I introduced a friend to ATLA a few nights ago, and they had only
known two things about the entire show: the cabbage meme, and that Aang
apparently wants to ride every large and dangerous animal he can
possibly find. We got through the first five or so episodes, and my
friend noted that Aang is exactly what a 12-year-old would be like if
given godlike powers, and that this is literally just what he
could do with airbending. He can’t even wield any of the other elements,
and he’s one of the most powerful people on the planet, because he’s an
airbender.
And that got me thinking.
This snippet from Bitter Work is one of the few pieces of concrete information we get about the airbenders, at least in ATLA. Iroh is explaining to Zuko how all four of the elements connect to the world and to each other.
Fire is the element of power, of desire and will, of ambition and the ability to see it through. Power is crucial to the world; without it, there’s no drive, no momentum, no push. But fire can easily grow out of control and become dangerous; it can become unpredictable, unless it is nurtured and watched and structured.
Earth is the element of substance, persistence, and enduring. Earth is strong, consistent, and blunt. It can construct things with a sense of permanence; a house, a town, a walled city. But earth is also stubborn; it’s liable to get stuck, dig in, and stay put even when it’s best to move on.
Water is the element of change, of adaptation, of movement. Water is incredibly powerful both as a liquid and a solid; it will flow and redirect. But it also will change, even when you don’t want it to; ice will melt, liquid will evaporate. A life dedicated to change necessarily involves constant movement, never putting down roots, never letting yourself become too comfortable.
We see only a few flashbacks to Aang’s life in the temples, and we get a sense of who he was and what kind of upbringing he had.
This is a preteen with the power to fucking fly. He’s got no fear of falling, and a much reduced fear of death. There’s a reason why the sages avoid telling the new avatar their status until they turn sixteen; could you imagine a firebender, at twelve years old, learning that they were going to be the most powerful person in the whole world? Depending on that child, that could go so badly.
But the thing about Aang, and the thing about the Air Nomads, is that they were part of the world too. They contributed to the balance, and then they were all but wiped out by Sozin. What was lost, there? Was it freedom? Yes, but I think there’s something else too, and it’s just yet another piece of the utter brilliance of the worldbuilding of ATLA.
To recap: we have power to push us forward; we have stability to keep us strong; we have change to keep us moving.
And then we have this guy.
The air nomads brought fun to the world. They brought a very literal sense of lightheartedness.
Sozin saw this as a weakness. I think a lot of the world did, in ATLA. Why do the Air Nomads bother, right? They’re just up there in their temples, playing games, baking pies in order to throw them as a gag. As Iroh said above, they had pretty great senses of humour, and they didn’t take themselves too seriously.
But that’s a huge part of having a world of balance and peace.
It’s not just about power, or might, or the ability to adapt. You can have all of those, but you also need fun. You need the ability to be vulnerable, to have no ambitions beyond just having a good day. You need to be able to embrace silliness, to nurture play, to have that space where a very specific kind of emotional growth can occur. Fun makes a hard life a little easier. Fun makes your own mortality a little less frightening to grasp. Fun is the spaces in between, that can’t be measured by money or military might. Fun is what nurtures imagination, allows you to see a situation in a whole new light, to find new solutions to problems previously considered impossible.
Fun is what makes a stranger into a friend, rather than an enemy.
Wan is either extremely surprised or extremely scared. For all we know he may just wanted to make some tea, but stole wrong pot and instead accidentally summoned Raava.
Okay, Zuko is undeniably the most developed and in depth character in Avatar but honestly I fucking love Sokka’s character development just as much if not more.
Sokka started out a sexist, cocky, weak, immature character–he constantly mocked Katara, wouldn’t accept the fact that the Kyoshi warriors were women far stronger than him, was constantly skeptical and pessimistic, couldn’t hold his own in a fight for a lot of the first season… He was honestly just quite a weak person.
But even as early as the Kyoshi episodes you begin to see how he’s not afraid to learn and change his perspective on things. Suki shows him that he’s not superior just because he’s male, and he comes to understand and accept that. He constantly praises and admires Toph, and never once calls her weak. He learns to stop being so protective over Suki, because he knows that she can take care of herself. He doesn’t once underestimate Azula, even though she’s a girl who’s two years younger than him.
He learns patience and strategy. His invasion plan was genius, his inventions are genius, he was able to tell when Azula was messing with him, Aang and Toph to buy time. He managed to orchestrate the first ever jail break out of the highest security prison in the fire nation. He’s really, really intelligent, and we got to see him learn to let go of his cockiness and ego so that he could utilise his intelligence and develop it.
And then there’s the fact that he’s just so caring underneath all the sarcasm and pessimism. He cared deeply for Yue, even though he only knew her for a matter of days, and her death haunted him to the point where he’s constantly afraid of losing the other people he loves- you can see the terror and guilt he feels when he finds out Azula captured Suki, and that he failed yet another woman he loves. He’s so kind and supportive to Aang, reassuring him when he begins to lose confidence and telling him how strong he is. And he’s so tender with Toph as well. Like when he was talking about Katara and his mother, and he was so open and honest and unashamed in telling Toph such personal truths. And in the entire finale you can see his protectiveness over her (still while not treating her as if she’s weak, just knowing he needs to look out for her because she’s at a disadvantage on the airships) when he’s constantly shielding her and catching her and holding her hand to make sure she doesn’t wander off. Also, there’s so many scenes throughout the show with him leading Toph and letting her hold onto him and I love these wee details so much. Also, one thing that stuck out to me in a recent rewatch was when he and Katara find out about their father’s location, and he immediately volunteers to stay behind and allow Katara to go find him instead. Even though he’s desperately missed his father, and everything that he’s done since they last saw each other was arguably to become strong enough to make his father proud – this just shows how selfless Sokka can actually be when it comes down to serious situations.
He was so quick to accommodate Zuko, and accept him into the group, maybe because he understands that people can change, and can become better. I wish we could’ve gotten more scenes with the two of them because their friendship is bloody great.
Sokka’s training with Master Piandao is one of my favourite episodes, because we see how Sokka has learned to balance his goofiness with his intelligence, we see how he’s learned to discipline himself, and how he really does want to become stronger. He takes this seriously, even if it doesn’t always seem like it.
Honestly I think Sokka is one of the most powerful members of the group, and he and Zuko are definitely the most developed characters in the show. Azula has always been one of my faves because of how her character turned out, but most of her development happened within the last 7 episodes, unlike Sokka and Zuko who have been changing and growing since episode 1.
When I worked in a tea shop, I actually got a few people coming in requesting jasmine tea. Why jasmine? Because that’s what Uncle Iroh would drink on Avatar: The Last Airbender.
So here’s something to think about:
Even though he was royalty, Uncle Iroh was a master of preparing his own tea– even after he left with Zuko, he could always be seen preparing it on his own, eventually opening a successful tea shop when the one he worked at turned out to be awful.
For a firebender, heating a pot of water wouldn’t be difficult– a few seconds of rage and you’d have it at a rolling boil– but a rolling boil would ruin the tea.
The secret to a good cup of tea is often in the temperature of water that you use.
Jasmine, green and white tea tends to need between 160-180* F (71-82*C)– go any higher than that, and you’ll scald the leaves and wind up with bitter tea. Let it steep for too long, and it’ll scald anyway. So you can’t just boil the hell out of it and walk away; to be really good, a cup of tea needs a lower temperature and a softer flame. It needs patience and attention. And that’s where Uncle Iroh excelled.
It was such a wonderful character detail, and I love it so.
…I…wait…I just…b…
*Gags* “This tea is nothing more than hot leaf juice!”
“Uncle…that’s what all tea is.”
“How could a member of my own family say something so horrible?”
DO YOU MEAN THAT ZUKO NEVER PREPARED A GOOD CUP OF TEA BEFORE BECAUSE HE WAS TOO IMPATIENT TO PROPERLY HEAT IT AND THAT IROH PUT TWO AND TWO TOGETHER RIGHT THEN AND THERE?
“We’ll have to make some major changes around here!” — His next line which he says firmly, grabbing the teapot and looking at Zuko as he turns.
Like literally after this the main plotpoint between these two is Iroh teaching Zuko how to be more patient/kind/open-minded while also teaching him how to properly work in the tea shop and I just…do you mean to tell me those two were actually not just random meshing plotpoints but were a direct correlation?
The next two Avatars, from water and earth, live without ever knowing who they are.
Zuko still spoke out at the meeting, he still refused to fight his father in the Agni Kai.
Zuko was banished, and in his search to find the Avatar, earth bends.
He is the Avatar and doesn’t know what to do about it.
Okay but consider:
Zuko, punching the air: “I MUST FIND THE AVATAR!”
*rock goes flying*
Zuko, waving his arms for emphasis: “IT IS THE ONLY WAY”
*strong wind knocks over grunt in the background*
Zuko, stomping dramatically: “TO RESTORE MY HONOR!”
*deck behind zuko becomes covered in ice*
Iroh, stroking his beard: “…. hmmmmmm…”
And Iroh just decides to mess with him and just goes “Well, I suppose we should start searching” and Zuko doesn’t find out until later in the episode
Nah man, gimme a whole season of Zuko and Iroh’s hijinks as they search for the avatar and it’s Zuko the whole time. A whole season of Iroh waffling between goofy uncle and “here let me teach you about balance-” “I DON”T NEED BALANCE I NEED TO RESTORE MY HONOUR” “okay cool you do you kid i bet the avatar’s behind that rock please move it for me”
zuko saying he needs to find the avatar, when actually, he just needs to find himself is his original story arc
Ah, but you’re not thinking the two of them got exiled on their own from the Fire Nation, did you?
Prince Iroh and exiled Prince Zuko left with a contingent of sailors and military men. Said military personnel realize what is happening three days into their trip.
When wacky spirit shenanigans happen and Zuko solves it without knowing, the military lieutenant look at the commander like he’s in the office.
When Admiral Zhao takes Zuko’s ship and all his crew, and questions them, all of the crew say the same thing:
“No, Prince Zuko hasn’t found the Avatar yet.”
They say this with varying ability to keep a straight face. There’s one of them who just breaks down in helpless giggles.
“Nope,” he gets out between the giggles. “Not found. Definitely not found.”
Admiral Zhao’s men come to the conclusion that Zuko’s crew have cracked under the stress of being away from the Fire Nation so long, and especially on a mission that pretty much the whole Nation “knows” is impossible.
I didn’t really appreciate Aang until this picture.
When I was young, Aang got on my nerves. “Make the tough calls, take responsibility, grow up! I’ve had to!”
I gave him no mercy for his age because, at the time, I was younger than him. He annoyed me when he slacked on his training, when he didn’t listen to Jeong Jeong, when he refused to kill the Firelord. Him and every other character who would give up the greater good to keep the moral high ground. Your principles don’t matter, results do!
It wasn’t until I got older that I saw Aang differently. He was a child, trying to do what was right, who never wanted to do any harm. And he was exactly what the world needed. Aang was a peaceful soul in war time, gentle when others were cruel, merciful when others were unforgiving, and he reminded everyone how to laugh in a world that had long forgotten how to have fun.
Even after years of hardship, losing absolutely everything and waking up to fight a war, Aang still loved life. He loved marble tricks, penguin sledding, and most of all, he loved people. Aang annoyed me because he was naive, but now inspires me because even after he saw the world at it’s worst, he didn’t forget how to be a kid at heart. In this picture, middle aged and with the weight of the world on his shoulders, Aang not only lets some weird guy by the docks take his picture, but does so with absolute glee.
Aang shouldn’t be more like me, I should be more like Aang.
Katara’s outburst caused quite a few heads to turn, including Firelord Zuko’s.
“Every time we visit, you bring up the same old insecurities, regardless of how often I’ve reassured you! It’s driving me nuts!”
Normally, Zuko knew to steer as far away from Katara as possible when she entered one of her tirades. But considering the number of innocent bystanders, whose support she actually needed tonight for her campaign to work, he knew it would be best to intervene. And so, despite the healthy amount of fear in his heart, he passed his drink off to a servant and began to weave his way over.
“Don’t you tell me to calm down!”
He quickened his pace.
Once Zuko finally broke through the crowd, he was greeted with the sight of the normally towering Avatar cowering down to the point of looking like his old twelve year old self from years ago.
“Aang. Katara.” Oddly enough, rather than expressing relief at Zuko’s intervention, Aang’s face morphed into one of almost angry petulance. “While I’m sure Katara is right, could we perhaps save it for a later time?”
Of the two reactions Zuko was expecting (either more angry yelling, or embarrassed apologies), this third one was from so far left field that Zuko could do little more than freeze in shock. Because upon whirling around, Katara had stood up on her toes and mashed her lips against his.
Ok, so it was a kiss, but it was nothing like he had dreamed about. The only thought Zuko had running through his head was how he was pretty sure the way her hand hand lashed out to grab him by the robes and drag him closer was probably a capital offense that was punishable by death.
“See!” Katara crowed once she broke the kiss. “There is nothing there! I swear to both Tui and La if you bring it up again, we’re breaking up and you can go search for platyroos in the plains alone!”
And with that, Katara stormed off, leaving both men staring after her with open mouths, none of them aware of the whispers that were rapidly growing in volume around them.
Two days later, the Avatar and his girlfriend were set to leave. Zuko wasn’t about to lie and wish for a longer stay. Katara had been avoiding Aang, Aang had been avoiding Zuko, and Zuko had been avoiding Katara.
But Zuko had been taught not to let things fester, and aside from the slightly wounded feelings he now harbored, he was heavily annoyed with the dirty looks Aang sent his way whenever avoidance failed the three of them.
The kiss he gave Katara before she climbed onto Appa was much less a press of the lips and more worthy of something produced by the Ember Island Players.
“There is something there,” Zuko told her, taking in her stunned expression. “I just have enough honor not to act upon it or impose it upon you in any way. The only reason I’m telling you now is because I would appreciate it if you didn’t use me out of spite for any future arguments.” He ran his thumb over the red now staining Katara’s cheeks. “But if Aang does bring it up again, and you do ever break up, know that I am always here.”
He left before either of them could gather their wits enough to respond.
DarkestElemental616 