Marvel fan spots a parallel between Echo and Avatar: The Last Airbender that you won’t be able to unsee

Jan. 15, 2024

Echoes through time

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Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, right? While there’s no indication that the team behind Echo were fans – or even aware – of Avatar: The Last Airbender, one Marvel fan has spotted an eerily similar parallel to how both shows ended.

Spoilers for theEcho endingand Avatar: The Last Airbender follow.

InEcho, Maya harnesses her newfound Choctaw powers to ‘heal’ Kingpin of his trauma after a showdown between her and her ‘uncle.’

AsReddit user Dominicsjrpointed out, there are similarities in Avatar: The Last Airbender’s finale, which saw Aang use energybending to remove the Fire Lord Ozai’s ability to bend. In a beat that will be familiar to those who watched Echo, Ozai asks what Aang did to him because he could feel a fundamental change in his being.

Where Ozai lost his bending abilities, however, it appears that Kingpin’s mental state was the thing that changed. As of the end of episode 5, he seems more empathetic and less full of anger, hate, and pain. TheEcho post-credits scenemay be setting him up as a mayoral candidate, but it remains to be seen whether he’ll be the fully-fledged villain of years past.

While this is a reminder of Avatar: The Last Airbender’s peak fiction, it’s also worth remembering that there’s an exciting future ahead for fans of Aang and company.

A live-action Netflix series is set to debut on the streamer on February 22, while plans are in place forthree new animated moviesby the show’s original creators.

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For more, check out our breakdown ofEcho’s powers. Then see the 50best Netflix showsyou should be adding to your watchlist.

I’m the Senior Entertainment Writer here at GamesRadar+, focusing on news, features, and interviews with some of the biggest names in film and TV. On-site, you’ll find me marveling at Marvel and providing analysis and room temperature takes on the newest films, Star Wars and, of course, anime. Outside of GR, I love getting lost in a good 100-hour JRPG, Warzone, and kicking back on the (virtual) field with Football Manager. My work has also been featured in OPM, FourFourTwo, and Game Revolution.

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