Avatar: The Last Airbender Season 2 Brings War To Ba Sing Se
The darkest season of Avatar is getting the live-action treatment for the first time.
Avatar Aang (Gordon Cormier) is growing up a lot faster than most fans of the original The Last Airbender are comfortable with. Though the Fire Nation’s evil princess, Azula (Elizabeth Yu), claims he’s “just a boy” in the latest trailer for Netflix’s live-action remake, his growth spurt speaks to the contrary.
In a way, though, Aang’s newfound maturity is kinda fitting: it mirrors the intensity he’ll encounter in the next season of Avatar: The Last Airbender. For the very first time, we’ll see the events of Book 2 adapted in live-action. It’s arguably the darkest chapter in Aang’s journey to master all four elements. War is coming to the Earth Kingdom city of Ba Sing Se — but that’s not all Aang and his pals will have to worry about this go ‘round.
Aang has been fighting the fascist Fire Nation ever since he emerged from his hundred-year slumber in Avatar Season 1. In fact, the war between the Fire Nation and the rest of the elemental nations has been going on for a whole century — and Aang’s return has only emboldened others to fight back against their tyranny. His progress as the Avatar is gaining momentum, too: when we next see Aang in Season 2, he’ll have come a long way in mastering the element of water. He’ll also team up with one of the most powerful earthbenders the Earth Kingdom has to offer, Toph Beifong (Miya Cech), and begin his training in that element.
But all that progress will grind to a halt once the Gaang hits Ba Sing Se, the sprawling capital of the Earth Kingdom. Its impenetrable walls have insulated the city against the might of the Fire Nation, shielding its citizens from the war raging just beyond its borders. But that protection has since given its leadership an outsized sense of delusion: as the Avatar’s concierge, Joo Dee (Amanda Zhou), creepily explains, “There is no war in Ba Sing Se.”
Zuko and Azula will finally go head-to-head in Avatar: The Last Airbender Season 2.
That conspiracy is just the tip of the iceberg for the drama that awaits Aang and his team this season. Their adventures through the Earth Kingdom are rife with angst and danger: the comic relief that balanced a lot of the heavier stories in Season 1 could be all but dissolved in Season 2. With the exiled prince of the Fire Nation, Zuko (Dallas Liu), also in the thick of an existential crisis, we can expect the new season of Avatar to dig into some juicy storytelling. Book 2 is a fan favorite season for a reason — let’s just hope the Netflix team can adapt those events with the narrative weight they deserve.
