It was a great ride, one that we had been waiting for so long. One that obviously disappointed many shippers, specially the Zutarians. Some of them accepted what Bryke envisioned, others could not accept it, and that started a bitter view of it right from the start, if they were spoiled or they were one of the people who read the "book". We got some who were disappointed of how Aang reached the Avatar State, or how he dealt with Ozai, as they take a superficial view of it, instead of trying to view the way Brike saw the dynamics and personalities of its main characters. We even got some minor surprises like the way Appa was sweet to Nyla (the mount of June) and some highly laughable moments, like Sokka thinking that Appa ate Momo. One can't say it was perfect, but I got to say that for me it was a 9.5 out of 10.

I want to deal with what are considered the major issues of those who were highly disappointed, and we start with the shipping. Get over it, it was what was in the DNA of the series from the start, as Bryke mentioned. For me, it was what was the most logical outcomes. Katara was strongly hinted from episode 101, but was completely solidified at the end of Crossroads and start of book 3(220 and 301), mixed with some hints of hopes for the Zutarians. Suki was the first crush of Sokka, if some don't remember that, she came before Yue. Yue was probably the first actual love of Sokka, but he began to be in love with Suki when they saw each other again. Many started seeing it as dead after she and her warriors faced Azula, Ty Lee and Mai; so much that Tokka became a strong force, but many saw that unless it was shown Suki was dead, Sokka and Suki still was the most logical choice for Sokka. Sukka was solidified after the Boiling Rock(314 and 315), only dying if either Sokka or Suki died. The same thing happened with Maizu at the Boiling Rock, after that episode the only way it would not happen is if Zuko or Mai died. Most of the ones who didn't see that were the People who supported Zutara, or ones who didn't like Mai's character. We never got solid evidence from Bryke, but it has been strongly hinted that Mai and Zuko were at least solid friends during their childhood, and hinted that Mai might have been hurt when Zuko was exiled. So even thought their hookup seemingly came out of nowhere(specially to ones who didn't see the magazine comic between 220 and 301) it was something logical.

the second issue is how Aang was reconnected to his Avatar state, as I mentioned before in another blog; Aang was able to let go of Katara in crossroads and reached the avatar state(but not mastered yet). When he was about to master it he got hit by Azula, and that was what "locked" the Avatar state. A strong hint of what was to happen came in 301, when Aang could not recall what happened until Katara went to heal his back injury, and suddenly he remembered the moment when he got hit by Azula, and remembered exactly what happened at the Ba Sing Se cave. At the finale, when the rock hit again his back's scar, that triggered again his connection, and he remembered all the knowledge of all past Avatars, he got reconnected to all of them, not just to the earlier 4 which was established in the "escape from the spirit world" and thus was able to go Avatar state, but at that moment it was all Avatars in the body of Aang, he had not mastered Avatar state yet. He even Spoke as the voice of many when he almost killed Ozai.

the third issue for many is that Aang didn't kill Ozai. Some because they wanted to actually see blood, because they don't try to see what should be the correct thing for each character. Killing Ozai would have been the easy thing to do, but it would not have been what would feel right to the persona of Aang. What happened was hinted in 3 places, the first one was the reluctance of Aang to kill Ozai, than when Yangchen spoke to Aang, she told him "duty to the world" came before duty to "one's own values" (which is different than worldly desires which many people confuse) so that no Avatar was able to be enlightened like so many airbenders in the past. The third hint came on the words by the turtle, who told Aang basically that in the earliest time it was understood that it was not about the elements, but about the energy that made bending possible. And the turtle might have helped make things easier for Aang to reach the Avatar state when it touched Aang at the head. healing his connection to the Avatars of the past, only needing to be triggered.

Why Bryke went this way with Aang? as I told earlier, Aang already "let go of Katara" in the way many didn't see it, as they thought letting go meant giving up Katara forever. at the moment "Avatar State" in the body of Aang was about to kill Ozai, Aang took control of himself, and chose to go with his values, and decided not to kill Ozai, Aang chose his "self values" over worldly duties. at that time he mastered the Avatar State as it was shown when Aang eyes lit up again than it went out again, but we saw he still had the Avatar state powers, that indicating Aang was in control, not the Avatar state of him. Also at that time, when he saw another solution, is when Aang was the first Avatar to be "enlightened" and he was able to "lifebend" and manipulate the energy, and thus able to take the bending powers of Ozai.

I think it also means that if Aang wants, he can also "give bending powers" to those who don't have them, but that is up to Bryke. So the fact that Aang didn't kill Ozai makes perfect sense for the persona of Aang, just like it makes sense for the persona of Katara that she didn't kill the killer of her Mother. We should not be blinded by our own "worldly desires" (Zutara, seeing blood and death and other stuff) and not seeing that Bryke did what was correct for each of the characters of the "Avatar the last airbender" world.

the only thing that was disappointing, but that was from the book interview, was that they chose not to establish that some airbenders were able to go in hiding and escaped the Sozin massacre of the airbenders