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And so begins the final story arch of 5ColorControl...
We are kind of at a lull for magic events, since M11 just came out and rumors for Scars have not started yet. Other than people saying Poison will be in it, something I believe, or saying Purple will be in it, something I don't believe, but did make a set about. So, this week I'm just going to blog a bit about a non-Magic related topic, but one of the best cartoons I've ever seen; Avatar: The Last Airbender.
The setup of the show is as follows. The story takes place on a world divided into 4 nations, Water Tribes, Earth Kingdom, Fire Nation and Air Nomads. The nations are further divided so that each is more of a loose collection of city-states, or Duchies. However, something that binds each nation together is an ability called "bending." Some people in each of the 4 nations have the ability to control the element associated with their nation. The ability seems to be mainly hereditary, but one must train to be able to realize and fully control it. Each of the elements have a martial art associated with them that one must learn in order to be able to "bend;" however, one must also be born an "airbender" or "earthbender" or "firebender" or "waterbender" to be able to control the element. Only a few people of each nation are born a bender. Some benders learn other benders' styles, but only to give themselves different abilities with respect to their own element (A firebender can learn to redirect other firebenders' attacks by studying the waterbender's martial art, for example). No one can control more than one element, no one but the Avatar.
The Avatar is a person that is reincarnated to a different nation everytime (s)he dies. (S)he is born with the ability to control all 4 elements, but must retrain with them eachtime (s)he is reborn. (S)he is also reborn as a different person, but can remember parts of his or her past life through meditation. (S)he is charged with maintaining the "balance" between the 4 nations. (S)he is always born as a bender of one of the nations. When the Avatar grows older, his or her true identity as the Avatar is determined, and (s)he travels the world to realize his or her other bending abilities. In each of his or her incarnations, (s)he is still considered to be a bender of his or her born nation. Hence, Aang, the current Avatar in the story, is still called an "airbender" even though he can bend all 4 elements. He was born to the Air Nomads, and air is the element he is best at in this lifetime.
Within this world, the story begins in a time of great strife. The current Avatar, Aang, has been imprisoned in ice for 100 years and is presumed dead. The Fire Nation's current line of kings, or 'Fire Lords,' have the philosophy that fire is the best element, and all other elements, and hence all other benders of those elements, should be subservient to fire, if not eliminated entirely. With the Avatar missing, the Fire Lords undertook an expansionistic campaign which could easy be compared to Nazi Germany. Indeed, the first act of the campaign was to completely wipe out the peaceful Air Nomads. The Fire Nation killed every last airbender almost a century before the story begins.
The show starts when 10 year old Aang, who only knows airbending, is freed from his icy cage and told what has happened to the world without the Avatar to protect it.
I'm not sure I can explain in words how good of a show Avatar: The Last Air Bender is. If you've not watched it, I would recommend buying the first season from Amazon. It's only $24.99, and a much better deal than, say, going to the movies. The show is well written and witty. The world feels real and is well devolved. There is a beginning and a end to the story-line. Additionally, the characters are each unique enough that everyone should find one they like or can relate to. From the passive, Buddha-like Aang to the angry and unluckily Zuko
That is, with out a doubt, the best part of the show, the characters. They are all well depicted and deep. They each have clear motivation. They all changed and develop as the story progresses. This was also, quite sadly, the worst part of movie.
As I am sure most of you know, M. Night Shyamalan's The Last Airbender is probably one of the worst received movies, ever. It's getting horrible reviews across the board. Now, I've see all of M. Night Shyamalan's movies, and I can tell you that Lady in the Water was much worse than The Last Airbender. However, The Last Airbender is no gem.
The special effects are very fun to watch, as are the fight scenes. M. Night did an 'ok' job recapping the plot-line of the first season of the cartoon. However, no one in the movie seems to be able to act. All of the characters are carved out of wood. None of them retain the life and personalty they had in the cartoon. I felt like I was reading a wiki page of the first season. Overall, the movie was a big letdown. I have mixed feelings about if there should be a second one or not, since there are 3 seasons to the show and the movie just did the first one.
There is some good news in all of this. Nickelodeon has green-light'ed a show that will be taking place 70 years after the events of The Last Airbender, Avatar: Legend of Korra. It will be about the Avatar after Aang, a female waterbender named Korra. The world has changed in the last 70 years and the challenges that Korra will face will be much different than those of Aang. Mainly, an anti-bender revolution (which to me makes sense since most people can't bend, and the benders have great power).
I love continuing stories that take place in the same world but are about different people. I think that the Avatar world is a truly awesome and well put together place, and I will be waiting for the new show with baited breath. I can only hope it can live up to its predecessor, but even if it can't it will still be fun to learn how the world itself has progressed and changed.
-Taylor
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