Nick had an Avatar marathon this weekend (suitably dubbed "Aang's Giving") and I watched attentively the 2-hour finale a second time. After the final episode "Avatar Aang" I realized something amiss that really bothers me.

After Aang defeats Fire Lord Ozai, the comet leaves and Aang just watches it disappear off in the distance. Why didn't Aang (or Roku) ever try to destroy this comet? Shouldn't the Avatar in control of their Avatar-state be able to destroy something of that scale? My friend argues that no Avatar could reach God-like power like that, but I disagree. If anything, the Avatar-state has been portrayed very much as a God-like power throughout the entire show (being able to move continents, etc.)

Sozen's comet is clearly a dangerous weapon that unfairly gives fire-benders a huge unfair advantage over the other benders of the world. I think this betrays the whole "everything is balanced" theme in the entire show. If the Avatar were to destroy it, wouldn't that prevent fire-benders from offsetting the balance again in the future? My friend again argues that all the benders have an ability that gives an unfair advantage over the others in certain situations. For example, with how the water-benders could bend blood during the full moon, what's to stop them from offsetting the balance as well? In my opinion I think that's a really weak example compared to the extreme power of Sozen's comet.

What are your thoughts?

My thoughts are many and disturbing. But as for my thoughts reguarding your question, I must first point out that the continent you're thinking of was really just a chunk of land about a mile long at most, and while still impressive, it's a far cry from moving a full grown continent.

As for the Comet, it grazes the atmosphere enough to make it burn like spacecraft upon re-entry so that puts it anywhere between 60 to 75 miles away from the surface. That's quite a stretch even for the Avatar in my book. Not to mention it's going really, really, really, really fast.

The Avatar doesn't stop the Comet for the same reason that he stops the moon spirit from being destroyed.

Remember, the nations must be kept in balance. Sozin's Comet, which only happens every century, is the Fire Nation's answer to the power given to the Water Tribe by the Full Moon.