Warning! This article contains spoilers for Netflix's Avatar: The Last Airbender.

Summary

• Aang, Katara, Sokka, and the power of the spirits defend the Northern Water Tribe in the season 1 finale against the Fire Nation siege to test Aang's Avatar mastery and fulfill his character arc.
• Kyoshi's vision of the Northern Water Tribe in flames comes true, with Zhao attacking the Ocean and Moon Spirits to gain the upper hand in the battle.
• Fire Nation's attack on the North Pole diverts attention from Princess Azula's capture of Omashu, setting up future storylines such as Fire Nation war balloons and the betrayal of Zuko by his family.

Avatar: The Last Airbender's live-action cast bringing them to life.

In The Last Airbender's season 1 finale, Aang, Katara, and Sokka are tasked with defending the Northern Water Tribe from a siege by the Fire Nation. In a pivotal episode, [Aang's Airbending and Avatar mastery] is tested with enemies closing in. Not only that, but Aang must also reckon with the wishes of the [past Avatars from The Last Airbender's intro] and save the ones he loves from impossible odds. With all of this at stake, Avatar: The Last Airbender's season 1 ending caps off entire story threads, character arcs, and long-brewing battles from the seven episodes before it.

Kyoshi's Vision Comes True In Netflix's The Last Airbender Season 1 Finale

The earliest tease of Avatar's season 1 ending comes to tragic fruition.

The first hint that something terrible would befall the Northern Water Tribe came in Netflix's Avatar: The Last Airbender episode 2. In this episode, Aang and his friends traveled to Kyoshi Island so that the young Avatar could its namesake. Avatar Kyoshi lived two lifetimes before Aang, with the latter searching for answers about the Avatar State and the responsibilities of the Avatar. Unfortunately for Aang, Kyoshi was incredibly intense about the responsibilities of the Avatar, providing him with a vision of what would come should he shirk his duties.

This vision showed Aang the Northern Water Tribe in flames, under attack from a massive Fire Nation fleet. By the time of The Last Airbender's season 1 ending, this vision came to . Due to the actions of iral Zhao, the Fire Nation soldiers, and the opposing forces Aang and his friends faced, the Northern Water Tribe suffered massive damage. While Aang managed to repel the attack in the end, Kyoshi's vision came true nonetheless.

Why Did The Fire Nation Invade The North? The Last Airbender Season 1's Ending Calls Back To Episode 1

The Fire Lord's tactics emulate The Last Airbender's season 1 premiere.

One of the pressing questions after The Last Airbender's season 1 ending is why the Fire Nation attacked the North Pole. This question is raised when Fire Lord Ozai states that taking the North was an unlikely possibility before Daniel Dae Kim's villainous leader provides swift answers. Ozai states that the siege of the Northern Water Tribe was unlikely, but that the attempt to wipe out the Waterbenders almost succeeded. If it had been successful, the North would have been under Fire Nation rule and only the Earth Kingdom would remain to be conquered.

In a show of tactical ingenuity, iral Zhao's failed siege was seen as an acceptable loss for the Fire Nation. Ozai essentially pinned the siege of the North as a false flag attack to divert attention away from Princess Azula's capture of Omashu. Harkening back to the ways of his grandfather, Avatar: The Last Airbender's Fire Lord Sozin, Ozai's attack on the Northern Water Tribe was not the primary objective. While winning that battle would have been a bonus, the capture of one of the final remaining Earth Kingdom strongholds was more important in the eyes of the Fire Lord.

Related: Sozin Article

The Last Airbender's Season 1 Story Teased Zhao & Yue's Endings

The exploration of the Spirit World came back in a major way in The Last Airbender's season 1 ending.

Undoubtedly, the biggest plot points of Avatar: The Last Airbender's season 1 finale surrounded the Ocean and Moon Spirits. Through characters like iral Zhao and the Northern Water Tribe's Princess Yue, the Ocean and Moon Spirits had huge ramifications on the story of The Last Airbender's season 1 ending. Zhao's plan for the Ocean and Moon Spirits was particularly dark and reckless, with the ambitious iral wishing to murder the latter spirit to remove the moon's powers from the world, thus ending Waterbending for good.

Zhao learned of the Moon and Ocean Spirit's physical forms from the lead Fire Sage introduced in The Last Airbender episode 6.

Zhao succeeded in his mission, killing the Moon Spirit and causing Waterbending to cease to exist. This allowed the Fire Nation to gain the upper hand in their siege until Aang and the Ocean Spirit's combined powers pushed back their advance. While Aang repelled the Fire Nation's forces, Princess Yue reminded Sokka that the Moon Spirit healed her when she was sick as a baby, harking back to the story told in The Last Airbender episode 7. In a bid to revive the Moon Spirit, Yue transferred its life back to its physical manifestation, a Koi fish.

Yue's sacrifice worked, reviving the Moon Spirit and restoring balance to the North Pole. While these elements were mostly introduced in The Last Airbender's final two episodes, the entire season was sprinkled with plot threads that tied into The Last Airbender season 1's spiritual ending. From Aang's journey to the Spirit World in The Last Airbender episode 5 to the immeasurably powerful spirit powers of past Avatars, the integral nature of the spirits to Zhao and Yue's endings was foreshadowed throughout Netflix's The Last Airbender season 1.

The Mechanist Set Up A Fire Nation Weapon In The Last Airbender Season 1's Ending (& Teases Future Stories)

Zhao's Fire Nation balloon will become vital to the series' future.

One of the smaller moments of Avatar: The Last Airbender's season 1 ending was Zhao taking a balloon to infiltrate the Northern Water Tribe. While the balloon was not overly integral to the episode, it was set up in an earlier episode and teased future stories. The balloon comes from designs manufactured by Omashu's Mechanist with the aid of Sokka. Despite Sokka's mention that the balloon in use by Zhao was only a scout prototype, the tease of a so-called "war balloon" will have a big impact on Avatar: The Last Airbender stories.

Should Netflix renew Avatar: The Last Airbender for future seasons, the Mechanist's war balloons will likely be unveiled in season 3 based on the original show's timeline.

How Zuko & Zhao's Rivalry Set Up Their Last Airbender Season 1 Ending

The hatred between the two Fire Nation warriors came to fruition.

Two of the major antagonists of Netflix's Avatar: The Last Airbender season 1 had different goals in the show's ending: Prince Zuko intended to capture Aang once and for all, while iral Zhao wished to destroy the Moon Spirit. Despite both ultimately failing their respective missions, their previous stories allowed them to have a satisfying The Last Airbender season 1 ending. Throughout The Last Airbender season 1, Zhao and Zuko have attempted to capture the Avatar, meaning they built a heated, bitter rivalry over the course of the show.

Therefore, The Last Airbender's season 1 ending brought this rivalry to a head. Zuko and Zhao battled one another, the former detesting the latter for taking his hopes of returning home away by forcing Aang to become the Ocean Spirit. Zhao then reveals that Zuko's family has been working against him, forcing Iroh to deal the killing blow to Zhao. While neither accomplished their personal missions in The Last Airbender's season 1 ending, their rivalry came to an end in suitably exciting fashion.

Aang's Season 1 Avatar Lessons Foreshadowed The Last Airbender's Ending

Aang's lessons about responsibility and duty were vital to Avatar's season 1 ending.

Concerning the titular character, Aang's The Last Airbender season 1 ending saw him combine his powers with the Ocean Spirit. Giving his body and thus his Avatar powers over to the spirit, the Ocean wreaked havoc on the Fire Nation for killing its partner, the Moon Spirit. It was made clear in The Last Airbender's season 1 ending that this was the end of Aang, with the Ocean Spirit possessing his body forever. Interestingly, this choice by Aang had been foreshadowed throughout Netflix's The Last Airbender season 1.

Aang's decision to give himself to the Ocean Spirit in Avatar: The Last Airbender's season 1 ending fulfilled his character arc and the wishes of The Last Airbender's other known Avatars.

At multiple points on Aang's The Last Airbender season 1 journey, he was told by various companions that running from responsibility is not possible for the Avatar. This was accompanied by the desires of other past Avatars such as Roku, Kyoshi, and Kuruk, who endlessly told Aang that he must put the needs of the world above his own. While it was unclear what choice this was setting up, Aang's decision to give himself to the Ocean Spirit in Avatar: The Last Airbender's season 1 ending fulfilled his character arc and the wishes of The Last Airbender's other known Avatars.

Azula & Ozai's Season 1 Story Impacted Zuko's Last Airbender Ending

The Fire Nation royal family became more complex than ever.

Before the live-action show aired, it was clear that Netflix's Avatar: The Last Airbender season 1 was making two major character changes from the original show. The change in question was the decision to include Fire Lord Ozai and Princess Azula in the story of season 1, with the characters not properly debuting in the original show until Book Three and Book Two respectively. This change caused much speculation over how their characters would impact the show's early stories, with Avatar: The Last Airbender's season 1 ending putting this theorizing to rest.

Azula and Ozai were hinted at in season 1 of the original show, though did not possess major storylines until the aforementioned later seasons of The Last Airbender.

Azula and Ozai's story was included to better impact Zuko's The Last Airbender season 1 ending. Before Zhao's death, he told Zuko that Azula was the one aiding the iral in his opposition to Zuko. The princess was responsible for getting Zhao a promotion and the necessary materials to capture Aang, as well as revealing Zuko as the Blue Spirit. Ozai was aware of this, using Zuko as motivation to make Azula a greater Fire Nation asset. With Zuko feeling this betrayal in The Last Airbender's season 1 ending, the path of his potential season 2 story is laid bare.

How The Last Airbender Season 1's Ending Sets Up Season 2

Netflix's potential continuation has several storytelling routes to choose from.

The last element of Avatar: The Last Airbender's season 1 ending worth exploring is how it sets up the events of a potential season 2. Firstly, it was teased in The Last Airbender's season 1 finale that Aang will learn both Waterbending and Earthbending in season 2. With Katara now a master Waterbender and Sokka suggesting a return to Omashu to learn from Bumi, Netflix's The Last Airbender season 2 could see Aang become a master of three elements: Air, Water, and Earth.

However, the return to Omashu will not be a pleasant one, with The Last Airbender's season 1 ending revealing that Azula has captured the city. Not only does this set up the need to liberate Omashu and free King Bumi, but also the bigger role Azula will play in The Last Airbender season 2 as a primary antagonist. With Fire Lord Ozai mentioning that Ba Sing Se is the only remaining city left standing free from Fire Nation control, the Earth Kingdom capital has also been positioned to be integral to the show's continuation.

Finally, the biggest tease of future storylines found in Netflix's Avatar: The Last Airbender season 1 ending was the impending return of Sozin's Comet...

As for Zuko and Iroh, their actions against iral Zhao and the Firebenders - as well as Ozai and Azula's betrayal of them - have rendered them refugees from the Fire Nation. This will be explored via some of the original animation's most compelling stories should Netflix renew the show. Finally, the biggest tease of future storylines found in Netflix's Avatar: The Last Airbender season 1 ending was the impending return of Sozin's Comet, setting up Ozai's diabolical plans to secure the Fire Nation's complete conquest of the world.

All episodes of Avatar: The Last Airbender season 1 are now streaming on Netflix.