Pretty much what you'd expect of ATLA's season finale. All the characters get their moments and then some; unexpected elements are tossed into the battle, which changes things immensely (no pun intended); a lot of eye-popping, amazing action without letup; and at the end, the characters are positioned for the story to pick back up with the second season.
This series has apparently done well for Netflix so we don't have to worry whether there will be a second season. Overall, I think they did a nice job editing and remixing first and even second season episodes to craft a wonderful story. There were many new elements and scenes that were not in the original, focused on the Fire Nation characters and story, that added depth and interest.
The only worry is, the writers seem to be more interested in the Fire Nation than in Aang's story. If you know the outlines of the Hero's Journey archetype, you already know Aang's story. The Fire Nation is more of a wild card and probably more interesting to write/ expand upon.
This series has apparently done well for Netflix so we don't have to worry whether there will be a second season. Overall, I think they did a nice job editing and remixing first and even second season episodes to craft a wonderful story. There were many new elements and scenes that were not in the original, focused on the Fire Nation characters and story, that added depth and interest.
The only worry is, the writers seem to be more interested in the Fire Nation than in Aang's story. If you know the outlines of the Hero's Journey archetype, you already know Aang's story. The Fire Nation is more of a wild card and probably more interesting to write/ expand upon.