Avatar: The Last Airbender (season 3) facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Avatar: The Last Airbender |
|
|---|---|
| Country of origin | United States |
| No. of episodes | 21 |
| Release | |
| Original network | Nickelodeon |
| Original release | September 21, 2007 – July 19, 2008 |
Season Three, also known as Book 3: Fire, is the final season of the popular American animated TV show Avatar: The Last Airbender. It was shown on Nickelodeon from September 21, 2007, to July 19, 2008. This exciting season has 21 episodes. The show was created by Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko. Famous voice actors like Zach Tyler Eisen, Mae Whitman, Jack DeSena, Jessie Flower, Dante Basco, and Grey DeLisle brought the characters to life.
This third and last season focuses on Aang's big mission: to defeat the powerful and scary Fire Lord Ozai. At the start of the season, Aang and his friends Sokka, Katara, and Toph are traveling through the Fire Nation. They are secretly planning to invade the Fire Nation. They also need to find someone to teach Aang how to Firebend.
Halfway through the season, Aang brings together friends he met in earlier episodes. They try to invade the Fire Nation, but it doesn't go as planned. Then, Zuko, who used to be an enemy, decides to join Aang's team. He becomes Aang's Firebending teacher. The season ends with an epic four-part finale. In this finale, Aang finally defeats the Fire Lord and brings the long war to an end.
This final season has 21 episodes, which is one more than the first two seasons. The big finale was shown as a two-hour television movie, combining four episodes. Just like the earlier seasons, Season Three received many positive reviews from critics. People especially loved the finale, with great comments from places like DVD Talk and IGN.
Contents
Making the Show
The third season of Avatar: The Last Airbender was made and shown by Nickelodeon. Nickelodeon is owned by a company called Viacom. The show's creators, Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko, worked closely with Aaron Ehasz.
Many of the episodes were directed by Ethan Spaulding, Lauren MacMullan, and Giancarlo Volpe. A team of talented writers wrote the stories for the episodes. This team included Aaron Ehasz, Elizabeth Welch Ehasz, Tim Hedrick, and John O'Bryan. The creators, DiMartino and Konietzko, also helped write episodes.
The music for the season was created by "The Track Team." This team is made up of Jeremy Zuckerman and Benjamin Wynn. Jeremy Zuckerman was actually Bryan Konietzko's roommate, which is how they knew each other!
Voice Actors
Here are some of the amazing voice actors who brought the characters to life in Season Three:
| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| Zach Tyler Eisen | Aang |
| Mae Whitman | Katara |
| Jack DeSena | Sokka |
| Dante Basco | Zuko |
| Jessie Flower | Toph |
| Cricket Leigh | Mai |
| Olivia Hack | Ty Lee |
| Grey DeLisle | Azula |
A Change in Voice Actors
Sadly, Mako Iwamatsu, who was the original voice for the wise character Iroh, passed away during the making of the season. He was replaced by Greg Baldwin, who continued to voice Iroh for the rest of the show.
Episodes
Here is a list of all the episodes in Season Three:
| Episode's number | Τitle | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | Prod. Code |
| 1 | The Awakening | Giancarlo Volpe | Aaron Ehasz | 21 September 2007 | 301 |
| 2 | The Headband | Joaquim Dos Santos | John O' Bryan | 28 September 2007 | 302 |
| 3 | The Painted Lady | Ethan Spaulding | Joshua Hamilton | 5 Οctober 2007 | 303 |
| 4 | Sokka's Master | Giancarlo Volpe | Tim Hedrick | 12 Οctober 2007 | 304 |
| 5 | The Beach | Joaquim Dos Santos | Katie Mattila | 19 October 2007 | 305 |
| 6 | The Avatar and the Firelord | Ethan Spaulding | Elizabeth Welch Ehasz | 26 Οctober 2007 | 306 |
| 7 | The Runaway | Giancarlo Volpe | Joshua Hamilton | 2 November 2007 | 307 |
| 8 | The Puppetmaster | Joaquim Dos Santos | Tim Hedrick | 9 November 2007 | 308 |
| 9 | Nightmares and Daydreams | Ethan Spaulding | John O' Bryan | 16 Νovember 2007 | 309 |
| 10 | The Day of Black Sun Part 1 The Invasion | Giancarlo Volpe | Michael Dante DiMartino | 30 November 2007 | 310 |
| 11 | The Day of Black Sun Part 2 The Eclipse | Joaquim Dos Santos | Aaron Ehasz | 30 November 2007 | 311 |
| 12 | The Western Air Temple | Ethan Spaulding | Elizabeth Welch Ehasz & Tim Hedrick | 14 July 2008 | 312 |
| 13 | The Firebending Masters | Giancarlo Volpe | John O' Bryan | 15 July 2008 | 313 |
| 14 | The Boiling Rock Part 1 | Joaquim Dos Santos | May Chan | 16 July 2008 | 314 |
| 15 | The Boiling Rock Part 2 | Ethan Spaulding | Joshua Hamilton | 16 July 2008 | 315 |
| 16 | The Southern Raiders | Joaquim Dos Santos | Elizabeth Welch Ehasz | 17 July 2008 | 316 |
| 17 | The Ember Island Players | Giancarlo Volpe | Tim Hedrick, Josh Hamilton & John O'Bryan | 18 July 2008 | 317 |
| 18 | Sozin's Comet, Part 1: The Phoenix King | Ethan Spaulding | Michael Dante DiMartino | 19 July 2008 | 318 |
| 19 | Sozin's Comet, Part 2: The Old Masters | Giancarlo Volpe | Aaron Ehasz | 19 July 2008 | 319 |
| 20 | Sozin's Comet, Part 3: Into the Inferno | Joaquim Dos Santos | Michael Dante DiMartino | 19 July 2008 | 320 |
| 21 | Sozin's Comet, Part 4: Avatar Aang | Joaquim Dos Santos | Michael Dante DiMartino | 19 July 2008 | 321 |
DVDs Available
Between October 30, 2007, and September 16, 2008, Nickelodeon released the season on DVD. There were four separate DVD volumes and a complete box-set. Each of the first three volumes had one disc with five episodes. Volume four had one disc with six episodes. The full box set included all 21 episodes on five discs. The box set was also released in the UK on February 1, 2010.
| Volume | Discs | Episodes | Release Date (USA) | Release Date (Europe) | Release Date (Australia) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | 5 | 30 October 2007 | Not released | 1 June 2010 |
| 2 | 1 | 5 | 22 January 2008 | Not released | TBA |
| 3 | 1 | 5 | 6 May 2008 | Not released | TBA |
| 4 | 1 | 6 | 29 July 2008 | Not released | TBA |
| Box set | 5 | 21 | 16 September 2008 | 1 February 2010 | TBA |
What People Thought
Just like the first two seasons, Season Three of Avatar: The Last Airbender got mostly positive reviews from critics. Jamie S. Rich from DVD Talk said that the show had "amazing animation." He also mentioned that the character designs were "colorful and inventive." He thought the animation was "smooth and consistently executed."
Jamie S. Rich also wrote that this final season was "the best." He liked how important things were happening in the story and how the characters were changing. He praised the show's creators for always keeping the quality high. He said the writing was "smart" and the animation was "always impressive."
Henrik Batallones, a writer for BuddyTV, pointed out that many news sources gave the season finale great reviews. He noted that even big names like the New York Times gave Avatar "glowing reviews."
The season also received praise for how good its video and sound quality were. Nick Lyons from DVD Talk thought the video looked even better than in previous seasons. He also said the sound was "spot on," meaning it was perfect.
The season won some awesome awards too! At the 36th Annie Awards in 2008, it won "Best Animated Television Production for Children." At the same awards, Joaquim Dos Santos won "Best Directing in an Animated Television Production" for his work on the episode "Into the Inferno." Joaquim Dos Santos also got a nomination at the Annecy International Animated Film Festival in 2008 for his work on "The Day of Black Sun Part 2: The Eclipse." Plus, the music editor and composer Jeremy Zuckerman and the sound editing team were nominated for a Golden Reel award. This was for "Best Sound Editing in a Television Animation" for their work in the episode "Avatar Aang."
Future Movie Plans
A movie called The Last Airbender was made, and there were plans for a trilogy. The final part of this movie series was expected to be based on Book Three. The main actors from the first two movies and M. Night Shyamalan were planned to return as director, writer, and producer.
