Avatar: The Last Airbender/Headscratchers/Miscellaneous: Difference between revisions

** Some of them did. It's why Liberia's capital is called Monrovia. [[Being Tortured Makes You Evil|It didn't work out so well.]]

** Setting aside race relations, dissident groups either getting 'encouraged' to leave or choosing to do so has happened many times on Earth. The North American colonies and Australia are two notable examples. In the Northern Water Tribe's case, the dissidents leaving meant that the social pressure for gender equality also left (until Katara overturned things).

 

* I understand Sokka wanted to save his father and loves him dearly, and I have a lot of respect for that, but I seriously have two big problems with it. First of all, was Hakoda really in that much more danger than anyone else who was captured because he was a leader and at the Boiling Rock? If yes, I can totally understand the urgency. However, what I really don't get is why he was about to go all alone until Zuko made him accept help. Think of how much easier it would have been if the gang had worked together. Somehow, I don't think Aang practicing Firebending was worth leaving him behind...

**** Did we read the same 'Journey to the West'? Because the Sun Wukong I know is very little like Aang, spending the prologue drunkenly dicking around in Heaven until he finds a dude with a hand too big to jump out of and getting himself trapped under a huge palm-heel strike of pinnacles. Then the Buddha-wannabe Xuanzang comes along on a quest to retrieve Buddhist texts from India and bring them to China, and lets Sun Wukong out with the latter wearing a Tiara of Bodhisattva Chant Migraines so that Xuanzang could control the mischievous monkey nutcase. The rest is mostly the Buddha throwing demons at the group of monkey, pig, and 2x monk because they need 81 catastrophes for Xuanzang to attain enlightenment, mostly with the nigh powerless Xuanzang trusting every demon that comes along and wants to eat his flesh, and Sun Wukong seeing through everything but incapacitated by Bodhisattva Chant Migraines until Xuanzang is about to be a monk roast, after which he comes and saves the monk's pasty butt. I fail to see how the story of Aang is anything similar to any of this... The closest I get is Sokka as the mischievous, Cassandra Sun Wukong and Aang as the derpy but kindhearted Xuanzang (with Toph and Katara as Pig and Ogre-Monk Who Is Largely Uninteresting, I guess?). Either way, Aang is far more like Jesus, and IMO, the story is, at its core, a Western story, but I digress...

*** Re: the four elements are Greek only thing - This is a direct quote from Bryan in the art book:

**** The fact remains that the specific four elements they chose were pretty much Grecian in nature, not Chinese. Note the lack of air and presence of wood and metal. That they acknowledge it simply means that its prevalent elsewhere, but this particular bit of culture is not from China; it would've helped their case more if they stated it was from Japan, since Japan does have five elements which would work with Avatar.

* In "The Southern Raiders," I noticed that Kya (Katara's mother) had on the necklace she supposedly passed down to Katara while being interrogated by Yon Rha. So...what, did they remove the necklace from the body after the fact, or...? Though I also doubt she died extremely violently, but eh. Doesn't make much sense to have it there; maybe it's just an accident.

** This Troper always assumed that she was wearing the necklace Hakoda gave her, and he simply made it look a lot like the one that Kanna gave to her daughter in a way of showing that he loved Kya enough to try to emulate the stranger who had given Kanna a necklace that was so treasured by Kya.

** When my dad died I inherited his Rose Bowl watch. I don't see why Katara shouldn't have inherited her late mother's necklace (assuming it is the same necklace).

*** We don't know how much of Kya actually got torched.

 

* Okay, look at the picture on the [[Adrenaline Makeover]] page. Now, ignoring the fact that Katara shouldn't even be that tan in the FIRST PLACE (being that she is basically an eskimo who has lived below the Antarctic circle her entire life up until Aang), how is it that she got PALER after spending a great deal of time in EQUITORIAL countries?!

** A culture that eats a lot of fish is probably going to have medium/dark skin regardless of latitude. The reason pale skin exists is to let more sun in so your skin can use it to make a vitamin, and fish are naturally high in that vitamin.

** Each Book was animated by a different studio, which is also why there are slight differences in the appearance of the character's faces over the seasons (Aang's eyes sometimes look bigger or smaller, and it might just be me, but in the last season many characters, notably Aang and Katara, have shorter/ more "snub"-type noses).

 

* How does Sokka have a "Warrior's Wolf Tail". A plain "wolf" seems ''very'' out of place in the Avatar world.

** There are some normal animals in the Avatar world, like bears and cats. Maybe wolves exist there too.

** Maybe "Wolf" is just a general term for the species. We have poodles, golden retrievers, bloodhounds, huskies dachshunds, and the list goes on, but they're all classified as dogs. There could easily be a Bear-wolf, a Cat-Wolf, Eagle-Wolf, and Whatever-The-Hell-Else-Wolf, all classified generally as "wolves."

*** A normal, run-of-the-mill wolf is mentioned in ''Bato of the Water Tribe''.

** Iroh never ''said'' that it was ''Roku's'' headpiece. A duplicate headpiece could have been created after Sozin gave his to Roku, then passed down from Sozin to Azulon to Iroh. Admittedly that wouldn't make a whole whack of sense in the context of the episode. Alternately, Sozin [[Wild Mass Guessing|could have gone to Roku's house first]], before going up the volcano, seen the headpiece on the floor, and taken it back. As for Iroh's smuggling foresight ... yeah, he's just that awesome.

*** Going to Roku's house first seems pretty reasonable. After all, if you're looking for someone, the first place you'd go is where they're most likely to be. Iroh's smuggling could either be a result of someone he trusted (probably from the White Lotus) sneaking it to him, or part of a plan he had already created.

** Perhaps, the Dai Li were keeping the war a secret from them as well.

** More likely, they were being manipulated by the Dai Li themselves. Long Feng probably had given them orders to keep the war a secret and to lead the Earth Kingdom's armies at his command rather than the Earth King's, ''or else.''

** And? Zuko's a firebender; the people in the village have been at war with firebenders for a century, and he's the declared son of who they perceive to be the root of all the misery in their lives. Their response is exactly what you'd expect from people who've spent generations suffering due to the Fire Nation.

** The ''village'' yes, I can see that. It's the ''boy'' and his ''mother'' who bug me. They met him, got to know him, ''they'' should have at least realize that not ''all'' firebenders are evil especially the one who saves your life!

*** Right. It's just like in the episode ''The Painted Lady''. After it's revealed that it was Katara all along that was helping the village, the villagers are angry and start ganging up on her because she's a water bender and she tricked them by dressing as a character from their legends. It isn't until Sokka gives his speech that they realize that no matter who she is, she did save them on multiple occasions, and only then do they come to their senses and thank her. Because of the war, hatred between the different nations are running high and cloud judgement.

** I can't help but think that things would've gone better if he didn't give a speech about how he's the son of the firelord

*** Except that the Northern Water Tribe did just that during the day of the first battle, going out in small boats to freeze up the ships. We have no reason to think that they can't do more from the safety of their walls under the full moon and even if they couldn't that still doesn't explain why they don't launch attacks during the night when the Fire Nation would have a hard time just trying to see them. Heck, the strike team sent out on the second day showed no problem locating and attacking Zhao even though they clearly didn't know the first thing about Fire Nation soldiers. But even if we assume that for some reason they can't do that it ''still'' doesn't answer why they didn't repair the walls.

*** Yes, they went out in small boats against ''one individual ship'', which was ''being attacked by the Avatar'' at the time, and it took dozens of waterbenders to neutralize the ship. Not the entire Fire Nation navy, assembled in one solid formation and ready to return fire with artillery, firebenders, and other weaponry. There is absolutely no evidence that the Northern Tribe could strike at the Fire Nation navy from behind the walls, especially considering they have to be up close to even attack the Fire Nation vessels in their boats. The moonlight provides plenty of light to see by, and you can bet the Fire Nation will have plenty of sentries on watch to make sure the Northern Tribe doesn't get close. The strike team was able to infiltrate the Fire Nation fleet because it was a very small force operating in the middle of the main assault when things were confused and they could slip in among the confusion.

*** We've seen a very, very small number of waterbenders surf around on water without boats, and those are masters. The vast majority of waterbenders in the series use boats exclusively. There is plenty of reason why the Fire Nation can win against waterbenders on water: they have greater numbers and more firepower, and waterbenders need to devote dozens of benders to disable a single Fire Nation ship. The FN navy has hundreds of ships and thousands of sailors, not counting marine infantry, that can strike at far greater ranges than the waterbenders are capable of striking, as evidenced by the fact that they had to be within fifty meters to assault the individual Fire Nation ship that Aang was attacking, and the FN navy is in a tight formation with interlocking fields of fire. If they can put out more fire (literally and figuratively) than the waterbenders can match, at greater range than they are capable of, they have fire superiority. Demonstrated capabilities of the Northern Water Tribe show that the Fire Nation can indeed do this; the Fire Nation simply has that much more weaponry to bring to bear. In naval terms, they're able to achieve a greater concentration of force than the waterbenders can manage. Replacing the walls appears to require group effort and precise motions, which will be difficult when you're being constantly bombarded by hundreds of flaming catapault shots; battle damage inflicted on the city on the second day of the siege came from the bombardment on that day, and there are signs of repairs (while Zuko is infiltrating the city, you can see sections of the walls that had taken hits the previous day - they have been repaired) The waterbenders ''do'' have to get close to the ships, as demonstrated by the fact that the ''only time they attacked a Fire Nation ship they had to get right on top of it.'' They couldn't line the walls because of artillery bombardment that was suppressing them and pushing them backward; this was a common tactic in warfare all the way back to the Romans to clear archers off walls and it appears to have worked here as well.<br />In conclusion, the Northern Water Tribe was outnumbered, and overpowered by superior FN technology, which had superior range and ability to inflict damage. Demonstrated Water Tribe capabilities, coupled with what we see of other waterbenders elsewhere in the series, indicates that they simply don't have the range to match the FN navy, or the numbers to do any serious damage to their ships once the main fleet arrives with concentrated force. There's nothing ''wrong'' with this; the benders are very powerful on water, but the FN simply has a greater industrial base and technology, allowing them to achieve greater concentration of force.<br />If the invasion force was a single flotilla, maybe consisting of a dozen or so ships, I would agree with you. The waterbenders ''should'' be able to take such a force. The fact is, though, that the Fire Nation force sent against the Northern Water Tribe consisted of ''hundreds'' of ships. That's simply too much firepower, even for a tribe of waterbenders atop their own element, to match.

*** Keep in mind also that is is actually completely consistent with what we've seen elsewhere in the series, with the Fire Nation fighting the Earth Kingdom. If anything, the Fire Nation should be in an even worse position fighting the Earth Kingdom, as they're constantly fighting on terrain that, quite literally, favors the Earth Kingdom - and they've been continuously winning over a century of constant warfare, to the point that they've got the EK armies besieged in their own home cities. Just like with the Water Tribes, the Fire Nation's armies/navies are just that much more powerful and capable due to the immense technological and engineering advantage they have.

 

* I wasn't quite sure where to put this because it bugs me on so many levels, so here goes: what the hell was going on at the end of "The Chase"? So Azula "surrenders" (and no one sees through it), then she hits [[Badass Grandpa|Iroh]] with lightning, who so far was the only person in the series to stand up to her and redirect her lightning, a technique only he knew. When he falls, Aang, Zuko Katara and Toph bend their elements at her(which for Toph really doesn't make much sense). So Azula shields herself with... fire? How does that work? Then the whole [[Captain Planet]] nightmare explodes(?!?), Azula disappears, [[You Fail Physics Forever|and the whole town is on fire]]. So, uh, what part of this makes sense?

** Azula shot Iroh when he glanced aside at Toph. He was distracted for an instant, but Azula is so damned good at exploiting weaknesses that she seized the fraction of a moment she got to hit him. That distracted the rest of the group for the instant she needed to whip up a shield of fire. Firebenders' flames have consistently been shown to have concussive force to them, demonstrated multiple times throughout the series. This is most notably in Jeong-Jeong's case, but there have been other instances where fire being created by a firebender can smash rocks, divert water, and disrupt air or other flames, so there's no reason why Azula can't whip up a shield with bent fire. In Toph's case, she was sending a shockwave of rock at Azula, which is also demonstrated elsewhere in the series, most notably when Long Feng does a similar move against Jet that hits him with enough force to kill him, so what Toph was doing actually makes perfect sense. Azula appear to create the explosion with her shield to cover her escape. The town was already on fire before they attacked her, due to all the fire Zuko and Azula had been slinging, and the flames that were generated and cast about by the explosion after the combined attack on her.

* Why does the Shell Game Master pick Toph to play? Since he's running a con (and he is running a con, or he wouldn't switch the rock halfway through), he would want to fix the odds so that the player has a 0% chance of guessing correctly. But a blind person would automatically have a 33% chance of guessing correctly, regardless of other circumstances. (Relatedly, why did he bother swapping the rock the first time she was playing? Or did he expect her companions to help her?)

** It wouldn't matter if she was blind or not, because he didn't plan on her having ''any'' chance to win. He wasn't swapping the rocks. The first game, he loaded ''all'' of the shells with rocks so she would win, and then the second, he was in the process of putting all of the rocks in his sleeve so she would lose. Toph just tricked him because she's an earthbender.

* In "The Puppetmaster", how did Hama build a prison cell, complete with a metal door and chains, in a cave under a mountain?

** With a hammer, nails, wrench, possibly a screwdriver... Look, if they have refrigerators (used for torture) and steam-powered jet-skis on this show, One lady can put a door on a cave and build a few cages. She had a lot of time. She was 30 tops, when she escaped, and had to have been there for some thirty years.

** WITH A BOX OF SCRAPS!

* Season 1, Episode 9 - "The Water Bending Scroll", How in the world did they get those boats UP THAT WATERFALL in the first place? There is simply no way they had the manpower and time to haul a steel boat and a massive Junk up a waterfall of that size.

*** Plus, YMMV, but Azula and Zuko DO seem to care for each other. Some people interpret her treatment of him in the beginning of Season 3 as rather decent (aside from the whole "Avatar still alive" thing)...

*** Definitely. Even if Zuko was determined to defeat Azula when he challenged her to the Agni Kai, she's such a pathetic, completely broken mess at the end of the fight that punishing her wouldn't have any meaning. Given that Zuko let his father off with imprisonment instead of execution, it's likely that he sent Azula to an asylum or some-such.

** Zuko doesn't ''need'' to tell Azula that she is messed up. She already ''knows'' she's messed up and says as much to Zuko during "The Beach." Telling her she's nuts would be redundant and likely only get a "Well, ''yeah''." response from her.

* You know the whole Azulon ordering Zuko dead thing? Let's assume, for simplicity's sake, that both Azula and Ozai were telling the truth (hard to believe, I know). How the heck would that version even have worked? How would Ozai have killed Zuko and gotten away with it? How the hell could Ursa kill Azulon? Why did nobody get suspicious of Ozai? And if Ozai hated Zuko so much, why didn't he just kill Zuko during the Agni Kai that he challenged him to?

 

* In "The Boiling Rock part 1" the warden threatens Zuko with revealing his identity to the other prisoners, reasoning that since he "let the Fire Nation down" he would be targeted and attacked. Between the war prisoners and ordinary criminals, who in the entire inmate body would give a rat-somethings ass about Fire Nations politics? If anything, it would garner some respect for making problems for the authority.

** Just because someone's a criminal doesn't mean they aren't still loyal to their ''country''. The country is not necessarily the same as the government. Remember, the warden calls Zuko "the '''traitor''' prince" (emphasis mine). The ordinary criminals might well hate him for being a traitor, even if the war prisoners would respect him for it

 

 

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[[Category:Headscratchers]]

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