The story after the 100-year war ended in Avatar: The Last Airbender was continued in the form of comics. The comic trilogies showcase the events that happened after the war (in the show that most fans watched and loved). The Lost Adventures and Team Avatar Tales contain standalone adventures of its characters, both during and after the show.
Needless to say, these comics were a much-needed closure for fans who wanted to know what happened next. However, there were some stories and characters from the show that deserved to receive more attention but didn’t get any. Which ones were they?
10 Zuko & Mai's Relationship: No one knows if they ever got back together
At the end of the show, fans saw that Zuko and Mai got back together. Their story continued in the comics until about a year later. However, as the Fire Lord, Zuko kept many necessary secrets from Mai. One day, she decided that she had had enough and broke up with him.
She dated someone else but broke up with him when she realized she still had feelings for Zuko. This was where their story stopped completely. Their story was not shown further. No one knows if they ever got back together ultimately, who they married or who Izumi’s mother was.
9 The Search For The Airbenders: Aang never attempted to look for more airbenders, even when he had the time & resources to do so
When Aang woke up from his 100-year slumber, he was told that all the airbenders had been killed off by the Fire Nation. While it was unbelievable to him at first, he quickly accepted the fact and diverted his attention to saving the world from the war.
In Legend of Korra, the audience saw several Sky Bisons and Flying Lemurs, both believed to have been extinct too. Similarly, it seemed plausible that at least some of the airbenders would have escaped and lived in disguise somewhere. Yet, in the comics that followed, Aang never attempted to look for more airbenders, even when he had the time and resources to do so.
8 Azula's Redemption Arc: she appeared many times in the comics, but she did not improve as a person
Several Avatar fans wanted there to be a redemption arc for Azula. After all, she was just fourteen and suffered from serious mental health issues. She also felt like her own mother thought she was a monster. In the comics, she did appear many times, but she did not improve as a person.
In ‘The Search’ comics, she kept attacking everyone and fled. In the ‘Smoke and Shadow’ comics, she pretended to be Kemurikage, a dark spirit from myths, and kidnapped several Fire Nation children just to mess with Zuko. She was never seen after that.
7 Ozai's Influence Over The Nation: Even from prison, he should have had enough power, means, & influence to be able to kick a few things into motion
Ozai was a powerful Fire Lord with a lot of influence in the Fire Nation for a long time. It was surprising to see that he was merely left to rot in prison after Aang defeated him in the 100-year war. Even though his bending was taken away, he was still the Fire Lord and commanded the Fire Nation armies.
However, he took no action and was imprisoned instead. Even from prison, he should have had enough power, means, and influence to be able to kick a few things into motion. Nothing of the sort was ever shown to happen.
6 Sokka's Search For His Space Sword & Boomerang: No one knew if he made any attempts to retrieve them after the war was over
Fans knew how much Sokka loved his trusty boomerang and deadly space sword. It was a sad moment when Sokka lost them both at the end of the show while trying to save Toph and himself from firebender soldiers. No one knew if he made any attempts to retrieve them after the war was over.
A picture of grown-up Avatar Gang members was shown in Legend of Korra where Sokka was seen carrying a sword. Fans speculated that it may have been the space sword. However, it was all just speculation, and nothing was confirmed about it.
5 Guru Pathik's Fate: he was never brought up again
Guru Pathik was a mysterious character who was a part of the show for a very brief time, yet he played one of the most important roles that changed the course of the entire show. He gave Aang the training and guidance he required to be able to control the Avatar state by showing him how to open his chakras.
Guru Pathik was over a hundred years old and had a vast amount of knowledge and wisdom. Team Avatar and the entire world could have used some of that wisdom going forward after the 100-year war, but he was never brought up again.
4 Iroh After The 100-Year War: Uncle Iroh really took a backseat in the comics
It was disheartening for the fans to see their beloved Uncle Iroh take a backseat in the comics. He retired to the Earth Kingdom where he continued running his tea shop. He also briefly looked after the Fire Nation duties while Zuko went out to search for his mother.
However, that comic was focused on Zuko and his search, and not Iroh's. It would have been good to see him advise Zuko on how to be a Fire Lord. Even a short tale on one of his White Lotus Society adventures would have been interesting to see.
3 Koh The Face Stealer: the Avatar gang did come across his mother, but Koh did not make an appearance in the comics
Koh the Face Stealer was a formidable spirit in Avatar who could steal anyone’s face if they showed any kind of emotion. Aang met him in Season 1 when he wanted to know where the moon spirit was.
He told Aang they would meet again, but they never did. In the comics, the Avatar gang did come across his mother, the Mother of Faces, in ‘The Search’ comic trilogy. However, Koh did not make an appearance in the comics or Korra.
2 More Adventures/Missions/Details of the White Lotus Society: Fans would have loved to see some more adventures of this group
The Order of the White Lotus was a secret society that had some of the most powerful and skilled people around the world as its members. This society left several questions unanswered about its origins, history, and true purpose.
The liberation of Ba Sing Se was one of the most phenomenal displays of power in the show. Fans would have loved to see some more adventures of this group of talented individuals and know more about the society in general.
1 More Information About The Sub-Bending Styles: not much information was given on how these forms of bending came into existence
AtLA showcased a lot of cool sub-bending styles like metalbending, bloodbending, combustion bending, lightning bending, and lava bending. However, not much information was given on how these forms of bending, except metalbending which was invented by Toph, came into existence.
How did combustion benders discover they could explode things with their minds? If Bolin, an earthbender, could bend lava but not metal, what factors came into play for this to happen? What were the sub-bending methods of Air? It would have been interesting to see at least some of these questions answered in the stories that followed after the show ended.
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