#guru pathik

Also points deducted from both the eps for overly sappy romance stuff (which i admit i'm selectively petty about).

What Abandoned Character Arc?

1. Conflict and Its Role in Storytelling

According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary:

A conflict is the opposition of persons or forces that gives rise to the dramatic action in a drama or fiction.

Conflict is what makes a story a story in the first place. It's what moves the plot forward, demonstrates the themes and develops character arcs. Three things you definitely want your story to do.

To properly develop a conflict, you need to define your character, their goals or needs, the obstacle stopping them from achieving said goal or need and most importantly, what they must do to overcome this obstacle.

Now, you can have multiple conflicts in your story, even for one character. For example, in season one, Zuko's conflict is between him and Aang. He wants to return home (goal) but can't until he's captured the Avatar (obstacle) and so must chase Aang all around the world and hatch crazy ideas in the hopes of finding Aang (what he must do).

Later on, Zuko's conflict is within himself. He needs to realize that only he controls his destiny and can define his honor (need) but finds it difficult to let go of the hope of his father's love and going against everything he's been taught that says otherwise (obstacle) but he must face himself and be truthful if he's ever going to be free and live a life of true honor (what he must do).

2. External vs Internal Conflict

From the two examples above, we can agree that stories can have different types of conflict: an external conflict and an internal conflict. Of course, there are more, but these are the most relevant to this discussion.

An external conflict is usually between characters (Zuko vs Aang, Katara vs Pakku) or even between a character and nature (Zuko vs the North Pole). It requires your character to overcome a physical obstacle and usually that obstacle is stopping a character from reaching a goal.

An internal one is between the character and themselves (Zuko vs his idea of honor, Sokka vs his own sexism). This is usually represented by a worldview or trait they have at the beginning of the story, which poses as an obstacle to the character achieving what they need.

From these definitions, it is clear that external and internal conflicts play different roles in a story. The external one should oppose what the character wants or needs to achieve, whilst the internal one should oppose who the character needs to be.

That being said, the external and internal conflicts have something in common; they both demand that a character change in some way in order to achieve their goal or gain what they need.

Zuko can't capture the Avatar without tracking him down, chasing him across the globe, risking his life in the North Pole during a blizzard, etc. And he can't achieve total self-actualisation unless he internalises the lessons he's learnt about the world, his family and himself.

However, even though these conflicts play different roles, they are best appreciated when intertwined. Zuko fails to overcome his external conflict, but it is by exploring the journey Zuko takes in order to overcome this conflict that he is able to learn that he needs to be able to triumph over his internal conflict.

If Zuko failed to capture the Avatar and continued to live his life in Ba Sing Se with Iroh, forgetting about the Fire Nation and his banishment, yes, we'd be happy for him, but his story and character arc wouldn't feel complete. It would make everything he's learnt so far feel useless.

And if Zuko were to know from episode one that the Fire Nation was wrong, his father's love is conditional, and that he needs to live his truth, yes we'd be happy for him, but it wouldn't make sense for the character we know him to be and would erase his relevance in the first two seasons at least.

It is by combining or relating these two different conflicts to one another that we can say that Zuko's character arc is satisfying and complete.

This is true for any character, including Aang, but before we can examine how that would play out, we need to understand what character arcs are to begin with.

3. Character Arcs

Again, according to the Merriam-Webster dictionary:

A character is someone who appears in a book, movie, etc; a representation of an individual personality in a fictional or dramatic work. An arc is a continuous progression or line of development

And so, a character arc can be defined as a continuous progression of a character. That is, the line that tracks how a character moves from point A to B to C, either physically or emotionally. And for a character to move from those points, they need to change in a meaningful way.

Now, these changes aren't random. They should be tied to the conflict itself (they need to change to resolve the conflict), and, when done really well, to the character's traits.

This makes the change personal to the character. For Sokka to learn how to fight better (goal), he needs to get over his pride and ask the Kyoshi Warriors to teach him (obstacle), which means he must accept the fact that girls can fight (change tied to a character flaw).

The resolution of this conflict (Sokka learning to fight) is what builds his character arc, and what marks a difference between Sokka pre-Kyoshi Warriors (who believes that girls can't fight) to the Sokka post-Kyoshi Warriors (who cheers on Katara as she fights Master Pakku).

By nature of the conflict, the character at the beginning cannot be the same one at the end, because then, why can’t they resolve their conflict from the start? This means that character arcs and conflicts depend on each other.

The character at the start of their journey cannot resolve their conflict until they make a change and this change is tracked by a character arc. And a conflict's resolution is only meaningful if the character has to overcome a flaw or gain a skill to do so.

To determine what character arc Aang was meant to go through and what conflicts would facilitate the necessary changes he must undergo, we need to understand Aang's character.

This is a fairly simple task. Who is Aang?

Aang is an Air Nomad who lived in the Southern Air Temple.

When he was 12, he found out he was the Avatar, and shortly after, ran away. This is because he wasn't ready for the responsibility of being the Avatar, and didn't want to be the Avatar in the first place.

While running away, he and his flying bison, Appa, got caught up in a storm. He was submerged in the water, where he got into the Avatar State, made a ball of ice around him and his bison.

After a hundred years, Katara got him out of this ball of ice, where he had been preserved as a twelve-year-old boy.

Some time after he ran away, the Fire Nation committed genocide on the Air Nomads. When Aang finds out about this, he is riddled with guilt and promises not to let the world down again.

These irrefutable facts about Aang are what the text tells us directly, and it is from them that we can build a case on Aang's character traits.

Aang loves having fun; his literal first lines in the show are asking Katara to go penguin sledging with him. Though this is shown as a positive trait, like showing Katara in The Boy in the Iceberg and some Fire Nation kids in The Headband, that life shouldn't be taken so seriously all the time, it does have its downsides, such as in Kyoshi Warriors and The Western Air Temple.

Aang is steadfast in his beliefs. I find it very interesting that Katara is known in the fandom for harping on about her mother when Aang has said some variation of the line 'The monks used to say' at least five times in the series. Nothing wrong with that, it's just … interesting.

Aang is often immature or irresponsible. This sometimes goes hand in hand with his fun-loving self, but it also means that he is unwilling to face responsibility and is known to run away when things get tough, i.e. in The Storm, both past and present and the Awakening.

And so, we can agree that Aang's biggest flaw is his desire to abscond responsibility and prioritise his wants over the needs of the people he is responsible for.

Therefore, his arc must show him go from this to a version of himself that is willing to accept his responsibility and put the needs of others above himself, as is required by his role as Avatar.

This, in turn, means that his conflicts must be resolved by his maturing and learning to take responsibility.

4. Aang's External Conflict

His external conflict is pretty much obvious. Aang is the Avatar who has mastered airbending and been missing for 100 years, during which a war has been waged on the world (definition), and he must bring peace and balance back to the world (goal).

However, the Firelord wants to continue this war and is a very powerful man (obstacle), and so Aang must master the other three elements to become a fully realised Avatar and defeat the Firelord (what he must do).

This is pretty much outlined word for word in The Winter Solstice, Part Two and is the primary conflict of the story. There is a reason the story cannot end until Aang defeats Ozai, and why, even if it did continue into the rumoured fourth season, it would feel like the show is stretching on more than it needs to.

This external conflict is handled pretty well. In mastering the three elements, Aang learns that he can't think like an airbender all the time (Bitter Work) and the true meaning of firebending (The Firebending Masters).

Moreover, as the series goes by, we see him being more and more mature and willing to take on the weight of being the Avatar, thus overcoming his biggest flaw.

Just compare his attitude in The Siege of the North and The Day of Black Sun, Part One. He goes from complaining about being just one kid and unable to take down the Fire Nation fleet to insisting he and the invasion force can still win the day and that even if they might lose, he has to try (facing the Fire Lord).

There's also something very satisfying about watching him fight Ozai in the finale, and that is because you can't help but remember how he fought with Zuko in the pilot. The Aang who was depending on airbending moves to evade Zuko's attacks and was breathing erratically is not the same Aang who redirects Ozai's lightning and fights him with a rock armour.

Now, this would, in my opinion, all make a complete arc. The change Aang makes isn't as great as Zuko's, but it honestly doesn't have to be. His story is simple, and that's okay; most hero’s journeys are.

The problem begins when the story introduces another, much more compelling conflict for Aang to face.

5. Aang's Internal Conflict

Throughout the series, we see and are actively told that Aang is in love with Katara. This is no surprise to anyone and is a great way to humanise a character. Having to master four types of bending to defeat the evil warlord planning to take over the world isn't a struggle we can all identify with, but having a crush on someone just out of reach is incredibly relatable.

I'd say in season one, Aang's crush was quite tame. It was only ever really brought up in episodes like The Fortune Teller and otherwise, and wasn't taken too seriously. Didn't have much conflict to it. Cute, not overly inspiring or compelling, but harmless, and downright expected of a coming-of-age show.

In season two, however, things started getting serious. Aang's feelings for one were treated with more weight than they had before, right from the beginning in episodes like Avatar State and Cave of Two Lovers. Aang and Katara's emotional intimacy was also developed in episodes like The Desert and The Serpent's Pass. Again, completely harmless and very predictable.

Another interesting thread that came about in season two was the Avatar State. We've obviously seen this before in season one, but in The Avatar State, we learn exactly what it is, what can cause it to arise, and the danger it poses to be in it, for both the Avatar and those around them. This gives a new dimension to what Aang needs to do to meet his goal of bringing balance to the world.

Not only does he need to master all four bending types, but he must ensure, if he gets into the Avatar State, not to die in it, as that will end the Avatar Cycle. And since the Avatar's job is to bring balance to the world, a world in which the Avatar doesn't exist will, by definition, be out of balance.

And so, to not die in the Avatar State, Aang must control it. Aang is therefore presented with a new goal: to learn to control the Avatar State. In The Guru, Guru Pathik offers Aang an avenue to meet his goal, which will reveal the obstacle Aang will face and what he must do to overcome it.

The Guru starts by explaining the concept of chakras. According to Guru Pathik, these are seven points throughout the body where chi energy is heavily concentrated. To master the Avatar State, Aang needs to open the seven chakras.

Guru Pathik also warns Aang that the process of opening the chakras cannot be stopped once it has begun and must be completed to succeed. Okay, seems easy enough. And for the most part it is. Aang unlocks six chakras with relative ease. It's at the last chakra that Aang has a problem.

According to Guru Pathik, the seventh and final chakra is located at the crown of the head. It deals with cosmic energy and is blocked by earthly attachment. To open this chakra, Aang must let go of his attachments.

Aang vehemently refuses to do this because when he visualises his earthly attachments, all he sees is Katara. He doesn't see why he would let go of her; he loves her. When he reluctantly tries anyway, he sees Katara being captured and abandons the endeavour altogether.

Before Aang leaves, Pathik tells him very clearly that by choosing attachment, the last chakra has become blocked, and if he leaves now, he will not be able to trigger the Avatar State at all. Aang chooses to leave anyway.

And so, by the end of this episode, an internal conflict has been established, which:

A: Has a simple goal, an obstacle and changes required to overcome the obstacle

Aang must gain control on the Avatar State (goal) by letting go of Katara, his biggest earthly attachment (change) even though he doesn't want to (obstacle).

By completing his goal of controlling the Avatar State, Aang has a better chance of not being killed while in this state and also has a better chance when facing Ozai as the Avatar State will give him immense power, enabling him to resolve his external and the story's primary conflict.

B: Makes perfect sense for Aang's character

We know that Aang is fun-loving to a fault and is known to abscond from responsibility. Say what you will about Aang running away from home at 12, but that backstory in particular was meant to show Aang's greatest weakness: his reluctance to take responsibility and put the needs of others above his own.

Whether you think Aang was wrong or right in his decision, or whether the monks were putting too much pressure on him, this is undeniable. It's the foundation on which Aang's character is written. It's also why I take issue with how Netflix changed that beginning, because the guilt Aang feels about running away is integral to his character.

This choice is (according to the narrative at least) the wrong one. And so, the obstacle of this conflict being, to choose what's best for the world (letting go of Katara) over what he wants (not letting go of Katara) becomes both relevant to Aang’s character and means overcoming this obstacle will positively affect Aang’s arc.

C: Is supported by the narrative

The genius behind this conflict is how organically Katara has been linked to it. When the Guru makes Aang's attachment to Katara a problem, a pattern that's been hiding in plain sight starts to emerge.

Let's start by listing all the onscreen times Aang has been in the Avatar State before The Guru. I have come from rewatching the show, so hopefully I haven't missed any:

In the Iceberg, before Katara frees him. He was already in this state when he was found, and got in it after he and Appa were caught in a storm and were submerged. It is seen that he got in this state subconsciously, or in the very least, did not willingly do so. (The Boy in the Iceberg and The Storm)

He falls into the ocean after his fight with Zuko on his ship. He hears Katara calling his name and comes out of the water, and whilst in the Avatar State, uses water to push Zuko off the ship (The Avatar Returns)

He finds Monk Gyatso's bones, internalises what happened to the airbenders and gets into the Avatar State. Katara can talk him out of it by assuring Aang that she and Sokka are now her family. (The Southern Air Temple)

The spirit of Roku uses his body to destroy the fire sage temple (Winter Solstice, Part Two)

The spirit of Kyoshi uses his body to explain what she did to Chin to Conqueror (Avatar Day)

After the moon spirit is killed, Aang goes into the Avatar State and merges with the ocean spirit (The Siege of the North, Part Two)

After General Fong sinks Katara into the ground, and already upset at being manipulated, Aang gets into the Avatar State (The Avatar State)

After finding out who stole and muzzled Appa, Aang gets into the Avatar State and destroys a bunch of sand boats (or whatever they're called). It is only when Katara pulls him down and hugs him that he comes out of it (The Desert)

Of these eight times, Aang is in control of none of them, and Katara is involved one way or another in half. Three are due to his past lives or some Spirit World shenanigans, and two, including the one in The Avatar Returns, are a survival mechanism.

The most damning examples, however, are in The Avatar State and The Desert. I don't think it's a coincidence that these two episodes shed the light on Aang's attachment to Katara the most, and are both in season two. Avatar State is even more damming because this is where controlling the Avatar State is set up, and the danger of ending the Avatar Cycle is brought up.

In The Avatar State, Aang gets into the Avatar state because Katara was in danger, and in The Desert, it's Katara's compassion that gets him out. These are more direct examples, but they paint a particular picture. In the former, Katara being in serious trouble makes Aang lose control of his emotions, and in the latter, it's with Katara's help that he can gain control.

From this, it is clear that there is a link between Aang’s attachment to Katara and his lack of control over the Avatar State, and so the need for Aang's detachment is backed up by plenty of textual evidence.

6. The Resolution

So, just a quick summary. For Aang to have a meaningful character arc, he must resolve both the external and internal conflicts that the story sets up for him. It is by resolving these conflicts that he can change from the Aang in the beginning of the show to the end.

Since he is our hero, this change must be positive, meaning he must learn a lesson that gives him a new strength, overcomes a weakness, or both. We know that Aang’s primary characteristics are that he is fun-loving, adventurous and immature. We also know that his biggest shortcoming in the past, which that he feels very guilty about, is running away from responsibility and prioritising his selfish desires above all else. 

And so, for Aang, the most important change he should make is from being the type of person who runs away from responsibility and puts himself first (who he is in the beginning of his story as shown in The Storm and hinted towards in The Boy in The Iceberg) to the kind of person who accepts his responsibility to the world and puts their needs before his own when necessary (who he’d should be at the end).

The conflicts set up for Aang are to defeat the firelord and to gain control over the Avatar State. To defeat the Firelord, Aang needs to master all four elements and be in control of the Avatar State to avoid being killed in that state, ending the Avatar Cycle and throwing the world out of balance.

To gain control over the Avatar State, Aang needs to let go of earthly attachments, i.e. Katara, to unlock his chakras, which is necessary in gaining control over the Avatar State.

To achieve both, in varying degrees, Aang must mature and accept his duty as Avatar. It is the second conflict, however, that directly pushes Aang to give up a selfish desire (stay attached to Katara) for the sake of the world, something he has already failed at doing in the past. 

It is this conflict that makes Aang’s journey that much personal, gives him a tangible task that, just by the fact that he does it even though he doesn't want to, speaks volumes to the maturity and level of responsibility he is willing to take, and results in the largest change in him, thus completing his arc.

Aang would start the series as an immature kid who never wanted to be the Avatar, to a fully realised Avatar who can put aside his selfish wants for the sake of a greater cause that people are depending on him for.

7. Conclusion

So... it would be pretty ludicrous if the show went through all this trouble to introduce an internal conflict that had a natural goal, obstacle and change, link it to the preestablished external conflict and manage to link both to a preestablished fatal flaw of the main character ... to abandon the thread almost immediately after its introduction... right?

Well... believe it or not, that’s exactly what happened.

After season 2, we don’t hear about or see the Guru again (I'm not counting the cameo he makes in Nightmares and Daydreams) or the internal conflict he brought up.

I guess Guru Pathik was just … wrong. For Aang to open his seventh chakra and master the Avatar State, all he needed to do was get hit by a pointy rock in the back, not let go of his earthly attachments. It's a very easy mistake to make, really.

So yeah, this is what I mean when I say that Aang’s character arc was abandoned. And if you thought the only consequence this has is on Aang’s character development, think again.

This abandonment goes on to affect much more of the story.

Next: Part Two

Part Three