This post will explore a moment in Avatar The Last Airbender using the Pentad method. The event being examined will be when Aang faces Ozai and takes away his bending. The point of this examination will be to find the motive of why Aang chose to remove Ozai’s bending instead of killing him to end the war.
The Act is the action of taking the bending. The war had progressed to the point that the confrontation between these two individuals could no longer be avoided. There was no option for compromise, one had to be eliminated for the other to succeed. Defeat of the other was the only way of accomplishing their goal. However, the means of that defeat had flexibility.
The Agent was Aang as he was the one who did the action. He used the avatar state to strip Ozai of his bending instead of killing Ozai. Aang was raised by the monks of the air temples and was taught that all life is sacred. His beliefs influenced his choices and an example of this that we see throughout the series is that he doesn’t eat meat.
The Scene is the canyon they had their battle in. Aang intercepted Ozai’s fleet of airships and confronted him while his team works to debilitate and take down the fleet. The fight goes around and throughout the plateaus and rock spires of the canyon.
The Agency is the avatar state. That is how the bending was taken. The avatar state is a power connected to the spirit world since that was where it originated from. The bending also come from the elemental lion turtles who gave each bending to the first human who would become the first Avatar. Aang encounters one of these lion turtles before his confrontation with Ozai.
The Purpose of taking Ozai’s bending is to end the war and remove the power of the Fire Nation’s advance. Killing Ozai would have possibly done the same but went against Aang’s beliefs and teachings. This act served as a permanent yet nonlethal way to end the war and the threat of the Fire Lord. This leads into my conclusion of the motive.
Aang needed a man’s of ending the war while keeping to his morals and beliefs. He needed a way to have mercy while still being firm so that Ozai would not become a martyr and another could seek to continue the war out of vengeance. This act of taking Ozai’s bending took the power away from the Fire Nation in a peaceful way. Ozai was no longer a threat without his bending and could not stand trial for his crimes. It also send as an example for others who might seek to challenge the Avatar and the other nations seeking dominion over them. This peaceful resolution is the motive I have come to for why Aang chose to remove Ozai’s bending.
Rhetoric Criticism of ATLA 
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