And Take Responsibility For Those Choices As Our Own - Tumblr Posts

It never would have made sense, in AtLA, for Aang to kill Ozai at the end. Not only because it wouldn't make sense for Aang's character, but also because it would have gone against one of the major themes in AtLA: that part of growing up is learning how to trust in and take responsibility for your own choices. It's something all the main characters have to grapple with, and it's one of the many ways that Zuko and Aang specifically are paralleled with each other through the show.

So when Aang goes off seeking counsel from prior Avatars, on a narrative level they have to advise him to kill Ozai, and he has to make and stand by his own choice for himself. It's one last attempt by Aang to foist the responsibility for his choice(s) as the Avatar off onto someone else - one of his central conflicts that he struggles with across all three seasons.

When he finally faces Ozai, however, he has to make his choice. Not the choice any of his friends would make, not even the choice other Avatars would make. And he has to accept that choice and face it head on. That last part is critical, too, and the reason why he almost fails to take Ozai's bending until he faces him directly, until he looks Ozai in the eyes and acknowledges the full scope of how he has chosen to end that battle.

He can seek counsel and listen to the views of others, but in the end he has to choose what actions he can live with in himself for himself.