I experienced war, similarly to many of my generational peers through Avatar: The Last Airbender – a Nickelodeon show made for children alongside Spongebob Squarepants and Dora the Explorer.

Avatar Aang bending all four elements

Avatar: The Last Airbender is an animated series set in an Asiatic world. In the four nations of this world – Water, Earth, Fire, and Air, some humans can ‘bend’ their respective element. There is always a spiritual incarnate, known as the Avatar, who can bend all four elements, whose destiny is to restore or retain peace. In the series’ era, the Fire Nation has tyrannically ruled the world for a century in war, and a 12-year-old boy named Aang must master his skills as the Avatar to restore harmony to the world.

I will be discussing how relatability, darker elements, and character development contextualised the nuances of war for youths.

Katara assassinating her mother’s killer

The strength of the series is within its microcosms. The audience sees individual stories as opposed to many nameless deaths. Aang’s water bending teacher, Katara was my childhood hero. She was a feminist warrior, but she was also a victim of war. Despite growing up with both parents, I was able to empathise with her anguish and rage over her murdered mother. She was so similar to me in age, personality, and energy that I could replicate her grief with the masses who had also faced loss from senseless murders.

Aang finds his entire race killed by the Fire Nation

Avatar never strayed from darker themes despite being a kids show. The Fire Nation’s wrath displayed itself in every facet of the show. Within the first episodes, we discover the Fire Nation committed genocide of the Air Nomad race in an attempt to eradicate the Avatar. The Fire Lord mutilated and banished his son who was evidently suffocated in the totalitarian Fire Nation dogma. Katara, who is kind and nurturing resorts to blood bending to avenge her mother’s death. The lack of censorship in the show created something powerful and real for children to comprehend. War is horrific, and it should not be sugar-coated.

Zuko’s development from enemy to ally taught kids that war isn’t as simple as “good vs bad”. The audience watches Zuko, an angry banished prince who was once heir to the Fire Nation throne, obsess over restoring his honour by capturing the Avatar. Zuko’s duality gleams throughout the show. We watch his oscillation between his upbringing and what he knows is right. We see him help his enemies because his morals overcome his fears. Most importantly, we grasp that he, perhaps more than any other character, despite his position, has had everything taken from him by this war-torn world.

Prince Zuko begging for forgiveness before his father burns and banishes him

Avatar: The Last Airbender teaches youths about war through honest, accessible, appropriate storytelling. To this day, I cannot think of a children’s show that grapples and contextualises such difficult themes with a cast that is as cohesive and deep as The Legend of Aang’s. Great fiction is not bound to a particular demographic. Despite being fifteen years old, Avatar still defines a generation and is remembered not as something juvenile, but brilliant. 

Team Avatar saving the world