Editor's Note: The following contains spoilers for Netflix's 'Avatar: The Last Airbender'.
The Big Picture
- Koh the Face Stealer has a long history with the Avatar, adding depth to Aang's journey in Avatar: The Last Airbender.
- Netflix's version of Koh differs from the original, which affects Aang's spiritual evolution.
- Changing Koh in the adaptation impacts Aang's development and reduces the spirit's depth from the original animated version.
Whenever a new live-action adaptation from a beloved animated franchise hits, there are bound to be some differences from the source material. It's natural, and it's no different with Netflix's Avatar: The Last Airbender. There are many changes from the original Nickelodeon animation, including some character journeys and events. One of the biggest ones, however, relates to the Spirit World and to a key aspect of Aang's (Gordon Cormier) journey. In Episode 5, "Spirited Away," the Avatar has to face an ancient evil spirit named Koh (George Takei) to save his friends Katara (Kiawentiio) and Sokka (Ian Ousley) from having their faces stolen. That's not only a major deviation from the source material, but it also significantly changes the Spirit World's dynamics.
Avatar: The Last Airbender (Live-Action)
TV-14ActionAdventureComedy610A young boy known as the Avatar must master the four elemental powers to save the world and fight against an enemy bent on stopping him.
- Release Date
- February 22, 2024
- Creator
- Albert Kim
- Cast
- Daniel Dae Kim , Paul Sun-Hyung Lee , Ken Leung , Tamlyn Tomita , Gordon Cormier , Kiawentiio
- Seasons
- 1
Koh the Face Stealer Has a Long History With the Avatar
When Aang meets Koh in the Spirit World, the Face Stealer calls him an "old friend," alluding to the millennia-long history it has with the Avatar, even if not with Aang himself. Aang doesn't hide his fear and confusion and even runs away from Koh after a few moments. That's when he finds Monk Gyatso's (Lim Kay Siu) shed and learns that his friend has opted to stay in the Spirit World instead of moving on to the next step of enlightenment to help Aang. It's Gyatso who explains to Aang who Koh is, and Aang figures he should talk with Avatar Roku (C.S. Lee), who Gyatso says managed to get the best of the spirit a long time ago.
Aang then takes a long journey to the Fire Nation to commune with Avatar Roku at his shrine. It's when he learns that Roku stole a totem of the Mother of Faces — who also happens to be the spirit's mother — from Koh. Aang retrieves the totem from Roku's shrine and takes it back to Koh in the Spirit World, thus saving his friends and the people from a nearby village. Later, already in the Northern Water Tribe, Aang communes with Avatar Kuruk (Meegwun Fairbrother) and learns that Koh stole the face of Kuruk's beloved Ummi, adding to the long history of bad blood between Koh and the figure of the Avatar.
How Is Netflix’s Version of Koh Different From the Original?
With only eight episodes available to adapt the first season (called "books") of the original Avatar animation, some creative adjustments had to be made, and Koh's story is among them. In the Nickelodeon animation, he only appears at the end of "Book 1: Water," during the siege of the Northern Water Tribe by the Fire Nation, and a lot of what only happens in the season finale of the Netflix series has already happened in the animation when Koh shows up — like Team Avatar being shown the Sacred Oasis in the city of Agna Qel'a.
When Aang gets captured by Commander Zhao (Ken Leung), he is later rescued by Prince Zuko (Dallas Liu) disguised as the Blue Spirit. With Aang unconscious on his back and trapped by a blizzard, Zuko seeks shelter in a cave in the wilderness, and that's when Aang ventures into the Spirit World. This time, though, he is looking for information on the Moon and the Ocean spirits, who he knows will be in trouble once the Fire Nation attacks Agna Qel'a. Just like in the Netflix series, the Spirit World is hard to navigate and easy to get lost in, but Avatar Roku appears to point Aang in the right direction. He explains that there is an ancient spirit that is old enough to have known the Moon and the Ocean spirits, and that's Koh. However, Koh is treacherous and will steal the face of anyone who contacts him and shows any emotion at all, so Aang must keep a blank face at all times.
The scene in which Aang talks to Koh is among the most iconic of the whole Avatar franchise. Koh has a long segmented body and changes his face by blinking, attempting to provoke different emotions in the people whose faces he wants to steal. He seeks to do this with Aang, but the Avatar's focus and child-like innocence prevail. While he taunts Aang, Koh also explains that he has already met the Moon and the Ocean spirits and that they are yin-and-yang opposites who are forever revolving in a perpetual push-and-pull movement. But, in his arrogance, Koh does this while turning his back to Aang, and misses Aang's epiphany reaction when he realizes that the spirits he is looking for are the fish in the koi pond at the Sacred Oasis. Koh then calmly allows Aang to go, promising that they will meet again. On his way back to the physical world, Roku calls Hei Bai, the spirit of Senlin Village's forest, who takes Aang back to a portal he can use.
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Daniel Dae Kim and Paul Sun-Hyung Lee break down what it's like to play dads in 'Avatar: The Last Airbender'.How Does Changing Koh Affect Aang’s Journey in Netflix's Adaptation?
As chilling as he may be in the Netflix live-action series, much of what's scary about Koh is taken away. His very brief participation relies too much on visual and sound effects to convey fear, whereas the Nickelodeon animation uses him to create not only some terrifying imagery, but also a monster whose purpose is as terrifying as his looks. The fact that those who encounter Koh can't display any emotion is enough to grant him a supply of faces for eons, and surviving him requires a level of focus that few people other than the Avatar can achieve.
In Episode 5 of the Netflix adaptation, Koh's appearance is tied to the Senlin Village arc, completely changing his purpose concerning the Avatar's journey. Venturing into the Spirit World and keeping peace and balance between the realms is one of the Avatar's key responsibilities, and Koh should be a huge challenge in this sense. When Aang meets him in the original animation, it becomes clear that some spirits don't just want something in return for help or information like in the Netflix series, but rather that their very nature may be an absolute, a fundamental difference from living beings, for example, who can change nature during their lives. This is what establishes the Spirit World as a challenge for the Avatar, as it's where they must confront their own nature to evolve spiritually. In the Netflix series, however, dealing with spirits is just like dealing with people — you just have to figure out what they want.
Another complication related to Koh's appearance in the Netflix series is how he's inserted in the Senlin forest arc. The spirit of the forest, Hei Bai, who is Aang's first lesson regarding how spirits work and how they connect to the physical world, is completely overshadowed and is used mostly as an angry kaiju. Aang explains his anger in an expository line, but never does anything to calm Hei Bai down. In the animation, Hei Bai becomes a key ally for Aang in the Spirit World, but is completely sidelined in the Netflix series to make way for Koh, who's also reduced to a pointless stop in Aang's journey. While this is surely a symptom of Netflix's smaller season, it reduces one of Avatar's best villains and monsters to a mere shock factor, when Koh could have been much more.
The live-action Avatar: The Last Airbender series is available to stream on Netflix in the U.S.
