Avatar: The Last Airbender is an American animated television series created by Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko for Nickelodeon. It premiered on February 21, 2005, with two episodes,[1] and ended its three-season run on July 19, 2008, with the finale that also serves as a one-hour television film.[2] The Avatar: The Last Airbender franchise refers to each season as a "Book", in which each episode is referred to as a "chapter". Each "Book" takes its name from one of the elements that Aang, the protagonist, must master: Water, Earth, and Fire.[1] In addition to the three seasons, there were two recap episodes and three "shorts". The first recap summarized the first seventeen episodes while the second summarized season two. The first self-parody was released via an online flash game. The second and third were released with the Complete Second Season Box Set DVD.[3] The entire series has been released on DVD in Region One, Region Two, and Region Four.
In the Avatar: The Last Airbender universe there are people who are able to manipulate or "bend" the four elements: Air, Water, Earth, and Fire. There are also sub-elements, such as metal, ice, and lightning. Along with the four elements, there are four nations that correspond with each element. Not everyone can bend an element, and those that can can only bend one. However, the Avatar is a being able to manipulate all four elements, as well as communicate with the spirits. The Avatar is also born into one nation, and, after dying, is reincarnated into another nation following the pattern of Fire, Air, Water, and Earth. The series takes place 100 years after the Fire Nation declared war against all other nations and has killed off all airbenders in search of the Avatar, who has been reincarnated as an airbender named Aang. The Avatar, trapped in ice for 100 years, knows nothing of the war. The series starts with Aang being accidentally freed by Katara, a waterbender. The series then primarily follows the adventures of Aang and his companions, Katara, Sokka, and later Toph, as he tries to master all four elements and defeat the Fire Nation. There is also a strong secondary focus on Zuko, the banished and disinherited crown prince of the Fire Nation. Zuko was scarred in a duel with his own father, the current Fire Lord, and is obsessed with trying to capture Aang to regain his father's favor and, in doing so, restoring his honor.
Series overview
Episodes
Book One: Water (2005)
| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | Prod. code [a] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | "The Boy in the Iceberg" | Dave Filoni | Michael Dante DiMartino & Bryan Konietzko Additional writing by: Aaron Ehasz, Peter Goldfinger & Josh Stolberg | February 21, 2005 | 101 |
| 2 | 2 | "The Avatar Returns" | Dave Filoni | Michael Dante DiMartino & Bryan Konietzko Additional writing by: Aaron Ehasz, Peter Goldfinger & Josh Stolberg | February 21, 2005 | 102 |
| 3 | 3 | "The Southern Air Temple" | Lauren MacMullan | Michael Dante DiMartino | February 25, 2005 | 103 |
| 4 | 4 | "The Warriors of Kyoshi" | Giancarlo Volpe | Nick Malis | March 4, 2005 | 104 |
| 5 | 5 | "The King of Omashu" | Anthony Lioi | John O'Bryan | March 18, 2005 | 105 |
| 6 | 6 | "Imprisoned" | Dave Filoni | Matthew Hubbard | March 25, 2005 | 106 |
| 7 | 7 | "Winter Solstice, Part 1: The Spirit World" | Lauren MacMullan | Aaron Ehasz | April 8, 2005 | 107 |
| 8 | 8 | "Winter Solstice, Part 2: Avatar Roku" | Giancarlo Volpe | Michael Dante DiMartino | April 15, 2005 | 108 |
| 9 | 9 | "The Waterbending Scroll" | Anthony Lioi | John O'Bryan | April 29, 2005 | 109 |
| 10 | 10 | "Jet" | Dave Filoni | James Eagan | May 6, 2005 | 110 |
| 11 | 11 | "The Great Divide" | Giancarlo Volpe | John O'Bryan | May 20, 2005 | 111 |
| 12 | 12 | "The Storm" | Lauren MacMullan | Aaron Ehasz | June 3, 2005 | 112 |
| 13 | 13 | "The Blue Spirit" | Dave Filoni | Michael Dante DiMartino & Bryan Konietzko | June 17, 2005 | 113 |
| 14 | 14 | "The Fortuneteller" | Dave Filoni | Aaron Ehasz & John O'Bryan | September 23, 2005 | 114 |
| 15 | 15 | "Bato of the Water Tribe" | Giancarlo Volpe | Ian Wilcox | October 7, 2005 | 115 |
| 16 | 16 | "The Deserter" | Lauren MacMullan | Tim Hedrick | October 21, 2005 | 116 |
| 17 | 17 | "The Northern Air Temple" | Dave Filoni | Elizabeth Welch | November 4, 2005 | 117 |
| 18 | 18 | "The Waterbending Master" | Giancarlo Volpe | Michael Dante DiMartino | November 18, 2005 | 118 |
| 19 | 19 | "The Siege of the North" | Lauren MacMullan | John O'Bryan | December 2, 2005 | 119 |
| 20 | 20 | Dave Filoni | Aaron Ehasz | 120 | ||
Book Two: Earth (2006)
| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | Prod. code [a] | U.S. viewers (millions) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 21 | 1 | "The Avatar State" | Giancarlo Volpe | Aaron Ehasz, Elizabeth Welch, Tim Hedrick & John O'Bryan | March 17, 2006 | 201 | N/A |
| 22 | 2 | "The Cave of Two Lovers" | Lauren MacMullan | Joshua Hamilton | March 24, 2006 | 202 | N/A |
| 23 | 3 | "Return to Omashu" | Ethan Spaulding | Elizabeth Welch | April 7, 2006 | 203 | N/A |
| 24 | 4 | "The Swamp" | Giancarlo Volpe | Tim Hedrick | April 14, 2006 | 204 | 2.7[4] |
| 25 | 5 | "Avatar Day" | Lauren MacMullan | John O'Bryan | April 28, 2006 | 205 | N/A |
| 26 | 6 | "The Blind Bandit" | Ethan Spaulding | Michael Dante DiMartino | May 5, 2006 | 206 | N/A |
| 27 | 7 | "Zuko Alone" | Lauren MacMullan | Elizabeth Welch | May 12, 2006 | 207 | N/A |
| 28 | 8 | "The Chase" | Giancarlo Volpe | Joshua Hamilton | May 26, 2006 | 208 | N/A |
| 29 | 9 | "Bitter Work" | Ethan Spaulding | Aaron Ehasz | June 2, 2006 | 209 | N/A |
| 30 | 10 | "The Library" | Giancarlo Volpe | John O'Bryan | July 14, 2006 | 210 | N/A |
| 31 | 11 | "The Desert" | Lauren MacMullan | Tim Hedrick | July 14, 2006 | 211 | N/A |
| 32 | 12 | "The Serpent's Pass" | Ethan Spaulding | Michael Dante DiMartino & Joshua Hamilton | September 15, 2006 | 212 | 4.1[5] |
| 33 | 13 | "The Drill" | Giancarlo Volpe | Michael Dante DiMartino & Bryan Konietzko | September 15, 2006 | 213 | 4.1[5] |
| 34 | 14 | "City of Walls and Secrets" | Lauren MacMullan | Tim Hedrick | September 22, 2006 | 214 | N/A |
| 35 | 15 | "The Tales of Ba Sing Se" | Ethan Spaulding | See note for screenwriters[b] | September 29, 2006 | 215 | N/A |
| 36 | 16 | "Appa's Lost Days" | Giancarlo Volpe | Elizabeth Welch | October 13, 2006 | 216 | N/A |
| 37 | 17 | "Lake Laogai" | Lauren MacMullan | Tim Hedrick | November 3, 2006 | 217 | N/A |
| 38 | 18 | "The Earth King" | Ethan Spaulding | John O'Bryan | November 17, 2006 | 218 | N/A |
| 39 | 19 | "The Guru" | Giancarlo Volpe | Michael Dante DiMartino & Bryan Konietzko | December 1, 2006 | 219 | 4.4[6] |
| 40 | 20 | "The Crossroads of Destiny" | Michael Dante DiMartino | Aaron Ehasz | December 1, 2006 | 220 | 4.4 |
Book Three: Fire (2007–08)
| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | Prod. code [a] | U.S. viewers (millions) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 41 | 1 | "The Awakening" | Giancarlo Volpe | Aaron Ehasz | September 21, 2007 | 301 | N/A |
| 42 | 2 | "The Headband" | Joaquim Dos Santos | John O'Bryan | September 28, 2007 | 302 | N/A |
| 43 | 3 | "The Painted Lady" | Ethan Spaulding | Joshua Hamilton | October 5, 2007 | 303 | N/A |
| 44 | 4 | "Sokka's Master" | Giancarlo Volpe | Tim Hedrick | October 12, 2007 | 304 | N/A |
| 45 | 5 | "The Beach" | Joaquim Dos Santos | Katie Mattila | October 19, 2007 | 305 | N/A |
| 46 | 6 | "The Avatar and the Fire Lord" | Ethan Spaulding | Elizabeth Welch | October 26, 2007 | 306 | N/A |
| 47 | 7 | "The Runaway" | Giancarlo Volpe | Joshua Hamilton | November 2, 2007 | 307 | N/A |
| 48 | 8 | "The Puppetmaster" | Joaquim Dos Santos | Tim Hedrick | November 9, 2007 | 308 | N/A |
| 49 | 9 | "Nightmares and Daydreams" | Ethan Spaulding | John O'Bryan | November 16, 2007 | 309 | N/A |
| 50 | 10 | "The Day of Black Sun, Part 1: The Invasion" | Giancarlo Volpe | Michael Dante DiMartino | November 30, 2007 | 310 | 3.77[7] |
| 51 | 11 | "The Day of Black Sun, Part 2: The Eclipse" | Joaquim Dos Santos | Aaron Ehasz | 311 | ||
| 52 | 12 | "The Western Air Temple" | Ethan Spaulding | Elizabeth Welch & Tim Hedrick | July 14, 2008 | 312 | N/A |
| 53 | 13 | "The Firebending Masters" | Giancarlo Volpe | John O'Bryan | July 15, 2008 | 313 | N/A |
| 54 | 14 | "The Boiling Rock" | Joaquim Dos Santos | May Chan | July 16, 2008 | 314 | 3.97[8] |
| 55 | 15 | Ethan Spaulding | Joshua Hamilton | 315 | |||
| 56 | 16 | "The Southern Raiders" | Joaquim Dos Santos | Elizabeth Welch | July 17, 2008 | 316 | 4.23[8] |
| 57 | 17 | "The Ember Island Players" | Giancarlo Volpe | Tim Hedrick, Joshua Hamilton & John O'Bryan | July 18, 2008 | 317 | 4.53[8] |
| 58 | 18 | "Sozin's Comet, Part 1: The Phoenix King" | Ethan Spaulding | Michael Dante DiMartino | July 19, 2008 | 318 | 5.59[8] |
| 59 | 19 | "Sozin's Comet, Part 2: The Old Masters" | Giancarlo Volpe | Aaron Ehasz | 319 | ||
| 60 | 20 | "Sozin's Comet, Part 3: Into the Inferno" | Joaquim Dos Santos | Michael Dante DiMartino & Bryan Konietzko | 320 | ||
| 61 | 21 | "Sozin's Comet, Part 4: Avatar Aang" | Joaquim Dos Santos | Michael Dante DiMartino & Bryan Konietzko | 321 | ||
Home media release
Region 1
The first Avatar: The Last Airbender DVD set became available on January 31, 2006. The first season had five DVD sets, each containing four episodes. For season two and three, four DVD sets were released, with five episodes on each. The only exception to the release pattern was the last DVD set of season three, which contained a sixth episode. At the end of each season, a box set was released, containing all of the episodes from the season. Each box set contains an additional disc of bonus features not available as an individual disc release like every episode of the series. Avatar: The Last Airbender: The Complete Series DVD box set featuring all three books was released in North America on October 6, 2015.[9] A Blu-ray version of The Complete Series box set was released in North America on June 5, 2018 in honor of the tenth anniversary of the series finale.[10]
| Volume | Book One: Water | Book Two: Earth | Book Three: Fire | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Released | Discs | Episodes | Released | Discs | Episodes | Released | Discs | Episodes | |
| 1 | January 31, 2006[11] | 1 | 4 | January 23, 2007 | 1 | 5 | October 30, 2007 | 1 | 5 |
| 2 | March 28, 2006[11] | 1 | 4 | April 10, 2007 | 1 | 5 | January 22, 2008 | 1 | 5 |
| 3 | May 30, 2006[11] | 1 | 4 | May 22, 2007 | 1 | 5 | July 29, 2008 | 1 | 5 |
| 4 | July 18, 2006[11] | 1 | 4 | August 14, 2007 | 1 | 5 | September 2, 2008 | 1 | 6 |
| 5 | September 19, 2006[11] | 1 | 4 | 20 | 21 | ||||
| Box set | September 19, 2006[11] | 6[12] | 20[12] | September 11, 2007 | 5[13] | 20[13] | September 16, 2008 | 5[14] | 21[14] |
| Collector's Edition | June 22, 2010[11] | 7[15] | 20 | There is no collector's edition for this season. | There is no collector's edition for this season. | ||||
| Complete Series DVD box set | October 6, 2015[9] | 16 (Paramount Pictures)[16] | 61 (Paramount Pictures) | ||||||
| Complete Series Blu-ray box set | May 1, 2018 (Best Buy); June 5, 2018 (Elsewhere);[17] February 18, 2020 (Steelbook)[18] | 9 | 54 (Paramount Pictures) | ||||||
Region 2
In the United States, all Season One DVDs were encoded using NTSC. Since this is not compatible in most countries outside North America, Nickelodeon released separate DVDs in regions where the video would be encoded using PAL instead. These releases began on February 19, 2007;[19] each DVD was released months after the original release. As with the original DVDs, each set contained five episodes on one disc,[19][20][21][22][23] with the exception of The Complete Book One Collection Box Set, which contained all of the twenty episodes in the season on five discs.[24] In the Netherlands, all episodes came out in a box.
Avatar: The Last Airbender: The Complete Series DVD box set featuring all three books was released in the United Kingdom on August 6, 2012.[25] A Blu-ray version of The Complete Series box set was released in the United Kingdom on June 11, 2018.[26]
| Volume | Book One: Water | Book Two: Earth | Book Three: Fire | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Released | Discs | Episodes | Released | Discs | Episodes | Released | Discs | Episodes | |
| 1 | February 19, 2007[19] | 1 | 4 | Not released | 1 | 5 | Not released | 1 | 5 |
| 2 | June 4, 2007[20] | 1 | 4 | Not released | 1 | 5 | Not released | 1 | 5 |
| 3 | September 3, 2007[21] | 1 | 4 | Not released | 1 | 5 | Not released | 1 | 5 |
| 4 | February 18, 2008[22] | 1 | 4 | Not released | 1 | 5 | Not released | 1 | 6 |
| 5 | May 26, 2008[23] | 1 | 4 | There is no volume five DVD for this season. | There is no volume five DVD for this season. | ||||
| Box set | January 26, 2009[27] | 5 | 20 | July 20, 2009[28] | 4 | 20 | February 1, 2010[29] | 4 | 21 |
| Complete Series DVD box set | August 6, 2012[25] | 13 | 61 | ||||||
| Complete Series Blu-ray box set | June 11, 2018[26] | 9 | 54 | ||||||
Region 4
The following release dates are the Australian release dates, and may or may not represent the release dates for all of region 4.
| Volume | Book One: Water | Book Two: Earth | Book Three: Fire | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Released | Discs | Episodes | Released | Discs | Episodes | Released | Discs | Episodes | |
| 1 | March 15, 2007[30][31] | 1 | 4 | June 4, 2009[32] | 1 | 5 | June 3, 2010[33] | 1 | 5 |
| 2 | July 5, 2007[34] | 1 | 4 | August 4, 2009[35] | 1 | 5 | September 23, 2010[36] | 1 | 5 |
| 3 | March 13, 2008[37] | 1 | 4 | October 29, 2009[38] | 1 | 5 | October 7, 2010[39] | 1 | 5 |
| 4 | June 19, 2008[40] | 1 | 4 | March 31, 2010[41] | 1 | 5 | November 4, 2010[42] | 1 | 6 |
| 5 | March 5, 2009[43][44] | 1 | 4 | There is no volume five DVD for this season. | There is no volume five DVD for this season. | ||||
| Box set | June 4, 2009[45][46] | 5 | 20 | September 9, 2010[47] | 4 | 20 | December 2, 2010[48] | 4 | 21 |
| Complete Series Blu-ray box set | November 14, 2018[49] | 9 | 54 | ||||||
See also
Notes
References
- "Avatar: The Last Airbender Episodes Online". Nickelodeon. Retrieved July 20, 2022.
- "Avatar: The Last Airbender — Avatar Blu-Ray". Nickelodeon. Retrieved July 20, 2022.
- "Season 1". IGN. 5 June 2008. Retrieved December 21, 2021.
- "Season 2". IGN. Retrieved July 21, 2008.
- "Season 3". IGN. Retrieved July 21, 2008.