AVATAR: THE LAST AIRBENDER (2024): Season One
A gorgeous production built on a pagan foundation.
Should You See It?
Let's be honest about both halves of this. Netflix spared no expense, and it shows: four stars' worth of production values, compelling storytelling, exciting action, and characters brought vividly to life across eight episodes. On craft alone, this is a triumph.
But craft is not the whole question. Season One rests on a false, pagan worldview rooted in Eastern mysticism — reincarnation, pantheistic "balance theory," a hero who meditates into a spirit world and communes with his former selves. The moral virtues the show does honor — courage, justice, self-sacrifice — appear in spite of its cosmology, not because of it. And a genuinely disturbing demonic spirit puts this well outside safe territory for the children it's marketed to.
So here is our answer: skip it. However beautifully made, Season One is abhorrent theologically, and we don't expect future seasons to improve.
The Story
NO SPOILERS — WE KEEP THE SURPRISESThe world is divided among Four Nations tied to the elements — air, earth, water, and fire — and only the Avatar can master all four and keep them in balance. When the imperialist Fire Nation makes its play for dominance, that balance shatters.
Aang, a young airbender, wakes after a century frozen in ice to find the world changed for the worse — and to discover he is the Avatar the Fire Nation has been trying to prevent. With new friends Katara and Sokka at his side, he sets out to understand his destiny while the Fire Lord hunts him with everything he has.
Is It Any Good?
Four stars, and they're earned on the merits. Netflix's live-action adaptation is a rousing fantasy adventure with strong writing, solid performances, excellent effects, and real character development. The story stays true to the beloved animated original, and some characters arguably surpass their cartoon versions — Sokka is braver and more honorable here, and Katara is written with a lighter feminist touch.
As before, Prince Zuko and Uncle Iroh remain the most dynamic figures, and few others reach their level. Episode 6, "Masks," puts the depth of that pair on full display and stands out as a highlight. This is an exhilarating ride with genuine production polish. On technical grounds alone, it's hard to fault — which is exactly what makes the worldview problem worth taking seriously.
The Worldview
Beautifully as it's made, Season One promotes a false, mystical Eastern paganism. The Avatar is a supernatural being who keeps a Confucian "balance" among the Four Nations and is eternally reincarnated, Hindu-style, whenever that balance is threatened. The series is steeped in Buddhism and Hinduism, and Aang meditates to connect with a spirit world, communes with his past selves, and even pulls his friends' souls out of their bodies through astral projection.
The show's underlying assumption is "balance theory" — the pagan idea, shared by Confucian and Greek philosophy, that the Good is a mean between extremes and that even good and evil must be held in balance. Scripture won't have it. The greatest power in the cosmos is the Holy Spirit, not an impersonal karmic energy. And virtues like love and justice aren't a midpoint between extremes; love distorted is simply not love.
The spiritual content turns genuinely dark. Aang and his friends encounter Koh, "the face stealer," a truly disturbing demonic being, said to be born of an ancient spirit who supposedly crafted every face and brought identity into the world — an utterly unbiblical account of human diversity. The series also carries strong environmentalist overtones, with Aang treating protection of nature as equal in value to protecting people. But God made humanity the pinnacle of creation, image-bearers called to steward the world, not to level ourselves with it.
The virtues the show borrows — friendship, courage, sacrifice — are stolen from the Christian civilization it otherwise contradicts. The real answer to its longing for balance is a Person: "in him all things hold together" (Colossians 1:17).
The Content Guide
The specifics — spoilers included by nature — so you can judge for your own family.
Very strong false, pagan worldview based on Eastern, occult mysticism (the hero is a supernatural being who meditates with a spirit world, communes with his former reincarnated selves, engages in astral projection, and keeps the Confucian balance between the Four Nations and is eternally reincarnated, Hindu style, whenever that Confucian balance is threatened), with strong environmentalist overtones (such as the hero says, “It’s the Avatar’s job to protect the natural world, and that’s just as important as protecting people and fighting firebenders”), mitigated slightly by some moral, redemptive values like justice and sacrificial love
No obscenities or profanities (sometimes people call each other “idiots”
Lots of strong and light, sometimes intense, action violence between air, earth, fire, and water wielders called “benders,” usually without any blood and gore; many men are beaten and knocked down in a street fight where fire and earth elemental powers are employed, a man is shown burned to death by a firebender (his immolation and burned corpse are briefly shown); a flashback shows an entire people residing near a temple being massacred (firebenders attack and kill many airbenders), the elemental powers cause harm and destruction, and death, a ship of soldiers arrives at a polar village, and a young man fights a firebender with a small blade until an airbender arrives and literally blows away the competition (no blood), a young man escapes from a ship and flies through the sky but is shot down by a firebender and starts to fall to his death but is rescued just in time, a young man returns to a temple and sees the burned skeleton of a friend (several intense shots), the young man becomes angry and begins to tear up the ruins endangering two companions, the hero faces many foes and must use and master the four elements in combat repeatedly, many battles take place where air, earth and waterbenders face off against firebenders and each other, fantasy creatures such as badger moles, are present in combat or in jump scenes, a main character uses flaming kicks and punches in combat, another uses a fiery whip, the hero’s powers continue to grow, and at one point he blows many men to their deaths from atop a fortress wall, a young man is forced to fight his father, the young man is defeated, and his father burns the left side of his face including his eye as punishment, an elemental ocean spirit attacks the firebender siege fleet and destroys many ships and people, people are burned to death, drowned and cast headlong from buildings
No sex
A young man is shirtless while bathing, and several men are shirtless while in combat and in various situations
No alcohol use
No smoking or drugs;
The bad guys oppress people of other nations.
Talk About It
Questions for the drive home, the dinner table, or the youth group.
The series builds everything on "balance" between good and evil. Why does the Bible refuse that idea — and what does it mean that God is light, in whom "there is no darkness at all"?
1 John 1:5 · Isaiah 5:20Aang treats protecting nature as equal in value to protecting people. How does Scripture describe humanity's unique place in creation, and what kind of stewardship does that call us to?
Genesis 1:26–28 · Psalm 8:4–6The show imagines reincarnation and communion with past selves. What does the Bible say instead about death, judgment, and where our hope truly rests?
Hebrews 9:27 · 2 Corinthians 5:8The heroes display real courage, friendship, and sacrifice — virtues that don't actually fit the show's worldview. Where do those virtues truly come from, and why can't a pagan framework sustain them?
John 15:13 · James 1:17The Final Word
There's no denying the skill here — four stars of production polish and storytelling craft. But a beautiful vessel carrying a false, pagan cargo is still carrying it, and this one leans hard into Eastern mysticism, reincarnation, and a genuinely dark spirit world. That's why our answer is skip it. Looking for something the whole family can enjoy without the baggage? Try our latest family-friendly picks.
