Avatar: The Last Airbender's The Promise, Explained With Every Big Spoiler

Spoiler warning. This breakdown covers all three parts of The Promise, ending included.

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The Promise is where Avatar: The Last Airbender picks up after the finale, and it's the first book on our list of Avatar comics set between the show and Korra. Dark Horse released it in three parts in 2012, on January 25, May 30 and September 26 (Dark Horse). Gene Luen Yang wrote it, the art team Gurihiru drew it, and Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko have story credits (Wikipedia).

Where does The Promise pick up?

It opens right after the war ends and then jumps ahead a year, with Zuko settling in as the new Fire Lord and Team Avatar working on a plan to undo a hundred years of damage. It's called the Harmony Restoration Movement, and it would move the Fire Nation colonies out of the Earth Kingdom for good.

What is the promise in The Promise?

Zuko is terrified of becoming his father, so early in Part 1 he makes Aang swear to end him if he ever starts acting like Ozai. It's a heavy ask, and Zuko then makes it worse by visiting Ozai in prison for advice. The promise hangs over every page after that, and Avatar Roku keeps telling Aang to honor it.

Why does Yu Dao change everything?

Yu Dao is the oldest Fire Nation colony, and its people aren't simply "Fire Nation" anymore. Families there have mixed Fire Nation and Earth Kingdom roots going back generations. Once Zuko sees that, he pulls his support from the plan, and Earth King Kuei sends an army to enforce it anyway (Dark Horse). Aang ends up stuck between his best friend and the Earth King, with a city full of people caught in the middle.

What else happens in The Promise?

Toph opens the world's first metalbending academy, and Sokka helps her train a first class of total beginners to defend it from rival firebenders. Aang and Katara's new relationship gets tested too (being the Avatar's girlfriend comes with a lot of meetings). Aang also runs into an Avatar Aang Fan Club, whose members have tattooed Air Nomad arrows on themselves, which goes about as well as you'd expect (Avatar Wiki).

How does The Promise end?

Everything comes to a head at Yu Dao in Part 3, where Aang loses control and enters the Avatar State as the armies collide, until Katara manages to calm him down. Then Aang splits the earth to stop the fighting and shows Kuei that the nations don't need to be pulled apart. Kuei and Zuko both back down, and the battle finally ends.

In the aftermath, Aang breaks with Roku as his spiritual mentor, and Zuko apologizes for forcing the promise on him. Aang turns the fan club into the Air Acolytes, the same group that shows up on Air Temple Island in Korra. And Zuko goes to Azula to ask where their mother is, which leads straight into The Search.

Is The Promise worth reading?

My read is that it's the best possible starting point, because it answers the question the finale left hanging. A world can't heal overnight, and The Promise shows the messy middle that the show skipped. Yu Dao's mix of nations also feels like the first step toward Republic City, so it makes Korra's world click into place. If you want the whole story in one book, The Promise Omnibus collects all three parts in 232 pages (Dark Horse). You can grab The Promise Omnibus on Amazon.

Next up on our list is The Search, where Zuko finally goes looking for his mom, and The Search Omnibus is the easiest way to read it.

More Avatar coverage is right here.

Header image is the cover of The Promise Omnibus from Dark Horse Comics, art by Gurihiru. In-article panels are from Dark Horse's official previews.