The world of Avatar: The Last Airbender is a masterfully-crafted universe imbued with demographic tensions, racial politics, unique culture, and rich history. At a thematic level, it is not unlike our own world, and from that we can draw many parallels to our own lives. Sure, we can't bend the four elements (yet) but we can still learn from the mistakes and accomplishment of the characters, most of whom have maintained a special place in our heart since childhood.

Still, with such an intricate world, there are bound to be some details that are overlooked, some plot holes that go unnoticed, and no small number of mistakes made unintentionally. For some franchises, it hinders the overall message. For others it may ruin the entire storyline. But for ATLA, it simply adds to the uniqueness of the show. While we may scratch our heads wondering whether energy-bending was a solid plot resolution or just another deus ex machina, we can't deny that the Book 3 finale changed our lives.

The worth of a show isn't in its perfection, but in the fans' acceptance of its flaws. And in that spirit, let's take a look at some of ATLA's most iconic headscratchers.

20 What If He Really Was The Last Airbender?

In Legend of Korra it's confirmed that Aang and Katara had children together, one of which was Tenzin, an airbender. He had more children who were airbenders, and when they get older they'll likely have airbender children of their own (with other types of benders of course).

But what if Aang simply didn't have the game to get with Katara? What if he never actually had kids? Or, more likely, what if he had multiple children but none of them ended being airbenders. When the Avatar cycle came back around to Air, there would be no one for the spirit to incarnate into, since no airbenders are left. Would that element simply be skipped, or would the spirit pick a willing candidate who may be a non-bender and imbue them with the power to airbend? The logistical questions are endless.

19 The Earth King Is An Idiot

In Book 2, Azula, Mai, and Ty Lee take the Kyoshi Warriors captive, steal their gear, and use them as disguises to get close to the Earth King. Under the guise of being bodyguards, they infiltrate the royal house and eventually launch a coup on the city. At some point, the Earth King tells them all about the Day of Black Sun, or the day the Avatar and friends are planning an invasion on the Fire Nation during a solar eclipse.

After the king is freed and finally meets with Team Avatar, he is told that the Kyoshi warriors were imposters. However, he completely forgets to mention that he told them about their entire invasion plan. It's bad enough he let battle secrets out, but it's even worse that he didn't fess up to it. Had he done so, the eventual invasion could've been avoided, and everyone who died for nothing would still be alive.

Also, invading the Fire Nation shouldn't have been that big a deal in the first place, but more on that later...

18 How Are Air Nomads Born?

Think about all the flashback scenes in ATLA where we caught a glimpse of life in the Air Temples. All we saw were male monks living together, not a single female. We later find out in the show that temples were separated by gender, and that monks and nuns lived apart and led celibate lives. This begs the question: how were airbenders born? And more importantly, who were Aang's parents?

The former was never revealed in the show, though we do know they were air nomads (not so celibate after all). As for air nomad children in general, fans have come up with numerous theories. Some say the parents were non-benders from a random village who sent their sons/daughters to learn from the monks/nuns. Others prefer to believe the air nomads partake in a "pon farr"-type arrangement (from Star Trek, where Vulcans get an overwhelming urge to mate every seven years and thus follow a reproductive cycle).

17 Zuko Never Introduced Himself

Being so familiar with the characters ourselves, it's hard to pinpoint exactly how the characters learned about each other. In fact, it turns out that Zuko never explicitly gives his name to Aang or his friends. Even the screencap above is just him practicing his speech to the Gaang. There isn't even a scene where someone else tells them or they overhear it. But at some point in the show, they start referring to him as "Zuko" as if they'd always known. One could argue that being the exiled crown prince of the Fire Nation, Zuko was somewhat of a famous figure in the world, probably known far and wide. But the Southern Water Tribe is a fairly remote place, and it's hard to imagine they got frequent geopolitical updates.

The same thing happened with Azula, in fact. She never actually introduces herself but Aang and the others just happen to know what her name is.

16 What's The Point Of Learning The Elements?

Probably the most dubious aspects of the series is how Aang managed to learn waterbending, earthbending, and firebending in the span of a single year. Previous avatars spent years mastering the four elements, and most didn't have to deal with the same level of foe (a fascist Fire Lord adamant on taking over the world) as Aang did. Still, he was able to win the final battle by entering the Avatar State which, according to Roku, gives him the knowledge of all previous Avatars.

So why, then, did Aang stress so much about learning the elements? All he really needed to do was learn to align his chakras, enter the Avatar State, and he'd automatically download all the knowledge he'd ever need. That's how he (accidentally) defeated the Fire Lord in the end anyway. Sure, the next Avatar wouldn't really gain any extra knowledge from Aang, who would've coasted by on that of his predecessors, but desperate times call for desperate measures.

15 How Are Avatars Identified

Aang found out he was the Avatar when the monks told him, citing that he'd picked the Avatar relics from thousands of toys when he was younger, confirming that he was next in the line of reincarnation. Roku was simply told he was the Avatar by the Fire Sages as a young man. But in nations where it would take forever to have every bending child pick three toys out of a thousand, how do they find out who the Avatar is? We know the cycle is fire, air, water, earth, so the nation of the next Avatar would be known. But for a civilization like the Earth Kingdom, which is said to be the most populous of them all, how is the Avatar found?

The likely method is simply keeping an eye out for children who display a level of skill higher than their peers (such as Korra did) and using some Spirit World consultation to confirm their identity.

14 If Only Iroh Took The Throne

Looking back on the events of ATLA, it's clear that pretty much every bad thing that happened could've been avoided if Iroh had just taken the throne as was his right. The war started under Fire Lord Sozin, and continued with Fire Lord Azulon (Zuko and Azula's grandfather). Next in line was Iroh, who we know had a much more peaceful disposition, and from very early on knew that the Fire Nation had to be stopped. If he had become Fire Lord, he would've been able to end the war and bring peace all on his own. But due to the tragic death of his son, he renounced the title and let his brother Ozai continue the campaign against the other nations.

Sure, Aang still might've frozen himself in the iceberg, the pressure of being Avatar being too much to bear with or without a war. But much of the show's unfortunate events could've been avoided.

13 The Source Of Bending Powers

All benders were given the spiritual ability by lion turtles. We also learned that waterbenders channel their power from the moon, while firebenders get theirs from the sun. Airbenders and earthbenders simply use their respective element. This begs the question: how are firebenders able to bend at night? Most people say that it's because the sun is still hitting the Earth somewhere, imbuing the planet with power that allows bending. But in an eclipse, no sunlight (or very little) is reaching any part of the Earth. This implies that a lunar eclipse would make waterbenders powerless.

The symbolism becomes questionable here. As we learned in school, we only see the moon because it reflects sunlight but has no light of its own. It is known that waterbenders are most powerful during a full moon, but a full moon is just the time of the month when the moon reflects the most sunlight. If anything, it should make firebenders stronger.

12 Sleep-Bending

Many people argue that bending takes talent, practice, and conscious will. However, unintentional bending has happened numerous times in the series. The first was when Katara was yelling at Sokka in the very first episode and accidentally cracked open Aang's iceberg. In another episode, Aang sneezes and airbends himself into the air. It would seem to follow that bending fire, the most volatile element, could most easily be done by accident.

People are known to sleep-walk and sleep-talk, so is it possible that a firebender could set their room on fire during an especially "eventful" dream? The far more likely scenario is that they burn their sheets off, but probably nothing more intense than that.

11 Where Did He Come From, Where Did He Go?

In Book 3, Aang meets an old guru that teaches him to open up his chakras so he can enter the Avatar State at will. No one really talks about it, but his personal history is totally unclear. He's just sort of a convenience character that comes along to teach an extremely important skill, then disappears, never to be seen again.

We know that he was an old friend of Monk Gyatso (Aang's old teacher) which makes him over 100 years old. His elemancy is unclear, but he is greatly attuned to the Spirit World and greatly knowledgeable about the spirituality surrounding the Avatar. But besides that, he's just sort of there.

10 It's Just A Scratch, Walk It Off

Bending can seem like all fun and games in a children's cartoon, but they do almost too good a job making bending seem like a form of play rather than combat. If you really think about what it'd be like to be engulfed by a wave of fire or hit by a large rock in real life, it's a wonder how the people of ATLA aren't coming out of battles with more serious injuries. Why aren't there more people in the Fire Nation (besides Zuko) with serious burn marks? Why isn't every earthbender constantly suffering from internal bleeding and broken bones from being smashed around by rocks? Bending water and air seems relatively safe, but the first two should leave people in a much more critical condition than they do in the show. Perhaps the spiritual ability to bend elements also provides some degree of protection against them?

9 Defeating Ozai Shouldn't Have Been That Hard

The Gaang went through a lot of trouble planning an invasion on the day of a solar eclipse, listing out every move and making sure everything was just right to invade the Fire Nation capital. But here's the thing. In Book 2, they invaded the Earth Kingdom palace with hardly any trouble at all, and it was just the four of them. Sure, the Earth King isn't as powerful a bender as the Fire Lord, but there were a fair number of other adversaries to get through (the Dai Li, Azula's squad, etc.). And they made it though successfully without so much as a scratch, no special eclipse or comet or anything.

The point is: the Avatar, a master waterbender, and the greatest earthbender in the world (and Sokka, I guess) should've been able to storm the Fire Nation capital and take down the Fire Lord without that much of a problem, even without the eclipse (remember, most Fire Nation troops were fighting in the Earth Kingdom). The only reason they failed is because their meticulous planning around the eclipse gave the enemy time to retreat and hide.

8 The Law Of Equivalent Exchange

You may be thinking something along the lines of "wrong anime" but hear me out. Throughout the series, we see earthbenders, especially Toph, pull rocks and boulders out of the ground, seemingly creating them from the Earth itself. But Earthbenders can't create new matter, they bend what is already there. So, for example, think about the bending technique for pulling a pillar from the ground. Theoretically, it should just fall back into the hole that was created. The bender would have to bend deep in the ground to create the proper foundation first, then pull out the raw Earth to fashion the pillar. It's a feat Toph is capable of, but probably not by just any Earthbender.

The actual physics behind Earthbending may be unknown, but it seems much more complex than portrayed on the show if it is indeed following the laws of equivalent exchange and thermodynamics (i.e. matter cannot be created nor destroyed).

7 What Makes Airbending Special

Every form of bending seems to have some sort of "advanced" technique that expands upon the standard practice. For example, earthbending has metalbending. Waterbending has bloodbending and healing. Firebending has lightning-bending. But according to the show, airbending doesn't have some secret ability like those of its counterparts. It may be the most versatile of the elements, but it doesn't seem to have many applications beyond pushing stuff around.

Still, it's a children's show. They probably couldn't show something like creating an air-vacuum to suffocate the target or simply airbending the air out of their lungs. In Legend of Korra, they do present an advanced technique in the form of flight (without a glider).

6 Perks Of Being The Favorite Child

When Zuko returns to the Fire Nation after rejoining forces with Azula in Ba Sing Se, he is hailed as a hero, mostly because his sister was nice enough to give him the credit for "eliminating" the Avatar. She essentially lied to their father about this in order to restore Zuko's honor and shift the blame away from her in case (when) the Avatar turned out be alive.

Of course, Ozai eventually learns the Avatar is still alive and that Azula lied to his face about it. This is a man who burned his son's face off in a duel for speaking out of turn. And yet no punishment is given to the daughter who told several lies (which is arguably a more serious offense). Most would argue that since she was his only viable heir, he couldn't do anything more than just be disappointed. To be fair, that's more than enough punishment for Azula and her daddy issues.

5 What Happened To Jet?

And last but not least, the most ambiguous moment of them all. In Book 1, Aang and his friends run into a group called the Freedom Fighters, a band of young combatants adamant on causing trouble for the Fire Nation. They make a reappearance in Book 2 in Ba Sing Se trying to reclaim the city when they discover the highest leadership has been taken over by Azula and her friends.

Long story short, they end up cornered in a secret underground base. Jet is injured, and insists Team Avatar get out while they can. His friends stay behind with him, and that's the last we see of them. This implies that they died, but it's never explicitly made clear. The show doesn't shy away from the concept of death, so it's strange that they'd make this one so ambiguous. They even poke fun at the event in the Book 3 episode, Ember Island Players.

4 Katara's Necklace

Besides her unique hairstyle, another one of Katara's identifying features is her mother's necklace, passed down from her grandmother. It's an heirloom she holds dear to her heart, and it causes her great grief when she loses it at one point in the series. To make up for it, Aang makes her a new necklace, which she never wears again after that episode. Luckily, she does get her mother's necklace back but no mention is made about replacing Aang's gift. It just sort of happens.

While the gesture may have been ephemeral, he does marry Katara in the end. Perhaps the present meant something after all.

3 Sokka's Meteorite Sword

An entire Book 3 episode is dedicated to making Sokka feel like part of the team, being the only non-bender in the Gaang. After training with a renowned swordmaster, he forges a blade from a meteorite that fell at the start of the episode. After battling his master, Sokka finally feels like a warrior worthy of being on Team Avatar.

Then, in the finale, Sokka loses his sword and after dropping it from the Fire Nation airship, losing it in the woods below. Now, given Toph's extrasensory earthbending perception, it seems probable that she'd be able to locate the sword after the excitement died down. Perhaps she presents it to him as a surprise in the final scene in Iroh's tea shop. But no, we never hear of it again, not even in Legend of Korra.

2 Why The Statues Glow

In one episode, Aang, Katara, and Sokka go the Southern Air Temple. Among other things, they find a room filled with statues of past Avatars. They also discover that the temple itself has become a tomb of corpses, attacked by the Fire Nation those many years ago. In his rage after discovering this, Aang goes into the Avatar State, causing the eyes of the statues to glow blue. We are also shown that somewhere off in a Fire Nation temple, another statue begins to glow in the same way, and the sages send word to the Fire Lord that the Avatar has returned.

The only problem with this otherwise intense and dramatic scene is that Aang entered the Avatar State before when he encased Zuko's ship in ice. Why didn't THAT cause the statues to glow and alert the Fire Nation? Did he have to be within a certain range of the statues for the effect to work? Perhaps we'll never know.

1 We Will Never Let Go Of Roku's Death

So many things could've gone differently if Roku wasn't so completely incompetent. At the end of the episode The Avatar and the Fire Lord, Roku uses his power to hold back two erupting volcanoes on an island so the residents can get to safety. He enters the Avatar State and redirects the lava of one volcano into the ocean. Strangely enough, he doesn't do the same to the other one, even with the help of Fire Lord Sozin (a touching scene, by the way, given that they were enemies at this point). Also, his dragon Fang is literally right there. But instead of scooping him up and flying him to safety, it lands around him and they both perish in the molten deathtrap while Sozin flies away.

So really, if you think about it, it's Fang's fault for trying to be a martyr.