Avatar: The Last Airbender is an extremely beloved animated series, that has three seasons. Due to usually disliking popular things and having an odd enjoyment for hated things, I kept avoiding this show. I thought I wouldn't enjoy it, but I'm glad I was wrong.

I was planning on ranking the three seasons, but I decided it would make the most sense to go in order. If you haven't seen each season, you might want to avoid reading this article, because there will be spoilers.

Book One

Book One had a lot going against it. In order to keep the show's main villain, Ozai, a mysterious threat, he basically does nothing in this season. In his place, the main villain role was given to Zhao, one of Ozai's workers. While this season doesn't do Ozai any favors, it did a great job at making Zhao a credible and interesting villain. He kept my interest, whenever he was on-screen and Jason Isaacs did a fantastic job at voicing him. He was deliciously despicable and menacing. All of his scenes were great and his defeat was epic and memorable.

As much as I love villains (fictional villains), the show can't really work without good, likeable heroes. I wouldn't be very honest if I claimed I loved Aang, Katara and Sokka. For the record, I do like them. There are all very caring and likeable characters, who are often funny. I just don't really find their contributions, to the plot, to be that interesting. The anti-hero, Zuko and his uncle, Iroh, are the protagonists, who make me truly appreciate the show. Iroh's dedication to Zuko is touching and they have a wonderful relationship. Although Ozai is Zuko's birth father, Iroh is Zuko's true father figure. Also, Zuko's overdramatic overreactions and Iroh's laidback attitude add a large supply of laughs.

If I had to pick a favorite episode(s) from this season, it would be the two-part finale. It had the most thrills, thanks to Zhao's master plan. Plus, the usually-peaceful Iroh got to show how awesome he really is, when he started attacking Zhao. Also, this episode shows a lot of Zuko's humanity. Throughout season one, it seemed like Zuko could be the show's main villain, but Zhao is the season's true main villain and this two-parter makes that clear. Zuko even offers to save Zhao's life. Considering that Zhao tried to have Zuko killed off, that was pretty respectable of him. Zhao denied Zuko's help, which was pretty dumb and petty of him, but it was still a thrilling way to end the season.

Book Two

Sadly, Zhao's no longer a player in the story. Thankfully, three new antagonists join the show. Azula is the main villain of Book Two and she's joined by two henchgirls, Mai and Ty Lee. I like all three characters, although I feel the strongest connection to Mai. Mai is basically a human version of Maud Pie from My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. Like Maud, Mai is very deadpan and unexpressive. However, what makes Mai likeable is that Zuko brings out her happy side. I'm probably giving Mai more credit than she deserves, because I'm a fanfiction writer and a lover of ships, but all of Zuko and Mai's scenes were amazing.

As for Azula, she wasn't as exciting as Zhao, but she brought a lot of intimidation and dark humor to the show. Another new antagonist is Long Feng, who's voiced by Clancy Brown. Clancy Brown also voiced Lex Luthor and it's easy to tell, because Long Feng sounds just like Lex Luthor.

Another new addition is Toph, who becomes one of Aang's friends. Like the other heroes, I'm not the biggest fan of Toph, but she did provide a lot of good comedy-relief. Also, I loved her interactions with Iroh.

Like season one, Ozai barely does anything. On a more positive note, Zuko and Iroh are still wonderful. Zuko continues getting the best character-development, while Iroh is my favorite character, due to what a loveable mentor, a great father-figure and a kooky tea-lover.

Two episodes of Book Two really stick out, in my opinion. The first one is "Zuko Alone." Why I like this episode so much is for the flashbacks. We learn a lot of compelling things involving the past of several characters, including Zuko, Azula, Mai, Ursa, Iroh and Ozai. We even get to see Iroh and Ozai's father, Azulon.

The other memorable episode is "The Tales of Ba Sing Se." This episode sticks-out, due to everything involving Iroh. We get to see what a truly charming and wonderful man he is, by helping reform a robber and helping calm down a crying child. Then we get the most emotional scene in the entire show and one of the most emotional scenes in any show. That scene is when Iroh sings a song, in honor of his late son. The scene is incredibly sad, yet touching and it only makes Iroh's fatherly nature towards Zuko even more touching. Iroh misses his son and Zuko misses his father who wants nothing to do with him. That's why Zuko and Iroh need each-other and their bond is the most beautiful part of the show. Also, everything involving Zuko and his date is cute and funny.

Book Two is the last season which features the voice of the show's best cast-member, Mako. Mako is one of the greatest actors of all time and his performance was one of the absolute best things about the show. I'm very thankful he got to be a part of this show. His Aku voice was beyond awesome and is incredibly quotable, but no role showed Mako's heart and compassion more than Iroh. He left behind a beautiful legacy and he is one of my personal favorite actors.

Book Three

Speaking of my favorite actors, one of them has a guest appearance and that's Ron Perlman. He voices Sozin and as always, he's awesome. Another notable voice-actor is Mark Hamill. He voices Ozai and he manages to do an intimidating, menacing villain-voice, without reusing the voice he used for the Joker. Ozai doesn't have much dialogue in any of three seasons, but Book Three gives him his biggest moments.

Since this was the last season, I was expecting this to be the season where Ozai gets to step into the spotlight and that didn't quite happen. While Ozai has a more prominent role in this season, he's still kept in the background, for the most part. Ozai doesn't get that much screen-time, before his fight with Aang, which made their fight feel less meaningful. I feel like Ozai didn't even get as much screen-time as Zhao, despite Zhao only been in the first season. I know they kept Ozai a minor character for so long, in order to build suspense. However, I felt they didn't do enough with him, after he stepped out of the shadows.

Another problem I have with this season is Iroh's lack of screen-time. Iroh was a big character in Books One and Two. In Book Three, he gets to show off his muscles, break out of prison, reunite with Zuko and that's pretty much it. Those scenes were awesome and Zuko and Iroh's reunion was the most touching and sweet scene in the entire season. However, I missed Iroh throughout most of the season. On the positive side, Greg Baldwin does a great job at imitating Mako's take on Iroh. Also, everything involving Zuko and Mai's redemption was awesome.

One of my favorite season 3 episodes is "The Beach." The interactions between Zuko, Azula, Mai and Ty Lee are great. Zuko getting comically-angry at the smallest of things, including a seashell, is hilarious and Mai being completely deadpan about everything, except her love for Zuko, is wonderful. This episode shows more of Azula's humanity and this episode provides plenty of reasons to ship her with Ty Lee.

Another favorite of mine is the second part of Sozin's Comet, "The Old Masters." This episode sees the characters seeing the return of June, which is great. Best of all, Iroh finally comes back and everything he does is touching, sweet and enduring. However, it's a missed opportunity that he and June didn't get a chance to reunite, considering what great chemistry they have.

Overall, Book Three has a few problems, like Iroh getting a smaller role and Ozai not getting a big enough payoff. However, it's still a good season and the show's last episode is a strong and optimistic way to end the series.