Guys, Aang being naturally good at water bending doesn't need defending. It 100% makes sense that he would be since he adapts very quickly to change. The Mary Sue counter is not meant to be taken seriously. It just means the character has a moment you would usually find on a Mary Sue and lets me have a little fun while making these vids. All characters have Mary Sue moments and as I said in past videos, AtLA has some of, if not the, best written characters I've ever seen.
It doesn't seem many (or any really) comments are taking it harsher than a casual conversation, so I wouldn't worry about people disagreeing with ya' there.
Aang picking up waterbending so quickly does make some sense within the lore, especially in the context of the episode, "Bitter Work." Certain elements do share aspects in forms and techniques: water and airbending emphasize fluidity in movement; fire and earthbending have strong footwork and unbreakable stances as the foundation of their techniques, while fire and airbending share an insistence on proper breathing. Aang is just applying what he already knows, whereas, at this point at least, Katara is starting from the ground up.
There is also the fact that with the concept of reincarnation, the application of muscle memory. The Air Nomad's test on using the toys that are most familiar to his past selves in order to figure out who the Avatar is shows that some memories do lie in there. That doesn't mean that he's going to be perfect. As shown, his natural talent won't matter when Katara trains harder than him. It's also the reason I don't like Korra. She, with no apparent exposure to other benders as a toddler, does 3 forms of bending. That feels like total horseshit. I actually think if she saw Earthbenders and mimicked movements, performing Earthbending, she would have a more interesting path.
It should be noted also that Katara is teaching Aang. He doesn't just automatically figure out waterbending. Sure, he's getting lessons from someone who had to learn it from scratch, but her teaching is clearly decent, along with the fact that there are some philosophical overlaps between the elements. There's a reason the Avatar's Journey to learn the elements is always in the same relative order. The Avatar starts as a prodigy in their first element, but still has to master it. From there, they take the lessons learned from the first element and apply them to the next, while also learning building the foundation for the next element. Removing that journey from Korra(both the character and the show as a whole) removes a key part of what makes the concept of the Avatar work. They're supposed to be more than just their powers.
@@jackofalltrades6129 my head cannon is that she witnessed it beforehand Like, I assume she didn’t become isolated until it was verified that she was the avatar I’d imagine she still traveled freely with her family to other diversely populated areas since her dad was a chief But I don’t know enough lore of Korra to know, just a hunch
@@jackofalltrades6129 I don't mind Korra being able to bend three elements when she is a toddler because it plays into the concept of 'opposing but similar traits from the previous Avatar in the cycle'. Aang was a born natural in connecting to the spirit world and entering the Avatar State with zero training. We seriously get spoiled with Aang, but if memory serves, Avatars are NOT supposed to be able to just enter the Avatar State just because they get angry, especially with no training. Connecting to the spirit world and entering the Avatar State is usually something Avatars do 'after' they have mastered the other four elements, because that's the only point where they would be balanced enough to try it. Korra, therefore, was the subtle opposite, bending to her came unnaturally fast (other than Air), like spirituality came natural to Aang, but inversely, Korra had terrible spiritual awareness and control (at first, obviously later she gets it, but she learns it after the other four elements, when an Avatar would naturally learn it).
Dude imagine you've had to figure out waterbending on your own, and the first time you try to teach someone who's never done it before, they do it better instantly. Feels bad
Feeling bad is fine, its how you act on those emotions thats important Kataras reaction here shows she lacks humility at this point in the series People learn different skills at different paces And regardless of how one feels about how quickly aang picked up waterbending, simple fact of the matter is he technically has an edge on her being the one destined to master it Even moreso when you consider sokka is right there and cant even bend at all
If anything, she should've taken some pride in how well she taught someone, because if Aang couldn't just do water bending without some instruction unlike a certain other Avatar...
@@Phantom-Neon it's also a bit of a thing we're even if it's not water specifically aang is already a master of air bending. And on top of that it's implied (both threw the toy test and Korra later) that you can retain certain characteristics during reincarnation. Aang remembered the toys subconsciously. Korra remembered how to bend. Which makes more sense then people realize in this context cause while names and faces even forms change the elements themselves stay the same and aang already being able to bend 3/4 was established in atla.
Weeellll, it makes sense to me that Aang gets the hang of waterbending faster than Katara. He may not have been trained in waterbending specifically but he has been trained in airbending and so is more familiar with the general forms than Katara who has had no training whatsoever.
On top of that, he IS the avatar even when he lacks the total conection with past lives he has it, and is natural to get the different elements, and little spoilery but nothing mayor, air and water are closely related in the way they are, earth being the oposite for example and fire being a little free flowing but more destructive than the air.
Spoilerish: yeah katara mentions later how earthbending is like a contrast to airbending, seeing as how air is so free flowing and earth is more rigid and controlled. I imagine there's always been one element that'd be a pain to understand for each avatar. Even Korra has this problem given her impatience and feisty personality
@@cohenvale6342 I think they specifically state that's the case with each Avatar, each one struggles with one particular element, usually relating to their personality.
The forms of airbending & waterbending aren’t the same, each element is based on a different martial art - airbending was based on Ba Gua while waterbending is founded in Tai Chi.
@@sparxstreak02 yeah but air and water are closely related in they philosofy and the state of it, both are flowing and not sturdy, it is the reason why Aang has a hard time with earth it is the opposite, you have to be headstrong and sturdy to bend earth, air is freeflowing, water is more rigid but fluid.
I love that aang picks up water bending instantly. Later in the season at the north pole we see him struggle way more while katara is the prodigy. It makes sense since aang is already a master bender and katara only knows basics so ofc aang picks it up ao fast.
I feel like ultimately Katara ends up being both a much better-fitting student for Pakku than Aang, and a much better-fitting teacher for Aang than Pakku.
I won't think Aang learning those moves is a mary sue . he is after all a master and fire/water/air share both moves and techniques. it why he has so much trouble with earth bending, it his natural opposite.
Personally I don’t hate Katara like some people and I can relate to her envy and frustrations here as I’ve taught people stuff and the student surpassed the master quickly. Plus the scene where she snaps at Aang she instantly realizes she crossed the line and apologizes. Of course I don’t condone stealing and this stuff was her fault.
I remember watching this episode previously and wanting to side with Katara, despite the episode trying to get me to go the opposite direction. For me, I saw the scroll as more of a cultural piece than some random textbook you find in a Goodwill that happens to be on a subject you're taking that year. We never see another scroll like that, even when they're learning in the northern water tribe, where it's supposedly from (that I can remember). It's also so valuable that I doubt it's super common of an item, so I was left thinking it was some rare historical piece that she felt an obligation to protect and keep where it belonged, in the hands of waterbenders, even if the episode never said that. I also cant help but understand her jealousy and frustration, especially since she's so young and was raised with her only character trait being "that one waterbender". She reads me like a gifted kid here, where she's placed her self-worth in being good at this one thing, so when she finds people trading around that trait like a profitable novelty and when she'd bested by someone who wasn't even born into that trait so easily, it really stings. Her ways of going about her decisions weren't the best, but she is a preteen, and I feel she acts exactly how a preteen should, stupidly and immediately with little thought as to how itll work out.
Katara: "Is my fault" Aang (being a sensitive person at the wrong time): "no it isn't" Iroh (knowing what is best): "yeah, it kinda is" I love that Iroh uses a phrase that places blame to her while at the same time recognizing that a little bit was outside her control, she could have told them she stole it so they flee immediately for example, that part is in her control, but the pirates could have let it go, or, more important, the thing she couldn't have counted on, they could have been only the pirates to take care of instead of them plus Zuko and his crew, that is why only kinda her fault, like 90%.
It makes sense that Aang learns water so quickly and outpaces katara. Aang is the avatar, he has many many years of spiritual training under his belt through all of his past lives. So for him to naturally comprehend an element that he has mastered literally hundreds of times in all of his past lives makes sense
"They stole a water bending scroll right? Then they'll be on the water." -Zuko. This episode. Give credit to avatar for making it's villains legitimately concomitant and smart. Except for zhao.
I'm not sure how much the waterbending is a gary-stu moment from Aang. He's a master of airbending already, and there would be a lot of carry-over from that, even ignoring the past lives assistance. Going further into the story, it's not like Earthbending (which is the literal opposite of Airbending, and Aang struggles with). Having a reasonable backstory goes a long way to feel like the story isn't pandering to a character. Like with real martial arts, if you're familiar with Tae Kwon Do, you probably will pick up kickboxing (or even regular boxing) faster than someone who only knows a few basic street fight tips, since their both striking arts with basic move sets. But the Tae Kwon Do or Kickboxing guy might have issues adapting to the grappling in a Judo type setting, while the street fight guy would've had to learn some idea of grappling, so at least has a hand in it.
I don't think Gary or Stu have anything to do here lol. As you said he's already a master airbender, so he has a basic grasp on martial arts and would be able to start waterbending easily. However later on Katara soon passes him in skill, because Aang isn't really driven like she is.
I think the reason he got all of Katara's moves down and the fact he did them better than her is with bending you need to be in a certain mindset Fire: to have an unflinching will Earth: to be stubborn Air: to be untethered from most worldly desires Water: to go with the flow Like we see in LOK Tenzin explains during the "be the leaf" scene that with Airbending you must be able to switch directions when you meet resistance at a moment's notice so Aang is used to going with the flow that's the mindset you need with waterbending is going with the flow it's the element of change
@@ShadyDoorags right it was earth that was his most challenging because he couldn't get in the headspace of facing something head on he's used to finding other ways around a problem
@@ShadyDoorags i think thats only because he had already learned earth bending. so he already had to get the mindset of how to work with that half of the puzzle. similarly to how easily he picked up water bending due to his air bending experience, earth bending taught him how to be a better fire bender.
I think the reason the Bison whistle didn't work the first time could either be because Appa knew Aang and the team were in the middle of town, or it could be because Appa had not heard that sound before and did not immediately associat it with Aang until he heard it again
This episode bothers me mostly looking back, Katara gets jelly because Aang is a natural and picks up waterbending quickly (even tho he's already a master air bender so he's already got way more knowledge on how bending works) but then later in the series we quickly see that Katara is literally the most naturally gifted and talented bender we've ever seen short of Toph. The moment Katara isn't fumbling on her own she becomes probably the greatest waterbender in the series in mere moments. It kind of makes her jealously looking back feel even worse once you find out that she's one of the most naturally gifted characters in the series
Not to beat a dead horse here, because EVERYBODY keeps commenting on how Aang would obviously catch on faster for multiple (and legitimate) reasons, but this episode hit so close to home when I rewatched the series after college. I was studying sociology and had two classes with an art major. Incidentally, I'm a bit of a doodler myself, and have been my entire life. We got along and shared our love of art with each other, sporting our drawings and sketches and laughing at mistakes, etc. Awesome friendship based on a common interest. But I actually got a little peeved with him once. I've owned birds my entire life. Currently, a cockatiel I've had for OVER A DECADE. I have multiple drawings of her and I showed him one of those drawings. Now, to further elaborate on why I was mad, I don't draw realistically. I use clean lines and cartoonish animal characters. His lines are rough and jagged and he draws people better than animals (while I am the exact opposite). This guy took one look at a drawing I spent HOURS on...and drew my bird better in about five minutes!!! I'm over it now but lol...talk about being upstaged.
I think Aang is able to bend water so well, is because of the avatar cycle. After air is water, and because water and air has many of the same or similar smooth movements in the martial arts aspect, it may come more naturally to him, and maybe add in a little avatar magic into it lol
I never had an issue with Aang being good at bending water because he has a martial arts background, and the style is not too different from the one he already mastered. The episode even said that Katara had to teach herself and helped Aang. I have been in his position a few times.
Like the fact that we don’t know if the pirates even stole that stroll for what they know they could have found that scroll anywhere or won it on a bet.
Since this season is early in Sokka's character development, and he's often the most overtly immature of the WT siblings, it can be easy to forget that Katara is indeed the youngest sibling. But here she really shows it. She gets to lay off a lot of the motherly duties she took on when she was eight, and that allows her childishness to show through sometimes. She can be impulsive and selfish, and she'll always have some kind of excuse for her actions. In short, a typical 14-year-old without adult supervision. Obviously she also grows throughout the series, and by season 3, her selfish and impulsive moments are really only seen when she's dealing with her trauma. On that note, someone PLEASE get this girl some therapy! There's no way she would've lashed out at Sokka like that (you know which moment I mean) if she'd been in active treatment for PTSD.
About Aang getting Waterbending faster than Katara in this episode; we have to remember that Aang's reincarnated, and that his previous incarnations were all Powerful Waterbenders; with each Reincarnation, the new Avatar becomes a better Bender faster than the previous Avatar. AND, prior to his 'Nap' in the iceberg, Aang would have observed plenty of Waterbending; as he tried to share with Katara, 'you have to flow your movements through the stances'. AND all Bending Arts would have Transferable Concepts, anyway; Breathing Control, Forms, etc. Airbending and Waterbending aren't too different that it not Unbelievable that Aang, already a *Master* Airbender, would have Surpassed Katara here, with what little she's been-able to teach herself.
2:40 in fairness, water bending is supposed to be the easiest for a air nation avatar to learn. sure aang doesn't have any experience water bending but he has far more experience than katara at bending generally and with the 2 being similar it makes sense that aang would pick it up much faster than katara would. they justify it even more when aang goes on to learn earth and fire and struggle immensely.
this is probably my most quoted episode second to only ember island players "The only thing better than finding something you were looking for is finding something you weren't looking for at a great bargain." "A team of rhinos, or two water benders." "Are you so busy fighting you cannot see your own ship has set sail!?" " And of course every part of the conversation with aang bartering with pirates
I would say that Aang being better at Waterbending than Katara would be how he already mastered Airbending. Airbending is composed of styles from other forms of Bending, and since Aang mastered it at a younger age, it would make sense that he could Waterbend better than Katara.
Having done fluid simulations, water is harder heavier air. Makes sense he learned it faster as he had any training in fluid manipulation(air is a “fluid”)
Since this is the first time we see the cabbage cart guy I'd just like to say, I don't trust him. First of all when in king Boomy's court he said decapitation was an appropriate punishment for damaged goods, second he was one of the primary sources of information for the avatar play implying he purposefully slandered them. But most of all he's suspiciously well traveled: He has his cart destroyed every few episodes and is somehow just as well traveled as a the group with the magic flying bison. How? And in Legend of Korra it's implied that he got rich enough to start his own company that makes (cheep knockoff) airships. My theory is he's a cereal insurance scammer deliberately picking dangerous places to cell his wares so that he gets payed when there destroyed.
I'll be honest, I could actually relate to Katara quite a bit in this episode, as I have a tendency to get jealous pretty easily at people who are better than me in something I thought myself to be talented in, especially if they're younger than me. It's a nasty flaw of mine, and I often hate when I feel this way, as it doesn't seem fair to the person I'm being jealous towards, but it also feels involuntary, and like it's just a natural reaction of mine that I can't help. Or if I can help it, I don't know how. However, even so, I don't let it be an excuse to treat people I'm jealous of negatively, and I try my best to restrain my bitterness around them, especially if they're just being very genuine about it like Aang was. I liked this episode well enough, as I thought Katara's struggle and motivation was relatable, yet rightly called out for not being the right thing to do. I miss the days when actions like this from female characters were called out and not justified...
2:34 This is later contradicted somewhat once Katara & Aang learn from Pakku in the North Pole. Katara rises through the ranks (in a matter of DAYS no less!) - including surpassing Aang who outranked her in natural skill previously shown in this ep but thanx to hard work, suddenly that overpowers natural talent? 🤨 In reality, even if you eat, live & breathe a certain thing, it’s doesn’t necessarily mean someone else won’t beat you at it due to natural ability rather than the same work ethic. Yeah Aang rode the coattails of his talent when it came to waterbending but it just seems strange that Katara became more proficient through sheer hard work alone.
I agree. I will touch on this more when we get to that episode, but it felt really unnatural for Katara to surpass Aang. Granted, this episode does directly state that Katara shines when she listens to someone else who knows what they're doing. Still, that doesn't explain why Aang suddenly became less dedicated to learning water bending once he got a master.
@@ShadyDoorags Katara is realistically just as talented a waterbender as Aang is - she became one of the greatest waterbenders *ever* in the end. But Aang started with a leg up. While she was playing with puddles her hole life and not doing much more, Aang was a full master of airbender and even created his own airbending form. His martial training already had a fully grounded basis. He was a blackbelt at karate... So boxing came quicker than it would for a normal boxing begginer.
Aang was better than Katara at Water Bending because Airbending had some of the same principles as Waterbending and he was a master Airbender. Katara also became better once she was exposed to other Waterbenders. She was the only Waterbender in her tribe as all of them were taken by the Fire Nation.
aang had teachers and was a master katara didn have that and had to learn by herself that really makes a difference with even real life martial arts as well
The reason Aang could waterbend so easily is because he has his airbending tattoos. While waterbending and airbending are different, Aang is already a certified master martial artist and some of his airbending mastery would definetly be applicable to waterbending. The later parts of the season even show that Aang's mastery of waterbending is only surface level while Katara takes it upon herself to actually practice and get better
I've always had to mindsets with how Ang is able to learn water bending as quickly as he does. Well three kind of. The first is that Aang has been bending a lot longer than Katara has so he has a lot more experience the second is that maybe Airbenders have an easier time learning waterbending similar to how they have a hard time learning earthbending. After all water does have oxygen in it it's possible that as a result of that it's just naturally easier for airbending avatars to learn waterbending this could also explain why and also seem to have a pretty easy time learning firebending as well since air is a fuel source for fire. The third mindset I am at is that maybe it is sort of like spiritual muscle memory seems anxious is the Avatar and has literally mastered waterbending thousands of times before in past lives maybe it's just easier for him to learn something he's technically already learned thousands of times before. Out of these three I think the second and first ones are probably more likely but it's still possible that anyone of these three could be the answer
Well, that was a short video 😄 I wish you would've talked more about it but I respect that you say, that everything worth mentioning about it does the episode itself But I like watching videos about atla cause it reminds me of the show and what happened there without watching it again Idk sounds weird But I appreciate your videos
Shady, I think your personal dislike of Katara, might be making you take the episode too seriously. The interpretation I've seen of the ending was that, as much as this is likely an "anti-Katara" episode, it also avoids being preachy and unrealistic with the "Stealing is wrong" concept by going with Katara's "unless it's from pirates" thing, making it a lighthearted episode, which makes sense as the previous episode "Jet" was so dark. Maybe the place I read that was mistaken, but that fits better then it just being a "hears a lesson for a character to learn, then lets walk it back at the end because the Gaang can use the scroll" or something like that, since the show does pretty well with staying grounded for what it's working with. People are flawed, and sometimes selfishness isn't objectively punished by the universe...and they're in a war, so do what you gotta do and all that. Also, I'm just gonna share this stuff from TV Tropes about learning the elements as the Avatar, since it's relevant: *"The order of which the Avatar-in-training must learn the elements: Why was firebending so dangerous for Aang (or any Avatar from the Air Nomads)? Precisely because he started as an airbender, and air enhances fire! So firebending would seem easy for him at the start, making it even more likely for him to get himself into trouble with it. However, the opposite was not true for any Avatar from the Fire Nation like Roku, as he learned airbending first after firebending, and found it easy. And that is probably because mastering firebending requires mastery of controlling breath, and breath is air. In a similar vein, Aang (or an Avatar from the Air Nomads) found waterbending easy, probably because since gases and liquids are both fluids, many techniques he mastered for controlling air probably applied with only minimal modification to controlling water. An Avatar from the Water Tribes will find earthbending easier to learn due of their ability to create ice, a solid form of water, and adapting a sturdy and tougher stance with physical conditioning can get them into mastering earthbending in no time. Water naturally lends itself to both air and earth, with experience using ice being an easy way to start learning to use earth. And if they realize the composition of the earth, they might even pull lavabending, which is a subskill of earthbending, that materializes in a form of a liquefied rock. Applying principles of waterbending can be used in lavabending as well by changing its states with ease. An Avatar from the Earth Kingdom will find firebending easier for them due of the two bending arts having the same direct and forceful approach. Their existent physical conditioning while learning their native bending art will be helpful building enough stamina to sustain themselves in using firebending for longer periods of time. Looking at the other elements, one can see how this works if an Avatar skips learning the first two elements and/or the fail to grasp the basics of the last element that they're learning like what Aang did: An Avatar from the Earth Kingdom trying out waterbending for the first time before learning anything else, would naturally resort to using it as ice, which behaves similarly enough to earth. But where both earth and water are blunt, ice is brittle and sharp, and one badly-handled earthbending impact motion or misjudged attack can risk maiming someone or even themselves. For the Avatar from the Fire Nation, the same direct, forceful approach earthbending teaches works well with their native firebending. Firebending, in turn, with it's direct motions, works well with earthbending, but the repeated and hard physical impacts with the earth, without the conditioning to handle it, run the risk of concussions and broken hands. An Avatar from the Water Tribes will think that air, while superficially similar, is everywhere. Waterbenders pull water from sources before manipulating it. Pulling air at the wrong time leads could suffocate someone. The order Jeong Jeong wanted Aang to master the elements (air -> water -> earth -> fire, not unlike fall -> winter -> spring -> summer) directly mirrors the Avatar cycle itself, and the pattern is a general one for all Avatar: 1) the element immediately after that Avatar's birth element shares enough in common that the Avatar will find learning it very easy, and so will always learn it second after the birth element and thus giving the Avatar-in-training a good start of using two elements at once, 2) the next element will be in some way opposite and therefore counter-intuitive and difficult to master due of being against to every thing that they've learned about their native bending art which was taught to them since they were young, and 3) the final element will be easy on theory but deceptive and/or dangerous in some way when applied on practice, and so should be mastered last. Applying the logic from above bullet to the in-universe version of Rock-Paper-Scissors, it makes sense that fire beats air, air beats water, water beats earth, and earth beats fire because these are the first elements that an Avatar-in-training should learn and master, and it is easy for them due of the similarities of those elements with their native art (example: Roku learning and mastering airbending, and Aang with waterbending, which both aced without problems like how fire beats air and like how air beats water). Opposite elements (fire vs water, earth vs air) just cancel each other out not unlike two people choosing the same handsign. The reason why air loses to fire, water loses to air, water loses to earth, and earth loses to fire is because of seemingly similarities between the two elements in theory, putting it into practice will make them realize how different those two bending arts are (example is Aang's lack of discipline is what enables him to botch up his firebending training, the last element that he should learn and master like how air loses to fire, and later Korra's struggle of learning airbending is due of her lack of spirituality like how water loses to air). Iroh describes air as the element of freedom. What does Aang do when he first firebends? Allows it too much freedom. An Avatar from the Fire Nation (ex. Roku), who knows how to control their breathing in addition of their self-control, can pick up airbending easier because of that. They can control how powerful their emitted air will be. They know better how air is important to the human body. Culturally, the people of the Fire Nation are noted to be disciplined and responsible people which any of their Avatars are geared to wield what is probably the most dangerous element if it used by a non-pacifistic and amoral Air Nomad. An Avatar from the Air Nomads (ex. Aang) live their childhood with stress-free life and somehow detached view in the world, thus their Avatars easily let go of their bending art into boundless levels, producing too much air, and thus can cause uncontrollable flames if they ever attempt to learn firebending without knowing its fundamentals like breath control and self-control, which Aang should have already know back in his waterbending training, which despite being firebending's opposite art, have the same in requirements like the bender should be disciplined enough to use those aforementioned bending arts. This would also explain why the Air Nomads were so easy for the Fire Nation to conquer, but then faced difficulties conquering both Water Tribes, and even more with the Earth Kingdom."* I'm also gonna add in my own suspicion that your own disposition as a person can dictate what Element suits you best, and thus the additional ones that you do better with or worse with as the Avatar, as well as your nation.
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Aang has already mastered one discipline, but Katara has had no formal training at this point. Once they get to the North Pole, Katara overtakes Aang pretty quickly
i got to disagree with Aang getting the points here. hes already a trained fighter so him picking up a new style quickly makes sense water and Air are very similar so once told how to feel the water something Katara taught herself, him moving on to basic stuff makes complete sense.
A hard fact for Avatar Fans to swallow is that the Power scaling in Avatar is atrocious. Specifically Katara and especially Toph, who are borderline Mary Sue in terms of power, somehow were born with natural skills in their Bending Element despite the fact very little time was spent with them actually training in a way that would increase their level of skill. Katara has a particular good excuse, her relation to Paku, who is the most powerful Waterbender in the World at the time of that Era but her overall development makes no sense aside from that. She received very little training from Paku in the Southern Water Tribe, which was her only time where she actually got to train her Waterbending, and then later on she goes to not only defeat *Hama* who has trained for decades and has mastered Bloodbending *WITH HER OWN BENDING STYLE SHE TAUGHT HER* Age is no excuse, look at Paku, it's just bad writing that she was able to even effect Hama. In reality, it should have been a team effort, Aang throwing her off with his Airbending and using some Airbending technique to throw off her Bloodbending, Sokka playing the long game and Katara of course the main fighter. Still annoys me to this day smh Toph however is even WORSE Not only does she not have any special relation to explain her special skill in Earthbending, not only has she been alive for a very little amount of time that would mean she also has only trained a bit, but the main excuse that fans have is her being blind.......what? No, sure, she should have a natural usage of Seismic Sense but Earthbending in general??? No, Badger Moles are not especially powerful Earthbenders by any stretch of the imagination, so then being blind does not present them with an especially powerful enhancement. King Bumi is the perfect antithesis of Toph, he is a man who trained for decades, would be related to a good bloodline if he retained his royal status for such a long time and was allowed access to the Avatar of all people and showed extreme prominence in Earthbending being the STRONGEST Earthbender in the World. Realistically, these jumps in skill shouldn't occur unless a good long time skip happened and even then by the end of it, Aang should be vastly, VASTLY above them in their Bending Elements due to the fact he's the Avatar and would easily learn their Bending Elements at a faster rate and more efficient rate than them specifically due to the spiritual muscle memory that the Avatar has that they just dropped as a concept for some reason.
Toph learned the fundamentals from the badgermoles, the original earth benders. So thats more "wildboy learning" Also what evidence do you have that badgermoles are not strong earthbenders. They closed off entire pathways with a simple gesture and no human earth bending form. If anything it means they are good earthbenders but it takes a special type of skill to bend like them or figure out the fundamentals.
@@ColdNorth0628 They don't use Human Earthbending Forms cause they don't have Human Body Parts, duh, and moving around Earth to create pathways over a large course of time isn't exactly a great example of Earthbending prowess. It doesn't take much to learn Earthbending from them if a child like Toph was able to learn with ease, they are okay Earthbenders but nothing compared to Humans, which is the same situation with the other Bending Animals. They weren't even enough of a threat to warrant extermination like the Air Bison or The Dragons, they are literally used to pull cargo in the Earth Kingdom, they don't seem to be powerful in any form.
@@maylabrown4584 just because a creature is "not a threat" does not mean they are not powerful. Also not all creatures need to be dangerous to be the original benders. Air bison are not really all that dangerous either, they too are docile creatures, we only know they are strong cause Appa has been through some stuff. If Avatar followed a badgermole we would know what they are about as well. Also it does not take much in general for bending because there is also the mentality aspect about it. Aang could not earthbend because he did not think like a earthebender, Toph learned cause it was 1. Where she was at her most comfortable, where she was not "the helpless little girl" and that helped with the earthbender mentality you need for this, so I do not think it was easy for toph, much more she was mentally more in tune with the notion and accepting of whatever she got. Plus she learned seismic sense from them cause she had to learn as they do. They never taught her directly, none of the animals in avatar ever teach correctly, much more their fundamentals of how they live and do feed into how the forms should be.
Guys, Aang being naturally good at water bending doesn't need defending. It 100% makes sense that he would be since he adapts very quickly to change. The Mary Sue counter is not meant to be taken seriously. It just means the character has a moment you would usually find on a Mary Sue and lets me have a little fun while making these vids. All characters have Mary Sue moments and as I said in past videos, AtLA has some of, if not the, best written characters I've ever seen.
It doesn't seem many (or any really) comments are taking it harsher than a casual conversation, so I wouldn't worry about people disagreeing with ya' there.
@@bewawolf19plus when you think about it air and water are probably the most alike of any element
yeah at the start i expected you to bring it up then i realized it makes sense cause aangs free nature vs Kataras rigid personality due to trauma
Aang picking up waterbending so quickly does make some sense within the lore, especially in the context of the episode, "Bitter Work." Certain elements do share aspects in forms and techniques: water and airbending emphasize fluidity in movement; fire and earthbending have strong footwork and unbreakable stances as the foundation of their techniques, while fire and airbending share an insistence on proper breathing. Aang is just applying what he already knows, whereas, at this point at least, Katara is starting from the ground up.
There is also the fact that with the concept of reincarnation, the application of muscle memory. The Air Nomad's test on using the toys that are most familiar to his past selves in order to figure out who the Avatar is shows that some memories do lie in there. That doesn't mean that he's going to be perfect. As shown, his natural talent won't matter when Katara trains harder than him.
It's also the reason I don't like Korra. She, with no apparent exposure to other benders as a toddler, does 3 forms of bending. That feels like total horseshit. I actually think if she saw Earthbenders and mimicked movements, performing Earthbending, she would have a more interesting path.
It should be noted also that Katara is teaching Aang. He doesn't just automatically figure out waterbending. Sure, he's getting lessons from someone who had to learn it from scratch, but her teaching is clearly decent, along with the fact that there are some philosophical overlaps between the elements.
There's a reason the Avatar's Journey to learn the elements is always in the same relative order. The Avatar starts as a prodigy in their first element, but still has to master it. From there, they take the lessons learned from the first element and apply them to the next, while also learning building the foundation for the next element.
Removing that journey from Korra(both the character and the show as a whole) removes a key part of what makes the concept of the Avatar work. They're supposed to be more than just their powers.
@@jackofalltrades6129 my head cannon is that she witnessed it beforehand
Like, I assume she didn’t become isolated until it was verified that she was the avatar
I’d imagine she still traveled freely with her family to other diversely populated areas since her dad was a chief
But I don’t know enough lore of Korra to know, just a hunch
@@jackofalltrades6129 I don't mind Korra being able to bend three elements when she is a toddler because it plays into the concept of 'opposing but similar traits from the previous Avatar in the cycle'. Aang was a born natural in connecting to the spirit world and entering the Avatar State with zero training. We seriously get spoiled with Aang, but if memory serves, Avatars are NOT supposed to be able to just enter the Avatar State just because they get angry, especially with no training. Connecting to the spirit world and entering the Avatar State is usually something Avatars do 'after' they have mastered the other four elements, because that's the only point where they would be balanced enough to try it.
Korra, therefore, was the subtle opposite, bending to her came unnaturally fast (other than Air), like spirituality came natural to Aang, but inversely, Korra had terrible spiritual awareness and control (at first, obviously later she gets it, but she learns it after the other four elements, when an Avatar would naturally learn it).
Dude imagine you've had to figure out waterbending on your own, and the first time you try to teach someone who's never done it before, they do it better instantly.
Feels bad
Feeling bad is fine, its how you act on those emotions thats important
Kataras reaction here shows she lacks humility at this point in the series
People learn different skills at different paces
And regardless of how one feels about how quickly aang picked up waterbending, simple fact of the matter is he technically has an edge on her being the one destined to master it
Even moreso when you consider sokka is right there and cant even bend at all
If anything, she should've taken some pride in how well she taught someone, because if Aang couldn't just do water bending without some instruction unlike a certain other Avatar...
@@Phantom-Neon it's also a bit of a thing we're even if it's not water specifically aang is already a master of air bending. And on top of that it's implied (both threw the toy test and Korra later) that you can retain certain characteristics during reincarnation.
Aang remembered the toys subconsciously.
Korra remembered how to bend. Which makes more sense then people realize in this context cause while names and faces even forms change the elements themselves stay the same and aang already being able to bend 3/4 was established in atla.
Aang is the Avatar though so it makes total sense.
Weeellll, it makes sense to me that Aang gets the hang of waterbending faster than Katara. He may not have been trained in waterbending specifically but he has been trained in airbending and so is more familiar with the general forms than Katara who has had no training whatsoever.
On top of that, he IS the avatar even when he lacks the total conection with past lives he has it, and is natural to get the different elements, and little spoilery but nothing mayor, air and water are closely related in the way they are, earth being the oposite for example and fire being a little free flowing but more destructive than the air.
Spoilerish: yeah katara mentions later how earthbending is like a contrast to airbending, seeing as how air is so free flowing and earth is more rigid and controlled. I imagine there's always been one element that'd be a pain to understand for each avatar. Even Korra has this problem given her impatience and feisty personality
@@cohenvale6342 I think they specifically state that's the case with each Avatar, each one struggles with one particular element, usually relating to their personality.
The forms of airbending & waterbending aren’t the same, each element is based on a different martial art - airbending was based on Ba Gua while waterbending is founded in Tai Chi.
@@sparxstreak02 yeah but air and water are closely related in they philosofy and the state of it, both are flowing and not sturdy, it is the reason why Aang has a hard time with earth it is the opposite, you have to be headstrong and sturdy to bend earth, air is freeflowing, water is more rigid but fluid.
I love that aang picks up water bending instantly. Later in the season at the north pole we see him struggle way more while katara is the prodigy. It makes sense since aang is already a master bender and katara only knows basics so ofc aang picks it up ao fast.
I feel like ultimately Katara ends up being both a much better-fitting student for Pakku than Aang, and a much better-fitting teacher for Aang than Pakku.
I won't think Aang learning those moves is a mary sue . he is after all a master and fire/water/air share both moves and techniques. it why he has so much trouble with earth bending, it his natural opposite.
Personally, I hate the mary sue counter
Personally I don’t hate Katara like some people and I can relate to her envy and frustrations here as I’ve taught people stuff and the student surpassed the master quickly. Plus the scene where she snaps at Aang she instantly realizes she crossed the line and apologizes. Of course I don’t condone stealing and this stuff was her fault.
I remember watching this episode previously and wanting to side with Katara, despite the episode trying to get me to go the opposite direction. For me, I saw the scroll as more of a cultural piece than some random textbook you find in a Goodwill that happens to be on a subject you're taking that year. We never see another scroll like that, even when they're learning in the northern water tribe, where it's supposedly from (that I can remember). It's also so valuable that I doubt it's super common of an item, so I was left thinking it was some rare historical piece that she felt an obligation to protect and keep where it belonged, in the hands of waterbenders, even if the episode never said that. I also cant help but understand her jealousy and frustration, especially since she's so young and was raised with her only character trait being "that one waterbender". She reads me like a gifted kid here, where she's placed her self-worth in being good at this one thing, so when she finds people trading around that trait like a profitable novelty and when she'd bested by someone who wasn't even born into that trait so easily, it really stings. Her ways of going about her decisions weren't the best, but she is a preteen, and I feel she acts exactly how a preteen should, stupidly and immediately with little thought as to how itll work out.
Won't lie, her telling him to shut his air hole had me laughing
Katara: "Is my fault"
Aang (being a sensitive person at the wrong time): "no it isn't"
Iroh (knowing what is best): "yeah, it kinda is"
I love that Iroh uses a phrase that places blame to her while at the same time recognizing that a little bit was outside her control, she could have told them she stole it so they flee immediately for example, that part is in her control, but the pirates could have let it go, or, more important, the thing she couldn't have counted on, they could have been only the pirates to take care of instead of them plus Zuko and his crew, that is why only kinda her fault, like 90%.
It makes sense that Aang learns water so quickly and outpaces katara. Aang is the avatar, he has many many years of spiritual training under his belt through all of his past lives. So for him to naturally comprehend an element that he has mastered literally hundreds of times in all of his past lives makes sense
"They stole a water bending scroll right? Then they'll be on the water." -Zuko. This episode.
Give credit to avatar for making it's villains legitimately concomitant and smart. Except for zhao.
I'm not sure how much the waterbending is a gary-stu moment from Aang. He's a master of airbending already, and there would be a lot of carry-over from that, even ignoring the past lives assistance. Going further into the story, it's not like Earthbending (which is the literal opposite of Airbending, and Aang struggles with). Having a reasonable backstory goes a long way to feel like the story isn't pandering to a character.
Like with real martial arts, if you're familiar with Tae Kwon Do, you probably will pick up kickboxing (or even regular boxing) faster than someone who only knows a few basic street fight tips, since their both striking arts with basic move sets. But the Tae Kwon Do or Kickboxing guy might have issues adapting to the grappling in a Judo type setting, while the street fight guy would've had to learn some idea of grappling, so at least has a hand in it.
I don't think Gary or Stu have anything to do here lol. As you said he's already a master airbender, so he has a basic grasp on martial arts and would be able to start waterbending easily. However later on Katara soon passes him in skill, because Aang isn't really driven like she is.
Aang has a teacher while Katara did not.
I like that the show isn't afraid to give them flaws. None of them are perfect and all had something to learn
I like how they used the lamp as a "lightbulb idea indicator" and also actually use the lamp in the idea.
I think the reason he got all of Katara's moves down and the fact he did them better than her is with bending you need to be in a certain mindset
Fire: to have an unflinching will
Earth: to be stubborn
Air: to be untethered from most worldly desires
Water: to go with the flow
Like we see in LOK Tenzin explains during the "be the leaf" scene that with Airbending you must be able to switch directions when you meet resistance at a moment's notice so Aang is used to going with the flow that's the mindset you need with waterbending is going with the flow it's the element of change
And it works in reverse too. Fire was Aang’s hardest element to bend, meanwhile Korra had it down pat but her toughest element was air.
Fire wasn't Aang's hardest element to bend, it was just the one he was most scared of doing. Aang instantly bent fire the moment he tried.
@@ShadyDoorags right it was earth that was his most challenging because he couldn't get in the headspace of facing something head on he's used to finding other ways around a problem
@@ShadyDoorags i think thats only because he had already learned earth bending. so he already had to get the mindset of how to work with that half of the puzzle. similarly to how easily he picked up water bending due to his air bending experience, earth bending taught him how to be a better fire bender.
@@ShadyDoorags ah, my mistake. It’s been forever since I last watched ATLA.
I think the reason the Bison whistle didn't work the first time could either be because Appa knew Aang and the team were in the middle of town, or it could be because Appa had not heard that sound before and did not immediately associat it with Aang until he heard it again
gosh darn it
we're here for the rants.
This episode bothers me mostly looking back, Katara gets jelly because Aang is a natural and picks up waterbending quickly (even tho he's already a master air bender so he's already got way more knowledge on how bending works) but then later in the series we quickly see that Katara is literally the most naturally gifted and talented bender we've ever seen short of Toph. The moment Katara isn't fumbling on her own she becomes probably the greatest waterbender in the series in mere moments.
It kind of makes her jealously looking back feel even worse once you find out that she's one of the most naturally gifted characters in the series
Not to beat a dead horse here, because EVERYBODY keeps commenting on how Aang would obviously catch on faster for multiple (and legitimate) reasons, but this episode hit so close to home when I rewatched the series after college. I was studying sociology and had two classes with an art major. Incidentally, I'm a bit of a doodler myself, and have been my entire life. We got along and shared our love of art with each other, sporting our drawings and sketches and laughing at mistakes, etc. Awesome friendship based on a common interest. But I actually got a little peeved with him once. I've owned birds my entire life. Currently, a cockatiel I've had for OVER A DECADE. I have multiple drawings of her and I showed him one of those drawings. Now, to further elaborate on why I was mad, I don't draw realistically. I use clean lines and cartoonish animal characters. His lines are rough and jagged and he draws people better than animals (while I am the exact opposite). This guy took one look at a drawing I spent HOURS on...and drew my bird better in about five minutes!!! I'm over it now but lol...talk about being upstaged.
I think Aang is able to bend water so well, is because of the avatar cycle. After air is water, and because water and air has many of the same or similar smooth movements in the martial arts aspect, it may come more naturally to him, and maybe add in a little avatar magic into it lol
I never had an issue with Aang being good at bending water because he has a martial arts background, and the style is not too different from the one he already mastered. The episode even said that Katara had to teach herself and helped Aang.
I have been in his position a few times.
Like the fact that we don’t know if the pirates even stole that stroll for what they know they could have found that scroll anywhere or won it on a bet.
Since this season is early in Sokka's character development, and he's often the most overtly immature of the WT siblings, it can be easy to forget that Katara is indeed the youngest sibling. But here she really shows it. She gets to lay off a lot of the motherly duties she took on when she was eight, and that allows her childishness to show through sometimes. She can be impulsive and selfish, and she'll always have some kind of excuse for her actions. In short, a typical 14-year-old without adult supervision. Obviously she also grows throughout the series, and by season 3, her selfish and impulsive moments are really only seen when she's dealing with her trauma. On that note, someone PLEASE get this girl some therapy! There's no way she would've lashed out at Sokka like that (you know which moment I mean) if she'd been in active treatment for PTSD.
So glad to see another episode shady! Glad to hear from you again. :)
About Aang getting Waterbending faster than Katara in this episode; we have to remember that Aang's reincarnated, and that his previous incarnations were all Powerful Waterbenders; with each Reincarnation, the new Avatar becomes a better Bender faster than the previous Avatar.
AND, prior to his 'Nap' in the iceberg, Aang would have observed plenty of Waterbending; as he tried to share with Katara, 'you have to flow your movements through the stances'.
AND all Bending Arts would have Transferable Concepts, anyway; Breathing Control, Forms, etc. Airbending and Waterbending aren't too different that it not Unbelievable that Aang, already a *Master* Airbender, would have Surpassed Katara here, with what little she's been-able to teach herself.
Zuko is so good in this episode tho, he gets some badass lines
2:40 in fairness, water bending is supposed to be the easiest for a air nation avatar to learn. sure aang doesn't have any experience water bending but he has far more experience than katara at bending generally and with the 2 being similar it makes sense that aang would pick it up much faster than katara would. they justify it even more when aang goes on to learn earth and fire and struggle immensely.
Wait a minute this isn’t king of the hill you betrayed me
You're right but it's also a great cartoon
this is probably my most quoted episode second to only ember island players
"The only thing better than finding something you were looking for is finding something you weren't looking for at a great bargain."
"A team of rhinos, or two water benders."
"Are you so busy fighting you cannot see your own ship has set sail!?"
"
And of course every part of the conversation with aang bartering with pirates
I would say that Aang being better at Waterbending than Katara would be how he already mastered Airbending. Airbending is composed of styles from other forms of Bending, and since Aang mastered it at a younger age, it would make sense that he could Waterbend better than Katara.
Having done fluid simulations, water is harder heavier air. Makes sense he learned it faster as he had any training in fluid manipulation(air is a “fluid”)
Since this is the first time we see the cabbage cart guy I'd just like to say, I don't trust him. First of all when in king Boomy's court he said decapitation was an appropriate punishment for damaged goods, second he was one of the primary sources of information for the avatar play implying he purposefully slandered them. But most of all he's suspiciously well traveled:
He has his cart destroyed every few episodes and is somehow just as well traveled as a the group with the magic flying bison. How? And in Legend of Korra it's implied that he got rich enough to start his own company that makes (cheep knockoff) airships. My theory is he's a cereal insurance scammer deliberately picking dangerous places to cell his wares so that he gets payed when there destroyed.
I would argue that Sokka had his first anti episode as soon as he opened his mouth in book one lol, sounding condescending and sexist as all hell
Fun fact about me: I missed this episode on first airing and it was YEARS until I actually saw it.
I'll be honest, I could actually relate to Katara quite a bit in this episode, as I have a tendency to get jealous pretty easily at people who are better than me in something I thought myself to be talented in, especially if they're younger than me.
It's a nasty flaw of mine, and I often hate when I feel this way, as it doesn't seem fair to the person I'm being jealous towards, but it also feels involuntary, and like it's just a natural reaction of mine that I can't help. Or if I can help it, I don't know how.
However, even so, I don't let it be an excuse to treat people I'm jealous of negatively, and I try my best to restrain my bitterness around them, especially if they're just being very genuine about it like Aang was.
I liked this episode well enough, as I thought Katara's struggle and motivation was relatable, yet rightly called out for not being the right thing to do.
I miss the days when actions like this from female characters were called out and not justified...
2:34 This is later contradicted somewhat once Katara & Aang learn from Pakku in the North Pole. Katara rises through the ranks (in a matter of DAYS no less!) - including surpassing Aang who outranked her in natural skill previously shown in this ep but thanx to hard work, suddenly that overpowers natural talent? 🤨
In reality, even if you eat, live & breathe a certain thing, it’s doesn’t necessarily mean someone else won’t beat you at it due to natural ability rather than the same work ethic. Yeah Aang rode the coattails of his talent when it came to waterbending but it just seems strange that Katara became more proficient through sheer hard work alone.
I agree. I will touch on this more when we get to that episode, but it felt really unnatural for Katara to surpass Aang. Granted, this episode does directly state that Katara shines when she listens to someone else who knows what they're doing. Still, that doesn't explain why Aang suddenly became less dedicated to learning water bending once he got a master.
@@ShadyDoorags Katara is realistically just as talented a waterbender as Aang is - she became one of the greatest waterbenders *ever* in the end.
But Aang started with a leg up. While she was playing with puddles her hole life and not doing much more, Aang was a full master of airbender and even created his own airbending form. His martial training already had a fully grounded basis. He was a blackbelt at karate... So boxing came quicker than it would for a normal boxing begginer.
I'm a simple man. I see Shady drops a new video, I too drop what I'm doing to watch it
Aang was better than Katara at Water Bending because Airbending had some of the same principles as Waterbending and he was a master Airbender.
Katara also became better once she was exposed to other Waterbenders. She was the only Waterbender in her tribe as all of them were taken by the Fire Nation.
The bison whistle did not work the first time, because it is just a whistle. It worked the second time, because Appa figured out it belongs to Aang.
Please keep going with this series
Remember when aang was already waterbending in the first episode
aang had teachers and was a master katara didn have that and had to learn by herself that really makes a difference with even real life martial arts as well
This isnt King of the Hil content, I hate when people think this is unnecessary content ;p great content as always
The King of the Hill S6 E15 - Man without a country club. Hank becomes a diversity hire at an all asian country club.
The reason Aang could waterbend so easily is because he has his airbending tattoos. While waterbending and airbending are different, Aang is already a certified master martial artist and some of his airbending mastery would definetly be applicable to waterbending. The later parts of the season even show that Aang's mastery of waterbending is only surface level while Katara takes it upon herself to actually practice and get better
I've always had to mindsets with how Ang is able to learn water bending as quickly as he does. Well three kind of. The first is that Aang has been bending a lot longer than Katara has so he has a lot more experience the second is that maybe Airbenders have an easier time learning waterbending similar to how they have a hard time learning earthbending. After all water does have oxygen in it it's possible that as a result of that it's just naturally easier for airbending avatars to learn waterbending this could also explain why and also seem to have a pretty easy time learning firebending as well since air is a fuel source for fire. The third mindset I am at is that maybe it is sort of like spiritual muscle memory seems anxious is the Avatar and has literally mastered waterbending thousands of times before in past lives maybe it's just easier for him to learn something he's technically already learned thousands of times before. Out of these three I think the second and first ones are probably more likely but it's still possible that anyone of these three could be the answer
At the end of the day they were still kids and let's be honest, we all would've done worst if given the decision/ power
Well, that was a short video 😄 I wish you would've talked more about it but I respect that you say, that everything worth mentioning about it does the episode itself
But I like watching videos about atla cause it reminds me of the show and what happened there without watching it again
Idk sounds weird
But I appreciate your videos
Short and sweet, i like it lol
Even though this is mainly a katara episode I really liked the whole are you guys too busy fighting to realize your boats were stolen scene
Cant wait for his reaction on the episode with the two tribes and the canyon
Based on Katara's logic, I'd be justified stealing a large stash of cash from a drug dealing operation, since they're violent criminals.
Shady, I think your personal dislike of Katara, might be making you take the episode too seriously. The interpretation I've seen of the ending was that, as much as this is likely an "anti-Katara" episode, it also avoids being preachy and unrealistic with the "Stealing is wrong" concept by going with Katara's "unless it's from pirates" thing, making it a lighthearted episode, which makes sense as the previous episode "Jet" was so dark. Maybe the place I read that was mistaken, but that fits better then it just being a "hears a lesson for a character to learn, then lets walk it back at the end because the Gaang can use the scroll" or something like that, since the show does pretty well with staying grounded for what it's working with. People are flawed, and sometimes selfishness isn't objectively punished by the universe...and they're in a war, so do what you gotta do and all that.
Also, I'm just gonna share this stuff from TV Tropes about learning the elements as the Avatar, since it's relevant: *"The order of which the Avatar-in-training must learn the elements:
Why was firebending so dangerous for Aang (or any Avatar from the Air Nomads)? Precisely because he started as an airbender, and air enhances fire! So firebending would seem easy for him at the start, making it even more likely for him to get himself into trouble with it. However, the opposite was not true for any Avatar from the Fire Nation like Roku, as he learned airbending first after firebending, and found it easy. And that is probably because mastering firebending requires mastery of controlling breath, and breath is air. In a similar vein, Aang (or an Avatar from the Air Nomads) found waterbending easy, probably because since gases and liquids are both fluids, many techniques he mastered for controlling air probably applied with only minimal modification to controlling water. An Avatar from the Water Tribes will find earthbending easier to learn due of their ability to create ice, a solid form of water, and adapting a sturdy and tougher stance with physical conditioning can get them into mastering earthbending in no time. Water naturally lends itself to both air and earth, with experience using ice being an easy way to start learning to use earth. And if they realize the composition of the earth, they might even pull lavabending, which is a subskill of earthbending, that materializes in a form of a liquefied rock. Applying principles of waterbending can be used in lavabending as well by changing its states with ease. An Avatar from the Earth Kingdom will find firebending easier for them due of the two bending arts having the same direct and forceful approach. Their existent physical conditioning while learning their native bending art will be helpful building enough stamina to sustain themselves in using firebending for longer periods of time.
Looking at the other elements, one can see how this works if an Avatar skips learning the first two elements and/or the fail to grasp the basics of the last element that they're learning like what Aang did: An Avatar from the Earth Kingdom trying out waterbending for the first time before learning anything else, would naturally resort to using it as ice, which behaves similarly enough to earth. But where both earth and water are blunt, ice is brittle and sharp, and one badly-handled earthbending impact motion or misjudged attack can risk maiming someone or even themselves. For the Avatar from the Fire Nation, the same direct, forceful approach earthbending teaches works well with their native firebending. Firebending, in turn, with it's direct motions, works well with earthbending, but the repeated and hard physical impacts with the earth, without the conditioning to handle it, run the risk of concussions and broken hands. An Avatar from the Water Tribes will think that air, while superficially similar, is everywhere. Waterbenders pull water from sources before manipulating it. Pulling air at the wrong time leads could suffocate someone.
The order Jeong Jeong wanted Aang to master the elements (air -> water -> earth -> fire, not unlike fall -> winter -> spring -> summer) directly mirrors the Avatar cycle itself, and the pattern is a general one for all Avatar: 1) the element immediately after that Avatar's birth element shares enough in common that the Avatar will find learning it very easy, and so will always learn it second after the birth element and thus giving the Avatar-in-training a good start of using two elements at once, 2) the next element will be in some way opposite and therefore counter-intuitive and difficult to master due of being against to every thing that they've learned about their native bending art which was taught to them since they were young, and 3) the final element will be easy on theory but deceptive and/or dangerous in some way when applied on practice, and so should be mastered last.
Applying the logic from above bullet to the in-universe version of Rock-Paper-Scissors, it makes sense that fire beats air, air beats water, water beats earth, and earth beats fire because these are the first elements that an Avatar-in-training should learn and master, and it is easy for them due of the similarities of those elements with their native art (example: Roku learning and mastering airbending, and Aang with waterbending, which both aced without problems like how fire beats air and like how air beats water). Opposite elements (fire vs water, earth vs air) just cancel each other out not unlike two people choosing the same handsign. The reason why air loses to fire, water loses to air, water loses to earth, and earth loses to fire is because of seemingly similarities between the two elements in theory, putting it into practice will make them realize how different those two bending arts are (example is Aang's lack of discipline is what enables him to botch up his firebending training, the last element that he should learn and master like how air loses to fire, and later Korra's struggle of learning airbending is due of her lack of spirituality like how water loses to air).
Iroh describes air as the element of freedom. What does Aang do when he first firebends? Allows it too much freedom. An Avatar from the Fire Nation (ex. Roku), who knows how to control their breathing in addition of their self-control, can pick up airbending easier because of that. They can control how powerful their emitted air will be. They know better how air is important to the human body. Culturally, the people of the Fire Nation are noted to be disciplined and responsible people which any of their Avatars are geared to wield what is probably the most dangerous element if it used by a non-pacifistic and amoral Air Nomad. An Avatar from the Air Nomads (ex. Aang) live their childhood with stress-free life and somehow detached view in the world, thus their Avatars easily let go of their bending art into boundless levels, producing too much air, and thus can cause uncontrollable flames if they ever attempt to learn firebending without knowing its fundamentals like breath control and self-control, which Aang should have already know back in his waterbending training, which despite being firebending's opposite art, have the same in requirements like the bender should be disciplined enough to use those aforementioned bending arts.
This would also explain why the Air Nomads were so easy for the Fire Nation to conquer, but then faced difficulties conquering both Water Tribes, and even more with the Earth Kingdom."*
I'm also gonna add in my own suspicion that your own disposition as a person can dictate what Element suits you best, and thus the additional ones that you do better with or worse with as the Avatar, as well as your nation.
Nothing makes my night like hearing you butcher "So long, farewell, auf wiedersehen, goodbye"
Soooo every now and then I’ll get recommended your videos and I’ll sometimes hear you say something about not wanting to be the Bojack guy…even tho the videos I’m recommended are KOTH or Futurama so I go to your channel and then your playlist….aaaaaaand yea….that’s a LOOOT of BJH videos 🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣
Could you do an episode on King of the hills Halloween episode
Your thoughts on Green Eggs and Ham , the second season?
Aang has already mastered one discipline, but Katara has had no formal training at this point. Once they get to the North Pole, Katara overtakes Aang pretty quickly
We have been waiting for a year where is the next episode
Question could the water bender and the air bender not have cleaned the bison much faster than the only idiot that has no bending
Iroh: it kinda is :)
i got to disagree with Aang getting the points here. hes already a trained fighter so him picking up a new style quickly makes sense water and Air are very similar so once told how to feel the water something Katara taught herself, him moving on to basic stuff makes complete sense.
Savage Uncle Iroh
Only 4 minutes. You didn't have a lot to say about this episode.
A hard fact for Avatar Fans to swallow is that the Power scaling in Avatar is atrocious.
Specifically Katara and especially Toph, who are borderline Mary Sue in terms of power, somehow were born with natural skills in their Bending Element despite the fact very little time was spent with them actually training in a way that would increase their level of skill.
Katara has a particular good excuse, her relation to Paku, who is the most powerful Waterbender in the World at the time of that Era but her overall development makes no sense aside from that.
She received very little training from Paku in the Southern Water Tribe, which was her only time where she actually got to train her Waterbending, and then later on she goes to not only defeat *Hama* who has trained for decades and has mastered Bloodbending *WITH HER OWN BENDING STYLE SHE TAUGHT HER*
Age is no excuse, look at Paku, it's just bad writing that she was able to even effect Hama. In reality, it should have been a team effort, Aang throwing her off with his Airbending and using some Airbending technique to throw off her Bloodbending, Sokka playing the long game and Katara of course the main fighter.
Still annoys me to this day smh
Toph however is even WORSE
Not only does she not have any special relation to explain her special skill in Earthbending, not only has she been alive for a very little amount of time that would mean she also has only trained a bit, but the main excuse that fans have is her being blind.......what?
No, sure, she should have a natural usage of Seismic Sense but Earthbending in general??? No, Badger Moles are not especially powerful Earthbenders by any stretch of the imagination, so then being blind does not present them with an especially powerful enhancement.
King Bumi is the perfect antithesis of Toph, he is a man who trained for decades, would be related to a good bloodline if he retained his royal status for such a long time and was allowed access to the Avatar of all people and showed extreme prominence in Earthbending being the STRONGEST Earthbender in the World.
Realistically, these jumps in skill shouldn't occur unless a good long time skip happened and even then by the end of it, Aang should be vastly, VASTLY above them in their Bending Elements due to the fact he's the Avatar and would easily learn their Bending Elements at a faster rate and more efficient rate than them specifically due to the spiritual muscle memory that the Avatar has that they just dropped as a concept for some reason.
Toph learned the fundamentals from the badgermoles, the original earth benders. So thats more "wildboy learning"
Also what evidence do you have that badgermoles are not strong earthbenders. They closed off entire pathways with a simple gesture and no human earth bending form. If anything it means they are good earthbenders but it takes a special type of skill to bend like them or figure out the fundamentals.
@@ColdNorth0628 They don't use Human Earthbending Forms cause they don't have Human Body Parts, duh, and moving around Earth to create pathways over a large course of time isn't exactly a great example of Earthbending prowess.
It doesn't take much to learn Earthbending from them if a child like Toph was able to learn with ease, they are okay Earthbenders but nothing compared to Humans, which is the same situation with the other Bending Animals.
They weren't even enough of a threat to warrant extermination like the Air Bison or The Dragons, they are literally used to pull cargo in the Earth Kingdom, they don't seem to be powerful in any form.
@@maylabrown4584 just because a creature is "not a threat" does not mean they are not powerful.
Also not all creatures need to be dangerous to be the original benders. Air bison are not really all that dangerous either, they too are docile creatures, we only know they are strong cause Appa has been through some stuff. If Avatar followed a badgermole we would know what they are about as well.
Also it does not take much in general for bending because there is also the mentality aspect about it. Aang could not earthbend because he did not think like a earthebender, Toph learned cause it was
1. Where she was at her most comfortable, where she was not "the helpless little girl" and that helped with the earthbender mentality you need for this, so I do not think it was easy for toph, much more she was mentally more in tune with the notion and accepting of whatever she got. Plus she learned seismic sense from them cause she had to learn as they do.
They never taught her directly, none of the animals in avatar ever teach correctly, much more their fundamentals of how they live and do feed into how the forms should be.
Yes
disliking fictional characters has always being an alien concept to me.
You've probably never been passionate about something.
@@Zacman1123 ??? they aren't real. I normally need real interaction to dislike something.
@@rafresendenrafresenden.1644 by that logic you wouldn’t have a fictional character you like either.
@@Hyper_Drud nope, I can like them no problem.
I’d wager that never getting a strong negative emotion that leads to you disliking a fictional character is an alien concept to most people
Can you review an episode of The Cleveland Show?
0:06 😂 😂 😂
Random
This isn't King of the Hill! What gives!?!
Please make regular uploads of atla
Doorags. Favorite Arcane characters?