"Sozin's Comet" is the four-part series finale of the American animated Nickelodeon television series Avatar: The Last Airbender. It was directed by Ethan Spaulding, Giancarlo Volpe, and Joaquim Dos Santos, and written by Michael Dante DiMartino, Bryan Konietzko, and Aaron Ehasz. Although the finale is split into four episodes, it aired as a two-hour four-part film on July 19, 2008. The Saturday airing of "Sozin's Comet" acted as a climax to a week of ten new episodes that concluded Avatars third season. Before the week of July 14–19, no episodes had been shown in the US since November 30, 2007, though some episodes had been released on DVD prior to their airdate. This is also considered a 92-minute television movie.
The finale focuses on series protagonist Aang's non-violent personality and his reluctance to kill Fire Lord Ozai. The finale also follows the exploits of many of Aang's friends and allies, including Sokka, Toph and Suki's struggle to destroy a Fire Nation airship armada, Zuko and Katara's battle against Azula, and Iroh and the Order of the White Lotus' attempt to liberate the city of Ba Sing Se.
"Sozin's Comet" was acclaimed by critics and fans alike, and is widely regarded as one of the greatest series finales of all time. The initial showing averaged 5.6 million viewers, a 195% increase compared to the previous year in its time period. The premieres of episodes beginning with "The Western Air Temple" throughout the week received over 19 million viewers, of which 5.6 million were from Sozin's Comet. At the 2008 Annie Awards, the director of the third part of "Sozin's Comet" won an award for "Best Directing in an Animated Television Production".
Although "Sozin's Comet" is the series finale, Avatar: The Last Airbender has continued as an ongoing graphic novel series published by Dark Horse Comics since January 2012, which takes place after the events of the finale and before the sequel series The Legend of Korra.
Plot
Part 1: "The Phoenix King" Aang proposes a beach party in lieu of training, explaining that he has decided to challenge Fire Lord Ozai only after Sozin's Comet and its enhancement of firebending have come and gone, due to his self-perceived inability to fight him on equal footing. Zuko, however, warns the group that Ozai is planning to use the comet's power to burn down the entire Earth Kingdom, revealing that he learned of Ozai's plans during the war meeting on the day before the eclipse. Alarmed at this news, Aang resolves to face him when the comet arrives. Sokka decides to have a simulation fight against a scarecrow, but Aang refuses to kill it due to his pacifistic nature and non-violent upbringing and berates his friends after they pointedly tell him that he has no choice but to kill Ozai.
That night, Aang sleepwalks to an offshore island that disappears in the morning. After the group fails to locate him, Zuko takes them to June, a tracker who might be able to locate Aang. Meanwhile, Ozai proclaims himself to be ruler of the world, under the title "Phoenix King", and prepares an airship fleet to burn and rebuild the world under his new order. Azula intends to come with her father, but he instead passes on the mantle of Fire Lord to her and leaves her behind in the Fire Nation. Aang awakens, finding himself and Momo on the island in the middle of the ocean.
Part 2: "The Old Masters" Zuko's tracker, June, is unable to locate Aang, so the group instead decides to seek out Iroh. Zuko and Iroh reconcile after Zuko's earlier betrayal in the previous season. It is revealed that he, along with previous mentor figures (earthbender Bumi, firebender Jeong Jeong, waterbender Pakku, and swordsmaster Piandao), are part of an otherwise non-aligned secret society known as the Order of the White Lotus, which plans to liberate the Earth Kingdom capital city from Fire Nation rule. Though Zuko asks Iroh to face Ozai, Iroh believes that, regardless if he could defeat Ozai or not, only Aang can defeat Ozai to bring about a new era of peace. The group makes its plans: Zuko and Katara will fight Azula in the Fire Nation capital, while Sokka, Toph, and Suki will destroy Ozai's airship fleet. Elsewhere, Aang awakens on a floating island. Frustrated with his inability to find a way to defeat Ozai without killing him, he asks four of his past lives for advice. Unsatisfied with their answers prompting him to kill Ozai, he asks the island for help. The island, which is actually a giant "lion turtle", gives Aang the power of energybending and leaves him on the Earth Kingdom's shores. Ozai arrives with his airship fleet to destroy both the Earth Kingdom and Aang.