Every Avatar the Last Airbender Episode Ranked

avatar the last airbender is a timeless masterpiece that'll probably be both appreciated and studied for decades to come it's most definitely my favorite animated series and i've personally watched it like five or six times bearing a few episodes that i skipped i figured that it's high time to show my appreciation for the series by making a video about it and in this video we're going to rank every episode in the series from worst to best which is a bit different from the last video where i use the rating scale this does make it slightly harder and the fact that the show is consistently good the whole way through makes it even harder than that but let's give it a go number 61 the painted lady out of all the episodes in avatar i feel like this is the one that is most out of place it doesn't really serve any real purpose except for furthering the idea that qatar is motherly and compassionate which is well established at this point there's some episodes which won't be too far from here on the list that could be argued to be straight up filler but they at least have interesting interactions with the characters in ways that i'd expect them to behave this one feels like filler with the characters acting oddly out of character it's also the only episode that i've routinely skipped on every reviewing after my first one rank 60 the great divide speaking of filler here's probably the worst offender in that category as i mentioned in the painted lady this episode is above it as it has some decent character moments my favorite of which being saka's immediate frustration with both the ganjin and the zhang's from the start of the episode and the fact that it keeps increasing every single time they bicker with one another somehow this isn't the worst episode though so it has that going for it number 59 imprisoned now don't get me wrong i do like this episode in the way that it does a great job showing what life would be like under the boot of the fire nation while living in the earth kingdom but it's still pretty bad at least by avatar standards haru is extremely forgettable as a side character and the villain of this episode is so forgettable that i can't even remember his name it's a hard sell to me when the best moments in the episode are haru's dad's voice and a gag about momo being an airbender 58 the northern air temple i don't understand the logistics of these gliders tio and his pals use i thought ang could only do this because he's cracked at airbending i think they explain it in the episode and i still don't get it anyways i don't really like much about this episode it's cool to see what happens to abandoned structures a century after they've been relieved of their occupants but teo sucks probably worse than heru and his dad could be interesting but they didn't even give him a real name a lot of people credit saka for the whole hot air balloon thing but he just kind of solved a problem that was 99 done so i don't really think it's an amazing feat for him number 57 nightmares and daydreams this episode is not for me i don't get it i don't think it's very funny i don't think it's enjoyable but with pretty much every episode in this show there's always a silver lining of beautiful narrative direction while i personally don't resonate with how it's depicted in this episode i love that aang's fear of ozai is represented in some way i don't think this really needs explaining but aang is dealing with more pressure than any 12 year old probably ever has before in history and i don't hate that it's taken up a slot before the day of black sun still a good episode just lower down because avatar is so good all the way through number 56 the swamp i think this episode is also basically just filler and i think the whole tree displaying the whole world connected thing is kind of neat but it doesn't end up coming full circle which is not normal in avatar the swamp benders don't hit for me comedically either 55. the desert there's a lot of pros and cons here it's nice to see ang capable of producing like a raw visceral anger and sadness about losing abba it's not so good to see over half the screen time being dedicated to master yu and shinfu the cactus juice meme is decently funny but on repeat watches i think it loses its charm just a little bit it's good but not great so i think 55 is a fine slot for it number 54 jet this may end up being my first flaming hot take of the video i think jet is a pretty weak episode it shares a similar benefit to imprisoned by showing how those affected by the fire nation and wartime can become radicalized but there's also something about it being little kids that makes the message softer in my eyes it's a kid's show though so i can't harp on that too much but i don't really find jet or any of the freedom fighters super interesting except sneers number 53 the headband yikes this is another scorcher there is a lot to love here tons of jokes in this episode are really funny and still quotable to this day but it carries filler-like energy it's just aang in his school anime for a little bit and then he gets bored of being in a school anime and he decides he wants to be in footloose instead saka pretty much carries the episode in my opinion overall pretty subpar 52 avatar day now we're starting to get into the episodes that are pretty good all around and considering there's still 85 of the show left that's a good sign avatar day has a solid narrative showing the opposite of the warriors of kyoshi where everyone was stoked on ang and i think that's awesome because there would definitely be people pissed off about aang and the previous avatar somewhere in the world detective saka is hilarious and kyoshi is an absolute beast probably the most badass of all avatars nothing real bad to say about this one 51 the cave of two lovers i don't like hippies i don't like them at all i do like the romantic side of storytelling though and a ton of my favorite shows are all romance-based oddly enough it's interesting to get some backstory to the world in the form of the origins of earthbending and why omashu is called omashu this is a pretty cute episode i guess there's also a debate about whether or not aang and katara kissed when it was dark and i can't really venture a guess to that one rank 50 the fortune teller this episode is alright it's another that's not overly plot relevant and it's mostly character development saka continues his duty of heavy lifting with excellently written comedy the katara sci plot in this episode is a bit weird it maybe ties into her convincing herself she loves ang who knows all i know is that you can't try and tell me that aunt wu can predict stuff then also tell me that it can be changed and then circle back to say that she can predict stuff again this does not make sense riders number 49 the avatar state while it's a solid open to the season the rest of the season ramps into high octane avatar quality pretty quickly so it can't really compete this episode establishes what the avatar state is gives it a name and all that fun stuff more building upon the complexity of having a 12 year old chosen one pretty good stuff number 48 the water bending scroll not a super great katara centric episode it actually sort of paints her in a negative light that isn't really reversed until the tail end of the first book the pirate gang aren't too imposing but i do love me some early honor focused zuko so i bumped this one up a bit ira was delightful as ever for the entire run time of course 47 the king of omashu this one comes with some ups and some downs for starters i don't get why boomi wouldn't immediately just be like yo what's good ang been a while but i guess boomi is an uncontrollable ball of chaos and always has been the trials are pretty cool albeit fairly inconsequential and i do like the comedic tone of boomi jacked old man will be funny until the heat death of the universe 46 the boy in the iceberg there's a lot of book 1 episodes pretty far down the ranks and i'm not trying to hide the fact that book 1 is the worst i'm pretty sure that's commonly accepted the first half of book 1 exhibits an extreme focus on targeting the younger demographic which is fine because this is a nickelodeon show but it's such a huge contrast between this and where the show ends up going it actually causes a tiny bit of an issue because whenever you recommend the show to someone you have to preface it with the fact that the first i don't know like six episodes or whatever is not indicative of the overall quality of the complete experience but i don't really want to recommend someone starts in the middle of the story with no context so there's no real good option not a bad episode just not really the quintessential avatar experience that i know number 45 the city of walls and secrets from here on out we're in the territory of what would otherwise be considered like a tier television or higher but since i have to list them in order by definition some have to be low down even this one although it is a bit of a banger the entire show has built up bossing say and i don't think what were delivered here is anything short of meeting expectations one thing i love about this episode is how powerfully it portrays long fang and i sort of wish he kept that imposing energy and the fact that he didn't detracts from this episode for me side plot with zuko and jet is pretty good and the twist with the judy replacement is super heavy for what is ultimately a kids show 44. the awakening similar to the avatar state this episode is necessary as an establishing piece to where the storyline is at the moment but it can't compete with further entries in book 3 where they already have that foundation to stand on there's a lot of great emotional moments and i particularly like the exchange between katara and hakoda as it gives katara a lot more depth to her personality while not tearing down hakoda as a father it's really well executed 43 the drill this is a more action-centric episode and the action is well done any combat involving azula squad is usually pretty entertaining to watch and the climax on the wall is also just conceptually cool i think that having the fire nation use industrialized machines including the ability to make a [ __ ] off drill is a super interesting piece of world building while also serving its purpose as a really awesome way to deal with bossing say's legendary impregnable defense iro needing his hot tea so badly that he places a crucial domino in place is a cheeky bit of writing that i really like number 42 bottle of the water tribe honestly one of the better book one episodes hindered a bit by the lack of consequence but it's fine it's really nice to see ang display some flaws not to mention childlike behavior far superior to the alternative of making him like an enlightened monk that can do no wrong trapped in the body of a 12 year old chosen one the final battle of this episode is beautifully animated and it's a really nice climax this is where saka started to really develop and it felt very meaningful for him to achieve this cultural milestone who's proud of saka all of us we're all proud of saga 41 the serpent's pass i'm ranking this episode this highly because i really like suki that might be about it there's also a solid amount of good comedy and stake in here as well but the return of suki is the thing that pushes it this far up it's also pretty neat to see saka still aching over his relationship with yue and it's worth noting that during a close-up shot of him about to kiss suki the moon is between their faces which could very easily be interpreted as ua literally being in between them kissing it's complex and it's interesting and it's just one of thousands of tiny details told in the shot composition that you need to keep an eye out for when watching this show number 40 the southern raiders another katara centric episode but definitely one of the best a major reoccurring thing that avatar does incredibly well that most shows out there especially children's cartoons struggle with is having characterization that feels realistic start to finish of this episode everything about katara's grief process and ultimately her morality feels like it's coming from a tangible established source when i first watched it i knew before it was ever revealed that katara wouldn't kill yan rod just because she had been developed so well and she feels like an actual person who wouldn't do that it's an excellent episode for me because of this step and i know that we're only on number 40 but trust me this show is so good that 40th best episode is nothing to be ashamed of 39. the avatar returns the second part of the pilot and it has the same issues of the first half but for me it gets a bit of a boost because it has a lot of really good world building in it along with some of that really breathtaking avatar combat animation i spoke earlier about how it's hard to recommend the show to people due to the first few episodes starting week but i think if they're able to look past the childish humor there should be enough just in this one episode to get them through it at least to the spirit realm where it starts to really take off a personal favorite shot of mine is the water typhoon thing when aang is in the avatar state it really reminds me of hebwa the chinese river deity and i think i said that wrong but it looks amazing 38 the puppet master the introduction of blood bending is pretty cool but before i ever watch the series i thought that blood bending was like hemomancy it's more like muscle bending than blood bending if it was blood bending hama could theoretically drain katara's blood through her eye sockets or something like that but this is nickelodeon so you can't get away with that between hama and toff it seems like if you're bored or desperate enough you can create a new form of bending whenever you want hama is however a sympathetic villain she was put through some pretty heavy [ __ ] and i wouldn't fault people especially fellow water try members like katara and saka for justifying her actions but considering they don't it really draws the line in the sand of where team avatar stands they're just about injustice and i feel like a lot of early book 3 sets up for the fire nation as a whole to still have a lot of good people in it which is really nice if the fire nation was just a country of monsters then zuko's story would fall apart at the seams 37 oppa's lost days this is the only office-centric episode and it certainly carried emotional power since i'm pretty sure any human who isn't insane doesn't like watching an animal being abused personally i'm not the biggest fan of oppa i mean he's cool but this episode is still really sad anyways i enjoy the format of having a large portion of opa's story from multiple episodes prior be told all at once as a catch-up it's a really creative angle the climax between the kiyoshi warriors and azula's gang is alright it could be better and it has some pretty suspect writing all that said i can't justify putting an episode that tugged on my heartstrings like this any lower than where it is so it'll stay here number 36 the water bending master a lot of great stuff packed into here and i feel like this is one of the more often overlooked episodes first of all the cultural world building of the northern water tribe is awesome and qatar standing up against it is actually one of her more powerful moments in the entire series for me she does however get literally slapped around but in the end she fights for her ideals and actually makes a positive change in the world i do like romance so soccer developing his connection with princess ua is always charming and even on top of that zuko has a ton going on this episode with zhao and the pirates there's also a little moment in here where zhao has like a beta test form of that notorious azula note i believe you're acquainted with prince zuko i'm not sure if i'm wrong for seeing it as that but it definitely feels like it 35 the warriors of kiyoshi there's two plots going on in this episode and i think they both hit a bit different for starters i do like that aang is a fan of attention it's charming but it does wear itself down a bit over time it's weird to have katara jealous towards aang this early on into the show but speaking of things happening a bit too early let's talk about saka the idea of saka being a misogynist who doesn't care about the mystical side of the world is established really early like the first scene of the show and i think they go about resolving it entirely too fast they could have had saka break a little when it comes to suki but still retain a piece of his old worldview for a while longer and stretch out the character development saka isn't often talked about in terms of character arcs at least this part of them i mean i'll talk about the other aspect later but in contrast zuko is talked about a lot i think the main reason for this dichotomy between the two is based on the time of resolution i do like saka's story in this episode but i feel like he could have had a more impactful redemption if it had taken him a tad longer to do his 180. 34 the earth king there's more to this episode than i initially gave it credit for in the rough draft of this video that i didn't watch the show again for having the earth king be hesitant is really cool and i really enjoy his priority system of the bear with the hat over long fang over the avatar i can't think of many other stories where high-ranking political figures were this in the dark about actual problems of the world and it's neat to see it all come together for him side story with the concept of not being evil causing zuko to become physically ill is a tad cheeky or is it cheeky is that a real thing that happens in life like moratoriums cause illness i don't know solid episode for sure 33 return to amashu this is another personal choice uh they're all technically personal choices but azul is my favorite character in the show excluding airo obviously everyone's favorite character is ira i think it's super interesting to have azula go on a recruitment drive and give backstory to both mei and ty lee as well as their motivations and it sets up for some pretty important threads in later episodes i think this episode is slept on and that's fine a lot of my enjoyment of it boils down to the azula section and the emotional moment at the end with ang giving tomtom back in complete secrecy with the avatar's love track in the background i could see this entry being hotly contested number 32 the guru now this carries a lot of emotional development for aang and i do think that it was necessary for him to recognize who he is as the avatar but i also can't help but feel like the entire interaction with guru patik is inconsequential when ang showed up he knew he loved his friends and would do anything for them he only went to learn how to master the avatar state and when he left he loved his friends and was not a master of the avatar state the celestial ang shot is incredibly nice to look at and the chakra thing is pretty cool another highlight of this episode is toff developing metal bending just because she [ __ ] feels like it it's worth noting that it's also shown here that hakoda is an inventive mind thus showing where saka gets his own inventive mind from but it's silly that they use stink minds and i don't feel bad for saying that 31 the library spirit world stuff is really cool and therefore shi tong is very cool it also helps that this episode is the one that sets the day of black sun or day of the black sun whatever localization you prefer in motion it's a little [ __ ] that wan shitong allowed zhao to research a bunch of war [ __ ] but doesn't allow aang to even the odds especially considering the spirits are supposed to be like homies to the avatar whenever possible under the assumption that the avatar will do what they need for the good of both worlds toff also holds up all knowledge in the universe by herself so that's cool moving on 30. the deserter you may have noticed that i'm a pretty big fan of aspects of the show that accurately depict aang as the kid he's supposed to be this episode embodies that it's so interesting to see aang after nailing water bending the most similar element to air struggles so hard with firebending even though he struggles he naturally rushes himself as any kid would and the consequences are immediate zhongzhong is a pretty interesting side character his relationship with firebending gives an insightful look into what a more kind-hearted person's self-image could look like if they were a firebender also roku big dicks on him as a ghost which is a serious ilite and i will die on that hill number 29 the siege of the north part 1. i think this is the first episode that really really digs into what a foreboding threat the fire nation is they've been shown off as powerful in the past but the fleet that's shown off in this episode is pretty much the scariest thing this universe could produce there's definitely a genuine feeling of dread that the northern water tribe doesn't really stand a chance in a fight and the only reason the fire nation is even here is because of aang zuko is still pretty evil but the interaction with him and iro before he sets off on his mission to kidnap aang is still really sweet katara gets to show off some of her mastery that she's been working on and she only really loses because firebenders are broken and they get a buff from both comets and the sun cliffhangers are great and i think this show really understands how to do two-parters but it's definitely the weaker half of the two 28 the winter solstice part 1 the first episode to really establish the cool spirit world side of the atla universe so it's automatically boosted i think it adds a lot of depth to the universe and it's interesting to see stuff like hey bye going from a [ __ ] up lovecraftian behemoth to some kind little panda bear when his connection to the natural world is fixed iro has an awesome little mini story in this episode and it's the first time he shows his [ __ ] off as a badass firebender hitting up the chains to trick the captors is something really creative to do with the bending system and this show is really really good at doing that and i love creative use of established magic systems number 27 the winter solstice part two less to do with establishing the spirit world but even more importantly it establishes the inevitability of sozin's comet which you know is like the whole majora's mask moon timer on the series and it really gets the show going on its tracks right after it does this it sets up and completing his normal avatar journey as a literal impossibility in the eyes of roku which makes it even more impressive when he somehow achieves it anyway i really like how the show sets up zuko having a rival or antagonist within the fire nation itself in the form of zhao and while it doesn't necessarily read as zuko being against his motherland it serves the purpose of showing that zuko is only motivated by what zuko feels which i really didn't get until i saw it a few more times after the first watch 26 the chase really interesting episode for a ton of reasons it's cool that toff doesn't immediately fit in with the group and has their own issues and i think this episode goes about showing it in a really cool way having office shedding being used as a way to track team avatar down is also a neat and realistic plot note for a group that uses a huge fluffy monster as transportation i think that it was a good choice to have toff sit down with ira who is like cult level loved by the fandom and it doesn't feel forced at all because of the scope of the world but the absolute highlight of this episode is undoubtedly the climax because it's the first time we see a truly complete except for suki team avatar working together and it's really awesome and i love the inclusion of saka throwing his boomerang to combine with the elemental attacks on azulla it might be my favorite tiny detail ever put into the show 25 the southern air temple i know that i said everything leading up to the winter solstice two-parter was more childish than the rest of the series but i guess this is an exception as dealing with this sort of grief is extremely heavy and it's still really early on the reason i use the solstice as the cutoff is because it never really goes back after that maybe nightmares and daydreams but that's sort of a goofy episode by nature and not simply nickelodeon humor i'm actually impressed that the show had the balls to deal with the real consequences of being frozen for that long this soon even an adult show like futurama kind of danced around the idea for a while showing gyatso's skeleton surrounded by guys he clearly [ __ ] up is also a nice touch gyatso don't mess around 24 the day of black sun part 1. this episode is great like really awesome it carries the energy of like avengers end game where everything and everyone come together for a climax and you go to admit seeing a full-scale siege with all the interesting technologies that this universe crafted was really fun to watch i'm about to take a hard stance though and i'm prepared for people to disagree with me saka did not invent submarines not even a little bit he came up with a doodle of some gingerbread men inside a fish which i do give credit to as a good concept and a show of creativity but the true genius of the atla world the mechanist was like oh yeah submarines cool and just [ __ ] made them in like two weeks or something although while saka may not be the absolute intellectual mastermind engineer that some of the fandom claims he is he's definitely the best leader ever shown in the show that guy knows how to rally some troops and execute a war plan ira giving the guard who's nice to him a heads up that he's about to go big dick swinging on the whole prison is super cute and it's a really arrow thing to do and that's why we all love them the most powerful moment in the episode is the closing scene with this climax that's been built up to for basically a full season now ending up to be a huge fake out and that's extremely unexpected as a twist 23 the boiling rock part two the only time in the series where i personally think a two-parter has a weaker second half i like the very forceful attempt at breaking out the second time around and this episode has a lot of really cool action scenes anytime azula squad does combat is really fun to watch and the twist top 10 anime betrayals at the end is such a crazy memorable moment mei is among my least favorite characters in the show but her motivations and conversation at the end is a really good character defining moment and i almost forgot how awful she is during that conversation 22 the boiling rock part one yeah i do like this one more than the second half and it's also not just because of the that's rough buddy joke i suppose my justification for this one is that i think the planning and sneaky approach towards trying to stage a prison break is a lot more interesting than just brute forcing it and this episode is my personal favorite zuko field trip episode i think zuko and saka mesh the best out of everyone it's a classic straight man and funny man double act and it just works in whatever scenario they're in of course as a big fan of suki and the fact that i count her as an official team avatar member her reveal and role in this episode bumps it up even more and i'm really glad they decided to bring her back and keep her role as important to the overall story it definitely adds something extra that'd be missing without her using score averages boiling rock is in fact my favorite two-parter and definitely not just because of the one joke i swear number 21 lake lao guy i don't like jet that much as a character but you gotta admit the way they use him in this plotline is really crazy i could not believe that a nickelodeon show had a story about discovering a brainwashing facility in a kingdom run by a shadow government much less have it lead into a character actually dying all of the action is really cool in this episode as it usually is when zuko dons the blue spirit mask having jet be a sleeper agent and fight aang is entertaining because hook swords are cool i will hear no argument otherwise ira finally having a bit of a lash out towards zuko's lack of foresight and blindly following the path set by ozai is strangely emotional because hearing a bit of frustration in ira's voice is so out of character but since it comes from a place of love for his nephew it still fits his character rank 20 the runaway whoa yeah the runaway makes the top 20. and i think my rationale is solid but i'm open to being wrong i see this as the most instrumental episode in tough storyline across the entire series and i think it's important to think about the overlapping storylines instead of just the main aang vs ozai storyline the start of the episode with the scams is just a lot of fun and it's more of avatar's incredibly strong creative visual play with the very simple sounding four elemental bendings i love seeing those implementations of bending into otherwise mundane activities the second half of the episode with toff and katara coming together to meet in a middle ground is the pivot for toff and it's important for her growth to realize that katara is right a lot of the time even if toff is inherently a free spirit climax with combustion man is weaker than the rest of the episode but the idea of katara helping toff write a letter to her parents is heartwarming as [ __ ] 19. the western air temple this episode is underrated as hell a lot of people think that it just serves as a prequel to the zuko field trips and i disagree obviously zuko's redemption arc is considered probably one of the best redemption arcs ever written and you have to give this episode its dues when it comes to that substory zuko making this choice is incredibly difficult and this episode condenses all of that difficulty of that transition at a great pace i don't got much more to say than that the fight with combustion man is cool and saku shows off his ingenuity again just generally a really good episode number 18 the day of black sun part 2. a bit of a gap between this one and part 1a and that's because i was still really enjoying the ride of the anti-climax fake out [ __ ] they went for this episode is one of the better ones for azula and seeing as she's my favorite character in the show barring iro that helps it out quite a bit this is just one of many times where azula goes out of her way just as stunned on a large group of powerful individuals just because she can and while they may have got her number at the end it's still in azula w serving the stalling purpose as the runaway was pivotal for toth this one was pivotal for zuko isn't it crazy that zuko has the power position over ozai when they're both without their bending that could imply that ozai has been so gifted with firebending that he never bothered to learn traditional combat so all the boys getting together was not enough to kill ozai but i still think it served the purpose of a finale one could even argue that book 3 is split into two separate narrative seasons and neither of them have a sense of rushed pacing or lack of quality even considering that fact it's hard to believe that the fire nation would take every single person who intended to kill their powerless leader as a prisoner of war but it's a nickelodeon show so they can't torch them on the spot i guess 17. the blind bandit this is the closest avatar will ever come to a tournament arc and as a childhood wwe fan the campy over-the-top antics of the earth rumble contestants is a really funny joke but the reason i rank this episode so highly is the introduction and quite frankly just the character of toff in general earthbending is typically characterized by burly men doing jerky powerful motions to have the most influential earthbender in the series be a small girl is one thing but also making her blind furthers the disconnect between her perceived weakness and her actual inner strength on top of that seismic sense is [ __ ] cool and makes her a really unique character number 16 the siege of the north part 2. so this is the absolute biggest gap between any of the two parters and i obviously think insanely highly of this episode the entire siege looked wicked the kingdom made of ice vibe is sold really well as the spirit world side of avatar is some of my favorite bits in the show of course i loved aang's interactions with ko the face stealer he's so ominous and unsettling but he also still does help aang by setting him off in the right direction the cinematography is a huge one for me i like the idea of having the red and black filter when twee is in the bag and then full on black and white when zhao kills him finally i am an absolute gorilla of a person and angoing full kaiju to dust and armada makes the entertainment chemicals flood to my peanut-sized brain unfortunately xiao is the main villain in this episode and honestly the whole of book 1 and he's like super generic and forgettable this episode might be higher if that wasn't the case number 15 the crossroads of destiny this is a really great finale to the second book and it does feel like a solid wrap up of the ongoing stories is anyone else into how tight iro is with team avatar right out of the gate i mean i know he has an in with toff but they trust him like immediately the zuku and katara scenes are also pretty good seeing their similarities it helps both of them develop very well and it humanizes zuko even further it's cool to see that saka due to his previous encounters with tylie in the chase fares a bit better at dodging her chi block and [ __ ] even if only for a few seconds azula and longfang's conversation in the throne room reminds me of game of thrones and speaking of azula the fact that she has the confidence to confront zuko katara the [ __ ] avatar and iro all at once is some serious badassery even if it is a tad ill-advised i know there's a lot of back and forth on the zuko double cross here but i think it makes sense narratively speaking it's unlikely that a teenager who has sought nothing but parental approval for years would be so quick to have a change of heart azula literally killing aang is super metal and the spirit water thing doesn't feel like an [ __ ] at all because katara has been holding on to it and it's been an established thing for a while now great episode great finale number 14 bitter work the duality in this episode of having aang train with toff and zuko train with iro and concepts they're naturally opposed to those being the contrasting earth element for aang and the concept of harmonic balance of the four styles for zuko is a really innovative narrative direction it also adds a lot to ira's characterization as someone who truly understands the nature of this world the comedy between toff and aang is solid and the emotional connection between zuko and iro is just as strong also saka getting stuck in a hole is hilarious 13. the blue spirit this is just shy of being the best book 1 episode and it's cut into two narrative halves like a lot of episodes the first half with aang searching for medicine and getting chased and caught by the yu yen is undoubtedly the weaker half and the reason this episode doesn't make the top 10 cut if i'm being honest it's still good really good but the second half with zuko doing the infiltration and rescue mission is way better if you directly compare them there's so many inspired shots in here and it has a genuine feeling of suspense the soundtrack really enhances the sneaky atmosphere and the whole thing kind of feels like you're playing a stealth game you got to give points to the mystery factor because yeah we've all seen avatar already probably a couple times each but the first time when we had no idea who the blue spirit was and got hit with that reveal it was a crazy twist what's crazier is that if you paid really really close attention it wasn't a twist at all zuku had those two swords behind him in a ton of shots on his ship more of those hidden details the show constantly throws your way number 12 sozen's comet part 1 the phoenix king the first part in the series finale and quite undoubtedly the weakest part it does confront some major issues like aang's culture conflicting with the whole thing he's gotta do but a whole lot of team avatar just messing around in here as well also did anglik forget all those fire nation people that gyatso definitely wiped out before he died it's ranked so highly because it's so deep into the story that you already love all these characters but there isn't anything in particular that stands out as super amazing the coronation of the phoenix king is both cool and dumb it seems a bit contrived for someone who's supposed to be really imposing but it is certainly evil more on ozai later 11. the beach in the original draft of the script this episode made the top 10. i know i know it's a personal favorite for me because i love the whole fire nation squad except for may so it's super enjoyable to see them just going on about regular activities i just like when shows humanize their villains and this episode exclusively serves that purpose azula just being incapable of socializing is one of the funniest things in the whole show but the thing that gets this episode ranked so highly for me is the bonfire campfire whatever scene on the beach having all of them air their insecurities and come face to face with themselves adds a lot of complexity to the other side contrasting team avatar zuko's though is flawless dante bosco's performance during the questioning of why he's angry could not be better in the representation that zuko himself is just coming to the realization during the scene i think this is absolutely pivotal to the redemption arc feeling as good as it does unfortunately i have to try to not be completely biased and i can't allow my taste to swing me this far out of the bounds of the general consensus but maybe it should be higher and everyone except me has mass hysteria number 10 sozin's comet part 2 the old masters oh no it feels really bad to have this episode down this low but man the top 10 is so [ __ ] good that i don't think i can help it i'm sorry a lot of this episode is amazing but i do think that aang communing with his past lives is conceptually really cool but it really slows the overall pacing of the finale hang's dilemma doesn't really make any sense because of all the stuff with the monks earlier especially gyatso but it's fine meeting back up with the white lotus is really fun because they get to be way more badass later on but this episode doesn't have any of the huge action punches of the finale i guess boomi retaking omashu is flashy but it doesn't have any real significance zuko and iro's reunion single-handedly lifts part 2 above part 1. it's pretty much unrivaled in terms of emotional impact in the entire series number 9 the fire bending masters do you remember when i said that soccer's field trip was the best zuko field trip episode i lied it's actually this one obviously aang and zuko doing something together is like the pinnacle of zuko's potential redemption this episode has two factors that make it stand out as amazing the first aspect is reconstructing the fundamental idea of firebending previously throughout pretty much the entire series firebending has been seen as solely destructive and to be feared this was accentuated specifically by zhongjong saying pretty much that exact same thing which i even gave him credit for on his episode in this list the second aspect is the visual aspect from the second the dragons show up till the end of the episode we have a feast for the eyes with visuals the dragon dance is absolutely iconic the colored flame nato is stunning the symbolism of aang and zuko back to back facing the revelation of firebending is beautiful i love this episode from the bottom of my heart also during the flame nato zukoskar is on the wrong side and if you didn't know that now you do and you'll think about it every time you watch the scene okay next episode number eight the avatar and the fire lord flashback episodes in other tv shows tend to suck pretty much every time but this show [ __ ] nails it roku has been along for the ride with us since super early into book one and i feel like as the avatar directly before aang and the one most tied to him he deserves his own backstory episode the way the story is told with aang and zuko reading roku and sozen's perspectives respectively is such a fresh way to deliver exposition the second half with the volcano eruption and roku's old ass doing his best to fight off mother nature is inspiring i actually did think sodium had a bit of a change of heart the first time i watched the episode so the betrayal was a surprise then the final twist of roku being zuko's great grandfather on top of it [ __ ] iro puts it perfectly this twist fits zuko's arc like a [ __ ] glove the writing could not be improved on number 7 saka's master similar to how the runaway was the mini climax of top story this one acts as the most important and impactful episode for saka's character development start of the series saka was an egotistical misogynistic impatient punk who constantly looked down on bending and saw himself as a great warrior where the saka at the start of this episode is a humble man with a creative mind who now respects bending if not even envies the benders and decides to take a risk to better himself for the sake of growth and isn't that a wonderful transformation it's entirely organic too and it feels well earned pian dao is a super interesting character and the first show of someone who's unaffiliated with the war and national identity completely say for ira it acts as a little hint towards the white lotus even if piandao himself doesn't look that old i've been tossing out hot takes like they're going out of style and here's another one saka's arc may not be on the same level as zuko's but he goes through a pretty solid change and this episode is easily one of the best out there this may also be the episode that caused you to watch this video and if it is then you have to hit subscribe right now number six suzan's comment part 4 avatar aang is it ok for me to put this one here i'm going to do it anyway an insanely good cap to the series don't get me wrong but i don't think it's the best episode in the series aang's avatar state beatdown of ozai is awe-inspiring even compared to roku vs susan it was like it's completely clapped and aang feat wise is pretty much the strongest thing ever shown in this universe there's still a decent amount of powerful moments from the other ongoing events the old folks finishing up the job embossing say and azula getting beaten by her own mental breakdown spirit bending is a bit of an [ __ ] for the convenience of keeping aang's pacifist monk style but it doesn't really change that much at least in terms of just the tv series if aang had have just killed him so it doesn't upset me that bad the epilogue is of course touching and the direct parallel between roku and sozen again with aang as the realized avatar and zuko as the fire lord as like pretty close friends is really nice it's amazing to think how every single detail in this show comes together everything has meaning but there are still episodes better than this one five of them actually number five the ember island players now you can't have a top five avatar episodes without including the amber island players can you the writers somehow came up with an idea that takes the general series recap that a lot of shows do before a climax which often becomes an instant skip for anyone binging the series to one of the best episodes in the whole show what a revolutionary concept to have it retold through a propaganda play from the opposite side it still serves the right purpose of retelling the events even if it's uh less than accurate the amazing way to reimagine this trope would be top tier by itself but this episode also boasts the highest ratio of top notch comedy in the series personal favorites are tough beifong's sonar senses and zuko sky being on the wrong side it's hilarious every single time like i said it would feel wrong to not include it in the highest tier and i bet a whole lot of you would agree with me on that number 4 the storm the best episode of book 1 and it's this much of a standout serving as the primary backstory episode for both aang and zuko the way the storm can effortlessly weave together the two tales while including a ton of parallel symbolism is fantastic it's because of this episode that the watcher starts to grow a sympathy towards zuko that really plants the seed for his eventual perfectly written redemption and development into his own man who makes his own choices on ang's side it gives you a deeper look into not only the weight he feels in modern day as the avatar but also the consequences on his immediate life when he was announced as the avatar it took him out of his comfort zone and it gives a sort of melancholic aspect to something that might initially be perceived as incredibly desirable we all have fantasies of ourselves as gaining superpowers or gaining fame and fortune or anything along those lines but we never take into consideration the negative aspects of those fantasies be it the isolation the pain the responsibility the expectations from others the drastic tonal shift from the early nickelodeon style book one episodes to this incredibly grounded and realistic look at the two characters emotional backstories is not only welcomed but i'd argue needed for the pacing of the show to make it to the complete package that it was i've seen some people say that the blue spirit is a better book one episode but for me the best will always be the storm number three zuko alone i genuinely worry about only ranking this episode third and that's just a testament to how universally revered it is for a show that is by nature character driven by a large cast of lovable characters one of the most popular episodes is one that exclusively focuses on a single character this episode almost feels like a western cowboy film or something and having childhood flashbacks interwoven with his ongoing developments in the earth kingdom is a really nice representation of him trying to move forward from the ideas that have been put in his head for his whole life i think it gives zuko a lot of leeway for his eventual redemption when it's shown that he was always conflicted with the world view that his father and sister hold i think it's pretty on the nose but i'll point it out anyways azula as a kid tells zuko that he could find a nice earth kingdom family to adopt him and zuko spends this episode connecting with a nice earth kingdom family and sort of filling the role of their own son who was taken away it's pretty depressing to think that a family in enemy territory shows zuko more compassion than his own blood but it's a key role in him understanding the truths of the world even more sad than that what was previously his source of pride his birthright becomes a thing of shame when that same family turns him away it's no coincidence that right after lee and his mom walk off we're given a scene of ursus disappearance and azulan's funeral suko's time with lee's family was short but outside of his mother it may have been the only time he felt the warmth of a functional family all of that is of course not counting ira who is the best parental figure anyone could ask for number two sozen's comet part 3 into the inferno this episode even more so than part four feels like the payoff to every major plotline the least important is the white lotus retaking boss sing say as a five-man unit which is just nuts they absolutely go to town on the place and while airo and zhongzhang might have had the comet boost which i do believe is the only reason zhangjiang can do this weird flying thing but the other ones are normal and piandao just has a [ __ ] sword and that's crazy next up we have saka suki entoff taking down a fleet of heavily armed solid metal earth kingdom eradicating machines also known as blimps using just a little bit of creativity and a little bit of never before seen metal bending but it's still a great thing for them to be off doing during the final battle the aang and ozai fight starts in this episode and it's great to see aang finally get some confidence towards his destiny but he sort of gets ragdolled here and he doesn't get to open a can of whoop ass until the final part when he goes into the avatar state squared the most important part of the episode is azula and zuko though the first half of the episode with azula's deteriorating mental state was really interesting to watch some other shows out there would have a character maybe a queen of some sorts end up going through a breakdown and doing something out of character azul on the other hand has always been evil and losing the only people she considered herself even remotely close to combined with the weight of becoming the fire lord just tipped her over the edge there's a lot of emotion in how she carries herself and her facial expressions and it reads like a book the scene in the war room with the blue flames and ambient coloring looks amazing but let's talk about the agnikai there's probably nothing i can say about it that hasn't already been said i'm pretty sure that the agnikai was responsible for the show winning some award as it should be the animation is smooth as butter the attacks are flashy but they're not confusing you can still follow it the color complementing blue and orange flames are so beautiful it's almost like azula's fire is blue specifically for this scene and the sound design the way the music takes precedent and all of the fire burning sounds are like you're hearing them underwater or from another room or some [ __ ] it's so [ __ ] good this episode would be number one but number one the tales of boss sing say finally it's time for what i believe at least generally speaking to be the best episode of avatar the last airbender since this is an anthology episode i'm gonna do a ranking within a ranking type deal here and put the tails in order of worst the best number six the tale of saka this is the most silly of the tales and it's also the shortest it's a good little skit and provided a solid laugh it shows off saka's two most defining characteristics his natural goofiness and his comedic side as well as his confidence to try new things and grow as a person might be stretching a bit he might just be trying to impress some girls it might not be that deep number five the tale of aang aang's little solo story which is basically the movie we bought a zoo but instead of buying the zoo the zoo was already there and he just earth bends a bigger one that was a whole lot funnier in my head anyway it feels pretty unimportant but it mostly just serves the purpose of displaying aang's kind heart and him using his avatar powers for something constructive in the world that goes beyond a faded battle of good and evil the avatar doesn't always have a direct foe they need to defeat to maintain balance i'd wager most avatars in history spent most of their time doing stuff just like this number four the tale of toff and katara so i think this one is about the same level as aang's but it's a bit better because the dynamic of having the two girls interact together pushes it to feel like it has overall more narrative weight and seeing how toff and katara initially hated each other's guts having them connect on a deeper level makes team avatar feel that much more like a family number three the tale of zuko god i wish zuko was with jin instead of mei it would have been so cool if the fated ruler of the fire nation prince zuko while posing undercover embossing say met an earth kingdom girl who changed the way he viewed the world i mean it doesn't have to change the story at all it could be some [ __ ] like he finds her again after the show concludes like a comic canon or something but nah she just disappears forever i think as a political move that'd also make a lot of sense with the overlapping earth kingdom colonies i do feel like jyn had that sort of effect on him humanizing the people who he had spent his entire life viewing as some villains to be crushed due to fire nation propaganda which we've been shown several times to not only exist but be culturally prominent zuko softening up a bit from this tale feels plot relevant because it's not too much further down the line when he does that big moral shift that makes him sick pretty cute tale overall number two the tale of momo often overshadowed by the following entry this little story has not a single spoken word and still manages to be insanely emotional for a couple minutes there momo and oppa have been shown to have a crazy tight bond and momo is clearly a very intelligent animal so showing off how oppa's disappearance is affecting him personally is a nice addition they very easily could have had toff and katara be separate tales and not have momo at all but i think this episode would have been worse if they did that out of all the stories momo also has the most plot relevance tying directly into the ongoing story while the others are sort of just daily activities or more nonchalant goings-ons this one is a legitimate step towards moving the plot forward overshadowed is a pretty good word i think if this were in any other episode the shot of momo falling asleep in oppa's footprint while cuddling his fur in the rain would be the saddest [ __ ] in the episode it's gotta be like top five saddest moments in the show right i think so at least and number one the tale of iro here it comes folks the moment you've all been waiting for the tale of iro is a masterpiece i'd argue it might be the single best sub 10 minute animated short ever made even without any form of context to the atla universe at large everything you need to understand the tale is shown to you within the run time ira spends his day walking around bossing say being a mentor an emotional pillar to complete strangers sitting down with someone who tried to mug him setting him on the right course from there on out he's just to the bottom of his core good and it makes it almost hard to believe that he was the general to a siege in the very same city where he makes it his duty to help every citizen he encounters the reveal that it's lou ten's birthday and having ira pay his respects only makes him even more heartwarming and as a grown man i still cry when iro does it's heartbreaking to see someone who cares so much hurt on such a deep level and the more you look at it the worse it gets from the start of the tale ira was planning this memorial shopping for the basket and singing the same song to quell the boys crying so during all those acts of kindness earlier he was walking around carrying the weight of his perceived failure as a father it really hurts the writing and voice performance are so good that i almost can't convince myself that iro is just a cartoon character to top it all off this being a tribute to the amazing and talented late mako make sure that if the singing doesn't make you cry the sunset will so that's my list after spending two months making my last video i basically decided to do the same [ __ ] thing again right away but i love avatar and if i was gonna make a video about it i had to pay my respects and not cut corners i hope you enjoyed the video and if you did make sure to like and subscribe and all that algorithm stuff thanks for watching

Channel: FateViews

Views: 616,427

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Id: qYdhX9SiVnA

Length: 46min 29sec (2789 seconds)

Published: Thu Sep 09 2021