Top 10 Times Avatar: The Last Airbender Tackled Serious Issues

During the Hundred Year War, Fire Nation soldiers took many prisoners. Unfortunately, some military personnel were extremely cruel to the people they captured. A group of earthbenders was forced to work on a ship while being mocked by a wicked Fire Nation Warden. A waterbender named Hama was also placed in a brutal prison after she was captured by Fire Nation forces. While the earthbenders seemed to recover from their mistreatment, Hama never overcame her anger and started taking prisoners of her own. Through both storylines, the show highlights how demoralizing and damaging it can be to be mistreated by military personnel.

The war forced many innocent families to flee their homes in hopes of finding a safe place. During Aang’s adventures, he also meets children that have been orphaned by the conflict and have to fend for themselves. All these displaced citizens face a wide variety of problems that people have also encountered in the real world. Refugees struggle to cross borders, lack proper resources and are forced to go to desperate lengths to survive. A pregnant woman named Ying even has to give birth in a potentially dangerous place. Although each refugee we meet has a different story, they all share a need for support and understanding after they’ve been displaced.

Most of the main cast had to hide their true identity at one point. Sometimes, they keep their heritage a secret because they might be attacked for belonging to a certain nation or a group. Although Katara helps an entire village of Fire Nation citizens, they still get upset when they find out she is a waterbender. Zuko also has to face hatred and threats by Earth Kingdom citizens after he admits that he’s the son of the Fire Lord. Katara and Zuko show how much it hurts for strangers to ignore your good deeds and qualities and judge you on your national identity instead. Fortunately, there are a few characters that are able to put their bias aside and embrace people outside of their culture.

Several government officials within the Avatar Universe abuse their powerful position to twist the truth. Whoever signed off on the Fire Nation textbooks completely lied about the Air Nomads having an army. As a result of that falsehood, many people grew up thinking Fire Lord Sozin’s attack on the airbenders was justified. Over in the Earth Kingdom City of Ba Sing Se, the sinister Long Feng completely forbade any of the citizens from discussing the war. He's willing to imprison, or even brainwash, people who defy his orders. The series seems to warn viewers about how easily citizens can be manipulated or mistreated when powerful people hide the truth.

When Toph is introduced in season two, it's made clear that she’s a blind earthbender who is extremely good at fighting. Although she’s praised during matches, she’s treated completely differently at home. Toph’s parents think she is fragile, solely because she can't see with her eyes. But if they had put their preconceived notions about blindness aside, they would’ve learned their daughter is incredibly strong and capable of a new form of sight through her earthbending. Toph’s interactions with her parents show that even loved ones can underestimate people with different physical needs. Despite being a champion earthbender, Toph constantly has to remind people that she’s so much more capable than people assume.

“Avatar: The Last Airbender” brings up the issue of sexism in the very first episode. But it doesn't stop there. When Sokka meets a group of women known as the Kyoshi Warriors, he initially makes sexist comments. After speaking with their leader Suki, he apologizes for his behavior and vows to respect the Kyoshi Warriors as equals. Katara also faces gender discrimination when the waterbending Master Pakku refuses to teach her because she’s a woman. Despite her natural talent, she still has to go to incredible lengths to change his mind. The show hints that achieving gender equality is not always easy. But it is always worth fighting for.

In the “Appa’s Lost Days” episode, we see how badly people can mistreat animals. The show opens with the flying bison being kidnapped and sold to a circus. While Appa is at the circus, he's locked in a cage, threatened with physical harm and forced to perform in order to eat. And even after escaping, he's held hostage by Long Feng in a dark basement underneath Ba Sing Se. The episode doesn't shy away from depicting Appa’s pain and depression at every step of his journey. By putting such a close eye on the various ways Appa was mistreated, the show encourages viewers to pay attention to how animals are treated around them.

Every single member of the main cast knows what it’s like to lose a loved one. During “The Tales of Ba Sing Se”, the show takes time to depict how Iroh grieves the son that he lost. The episode also acknowledges the real life passing of Iroh’s voice actor, Mako Iwamatsu. What makes the scenes about grief so impactful in that episode and beyond is their complexity. Characters go through different stages of grief and try to cope with their loss in a variety of ways. By showing us how many people go through losing someone, the series tells us it’s okay to mourn. The show also reminds us that although we may lose people, we’ll never lose their love.

At a young age, Zuko was forced into a dangerous duel because he spoke out in a war meeting. It ended after he was permanently scarred by his father Ozai. This violent incident also left Zuko with emotional wounds that he struggled to overcome for years. His struggle to overcome his childhood trauma is one of the saddest and realistic storylines on the show. Although Zuko makes progress, he also falls back into destructive habits in an attempt to appease his father. He’s finally able to face his trauma directly after being counseled and supported by his uncle Iroh. Zuko’s journey shows how important it is to seek help to address our most painful scars.

Before we highlight our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions.

Pollution
Every Member of the Gaang Has Done Their Part for the Environment

Body Image
Even Powerful Characters Can Have Insecurities

Elitism
Your Value Shouldn’t Be Determined by Socioeconomic Status

The Dangers of Imperialism
Sozin’s Decision to Expand the Fire Nation Caused Devastation

Sanctity of Life
Aang Struggles to Uphold His Pacifist Values

While Aang was in an iceberg for 100 years, all of his fellow air nomads were eliminated by the Fire Nation. The series doesn't shy away from showing how devastated he is when he learns what happened. But the long term effects are also shown. When Aang travels to a new air temple, he’s shocked to see members of the Earth Kingdom redecorating it. He struggles with the notion that aspects of his culture may be permanently lost. What happened to the air nomads is such a heavy issue that Aang can’t resolve it by the time the series ends. The idea of preserving one's culture after most of its people have been lost to violence is a topic that’s given the weight it deserves.