Avatar: The Last Airbender Book 4: Aftermath
is a sequel fanfic to the TV series, written by deviantART user AdrenalineRush1996 (real name: Mateus Honrado). The fanfic retcons the post-graphic novels, especially The Search.
This fic has examples of the following tropes:
- And the Adventure Continues: The final words of the series, as said by Aang.
- Bittersweet Ending: Despite Team Avatar defeating the Anti-Avatar Alliance, team members Zuko and Azula are now saddened about their father's sacrifice. However, they do finally cope with his death.
- Brainwashed and Crazy: Azula is revealed to be this when she was still an antagonist, as revealed in "Azula's Origins". Guess who brainwashed her into evil?
- Call-Back: The series resolves what happened to Azula and Ursa in the beginning, as it's confirmed in the beginning of the fanfic that Azula was indeed sent to a mental facility after suffering defeat in the Book 3 finale, in order to rehabilitate and redeem herself, plus Ursa was revealed to be living in exile at Hira'a after taking the blame for Firelord Azulon's death in order to allow her husband Ozai (who actually killed Azulon) to become Firelord.
- Also open endings from "The Blind Bandit" have been resolved in the two-part episode "Last Chance to See"/"The Everlasting Gaze", when Toph's father apologises to her for not allowing her to join Team Avatar.
- Canon Immigrant: Lian from the video game.
- Faking the Dead: Zhao and Katara and Sokka's thought to be deceased mother Kya.
- Foreshadowing: In the end of the series, Aang begins forming a new utopian city called Republic City, which becomes the main setting for the sequel series The Legend of Korra.
- Heroic Sacrifice: In the end of the series, Ozai sacrifices himself because he doesn't want Zuko and Azula to end up like him.
- Important Haircut: Zuko cuts his hair (again) after his scar is finally healed by Katara. Reason: He's uncomfortable having shoulder-length hair and sporting a topknot.
Word of God said that his haircut is similar to his Book 2 (first half) hairstyle.- Averted for Aang, in the second half, when he is depicted with a full head of hair alongside with Sokka, who has outgrown his hair sometime after the end of the Book 3 finale and now keeps his hair down from the second half onwards.
- Killed Off for Real: Long Feng in the series finale. According to Word of God, he was sent into Fog of Lost Souls (aka Limbo) and then his face was stolen by Koh the Face Stealer when he had a shocked expression in exchange of Aang restoring the face of Avatar Kuruk's wife Ummi, thus punishing him for eternity.
- Luke, I Am Your Father: Due to retcon, Pakku and Kanna are actually Kya's parents, not Hakoda's stepfather and mother as mentioned in the series, as it's revealed that Kanna was pregnant with Kya after breaking up with Pakku. Plus Arnook is Kya's older brother, making Yue Sokka and Katara's cousin, though it was actually common in the 19th and early 20th century to have people marry their own cousins. In fact, Bato is revealed to be Hakoda's brother. According to Word of God, Hakoda and Bato's parents identity may be explained in the near future.
- Not Quite Dead: Zhao is revealed to have survived the ordeal from the Book 1 finale.
- Retcon: Completely ignores the post-finale graphic novels and a few elements from the sequel series Avatar: The Legend of Korra; Word of God explained on his DeviantArt account that he began writing this fanfic after becoming very angry with the controversial plot twists of The Search alongside with Zuko and Mai's breakup in The Promise Part 2, as he is a Mai/Zuko shipper.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: After being horrified with the final battle, Jee refuses to take part and confronts Zhao until he is fatally electrocuted by him.
- Shout-Out: According to the creator, the universe that this fanfic is set on is the Earth-2 of the Avatarverse.
- The Agni Kai battle between Zuko and Ozai with Long Feng watching in the finale, is influenced by the Death Star battle between Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader with the Emperor watching from Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi.
- One of the Kyoshi Warriors in the series finale is named Raven.
- Ozai's sacrifice by jumping to the volcano that killed Avatar Roku mirrors The Magna Defender's death in Power Rangers Lost Galaxy.
- The plot of the prequel Timeshifted is inspired by the 2009 Star Trek reboot.
- Spared By Adaptation: Lian, who was crushed to death by a boulder in the first video game.
- Take That!: To The Promise and The Search. The fanfic actually predated The Rift.
- There Is Another: Aang is revealed not to be the last Air Nomad, instead he is indeed the last Airbender, hence there are more Air Nomads in existence, but lack of having airbending powers.
- The Reveal: Zhao survived the ordeal from the Book 1 finale, as seen in "Finding Firelady Ursa".
- Azula was not entirely evil when she was a child, instead she was brainwashed by her father in order to remove all of her happy memories with her mother and to serve as his henchgirl after her mother's exile. This confirms that the brainwash completely corrupted her to become insane in the Book 3.
- Ozai was actually responsible for killing his own father, Firelord Azulon. He framed his wife, Firelady Ursa to do so in order to usurp the throne, confirming that Ursa was exiled after she took the blame of hin order to protect herself.
