fire Lord are again good friends when Zuko assumes the throne and formally brings the war to an end.
The core of Avatar: The Last Airbender is the Avatar cycle, the reincarnation of the same spirit among the Four Nations. But history itself also comes in cycles, and “The Avatar and the Fire Lord” perfectly represents the way that friendships and conflicts echo across generations. Everyone might assume the Avatar is the most important person in the world, but the people who help or hinder them can be just as transformative. Aang needed Zuko to help him complete his training as the Avatar, but he also needed a friend who understood the weight of history and duty, and had the strength to defy both to make things better.
Avatar: The Last Airbender is available to stream on Netflix.