Legend Of Korra: Will It Bend!

[BRC]

This thread is for the discussion of Avatar The Last Airbender, specifically the new series Legend of Korra.

For those of you just joining us, this is the story of a teenage girl who is destined to preserve peace in the world. With the unique ability to use all four types of magic/martial arts (Bending), she will be forced to navigate the intricate world of Republic City, where new technologies and beliefs clash with old traditions, where the Anti-bending "Equalists" call out for the end of Bending. It's an interesting setting full of potential.

So obviously the most important question is which of the barely-introduced characters she's going to end up with.

[Jahkaivah]

So obviously the most important question is which of the barely-introduced characters she's going to end up with.

The hobo who lives in a bush, obviously.

[pffh]

The hobo who lives in a bush, obviously.

Nah it's clearly going to be the policeman that snagged her hair.

[BRC]

The hobo who lives in a bush, obviously.

I have deemed him the "Erudite Hobo", and I like to imagine he's in a committed relationship with a can of beans.

[John Cribati]

I have deemed him the "Erudite Hobo", and I like to imagine he's in a committed relationship with a can of beans.

His name is Sparkly Sparkly Bush Man, thankyouverymuch.

[hobbitkniver]

Here's a source of info I'm sure at least someone here hasn't seen. It's been around for months before any mention of the series on TV. Complete with Q&A with the series' creator.

http://avatar.wikia.com/wiki/The_Legend_of_Korra

[Madara]

Why does is matter who Korra pairs up with? I want to know who her animal companion ends up with. Maybe it'll be a sky bison and we'll get a new animal breed! Dogbearson*!




*note: A bear is already a crazy animal companion in dnd, do not let your druid convince you to let them play a combination of dog, bear and bison, needless to say it will not end well.

[Randomguy]

So obviously the most important question is which of the barely-introduced characters she's going to end up with.

The trailers always spoil.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXPupzRcygghttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXPupzRcygg

It's at 0:21.

The question NOW is, do they actually end up together or is this a romantic false lead? I'm seriously hoping for the latter. It would suck if they gave away the entire romance arc in a trailer. Also, it feels like they're just pleasing the fanbase with a "proper Zutara romance".

I wonder if this will cause conflict between Mako and Bolin? Another trailer gave away that Bolin gets kidnapped. Maybe this had something to do with it?

[Aotrs Commander]

Seeing this thread, went and watched trailer.

Oooh. Shiny.

Looks very good.

Very tempted to do what I with with Avatar and actually wait all the way until the DVD set came out before watching it in anger.

(Especially since the likelihood is it'll be out on DVD I can cadge from the states before it makes the telly here, and almosy certainly before they show all of it...)

[AtlanteanTroll]

Dogbearson*!
You know what's odd? Air-Dog-Bear-Bison rolls off the tongue easier than Dogbearson. :smalleek:

[Madara]

That is quite odd. :smallamused:

They're both too long to work :smallsigh:

[Lord Raziere]

thats because your doing portmanteaus wrong. true portmanteaus both incorporate all the words and roll off the tongue, by making the words flow into each other, until they are one word.

Air-Dog-Bear-Bison:

Bear + Air

Beair.

Beair + Bison

Beaison

Beaison + Dog

Beaisog

and there you have it: an air dog bear bison, would be a Beaisog. (BEE-I-SOG)

[averagejoe]

the intricate world of Republic City

Wait, what? I have not been up on the news for this series at all, but there seems to be at least one major problem with that statement.

[Grey_Wolf_c]

Wait, what? I have not been up on the news for this series at all, but there seems to be at least one major problem with that statement.

Statement referred to: "the intricate world of Republic City"

I don't see anything obviously wrong with it - I mean, apart from the non-literal use of the word "world", but it is a standard figurative use ("the western world" or "the suburban world"). Can you elaborate, please?

Grey Wolf

[Starwulf]

I just have three question to ask: Is this already out, and what channel does it play on?(is it released in the U.S. would be the third question).

[JadedDM]

Nickelodeon.

And the first two episodes are online now, but they won't air on television until April 14.

[Flickerdart]

this is the story of a teenage girl who is destined to preserve peace in the world by blowin' stuff up
Fixed it for you.

[dehro]

I think it's not yet started, though the first 2 episodes have been leaked on the net. it will of course first air in the USA, Nickelodeon if I'm right.. being an american production.
ninja'd

it just occurs to me that genetics and bending are funny..
you don't only have to have the right parents..you also somehow have to look the part. Tenzin looks and dresses like an air nomad and is an airbender. his sister (the one that water-bends) looks entirely like a water-tribe member. neither of them look much like one another.
Korra looks like a water-tribe member and the 2 brothers expect her to be a waterbender. it doesn't even occur to them she might just be wearing a custom or have weird heritage.

[Xondoure]

I think it's not yet started, though the first 2 episodes have been leaked on the net. it will of course first air in the USA, Nickelodeon if I'm right.. being an american production.
ninja'd

it just occurs to me that genetics and bending are funny..
you don't only have to have the right parents..you also somehow have to look the part. Tenzin looks and dresses like an air nomad and is an airbender. his sister (the one that water-bends) looks entirely like a water-tribe member. neither of them look much like one another.
Korra looks like a water-tribe member and the 2 brothers expect her to be a waterbender. it doesn't even occur to them she might just be wearing a custom or have weird heritage.

Admittedly, it does occur to them before assuming she's the Avatar. So it probably isn't unheard of.

[Starwulf]

Nickelodeon.

And the first two episodes are online now, but they won't air on television until April 14.

Sweet! Thanks for the heads up. I remember hearing about this a while back, had no idea they were so close to releasing it. Greatly looking forward to it!

[Mauve Shirt]

I've decided the guy in the mask is Zuko's forsaken son. For no reason at all. :smalltongue:

[AtlanteanTroll]

thats because your doing portmanteaus wrong. true portmanteaus both incorporate all the words and roll off the tongue, by making the words flow into each other, until they are one word.

I wasn't even trying for a portmanteau. I was just messing around with the words in my head.


I've decided the guy in the mask is Zuko's forsaken son. For no reason at all. :smalltongue:
The ways of the fangirl are strong in this one.

[pffh]

I've decided the guy in the mask is Zuko's forsaken son. For no reason at all. :smalltongue:

Now ship him with someone and your transformation will be complete!

[Kobold-Bard]

I've decided the guy in the mask is Zuko's forsaken son. For no reason at all. :smalltongue:

He's Sokka & Suki's son. His parents got sick of taking Aang/Katara/Toph's crap so they raised their kids to resent Benders & become the Equalists.

[Mauve Shirt]

The ways of the fangirl are strong in this one.

♩ ♪ Deny! Deny! Deny! Deny the accusations of Fangirlism! ♫


He's Sokka & Suki's son. His parents got sick of taking Aang/Katara/Toph's crap so they raised their kids to resent Benders & become the Equalists.

I like that one too, but I don't think Sokka has it in him to be that bitter. :smalltongue:

[Socratov]

bitter, no, but a few episodes he splits from the party to pursue becoming a swordmaster. He literally tells de gAang that while the rest have special talents while his was his boomerang, which he even lost! He felt like a fighter in a party of clerics and wizards, or for that matter, BMX bandit in BMX bandit and Angel summonner...

[Morty]

I have to say I'm really interested in how the Equalists will turn out. I've always been interested in the relations between supers and non-supers in such settings and how easy it is for those relations to turn ugly. I trust the writers not to make the Equalists straight bad guys and make it so that there's some reason to their slogans.

[Grey_Wolf_c]

I have to say I'm really interested in how the Equalists will turn out. I've always been interested in the relations between supers and non-supers in such settings and how easy it is for those relations to turn ugly. I trust the writers not to make the Equalists straight bad guys and make it so that there's some reason to their slogans.

They didn't shirk from it in the first season, when (as Socratov mentioned) Sokka complained that he's just the guy with no powers of the team. Yes, the others didn't see him as such, and came to depend on him for planning and management, but the point was made. I suspect mask guy will go straight for the Well Intentioned Extremist (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/WellIntentionedExtremist) (WIE) trope, not unlike Jet. WIE make for some very interesting bad guys - RedCloak, of course, jumps to mind immediately.

Now, I have enough respect for Konietzko & DiMartino that I doubt they'll do expys (expies?) of either Sokka-the-less-capapble or Jet, but they will nevertheless, I'm sure, show how benders can be rather disagreeable idiots when they were disagreeable idiots to start with, regardless of bending abilities. The crucial point they'll try to make, I suspect, is that the problem is not the bending, is people being people, and that bending is just an amplifier of the issue. And since I'm already going to hell for mentioning tvtropes, I might as well go all the way, and both say that it is an anvil that needs to be dropped, and that unless Konietzko & DiMartino have suddenly lost the ability to write, it will likely not be too anvilicious.

Grey Wolf, well aware that there is a circle of hell reserved for those who refer to tvtropes in this forum, although not entirely clear on why.

[Mauve Shirt]

Grey Wolf, well aware that there is a circle of hell reserved for those who refer to tvtropes in this forum, although not entirely clear on why.

:smalleek:

[AtlanteanTroll]

I like that one too, but I don't think Sokka has it in him to be that bitter. :smalltongue:

No, but ... Wang Fire does. :smalltongue:

[Kobold-Bard]

...

Grey Wolf, well aware that there is a circle of hell reserved for those who refer to tvtropes in this forum, although not entirely clear on why.

People get trapped there, lost amongst all the pages that compel you to open them. You just go to read one page, then suddenly it's 3 hours later and you can't eve remember why you were on there in the first place.

We've more than one good member to that devil site. They followed a seemingly harmless link, and were never heard from again. The place is cursed.

True story .... sort of ...... ok not really.

[Morty]

They didn't shirk from it in the first season, when (as Socratov mentioned) Sokka complained that he's just the guy with no powers of the team. Yes, the others didn't see him as such, and came to depend on him for planning and management, but the point was made. I suspect mask guy will go straight for the Well Intentioned Extremist (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/WellIntentionedExtremist) (WIE) trope, not unlike Jet. WIE make for some very interesting bad guys - RedCloak, of course, jumps to mind immediately.

Now, I have enough respect for Konietzko & DiMartino that I doubt they'll do expys (expies?) of either Sokka-the-less-capapble or Jet, but they will nevertheless, I'm sure, show how benders can be rather disagreeable idiots when they were disagreeable idiots to start with, regardless of bending abilities. The crucial point they'll try to make, I suspect, is that the problem is not the bending, is people being people, and that bending is just an amplifier of the issue. And since I'm already going to hell for mentioning tvtropes, I might as well go all the way, and both say that it is an anvil that needs to be dropped, and that unless Konietzko & DiMartino have suddenly lost the ability to write, it will likely not bee too anvilicious.

Grey Wolf, well aware that there is a circle of hell reserved for those who refer to tvtropes in this forum, although not entirely clear on why.

That's more or less what I expect. The first two episodes didn't show much of the Equalists themselves, but the basis for their movement has been laid - people feel the non-benders are relegated to second-class citizens.
Also, speaking of Sokka and TVTropes, some wild speculation:
I read a theory on TVTropes that, amazingly enough, seems to make sense - namely, that Amon is descended from Sokka and Suki one way or another. To quote:

Sokka and Suki are the only non-benders of Team Avatar, with Suki as late add-on who nonetheless saved Sokka and Toph during the final battle. It is entirely likely that their contributions to the final battle was ignored in favour of Aang's fight with Ozai and Zuko and Katara's fight with Azula. We also know that Ty Lee ended up joining the Kyoshi Warriors after teaching them her chi-blocking techniques. Oman's minions, and possibly Oman himself, fight using that very technique. It adds up.

[Flickerdart]

I would be extremely cheesed if that many of the major players turned out to be related to people from the previous series. Is being worth a damn hereditary or something?

[AtlanteanTroll]

I would be extremely cheesed if that many of the major players turned out to be related to people from the previous series. Is being worth a damn hereditary or something?

It is in many shows. DBZ and Naruto pop to mind and stellar examples of this, and to a lesser degree, One Piece. I doubt Amon is related to anybody previously important, but who knows.

[Dienekes]

bitter, no, but a few episodes he splits from the party to pursue becoming a swordmaster. He literally tells de gAang that while the rest have special talents while his was his boomerang, which he even lost! He felt like a fighter in a party of clerics and wizards, or for that matter, BMX bandit in BMX bandit and Angel summonner...

Well it did help that he was the smartest member of the team, and becoming a respected tactician that lead armies at the age of 15. Pity the world seems to actively hate him though.


I would be extremely cheesed if that many of the major players turned out to be related to people from the previous series. Is being worth a damn hereditary or something?

It does sort of make sense, when you become a big name and a political figure, it stands to reason that your name would carry weight for a few generations at least.

[Madara]

It does sort of make sense, when you become a big name and a political figure, it stands to reason that your name would carry weight for a few generations at least.

Then why does he hide behind his mask? Wouldn't his heritage give him more credit?

[Grey_Wolf_c]

Then why does he hide behind his mask? Wouldn't his heritage give him more credit?

His aunt is still alive and kicking, and if she knew what her nephew was up to, she'd give him a damn good thrashing?

GW

[dehro]

Then why does he hide behind his mask? Wouldn't his heritage give him more credit?

he's still engaging in shady business if not outright illegal actions...and would have his family on his case in no time..several of them powerful benders...all of them probably having means to track him down and thwart his plans.

I don't think Sokka would or could possibly rise such an enemy of bending. I'm more inclined not to rule out a very old Ozai or maybe even a later son of the same man, born after the old firelord is put in minimum security on account of not being a bender anymore.

of course it would be way cooler if it was the offspring of Cabbage man instead.
at least he'd have proper motive for having it in for the Avatar.

[Madara]

of course it would be way cooler if it was the offspring of Cabage man instead.
at least he'd have proper motive for having it in for the Avatar.

Do we have word the Cabbage man will have some impact or something in the new series?

[Morty]

Honestly, I don't think he'll actually turn out to be Sokka's descendant. It would be way too obvious. I like this theory and it's plausible, but it's still just speculation.

[dehro]

also..are we sure Amon is a guy?

[Morty]

He's voiced by Steve Blum. I think that means "yes". :smalltongue:

[Kd7sov]

Then why does he hide behind his mask? Wouldn't his heritage give him more credit?

Unlike Zuko, he never adjusted to having a huge hideous burn scar across his face.

True story. Except for the part where I just made it up.

[Madara]

I know!

He's Zuko's son who inherited Zuko's scar. He wears the mask so that people won't mistake him for having anger issues.

[AtlanteanTroll]

The first two episodes are available on iTunes FOR free. Limited time, get it quick.

[Madara]

The first two episodes are available on iTunes FOR free. Limited time, get it quick.

Seriously? I must get..

[Anarion]

Although I'm hoping that Amon is not a blood relative of any first show characters, I do think it stands to reason that he has some kind of relationship to either Ty Lee or the Kyoshi warriors.

I just find it very unlikely that chi blocking was ever spread popularly prior to Amon. It's an extremely powerful set of techniques and I can't see its prior practitioners spreading it far and wide for much the same reason that Jong-Jong didn't want to teach fire-bending: it's really dangerous. Of course, it's possible that Amon learned it from whoever Ty Lee's master was, creating only a very loose link between him and the older characters.

[Nightmarenny]

The Mask is certainly the second most interesting part of Amon as of now*. We know that when the Mask comes off the face will have to have significance to us(or else whats the point of the mask) but what is the significance? He could be from the old series or related to someone from the old series. He could be someone we will meet in the show. He could have some sort of defining characteristic on his face that would tell us more about him and forces him to hid it.

Perhaps....

His face was stolen?

*The MOST interesting thing about him, of course, is that a trailer appears to show him Energy bendering.

[Brother Oni]

Perhaps....

His face was stolen?


Maybe we'll get to see Koh again? Given how dangerous and interesting the character was, it was a bit of shame that it only showed up once.

Korra would probably have an issue facing it though, at least if she keeps her temperament from the first two episodes.

[dehro]

*The MOST interesting thing about him, of course, is that a trailer appears to show him Energy bendering.

maybe you've seen a different trailer than I have, but what he does in the trailer doesn't look at all like what Aang did and goes by the name of what you say Amon did

[jazylh]

Although I'm hoping that Amon is not a blood relative of any first show characters, I do think it stands to reason that he has some kind of relationship to either Ty Lee or the Kyoshi warriors.



I had not noticed that earlier but you make a good point. He very well could be.

[Kd7sov]

Maybe we'll get to see Koh again? Given how dangerous and interesting the character was, it was a bit of shame that it only showed up once.

Korra would probably have an issue facing it though, at least if she keeps her temperament from the first two episodes.

I'd tend to think that unlikely.
When we see him in episode 2, he certainly appears to have eyes, whereas the face-stolen monkey Aang sees in the spirit world doesn't.

[Socratov]

*snip for relevence*

I just find it very unlikely that chi blocking was ever spread popularly prior to Amon. It's an extremely powerful set of techniques and I can't see its prior practitioners spreading it far and wide for much the same reason that Jong-Jong didn't want to teach fire-bending: it's really dangerous. Of course, it's possible that Amon learned it from whoever Ty Lee's master was, creating only a very loose link between him and the older characters.

I think not, it was lampshaded in teh first series in the fact that Ty Lee is an extremely agile and flexible person. She might have picked up her techniques by way of different teachers as shen traveled the world in the circus (or picking up the theory of acupuncture and combining it with her acrobatics, that might have not been combined before). to sue it you need the skills to doge your enemies bending, manouver yourself in touch range, and then swiftly hit the exact spot. it's no wonder the style got never pciked up in real popularity. Then again, the kyoshi warriors should be able to use it since Ty Lee said she showed/taught them some of her techniques. It might have become similar to the metalbending police, where only a group knows it's intricate ways of how it actually works.

[John Cribati]

maybe you've seen a different trailer than I have, but what he does in the trailer doesn't look at all like what Aang did

What Aang did:
http://30.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m1sc81ZgmS1rss05ao1_500.png

What Amon does:
http://30.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m1sc81ZgmS1rss05ao2_500.png

No similarities whatsoever. :smallamused:

[Madara]

Bravo, I think that deferentially says something. But of course that would mean he qualifies as a bender. Could someone spirit bend without knowing any other bending first?

[Kobold-Bard]

Bravo, I think that deferentially says something. But of course that would mean he qualifies as a bender. Could someone spirit bend without knowing any other bending first?

Maybe he's jut an Energybender, like the Lion Turtle. And he doesn't hate Benders necessarily, just Elemental Benders. He's a radical purist, wanting the only Benders left in the world to be those who bend Energy (or just him as the only Bender).

The above post does not necessarily represent the actual expectations or beliefs of the user Kobold-Bard.

[Kairaven]

random crazy off the wall speculation:


He is the angry spirit ghost and evil side of deseased Aang, who has possesed somebody and decided to end bending once and for all due to Republic city turning out to be a corruption of his vision. And Korra, who has neglected the spiritual side of her avatar training, does not know.

[Seerow]

random crazy off the wall speculation:


He is the angry spirit ghost and evil side of deseased Aang, who has possesed somebody and decided to end bending once and for all due to Republic city turning out to be a corruption of his vision. And Korra, who has neglected the spiritual side of her avatar training, does not know.

Slightly better:

It's not that Korra doesn't know because she's neglected the spiritual side of her training, but that she is literally incapable of it. The avatar spirit, such as it is, is caught up in Aang's ghost. So while Korra is the person born physically who should be the avatar, until Aang's spirit is peacefully restored to rest, she will remain completely incapable of anything spiritual

[Flickerdart]

Slightly better:

It's not that Korra doesn't know because she's neglected the spiritual side of her training, but that she is literally incapable of it. The avatar spirit, such as it is, is caught up in Aang's ghost. So while Korra is the person born physically who should be the avatar, until Aang's spirit is peacefully restored to rest, she will remain completely incapable of anything spiritual


And the way to deal with Aang's ghost is to beat him at pro-bending.

[Kd7sov]

Bravo, I think that deferentially says something. But of course that would mean he qualifies as a bender. Could someone spirit bend without knowing any other bending first?

"In the era before the Avatar, we bent not the elements, but the energy within ourselves."

Sounds to me like you can energybend without elementbending. Whether you can do it without having the ability to elementbend...

[Madara]

On the bright side, it seems energy bending can't be done from a distance(although we know very little about it)

[dehro]

What Aang did:
http://30.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m1sc81ZgmS1rss05ao1_500.png

What Amon does:
http://30.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m1sc81ZgmS1rss05ao2_500.png

No similarities whatsoever. :smallamused:

aren't you conveniently forgetting the following big ass explosion of light in basically every direction including the sky?
not to mention that it took Aang in the Avatar state at the height of his power to find the means to take Ozai's bending..and it all lasted at least a few seconds.
if I remember correctly what happens in the scene with Amon, his victim's eyes go funny, something we haven't seen in Aang Vs Ozai, and he slumps on the ground istantaneously, without the fancy explosion of bending. quite a different situation than the only other instance of spirit-bending we've seen so far, which until we know better should be regarded as canon.

I am not excluding that it is indeed a form of bending.. it could be, but I would not declare it a certainty just yet.

[Douglas]

if I remember correctly what happens in the scene with Amon, his victim's eyes go funny, something we haven't seen in Aang Vs Ozai, and he slumps on the ground istantaneously, without the fancy explosion of bending. quite a different situation than the only other instance of spirit-bending we've seen so far, which until we know better should be regarded as canon.
Maybe it's chi blocking's version of a knockout blow?

[tyckspoon]

aren't you conveniently forgetting the following big ass explosion of light in basically every direction including the sky?
not to mention that it took Aang in the Avatar state at the height of his power to find the means to take Ozai's bending..and it all lasted at least a few seconds.
if I remember correctly what happens in the scene with Amon, his victim's eyes go funny, something we haven't seen in Aang Vs Ozai, and he slumps on the ground istantaneously, without the fancy explosion of bending. quite a different situation than the only other instance of spirit-bending we've seen so far, which until we know better should be regarded as canon.


Aang was also dealing with one of the most powerful benders in the world at that moment- a mature and practiced Firebender enhanced by Sozin's comet- and was backed by the power and knowledge involved with the Avatar State to allow him to perform that bending effectively. There's enough exceptional circumstances surrounding that that it can't really be taken as a good example of what Energybending 'usually' looks like, any more than creating Kiyoshi Island or raising a tsunami to knock out the Fire Nation fleet can be taken as examples of what Earthbending and Waterbending usually do. (Well, there's not a lot to go on, but I kind of think Spiritbending *somebody else* is an unusual application of it in the first place.)

Amon practicing a (probably incomplete/corrupted/bad) form of Energybending would make sense for his presumed role; it's a threat/punishment he can carry out on Benders who are judged to be abusing their power without outright murdering them, which allows him to be a valid enemy in terms of personal power while still letting both his methods and his goals be somewhat sympathetic (and also fitting within Nickelodeon's requirements for media ratings.)

[John Cribati]

aren't you conveniently forgetting the following big ass explosion of light in basically every direction including the sky?


Because they'd totally put the whole light show in the minute-long trailer where a ton of other stuff is also going on.



not to mention that it took Aang in the Avatar state at the height of his power to find the means to take Ozai's bending..and it all lasted at least a few seconds.


Aang was not in the Avatar State at that time. He'd purposely ended it, and then started energybending.



if I remember correctly what happens in the scene with Amon, his victim's eyes go funny, something we haven't seen in Aang Vs Ozai, and he slumps on the ground istantaneously, without the fancy explosion of bending. quite a different situation than the only other instance of spirit-bending we've seen so far, which until we know better should be regarded as canon.


Correction: what we see is Amon touching the guy, a cut to Mako getting shocked, and then we return to a victim slumping on the ground (http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=zarWssO-WoA#t=34s). We don't know how the scene played out; we only see the start and the end. For all we know, that could even be someone else's eyes going buggy. The blue tint makes me think it's somebody being electrocuted. Like Mako or Bolin, who have both been seen getting shock-sticked in trailers. And that's not even the same guy Amon was holding that's falling over. The hair and eyebrows are completely different:
http://i1210.photobucket.com/albums/cc411/Herpestidae/Prove.png

The position Amon is in looks like it's energybending. And the fact that the trailer shows Aang energybending Ozai, with a focus on Ozai's eyes, then later Amon doing something in almost the exact same position suggests that Amon is also Energybending.

[Brother Oni]

With regard to Ty Lee's chi strikes, did anybody else find it forehead slappingly stupid that she can deliver precise pressure point strikes through armour, yet not punch bloody great holes in people ala Kenshiro from Fist of the North Star?

[John Cribati]

With regard to Ty Lee's chi strikes, did anybody else find it forehead slappingly stupid that she can deliver precise pressure point strikes through armour, yet not punch bloody great holes in people ala Kenshiro from Fist of the North Star?

Except she's never done so?

When fighting the Terra Team, she went for their lower backs (http://piandao.org/screencaps/ep33/ep33-217.png) and Stomachs (http://piandao.org/screencaps/ep33/ep33-252.png) which lacked Armor.

The Kyoshi Warriors had padded dresses.

And in the other (http://piandao.org/screencaps/ep55/ep55-2422.png) (very spoilery) scene (http://piandao.org/screencaps/ep55/ep55-2000.png), the armor situation was The same as the Terra Team's.

In fact, hardly anyone wore armor on their chest or back. It was mostly Metal Shoulder Pads.

[Pink]

Top notch points

Gotta say, odds look high for Amon being a practitioner of Spiritbending, a corrupt incomplete form at the least.

Honestly, having the bad guy being the one with the Deux Ex power gives me some frightening anticipation for this series, and I think it's a very good move. If the threat was just big powerful benders or even non-benders, well, that's been done, and Aang kinda proved that, even with the comet, he could take down one of, if not the, most powerful fire benders in the world, and that was while sparring his life.

By having Spirit bending be a focus of the new series, it makes it's unprecedented introduction near the end of the first show be a bit more palatable, we have a chance to learn more about it, and answer how it would be used by a less ethical person than Aang.

BTW, for those saying that technology has appeared out of no where? The earth kingdom had motor vehicles of their own, completely unsupported by bending, during the invasion of black sun. The bending supply trucks. So for the most part, we're probably seeing the technical advances of military hitting civilian lives now.

[John Cribati]

BTW, for those saying that technology has appeared out of no where? The earth kingdom had motor vehicles of their own, completely unsupported by bending, during the invasion of black sun. The bending supply trucks. So for the most part, we're probably seeing the technical advances of military hitting civilian lives now.

If anything, we should be complaining that it took 70 years to figure out how to make a car out of a tank. Seriously, if we had Tanks first, I'd expect cars in, like, a year, tops.

[Dienekes]

If anything, we should be complaining that it took 70 years to figure out how to make a car out of a tank. Seriously, if we had Tanks first, I'd expect cars in, like, a year, tops.

To quote:

Let me get this straight, you can invent tanks (1915), jet skis (1973), and a gigantic freakin' drill (????), but the concept of a hot air balloon (1783) eludes you.

[Kd7sov]

If anything, we should be complaining that it took 70 years to figure out how to make a car out of a tank. Seriously, if we had Tanks first, I'd expect cars in, like, a year, tops.

Do we know the cars are recent? (I admit, I haven't played all the way through the flash thingy.) Sure, they've got an awkwardish name, and there aren't very many in a seclusion camp on a polar ice cap, but I don't think that's especially indicative.

[Flickerdart]

To quote:

Let me get this straight, you can invent tanks (1915), jet skis (1973), and a gigantic freakin' drill (????), but the concept of a hot air balloon (1783) eludes you.
Wikipedia says that the first tunnel boring machine was built in Turin in 1846. One can only assume that the first tunnel awesome machine would have come not long thereafter.

[John Cribati]

Wikipedia says that the first tunnel boring machine was built in Turin in 1846. One can only assume that the first tunnel awesome machine would have come not long thereafter.

Was this machine large enough that two reasonably-sized people could have an all out elemental kung-fu fight on top of it? I think not.

[John Cribati]

New Clip on Korranation's tumblr. (http://korranation.tumblr.com/)

DAT MUSIC http://www.reactionface.info/sites/default/files/images/1279082592656.jpg

[Flickerdart]

Was this machine large enough that two reasonably-sized people could have an all out elemental kung-fu fight on top of it? I think not.
Tunnel boring machines are...quite large. Not as large as the Fire Nation's drill, but you could definitely have a bit of a tussle on top of one.

[Xondoure]

Is it just me, or is Admiral Hackett the bad guy?

[Dienekes]

Is it just me, or is Admiral Hackett the bad guy?

I thought so too, but actually it's not Hackett it's Grunt.

[BRC]

I thought so too, but actually it's not Hackett it's Grunt.

Korra Faces off with Amon. Though defeated before, this time she is prepared. They rush each other. Circle-dancing, she avoids his blows, then knocks him to the ground with a precision earthbend.

Korra reaches down "Alright Amon, let's see what you look like under that mask". Korra reaches down and removes the mask. The camera focuses on her face as a look of smug triumph turns to shock
"What...What are you?" She asks.
Amon pulls himself up off the ground. The camera starts on his armored forehead, then pulls down to his inhuman face as he utters three words.
"I.....AM.....KROGAN!"

[Flickerdart]

Nah. The reason for the mask is that Amon is actually a Quarian.

[Randomguy]

Clearly, Amon is someone who has somehow learned of energy bending. Who do we know that has first hand experience with energybending? Who is an evil non-bender? Who enjoys keeping his face hidden until the later in the show? Ozai.

What's this, you say? He's too old, at the age of over 100, to be a competent fighter? Tell that to King Bumi.

Well, it's either him or the lion turtle.

[Zeful]

Who is an evil non-bender?

M. Night Shyamalan.

[Brother Oni]

Except she's never done so?

When fighting the Terra Team, she went for their lower backs (http://piandao.org/screencaps/ep33/ep33-217.png) and Stomachs (http://piandao.org/screencaps/ep33/ep33-252.png) which lacked Armor.

The Kyoshi Warriors had padded dresses.

And in the other (http://piandao.org/screencaps/ep55/ep55-2422.png) (very spoilery) scene (http://piandao.org/screencaps/ep55/ep55-2000.png), the armor situation was The same as the Terra Team's.


I'll have to re-watch to confirm, but I'm fairly sure the Earth Kingdom benders wore the equivalent of leather armour under their uniform, to protect themselves from random fragments of flying rock, much like a flak jacket and shrapnel.
I want to say lamellar or whatever the Terracotta Army were depicted as wearing, but I'll defer in favour of confirmation.

As for the Kyoshi warriors, there is such a thing as cloth armour (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gambeson).
I've taken hits while wearing a gambeson and trust me, unless you have steel rods for fingers, you're not poking pressure points through it.

The last one I agree with, as she didn't wear armour at all.


Clearly, Amon is someone who has somehow learned of energy bending. Who do we know that has first hand experience with energybending? Who is an evil non-bender? Who enjoys keeping his face hidden until the later in the show? Ozai.

What's this, you say? He's too old, at the age of over 100, to be a competent fighter? Tell that to King Bumi.

Well extreme longevity appears to be an aspect of being an Earthbender, so it's unlikely Ozai would either still be alive or still be an effective fighter.

However when Ozai's power was sealed, perhaps that sealed power is now sustaining him instead? As a side effect of increased life force, it gave him a rejuvenation as well?

[dehro]

@Herpestidae
good points, not definitive proof, but convincing.
small nitpick: Aang did let go of the Avatar state before starting to Spirit-bend, but he then reverted to it when he risked being overwhelmed by Ozai.
we don't know that he would have been strong enough to spiritbend the man's bending away without the avatar state, had the comet not enhanced Ozai.

so, ok, the Spirit-bending is a strong possibility for Amon..
I'm kinda curious as to how he learned it, since as far as we know Aang was pretty much the first/only guy to be taught it by the turtle-lion...or it would have been mentioned elsewhere too, by one of his previous incarnations, for instance.
I'm thinking Aang might have done what Toph did, and started a school of Spirit-bending in his off duty time.
Amon could be his Padawan-turned-traitor, of which we will learn more during the season, hence the need for a mask, cancelling the necessity for blood relations with the Gaang.
Kinda clichéed, but it would work.
Korra finally finds out that someone is Spirit-bending, tells Tenzin, he gets his toga in a twist and sends her back to his mother so she can tell him about Aang's failed attempt at divulgating Spirit-Bending and maybe teach her what little she's learned off it.


Well extreme longevity appears to be an aspect of being an Earthbender

wuh? how?
I get King Bumi..but..who else? Guru Pathik's nationality wasn't declared and I don't believe him to have been a bender.. Katara must be in her late 80's now.
other really old people who've slipped my mind? if not, one guy does not a general rule make.

side-question.. I remember that on the previous thread this here story (http://jennysdcc.tumblr.com/post/12819468128/the-promise-leak-master-post) was linked. is it canon?
if so, it would indicate that the Kyoshi warriors with their newfound baggage of chi-blocking techniques, courtesy of Tai-Lee, have gotten around quite a bit...so they might have taught those skills to plenty of people..

[Xondoure]

The other very long lived earth bender would be Kiyoshi, as she's lived longer than any other character in the narrative.

[dehro]

The other very long lived earth bender would be Kiyoshi, as she's lived longer than any other character in the narrative.

I don't know if Avatars are relevant statistic material.. the only other deaths of Avatars we know off are Roku who was basically killed by poisonous gasses at rather old age and Aang whose mojo was seriously affected by having spent 100 years in a cryogenic state as a 12 year old...ultimately dying at the actual age 0f..about 167
for all we know, all avatars that have died of old age may very well have lived a very long life.

[Xondoure]

I don't know if Avatars are relevant statistic material.. the only other deaths of Avatars we know off are Roku who was basically killed by poisonous gasses at rather old age and Aang whose mojo was seriously affected by having spent 100 years in a cryogenic state as a 12 year old...ultimately dying at the actual age 0f..about 167
for all we know, all avatars that have died of old age may very well have lived a very long life.

As a counterpoint, look how old Roku appeared before his death. Certainly didn't seem as if he'd have lasted another century or two.

But I agree with you. Long lived seems to be a spiritual trait, not an earth bender one.

[endoperez]

I hadn't seen the trailers, and I wanted to avoid spoilers. I guess I'm going to avoid this thread from now on, at least until the actual episodes start and people can talk about those. :smallfrown:

[Randomguy]

I hadn't seen the trailers, and I wanted to avoid spoilers. I guess I'm going to avoid this thread from now on, at least until the actual episodes start and people can talk about those. :smallfrown:

The episodes kind of have started. The first two (http://www.animefushigi.com/anime/avatar-the-legend-of-korra) were already released.

[Brother Oni]

Korra finally finds out that someone is Spirit-bending, tells Tenzin, he gets his toga in a twist and sends her back to his mother so she can tell him about Aang's failed attempt at divulgating Spirit-Bending and maybe teach her what little she's learned off it.

Alternately, Korra could just ask Aang himself, just as Aang got advice from Roku?

She is the Avatar and although she hasn't shown signs of any spiritual development, we've only had 2 episodes thus far.



wuh? how?
I get King Bumi..but..who else? Guru Pathik's nationality wasn't declared and I don't believe him to have been a bender.. Katara must be in her late 80's now.
other really old people who've slipped my mind? if not, one guy does not a general rule make.

Well we haven't heard anything about Toph yet, so she could be another that proves the rule.

Katara is well within the lifespan of a 'normal' person (being a waterbender and being able to keep her chi flowing may help as well), but I concede I may have been reading outside influences about being Earth aspected into the Avatar lore.

[dehro]

Alternately, Korra could just ask Aang himself, just as Aang got advice from Roku?

She is the Avatar and although she hasn't shown signs of any spiritual development, we've only had 2 episodes thus far.

do we know if she's ever reached avatar status or entered the spirit world so far? Aang went "avatar mode" when he encased himself in the iceberg. I doubt that he could talk to his previous incarnations until he either visited the spirit world or went hyper for the first time.
also, I suspect that just asking the other people for a straight answer would kinda spoil the fun :smallbiggrin:

[Kd7sov]

Kyoshi, for the record, is apparently the longest-lived Avatar on record.

Though yes, I believe there is some indication that Avatars in general tend to live longer than non-Avatars in general.

[Flickerdart]

Aang was the original Mr. Spiritual, and even he had trouble entering the Spirit World at first. I don't think this is something Tenzin can help Korra with, either.

[Starbuck_II]

I want Sokka to be alive. It would be cool to see him at his old age. Maybe he'll find Mr. Boomarang or Magic Sword.

[Pink]

I want Sokka to be alive. It would be cool to see him at his old age. Maybe he'll find Mr. Boomarang or Magic Sword.

I wouldn't hold my breath for Sokka to be alive, but I like to think he recovered the Space Sword on various small adventures afterwards.

[pffh]

Didn't Katara state in the first episode that her brother was gone.

[Morty]

Didn't Katara say Sokka was dead?
Even if he is dead though, I very much doubt we won't hear about him one way or another. He was one of the core members of Team Avatar, after all. In fact, I was somewhat surprised he was barely mentioned in the first two episodes...

[Seerow]

Didn't Katara say Sokka was dead?
Even if he is dead though, I very much doubt we won't hear about him one way or another. He was one of the core members of Team Avatar, after all. In fact, I was somewhat surprised he was barely mentioned in the first two episodes...

You may have missed it, but this show is a new series, only loosely associated with the original. I doubt we're going to be hearing much of anything about anyone from the original Gaang. Especially not once we get past the first few episodes and the overarching plot for the series starts kicking into gear.

[Socratov]

You may have missed it, but this show is a new series, only loosely associated with the original. I doubt we're going to be hearing much of anything about anyone from the original Gaang. Especially not once we get past the first few episodes and the overarching plot for the series starts kicking into gear.

and yet a lot of members from the first series are at least mentioned in a little detail. Toph started the police, Katara taught Korra waterbending (she is the current master, so...) Aang and Zuko founded republic city, the only one missing is Sokka with some kind of honerable mention (not just that he is dead and that is the end of it). he was also an inventor and ended up being the second in command/the runner up to his dad. We are at least boudn to hear from him in one way or another...

[Morty]

and yet a lot of members from the first series are at least mentioned in a little detail. Toph started the police, Katara taught Korra waterbending (she is the current master, so...) Aang and Zuko founded republic city, the only one missing is Sokka with some kind of honerable mention (not just that he is dead and that is the end of it). he was also an inventor and ended up being the second in command/the runner up to his dad. We are at least boudn to hear from him in one way or another...

This, pretty much. I don't expect him to play a huge part in the plot, but everyone else had some impact.

[Kd7sov]

I have theorized that he developed those radios, and possibly other things as well.

[endoperez]

The episodes kind of have started. The first two (http://www.animefushigi.com/anime/avatar-the-legend-of-korra) were already released.

Yes, I've seen those. I just hadn't seen the trailers. Once the series starts airing for real, the thread will have people talking about the episodes they've seen, and not so much the episodes they HAVEN'T seen yet. At least I hope so...

[endoperez]

The episodes kind of have started. The first two (http://www.animefushigi.com/anime/avatar-the-legend-of-korra) were already released.

Yes, I've seen those. I just hadn't seen the trailers. Once the series starts airing for real, the thread will have people talking about the episodes they've seen, and not so much the episodes they HAVEN'T seen yet. At least I hope so...

[Madara]

We did on the old thread. Its just those episodes have been out for awhile, and lost their "New Car" smell.

[Randomguy]

We did on the old thread. Its just those episodes have been out for awhile, and lost their "New Car" smell.

You mean their new Satomobile smell? :smalltongue:

[Aotrs Commander]

The other very long lived earth bender would be Kiyoshi, as she's lived longer than any other character in the narrative.

That's clearly beause she's Voiced By Jennifer Hale, and thus obviously has super-powers.

Or something.

...

...

And new idea: version of Mass Effect where Shepard is a reincarnation (etc) of Kyoushi, complete with Bending. See how Certain Space Ninjas Who Shall Remain Nameless like having that all up in their face...

[Burner28]

The hobo who lives in a bush, obviously.

I like this answer!:smalltongue:


thats because your doing portmanteaus wrong. true portmanteaus both incorporate all the words and roll off the tongue, by making the words flow into each other, until they are one word.

Air-Dog-Bear-Bison:

Bear + Air

Beair.

Beair + Bison

Beaison

Beaison + Dog

Beaisog

and there you have it: an air dog bear bison, would be a Beaisog. (BEE-I-SOG)

And now you know! And knowing is half the battle! The other half consists of 20% death, 20% destruction, 10% truancy and 54% rubbish! This is a very important lesson kids!:smalltongue:


I have to say I'm really interested in how the Equalists will turn out. I've always been interested in the relations between supers and non-supers in such settings and how easy it is for those relations to turn ugly. I trust the writers not to make the Equalists straight bad guys and make it so that there's some reason to their slogans.

I'm sure at least some of them will be portrayed as sympathetic.

[AtlanteanTroll]

Clearly, Amon is someone who has somehow learned of energy bending. Who do we know that has first hand experience with energybending? Who is an evil non-bender? Who enjoys keeping his face hidden until the later in the show? Ozai.

I would presume having his bending taken away would also take away any ability to learn energybending in the first place.


You may have missed it, but this show is a new series, only loosely associated with the original. I doubt we're going to be hearing much of anything about anyone from the original Gaang. Especially not once we get past the first few episodes and the overarching plot for the series starts kicking into gear.

As true as this is, we do know Katara is alive, and her son is a main character. I expect Katara to bend like a badass at least once during the show. Or die a very tragic death. Perhaps both.

[lord_khaine]

Well, we did hear Katara say in the opening that her brother and allmost all of her friends have passed away, so now im wondering who it is thats still alive?

I would personaly find it hilarious to have Zuko take over from king Bumi :smalltongue:

[BRC]

Well, we did hear Katara say in the opening that her brother and allmost all of her friends have passed away, so now im wondering who it is thats still alive?

I would personaly find it hilarious to have Zuko take over from king Bumi :smalltongue:

She could have made some friends after the War ended (otherwise known as the vast majority of her life), if somebody from the series is still alive my guess would be Toph. She was the youngest member of the Gaang after all. She could be in retirement, or maybe she dosn't live in Republic City because between the people (The original series would never have had anywhere Republic City's population density, since it appears to be modeled on a post-industrial city) and the Machines her Tremorsense gets overwhelmed.

[MLai]

@ Amon's super kung fu:
According to that quote, kung fu masters were "traditional planet-Earth-like chi" masters before the rise of the "bend-elements-using-chi" masters. So Amon could very well be a throwback to the old Chinese kung fu movies and Five Point Palm Exploding Heart Technique. More potent than Ty Lee's basic chi-less pressure point attacks, but less magical than Aang's Lion-Turtle-Spiritbending.

Just because he doesn't shoot elements doesn't mean he doesn't have flashy chi manip.

@ Korra avatar state:
Aang manifested avatar state in eps.2, when he wreaked havoc on Zuko's ship with a seawater tornado. Basically it's his Hulk Mode. Korra had never had any life-threatening situations which would trigger it involuntarily that way. Just from what we know of her, it's obvious she never bothered to try entering the Spirit Realm either.

[Dr.Epic]

Why is the premiere at 11 AM? How am I supposed to up that early?

[John Cribati]

Why is the premiere at 11 AM?

Because that's actually one of Nickelodeon's most popular slots.

[AtlanteanTroll]

Why is the premiere at 11 AM? How am I supposed to up that early?

If you got up at 8 for Pokemon, you can get up at 11 for Korra. It's not like you haven't seen the leak and have an HD copy on your iPod. :smalltongue:

[Dr.Epic]

If you got up at 8 for Pokemon, you can get up at 11 for Korra. It's not like you haven't seen the leak and have an HD copy on your iPod. :smalltongue:

Actually no, because I have enough respect for last series and will wait for the actual premiere.

[John Cribati]

Technically, it officially premiered online, and is officially available for free on iTunes for a limited time. Never had an iTunes account before yesterday.

[Dr.Epic]

Technically, it officially premiered online, and is officially available for free on iTunes for a limited time. Never had an iTunes account before yesterday.

Wait, what?:smallconfused:

[ThreadKiller]

I want Sokka to be alive. It would be cool to see him at his old age. Maybe he'll find Mr. Boomarang or Magic Sword.

That would have been awesome! I also would have liked to see Toph alive, but the Avatar wiki said that she was deceased as well. T.T

Oh well, hopefully we'll get to see some flashbacks when they were alive.

[Reverent-One]

Wait, what?:smallconfused:

They officially released the first two episodes online a couple of weeks ago, and then a few days ago had them free to download on iTunes. Don't know if they still are or not.

[John Cribati]

Wait, what?:smallconfused:

An Avatar fansite called KorraNation said that if they could get 100,000 Facebook likes/ Twitter shares/ whathaveyou in a week, the fans would get the premiere early. They had 50,000 in 2 days.

And now it's freely available for download on iTunes, but I assume it's only for a limited time.

[Dr.Epic]

An Avatar fansite called KorraNation said that if they could get 100,000 Facebook likes/ Twitter shares/ whathaveyou in a week, the fans would get the premiere early. They had 50,000 in 2 days.

And now it's freely available for download on iTunes, but I assume it's only for a limited time.

:smalleek:
To the iTunes!!!

[MLai]

Well I for one like the lack of returning characters. After years of same-characters-Street-Fighter, and characters-never-die American comics, I've developed a philosophical allergy to chronically-returning charcters.

On the topic of progeny, apparently the humans of Avatar world reproduce like canine breeds? How come the offspring between an Inuit-like water tribe woman and an East-Asian-like air nomad man... produced 2 full-blooded Inuits and 1 full-blooded East Asian??? I would have expected 3 dark-skinned East Asians.

[Socratov]

Well I for one like the lack of returning characters. After years of same-characters-Street-Fighter, and characters-never-die American comics, I've developed a philosophical allergy to chronically-returning charcters.

On the topic of progeny, apparently the humans of Avatar world reproduce like canine breeds? How come the offspring between an Inuit-like water tribe woman and an East-Asian-like air nomad man... produced 2 full-blooded Inuits and 1 full-blooded East Asian??? I would have expected 3 dark-skinned East Asians.

simple: it's kids show, they need to mae it simple without going for the full random lottery. I think if you are really gonna include full genetics that the viewers this show is actually aimed at will drop the show entirely.

[Brother Oni]

On the topic of progeny, apparently the humans of Avatar world reproduce like canine breeds? How come the offspring between an Inuit-like water tribe woman and an East-Asian-like air nomad man... produced 2 full-blooded Inuits and 1 full-blooded East Asian??? I would have expected 3 dark-skinned East Asians.

Because real world genetics can be a bit funky.

For example, I am quite dark skinned, while my wife is very light (we're of different ethnicities), so you would expect children with an inbetween skin colour, right?
My oldest is as dark as me (darker sometimes), while the other is very light like his mother.

I have a number of half Chinese nephews that don't look Chinese at all.

This is not including any bending linked genetics that may be present (thus air benders tend to look oriental, while water benders tend to look like Inuit, etc).

[Kobold-Bard]

:smalleek:
To the iTunes!!!

Can I ask: what makes iTunes more "respectful" to the original series than the Korranation release? It's not like that was a leak, it was a legit release.

[MLai]

Ok, I'll grant you that mixed children don't have to look like they're 50/50 in-betweens.

However, the 1st show had already established that bending is not genetic as we know it. Twin children were shown; 1 could bend, the other couldn't. As for Katara's 2 darker Inuit-looking children, 1 is a bender but the other isn't.

I personally think that the element one bends is mostly cultural. As in "I'm Cuban and I play baseball. I'm Brazilian and I play football." That sort. Only with the unprecedented cultural exchange in Republic City did that rule break down -- see The Brothers.

[John Cribati]

Can I ask: what makes iTunes more "respectful" to the original series than the Korranation release? It's not like that was a leak, it was a legit release.

Nothing, really.

The fact that some idiot leaked it a couple days after KorraNation said they'd willingly give it to us, coupled with the fact that we were 3/4 of the way from getting it anyway and some people couldn't wait 'till Saturday? That was disrespectful.

[Brother Oni]

However, the 1st show had already established that bending is not genetic as we know it. Twin children were shown; 1 could bend, the other couldn't. As for Katara's 2 darker Inuit-looking children, 1 is a bender but the other isn't.

I haven't yet seen either of Katara's children except Tenzin, so I can't argue that point.
However we simply don't know enough about the hereditary nature of bending to apply a blanket statement of 'bending is not genetic as we know it'. I'm not disagreeing that it could be unrelated to genetics, but I am saying that we don't have enough information to form a strong hypothesis (I believe we only have Zuko's family, Katara and Aang's, and Toph's as examples and only over 3 generations at most, a far too small sample set).



I personally think that the element one bends is mostly cultural. As in "I'm Cuban and I play baseball. I'm Brazilian and I play football." That sort. Only with the unprecedented cultural exchange in Republic City did that rule break down -- see The Brothers.

I can agree that the potential for bending is possibly individual (see above comments), but I disagree that the actual element is mostly cultural and is more likely to be primarily philosophical, temperment and mental inclinations.

Aang was an air bender and had many of air's traits - evasiveness, reluctance to face an obstacle head on, lack of comittment. This was evident in his fighting style and also in his initial running away (and subsequent icecubing). This made his learning of earth bending far more difficult, since it required the exact opposite traits.

Korra is impatient and prefers the direct approach, thus making the more evasive elements of air bending hard for her to learn. She's unusual for a water bender in that she doesn't have many typically water bender traits, but the two episodes show that she has some aspects of it (if you come up against an obstacle that you can't break down, find a way around, compared to air's evade and defer, earth's meet it head on and wear down with attrition and fire's hit it then hit it harder if that fails).

[MLai]

I can agree that the potential for bending is possibly individual , but I disagree that the actual element is mostly cultural and is more likely to be primarily philosophical, temperment and mental inclinations.
Well I'd disagree with that. In ATLA, *all* Fire Nation benders are fire benders, *all* Earth Nation benders are earth benders, etc. Surely, we can't say that no Fire Bender ever thought "Well I'm more of an Aquarius gal, maybe I'll try waterbending." Each nation bends only 1 element because that's what they're taught, like how Medieval England is all Christian and zero Buddhists.

After pot-melting in Republic City, that's when the younger generation had the privilege of studying the element they felt more aptitude towards. Though, a lot of ppl still ended up studying whatever their elders taught. Which makes sense; you are often who you're brought up by.


Aang was an air bender and had many of air's traits - evasiveness, reluctance to face an obstacle head on, lack of comittment. This was evident in his fighting style and also in his
Certainly, when one has the privilege of choosing, one will select the "kung fu" physically/mentally suited to himself. In Aang's case, he was selected to become a monk by temple elders, probably because they saw air-affinity in him. His true nationality/heritage/genetics is unknown.

(I'm assuming the air monks don't have sex with the air nuns once a year or something. Hopefully not. I consider Tenzin an aberration since the religious order of the air nomads is for all intents gone, and Tenzin is more of a practitioner of its way of life [an "aerophile"] than a true brother of the order.)

What I want to say is... the personality affects the choice of bending, but the bending also reinforces the personality.

[John Cribati]

The way I see it, the only thing that's hereditary about bending is the element you'd be able to bend, if you happen to be a bender. So a "pure" Water Tribe couple isn't going to just randomly pop out an airbender.

However, suppose that- at some point down the line where the age difference stops being creepy/squicky- Jinora and Bolin were to have a kid. Since Jinora has both Water Tribe and Air Nomad blood, and Bolin has both Fire nation and Earth Kingdom blood, they should essentially expect any kind of bender to come from their union, if any benders come along.

[dehro]

:smalleek:
To the iTunes!!!

yeah...I'm now picturing you sliding down the bat-pole in the bat-cave...

which has never been an appropriate thing to say..ever..not even when the show was on.

also, I think there will be at least a couple of flashback episodes where the Gaang will return, maybe in a later stage of life..adulthood and such.

[Alchemistmerlin]

I'm actually really glad the old characters are only making brief appearances. The ending to TLA left such a bad taste in my mouth, between the nonsense Aang was spewing and the Turtle Ex Machina, that I'd really rather just move on to a different story entirely.


As for Bending being hereditary: You guys are being a bit too...scientific for this fantasy universe. It's fairly clear that the type of element someone bends is mystical in origin, which is why the Avatar happens. Sometimes the great god Ri-Tor decides that one of the people from the next tribe needs to BEND ALL THE THINGS!

[Kd7sov]

Well I'd disagree with that. In ATLA, *all* Fire Nation benders are fire benders, *all* Earth Nation benders are earth benders, etc. Surely, we can't say that no Fire Bender ever thought "Well I'm more of an Aquarius gal, maybe I'll try waterbending." Each nation bends only 1 element because that's what they're taught, like how Medieval England is all Christian and zero Buddhists.

Not... quite.

In "The Promise" tweenquel comic...
There is a town, Yu Dao, which may be the site on which Republic City was later built. But what's relevant is, it was one of the early Fire Nation colonies in the Earth Kingdom. The population is mixed fire and earth - and so is their bending, even within families. Yet the Fire Nation people are still clearly on top, so one would expect those with the opportunity to bend to gravitate more toward fire than earth, if the choice were at all theirs.

Here's my take. Bryke have said that the proportion of benders in a population is based largely on how spiritual said population is. Therefore, the ability to bend at all is based on a combination of genetics (though I should point out, I am unaware of any reason to believe that there is a "bending gene"; it defies logic) and the spirituality around one. The element to which one has access, if one can bend, is based on a combination of genetics and personal outlook, possibly with some influence from the culture in which one grows up. No one aspect can override the others, although they apply in different proportions in different people and populations.

[Kobold-Bard]

...

The element to which one has access, if one can bend, is based on a combination of genetics and personal outlook, possibly with some influence from the culture in which one grows up. No one aspect can override the others, although they apply in different proportions in different people and populations.

Re: personal outlook

Does that mean that those people we saw in Tenzin's temple could potentially become Air Benders, despite not having been born them (assuming they can't already bend another element). Because there's no way a newbon's Bending could be determined by personal outlook.

[Seerow]

Re: personal outlook

Does that mean that those people we saw in Tenzin's temple could potentially become Air Benders, despite not having been born them (assuming they can't already bend another element). Because there's no way a newbon's Bending could be determined by personal outlook.


The way I kind of think it works is you have "Bending" which is binary "On" or "Off". Which element you could bend would be determined by aspects of your personality. So yes, it is wholly possible that someone born to non-airbender parents could be an air bender.

[Kd7sov]

Re: personal outlook

Does that mean that those people we saw in Tenzin's temple could potentially become Air Benders, despite not having been born them (assuming they can't already bend another element). Because there's no way a newbon's Bending could be determined by personal outlook.

Perhaps, if they have the ability to bend and haven't started to bend anything else. They certainly appear to be attempting to rebuild Air Nomad culture, which is a step in that direction; even if none of them can airbend at any point, I would not be at all surprised if any children they may have after adopting the Air lifestyle could.

[Brother Oni]

The way I kind of think it works is you have "Bending" which is binary "On" or "Off". Which element you could bend would be determined by aspects of your personality. So yes, it is wholly possible that someone born to non-airbender parents could be an air bender.

Or someone born to non-bender parents could be a bender - see Toph.

[Dr.Epic]

Well I downloaded the first two episodes, but I'm still going to wait for the official premiere this Saturday because I have will power and enough respect for the original to wait.

[Dusk Eclipse]

Guys I am not a bright person and can't find the option to download the Episodes from Itunes, just a Podcast, so can anyone help me?=

[Gamerlord]

Guys I am not a bright person and can't find the option to download the Episodes from Itunes, just a Podcast, so can anyone help me?=
You need an Itunes ID first.

[John Cribati]

Guys I am not a bright person and can't find the option to download the Episodes from Itunes, just a Podcast, so can anyone help me?=

Search for "korra." If you don't see a 40+ minute clip somewhere in there, it probably means the "limited time" has reached its... limit.

[Dusk Eclipse]

I do have an Itunes ID.

Apparently I missed the opportunity, I can't find it :smallfrown:

[AtlanteanTroll]

Well I downloaded the first two episodes, but I'm still going to wait for the official premiere this Saturday because I have will power and enough respect for the original to wait.

This makes no sense. They clearly want you to hurry up and watch them.

[John Cribati]

In Other news:

http://fc04.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2012/101/4/c/seal_of_approval_by_rufftoon-d4vvis4.jpg
http://fc04.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2012/103/9/3/seal_of_approval_part_deux_by_rufftoon-d4w1vob.jpg

[Kd7sov]

I thought Rufftoon might have something to say about her.:smallbiggrin:

[Rockphed]

In Other news:

http://fc04.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2012/101/4/c/seal_of_approval_by_rufftoon-d4vvis4.jpg
http://fc04.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2012/103/9/3/seal_of_approval_part_deux_by_rufftoon-d4w1vob.jpg

Genius! I want more of them! Or at least more "Admiral Zhoa's Seal of Approval".

[Morty]

In Other news:

http://fc04.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2012/101/4/c/seal_of_approval_by_rufftoon-d4vvis4.jpg
http://fc04.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2012/103/9/3/seal_of_approval_part_deux_by_rufftoon-d4w1vob.jpg

Brilliant. I had a good laugh. :smallbiggrin:

[Dr. Roboto]

I do have an Itunes ID.

Apparently I missed the opportunity, I can't find it :smallfrown:

I don't think so. I'm downloading it now...

[Dusk Eclipse]

.... I can't believe it, the Episodes aren't available on the Mexican Itunes store... and my apple ID is only valid for the Mexican Itunes store.... I am really mad about this. :smallfurious:

[Dr.Epic]

.... I can't believe it, the Episodes aren't available on the Mexican Itunes store... and my apple ID is only valid for the Mexican Itunes store.... I am really mad about this. :smallfurious:

That stinks. At least you can watch it Saturday morning (assuming you get Nick).

[Dusk Eclipse]

I do get Nick; but I usually get new series a month or so behind USA release... and I haven't seen any Korra spots or anything on Nick lately so I am not really hopeful.

[Dr.Epic]

I do get Nick; but I usually get new series a month or so behind USA release... and I haven't seen any Korra spots or anything on Nick lately so I am not really hopeful.

Can't you just set up another account? I don't own an ipod and I was able to set one up.

[Zevox]

Just caught the first couple of episodes. I like Korra already. And the action is quite good.

Can't really say I'm a fan of how the setting has suddenly jumped to nearly modern world technological standards though. Felt way too weird watching Korra ride through the city past cars, telephone poles and wires, and trolleys.

Also, I'm a bit confused how those pro benders didn't recognize Korra in episode 2, given the whole press conference announcing her presence in the city at the end of episode 1. Also on how Korra apparently didn't know the rules of pro bending if she's such a fan of it.

Random observation: one of Tenzin's daughters kinda looks like Ty Lee.

Zevox

[Dienekes]

Also, I'm a bit confused how those pro benders didn't recognize Korra in episode 2, given the whole press conference announcing her presence in the city at the end of episode 1. Also on how Korra apparently didn't know the rules of pro bending if she's such a fan of it.


I'll be honest, I watch the news and try to stay ahead of information. But if Barack Obama randomly walked into the gym I was in, I in all likelihood, would not immediately recognize him as such, because I would never expect to see him there. Though maybe, that's just me.

[dehro]

how those pro benders didn't recognize Korra in episode 2, given the whole press conference announcing her presence in the city at the end of episode

they have radio, not television. you have to have bought a newspaper to know what she looks like.
most likely the brothers don't get around much. they live, train and fight in the arena.

Also on how Korra apparently didn't know the rules of pro bending if she's such a fan of it.

I don't think she's had time to learn much about them... she's a fan in the sense of
"oh, that looks cool".. not in the sense that she knows all the rules, teams, players and such.

[Zevox]

they have radio, not television. you have to have bought a newspaper to know what she looks like.
most likely the brothers don't get around much. they live, train and fight in the arena.
Eh, fair enough. Still makes the guy who didn't pick up on it when she mentioned that bends multiple elements a bit dense though.

Zevox

[Seerow]

Just caught the first couple of episodes. I like Korra already. And the action is quite good.

Can't really say I'm a fan of how the setting has suddenly jumped to nearly modern world technological standards though. Felt way too weird watching Korra ride through the city past cars, telephone poles and wires, and trolleys.



Honestly, I would have found it much stranger if 90 or so years later, technology hadn't jumped that much.

Consider, as of the end of the first series, we have zepplins, tanks, metal warships with engines, etc. The most advanced technology was in the hands of the Fire Nation, who was obviously keeping it to themselves due to the war. With the end of the war, that technology would become dispersed, available to more people throughout the world. Between that and the creation of a central hub city where people of all nationalities can converge, you have a ton of opportunity for innovation to push the existing technology forward.

The existence of bending has stunted the growth of weapons technology in the setting. After all who needs guns when you have people who can shoot fire or bits of rock with no need for fancy technology? And this shows in the setting. The evolution of weapons is new styles of bending evolving, not bows/guns/whatever. But other aspects of technology are obviously being developed. Given we were already sitting at mid 1800s tech levels, it makes sense that given 100 years to advance, we are looking at mid 1900s tech. And yes that does mean cars becoming common place, radios popping up as a primary form of entertainment, photography existing, and all the other things we've seen. It actually makes a huge amount of sense when you realize just how fast our own technology has evolved. Seriously consider what our technology was like a little less than a hundred years ago.

[Soras Teva Gee]

So I never watched the original Avatar but I tuned in to not be behind the times. Is it wrong that I thought to myself "Korra should have known not to mess with Section 9" and that metal bending was easily the coolest thing in the entire hour?

(Bonus points to who gets that)


Honestly, I would have found it much stranger if 90 or so years later, technology hadn't jumped that much.

I totally buy Republic City as China 1922 personally.

[otakuryoga]

watchin first episode....interesting so far

[Dr.Epic]

"Gran-gran, I was reading about the adventures you and your friends had. Can you tell me what happened to Zuko's mother?"
"Sure. Well-"
"Gran-gran, can we build a snowman and can you use your bending to bring him to life?!"
:smallbiggrin:
We're never going to find out what happened to her are we?

Also, Steve Blum is voicing the main antagonist? Why didn't anyone ever tell me? Samurai Champloo is my favorite show of all time. And Mugen is my favorite character from that show. This is AWESOME!!!

[Kobold-Bard]

...
We're never going to find out what happened to her are we?

...

I haven't read them myself, but I'm told it's a plot point of the official interlude comics called The Promise.

[BRC]

Concerning Republic City: I think one of the reasons it looks so advanced is because of the architecture. It's got skyscrapers and big, square buildings that we associate with modern, 20th century cityscapes. Compared to, say, Ba Sing Se, it's not very much. Though, if you think about it, it makes good sense. Republic City is a Fire Nation colony built in the Earth kingdom, so it's population is mainly going to be Fire/Earth, and with the War over, lots of highly trained Firebenders and Earth benders are going to be looking for work. Groups of Firebenders can produce steel beams (They were already making ironclad warships and tanks), glass for windows, ect. Earthbenders can greatly speed up big construction projects, especially if Metalbenders get involved. Plus, Zuko probably had them melt down a bunch of Military Hardware as a gesture of peace, freeing up even more materials. I wouldn't be surprised if that big suspension bridge was made out of old Fire Nation battleships.

[Kd7sov]

I haven't read them myself, but I'm told it's a plot point of the official interlude comics called The Promise.

Part 2 is not yet out; part 1...
It contains an implication that if Zuko comes to Ozai as a supplicant, instead of a captor, he might let some information out. Then it ends with Zuko doing just such a thing, although in search of something else.

[Dr.Epic]

At this point it's hard to say which will be better. I think the original series set up a better story at the beginning: we were thrusted into this new, original world and the villain of the first season had plenty of screen time and some action scenes. Though Steve Blum as the villain is pretty awesome. I didn't like Ozai that much as the main Big Bad, and I think Amon will be much better. Also, I think the comic relief in the first series was better. That's not to say the humor in the second series isn't:

"When you're teenagers, you must promise not to become her."
"No promises."
:smallbiggrin:

[Soras Teva Gee]

Also, Steve Blum is voicing the main antagonist? Why didn't anyone ever tell me? Samurai Champloo is my favorite show of all time. And Mugen is my favorite character from that show. This is AWESOME!!!

That's what you associate Steve Blum with? Really?


Concerning Republic City: I think one of the reasons it looks so advanced is because of the architecture. It's got skyscrapers and big, square buildings that we associate with modern, 20th century cityscapes. Compared to, say, Ba Sing Se, it's not very much. Though, if you think about it, it makes good sense. Republic City is a Fire Nation colony built in the Earth kingdom, so it's population is mainly going to be Fire/Earth, and with the War over, lots of highly trained Firebenders and Earth benders are going to be looking for work. Groups of Firebenders can produce steel beams (They were already making ironclad warships and tanks), glass for windows, ect. Earthbenders can greatly speed up big construction projects, especially if Metalbenders get involved. Plus, Zuko probably had them melt down a bunch of Military Hardware as a gesture of peace, freeing up even more materials. I wouldn't be surprised if that big suspension bridge was made out of old Fire Nation battleships.

I'd also point out that Empire State was finished in 1931 and the term skyscraper well predates that. NYC had its classic look well by the time cars would be common.

It we take as established all the development work for industrialization having been done by the end of the war then 90 years is more then enough time to build a city of skyscrapers.

The city of Shibam (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shibam) insists I note it built tall buildings before that was cool.

[dehro]

Eh, fair enough. Still makes the guy who didn't pick up on it when she mentioned that bends multiple elements a bit dense though.

Zevox

he agrees with you, and so does Korra

[Dr.Epic]

That's what you associate Steve Blum with? Really?

I said Samurai Champloo was my favorite show, and Mugen was my favorite character from that show. I know he was Spike from Cowboy Bebop, and I saw that show first, but I like Mugen more. He's CE Spike with a samurai sword, and that's more awesome!:smallwink:

[pffh]

J.K. Simmons as Tenzin and metalbenders that remind you of Spider-Man... :smallbiggrin:

[Soras Teva Gee]

I said Samurai Champloo was my favorite show, and Mugen was my favorite character from that show. I know he was Spike from Cowboy Bebop, and I saw that show first, but I like Mugen more. He's CE Spike with a samurai sword, and that's more awesome!:smallwink:

Well not just Cowboy Bebop, but ALL his superlative work. I'd hate to single out a role for a VA with an actual range of voices.

[Dr.Epic]

J.K. Simmons as Tenzin and metalbenders that remind you of Spider-Man... :smallbiggrin:

They won't officially act like Spider-Man until they get all stalker-y and emo and then get a reboot. (Just kidding.)

[Troodon Knight!]

That meat cart lady is definitely the granddaughter of the cabbage merchant. That family has a curse with the avatar that skips the generation. I PRAY that we have gags with Korra ruining that meat-cart. I'd just love that.

[Zevox]

Honestly, I would have found it much stranger if 90 or so years later, technology hadn't jumped that much.

Consider, as of the end of the first series, we have zepplins, tanks, metal warships with engines, etc. The most advanced technology was in the hands of the Fire Nation, who was obviously keeping it to themselves due to the war. With the end of the war, that technology would become dispersed, available to more people throughout the world. Between that and the creation of a central hub city where people of all nationalities can converge, you have a ton of opportunity for innovation to push the existing technology forward.

The existence of bending has stunted the growth of weapons technology in the setting. After all who needs guns when you have people who can shoot fire or bits of rock with no need for fancy technology? And this shows in the setting. The evolution of weapons is new styles of bending evolving, not bows/guns/whatever. But other aspects of technology are obviously being developed. Given we were already sitting at mid 1800s tech levels, it makes sense that given 100 years to advance, we are looking at mid 1900s tech. And yes that does mean cars becoming common place, radios popping up as a primary form of entertainment, photography existing, and all the other things we've seen. It actually makes a huge amount of sense when you realize just how fast our own technology has evolved. Seriously consider what our technology was like a little less than a hundred years ago.
It might make sense, but that doesn't make me like it any more. I tend to like my fantasy low-tech. The Fire Nation stuff in the first series didn't bother me, since it was just one nation, was concentrated almost entirely in their military, and was based on the element they bend. This? Is not that limited, at all, and as such is gong to bother me.

Zevox

[Dr.Epic]

So, who wants to speculate about if we'll see Amon's face or if they'll pull a Codename V?

[MLai]

Steve Blum is everywhere: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ehvGZUf5TrA&feature=relmfu
That's a small sample.

They got a good VA for Amon. The man has no face so they'll definitely need someone who can put enough nuance and menace into his voice alone.

As for the modern-esque setting... This is an example of Reality Is Unrealistic, I guess. We would have been more comfortable with Medieval Stasis, due to over-consumption of fantasy lit.

[KoboldRevenge]

What I've been interested in is what other fighting style will be incorperated into bending what with the boxing type of style that showed up in the first episode. What kind of bender do you guys think Bruce Lee would be?

In fact they should put a Nunchaku using vigilante (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bRyDcB7qQFo) who fights crime at night in a black costume. "I'm Lemur Bat-Man!"

EDIT:
Random observation: one of Tenzin's daughters kinda looks like Ty Lee.

It goes deeper than that!

http://29.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lvpwr9500f1r7g290o1_500.png

http://i.imgur.com/qldsm.png

I think my various pics explain themselves.:smallbiggrin:

[Brother Oni]

What kind of bender do you guys think Bruce Lee would be?

In my opinion, a Water bender variant due to JKD's emphasis on flexibility and no rigid forms.

Earth employs very deep rooted stances via Mantis form, Fire uses a strong Northern Shaolin style (this would probably be closest to the boxing you mentioned), while Air's Ba Gua seems a little too inefficient to fit JKD's 'minimal movement with maximum effect' philosophy.

Water's basis is Tai Chi, which has a number of traits in common with Wing Chun, a style which influenced the development of JKD.

That said, the Pro-bending styles are changing some of this (see Bolin's tweaking of Korra's Earth bending technique), however one important thing I think has been overlooked - pro-bending techniques are for competition, not for lethal fighting.
There's a very distinct difference in the aim and application of non-lethal and lethal techniques and I hope the writers recognise this (although I'm not holding out much hope since TLoK is aimed at younger audiences).

All the protagonist benders from the previous series became very proficient at their respective bending because if they didn't, they'd be dead or captured. Korra doesn't have that pressure on her, thus she's hooked onto the pro-bending sport as the next best thing.

[Kobold-Bard]

Something I was wondering: why doesn't Korra have any money to buy food from that cart in the first episode? I don't know how the Water Tribe economy works but I assume they understand the concept of "trade currency for goods/services" so she knows she'll have to pay for stuff from merchants. I'm also assuming she & her family aren't destitute.

I could maybe understand her not having enough money (eg. London's prices are inflated compared to the rest of the UK), but for her to not have any money, and to be surprised that she has to pay for food is almost ludicrous.

It's not even like she ran away empty handed, she went to see her parents before she left.

[BRC]

Something I was wondering: why doesn't Korra have any money to buy food from that cart in the first episode? I don't know how the Water Tribe economy works but I assume they understand the concept of "trade currency for goods/services" so she knows she'll have to pay for stuff from merchants. I'm also assuming she & her family aren't destitute.

I could maybe understand her not having enough money (eg. London's prices are inflated compared to the rest of the UK), but for her to not have any money, and to be surprised that she has to pay for food is almost ludicrous.

It's not even like she ran away empty handed, she went to see her parents before she left.
It looks like Korra was raised in a White Lotus sanctuary since she was very young. She probably had everything provided for her, food, training, clothing, education, ect. Remember, she grew up in a place that basically existed for the sole purpose of raising and training her, where everybody knows who she is and is, in some capacity, there for her benefit. She's never had to think about the most basic challenges of survival.

[Soras Teva Gee]

It looks like Korra was raised in a White Lotus sanctuary since she was very young. She probably had everything provided for her, food, training, clothing, education, ect. Remember, she grew up in a place that basically existed for the sole purpose of raising and training her, where everybody knows who she is and is, in some capacity, there for her benefit. She's never had to think about the most basic challenges of survival.

Well given that she went fishing I think we can gather that she was trained in you know actual survival skills.

But yeah given the sort of funds that had to be allocated for her compound I'd imagine "Avatar needs some petty cash" simply never came in high on the priority since it would be assumed one of her attendants would be taking care of such things when the time came.

[BRC]

Well given that she went fishing I think we can gather that she was trained in you know actual survival skills.

But yeah given the sort of funds that had to be allocated for her compound I'd imagine "Avatar needs some petty cash" simply never came in high on the priority since it would be assumed one of her attendants would be taking care of such things when the time came.
All things considered, it's probably hard to find a water tribe member who doesn't know how to Fish, but even if she received formal survivalist training, that doesn't psychologically prepare you for the modern market economy.

It's slightly odd that Katara didn't give her some money when she approved of Korra's plan to go to Republic City, but I guess it's possible Katara thought that Korra would just go straight to Tenzin and Air Temple Island (It's not like crossing a small body of water would be any real challenge for Korra. She's a strong swimmer with waterbending and a pet polarbeardog. ), instead of having her wander aimlessly around the city, getting into trouble with the Spidercops and talking to Hobos.

[Kobold-Bard]

All things considered, it's probably hard to find a water tribe member who doesn't know how to Fish, but even if she received formal survivalist training, that doesn't psychologically prepare you for the modern market economy.

It's slightly odd that Katara didn't give her some money when she approved of Korra's plan to go to Republic City, but I guess it's possible Katara thought that Korra would just go straight to Tenzin and Air Temple Island (It's not like crossing a small body of water would be any real challenge for Korra. She's a strong swimmer with waterbending and a pet polarbeardog. ), instead of having her wander aimlessly around the city, getting into trouble with the Spidercops and talking to Hobos.

You'd think her parents would have given her some at least. Who send their kid half way around the world without even some loose change?

[Soras Teva Gee]

All things considered, it's probably hard to find a water tribe member who doesn't know how to Fish, but even if she received formal survivalist training, that doesn't psychologically prepare you for the modern market economy.

It's slightly odd that Katara didn't give her some money when she approved of Korra's plan to go to Republic City, but I guess it's possible Katara thought that Korra would just go straight to Tenzin and Air Temple Island (It's not like crossing a small body of water would be any real challenge for Korra. She's a strong swimmer with waterbending and a pet polarbeardog. ), instead of having her wander aimlessly around the city, getting into trouble with the Spidercops and talking to Hobos.

Well because I never watched the previous series to any length did Katara set off with any amount of funds or did money ever come up in a major way. It may have simply not occured to her.

Or she may have filed it under "Korra has to do it herself" so no unsolicited helping or advice.

But while were asking realism questions... so Korra you a 17 year old girl ran off to cross a substantial portion of the planet with and let me see if I have this straight: one polarbeardog, one saddle, and one set of clothes. Seems legit.

(Heck maybe she did have some coin it just got spent on certain necessities along the way)

[Euodiachloris]

You'd think her parents would have given her some at least. Who send their kid half way around the world without even some loose change?

Ever been to an airport and seen unacompanied minors during a reroute or a standard connecting flight change-over? Plenty of them don't actually get given cash, and, if they get into trouble, it's not pretty. Some parents just don't think.

[BRC]

Well because I never watched the previous series to any length did Katara set off with any amount of funds or did money ever come up in a major way. It may have simply not occured to her.

Or she may have filed it under "Korra has to do it herself" so no unsolicited helping or advice.

But while were asking realism questions... so Korra you a 17 year old girl ran off to cross a substantial portion of the planet with and let me see if I have this straight: one polarbeardog, one saddle, and one set of clothes. Seems legit.

(Heck maybe she did have some coin it just got spent on certain necessities along the way)
She stowed away on a cargo ship, and may have brought some food with her.

[Gnomish Wanderer]

I just watched the episode and I am so excited to continue watching this. Just wanted to throw that out. *SQUEE!!!!!!*

[Kd7sov]

Well because I never watched the previous series to any length did Katara set off with any amount of funds or did money ever come up in a major way. It may have simply not occured to her.

When Katara (and Sokka) set out it was with a small bundle of supplies. Exactly what was in that is not, as far as I recall, specifically laid out; they had sleeping bags and some food, and not a lot of spare clothing. As I recall, money starts to become relevant late in the first half of Season 1, particularly in "The Storm". From then on they seem to vary between having enough money that it doesn't particularly come up, and having almost none, until the Season 3 episode "The Runaway", in which Toph and Sokka con a local town out of oodles of cash.

[Kobold-Bard]

In one episode (Avatar Day I think) they have Water Tribe money, because they're glad the guy takes it. So they had some money.

[Soras Teva Gee]

She stowed away on a cargo ship, and may have brought some food with her.

Yes an stowing away on a boat is one of those great ideas that tends to fall apart in a couple hours when certain natural calls come in. And a steam ship would still likely mean some weeks depending on how big the planet is, so raises for example what does one do for bathing and keeping clothes reasonable.

Now then I don't mind any of this its just a story device to get on with the plot combined with the normal reasons for a limited wardrobe and not burdening a design with unsightly packs.... but the question is there. So if were wondering why she doesn't have petty cash we might as well question a lot of things.

[Fjolnir]

if I remember, during the trip to the north pole arc, the Gaang have some difficulty with Water Tribe money in the Earth Nation...

[Benson]

I totally just cracked up at this blink and you miss it scene in the episode.

Platypus bear anyone?

http://i44.tinypic.com/xpwivo.jpg

[t209]

I saw part of the episode
especially the tournament part. Schedule for the series, anyone? Dig the stature of Aang Liberty though.

[Triscuitable]

And the way to deal with Aang's ghost is to beat him at pro-bending.


I hope the series' one "let's break the fourth wall, the ceiling, and our viewer's brains" episode will feature a dance-off between the two.

[John Cribati]

http://26.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m2he102tQ91qd7r87o1_500.jpg

[Dr.Epic]

So Korra has a polar bear dog. Aang had a sky bison. Roku had a dragon. Did other avatars have mounts? What did Kyoshi have? A badger mole? Doesn't seem as cool.

[Grey_Wolf_c]

[Sokka] was also an inventor and ended up being the second in command/the runner up to his dad. We are at least boudn to hear from him in one way or another...

Just a quick note: Sokka wasn't really an inventor - I see him as the Steve Jobs of Avatar world: the guy that has the vision and the ideas, but depends on others (like the Mechanist) to actually create them.

And yes, I hope we hear that he founded a major company that is now rich and produces all kinds of fun gadgets. Then, in the third series the company will turn evil and Sokka's descendant will dress up as the mighty flying lemur to save the city and strike fear into the hearts of evildoers everywhere.


Fire uses a strong Northern Shaolin style (this would probably be closest to the boxing you mentioned)

I wouldn't recognise Norther Shaolin style if they punched me in the nose with it, so please be considerate if I'm very wrong. That said, the pro-bending style exhibited by Mako looks very much like boxing: slightly bent forward, arms held before the face, quick steps back and forth. But, as I say, for all I know those are also characteristics of Norther Shaolin.

Grey Wolf

[Ceric]

Fire uses a strong Northern Shaolin style (this would probably be closest to the boxing you mentioned)


I wouldn't recognise Norther Shaolin style if they punched me in the nose with it, so please be considerate if I'm very wrong. That said, the pro-bending style exhibited by Mako looks very much like boxing: slightly bent forward, arms held before the face, quick steps back and forth. But, as I say, for all I know those are also characteristics of Norther Shaolin.

Of the four bending styles, boxing best resembles firebending. Northern wushu styles have quick strikes, compared to stances and strong strikes of Southern styles or the very distinctive characteristics of traditional bagua and taichi. But the pro-bending style looks much more like boxing than wushu to me. ...And frankly that's what bothers me the most about the new show >.> Otherwise it's all good!

[Brother Oni]

I wouldn't recognise Norther Shaolin style if they punched me in the nose with it, so please be considerate if I'm very wrong. That said, the pro-bending style exhibited by Mako looks very much like boxing: slightly bent forward, arms held before the face, quick steps back and forth. But, as I say, for all I know those are also characteristics of Norther Shaolin.

Don't worry, I won't bite (much). :smalltongue:
There's nothing wrong with admitting to not knowing about a relatively uncommon bit of information.

Further to Ceric's post, I should clarify that of the four main bending styles, firebending fits boxing the best, not that boxing and firebending are very similar.
It's more a matter of the least square peg going into the circular hole.


But the pro-bending style looks much more like boxing than wushu to me. ...And frankly that's what bothers me the most about the new show >.> Otherwise it's all good!

It could the competition versus traditional practice versus effective fighting style distinctions I commented on earlier as to why pro-bending resembles boxing more than wushu.

You have limited space to move, you only expect attacks from a certain direction (you're not allowed to smack them off the side of the arena), the attacks have limited target locations (from the pro-bending explanation video, you're not allowed to headshot with earth attacks for example) and are generally of a certain type (all earth attacks are of those clay skeets, which break on impact, all water attacks are water, not ice, etc).
All of the above leads to an optimal, specific fighting style for the sport, hence why pro-bending looks like boxing more than wushu.

I'll have to rewatch the scenes again, but I don't remember big braziers present for the fire - as I remember, only certain firebenders can actually make fire out of thin air.

[Ashen Lilies]

I think the boxing style Mako has just represents the 'shift' (or if you're a traditionalist, 'corruption') of the traditional firebending styles to fit with the needs of pro-bending. Bolin's style as exhibited in the gym while training Korra also looks a lot like boxing, compared to the more traditional stance Korra uses initially.

@^: ALL firebenders can create fire out of 'thin air' in the show. The 'only certain firebenders can do it' is an M. Night Shyamalan movieverse invention.

[Welknair]

Random post, having not read the prior conversation:

In the first series, did they have the concept of "Running out of juice"? I don't remember it, and it seems like a pretty fundamental part of how bending works.

[Brother Oni]

@^: ALL firebenders can create fire out of 'thin air' in the show. The 'only certain firebenders can do it' is an M. Night Shyamalan movieverse invention.

I might have been mis-remembering, but didn't Iroh had the title 'Dragon of the West' due to his ability to literally breathe fire in combat?

That combined with his minor mis-use to reheat a cup of cold tea leads me to the interpretation that only a limited number of firebenders can spontaneously generate fire.

I think I'll probably have to rewatch the series again -it's been a while and my memory gets a bit faulty in my old age. :smalltongue:

[Welknair]

I might have been mis-remembering, but didn't Iroh had the title 'Dragon of the West' due to his ability to literally breathe fire in combat?

That combined with his minor mis-use to reheat a cup of cold tea leads me to the interpretation that only a limited number of firebenders can spontaneously generate fire.

I think I'll probably have to rewatch the series again -it's been a while and my memory gets a bit faulty in my old age. :smalltongue:

It's been a while for me as well, so I am quite fallible, but how I remember it:

All firebenders can create it "Out of thin air". Zuko's reaction to the tea-cup incident was simply out of not wanting to get caught, not because he was doing something extraordinarily impressive.

The "Dragon of the West"... I don't think it's properly explained, but my guess would be it has something to do with the movements. Normally firebending is channeled through strong, quick movements, focusing one's intentions. The ability to open your mouth and have pure fire come shooting out is still exceptional. Most firebenders don't have that level of focus. Or something like that?

[Lord Blace]

The "Dragon of the West"... I don't think it's properly explained, but my guess would be it has something to do with the movements. Normally firebending is channeled through strong, quick movements, focusing one's intentions. The ability to open your mouth and have pure fire come shooting out is still exceptional. Most firebenders don't have that level of focus. Or something like that?

Actually, it has been explained. Someone gets the title of dragon after they've killed one. Iroh found those two that helped Zuko and Aang with firebending, but lied about killing one to protect the last dragons.

[Brother Oni]

In the first series, did they have the concept of "Running out of juice"? I don't remember it, and it seems like a pretty fundamental part of how bending works.

In the first series, most fights didn't last long enough for them to run out of power and the ones that did tended to be running battles that let the benders rest and recharge between contacts.

In the battle at the North Pole between the Northern Water Tribe and the Fire Nation, I wouldn't be surprised if there was an officer that cycled the benders in and out of combat, much like the Romans did.

Even the colosseum battles that Toph was involved in didn't last as long as a pro-bending match (they were usually decided by knockout or ringout before then).



All firebenders can create it "Out of thin air". Zuko's reaction to the tea-cup incident was simply out of not wanting to get caught, not because he was doing something extraordinarily impressive.


I'd argue that it was a bit of both - Iroh's ability to just sit and focus sufficient chi to heat a cup of tea (compared to the relatively extravagant physical actions that normally accompanies fire bending) is impressive, in addition to Zuko's unwillingness to not get caught.

That said, remembering the North Pole battle does point towards spontaneous fire generation, although I'm still fairly sure that it's easier for them to manipulate exisiting fire than to make it themselves.

[Lord Blace]

I'd argue that it was a bit of both - Iroh's ability to just sit and focus sufficient chi to heat a cup of tea (compared to the relatively extravagant physical actions that normally accompanies fire bending) is impressive, in addition to Zuko's unwillingness to not get caught.

That said, remembering the North Pole battle does point towards spontaneous fire generation, although I'm still fairly sure that it's easier for them to manipulate exisiting fire than to make it themselves.

Except that the show hasn't even ever shown any of the firebenders (even the faceless mooks in helms) manipulate from an existing fire, at least not that I can remember. The whole heating up tea thing was about getting caught, I mean that's why Jet got all, "THEY'RE FIREBENDERS!" after seeing Iroh with his reheated tea. Which leads me to believe something as simple as that must be a pretty common firebender thing.

[Welknair]

Thanks for the clarification, Oni - That makes sense.


Except that the show hasn't even ever shown any of the firebenders (even the faceless mooks in helms) manipulate from an existing fire, at least not that I can remember. The whole heating up tea thing was about getting caught, I mean that's why Jet got all, "THEY'RE FIREBENDERS!" after seeing Iroh with his reheated tea. Which leads me to believe something as simple as that must be a pretty common firebender thing.

/Agree

My interpretation exactly.

[Yuki Akuma]

It doesn't have to be common. Only Firebenders can use chi to heat things.

Controlling plants using the water inside of them isn't common, either, but if someone suddenly started controlling vines "HE'S A WATERBENDER!" would not be much of a leap.*

*At least, for people who realise that plants are mostly made of water.

Also, yes, Firebenders can control existing fires (and existing lightning). They just also have the ability to directly ignite air using their chi, which is far more useful in combat. One would assume the 'controlling existing fires' techniques are mostly used by firefighters and such. It's also probably how they block attacks from other Firebenders?

[Knaight]

Also, yes, Firebenders can control existing fires (and existing lightning). They just also have the ability to directly ignite air using their chi, which is far more useful in combat. One would assume the 'controlling existing fires' techniques are mostly used by firefighters and such. It's also probably how they block attacks from other Firebenders?

We've seen some of these blocks. Iroh's lightning redirection technique is exactly this, and Korra's jump through the cloud of fire is clearly the same. To some extent, it also showed up in the Agni Kai scenes.

[Lord Blace]

Oh yeah, I didn't mean to imply that I think they COULDN'T, just that all of them can spontaneously ignite the air into fireballs and the like fairly easily. Which, as you say, is much better for combat. I think the tea thing COULD be a common thing as a general application for firebending, and really not that special. I mean, Zuko activating his "fire daggers" or what-not didn't require elaborate movements, and I believe Toph did her Ba Sing Se sand replica with a stomp. It was the movieverse that needed a 30 minute dance to move a little stone forward 5 feet. :smalltongue:

[Knaight]

Which, as you say, is much better for combat. I think the tea thing COULD be a common thing as a general application for firebending, and really not that special. I mean, Zuko activating his "fire daggers" or what-not didn't require elaborate movements, and I believe Toph did her Ba Sing Se sand replica with a stomp. It was the movieverse that needed a 30 minute dance to move a little stone forward 5 feet. :smalltongue:

However, both Zuko and Toph are known to be extremely competent. Toph in particular is far better at earth bending than almost everyone else. Bumi might be as good, but anyone else that capable is dead. As for Zuko, it's worth noting that he is very much capable, and simply seems less able than he is due to being overshadowed by Azula.

[Lord Blace]

The Ba Sing Se replica wasn't serious. However, in the same dragon episode where we are told about the dragon title we see Aang AND Zuko make a small flame with, again, minimal movement. And this is when both of them are in extreme low points with their firebending ability.

[Brother Oni]

The whole heating up tea thing was about getting caught, I mean that's why Jet got all, "THEY'RE FIREBENDERS!" after seeing Iroh with his reheated tea. Which leads me to believe something as simple as that must be a pretty common firebender thing.

Just because you can swing a sword effectively, doesn't make you a qualified surgeon. :smalltongue:

In this way, just because the average firebender can throw fireballs at people, doesn't mean they can focus just enough heat into a teacup without drawing attention.

Jet got all fired up because only firebenders could have reheated that cup like that, not that it's a common firebender trick. I'm fairly sure that I don't remember any other small demonstrations of firebending fine control like that (Zuko's party trick as a campfire lighter* aside).

*Edit: changed wording as camp firelighter can mean something else entirely. :smalltongue:

[Knaight]

This (http://www.tor.com/features/series/avatar-the-last-airbender-rewatch-on-torcom) is unrelated, but should be of interest.

[Yuki Akuma]

However, both Zuko and Toph are known to be extremely competent. Toph in particular is far better at earth bending than almost everyone else. Bumi might be as good, but anyone else that capable is dead. As for Zuko, it's worth noting that he is very much capable, and simply seems less able than he is due to being overshadowed by Azula.

...Yeah. Remember, the first series centered about master benders of their respective elements. Anything Aang, Katara, Toph and Zuko (and Iroh and Azula) do should not be considered normal.

[Brother Oni]

Apologies for not picking this up in my earlier post - I think I've got the invisible post bug.


...Yeah. Remember, the first series centered about master benders of their respective elements. Anything Aang, Katara, Toph and Zuko (and Iroh and Azula) do should not be considered normal.

Well Katara advances from a common bender to a master bender (although probably not THE Master bender) through the first series, so her abilities could be taken as a fairly good guide.
Likewise, Zuko grows throughout as well, and it should be noted that he beats Katara in a relatively fair fight.

Iroh, Azula and Toph are prodigies, so I agree that anything they do should not be considered normal.

Aang's the avatar - there's not much else you can say. :smalltongue:

[John Cribati]

Likewise, Zuko grows throughout as well, and it should be noted that he beats Katara in a relatively fair fight.

Um... no? Any fight between a firebender and a waterbender is going to be skewed in favor of one or the other, depending on whether it's day or night, unless there are times when the sun and moon are both visible in the sky (this happens in certain places IRL, but has never been seen in the Avatarverse).

[Brother Oni]

Um... no? Any fight between a firebender and a waterbender is going to be skewed in favor of one or the other, depending on whether it's day or night, unless there are times when the sun and moon are both visible in the sky (this happens in certain places IRL, but has never been seen in the Avatarverse).

Well any place early in the morning has the sun and moon visible in the sky.
You also have various times where neither are present - just before dawn and just after dusk (Zuko wins just as the sun dawns).

I also suspect that the sun/moon bias is a little overstated - I agree that they're probably stronger, enough to tip an even fight, but the boost isn't THAT much.
I also used the term 'relatively fair' as Katara doesn't beat Zuko while she has the advantage but Zuko does beat her when he has it, so unless you take the victory on face value, it either implies that either Katara doesn't want to beat Zuko, or Zuko is considerably better than Katara (I believe she's been confirmed as a master bender by this point?).

[John Cribati]

I also used the term 'relatively fair' as Katara doesn't beat Zuko while she has the advantage but Zuko does beat her when he has it, so unless you take the victory on face value, it either implies that either Katara doesn't want to beat Zuko, or Zuko is considerably better than Katara (I believe she's been confirmed as a master bender by this point?).

Moon is Up: Zuko doesn't land a single hit, ends up frozen against a wall.

Sun comes up a few minutes later: Zuko frees himself, Katara goes down in 5 seconds.

(Full) Moon returns: Katara literally beats him in one move..

I'm pretty sure that says a lot about their power level at the time.

[unosarta]

So, I saw a post on the seventh page talking about the pro-bending video and the fact that Bryan at one point mentioned "no ice", and I have seen that on the official video as well, however, that only makes sense out of context. When he was originally talking about it, he was talking about the fact that you couldn't use ice to hit the head. It's very explicitly in the same bit when he's talking about no earthbending to the face, and he mentions that you can't use ice because it is just as hard as earth. To assume that he meant no ice period doesn't really make sense, since ice honestly would add very, very little complexity to the mechanics of pro-bending, and wouldn't really affect very much since the most powerful uses of it would be to do something like grab their feet, which would only be possible if you were to use the water on their side of the ring, which is explicitly forbidden by the rules. This has been something frustrating me about the pro-bending discussions in general.

Anyway; my current theory for the show's progression is that Korra will, at some point, have to lose her bending to Amon's potential energy bending (wow that sounded like physics terminology). There is no way to really stretch out the remaining element and spirituality into three seasons (if they used the previous model, and they have no reason not to), so my best guess is that Amon will remove her bending ability and she will have to learn spirituality in order to gain them back. It makes sense from Amon's position, since the avatar is not only the most powerful bender, she is in many ways a sort of political symbol of bending, and removing her would strike a very decisive blow to the bending population. This would also allow a lot of character development, since Korra has to learn to live without using her elements and then work to gain them back.

[John Cribati]

-snip-

We got the actual written rules of pro-bending some time ago, and it explicitly only allows the use of water in a liquid form, not as ice or mist.

EDIT:
http://avatarthelastairbenderonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Pro-Bending1.jpg
http://avatarthelastairbenderonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Pro-Bending2.jpg
http://avatarthelastairbenderonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Pro-Bending3.jpg

And even with these rules, it's relatively easy to break the game.

For example, there's no rule against the Earthbender putting a disc behind him so he can't get pushed back. Or better yet, shooting a disc past an opponent and making it boomerang back. Or, even better, just smashing a bunch of discs together to make a dust cloud. He's not attacking anyone with it, so that's technically a legal move.

And I haven't even starting breaking waterbending yet. There's a limit on how long a stream of water can be, but not on how big. Korra got a foul for knocking the first guy off the side instead of the back, when that attack could have knocked him back 2 zones, easily.

[Kd7sov]

Well any place early in the morning has the sun and moon visible in the sky.
You also have various times where neither are present - just before dawn and just after dusk (Zuko wins just as the sun dawns).

Point of order: this is entirely dependent on the phase of the moon. At the full moon, assuming an even horizon, the moon rises at dusk and sets at dawn, essentially on the dot. Whereas near the time of the new moon, it comes very close to rising at dawn and setting at dusk. So a waterbender's power level is dependent on the interplay of time-of-the-month and time-of-the-day.

[Yuki Akuma]

The phase of the moon also determines the strength of the power boost. Teen!Katara was only powerful enough to bloodbend during the full moon, for instance.

So Waterbenders depend on the time of day, time of month, and possibly their location on the planet? Waterbending is hard.

[pffh]

So what would happen to a waterbender on the moon?

[Yuki Akuma]

...Powers depend on the phases of the planet? I dunno.

Also: Pro-bending has no rules against the use of lightning?

[Kd7sov]

Also: Pro-bending has no rules against the use of lightning?

Is that really surprising? Think of how many characters we've seen use lightning. Three, all of them top-tier firebenders and all of them in the Fire Nation royal family.

Korra aside, how many high-level benders or politically significant people do you think are going to get involved in pro-bending?

[Soras Teva Gee]

Also: Pro-bending has no rules against the use of lightning?

Still too rare to qualify for a rule presumably? Given that it was a known capablity (unlike metalbending) but still rare enough that we only saw 3 out of the whole Fire Nation its entirely possible there are fewer lightningbenders then airbenders at the moment.

[Reverent-One]

For example, there's no rule against the Earthbender putting a disc behind him so he can't get pushed back.

Because he's wasting energy holding a disc that will probably still break when he's hit.


Or better yet, shooting a disc past an opponent and making it boomerang back.

Don't see how that's "breaking" the game. It's not like that makes it impossible to block/dodge, and the fact that the earthbender will have to keep focus on controlling it longer will leave him more vulnerable to getting hit.


Or, even better, just smashing a bunch of discs together to make a dust cloud. He's not attacking anyone with it, so that's technically a legal move.

How does blinding both teams somehow help the earthbender?

[unosarta]

Thank you for that, Herpestidae. That was a really insightful diagram. Also, you are so right about the plates (also, why couldn't one say, coat themselves in disks and prevent any damage from firebenders, or water benders potentially, or simply cementing their feet to the ground with the plates; I can't imagine the rules being interpreted against those).


Is that really surprising? Think of how many characters we've seen use lightning. Three, all of them top-tier firebenders and all of them in the Fire Nation royal family.

Korra aside, how many high-level benders or politically significant people do you think are going to get involved in pro-bending?

Also, when lightning was used (at least in the case of Azula), it takes a really long time to activate, in which time the bender is vulnerable to attack (unless protected from attack by an earthbender or something...) and even if the lightning goes off, it would very likely either knock them entirely off of the platform (against the rules) or just knock them unconscious outright (in the case of Zuko redirecting the lightning in the fight with Azula, he was basically paralyzed and he managed to somehow redirect the lightning; I feel like anyone directly hit would suffer far worse).

[Lord Raziere]

Is that really surprising? Think of how many characters we've seen use lightning. Three, all of them top-tier firebenders and all of them in the Fire Nation royal family.

Korra aside, how many high-level benders or politically significant people do you think are going to get involved in pro-bending?

Careful, Those words might come back to haunt you……haunt you…..haunt you…..:smalltongue:

[BRC]

Also, when lightning was used (at least in the case of Azula), it takes a really long time to activate, in which time the bender is vulnerable to attack (unless protected from attack by an earthbender or something...) and even if the lightning goes off, it would very likely either knock them entirely off of the platform (against the rules) or just knock them unconscious outright (in the case of Zuko redirecting the lightning in the fight with Azula, he was basically paralyzed and he managed to somehow redirect the lightning; I feel like anyone directly hit would suffer far worse).

Lightning-Redirection was Iroh's special trick. Zuko couldn't master the inner calm needed to properly Lightningbend (That's what Zuko gets for Multiclassing), but Iroh taught him how to redirect it.

But yeah, it probably just hasn't come up.

[thubby]

How does blinding both teams somehow help the earthbender?

because it doesn't blind both teams.
if I'm standing in a 5 foot wide cloud of smoke and you're outside it, i have the disadvantage because you can attack from anywhere in my front arc.
any attack i make has to come from that relatively small space.

oddly enough, such a maneuver would be most disruptive to the other earth bender.

[John Cribati]

because it doesn't blind both teams.
if I'm standing in a 5 foot sphere of smoke and you're outside it, i have the disadvantage because you can attack from anywhere in my front arc.
any attack i make has to come from that relatively small space.

oddly enough, such a maneuver would be most disruptive to the other earth bender.

Or the Earthbender could purposely move back to Zone 2, put a dust cloud in the middle of it, which he would randomly pop out of to tag someone with a disc. And at the same time, he'd be able to keep his teammates from being knocked back.

The one thing that has yet to be explained is how the territory gain occurs if a team member had been previously pushed back.

[Reverent-One]

because it doesn't blind both teams.
if I'm standing in a 5 foot wide cloud of smoke and you're outside it, i have the disadvantage because you can attack from anywhere in my front arc.
any attack i make has to come from that relatively small space.


If the smoke cloud is that small, they can simply step out of it.

[John Cribati]

If the smoke cloud is that small, they can simply step out of it.

Exactly. Trap someone in a dust cloud, pin the other guys against the ropes, wait for guy to step out, and then knock him back.

[Reverent-One]

Exactly. Trap someone in a dust cloud, pin the other guys against the ropes, wait for guy to step out, and then knock him back.

There would be no "trapping" or "waiting", it'd be you make a dust cloud, they step out pretty much immediately. The fact that you don't know which way they're going to leave the cloud makes it harder for you to be ready to hit them back in.

[dehro]

let's not forget that competitive bending isn't all that old, as sports go... bending was mostly used for chores and warfare.. certainly so when pitting multiple forms of bending one against the other.
(yes, there were games that were based on bending..we've seen kids play around in the first 3 series..but they were always bending the same element, in their games).
I am therefore assuming the idea originated in Republic City. As such, I doubt it's any older than..at most, 50 years.. probably younger. I assume that pro-bending has evolved from that.. and may very well be only a couple of decades old. It simply takes a while to go from "game played in the alleys" to a "pro" movement with a dedicated arena and a growing business around it.
rules, regulations and such are probably fairly recent too and don't really cater for special cases such as lightning bending or the off chance that the avatar or another airbender would like to take part...
Probably they're intentionally geared to keeping it simple and straightforward;
because to make provisions for every trick of every element bending school is simply impossible.. and to hammer home the idea that it's a sport/social event that is geared at friendly/sportlike competition..not destructive warfare.

[MLai]

"The rock disks must remain in solid form. They cannot be used in sand form, or as dust."

[John Cribati]

There would be no "trapping" or "waiting", it'd be you make a dust cloud, they step out pretty much immediately. The fact that you don't know which way they're going to leave the cloud makes it harder for you to be ready to hit them back in.

Not back in backward. The earthbender is specifically allowed to have as many discs in the air as he wants. Trap someone in the cloud and send a few in a somewhat arc-like formation. If it doesn't hit him, he's going to be thrown off-balance for one of your teammates to get him.


"The rock disks must remain in solid form. They cannot be used in sand form, or as dust."

The discs were definitely "in solid form" until they crashed together.:smallamused:

And let's not forget that Mako's single-handed Hat-Trick victory was reliant on the fact that there was dust everywhere, and he didn't get a foul called on him.

[Reverent-One]

"The rock disks must remain in solid form. They cannot be used in sand form, or as dust."

Yeah, I saw that too. I was thinking it's just uncertain enough whether not bending the resulting cloud counts as not using it as dust.


Not back in backward. The earthbender is specifically allowed to have as many discs in the air as he wants. Trap someone in the cloud and send a few in a somewhat arc-like formation. If it doesn't hit him, he's going to be thrown off-balance for one of your teammates to get him.

Ok, backward, my point still stands that not knowning where exactly he'll be makes it harder to hit him. Again, a small cloud doesn't trap anybody, the opposing teammate could be out by the time the earthbender as picked up his next few discs.

[thubby]

There would be no "trapping" or "waiting", it'd be you make a dust cloud, they step out pretty much immediately. The fact that you don't know which way they're going to leave the cloud makes it harder for you to be ready to hit them back in.

not if they're on the far sides of the ring.
more importantly, they can't immediately counter attack. which isn't game ending, but certainly useful.

[Reverent-One]

not if they're on the far sides of the ring.
more importantly, they can't immediately counter attack. which isn't game ending, but certainly useful.

Actually immediately (as in before the earthbender has moves) would be their best chance to counter attack, since they'd have seen where the earthbender was. It's only if they're in the cloud for a bit that it gets harder to effectively counter attack.

[John Cribati]

Ok, backward, my point still stands that not knowning where exactly he'll be makes it harder to hit him. Again, a small cloud doesn't trap anybody, the opposing teammate could be out by the time the earthbender as picked up his next few discs.

It's called mindgames. The guy's going to see discs coming for him, and he's either going to block or dodge. If he blocks, that means he's staying in the same place for enough time that you could call up a few more rocks. Then when the first two rocks crash into each other, You launch the others in an arc. Whether he steps out immediately or waits around like an idiot, he's getting tagged.

[Reverent-One]

It's called mindgames. The guy's going to see discs coming for him, and he's either going to block or dodge. If he blocks, that means he's staying in the same place for enough time that you could call up a few more rocks. Then when the first two rocks crash into each other, You launch the others in an arc. Whether he steps out immediately or waits around like an idiot, he's getting tagged.

Unless you're launching a solid line of discs with little to no space in between them, which would limit the area you can affect, there's no guarrentee they'll be positioned so he'll be hit. And he could potentially be throwing an attack at where he last saw you, which means standing there throwing more rocks could get you hit.

[Brother Oni]

I'm pretty sure that says a lot about their power level at the time.

So Zuko is a comparatively mediocre firebender who's only worth to the Avatar team is that he's the only firebender willing to teach Aang, as that's all I'm getting out of your analysis. :smallconfused:


Point of order: this is entirely dependent on the phase of the moon. At the full moon, assuming an even horizon, the moon rises at dusk and sets at dawn, essentially on the dot.

Which, the neither in the sky at the same time, or both in the sky at the same time?

Anecdotally, during the summer here (UK), you can see the moon for a while after dawn (about 3 hours?), but I concede that I wasn't taking the moon's phases into account.


--

With regard to everybody commenting on how to break the game, have you considered that perhaps the pro-benders don't pull the tricks you're suggesting is that they don't have the control or power for it?
Bending isn't a computer game where D, D/F,F+P launches a fireball, it's a sport where everybody makes mistakes and every situation is different due to circumstances.


And I haven't even starting breaking waterbending yet. There's a limit on how long a stream of water can be, but not on how big. Korra got a foul for knocking the first guy off the side instead of the back, when that attack could have knocked him back 2 zones, easily.

Except there is a limit - how much water that can be gathered in a second from those narrow channels built into the ring.

If you wanted to break the game with waterbending, then practice on upping the velocity of your water bending, so they end up as near lethal weapons. Alternately, figure out how to force water into the nose/mouth of the target and choke them - hit someone with sufficient velocity water in the face from below the mask and it's getting into your respiratory tract. :smallamused:

In case anybody misses the point, I'm being sarcastic. Pro-bending isn't a bloodsport. :smalltongue:

[Kobold-Bard]

So Zuko is a comparatively mediocre firebender who's only worth to the Avatar team is that he's the only firebender willing to teach Aang, as that's all I'm getting out of your analysis. :smallconfused:

...

You disagree?

He was tougher than random soldiers, but as far as Firebenders go he was pretty average I seem to recall.

[Brother Oni]

You disagree?

He was tougher than random soldiers, but as far as Firebenders go he was pretty average I seem to recall.

Well given Zuko was a main character and royalty to boot, the implication is that he's a better than average bender.

While his physical capabilities are above par (all his sneaking about as the Blue Spirit seems to have paid off), I'm more than willing to agree that he's only an average fire bender and uses his martial might to supplement his combat capabilities.

[dehro]

With regard to everybody commenting on how to break the game, have you considered that perhaps the pro-benders don't pull the tricks you're suggesting is that they don't have the control or power for it?
Bending isn't a computer game where D, D/F,F+P launches a fireball, it's a sport where everybody makes mistakes and every situation is different due to circumstances.

that was kind of where I was going with my post.. not only is the sport fairly recent.. so are the rules.. and it stands to reason that the teams that fight in the arena are kind of making it up as they go, strategy-wise.
they may be pros..but they haven't had the malice and "conditioning" that comes with 100+ years of conditioning, selection, training habits and development of techniques.
IRL for instance, in international football tournaments, you will occasionally see teams and players who are simply less well prepared, because in their home countries the main sport is running, judo or whatever else..and the few top level players that have ensured the qualification to their team have learned it by playing abroad.
Pro-bending is still in it's early stages.
over the decades, athletes will introduce tricks and techniques that break the restrictions in the rules, but I'm not surprised that this is not yet the case.


You disagree?
He was tougher than random soldiers, but as far as Firebenders go he was pretty average I seem to recall.

I disagree.
he beat Zao in an Agni Kai.. Zao wasn't a slouch. he faced up against his sister a number of times..yes, he got his butt handed to him most of those times..but most other opponents would have met that fate much, much quicker.
he had several distinctive techniques most other firebenders don't have (fire-daggers, to name one)..
compared to Toph and Katara he was probably never at their level, as far as mastery of their respective element goes, especially later on..but he still managed to be a very serious threath to the Gaang on more than one occasion.

[Brother Oni]

that was kind of where I was going with my post.. not only is the sport fairly recent.. so are the rules.. and it stands to reason that the teams that fight in the arena are kind of making it up as they go, strategy-wise.

I was focusing less on the actual strategy and commenting more on whether the benders would be actually physically capable of pulling it off.

For example in rugby, you can theoretically score a drop goal from your own tryline. In reality, very few players can kick the ball the 100 metres that requires and have the skill to get it within the uprights (5.6m apart) and above the crossbar (3.4m above the ground).

[John Cribati]

So Zuko is a comparatively mediocre firebender who's only worth to the Avatar team is that he's the only firebender willing to teach Aang, as that's all I'm getting out of your analysis. :smallconfused:

Considering that the fights I spoke about took place at the end of Season 1? Yeah, I guess that's accurate.

[Kd7sov]

Which, the neither in the sky at the same time, or both in the sky at the same time?

Anecdotally, during the summer here (UK), you can see the moon for a while after dawn (about 3 hours?), but I concede that I wasn't taking the moon's phases into account.

Um, both of those? Except on the days of full moon and new moon - again assuming an even horizon - there will be times when both moon and sun are visible, times when neither is visible, and times when one is visible but not the other. (Full moon negates the first and second categories, and new moon negates the third and arguably the first.)

[Silverraptor]

What day and time does the new episode come out on?

[Kobold-Bard]

What day and time does the new episode come out on?

21st of April. I don't know what time though.