Awesome / Avatar: The Last Airbender (2024)

Episode 1 - Aang

• Sozin reveals to the captured Earth Kingdom soldier that he deliberately allowed the plans to invade the Earth Kingdom to be stolen. With all attention focused on the Earth Kingdom, the Fire Nation is able to launch on unexpected attack the Air Nomads.
• Even though they end up losing, credit must be given to the Air Nomads. For a society of ardent pacifists who got caught completely flat-footed by an ambush of supercharged and numerically superior foes, they don't go down without a fight... and actually do a damn good job. Special mention goes to the first monk who fights off a dozen Firebenders before the rest of the temple even knows what is happening, and the nun who starts a tornado.
• Gyatso holds off half a dozen firebenders by himself, only being overwhelmed when Sozin himself shows up. Sozin even admits that if it weren't for the comet giving his people a boost, the Air Nomads would have won.
• Credit to Zuko: He's shown to be the best firebender on his crew. He beats Sokka in a few moves, holds his own against Aang, and he's the one who knocks Aang off his glider when everyone else has missed.
• Sokka, on Appa, catching Aang at the last second. Then when Zuko throws a giant fireball at them, Katara manages to pull up a sheet of water to block it.

Episode 2 - Warriors

• At the end of the conversation with Zhao, Suki's mother knows what's going to happen, subtly expresses it to her daughter and then permits the soldiers to pass, all while wearing a pleasant smile. Yet the moment one gets close enough, she grabs his shoulder and throws him back, before she and the others all wield their signature fans and the fight begins; clearly badassery runs in Suki's family!
• Sokka and Suki fighting side-by-side. Special mention goes to Sokka deflecting Zhao's fire blast with a fan.
• Kyoshi manifests through Aang and comes to Katara's rescue, fighting off Zuko and his men. She then heads to the village and utterly demolishes Zhao's unit, simultaneously bending all four elements in the process. The terrified commander wisely orders his men to retreat in face of a fully realized Avatar's devastating power.

Episode 3 - Omashu

• Dark and brutal as it is, Azula infiltrating a group of Fire Nation rebels planning to assassinate her father and leading them straight to Ozai for him to burn.
• To avoid alerting Earth Kingdom soldiers with his firebending, Zuko resorts to regular hand-to-hand combat and Improvised Weapons to fight Aang. While he doesn't defeat the Avatar, he shows himself to be a relentless and resourceful fighter even without his bending.
  • Awesome mixed with funny. During Aang and Zuko’s fight, a random woman runs up and starts hitting Zuko, seeing the situation as a teenage boy attacking an innocent child.
• Katara stops Jet's attempted assassination of both the Mechanist and the King of Omashu, bending water to intercept the flaming arrow shot by Longshot that would've set off the exploding jelly in the suitcase they tricked him into taking.

Episode 4 - Into the Dark

• Aang is stuck using his Airbending to hold up two large boulders from crushing himself and Bumi, facing a Sadistic Choice between saving himself or saving his old friend. Katara and Sokka show up and immediately spring into action. Katara creates an ice slide for Sokka to zip in and tackle Bumi out of harm's way, allowing Aang to Take a Third Option.

Episode 5 - Spirited Away

• It happens so fast and casually: Sokka's first proper use of Boomerang, throwing it in a manner that it flies back after it clobbers a Fire Nation soldier instead of just clumsily winging it. Suki's lessons were taken to heart.
• Katara's combat waterbending is stepping up too: she translates the Eartbending technique of blunt disc projectiles and shard scattershots to use with a block of waterbend-frozen ice, throwing back an entire squad of their Fire Nation pursuers.

Episode 6 - Masks

• Zhao makes a big mocking speech about how helpless Aang is held up in chains. Aang's reply is to simply let out a breath of wind that knocks Zhao off his feet and give the guy a beautiful mocking smirk.
• Aang and the "Blue Spirit" versus Zhao's forces. First the Spirit sneaks into the fortress like a ghost, disables the soldiers guarding Aang, and sets him free. Then the two of them work together almost seamlessly until they reach the final gate. And who is the Blue Spirit? Zuko. The same Fire Nation prince who has been relentlessly trying to capture Aang throughout the entire series.
  • The show also bigs up the fortress Aang's being kept in, with Iroh telling Zuko how it's managed to hold off entire armies. And yet it wasn't good enough to keep Zuko out.
• A flashback to the day Ozai challenged Zuko to Agni Kai reveals that Zuko probably could've beaten his father, as even though Ozai dominates much of the fight, Zuko eventually gains the upper hand and briefly holds Ozai at his mercy. However, Zuko hesitates to deliver the critical blow as he clearly doesn't want to hurt his own father. This allows Ozai, who has no such compunctions, to counter Zuko's grapple and horrifically burn his face, leaving him scarred. Although Zuko loses the fight due to his compassion, it's a testament to his skill as a Firebender that for a moment he managed to put the Fire Lord himself on the ropes.

Episode 7 - The North

• Unlike the animated series, Hahn actively comes to Sokka and asks for his advice about fighting Firebenders and asks if he has any other intel on them, like the changes to their uniforms since they have an older one for reference.
• The first instance of lightningbending in live action is beautiful. Furthermore, it's pretty clear that this is the first time Azula has ever done it in public, and it's enough to convince her father to finally give up on the games and let her contribute to the war.
• Katara versus Pakku. Both display some incredible waterbending techniques, with some moments being perfectly lifted from the animated version of the confrontation. Although she loses the fight, Katara gains the respect of the boys of the Northern Tribe, as many of Pakku's own students clamor to ask her about her techniques and whether she's willing to teach them.

Episode 8 - Legends

• Aang and Katara team up to take down the crew of a Fire Nation ship while Sokka disables the controls in the command tower, rending it completely useless.
• While Pakku is still refusing to let women fight in the upcoming siege, Katara gathers the female waterbenders of the tribe and unites them in a plea to let them defend their home.
• Momo, of all characters, performs a Heroic Sacrifice to save a child from falling debris, getting badly hurt in the process. Thankfully, Yue is able to heal him.
• Katara gets a rematch against Zuko after being easily outclassed by him back on Kyoshi. This time, she is able to evenly match against him.
  • Bonus points for her managing to do so without having received training from Master Pakku as she did in the animated series. This version is completely self-taught, and still manages to fight at the same level as her animated incarnation.
    Zuko: You little peasant. You found a master, haven't you?
    Katara: Yes. You're looking at her.
  • Before the fight, Aang has this to say:
    Aang: Go easy. Enough people have been hurt already.
    Zuko: I don't care.
    Aang: [smirks] I wasn't talking to you.
• Iroh taking a stance against Zhao and actively trying to protect the Moon Spirit before it’s unfortunately killed.
  "Whatever you do to that spirit, I'll unleash on you tenfold!"
• Aang merging with the Ocean Spirit, knowing fully well he may never come back from it. Together, they thrash Zhao's entire fleet of ships.
  Aang (in the Avatar State): No... It's not over.
  • Yue sacrificing herself to heal the Moon Spirit (and becoming one herself) to help ease the wrath of the Ocean Spirit, which also allows Aang to demerge from it.
  • When the siege is over, Aang emerges from the ocean in the Avatar State, showing the world that he has indeed returned to end the war, and stopping Zhao's assault was only the beginning; a sign that Fire Lord Ozai can still be defeated.
• Zuko, after being nearly assassinated on Zhao's orders last episode, gets the chance to confront his rival, and absolutely thrashes him.
  • As a bit of a Mythology Gag to their counterparts' Agni Kai, Zuko restrains himself from killing Zhao after he boasted how he and Azula were working together all along. This shows how far above Zuko is compared to Zhao who callously murdered the Moon Spirit. Zuko spares the admiral, who then tries to murder him from behind... only for Iroh to intervene, saving his nephew from Zhao's act of cowardice.