Avatar Aang was a great movie overall, and a lot of people have been discussing it. I have been a fan of the series since the beginning, though not a superfan. Sometimes I get to media late—after all, I only read the comics earlier this year. Honestly, it was nice to see the gang back together, but this movie failed the world of Avatar. No, it wasn’t the bending or Katara running out of water; that was understandable. It was a moment of panic emphasized by the writers more than a true mistake, though a bad one admittedly. Nor was it that the movie followed many of the story beats of The Legend of Korra Book 2. No, it is the introduction of magic items. In a grounded fantasy world where science is beginning to undergo its renaissance, they shoehorned in a magic item: Sonam’s staff.

I enjoy evolving fantasy worlds when done right, but sometimes changes can be mistakes leading to the death of a series. The world of Avatar is a fantasy world—and a low-magic one at that. Bending has always had rules and structure, some hard, some soft, and this has been consistent throughout the franchise. From the Kyoshi novels to the steampunk age in The Legend of Korra, bending has maintained those rules. It has featured relics and artifacts, but most of these are practical or historical; if not, they are legends, like the sacred crystal orb from Avatar: The Last Airbender Season 1, Episode 11. That was a plot device, nothing more.

Maybe you want to mention the sunstone from Season 3, Episode 13? Well, it glows and feels alive, but that is as far as its description goes, sounding more like opal than actual magic. In The Legend of Korra, they did start using the power of the spirit world in machines, but once again, this is grounded science. They found a new material and learned how to use it, mirroring real-world history: we make nukes with science and rocks. It is hard magic, yes, but grounded, understandable, and relatable. Across seven seasons, all of the books, comics, and game adaptations—in a world with 10,000 years of history—this is the first time a legitimate magic item is shown. Sonam’s staff could have been a McGuffin, a plot device like the sacred orb, but they displayed its power and the writers explicitly told us how it was created. They made it a magic item, not just a plot device.

Magic items can be fantastic if used well. The Lord of the Rings is likely the best example for any writer or reader: powerful magic items are used sparingly and with reverence, unless they are misused. In contrast, Sonam’s staff is treated as a plaything by the writers.

Unfortunately, magic items carry significant downsides and can become problematic when mishandled. The Dragon Balls from the Dragon Ball series made death trivial, something that didn’t really matter. They broke part of the world, so the Dragon Balls were eventually nerfed—altered in a way that made sense and fixed so that death had real stakes again. It was well done and fit the story. Magic items can also become a crutch for writers, an easy way out. This was the case with Sonam’s staff. The writers needed a story and an enemy that Aang hadn’t faced before, hence the staff, a missing Avatar, and Tagah, an evil airbender. The missing Avatar could have worked as a major issue on its own. Tagah was a great mirror to compare Aang and Korra, as they made very similar mistakes for very similar reasons, with the outcome varying only due to circumstances and teams. Tagah could have been an airbender lost in the spirit world—same man, same goals, but mutated like what we see in The Legend of Korra Book 2, Episode 8. The staff was entirely unnecessary.

No matter where you look in fiction or mythology, magic items might be rare, but they are rarely wholly unique. Humans aren’t the type to just leave something be; if you did something once, you can do it again. “But,” I hear you say, “Sonam’s staff was created by an Avatar at the height of their power after mastering energybending in a place of great spiritual power.” That emphasis makes it sound powerful, and it is. Yet this is not necessarily the only way to make a magic item. It opens the door to a waterbender making a jug that draws pure water out of anything, or a medallion that lets anyone bloodbend. Introducing magic items can ruin—and often does ruin—the power economy of the worlds where they appear.

The writers of Avatar Aang opened Pandora’s Box, even though they had other storytelling options that fit the world much better. Sonam’s staff was unnecessary and disruptive to the Avatar universe. If this item had been introduced in the lore or gameplay of Avatar Legends: The Roleplaying Game, I could have been more generous and less critical; a non-canon TTRPG would have been a great place to test the idea. Instead, they placed it into a movie that serves as a direct continuation of the original series. Honestly, I hope the item is forgotten, or that they make all similar items nearly impossible to replicate. As unlikely as that may be, we the fans will have to live with the results, hoping the series has taken notes from The Lord of the Rings and knows what it is doing.

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Featured Image: Avatar Aang: The Last Airbender