To be as free as air. Except change like water. Strong and steady as the earth. Destructive and passionate as fire. To control these elements in order to save the world. This plot was crafted to become one of the most beloved American animated franchises of all time, Nickelodeon’s “Avatar: The Last Airbender,” and for 21 years, it has captured audiences. Fans consider the characters friends, are obsessed with the lore, and take the lessons of Uncle Iroh to heart.

2026 is a love note to us Avatar fans, and I am here to review the two latest additions to the universe of Avatar: season 2 of the live-action Netflix series AND the animated film: “Avatar Aang: The Last Airbender.”

CHECK OUT MY SEASON ONE REVIEW HERE FIRST!

WARNING! THERE MAY BE SOME SPOILERS, BUT I WILL DO MY BEST TO KEEP THEM TO A MINIMUM! 

Once again, I feel the casting overall was good. Sokka’s actor is still the GOAT at encompassing his personality! The inclusion of Toph, a fan favorite, in this season was going to be critical. And by golly, they nailed it! Her sass, her crassness, her strength, her complexity with her upbringing and social experiences, and her rapport with all the others on Team Avatar. I think she is at the top of perfect casting for the role of our favorite greatest Earthbender in the world! The intonations of all the nicknames she gives too were…Chef’s kiss.

And yes, we do get THE BOULDER! The Boulder approves of this. 😉

Now that we know the future Melon Lord was in good hands, we can dive into the season and its components.

Like before, if you go by run-time, season two of the live-action is only a little shorter than its matching season in the original animated series. By 48 minutes. So a little more than two cartoon episodes. Pretty close. So why they have switched or cut out a good number of episodes or storylines when a masterpiece is right there to adapt is beyond me!

Episodes that were skipped or moved this time around:

• “The Avatar State” (although I feel this was because Aang became fearful of it in the live-action,)
• “The Cave of Two Lovers” (although a little of its plot was a part of season 1, although I do not like the huge changes,)
• “The Swamp,”
• “Avatar Day”
• “The Drill” (This was because this set would have been a MASSIVE undertaking in real life! Although cool to see,)
• “Appa’s Lost Days”
• And the big one: “The Guru.” In fact…this one is a massive smack in the face because the guru, who is Aang’s guide to connect to his full Avatar State and chakras, is completely CUT from the show. 🙁 I miss him and his banana juice.
• Also, there was no baby moose lion! *Cries* He was so cute!

Were there changes in the show? OH absolutely! Here are the ones that stuck out to me (again; I will try hard not to spoil:)

• The opening of the whole season starts with Aang, Katara, and Sokka fighting Fire Nation soldiers and saving refugees. There is some fun comedy in there too. I know some people did not like that, but I personally thought it was neat!
• They meet again with Suki earlier. She and Sokka are tots adorable and bashful together.
• The refugees stay with Team Avatar longer, and we see them living in the lower ring of Ba Sing Se.
• Sai, the inventor from season 1, has a supportive character role in this season, a decent amount bigger than the cartoon. I do like his energy, especially with Sokka. They even give Sai a love interest…awww!
• We get more flashbacks with Queen Ursa, Zuko, and Azula’s mother. I deeply enjoyed them. Although Azula’s involvement in what happened to her was changed greatly in the live-action, and I feel it is not as impactful.
• One of the best shows in the entire original series that won awards, “Zuko Alone,” was adapted to the live-action. Again, like the previous note, it did not feel as impactful. At least we got to see turtleducks!
• When the group first gets to the outer wall of Ba Sing Se before being allowed entry, everyone is sucked into these personal, dark oval stone standing cells. Only Toph’s family name allows her, Aang, Katara, and Sokka out until they can talk to the captain, who lets everyone else go. I found this an odd choice.
• How Toph was forcefully taken back to her home was vastly different. Oof! Broke my heart.
• Jet…gosh, this guy. His persona was the same misled/ruled by revenge ‘antihero in his own mind,’ but his actions were quite a bit different. Don’t worry; he still got his true ‘hero’ moment and some redemption, even if it was in a different place and way. If you know, you know. I did miss the mind control though, lol!
• The introduction and Uncle Iroh’s new involvement as part of The White Lotus were not done the same. But I am interested in where it will go.
• The headquarters of the Dai Li is in a new location. Wasn’t a fan. But the prison cells having the crystals looked similar, and I liked the aesthetic.
• How Team Avatar gets into the Earth King’s party varied. They were INVITED! How boring! LOL! I miss Aang and Sokka sneaking in and Katara and Toph being girly. They did use the boys’ methods of sneaking in in another episode with the whole team, and it worked for the comedy angle. Plus, I DID love the outfits that fit their regions they wore to the party during the live-action series.
• The Blue Spirit (for Zuko) makes more appearances.
• The girl that likes Zuko in Ba Sing Se works at the teashop with him, and is not a customer.
• How the gang finds out about the comet that is returning is very different.
• Sadly, Bosco, the Bear, had to be cut due to budget. But the creators made sure there was at least a painting of him in the Earth King’s room. They say they missed him too.

Additions: 

• There is a moment when Suki teaches Katara how to punch. LOL! I loved it!
• Suki also offers Katara a spot as a Kyioshi Warrior.
• Katara heals the sea monster that tries to kill the group at Seperant Pass after they defeat it. Aang struggles to heal for these two episodes. In the cartoon, he never learns it. But that was okay because not all Avatars are meant to be experts at skills. But, apparently, he learns it for this moment, doing it with Katara…and it never is brought up again. *eye roll* Didn’t like this.
• Aang definitely had more moments where he was almost angry. Frustration I understand, but it was too much for our lovable Airbender, especially at Seperant’s Pass.
• The Captain who scans visitors to Ba Sing Se (and knows of the war outside, for they view outside the walls) is a new character and distrusts the actions of Long Feng and tries to be an ally to Aang and his friends.
• There is a prefecture in the lower ring of Ba Sing Se where Fire Nation refugees live. It’s a slum, but overall, everyone there is happier because they are not oppressed by the Fire Lord and see the horrors he has inflicted on the world. The ones that can firebend are not allowed to, and of course, conflict falls upon these poor people. I personally think this is a nice outlook because even as a kid, I cannot imagine every soul that lives in the Fire Nation agrees with its brutality.
• We see some ‘rebels’ in the lower ring who try to speak out about the fearful world outside the walls of Be Sing Se, until they are snagged by soldiers who are meant to make sure the war is never mentioned. Seeing all the names of those killed earthbent into the inner wall was powerful.
• The cabbage man has an added scene! YEAY!
• We get a PRECIOUS flashback of when baby Appa and little Aang meet! Baby Appa is SOOOOO CUTE!

I wanted to dive further into some of the personailities of the characters during the live-action or backdrop changes.

First off, Professor Zai. I always liked him in the original show. He was just a friendly man with a deep thirst for knowledge and respect for learning. In the live-action, I enjoyed the actor’s performance immediately and was happy to see them give him and Sokka a rapport earlier on, both being inquisitive by nature. So, when he joined the team on the exploring the spiritual library journey like in the animated version, I was pleased. Until…they made this Professor Zai do ONE THING that COMPLETELY RUINED HIS CHARACTER AND DESTROYED HIM! I was so mad how they tarnished him, period!

The Earth King was another fun character in the show. He didn’t have a lot of scenes in either version, but being the ruler of the current still-standing stronghold against the ruthless Fire Nation made him important. He had a regal, yes, aura, but was silly and playful, which would make you smile. In the live-action, he did have that calm presence, but I missed the little spark he had to his personaility. I do not mind a quiet character, but I feel he needed a little more of a push to be engaging.

Lang Feng’s live-action actor gave a great performance as the friendly, empathizing second-in-command to the king. The pressure he feels in his job to keep peace and how it relates to Aang was a nice touch to the series. Once Azula enters his life, I feel they did not utilize him as much as he could have been or well, but the changes for him, for the most part, I did not mind.

Speaking of our inferno of a fire storm princess… PHEW!

Azula has always been intense, untamed, calculating, ruthless, but the live-action took her to another level, especially at the start. This isn’t really a spoiler, but I feel it’s an excellent example of what I mean; when Mai and Ty Lee agree to work with her to bring Zuko back, she just stops and messes with their minds with her verbal warfare, asking if they would kill each other right there to prove their loyalty to her. Of course, the friends do not want to, but Azula prepares one of her powerful attacks to kill them instead, counting down, emotionless. So, the girls do begin to truly fight each other. The scene was too much and distasteful to the character. My husband disliked it just as much as me. How Azula also handles ‘revealing’ her team, and her sneaking into the city, was very quick and your face (although the comedic timing of it was good!) Azula is, yes, powerful, but she was also crafty, a true war strategist. It was like once she stepped out of her castle, she threw that out the window.

I mentioned in my season 1 review two years ago that I wasn’t fully convinced by Uncle Iroh. The actor is good, but I have high standards, having the honor of working now with the second voice actor of everyone’s beloved Uncle, Mr. Greg Baldwin, who truly acts like Uncle Iroh! What the writers did to Uncle Iroh here made me a bit sad. Granted, I know the tone is more mature and darker than the Nick version, but Uncle Iroh was depressed and felt unworthy at the start of the season; the creators were focusing on his calm and life lessons (which I adore) but not his lovable side too. I feel it dulled his beautiful soul, and he is one of the brightest in every universe. Still love this character and appreciate the actor.

No notes on Zuko. The actor is still good, and I mentioned some of the changes here. ^_^ His attempt to talk to people normally, his struggles, how his heart aches for his mother, the final battle…all excellent considering the material given to him.

THERE. IS. NO. WAR. IN. BA SING SE. Joo Dee(s) overall surely had the look, and the costume was stellar. They were not as ‘happy,’ though, getting frustrated fairly often (even if it was subtle). Their final added scene…man…

As a note: The Painted Lady, which was a legend originally in a popular season three episode, was added to season 2 for many episodes. It was even introduced during episode one of the live-action, involving how if you see a painted lady flower growing, it means the Painted Lady is going or trying to help you.  She has her purpose, but it was definitely different than the OG show.

One thing the Internet is going nuts with observations on, and I cannot ignore, is how different the SPIRIT LIBRARY was presented. Since the desert episode was omitted (where it was originally) due to making another set, AKA more money, they set it up in Ba Sing Se, but in a place where it felt spirits or ghosts would appear… Okay… They get help from an unlikely person. So Team Avatar, Professor Zai, and this guide all sit with Aang as he meditates and takes ALL OF THEM to the Spirit World to enter the door to the library… WHAT?! I truly disliked how he can take people to the Spirit World with him. That is one of the big reasons I HATE episode 5 of season 1. Now, Aang is able to open this already impossible-to-find door, being the bridge between the two worlds, and everyone giving the guardian of the library a new piece of the knowledge with pure intent, like in the cartoon? All good in the neighborhood. But now, their BODIES are just lying on the ground. And who is guarding them? APPA AND MOMO! THEIR PETS! *hits forehead*

I see no problem with this…

Once we get inside the library, their group of six only has to pay ONE piece of knowledge to the guardian for everyone. Truly a bargain. Then they split up and explore. I do like how past Avatars are getting roles in the live-actions as mentors because the books on their stories are popular. It is a fascinating universe. So we see two of them in the library. Maybe not needed, but it was cool. Katara and our ‘guide’ also learn a fact about his past. It was cruel, a twist in our hearts just to hurt because we SAW those characters earlier in the series! Thanks, writers.

I don’t want to give too much more away. But I will say: it doesn’t end well. I miss the original’s version a lot in this arc.

There was also SO much trauma dumping! I get it; I am all for supporting each other and communication. But every character had to have a heart-to-heart with every other character. Especially in the first episode; it made it drag.

Now, this show still has overall wonderful sets, beautiful costumes, and the combat is spectacular. The graphics on the bending and creatures, I feel, are done exceptionally well. Season one brought all these to the table, and season two here continued the trend.  

I truly was entertained by Aang’s earthbending sessions with Toph. So funny! Plus, I was happy to see his rock armor!

This season also made sure several of our cherished lines we quote to this day were present (even if they were shoehorned in). So, if you are worried about Twinkle Toes training, boomerangs returning, Zuko trying to make tea, water tribe sibling brickering (the actors’ rapport is so grand and believable), poetry battles, or a certain loopy juice, don’t fret too much.

Finally, I liked very much and appreciated how they addressed Aang’s growth spurt; the actor shot up in the two years between filming the seasons. HA! It was a cute way to do it. But don’t worry; he’s still Aang. =) At least they already filmed the last season.

With the semi-lackluster final battle and all the changes, am I ready for season 3?

Like the Avatar, I started this journey; I am going to see it through.

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“THE LEGEND OF AANG: THE LAST AIRBENDER” MOVIE: