thanks for watching! if you liked this video, please consider supporting me on patreon: www.patreon.com/rileyjaydennis your support on patreon would help me keep making videos like this as an independent creator 😄 *also some points about the video below:* - yes i know that toph learned earthbender from the badgermoles lol. my point in the video is that the dragons helped aang directly, master pakku taught aang directly. the badgermoles never directly taught aang. toph learned from the badgermoles long before ever meeting them. so in the teaching aang firebending process, zuko had direct help from the dragons, and katara had direct help teaching waterbending from master pakku. obviously zuko and katara still did lots of great teaching, but they weren't aang's *only* firebending and waterbending teachers, since aang also had the dragons and master pakku. toph, on the other hand, was completely on her own. the badgermoles never taught aang any earthbending, no one did. so toph was literally his only earthbending teacher, *and* she was teaching him the element that was the most difficult for him. - a bunch of people have pointed out that toph's teaching also helped him do the energybending (also yes i know it's called energybending i just wanted to called it the forehead-touchy-thing lol) because he needed to be unbendable which is a very earthebender-type of philosophy. great point! - some folks have pointed out that "letting go" of katara didn't mean he couldn't be with her, just that he couldn't be entirely attached to her and have her be the one thing that could calm him down and help him exit the avatar state (and he did successfully manage to pull himself out of the avatar state at the end), and i agree that's a good way of looking at it! - yes lots of other people/things helped aang, i am aware lol, this is just about how vital toph was and how difficult her task was. - a few comments have mentioned that he had already unlocked all the chakras, it's just that azula's lightning locked the paths between them, and the strong hit to the back unlocked the paths, in addition to putting aang in serious physical danger which activated his about-to-die-survival-mode kind of avatar state. i think that's a solid explanation i just think someone could've hit him in the back a bit earlier lol, like when toph pounded his back with rocks in "nightmares and daydreams" that could've hit the spot and unlocked it! but yeah, kinda makes sense, just seemed a bit convenient and confusing to me when watching it but loving the explanations and theories it's fun to discuss! thanks everyone!
I think that you're right, that Earthbending literally saved Ang. Also, I think Toph's teachings helped Ang in a more metaphorical way; he learned to confront the challenges in his life head-on. At the beginning of the series, he's evading his Avatar responsibilities, however by the end of the story, he sticks it out and preserves. Thus, he realizes his true destiny - and confronts his root character flaw.
He had already let go of katara in the crystal catacombs he got the chakra blocked then unblocked when he hit the protruding rock,that dosent mean he cant be with katara,that's like saying roku couldn't be with his wife,roku mastered the avatar state too so when It would come down to it aang would have to choose the world over katara
Also during the process of taking away some ones bending you need to have a strong spirit because if your weak the other person will consume your bending. In away toph teaching helped in this regard too. If toph didn't teach ang how to face his problem head on and have a strong will.and since ozi fuled by burning rage .ang probably wouldn't be able to do this technique on the him. Ozi would have consumed ang. ozi was like the rock and ang had to stop it. he couldn't avoid it.and if he buckled under the pressure he would be crushed. Toph helped ang face his fears and in dong so gave him the tools to overcome the consuming force of firelord ozi.
re: the chakra thing, the chakras are supposed to also have physical locations on the body so hitting the exact spot basically triggered the chakra. However, the chakra that he unlocked would have been the EARTH chakra, at the base of the spine, which "deals with survival and is blocked by fear." ;)
During the fight in the crystal catacombs, aang had already unlocked all chakras by letting go of katara and his chi was flowing freely throughout his 7 chakras. He says that his chakras got locked when he was hit by lightning and doesn't mention which. My idea is that since he got blasted with lightning when he was in avatar state, and basically down the back, his earth chakra got locked, which was the first one to be opened, thus eliminating the entire flow. When it was physically opened again, his chi started flowing again and he was instantly in the Avatar state.
Huh that fits surprisingly well regarding all the events after he lost the avatar state, almost all majors story points were basically him being plagued by fear. After he faces his fear and battles Ozai (and some physical reengagement of that chakra) he once again gains access to the avatar state. The more you know.
I thought the same about the romance + letting go until I rewatch, Aang was about to lose everything before him w/ Azula closing in so he decides to let go, rather than lose them forever -> enters state successfully -> gets shot by lightning. Makes sense
The "Letting Go of Earthly Attachments" was more about putting his duty as the Avatar over his personal feelings. There was never any hindrance to having a family, it was about putting duty before love.
basically if Katara was in the middle of the fight and Ozai was about to kill her, Aang would have to let her go in order to go into the avatar state or something like that.
The guru calls it the thought chakra and says it's blocked by earthly attachment. Attachment leads to fear of loss. Fear will cloud your thoughts, blocking the chakra. And we can see Aang being scared of losing Katara. That fear blocked the chakra until he was ready to let go it.
Also, the lion turtle said that to bend one's spirit your own spirit must be unbendable, just like in earthbending. Without Toph, Ozai's spirit would have corrupted Aang
@@tristanfirepro For Aang to learn earthbending he had to learn to be stubborn and unmoving himself, Toph was a big component in pushing him to be like that. He needed to be the same thing for energy bending, his spirit must be unbendable. If Toph hadn't taught him to be like a rock he wouldn't have won
@@tristanfirepro Well remember that Aang thought like an Airbender, always taught to evade and avoid! Earthbending is the complete opposite of Airbending! Toph, being Aang's teacher, taught Aang how to stand his ground and to be grounded! She taught him to attack his problems head on! In order for Aang to bend the energy of another, he had to unbendable, unless he became corrupted in the process! Aang being successful in not being unbendable is due to the lessons Toph gave Aang in Earthbending! Aang stood tall in his beliefs in not taking a life! His belief was so strong and grounded that he was able to overcome and successfully take away Ozai's bending! Hope this makes sense!
@@tristanfirepro She showed him that in earth bending one has to stand their ground and be unmovable no matter what. With this knowledge he stood his ground in the spirit battle against Fire Lord Ozai's spirit.
I think the idea behind Aang needing to let go of Katara is not that he couldn't love her or be with her, but that he had to let go of his earthly attachment to her in order to fully control the Avatar State. Think about it: Any time during the series when Aang loses his cool and slips into the Avatar State in complete rage, Katara is always the only one who can talk him down. Whether it was when Aang saw Monk Gyatso's skeleton or when Aang was about to completely annihilate the sand benders in the desert, Katara has always been the only one who can snap Aang out of it. And it's because Aang loves her so much and is so attached to her. That's sweet and all, but it's not sustainable for Aang to be able to control the Avatar State on his own. Katara's not always going to be there and Aang needed to learn how to control this ability without her as a crutch. In order to do that, he had to let go of his emotions and earthly attachments. Not forever, but for long enough to go into the Avatar State and be 100% in control.
Yeah now that you phrase it like that, Aang having Katara to bring him back down to earth every time he lost his cool kinda acted like a crutch for him. It made it easier to lose control because katara would be there to reign him back in which took the responsibility of remaining in control of the avatar state off on Aang where it should have been and onto Katara.
@@RileyJayDennis To continue with that statement, I think the Avatar state became unlocked was because that rock hit Aang where Azula's lightning struck him. I think the writers meant that the rock "corrected" the block by reshaping the damage Azula did.
@@RileyJayDennis if she won head-on against Azula, I don't think it'd be quick. There was an interesting "versus" video somewhere in here that went into it, but the big part is Azula's ability to recognize an opponent's strengths and weaknesses (she's very strategic), plus we already saw her ability to evade what Toph threw at her in their brief encounter underground. She doesn't stay in one spot long, moving quickly and in unpredictable patterns. It wouldn't take her long to realize Toph uses her feet to see, and if she couldn't burn them directly, she'd at least make herself more "invisible" like Aang did with his air bending. Now, if she was fighting paranoid, erratic, finale-Azula ... who wasn't thinking straight, then yes, she'd probably be able to win pretty easily.
My thoughts re: Avatar state in the last battle is that it was that more primal Avatar state that we see in book 1 and early book 2, rather than the more "in control" Avatar state we see with Kyoshi and Roku. Aang was not in control and would have killed Ozai if it weren't for his determination to find another way.
The Avatar state was almost contrary to Aangs nature, he rarely entered it after he ended the war. His trepidation towards being the Avatar runs deep at an unconscious level.
I love how in the metal bending on the ship that she does, she doesn't show her eye either and the guards just lose their minds because this metal thing is beating the tar out of em and they just get so lost because how can it see!
No matter how cool it looked, watching what's supposed to be inanimate (of that time) scale the walls and ceiling, then beat the hell out of you is scary. I would've called it a day and held my hands up. I'm not fighting *THAT.*
I think she meant having someone to help her train aang. The moles taught her but not aang. And the dragons didn’t teach Zuko how to firebend originally.
Someone said that another possibility was the lion turtle was the one who unblocked Aang's back chakra by energybending Aang and the sharp rock just activated the Avatar State. Also Guru Pathik meant that his duties should be priority over his love and that he has to be willing to give up his love if the time comes.
@@RileyJayDennis I agree about Guru Pathik, I feel like it was sort of like a stoic 'letting go' of 'material wants/needs' sense. Like if it ever came down to saving his loved ones or the rest of the world, he would have to 'let go' and choose the greater good.
Christopher The Nerd I’m not sure that Guru Pathik is a reliable narrator. It feels very likely his views on the avatar state are colored by his own life choices. Especially when legend of Korea is added it does not appear that the avatar is required to detach full from worldly desires.
How Sokka’s boomerang saved the world. How Zuko’s firebending saved the world. How Katara’s waterbending saved the world. How Azula’s lightningbending saved the world. How Suki’s determination saved the world. How Uncle Iroh’s compassion saved the world.
Honestly, all of them played a part and if a member of team avatar wasn't there at the end, their chances would have lowered drastically. I love how everyone did something in the end
Exactly!! Toph did what is in the video, Sokka gave all the ideas on how to take the airships down and keep Toph safe, Suki saved Sokka and Toph, Zuko made Azula go mad so Katara could beat her and Aang obviously took the fire lord´s power
Suki didn't do too much in the grand scheme of things if I remember correctly, but she still saved Sokka and Toph in the end which is greatly appreciated
preach brother, cause honestly despite making a lot of good points this video felt like she underplayed all of team avatars efforts and just went full fan girl over toph
I'm hoping there's an avatar game that comes out, and Toph is just friggin OP, except she(we) can't see. Atleast, not how other people see. She senses the vibrations in the ground and we as players only 'see' objects that move or etc
It seems that people like Toph, Azula, and Katara do not come around often! Those three are rare prodigies! Even during the events of Korra, Korra did not have bending prodigies in her team!
The traumas to the sight of injury from Azula was severe, the avatar state is a defence mechanism before it’s a weapon. The lion turtle unblocked the chakra’s via energy bending (aka the forehead touchy thing) so it was on standby for most of the fight. The one thing I feel is worth noting, the reason Aang was on defence the whole was solely because he didn’t want to kill, not necessarily because he was outmatched. If it was any other avatar, the fight would have ended at the lightning redirection.
Not only that.. Aang would have found a different earth bender to teach him if he couldn't get toph.. But who knows how much longer it would have been for him to be found if katara and sokka hadn't
Not mentioned, but there's a plot point about being "unbendable" that the Lion Turtle leaves Aang with in regard to bending the energy of another. I think that's another really important piece to why Toph's Earthbending teaching saves the world. Toph's lesson about facing problems head on and being unmoveable had to have factored into Aang's development into someone that was unbendable. Obviously, there's the other aspect that Aang became determined to not kill anyone and, essentially, became an unbendable energy, but I do think Toph's teachings are important in developing that. Stubbornness is just as much a part of it as being resolute in your values.
They didn't turn her into a cop in "legend of korra" She turned into a cop in the avatar universe in general If TLoK never existed she would still be a cop.
4:29 Aang was able to enter the avatar state in the finale because he had previously (and permanently) come to terms with letting go of Katara. That part of his chakra isn't saying that he can never love anyone for the rest of his life or else he can't enter the avatar state. It's saying he has to be willing to sacrifice what he loves for the greater good should the situation call for it.
I always thought the scar on aangs back was like his Achilles heel. So when the back-pointy bit hit him the avatar state was triggered bc it’s a defense mechanism
The way I think of it aang let go of his dependence of katara when hes trying to quickly go avatar state when battling azula and getting struck was sort of like his chakra's being paralyzed or stopped, but getting hit in the back was like a pressure point therapy that unblocked it and even though he ends up with her still, he had already realized his importance in the world and that he needs to be the avatar at the forefront of everything actively choosing the avatar state control over her before azula takes him out
The reason he lost the ability to use the avatar state was because if the avatar dies in the avatar state the avatar dies, and thats what happened, aang died in the avatar state and that means the avatar dies
I think there's also a lot of influence from Toph is the energybending itself. The voice over from the lion-turtle says that Aang's spirit must be unbendable. That sounds an awful lot like her earthbending philosophy.
I’ve never really thought about it like that, that’s a REALLY good point. I always thought she was the best character regardless, but now I have proof! Thanks! Great video, love all your stuff. Keep it up!!!
yangchen told aang that in order to be the avatar he cannot detach himself the way guru patik wanted him to let go of katara, meaning letting go of katara didn’t matter anymore it meant finally embracing not only the avatar state but the avatar’s DUTIES to the world and its people.
"letting go" doesn't mean "can't be with". "letting go" just means "be willing to lose her" he did unlock his chakra and he did let go of Katara when he got shot with lightning. So all he needed was to get his chakras to be realigned .
The only way for Aang to pin down Ozai in a way similar to how he did with Earthbending without Earthbending is if he were to have learned Bloodbending, which he didn’t, but I just wanted to point that out... EDIT: Just realized that Bloodbending without a full moon was only ever accomplished during the events of Legend of Korra..
That smart idea because aang can bloodbending even in the morning because y know his the avatar and he can bend anything +remember when su said to korra I will teach you metal bender y can bend it because you are the avatar (I don’t remember what she said but it something like that) + even if ozai win Toph - iroh - zuko - katara -will team up vs ozai and iroh is stronger than ozai or ozai stronger a little bet But with zuko and katara and toph with iroh Ozai has no chance against them Maybe he will do some massive damage to one of theme but They will win
@@quinesan actually in the episode it was shown that there WAS a fullmoon when katara was bloodbending the sea raven captain. it showed them flying infront of a fullmoon.
actually Toph learned from Badger Moles. she developed her style from them. she had some breathing techniques from that crud teacher, but mostly badger moles.
@@sjkdsfsdf52 well yeah practice is important but the badger moles taught her to feel everything in or on the ground and rocks flying through the air...
Great Video! In regards to the rock unlocking the Avatar State for Aang, I think it has to due to Chi Blocking. The Air Nomad tattoos are placed along the Chi Paths in the body. So when Azula shot lighting at Aang, she severed the Chi Path, blocking his ability to fully enter the Avatar State. Although Katara's Spirt Water healing reconnected the Chi Paths, he still needed something physical to open the flow of energy; akin to how Ty Lee used pressure points to block chi or the practice of Accupuncture. So in theory, Toph could've opened the flow of energy with the Porcupine in the Episode "Nightmares and Daydreams". Again just my thoughts. Keep up the good work!!😁
ooohhhhhh love that idea about the chi blocking! omg imagine if toph had accidentally unlocked it in that episode that would've been amazing 😂 aang's like upset and tired, and toph's like whoops sorry here have an avatar state
This is exaclty what i came to comment. They didn't know they could unblock it but it would have to be way more pressure than tylee chi blocking so if they had had someone like tylee try it may not have even worked.
My explanation for the avatar state chiropractor solution is as such: Aang successfully opened all his chakras, but was struck by lightning while in the avatar state. He died, and Raava left him for that time. When Katara revived him, Raava reentered his body, but his chi was all messed up from, well, being dead and having been struck by lightning on one of the really important chi lines. Being hit by the rock combined with the intense fear of death reopened his chi lines, and allowed him to go into the avatar state. You can accept that things will leave this world (letting go of Katara) while still loving and cherishing them. Ye.
The earth ball to me is a beautiful mix between how Aang makes his air scooter/ air bubbles and the rock armor toph makes . It’s a amazing blend of the two opposing force’s the way he makes the earth ball makes it looks like he’s air bending ..but the material is so sturdy and heavy unlike air. He’s truly a master thanks to toph because she taught him the most difficult bending with no assistance. And if you rewatch the battle he uses earth bending the most in his battle with ozai, despite him learning and mastering air, then water bending. He needed the most sturdy and unbending element and toph showed him just how strong earth can be and he used it to save his life and the world.
4:20 Note that after Aang got struck by lightning and after he got healed, the Avatar glow came back for a second. This indicates that his Avatar state wasn't blocked by the lightning at all, but rather something else. Aang actually did open all the chakras in the last episode of book 2. My theory is that his fire chakra got blocked afterwards because he was ashamed of his loss in the Earth Kingdom and further blocked through the loss during the invasion in book 3. When he was knocked into that stone, Aang was reminded of his loss in Ba Sing Se. But because of his firebending training with Zuko (fire - the element of power and will), instead of accepting defeat, his will intensified and unlocked the fire chakra again. This lead to all chakras being open and allowed Aang to enter the Avatar state.
The previous Avatars never tell Aang to outright kill Ozai. All of their messages amount to ‘you must deal with him’ which I think spoke more to his fears about facing Ozai unprepared and noting being able to go into the Avatar state at that time. While Aang interprets all the advice as ‘kill Ozai’ I think the advice the other airbender gave him was the most important-you must let go of your personal fears and beliefs and fight for the world. While Aang still consciously heard ‘kill Ozai’ he needed to hear that his beliefs, the airbender philosophy, everything he was was irrelevant in the face of what amounted to a nuclear bomb. He encased himself in rock to try and hide himself but as Ozai burned through it, as the point formed, as his chakra opened up, Aang finally let go and lived for the planet and all its people. I think the plausibility is irrelevant because that was what needed to happen for him to reach the Avatar state again so it did. Regardless Toph is the greatest earthbender in the world, I will die on this hill. (Then she’ll pop out to kick your ass.) 😂
The lion turtle unlocked Ang’s chakras so he could have used the avatar state but didn’t want to so he didn’t kill Ozai. Untreated Ang could energy bend since the swamp episode.
@@da8617 I think he is going with the tree seeing bits, which is a simple form of energy bending to sense other energy that is connected to the tree. Less difficult than actually ripping a person's bending out of their soul or whatever actually happens when taking bending away. Maybe a permanent chakra block? Dunno. But yeah! Big swamp tree episode.
From my understanding chakras in real life are also tied to your physical body, not just spiritual needs. You can physically interact with your chakras to help them flow and focus on the energy in those points, so I imagine it’s the same in the show, and that’s why him getting hit there on the rocks unlocked that chakra. Also, I always took the “let go of Katara/whoever” mindset for the Avatar State to be less about your ability to be with certain people and more about the reason you’re with them. I think it’s less of a “You definitely can’t find love” type thing bc the avatars before and after Aang had love interests. I take it to mean accepting that your roll comes before any one person, and they can’t be your drive for keeping peace.
On the subject of the aAatar state, I have two thoughts. First, I think getting hit in the back triggered the Avatar state for the same reason falling into the stormy ocean did at the very beginning of the show. It was pure survival instinct. We see the same thing in Legend of Korra when Zahir uses poison to trigger the Avatar state. Second, I think Guru Pathik was partly wrong. I think the method he was teaching Aang was one way to master it, but not the only way. Multiple past Avatars tell Aang that the Avatar's connection to the world is important. The most recent air Avatar told him point blank that as the Avatar, he needed to put the good of the world before his personal spiritual enlightenment. That's a pretty good indication that having earthly arrangements doesn't prevent you from having full control. I think Aang felt that way after his training with Guru Pathik because he was convinced that it was true, so he didn't even try to access it another way. We see other Avatars use the Avatar state multiple times while having clear earthly attachments, including Aang during a flashback in Legend of Korra well after he married Katara.
I think the same about the guru. He was just an old crazy man who didn´t know what the avatar state is or how it works. He only confused all the fandom and the protagonists
There wasn't a single member of Team Avatar who didn't contribute to Ozai's defeat in one way or another, but you're 100% right about Toph's contributions to the battle and to Aang's bending knowledge.
Riley has been really digging on the Avatar videos lately... and you know what? I am too! I get the impression a lot of people are re-watching the series during the pandemic. I've already re-watched it once at the start of quarantine, and I'm considering watching it again. That and Sense8...
Can I just say I’m glad Avatar was put on Netflix? I wasn’t able to watch it when i was younger cuz my family couldn’t afford cable tv, so I never had the chance and now, I love the show and finally get all the posts about them and experience Zuko’s legendary arc finally
Thank you for going on that side tangent about Toph and the library. It always bothered me how Aang treated her, and especially that he never apologized afterwards.
4:14 about the avatar state. In the animated short "escape from the spirit world", Aang tells Roku his method of trying to control the avatar state, which is unlocking all the chakras. However, Iroh indicates that mastering the avatar state needs years of training and discipline and Aang had tried to rush it. It was also shown that there are other methods to unlock the avatar state just like how Roku used the winter solstice sun to go in the avatar state. So I guess that explains how Aang got in the avatar state.
I don't think its supoosed to be a 1:1. He meant to go into the Avatar state when Azula struck him so once his chi was unblocked by a similar blow it would make sense that it triggers it cuz thats where he left off. I don't think theres an exact explanation but it made sense to me.
I think you could make a video on how Katara, Appa, Zuko, Iroh, Sokka, or many more saved the world. Everyone working together is what makes the victory so great. The whole Gaang was a family and they trusted and loved each other. That’s why they beat the Fire Nation. Ozai relied on fear and separation and it ended up being his downfall. Great video, keep it up
So, for the chakras, he was able to let go of Katara, but he was hit in the back, so he was physically blocked, not mentally and spiritually. That sharp blow to the back realigned his physical chakras, reunlocking the avatar state in a sudden and powerful way. He is able to let go of Katara, but only if you needs to. Just because he’s able to let go of Katara, doesn’t mean he will let go of Katara without any need to. He can be with Katara, but if something were to happen he wouldn’t have focused on just her. Edit: also I think Toph left the eyehole so she could earthbend easier, like bumi in the metal box.
So the thing with the locked chakra is that, Aang had already unlocked it. However, with Azula blasting him from the back, she forcefully severed his chakra pools from each other. Once Aang hit that rock on the exact spot Azula hit, it forced the chakras back open. It should've been explained more (like a lot of stuff in that episode), but it does have an explanation to it.
3:16 - How? I mean, yeah, he'd already taken it over, but one fleet of ships to cross a landmass that will take weeks will hardly be able to destroy the entire Earth Kingdom in less than one day. Honestly, Ozai's plan for the Day of the Comet was dumb as bricks. All he'd really have to do would be to instruct all the firebenders *_already in place_* to spread out and destroy everyone and everything around them. That would've been vastly more effective, and there would've been nothing the gAang could've done about it. Instead, at best, he would've destroyed a narrow swath of wilderness a hundred miles long or so. And he didn't even manage that.
It’s honestly amazing that they made one of the most OP characters a little girl. Prodigy doesn’t even begin to describe Toph’s level of prowess. The only time anyone could beat her was with a surprise attack and she straight up INVENTED metalbending when up until that point metal was an earthbender’s WEAKNESS. Toph is just amazing. And this is coming from someone whose favorite is Iroh.
The way I see it is Aang let go of his attachment to katara. That didn’t mean he couldn’t have a relationship with her but that the relationship would be more healthy because he’s not attached to her or her nurturing personality but chooses to be with her every day because of how he appreciates her and the things he likes about her and accepts all of her including her flaws.
Yeah, that also explains how in legend of korra when we learn about Kya, Bumi and Tenzin’s relationship with Aang it makes sense. He put his duties as the avatar and as the last airbender first, he spent more time with Tenzin bc he also saw it as his duty to make sure the air nomad culture would live on through tenzin and thus restore peace uwu
I like that she kept the eye hole, more to make Aang look her in the eyes while he pushed her. He had to recognize his opponent was human and fight them anyway.
One more thing to give Toph credit for, she was the first to accept Zuko into the group and her meeting with Iroh in "The Chase" is something that helped Iroh help Zuko on the journey. Without her Aang and the others may not have accepted Zuko, or if they had it may not had been in time for the comet.
Toph made so many things possible for Team Avatar that they never could have achieved without her. She could 1. Sense structures underground 2. Wake from sleep to warn them of an ambush that was still a mile away 3. Take out an entire palace worth of guards and a room full of dai li agents while also defending the whole group from attacks 4. Save them from certain death by falling boulders and collapsing cliffs with a wave of her hand 5. Save them from drowning by lifting the earth underneath them to above the surface 6. Held up an entire underground library that was filling with sand using her own two little arms ...and i could go on. She's truly the greatest earthbender to ever live. She also kicked 16 year old Korra's ass without moving her arms at the age of 86 and didnt take a single blow
What I like about avatar so much is that every (main cast) character in my opinion hold weight in the ultimate goal of defeating the fire lord and bringing peace. Like I really don’t see it possible to defeat him without one of these characters. Anyways great video
Toph was quite frankly aang best teacher period, she got him to think like an earthbender, he eventually used earth ending probably more then any element but air by the end, against Asuka on the drill and against ozai it’s very clear he stands his ground and his earth bending is sooo strong and sooo good it holds up to ozai enhanced firebending for like a full minute which is crazy, honestly in the last fight in terms of combat applications I’m pretty sure he uses earth more then any element(if we count the air assisted movement it’s definitely more airbending but combatively I think it’s earthbending) The best explanation I’ve seen for the rock thing is that it was basically jus the universe rewarding aang for having basically done all the steps and done everything he should have had to do to control it but a injury prevented it
I think it's worth mentioning that when the lion turtle gave Aang the energy bending knowledge he said that his own spirit must be unbendable. I think that Toph's teaching would contribute to this as a concept of earth-bending.
Also, in one of the episodes Toph says something like "is it possible for friendships lasts for more then one existence?" as she holds Aangs hand, some time later she becomes friends with Korra and AGAIN is VERY importante in saving the Avatar!
You raise wonderful point on how awesome Toph was in the show. However, Toph learned her earthbending from the original earthbender master the badgermole.
Completely agree with this analysis. Toph's earth/metal bending abilities are not to be reckoned with! Like you said in this video; it's unreal how easily she took out the powered up fire nation soldiers (Sozen's comet power them up) with metal bending.
I always thought the eye hole in the rock was just to flex on Aang, but connecting that to Aang's future usage of the crystal armor he wears makes a lot of sense. Toph is such a badass.
5:27 yes Ozai did sabotage himself by eroding the rock BUT ALSO you can see it from the lens of him as a father. He created the person azula had become as he wanted to manipulate her as his own war mongering monkey. She was the one who gave Aang the scar on his back in the first place. So Aang’s chakra being realigned is a product of ozai’s choices not only in this scene but in his life. This show truly comes full circle
my thoughts on letting go of attachments: I don't think it's necessarily letting go of them permanently. It's just knowing how to let go of them by necessity and choice when duty arises. Mastery of the avatar state is mostly about learning control which means being able to enter in and out AT WILL. For most of Aang's entry prior meeting with Guru Pathik, he couldn't get in the avatar state unless his life was at risk or when he's overcame by great emotion. He also could not get out of it without Katara who tethers him. In order to truly control the avatar state meaning getting in and out at will, he had to learn how to let go of his personal feelings to prevent him from destroying things and also to learn how to let go of earthly attachments like Katara in order to train himself to get out of the AS by himself because obviously, Katara is not going to be there for him every single time.
Ok regarding the rock and the chakras thing: I actually think your point about earthbending and standing his ground is philosophically important to this mental conflict as well! It's not JUST Katara that blocks his 7th chakra, but she represents everything earthly that he loves and isn't willing to leave behind. And we've seen time and time again how important the air nomad culture and his upbringing are, which is why he isn't willing to give up the teachings of his past. Aang confronts the killing Ozai situation like an airbender at first, trying to dance around the problem and find a solution. By thinking like an earthbender, he stands his ground and says that he's not willing to let go of his past and earthly attachments to his people by killing Ozai. BUT he also doesn't NEED to give up those teachings or those earthly attachments to access that cosmic power because his duty is to the world (as Avatar Yangchen explained to him). So when he's in that critical moment with the rock, the pain and trauma reminds him of his own mortality, and how Azula almost killed him. But this time he realizes that because his duty is to the world, part of that duty is protecting and reviving the air nomad culture he was a part of. He doesn't need to feel sorry for "letting go" of this part of his identity (like how he apologized over Katara in ba sing se). There's no way around this conflict, other than to brute force his own will as the avatar unto the universe and access that cosmic power despite still being attached to the earth. When he treats the chakras and cosmic power like an earthbender instead of an airbender, he realizes that his cosmic power is accessible to him BECAUSE he's the avatar and BECAUSE he has an attachment to the world he is destined to bring balance to. His mastery of energybending ("your energy must be unbendable") and being able to stop himself from killing Ozai in the avatar state both show how this cosmic power in the avatar is related to earthly attachments and standing your ground, vs giving up attachments and letting go, and the rock and the scar just served as the catalyst for that memory of Aang being willing to give up Katara combining with the knowledge of the avatar spirits within him.
One thing the show didn't explain is that the "let go" to unlock the avatar state is not so extreme as Aang thought in the first time he was told it. It seens more like a realisation that the avatar has to think first in the world as a whole, so he can't be too attached to anyone or anything, because they could cloud his thinking of a big picture.
Honestly that ball of rock that he makes at the end of the series is definitely a form of rock Armour, but its also definitely a callback to his air cocoon that he was in in the beginning of the series
I wonder if it was more a psychological thing that triggered the Avatar state versus an actual unlocking of his chakras in that moment. Like, he couldn't enter the Avatar state because of fear versus any physical block, and being hit directly on his previous wound caused a huge flood of sense memory that overwhelmed him a bit and allowed him to get past his fear of dying in the Avatar state and finally embrace everything that was meant to be his destiny.
I feel like not enough people talk about just how clutch Toph was consistently though out the series. I genuinely think the team wouldn’t have made it without her
![What everyone gets wrong about Avatar: Is fleshbending possible? [ ATLA l LOK ]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/sejaGbhYKQ8/mqdefault.jpg)
thanks for watching! if you liked this video, please consider supporting me on patreon: www.patreon.com/rileyjaydennis
your support on patreon would help me keep making videos like this as an independent creator 😄 *also some points about the video below:*
- yes i know that toph learned earthbender from the badgermoles lol. my point in the video is that the dragons helped aang directly, master pakku taught aang directly. the badgermoles never directly taught aang. toph learned from the badgermoles long before ever meeting them. so in the teaching aang firebending process, zuko had direct help from the dragons, and katara had direct help teaching waterbending from master pakku. obviously zuko and katara still did lots of great teaching, but they weren't aang's *only* firebending and waterbending teachers, since aang also had the dragons and master pakku. toph, on the other hand, was completely on her own. the badgermoles never taught aang any earthbending, no one did. so toph was literally his only earthbending teacher, *and* she was teaching him the element that was the most difficult for him.
- a bunch of people have pointed out that toph's teaching also helped him do the energybending (also yes i know it's called energybending i just wanted to called it the forehead-touchy-thing lol) because he needed to be unbendable which is a very earthebender-type of philosophy. great point!
- some folks have pointed out that "letting go" of katara didn't mean he couldn't be with her, just that he couldn't be entirely attached to her and have her be the one thing that could calm him down and help him exit the avatar state (and he did successfully manage to pull himself out of the avatar state at the end), and i agree that's a good way of looking at it!
- yes lots of other people/things helped aang, i am aware lol, this is just about how vital toph was and how difficult her task was.
- a few comments have mentioned that he had already unlocked all the chakras, it's just that azula's lightning locked the paths between them, and the strong hit to the back unlocked the paths, in addition to putting aang in serious physical danger which activated his about-to-die-survival-mode kind of avatar state. i think that's a solid explanation i just think someone could've hit him in the back a bit earlier lol, like when toph pounded his back with rocks in "nightmares and daydreams" that could've hit the spot and unlocked it! but yeah, kinda makes sense, just seemed a bit convenient and confusing to me when watching it but loving the explanations and theories it's fun to discuss! thanks everyone!
I believe it's like acupuncture , the poke released energy @4:39
I think that you're right, that Earthbending literally saved Ang. Also, I think Toph's teachings helped Ang in a more metaphorical way; he learned to confront the challenges in his life head-on.
At the beginning of the series, he's evading his Avatar responsibilities, however by the end of the story, he sticks it out and preserves. Thus, he realizes his true destiny - and confronts his root character flaw.
He had already let go of katara in the crystal catacombs he got the chakra blocked then unblocked when he hit the protruding rock,that dosent mean he cant be with katara,that's like saying roku couldn't be with his wife,roku mastered the avatar state too so when It would come down to it aang would have to choose the world over katara
Also during the process of taking away some ones bending you need to have a strong spirit because if your weak the other person will consume your bending. In away toph teaching helped in this regard too. If toph didn't teach ang how to face his problem head on and have a strong will.and since ozi fuled by burning rage .ang probably wouldn't be able to do this technique on the him. Ozi would have consumed ang. ozi was like the rock and ang had to stop it. he couldn't avoid it.and if he buckled under the pressure he would be crushed. Toph helped ang face his fears and in dong so gave him the tools to overcome the consuming force of firelord ozi.
What about Bumi he could have taught Aang
Also let's be honest, the reason Toph had that eye hole is that she knew it looked rad.
toph's got style
Yeah, she is intentionally being intimidating. 😂
And maybe because you would still need oxygen when inside that form
@@ThyNervo so she breathes with her eyes?
@@Ki-D.-Weirdo ... go put on a medical mask and tell me where the air comes out from...from under the eyes and through the fabric...
Toph and Iroh will always be legends to me in my heart
legends for sure
Iroh was a war criminal who killed hundreds if not thousands.
Same ❤
Dont you mean the lords of melons and tea
The two best characters in the series
re: the chakra thing, the chakras are supposed to also have physical locations on the body so hitting the exact spot basically triggered the chakra. However, the chakra that he unlocked would have been the EARTH chakra, at the base of the spine, which "deals with survival and is blocked by fear." ;)
During the fight in the crystal catacombs, aang had already unlocked all chakras by letting go of katara and his chi was flowing freely throughout his 7 chakras. He says that his chakras got locked when he was hit by lightning and doesn't mention which. My idea is that since he got blasted with lightning when he was in avatar state, and basically down the back, his earth chakra got locked, which was the first one to be opened, thus eliminating the entire flow. When it was physically opened again, his chi started flowing again and he was instantly in the Avatar state.
Huh that fits surprisingly well regarding all the events after he lost the avatar state, almost all majors story points were basically him being plagued by fear. After he faces his fear and battles Ozai (and some physical reengagement of that chakra) he once again gains access to the avatar state. The more you know.
Thank you good sir, I no longer meet to explain this.
May this comment get many likes.
I thought the same about the romance + letting go until I rewatch, Aang was about to lose everything before him w/ Azula closing in so he decides to let go, rather than lose them forever -> enters state successfully -> gets shot by lightning. Makes sense
I’m so happy someone pointed that out
The "Letting Go of Earthly Attachments" was more about putting his duty as the Avatar over his personal feelings. There was never any hindrance to having a family, it was about putting duty before love.
I would say it was the idea of loving without passion, be in love but not go crazy about it
That makes more sense
Thank you
basically if Katara was in the middle of the fight and Ozai was about to kill her, Aang would have to let her go in order to go into the avatar state or something like that.
Exactly!
The guru calls it the thought chakra and says it's blocked by earthly attachment. Attachment leads to fear of loss. Fear will cloud your thoughts, blocking the chakra. And we can see Aang being scared of losing Katara. That fear blocked the chakra until he was ready to let go it.
Also, the lion turtle said that to bend one's spirit your own spirit must be unbendable, just like in earthbending. Without Toph, Ozai's spirit would have corrupted Aang
OOF love this comment!
Can you elaborate on this? I’m interested but I don’t get how Toph would play a part in this.
@@tristanfirepro
For Aang to learn earthbending he had to learn to be stubborn and unmoving himself, Toph was a big component in pushing him to be like that. He needed to be the same thing for energy bending, his spirit must be unbendable. If Toph hadn't taught him to be like a rock he wouldn't have won
@@tristanfirepro Well remember that Aang thought like an Airbender, always taught to evade and avoid! Earthbending is the complete opposite of Airbending! Toph, being Aang's teacher, taught Aang how to stand his ground and to be grounded! She taught him to attack his problems head on! In order for Aang to bend the energy of another, he had to unbendable, unless he became corrupted in the process! Aang being successful in not being unbendable is due to the lessons Toph gave Aang in Earthbending! Aang stood tall in his beliefs in not taking a life! His belief was so strong and grounded that he was able to overcome and successfully take away Ozai's bending! Hope this makes sense!
@@tristanfirepro She showed him that in earth bending one has to stand their ground and be unmovable no matter what. With this knowledge he stood his ground in the spirit battle against Fire Lord Ozai's spirit.
I think the idea behind Aang needing to let go of Katara is not that he couldn't love her or be with her, but that he had to let go of his earthly attachment to her in order to fully control the Avatar State.
Think about it: Any time during the series when Aang loses his cool and slips into the Avatar State in complete rage, Katara is always the only one who can talk him down. Whether it was when Aang saw Monk Gyatso's skeleton or when Aang was about to completely annihilate the sand benders in the desert, Katara has always been the only one who can snap Aang out of it. And it's because Aang loves her so much and is so attached to her.
That's sweet and all, but it's not sustainable for Aang to be able to control the Avatar State on his own. Katara's not always going to be there and Aang needed to learn how to control this ability without her as a crutch. In order to do that, he had to let go of his emotions and earthly attachments. Not forever, but for long enough to go into the Avatar State and be 100% in control.
this is a great explanation!!!! thanks!
Damn, I LOVE this reading! New headcannon!
Yeah now that you phrase it like that, Aang having Katara to bring him back down to earth every time he lost his cool kinda acted like a crutch for him. It made it easier to lose control because katara would be there to reign him back in which took the responsibility of remaining in control of the avatar state off on Aang where it should have been and onto Katara.
Also, Roku had a wife and was still able to access the Avatar State. We see this in The Avatar and the Firelord.
@@RileyJayDennis To continue with that statement, I think the Avatar state became unlocked was because that rock hit Aang where Azula's lightning struck him. I think the writers meant that the rock "corrected" the block by reshaping the damage Azula did.
She never went head on with azula. And i think it was on purpose
legit i think toph would've won real quick
@@RileyJayDennis
I completely agree
We kind of get a fight during the eclipse but it's more capture and evade than a real fight.
@@RileyJayDennis if she won head-on against Azula, I don't think it'd be quick. There was an interesting "versus" video somewhere in here that went into it, but the big part is Azula's ability to recognize an opponent's strengths and weaknesses (she's very strategic), plus we already saw her ability to evade what Toph threw at her in their brief encounter underground. She doesn't stay in one spot long, moving quickly and in unpredictable patterns. It wouldn't take her long to realize Toph uses her feet to see, and if she couldn't burn them directly, she'd at least make herself more "invisible" like Aang did with his air bending.
Now, if she was fighting paranoid, erratic, finale-Azula ... who wasn't thinking straight, then yes, she'd probably be able to win pretty easily.
@@RileyJayDennis yes you are absolutely right and since I like your comment I will sub
My thoughts re: Avatar state in the last battle is that it was that more primal Avatar state that we see in book 1 and early book 2, rather than the more "in control" Avatar state we see with Kyoshi and Roku. Aang was not in control and would have killed Ozai if it weren't for his determination to find another way.
Exactly. People don’t seem to get that. He’s definitely not in control that’s why you can hear the other avatar voices when he talks
oohh interesting
We are told early on by Roku, that the avatar state is a defense mechanism.
Strength isn't about how many people you can kill. It is about being able to kill, but choosing not to.
The Avatar state was almost contrary to Aangs nature, he rarely entered it after he ended the war. His trepidation towards being the Avatar runs deep at an unconscious level.
I love how in the metal bending on the ship that she does, she doesn't show her eye either and the guards just lose their minds because this metal thing is beating the tar out of em and they just get so lost because how can it see!
It was most likely to protect her eyes and face. Plus, she's blind, she doesn't need to take the extra second to make an eye hole anyways lol
No matter how cool it looked, watching what's supposed to be inanimate (of that time) scale the walls and ceiling, then beat the hell out of you is scary. I would've called it a day and held my hands up. I'm not fighting *THAT.*
Like zuko’s dragon, Toph had the earthbending moles to teach her.
I think she meant having someone to help her train aang. The moles taught her but not aang. And the dragons didn’t teach Zuko how to firebend originally.
JavierM zuko didn’t have his own dragon
Zukos dragon? Zuko didnt have a dragon untils DECADES later after the war ended
@@a-akarma9768 zuko did get a drafon after becoming fire lord in his later years
@@Trathien- dragons taught him advanced firebending though. Those who were protected by the original firebenders
Someone said that another possibility was the lion turtle was the one who unblocked Aang's back chakra by energybending Aang and the sharp rock just activated the Avatar State. Also Guru Pathik meant that his duties should be priority over his love and that he has to be willing to give up his love if the time comes.
oohhhh hadn't thought about that with the lion turtle, makes sense
Also maybe when he said "sorry katara" in the catacombs under the Earth Kingdom, he was unblocking the last chakra?
@@RileyJayDennis I agree about Guru Pathik, I feel like it was sort of like a stoic 'letting go' of 'material wants/needs' sense. Like if it ever came down to saving his loved ones or the rest of the world, he would have to 'let go' and choose the greater good.
I always got that sense too- the lionturtle taught him the new way he needed and spirits would know more than just a guru.
Christopher The Nerd I’m not sure that Guru Pathik is a reliable narrator. It feels very likely his views on the avatar state are colored by his own life choices. Especially when legend of Korea is added it does not appear that the avatar is required to detach full from worldly desires.
How Sokka’s boomerang saved the world.
How Zuko’s firebending saved the world.
How Katara’s waterbending saved the world.
How Azula’s lightningbending saved the world.
How Suki’s determination saved the world.
How Uncle Iroh’s compassion saved the world.
How Sokka's SEXISM saved the world
@@Trathien- lmaoo
How aang saved the world
Honestly, all of them played a part and if a member of team avatar wasn't there at the end, their chances would have lowered drastically. I love how everyone did something in the end
Exactly!! Toph did what is in the video, Sokka gave all the ideas on how to take the airships down and keep Toph safe, Suki saved Sokka and Toph, Zuko made Azula go mad so Katara could beat her and Aang obviously took the fire lord´s power
Suki didn't do too much in the grand scheme of things if I remember correctly, but she still saved Sokka and Toph in the end which is greatly appreciated
preach brother, cause honestly despite making a lot of good points this video felt like she underplayed all of team avatars efforts and just went full fan girl over toph
even ty lee got an ending
@@jackconlon6844 suki saved appa
Iroh and Toph are truly the best characters
I like how I literally see you everywhere
Toph is just so strong and so powerful it’s kind of insane. She’s practically unstoppable
I'm hoping there's an avatar game that comes out, and Toph is just friggin OP, except she(we) can't see. Atleast, not how other people see. She senses the vibrations in the ground and we as players only 'see' objects that move or etc
It seems that people like Toph, Azula, and Katara do not come around often! Those three are rare prodigies! Even during the events of Korra, Korra did not have bending prodigies in her team!
A small note: We see Aang learning Seismic Sense from Toph two minutes into Book 3, Chapter 7, "The Runaway."
“Toph is one of the best characters”
Incorrect she IS the best character
That would be true, if Iroh didnt exist!
@@LaikaLGagarin1957 TRUE
iroh is best
She's the best female character, Don't you dunderheads ever forget
Hard to pick a best when everyone in the show is so great. But yeah toph is the greatest metal bender in the world period.
oop
Toph had the badgermoles, they taught her earthbending.
Yeah but they didn't teach Aang earthbending. Toph didn't have anyone to help her teach Aang.
The dragons directly helped Aang unlock firebending, but badger moles didn't directly show Aang how to earth bend
@@FromMic yes but in the video it states she was never taught earthbending. so i think thats liv was talking about.
But the badger moles never helped her teach aang directly
To be fair, Katara kinda helped her on how to approach Aang's training.
The traumas to the sight of injury from Azula was severe, the avatar state is a defence mechanism before it’s a weapon.
The lion turtle unblocked the chakra’s via energy bending (aka the forehead touchy thing) so it was on standby for most of the fight.
The one thing I feel is worth noting, the reason Aang was on defence the whole was solely because he didn’t want to kill, not necessarily because he was outmatched. If it was any other avatar, the fight would have ended at the lightning redirection.
The lightning redirection was also clearly what put Aang on the defensive, it exhausted him.
Without katara, Aang would never be freed from the ice, so she also saved the world
Without Sokka being sexist making katara angry leading to katara breaking the ice berg, aang would have never saved the world
Gg Sokka
Sakareeh soooo sexism saved the world?
@@trelly-cc1pk lol basically. Who would have thought?
@@trelly-cc1pk yep
Not only that.. Aang would have found a different earth bender to teach him if he couldn't get toph.. But who knows how much longer it would have been for him to be found if katara and sokka hadn't
Not mentioned, but there's a plot point about being "unbendable" that the Lion Turtle leaves Aang with in regard to bending the energy of another. I think that's another really important piece to why Toph's Earthbending teaching saves the world. Toph's lesson about facing problems head on and being unmoveable had to have factored into Aang's development into someone that was unbendable.
Obviously, there's the other aspect that Aang became determined to not kill anyone and, essentially, became an unbendable energy, but I do think Toph's teachings are important in developing that. Stubbornness is just as much a part of it as being resolute in your values.
Love this so much. So disappointing that they turned her into a cop in Legend of Korra lmao
funny yelo dog Yeah old and jaded swamp Toph is amazing
They didn't turn her into a cop in "legend of korra"
She turned into a cop in the avatar universe in general
If TLoK never existed she would still be a cop.
Yeah, I'd prefer she'd be a sensei or something
@@daemonace5910 lmao
meh i dont mind that much. She still beats the snot outta korra
4:29 Aang was able to enter the avatar state in the finale because he had previously (and permanently) come to terms with letting go of Katara. That part of his chakra isn't saying that he can never love anyone for the rest of his life or else he can't enter the avatar state. It's saying he has to be willing to sacrifice what he loves for the greater good should the situation call for it.
Still doesnt make sense why he could enter it because the avatar state died in book 2 when aang died
I always thought the scar on aangs back was like his Achilles heel. So when the back-pointy bit hit him the avatar state was triggered bc it’s a defense mechanism
The way I think of it aang let go of his dependence of katara when hes trying to quickly go avatar state when battling azula and getting struck was sort of like his chakra's being paralyzed or stopped, but getting hit in the back was like a pressure point therapy that unblocked it and even though he ends up with her still, he had already realized his importance in the world and that he needs to be the avatar at the forefront of everything actively choosing the avatar state control over her before azula takes him out
The reason he lost the ability to use the avatar state was because if the avatar dies in the avatar state the avatar dies, and thats what happened, aang died in the avatar state and that means the avatar dies
Toph's best line in TLOK:
*You're blind compared to me*
Toph's best line in ATLA:
*I'm not Toph. I am MELON LORD. MUAHAHAHAHA!*
Love this show so much.. I love how people are still talking about it
I’m not Toph... I am Melon Lord!!!
MELON LORD
I'm writing a homebrew of Avatar using the dnd 5e system and this is super helpful for writing bending techniques. Thanks!!
That sounds dope
Have you heard of incarnate?
My games doing the same thing, and we found incarnate on dm's guild, its basically avatar.
I think there's also a lot of influence from Toph is the energybending itself. The voice over from the lion-turtle says that Aang's spirit must be unbendable. That sounds an awful lot like her earthbending philosophy.
I’ve never really thought about it like that, that’s a REALLY good point. I always thought she was the best character regardless, but now I have proof! Thanks! Great video, love all your stuff. Keep it up!!!
thanks!!
I always thought she needs the eye hole in the rock armor to breathe. Also it helps us the viewer to see it as Toph and not a rock person.
CARAT Mom it could also help her talk so that aang would hear her
yangchen told aang that in order to be the avatar he cannot detach himself the way guru patik wanted him to let go of katara, meaning letting go of katara didn’t matter anymore it meant finally embracing not only the avatar state but the avatar’s DUTIES to the world and its people.
"letting go" doesn't mean "can't be with". "letting go" just means "be willing to lose her" he did unlock his chakra and he did let go of Katara when he got shot with lightning. So all he needed was to get his chakras to be realigned .
Toph adds eye holes...
Me an intellectual: OXYGEN!
Good point
I'm not a scientist but i don't think you can breathe through your eyes 👀
You breathe with eyes?
The first time Aang uses the seismic sense thing was in "The Runaway" episode
Yes
im living for the atla renessance
same tbh
SAME!
@Julia Dean i cant spell im gay leave me alone
Wow this made me get really sentimental thinking about how whenever he bends the elements it’s related to his friends
The only way for Aang to pin down Ozai in a way similar to how he did with Earthbending without Earthbending is if he were to have learned Bloodbending, which he didn’t, but I just wanted to point that out...
EDIT: Just realized that Bloodbending without a full moon was only ever accomplished during the events of Legend of Korra..
There was an exception. Katara did it without a full moon when she faced the Sea Raven captain while getting closure for her mom's death.
That smart idea because aang can bloodbending even in the morning because y know his the avatar and he can bend anything
+remember when su said to korra
I will teach you metal bender y can bend it because you are the avatar
(I don’t remember what she said but it something like that) + even if ozai win
Toph - iroh - zuko - katara -will team up vs ozai and iroh is stronger than ozai or ozai stronger a little bet
But with zuko and katara and toph with iroh
Ozai has no chance against them
Maybe he will do some massive damage to one of theme but
They will win
@@quinesan yea , I still don`t know if there was actually a full moon or not but if it was , LOK made a mistake.
@@quinesan actually in the episode it was shown that there WAS a fullmoon when katara was bloodbending the sea raven captain. it showed them flying infront of a fullmoon.
Toph is one of my favorite characters on Avatar, she’s a complete badass
actually Toph learned from Badger Moles. she developed her style from them. she had some breathing techniques from that crud teacher, but mostly badger moles.
Exactly she mentions this countless of times throughout the show. Have no idea how they missed this
plus she must've got some practice learning in the arena from other earth benders.
@@sjkdsfsdf52 well yeah practice is important but the badger moles taught her to feel everything in or on the ground and rocks flying through the air...
Wait, why did I start crying thinking about Toph inventing metal bending. I'm just so proud and this is too much too handle
Great Video! In regards to the rock unlocking the Avatar State for Aang, I think it has to due to Chi Blocking. The Air Nomad tattoos are placed along the Chi Paths in the body. So when Azula shot lighting at Aang, she severed the Chi Path, blocking his ability to fully enter the Avatar State. Although Katara's Spirt Water healing reconnected the Chi Paths, he still needed something physical to open the flow of energy; akin to how Ty Lee used pressure points to block chi or the practice of Accupuncture. So in theory, Toph could've opened the flow of energy with the Porcupine in the Episode "Nightmares and Daydreams". Again just my thoughts. Keep up the good work!!😁
ooohhhhhh love that idea about the chi blocking! omg imagine if toph had accidentally unlocked it in that episode that would've been amazing 😂 aang's like upset and tired, and toph's like whoops sorry here have an avatar state
This is exaclty what i came to comment. They didn't know they could unblock it but it would have to be way more pressure than tylee chi blocking so if they had had someone like tylee try it may not have even worked.
My explanation for the avatar state chiropractor solution is as such:
Aang successfully opened all his chakras, but was struck by lightning while in the avatar state. He died, and Raava left him for that time. When Katara revived him, Raava reentered his body, but his chi was all messed up from, well, being dead and having been struck by lightning on one of the really important chi lines.
Being hit by the rock combined with the intense fear of death reopened his chi lines, and allowed him to go into the avatar state. You can accept that things will leave this world (letting go of Katara) while still loving and cherishing them.
Ye.
The earth ball to me is a beautiful mix between how Aang makes his air scooter/ air bubbles and the rock armor toph makes . It’s a amazing blend of the two opposing force’s the way he makes the earth ball makes it looks like he’s air bending ..but the material is so sturdy and heavy unlike air. He’s truly a master thanks to toph because she taught him the most difficult bending with no assistance. And if you rewatch the battle he uses earth bending the most in his battle with ozai, despite him learning and mastering air, then water bending. He needed the most sturdy and unbending element and toph showed him just how strong earth can be and he used it to save his life and the world.
4:20 Note that after Aang got struck by lightning and after he got healed, the Avatar glow came back for a second. This indicates that his Avatar state wasn't blocked by the lightning at all, but rather something else. Aang actually did open all the chakras in the last episode of book 2. My theory is that his fire chakra got blocked afterwards because he was ashamed of his loss in the Earth Kingdom and further blocked through the loss during the invasion in book 3.
When he was knocked into that stone, Aang was reminded of his loss in Ba Sing Se. But because of his firebending training with Zuko (fire - the element of power and will), instead of accepting defeat, his will intensified and unlocked the fire chakra again. This lead to all chakras being open and allowed Aang to enter the Avatar state.
1:21 But she had the badger moles teach her earthebending, the original earthbenders.
The previous Avatars never tell Aang to outright kill Ozai. All of their messages amount to ‘you must deal with him’ which I think spoke more to his fears about facing Ozai unprepared and noting being able to go into the Avatar state at that time. While Aang interprets all the advice as ‘kill Ozai’ I think the advice the other airbender gave him was the most important-you must let go of your personal fears and beliefs and fight for the world. While Aang still consciously heard ‘kill Ozai’ he needed to hear that his beliefs, the airbender philosophy, everything he was was irrelevant in the face of what amounted to a nuclear bomb. He encased himself in rock to try and hide himself but as Ozai burned through it, as the point formed, as his chakra opened up, Aang finally let go and lived for the planet and all its people. I think the plausibility is irrelevant because that was what needed to happen for him to reach the Avatar state again so it did.
Regardless Toph is the greatest earthbender in the world, I will die on this hill. (Then she’ll pop out to kick your ass.) 😂
The lion turtle unlocked Ang’s chakras so he could have used the avatar state but didn’t want to so he didn’t kill Ozai.
Untreated
Ang could energy bend since the swamp episode.
How ?
@@da8617 I think he is going with the tree seeing bits, which is a simple form of energy bending to sense other energy that is connected to the tree. Less difficult than actually ripping a person's bending out of their soul or whatever actually happens when taking bending away. Maybe a permanent chakra block? Dunno. But yeah! Big swamp tree episode.
@@da8617 I think they mean when he sensed Sokka and Katara's energy when they were separated in order to find them.
From my understanding chakras in real life are also tied to your physical body, not just spiritual needs. You can physically interact with your chakras to help them flow and focus on the energy in those points, so I imagine it’s the same in the show, and that’s why him getting hit there on the rocks unlocked that chakra.
Also, I always took the “let go of Katara/whoever” mindset for the Avatar State to be less about your ability to be with certain people and more about the reason you’re with them. I think it’s less of a “You definitely can’t find love” type thing bc the avatars before and after Aang had love interests. I take it to mean accepting that your roll comes before any one person, and they can’t be your drive for keeping peace.
On the subject of the aAatar state, I have two thoughts. First, I think getting hit in the back triggered the Avatar state for the same reason falling into the stormy ocean did at the very beginning of the show. It was pure survival instinct. We see the same thing in Legend of Korra when Zahir uses poison to trigger the Avatar state.
Second, I think Guru Pathik was partly wrong. I think the method he was teaching Aang was one way to master it, but not the only way. Multiple past Avatars tell Aang that the Avatar's connection to the world is important. The most recent air Avatar told him point blank that as the Avatar, he needed to put the good of the world before his personal spiritual enlightenment. That's a pretty good indication that having earthly arrangements doesn't prevent you from having full control. I think Aang felt that way after his training with Guru Pathik because he was convinced that it was true, so he didn't even try to access it another way. We see other Avatars use the Avatar state multiple times while having clear earthly attachments, including Aang during a flashback in Legend of Korra well after he married Katara.
I think the same about the guru. He was just an old crazy man who didn´t know what the avatar state is or how it works. He only confused all the fandom and the protagonists
There wasn't a single member of Team Avatar who didn't contribute to Ozai's defeat in one way or another, but you're 100% right about Toph's contributions to the battle and to Aang's bending knowledge.
Riley has been really digging on the Avatar videos lately... and you know what? I am too! I get the impression a lot of people are re-watching the series during the pandemic. I've already re-watched it once at the start of quarantine, and I'm considering watching it again. That and Sense8...
my theory is, is because seeing a blind persons ghosty eyes in a rock suit would be friggen terrifying to most people.
Without Sokka being sexist making katara angry leading to katara breaking the ice berg, aang would have never saved the world
Gg Sokka
Can I just say I’m glad Avatar was put on Netflix? I wasn’t able to watch it when i was younger cuz my family couldn’t afford cable tv, so I never had the chance and now, I love the show and finally get all the posts about them and experience Zuko’s legendary arc finally
YES!! Toph is by far the MOST underrated character and I love her
Korra perfected the armor techinque. She uses the strongest one: Plot armor.
she got her ass kicked over and over how is that plot armor.
@@sjkdsfsdf52 gotta be honest, I've changed my opinion hahahaha
Thank you for going on that side tangent about Toph and the library. It always bothered me how Aang treated her, and especially that he never apologized afterwards.
Fully realised avatars can use the avatar state allmost whenever they want or need to.
4:14 about the avatar state.
In the animated short "escape from the spirit world", Aang tells Roku his method of trying to control the avatar state, which is unlocking all the chakras. However, Iroh indicates that mastering the avatar state needs years of training and discipline and Aang had tried to rush it. It was also shown that there are other methods to unlock the avatar state just like how Roku used the winter solstice sun to go in the avatar state. So I guess that explains how Aang got in the avatar state.
I don't think its supoosed to be a 1:1. He meant to go into the Avatar state when Azula struck him so once his chi was unblocked by a similar blow it would make sense that it triggers it cuz thats where he left off. I don't think theres an exact explanation but it made sense to me.
I think you could make a video on how Katara, Appa, Zuko, Iroh, Sokka, or many more saved the world. Everyone working together is what makes the victory so great.
The whole Gaang was a family and they trusted and loved each other. That’s why they beat the Fire Nation. Ozai relied on fear and separation and it ended up being his downfall.
Great video, keep it up
When the world needed this video most- it was posted 😌💖
So, for the chakras, he was able to let go of Katara, but he was hit in the back, so he was physically blocked, not mentally and spiritually. That sharp blow to the back realigned his physical chakras, reunlocking the avatar state in a sudden and powerful way. He is able to let go of Katara, but only if you needs to. Just because he’s able to let go of Katara, doesn’t mean he will let go of Katara without any need to. He can be with Katara, but if something were to happen he wouldn’t have focused on just her.
Edit: also I think Toph left the eyehole so she could earthbend easier, like bumi in the metal box.
The badger moles saved the world
So the thing with the locked chakra is that, Aang had already unlocked it. However, with Azula blasting him from the back, she forcefully severed his chakra pools from each other. Once Aang hit that rock on the exact spot Azula hit, it forced the chakras back open. It should've been explained more (like a lot of stuff in that episode), but it does have an explanation to it.
ahhhhh that makes sense. someone really should've tried just like punching him on that spot earlier lol
3:16 - How? I mean, yeah, he'd already taken it over, but one fleet of ships to cross a landmass that will take weeks will hardly be able to destroy the entire Earth Kingdom in less than one day.
Honestly, Ozai's plan for the Day of the Comet was dumb as bricks.
All he'd really have to do would be to instruct all the firebenders *_already in place_* to spread out and destroy everyone and everything around them. That would've been vastly more effective, and there would've been nothing the gAang could've done about it.
Instead, at best, he would've destroyed a narrow swath of wilderness a hundred miles long or so. And he didn't even manage that.
It’s honestly amazing that they made one of the most OP characters a little girl. Prodigy doesn’t even begin to describe Toph’s level of prowess. The only time anyone could beat her was with a surprise attack and she straight up INVENTED metalbending when up until that point metal was an earthbender’s WEAKNESS. Toph is just amazing. And this is coming from someone whose favorite is Iroh.
The way I see it is Aang let go of his attachment to katara. That didn’t mean he couldn’t have a relationship with her but that the relationship would be more healthy because he’s not attached to her or her nurturing personality but chooses to be with her every day because of how he appreciates her and the things he likes about her and accepts all of her including her flaws.
Yeah, that also explains how in legend of korra when we learn about Kya, Bumi and Tenzin’s relationship with Aang it makes sense. He put his duties as the avatar and as the last airbender first, he spent more time with Tenzin bc he also saw it as his duty to make sure the air nomad culture would live on through tenzin and thus restore peace uwu
I like that she kept the eye hole, more to make Aang look her in the eyes while he pushed her. He had to recognize his opponent was human and fight them anyway.
I believe Aang used seismic sense during training before the Eclipse invasion.
I looove the direction your channel took, awesome essay 💜
thanks!
I thought the eye hole was related to breathing, since earthbenders aren't earthworms.
One more thing to give Toph credit for, she was the first to accept Zuko into the group and her meeting with Iroh in "The Chase" is something that helped Iroh help Zuko on the journey. Without her Aang and the others may not have accepted Zuko, or if they had it may not had been in time for the comet.
Zuko and toph are my favorite characters
they are greatttt
Toph made so many things possible for Team Avatar that they never could have achieved without her. She could
1. Sense structures underground
2. Wake from sleep to warn them of an ambush that was still a mile away
3. Take out an entire palace worth of guards and a room full of dai li agents while also defending the whole group from attacks
4. Save them from certain death by falling boulders and collapsing cliffs with a wave of her hand
5. Save them from drowning by lifting the earth underneath them to above the surface
6. Held up an entire underground library that was filling with sand using her own two little arms
...and i could go on. She's truly the greatest earthbender to ever live. She also kicked 16 year old Korra's ass without moving her arms at the age of 86 and didnt take a single blow
The avatar state is triggered when the avatar is undergoing a near death experience
What I like about avatar so much is that every (main cast) character in my opinion hold weight in the ultimate goal of defeating the fire lord and bringing peace. Like I really don’t see it possible to defeat him without one of these characters. Anyways great video
I think katara is also a big factor, she was the one who saved them from the desert after appa was stolen
Really SO MANY of the show's characters are among its best characters!
Toph was quite frankly aang best teacher period, she got him to think like an earthbender, he eventually used earth ending probably more then any element but air by the end, against Asuka on the drill and against ozai it’s very clear he stands his ground and his earth bending is sooo strong and sooo good it holds up to ozai enhanced firebending for like a full minute which is crazy, honestly in the last fight in terms of combat applications I’m pretty sure he uses earth more then any element(if we count the air assisted movement it’s definitely more airbending but combatively I think it’s earthbending)
The best explanation I’ve seen for the rock thing is that it was basically jus the universe rewarding aang for having basically done all the steps and done everything he should have had to do to control it but a injury prevented it
I always assumed that Toph's eyehole in her rock armour was a power move
I think it's worth mentioning that when the lion turtle gave Aang the energy bending knowledge he said that his own spirit must be unbendable. I think that Toph's teaching would contribute to this as a concept of earth-bending.
Also, in one of the episodes Toph says something like "is it possible for friendships lasts for more then one existence?" as she holds Aangs hand, some time later she becomes friends with Korra and AGAIN is VERY importante in saving the Avatar!
You raise wonderful point on how awesome Toph was in the show. However, Toph learned her earthbending from the original earthbender master the badgermole.
Completely agree with this analysis. Toph's earth/metal bending abilities are not to be reckoned with! Like you said in this video; it's unreal how easily she took out the powered up fire nation soldiers (Sozen's comet power them up) with metal bending.
I always thought the eye hole in the rock was just to flex on Aang, but connecting that to Aang's future usage of the crystal armor he wears makes a lot of sense. Toph is such a badass.
5:27 yes Ozai did sabotage himself by eroding the rock BUT ALSO you can see it from the lens of him as a father. He created the person azula had become as he wanted to manipulate her as his own war mongering monkey. She was the one who gave Aang the scar on his back in the first place. So Aang’s chakra being realigned is a product of ozai’s choices not only in this scene but in his life. This show truly comes full circle
Wonderful
my thoughts on letting go of attachments: I don't think it's necessarily letting go of them permanently. It's just knowing how to let go of them by necessity and choice when duty arises. Mastery of the avatar state is mostly about learning control which means being able to enter in and out AT WILL. For most of Aang's entry prior meeting with Guru Pathik, he couldn't get in the avatar state unless his life was at risk or when he's overcame by great emotion. He also could not get out of it without Katara who tethers him.
In order to truly control the avatar state meaning getting in and out at will, he had to learn how to let go of his personal feelings to prevent him from destroying things and also to learn how to let go of earthly attachments like Katara in order to train himself to get out of the AS by himself because obviously, Katara is not going to be there for him every single time.
now THESE are the kind of takes i like to see!!
Ok regarding the rock and the chakras thing:
I actually think your point about earthbending and standing his ground is philosophically important to this mental conflict as well!
It's not JUST Katara that blocks his 7th chakra, but she represents everything earthly that he loves and isn't willing to leave behind. And we've seen time and time again how important the air nomad culture and his upbringing are, which is why he isn't willing to give up the teachings of his past.
Aang confronts the killing Ozai situation like an airbender at first, trying to dance around the problem and find a solution. By thinking like an earthbender, he stands his ground and says that he's not willing to let go of his past and earthly attachments to his people by killing Ozai.
BUT he also doesn't NEED to give up those teachings or those earthly attachments to access that cosmic power because his duty is to the world (as Avatar Yangchen explained to him). So when he's in that critical moment with the rock, the pain and trauma reminds him of his own mortality, and how Azula almost killed him. But this time he realizes that because his duty is to the world, part of that duty is protecting and reviving the air nomad culture he was a part of.
He doesn't need to feel sorry for "letting go" of this part of his identity (like how he apologized over Katara in ba sing se). There's no way around this conflict, other than to brute force his own will as the avatar unto the universe and access that cosmic power despite still being attached to the earth.
When he treats the chakras and cosmic power like an earthbender instead of an airbender, he realizes that his cosmic power is accessible to him BECAUSE he's the avatar and BECAUSE he has an attachment to the world he is destined to bring balance to.
His mastery of energybending ("your energy must be unbendable") and being able to stop himself from killing Ozai in the avatar state both show how this cosmic power in the avatar is related to earthly attachments and standing your ground, vs giving up attachments and letting go, and the rock and the scar just served as the catalyst for that memory of Aang being willing to give up Katara combining with the knowledge of the avatar spirits within him.
One thing the show didn't explain is that the "let go" to unlock the avatar state is not so extreme as Aang thought in the first time he was told it. It seens more like a realisation that the avatar has to think first in the world as a whole, so he can't be too attached to anyone or anything, because they could cloud his thinking of a big picture.
Toph has always been my favorite I love her sassiness and she’s so cute
Honestly that ball of rock that he makes at the end of the series is definitely a form of rock Armour, but its also definitely a callback to his air cocoon that he was in in the beginning of the series
I wonder if it was more a psychological thing that triggered the Avatar state versus an actual unlocking of his chakras in that moment. Like, he couldn't enter the Avatar state because of fear versus any physical block, and being hit directly on his previous wound caused a huge flood of sense memory that overwhelmed him a bit and allowed him to get past his fear of dying in the Avatar state and finally embrace everything that was meant to be his destiny.
I think Aang was able to get his Avatar state back the same way Korra got her bending back in Book 1. The past avatar helped her in her lowest point
I like to think Toph left the eye-hole so she could stare menacingly at Aang as she fought/approached/idk him
I feel like not enough people talk about just how clutch Toph was consistently though out the series. I genuinely think the team wouldn’t have made it without her