Dylan along with Jake, Alisa, Josh, and Michelle first discuss the recent early release of the Sozin's Comet book in the news segment and then go way in-depth into "The Western Air Temple."...see more
Click the link above, and click on the bubble that says "Top Rated" and it is the first video that will play.
Thanks to RayRay for the heads up!
Also - with only one week until the big epik amazingly awesomeful terrific super-duper suspenseful finale, I'm linking to a finale trailer which is up there with the finale in terms of epicness. It's a series finale trailer by the fandom's own Ravenhpltc24. Check it out!
Also, as a side note, I'm looking into organizing a fandom-wide finale chat on the Avatar Olympics site on the night of the finale. If you have a good chat script to recommend, email me at
I'm also considering using just an IRC client, so if you have knowledge of that please let me know as well! And we will be in need of mods for the night (we want to control the spoilers in the live chat) so also send me an email if that's something you would like to do! Thanks!
Dylan here and Nick has come out with a second advertising flyer for Avatar. It can be seen here. Important things to note are a confirmation of something Avatar at SDCC, another mention of the global Avatar game coming out in the Fall, and a "series of mini-episodes on-air and online." So there may be new less than 30 minute episodes in the works slated to come out Spring of 2009. Thanks to Avatar_Mom for finding this!
Dylan here and Nick is airing a new commerical for the finale and Viacom has put out a press release about Thriller Week.
A character is revealed to be returning in the commerical in some new footage.
New info in the press release includes: "A dedicated Avatar site will feature the new Game of the Week Rise of the Phoenix where Aang goes one-on-one with the Phoenix King, an Avatar game Tournament for Avatar gamers to go head-to-head, polls, trivia challenges, fun facts, as well as additional exclusive content."
Also: "Viewers can catch up on Aang's epic journey by tuning into Nicktoons Network for mini marathons of Avatar each day beginning Monday, July 14 through Saturday, July 19 at 2:00 p.m. The series will roll out in succession, starting on Monday with the series premiere and will culminate with a Nicktoons Network encore of the two-hour TV movie, Sozin's Comet, on Sunday, July 20 at 5:00 p.m. ET."
The press release offers this synopsis for the finale: "Book Three culminates with a two-hour movie, Sozin's Comet, on Saturday, July 19 when Aang's struggle with firebending becomes urgent as he learns he must confront the Firelord earlier than planned. Aang prepares mentally and physically for the attack as the comet nears, but when he finally faces the Firelord, will he have the heart to take his life?"
Jake here, and TVShowsonDVD.com has leaked the back-cover of the Book 3, Volume 4 DVD! It includes titles for all the four finale episodes. So what are they? Here they are (highlight to see):
318: Sozin's Comet, Part 1: The Phoenix King 319: Sozin's Comet, Part 2: The Old Masters 320: Sozin's Comet, Part 3: Into the Inferno 321: Sozin's Comet, Part 4: Avatar Aang
So, it looks like Ozai will be "Phoenix King" and not "Phoenix Lord." Hmm. Oh well, I guess it seems less lazy.
Why didn't we release the finale titles ourselves? Well, first of all the entire staff is not currently working at Nickelodeon, so that makes it a tad harder to get information. I actually had 319 and 321 before, but didn't have 100% confirmation, so it would have been stupid to just release them.
Personally, I was hoping "Into the Inferno" was not a title for a finale episode, as that is exteremely lame and not an "Avatar title." But who am I to second guess the writers?
Of course we have known they would all begin with "Sozin's Comet, Part" as revealed earlier.
To view the back of the DVD cover, click the link above or go here.
Thanks to Yoshi from DF Chat for the heads-up here!
Dylan here and our 43rd "From the Spirit World" Podcast is up! You can listen to it at iTunes or in the podcast page. This is a good podcast to listen to if you want more perspective on opinions of Nick's decision to air 312-321 in a week.
Dylan here reporting that Nick has pulled "The Thriller Plan" as predicted by DF member Nico. Nick magazine (top right) says 312, "The Western Air Temple" is confirmed to air Monday July 14th, and "a special 2 hour episode" we can only assume to be the finale will air Saturday July 19th. Here is what we can assume the schedule to be:
Monday July 14th: 312 - "The Western Air Temple"
Tuesday July 15th: 313 - "The Firebending Masters"
Wednesday July 16th: 314 and 315: "The Boiling Rock, Part 1" and "The Boiling Rock, Part 2"
Thursday July 17th: 316 - "The Southern Raiders"
Friday July 18th: 317 - "The Ember Island Players" Saturday July 19th: 318-321 - Unconfirmed Series Finale Titles (We will not be releasing them)
All Episodes will air at 8:00 PM.
So, there you go. The epic conclusion to our favorite TV Show ever crammed into a week. I've probably been the most supportive person in the fandom of Nick, but all I have to say is, shame on you Nick. Avatar deserves better than this on it's last episodes. I didn't know you had lost faith in the show.
Thanks so much to earth_lizard from the ASN Forums for the scan!
Note: At the bottom it says that the dates are subject to change.
-Edit- Turbo Nick confirms the July 14th premier date for 312 as well as the finale airing on July 19th. It also reveals the times for all the episodes, 8:00 PM. Thanks to Toph982 for the link!
Jake here, and I want to comment on Dylan's above post. If you've followed Nick in the past couple of years the "final episodes in one week" thing is nothing new, it is essentially Nick's sending off of the show, the last harrah. Avatar won't be back on TV with new episodes again, or at least not for a very long time (should they decide to go ahead with those specials) so what good does it do Nick to break the final 10 episodes of Avatar up when half of them have already been seen by a good deal of the fandom? It'll be better for ratings, and a nice send off, for them to do it this way. So it will all be over in a week, that's unfortunate. But this isn't Nick really losing any faith in the show IMO, it's traditional Nick sending off a show which will no longer have any new episodes. You can't "lose faith" in something that doesn't really exist anymore. Nick is done with Avatar (almost) and it's on to Paramount to milk the Avatar movies for all they are worth.
Dylan here reporting that "The Happening", M. Night Shyamalan's most recent movie, currently has a 15% on Rotten Tomatoes. These are the worst ratings of his career. Now, will this effect "The Last Airbender"? No, they're already well into production. But it is worth noting that Night is going into "The Last Airbender" after what the critics are calling the low point of his career.
Jake here, with Viacom's first press release on Avatar in months! Granted, this one is about the movie. But still, there are some good things coming from this release. Click the link above to read the full press release. Here are some highlights from the presentation at the Licensing Interatinal Expo 2008:
Officials from Nick and Paramount shared the stage with writer/director M. Night Shyamalan to discuss "The Last Airbender."
Shyamalan also notes casting has begun for the first movie already, and thousands of kids have tried out.
"Shyamalan also discussed how he came to work on the Avatar film, crediting his daughter as his first introduction to the action-oriented series. "I sat down and watched four television episodes back-to-back with my kids. We were riveted. I said, 'This would make a phenomenal movie!' My wife said, 'This is the one you've been waiting for.""
And apparently, we're all "super-fans": ""We're tremendously excited about the growth potential as new audiences meet our hero in live-action form in The Last Airbender," she said. "[Nickelodeon] is developing initiatives to super-serve the show's hardcore super-fans in anticipation of The Last Airbender's premiere.""
Viacom execs hope Avatar has a long future: "Both Lesher and Moore cited the film as "one of those rare event movies that moves audiences globally and ensures the franchise a long, prosperous future.""
Also, Avatar is ready to explode, according to one Nick exec: ""We're especially optimistic about this movie's prospects given The Last Airbender's already rabid, global fan base. The Last Airbender is a living, breathing, organic brand that's poised to explode, [and] our strategy is to work with partners who want to authentically build the brand around the globe.""
