Netflix's Avatar: The Last Airbender further developed the stakes and dangers of the world with its storytelling in season 2. The main focus is all about defeating the Fire Nation in the inevitable battle that Aang must face against the Fire Lord.
Season 2’s improvements over season 1 are noticeable, as season 2 devotes itself to a more focused storytelling strategy that introduces Toph, the newest addition to Team Avatar, and Aang’s Earthbending teacher.
For all of the moments that emphasize the growing tensions around the world, season 2 falls short due to one specific problem: there are not enough episodes.
Avatar: The Last Airbender season 2's episode count is too short
Season 2 only has seven episodes total, and a majority of them take place at Ba Sing Se. It is not necessarily a bad thing to emphasize the importance of one of the original show's most significant locations. However, it doesn't leave room for exploring much of the rest of the Earth Kingdom.
Part of the excitement and journey in Avatar: The Last Airbender's original second season was the exploration of the Earth Kingdom, a detail that is completely removed from the live-action adaptation. Going a different direction and refusing to make the exact same show is a positive decision for a show that wants to tell its own story and make its own mark. But in its narrative choices, it strips away the emotional stakes of learning so much about different parts of the world and how Aang's hundred-year disappearance left the Earth Kingdom in strife. Season 2, just like season 1, faces struggles surrounding its pacing.
Similar to how Katara's ability to Waterbend went from amateur to professional at the exact moment it needed to, Aang montages his way through learning how to Earthbend. Toph is a solid addition to the season, just as she was originally. Yet, the idea to speed up Aang's learning process will only hurt the overall sense of satisfaction when the series does end. Seven episodes are simply not enough to truly experience what it takes to actually learn the process of bending an entirely new element.
Instead of allowing season 2 to slowly play out the necessary emotional arcs, everything happens at superspeed, with the exception of Sokka's grief over Princess Yue, which is the only real detail that is given space to breathe. The missing Appa arc, which originally exists over the course of several episodes, is not given the same emotional weight, even though Aang is clearly distraught at the loss of his beloved friend. Appa is taken at the end of episode 5.
Then, Aang realizes where Appa is at the end of episode 6, and he saves him in episode 7. Cutting down the number of episodes that Aang spends separated from Appa lessens the length of time you feel the heartbreak of Appa's treatment and Aang's devastation.
In doing so, it also removes aspects of the memorable storytelling that Aang’s separation from Appa would have originally allowed the audience to view. With a shorter episode count, Avatar: The Last Airbender still gets its point across but can't ever truly sit in those emotions for long periods of time.Â
Zuko does get time for self-reflection and internal struggles with what he has known all his life and what feels right now. However, Zuko’s arc never quite reaches the emotional pinnacle it needs to reach. The lack of episodes per season prevents Zuko from truly struggling with going back and forth between who he feels he needs to be and who he actually is. Zuko’s connection to the Fire Nation is an integral part of who he is, as is Zuko’s complicated relationship with Azula.
Yet, the short episode count almost forces Zuko’s character to undergo a severe sense of whiplash rather than sit in his emotions for long periods of time. From starting out the season as a fugitive to wanting to go home, to his inability to kill Aang when he is sitting defenseless in front of Zuko, to choosing to return home with Azula, Zuko is all over the place, thus preventing any of his actions from coming across as real character development.
Zuko’s emotional arc is grounded, but everything happens far too fast to truly be committed to Zuko’s connections to anything, no matter if it is his emotional discussion with Katara or his shared family childhood trauma with Azula. Zuko’s relationship with Iroh remains his strongest storyline.
Season 2 does make strides toward moving the story forward. Team Avatar’s feelings toward the Fire Nation and their plans to stop Fire Lord Ozai are crystal clear, and Avatar: The Last Airbender’s decision to put the group in emotional turmoil helps them fight and come back together stronger before everything is set to get increasingly more difficult.
Choices to show the group coming up with a strategy to defeat the Fire Nation before Sozen’s Comet arrives help set the scene for what is to come in season 3. This was a set of episodes that grounded itself in preparing for an upcoming war.
Unfortunately, the episode count hindered the season from truly devoting as much time as it could to exploring the mental and emotional aspects of the characters and what they are going through as the war comes closer.
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