Originally posted by KingD19
Like Marwash said, it makes sense. Toph wanted to teach people metalbending, so she opened a school. Zuko, Iroh, and probably other firebenders like Jeong-Jeong probably felt that since the war was over, they could teach instead of fight. It's like any martial art. People will learn the intricacies and higher forms eventually.
It doesn't really make sense as to how it was presented in TLA, the way I interpreted it at least.
I never considered metal bending or lightning bending something any bender could do with just some training, but was only something that could be achieved through great power and inherent skill (Along with bloodbending).
Toph didn't metal bend because she was the first to try it but because metal was to stubborn for almost every other earthbender to affect, the Fire Nation Royal Family were the only ones shooting bolts of lightning because they were the most powerful firebenders in the world.
It really cheapens the advanced forms to me when faceless dudes can shot lightning and bend metal. Granted it's a lot less powerful than what was seen in TLA from what I can tell.
I understand that it's presented differently, in Korra anyways, but I just don't like it is all.
not liking it and it not making sense are two completely different things. Your reasons for not liking it are based on opinion 'cause none of that was ever stated about lighting or metal bending in the original series.
Also, the reason both higher forms of bending are common now is because the benders in LoK ARE more powerful (more powerful, but not necessarily more skilled or better fighters) than benders from 100 years ago. The analogy that i made originally was that it's similar to running track 50 years ago.... going under 10 seconds in the 100 meters back then was considered an amazing feat, but doing the same thing now is pretty standard. it's just the natural evolution of the athlete (bender).
Originally posted by Rage.Of.Olympus
It doesn't really make sense as to how it was presented in TLA, the way I interpreted it at least.I never considered metal bending or lightning bending something any bender could do with just some training, but was only something that could be achieved through great power and inherent skill (Along with bloodbending).
Toph didn't metal bend because she was the first to try it but because metal was to stubborn for almost every other earthbender to affect, the Fire Nation Royal Family were the only ones shooting bolts of lightning because they were the most powerful firebenders in the world.
It really cheapens the advanced forms to me when faceless dudes can shot lightning and bend metal. Granted it's a lot less powerful than what was seen in TLA from what I can tell.
I understand that it's presented differently, in Korra anyways, but I just don't like it is all.
Those techniques were presented in a time of constant war. And yes, they might not have seemed that way at the time, but they are techniques that any bender can do with proper motivation and tutelage.
Toph first bended metal because she got locked in a metal box, but because she was blind and had "Earth Sense" that she'd learned from the Badger Moles, she could see that metal still had enough mineral(earth) impurities in it that she could bend it with a bit more effort. So that showed that all you needed was Earth Sense and good enough bending prowess. The fact that Aang learned Earth Sense back then and Lin knows it now shows that other benders can learn to perceive the world that way as well, not just Toph.
As for lightning bending, aka Cold Fire(or whatever it was called), yes, Iroh, Azula, Ozai, Sozin, Roku(I think), and possibly Jeong Jeong were the only Firebenders to show the talent to be able to shoot lightning. But the process was explained by the twins and probably just took a high level of study to master. No one at the time had better training than the Royal Family. After the war, whose to say Zuko, Iroh, Jeong Jeong didn't start teaching? People knew Lightning Bending was real, someone would figure it out eventually.
Bloodbending's the same way. It takes a high level of waterbending mastery(Katara/Hama/Tarrlok/Yakone) to even attempt it, but it's not out of the range of a skilled waterbender whose not averse to it's use. There's no reason Paku or that Vine guy or any of the other powerful waterbenders couldn't use Bloodbending if they learned the technique.
You guys might not like it, but I'm in agreement with Marwash. Just because it's a high level skill doesn't mean it won't eventually become something available to anyone with training. None of those techniques are out of the reach of benders of their respective element, they just have to train hard till they reach that peak. Becoming a cop's not easy in real life, having to master earth bending enough to learn metal bending probably isn't either. Etc..
Of the advanced forms, the only one that doesn't make sense is lightning becoming so abundant.
Metal Bending, going by the comics, seems to be inherent in a few individuals. This probably implies that there are Earth Benders who simply have a innate ability to bend metal. This actually makes sense and one just has to assume that the police force is built out of recruits whether than just voluntary.
Blood Bending...I honestly have no idea how Tarrlok and Yakone do it but the only thing I can grasp is that the two are related so it's possible bloodbending might just be in the blood. Granted, this doesn't explain how Katara could do it or Hama did it unless it really is just about mastery...which seems unlikely since, well, the war should not have lasted 100 years if Paku could learn bloodbending. In fact, no one could really stop expert water benders from taking over the world in this case. The Avatar can only live so long. The jury is out but it seems to be focused solely on a few exceptional individuals.
Lightning on the other hand I cannot defend. It simply makes no sense why Lightning is so easily available to the characters in the series. When we're first introduced to lightning bending, it's treated as a very refined art that only the best of the best can learn. Now people are using it casually. There are two problems with this. If I concede that teaching lightning has become so common place, how can Mako do it? He was on the streets since he was 8 and I highly doubt he went to any schools at that time while trying to stay alive. He has no training for that and neither is it particularly important to him to learn it to survive. Unless he learned it before the time of his parent's death...which implies he's been bending it since the age of 8....which means he would need to be more talented than Azula...and I would never accept that. And if it IS easy to teach firebenders how to bend lightning, why wouldn't normal soldiers know how to do it? If it's easy to teach, teach them to do it in basic training. A blast of lightning is going to be more effective. Am I actually to believe that it's impossible for trained soldiers in an army made for conquering the world to learn how to lightning bend but some random no names in Republic City can do it without difficulty?
I just can't rationalize around that...mostly because I just don't see how lightning bending can be so easy to learn now as apposed to before. It just doesn't make sense.
They do have power plants in Republic City so maybe that's covered in training or something. However how Mako was able to pick it up so easily when Zuko had trouble with with it at his age is still a mystery. Then that gang leader that got his bending taken away could also use lightning easily. This also wouldn't make sense either since it would imply that Mako and the gang leader are both better fire benders than Korra; which I also doubt.
So yeah I agree that lightning becoming common isn't really logical even in the current era.
Oh and considering how Hama picked up blood-bending in a cell, I guess it just takes years to learn considering the tech can only be used by the typical water-bender once a month.
Originally posted by NephthysIn contast in the old series they seemed to peeter around alot having wacky adventures, and Ozai was this literally faceless bad guy whose abilities we could only guess at. Korra quickly has no time for wacky adventures, and Amon is as credible a threat to Korra as it gets. In 10 episodes, Amon is a better villain than Zuko, Azula or Ozai were in 60. The threat feels imminent, the stakes are high and the tension is just right.
Zhao > Amon, by virtue of Jason Isaacs > Steve Blum. uhuh
Seriously though, if we do get multiple seasons, I do hope Amon returns and isn't killed off/neutralized.
Originally posted by wakkawakkawakkaZuko had trouble with Lightning generation due to the turmoil in his heart. In addition to being skilled, one needs absence of emotion and peace of mind as well. Though Azula generating Lightning when she went batcrap crazy does seem to go against this, but perhaps the Comet, her own skill and her intent to kill Zuko made up for this?
They do have power plants in Republic City so maybe that's covered in training or something. However how Mako was able to pick it up so easily when Zuko had trouble with with it at his age is still a mystery. Then that gang leader that got his bending taken away could also use lightning easily. This also wouldn't make sense either since it would imply that Mako and the gang leader are both better fire benders than Korra; which I also doubt.So yeah I agree that lightning becoming common isn't really logical even in the current era.
Oh and considering how Hama picked up blood-bending in a cell, I guess it just takes years to learn considering the tech can only be used by the typical water-bender once a month.
Nothing tells us that Bloodbending is insanely difficult to master in Korra's era. It is illegal, which would obviously deter people from learning it in the first place, but given that the methods to master the technique are more well known, I don't think it would take years to master it. Bloodbending without a full moon being present on the other hand was virtually unheard of until Yakone and Tarrlok came along.
Mastering/recreating something once the process to do so is known, isn't going to be as difficult as inventing that thing with no prior knowledge.
Personally, I don't like the fact that these advanced forms have become common (really just due to Lightning Generation being tied to lowly Power Plant jobs, whereas Metal Benders are high-standing cops), but the Avatar-verse has obviously advanced tremendously.
Originally posted by TheAuraAngel
Metal Bending, going by the comics, seems to be inherent in a few individuals. This probably implies that there are Earth Benders who simply have a innate ability to bend metal. This actually makes sense and one just has to assume that the police force is built out of recruits whether than just voluntary.Blood Bending...I honestly have no idea how Tarrlok and Yakone do it but the only thing I can grasp is that the two are related so it's possible bloodbending might just be in the blood. Granted, this doesn't explain how Katara could do it or Hama did it unless it really is just about mastery...which seems unlikely since, well, the war should not have lasted 100 years if Paku could learn bloodbending. In fact, no one could really stop expert water benders from taking over the world in this case. The Avatar can only live so long. The jury is out but it seems to be focused solely on a few exceptional individuals.
It's probably both an innate ability, and one that can be mastered if one can 'see' the chunks of earth in the metal. Or you definitely need the first part, whereas the second is a bonus?
Moreso mastery, knowledge of the human body which not a lot of people seem to have, as well as the mental state one is in. Hama invented the technique after being desperate, and Katara mastered the technique when she was desperate as well.
Pakku showed no reason to discover Bloodbending, and Northern Tribe Waterbenders more or less lived in seclusion, and in a stronghold rivaling Ba Sing Se in its defensive fortitude.
In Korra's era, Bloodbending is outlawed. There's probably going to be only a handful of people who know how to do it; two of those people cannot bend anymore, and one of those people would oppose an uprising.
Though yeah, perhaps if one is exceptional in bending due to genetic characteristics, it can be passed on to descendents. The parent could then teach the spiritual aspect to the child so that they can master whatever it was that their parent was damn good at.
Metalbending has something fairly similar. Toph discovered it. Lin is by far the most competent Metalbender around in Korra's era.
So...having just read the Promise Part 2 in full, I can conclude one thing: The Earth King is one of the most unlikable characters ever. He has literally declared war on Zuko because he feels the need to be a man.
And Aang is more on the Earth Kings side. Freaking grow up Aang. "Promises should never be broken"? That's stupid. Why can't he grow up and see the problem is more complex than they initially thought and the only one who knows how complex is the guy trying to deal with it? And when Katara points out the flawed logic in trying to move the colonists, all Aang can do is say "B-b-b-but he promised! D:"
Freaking hell Aang. You whined your way out of the series finale and you'll probably do the same here. 😬