History DethroningMoment / AvatarTheLastAirBender

* Tropers/{{GamerSlyRatchet}}: How about the abusive relationship between Eska and Bolin? She was clearly abusing him physically and mentally, yet this is completely played for laughs. Not to mention we're supposed to cheer for them when they nearly get together near the end and be heartbroken when they do not. Just sickening to watch.

** Tropers/{{heyjames4}}: I agree that the reveal of Amon=bloodbender, and that Tarrlock=bloodbender=Amon's brother instead of just =corrupt politician could have been better. I really like the setup of the strife between benders and equalists. There's one scene though that captures the old Avatar magic and keeps it from being black & white conflict. When the team needs money for the big fight, and MAKO has to spend a few shifts as a day-laborer in the power-plant lightning-bending all day (so that the power lines and phones and radios all over town stay on). It's not just benders=elite and nonbenders = serfs.

* Troper/Silverblade2 Honestly, I’d rather rewatch « The Great Divide » three times in a row than rewatch « Avatar Day » one more time. Thought I already dislike the episode for bringing the possibility of the Avatar having past [[BlackAndGrayMorality questionable deeds that would have draw some well deserved hatred]] then [[TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot turning it into a ponderous comedy]], I especially hate it for having the worst OutOfCharacterMoment in the entire show. Long story short: Aang is put on a trial by jerkass villagers because his predecessor Avatar Kyoshi may have killed their leader Chin the Conqueror. It turns out that the court [[KangarooCourt doesn’t care about evidences]] and only Kyoshi’s intervention reveals that she indeed indirectly caused his death in order to protect her village. The judge announces that Aang is guilty and [[WouldHurtAChild must spin the Wheel of Punishment]]. Instead of running for his life as one can expect, Aang just says “I said I would face justice, so I will” and spins the wheel while Sokka and Katara do nothing to stop him and just stand there. After the wheel stops on “boiled in oil”, all three of them just bear an OhCrap expression. Yes, Aang was willing [[SkewedPriority to sacrifice both his life and the fate of the world]], to fulfill an arbitrary decision and ignored the fact that Kyoshi acted out of self defence. He would have [[FamilyUnfriendlyDeath boiled in oil]], had the Rough Rhinos not attack the village just in time. All of this is PlayedForLaugh.

* Shadow200: His brother is no better. How about Mako taking advantage of Korra's amnesia? After the two breakup and he goes back to Asami as a rebound and when Korra suffers amnesia, Mako dumps Asami in a heartbeat again and takes advantage of her and claims he's her boyfriend and the fights between them never happened. And these are the Protagonists? No wonder I'm an Equalist Fan and preferred Amon.

** Tropers/{{Mewlettucerush}} I generally love LOK but the attempted redemption of Tarrlock in the season finale I disliked like dude I can understand you had an awful past but that doesn't excuse that you were a manipulative douchebag that arrested nonbenders for no reason bloodbended and kidnapped the avatar and lied about it and later bloodbended more people when it was found out and now despite the fact he's a terrible person we are supposed to feel sorry for him, what the fuck?

*** I am coming back to clear when I mentioned Katara won over Azula, I am the same guy but different computer, lost my account with the old computer Tropers/{{Rowlomir}}. In "The crossroads of Destiny" Katara paralyzed one of Azula's legs until Zuko attacks her and by changing enemies they end up winning the duel, but you can clearly see in that battle that Katara's waterbending is already a match for Azula in her prime, so no matter the comet Azula is crazy in the final duel, there is nothing to do against Katara, also like other trooper said below, at the end Zuko doesn't win because he's better, he only wins because she's unstable or so you might think, after the lovely battle in "Southern Raiders" it feels like a lazy effort to finish their relation, again as someone else said, the problem is they had nothing for Katara to do, her battle was already over somehow, I kinda wish they sent her to the Capitol and she freeing Ty Lee and Mai could give better closure for the three girls, here she feels forced, I also adhere to the Ozai theory, there are a lot of people dying in the sky battle -if I remember correctly because I never watched the finale again and it's been six years now- and Aang cannot care about them, it all feels hypocritical and politically correct and nothing else.

*** I am coming back to clear when I mentioned Katara won over Azula, I am the same guy but different computer, lost my account with the old computer Tropers/{{Rowlomir}} In "The crossroads of Destiny" Katara paralyzed one of Azula's legs until Zuko attacks her and by changing enemies they end up winning the duel, but you can clearly see in that battle that Katara's waterbending is already a match for Azula in her prime, so no matter the comet Azula is crazy in the final duel, there is nothing to do against Katara, also like other trooper said below, at the end Zuko doesn't win because he's better, he only wins because she's unstable or so you might think, after the lovely battle in "Southern Raiders" it feels like a lazy effort to finish their relation, again as someone else said, the problem is they had nothing for Katara to do, her battle was already over somehow, I kinda wish they sent her to the Capitol and she freeing Ty Lee and Mai could give better closure for the three girls, here she feels forced, I also adhere to the Ozai theory, there are a lot of people dying in the sky battle -if I remember correctly because I never watched the finale again and it's been six years now- and Aang cannot care about them, it all feels hypocritical and politically correct and nothing else.

* Tropers/{{JorgeGrive}} : For me it's the ending. I'll call Avatar one of the great series of the last decade, but I cannot take the ending, nor can I see most of it again. It feels a little too moralizing for such an amazingly dark experience. Don't get me wrong, I can take happy endings, but this one feels rushed. Perhaps Aang refusing to listen 4 past Avatars and common sense was supposed to be messianic but to me it felt like little more than childish vanity, especially since Gyatso was a badass capable of killing as far as we can tell from the crime scene. My dislike comes as well from the off screen liberation of Mai and Ty Lee who along with Zuko were, for me, far more interesting characters. Additionally, the Agni Kai at the end was won by Azula. Once more, Zuko fell directly into her traps and Katara defeated her long ago, so it was sad for me that Zuko was, for one reason or another, never able to completely beat his sister, even when she was having a VillainousBreakdown.

* Tropers/{{Mockery}}: The whole of the final sequence is littered with these: Zuko reasoning he can take on Azula not because he's improved, found his moral and emotional center, but because she's become unhinged; The Lion-turtle's relatively 11th-hour koan giving Aang an out to his refusal to kill the Fire Lord and rendering it just another Dilemma of the Week; The rushed appearance and implementation of Energybending; and most of all, Aang's avatar state being unblocked by having his back popped. It was explained at the end of the last season that once he began unlocking his chakras, he wouldn't be able to access the Avatar State at all. WordOfGod clarified that he did not finish cutting emotional ties to Katara before Azula zapped him, and the Ember Island Players illustrated that he certainly hadn't let go of her by then, either.

Given the franchise's as one of the best cartoon it is hardly surprising that there will be time when fans wish that these moments will be bended out of existence.

*** I am coming back to clear when I mentioned Katara won over Azula, I am the same guy but different computer, lost my account with the old computer Tropers/{{Rowlomir}} In "The crossroads of Destiny" Katara paralyzed one of Azula's legs until Zuko attacks her and by changing enemies they end up winning the duel, but you can clearly see in that battle that Katara's waterbending is already a match for Azula in her prime, so no matter the comet Azula is crazy in the final duel, there is nothing to do against Katara, also like other trooper said below, at the end Zuko doesn't win because he's better, he only wins because she's unstable or so you might think, after the lovely battle in "Southern Raiders" it feels like a lazy effort to finish their relation, again as someone else said, the problem is they had nothing for Katara to do, her battle was already over somehow, I kinna wish they sent her to the Capitol and she freeing Ty Lee and Mai could give better closure for the three girls, here she feels forced, I also adhere to the Ozai theory, there are a lot of people dying in the sky battle -if I remember correctly because I never watched the finale again and it's been six years now- and Aang cannot care about them, it all feels hypocritical and politically correct and nothing else.

* Shadow200: His brother is no better. How about Mako taking advantage of Korra's amnesia? After the two breakup and he goes back to Asami as a rebound and when Korra suffers amnesia, Mako dumps Asami in a heartbeat again and takes advantage of her and claims he's her boyfriend and the fights between them never happened. And these are the Protagionists? No wonder I'm an Equalist Fan and preferred Amon.

** Tropers/{{Knight9910}}: Agreed, "Bato Of The Water Tribe" is my least favorite episode and when I watch the series on Netflix, it's the only episode that I skip over. Sure, "The Great Divide" and "The Painted Lady" were stupid and meaningless but they're at worst moderately obnoxious, while this episode is actively painful to watch. Sure, hiding the map was a dick move and I can see Katara and Sokka being ticked about it. Still, he only did it because he was afraid he'd be left alone. You know, alone? Like he already kind of is? Because he's the last of his tribe and everyone he ever knew and cared about is dead except for one guy? Seriously, show a little @#%$ing courtesy, you selfish... yeah... The point is, what he did was perfectly understandable, even if it was definitely the wrong thing to do. But, you know, even if it hadn't been understandable, he still deserved the benefit of the doubt. I mean he'd been Katara and Sokka's friend for 14 episodes at that point and saved both of their lives almost that many times (9 times at least, by my count). He'd earned a little trust. Instead, they just toss him and his friendship into the garbage on a whim. Honestly, as much as I hate to admit it the characters being jerks to each other for half-ass reasons was kind of a theme in the first season, with episodes like "Jet", "The Great Divide", and "The Fortune Teller", but this episode was by far the absolute worst about it, because unlike all those other episodes the offending parties in this one are never proven wrong or made to apologize. I'm a very forgiving person myself, but at the very least Katara and Sokka owed Aang one damn good apology for that mess.
* Tropers/{{DUMBOTRON200}}:The way the main villain is handled and how it stains the setup. Ozai is a GenericDoomsdayVillain in a cast of interesting and believable characters. It's not that all the villains were complex characters (take Zhao) or had sympathetic motives (take Long Feng), but the one thing they had in common was that they were all people, with thoughts and feelings and weaknesses. Some were ObviouslyEvil, sure, but they weren't egregious about it. This is part of what earned this show a reputation for good writing. With the Fire Lord, though, any regard to subtlety or restraint was chucked out the window. His first appearance is as a huge shadow crying from what appears to be FireAndBrimstoneHell. For the first two seasons, he's not a man; he's a faceless, nameless force of malevolance. And when the characters get to see him in person ( which was a good time to stage TheReveal, I thought) and his appearance is revealed, are we shown a more human side to him? Do get to see what a crazed, brazen ruler is really like? No. Nothing changes. It's like this right up to the end. They went out of their way to create a realistic, credible conflict, but they backed away from it at the last minute. Disney villains, on the other hand, aren't known for their believability, but Frollo from ''Disney/TheHunchbackOfNotreDame'' in my opinion was a much better example of this type of character.

Given the franchise's [[MagnusOpsSeries reputation as one of the best cartoon]] it is hardly surprising that there will be time when fans wish that these moments will be bended out of existence.

[[quoteright:342:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/sokka_1140.png]]
[[caption-width-right:342:The typical reaction from a fan.]]

* The way the main villain is handled and how it stains the setup. Ozai is a GenericDoomsdayVillain in a cast of interesting and believable characters. It's not that all the villains were complex characters (take Zhao) or had sympathetic motives (take Long Feng), but the one thing they had in common was that they were all people, with thoughts and feelings and weaknesses. Some were ObviouslyEvil, sure, but they weren't egregious about it. This is part of what earned this show a reputation for good writing. With the Fire Lord, though, any regard to subtlety or restraint was chucked out the window. His first appearance is as a huge shadow crying from what appears to be FireAndBrimstoneHell. For the first two seasons, he's not a man; he's a faceless, nameless force of malevolance. And when the characters get to see him in person ( which was a good time to stage TheReveal, I thought) and his appearance is revealed, are we shown a more human side to him? Do get to see what a crazed, brazen ruler is really like? No. Nothing changes. It's like this right up to the end. They went out of their way to create a realistic, credible conflict, but they backed away from it at the last minute. Disney villains, on the other hand, aren't known for their believability, but Frollo from ''Disney//TheHunchbackOfNotreDame'' in my opinion was a much better example of this type of character.

* The way the main villain is handled and how it stains the setup. Ozai is a GenericDoomsdayVillain in a cast of interesting and believable characters. It's not that all the villains were complex characters (take Zhao) or had sympathetic motives (take Long Feng), but the one thing they had in common was that they were all people, with thoughts and feelings and weaknesses. Some were ObiouslyEvil, sure, but they weren't egregious about it. This is part of what earned this show a reputation for good writing. With the Fire Lord, though, any regard to subtlety or restraint was chucked out the window. His first appearance is as a huge shadow crying from what appears to be FireAndBrimstoneHell. For the first two seasons, he's not a man; he's a faceless, nameless force of malevolance. And when the characters get to see him in person ( which was a good time to stage TheReveal, I thought) and his appearance is revealed, are we shown a more human side to him? Do get to see what a crazed, brazen ruler is really like? No. Nothing changes. It's like this right up to the end.

* Tropers/{{terlwyth}}: The moment in ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'' episode "The Southern Raiders" when Sokka objects to Katara going out to avenge their mother's death and Katara angrily tells him he didn't love her as much. Sokka was a victim of it and Aang has lost far more people and faced far more grief and yet she's got the audacity to ignore both of them, and doesn't even get called out for it.

* Tropers/XSpectreGreyX: From WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra. TheReveal that Amon is actually a bloodbender, or a bender in general, his defeat and how he's treated by his followers afterwards. Seriously, they took one of the only likeable characters in the series, made him a generic villain who wants to TakeOverTheWorld and reveal that he's a character that nobody's ever heard of, whose existence wasn't even foreshadowed in the slightest. And of course, he's defeated by Korra learning to airbend, which is complete bullshit. They spent a few episodes detailing the nature of airbending, but Korra just becomes an InstantExpert out of desperation and nothing else! And since he knew she was the Avatar, why didn't he block it as well?! He had very good arguments as to why he was right, which we even saw, but of course, his followers immediately turn on him after it's revealed he's a bender. Screw the oppression, the guy's a liar! And they didn't even know that he was evil! The grey morality of the series is thrown completely out the window, in favour of some generic guy who dies because apparently the writers thought it was suppose to be the series finale and not the season finale. Still idiotic! If you're gonna raise all these interesting ideas, then at least do something with them! Seriously, horrible bullshit ending that made me want to throw up.

** Tropers/{{Mewlettucerush}} I generally love LOK but the attempted redemption of Tarrlock in the season finale I disliked like dude I can understand you had an awful past but that doesnt excuse that you were a manipulative douchebag that arrested nonbenders for no reason bloodbended and kidnapped the avatar and lied about it and later bloodbended more people when it was found out and now despite the fact he's a terrible person we are supposed to feel sorry for him, what the fuck?

* Tropers/{{Blazar}}: The amount of angsting Aang did over the prospect of killing [[EvilOverlord Fire Lord]] [[AbusiveParents Ozai]] after the sheer number of nameless, faceless {{Mooks}} for whose deaths Aang was directly responsible, and who probably [[WhatMeasureIsAMook deserved it a lot less than Ozai did]]. I'm not even counting the ships he wrecked at the North Pole, given that Aang was really not himself at the time, but what about the airships he took down when they were fleeing the Fire Nation, and after he deliberately crashed Ozai's airship, did he honestly expect the crew to survive? Just because it didn't happen on-screen doesn't mean it didn't happen or doesn't count, and just because he didn't personally strike the finishing blow doesn't mean he isn't responsible! Yet just because Ozai is a named character whose face we know, he gets offered mercy while everyone else who had no choice but to follow his orders turns into expendable cannon fodder - some FriendToAllLivingThings!

** Tropers/{{Albertosaurus}}: As much as I adore ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'', "The Great Divide" makes me cringe. No meaningful character development or worldbuilding (the two tribes are never even mentioned again) and a childish story that is a far cry from what this show is capable of. I suppose it's meant to show Aang's role as mediator and peacemaker, but the story he tells to stop the tribes from fighting is ridiculous. Yes, I know he made it up, but the idea that anyone would believe it is preposterous - stories can change in the telling, but for a story to change this dramatically in just one hundred years is insane. The best thing one can say about this episode is that it is never brought up again. (Aside from a short DiscontinuityNod in "The Ember Island Players".)
** Tropers/{{Wildstar93}}: Hey, I also like ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'', but the episode called "Bato Of The Water Tribe" turned into one of my least favorite episodes ever. It's the part when Aang hides the map of Hakoda from Sokka and Katara. Yeah, Aang sure did something stupid like that, but you know what happens when he tells his friends? Do they talk about it? No! Instead, Sokka yells at him, basically calling him a traitor and abandoning him! And I know family's important to him and Katara, but was yelling at and abandoning Aang like that neccessary? Now every time I watch this episode on the DVD, I always skip that part.
*** Tropers/{{Knight9910}}: Agreed, "Bato Of The Water Tribe" is my least favorite episode and when I watch the series on Netflix, it's the only episode that I skip over. Sure, "The Great Divide" and "The Painted Lady" were stupid and meaningless but they're at worst moderately obnoxious, while this episode is actively painful to watch. Sure, hiding the map was a dick move and I can see Katara and Sokka being ticked about it. Still, he only did it because he was afraid he'd be left alone. You know, alone? Like he already kind of is? Because he's the last of his tribe and everyone he ever knew and cared about is dead except for one guy? Seriously, show a little @#%$ing courtesy, you selfish... yeah... The point is, what he did was perfectly understandable, even if it was definitely the wrong thing to do. But, you know, even if it hadn't been understandable, he still deserved the benefit of the doubt. I mean he'd been Katara and Sokka's friend for 14 episodes at that point and saved both of their lives almost that many times (9 times at least, by my count). He'd earned a little trust. Instead, they just toss him and his friendship into the garbage on a whim. Honestly, as much as I hate to admit it the characters being jerks to each other for half-ass reasons was kind of a theme in the first season, with episodes like "Jet", "The Great Divide", and "The Fortune Teller", but this episode was by far the absolute worst about it, because unlike all those other episodes the offending parties in this one are never proven wrong or made to apologize. I'm a very forgiving person myself, but at the very least Katara and Sokka owed Aang one damn good apology for that mess.
** Tropers/{{Eagal}}: Gotta be when the Gaang went to the North and Pakku refused to teach Katara. Now, I concur with Katara's position at least 95%; no legit reason for women to be excluded, and Katara in particular has immense natural talent that any master could see, and Pakku was being a huge jerkoff about it... but honestly, when Katara attacked Pakku after he refused her challenge to a duel, that's what lost her those extra points. Violence Is The Only Answer much?
** Tropers/{{JorgeGrive}} : For me it's the ending. I'll call Avatar one of the great series of the last decade, but I cannot take the ending, nor can I see most of it again. It feels a little too moralising for such an amazingly dark experience. Don't get me wrong, I can take happy endings, but this one feels rushed. Perhaps Aang refusing to listen 4 past Avatars and common sense was supposed to be messianic but to me it felt like little more than childish vanity, especially since Gyatso was a badass capable of killing as far as we can tell from the crime scene. My dislike comes as well from the off screen liberation of Mai and Ty Lee who along with Zuko were, for me, far more interesting characters. Additionally, the Agni Kai at the end was won by Azula. Once more, Zuko fell directly into her traps and Katara defeated her long ago, so it was sad for me that Zuko was, for one reason or another, never able to completely beat his sister, even when she was having a VillainousBreakdown.
*** Tropers/{{CaellachTigerEye}}: Considering that Azula broke the rules of the Agni Kai (by attacking the spectator), it's quite clear to me that Zuko won that match (being a 1-on-1, Azula had pretty much surrendered the match legally and would only get the throne by default if Zuko had died). This is kind of funny, because it contradicts Iroh - had Katara not been there, Azula would've been completely screwed by her less-talented brother - so I disagree on the above poster's point... Of course, this itself wrecks havoc with Katara, because the writers gave her pretty much nothing to do in the GrandFinale except defeat Azula. And while I like that she won using clever tactics against an overpowered opponent (and not, she did not beat Azula prior to this, at least not without fighting alongside others as in "The Chase") it still feels like she could've contributed more in the airship-raid or something (since Azula banished so many servants, conveniently making Zuko and Katara's efforts considerably easier than Sokka, Toph and Suki's). I suppose the reason they had Katara go with Zuko were because they had a joint {{Deuteragonist}} role and they were facing TheDragon, so to speak... but it still kind (not too much, though) feels like a DesignatedGirlFight. While far from the worst moment in the series, the fact that two of the most important characters were given so little to do in the Final Battle is... kind of anticlimactic, something I always sort of felt even without any cynicism clouding my judgement.
**** I am coming back to clear when I mentioned Katara won over Azula, I am the same guy but different computer, lost my account with the old computer Tropers/{{Rowlomir}} In "The crossroads of Destiny" Katara paralized one of Azula's legs until Zuko attacks her and by changing enemies they end up winning the duel, but you can clearly see in that battle that Katara's waterbending is already a match for Azula in her prime, so no matter the comet Azula is crazy in the final duel, there is nothing to do against Katara, also like other trooper said below, at the end Zuko doesn't win because he's better, he only wins because she's unstable or so you might think, after the lovely battle in "Southern Raiders" it feels like a lazy effort to finish their relation, again as someone else said, the problem is they had nothing for Katara to do, her battle was already over somehow, I kinna wish they sent her to the Capitol and she freeing Ty Lee and Mai could give better closure for the three girls, here she feels forced, I also adhere to the Ozai theory, there are a lot of people dying in the sky battle -if I remember correctly because I never watched the finale again and it's been six years now- and Aang cannot care about them, it all feels hypocrital and politically correct and nothing else.
** Tropers/{{Mockery}}: The whole of the final sequence is littered with these: Zuko reasoning he can take on Azula not because he's improved, found his moral and emotional center, but because she's become unhinged; The Lion-turtle's relatively 11th-hour koan giving Aang an out to his refusal to kill the Fire Lord and rendering it just another Dilemma of the Week; The rushed appearance and implementation of Energybending; and most of all, Aang's avatar state being unblocked by having his back popped. It was explained at the end of the last season that once he began unlocking his chakras, he wouldn't be able to access the Avatar State at all. WordOfGod clarified that he did not finish cutting emotional ties to Katara before Azula zapped him, and the Ember Island Players illustrated that he certainly hadn't let go of her by then, either.
** Tropers/{{Blazar}}: The amount of angsting Aang did over the prospect of killing [[EvilOverlord Fire Lord]] [[AbusiveParents Ozai]] after the sheer number of nameless, faceless {{Mooks}} for whose deaths Aang was directly responsible, and who probably [[WhatMeasureIsAMook deserved it a lot less than Ozai did]]. I'm not even counting the ships he wrecked at the North Pole, given that Aang was really not himself at the time, but what about the airships he took down when they were fleeing the Fire Nation, and after he deliberately crashed Ozai's airship, did he honestly expect the crew to survive? Just because it didn't happen on-screen doesn't mean it didn't happen or doesn't count, and just because he didn't personally strike the finishing blow doesn't mean he isn't responsible! Yet just because Ozai is a named character whose face we know, he gets offered mercy while everyone else who had no choice but to follow his orders turns into expendable cannon fodder - some FriendToAllLivingThings!