The other day, I was trying to think of what would be my favorite episode of Avatar:
The Last Airbender. At first, my mind jumped to the Tales of Ba Sing Se,
specifically Iroh’s story about his son, because that’s just an incredibly good, emotional story.
But the rest of the short stories in that episode are kind of lackluster so I don’t know if it could
be the best episode overall. Then I thought maybe one of the finale episodes because,
simply by being the finale, those episodes have higher stakes and give a really satisfying
conclusion to a lot of major plot points. But that feels like cheating. The finale is always
going to have that kind of advantage over the rest of the episodes. So I started thinking what would
make the best non-finale episode, what would just your average Avatar episode need to be perfect?
And as I was rewatching the series over and over again, as you do, I kept finding the most joy in
The Firebending Masters. As I thought more about it, I realized that this episode has
absolutely everything that a good Avatar episode needs. So in this video, I want to break down
those reasons and talk about why I think this is the perfect Avatar: The Last Airbender episode.
Number One: World-Building/Backstory
Part of the appeal of the Avatar universe is the incredible world-building. This feels like
a real actual place that you could visit, with its own distinct regions, cultures,
traditions, and people. So much time and effort goes into fleshing out this fascinating world.
By the second half of the final season, when you reach The Firebending Masters, you probably
think you understand most of this world by now. You’ve gone with the Gaang from the Southern Water
Tribe to the Northern Water Tribe, all across the Earth Kingdom, stayed in Ba Sing Se, and
even lived in the Fire Nation for a bit. A lot of worldbuilding has already happened and so you’re
probably content to sit back and think, “Yup, I understand all of this world now.” But then,
they hit you with some new information: Toph learned earthbending from the badgermoles,
who were also blind and used earthbending as an extension of their senses rather than just
as a fighting form. The airbenders learned how to master airbending from the sky bison, which sheds
a new light on Appa, and the firebenders learned from the dragons. But, the dragons are all gone,
which sets you up for an amazing plot twist later in the episode when Ran and Shaw are revealed.
And, as a part of all of this new worldbuilding, you get some extra insight into a now-very-beloved
character, Uncle Iroh. You start out the episode thinking, “Jeez, maybe his dark past is even
darker than I thought,” and you end it with the knowledge that Iroh actually was deemed worthy by
the dragons and lied to protect them, which helps you understand his character a lot better. When
he was trying to teach Zuko not to draw all his firebending from anger and hate, it wasn’t just
old-person wisdom, it was wisdom from the dragons that he had been gifted. It recontextualizes a
lot of what you know about Iroh and therefore even what you know about Zuko, all the while
expanding the scope of this world in a really fun way. We now know that when the badgermoles helped
the Gaang get through the secret tunnel, they weren’t just goofy creatures placed there by
chance, they were the original earthbenders who have a deep connection to that land.
A good episode of Avatar should expand on the worldbuilding in some way because that’s
such a large and engaging part of the show, and this episode excels in that department.
You learn about an entirely new culture that’s been hidden away from everyone,
even the Fire Nation royalty. You get backstory on Toph and Iroh, as well as information about
how people used to learn bending long ago. It’s all relevant to the overarching story,
while also having a great deal of meaning to Aang and Zuko’s arc in this
one episode. It’s really just perfectly delivered worldbuilding and backstory.
Number Two: The Aang and Zuko Parallels
“I’m not running.”
“I’m tired of running. It’s time I faced Azula.”
This show really loves to beat you over the head with the fact that Aang and Zuko
mirror each other, which I honestly think is great. I love the many camera transitions from
one of them to the other, and how we repeatedly learn about their backstories at the same time,
like in The Storm in season 1 or The Avatar And The Firelord in Season 3. Aang and Zuko,
from the beginning, are setup as having their destinies intertwined,
and so we know the whole series is leading up to something happening between them. The climax of
all that setup is kind of when Zuko returns to the Gaang and offers to be Aang’s firebending teacher,
but The Firebending Masters is the episode immediately following Zuko joining their team,
so it’s like the adjustment period for Aang and Zuko learning what it means to be on the same
side. Because up until now, their stories have paralleled each other, but in opposing ways.
Now, their stories need to drive in the same direction, and yet somehow,
the show manages to find the perfect way for this to happen: They both need to learn firebending.
Now Aang has been struggling with firebending for basically the entire series, but Zuko’s struggle
is new. Now that he’s not trying to capture the Avatar, he’s lost the anger that fueled his
firebending. So they both set out on an adventure together to learn the true meaning of firebending.
This is the perfect scenario for them. For so many episodes we’ve been seeing the show
compare these two and their backstories, and if they’re not setting up to have some world-crushing
battle between them at the end, what could they possibly be mirroring each other for? That kind of
prolonged setup needs a really satisfying payoff, and I think Zuko joining the Gaang is good,
but it’s not enough. Aang’s firebending teacher didn’t *need* to have all those parallels with
him. If all Zuko did was just join them and then hang around and then fight Azula at the end,
I think it would’ve devalued the parallels he had with Aang earlier on. I don’t think it would’ve
ruined the story entirely; it would’ve just taken away some of the impact. But instead,
Zuko and Aang meet the firebending masters and learn the secret of firebending together.
That’s a satisfying payoff. They both had to go on their parallel journeys through the series
because they needed to get to this moment, where they could both recognize that fire is about life
and passion, not hate and anger. Zuko couldn’t have gotten there without Aang’s forgiveness and
resourcefulness, and Aang couldn’t have gotten there without Zuko’s knowledge and persistence.
I think this moment, where they stare into the fire of Ran and Shaw together,
that’s the real climax of their parallel stories. It changes them both significantly and bonds
them in a way that they couldn’t by just normally hanging out and wanting to take down the firelord.
It has the finale energy of tying up a really satisfying arc, without actually being a finale.
Number Three: Contrasting Personalities
Aang and Zuko, despite all their parallels, are very different characters. Aang is a
happy-go-lucky kid who wants to see the bright side of everything while staying upbeat. Zuko,
on the other hand, even once he’s joined the Gaang, is a broody teenager who’s grumpy and
quick to anger. Personality-wise, they’re about as opposite as they could possibly be.
They’re foils of each other, each one used to highlight the other one’s defining traits.
And you know, there is nothing I love more than the trope of the peppy-sunshine-and-rainbows
character annoying the broody-grumpy-woe-is-me character. It’s just a perfect dynamic. It makes
for fun and wholesome character interactions, and it generally ups the enjoyment level of the whole
episode. While we’ve seen Aang and Zuko interact plenty before this episode, this is the first time
where they’re starting on the same side together, which just leads to some of the best moments in
the entire series. Like when Zuko fails to make fire and then Aang does this little pity clap.
[clapping sounds]
And when Aang is trying to make Zuko feel better by being like,
“That one felt hot” and Zuko is like, “Don’t patronize me!” And then they start flying on Appa,
and Zuko makes this observation about Appa being slow, and Aang’s like,
“In our group, typically we start out our missions with a more upbeat attitude.”
Nothing is better than that.
“Ugh, can’t believe this.”
Zuko’s literally like “Dang I thought this was faster because it was so hard to capture you,”
and Aang only sees it as an insult to Appa and is like, “Come on, Zuko,
don’t be mean to Appa he’s flying as fast as he can.” And it only gets better once they get to the
sun warrior temple and Aang has to convince Zuko to dance even though he really doesn’t want to,
and then they get trapped in the sludge and Zuko’s like, “What do we do?
I don’t know. I guess think about our place in the world? That’s what Iroh would want.”
We also get maybe my favorite moment in the whole series when Aang is like, “You’re not
as bad as everyone says” and Zuko just has this big goofy smile that’s incredibly rare for him.
And eventually the show manages to squeeze a compliment out of Zuko when he’s like, “Come
on Aang, you’re strong, you can keep a stronger fire than that.” That was such a sweet moment
largely because of how it contrasts with their personalities. You know Zuko isn’t one to just
throw out compliments all over the place, and you also know Aang really needed that little boost.
But then this exchange, when they’re facing the dragons after Zuko said
they could fight the masters if they had to, is top-tier content:
“Still think we could take them?” “Shh! I never said that!”
Because now we’re getting Aang teasing Zuko and forcing Zuko into this like awkward situation
where he doesn’t get to be the tough broody guy. It’s just perfect. And it all ends with
Zuko at the end having to justify to everyone why his dragon dance is more than just a dance,
which is embarrassing for him but helps solidify him even further as a member of Team Avatar.
It’s just such a fun episode because of all these little moments between Aang and Zuko, which helps
it stay light-hearted and joyful even when it’s about all this worldbuilding and learning the true
meaning of firebending and all that. And it’s also about something else, which brings me to:
Number Four: It Drives The Main Plot
There are a lot of really great, fun episodes of Avatar that expand on the worldbuilding or
tell us more about a character, but only a few non-finale episodes can drive the plot
forward as much as The Firebending Masters. Aang is supposed to master firebending in
order to face the firelord—even though, to be honest, it doesn’t come in *that* handy
when he actually faces the firelord—but it is a very central part of his drive to prepare
for the final battle. So this episode obviously drives him closer to that goal. And for Zuko,
allowing him to learn the true meaning of firebending and get his firebending back
means that he’s now one step closer to being able to face his destiny in the finale, which
is facing Azula. Not to mention that he needs his skilled firebending to get through the next
couple episodes with Sokka on the Boiling Rock. So on top of expertly handling the worldbuilding,
backstory, parallel stories, and contrasting characters, The Firebending Masters episode
also manages to help drive the main plot forward in a significant way. Aang’s firebending teacher
now knows a secret about firebending that maybe only one other living firebender, Iroh, knows.
And that’s why I think The Firebending Masters is the best overall non-finale episode of Avatar.
It does everything that a good Avatar episode should do—from the character interactions to the
worldbuilding to driving the main plot—and it does them all in exceptional ways. What do you
think is the best episode of Avatar? Let me know in the comments, and if you enjoyed this video,
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