This summer, the pastor at my family’s church gave a three-week series analyzing Christian themes in popular media. For the Beacon’s Religion section, I will take a page out of his book for my next few issues, examining Christian themes and ideas in some of today’s most popular films and television shows.
To begin this series, I have decided to analyze my favorite television show, Avatar: The Last Airbender. Avatar is an animated show that first aired on Nickelodeon in the mid 2000’s, but with a recent release on Netflix, the show has surged in popularity. The world of Avatar consists of four countries: the Air Nomads, Fire Nation, Earth Kingdom, and Water Tribes. Members of the nations can “bend,” or manipulate, elements of their respective nation if they’re born with the ability to do so. The show begins 100 years into the Fire Nation’s attempt to conquer the world, unifying the four nations under the authoritarian rule of the Fire Lord. The show revolves around the protagonist Aang, the Avatar and the last surviving airbender, on his journey to master bending all four elements in order to defeat the Fire Lord and save the world. Aang is a great character in his own right, but the side characters are what really help flesh out the world of Avatar. The best example of this is Zuko, who I will discuss in this article.
[Please note that there will be major plot spoilers beyond this point!]
At the outset of the show, Zuko, the banished prince of the Fire Nation, is the story’s primary antagonist. However, as the show progresses, he becomes more conflicted about his identity and what path he should take—pursuing Avatar Aang to restore his honor and aid the Fire Nation’s world conquest, or seeking to put an end to the suffering caused by his nation and to pursue his own destiny. This culminates in him ultimately betraying the Fire Nation and helping Aang defeat the Fire Lord once and for all.
While I doubt this was the intention of the show’s creators, Zuko’s character arc and journey are bathed in prominent Christian themes of redemption and forgiveness. Even more so, everytime I rewatch Avatar, I always end up drawing a parallel between Zuko’s journey and the journey of the Prodigal Son as recounted in Luke 15:11-32 by Jesus Christ. He tells of a son who demands his inheritance of his father, squanders his father’s wealth, and returns home in shame and poverty. However, the father quickly forgives his son, and throws a celebration regarding his return, saying that his son was lost, but has been found again.
While it may not seem like it at first glance, there are many connections between Zuko and the Prodigal Son of the parable. At the beginning of Avatar, Zuko travels the world with his uncle Iroh, searching for the long-lost Avatar. Viewers quickly learn that he was banished from the Fire Nation by his father, the Fire Lord, and will only be allowed to return once he has captured the Avatar, a seemingly impossible task. Throughout the first two seasons, Iroh tries to change Zuko’s outlook on life, and ultimately convinces him to leave the Fire Nation behind and live a quiet life in the Earth Kingdom. Iroh’s plans fail, as Zuko’s sister Azula helps him seemingly kill the Avatar, allowing Zuko to return to the Fire Nation at the expense of Iroh being jailed. However, Zuko eventually realizes that living his life to please his father is not worth the moral sacrifices, so he leaves to help Aang. Ultimately, this culminates in Zuko reuniting with Iroh, who miraculously forgives Zuko’s betrayal and embraces him in tears. At the end of the series, Zuko is seen helping Iroh run his tea shop, living according to moral principles rather than according to the need for a warrior’s honor and power.
The primary comparison between the two stories is the relationship between Zuko and Iroh, and the Prodigal Son and his father. At the outset of the show, Zuko has been traveling with Iroh for two years, and they spend the majority first two seasons of the show continuing to travel together. This is much like the son who grew up in his father’s household. Furthermore, both Zuko and the Prodigal Son leave Iroh and his father’s household respectively (albeit Zuko betrays Iroh rather than simply leaving him). While on his own, Zuko lives a life of luxury in the Fire Nation surrounded by friends and a father he believes loves him, and the Prodigal Son quickly squanders his wealth and ends up living among pigs. While this might not seem similar, they have a similar thematic purpose. Both Zuko and the Prodigal Son find their lives unfulfilling and resolve to seek forgiveness from Iroh and the father. This culminates in both young men being forgiven and welcomed back by their respective father figures.
One of the clearest parallels between Iroh and the Prodigal Son’s father is revealed by their words to their repentant sons. The father declares, “This son of mine was dead and has come to life again; he was lost and has been found” (Luke 15:24). Meanwhile, Iroh tells Zuko, “I was never angry with you. I was sad because I was afraid you’d lost your way…and you found it again.” Iroh and the father have almost the exact same thought at seeing their nephew and son after so long.
The transformative journeys of Zuko and the Prodigal Son illuminate the power of forgiveness, redemption, and the love of a father. Like the repentant Christian, both young men return to their loving father figures after trying vainly to find fulfillment in trivial possessions, power, and honor. It is the unconditional love of the father in both stories which transforms them, as they come to understand love and acceptance through the guidance of a father figure.
