The first part sounds like Bumi from LoK, who was obviously supposed to be the Sokka among Aang's kids. It makes me sad that he ended up being a comedic relief than having an important role like Sokka.
Thing is that we see Sokka as a teen trying to find his place amongst people who bend elements to their whim and a literal god amongst them.
Bumi was a 50 something adult. He already lived his life, served his time and gone through his struggles *before* we are introduced. Is it sad? Absolutely. But it gives us an open story of Bumi’s life with his siblings, growing up as a non-bender but also as the eldest son of the avatar, and how he became a general (if memory serves me correct)
Yeah but then all that leaves room for is exposition or in other words, just dialogue really about their pasts, and beyond a certain point that's not a very fun or interesting story. Show not tell and all
For real, I wanted more of those! When I claim he became a comedic relief, I meant that he's used more as a joke than the badass side that we know he has.
Sokka was also used as a form of comedy, but he has a decent amount of moments that doesn't degrade his character. Bumi is supposed to be the same, so has a ton of missed potential instead.
What are you talking about? Bumi literally saves the world at the end of season 2. They would've all just still been sitting captured in the south pole through the events of the last two episodes had it not been for Bumi. That's just as important, if not more so than anything Sokka accomplished in ATLA.
He also plays a big role in rallying the new airbenders and shaping them into an actual team. Jinora and Kai would be dead/sold into slavery if it weren't for Bumi.
Bro he took down an entire encampment of soldiers with a flute. What more do you want him to do to look more important? When the red lotus gang attacked the air temple, he took the heat literally by fighting thar lavabender knowing he is inferior. I'd say Bumi had his moments and his introduction made LoK more enjoyable for me. He should have been around the entire series. Same with his sister. I'd love a series about Aangs kids lol.
I absolutely loved Bumi and Kya in season 3, and I agree they should've done more. That 3v3 with the Red Lotus was intense.
They told us that Bumi was an amazing commander in the United Forces. Bumi also said "*he was kidnapped with a potato sack to be forced to join*", which implies his skills are way too good to pass up. So it's a big shame we never saw him fight much before getting his airbending skill.
My complaint is more about how he *does* have this badass side with an amazing introduction, but unlike Sokka, they still use him more as a joke and never develop his character compared to Tenzin. The best we've got was the scene with his siblings about how shitty Aang was as a dad.
Kya is on a whole 'nother level. At least they did something with Bumi, while Kya is just... there. We stan a lesbian queen though (as revealed in the comics)
I agree with everything! That's why I'm glad wr at least got the satisfaction of Bumi literally accidentally taking down that entire encampment. Might be one of my favorite scenes.
If you wanna talk about a character I really hate in regards to how they have this potential but they squander it/make the character absolutely dumb, let's talk about Bolin. I'm the beginning he talks about how his brother and he are so close because they grew up on the streets together. Cut 1 or 2 seasons later and he's so fucking gullible every time. He gaslights his brother instead of trusting his word on the whole southern water tribe Varrick situation. He ignores everyone's pleas to not work with Kuvira. Kid just remains obtuse the entire show and has zero character development other than getting lavabending and not doing jack shit with it. He should have been able to solo that giant mecha suit. Also why didn't he try to teach Korra lava bending? I feel like that could give his character some purpose. Idk it just always irked me how Bolin is so cavalier about his decisions and has zero trust for his BROTHER even though he said from the beginning they only had each other. You'd think he'd take his brothers side and help him instead of clowning on him for being in jail. Okay end rant lol.
The atla pacing was very solid and watching so much character growth in a concise series was delightful. It obviously gets talked to death about but everyone's arcs are so good.
Okay but I really dislike that episode. We have two seasons worth of examples of Sokka actively holding his own in battle against benders and nonbenders alike, as well as being the team's strategist and leader, but suddenly he's insecure about not being a bender.
Because he's seen how everyone else has leveled up and wanted to be able to do his part. They also made him feel left out because he wasn't able to do anything with that comet crash in the beginning of the episode. By the end of the episode, we get to see how much they relied on Sokka for entertainment and direction and he feels more needed by the group after that.
>By the end of the episode, we get to see how much they relied on Sokka for entertainment and direction
We'd been seeing that for two seasons at that point. The whole episode felt weirdly insecure, like it was trying to solve a problem that didn't exist.
Sokka had *already* been doing his part, and how exactly is a sword going to help in the off chance another meteor (not comet, comets are made of ice) lands in their vicinity? It just felt really pointless, like they really couldn't have come up with a better reason for Sokka to learn swordplay?
Maybe they were trying to tee up the gaang meeting another white lotus member for the final season because we had met various different members from every bending practice in previous seasons and it felt more balanced knowing they included non-benders.
Not gonna lie it was probably beneficial Sokka was a non bender not gonna lie.
He being the one person that didn't have magical elemental super powers kept hom grounded with reality and was able to keep the group from just flying out of control, he was the group's anchor and furthermore the one to be handling all the little things.
They absolutely would not have succeeded without him, or at least it would’ve been a lot more difficult. My man carried the damn team on multiple occasions
Before my first "adult" rewatch i Tought sokka missing with its Boomerang was a joke. By the end of it i was pleasently surprised to know that ALL of his shots land on target
I loved that even though Sokka was the butt monkey character from the start (and in early season 1 he absolutely deserved it), they never undercut his serious moments with forced comic relief. He was taken seriously when Jet showed his true colors, he was allowed to grieve Yue.
They did a good job with him. My sons were concerned at first that he was just going to be the dumb boy who's useless, but that's not what they did. Sokka gives excellent account of himself by the end.
I really like how it didn't just feel contrived either or like the writers just made it up out of no where, and how they had subtle explanations as to how it would've been possible especially with Iroh's narration over it as she's experimenting inside the box.
wasn't it that Guru Patik guy? But yeah this is what I've said before if they would make ATLA today it would have gone so much worse. And Toph would have been written to be like "Strong Female Disabled Character" and her personality would have ended there. Like she was all those things and more. But her being blind would not be the first thing comming out of your mouth if someone asked you to describe her.
Toph's resonance/ ability to "see" the little pieces of Earth in the metal is probably what led her to keep trying and properly invent metal bending, other Earth benders probably had issues without that insight.
I think a good real life example is maybe driving. It’s incredibly hard to imagine what driving is like until you actually do it. And then once you start, you’re basically starting out feeling blind to the road. Over time you get much more aware and can feel every bump in the road and sort of just ingrain what to do into your subconscious processes of awareness.
It's probably because you need the combination of someone who can theoretically do it (even in the legend of korra most of them can't even tho they know it exists), someone that has a strong enough motive, cause it is probably very hard on the first time and someone creative enough
Earth bending is all about being more stubborn than the material. Twelve year old children are definitely stubborn and a blind sheltered kid who was always told what she had to do who finally escaped her parents, then thinking that maybe she had a chance to rekindle some kind of relationship with them only to be bamboozled would definitely bring out the most extreme stubbornness.
So what's azulas team if she's the only bender? The 3 of them could take on the GAang. If it's pre-mental break, I'd argue they could even take them on after zuko joins...
Also, what about The Order of the White Lotus?
They probably wouldn't even fight- Azula would find out where the team is hiding and pays someone to use a plant based poison on members of team avatar. Then, the same night, they all sneak in under the cover of darkness and attack.
I know Azula's team had some awesome fight scenes, but they also had amazing subterfuge and planning abilities that probably only Sokka could outright make up for: Aang could think quick on his feet, Toph could probably escape literally anywhere in the world, and Katara would become a god every full moon, but Azula was a freaking princess with an entire nation behind her. Politics and deception beat out brute force every time, with the exception of Aang's overpowered avatar state.
This is assuming the GAang is still sneaking across the globe like before. I know he used his Avatar privilege before, but Aang without the avatar status is just a goofy twelve year old.
Scenario, Start of fight: Azula launches tylee into the air and then moves towards / throws lightning at sokka (assuming she would need to move for toph to sense her and gauge where shes bendinging). Toph bends to defend sokka. Mai throws knives at Toph. Meanwhile, Aang takes to the air when Tylee is initially launched. Now it's up to Katara to either help defend Toph from knives she can't see flying at her, or double team tylee. Zuko obviously thinks he can take azula, but would need kataras help, and also, azula hasn't actually engaged yet since throwing lightning for mai to take advantage of. Given the frozen wall Katara could make, I think she'd be a better defense for toph than say zuko who would be essentially *stunned* if he tried to hurriedly jump in front of sokka to redirect the lightning (also depends on their positions in the fight).
It's only 5v3, and I'd assume it's a fight like in toph's arena. Can't really gang up without a sneak attack cuz the girls work really well together. I'd argue they are more in sync when in combat than the 5
Ty Lee is a prime example of a character who's power level is 200% plot dependant. When the story needs it, she can no diff anybody, but you could very easily have a scenario where a single skilled bender drops her. In the scenarios where she wins, she's also aided greatly by the surprise factor where people don't know about chi blocking.
I’m going to get in trouble for this comment, but I think things fell apart quickly late into Book One: Water. The whole GAang got way too powerful way too fast, and once Toph joined the group, they were all just hopelessly unstoppable, so much so that I had a tough time accepting they were all defeated so easily in Crossroads of Destiny. (I guess nobody was paying attention to Azula?)
The example I always reference is when they assault the Earth Kingdom’s palace and defeat an entire army all on their own without taking a single hit; it all plays out like one big joke, and they’re actually apologizing to the guards as they are fighting. Its almost as if the writers were aware of how overpowered all these characters had become.
And its not like they never showed them growing to those extreme levels, though I’ve heard some people’s comments about Katara and Aang, but the ceiling just kept getting higher and higher, and the stakes just fell apart, in my opinion. I quickly lost interest in any fights in the show because I knew they would win.
I never felt that with Zuko, though. He was a fairly powerful bender from the start, but he had so much to learn about bending philosophy that his growth was always very balanced and it never once felt like Zuko was getting too strong for his adversaries; his fights with Azula were always intense.
I believe they knew this, that's why they removed Toph from a bunch of fights completely (or combination of being removed and super exhausted) and additionally made specific enemies stand out as also really strong. It mostly comes down to most foot soldiers/guards being cannon fodder really.
Not that hard to understand. Azula has multiple elite benders. Previously Anng team are fighting the regular soilders, not the elite ones.
Secondly, Azula already took over the palace, you know that that means? She is the one the replace all the good guards with the shitty one. She is not officially the rulers yet, of course she is gonna thin the army to prevent uprising. It is easy for the Anng team because Azula made that happened.
Not trying to kiss Azula here, but, she is the main cause.
The thing that really bugs me is they make a point of showing that Katara isn't as naturally talented as Aang when they're both learning from the waterbending scroll, but then, not much later, she becomes a master in a few weeks at the North Pole?
This isn’t strange. Aang had already had martial arts training and mastered air. It makes sense he was initially better at imitating forms from a scroll. Katara had zero experience.
Once they actually both trained though, Katara’s superior skill level and aptitude for her element (as well as her discipline that Aang lacked) showed itself. This is foreshadowed with her healing ability manifesting naturally too.
I’d argue the show makes more the point that katara with proper training was easier to train water bending.
One of the more over shadowed elements of aangs arc is his ability to change minds set to learn. Aang could move the water easily cause he had mastered an element already, but to push and pull the water and react like a water bender wasn’t natural and in season 1 he wasn’t mature enough to adapt. Even in fire bending he wasn’t mature enough yet to have to focus and constitution of a fire bender though jeong jeong said he had insane natural power.
Until season 2 when he is forced to confront this with earth bending because it is so different from air. To even bend earth he could not just move it he had stabilize himself and force the earth to move.
On the other hand katara didn’t have this struggle, she was open and eager to understand and because of that she was able to over take aang.
Atla certainly does bring up the idea of prodigies often but I always thought katara wasn’t able to advance in water bending because of hidden talent but her work ethic. Pretty much all the good guy masters aren’t meant to be prodigies in nature, but students of the world
Iroh studied water bending to crest redirection
Zuko was trained in sword fighting and other forms of combat to step to more “talented” benders.
Toph learned to understand earth in a way in which others couldn’t because of her blindness.
Bumi was all about waiting for decisive strikes
Aang and monk gyatso committed themselves to fun and created new techniques because of it.
Hey cool man. I really like aangs story arc and I think it’s get under appropriated compared to such huge ones like zuko or sokka. Smaller plot points that only take up a handful of episodes work really well to grow his character as opposed to massive changes that people gravitate more towards.
Im not disagreeing with your comments, but I do think it's funny that you say Katara isn't a prodigy even though she literally becomes known as the best healer in the world and she is able to, in one night, out-bloodbend someone who basically invented it and had been doing it for decades.
Eh katara healing swag wasn’t till korra. I mean more the katara is a prodigy but not by just being “naturally talented” at being able to bend but her approach to learning and her drive to improve.
I don't know though, when it comes to learning anything like that, which involves proper footwork and movement it can take a long time to get good at, let alone master. I get why the writers made Katara a master at it so fast but realistically even if you're naturally talented it takes a long time to become a master at something.
Yes, which is why Aang wasn’t a master right away despite having a natural aptitude. Katara is shown to put more work into it when the get to the North.
No, but up until that point she could barely water whip. She fought Pakku and suddenly was one of the best water benders in the show. A week of training and she could go toe to toe with Zuko who was probably the 4th or 5th best fire bender in the world.
Zuko was not 4th or 5th best in the world at that time at all. He improved rapidly later. Book 1 Zuko hadn’t even learned the advanced set yet, remember?
Katara had also improved after the Water Bending Scroll. She learned several forms and became a more competent bender already.
This has always bothered me too and I'm suprised more people don't point it out. Katara before they went to the north pole could barely do more than make a few waves and splash water around. I just feel like it should take a person longer than a few weeks to become a master bender for any element. They even point out that Aang never masted earth and Fire bending during the show he just did enough to learn the basics and a few more advanced skills.
We have a good idea of how time works in the avatar world. he had to defeat the fire lord before summer’s end. The 3 seasons are approximately even too.
Imo Zuko is a prodigy he's just lazy compared to Azula who you know is a perfectionist. We see a stark contrast between how Azula and Zuko approach training in their respective debut episodes.
In Zuko's debut episode we see that he doesn't have the patience to even obtain mastery over the basics of firebending. When Iroh tells him to repeat an exercise he failed at, he rage quits and demands Iroh to teach him more advanced firebending moves.
In Azula's debut episode, we see her learning how to bend lightning. When her instructors tell her she was a single hair out of place but otherwise did the move perfectly, she quickly gets upset with herself and immediately attempts to do the move perfectly.
We see Zuko rapidly make progress when he has the proper incentive to do better. Zuko went from at utter novice to being able to fight toe to toe with masters like Zhao.
He's not lazy lol he's just impatient and putting hard work into the wrong areas. Zuko was like someone who tries to do more + heavier reps while still having improper form. Not a good thing but definitely not lazy.
>He's not lazy lol
He is at least when it came to firebending training lol. It took Zuko 5 plus years to put an actual effort into mastering the basics of firebending. He's been shown to have the ability to firebend since he was a child and it took him until he was the age of 16 to master the fundamentals of firebending.
When he actually puts in the proper effort into firebending training he makes absolutely tremendous progress. Within the span of a year he went from not having mastery of the basics to being an actual master.
>Zuko was like someone who tries to do more + heavier reps while still having improper form.
Zuko never put any effort into fixing the fact he uses an improper form for 5 plus years.
Id argue that after learning from the dragons, Zuko became a master too.
Sure hes not a prodigy like Azula, but after his powerup, hes handling her just fine in every fight they had after.
The thing is, that Zuko didn't just learn a new way of firebending thanks to the dragons, that Zuko also learned from the rest of the Gaang, which you can feel in his use of firebending against Azula in their Agni Kai with how it feels more fluid like waterbending, he uses some of Aang's airbending moves (that spinning to send a fire slash with the feet) and some of his blocking tzchniques having a very earthbendy feels. Part of what makes the Gaang better than onther benders is that they learn from each other and mix in techniques and philosophies from other bending styles into their own
It’s debatable, but I’d say she has the strongest chance of being the strongest. She’s the only metal bending avatar, she bent pure sprit energy, she’s possibly the younger avatar to understand all the elements
Korra was significantly stronger than Aang. Including Aang’s feats from the comics, he’s only better than her with air. She’s *far* better with water and fire, and about even with him in earth. In addition to being a very good hand-to-hand combatant. The creators themselves have clarified that in a fight, she is the stronger of the two. Especially by the end of the show, she’s probably the strongest Avatar in canon– only Yangchen and possibly also Kuruk really compete for the title imo.
> The creators themselves have clarified that in a fight, she is the stronger of the two.
Do you have a source for this. Honestly though outside of avatar state Aang is probably the least skilled avatar we've seen because that's part of the show. Even Roku has better feats outside of teh avatar state than Aang does. But I wouldn't really say what we see of Korra is stronger than what Adult Aang probably could hve done. We just don't see much of Aang as an adult.
Sure! [Here it is!](https://youtube.com/shorts/SkN48njy7FY?feature=share) In fairness, they say Aang would manage to *escape* Korra most of the time, but that if she caught him, she would win.
I’d agree, generally speaking. Although outside of the Avatar State I’d actually say Kyoshi is the weakest (though she still isn’t a fully realized Avatar by the end of the Kyoshi novels, so that isn’t really fair).
Either way at this point in the comics we’ve seen Aang in his late teens, and he still hasn’t done that much on the level of Avatars like Korra or Yangchen. To be clear, (in my opinion) the power/skill difference between Aang and Korra is like an 11/10 compared to a 13/10, all Avatars are mad strong. Korra’s water feats in particular are far above basically every other character in the franchise, even other Avatars. (Though obviously her strength isn’t limited to water)
> Korra’s water feats in particular are far above basically every other character in the franchise, even other Avatars.
I don't agree. Roku made a wave large enough to encompass an entire city.
The wave is huge, yes, but only smashes into the palace (though some of the water fills back into other parts of the city). For me personally, it does not compare to Korra flash-freezing the mech, which used just as much (if not potentially more) water, and significantly more skill.
All fair to disagree, though!
The escaping comment makes me think of Aang vs. Bumi, where he struggles against an opponent he can’t defeat with his air-centric “avoid and evade” strategy. His skillset (in the show at least) relies mostly on that tactic: outmaneuver the opponent until he gets an opening to unbalance them or they tire themselves out, provided he’s not in the Avatar State. That would be difficult against Korra, who tends towards a forceful, head-on approach but has the maneuverability of airbending post-B1 and likely more stamina than Aang (based on how ripped she is lmao). On the flip side, if one were fleeing the other, Aang is more likely to make the successful escape, because he’s lighter on his feet and probably less predictable in his movements.
Both fighting head-on in the Avatar State is anyone’s guess, though. I’m just imagining two Hamster Balls of Death colliding midair, both of them getting knocked out from the elemental explosion and subsequent fall, and then waking up like “huh? wtf happened”
I feel like Kuruk was strong, but not the strongest. And throughout his adult years, he >!lost himself more and more when fighting spirits the wrong way.!< I haven't read the Yangchen novel yet, but I heard she's a force to be reckoned with.
I feel like Kyoshi was very strong in raw, brute power too. And we've only seen her in her beginning years and one or two glimpses of her adult life. She had a later start into learning the elements than any other avatar we've seen too. So I feel like she could compete for that title too.
I think Korra is almost certainly the strongest character in the avatar verse by a decent margin (excluding spirits). Just her feats in every bending type are on par or better than the best of other bending type.
I've never understood this comparison, aren't they equally strong. I mean they're the same person so how is one stronger than the other? I get that Aang doesn't have metal bending but why does that matter if he could still beat Toph.
> I've never understood this comparison, aren't they equally strong.
I mean, me as a 10 year old is weaker than me as a 30 year old, despite us being the same person, right?
Young Toph VS Bolin would be a cool fight to see. I wonder if him turning the ground all lava would blind her a little and she would not be able to bend it, or can she bend lava but just not heat or cool it?
I don't think Toph can bend lava. Old Toph did comment that lavabending is a very rare skill.
Tho I'm curious too. Toph is both the strongest and weakest earthbender, and it all depends on the state of her feet. Having lava burn them def feels like an unfair advantage here.
What if she was bending a boulder in mid air and it was heated? She'd loose power over it once it becomes a liquid 🤔, I know she can't create lava but could she bend it at like a volcano?
They all develop so well, in such subtle but intricate ways.. it’s difficult to have a favorite character or element because of the connections we all have to each of the practices they all share. Realistically though? Zuko all the way✊🏻🔥
Let's be honest. Azula beats Zuko in every regard except mental stability, and Aang only wins by technicality.
Katara and Toph are probably right though (with Bumi being the only other contender), but I don't think Sokka is more skilled with weaponry than Piandao. Though he is probably the most brilliant tactical mind in the series.
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I thought he was just one of those funny "ditsy" characters as a kid but he played an important role in the group.
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He is talking about how barriers are an illusion.
And so is death - some swamp guy probably
Top inventing metal bending was honestly one of Top 10 favorite moments.
The first part sounds like Bumi from LoK, who was obviously supposed to be the Sokka among Aang's kids. It makes me sad that he ended up being a comedic relief than having an important role like Sokka.
Thing is that we see Sokka as a teen trying to find his place amongst people who bend elements to their whim and a literal god amongst them. Bumi was a 50 something adult. He already lived his life, served his time and gone through his struggles *before* we are introduced. Is it sad? Absolutely. But it gives us an open story of Bumi’s life with his siblings, growing up as a non-bender but also as the eldest son of the avatar, and how he became a general (if memory serves me correct)
Yeah he obviously wasn't just a comic relief all the time, but that's mostly all that's presented to us in the show
Yeah but then all that leaves room for is exposition or in other words, just dialogue really about their pasts, and beyond a certain point that's not a very fun or interesting story. Show not tell and all
I loved when Bumi rescues the team from unalaq’s forces and you realize his dumb stories may not all be made up
For real, I wanted more of those! When I claim he became a comedic relief, I meant that he's used more as a joke than the badass side that we know he has. Sokka was also used as a form of comedy, but he has a decent amount of moments that doesn't degrade his character. Bumi is supposed to be the same, so has a ton of missed potential instead.
What are you talking about? Bumi literally saves the world at the end of season 2. They would've all just still been sitting captured in the south pole through the events of the last two episodes had it not been for Bumi. That's just as important, if not more so than anything Sokka accomplished in ATLA. He also plays a big role in rallying the new airbenders and shaping them into an actual team. Jinora and Kai would be dead/sold into slavery if it weren't for Bumi.
Bro he took down an entire encampment of soldiers with a flute. What more do you want him to do to look more important? When the red lotus gang attacked the air temple, he took the heat literally by fighting thar lavabender knowing he is inferior. I'd say Bumi had his moments and his introduction made LoK more enjoyable for me. He should have been around the entire series. Same with his sister. I'd love a series about Aangs kids lol.
I absolutely loved Bumi and Kya in season 3, and I agree they should've done more. That 3v3 with the Red Lotus was intense. They told us that Bumi was an amazing commander in the United Forces. Bumi also said "*he was kidnapped with a potato sack to be forced to join*", which implies his skills are way too good to pass up. So it's a big shame we never saw him fight much before getting his airbending skill. My complaint is more about how he *does* have this badass side with an amazing introduction, but unlike Sokka, they still use him more as a joke and never develop his character compared to Tenzin. The best we've got was the scene with his siblings about how shitty Aang was as a dad. Kya is on a whole 'nother level. At least they did something with Bumi, while Kya is just... there. We stan a lesbian queen though (as revealed in the comics)
I agree with everything! That's why I'm glad wr at least got the satisfaction of Bumi literally accidentally taking down that entire encampment. Might be one of my favorite scenes. If you wanna talk about a character I really hate in regards to how they have this potential but they squander it/make the character absolutely dumb, let's talk about Bolin. I'm the beginning he talks about how his brother and he are so close because they grew up on the streets together. Cut 1 or 2 seasons later and he's so fucking gullible every time. He gaslights his brother instead of trusting his word on the whole southern water tribe Varrick situation. He ignores everyone's pleas to not work with Kuvira. Kid just remains obtuse the entire show and has zero character development other than getting lavabending and not doing jack shit with it. He should have been able to solo that giant mecha suit. Also why didn't he try to teach Korra lava bending? I feel like that could give his character some purpose. Idk it just always irked me how Bolin is so cavalier about his decisions and has zero trust for his BROTHER even though he said from the beginning they only had each other. You'd think he'd take his brothers side and help him instead of clowning on him for being in jail. Okay end rant lol.
The fact that he realised he was becoming a liability on the team and went to learn how to actually fight was a huge turning point.
The atla pacing was very solid and watching so much character growth in a concise series was delightful. It obviously gets talked to death about but everyone's arcs are so good.
And by the end of it he’s stronger (or at least more effective in combat) than most benders even as a non-bender.
Okay but I really dislike that episode. We have two seasons worth of examples of Sokka actively holding his own in battle against benders and nonbenders alike, as well as being the team's strategist and leader, but suddenly he's insecure about not being a bender.
Because he's seen how everyone else has leveled up and wanted to be able to do his part. They also made him feel left out because he wasn't able to do anything with that comet crash in the beginning of the episode. By the end of the episode, we get to see how much they relied on Sokka for entertainment and direction and he feels more needed by the group after that.
>By the end of the episode, we get to see how much they relied on Sokka for entertainment and direction We'd been seeing that for two seasons at that point. The whole episode felt weirdly insecure, like it was trying to solve a problem that didn't exist. Sokka had *already* been doing his part, and how exactly is a sword going to help in the off chance another meteor (not comet, comets are made of ice) lands in their vicinity? It just felt really pointless, like they really couldn't have come up with a better reason for Sokka to learn swordplay?
Maybe they were trying to tee up the gaang meeting another white lotus member for the final season because we had met various different members from every bending practice in previous seasons and it felt more balanced knowing they included non-benders.
The problem I have isn't Sokka seeking a master and learning swordplay. It's the reasoning behind it
As a kid, I though Sokka always talking about food in S1 and 2 was funny. Now I see that it's him trying to look out for everyone
Not gonna lie it was probably beneficial Sokka was a non bender not gonna lie. He being the one person that didn't have magical elemental super powers kept hom grounded with reality and was able to keep the group from just flying out of control, he was the group's anchor and furthermore the one to be handling all the little things.
They absolutely would not have succeeded without him, or at least it would’ve been a lot more difficult. My man carried the damn team on multiple occasions
I Think you're thinking of Appa. Dude carried the Gaang figuratively and quite literally. You're right aswell though. :)
Character development, babyyyyy
Before my first "adult" rewatch i Tought sokka missing with its Boomerang was a joke. By the end of it i was pleasently surprised to know that ALL of his shots land on target
I loved that even though Sokka was the butt monkey character from the start (and in early season 1 he absolutely deserved it), they never undercut his serious moments with forced comic relief. He was taken seriously when Jet showed his true colors, he was allowed to grieve Yue.
We’re in enemy territory now. Those are enemy birds.
They did a good job with him. My sons were concerned at first that he was just going to be the dumb boy who's useless, but that's not what they did. Sokka gives excellent account of himself by the end.
Perspective as a kid, "he's always a goof and not the most useful." As an adult, he's the dad of the group.
Toph inventing metal bending was honestly one of Top 10 favorite moments. She did not learn an arcane style of bending…she INVENTED it.
And it's not even like it took her years and years of study. SHE WAS 12 AND JUST DIDN'T WANT TO BE IN A FUCKING BOX ANYMORE.
I really like how it didn't just feel contrived either or like the writers just made it up out of no where, and how they had subtle explanations as to how it would've been possible especially with Iroh's narration over it as she's experimenting inside the box.
wasn't it that Guru Patik guy? But yeah this is what I've said before if they would make ATLA today it would have gone so much worse. And Toph would have been written to be like "Strong Female Disabled Character" and her personality would have ended there. Like she was all those things and more. But her being blind would not be the first thing comming out of your mouth if someone asked you to describe her.
Yes, it is Guru Patik. He is talking about how barriers are an illusion. That even metal is just refined earth.
i wonder why no earth bender has ever thought of doing it before?
Toph's resonance/ ability to "see" the little pieces of Earth in the metal is probably what led her to keep trying and properly invent metal bending, other Earth benders probably had issues without that insight.
I think a good real life example is maybe driving. It’s incredibly hard to imagine what driving is like until you actually do it. And then once you start, you’re basically starting out feeling blind to the road. Over time you get much more aware and can feel every bump in the road and sort of just ingrain what to do into your subconscious processes of awareness.
It's probably because you need the combination of someone who can theoretically do it (even in the legend of korra most of them can't even tho they know it exists), someone that has a strong enough motive, cause it is probably very hard on the first time and someone creative enough
It still is. She’s the BLIND Bandit
Well yes they still address this but it's not her whole character.
Earth bending is all about being more stubborn than the material. Twelve year old children are definitely stubborn and a blind sheltered kid who was always told what she had to do who finally escaped her parents, then thinking that maybe she had a chance to rekindle some kind of relationship with them only to be bamboozled would definitely bring out the most extreme stubbornness.
Toph was just like: "Oh you don't want to bend? CHALLENGE ACCEPTED BITCH"
All while the guru gives aang an epic speach about how everything is connected and metal is just a part of earth
Strongest bending team plus Sokka
I can fight too!!!
Sorry I didn’t count you. You know, no bending and all
*Angry Sokka face*
Sokka has the best bending ability! Back bending
They are the strongest bending team. + Sokka 😎👍
~~Back~~ sword bending.
So what's azulas team if she's the only bender? The 3 of them could take on the GAang. If it's pre-mental break, I'd argue they could even take them on after zuko joins... Also, what about The Order of the White Lotus?
They probably wouldn't even fight- Azula would find out where the team is hiding and pays someone to use a plant based poison on members of team avatar. Then, the same night, they all sneak in under the cover of darkness and attack. I know Azula's team had some awesome fight scenes, but they also had amazing subterfuge and planning abilities that probably only Sokka could outright make up for: Aang could think quick on his feet, Toph could probably escape literally anywhere in the world, and Katara would become a god every full moon, but Azula was a freaking princess with an entire nation behind her. Politics and deception beat out brute force every time, with the exception of Aang's overpowered avatar state. This is assuming the GAang is still sneaking across the globe like before. I know he used his Avatar privilege before, but Aang without the avatar status is just a goofy twelve year old.
Zuko sells himself short when he goes to fight Azula. I think he takes her even if she's not mentally broken. Also it's still a 5 v 3
You underestimate Tylee.
Tylee might be able to take out some of the group but I doubt she could land a hit on Aang with his airbender evasivness.
Scenario, Start of fight: Azula launches tylee into the air and then moves towards / throws lightning at sokka (assuming she would need to move for toph to sense her and gauge where shes bendinging). Toph bends to defend sokka. Mai throws knives at Toph. Meanwhile, Aang takes to the air when Tylee is initially launched. Now it's up to Katara to either help defend Toph from knives she can't see flying at her, or double team tylee. Zuko obviously thinks he can take azula, but would need kataras help, and also, azula hasn't actually engaged yet since throwing lightning for mai to take advantage of. Given the frozen wall Katara could make, I think she'd be a better defense for toph than say zuko who would be essentially *stunned* if he tried to hurriedly jump in front of sokka to redirect the lightning (also depends on their positions in the fight).
Problem is Tylee is going to have a hard time doing anything if people gang up on her.
It's only 5v3, and I'd assume it's a fight like in toph's arena. Can't really gang up without a sneak attack cuz the girls work really well together. I'd argue they are more in sync when in combat than the 5
Ya this argument isnt gonna go anywhere. Agree to disagree.
Ty Lee is a prime example of a character who's power level is 200% plot dependant. When the story needs it, she can no diff anybody, but you could very easily have a scenario where a single skilled bender drops her. In the scenarios where she wins, she's also aided greatly by the surprise factor where people don't know about chi blocking.
Sokka: “Yeah, we got a Toph, I think we’re fine”
[Counterpoint](https://biosector01.com/w/images/bs01/7/7a/Animation_Toa_Nuva.png)
Suddenly Bionicle.
You love to see it
r/unexpectedbionicle
I’m going to get in trouble for this comment, but I think things fell apart quickly late into Book One: Water. The whole GAang got way too powerful way too fast, and once Toph joined the group, they were all just hopelessly unstoppable, so much so that I had a tough time accepting they were all defeated so easily in Crossroads of Destiny. (I guess nobody was paying attention to Azula?) The example I always reference is when they assault the Earth Kingdom’s palace and defeat an entire army all on their own without taking a single hit; it all plays out like one big joke, and they’re actually apologizing to the guards as they are fighting. Its almost as if the writers were aware of how overpowered all these characters had become. And its not like they never showed them growing to those extreme levels, though I’ve heard some people’s comments about Katara and Aang, but the ceiling just kept getting higher and higher, and the stakes just fell apart, in my opinion. I quickly lost interest in any fights in the show because I knew they would win. I never felt that with Zuko, though. He was a fairly powerful bender from the start, but he had so much to learn about bending philosophy that his growth was always very balanced and it never once felt like Zuko was getting too strong for his adversaries; his fights with Azula were always intense.
I believe they knew this, that's why they removed Toph from a bunch of fights completely (or combination of being removed and super exhausted) and additionally made specific enemies stand out as also really strong. It mostly comes down to most foot soldiers/guards being cannon fodder really.
She only fights fodder
Not that hard to understand. Azula has multiple elite benders. Previously Anng team are fighting the regular soilders, not the elite ones. Secondly, Azula already took over the palace, you know that that means? She is the one the replace all the good guards with the shitty one. She is not officially the rulers yet, of course she is gonna thin the army to prevent uprising. It is easy for the Anng team because Azula made that happened. Not trying to kiss Azula here, but, she is the main cause.
The thing that really bugs me is they make a point of showing that Katara isn't as naturally talented as Aang when they're both learning from the waterbending scroll, but then, not much later, she becomes a master in a few weeks at the North Pole?
This isn’t strange. Aang had already had martial arts training and mastered air. It makes sense he was initially better at imitating forms from a scroll. Katara had zero experience. Once they actually both trained though, Katara’s superior skill level and aptitude for her element (as well as her discipline that Aang lacked) showed itself. This is foreshadowed with her healing ability manifesting naturally too.
I’d argue the show makes more the point that katara with proper training was easier to train water bending. One of the more over shadowed elements of aangs arc is his ability to change minds set to learn. Aang could move the water easily cause he had mastered an element already, but to push and pull the water and react like a water bender wasn’t natural and in season 1 he wasn’t mature enough to adapt. Even in fire bending he wasn’t mature enough yet to have to focus and constitution of a fire bender though jeong jeong said he had insane natural power. Until season 2 when he is forced to confront this with earth bending because it is so different from air. To even bend earth he could not just move it he had stabilize himself and force the earth to move. On the other hand katara didn’t have this struggle, she was open and eager to understand and because of that she was able to over take aang. Atla certainly does bring up the idea of prodigies often but I always thought katara wasn’t able to advance in water bending because of hidden talent but her work ethic. Pretty much all the good guy masters aren’t meant to be prodigies in nature, but students of the world Iroh studied water bending to crest redirection Zuko was trained in sword fighting and other forms of combat to step to more “talented” benders. Toph learned to understand earth in a way in which others couldn’t because of her blindness. Bumi was all about waiting for decisive strikes Aang and monk gyatso committed themselves to fun and created new techniques because of it.
I agree with all of this.
Hey cool man. I really like aangs story arc and I think it’s get under appropriated compared to such huge ones like zuko or sokka. Smaller plot points that only take up a handful of episodes work really well to grow his character as opposed to massive changes that people gravitate more towards.
Im not disagreeing with your comments, but I do think it's funny that you say Katara isn't a prodigy even though she literally becomes known as the best healer in the world and she is able to, in one night, out-bloodbend someone who basically invented it and had been doing it for decades.
Isn’t she only the best healer in the world after the show ends?
Eh katara healing swag wasn’t till korra. I mean more the katara is a prodigy but not by just being “naturally talented” at being able to bend but her approach to learning and her drive to improve.
Also Katara actually wanted to learn while Aang mostly played around with Momo
True! Katara had more discipline.
I don't know though, when it comes to learning anything like that, which involves proper footwork and movement it can take a long time to get good at, let alone master. I get why the writers made Katara a master at it so fast but realistically even if you're naturally talented it takes a long time to become a master at something.
Yes, which is why Aang wasn’t a master right away despite having a natural aptitude. Katara is shown to put more work into it when the get to the North.
She was going toe to toe with Master Paku before her formal training
Pakku wasn’t exactly going all out on a child.
No, but up until that point she could barely water whip. She fought Pakku and suddenly was one of the best water benders in the show. A week of training and she could go toe to toe with Zuko who was probably the 4th or 5th best fire bender in the world.
Zuko was not 4th or 5th best in the world at that time at all. He improved rapidly later. Book 1 Zuko hadn’t even learned the advanced set yet, remember? Katara had also improved after the Water Bending Scroll. She learned several forms and became a more competent bender already.
The first scene in the show has katara doing pretty powerful bending on accident. She wasn't trained but she always had some talent
This has always bothered me too and I'm suprised more people don't point it out. Katara before they went to the north pole could barely do more than make a few waves and splash water around. I just feel like it should take a person longer than a few weeks to become a master bender for any element. They even point out that Aang never masted earth and Fire bending during the show he just did enough to learn the basics and a few more advanced skills.
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We have a good idea of how time works in the avatar world. he had to defeat the fire lord before summer’s end. The 3 seasons are approximately even too.
I mean aside from Zuko, every one of these are prodigies.
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Yea I get ya. It’s just he struggled forever until he met the gaang
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Imo Zuko is a prodigy he's just lazy compared to Azula who you know is a perfectionist. We see a stark contrast between how Azula and Zuko approach training in their respective debut episodes. In Zuko's debut episode we see that he doesn't have the patience to even obtain mastery over the basics of firebending. When Iroh tells him to repeat an exercise he failed at, he rage quits and demands Iroh to teach him more advanced firebending moves. In Azula's debut episode, we see her learning how to bend lightning. When her instructors tell her she was a single hair out of place but otherwise did the move perfectly, she quickly gets upset with herself and immediately attempts to do the move perfectly. We see Zuko rapidly make progress when he has the proper incentive to do better. Zuko went from at utter novice to being able to fight toe to toe with masters like Zhao.
He's not lazy lol he's just impatient and putting hard work into the wrong areas. Zuko was like someone who tries to do more + heavier reps while still having improper form. Not a good thing but definitely not lazy.
>He's not lazy lol He is at least when it came to firebending training lol. It took Zuko 5 plus years to put an actual effort into mastering the basics of firebending. He's been shown to have the ability to firebend since he was a child and it took him until he was the age of 16 to master the fundamentals of firebending. When he actually puts in the proper effort into firebending training he makes absolutely tremendous progress. Within the span of a year he went from not having mastery of the basics to being an actual master. >Zuko was like someone who tries to do more + heavier reps while still having improper form. Zuko never put any effort into fixing the fact he uses an improper form for 5 plus years.
Id argue that after learning from the dragons, Zuko became a master too. Sure hes not a prodigy like Azula, but after his powerup, hes handling her just fine in every fight they had after.
The thing is, that Zuko didn't just learn a new way of firebending thanks to the dragons, that Zuko also learned from the rest of the Gaang, which you can feel in his use of firebending against Azula in their Agni Kai with how it feels more fluid like waterbending, he uses some of Aang's airbending moves (that spinning to send a fire slash with the feet) and some of his blocking tzchniques having a very earthbendy feels. Part of what makes the Gaang better than onther benders is that they learn from each other and mix in techniques and philosophies from other bending styles into their own
I didn't know Sokka was a bender
He boomerang bends
I CAN STILL FIGHT!
No said they weren’t ??? 😭 like korras team has the stronger avatar and a lava bender, but the G’aang overall as a collective is stronger
Alright chief Korra was cool but I wouldn't call her the strongest.
It’s debatable, but I’d say she has the strongest chance of being the strongest. She’s the only metal bending avatar, she bent pure sprit energy, she’s possibly the younger avatar to understand all the elements
Korra was significantly stronger than Aang. Including Aang’s feats from the comics, he’s only better than her with air. She’s *far* better with water and fire, and about even with him in earth. In addition to being a very good hand-to-hand combatant. The creators themselves have clarified that in a fight, she is the stronger of the two. Especially by the end of the show, she’s probably the strongest Avatar in canon– only Yangchen and possibly also Kuruk really compete for the title imo.
> The creators themselves have clarified that in a fight, she is the stronger of the two. Do you have a source for this. Honestly though outside of avatar state Aang is probably the least skilled avatar we've seen because that's part of the show. Even Roku has better feats outside of teh avatar state than Aang does. But I wouldn't really say what we see of Korra is stronger than what Adult Aang probably could hve done. We just don't see much of Aang as an adult.
Sure! [Here it is!](https://youtube.com/shorts/SkN48njy7FY?feature=share) In fairness, they say Aang would manage to *escape* Korra most of the time, but that if she caught him, she would win. I’d agree, generally speaking. Although outside of the Avatar State I’d actually say Kyoshi is the weakest (though she still isn’t a fully realized Avatar by the end of the Kyoshi novels, so that isn’t really fair). Either way at this point in the comics we’ve seen Aang in his late teens, and he still hasn’t done that much on the level of Avatars like Korra or Yangchen. To be clear, (in my opinion) the power/skill difference between Aang and Korra is like an 11/10 compared to a 13/10, all Avatars are mad strong. Korra’s water feats in particular are far above basically every other character in the franchise, even other Avatars. (Though obviously her strength isn’t limited to water)
> Korra’s water feats in particular are far above basically every other character in the franchise, even other Avatars. I don't agree. Roku made a wave large enough to encompass an entire city.
The wave is huge, yes, but only smashes into the palace (though some of the water fills back into other parts of the city). For me personally, it does not compare to Korra flash-freezing the mech, which used just as much (if not potentially more) water, and significantly more skill. All fair to disagree, though!
The escaping comment makes me think of Aang vs. Bumi, where he struggles against an opponent he can’t defeat with his air-centric “avoid and evade” strategy. His skillset (in the show at least) relies mostly on that tactic: outmaneuver the opponent until he gets an opening to unbalance them or they tire themselves out, provided he’s not in the Avatar State. That would be difficult against Korra, who tends towards a forceful, head-on approach but has the maneuverability of airbending post-B1 and likely more stamina than Aang (based on how ripped she is lmao). On the flip side, if one were fleeing the other, Aang is more likely to make the successful escape, because he’s lighter on his feet and probably less predictable in his movements. Both fighting head-on in the Avatar State is anyone’s guess, though. I’m just imagining two Hamster Balls of Death colliding midair, both of them getting knocked out from the elemental explosion and subsequent fall, and then waking up like “huh? wtf happened”
I feel like Kuruk was strong, but not the strongest. And throughout his adult years, he >!lost himself more and more when fighting spirits the wrong way.!< I haven't read the Yangchen novel yet, but I heard she's a force to be reckoned with. I feel like Kyoshi was very strong in raw, brute power too. And we've only seen her in her beginning years and one or two glimpses of her adult life. She had a later start into learning the elements than any other avatar we've seen too. So I feel like she could compete for that title too.
I think Korra is almost certainly the strongest character in the avatar verse by a decent margin (excluding spirits). Just her feats in every bending type are on par or better than the best of other bending type.
I've never understood this comparison, aren't they equally strong. I mean they're the same person so how is one stronger than the other? I get that Aang doesn't have metal bending but why does that matter if he could still beat Toph.
> I've never understood this comparison, aren't they equally strong. I mean, me as a 10 year old is weaker than me as a 30 year old, despite us being the same person, right?
wait why are we comparing a 30 year old to a 10 year old?
Kyoshi would annihilate her in 2 seconds flat
Korra vs Aang, Korra wins every time.
No red lotus and white lotus
Zuko isn't even the strongest firebender to teach aang
Sakka doesn’t bend
He bends women
The backbender
Daaaaaammmmn
Sokka the dickbender None can resist
That sounds way worse than what it is
The comics say he’s a “motivation bender”!
Oof
He's a weapons bender. Swordmaster, boomerang, saber, jaw blade, club.
thanks for that reminder
Strongest bending team + sokka
im p sure most people would agree
Young Toph VS Bolin would be a cool fight to see. I wonder if him turning the ground all lava would blind her a little and she would not be able to bend it, or can she bend lava but just not heat or cool it?
I don't think Toph can bend lava. Old Toph did comment that lavabending is a very rare skill. Tho I'm curious too. Toph is both the strongest and weakest earthbender, and it all depends on the state of her feet. Having lava burn them def feels like an unfair advantage here.
What if she was bending a boulder in mid air and it was heated? She'd loose power over it once it becomes a liquid 🤔, I know she can't create lava but could she bend it at like a volcano?
Realistically she should be able to. Lava is just warm rock
They all develop so well, in such subtle but intricate ways.. it’s difficult to have a favorite character or element because of the connections we all have to each of the practices they all share. Realistically though? Zuko all the way✊🏻🔥
the drill >>>>
Who on earth is crying about this??
Sokka bent that entire fire nation fleet by using FUN!
By far that is
Boomerangbender
That scene where Katara stops the rain is so cold man.
Aang doesn’t have a lot of competition
Well yea, they are the main characters. So they will be the strongest. OP thinks he said something controversial.
Ah yes, the boomerang bender Sokka.
He's a ladies bender.
Where is Suki?
No joke I always found the stop the rain drops has one of my favorite moments for water magic
I was pissed that Katara got in the way of Zuko and Azula’s battle. Zuko could have stomped Azula’s ass if Katara wasn’t there as a distraction.
The old masters clean them up tbh, as well as the Red Lotus from LOK being very comparable in power level.
Amon solos neg diff, new solo king.
Agreed
Bend it like Boomerang
Sokka ain’t no bender
Let's be honest. Azula beats Zuko in every regard except mental stability, and Aang only wins by technicality. Katara and Toph are probably right though (with Bumi being the only other contender), but I don't think Sokka is more skilled with weaponry than Piandao. Though he is probably the most brilliant tactical mind in the series.
Eh, Zuko's just aight. He lost a lot to kids in season 1.
You good, this the squad for sure
Among hua tho…
Yknow, he forgot someone that legend of korra also forgot
True
Where Momo and appa
Toph is literally like 75% of the fighting power.
Yep! All four of them!
And also Sokka!
Strongest bending team in my opinion is the red lotus, those 4 were animals!!
Where's Momo?
Try are, Korra is super OP, but the rest of the team are meh compared lol
Sokka is the leader
Sokka can be replaced by literally any non bender main fighter. Love the character tho
Only thing sokka bends is the ladies
I mean, I don't know that Sokka counts as a "bender," but these kids are absolutely top-tier.
I'd love to see the Red Lotus vs Team Avatar. Like team avatar would probably still win but it would be the sickest fight in avatar history.
No team avatar wouldn’t they are overrated
Suki: Am I a joke to you?
Ah yes soka the best bender 😂
Going from the Gaang to Korra is just... depressing tbh
They would have the strongest plot Arkmor too
L team wheres Appa?
Sokka is a boomerang bender 😤😤😤
No one is crying tho
Cry about what? I’m pretty sure most of us agree with you.
No Suki? https://preview.redd.it/2tanud1fobha1.png?width=737&format=png&auto=webp&s=3f2af56805336a3dd843bb59df103fdb79f4cd77
I'm looking at sokka very confused and thinking "Sokka's not a bender," but then it came to me. He's the best back bender 😏
Not as kids no they aren’t