I actually think the tea shop meeting, from what speechless and other have theorized, happened a couple of months after, but i'm sure there are still alot alot alot of problems, because think about war in real life! Nothing clears up that quickly. The aftershock lingers on for years after a war as ended.

wow long post lol. Uhm ok. Well lord, I've argued this many a time. Yes I get the hero basis, it's a good point, every story follows one of 8 topic outlines. I can't recall what they are right now, because my brain is fried because its 2:30 in the a.m. And I've come to accept the whole kiss thing, I don't have a problem with that, it made most everyone happy, it was cute, watev. (obvi zutara shipper, this has nothing to do with that though)

OHHH AND THIS ALSO HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH URSA! I HONESLTY COULDN'T CARE LESS ABOUT THAT.

You seem to intensly dislike my "bad bad writing" comment. I say that because, to me avatar was better than that ending. It was a very complex show, alot of intricate, intertwining plotlines, and to me, they took the easy way out. I am a writer, but i'm also only 16 so alot people are quick to ask me "what the hell do you know about good writing." I'd like to think I know a few things. I do know while a happy go-lucky renion will make everyone happy, it's also empty. It's dry, predictable writing, The ending didn't resolve anything. Everyone was friends, but what about the aftershock of a centuary long war. I'm sure that kind of post-war world doesn't disapate in a few months. they acknowled "ohhh we're gonna have some work to do" then went on the drinking there tea and laughing over the good times. I guess I felt as if the cut this seriers off by the throat too soon. The plot was cut short, and It was prematurly ended.

So there you go.

Actually, not all the charcters found time for their love during the war. Zuko apparently found it necessary to dump Mai via letter when he left to join the Avatar, not getting back together with her until after the war (despite the fact that they obviously had feelings for eachother). It should be noted that whereas Sokka and Suki are fairly open, easy going people who prefer to have things out in the open, Katara is not. For all her compassion and willingness to help others, she tends to be very closed up about her own feelings. During her one definite romance with Jet, she certainly made no moves to openly express her attraction to him (the best she could do was make hima hat that she ended up giving to Aang instead - symbology anyone?). It probably didn't help that after disasters like Aang's bumbling in The Cave of Two Lovers, Katara may actually have had serious doubts about whether or not Aang felt that way about her. We saw in "The Awakening" that when Katara has emotional issues with people (in that case her father), she is not open about it at all, prefering to bottle up her emotions until she can no longer contain them. Although Sokka may have found time to Romance, I think it's pretty clear that Katara has a tendancy over her brother to devote 100% of her energy towards what she percieves as being the most important thing at the time. Small things like having fun and acknowledging her feelings towards Aang are ignored. There's also the fact that I suspect that Bryke (who openly admit to being kataangers) most likely had the idea of the kiss being the closing scene and thus delayed it because they felt it was the best way to finish the series (I must say I agree with them).

It is true that Zuko is the most important charcter after Aang and deserves closure, but I do not think that Ursa was that closure. Aang's love for Katara was one of the driving forces in his day to day life, the only thing to him that could rival saving the world for importance. What happened with Ursa was not so much a drivng force for Zuko as it was one of the major infuences on his past, and how he became the person he was.

The thing about Zuko is that I believe that his story really began to wind down at the half-way point of season three. It is undeniable that the first half of the season had far more Zuko developement in it than it did Aang. I look on the first half as being Zuko's story, the finale as Aang's story, and the interluding episodes as a transmission between the two. Zuko's major plotline was his redemption, and he achieved that beyond all doubt in the Day of Black Sun. After that his primary role was as Aang's firebending teacher. His side-plot was his need for forgiveness from his uncle (something developed far more than his need to find Ursa), and that plot was resolved in "The Old Masters", thus providing the closure in Zuko's story that we all agree that he deserved.

not u lol

I disagree with you 100%.

I'm 16 too, and when I'm not being an amateur historian I also like to think of myself as something of a writer, not to mention an incredibly avid reader of all different genres, so I guess that point is a stalemate.

Your main problem with the ending seems to be that you think it was "cut off", "dry, predictable", etc. You neglect the fact that the series has been leading to such an ending for some time now. All the complex plot points plot points were resolved, because that's what the finale was about; not starting new plot points, ending the old ones in a manner consistent with what we had previously seen. We all saw what direction they were heading; we could predict what was going to happen. Sudden twists that changed everything might have worked great for the season two finale, but for the final one ran the risk of distorting the plot and ruining the show.

It has been brought up many times; we have no idea how much time passed between the coronation and the teas-shop scene. We didn't see the post war reconstruction effort because quite frankly that's not interesting. We know that it's happening, ha we want to see is something to let us know that people are recovering emotionally as well as physically; children have come back out to play in the streets, which are once again safe, and most importantly, we see the heroes taking a long deserved break.

I repeat: For three seasons now we have watched the heroes as they struggled with their destinies. Now they have achieved everything they set out to do; the world is at peace, people are steadily working to put the world back together, the natural balance is reasserting itself. far from being dry and empty, the happy scene at the end is a confirmation, letting us know that the world is leaning towards right now, that good has triumphed and we can cheer for, a moment of sheer joy that we can revel in.

In the final analysis perhaps Avatar's greatest accomplishment was the creation of genuine, real characters whom we can fall in love with and wish the best for. We want them to be happy, because we have cheered them on and seeing their triumph in some way connects with us at a deeper level to become our own triumph.

That is what most people have seen in the finale (or at least I have), and even though you obviously do not appreciate it in the same light, at least know that for many of us what you saw as empty space was not empty at all.

Endings and goodbyes are usually times of emotion rather than rational thought, and this was even more so. It's masterpiece was to fill those who truly appreciated it with overpowering, true emotion. The people who had such an experience did indeed recognize the finale for what it was; a happy ending, not just for the characters, but for the viewers too.

That is as close as I can come to an approximation of how I felt watching the finale anyway. No doubt everyone who watched it recieved a different impression. But any ending that can inspire such strong feelings in not just a few fans but many is anything but "dry and empty".