So this past week, Nickelodeon started to air the final few chapters of the series, Avatar: The Last Airbender and many fans (including myself) were anticipating the conclusion what is arguably the best North American television cartoon series written. What really blew may away was the production value of the series with great animation, characters and and epic tale of a boy named Aang, who’s mission is to save the world. My initial reaction to the series was that this must be something that Nickelodeon must’ve imported from Japan because I couldn’t believe North Americans could make such an extraordinary animated series (besides Disney).

After watching the end of the series on Saturday with the 4 part episode entitled, Sozin’s Comet, it was definitely a phenomenal end to a phenomenal series. Though there are still a few questions left to be answered (like where is Zuko’s mother, Ursa?) and the supposed “Deus-Ex Machina” of what Aang did during his battle with Ozai, it was an overall success. It’s unfortunate that the series creators (Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko) decided not to extend the series further despite seeing huge success and Nickelodeon wanting to contract them for a rumoured three additional seasons. I can definitely understand that the creators had originally intended the series to be three seasons from the beginning and did not want to dilute the storyline and adding fillers. Sometimes, series drag on for too long and then fans can definitely notice that it becomes less about the integrity of the storyline, but rather milking of the franchise…and so I definitely respect the creators for sticking to their original vision.

But Avatar fans need not worry…there seems to be plans for another series which could possibly be set in the same world but in a different time period (a whole new cast of characters). Also, there are plans set for a trilogy of live-action films to be directed by renowned author and director, M. Night Shyamalan. Well, it’s been a great ride for the last 3 seasons and if you haven’t had the chance to watch this great series, check it out!

-Stephen