So, what happened to Avatar Aang after Avatar: The Last Airbender ended? The Last Airbender sequel series, The Legend of Korra, takes place 70 years after the events of The Last Airbender and introduces an entirely new Avatar, Korra, a young woman from the Southern Water Tribe.
Korra could only become the Avatar after Aang passed away, however, which was sadly at a rather young age for such a talented and powerful bender. After all, Avatar Kyoshi, an Avatar from the Earth Kingdom, lived to be over 200 years old, while Aang’s old friend Bumi, a powerful earthbender, lived to be over 100 years old as well. Aang, unfortunately, was not so lucky.
Though he lived a great life with Katara by his side, and they had three beautiful children together, Aang died at age 66 of relatively natural biological causes and, therefore, never got to meet his grandchildren. The rest of Team Avatar outlived Aang by a good long while. Katara, Toph, and Zuko, for instance, were all still alive by the time The Legend of Korra began.
Though one could technically say that Aang died at the age of 166, as he was stuck in the ice for 100 years before he was discovered by Sokka and Katara in The Last Airbender’s premiere episode, he never truly experienced anything or aged during those years. As one of the series creators, Michael DiMartino, explained in an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Aang had “burned up some of his extra Avatar time” whilst in suspended animation, drawing on his Chi and the power of the Avatar State to keep himself alive. That tremendous effort later took a toll on his body, which resulted in his premature death.
Though not much is known about Aang’s exploits as the Avatar after The Last Airbender’s successful ending, we do know that he was instrumental in the unification of the Fire Nation colonies, attempted to revive the culture of the Air Nomads, and fought off a powerful bloodbender known as Yakone, who was causing unrest in Republic City. If you want to know more about Aang’s life between The Last Airbender and the upcoming movie, be sure to read the Avatar: The Last Airbender comics, which give a wonderful overview of what Aang and his friends got up to after Aang defeated Fire Lord Ozai in the series finale.
Luckily, we’ll soon see more of adult Aang in the upcoming animated movie Aang: The Last Airbender, which will reunite audiences with Team Avatar while they’re in their 30s. Dante Basco will resume his role as Zuko, while Aang will be portrayed by Eric Nam, Katara will be voiced by Jessica Batten, Sokka will be played by Roman Zaragoza, and Toph will be voiced by Dionne Quan. Dave Bautista is set to voice a brand-new villain.
(featured image: Nickelodeon)
