Avatar: The Last Airbender – North and South

Lore & Background

The trilogy follows Katara and Sokka, now fifteen and sixteen, returning to their home village in the Southern Water Tribe to find it transformed into a bustling city reminiscent of the Northern Water Tribe. Their father Hakoda has been elected leader of the entire south. While Sokka is enthusiastic about the changes, Katara fears the tribe is losing its cultural identity. Northerners Malina and Maliq are in charge of redevelopment, but a group of southern nationalists led by Gilak oppose the northern imposition of values and Hakoda's complicity.

In Part Two, it is revealed that Malina and Maliq plan to extract oil from a massive reservoir discovered in the Southern Water Tribe. Toph arrives as a representative of her father, who is a business partner of Malina and Maliq. Gilak's nationalists attack a festival, accusing Malina of planning to give the oil to the Northern Water Tribe. Malina admits she originally planned this but changed her mind after meeting Hakoda. Maliq insists on the original plan, calling the South culturally backward. Gilak stabs Hakoda during an attempted persuasion, and later escapes prison with help from a convinced officer.

Part Three involves Toph's metalbending students helping with construction, while Hakoda invites Fire Lord Zuko and Earth King Kuei for a collaborative reconstruction meeting. Gilak kidnaps Kuei and demands Hakoda in exchange. At the Bridge of No Return, Aang, Katara, Toph, and Zuko allow themselves to be chi-blocked for the exchange. Gilak attempts to collapse the bridge, but is foiled by Malina and Toph's students. Gilak falls to his death while trying to kill Hakoda. Katara saves Malina from sacrificing herself. Katara later visits her mother Kya's grave, accepting the changes in the South after feeling her mother's spirit has been with her all along.

Reader's Guide

Avatar: The Last Airbender – North and South serves as a significant continuation of the original series, exploring themes of cultural preservation versus modernization within the Southern Water Tribe. The trilogy addresses tensions between northern and southern Water Tribe identities, the ethics of resource extraction, and the challenges of leadership in a changing society. It is notable as the final story drawn by the artist team Gurihiru, who had illustrated the first five graphic novel stories. The trilogy bridges the gap between the original series and The Legend of Korra, set seventy years later, by showing the early stages of Southern Water Tribe industrialization. The story also deepens Katara and Sokka's characters as they confront their tribe's transformation and their mother's legacy. The trilogy's resolution, with Katara accepting change while honoring her mother's memory, provides emotional closure for the siblings. In 2018, Faith Erin Hicks took over as writer with Peter Wartman as artist for the next trilogy, Avatar: The Last Airbender – Imbalance.

Did You Know?

• Artist team Gurihiru, who drew the first five stories, announced that North and South was their last story in early June 2017.
• The trilogy includes a story about a snow rat with the ability to talk and walk on two feet, told by Thod to Katara.
• Malina and Maliq are business partners of Toph's father.