The Avatar Returns

So that happened.   The first season is done.    What ostensibly is supposed to be Book One: Water, though this version of the show never once refers to it that way, has reached its end. And it got there without Aang ever even TRYING to waterbend. Not one single time.   That was a choice. This show makes LOTS of choices. And we talk about them.   NEXT: we’ve been bumped and bruised by this experie...

Studio Ghibli is undoubtedly meeting with lawyers even as we speak, given episode 105 of the Netflix live-action adaptation of Avatar: The Last Airbender is titled “Spirited Away,” and…boy howdy. This version of the Spirit World amounts to basically a color filter, and an admittedly pretty cool-looking Hei Bai, who is never actually resolved. Episode 106, “Masks” on the other hand pulls off what i...

Oh my cabbages, here we go again. We find ourselves once more confronted with some very confusing story structure choices made in the name of condensing material from six different animated episodes into two messy episodes of live action. 104, “Omashu” introduces us to this version of the great Earth Kingdom city of chutes and ladders, and crams in a lot, I mean A. LOT. of characters and plot elem...

Well. They said they were gonna do it. And they made good on that threat. And WE said we’d be here for it. And we…have paid for our hubris. The time has come for your boys to discuss the first two episodes of the 2024 live-action Netflix series, Avatar: The Last Airbender. As you might expect, we have opinions. Episode 101, “Aang” opens on a literal genocide. Did we need to see that? Episode 102,...

Team The Avatar Returns has been missing, locked in an iceberg of our own making for the past four years. Before we vanished, Netflix had announced it’s then-still-distant live-action adaptation of Avatar: The Last Airbender, and we had only just begun speculating on what might justify the existence of another adaptation, and how it could possibly top the 2010 Shyamalan film. Well that adaptation...

Guess who’s back, back again…   A little flying lemur told us it was the 15th Anniversary of Avatar: The Last Airbender, and we thought, “Hey, we liked that show.” So here we are, Team TARP together again. We discuss our memories of the series, how it’s influenced pop culture, and whether or not that Netflix live-action series is ever gonna happen. We also talk about all the various ways this podc...

We’re back for a brand new year with a brand new comics series! Following on the successful heels of their Avatar: The Last Airbender graphic novels Dark Horse Comics introduces the official Legend of Korra continuation series. The first story arc is called “Turf Wars” and it’s written by original series co-creator Michael Dante DiMartino with art by Irene Koh. To go along with all the new we here...

We’re baaaaack. But there’s no cause for celebration as we’re forced to bid a sad farewell to our beloved comics creative team. One last time writer Gene Luen Yang and art duo Gurihiru spin a tale of Team Avatar for the official tie-in graphic novel series from Dark Horse Comics. Vol. 5: North and South sees Sokka and Katara return home to the Southern Water Tribe for the first time since setting...

Goodbyes are hard. That’s why we drink. In this episode your sad hosts are sad. In the absence of new Avatar: The Last Airbender or The Legend of Korra chapters to discuss, we get slightly inebriated and try to make it a party. There’s trivia, “Who Said It” challenges, lists (because everyone loves lists), and lots of self-indulgence and time-wasting. We really do go out on the top of our game.  ...

The secret is out! The truth about all of the crazy breaks and pauses and hiatuses The Avatar Returns has endured over the past year-and-a-half can finally be revealed. The truth is…we didn’t want this to end. But end it has, and we must fight our way through the heartache and the pain to discuss, one last time, these final chapters of The Legend of Korra. Chapter 412, “Day of the Colossus” sees a...

It’s the ante-penultimate episode of The Avatar Returns and the boys are a little punch drunk. Paul shares a Star Wars/The Legend of Korra mashup that goes over like a lead balloon; Arlo makes a Thelma Schoonmaker joke that gets crickets for a response; and Eric makes a Step Up All In reference that goes completely over Arlo’s head. Oh, and there are chapters to discuss, too. In 410, “Operation Be...

The Avatar Returns phone tree has been activated and we’re answering the call as we head into the back half of The Legend of Korra Book Four. In chapter 407, “Reunion,” the band is back together…mostly. And it feels so good…mostly. Wu is down; Korra and Mako are on each others nerves; and Bolin lavabends the taste right out of some mecha suit mouths. In 408, “Remembrances,” cue the twinkling flash...

This week on The Avatar Returns, it’s a Badass Bender Beatdown as The Legend of Korra Book Four continues. In this corner, wearing the simple green tunic, the Ever-Lovin’ Blue-Eyed Avatar (we still have one of those?), Korra! And in this corner, sporting a stylish Earth Empire ensemble of death metal, dancin' and singin' and movin' to the groovin', the Great Uniter herself, Kuvira!   But first we...

Book Four: Balance begins as we move into the final season of The Legend of Korra. Time jumps in fiction tend to be something of a mixed bag, but as our story picks up three years after the end of Book Three it quickly becomes apparent the device works like a charm here, in what Arlo dubs the strongest start to any season in the entire Avatar Universe. In chapter 401, “After All These Years,” Korr...

This week, a break between seasons of The Legend of Korra means a return to the days of old as we look at the fourth collection of the Dark Horse Comics Avatar: The Last Airbender series, Volume 4: Smoke and Shadow. Having reunited with his long lost mother Ursa, Zuko returns with her to the Fire Nation Capital City (which really needs a name) and wackiness ensues, some of which serves to remind u...

This is a big one, kids. Team The Avatar Returns assembles to breakdown their thoughts on the final four chapters of The Legend of Korra, Book Three: Change. There’s a lot to cover, starting with the typical children’s television tropes of on-camera assassinations and Boxer Rebellions when Zaheer proclaims “Long Live the Queen” in chapter 310. In 311, “Ultimatum,” he may possibly have bitten off m...

Welcome back, Nuktukkers! This week on The Avatar Returns we’re throwing a good old fashioned Zaofu pajama party! We’ve got fresh Kalenutsco smoothies, air bison steaks, a game of Chekhov’s Pebble, and Bolin dolls for everyone. Oh, and chapters of The Legend of Korra to discuss. We ease into things with 307, “Original Airbenders,” which features that adorable little psychopath Milo winning hearts...

Benders and non-benders rejoice, The Avatar Returns is back like Varrick! We’ve been lost in the Spirit Wilds for longer than any of us care to think about, but we fought our way out, through dangers untold and hardships unnumbered, to be here with you tonight as we continue at last our exploration of Nickelodeon’s award-winning Prison Break reboot, also known as The Legend of Korra, Book Three. P...

All great journeys have their obstacles, detours or delays. For Avatar: The Last Airbender it was a literal hole in the ground known as "The Great Divide." For The Legend of Korra, let's be honest, it was an entire character named Unalaq. And for The Avatar Returns it's that old hobgoblin known as the real world. Circumstances outside of our control have left us with no choice but to take a tempor...

Change is in the air as The Avatar Returns returns from our month-long walkabout with discussion of the first three chapters in The Legend of Korra Book Three. Gone are the days of meandering plot threads and questionable kaiju choices. We’re right back into genuine character building, socio-philosophical quandaries, and thrilling Studio Mir action sequences. In chapter 301, “A Breath of Fresh Air...

The first two volumes of Dark Horse Comics' Avatar: The Last Airbender graphic novel series both dealt with the difficulty of change, the cost and confusion that comes with transition. Volume 3: The Rift is no different as Aang continues to struggle with letting go of the past and learning to live in the present. The young Avatar slept through an entire lifetime while frozen in that iceberg, and i...

The Legend of Korra Book Two: Spirits finally meanders to it's somewhat muddled but more-or-less satisfying status quo-shattering conclusion with the final three chapters; 212, "Harmonic Convergence," 213, "Darkness Falls," and 214, "Light in the Dark." We discuss the season highlights (Tenzin, Nuktuk, Varrick) and lowlights (the Water Tribe civil war, the dumbing down of Lin Beifong), and which c...

This week on The Avatar Returns we read the immortal classic Through the Looking-Glass, and What Korra Found There, also known as The Avatar's Adventures in Wonderland. In chapter 209, "The Guide" Korra and Tenzin are finally reunited, we meet Bum-Ju, and bid a fond(ish) farewell to animation Studio Pierrot. Then chapter 210 ushers in "A New Spiritual Age" as we follow the white dragonfly-bunny to...

This week on The Avatar Returns we explore the gritty Miller and Mazzucchelli masterpiece, Avatar: Year One. Okay, not really. But we are talking about The Legend of Korra two-parter "Beginnings," which like the classic graphic novel mentioned above explores origins, in this case the origin of the Avatar State itself. We are introduced to Wan, the lovable riff-raff street rat with the heart of gol...

As The Avatar Returns continues its exploration of The Legend of Korra Book Two, Eric thinks Unalaq's boringness continues to bore, Paul thinks Korra's temperamental teenager act continues to grate, and Arlo thinks Paul has gone from face to heel. [Ed. note: he's wrong, Paul has always been an evil bastard.] Fortunately for Eric, chapter 205, "Peacekeepers" features very little Unalaq. Paul is giv...