“Long ago, the four nations lived together in harmony. Then, everything changed when the Fire Nation attacked. Only the Avatar, master of all four elements, could stop them, but when the world needed him most, he vanished. A hundred years passed, and my brother and I discovered the new Avatar, an airbender named Aang.” – Katara, Avatar the Last Airbender

Netflix’s live-action adaptation of Nickelodeon’s Avatar: The Last Airbender has mixed reviews. The original, an anime-style cartoon, aired almost two decades ago and has since won the hearts of children and adults alike. It follows the story of a young boy, the Avatar, who can harness the four elements through a skill called elemental building. The catch is that he was frozen in ice for 100 years, and when he awakes, the world he knew is gone, and the Fire Nation is raging imperial war. The show is for children but deals with dark and very real worldly issues, such as imperialism, war, misogamy, poverty, racism, and many more. However, at its core, the show is about a young boy and his friends learning who they are in the world.

The story itself pulls on mythological themes and archetypes. One hundred years before the show’s start, the Fire Nation led an assault on the Air Benders and wiped them out. Lord Sozin wanted to eliminate the next Avatar, an airbender. Assuming the Fire Nation had killed Aang in the genocide, they focused the next 100 years on systematically killing every water bender. Since the Avatar reincarnates in a cycle, they hoped to eliminate the next Avatar, who would have been a water bender.

A Mythic Theme of Change

The theme of killing all the children is a common one in mythology. Under Merlin’s advice and fearing a prophecy of his demise, King Arthur orders all the babies in his kingdom to be placed in a boat and sent out to sea. One survives, Mordred, who eventually is responsible for Arthur’s downfall.

Oedipus was born to the King and Queen of Thebes. A prophet declared that he would kill his father and marry his mother. King Laius ordered a shepherd to kill the child, but the shepherd gave the child to King Polybus and Queen Merope to raise as their own. Oedipus learned of the prophecy and assumed it was about Polybus and Merope. He left, traveling to Thebes, where he eventually unknowingly killed his father in a quarrel and married his mother. When he discovered the truth, he was devastated.

Pharaoh in Exodus orders the death of all the children in the Jewish family. Moses survives and is raised by Pahaoah and his wife. He learns his true heritage as an adult and flees, only to return and liberate his people from Pahaoah. , Herod, fearing for the child king who will overthrow him, has all the boys under age 2 murdered.

In the Story of Krishna, Kamsa, the tyrant ruler of the Vrishni kingdom, heard a prophecy that the eighth son of his cousin, Devaki, would kill him. She had six children, which he murdered. After a child-switch o, Krishna was born and hidden away. Later, he would behead Kasma.

This story is remarkably similar to Greek and Roman stories about Zeus/Jove, the last child of Kronos. Kronos, fearing that his child would kill him as he did his father, Uranus, ate each child soon after it was born. Fed up with this, Zeus’ mother smuggled him away to be raised elsewhere and fed her husband a rock. Later, Zeus repeated the cycle, killed his father, and rescued his siblings.

The tyrant kills the innocent to prevent the future

This mythic theme – the tyrant kills the innocent to prevent the future – speaks to the nature of change. Tyranny is a symptom of a chokehold on power. It results from one person, organization, country, or system clinging to power and wealth and doing whatever it takes to strengthen it. It is a fragile, brittle grasp, and any change, any newness, or question would bring the whole structure down like a stack of cards. That is why they must challenge change.

Children are change. They are the future embodied in the present. They are joyful, filled with risk and excitement, curiosity and care. Their childlike wonder, if nurtured, leads to innovation and the toppling of old ways. Purely by outliving their grandparents, they represent the change that will inevitably come. These two elements, the past and future, are not always in conflict. Wisdom, knowledge, age, and rooted lividness are what the tyrant could be if they accept change. They could be the sage, the Obi-Wan Kenobi, or the Gandalf. They know the world fluxes and moves through cycles.

Avatar depicts both of these dynamics. On the one hand, there is Aang and his tied fate to the Fire Lord, the grandson of the Air Nomad’s murderer. They are locked in a cosmic battle for the soul of their world.On the other hand, there is Zuko, the exiled prince of the Fire Nation throne, and his Uncle, Iroh. Iroh is the warrior who lets the past go, nurtures change, and welcomes it. He cares for his nephew and encourages him to remain flexible, curious, and hopeful in a world that tries to stifle him. These children, Aang and Zuko, are the products of fear and a stuck system’s refusal to change. Their existence is a paradox, created from the fear that they would exist in the first place.

The Inner Child

This speaks to our inner children, whom we stifle and root out. We fear their joyful spark or curious questions because they slide into the cracks of the systems and walls we build in our lives. They threatens to overturn our stories and asks us to play in the places we’ve hidden away. Aang reminds us that we can play in a dark world. We can have hope and curiosity but also responsibility. These can be balanced. There is always time for laughter, and there is always time for sorrow. Avatar the Last Airbender draws on these mythic themes, spinning them into new forms for a new audience. Its popularity and multiple adaptations show that modern myth is very much alive.