About Kyoshi being 230yo, remember when Guru Patik casually mentions he was a personal friend of monk Gyatso? Yknow, the guy who was already old a hundred years ago
Yeah, see avatar doesn't have strong female characters. It has strong characters, some of whom happen to be female. Hollywood seems to have forgotten that there is a difference.
I agree 100%. Azula was an incredibly strong character that happened to be female. They never used her gender as an excuse when it could have been easily done.
I'm playing though dq11 and Jade is badass AF. And I haven't beat it so I guess there could be later on but there doesn't seem to be any added "I'm a girl and I'm just as good as the guys... ima prove myself... female power" type deal. She is just a strong character.
Hollywood also seems to deny the existence of COUNTLESS great female characters from prior eras. I can think of so many just from 90s/00s cartoons: KND had MANY female operatives that were smart, strong, and even leaders. The OG Teen Titans had great female characters, good and evil. Kim Possible had a good female protagonist AND antagonist. Jenny from "My Life as a Teenage Robot" is a literal hero. Franky from Foster's Home. The list is endless, yet it never satisfies the woke.
@@theperses3692 also let's remember that she was introduced as one of if no the best firebender by the fire nation standards (raw power), so, in terms of power, she was the most powerful and she did killed the avatar, a feat that has not been done against an avatar that is not an old person for what we know, she takes the impenetrable city that has eluded any invasion during all the war, she is the best warrior of her nation, and the only chapter were it was important the fact that she is a girl is in the ember island, because her awful attempts at flirting and her insecurities surrounding boys because her upbringing, and that could have easily been done with a male character also, so even then it is not too relevant. She is the best warrior by fire nation standards, she is a girl, she is not defined by being a girl. She is defined by her perfectionism, her upbringing, her mentality and her unstable mental state, that was brilliantly put in the first episode she was in ("almost perfect is not good enough " shows perfectionism, but an unhealthy and unstable mental state linked to it, just perfectionism could be "I will repeat it until is perfect" or something like that, it would also show mental issues, but not instability)
@@urphakeandgey6308 well these are the same "woke" who thought black panther was the first movie about a black comic book character...i guess we just gonna ignore the entire blade trilogy and movies like spawn huh?
I absolutely approve. Everyone is on a spectrum of traditionally masculine to feminine. It's really annoying when feminity in both men and women is seen as weak or incombatible with more masculine traits.
There was a book, Rise of Kyoshi (Please read) that explained an earth bending technique. Something about how water always changes but the stagnate stone can last forever. When ever Kyoshi changed, she just put it back into place.
Well... he won against Zhao. And he knocked out a ton of guards while busting Aang out from the Ponhau stronghold. Also those earth kingdom soldiers that took Iroh... Zuko and Iroh was outnumbered. The earth kingdom soldiers were outmatched. So yeah. He does win from time to time. And I also think the show has been really good at showing that Zuko doesn't lose due to a lack of ability. He often loose because of a lack of calm, patience, and inner balance which is a direct result of his inner conflict.
@@MoonPhantom That is why i used "almost" After Zhao there really isn't a big win for him when it comes to fighting. Let's be real, fights against mooks will never be all that important
@@rafaelcastor2089 I would count the Agni Kai against Azula to some extent. Azula targeted Katara specifically because her fight with Zuko was a stalemate starting to turn Zuko's way. Pretty much everyond not Aang or Azula who goes up against Zuko he wipes the floor with them Suki, Sokka, Zhao and to a lesser extent Jet.
@@oxtheunlikelycontemplator2682 I wouldn't, with my argument being that winning the Agni Kai and winning the fight are two different things. Would he win if Azula didn't target Katara? I'm fairly certain that yes. But as it stands,. the creators pretty much made him lose the fight for the sake of having Katara do something in the finale, and in my opinion that also took away what would be his greatest win and a perfect way to end his arc
The point where you said if Suki was written today she’d be unbeatable, and reject the fact that she’s a girl, you’re right. It’s like no one can write any characters anymore, especially women.
Where does the whole stereotype about ‘defeminized, unbeatable females characters’ I’ve argued with a lot of people about this topic, and aside from some bad takes about Ray from Star Wars, it seems to just be a general archetype people complain about, but don’t have many examples?
I would disagree with that statement. This would assume the show would be written by different people, and if it was, it would likely not be nearly as great as it is now. Take The Legend of Korra for example, a much more recent series made in the same world by the same people. Korra is extremely tough and brute-headed, but she doesn't "reject femininity" or demonize it or whatever. None of the characters do. Hell, there is even a joke where Bolin mistakes Eska and Desna as being sisters. Its not about "modern culture," its just that you only pay attention to movies with bad writers who don't know how to make compelling characters. And even then there are very few characters who just reject femininity in the first place. Even the one everyone likes to shit on, being Ray from Star Wars. Never once does she reject femininity, she was just written by bad writers to make her a Mary Sue character. While I don't necessarily like the last 2 movies, the first one in the trilogy I think did it decently well. She was inexperienced, and still very much learning. When she is incapacitated, it is Finn who is able to defend her, picking up the lightsaber to face off against Kylo Ren himself. While he might not have been taught how to use the weapon, or even be a Jedi, he still had military training when he was a Stormtrooper, so him having some decent enough fighting skills to fight off Kylo Ren made enough sense, along with Kylo Ren being way too confident, and even being able to land a blow. When Rey gets back up after hearing Finn scream not only was Kylo Ren wounded, but she also had a more personal reason to fight him. Was it convenient that she happened to be able to use the force in that moment to defeat Kylo Ren, sure, but it still came from a semi-realistic place. I think if Disney just kept the same team who made that movie to make all 3 they would be so much better.
@@darthroden Wouldn’t call Captain Marvel ‘defeminized’. Also she was blasted with a infinity stone, and then spent years learning to control those abilities. Yeah, you can argue she’s overpowered, but I can say the same thing about Dr. Strange, or Iron Man’s Bleeding point armor.
I think Kyoshi lived so long as a highly advanced earthbending technique. If she can restore strength in her bones and skin by manipulating the minerals inside her own body, the EARTH inside of her, then she could effectively reverse her aging
I like the idea that powerful benders, especially earth benders, have longer lifespans. But dude “it’s magic” is a better explanation here, or like philosophically stone and earth is the most constant element, water and air flow and fire exists in the moment. But controlling minerals in the body seems needlessly faux science for this series
@@mr.dantastic5073 I’m not doubting that bit, I’m mostly saying that in a world where people control the elements through interpretive dance moves, controlling minerals in ones bones and stuff is needlessly explanative, especially since that’s not exactly how aging works. That’s why I lean to the more philosophical explanation, definitely an earth bending technique but more to do with the chakras and mystical stuff than controlling atoms, cause if you can do that you’re not even an earth bender anymore, you’re like a matter-bender you can transform stuff into other stuff, you’d be able to in theory start pissing ethanol by rearranging carbon atoms and stuff, or sweating vinegar in the same way, which neither fits with earthbending IMO
@@AverageAwesomeDude but metal bending is literaly explained in the show as bending tge small ammount of impuritys in the metal rather than the metal itself. Atomic level explenqtions srnt new to ATLA.
@@robertharris6092 impurities definitely but I was meaning they’d need to control stuff at an atomic level to be able to extend their lives, like stuff so microscopic you can’t even really call it earth anymore. Tho it’s been ages I might just be forgetting stuff what would be other atomic level stuff bending does I’m genuinely curious
I would have to see the video, but there is some truth to that. We've reached a point where we've had so much bad woke media, anything with even a hint of wokeness is instantly looked down upon. AtLA shares some points with the traditional wokeness (strong females, embracing foreigners, anti-war) so it is very possible that if it were released today, it would have a more difficult time finding footing than it originally did. But even though it shares some beliefs, I wouldn't call AtLA as a whole "woke" because it didn't prioritize the message over the story, which is what the majority of woke media today does.
@@ShadyDoorags that's the problem with humanity as a whole. We have a tendency to overcorrect our mistakes. We allowed our children's shows to take part in political movements because we thought they were fighting for the same morals we had (gay rights, freedom of speech, anti bullying etc.), But now they have begun to push things to far. All to fight white supremacy of course, which is a non issue in the southern US where I live. The loathing of anything deemed "woke" is the overcorrection we need to be wary about. Don't let wokism stop you from enjoying the shows you enjoy.
@@ShadyDoorags That is a good point, context matters. The "woke" agenda has been pushed so hard in the last few years that we are all much more sensitive to it. Avatar likely WOULD be called out for pushing a "woke" agenda, because there is ZERO good faith left for Hollywood at this point in time. And... I mean, they'd kinda be right... It is very clear that there WAS and agenda by the creators to show strong female characters, inclusivity of different cultures, and a negative view of traditional masculinity. The difference is, the female characters were strong in and of themselves, not at the expense of the male characters around them. Furthermore, they were strong characters first, women second. Men were not treated as bad just for being men. And none of the philosophy or viewpoints depicted in the show were rammed down the audience's throats. Most people AGREE with these things, they are not controversial. They only become so because Hollywood has burned all the goodwill with fans they ever had...
The big difference between the female characters in Avatar and modern Woke female characters beyond not demonizing felinity, they also have outright personality flaws. Katara has a temper, she's impulsive, these are issues she has to overcome and hold her back, they're also not whitewashed or somehow given justifications, no, they are actual personality flaws. Toph is stubborn and has trouble asking for or receiving help and again, these are not somehow justified or held up as good things, but problems for her to overcome. This is true of all the main characters of the show, none of them are perfect people that the show goes out of its way to claim are morally always right, every one of them makes mistakes and has to grow, whereas if this was done under modern Hollywood Wokeness the female characters would all be paragons of virtue and the males somehow always in the wrong...
I think you meant femininity bro, but yeah. Also to add to it, Ty Lee is cheerful and optimistic too much to the point that people mis-label her as a ditz, while Mai is very closed off to where even she had relationship issues with Zuko where she didn't understand how his heart had been affected by most of his morality changes.
I can't think of a modern woke strong female characters who is not written to have personality flaws, even bad examples like Rey (being too trusting, naive, overconfident, emotional etc.) and Captain Marvel (being brash, not questioning the Kree higher ups abd the war itself, having a short fuse etc.) You're just suffering from selective sklerosis
@@Thane3999the problem with woke female characters is that the story will treat their flaws as though they are GOOD, or not a big deal as they really are, Amber from Invincible is a prime example of that, she clearly mistreated Mark, she gaslighted him and attempted to make him feel guilty for choosing to save the world over making her a priority...and the show treats her like she was actually right for doing that, even going as far as having William and Eve, Mark's two closest friends, side with her. And she suffered no consequences for her misdeed, instead Mark immediately got back together with her. This wouldn't be the only show guilty of this, but essentially they are treating female characters like they can do no wrong.
Sokka has game and he's been my favorite ever since I first watched the show cause he did so much with no powers and pulled his own weight alongside the stronger characters in the show, and Suki is a strong female character that isn't overpowered and doesn't open her mouth and immediately make all guys watching the show go "ugh, this shit again". They're a good match.
Sokka is the Rock Lee of AtLA. Two of my favourite underdog characters that pulled their own weight in the end and worked to overcome their hurdles instead of being victims.
4:08 Zuko is a great fighter. People forget that because he's so often compared to Aang or Azula who are both prodigies. He was a late bloomer with fire bending (his bending was very weak when he was younger) but he is amazing with swords
This is such a nostalgia episode for me due to the really recent good books about Kyoshi, they give a pretty good hint how she lived so long and Suki even getting her own graphic novel recently. This is where it all started.
Strong spiritual connections have a tendency to lengthen one's life in the ATLA universe. The Avatar in particular, being a symbiotic host for a very powerful spirit, have very long lifespans if they aren't killed by some outside force. Aang was only 66 when he died, but the 100 years he spent trapped in the ice (likely maintaining the Avatar State the whole time) started taking their toll on him as he grew up.
There's a book detailing an incident where Kiyoshi met a man who claimed to be hundreds of years old. When Kiyoshi questioned him about it, he said there was an obscure Earthbending technique that essentially stopped the aging process. The explanation he gives implies that the technique is actually surprisingly easy to learn, to the point where many Earthbenders end up using it unknowingly and extending their natural lifespans considerably, but it's difficult to maintain it indefinitely because it requires immense focus, mental fortitude, and a supreme awareness of the state of one's own body, because if the user slips up and doesn't perform the technique often enough or thoroughly enough, they will start aging again. The implication is that Kiyoshi either learned the technique and simply allowed herself to age and die, or she learned enough to RADICALLY extend her lifespan, but not enough to achieve true immortality
I would love just a video on the broad topic of masculine and feminine in shows and media you've seen Good examples and bad examples, what it is and what it isn't. they really are almost indefinable words but I definitely would love to see your take on it. also, keep up the good work Shady Doorags
Would have been interesting to see a Suki centered story arc. That’s what depresses me about ATLA there is a lot of world building potential for spin offs or movies but the only thing we got outside of some graphic novels was Korra which was sadly rushed due to executive demand on the creators.
Growing up without his father for 4 years, admiring the men, and being annoyed by all the women, without his own mother giving guidance, it's only natural that Sokka would develop some sexist attitudes while living in that isolated village. Going on the Avatar's journey helped to expand Sokka's perspective and turn him into a much better fighter and leader, in only 6 months.
I will go into this more in a later episode, but knowing Sokka's personal history as well as the history of the Southern Water Tribe, it makes sense that everyone in that tribe would conform to the gender roles and that Sokka would grow up a sexist. If anything, it's a weird that Katara, who grew up in the same environment, wouldn't be just as sexist.
The truth is that great female characters can be found fairly easily in media. The SJW types just don't want you to realise it or think it's "not enough." Powerpuff Girls was so good even boys grew up watching it. KND had COUNTLESS great female characters. Jenny the teenage robot. Franky from Foster's home. The OG Teen Titans. Kim Possible. The list is literally endless, but they're constantly brushed off because it doesn't go way out of its way to say "WOMEN GOOD," which is poor writing because *_you're stating the obvious._*
There were a lot of awesome female characters in this show, Suki, Toph, Azula, the list goes on. But after looking into her story a bit more, I gotta say that Avatar Kyoshi was a STONE COLD BAD B*TCH, hell when Aang is in the avatar state about to execute the fire lord, her voice is the most pronounced
some earth bender guru taught Kioshi how to become immortal, by using earth bending on her very cellular structure from stop aging, until one day she basically said "I've seen enough, I'm satisfied" and just decided to start the clock again
In rise of Kyoshi theres a character referred to as Lao Ge(Aka Tieguai the Immortal) who has an undefined age that could range from 200-4000 years old (no I'm not being hyperbolic) he served as a teacher to Kyoshi, teaching her his philosophy of how someone could kill another in cold blood as well as his one on spirituality, but the third thing he tried to teach her was the secrets of longevity; this most likely being the major culprit of her very long Era.
Before I start plugging, I must say that I like your take on this episode. Pretty much every named character is either flashed out, developed, or both by the end. Now, for the plugging. In regards to 4:45, I actually have a Gary Stue in my story, but since he is more of a mentor character to the younger main characters, it is mostly about him showing his experience and wisdom.
Hell yeah. ATLA is such well written show on so many levels, but also one of the few recent-ish pieces of media I can think of that does strong female characters right. They are strong and don't give a damn, but still feminine. Nowadays a "strong female character" usually means they have masculine features, zero flaws, are an asshole to everyone, and a lesbian.
Oh hey, haven’t seen this in four months. I watched the other three videos you made about this series and I really liked them. Can’t wait to see more of these.
The only complaint I have with Avatar is that we don't see more of the Kyoshi warriors. Those ladies were legit. Suki kicking Sokka's ass after he disrespected them is still one of my favorite moments of the series.
I hate how Suki would have been if she was released today... the way she is now is honestly best girl in the whole show if you ask me, her role is small, but damn if her and Sokka's relationship later on aren't MASSIVE relationship goals for me...
Kinda weird how all of are going ‘it would suck if it was made to day’. I mean, ATLA is as loved as it is because it is genuinely timeless. I mean there is a liter Avatar Animation studio know, and I think they live action show for Netflix is still happening, so we will find what ‘Avatar made today’ would be soon.
@@willhiggins9563 Well it's just a proven fact at this point, Star wars, Marvel, Disney, He-man, even scooby doo. We now live in an era where characters, especially female characters are made perfect, powerful, and never lose to men. Now they push the girl power message more than they push good characters, it's frustrating, but you know it wouldn't stay out of Avatar if it was made today
0:46 I think humans in the Avatar world live longer than humans in real life. For example, Guro Pathik (the wise old guy who helped Aang master the avatar state with chakras) is well over 100 years old and was friends with Aang's mentor, monk Gyatso, before the 100 year war.
Humans live the same average in Avatar as they do in real life, however, certain things can make them live longer. Firebenders exposed to Sozin's comet, for example, have their lives extended. From what I'm told by the comments, there is an earth bending technique that extends the life of the user and Kyoshi was using this technique to keep herself alive.
@@ShadyDoorags ok. cool. I didn't know that. Thanks for telling me. Personally, I just kinda thought it might be related to chi or something. Chi is what allows benders to control the elements in Avatar. Many religions in real life believe that chi (or Qi) is a life force and you can increase your health by having a good flow of chi. I thought that maybe, like, enlightened or spiritual humans in the Avatar world live longer because they had more chi or something. Idk, kind of a half-baked theory/head-cannon I had. Didn't know there was a canon answer. I haven't read the Kyoshi books where this is probably explained (although I probably should. I heard they are good).
I love how even when we didnt know much about Kyoshi at all. The consensus of the internet is that Kyoshi is the ultimate badass you dont wanna fuck with. (Talking about even before her book came out)
Because in the four avatar's leading up to Aang, Kyoshi was the only one who actually did her job and took it seriously. Roku's favortism let the 100 year war start, Kuruk's lack of responsibility got his wife attacked by Ko, and we know almost nothing about Yangchen. When people in the show think of the Avatar, they think of beings like Kyoshi who work hard to protect the world.
3:20 Exactly... The Kyoshi warriors are characters, they're not screeching Karen's, Susan's, and other militant feminists going "MEN EVIL REEEEE!" 3:24 Yes, once Sokka apologized and made up for his mistake, the girls and the show STOPS giving him crap. He deserved what he got for being rude. But once he gets better, the show forgives him and we see him improve. Of course Twitter cultists don't want that and would've just wanted Sokka killed in this episode... And of course they also believe that the lesson of "apologize for your mistakes" only applies to men and all women are angels...... 3:42 Exactly. 3:50 EXACTLY!
Someone else made the point that ATLA doesn’t have strong female characters, it has strong characters, some of which happen to be female, and they are 100% correct. Another point, ATLA is also a series where I don’t mind seeing the women be as strong if not stronger than a lot of the men since in this world stuff like chi, chakra, and bending exist so the biological differences that make males better at fighting. Usually it doesn’t bother me unless they virtue signal about it incessantly. I personally like it when things make sense and if the world explains why something is the way it is like this example with ATLA (even if it’s subtle explanations) it gets me more invested in the world. Idk if I’m making sense at all here. Also Toph and Suki are best girls.
Yes, fantasy has a lot of leeway to make females more powerful than males if combat revolves heavily around magical abilities. This is another reason why I find it laughable that _"woke media"_ can't make a decent female character. Just write them like any other character!!! Like it's beyond shit writing to make a Mary Sue in Star Wars when combat revolves so heavily around the force. Men and women there are more equal than in reality, FFS!
@@urphakeandgey6308 yeah exactly. The only thing that couldn’t be accounted for is how the make brain and female brain function. What I mean by that is the average male will be more aggressive, competitive, etc. than the average female which would help in this sort of scenario. The average women though tends to me more nurturing, caring, and empathetic than the average man. Obviously I’m simplifying this by a lot but that still is a thing to some extent. The obvious reason this wouldn’t be an issue is that you are dealing with individual characters and not an average so not something necessarily to worry about. Just make sure half your guards abs armed forces in a medieval fantasy aren’t women lol. Even still that’s not something I worry about as much as the physical side so I usual don’t care. If I’m making sense at all
If the show came out today though I wonder if you would have the same take on it. With how anti sjw youtubers are they would've targeted this episode harshly along with ATLA as a whole for it's overall progressive themes
@@Spongebrain97 I probably would have the same if not a similar take on it that I did with The Dragon Prince which also had a lot of progressive ideas in it. The only thing I’d probably say is that I would find it harder to believe that they put in the diverse characters naturally but instead would think they probably put them in for the sake of diversity and representation. I’d then go and talk about how despite that the characters are fun and I like the worldbuilding. But that would be it. Also the fact that Suki still doesn’t shy away from her femininity as much as modern “strong female characters” tend to do I don’t think it would get ragged on as much. I think the main reason it would get ragged on is because so many things try to force diversity, rep, strong women, etc. in for the sake of having them and to virtue signal and that causes the anti SJW crowd to react in the way they do since those people actually do like diverse characters. They just hate how diverse characters are handled.
Was curious about this episode's review in light of the Netflix series. Sokka's "not being sexist" was one of the selling points and critics used this episode as a counterpoint, that Sokka's views on girl warriors in light of being the "man of the house" for his whole tribe for a long time was part of his character arc, learning humility and that being a girl doesn't stop you from being able to fight, just in their own way. Sokka's character arc is gone when he doesn't reject the idea that girls can fight only to be proven wrong. And I haven't seen the episode (don't have Netflix) but there's still a problem with femininity being treated as a bad thing while all tomboys (girls who prefer typically "boy" activities but still see themselves as a girl) are now trans, non-binary, or at least butch lesbians. I don't know if Suki was depicted as any of those things in the unnecessary live-action series but it's a trend elsewhere as you noted.
To be fair, Sokka was the butt of so many jokes he loses one Mary Sue point. Aang Gets another for being the most powerful bender in the world and another for being the bad guy without killing him, but loses one for having "dumb kid complex" and running away before the events of ATLAB.
If I recall the reason Kiyoshi could theoretically live that long is in the series benders tend to live longer the non-benders I mean look at Bumi, I guess for whatever reason with the power that allows them to bend it slows down their aging process
I think the reason the warriors got beat so easily is because they likely have only fought pirates or beasts for years and their base fighting style is actually a type of CQC taught in the fire nation mixed with a type of weaponry and armor taken from an assassins group, so Zuko who is heavily adept at close combat recognized their base and thus knew how to break their root.
About the Kyoshi age thing, I heard a fan theory that the reason she lived as long as she did was because the previous avatar kuruk died prematurely (I think late 20s/early 30s) but that's just a headcannon.
I actually loved this episode because it's just so nice to see Sokka grow. He's very cheeky, but ultimately good, but when presented with new info he doesn't double down. All the girls love Sokka cause he's honest, about everything, but quickly changes when he's corrected. Also how the warriors don't just assume men dumb, she judges him based on how he acts and what he shows, not just his gender. Unfortunately in order to make strong women, Hollywood assumes you need weak, idiotic men for them to overcome. This is a much more positive message about overcoming and adapting without compromising on who you are, still being good to one another where we can, give people a chance and they can surprise you. I love this show. It's a work of art and hasn't aged a day.
I was wondering when AART would make a comeback. It wasn't my favorite of all your series, but I none the less thought about it. This was my favorite video of the bunch so far, and I totally do agree that the show really handled female characters well, and regret what direction things are going nowadays.
Kyoshi lived so long because 1: her essence was fueled by the spirit of being the avatar. She also only ever used the Avatar State twice in her life, and canonically, Avatar State reduces one's life span. Aang died pretty young. He dies between 50-70 seeing as Katara is still alive in legend of Korra, same with Zuko and Toph. Not to mention, as a kid, using the Avatar state took an IMMENSE toll on Aang in his youth. Notice how the more he used the avatar state, the faster he began to mentally mature.
One thing I’ve always wondered about the Kyoshi Warriors is despite being well trained could they have defeated a Fire Nation force that was part of the main army and not part of an exiled princes ship.
Okay granted i am not the most versed in avatar lore, but if I am not wrong there is an ability of eathbenders/doctrine or the likes that can potentilly give them inmortality, in other words Kyoshi could have train that or just be avatar are literaly build different they are more connected to the spirit world and all.
@@InfernosReaper I think it did come from a screw up but the writers/creators ran with it and gave some insight/lore as to why Kyoshi lived so long in the Kyoshi novels. Could be wrong tho.
My theory is being the avatar grants you a strong life force that unless your killed like roku you have a longer life span not immortal persay but you would be able to see at the very lest your 4x grandkids
The Kyoshi fighting style is also notable, instead of using ones physical strength or wieght to dominate your opponent, the Kyoshi warriors uses the oppoents physical strenght to throw them off balance. This fighting style is an incredible realistic interpretation of how a tribe of all-female hand to hand warrior would fight (Since statisically women have less bodymass than men). Sokka was partially right about how the sexual dimorphism of the human species lends itself well to a Hunter-Gatherer society, where he was wrong was how do not provide an innate ability or innability toward certain skills. The Kyoshi unique narritive position (in that it actknowledges the difference between men and women yet stating that roles and virtues associated with them are not mutually exclusive) synergizes well with Suki's character. In AtLA instead of acting in an poor subversion of female tropes (subversive to be subversive (angry, malevolent, petty, generally unpleasant (see: Teels in Masters Of the Universe: Revalations))) Suki acts like an actual human female: that is, like a rational, normal human being. Such portrayals are woefully rare in modern western media, but for all of our sakes, I hope in the future, it won't be. "I am a warrior, but I'm a girl too."-Suki
I think Kyoshi lived to long do to her being born a water bender, and water is associated with healing. Perhaps, like Roku, she went more into her birth element and gained longer life and better health.
I did the math an Kyoshi was at least 15 feet to as tall as 18 fucking feet tall. For example Chin the Conqueror was 7 foot 8 inches tall which makes him a really tall boy but he came up to Kyoshi's pussy. Basically meaning Kyoshi made big men look like babies. She was a very very strong woman. I really do feel bad for the Grim Reaper trying to tell her its time for her to die.
It's probably somewhere in her book. She probably learned the technique and she's probably the only recent Avatar use it. And since Vaatu severed Korra's connection it'll probably die with Kyoshi
I felt like Sokka's sexism came from his immaturity and that he thought he needed to proove he was a warrior. It felt more like a child's competition against the other sex which of course is horrible after you're a small child. It really seems to stem from his lack of both mother and father figure for the last years of his life.
The only issue I have with the episode is that Sokka's position (as well in the previous episodes) is too strawmanned, like give him a talking point about why he believes it, it doesn't have to be strong argument and it can be shot down by the other characters but at least make him say something that doesn't boil down to "girls are lame". It just makes him and his position feel shallow and therefore the victories over him and his position are diluted by it.
Sokka's point of view is very limited because he's very young. He comes from a tribe where all the men do the fighting and all the women are caretakers, possibly because every water bender was taken, turning the Southern Water tribe into a very basic one, and in any basic tribe, survival is more likely if you put males in disposable positions and preserve the females. Given that background, it makes sense that Sokka only has a basic understanding of the situation. The weird one is Katara. She should actually share Sokka's viewpoint since she had the same upbringing. The way you feel about Sokka is how I feel about Paku. When his episode comes up, his point of view isn't explored at all, and him being at the age he is and the Norther Water Tribe having a much more rich history, there is plenty the show could've done with him but instead decided to turn him into a basic stubborn authority figure.
@@ShadyDoorags The funny thing about the Paku situation is that it's played off like Paku's just being sexist, but healing is a difficult skill that literally can mean the difference between life and death. It makes sense to prioritize teaching that, especially to a companion of the Avatar. So, event though his reasoning is petty and sexist, there is some merit to the practice.
@@InfernosReaper Its true that healing is important, especially in a world thats in the middle of a war, but wouldn't it make more sense for benders of both sexes to learn both healing and other kinds of water bending. If I remember right, most of girls who are learning healing with Katara are young, showing that although healing does take time to learn, it doesn't take decades or anything. I don't really see many legitimate reasons to segregate the water bending styles like that. Idk, just my thoughts on the subject.
@@ShadyDoorags Um what? Katara isn’t the weird one because she didn’t have a misogynistic mindset. There are several people in real life who grow up in some type of environment that had bigotry of some kind or was surrounded by bigoted people. Yet did not adapt that mindset at all. Some people just had their own beliefs even when young and did not buy into what they were told. Having that said I’m not sure that’s the case here even. Sokka’s mindset was one of an assumption alone, not something that was taught. Especially since their grandma knew female water benders/fighters were a thing. She would not have going about lying to these kids lol Katara has no reason to think she wasn’t capable of fighting or anything similar to that topic. Two people growing up in the same environment doesn’t always mean their brains will have similar thoughts.
Kyoshi doesn’t fear death.
*Death fears Kyoshi.*
“Everyone thinks that they’ll be the one to escape me, but no one’s escaped me yet.”
@@moviewatcher7255I understood that reference
About Kyoshi being 230yo, remember when Guru Patik casually mentions he was a personal friend of monk Gyatso? Yknow, the guy who was already old a hundred years ago
Also consider that Bumi was also Aang's friend when he was really young too.
Being attuned to such primal energies likely extends life in TLA universe
If you get a chance to need the Kyoshi novels do it, it strong hint's without completely confirming how she did it
@@marcwhitlock5002 Yeah I like how they describe it similarly to most things in atla
“Kyoshi, you can’t just keep fighting you’re 200 not 100 anymore!”
Kyoshi:Personally I don’t see a difference
Yeah, see avatar doesn't have strong female characters. It has strong characters, some of whom happen to be female. Hollywood seems to have forgotten that there is a difference.
I agree 100%. Azula was an incredibly strong character that happened to be female. They never used her gender as an excuse when it could have been easily done.
I'm playing though dq11 and Jade is badass AF. And I haven't beat it so I guess there could be later on but there doesn't seem to be any added "I'm a girl and I'm just as good as the guys... ima prove myself... female power" type deal. She is just a strong character.
Hollywood also seems to deny the existence of COUNTLESS great female characters from prior eras. I can think of so many just from 90s/00s cartoons:
KND had MANY female operatives that were smart, strong, and even leaders. The OG Teen Titans had great female characters, good and evil. Kim Possible had a good female protagonist AND antagonist. Jenny from "My Life as a Teenage Robot" is a literal hero. Franky from Foster's Home. The list is endless, yet it never satisfies the woke.
@@theperses3692 also let's remember that she was introduced as one of if no the best firebender by the fire nation standards (raw power), so, in terms of power, she was the most powerful and she did killed the avatar, a feat that has not been done against an avatar that is not an old person for what we know, she takes the impenetrable city that has eluded any invasion during all the war, she is the best warrior of her nation, and the only chapter were it was important the fact that she is a girl is in the ember island, because her awful attempts at flirting and her insecurities surrounding boys because her upbringing, and that could have easily been done with a male character also, so even then it is not too relevant. She is the best warrior by fire nation standards, she is a girl, she is not defined by being a girl. She is defined by her perfectionism, her upbringing, her mentality and her unstable mental state, that was brilliantly put in the first episode she was in ("almost perfect is not good enough " shows perfectionism, but an unhealthy and unstable mental state linked to it, just perfectionism could be "I will repeat it until is perfect" or something like that, it would also show mental issues, but not instability)
@@urphakeandgey6308 well these are the same "woke" who thought black panther was the first movie about a black comic book character...i guess we just gonna ignore the entire blade trilogy and movies like spawn huh?
I absolutely approve. Everyone is on a spectrum of traditionally masculine to feminine. It's really annoying when feminity in both men and women is seen as weak or incombatible with more masculine traits.
Or when masculinity is seen as the bearer of evil and sin.
There was a book, Rise of Kyoshi (Please read) that explained an earth bending technique. Something about how water always changes but the stagnate stone can last forever. When ever Kyoshi changed, she just put it back into place.
.. Alright guess that makes sense 😅
Zuko is an aweasome fighter... He just almost never won when it was important
Well... he won against Zhao.
And he knocked out a ton of guards while busting Aang out from the Ponhau stronghold.
Also those earth kingdom soldiers that took Iroh... Zuko and Iroh was outnumbered. The earth kingdom soldiers were outmatched.
So yeah. He does win from time to time. And I also think the show has been really good at showing that Zuko doesn't lose due to a lack of ability. He often loose because of a lack of calm, patience, and inner balance which is a direct result of his inner conflict.
@@MoonPhantom That is why i used "almost"
After Zhao there really isn't a big win for him when it comes to fighting. Let's be real, fights against mooks will never be all that important
@@rafaelcastor2089 I would count the Agni Kai against Azula to some extent. Azula targeted Katara specifically because her fight with Zuko was a stalemate starting to turn Zuko's way. Pretty much everyond not Aang or Azula who goes up against Zuko he wipes the floor with them Suki, Sokka, Zhao and to a lesser extent Jet.
@@oxtheunlikelycontemplator2682 I wouldn't, with my argument being that winning the Agni Kai and winning the fight are two different things.
Would he win if Azula didn't target Katara? I'm fairly certain that yes. But as it stands,. the creators pretty much made him lose the fight for the sake of having Katara do something in the finale, and in my opinion that also took away what would be his greatest win and a perfect way to end his arc
@@rafaelcastor2089 Eh, the whole situation was in character for everyone and really showed how much Zuko had grown as a person.
The point where you said if Suki was written today she’d be unbeatable, and reject the fact that she’s a girl, you’re right. It’s like no one can write any characters anymore, especially women.
Where does the whole stereotype about ‘defeminized, unbeatable females characters’ I’ve argued with a lot of people about this topic, and aside from some bad takes about Ray from Star Wars, it seems to just be a general archetype people complain about, but don’t have many examples?
@@willhiggins9563 It’s bc it’s total bullshit i’m afraid
I would disagree with that statement. This would assume the show would be written by different people, and if it was, it would likely not be nearly as great as it is now. Take The Legend of Korra for example, a much more recent series made in the same world by the same people. Korra is extremely tough and brute-headed, but she doesn't "reject femininity" or demonize it or whatever. None of the characters do. Hell, there is even a joke where Bolin mistakes Eska and Desna as being sisters. Its not about "modern culture," its just that you only pay attention to movies with bad writers who don't know how to make compelling characters. And even then there are very few characters who just reject femininity in the first place. Even the one everyone likes to shit on, being Ray from Star Wars. Never once does she reject femininity, she was just written by bad writers to make her a Mary Sue character. While I don't necessarily like the last 2 movies, the first one in the trilogy I think did it decently well. She was inexperienced, and still very much learning. When she is incapacitated, it is Finn who is able to defend her, picking up the lightsaber to face off against Kylo Ren himself. While he might not have been taught how to use the weapon, or even be a Jedi, he still had military training when he was a Stormtrooper, so him having some decent enough fighting skills to fight off Kylo Ren made enough sense, along with Kylo Ren being way too confident, and even being able to land a blow. When Rey gets back up after hearing Finn scream not only was Kylo Ren wounded, but she also had a more personal reason to fight him. Was it convenient that she happened to be able to use the force in that moment to defeat Kylo Ren, sure, but it still came from a semi-realistic place. I think if Disney just kept the same team who made that movie to make all 3 they would be so much better.
@@willhiggins9563 (cough cough) Captain Marvel (cough cough)
@@darthroden Wouldn’t call Captain Marvel ‘defeminized’.
Also she was blasted with a infinity stone, and then spent years learning to control those abilities. Yeah, you can argue she’s overpowered, but I can say the same thing about Dr. Strange, or Iron Man’s Bleeding point armor.
I think Kyoshi lived so long as a highly advanced earthbending technique. If she can restore strength in her bones and skin by manipulating the minerals inside her own body, the EARTH inside of her, then she could effectively reverse her aging
I like the idea that powerful benders, especially earth benders, have longer lifespans. But dude “it’s magic” is a better explanation here, or like philosophically stone and earth is the most constant element, water and air flow and fire exists in the moment. But controlling minerals in the body seems needlessly faux science for this series
@@AverageAwesomeDude
A Kyoshi book highlighted that it’s an earth bender technique.
@@mr.dantastic5073 I’m not doubting that bit, I’m mostly saying that in a world where people control the elements through interpretive dance moves, controlling minerals in ones bones and stuff is needlessly explanative, especially since that’s not exactly how aging works. That’s why I lean to the more philosophical explanation, definitely an earth bending technique but more to do with the chakras and mystical stuff than controlling atoms, cause if you can do that you’re not even an earth bender anymore, you’re like a matter-bender you can transform stuff into other stuff, you’d be able to in theory start pissing ethanol by rearranging carbon atoms and stuff, or sweating vinegar in the same way, which neither fits with earthbending IMO
@@AverageAwesomeDude but metal bending is literaly explained in the show as bending tge small ammount of impuritys in the metal rather than the metal itself. Atomic level explenqtions srnt new to ATLA.
@@robertharris6092 impurities definitely but I was meaning they’d need to control stuff at an atomic level to be able to extend their lives, like stuff so microscopic you can’t even really call it earth anymore. Tho it’s been ages I might just be forgetting stuff what would be other atomic level stuff bending does I’m genuinely curious
Yeah, you do bring up a good point...
This episode would be a lot different if written in the present
funny thing is I just came across a video from Vaush about how avatar would be hated because it was woke lol.
Vaush has a few screws loose.
Well Jar. Vaush is an idiot.
I would have to see the video, but there is some truth to that. We've reached a point where we've had so much bad woke media, anything with even a hint of wokeness is instantly looked down upon. AtLA shares some points with the traditional wokeness (strong females, embracing foreigners, anti-war) so it is very possible that if it were released today, it would have a more difficult time finding footing than it originally did. But even though it shares some beliefs, I wouldn't call AtLA as a whole "woke" because it didn't prioritize the message over the story, which is what the majority of woke media today does.
@@ShadyDoorags that's the problem with humanity as a whole. We have a tendency to overcorrect our mistakes. We allowed our children's shows to take part in political movements because we thought they were fighting for the same morals we had (gay rights, freedom of speech, anti bullying etc.), But now they have begun to push things to far. All to fight white supremacy of course, which is a non issue in the southern US where I live. The loathing of anything deemed "woke" is the overcorrection we need to be wary about. Don't let wokism stop you from enjoying the shows you enjoy.
@@ShadyDoorags That is a good point, context matters. The "woke" agenda has been pushed so hard in the last few years that we are all much more sensitive to it. Avatar likely WOULD be called out for pushing a "woke" agenda, because there is ZERO good faith left for Hollywood at this point in time.
And... I mean, they'd kinda be right... It is very clear that there WAS and agenda by the creators to show strong female characters, inclusivity of different cultures, and a negative view of traditional masculinity.
The difference is, the female characters were strong in and of themselves, not at the expense of the male characters around them. Furthermore, they were strong characters first, women second. Men were not treated as bad just for being men. And none of the philosophy or viewpoints depicted in the show were rammed down the audience's throats.
Most people AGREE with these things, they are not controversial. They only become so because Hollywood has burned all the goodwill with fans they ever had...
The big difference between the female characters in Avatar and modern Woke female characters beyond not demonizing felinity, they also have outright personality flaws. Katara has a temper, she's impulsive, these are issues she has to overcome and hold her back, they're also not whitewashed or somehow given justifications, no, they are actual personality flaws. Toph is stubborn and has trouble asking for or receiving help and again, these are not somehow justified or held up as good things, but problems for her to overcome. This is true of all the main characters of the show, none of them are perfect people that the show goes out of its way to claim are morally always right, every one of them makes mistakes and has to grow, whereas if this was done under modern Hollywood Wokeness the female characters would all be paragons of virtue and the males somehow always in the wrong...
I think you meant femininity bro, but yeah. Also to add to it, Ty Lee is cheerful and optimistic too much to the point that people mis-label her as a ditz, while Mai is very closed off to where even she had relationship issues with Zuko where she didn't understand how his heart had been affected by most of his morality changes.
I can't think of a modern woke strong female characters who is not written to have personality flaws, even bad examples like Rey (being too trusting, naive, overconfident, emotional etc.) and Captain Marvel (being brash, not questioning the Kree higher ups abd the war itself, having a short fuse etc.)
You're just suffering from selective sklerosis
@@Thane3999 Thank you
3:50 You just described Toph.
@@Thane3999the problem with woke female characters is that the story will treat their flaws as though they are GOOD, or not a big deal as they really are, Amber from Invincible is a prime example of that, she clearly mistreated Mark, she gaslighted him and attempted to make him feel guilty for choosing to save the world over making her a priority...and the show treats her like she was actually right for doing that, even going as far as having William and Eve, Mark's two closest friends, side with her. And she suffered no consequences for her misdeed, instead Mark immediately got back together with her. This wouldn't be the only show guilty of this, but essentially they are treating female characters like they can do no wrong.
Sokka has game and he's been my favorite ever since I first watched the show cause he did so much with no powers and pulled his own weight alongside the stronger characters in the show, and Suki is a strong female character that isn't overpowered and doesn't open her mouth and immediately make all guys watching the show go "ugh, this shit again". They're a good match.
Sokka is the Rock Lee of AtLA. Two of my favourite underdog characters that pulled their own weight in the end and worked to overcome their hurdles instead of being victims.
4:08 Zuko is a great fighter. People forget that because he's so often compared to Aang or Azula who are both prodigies. He was a late bloomer with fire bending (his bending was very weak when he was younger) but he is amazing with swords
Shady im sure some other comments are saying this But Kyoshi's age skills are alluded to in her two books. Also the books are fucking super good
I love how Kyoshi is basically the Chuck Norris of the Avatar universe.
This is such a nostalgia episode for me due to the really recent good books about Kyoshi, they give a pretty good hint how she lived so long and Suki even getting her own graphic novel recently. This is where it all started.
Lmao "did she not want to die?!" I love Kyoshi, it sounds like her
Yea Kyoshi was extremely old woman when she died
I've heard fan theories that earthbenders can prolong their lives somehow, which is how Kyoshi, a native earthbender, was able to live for 230 years
One of the dopest things about aang especially early on is that he can almost already take every character in a fight when using airbending
Strong spiritual connections have a tendency to lengthen one's life in the ATLA universe.
The Avatar in particular, being a symbiotic host for a very powerful spirit, have very long lifespans if they aren't killed by some outside force.
Aang was only 66 when he died, but the 100 years he spent trapped in the ice (likely maintaining the Avatar State the whole time) started taking their toll on him as he grew up.
There is no filler episode except the Great divide.Not even the recap wanted to talk about The Great divide.
True. I was just about to make this comment, lol.
There's a book detailing an incident where Kiyoshi met a man who claimed to be hundreds of years old. When Kiyoshi questioned him about it, he said there was an obscure Earthbending technique that essentially stopped the aging process. The explanation he gives implies that the technique is actually surprisingly easy to learn, to the point where many Earthbenders end up using it unknowingly and extending their natural lifespans considerably, but it's difficult to maintain it indefinitely because it requires immense focus, mental fortitude, and a supreme awareness of the state of one's own body, because if the user slips up and doesn't perform the technique often enough or thoroughly enough, they will start aging again.
The implication is that Kiyoshi either learned the technique and simply allowed herself to age and die, or she learned enough to RADICALLY extend her lifespan, but not enough to achieve true immortality
I would love just a video on the broad topic of masculine and feminine in shows and media you've seen Good examples and bad examples, what it is and what it isn't. they really are almost indefinable words but I definitely would love to see your take on it. also, keep up the good work Shady Doorags
Would have been interesting to see a Suki centered story arc. That’s what depresses me about ATLA there is a lot of world building potential for spin offs or movies but the only thing we got outside of some graphic novels was Korra which was sadly rushed due to executive demand on the creators.
Which is a damn shame because I REALLY liked Korra. Best take on industrialized magic in all of fiction.
Growing up without his father for 4 years, admiring the men, and being annoyed by all the women, without his own mother giving guidance, it's only natural that Sokka would develop some sexist attitudes while living in that isolated village. Going on the Avatar's journey helped to expand Sokka's perspective and turn him into a much better fighter and leader, in only 6 months.
I will go into this more in a later episode, but knowing Sokka's personal history as well as the history of the Southern Water Tribe, it makes sense that everyone in that tribe would conform to the gender roles and that Sokka would grow up a sexist. If anything, it's a weird that Katara, who grew up in the same environment, wouldn't be just as sexist.
The truth is that great female characters can be found fairly easily in media. The SJW types just don't want you to realise it or think it's "not enough." Powerpuff Girls was so good even boys grew up watching it. KND had COUNTLESS great female characters. Jenny the teenage robot. Franky from Foster's home. The OG Teen Titans. Kim Possible.
The list is literally endless, but they're constantly brushed off because it doesn't go way out of its way to say "WOMEN GOOD," which is poor writing because *_you're stating the obvious._*
There were a lot of awesome female characters in this show, Suki, Toph, Azula, the list goes on. But after looking into her story a bit more, I gotta say that Avatar Kyoshi was a STONE COLD BAD B*TCH, hell when Aang is in the avatar state about to execute the fire lord, her voice is the most pronounced
Kyoshi just giving the grim reaper a death stare and him backing off is never something i thought about but. Its beyond hilarious
Remember guys if you don't want to die, pull a Avatar Kyoshi just say no to Death.
some earth bender guru taught Kioshi how to become immortal, by using earth bending on her very cellular structure from stop aging, until one day she basically said "I've seen enough, I'm satisfied" and just decided to start the clock again
In the Kyoshi Novels it shows how she learned how to meditate on extending her life from an immortal assassin.
Glad to see you branching out into other shows! More please!
In rise of Kyoshi theres a character referred to as Lao Ge(Aka Tieguai the Immortal) who has an undefined age that could range from 200-4000 years old (no I'm not being hyperbolic) he served as a teacher to Kyoshi, teaching her his philosophy of how someone could kill another in cold blood as well as his one on spirituality, but the third thing he tried to teach her was the secrets of longevity; this most likely being the major culprit of her very long Era.
Before I start plugging, I must say that I like your take on this episode. Pretty much every named character is either flashed out, developed, or both by the end.
Now, for the plugging.
In regards to 4:45, I actually have a Gary Stue in my story, but since he is more of a mentor character to the younger main characters, it is mostly about him showing his experience and wisdom.
This video is awesome. It's short but its packed with information and good to hear commentary. I like it.
Hell yeah. ATLA is such well written show on so many levels, but also one of the few recent-ish pieces of media I can think of that does strong female characters right. They are strong and don't give a damn, but still feminine.
Nowadays a "strong female character" usually means they have masculine features, zero flaws, are an asshole to everyone, and a lesbian.
Oh hey, haven’t seen this in four months. I watched the other three videos you made about this series and I really liked them. Can’t wait to see more of these.
Recently subscribed and loved this video. Would definitely love to see more AtLA it's really one of the greatest animated shows of all time.
The only complaint I have with Avatar is that we don't see more of the Kyoshi warriors.
Those ladies were legit.
Suki kicking Sokka's ass after he disrespected them is still one of my favorite moments of the series.
Same and I would love to see Suki chi block Ty Lee as revenge
We need more of this.
3:42
I can not type "agreed" an infinite amount of times, so I hope this will do:
I AGREE VERY MUCH.
I hate how Suki would have been if she was released today... the way she is now is honestly best girl in the whole show if you ask me, her role is small, but damn if her and Sokka's relationship later on aren't MASSIVE relationship goals for me...
Kinda weird how all of are going ‘it would suck if it was made to day’. I mean, ATLA is as loved as it is because it is genuinely timeless. I mean there is a liter Avatar Animation studio know, and I think they live action show for Netflix is still happening, so we will find what ‘Avatar made today’ would be soon.
@@willhiggins9563 Well it's just a proven fact at this point, Star wars, Marvel, Disney, He-man, even scooby doo.
We now live in an era where characters, especially female characters are made perfect, powerful, and never lose to men. Now they push the girl power message more than they push good characters, it's frustrating, but you know it wouldn't stay out of Avatar if it was made today
@@somegamer4071 Nice Straw Man.
0:46 I think humans in the Avatar world live longer than humans in real life. For example, Guro Pathik (the wise old guy who helped Aang master the avatar state with chakras) is well over 100 years old and was friends with Aang's mentor, monk Gyatso, before the 100 year war.
Humans live the same average in Avatar as they do in real life, however, certain things can make them live longer. Firebenders exposed to Sozin's comet, for example, have their lives extended. From what I'm told by the comments, there is an earth bending technique that extends the life of the user and Kyoshi was using this technique to keep herself alive.
@@ShadyDoorags ok. cool. I didn't know that. Thanks for telling me.
Personally, I just kinda thought it might be related to chi or something. Chi is what allows benders to control the elements in Avatar. Many religions in real life believe that chi (or Qi) is a life force and you can increase your health by having a good flow of chi. I thought that maybe, like, enlightened or spiritual humans in the Avatar world live longer because they had more chi or something. Idk, kind of a half-baked theory/head-cannon I had. Didn't know there was a canon answer. I haven't read the Kyoshi books where this is probably explained (although I probably should. I heard they are good).
I love how even when we didnt know much about Kyoshi at all. The consensus of the internet is that Kyoshi is the ultimate badass you dont wanna fuck with.
(Talking about even before her book came out)
Because in the four avatar's leading up to Aang, Kyoshi was the only one who actually did her job and took it seriously. Roku's favortism let the 100 year war start, Kuruk's lack of responsibility got his wife attacked by Ko, and we know almost nothing about Yangchen. When people in the show think of the Avatar, they think of beings like Kyoshi who work hard to protect the world.
3:20 Exactly... The Kyoshi warriors are characters, they're not screeching Karen's, Susan's, and other militant feminists going "MEN EVIL REEEEE!"
3:24 Yes, once Sokka apologized and made up for his mistake, the girls and the show STOPS giving him crap. He deserved what he got for being rude. But once he gets better, the show forgives him and we see him improve.
Of course Twitter cultists don't want that and would've just wanted Sokka killed in this episode...
And of course they also believe that the lesson of "apologize for your mistakes" only applies to men and all women are angels......
3:42 Exactly.
3:50 EXACTLY!
yeah exept for suki's wry smirk when sokka is in uniform.
Someone else made the point that ATLA doesn’t have strong female characters, it has strong characters, some of which happen to be female, and they are 100% correct.
Another point, ATLA is also a series where I don’t mind seeing the women be as strong if not stronger than a lot of the men since in this world stuff like chi, chakra, and bending exist so the biological differences that make males better at fighting. Usually it doesn’t bother me unless they virtue signal about it incessantly. I personally like it when things make sense and if the world explains why something is the way it is like this example with ATLA (even if it’s subtle explanations) it gets me more invested in the world.
Idk if I’m making sense at all here.
Also Toph and Suki are best girls.
Yes, fantasy has a lot of leeway to make females more powerful than males if combat revolves heavily around magical abilities. This is another reason why I find it laughable that _"woke media"_ can't make a decent female character. Just write them like any other character!!!
Like it's beyond shit writing to make a Mary Sue in Star Wars when combat revolves so heavily around the force. Men and women there are more equal than in reality, FFS!
@@urphakeandgey6308 yeah exactly.
The only thing that couldn’t be accounted for is how the make brain and female brain function. What I mean by that is the average male will be more aggressive, competitive, etc. than the average female which would help in this sort of scenario. The average women though tends to me more nurturing, caring, and empathetic than the average man. Obviously I’m simplifying this by a lot but that still is a thing to some extent.
The obvious reason this wouldn’t be an issue is that you are dealing with individual characters and not an average so not something necessarily to worry about. Just make sure half your guards abs armed forces in a medieval fantasy aren’t women lol. Even still that’s not something I worry about as much as the physical side so I usual don’t care. If I’m making sense at all
If the show came out today though I wonder if you would have the same take on it. With how anti sjw youtubers are they would've targeted this episode harshly along with ATLA as a whole for it's overall progressive themes
@@Spongebrain97 I probably would have the same if not a similar take on it that I did with The Dragon Prince which also had a lot of progressive ideas in it. The only thing I’d probably say is that I would find it harder to believe that they put in the diverse characters naturally but instead would think they probably put them in for the sake of diversity and representation. I’d then go and talk about how despite that the characters are fun and I like the worldbuilding. But that would be it.
Also the fact that Suki still doesn’t shy away from her femininity as much as modern “strong female characters” tend to do I don’t think it would get ragged on as much. I think the main reason it would get ragged on is because so many things try to force diversity, rep, strong women, etc. in for the sake of having them and to virtue signal and that causes the anti SJW crowd to react in the way they do since those people actually do like diverse characters. They just hate how diverse characters are handled.
Did he predict the live action adaptation
Was curious about this episode's review in light of the Netflix series. Sokka's "not being sexist" was one of the selling points and critics used this episode as a counterpoint, that Sokka's views on girl warriors in light of being the "man of the house" for his whole tribe for a long time was part of his character arc, learning humility and that being a girl doesn't stop you from being able to fight, just in their own way. Sokka's character arc is gone when he doesn't reject the idea that girls can fight only to be proven wrong.
And I haven't seen the episode (don't have Netflix) but there's still a problem with femininity being treated as a bad thing while all tomboys (girls who prefer typically "boy" activities but still see themselves as a girl) are now trans, non-binary, or at least butch lesbians. I don't know if Suki was depicted as any of those things in the unnecessary live-action series but it's a trend elsewhere as you noted.
To be fair, Sokka was the butt of so many jokes he loses one Mary Sue point. Aang Gets another for being the most powerful bender in the world and another for being the bad guy without killing him, but loses one for having "dumb kid complex" and running away before the events of ATLAB.
Nice to see the return of this series
I heard from another video Kyoshi lived so long because the avatar before her died young but still 230 yrs!!!!
If I recall the reason Kiyoshi could theoretically live that long is in the series benders tend to live longer the non-benders I mean look at Bumi, I guess for whatever reason with the power that allows them to bend it slows down their aging process
Avatar Kyoshi was just too stubborn to die...
Yay! Shady is back!
These should be longer keep it up!
I think the reason the warriors got beat so easily is because they likely have only fought pirates or beasts for years and their base fighting style is actually a type of CQC taught in the fire nation mixed with a type of weaponry and armor taken from an assassins group, so Zuko who is heavily adept at close combat recognized their base and thus knew how to break their root.
About the Kyoshi age thing, I heard a fan theory that the reason she lived as long as she did was because the previous avatar kuruk died prematurely (I think late 20s/early 30s) but that's just a headcannon.
I actually loved this episode because it's just so nice to see Sokka grow. He's very cheeky, but ultimately good, but when presented with new info he doesn't double down. All the girls love Sokka cause he's honest, about everything, but quickly changes when he's corrected. Also how the warriors don't just assume men dumb, she judges him based on how he acts and what he shows, not just his gender. Unfortunately in order to make strong women, Hollywood assumes you need weak, idiotic men for them to overcome. This is a much more positive message about overcoming and adapting without compromising on who you are, still being good to one another where we can, give people a chance and they can surprise you.
I love this show. It's a work of art and hasn't aged a day.
I love this series!!! Thank you!!!!
Keyoshi learned an earthbending technique from an Immortal. It gave her the ability to live forever.
I was wondering when AART would make a comeback. It wasn't my favorite of all your series, but I none the less thought about it. This was my favorite video of the bunch so far, and I totally do agree that the show really handled female characters well, and regret what direction things are going nowadays.
Kyoshi lived so long because 1: her essence was fueled by the spirit of being the avatar. She also only ever used the Avatar State twice in her life, and canonically, Avatar State reduces one's life span. Aang died pretty young. He dies between 50-70 seeing as Katara is still alive in legend of Korra, same with Zuko and Toph. Not to mention, as a kid, using the Avatar state took an IMMENSE toll on Aang in his youth. Notice how the more he used the avatar state, the faster he began to mentally mature.
The makers made a math error and when they realized it they rolled with it
One thing I’ve always wondered about the Kyoshi Warriors is despite being well trained could they have defeated a Fire Nation force that was part of the main army and not part of an exiled princes ship.
Okay granted i am not the most versed in avatar lore, but if I am not wrong there is an ability of eathbenders/doctrine or the likes that can potentilly give them inmortality, in other words Kyoshi could have train that or just be avatar are literaly build different they are more connected to the spirit world and all.
No earth benders can’t do that she just lived really long
I just assumed someone screwed up with the year or whatever and no one ever corrected it.
@@InfernosReaper I think it did come from a screw up but the writers/creators ran with it and gave some insight/lore as to why Kyoshi lived so long in the Kyoshi novels. Could be wrong tho.
And when we needed shows like this most they vanished
You must read "The Rise of Kyoshi" and "The Shadow of Kyoshi". They are wonderful books.
My theory is being the avatar grants you a strong life force that unless your killed like roku you have a longer life span not immortal persay but you would be able to see at the very lest your 4x grandkids
Grim reaper scared of kiyoshi checks out
Do more of this series shady!!!!!
Agreed, it seems so difficult to find strong female characters who aren't pretentious jerks
Kyoshi bullying the Grim reaper lol
The Kyoshi fighting style is also notable, instead of using ones physical strength or wieght to dominate your opponent, the Kyoshi warriors uses the oppoents physical strenght to throw them off balance. This fighting style is an incredible realistic interpretation of how a tribe of all-female hand to hand warrior would fight (Since statisically women have less bodymass than men). Sokka was partially right about how the sexual dimorphism of the human species lends itself well to a Hunter-Gatherer society, where he was wrong was how do not provide an innate ability or innability toward certain skills.
The Kyoshi unique narritive position (in that it actknowledges the difference between men and women yet stating that roles and virtues associated with them are not mutually exclusive) synergizes well with Suki's character. In AtLA instead of acting in an poor subversion of female tropes (subversive to be subversive (angry, malevolent, petty, generally unpleasant (see: Teels in Masters Of the Universe: Revalations))) Suki acts like an actual human female: that is, like a rational, normal human being. Such portrayals are woefully rare in modern western media, but for all of our sakes, I hope in the future, it won't be.
"I am a warrior, but I'm a girl too."-Suki
Kyoshi probably stayed in the spirit world for a while.
1 handed pushups are cool. Breath ups are even cooler.
I think Kyoshi lived to long do to her being born a water bender, and water is associated with healing. Perhaps, like Roku, she went more into her birth element and gained longer life and better health.
I did the math an Kyoshi was at least 15 feet to as tall as 18 fucking feet tall. For example Chin the Conqueror was 7 foot 8 inches tall which makes him a really tall boy but he came up to Kyoshi's pussy. Basically meaning Kyoshi made big men look like babies. She was a very very strong woman. I really do feel bad for the Grim Reaper trying to tell her its time for her to die.
Sokka just like me fr, just wants a girl that can fucking kill me
Every avatar and spiritual related person who did not get killed lived to be very, very old. It's just a thing in the avatar universe I guess
Wait till the colonist come
I think the only filler episode was the time they watched a play based on themselves.
I think she used her bending to slow down her ageing
It's probably somewhere in her book. She probably learned the technique and she's probably the only recent Avatar use it. And since Vaatu severed Korra's connection it'll probably die with Kyoshi
Ah, yes, the biggest "fuck you" to the Avatar fans. All those Avatars that existed before? Gone
Little do you know 2024 gonna ruin it
Fuck you Netflix
Trinston was here. .
I always thought Socka got lucky more then got one over on her.
I always thought the avatar spirit allowed those it inhabits to live longer.
Not only better trained, but he wasn't really trained(much outside of him self learning as he went along)
always wanted suki to be my anime waifu.
Please read the books or listen to the audiobook they are really good. Poor Tieguai.
I felt like Sokka's sexism came from his immaturity and that he thought he needed to proove he was a warrior. It felt more like a child's competition against the other sex which of course is horrible after you're a small child. It really seems to stem from his lack of both mother and father figure for the last years of his life.
That and he grew up in an environment that reinforced that idea
Let's see if the new show will confirm your predictions about Suki
Please do king of the hill slight of hank.
He lost his entire culture, so his behavior throughout the episode is warranted
I want that counter to continue into Korra to shut up bs about her
The only issue I have with the episode is that Sokka's position (as well in the previous episodes) is too strawmanned, like give him a talking point about why he believes it, it doesn't have to be strong argument and it can be shot down by the other characters but at least make him say something that doesn't boil down to "girls are lame". It just makes him and his position feel shallow and therefore the victories over him and his position are diluted by it.
Sokka's point of view is very limited because he's very young. He comes from a tribe where all the men do the fighting and all the women are caretakers, possibly because every water bender was taken, turning the Southern Water tribe into a very basic one, and in any basic tribe, survival is more likely if you put males in disposable positions and preserve the females. Given that background, it makes sense that Sokka only has a basic understanding of the situation. The weird one is Katara. She should actually share Sokka's viewpoint since she had the same upbringing.
The way you feel about Sokka is how I feel about Paku. When his episode comes up, his point of view isn't explored at all, and him being at the age he is and the Norther Water Tribe having a much more rich history, there is plenty the show could've done with him but instead decided to turn him into a basic stubborn authority figure.
@@ShadyDoorags The funny thing about the Paku situation is that it's played off like Paku's just being sexist, but healing is a difficult skill that literally can mean the difference between life and death. It makes sense to prioritize teaching that, especially to a companion of the Avatar.
So, event though his reasoning is petty and sexist, there is some merit to the practice.
@@InfernosReaper Its true that healing is important, especially in a world thats in the middle of a war, but wouldn't it make more sense for benders of both sexes to learn both healing and other kinds of water bending. If I remember right, most of girls who are learning healing with Katara are young, showing that although healing does take time to learn, it doesn't take decades or anything. I don't really see many legitimate reasons to segregate the water bending styles like that. Idk, just my thoughts on the subject.
@@ShadyDoorags Um what? Katara isn’t the weird one because she didn’t have a misogynistic mindset.
There are several people in real life who grow up in some type of environment that had bigotry of some kind or was surrounded by bigoted people. Yet did not adapt that mindset at all. Some people just had their own beliefs even when young and did not buy into what they were told. Having that said I’m not sure that’s the case here even.
Sokka’s mindset was one of an assumption alone, not something that was taught. Especially since their grandma knew female water benders/fighters were a thing. She would not have going about lying to these kids lol
Katara has no reason to think she wasn’t capable of fighting or anything similar to that topic. Two people growing up in the same environment doesn’t always mean their brains will have similar thoughts.
Nice
very good video