Avatar: The Last Airbender is filled with many amazing fights, but the two that stand out the most are Aang's duel against Fire Lord Ozai and Zuko and Katara's struggle against Azula. Both of these battles took place during the latter portion of "Sozin's Comet," standing out for the adrenaline rush they gave fans due to Team Avatar going up against the two strongest firebenders in the series.
The stakes were raised to the max: running away definitely wasn't an option, and losing any one of these fights meant that the characters would lose their lives, not to mention the Fire Nation would win the Hundred Year War. While it can be difficult to say which fight was the better of the two, each battle brought with it its own unique elements that added to the series finale, making them stand out just a bit more than the other.
10 Aang & The Fire Lord: Aang Had Been Training For This Since Book 1
Since the first season of Avatar, this battle was what propelled the plot forward: Aang had to master all four elements before the arrival of Sozin's Comet so that he could defeat the Fire Lord and end the Hundred Year War. Although things got a bit more complicated given the fact that Ozai managed to elude him during the solar eclipse, an encounter with Aang and Ozai was always inevitable.
The emotional payoff of finally seeing this battle finally come to fruition can't really be trumped by other fights in the franchise, no matter how anticipated those conflicts were as well.
9 Zuko & Katara Vs. Azula: A Conclusion To The Show's Most Prominent Rivalry
Given the fact that Team Avatar travels constantly, there aren't many rivalries that occur within the series that follow the characters across several episodes.
Zuko had always been in competition with Azula since they were younger, and the two even fought many times over the course of the series, but their battle in "Sozin's Comet" marked the end of their sibling rivalry.
8 Aang & The Fire Lord: Introduced The Concept Energybending
While fans didn't know it at the time, energybending would become an important element of the franchise moving forward.
Aang's newfound ability to deprive someone of their bending only helped to usher in Book 1 of The Legend of Korra, giving this new show a perfect way to connect to its predecessor while expanding on a brand new concept that fans didn't get to delve into as much. Given that Korra often involved herself with spirits, energybending only became more pivotal to the series, making the conclusion to Ozai and Aang's duel a fight that only expanded upon the lore of the franchise.
7 Zuko & Katara Vs. Azula: The Aesthetics
Aang's fight against Ozai had its moments of aesthetic goodness, like when Aang utilized Toph's signature Seismic Sense to detect Ozai's sneak attack, or even when he entered the Avatar State and gripped Ozai's beard before blasting him away without a word.
Zuko's fight against Azula, in contrast, was simply a work of art. The music couples perfectly with the bursts of orange and blue flames as well as the blue water and ice from Katara against the backdrop of the Fire Nation's capital city, and the fight looked almost like an elaborate dance than a duel to the death.
6 Aang & The Fire Lord: The Longer Fight Of The Two
While both of these fights were crucial to wrapping up the series, Aang's fight with the Fire Lord is a lot longer than Zuko and Katara's battle against Azula. Aang's fight is almost broken up into different phases: the first part shows Ozai with the upper hand against Aang, while the second part consists of Aang entering the Avatar State, and the third is him taking away Ozai's bending in a scene like nothing viewers had seen in the show before.
The fight against Azula also has its phases, with Zuko and Azula's fight followed by Katara and Azula's brief bout, but unfortunately, it just doesn't feel long enough. While this may have to do with the fact that Azula just wasn't at her prime and made careless mistakes that led to her defeat, it also meant that Aang and Ozai's fight easily became the highlight of the episode.
5 Zuko & Katara Vs. Azula: Another Katara And Zuko Team-Up
While fans have flirted with the idea of Zuko and Katara as a couple, the two seem to make better teammates more than anything. Fans first got a taste of how strong the Fire Nation prince and the Southern Water Tribe's only waterbender were when they joined forces in "The Southern Raiders."
Their fight against Azula only gave fans an Avatar collaboration that unfortunately, didn't quite exist throughout other arcs in the series.
4 Aang & The Fire Lord: The Symbolism Of The Battle
It was almost ironic that Sozin, Fire Lord Ozai's grandfather, used the power of Sozin's Comet to wipe out all but one of the airbenders. Fast-forward a hundred years later and his grandson used that same power in an attempt to finish the job by defeating Aang. If he were successful, Ozai would've turned Sozin's dreams into reality. In taking down Ozai, Aang was essentially punishing Ozai and his forefathers for the damage they'd brought to the world.
It's not a mistake that when Ozai had Aang backed into a corner, he stated that the airbenders were weak and had no place in the world, while Aang, in the Avatar State, accused Ozai and his forefathers of disrupting the balance. This conflict was personal even though it was one that was started long before Aang and Ozai had the power to influence their world.
3 Zuko & Katara Vs. Azula: The Conclusion
When Zuko brought Katara along with him to fight Azula, fans anticipated an epic showdown between the Fire Nation siblings, with Zuko aided by Katara, who was ready to brawl. Zuko at first wanted to battle Azula alone, though.
Of course, things took an unexpected turn after he was downed by Azula's lightning, forcing Katara to finish what he'd started. Katara's a capable waterbender, but nobody expected her to defeat Azula on her own, especially since Azula's firebending was still being aided by Sozin's Comet. However, the fact that she did brought the battle to an epic and satisfying conclusion.
2 Aang & The Fire Lord: Aang's Most Powerful Use Of The Avatar State
Whenever Aang entered the Avatar State, fans were treated to some of the strongest bending in the series. This time, he utilized advanced bending techniques that viewers had never seen before: he created bullets out of rock, moved humongous columns, flew through the sky with a sphere of air, not to mention he used a sphere of all four elements that he nearly used to take Ozai out once and for all.
This moment marked Aang as the fully-realized Avatar that he worked so hard to become, and made fans realize just how much the Avatar State set him above any other bender alive, since Ozai, who had been dominating up to that point, could only flee from Aang's newfound power.
1 Zuko & Katara Vs. Azula: Some Of The Strongest Bending Shown In The Series
Zuko and Azula were already amazing firebenders, but Sozin's Comet only bolstered their power to the point where all of their attacks looked big enough to burn entire forests to the ground. Though Ozai's firebending was undoubtedly the strongest ever seen in the series, seeing two firebending masters giving it their all in a heightened state led to a fight between equals that carried an intensity the likes of which couldn't even be replicated in The Legend of Korra.
Azula flies around the battlefield, leaving huge streaks of blue flame in her wake, while Zuko generates a huge flame vortex by pretty much breakdancing. Even Katara shows almost unprecedented skill in her waterbending with the sheer force of waves and ice that she utilized in combat. Every single move felt purposeful, and every viewer was forced to respect the art of bending.