When Bryan Konietzko and Michael Dante DiMartino graced the world with Avatar: The Last Airbender, every member of its audience spent time daydreaming about bending their favorite element. The fight scenes and action sequences were thoroughly entrancing and made the practice of bending look at as elegant as dancing.
The benders of the Avatar universe may have been graceful in their crafts, but whenever the nations clashed together and a rift formed between the two, the audience itself was graced with a surplus of masterful bending battles. With the introduction of characters like Azula and Toph, the second season of The Last Airbender gave us everything and more. Here are the top 10 battles of book two.
Aang vs. Earth Soldiers
First episode - first great battle. There were actually two great battles during this episode and they were happening simultaneously, but we chose this one because Avatar state beats all (although we did see Azula shoot lightning for the first time so it was a close one).
But when Aang is informed right off the bat in season two that he’s powerful enough to defeat the Fire Lord and then has his friends threatened upon death when he won’t cooperate, it certainly sends Aang into a certain kind of state the audience wasn’t expecting to see him in again for a long time.
Team Avatar vs. Azula, Mai, Ty Lee
This battle through the streets of Omashu, or rather the chutes of Omashu, was another epic fight from the beginning of the season and really showed fans that they were going to step things up in terms of battles from season 1. Not only did it feature Azula’s little band of killers for the first time, but it also showed exactly how deadly Azula herself was with her specific brand of blue fire.
Audiences thought Aang had a hard time with Zuko, but his sister was a thousand times worse and we quickly found that out during this battle. Last but not least was Bumi’s epic conclusion of earth-bending with only his head. Bumi, you’re a mad genius.
Appa vs. Borcubine
We’re not crying, you’re crying. Actually, everybody was crying. Regardless that this episode was undeniably the saddest of the entire series and had every audience member clutching their pets for weeks, we also couldn’t help but notice how thoroughly bad-ass the giant beast brawl was between a sky-bison and a Boar-q-pine.
Appa just couldn’t catch a break in this episode, and even though he still had a bit of a rough road ahead of him, this fight was vicious and showed the audience exactly what Appa was capable of. In short - don’t mess with a flying buffalo.
Zuko vs. Jet
The second fight in a row from this season that didn’t require any bending (well, technically Appa can bend) and it was all the hype it lived up to be. Fans were introduced to the hook-sworded Jet in the first season, along with Zuko’s alter-ego, the Blue Spirit, and quickly speculated what it would be like if the two duel-wielders crossed paths.
Luckily, that idea came to pass as Jet was brought back for season 2 and accused Zuko of being a fire-bender in disguise. Just to prove the crazy Freedom-Fighter wrong (though, he wasn’t) they traded blades and gave the audience a battle that couldn’t have been choreographed better in our heads.
Zuko vs. Earth Kingdom Soldiers
Speaking of duel-wielding Zuko - Appa may hold the title for the saddest episode, but Zuko gave him a run for his money and held the belt for a few episodes after we were forced to watch him set off on his own. Zuko may have been a confused individual during the first couple of seasons, but in this particular episode, he was just lost, sharing his past experiences with the audience as he tried to find some clue as to where his path in life might be.
When he gets into a skirmish with some thug Earth-Kingdom soldiers, he remembers exactly who he is and turns on the fire-bending to put the bullies in their place. Never give up without a fight.
Team Avatar vs. Earth Palace Soldiers
Zuko may have taken down a few brutish Earth-Kingdom soldiers on his own, but it was Team Avatar that took out an entire palace’s worth of guards when they decided enough-was-enough in terms of getting their message of the war to the Earth King.
This battle deserved to be in an Avengers movie and was equally awesome in terms of the fight sequences - seriously, go back and watch this fight and you’ll count that the gang took down nearly two-hundred guards in a matter of minutes. Even for three highly skilled bending masters (and Sokka), this was an epic feat and an epic scene.
Toph vs. Earthbenders
“They’re mine.” Girl, they’re what??? A dozen full-grown earth-benders charging at you - and you kicked every single one of them in the stones. Argue it all you want, but Toph was undeniably the most awesome character the Avatar universe ever came up with. The Blind Bandit was a fan-favorite from the second she appeared on screen, knocking The Boulder out of the Earth-Rumble 6 ring as easy as flicking a bug.
But later on, when the rest of the losers of the contest kidnap Aang for the ransom-money, Toph takes them all on at once and still meets the same result. She’s the greatest earth-bender alive, and those dunderheads will never forget it.
Team Avatar, Zuko, Iroh vs. Azula
You’d be hard-pressed to find an episode of Avatar that doesn’t entertain and entrance the audience, but “The Chase” was something special. The element of suspense played such a pivotal part in this episode that fans felt as exhausted as the main characters looked, and when it all finally came crashing down in an epic 1x1x1 battle between Aang, Zuko, and Azula, it was bending at it’s best.
But of course, they had to step it up and out-do themselves even further by bringing in the entirety of Team Avatar, along with Uncle Iroh, to take down the Fire-Nation princess. This stand-off was insanely good action television and Azula’s a chump for the cheap shot.
Team Avatar, Freedom Fighters vs. Dai Li, Long Feng
Azula was already deadly enough in her own right to warrant enough of the ‘villain’ attention on herself. But what did the creators of Avatar decide to do? They gave the gang an extra challenge with Long Feng and the Dai Li agents of Ba Sing Se who caused them countless roadblocks in their efforts to find Appa and inform the king of the war.
And what was the best roadblock of all? When Team Avatar and the Freedom Fighters took on the entire Dai Li agency in their secret facilities under Lake Laogai. Chalk up another sad moment when Jet met his demise (we think? they never really cleared that up) but the battle itself was something to behold.
Aang, Katara vs. Zuko, Azula
Thank goodness for season 3 because Zuko broke everyone’s heart with this one. While a 3x1 with Aang, Katara, and Zuko against Azula would have still been awesome, the 2x2 fight that followed was even more so. Aang and Katara going toe-to-toe with the Fire Lord’s children was a battle fans certainly weren’t expecting to see, since Zuko had made it clear how much he despised his sister throughout the season, but once it happened, audiences couldn’t believe they hadn’t wished for it sooner.
Also, Aang getting shot out of the sky as he turned the glow-stick on was something nobody was prepared for, and the fact that they lost the battle made it even more entertaining.
