On Avatar and War

Growing up we were taught that the Fire Nation was the greatest civilization in history. And somehow the war was our way of sharing our greatness with the rest of the world. What an amazing lie that was. The people of the world are terrified by the Fire Nation. They don’t see our greatness — They hate us! And we deserve it. We created an era of fear in the world. And if we don’t want the world to destroy itself, we need to replace it with an era of peace and kindness.
— Prince Zuko

Disclaimer: Those who have not watched the show or are in the process of watching may want to click away. This essay is overflowing with s p o i l e r s and niche references.

A few months ago, I started watching Avatar: The Last Airbender (ATLA) for the first time since it aired over 12 years ago. I felt a familiar rush of emotions that reminded me of the purity of childhood experiences. As a kid, I was enthralled by the action and superpowers known as bending. Now as an almost-adult, I’m still obsessed with the elegant bending battles but also find myself captivated by the beauty of the world they live in, the complex issues faced by these kids, and the perfection of characters like Iroh. And Appa, of course.

War is a complex topic, with nuances that people have written entire textbooks about. Therefore, in order to scope down the topic into something manageable I will try to…