Well, it’s over. Perhaps the greatest American animated series in recent memory just ended its three-year run on TV, and it did so in spectacular fashion. If you haven’t been following Avatar: the Last Airbender, let me state my opinion that you’re missing out. The fighting and effects are brilliant, the drama’s solid, the characters are lovable, and I keep saying over and over that what really makes the show shine are its villains. A cartoon needs good villains, whether they’re bumbling, a la Yosemite Sam, or downright sadistic, like Vincent of Cowboy Bebop. And boy, howdy, did the villains come to play in the final episodes–the series ended with a two-hour finale that tied up most loose ends, showed some spectacular pyrotechnics, and hopefully really jerked the chains of the worst part of the Avatar fandom–the shippers. Read on for a spoiler free review!

Fire Nation princess Azula (L), the titular Avatar Aang, and Zuko, exiled Fire Nation prince.

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