Warning! This article contains spoilers for Netflix’s Avatar: The Last Airbender.
The Blue Spirit is a major component of Avatar: The Last Airbender episode 6, with the mysterious figure’s true identity promising huge ramifications for the future of the show. Throughout Netflix’s Avatar season 1, Aang is constantly pursued by Firebending forces after the century-old actions of The Last Airbender‘s Fire Lord Sozin caused the titular being to become a fugitive of the Fire Nation. One of these forces is Commander, later Admiral, Zhao, played by Ken Leung in The Last Airbender‘s live-action cast.
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At the onset of Avatar: The Last Airbender episode 6, Zhao manages to capture Aang by taking him from Prince Zuko. Zhao uses his newly acquired promotion, and the perks that come with it, to whisk away the Avatar in The Last Airbender, imprisoning Aang in a nearly impenetrable Fire Nation fortress. Despite Aang’s precarious predicament, he is saved by the mystifying Blue Spirit. Upon revealing the Blue Spirit’s identity, Avatar: The Last Airbender season 1 raises plenty of intriguing questions.
Zuko Became The Blue Spirit To Free Aang From Zhao’s Prison
Zuko cannot allow Zhao to take the Avatar from him.
After Aang and the Blue Spirit escape Zhao and his forces, the Avatar realizes that his savior is actually another Firebender hellbent on capturing him: Prince Zuko. Much like Zhao, Zuko spends much of The Last Airbender season 1 fruitlessly pursuing Aang and his friends across the world in a bid to capture him. While Zuko comes closest to catching Aang before The Last Airbender episode 6, Zhao is the first Fire Nation officer to officially restrain the Avatar until the Blue Spirit, aka Zuko, springs him from captivity.
Zuko infiltrates Zhao’s prison primarily using stealth. Donned in a black suit, with dual swords and the iconic Blue Spirit mask, Zuko uses misdirection and cunning to sneak into Zhao’s compound unseen. After defeating the Fire Nation soldiers using only his swords, the Blue Spirit frees Aang, and the two work together to bust out of the prison. Zhao corners the duo before ordering his men to stand down, as they need the Avatar alive.
The Blue Spirit takes his chance, threatening Aang’s life in order to coerce Zhao into letting them go. Keeping his sword to Aang’s throat, the Blue Spirit backs slowly away from Zhao’s prison. Zhao then uses the Yuyan Archers to take the Blue Spiirt out from a distance, cracking the mask and revealing the face of Zuko beneath. Aang decides to save Zuko and the two hide away from Zhao’s forces in a broken-down hut beside a nearby lake.
Does Zuko Freeing Aang Mean He Is A Good Guy Now?
Is Zuko now on Aang’s side for the future of The Last Airbender?
Zuko’s actions as the Blue Spirit directly freed Aang from Fire Nation captivity, with many now questioning whether this means Zuko is on Aang’s side. However, Avatar: The Last Airbender episode 6 – like its animated counterpart before it – makes it clear that Zuko has no intentions of befriending Aang. Zuko tells Aang that the only reason he freed the Avatar from Zhao’s grasp is so that he can capture the young Airbender himself.
Zuko needs to do this to regain his honor in his father’s eyes, with Netflix’s Avatar episode 6 also exploring Zuko’s tragic The Last Airbender backstory. If Zhao returned to the Fire Nation with the Avatar in tow, the only ticket to Zuko reclaiming his family, his home, and his throne would be gone forever. Therefore, the desperate prince had to take matters into his own hands as the Blue Spirit and free the Avatar from Zhao’s prison so that he can subsequently use Aang to mend the relationship with his father and his country.
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The Last Airbender Episode 3 Teased Zuko’s Blue Spirit Turn
Zuko’s fighting abilities without Firebending teased his Blue Spirit prowess.
While Zuko’s turn as the Blue Spirit may seem somewhat surprising, Netflix’s Avatar: The Last Airbender episode 3 includes elements that foreshadow these events. The episode involves Iroh and Zuko tracking Aang to Omashu, one of the last Earth Kingdom cities free of the Fire Nation’s rule. As such, Omashu is a place where Zuko must hide his Firebending. Zuko engages Aang without his power, using makeshift weapons and regular martial arts in an attempt to capture his enemy. This martial prowess proves how strong Zuko is without Firebending, something that pays off when he later becomes the Blue Spirit.
The Last Airbender Episode 6’s Zuko Reveal Teases His Future Arc
Zuko’s time as the Blue Spirit will be vital to his story in future seasons.
While Netflix’s Avatar: The Last Airbender episode 6 did not prove Zuko to be on Aang’s side now, some elements tease the future of his arc from the original show. In the original animation, Zuko and Aang barely interact after the former saves the latter. Aang states that in another lifetime, he and Zuko could have been friends before the prince blasts the Avatar with fire and forces him to flee. In Netflix’s The Last Airbender, however, these events are somewhat different.
Zuko and Aang have a more extended conversation after escaping Zhao’s forces, bonding over elements such as their similar training techniques as children and their calligraphy skills. Eventually, Aang’s words cause Zuko to remember his father’s brutal teachings, enraging the young prince and causing Aang to flee. Before this, however, the seeds were planted that Aang and Zuko have some things in common. With Zuko’s Avatar: The Last Airbender season 2 arc pinning him as a refugee to the Fire Nation, the hints in episode 6 will surely come full circle in the future.
All episodes of Avatar: The Last Airbender season 1 are now streaming on Netflix.
Avatar: The Last Airbender (Live-Action)
Based on the acclaimed animated Nickelodeon television series, Avatar: The Last Airbender is an action-adventure fantasy series developed by Albert Kim. The series follows Aang, a young man training to harness the four elements to live up to the title of Avatar – the one who will restore balance to the world.
- Cast
- Gordon Cormier , Dallas Liu , Kiawentiio , Ian Ousley , Daniel Dae Kim , Paul Sun-Hyung Lee
- Release Date
- February 22, 2024
- Where To Watch
- Netflix
