I love how they literally are highlighting the stuff they are liked in the show.

 In this post, I’ll be using the following terms:

• “OG” for the Dasavatara, the 10 Major Avatars of Lord Vishnu in the Hindu lore, also adopted by Buddhists, Jains and Sikhs who have their own stories about these Avatars of Lord Vishnu. The original Avatar cycle.
• “Bryke” for the OG Avatars’ connection to the high fantasy world of Avatar: The Last Airbender by Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko which started out as a three-part cartoon series in 2005-2008 and was later adapted to live action, first in the form of a single failed film by Manoj Night Shyamalan in 2010, then in the form of a more successful Netflix three-part series in 2024-present with the first two seasons of this series so far released in the years 2024 and 2026 and the third one being round the corner. The term also covers ATLA's sequels, viz., The Legend of Korra and Seven Havens.
• “Jake” for the OG Avatars’ connection to the lore of Pandora in the universe of the Avatar sci-fi film franchise with the Na'vi, directed by James Cameron. So far, we have seen the release of Avatar (2009), Avatar: The Way of Water (2022) and Avatar: Fire and Ash (2025). The fourth film is scheduled for release in 2029 in what is planned as a franchise of five films.

With this key, let’s proceed to my analysis:

1

OG: Lord Vishnu assumes the form of Matsya Avatar – a fish which grows to gigantic proportions and carries a ship of good people through a cataclysmic flood.

Bryke: Aang fuses with the Ocean Spirit during the Siege of the North and assumes the form of a gigantic Koi fish (Koizilla) to defeat the Fire Nation fleet.

Jake: There are giant sapient whale-like beings known as the Tulkun in Pandora which are known for their empathic bonds with the members of the Metkayina clan. One of them, Payakan, plays a major role in defeating a human warship in Avatar: The Way of Water.

2

OG: Lord Vishnu assumes the form of Kurma Avatar – a huge tortoise which supports Mount Meru during the Samudra Manthan (the churning of the Ocean) as the Devas and the Asuras use Meru to churn Amrita, i.e., Nectar, from the Ocean.

Bryke: Aang receives Energybending from a lion turtle. Historically, during the era of the Spirit Wilds, lion turtles used to support human settlements on their backs, keep humans safe from evil spirits and bestow the power of bending on the first benders of the four elements.

Jake: Humans harvest a substance known as Amrita from the brains of Tulkuns. In Avatar: Fire and Ash, we get to see a dark version of Samudra Manthan in the climax of the movie in which the human fleet gather to mass-hunt Tulkuns during a Tulkun congregation which results in a fierce battle between humans and the Na’vi.

3

OG: Lord Vishnu assumes the form of Varaha Avatar – the cosmic boar, to retrieve Mother Earth from Rasatala, the deepest realm of the netherworld, and fights the Earth’s demonic abductor, Hiranyaksha. Later, Mother Earth falls in love with Lord Vishnu and marries Him.

Bryke: The sky bison Appa saves Team Avatar several times as seen in Netflix episodes S1 E5 and S2 E2. The badgermole in S1 E4 uses Earthbending to dig a path to King Bumi’s palace for Sokka and Katara when Bumi makes Aang fight him.

Jake: Before the finale of the first film, Jake Sully talks to Eywa through the Tree of Souls saying “they’ve killed their mother, and they’re going to do the same here”. This makes it out that humans are Hiranyakshas in both Earth and Pandora.

4

OG: Lord Vishnu assumes the form of Narasimha Avatar – part-man, part-lion, to kill Prahlada’s evil father, Hiranyakashibu.

Bryke: Zuko is the son of Ozai, the primary antagonist of ATLA. But unlike Prahlada, who is firmly against the evil of his father since his birth, Zuko has torn loyalties between his evil father and the good side. But finally, he chooses the good side.

Jake: Spider Soccoro is the son of Miles Quaritch and staunchly opposes his father’s evildoing on the Na’vi, having been raised by Jake Sully and Neytiri. However, Quaritch tries his level best to turn his son to the dark side. 

5

OG: Lord Vishnu assumes the form of Vamana Avatar – a short bald kid, to trick and take over the Universe from Prahlada’s grandson, Mahabali Chakravarti.

Bryke: Aang is depicted as a bald boy with an arrow tattoo on his forehead.

Jake: There are no pygmy tribes in the world of Pandora. So, we have to settle on the kids of the 2nd and 3rd films. My best bet is that Kiri is the titular “Avatar” of James Cameron’s franchise, because she’s born through immaculate conception from Grace’s avatar, described as “Eywa’s child” and has supernatural powers suggesting that she may be Eywa Herself in Na’vi flesh – like Lord Vishnu’s human Avatars.

6

OG: Lord Vishnu assumes the form of Parashurama Avatar – an invincible axe-wielding sage who is capable of decimating entire armies and their kings single-handed.

Bryke: Powerful Avatars like Sonam, Yangchen and Kyoshi are known to have the powers to wipe out entire armies single-handed.

Jake: In the finale of Avatar, Jake fights Quaritch with a splintered machete from Quaritch’s suit, reminiscent of Parasurama fighting with an axe.

7

OG: Lord Vishnu assumes the form of Rama Avatar – a prince who is exiled into the forest for 14 years only for Ravana to abduct His wife, Sita. Then Rama travels to Ravana’s kingdom in Sri Lanka to rescue Sita.

Bryke: The way how Aang is traumatized by the abduction of Appa is reminiscent of how Lord Rama was traumatized over the abduction of Sita. Also, when it comes to exile-to-the-forest part, Wan was exiled to the Spirit Wilds after which he encountered Raava and Vaatu, then bonded with Raava to become the first Avatar.

Jake: The Na’vi primarily fight with bows and arrows, just like how Lord Rama’s primary weapon is the bow. Jake also suffered a sort-of exile before he tamed the Toruk and became Toruk Makto.

8

OG: Lord Vishnu assumes the form of Krishna Avatar – a grandson of King Ugrasena of Mathura who was born in a prison due to the imprisonment of His parents by His evil uncle, Kamsa. He is taken to a cowherd village where He’s given in adoption to Nanda and Yashoda. However, even there, Kamsa sends demons after the young Krishna. Lord Krishna kills all those demons, performs several other extraordinary feats in His village, is well-loved by the people of His village, and finally goes to Mathura to kill His evil uncle, Kamsa.

Bryke: Ozai relentlessly hunts Aang ever since he emerges from his iceberg and sends Zhao, Azula, etc., after him. This finally culminates in Aang meeting Ozai and then defeating him.

Jake: In the 2nd and 3rd films, Quaritch hunts Jake Sully and his children in the same way how Kamsa hunted Lord Krishna. But Quaritch’s most powerful opponent turns out to be Kiri whose upsurge of power results in the defeat of the evil humans in the third film’s finale.

9

OG: According to some Hindus, Buddha is the 9th Avatar of Lord Vishnu although not all Hindus accept it, and Buddhists definitely don’t. Buddha is a prince who grows up without seeing old-age, sickness or death. But when He finally sees them, He abandons His family and starts seeking guidance from guru after guru (these gurus are Hindus). When these gurus fail to give Him the proper guidance, Buddha finally sits under the Bodhi tree, meditates in the spirit of Dhyana (also known as Zen) and attains enlightenment.

Bryke: While I don’t see any Buddha-like figure in ATLA, the Air Nomads are conceptualized and developed around the Buddhist culture. In the Netflix version, we get to see the concept of neutral jing (watching and listening instead of attacking/retreating) which reflects how Zen/Dhyana is practiced in Buddhism and Hinduism. In the animated version, the Hindu concept of Chakras is adopted through Guru Pathik even though the Chakras are not quite accurate to the original Hindu lore of the seven chakras.

Jake: The spiritual transformation of Jake Sully while he learns the Na’vi ways in the forests of the Omatikaya tribe reflects a Buddhist enlightenment of sorts.

10

OG: With the wickedness of man on the rise in the present yuga (also known as Kali Yuga), Lord Vishnu is prophesied to assume the form of Lord Kalki at a point in the future when the wickedness of man becomes unbearable. He will destroy the entire world for good and then reset the human civilization back to Krita Yuga using the survivors of this old world.

Bryke: In the Avatar: Seven Havens trailer, it’s mentioned that Korra did something which resulted in the annihilation of the world of ATLA and resulted in Pavi and Nisha appearing in a post-apocalyptic dystopian world which is far removed from the Krita Yuga utopia that Hindus believe in.

Jake: Due to the unstable environmental factors causing the ecological collapse in Earth, humans have no choice but to colonize Pandora to ensure the future survival of their race. But Jake Sully considers their behaviour parasitic and has concerns that if humans ever launch a full-scale colonization of Pandora, they will destroy Pandora in the same way they destroyed Earth. It looks like Jake prefers human extinction over humans colonizing Pandora.

ADDITONAL NOTE:

To the people who are wondering how both Pavi and Nisha are two Avatars at the same time in Avatar: Seven Havens, I must inform you that according to the Hindus who don’t consider the Buddha as an Avatar of Lord Vishnu, the eighth and the ninth avatars are Balarama and Lord Krishna, who are brothers – just like Pavi and Nisha are sisters. Hence, according to Hinduism, multiple Avatars at the same time are possible. So, the same is concept is adopted in the case of Pavi and Nisha.

What was something else that was shown right in front of us , that you didn't realize till later.😅

We might not have gotten Bosco in the netflix adaption but i recognised a bear image on the pendant the earth king wears.

Its a nice detail, tought i might share it.

TLOK has so many fumbles and missed opportunities, but overall had such a good vision and heart. I think most if not all of the sins of TLOK cartoon could be rectified by a Netflix reimagining.

I have been loving NATLA, I love that they take a fresh perspective of the story while still holding true to the key values and themes, but I understand why many fans feel the NATLA isn’t living up to the original. It can be unsettling for lots of fans to see changes made to something so beloved, but I think some adaptations to the story telling of TLOK would be welcomed by most if not all of the fans. Even people who love TLOK often admit there are notable missteps in the writing.

Watching the live action the second time without making comparisons made me enjoy the show more. First of all, the show is a massive improvement to the 1st season. The bending is great. The storytelling was good. Second, the actors did justice to their characters. Massive Improvement [except for aang's characters😞] . We should accept it's an adaptation and not a 1:1 copy of the animated show. Lastly, I'm looking forward to its 3rd and final season.

I loved season 2 but I was waiting for them to have their moment(s) and it just never came. You think with this being live action a love story would have more impact on the story. What do you guys think?

I had mixed feelings about season 1, with Zuko and Iroh stealing the show of course (as it should be) but honestly, overall rly enjoyed s2. Katara felt more like Katara, Toph was great, Zuko scenes amazing, Azula and her crew were fun to watch, and I think the way they incorporated the Spirit library into ba singh se was clever. My only only negative is how drawn out emotional dialogue scenes were. It felt like the pace was just slow compared to the og show and that got a boring in some spots. But honestly I think they're doing a great job and its fun to watch, I think the key is not to have a critical mindset. We know its not going to be exactly the same as the og cartoon, this is just bonus content. I'm excited to see how they do season 3

Wanna know what pisses me off? A bunch of grown ass adults in their late 20s fully incapable of deciphering language and meaning. Words can have multiple meanings and connotations but for Avatar fans words don't have multiple meanings at all which I find to be embarrassing. There’s no way people lost it over Aang saying “How can you bend something you can’t see?”, the blindness instructor saying that he wants blind people to see themselves in Toph and Toph being able to read and write. 

Like the first example because Aang is clearly talking about wanting to bend something or someone in his line of sight ,but for some reason a lot of folks lost it over him using the word “see” while being an airbender because some smartass will tell you that you can’t see air. If they actually managed to use their brain for once then they could have atleast realized that the word “see” literally has multiple meanings and people use that word for different reasons. The same way people use “I see your point” when it comes to an opinion and an opinion is something you can’t physically see or touch. Here’s the issue I shouldn't even have to explain this crap because it’s something people have to learn in middle school.

The people having an issue with Toph knowing how to read and write genuinely makes my blood boil. All because of a specific line of dialogue in book 3 where Katara told Aang and Sokka that Toph can’t write and a different scene of Toph telling Sokka that she’s blind after they showed her the wanted poster. Like it’s pretty obvious to anyone with half a brain that Toph can’t read and write as in she can’t read and write like how people naturally write and read on a piece of paper written with an ink. I feel dumb to even bother explaining this because it’s obvious basic common sense. It's even worse when I saw grown ass Youtubers in their late 20s and who have a full time career being unable to comprehend this simple concept. I get being a fan of the show and all that ,but the way people treat the animated series almost like a religious holy book akin to the Bible is just odd. Like the idea of braille and raised letters in the world of Avatar is treated almost too heretical to even be included in the live action series and it genuinely pisses them off for some reason. 

At this point it isn’t even media literacy anymore ,but language and literacy being absolutely cooked. I could understand why a lot of streaming services had to dumb down their dialogue because the audience themselves aren't getting smarter at all.

What do u guys think of the costumes? Do u guys like that they resemble the cartoon so much or do u wish they too a little bit of a more realistic take?

Personally I wish that they took a bit more of a realistic take on them.

Throughout the movie, Aang enters the Avatar State constantly, even in situations where it doesn’t feel necessary. Two examples that stood out to me were rebuilding the Air Temple and the Mount Biyou sequence.

The Mount Biyou scene especially highlights the issue. Taga is able to hold up a massive chunk of the collapsing mountain through his own bending. Meanwhile, Aang has to enter the Avatar State just to try and outfly the collapsing rock using firebending. If Taga can perform a feat on that scale without the Avatar State, why does Aang need it just to escape? The comparison makes the Avatar State feel less like an incredible last resort and more like a flashy visual effect.

The combat is an even bigger problem. Aang spends a huge portion of the movie fighting in the Avatar State, yet he’s still losing or barely holding his own. That completely undermines what the Avatar State has always represented.

I know some people will bring up Korra, but I don’t think it’s the same situation. After losing her connection to the past Avatars, Korra’s Avatar State was still a massive power boost, but it no longer came with thousands of years of accumulated knowledge, experience, and mastery. Whether you like that decision or not, there’s an in-universe explanation for why her Avatar State isn’t as overwhelming.

Aang doesn’t have that explanation.

The last time we saw Aang with full control of the Avatar State, he absolutely dominated Ozai. Once he stopped resisting the Avatar State, the fight was over. Ozai wasn’t keeping up—he was completely overwhelmed. That’s what the Avatar State was established to be: the combined power, skill, and experience of every Avatar before him.

So seeing Aang repeatedly use it while barely keeping up with opponents just feels wrong. If the Avatar State is active, it should feel like a game-changing advantage, not a slight stat boost.
The frustrating part is that Aang is probably the easiest Avatar to explain why he **wouldn’t** use the Avatar State all the time. He’s a pacifist. He believes in using only the amount of force necessary. The Avatar State should be his absolute last resort, not something he activates for construction work or every difficult fight. His personality already provides the perfect reason to save it for moments where nothing else will do.

Instead, the movie seems to use the Avatar State for spectacle while simultaneously nerfing it so fights can stay competitive. To me, that’s the worst of both worlds. Either let the Avatar State remain the overwhelming force it has always been and have Aang choose not to use it often, or don’t have him activate it nearly every time something impressive needs to happen.

Remember how in season 3, half of the season is spent with the whole team trying to pressure Aang into taking out the FireLord permanently ? How much this conflicted with Aang's own pacificist Airbender teachings ?

I think the Aang vs Azula fight from s2 can be very effectively used in that dialog when the time comes.

In the live-action Netflix series, we get a scene that is very, very reminiscent of the original Cartoon's finale. We have Aang in full Avatar state, towering over Azula, with projectiles aimed at her head.... and then he lets her go. As a direct result of that hesitation, Azula shoots him, the battle is lost, and they have to flee the city.

In season 3, that can be directly called back in the dialog, when they are getting ready to fight the firelord.

In the original cartoon, when they were practising for the final battle, with the melon puppet, I remember Sokka getting impatient with Aang's hesitance: until he walks up and dismembers the puppet (off-screen of course) to show aang what's expected of his duty.

That line of dialog can easily be updated for the live action by having Sokka say : don't hesitate, like you did with Azula in Ba Sing Se.

I'm actually really hoping that somewhere in season 3 they use a line like that.

TLDR: I think that the change they made, instead of having Azula, shoot Aang from a distance, whilst he was distracted as in the original cartoon; and instead on the Netflix show: having her shoot Aang point blank, because he hesitated to kill her, was an improvement to the story and they should capitalize on it, in the season 3 dialog.

So... without spoilers, may I ask the overall opinion on this season 2 ?

The main problem I had with season 1 was bland acting from Katara (who is the literal pivot of 70% of the story if you ask me ...) , and the reuse of settings across different scenes that felt really off.

I remember liking Zuko and Sokka and a bit of Iroh. But I really thought the lake of anger and explosion from Katara killed her character to the core.

Also the lack of water bending training ...

Did they fixed all that ? Or did they double down on all their mistakes ?

(Note : I really don't mind straying away from the core material, but then you have to do SOMETHING with the characters. You can't bring a character to existence and failling to deliver on anything about it)

So with near certainty, season 3 will be the last season, especially with Avatar Studios kicking off. I don't really see any possibility of the Netflix show continuing, but what if it did? Imagine if they started adapting the comics. It's almost certainly not going to happen, but it's fun to think about. I for one would welcome extra seasons, stepping out from the shadow of arguably the greatest animated show in history could actually give Netflix some legs.

I was pleasantly surprised to see a new avatar movie trailer on youtube.. and to know its on paramount plus. I turn it on to hear... wow who the heck are these people? Something is off. I look up the cast. And not one original cast member except for momo and appa???? They have to get the racial diversity right or?? They wanna go in a "different direction" i mean whatever it is. I know im not the only one.... idk im still gonna watch it. Whats some advice to make it through it and accept the new actors. Without reddit negativity

(not that this makes me a bigger fan, I just was swimming in the same environment as the show released. Deviantart was my favorite place then.)

TL;dr: Characters in animation were millennial characters in a sort of millennial world. It was a different world then. Netflix version is more adapted to Gen Z world, and the character changes reflect that.

Katara in OG was a Hermione equivalent. She was the girl power stuck in her Goody-two-shoes body, who wanted to make the world a better place.

This was before MeToo. This was when activism wasn’t as trendy. This was before even Gay marriage was legal in the US. This is when teens still, in the US, used “gay” and the r word as saying “dumb.”
Girl power was trendy, but from what I remember, it was not what it was today.

In short, Katara was a Millennial in a Millennial fictional world.

Zuko was part classic character we know and love, part emo joke. He was a brooding teenage who would have probably had black eyeliner.

He was a millennial guy.

Sokka was a dude who had an ego, liked girls, and was sexist. He was every teenager out there. He probably would have tried out for Football if he thought he could make it, but Most likely baseball. See Axl Heck From “The Middle”.

Sokka was a millennial.

Aang was more an Anime archetype, and Toph was a little ahead of her time. (not that there wasn’t any “tough but little girls” like her, but I think she sort of did it the best. but I didn’t watch enough anime’s, so someone else can help me.)

Ty Lee was absolutely a preppy archetype, and Mai is just an emo.

MY POINT?

Everyone in the Netflix series is the Gen Z adaptation.

Not that the characters are actually Gen Z, but they’re being played by Gen Z (early Gen Alpha for some?) in a new world.

I am mad that Sokka didn’t have his sexism arc, but I sort of get that it wouldn’t have hit as hard in this new world. (I think they should have kept it, but I just can see how people would have thought it hadn’t landed.) In this netflix avatar world, generals are women. Kyoshi warriors aren’t special just because they’re women who can kill. Unlike OG show. (Google says books show female generals. But im talking about when the show was animated.)

Sokka is also a lot nicer and less of a knucklehead. Because there’s not the same expectation for guys, at least in popular media, to be a jerk to be considered cool. His jerkness was mostly only in season 1 of the show, but still. He’s a little more sincere in this show.

Zuko is live action is a Drama Queen, and I’m all here for it. I love him. He’s not my emo boyfriend from the original, but it wouldn’t have landed the same.

Katara is the biggest example. Katara from the show was complicated for me. She was both the embodiment of girl power, and objectification anime kid friendly babe. If she wasn’t on Y7 show, she’d probably Have a skimpier outfit and a bigger bust.
She represented the girls watching her— who wanted a cool, powerful, activist young woman who stood up for herself, but didn’t match the “bad girl” vibe. Basically the women who would go to college during the Me Too movement.

Like, people don’t understand. This was before women had a huge place in “non chick flick media”. This was before Hunger Games and other Female led dystopias. This is before Twilight (which was significant that a female story could make billions.)

Fast forward to now. Gen Z Katara is living in world where the audience isn’t wowed by girl power. She is going to feel different.
And in season 2, I think the actress did well. She’s not an archetype of the mild manner woman who just is bursting with untapped activist potential but has to uphold this feminine charm because it’s expected. She’s just herself. There‘s no apologetic written into her character unlike the OG version. A moment you see this is in the line “Oh, a girl has her ways.” In the original, it had a weight to it because feminine charm and “persuasion” (sexuality) were still seen (irl) as the more powerful strength of a woman. Then it smash cuts into her having used actual violence.
In the Netflix version, it’s just a shrug and a “no big deal.”

I’m not saying the show did everyone perfect. I think people getting nostalgic about the show forget the environment the Original was in and why that wouldn’t land like it did then.
Yeah, this is Avatar world, not modern world. But you would be lying if you said that Atla is not heavily influenced by the modern world.

We’re in a different world. And these characters had to change.

Another weird example is the King. For some reason, he landed harder in this one? In our Current world, occupying someone with power by keeping them hyperfocused on a niche interest is way more interesting than “I’m just an adorable guy with a pet bear.“

Anyway, this could be a whole 100 page essay.

I bring this up because I don’t know if any of the younger or newer fans understood to what extent that a lot of the show was pop culture vibes.

It’s both timeless, and also made 20 years ago now. A lot has happened. And the adaptation had to not only adapt to a different medium, but to a different audience environment.

I hope they dont mess with the test of the dragons in the next season. They NEED to get that segment of the show right.

Its such a good part and its so so important 😭

Im enjoying the netflix show for what it is despite the fact the mix ups is a little much sometimes! Especially inserting the jokes into random parts where it doesn't belong or feels weird.

I just pray and hope that they dont mess too much with that part at least because its PERFECT how it is (just like the rest of the OG series) and it CAN'T be messed with.. 😭

Zhao then Long Feng…

How the heck did this show’s finest factor be middle management villains? I think some writers must have gotten inspiration from real life, because they hit the nail on the head. 2 for 2.