| abstract | - Ozai continuously blasts away at Aang's earth shield and taunts him. Meanwhile, on an airship within the fleet, Toph metalbends the rudder to make the ship spiral into the others. A Fire Nation soldier on the ship spots them and tries to blast both Toph and Sokka off using firebending. They evade his attack only to fall off the side of the airship. Sokka tries to break the fall using his sword, but instead lands on a platform which breaks his leg. Toph is left dangling off the edge, holding Sokka's hand. Two firebenders approach to attack them on either side, so he uses his boomerang and sword to ward them off, losing them both. Even so, more firebenders come, and Sokka and Toph are seemingly doomed. They are saved, however, by another incoming airship, piloted by Suki, on which they land. Ozai overwhelms Aang's stone sphere with a charged fire bomb, nearly causing him to lose consciousness from the heat. Increasing his assault, Ozai charges up an attack powerful enough to destroy the sphere completely. The impact throws Aang backward with his back against a jagged stone wall, where his scar aligns with a protruding piece of rock. Upon collision, his thought chakra is unblocked, and Aang receives a vision of his Avatar predecessors, all in the Avatar State, lining up beside him. Unaware of this, Ozai approaches the pile of rocks underneath which Aang is buried. Taunting Aang to come out, Ozai is surprised to suddenly be grabbed by the beard as Aang emerges from the rubble, his tattoos glowing from the Avatar State light. The Phoenix King immediately strikes for the Avatar's head, though Aang effortlessly pushes Ozai's hand out of the way, directing his fire harmlessly into the sky, before countering with a powerful air blast to the chest, which sends Ozai tumbling backward. Ozai slams to a halt by roughly connecting with a stone pillar and sags onto his knees. Glancing up, he sees an infuriated Avatar floating through the sky in a sphere of air. As Aang roars, enhanced fire whips shoot out of his mouth and all his limbs. As he rises higher into the sky, he uses them to destroy several earth pillars and summon the loose rocks toward him, as well as simultaneously drawing water from the nearby ocean. He concentrates the bulk of his flames, condenses the rocks, and tightens the water to all form circles around him. In Ba Sing Se, the Order of the White Lotus is successfully liberating the city; Pakku and Piandao work together to get past some Fire Nation soldiers, Bumi and Jeong Jeong each take down several Fire Nation tundra tanks, and Iroh burns down the Fire Nation flag hanging from the Earth Kingdom Royal Palace. Aang, possessed by the Avatar State, charges at Ozai and knocks him into the sky, but Ozai recovers before Aang can get to him again. Ozai flees by using firebending to propel himself at great speeds as Aang chases after him. Aang earthbends small fragments of rock, which he fires at him like bullets, though Ozai barely manages to evade them all and continues fleeing. Back at the Fire Nation capital, Azula relentlessly shoots fire and lightning at Katara, driving her away from any source of water. She proceeds to taunt Prince Zuko, who is collapsed on the ground. Though Katara finds water to bend, Azula is too quick for her attacks and the waterbender is forced to flee from her immense flames. Eventually, she discovers a grate with water underneath and some chains nearby. Luring Azula above the grate, she bends the water around them just before Azula is able to release her attack at point-blank range, freezing them both in place. As Azula looks on helplessly, Katara unfreezes the water around herself, swims around in the thawed water, and binds the firebender's hands together to the grate with the chains. She melts the remaining water and runs to Zuko to heal him. He weakly thanks Katara, but she responds tearfully that she should be thanking him for protecting her. Azula sees her brother rise, still alive, and her brittle mind finally shatters completely; she firebends from her mouth wildly before rolling around on the ground, screaming and crying uncontrollably. Zuko and Katara silently look upon what has become of the once-mighty Azula with pity. Aang, still controlled by the Avatar State, continues to pursue the evading Phoenix King and tries to crush him between two stone pillars with earthbending, but Ozai manages to avoid the collision in time. Ozai tries to counterattack, but his attempts continually fail against the unbelievable power of all the past Avatars. Aang catches him with waterbending and subdues him by earthbending shackles onto his arms and legs. Hovering over his foe, the Avatar speaks with the voices of his predecessors, saying that Ozai and his forefathers have devastated the balance of the world for which he must now pay the ultimate price. The possessed Aang proceeds to deliver the final blow, a combination of all four elements into one attack. Moments before the strike lands, however, Aang's peaceful nature breaks through the control of the Avatar State; he manages to exit the state, cancelling his attack at the last instant. Aang releases Ozai from his bonds, saying that he is not going to end the fight that way. Ozai mocks Aang once more, that despite being the most powerful being in the world, he is still weak. As Aang's back is turned, he tries to strike him with firebending, but Aang senses his movement, via Toph's signature earthbending technique, and quickly disables him with earthen shackles. Aang remembers what the lion turtle taught him, and uses the technique to bend Ozai's inner energies, risking being totally destroyed himself. Indeed, Aang's blue energy is nearly consumed by Ozai's orange energy, but he manages to overcome it. A pillar of blue light shoots into the sky, similar to the beam of light that appeared when Aang was freed from the iceberg. Exhausted from the ordeal, Ozai pathetically tries to attack Aang again, but finds he cannot firebend at all. Aang explains he removed Ozai's firebending powers so he cannot hurt anyone anymore. Demonstrating his new found control over the Avatar State, Aang waterbends the tide to rise and douse the burning land. Momo flies back to him and lands on his shoulder. Sokka, Toph, and Suki meet up with Aang as Sozin's Comet departs Earth. They congratulate Aang and wonder if Ozai, collapsed on the ground, is dead. Ozai snarls that he is still alive, prompting Aang to explain that he took away his firebending with an ability that he learned from a lion turtle. Sokka seizes the opportunity to taunt Ozai and calls him "The Loser Lord." Ozai weakly tries to defend his title as the Phoenix King, but passes out again from exhaustion, prompting Toph to insult his title by calling him the "Phoenix King of Getting His Butt Whooped." Suki weakly tries, "King of the Guys Who Don't Win?" Toph advises that she leave the name-calling to them. The sky fades from bright red to the dark of night as the comet fades into space once again. The next day at the Fire Nation palace, Zuko is trying to dress himself for his coronation as Fire Lord, but is having trouble due to his injuries. To his surprise, Mai arrives and helps him, and he is glad to see she was released from prison. She and Zuko kiss, but afterward Mai starkly warns him not to break up with her ever again. Everyone is soon reunited in the Fire Nation capital city. Friends who were imprisoned have been set free. Katara and Sokka find their father Hakoda, who tells them he is the proudest father in the world, and that their mother would be proud of them, too. Sokka is distressed to see Ty Lee dressed in uniform among the Kyoshi Warriors. Paranoid, he assumes she is disguising herself again until Suki tells him Ty Lee officially joined. Ty Lee happily explains she bonded with the warriors in prison and after a few chi blocking lessons, she was allowed to join and be "best friends forever". Before his coronation, Zuko, now clad in the robes of the Fire Lord, approaches Aang, who dons the attire of an airbending master, and reminisces about how different his life was a year prior, noting that he went from being obsessed with capturing the Avatar to being his friend. Aang, on the other hand, cannot believe he was still frozen in a block of ice the year prior. Commenting on how different the world is, Zuko comforts him by saying the world will be even more different once they rebuild it together. They hug, and the coronation begins in the plaza. Zuko addresses the crowd that the War is now over and gives Aang the credit for saving the world as everyone cheers. Zuko is crowned Fire Lord and declares the start of a new era of love and peace. Zuko later pays his imprisoned father a visit. Ozai, ragged and defeated, sarcastically remarks the new Fire Lord has graced him with his presence. Zuko remarks that he should be glad that Aang let him live. He tells Ozai that banishment was the best thing that ever happened to him, as it put him on the right path. He hopes perhaps being in prison will give Ozai the same chance for redemption. Ozai sees through Zuko's purpose and asks why he is really visiting him. Zuko gravely demands Ozai tell him where his mother Ursa is. Sometime later in Ba Sing Se, life has improved in the world; the stack of Fire Nation tanks Bumi destroyed is being used by children for earthbending games. At the Jasmine Dragon, Zuko helps serve tea to the gang, including Mai and Iroh, as they all relax together. Sokka is painting a group portrait to remember the good times, but it is crudely drawn. Katara complains that her oversize hair loopies make her look like Momo, Zuko grumbles that his hair was not that spiky as portrayed in the drawing, Mai comments that she looks like a man, Suki is shown firebending, and Iroh has a big stomach. Iroh tells them he has really trimmed down his weight and Toph tells them she thinks they all look perfect, a joke on her blindness which causes everyone to laugh. Aang smiles and steps outside the tea shop to pet Appa. Katara follows him out, and they both warmly embrace before sharing a passionate kiss.
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