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<p>Tityre wrote:
Applying realistic arguments to Avatar implies actually considering the show as realistic. I think it's a mistake, and reflecting on Hahn's fate helps to understand why.
First of all, the use of realism in the show is too random. How many times should have a main character broken his bones or hurt himself seriously during some kind of clumsy stunt on the back of Appa ? Also, if the show was realistic, why are basic questions, like hygiene, economy, attrition, put aside? This disregard does not diminish the quality of the show: It's just not Avatar's intention nor aims to be realistic.
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The world of Avatar, as a show, follows the rules of dramaturgy. The script is the only law, and the purpose of the script is to be compelling and to match the expectations of the target audience: in this case adolescents and young adults. So it must have some taboos, like absurd deaths.
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Nevertheless, death has its place in the series but it must have meaning and meets a dramaturgical need. In real life, you can die because of a tile. In Avatar, you die saving the moon. Death corresponds to the end of the story arc of a character, who comes to the end of his evolution. The princess Yue dies while sacrificing willingly herself because she has grown as an altruist and knows she has to gives back the gift of life she once received for the sake of saving the world. Admiral Zhao is literally drowned by his pride. After his failure, he is in a dead-end. His death is both "cathartic", a punishment for his crimes, but also comes in a moment when the character can no longer evolve: his pride and lack of discipline have led to his loss.
Even the, yet uncertain, fate of Jet makes sense. He is a character beyond redemption, an empty shell pushed only by revenge. Death is, therefore, the only way out. It's in stark contrast with Sokka and Katara: they weren't consumed by hate and can still go on living. Jet's death would, therefore, make sense.
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This is precisely why I am in favor of Hahn's survival: the conditions that give sense and meaning to his death are not met. He ran head on to an embarrassing failure. He still has to learn and if he dies then, it's grotesque. Since Avatar has no realistic ambitions, Hahn's downfall on the Fire Nation's warship is certainly comical but absolutely not tragic. If he admiral and the general were quietly shrugging when the young warrior was crashing to a bloody pulp on the iron bridge, then all the sequence would have been of a terrifying cynicism, definitively out of place in a show like Avatar.
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From a dramaturgical point of view, Hahn didn't have the opportunity to meditate on his flaws afterward. Therefore, his failure can not be final.
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In conclusion, if something has "killed" Hahn, it is his status as a secondary character. His main function was to serve Sokka's narrative arc, to show how Sokka has evolved. Indeed, Hahn exactly like Sokka before he met the Avatar: brave but boastful. It's a pity we don't see more of him, I think it would have been interesting to see him react about the death of his bride. It may have been a way to complete his character arc: has he remained the spoiled child who took the princess love as granted or will he goes into mourning and evolve into the wise protector of his tribe he was meant to be?
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<p>You are really reaching here. If absurd deaths was really a taboo, Chin the Conqueror wouldn't have fell off of a crumbling cliff after being stripped down to his underwear. And name one instance of a crazy stunt on Appa that would have caused broken bones in which the avoidance of which can't be explained by Aang's airbending. And what about that captain who got thrown overboard by that warden in "Imprisoned"? What purpose was his death supposed to serve? Seriously, sometimes these things are put in the show for one minor purpose. Chin's non-dramatic death was to explain Kyoshi's deed in the context of all those clues. Hahn's non-dramatic death was to tie up some loose and show us just how much of a disaster his mission to infiltrate the Fire Navy and stop Zhao. And there was no further purpose for him beyond that that wouldn't have thrown things off anyway.
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