Nothing is as it seems when it comes to the Fire Nation.
**WARNING: Contains full spoilers for Avatar: The Last Airbender**
Netflix’s Avatar: The Last Airbender came to an explosive end in its final episode, with all eyes on Daniel Dae Kim‘s Fire Lord Ozai.
The tyrannous Fire Lord ended the series with a bang as he unveiled his true plan – which had less to do with Avatar Aang (Gordon Cormier) than you might expect.
Plus, the series had one more surprise in store at the end of episode 8, with the Grand Sage (François Chau) revealing that Sozin’s Comet, a celestial body that greatly enhances the power of the Fire Nation, is about to return.
So, as we await news about if we’ll get to see more episodes of the epic Netflix adaptation, here’s everything you need to know about that action-packed ending to Avatar: The Last Airbender and what became of all the characters.
Avatar: The Last Airbender ending explained – What’s Fire Lord Ozai’s plan?
The final scenes of Avatar: The Last Airbender see Fire Lord Ozai discovering that Avatar Aang is still alive and free – and having a surprisingly muted reaction.
While we might have expected him to quite literally shoot the messenger with a fireball, he’s uncharacteristically calm.
That’s because capturing Aang and conquering the North wasn’t actually Ozai’s real intention – just a distraction.
While everyone was focused on the North, Omashu, the second largest city in the Earth Kingdom, fell under the Fire Nation’s control, with the episode showing King Bumi (Utkarsh Ambudkar) in chains.
“Now only Ba Sing Se stands between us and the total conquest of the Earth Kingdom,” Ozai explains. Ba Sing Se, of course, is the capital of the Earth Kingdom – and clearly Ozai’s next target.
When Ozai is told that his son Prince Zuko’s (Dallas Liu) fate is uncertain, he also seems entirely unbothered, presumably because he doesn’t really need him anymore – one of the final shots of the series shows his daughter, Elizabeth Yu’s Azula, leading an army.
Chatting to RadioTimes.com about those closing scenes with Azula, Yu explained: “Something I really love about what the writers did with her is we kind of see that her and Zuko at the end of the day want the same thing, but we’ve always known that they’ve both gone completely different ways about achieving those things.
“I think especially with the way Daniel plays Ozai, you start to see her get to that point of being called crazy or being sent to the end of her own line.
“I think that’s what I’m really excited for [if the show returns for another season], is finally getting to show people the Azula we all know and love with all those quick quips and condescending lines. I’m excited to finally have the sass.”
Is Princess Yue dead?
Sort of – the finale episode sees Princess Yue (Amber Midthunder) sacrifice herself to save the Moon Spirit, after Zhao (Ken Leung) made it clear that he would kill the spirit to ensure the Fire Nation’s dominance over water benders, which risked throwing the entire world out of balance.
After trapping Sokka (Ian Ousley) in place so he can’t stop her, Yue explains that she was touched by the Moon Spirit as a child, with her father desperately pleading with the spirit to save her life (hence why she could transform into a fox).
When she discovers the Moon Spirit is dying, she realises she must give that part of the Moon Spirit, which has been keeping her alive, back to save it and the world.
After Yue’s sacrifice, we see the moon brighten, making it clear that her sacrifice worked. The live-action series treats this sacrifice more like a death, the original cartoon shows Yue re-emerging as the Moon Spirit and telling Sokka: “I’ll always be with you.”
The live-action show sees Yue’s father telling Sokka that there was nothing he could have done to save Yue.
What happened to Aang, Katara and Sokka?
After defeating Zhao and Zuko, Aang (Gordon Cormier), Katara (Kiawentiio) and Sokka finish the series together.
While Katara is asked to stay to help train a generation of water benders, she declines, instead choosing to stay with Aang on his journey to master the four elements and save the world. She suggests that she’ll train him in water bending.
Aang is left heartbroken by the destruction wrought by the Fire Nation, suggesting he’s failed as the Avatar.
Katara and Sokka tell him to focus on what he still has to do. They plan for Aang to master waterbending with Katara and then to return to Omashu to learn earthbending – clearly unaware that it has fallen to the Fire Nation.
What happened to Uncle Iroh and Prince Zuko?
The final episode sees Zuko face up to Zhao, who tells him that his father has simply been using him to motivate his sister, Azula.
Zhao loses control and blasts Zhao out of his way – but doesn’t quite kill him.
Zhao goes to attack Zuko but isn’t prepared for a counter-attack from Iroh (Paul Sun-Hyung Lee), who leaves the commander plummeting into the water below them.
Zhao meets his demise as Zuko and Iroh look down on what appears to be his burning body.
Both Iroh and Zuko make it out of the battle alive and are last seen in a small boat leaving. Zuko seems a little broken and, when Iroh asks him what he wants to do, he says he doesn’t know.
Iroh tells him he needs to rest – but it seems there may be more in store for the prince.
Avatar: The Last Airbender is available to stream on Netflix now. You can check out the best series on Netflix, best movies on Netflix or visit out TV Guide for more to watch.
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