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Avatar: The Last Airbender "Sozin's Comet, Part 4 - Avatar Aang"

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  • Alternative Character Interpretation: Was Aang sparing Ozai's life in favor of taking away his bending really just in adherence with his people's pacifist values? Some viewers have suggested that he did it because he believed that forcing a prideful social Darwinist like Ozai to live as a powerless failure would be worse than killing him. Others have said it was an act of defiance against Ozai calling the Air Nomads "weak", attempting to show Ozai that his people's values deserved a place in the world and that he would uphold them.
  • Ass Pull:
    • Most fans take issue with Aang suddenly entering the Avatar State by hitting a perfectly-shaped rock, because such a thing was never set up or hinted at and it only happened by chance because he was launched into it by Ozai. It's also contradicted by what the Guru told him about not being able to use it unless he let go of Katara to release the last chakra.
    • The existence of Energybending is another point of contention. While Toph inventing a new form of bending had already been established, Energybending doesn't use any of the four elements and wasn't hinted toward at all prior to this episode, so its usage to resolve the Ozai plot without killing him feels like a cop out to avoid having Aang become a killer.
  • Catharsis Factor:
    • It was Zuko's fault that Ba Sing Se fell to Azula by interfering in her fight with Katara. Here, it's fitting that though he has changed and proven he's on the side of good, he makes up for his mistake by protecting Katara from his little sister.
    • Azula's Villainous Breakdown is sad. The fight leading up to it, however, is not. Azula goes after Katara For the Evulz after she succeeds in making Zuko take a lightning bolt to the chest. Katara realizes she can't heal Zuko or save herself in a straight fight. Instead, she gains a look of Tranquil Fury, grabs some chains, and lures Azula onto the storm drain grate. Azula's Oh, Crap! on realizing she's enveloped in ice, and suffocating until Katara undoes the ice-water bubble, is satisfying.
    • Ozai's defeat is truly cathartic from the moment Aang turns the tide of the battle through the Avatar State. Gone is the arrogant, vicious Phoenix King that terrorizes children; in its place is a frightened man running from an angry god. When he is almost executed by the Avatar, his expression is that of a helpless child, not unlike Zuko during that fateful Agni Kai. When Aang decides to take away his firebending instead of killing him, Ozai is left drooling on the floor, forced to hear terrible jokes from children mocking his new status as a non-bender and the loser of the Hundred Year War. A fitting curtain for such a haughty tyrant.
  • Cry for the Devil: The final shot of Azula as she's reduced to a screaming, crying wreck once Katara manages to chain her down. Zuko and Katara's reactions to this drive it further home, as neither of them look triumphant over their victory and can only look at Azula with sadness and pity.
  • Do Not Do This Cool Thing: Aang going into the Avatar State with all the past Avatars simultaneously chewing Ozai out for all the destruction he caused and nearly killing him by bending all four elements at the same time is supposed to serve as Aang's refusal to compromise his own morals to Take a Third Option. It was also one of the most awesome moments of the entire franchise, not to mention Ozai would've 100% deserved it.
  • Signature Scene:
    • The final battle between Aang and Ozai
    • Azula's hysterical crying fit after Katara and Zuko defeat her.
    • The entire Happy Ending, topped off with Aang and Katara kissing outside Iroh's tea shop, the Jasmine Dragon.

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