Summary
- Netflix’s
Avatar
adaptation faced backlash for dark changes but excelled in improving Zuko and Iroh’s bond from the original series. - The live-action version builds upon Zuko’s crew, adding depth and personalization, enhancing the foundation for Zuko’s redemption arc.
- While the adaptation falls short in character relationships, it shines in expanding on Zuko and Iroh’s bond, giving fans hope for future seasons.
When an adaptation of a beloved franchise makes big changes to the original, it’s almost guaranteed that fans will be upset, and that is a lesson that Netflix’s Avatar: The Last Airbender has learned the hard way. The streamer’s live-action adaptation of the cult-classic Nickelodeon series took the family-friendly show in a much darker direction, rearranged the chronology of the original series, and altered some of the powers of its main characters. As a result, Netflix’s series has been met with a lot of criticism from fans. However, amid these changes, there is one area in which Netflix’s adaptation is actually able to improve upon the original.
At the heart of Avatar: The Last Airbender is the relationships between its core cast of characters. Netflix didn’t quite seem to understand that aspect during the construction of its live-action adaptation, leaving many of the relationships between the main characters, especially Aang and Katara, feeling shallow and underdeveloped. But there is one relationship that Netflix’s adaptation handled incredibly well and even expanded upon the version found in Nickelodeon’s show.
Netflix’s Avatar Expands Upon Zuko and Iroh’s Relationship
To ask a fan of Nickelodeon’s Avatar: The Last Airbender what the best arc in the series was is a redundant question because the answer will almost always be ‘Zuko’s redemption arc.’ Along his journey from a banished prince desperate to reingratiate himself in the Fire Nation to a valuable member of Team Avatar, Zuko is always lovingly encouraged by one of the most positive and inspiring characters in all of TV, General (Uncle) Iroh. The pair have an almost inseparable bond in the original show, and showrunner Albert Kim and his team take this bond and miraculously strengthen it even further.
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The reason for Iroh’s inspirational nature came from the loss of his son, Lu Ten, who died during the siege of Ba Sing Se. At the time, Iroh was the strongest general in the Fire Nation and led the siege. However, after losing his son, Iroh issued the retreat, shaming himself in the eyes of his fellow soldiers and beginning his pacifistic journey. The original series does tap into Iroh’s grief through gut-wrenching means, permanently imprinting the song ‘Leaves From the Vine’ in the hearts of fans, but Netflix uses this grief to build the foundation of Iroh and Zuko’s relationship. At the funeral, Zuko is the only one to truly sympathize with Iroh and decides to sit with him.
Iroh and Zuko are the sympathetic outliers in the head family of the Fire Nation, with Fire Lord Ozai and Zuko’s sister Azula both being apathetic rulers/dictators. The funeral scene is the show’s catalyst for the pair’s unbreakable bond. This scene doesn’t just increase the relationship between these two characters; it also ignites the sparks that will later become Zuko’s redemption arc, with Iroh recognizing the empathetic traits within Zuko that make him and Iroh the outliers of their otherwise sociopathic family.
Netflix’s Avatar Gives Zuko’s Crew Individuality
The regular Fire Nation soldiers in Avatar: The Last Airbender are figurative and literal ‘red-shirts’ for Team Avatar to chew their way through on their journey to save the world. Nickelodeon’s series gave them occasional moments of personality, usually as a form of comic relief, but didn’t do much to personalize any of them into long-form characters. Not only does Netflix’s version individualize some of the Fire Nation soldiers, but it also uses them to strengthen the foundations that will soon become Zuko’s redemption arc.
In Netflix’s adaptation of Avatar: The Last Airbender, Zuko’s reason for being banished from the Fire Nation remains relatively untouched, having opposed his father’s tactics of sacrificing a division of soldiers. However, Netflix uses this moment to add a clever layer of detail to Zuko’s character. While his crew in the original series are mostly faceless, nameless goons, Netflix decides to capitalize on a missed opportunity and make the 41st Division (the soldiers who were to be sacrificed) Zuko’s crew as they were banished with him. This detail is revealed towards the end of the season, as Iroh reveals it to the crew to prevent them from causing a mutiny, as General Zhao attempts to wrestle power from Zuko.
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This genius moment adds another layer of sub-textual depth to Zuko’s character. While many fans are hesitant and outright worried about the quality of future seasons of the show – if it does get renewed for Season 2, as Netflix has yet to make any concrete announcements – moments like this at least give fans hope and promise about how Netflix will handle Zuko’s redemption arc. There are already elements and plot lines from the original show that Netflix’s version has fumbled, but the mishandling of Zuko’s redemption will almost certainly be a show killer for die-hard fans of the original, many of whom are already upset at Netflix’s series. Stream Avatar: The Last Airbender on Netflix.
