Bold = Book 3
Italics = Book 2
Regular = Book 1
Just before we get in, I’m ranking the episodes based off of my personal opinion on them. Underneath my short paragraph on the episode is my ranking system. Now, I am not ranking these based on how many points total they get after all the categories are added up but on how many points they get in the “Personal” category. The “Character” category is on a scale of 1-10, 1 being the worst and 10 the best. However, if the chapter excels greatly in this category it will receive an 11. This same rule set goes for the “Plot/Arc” and “Animation/Art” category. The “Personal” category is on a scale of 1-30, 1 being the worst and 30 the best, if the chapter excels in the category it will receive a 31. Anything in the “Personal” category 20 to 30 are my some of my favorites. If in the “Personal” category a chapter receives a 31 this means that the chapter is one of my all-time-favorites.
Also I am writing this assuming that you have already watched the entire series… so if you haven’t… SPOILERS!!!!!
61.
Chapter Eleven: The Great Divide
Okay, we’ve seen this particular plotline use sooo many times. It’s always along the lines of, there’s two groups of people or just two people, there’s some ancient feud between them that’s pretty much central to their culture. Then our protagonist must figure out the backstory and find some flaw in the story and then BOOM! The two groups/people are best friends. End of story. The only thing I kind of like about this episode is the end when you find out that Aang lied about the entire story!
Character: 3
Plot/Arc: 1
Animation/Art: 3
Personal: 2
Total: 9
60.
Chapter Five: The King of Omashu
This chapter is on one hand filler and on the other not. The entirety of the chapter just seems like cheesy-kid-fun. While it does present us with a fairly important character, being Bumi, he just falls flat in my opinion. Sorry Bumi, not a fan. "Lettuce Leave?"
Character: 5
Plot/Arc: 3
Animation/Art: 5
Personal: 3
Total: 16
59.
Chapter Five: Avatar Day
Aang imprisoned, Sokka is “detectiving” away (technically though, it’s really Katara), and we get the backstory of Kyoshi island. Sounds like it could be a good chapter… maybe. I mean there are definitely some parts that are humorous, but then there are other parts that are just straight up cheesy…
Character: 4
Plot/Arc: 2
Animation/Art: 4
Personal: 4
Total: 14
58.
Chapter Fifteen: Bato of the Water Tribe
I feel like this chapter had an alright plotline, but it really messed up the characters. The two that really stuck out to me were the way this chapter characterized both Aang and Katara. I get how Aang would be upset if he thought the only two people he had left in the world, Katara and Sokka, were about to leave him. However, taking it so far as to keep the location of their father, Hakoda, from them was a little too far fetched for his character. Then on the other hand there’s Katara, who when she and Sokka find out Aang knew the whole time, decided to just leave him and find her father. Now, it seems totally in Sokka’s character to lash out and abandon Aang after what he did, but for Katara it just didn’t seem in her character. And not to say Sokka isn’t loyal, because he totally is, but I could see him abruptly lashing out, then maybe Katara talking him down and maybe that whole scene would have played out a little different.
Character: 3
Plot/Arc: 4
Animation/Art: Animation: 8 Art: 2
Personal: 5
Total: 14
57.
Chapter Six: Imprisoned
This chapter had a really great idea, and the potential for a really good character arc for Katara, but the thing this chapter suffers from is timing. They only have like twenty minutes to tell this story and that really dumbed down on the amount of characterization we get. I had a really hard time connecting with Haru. That whole character just felt rushed, so when Katara, Aang, and Sokka go to risk their necks to save him, it just seemed kind of “just for the sake of the plot.”
Character: 3
Plot/Arc: 5
Animation/Art: 5
Personal: 6
Total: 19
56.
Chapter Ten: Jet
Okay, I’m just going to come out and say it. I hate Jet. And this whole episode is centered around that guy. Don’t get me wrong, character-wise Jet was a great character, he had flaws, he had strengths he has a great character arc going for him. But I just really really hate him. And not to mention it really just characterizes Katara badly.
Character: 3
Plot/Arc: 5
Animation/Art: 5
Personal: 6
Total: 19
Okay, now we are officially out of my rant zone and can move on to my “eh” chapters.
55
Chapter Four: The Swamp
This one has an important message just executes it in a not-so-great and slightly boring way. However, we get our first look at Toph, and some into Katara and Sokka’s heads as both of them see people they’ve lost.
Character: 5.5
Plot/Arc: 3
Animation/Art: 5
Personal: 9
Total: 22.5
54.
Chapter Seventeen: The Northern Air Temple
This is one of the first chapters where we begin to see the effects of industrialization in this world. Aang of course is not very thrilled with one of the air nomad temples being destroyed and remade into basically a factory.
Character: 5
Plot/Arc: 5
Animation/Art: 4
Personal: 12
Total: 26
53.
Chapter Nine: The Waterbending Scroll
Katara attempts to teach Aang Waterbeding but get’s angry when he shows
just how naturally it comes to him. Meanwhile, Zuko and Uncle Iroh go on a wild goose chase for Iroh’s missing lotus tile for his Pai Cho game, which turns out in the end to have been in Iroh’s sleeve for the whole time. Then it’s lost again when Zuko throws it off the cliff in anger. Poor Iroh.
Character: 7
Plot/Arc: 7
Animation/Art: 5
Personal: 13
Total: 32
52.
Chapter Two: The Avatar Returns
This is where we finally see “Team Avatar” become official. I’ve always thought that the animation in the first two chapters was really great. The animators really had Aang down with him jumping pretty much every which way and zooming down fire navy ship halls.
Character: 5
Plot/Arc: 5
Animation/Art: 9
Personal: 13
Total: 32
51.
Chapter Seven: The Winter Solstice: Part One: The Spirit World
This is the first chapters where the plot of the story begins to unfold. We get to enter the spirit world alongside Aang and discover some of it’s secrets. We also are able to see for the first time, the softer caring side of Zuko. In this chapter we begin to realize there’s more to Zuko than what appears on the surface.
Character: 6
Plot/Arc: 6.5
Animation/Art: 4
Personal: 14
Total: 20.5
50.
Chapter Three: Return to Omashu
Another Bumi centric wild goose chase. Though, in this one Team Avatar finally gets to face off against Ty Lee, Mai, and Azula. There’s also a surprising twist at the end where Bumi, turns out, will not be Aang’s Earthbending teacher.
Character: 7
Plot/Arc: 6
Animation/Art: 5
Personal: 15
Total: 33
Okay, now we’re out of my “eh” zone and can move on to the episodes that in my opinion were either good or were really, really close to making it into my favorites.
49.
Chapter Four: Warriors of Kyoshi
This is a fun episode. Aang rides a bunch of Koi fish and the Unagi (on accident)! We also watch Sokka bite the dust up against Suki and the Kyoshi warriors. Sorry buddy but, you kinda deserved it.
Character: 7.5
Plot/Arc: 5
Animation/Art: 7
Personal: 14.5
Total: 34
48.
Chapter Eight: The Winter Solstice: Part Two: Avatar Roku
In this chapter the gravity of the war sets in as we meet Avatar Roku! Sozin’s Comet is coming and Aang better get a move on and master those elements. But, the catch, he’s gotta do it by summer’s end!
Character: 6
Plot/Arc: 7
Animation/Art: 4
Personal: 16
Total: 33
47.
Chapter Eight: The Chase
We get a lot of things from this chapter. “A tank full of dangerous ladies” (as Sokka says) chasing Team Avatar, Zuko chasing the tank/train thing, and we also see that Toph and Katara, though they are the only two girls in the group, don’t really get along so well. In fact, they’re pretty much opposite personalities. At the end Iroh is shot full of lightning by Azula as she uses that distraction to escape. From this event we can see that Zuko, no matter how much cover he puts up, really does care for his uncle.
Character: 6.5
Plot/Arc: 7.5
Animation/Art: 4
Personal: 15
Total: 33
46.
Chapter Three: The Southern Air Temple
It’s only the third chapter, but we already get so much character development. Of course, we get to meet a new member of our “gaang” … Momo! But we also get so much more than that. For the very first time we see a new and different side of Aang when he finds out about Gyatso’s death. Then we see Katara calm Aang down from his enraged Avatar State and both Sokka and Katara reassuring Aang that they’re there for him and that they are his family now. This gives us a taste of what is to come, as the strong family-like bonds between everyone in Team Avatar is one of the best, if not the best, part of the entire series.
Character: 8
Plot/Arc: 7
Animation/Art: 5
Personal: 15
Total: 35
45.
Chapter Thirteen: The Blue Spirit
This chapter really enhances Zuko’s character as we see the lengths, he is willing to go to just to ensure that he gets the Avatar and no one else.
Character: 7
Plot/Arc: 7
Animation/Art: 5
Personal: 16
Total: 35
44.
Chapter Sixteen: Appa’s Lost Days
After spending two chapters in the desert, two chapters just trying to get inside Ba Sing Se, then another two chapters revealing to us how corrupt the city really is behind the scenes, we finally get an episode essentially telling us, “Hey remember when Appa was taken by those Sandbender guys? Well here’s what happened to him.” And boy, does this episode deliver. We actually get inside the Sky Bison’s big fluffy head revealing what a struggle it is for him without Aang.
Character: 10
Plot/Arc: 6
Animation/Art: 5
Personal: 17
Total: 38
43.
Chapter Fifteen: The Southern Raiders
This is a great chapter. Everyone (except for Toph, poor Toph) gets a “life-changing field trip with Zuko) and now it’s Katara’s turn. We see so much for Katara’s arc in this episode. She is the only one out of the group who hasn’t accepted Zuko yet. The reason being that she was the first one to trust him before he betrayed her trust by helping Azula kill Aang (of course that is before Katara is able to revive him with the water from the spirit oasis). However, when Zuko finds out who killed Katara’s mother, she is able to trust him enough to go with him to get revenge on this person. But before they leave Aang warns Katara to not give into revenge and to forgive the man. However, at the end of the chapter Katara fails to exact revenge and also to forgive. It really brings out her character, she isn’t the kind of person who would kill someone, but at the same time the loss of her mother cut so deep she was unable to forgive that man, but… she is willing to forgive Zuko.
Character: 11
Plot/Arc: 9
Animation/Art: 6
Personal: 17
Total: 43
42.
Chapter Six: The Avatar and the Firelord
In this chapter we get the backstory to Avatar Roku, to Firelord Sozin, and to the entire Hundred-Year War itself.
Character: 9
Plot/Arc: 10
Animation/Art: 6
Personal: 18
Total: 43
41.
Chapter Five: The Beach
This was an outstanding episode character-wise. We got inside the heads of Mai, Ty Lee, Zuko, and even a bit of Azula. Zuko admits he’s angry and not happy even though he has everything he wanted. Ty Lee wants to stand out and not become a “matched-set.” Mai says her parents were strict and over protective (kind of like Toph in a way). Lastly, Azula admits that her own mother thought she was a monster, but instantly puts up her walls again by stating she doesn’t care.
Character: 11
Plot/Arc: 7
Animation/Art: 6
Personal: 18
Total: 42
40.
Chapter Thirteen: The Drill
Okay, so even after losing Appa, wandering lost through a desert with only Katara’s bending water to drink and going through the deadly “Serpent’s Pass” where everyone almost dies, Team Avatar still has a giant drill to deal with. Oh, and why not throw in that Azula, Mai, and Ty Lee are inside that thing. Do these kids ever get a break?
Character: 5
Plot/Arc: 7
Animation/Art: 7
Personal: 18
Total: 37
39.
Chapter Nineteen: The Siege of the North: Part One
At last we reach the very first Book finale. We have a lot of character development. As Aang enters the spirit world once again to find the moon spirit, Zuko finds his body and tries to capture him. And at last we see Katara using her Waterbending to fend off Zuko, eventually winning until the sun rises and Zuko over-powers Katara and escapes with Aang’s body.
Character: 7.5
Plot/Arc: 8
Animation/Art: Animation: 7.5 Art: 4
Personal: 18
Total: 34.5
38.
Chapter Sixteen: The Deserter
This chapter makes an interesting move, in attempting to teach Aang Firebending. This was something I was not expecting, since earlier in the show we were introduced to the avatar cycle; Water, Earth, Fire, and Air. And with Aang already being an Airbender, I was expecting Water, Earth, then Fire. But then it pulls another twist on us. Nope, Aang won’t be mastering Fire this time around. But, this chapter does it in a very interesting way. Jeong Jeong introduces the element of Fire to us as power hungry and out of control. And this is also all we’ve seen that Fire is, it gives us a reason to fear the element of Fire. Then when Aang accidentally burns Katara, he also now has a very good reason to fear it. But, this all changes in “The Firebending Masters” chapter, which when we get there, I’ll talk about this.
Character: 7
Plot/Arc: 8
Animation/Art: 5
Personal: 19
Total: 36
37.
Chapter Eighteen: The Earth King
The chapter before we begin the finale arc. Team Avatar breaks into the Earth King’s palace, and might I just say that this whole scene is so cool! Anyway, once inside the “gaang” must convince Earth King Kuei that there is a full-scale war outside his wall. And not to mention they have to turn him against his most trusted advisor: Long Feng. This turns out to be a tedious task as Long Feng is just about as conniving and clever as Azula… almost.
Character: 7
Plot/Arc: 8
Animation/Art: 4.5
Personal: 19
Total: 38.5
36.
Chapter Seven: Zuko Alone
Zuko is slowly but surely revealing that he really isn’t the antagonist everyone thought he was in chapter one. This really shines throughout this entire episode.
PS: I’m sorry this episode isn’t in my favorite list. It was really close though! Forgive me Zuko, you are in my top three favorite characters. Now it seems I’ll have to regain my honor after this.
Character: 10
Plot/Arc: 8
Animation/Art: 6.5
Personal: 19
Total: 43.5
35.
Chapter Seventeen: Lake Laogi
Ah! Appa we’ve missed you! Now the family is back together! And Sokka, please next time don’t jinx your luck. I cringe every time that scene comes up. You, my good hotman, have no idea what’s coming.
Character: 11
Plot/Arc: 9
Animation/Art: 5
Personal: 19.5
Total: 49
34.
Chapter One: The Avatar State
Why does Aang start glowing when he gets angry? Well that question is answered as Roku explains what the “Avatar State” is to Aang. Now, I’ve always wondered, if only Airbenders have Airbending tattoos then why do Aang’s tattoos and eyes glow and not just his eyes? Hmmm… still gotta figure that one out…
Character: 9
Plot/Arc: 8
Animation/Art: 5.5
Personal: 19.5
Total: 42
33.
Chapter Four: Sokka’s Master
Sokka, you are our favorite non-bender, you get an amazing arc in this chapter. Now, you are a master of the sword, of the boomerang, and the idea guy, and (if you’ve read the comics) a motivational bender!!!
Character: 9
Plot/Arc: 9
Animation/Art: 9
Personal: 19.5
Total: 46.5
32.
Chapter Three: The Painted Lady
This chapter is great. We already know that Katara is the mother of our little group and one of the best, if not the greatest, Waterbender, but now we watch her extend that kindness a little further out of Team Avatar to help a small fishing village that’s suffering.
Character: 10
Plot/Arc: 8
Animation/Art: 6
Personal: 19.7
Total: 43.7
31.
Chapter Nine Nightmares and Daydreams
I wasn’t exactly all too sure where to put this episode. I felt like freaking out like the way Aang did was sort of in his character and sort of not all at the same time, though I think it’s nice and funny at the same time to see how every member of the team tries to help Aang cope with his nightmares.
Character: 7
Plot/Arc: 5
Animation/Art: 8
Personal: 20
Total: 40
30.
Chapter Eleven: The Desert
Okay, let me just come out and say it… this was an important episode. Watching Aang break down in this way is heartbreaking. And honestly, Team Avatar hits one of their lowest points in this episode. Sokka (and Momo) are hallucinating on cactus juice, which to be perfectly honest leads to some, ahem “Friendly mushroom!” … hilarious moments. Toph, who although is blind can still see with Earthbending, is blinded by the sand and unable to see. Aang is gone on an angry hurt rampage. And all this leaves Katara responsible to get everyone out of the desert alive. BUT! DR Movie… you have to get a grip on the artwork! This is some of the worst art in the series. Don’t get me wrong I love this chapter, but the art is soooo distractingggggg!!!! I definitely would’ve loved this episode more if the art was under control.
Character: 10
Plot/Arc: 8
Animation/Art: 1
Personal: 19.7
Total: 38.7
29.
Chapter Fourteen: City of Walls and Secrets
Up until this point we’ve been hearing about the great city of Ba Sing Se. How it is a place to escape the Fire Nation. It’s a safe haven for refugees. But, only now do we see that really, it’s not so great. In fact, it is a very corrupt place.
Character: 7
Plot/Arc: 8
Animation/Art: 6
Personal: 19.7
Total: 40.7
Now let’s move onto some of my favorite episodes!
28.
Chapter Ten: The Library
This episode is pretty neat. We get some Toph blind jokes, some Sokka-ness, and find “The Darkest Day In Fire Nation History.” This is key to defeating the Firelord. Overall, this is a great episode! And sadly… we lose Appa.
Oh, on a good note, this is something off topic and kind of my geeky-ness coming out… but… anyway… for those of you who don’t know I am a huge Star Wars and Avatar: The Last Airbender fan and seeing some connections between these two is pretty cool, because actually there are a lot of connections and easter eggs. I mean Dave Filoni was on the Avatar team and is basically George Lucas’ “Padawan” you might say. Anyhow, for those of you who played Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (KOTOR) remember Carth Onasi? Well, Raphael Sbarge, the guy who played Carth also plays Professor Zei in this chapter. Oh, and also while on this topic Jennifer Hale, who plays Avatar Kyoshi, also plays Bastila Shan! Okay enough of that. On to the list!
Character: 6
Plot/Arc: 9
Animation/Art: 6
Personal: 20
Total: 41
27.
Chapter Twelve: The Serpent’s Pass
This is an awesome chapter for everybody. We even get Suki again! We see Zuko and Iroh heading to Ba Sing Se in the hopes to escape the Firenation. Even Jet and a couple of freedom fighters, Smellerbee and Longshot. Zuko and Jet team up to “liberate” some food from the captain and in doing so seem like they start to bond. Meanwhile Team Avatar is attempting to cross the Serpent’s Pass with Suki and a family of refugees. During this time, we also watch Sokka learn to cope with the loss of Yue.
Character: 7.5
Plot/Arc: 10
Animation/Art: 7
Personal: 20
Total: 44.5
26.
Chapter Fourteen: The Fortune Teller
I’ve always thought this one was pretty funny. It also begins to show how science-minded Sokka really is.
Character: 8
Plot/Arc: 7
Animation/Art: 5.5
Personal: 20
Total: 40.5
25.
Chapter Fifteen: The Tales of Ba Sing Se
This chapter was so sad and so funny! Sokka reciting haikus to a fan club of girls, Katara and Toph finally getting some really good bonding time, Aang just doing whatever Aang does, Zuko trying to make sense of his life now in Ba Sing Se, and Uncle Iroh… oh I cried… that one was so sad. I’m not even going to talk about it because you should just go watch it, and because it’s already making me “Tearbend.”
Character: 10
Plot/Arc: 7
Animation/Art: 5
Personal: 20
Total: 42
24.
Chapter Thirteen: The Boiling Rock: Part One
Sokka and Zuko finally getting their life changing fieldtrip on a mission to find Hakoda, Sokka’s father. This is a pretty cool episode and the longest “Zuko fieldtrip” chapter.
Character: 10
Plot/Arc: 10
Animation/Art: 7
Personal: 20
Total: 47
23.
Chapter Sixteen: The Ember Island Players
Okay, who could forget this one? Some of Avatar: The Last Airbender’s humor does feel like a really cheesy childish joke, but this whole episode is humor and it does great! I mean this is just “the kind of wacky time-wasting non-sense I’ve been missing!”
Character: 9
Plot/Arc: 9
Animation/Art: 7
Personal: 20
Total: 45
22.
Chapter One: The Awakening
After a very startling and surprising ending for Book Two, Book Three kicks off with this chapter. We find Zuko now has everything he wanted, but strangely he isn’t happy. Aang is injured and now unable to go into the Avatar State. Aang says he has to regain his honor and sneaks off on his glider to attempt to save the world by himself, but ultimately, he fails until Sokka, Katara, and Toph find him washed up and stranded on Crescent Island.
Character: 8
Plot/Arc: 7
Animation/Art: 5.5
Personal: 20
Total: 40.5
21.
Chapter Eight: The Puppet Master
This chapter introduces us to the creepy sub-category of Waterbending called Bloodbending. The ability to take control of another person’s body and enforce your own will upon another. This is a very pivotal moment for Katara because Bloodbending goes against her own sense of morality. Then we see Katara be forced to Bloodbend to stop Hama from making Sokka stab Aang with “Space Sword.” After Hama is taken into custody, she congratulates Katara and announces that she is a Bloodbender, to which Katara breaks down in tears because she had literally broken her own morals.
Character: 10
Plot/Arc: 9
Animation/Art: 8
Personal: 20
Total: 47
20.
Chapter Fourteen: The Boiling Rock: Part Two
In this chapter we see Sokka’s intellectual and planning skills pay off once again, as he finds his dad, escapes with Suki, Chit Sang, Hakoda, and Zuko, after capturing the warden of course.
Character: 11
Plot/Arc: 10
Animation/Art: 7.5
Personal: 20
Total: 48.5
19.
Chapter Two: The Cave of Two Lovers
This chapter was full of memorable Sokka moments and of course some singing nomads who apparently prove useful in providing knowledge to the Ember Island play. “Secret Tunnel! Secret Tunnel! Through the mountains, secret, secret, secret, secret TUNNELLLLL! YEAH!!!”
Character: 8
Plot/Arc: 7
Animation/Art: 6
Personal: 21
Total: 42
18.
Chapter Nine: Bitter Work
“Good morning Earthbending student!” At last we see Aang Earthbending and more of Toph. We see a very opposite style of both Bending and teaching than what we’re used to. Aang has been learning Airbending and Waterbending which both are very different and much softer than the tough hard Earth. Same thing with the teachers, Katara and Toph, who are literally opposites of each other. While Katara teaches Aang with lots of encouragement and slow progression as not to override him with too much, Toph on the other hand pushes Aang to his limits. In some scenes even going against his natural tendencies of evasion, as practiced by the Air Nomads.
Character: 8
Plot/Arc: 8
Animation/Art: 5
Personal: 21
Total: 42
17.
Chapter Seven: The Runaway
In this chapter we see Katara and Toph butting heads once again. As the chapter progresses, Toph introduces the idea of scamming some of the guys who “move the shells all sneaky-like.” Katara expresses her concern with this idea and we again watch the two fight, Toph with her wild-like personality against Katara’s motherly one. In the end Toph and Katara are able to reconcile with one another once they see each other’s side of things.
Character: 10
Plot/Arc: 8
Animation/Art: 7
Personal: 22
Total: 47
16.
Chapter Seventeen: Sozin’s Comet: Part One: The Phoenix King
The very first installment to the story’s finale. We find Aang, Katara, Sokka, Toph, Zuko, and even Suki hiding out on Ember Island at one of Zuko’s family’s houses. During this chapter it’s revealed to us that Aang was going to wait to defeat Ozai until after Sozin’s Comet, but then Zuko reveals to the “Gaang” Ozai’s plan to wipe out the remainder of the Earth Kingdom. But the day that the team is about to leave Aang mysteriously disappears.
Character: 10
Plot/Arc: 10
Animation/Art: 8
Personal: 23
Total: 51
15.
Chapter Ten: Day of Black Sun: Part One: The Invasion
Part One to the chapter many of us thought would actually be the finale. The chapter begins with Hakoda bringing back all the friends and allies we’ve met over the course of the story. But, once Aang reaches the Firelord’s palace for what seems to be the final confrontation, it seems no one’s home.
Character: 10
Plot/Arc: 10
Animation/Art: 7
Personal: 24
Total: 51
14.
Chapter Eleven: Day of Black Sun: Part Two: The Eclipse
So, the Firelord’s gone and the only hope of defeating him, the eclipse, is in literally ten minutes. Does it get any worse than that? Yep, it does. “The universe just loves proving me wrong!” Now, you got Azula to deal with Aang. But, on a brighter note, we at last see Zuko join the lightside of the Force, no wait… the lightside of the… bend? Whatever. Anyway, he confronts Ozai and tells him that he’s going to join the Avatar on his quest to defeat Ozai. This whole scene is pivotal for Zuko, and not to mention once Ozai gains his Firebending powers back he shoots lightning at Zuko, who then redirects it!
Character: 11
Plot/Arc: 10
Animation/Art: 8
Personal: 24
Total: 53
13.
Chapter Two: The Headband
It was neat to finally see a different side of the Firenation, other than the conquering Firebending enemies they’re portrayed as. Aang going to a Firenation school and seeing how stern they seem to be in the “Homeland,” was an interesting portrayal of the young Firenation citizens. And I haven’t even mentioned Mr. Wang Fire yet (Sokka trying to act like Aang’s “dad”).
Character: 8
Plot/Arc: 9
Animation/Art: 8
Personal: 24
Total: 49
12.
Chapter One: The Boy in the Iceberg
The Boy in the Iceberg. The chapter which introduced every fan of the series to the characters and the world and in my opinion, this is one of the best episodes. Oh, fun fact did you know that the first word in the series is “it’s”? Once we get to Sozin’s Comet part four I’ll tell you why this is so cool. So just wait.
Character: 10
Plot/Arc: 7
Animation/Art: 10
Personal: 25
Total: 52
11.
Chapter Twenty: The Siege of the North: Part Two
The very first finale end and boy was it a good one. The end of Zhao as he rejects Zuko’s hand giving into his own pride, which ultimately killed him. Then Aang tearing through the Firenation navy in the Avatar State. And Yue giving up herself to save the Moon Spirit. This was a great chapter and end to Book One.
Character: 9
Plot/Arc: 9
Animation/Art: 9
Personal: 26
Total: 53
Onto the top 10 countdown!
10.
Chapter Twelve: The Western Air Temple
“Hello, Zuko here.” Who doesn’t remember this chapter!? The end of Sparky Sparky Boom Man (oh wait, Combustion Man) but, more importantly, Zuko’s redemption. He finally shows himself to Team Avatar asking to join them, “Oh and I can teach Firebending, uh, to you.” The “Gaang” has been looking for a Firebending teacher for Aang and Zuko is the perfect match… right? Well, Zuko has undoubtably redeemed himself to us, the viewer, but the rest of the characters weren’t there to witness everything Zuko’s gone through. They have no idea, which is why the scene in which they reject him is so heartbreaking. Only Toph, though she is the blind one, has clear vision enough to see that Zuko really has changed, since she wasn’t there when Zuko was hunting Aang in Book One.
Character: 11
Plot/Arc: 8
Animation/Art: 6
Personal: 26
Total: 51
9.
Chapter Eighteen: Sozin’s Comet: Part Two: The Old Masters
Okay, I’m not a crier when I read/watch/listen to a story, alright? But, ohhh man, every time I watch the scene where Zuko is crying and pleading his uncle to forgive him and then Iroh just interrupts him and pulls him into a hug and states that he was never angry at Zuko but sad… Ahhhhhhhh… I start bawling every… single… time!!!!!
Character: 11
Plot/Arc: 10
Animation/Art: 9
Personal: 26
Total: 56
8.
Chapter Twelve: The Firbending Masters
My favorite out of the “Zuko fieldtrip” chapters. Zuko’s lost his Firebending and Aang can’t even Firebend. The two travel to find some clue as to how to Firebend from the original source.
Character: 10
Plot/Arc: 10
Animation/Art: 9
Personal: 27
Total: 56
7.
Chapter Twelve: The Storm
Okay, I’m just going to come out and say it. I didn’t like Avatar at first. I thought it was a cheesy kid’s show, filled with cheesy jokes that I always cringed at. But, first time I watched this episode and I figured out the backstory to Zuko and Aang… I got chill bumps. And believe me, I only get those when I’m really really into something. When I listen to music from Knights of the Old Republic for example. Or when I watch the Order 66 scene from Revenge of the Sith, but when I watched the scene where Zuko is forced to duel his father, I was already on the edge of my seat and by the time the scene ended… I was cold.
Character: 11
Plot/Arc: 9
Animation/Art: 6
Personal: 27
Total: 53
Now let’s move onto my absolute favorite chapters! I struggled
with where to place these. Originally, I was going to have The Crossroads of Destiny as number one, but
even that just couldn’t beat the Last Agni Kai between Zuko and Azula. But even
though Sozin's Comet: Part Three: Into the Inferno ended up in the number one
slot was because of how incredible and outstanding the entire team was. Sokka,
Suki, and Toph all trying to stop that airship fleet was sooo cool. And Sokka's
character development was amazing, seeing how much he’d grown over three
books. And Toph is awesome as always. Then we have Aang and Ozai facing off
which is some of the best fight choreography in the series! And finally, “The
Last Agni Kai.” That scene is so beautifully crafted, from the choreography to
the color and music, it’s just purely a beautiful scene. Part Three and Four of
Sozin’s Comet is a toss-up for me and even though I put Into the Inferno in
number one it’s only a tad higher. But anyway… onto the list!
6.
Chapter Six: The Blind Bandit
The introduction of everyone’s favorite blind Earthbender; Toph! Team Avatar is at Earth Rumble Six in an attempt to find Aang an Earthbending teacher. There they meet Toph, or the Blind Bandit, who, as her name suggests, is a small blind girl.
Character: 11
Plot/Arc: 9
Animation/Art: 8
Personal: 31
Total: 59
5.
Chapter Eighteen: The Waterbending Master
This chapter is amazing for the amount of character development it brings to Katara. Even though she hasn’t been trained in Waterbending yet and even though she loses to Master Pakku, we can definitely see how great of a Waterbender she already is and how strong a person she actually is.
Character: 10
Plot/Arc: 9
Animation/Art: 9
Personal: 31
Total: 59
4.
Chapter Nineteen: The Guru
I love this entire finale and I just loooove this episode. There’s so much character development. Sokka leaves his father, the person we’ve seen him long for since Book One, to help Aang find and rescue Katara. Toph invents Metalbending!!! She’s like what… twelve??? And she invents a new form of bending! How much cooler can this girl get??? Katara begins to maybe trust Zuko and even offers to heal his scar. Zuko makes a radical and very disappointing decision at the end. Finally, Aang. He meets up with this Guru to hopefully master the Avatar State. We see him let go of all the dead weight and pressure he’s been dragging around with him since Book One, but when he reaches his final chakra, he must let go of what attaches him to the world, that being Katara. Aang is unable to let go of her and as he sees a vision of her in danger rushes off to find Sokka which ultimately locks his chakras.
Character: 11
Plot/Arc: 10
Animation/Art: 5
Personal: 31
Total: 57
3.
Chapter Twenty: The Crossroads of Destiny
This chapter is pretty hard to beat. It has tear-jerking moments along with terrifying ones (I thought Aang was dead! I mean I know he technically was, but I thought for good for good). I can’t even explain the character development in this chapter without going on a full out rant about how great it is, so I’m not going to try. But just the way this chapter ends is so different from the way I expected it to and it most definitely caught me off guard.
Character: 11
Plot/Arc: 10
Animation/Art: 9
Personal: 31
Total: 61
2.
Chapter Twenty: Sozin’s Comet: Part Four: Avatar Aang
Ah, the end. I wasn’t ready for it, I wanted it to go on. However, I will say that no other story I’ve read/heard/watched has ended better than Avatar: The Last Airbender. In my opinion, this series ended perfectly, everyone’s arc wrapped up but there being room for improvement, which is exactly how it would be in real life. Even if we “defeating” our flaws there is always room for improvement, nobody’s perfect. And we see this same thing in the worldbuilding as well. If you’ve read the sequel comics you will definitely see this. Now, as for one of my favorite scenes, it is in this chapter. It’s the scene when all of the characters are together and of course Sokka is painting his picture. It’s just so heart warming to see the whole team together. My favorite part of Avatar is just how close all the characters are, just how family-like their bonds are, it’s one of the show’s greatest strength and my favorite part of it. Now, I said earlier that the first word in the show is “it’s” well the last word is “perfect.” Now just put those two together, “It’s perfect.”
Character: 12
Plot/Arc: 11
Animation/Art: 11
Personal: 31
1.
Chapter Nineteen: Sozin’s Comet: Part Three: Into the Inferno
The Final Agni Kai, one of the most heart wrenching and greatest moments of all story-telling history. The animation is absolutely astounding and the music is incredible and very thoughtful that the team decided that instead of exciting battle music to put in a score that brought out what it really was. Now one of two of my all-time favorite scenes is within this outstanding chapter. This scene is the beginning of “The Last Agni Kai,” right after Azula challenges Zuko and he accepts. Immediately the sad music starts playing and both Zuko and Azula begin bending huge walls of fire and we get the sense that this is not that Agni Kai we saw in Book One between Zuko and Zhao, this is a tragic battle between two siblings. One had lost everything, but redeemed himself and gained back much more. The other had everything, but lost everything in the process of getting more. And something else I’ve always thought was fascinating in this Agni Kai is the color combinations. Usually the color blue is used to represent good, purity, and usually is representing the good guys and red, the opposite, evil, strength, over-powering. But in this fight the colors are switched. Blue is a peaceful, good color but in the fight, it isn’t peaceful at all. Instead Azula is shooting out large waves of it and blasting around everywhere. Red on the other hand is used an over-powering color but, yet, Zuko, although he is a good Firebender, is nowhere near as good as Azula. I just think this entire scene is perfect and the amount of emotion you get from it is on an insane level.
Character: 12 (I know that 11 is the highest but I just had to give it a 12! Same for Part Four.)
Plot/Arc: 11
Animation/Art: 11
Personal: 31
Total: 65
Fun Fact: On
IMDB Avatar: The Last Airbender is rated at number 5 out of 100,000 of the
best television shows of all time! And this honestly is not very
surprising at all just given how insanely amazing this show is. And I’m not
going to go off on a rant (believe me it’s taking me every ounce of will-power
not to) but not even that can do this show justice. Honestly it might even
deserve number one, but I can’t really say for certain because I haven’t seen
the top four. But in any case, it definitely deserves to be up that high.
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