This ending was a piece of shit IMO
like Elisabeth Bennett didn't end up with Mr. Darcy. She chose Mr. Collins instead. I was more than disappointed with the conclusion of this series. This show has suffered from what I will call "timing" problems all along and emotionally, some things did not ring true in the finale. The last minute or so of the show felt pat and unreal, like a dream sequence. I thought "all" would be revealed- still don't know what happened to Zuko's mom. And what was up with how easy it was to recapture Ba Sing Se.
It seems to me that the ending (and by ending I mean ending minutes) was decided by a vote, or a committee, not with any respect to art.
I believed in Zutara, but only because I was led to believe in it. Various devices such as symbolism and foreshadowing were used deliberately throughout the series only to have it all disregarded in the last minute. So why bother to put it in unless you just want to toy with your audience. So I feel used, and I don't like it. Since this is an animated series, nothing was put in by accident. Zuko and Katara had the most character development and one of the two most important relationships. (The other I would say was Zuko/Uncle Iroh).
This second relationship, now that I have seen the finale is what I will take from this series. His Uncle's forgiveness will be the most meaningful thing that happened in this series, for me. I could have lived with Kataang if: (1) the same development and care had been put into their story line, (2) if there had been a transformation that was real from Katara's feelings of motherly protection and Aang's childishness into a mature relationship. Maybe that was the problem all along- I'm an adult watching a kids show that adult's can enjoy. But in the end it was a kid's show where a little boy got the first person he ever became infatuated with. I felt we were promised an epic love story and got the farthest thing from it. The last thing I needed was for (3) the creator's to have left Zutara alone. Completely.
Don't have the most meaningful episodes and story lines revolve around them and their interactions. With these things, then I could have bought the ending. I wouldn't feel like I have to mourn instead of celebrate. Now, for Aang. Aang is what we call a static character, and so does not qualify as the hero. There was build up to this idea that he couldn't let go of Katara. And he never did! He managed to get everything he wanted, without getting his hands dirty or experiencing moral ambiguity. (Oh, no. He once had to suffer the loss of his pet bison.) He never had to change or grow up. I thought, at least if Kataang is going to happen, he could stay in his older, more grown up Avatar body. No. The final kiss has a woman looming over a child kissing him. And I thought I was going to puke.
Good feeling's gone. If they were going to end up together eventually, don't have them kissing until he's at least 16, or something. The climax should have been Aang overcoming his selfish attachments and mastering himself as well as the fire lord. That's where it should have ended. Not the bubble gum popcorn ending. I'm trying to imagine this as the live action movie they are supposedly making. Please, whoever is in charge, this time around, do not have any sexual tension between Katara and Zuko, if you never plan on resolving it, let alone admitting it. Have Zuko end up alone or develop Mai to the point we can actually care about her, too, and don't have to think Zuko has a long, miserable future with an emotionally frigid woman. Make sure Katara figures out early on that she is not the avatar's mother, and that we don't have to just guess that supposedly, somehow, the avatar grew up in one minute. And hopefully the censors have issues with 14-year-olds kissing 12-year-olds.
If this movie is rated PG-13 and targeted to a general adult audience, I don't know that they will buy the ending otherwise. I'm not sure I will be able to enjoy this series a second time through now that I know how the creators think it should end. Apparently Kataangers outvoted Zutarans. I didn't realize that works of art were matters of voting. Maybe I shouldn't be surprised given the state of endings to American movies in general. I really don't think this ending would happen in good anime. I do believe that Zutara fans will prove to be more passionate in the long run. Because they have a love story to be passionate about. To me this ending has shown that this series was not able to rise above its need to appeal to children. And it could have. Zutara would have been more satisfying, deeper and more complex, with greater artistic merit. It's more than not liking the end. I couldn't believe it, and that was due to choices made by the creators as what to present all along, not because I had set or preconceived notions about what should happen.
I wrote this for closure and cleansing and to unlock my chakra that was seriously stuck after the last two minutes of the finale. It sucked.