Avatar: The Last Airbender

sometimes it makes you wonder why you don't just execute those super criminals but imprisonment like that is more humane I guess...

Because they didn't commit crimes worthy of being executed for and no human being or orderly society worthy of the appellation shrugs their shoulders and goes, "Well, I know we managed to capture and restrain them but it'd be too much trouble to keep an eye on them, better toss their ass off the nearest bridge"?

Edited by fredhot16 on Sep 22nd 2023 at 4:21:12 AM

> sometimes it makes you wonder why you don't just execute those super criminals but imprisonment like that is more humane I guess...

because of the paperwork involved!Do you have any idea how many forms you have to sign before you even execute one super powered criminal

And then Iroh produced fire from nothing at the North Pole anyway, which was apparently such a frighteningly powerful technique that it scared Zhao’s troops away. This is instead of simply kicking his ass when he killed the moon fish.

It was a weird change since I always assumed the fact that you didn't need an outside source is why fire bending is so powerfuk and what helped the fire nation conquer. Compared to the others which have a glaring weakness.

It might have been a bit less jarring if it was just “this is how firebending works in my continuity, deal with it.” Instead it turns out that it’s still possible to create fire, but instead of being the most basic of all firebending, it’s the lightning-bending of the movie—rare and powerful. Which makes it underwhelming for every fan of the series, just like everything else in the film.

Guys,what are you even talking about?

there was no Avatar movie!

Of course there was. Two, in fact, with a million more on the way whether we like it or not.

And because of them, we'll never have anything called "Avatar" besides the first series again. Damn shame.

With regards to bending physics... it's magical martial arts that punches conservation of energy in the face. So any discussion of "how it works" runs into A Wizard Did It and the MST3K Mantra.

Getting a little more Watsonian, earth/air/water are all physical objects. Fire, on the other hand, is energy. Sure, things are burning, but anything will burn with enough energy. So that's why Firebenders don't have the Elemental Baggage that the others do.

The sooner he (James Cameron) gets those done, the sooner we can get more Alita movies.

It's "Avatar Legends" now, so the name's still usable. And to be honest, that does open it up to include things from other parts of the setting that don't directly involve an Avatar.

Firebending is like throwing punches from the Punch Dimension.

Edited by wanderlustwarrior on Sep 26th 2023 at 5:54:06 AM

It was their rapid industrialization and militarization ahead of the other nations that gave the Fire Nation such an advantage. The one time their actual bending gave them a big win was when it was supercharged by the Comet.

I'd argue that having the innate ability to heat forges was what gave the Fire Nation the head start in the first place. Or, more generally, the fire-place being industrial makes sense. So firebending is still responsible, further back in the chain of events.

You kind of have to wonder why metalbending wasn't discovered sooner.

Going by the comics and Korra, I imagine it needs either something genetic or a total bending genius lol.

Was metal outside of the Fire nation more rare pre-war in the Kyoshi and Yangchen books?

I don't know that, but it shouldn't have been. Ores and mines should logically be found in the Earth Kingdom, the planet's supercontinent, rather than the volcanic islands of the Fire Nation. It's based heavily on Japan, and the reason Katanas Are Just Better is that they had to be—they needed advanced forging techniques to make decent blades out of the crappy ores available. I'm not arguing that the Fire Nation had better metal, just better metalworking.

From the impression I got, metal was looked as just that... metal. Its own thing.

Until Toph Beifong, who had adapted Earthbending, or returned to its roots, by using it as an extension of her senses, which allowed her to pick up on the earthen impurities and manipulate them as well.

Sure, Bumi was thinking outside the box so he should have been able to do it... but he didn't need it. Toph didn't discover metalbending until she was locked in a metal box.

Edited by akanesarumara on Sep 28th 2023 at 6:08:53 PM

Yeah, but why was it ever considered its own thing? In the thousands of years, did they just forget or never try hard enough?

I'd say the latter.

So there’s a rumor flying around Twitter that Avatar Studios got hit with some layoffs? Anyone hear anything about that?

No, but I wouldn't be very surprised. Everyone is feeling the squeeze these days.

From what I’ve heard, we’re still getting the movie, at least…

All i know is that they are hiring and some artists I follow are signing up for the trainee position.

And the reviews for Quest for Balance are in!

...Or rather, A review is in, because everyone else has just ignored this thing. And the one review says this is yet another cheap cash-in that fails to do justice to the franchise.

Man, I remember speculating on future Avatar games — an ArcSys fighting game, a Jade Empire-style massive role playing game — but 20 years on, and all we've gotten are:

- A bunch of crappy tie-ins released when the show was still airing, that are notable only in how hilariously they mangled the plot for the sake of gameplay.

- An average, at best, Korra stylish-action game that was phoned in by a company with an otherwise stellar track-record for exactly those kind of games.

- And now, a new game that's no better than the crappy tie-ins from yesteryear, despite being made decades later.

Oh, and some skins for already existing games, I guess.

Edited by Dracoblade on Sep 30th 2023 at 12:32:34 PM