10000000000000000000000000000000000/10

Whooo... so much to cover. But first: 6/10

Yeah, I know it's low, and I probably would have put it higher, except that this was the finale to a spectacular show and I was honestly just expecting it to be better.

I'll write my issues with (mostly) the scripting as they come to me, but before I do that I'd like to offer my take on something that seems to be bugging a bunch of people - the lion-turtle. I did not see this as a deus ex machina device (despite the quite literal intervention of a god :-P ), but instead as an elegant solution to the problem of the impossibility of fighting for peace (it's a contradiction...), as well as a clever way to work within Nick's content requirements. Additionally, the need for an alternative to killing Ozai was a theme throughout the episode, and Aang's position against killing in any form was established way back in season 1. On top of all that, the concept of the avatar lends itself to fantastical powers that seem to come out of nowhere; at least Aang was personally responsible for defeating Ozai and stripping him of his powers, making this nothing like the deus ex machina at the end of Siege of the North. THAT one was blatant.

I thought Katara freezing herself and Azula was pretty cool, too.

Now for the problems...

1. A lot of people seem to be calling the fight sequences "epic", but for a series that dedicated so much time and effort to its fight choreography up to this point (they hired a martial arts master to consult for the duration of the show), I found the panoramic shots of huge blasts of fire (which characterized all of the fights) to be extremely disappointing.

2. The entire thing seemed way too rushed. I don't know if this was a thought-out scripting decision or a marketing decision (i.e. keep the entirety of the finale to under four episodes so we can show them all at once as a TV-movie), but it really bothered me, especially after the show burned the previous two episodes on a side story that went nowhere (Katara get's to find out what happened to her mother! She... died, ambiguously as always. Wait, we knew that. Ok, so se died to protect Katara, which I suppose we didn't really know, but I'm not sure anyone was expecting anything different, and the whole episode could probably have been summed up in a single flashback sequence.) and a meta-episode (which was funny, but not worth the trade-off in space to develop the conclusion more fully). The pacing for the entire third season bothered me, and this was by far the worst.

3. Azula's breakdown was so close to being great that it was all the more tragic when they dropped the ball and turned her into a dishonest caricature of someone suffering a complete emotional breakdown. Again, this probably could have been done better had we seen her paranoia develop over a couple more episodes. Also, her fight with Zuko brought up a bit of a plot hole - one isn't supposed to be able to bend lightening when one is in emotional turmoil, but there Azula was, blasting away.

4. The wonderful scripting of the romantic relationships between the characters up to this point was pretty much abandoned - once again it seemed there wasn't enough time to both finish the plot and explore the characters' relationships, so Mei and Zuko get 15 seconds and Aang and Katara get one scene in The Ember Island Players where she flips out and then everything is (not) resolved with a cliche kiss at the end.

5. After all the buildup surrounding the Order of the White Lotus, it turns out to be five old men (apparantly we've met the entire order already) who manage to retake Ba Sing Se in two minutes of overpowered, poorly choreographed fighting. Eh...

6. Major plot hole: Aang unlocks his last chakra with a blow to the back? I thought he had to give up worldly attachment. Of course it was explained that the avatar CAN'T give up worldly attachment as he is permanently bound to the world so...? Something tells me the writing staff needed a few more brainstorming sessions.

So that's all I can think of for now. I may be back to amend or redact certain statements after I've watched Sozin's Comet again.

10/10.

But they didn't say where Zuko's mother was.

A definate 10 out of 10

does anyone have anymore information on the new avator series

Absolutely amazing....I have watched alot of TV shows and watched alot die into the chasm of what could have or should have been. In my 25 years of life I have yet to see a show that pushed aside the could have/should have, and even the I wishes and made me think, "A part of me wants more, but what else is there". I am so glad my friend at work got me into this show I enjoyed every minute of it, and was far from disappointed with how they ended it. Ozai and Azula didn't die, and alot of people might be upset with that; but is peace restricted to only those who have always exercised it or is true peace free to everyone...I know it's only a cartoon but if you think about it. I can't wait until my son is old enough and we can watch this over and over again together. Rarely now adays are there shows that have meaning with each episode, much less solid script from point to point. I could go on ranting about this show for hours but the last thing I will say is the use of colors in the final episode, not to play down all the others by any means, was absolutely magnificent. They didn't over emphasize nor under emphasize the colors and it turned out absolutely brilliant. I wish more products these days took as much thought and care as the cast and crew of the Avatar series did....I will definitely be buying this when the DVD comes out.

P.S. The orginal poster said "after years of training he used the avatar state" or something of the sort.....actually in the end when Aang and Zuko are talking they say specifically that they couldn't believe, just a year ago they were enemies and now they are friends...a years not that long and if you disagree, have a kid.

Now that I had time to recollect my thoughts and memories (since they air avatar in sparatic spells), and, l listen to some of the lowe rmark presentations. Watching the last 6 episodes, I expected more. In fact, I did anticipate another year of mastery with the wind element. At this point, when I knew Ang was going to have to defeat the Fire Lord in 6 episodes I knew it could go two ways :Rushed or Excellent.

The series felt rushed, and like all other shows before it, it probably had to do with the execs. The Avatar is possibly another show that reached it's peak, pushed by greedy corporates where a series started off stellar and finished off lacking. Don't get me wrong, I think the Avatar ended in good note, but I wasn't impressed either. At the very least, Season 3 could have gone to episode 28. With episodes 18 and such being Suberb.

Unfortunately, 2 of the last four episodes were useless considering such a tall tale was condensced into a final showdow with two episodes. The White lotus unravelling was absolutely childish and rushed, along with Zuco's final battle, it should have been his closure. When a series ends like this there has to be solid closure on all plots and no strings have to be left attached.

As long as the series ended with all plots completed, I see no point in ending the chapter and starting a new one. Yet it seems the creatives in the Avatar left many loopsholes wide open and doors unhinged. Furthermore, many storires felt rushed or an afterthought to put as much in 2 hours as they could. This possibly had to deal with the Nicolodean executives and applying pressure or such, again money takes presidence over creativity. When this happens a series almost always loses.

Because the series ended the way it did, leaving me unsatisfied and the finale tempting me that "The End" really isn't such. I give the Avatar a 7/10 for quality, but losing 3 points of excellence falling short of finishing off the execution as they started off strong.