"Lava bending is just like ice bending, so LoK was right, any Earthbender should be able to do it." Firstly, LoK said only earth benders born with this talent could lava bend, so even if you equate it to ice bending, LoK itself goes against them being similar concepts since any water bender can bend ice but only one in a million earth benders can bend lava. I imagine the reason LoK did this is because if lava bending became too common, it would be broken as we saw the destruction just one lava bender could do. Second, water is consistently stable and doesn't require that much of a change in temperature to change states, so it makes sense water benders can manipulate it no matter what form it takes. For earth to become lava, it has to be heated up to such an extreme degree that it's more akin to fire bending. Fire is just the combustion of matter, aka, giving matter so much energy that the molecules eventually become unstable and break down. When fire benders bend, they are inserting energy into matter. The amount of energy one would need to give earth in order for it to become lava is of a level we don't see even fire benders doing on the daily, let alone earth benders. And finally, I'm not just pulling the "earth + fire" concept out of thin air, this was stated in Avatar Extras of how lava bending works. Personally, I don't mind lava bending being an advance earth bending technique, but my main points are A) originally it was an earth bending and fire bending combination, B) later Avatar sources are retconning when they say it's always only been an Earth bending technique and C) the current state of lava bending, because of LoK, doesn't make any sense.
A) It was originally *concieved* as an Earth/Fire combination technique. I would actually compare it more to Lightning Redirection; a firebending (earthbending) technique that draws heavy inspiration from other bending arts; namely waterbending (...and firebending), in order to perform. B) It is only retconning Avatar Extras, as the whole idea of lavabending being such a combination was only outright stated in Avatar Extras, which contradict other supplemental sources, making their canonicity dubious at best. C) On the one hand, the current state of lavabending (as you call it, being a rare natural-born talent) is not what you think it is. Toph calls it a rare "skill" (she specifically used that word; not "talent" or anything else that would suggest the limit of use being dependent on birth-status). At no point is it ever described as being an ability someone is either born with or not. Just as metalbending is, conceivably, something any earthbender has the *potential* to learn (even if it would be more difficult for some than others), so too is lavabending. It is only rare because the technique requires such a fundamental disconnect from the philosophies behind how conventional metal and- earthbending is performed that it makes a lot of sense why it may have only been avatars that have previously been able to do it. Having said that, I *do* have a problem with lavabending, myself. Namely, that LoK's narrative does not take the time to draw the audience's attention to the qualities of Bolin that would service his intuitive insight on the mechanics of lavabending. All his life, Bolin was exposed to the principles of firebending (having learned earthbending alongside his brother learning firebending); practiced an unorthodox form of earthbending in pro bending (for which, the footwork resembled airbending enough for Korra to have made the subconscious comparison; look at how she learns to "be a leaf" in the ring after his tutelage); and, just in general, uses very quirky, nontraditionally earthbending movements while performing his bending. I chalk this up mostly to the same reason for most of the other narrative problems I have with Lok, personally: the unfair and unkind hackneyed development cycle that plagued the show's staff from even knowing if they were going to be greenlit for more than one season at a time, and the crunch involved with that.
I complained about this so much when I saw normal people literally sundering the Earth like they were Avatars. LoK did great with making every single person feel stronger than Korra. Toph was still the strongest person in show when it ended without a close second.
About lava bending, we only see 2 people do it, one that we don't know anything about him and Bolin, the thing about Bolin is that we know that he tried very hard to do metalbending, but he was unable to, meanwhile he, the son of a firebender and a earthbender, is able to, i always saw it as, because his heritage, he couldn't do metalbending because it's earth in it's purest form, he is not a pure earthbender, but he is mixed with a firebender, so he is instead able to lava bend, that is why i got from the show and what was shown, as we see with the twins in the fortune teller the heritage is not asured, from his personality he ended "unlocking" his earthbender potential while having fire traits and his brother got the full firebender side (since the purest form of fire is lightning i will suppose this applies to lightning for fire as it does to metal for earth) Since the world is just beginning the full mixing those mixed forms were not commonplace before. BTW: I think combustionman is the equivalent of mixing fire and air
@@Canido19 It is implied that it could be a born in talent, "i have tried many times to metalbend, i just can't" Taking into consideration this alongside his potential to lavabend and that he is the son of an earthbender and a firebender then it is implied that it is his heritage the reason he a)can't metalbend and b) can lavabend, the fact it was stated is the part that implied this, if he tried a few times and failed is one thing, but having tried for years, knowing it exists (toph was able to because she taught outside the box and was arguably the first one to even try to bend something outside her element), knowing the principle, he should have been able to do it, if everyone had the potential. He didn't, at least according to what was shown in the series.
@@alenasenie6928 When I was young, I was in martial arts with a good friend of mine. At one point, we were taught the techniques that would allow us to break blocks of wood and bricks and stuff. My friend bloodied his heels and knuckles trying to do it, but no matter how often he tried, he'd miss his angles or off-time his breathing, and some-other-how fail. He wasn't weak, he just never wrapped his head around the right way to do it long enough to effectively put it to practice. I hear Bolin saying "[he] tried for years" and took it the same way I see my old friend: Here is someone who has the *capacity* to do some skill, but has some hangup preventing them from developing it. And the reason is simple: their head isn't where it needs to be. Bolin *could,* with time, reflection and insight, alter the way he thinks about his earthbending to get him to where he would be able to metalbend, but where his headspace *is* has primed him to intuit the fundamentals of lavabending. It's like different branches of a skill tree in an RPG; Bolin unknowingly specced for lava and just doesn't understand what the first "feat tax" for metal is even *for.* I mean, the guy doesn't even use Tremorsense. How is he supposed to *find* the earthen impurities in the metal, let alone bend them?
I kinda like how this Episode introduces the concept of Corrupt Religious Figures. The Fire Sages were dedicated to something sacred But now they are dedicated to, The State.
@@wildfire9280 When the Church takes over the State, things tend to get bad. Like, really bad. When the State takes over the Church, run. Run and don't look back.
You know what many people don't talk about? Just how accomplished in the other three elements aang became in less than a year, Master of water, proficient in earth and pretty good in fire. Insane
i am not sure if he really archive master in any of those, at least not the level of his masters, and he should surpass them, we see how Roku was better than his masters when he finished (at least in water and earth, we don't see a comparison in air), he was good, but every single one of them stated that he was not at the level of master a day before the comet "you need to practice firebending, how do you expect to defeat the fatherlord in your current level? (i think this was the scene were Zuko said fatherlord)" and toph said "and frankly your earthbending also needs more practice" Katara was more chilled but she didn't disagree that he was not in a master level yet. Although in every case the master was far more that what a normal master would be, seismic sense is something Toph taught Aang and it is something far beyond most earthbenders, Zuko was even over the firelord and Azula thanks to Iroh and Katara archived mastery in like a month trough hard work (i think she had raw power instead of natural talent). At the end he was able to use all, but he was not a master, but he also learned the source of bending itself with the turtle in a few minutes, i still think that the battle would have been better if they showed that part before the battle.
I would say Aang was better with earth and fire bending as he could definitely beat an average bender (using the same bending type) when it comes to all three
I love the avatar It has a place in my heart since I was a little child I’ve been a fan of this series for so long and I’m happy everyone is talking about it still
I remember being in 5th grade when the episode aired. But before it did, my friends and I were SO FUCKING EXCITED!... But we had to wait 2 weeks instead of one for some reason between episodes 7 and 8, and we were speculating like no tomorrow. We had a watch party for this and it was 🔥🔥🔥
I still don't buy it, lava has nothing to do with fire except being hot! ITS MOLTEN EARTH! Sorry but its straight earth bending! I will say that with enough heat a FIRE BENDER can make lava but only shortly.
@@nobodybroda3826 Clouds are just water vapor, yet it took a combination of airbending and waterbending to manipulate them. With waterbenders already displaying the ability to change the form of water why would it explicitly take both forms to control them instead of just waterbending? Besides, firebending controls heat. We see that when Roku and Sozin pull heat out of the volcanoes to stop their eruption when Roku dies.
@@MrDj232 Speaking of that, i am the only one that sees lightning redirection as a form of that technique? It is very similar, one hand, it goes trough your body and it comes out at the other hand, is the same, but the waterbender part is what path to use, with the gases it had no problem yoloing it, but the lightning was too dangerous and needed a safe path, the healing techniques showed the paths in the body and that is the combination i think Iroh did
@@alenasenie6928 I think lightning redirection is less about using the right path, and more about adapting the concepts of flow and counter attacks to control the lightning. But yeah, it's very similar to the heat control they used. As the avatar it's possible Roku also got the idea to blend styles.
When they show Aang learning the elements ,they show him having to understand it's concept first ,like earth being a stubborn element,or fire being "alive". Since in order to bend lava you need to make it as hot as fire ,and fluid like water it's no surprise the being that understands all elements would be it's most predominnant bender, but I can see how someone who understands the concepts of lava could bend it,though I still need to watch Korra .
My favorite episode for sure. Such high adrenaline and emotion to it! Also so interesting and Shyiu one episode but forever set the tone and his help and loyalty lives on forever what a legend
I always wanted Lava bending to be a uniquely Avatar bending ability because it required the ability to bend both earth and Fire. Energy bending isnt a uniquely Avatar bending ability. The Lion turtle says "Before we bent the elements we bent the energy within ourselves." This means that if you are spitiral enough and a bender you can learn to energy bend other people its just really fucking dangerous. And since ;(at the time of ATLA) the avatar was just hundreds of spirits they are vastly better at messing with there spiritual energy. Similar to seismic sense for earth benders and Ki redirecting for water benders and Lighting bending for Fire benders. I really wanted Lava bending to be just a Avatar bending ability and I mean only a fully realized Avatar could do it because you are mixing two different bending styles to bend this element.
When it comes to the mechanics of Bending, I think Chi is the least discussed aspect in/of the story and Fandom. Chi is said to be the fuel in firebending. But what becomes of a Water or Earthbender's Chi? Just focused on manipulating their element instead? I think Lavabending, Air Insulation (Airbending), Ice Melt on some level tap into a "Heating" aspect of Chi.
The racism against Firebenders only ever stops very late with Sokka. Throughout the series, you hear him making off-hand remarks about Firebenders being vile and evil, right until Season 3 when he says that "We are in enemy territory. Those are enemy birds!". It all makes sense given that he grew up in the war, saw his village being repeatedly raided by the Fire Nation and lost his mother to them and I think its why certain episodes in season 3 where they encounter normal, everyday Fire Nation civilians are so important.
Personally I see a pretty easy argument for a skilled Earthbender being able to lavabend without fire via churning the earth or rock against itself on a tiny scale, thereby quickly building friction and heat to turn it to lava and bending the now-liquid mass.
I wish that as 3:30 you had spoken more about how the idea of the Avatar's true power is transmitted to the audience, which is one of my favourite scenes from the entire series. And that is... through General Zhao's face when he sees Roku. This guy thought he was just capturing a child who was trapped in a room, and all of the sudden he sees the equivalent of Jesus brandishing his holy flaming sword. And Jesus is pissed off. And he's pissed off at you. Because you just attacked him. And you just realized you might have slightly fucked up.
Actually I would like to see a poll, which is the absolute best aspect of the show between what he said and my first thought: The characters The world building
The way I see it, the Avatar, as being able to bend all four elements, can have rare insight into the possibilities, like Iroh studying water bending to create the lightning redirection technique or Jeong Jeong throwing up walls like an earth or water bender. An experienced Avatar knows how to bend earth, water, and fire. Lava is molten earth with heat like fire and a changed state and flow like water. Bolin regularly worked alongside waterbending and firebending. I say it works. It's just really dang hard to think along the right lines unless you're the Avatar. I don't recall the show ever retconning what was said onscreen in an episode. And supplemental material being retconned isn't as bad as an in-show retcon. Worry about the Annodites and Kevin, not the bubbles. The bombs also set Sokka on his journey to team smart guy for strategy and technical matters.
I wouldn’t say Korra butchered lava bending look that show did a lot wrong but, I think it’s pretty cool how it was executed. It showed that regular benders can achieve great power and don’t necessarily need an avatar to always save them plus it takes both skill and lineage to accomplish specialty bending. Like it’s hinted that Bolin is able to lava bend due to his heritage he’s descended from a fire bender and an earth bender so it still holds to the original ideal of the bending from in ATLA the blending of the elements. You got Amon and tarlok who’ve only got their abilities directly because of their bloodline etc etc. I think granting special bending abilities to regular benders creates a more unique and diverse world and can add some crazy opportunities for characters like the villains in season 3 of LOK. Saving all the specialized and super powerful bending for the avatar (while sensible on paper) turns their incarnations from a bridge between two worlds (a narrative tool for hope and unity and a human character capable of flaws) into a flash like character who’s so powerful they should never lose. If Aang could lava bend why bother bending earth or fire just bend molten lava if aang could bloodbend why bother learning energy bending when it can accomplish the same thing. Or for that matter if aang can energybend why bother bending any other elements as energy exists in all form all around us. It’s never specified the limitations to the kinds of energy aang can bend. Can he bend kinetic, nuclear, solar, gravitational, the list goes on. But I digress my point is that saving all the specialized bending for the avatar doesn’t work the same way Superman doesn’t when authors treat him as a god. It removes the humanity they’re too strong too powerful you can’t be all powerful in the fictional sense is inherently not synonymous with being human. To be human is to fail is to flaw is to learn is to grow. And if you are all powerful where does that leave you? Do your flaws disappear? No, does it put a cap on your potential? Yes so you’re left with a flawed human with no room to grow and no one to stop them sooner rather than later you’re gonna end up with a villain.
That’s why shady said first good fire bender they encounter and points out that it was a sign to the audience to look out for more. Jeong jeong doesn’t show up for another 8 episodes.
Lavabending has NEVER been a fusion of firebending and earthbending. The reason it was believed that only the avatar could do it is because it was believed the avatar simply used firebending to melt rock, then bent the molten rock. But lavabending is literally nothing more than the principles of WATERbending applied to earthbending. There are some differences, with the key one being that rock doesn't expand upon freezing like ice does. But the principles are there, and once earthbenders realized the science behind phase shifting matter as practiced by waterbenders, they figured out how to apply it to earthbending. The progression of earthbending to lavabending is as natural as the progression of science and tech from 1850 (ATLA) to 1920 (LoK). Bolin could never figure out the whole, "feel the flecks of earth inside the metal," thing, but when he realized that all he had to do to stop melted rock was re-freeze it like waterbenders freeze water, it came naturally to him. Yes, I know Toph calls it a rare talent, but she doesn't call it innate or inherited. It's harder to learn, but anyone can learn it if they can get over the whole, "earth is earth and water is water," thing. She can probably do it herself. Sandbenders sometimes bend glass, which is a form of lavabending, as glass is not a crystalline solid. What makes lavabending hard to achieve and master is the fact that it's dangerous. It's easily the most hazardous form of earthbending, both to the bender and to those around.
Avatar Extras specifically said lava bending was a combination of earth bending and fire bending. Water, whether it be solid, liquid or gas is still in a very stable state. With lava bending, you are not just manipulating earth, you are manipulating earth to an extremely heated degree; the molecules are much more unstable. This is what fire bending is, causing molecules to become unstable and combust and then controlling the direction of the combustion. Even if lava bending was just a type of Earth bending similar to ice or steam bending, LoK said that only some earth benders can do it, (you have to be born with the ability and it is extremely rare) which makes no sense because every water bender can ice bend.
@@ShadyDoorags see the part I don't like is that it's a genetic thing as lava bending should just be a very advanced technique much like metal bending. It could even add to the lore of earth being a stubborn element because it's supplementary elements are harder to bend. Basically it should be just a complicated technique similar to metal bending that requires someone smart to bend it.
@@pickedceasar1216 LoK retconned metal bending as well. Like lava bending, you have to be born with the ability despite Toph literally showing how any earth bender could do it.
@@ShadyDoorags Thank You! I felt the same way. This is another reason why LOK I just didn't like about it. again it has it charm but still they changed the rules.
On the lava bending thing we know bolin has a fire bender parent and earth bender parent because his brother is a fire bender. So he os sort of a combo of fire and earth. Also we dont know about the other lava benders lineage. Lots of fire nation people in the earth kingdom colonies during the 100 year war is all in saying
I rewatched this episode a few days ago for the 457th time and something occured to me. Roku said Aang had mastered the elements in such a short time before, so out of all the times they talked, why didn't Roku tell or guide Aang to the Avatar who did this? Roku's advice obviously would have been useful, but maybe the Avatar who had to master all 4 elements in less than a year might have few things worth saying.
3:30 i don't know if i agree with korra ruining lavabending. there are only a few characters that can do it and they all have an earth bender parent and fire bender parent. that makes a lot of sense to me since it basically just means that there can be such thing as bender half-breeds. it also makes sense that there weren't any before because the nations mostly stuck to themselves prior to ATLA. the thing i think korra really butchered is lightning with it being treated as something that firebenders can just do
@3:41 Remember we see Bolin use Lava bending, but it makes sense for him to be able to to it. His Brother Mako, is a fire Bender, we also know that Bolin is an Earrth Bender. So, Bolin has the genetic make up of both Earth Bending & Fire Bending. What is lava? Fire & Earth. It's not like we see Bolin air bending and water bending. He just uses his lineage to bend earth. We also see that Bolin is unable to metal bend, which is pure earth bending skills. I think you can't compare the worlds of Aang and Korra. Anng is separate nations, while Korra is a blending of nations. Like I can see a Firebender & Airbender's child able to redirect smoke. Or an Earthbender & Airbender's Child able to make clouds of sand. Or an Airbender & a Waterbender's child able to make rain clouds. 🌧 [non cannon, but reasonable.] The lore of the show is only the Avatar can bend all four elements. It says nothing about people being able to bend 2 elements.
Lava bending was never a mix of earth and fire bending. If anything it’s just earth bending with the style of water bending (since water Benders can freely phase shift and of course it’s a liquid). That’s like saying sand Benders should only be able to sand bend if they can bend air, since their movements more closely resemble air Benders than earth Benders.
@@ShadyDoorags ah, well then I have to admit canon wise I’m wrong. However, I would make the point that that’s very stupid, so much so that it’s basically an error on the writers part. It really is just “well water+fire=lava soooo” when that doesn’t fit with how bending works. Maybe you could say they need fire to heat the earth (even thought steam bending is a thing for water Benders) but all the lava bending shown in the original was with pre melted lava. So there’s really nothing that should require fire bending. It would make more sense to be exclusively avatar purely because of the raw power required, and because avatars would be proficient in water bending, a style fairly contradictory to earth bending.
You are clearly wrong. The most terrifying thing is when good old Toph AKA Mellon Lord was hurling flaming boulders at the game and laughing as she claimed her self the Demon Lord!!!! Clearly a Demon Lord is much more horrific than a simple fall off a flying creature that will simple catch Soka before he falls too much.
Since this show got the J.K. Rowling treatment pretty early, I only consider the original AtLA cannon. Everything else undermines the very cohesive philosophy and world building of the original 60-somthing episodes. As far as I'm concerned, the creators can't even be trusted with their own material anymore because they're so desperate to catch lighting in a bottle again. Today's politics plus the obvious audience pandering suggests they told their story long ago and any attempts to amend it are hollow, agenda driven, subversions of a perfectly serviceable, by-the-books epic.
Nah if water benders can turn liquid water to solid then earthbenders can turn solid earth into liquid. That’s all lava is liquid earth, yes it’s hot but has nothing to do with fire
Season one was okay, though Korra wasn't a good protagonist and it had an atrocious ending. Season 2 is awful. Season 3 and 4 are good, but no where near as good as AtLA.
I heard that the writers did not know that LoK would go beyond season one and when season 2 was greenlit they basically had to write another season in a limited time frame. It might have been false but it doesn’t excuse poor execution. Like Game of Thrones season 7 and 8.
@@Capri_00 No thats real, I’ve been in this fandom since 2015 or so At first TLOK was meant to be a short series Showing how the world looked but then Nickelodeon demanded a whole season and then changed their minds again and again so the writers were thrown into chaos and had to work overtime And then they wanted a season 2 suddenly and so on I think it still came out well just again not as a prequel
@@ShadyDoorags I agree! For me Season 4 was so bad imo I just dont like the whole mega tanks and stuff Also for me Korra kinda ruined so much and I could go on and on about that But as a series in itself I think it was good! But since its not I dont like it :(
With the help of his friends Aang becomes an Avatar able to save the world. Korra becomes an avatar who with the help of her friends can help the world. Just literally night and day levels of skill difference with those two. Aang took down the big bad super boosted fire bender solo before he could lay waste to the entire Earth kingdom, and Korra waited to face the big bad Earth bender gal until after she had conquered the entire Earth kingdom. Then failed to stop her allowing a weapon of mass destruction to be fired in a city opening yet another gate for dangerous spirits to poor out like Koh.
@@ShadyDoorags aren't they the same people that changed it? Why does it have to be that way though? I like the idea of people being able to do these things but never have because the world wasn't as connected
i always felt like Bolin being able to lavabend had something to do with the fact that he's mixed between Earth Kingdom and Fire Nation. sure, he turned out to be an Earthbender, but he still has Fire Nation in his genes as well. as for Ghazan, we don't really know much about him so could be a similar situation.
![Yeat & Summrs - GO2WORK [Official Music Video]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/NEFEwfPcXRA/mqdefault.jpg)
"Lava bending is just like ice bending, so LoK was right, any Earthbender should be able to do it."
Firstly, LoK said only earth benders born with this talent could lava bend, so even if you equate it to ice bending, LoK itself goes against them being similar concepts since any water bender can bend ice but only one in a million earth benders can bend lava. I imagine the reason LoK did this is because if lava bending became too common, it would be broken as we saw the destruction just one lava bender could do.
Second, water is consistently stable and doesn't require that much of a change in temperature to change states, so it makes sense water benders can manipulate it no matter what form it takes. For earth to become lava, it has to be heated up to such an extreme degree that it's more akin to fire bending. Fire is just the combustion of matter, aka, giving matter so much energy that the molecules eventually become unstable and break down. When fire benders bend, they are inserting energy into matter. The amount of energy one would need to give earth in order for it to become lava is of a level we don't see even fire benders doing on the daily, let alone earth benders.
And finally, I'm not just pulling the "earth + fire" concept out of thin air, this was stated in Avatar Extras of how lava bending works.
Personally, I don't mind lava bending being an advance earth bending technique, but my main points are A) originally it was an earth bending and fire bending combination, B) later Avatar sources are retconning when they say it's always only been an Earth bending technique and C) the current state of lava bending, because of LoK, doesn't make any sense.
A) It was originally *concieved* as an Earth/Fire combination technique. I would actually compare it more to Lightning Redirection; a firebending (earthbending) technique that draws heavy inspiration from other bending arts; namely waterbending (...and firebending), in order to perform.
B) It is only retconning Avatar Extras, as the whole idea of lavabending being such a combination was only outright stated in Avatar Extras, which contradict other supplemental sources, making their canonicity dubious at best.
C) On the one hand, the current state of lavabending (as you call it, being a rare natural-born talent) is not what you think it is. Toph calls it a rare "skill" (she specifically used that word; not "talent" or anything else that would suggest the limit of use being dependent on birth-status). At no point is it ever described as being an ability someone is either born with or not. Just as metalbending is, conceivably, something any earthbender has the *potential* to learn (even if it would be more difficult for some than others), so too is lavabending. It is only rare because the technique requires such a fundamental disconnect from the philosophies behind how conventional metal and- earthbending is performed that it makes a lot of sense why it may have only been avatars that have previously been able to do it.
Having said that, I *do* have a problem with lavabending, myself. Namely, that LoK's narrative does not take the time to draw the audience's attention to the qualities of Bolin that would service his intuitive insight on the mechanics of lavabending. All his life, Bolin was exposed to the principles of firebending (having learned earthbending alongside his brother learning firebending); practiced an unorthodox form of earthbending in pro bending (for which, the footwork resembled airbending enough for Korra to have made the subconscious comparison; look at how she learns to "be a leaf" in the ring after his tutelage); and, just in general, uses very quirky, nontraditionally earthbending movements while performing his bending. I chalk this up mostly to the same reason for most of the other narrative problems I have with Lok, personally: the unfair and unkind hackneyed development cycle that plagued the show's staff from even knowing if they were going to be greenlit for more than one season at a time, and the crunch involved with that.
I complained about this so much when I saw normal people literally sundering the Earth like they were Avatars. LoK did great with making every single person feel stronger than Korra. Toph was still the strongest person in show when it ended without a close second.
About lava bending, we only see 2 people do it, one that we don't know anything about him and Bolin, the thing about Bolin is that we know that he tried very hard to do metalbending, but he was unable to, meanwhile he, the son of a firebender and a earthbender, is able to, i always saw it as, because his heritage, he couldn't do metalbending because it's earth in it's purest form, he is not a pure earthbender, but he is mixed with a firebender, so he is instead able to lava bend, that is why i got from the show and what was shown, as we see with the twins in the fortune teller the heritage is not asured, from his personality he ended "unlocking" his earthbender potential while having fire traits and his brother got the full firebender side (since the purest form of fire is lightning i will suppose this applies to lightning for fire as it does to metal for earth) Since the world is just beginning the full mixing those mixed forms were not commonplace before.
BTW: I think combustionman is the equivalent of mixing fire and air
@@Canido19 It is implied that it could be a born in talent, "i have tried many times to metalbend, i just can't" Taking into consideration this alongside his potential to lavabend and that he is the son of an earthbender and a firebender then it is implied that it is his heritage the reason he a)can't metalbend and b) can lavabend, the fact it was stated is the part that implied this, if he tried a few times and failed is one thing, but having tried for years, knowing it exists (toph was able to because she taught outside the box and was arguably the first one to even try to bend something outside her element), knowing the principle, he should have been able to do it, if everyone had the potential. He didn't, at least according to what was shown in the series.
@@alenasenie6928 When I was young, I was in martial arts with a good friend of mine. At one point, we were taught the techniques that would allow us to break blocks of wood and bricks and stuff. My friend bloodied his heels and knuckles trying to do it, but no matter how often he tried, he'd miss his angles or off-time his breathing, and some-other-how fail. He wasn't weak, he just never wrapped his head around the right way to do it long enough to effectively put it to practice.
I hear Bolin saying "[he] tried for years" and took it the same way I see my old friend: Here is someone who has the *capacity* to do some skill, but has some hangup preventing them from developing it. And the reason is simple: their head isn't where it needs to be. Bolin *could,* with time, reflection and insight, alter the way he thinks about his earthbending to get him to where he would be able to metalbend, but where his headspace *is* has primed him to intuit the fundamentals of lavabending. It's like different branches of a skill tree in an RPG; Bolin unknowingly specced for lava and just doesn't understand what the first "feat tax" for metal is even *for.* I mean, the guy doesn't even use Tremorsense. How is he supposed to *find* the earthen impurities in the metal, let alone bend them?
I kinda like how this Episode introduces the concept of Corrupt Religious Figures.
The Fire Sages were dedicated to something sacred But now they are dedicated to, The State.
Judge Claude Frollo says hello.
@@Vigriff🎵 "Fire! Hellfire!" 🎵
@@Vigriff That was more church taking over in lieu of the state, but effectively the same result.
@@wildfire9280 When the Church takes over the State, things tend to get bad. Like, really bad.
When the State takes over the Church, run. Run and don't look back.
There are no elephants in the world of the Avatar but there are elephant mice and elephant bears and even elephant platypus.
And a bear….just a bear….
@@Capri_00 Ba Sing Se is weird.
@@Capri_00 well… there was….
You know what many people don't talk about? Just how accomplished in the other three elements aang became in less than a year, Master of water, proficient in earth and pretty good in fire. Insane
@@capeisdead2987 self taught people are under appreciated
@@capeisdead2987 he was way slower than Katara even when he had more natural talent, it is stated in book 2 chapter one by Pakku
i am not sure if he really archive master in any of those, at least not the level of his masters, and he should surpass them, we see how Roku was better than his masters when he finished (at least in water and earth, we don't see a comparison in air), he was good, but every single one of them stated that he was not at the level of master a day before the comet "you need to practice firebending, how do you expect to defeat the fatherlord in your current level? (i think this was the scene were Zuko said fatherlord)" and toph said "and frankly your earthbending also needs more practice" Katara was more chilled but she didn't disagree that he was not in a master level yet. Although in every case the master was far more that what a normal master would be, seismic sense is something Toph taught Aang and it is something far beyond most earthbenders, Zuko was even over the firelord and Azula thanks to Iroh and Katara archived mastery in like a month trough hard work (i think she had raw power instead of natural talent).
At the end he was able to use all, but he was not a master, but he also learned the source of bending itself with the turtle in a few minutes, i still think that the battle would have been better if they showed that part before the battle.
I would say Aang was better with earth and fire bending as he could definitely beat an average bender (using the same bending type) when it comes to all three
6:37 If this happened to me, I'd be screaming so loud that you could here me in another dimension.
Also... Sokka and Katara kinda have an excuse for their fire nation stance.
I love the avatar
It has a place in my heart since I was a little child
I’ve been a fan of this series for so long and I’m happy everyone is talking about it still
I remember being in 5th grade when the episode aired. But before it did, my friends and I were SO FUCKING EXCITED!... But we had to wait 2 weeks instead of one for some reason between episodes 7 and 8, and we were speculating like no tomorrow. We had a watch party for this and it was 🔥🔥🔥
Every day I think about how amazing it would be to see Aang's four element attack land on someone.
If I was in charge of a avatar movie this is where I'd end the first one.
Thank you for calling out lava bending in Korra. So many of that series' fans refuse to accept that lava bending is a fusion of earth and fire.
I still don't buy it, lava has nothing to do with fire except being hot! ITS MOLTEN EARTH! Sorry but its straight earth bending! I will say that with enough heat a FIRE BENDER can make lava but only shortly.
@@nobodybroda3826 Clouds are just water vapor, yet it took a combination of airbending and waterbending to manipulate them. With waterbenders already displaying the ability to change the form of water why would it explicitly take both forms to control them instead of just waterbending? Besides, firebending controls heat. We see that when Roku and Sozin pull heat out of the volcanoes to stop their eruption when Roku dies.
@@MrDj232 Speaking of that, i am the only one that sees lightning redirection as a form of that technique? It is very similar, one hand, it goes trough your body and it comes out at the other hand, is the same, but the waterbender part is what path to use, with the gases it had no problem yoloing it, but the lightning was too dangerous and needed a safe path, the healing techniques showed the paths in the body and that is the combination i think Iroh did
@@alenasenie6928 I think lightning redirection is less about using the right path, and more about adapting the concepts of flow and counter attacks to control the lightning. But yeah, it's very similar to the heat control they used. As the avatar it's possible Roku also got the idea to blend styles.
When they show Aang learning the elements ,they show him having to understand it's concept first ,like earth being a stubborn element,or fire being "alive". Since in order to bend lava you need to make it as hot as fire ,and fluid like water it's no surprise the being that understands all elements would be it's most predominnant bender, but I can see how someone who understands the concepts of lava could bend it,though I still need to watch Korra .
I like how they used the lamp as a "lightbulb idea indicator" and also actually use the lamp in the idea.
My favorite episode for sure. Such high adrenaline and emotion to it! Also so interesting and Shyiu one episode but forever set the tone and his help and loyalty lives on forever what a legend
I always wanted Lava bending to be a uniquely Avatar bending ability because it required the ability to bend both earth and Fire. Energy bending isnt a uniquely Avatar bending ability. The Lion turtle says "Before we bent the elements we bent the energy within ourselves." This means that if you are spitiral enough and a bender you can learn to energy bend other people its just really fucking dangerous. And since ;(at the time of ATLA) the avatar was just hundreds of spirits they are vastly better at messing with there spiritual energy.
Similar to seismic sense for earth benders and Ki redirecting for water benders and Lighting bending for Fire benders. I really wanted Lava bending to be just a Avatar bending ability and I mean only a fully realized Avatar could do it because you are mixing two different bending styles to bend this element.
When it comes to the mechanics of Bending, I think Chi is the least discussed aspect in/of the story and Fandom.
Chi is said to be the fuel in firebending. But what becomes of a Water or Earthbender's Chi? Just focused on manipulating their element instead?
I think Lavabending, Air Insulation (Airbending), Ice Melt on some level tap into a "Heating" aspect of Chi.
I love these analysis of one my favorite shows of all time
The racism against Firebenders only ever stops very late with Sokka. Throughout the series, you hear him making off-hand remarks about Firebenders being vile and evil, right until Season 3 when he says that "We are in enemy territory. Those are enemy birds!". It all makes sense given that he grew up in the war, saw his village being repeatedly raided by the Fire Nation and lost his mother to them and I think its why certain episodes in season 3 where they encounter normal, everyday Fire Nation civilians are so important.
damn this channel is criminally undersubbed. such a great video.
I feel that lava bending is the apex of bending in the realm of blood bending and flying.
I’d like to point out, Lava Bending was also retconned (sort of- not really) in an intentionally non-canon “school au” type thing. Zuko did it
Personally I see a pretty easy argument for a skilled Earthbender being able to lavabend without fire via churning the earth or rock against itself on a tiny scale, thereby quickly building friction and heat to turn it to lava and bending the now-liquid mass.
I wish that as 3:30 you had spoken more about how the idea of the Avatar's true power is transmitted to the audience, which is one of my favourite scenes from the entire series. And that is... through General Zhao's face when he sees Roku. This guy thought he was just capturing a child who was trapped in a room, and all of the sudden he sees the equivalent of Jesus brandishing his holy flaming sword. And Jesus is pissed off. And he's pissed off at you. Because you just attacked him. And you just realized you might have slightly fucked up.
Actually I would like to see a poll, which is the absolute best aspect of the show between what he said and my first thought:
The characters
The world building
Funny thing, Lava bending was revealed to be an Earthbending sub skill in the comics during the Gaang's era, not Korra's.
But the comic came out after Korra so it doesn't really matter
Zhau was the true villain of book one
The worst of the Fire Nation
First time we see Lava bending
No, that's just fire bending.
You can tell because the fire lord is doing it.
Roku bends lava in this episode. There are scenes of him manipulating lava and Avatar Extras even says it's lava bending.
Thanks so much for covering Avatar the Last Airbender it's my favorite show
Thank you! Great analysis! Also, please call out Korra as much as possible! Without Head Writer Aaron Easz, Brian and Mike made a ton o mistakes!
Can't wait for the next one
I can't wait till you get to talk about toph!
Lol that comet said: lol sucks to be youu
I guess Ice bending is both Earth Bending and Water Bending then
The way I see it, the Avatar, as being able to bend all four elements, can have rare insight into the possibilities, like Iroh studying water bending to create the lightning redirection technique or Jeong Jeong throwing up walls like an earth or water bender. An experienced Avatar knows how to bend earth, water, and fire. Lava is molten earth with heat like fire and a changed state and flow like water. Bolin regularly worked alongside waterbending and firebending. I say it works. It's just really dang hard to think along the right lines unless you're the Avatar. I don't recall the show ever retconning what was said onscreen in an episode. And supplemental material being retconned isn't as bad as an in-show retcon. Worry about the Annodites and Kevin, not the bubbles.
The bombs also set Sokka on his journey to team smart guy for strategy and technical matters.
Chicken Biscuits.
when it comes to lavabending, i mean bolin had a fire bender und earth bender parent so you could argue that way......
I wouldn’t say Korra butchered lava bending look that show did a lot wrong but, I think it’s pretty cool how it was executed. It showed that regular benders can achieve great power and don’t necessarily need an avatar to always save them plus it takes both skill and lineage to accomplish specialty bending. Like it’s hinted that Bolin is able to lava bend due to his heritage he’s descended from a fire bender and an earth bender so it still holds to the original ideal of the bending from in ATLA the blending of the elements. You got Amon and tarlok who’ve only got their abilities directly because of their bloodline etc etc. I think granting special bending abilities to regular benders creates a more unique and diverse world and can add some crazy opportunities for characters like the villains in season 3 of LOK.
Saving all the specialized and super powerful bending for the avatar (while sensible on paper) turns their incarnations from a bridge between two worlds (a narrative tool for hope and unity and a human character capable of flaws) into a flash like character who’s so powerful they should never lose. If Aang could lava bend why bother bending earth or fire just bend molten lava if aang could bloodbend why bother learning energy bending when it can accomplish the same thing. Or for that matter if aang can energybend why bother bending any other elements as energy exists in all form all around us. It’s never specified the limitations to the kinds of energy aang can bend. Can he bend kinetic, nuclear, solar, gravitational, the list goes on. But I digress my point is that saving all the specialized bending for the avatar doesn’t work the same way Superman doesn’t when authors treat him as a god. It removes the humanity they’re too strong too powerful you can’t be all powerful in the fictional sense is inherently not synonymous with being human. To be human is to fail is to flaw is to learn is to grow. And if you are all powerful where does that leave you? Do your flaws disappear? No, does it put a cap on your potential? Yes so you’re left with a flawed human with no room to grow and no one to stop them sooner rather than later you’re gonna end up with a villain.
I liked this channel okayish but followed as soon as I saw he started doing ATLA
What about the one fire bender general Aang learned from? Wouldnt he be counted as a good fire bender?
Well yeah but he’s grumpy. I like happy good fire nation people. Like Tomtom!!!
That’s why shady said first good fire bender they encounter and points out that it was a sign to the audience to look out for more. Jeong jeong doesn’t show up for another 8 episodes.
Lavabending has NEVER been a fusion of firebending and earthbending. The reason it was believed that only the avatar could do it is because it was believed the avatar simply used firebending to melt rock, then bent the molten rock. But lavabending is literally nothing more than the principles of WATERbending applied to earthbending. There are some differences, with the key one being that rock doesn't expand upon freezing like ice does. But the principles are there, and once earthbenders realized the science behind phase shifting matter as practiced by waterbenders, they figured out how to apply it to earthbending. The progression of earthbending to lavabending is as natural as the progression of science and tech from 1850 (ATLA) to 1920 (LoK). Bolin could never figure out the whole, "feel the flecks of earth inside the metal," thing, but when he realized that all he had to do to stop melted rock was re-freeze it like waterbenders freeze water, it came naturally to him. Yes, I know Toph calls it a rare talent, but she doesn't call it innate or inherited. It's harder to learn, but anyone can learn it if they can get over the whole, "earth is earth and water is water," thing. She can probably do it herself. Sandbenders sometimes bend glass, which is a form of lavabending, as glass is not a crystalline solid. What makes lavabending hard to achieve and master is the fact that it's dangerous. It's easily the most hazardous form of earthbending, both to the bender and to those around.
actually the avatar comics had lava bending. Its based around intense vibrations of the earth
Yeah I don't really get what his deal about that is since it's basically just ice bending for water benders but in reverse and for Earth benders
Avatar Extras specifically said lava bending was a combination of earth bending and fire bending. Water, whether it be solid, liquid or gas is still in a very stable state. With lava bending, you are not just manipulating earth, you are manipulating earth to an extremely heated degree; the molecules are much more unstable. This is what fire bending is, causing molecules to become unstable and combust and then controlling the direction of the combustion.
Even if lava bending was just a type of Earth bending similar to ice or steam bending, LoK said that only some earth benders can do it, (you have to be born with the ability and it is extremely rare) which makes no sense because every water bender can ice bend.
@@ShadyDoorags see the part I don't like is that it's a genetic thing as lava bending should just be a very advanced technique much like metal bending. It could even add to the lore of earth being a stubborn element because it's supplementary elements are harder to bend.
Basically it should be just a complicated technique similar to metal bending that requires someone smart to bend it.
@@pickedceasar1216 LoK retconned metal bending as well. Like lava bending, you have to be born with the ability despite Toph literally showing how any earth bender could do it.
@@ShadyDoorags Thank You! I felt the same way. This is another reason why LOK I just didn't like about it. again it has it charm but still they changed the rules.
On the lava bending thing we know bolin has a fire bender parent and earth bender parent because his brother is a fire bender. So he os sort of a combo of fire and earth. Also we dont know about the other lava benders lineage. Lots of fire nation people in the earth kingdom colonies during the 100 year war is all in saying
I rewatched this episode a few days ago for the 457th time and something occured to me. Roku said Aang had mastered the elements in such a short time before, so out of all the times they talked, why didn't Roku tell or guide Aang to the Avatar who did this? Roku's advice obviously would have been useful, but maybe the Avatar who had to master all 4 elements in less than a year might have few things worth saying.
3:30 i don't know if i agree with korra ruining lavabending. there are only a few characters that can do it and they all have an earth bender parent and fire bender parent. that makes a lot of sense to me since it basically just means that there can be such thing as bender half-breeds. it also makes sense that there weren't any before because the nations mostly stuck to themselves prior to ATLA. the thing i think korra really butchered is lightning with it being treated as something that firebenders can just do
a few of the high level fire benders could control pre existing lava. earth benders with lava talent can create and control lava.
aang was just speedrun while doing sidequest
Disagree on the Miraculous clip Fu is no mentor but a failure
@3:41
Remember we see Bolin use Lava bending, but it makes sense for him to be able to to it. His Brother Mako, is a fire Bender, we also know that Bolin is an Earrth Bender. So, Bolin has the genetic make up of both Earth Bending & Fire Bending. What is lava? Fire & Earth. It's not like we see Bolin air bending and water bending. He just uses his lineage to bend earth. We also see that Bolin is unable to metal bend, which is pure earth bending skills.
I think you can't compare the worlds of Aang and Korra. Anng is separate nations, while Korra is a blending of nations.
Like I can see a Firebender & Airbender's child able to redirect smoke. Or an Earthbender & Airbender's Child able to make clouds of sand. Or an Airbender & a Waterbender's child able to make rain clouds. 🌧 [non cannon, but reasonable.]
The lore of the show is only the Avatar can bend all four elements. It says nothing about people being able to bend 2 elements.
Lava bending was never a mix of earth and fire bending. If anything it’s just earth bending with the style of water bending (since water Benders can freely phase shift and of course it’s a liquid). That’s like saying sand Benders should only be able to sand bend if they can bend air, since their movements more closely resemble air Benders than earth Benders.
Avatar Extras confirms that lava bending was originally fire bending and earth bending.
@@ShadyDoorags ah, well then I have to admit canon wise I’m wrong. However, I would make the point that that’s very stupid, so much so that it’s basically an error on the writers part. It really is just “well water+fire=lava soooo” when that doesn’t fit with how bending works. Maybe you could say they need fire to heat the earth (even thought steam bending is a thing for water Benders) but all the lava bending shown in the original was with pre melted lava. So there’s really nothing that should require fire bending. It would make more sense to be exclusively avatar purely because of the raw power required, and because avatars would be proficient in water bending, a style fairly contradictory to earth bending.
Damn it I love your content. How much to get you to focus solely on atla?
Sad to see your King of the Hill videos get 20x more views. This is where it's at
You are clearly wrong. The most terrifying thing is when good old Toph AKA Mellon Lord was hurling flaming boulders at the game and laughing as she claimed her self the Demon Lord!!!! Clearly a Demon Lord is much more horrific than a simple fall off a flying creature that will simple catch Soka before he falls too much.
I wish Aang learned to lavabend himself, would have substituted firebending for the time being
Since this show got the J.K. Rowling treatment pretty early, I only consider the original AtLA cannon. Everything else undermines the very cohesive philosophy and world building of the original 60-somthing episodes. As far as I'm concerned, the creators can't even be trusted with their own material anymore because they're so desperate to catch lighting in a bottle again. Today's politics plus the obvious audience pandering suggests they told their story long ago and any attempts to amend it are hollow, agenda driven, subversions of a perfectly serviceable, by-the-books epic.
Part 2!
COOL VID.😺
Nah if water benders can turn liquid water to solid then earthbenders can turn solid earth into liquid. That’s all lava is liquid earth, yes it’s hot but has nothing to do with fire
3:26 It doesn't Avatar extras is very inaccurate in a lot of stuff
Please review dragon prince season 3 as season 4 comes out soon
What is your opinion on TLOK? I truly dislike the series as a prequel
If the series was totally different from the ATLA world
Season one was okay, though Korra wasn't a good protagonist and it had an atrocious ending. Season 2 is awful. Season 3 and 4 are good, but no where near as good as AtLA.
I heard that the writers did not know that LoK would go beyond season one and when season 2 was greenlit they basically had to write another season in a limited time frame. It might have been false but it doesn’t excuse poor execution. Like Game of Thrones season 7 and 8.
@@Capri_00 No thats real, I’ve been in this fandom since 2015 or so
At first TLOK was meant to be a short series
Showing how the world looked but then Nickelodeon demanded a whole season and then changed their minds again and again so the writers were thrown into chaos and had to work overtime
And then they wanted a season 2 suddenly and so on
I think it still came out well just again not as a prequel
@@ShadyDoorags I agree! For me Season 4 was so bad imo I just dont like the whole mega tanks and stuff
Also for me Korra kinda ruined so much and I could go on and on about that
But as a series in itself I think it was good! But since its not I dont like it :(
With the help of his friends Aang becomes an Avatar able to save the world. Korra becomes an avatar who with the help of her friends can help the world. Just literally night and day levels of skill difference with those two. Aang took down the big bad super boosted fire bender solo before he could lay waste to the entire Earth kingdom, and Korra waited to face the big bad Earth bender gal until after she had conquered the entire Earth kingdom. Then failed to stop her allowing a weapon of mass destruction to be fired in a city opening yet another gate for dangerous spirits to poor out like Koh.
Lava bending being an Avatar only ability would be like making ice bending or flying avatar only abilities
Tell that to the creators who said in Avatar Extras that this is how lavabending works.
@@ShadyDoorags aren't they the same people that changed it? Why does it have to be that way though?
I like the idea of people being able to do these things but never have because the world wasn't as connected
I'm first i Can't believe
👍
What is AART??? I understand what AtlA is. But not the first one?
i always felt like Bolin being able to lavabend had something to do with the fact that he's mixed between Earth Kingdom and Fire Nation. sure, he turned out to be an Earthbender, but he still has Fire Nation in his genes as well. as for Ghazan, we don't really know much about him so could be a similar situation.
Oh how I wish lava bending was the only thing LoK completely butchered
How dare you use a picture from the Eragon movie. That movie is excomumicatae tratoris
I like to think that only an earthbender born to a firebending mother has the potential to lave bend, and even then it's extremally rare.
Zuko and especially Iroh aren’t bad guys you doofus.