lol we gave a narrative compulsion to a character who had a drive that was largely centered around not wanting the responsibility and fear of failure.
They seem to have forgotten that Aang was barely a teenager when he was told "Hey, kiddo, you're the chosen one!" "So you've gotta stop being a kid and be an adult immediately."
Then later learns that him doing what makes total sense (and is objectively a correct action) as a kid, not wanting to take on the scary responsibilities of adulthood when they're still literally a child, winds up with everybody/thing he remembers with love and fondness were brutally destroyed.
They seem to have forgotten that Aang was barely a teenager when he was told "Hey, kiddo, you're the chosen one!"
Actually he wasn't a teenager, that was kind of the core of the problem. He wasn't supposed to be given that burden until he was 16 but the monks smelled the war so they dropped "you need to save the world" on this kid when he was 12.
They seem to have forgotten that Aang was barely a teenager when he was told "Hey, kiddo, you're the chosen one!"
"So you've gotta stop being a kid and be an adult immediately."
Then later learns that him doing what makes total sense (and is objectively a correct action) as a kid, not wanting to take on the scary responsibilities of adulthood when they're still literally a child, winds up with everybody/thing he remembers with love and fondness were brutally destroyed.
Okay, sure. But! Have you considered how much of a bummer that would be for the audience?
Actually he wasn't a teenager, that was kind of the core of the problem. He wasn't supposed to be given that burden until he was 16 but the monks smelled the war so they dropped "you need to save the world" on this kid when he was 12.