Avatar: A Study in Worldbuilding - the Fire Nation [ The Last Airbender ]
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- Опубліковано 8 чер 2024
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![Avatar: A Study in Worldbuilding - the Earth Kingdom [ The Last Airbender l Legend of Korra ]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/I-FNPuIM9jg/mqdefault.jpg)
![Avatar: A Study in Worldbuilding - the Earth Kingdom [ The Last Airbender l Legend of Korra ]](/img/tr.png)
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~ Tim
Sorry its unrelated to this particular video, but have you made anything about the relationship between the swamp tribes and water tribes? I've always wandered if they were diaspora of one another, or if they each developed water bending independently. For instance, they dont appear ethnically similar.
Anyway, love the contact; bloody brilliant!
How are things going with the whole Sony thing are they still be d*** heads? Also does this mean u are going to make more avatar videos?
Air nomads or Water tribe next.
Hello Future Me heya, if you ever want to fight back against Sony, or at least check your legal options, try getting in contact with LegalEagle. He goes over cases like these and has expressed an interest in defending UA-cam creators in the past.
Part 5: "We are all One People but we live as though divided", "Things you think are separate and different are really one and the same", or "Everything is connected"
4:10
Wrong, the Air Nomads have the most centralized government.
After all, it's only one guy.
Technically the truth?
I don’t like how true this is m
The Air Nomads never made 1 decision without the complete approval of their entire population since at least 90 years! Such an efficient government!
F
Earth Kingdom is brainwashing people into agreeing with the government? Miss me with that shit, the entire Air Nomad population thinks exactly the same way.
_"With the food, and with the clothes and the. . . _*_imperialism_*_ ."_
God Save The ...uhh, Fire Lord?
Mr McAwesome
Yep.
Mr McAwesome ummm sure? I-I’ll try?
FIRELORD BANZAI!!!
@@mrmcawesome9746 If fire nation is base on Japan, know that the emperor is a living god, direct descendant of the creator.
"We know that the Fire Nation's geography is designed to mimic that of-"
"Japan"
"-Iceland"
"WHAT!?"
Volcanos
@Cowlan The culture is mostly influenced by China and southeast asia, not from japan. The most culturally japanese place in the world of avatar is actually in the earth kingdom, being kyoshi island.
@@williamkrause5831 right??? I have been to twitter arguing to people that fire nation is mostly chinese inspired just look at the aesthetic of their costume design and color scheme.. but most people really pushed the idea that it is based off of Japan and i couldn't see any japanese aesthetics into them. Maybe in Earth nation yes.. but Fire? No... It's obviously chinese... And i have no idea people can't see it...
@@Vizible21 I thought the Fire Nation was based on imperial Japan
@@farkbett699 I’d say that the most Japanese thing that is referenced in designing the fire nation was the armor that the soldiers wear looking kinda like samurai armor
Don’t you love how the FIRE nation was the biggest naval power when one of their competitors was the WATER tribes who can control water...
Despite its populace possessing hydrokinetic abilities, the Water Tribes are polar states and so wouldn't have had the resources that could allow them to build and sustain a navy capable of contesting the Fire Nation's naval supremacy.
At best, they could help the Earth Kingdom out by smuggling weapons through trade and to help raid outposts on the EK coast occupied by the FN, as the capturing of EK ports would've left the Water Tribes without reliable sources of trade.
Fire Lord Azulon, the imperialist douchebag that he was, therefore resolves to raid the SWT and genocide the nation's waterbending population. He could've decided not to do this, to instead end the war by withdrawing his forces and surrendering, but he's an imperialist dumbass.
@@Boss_Isaac They could have also ended the war after they got what they needed: land suitable for food production, but they didn't
I always figured that's why they champained to kill the water bending population. We never really see it but a powerful waterbender could absolutely sink fire nation ships
@@Souleater787 They killed the water benders because they're assholes. And because they thought the Southern Water tribe was hiding the Avatar but after decades of slaughtering them they clearly weren't.
@@wesleywallace4426 it is not because fire natiom thought they were hiding them, but because they thought the avatar would have reborn to water tribe since the air avatar had been gone too long
Everyone:Fire nation bad
Literature teachers:
Stealthy Jckt
Basically.
But hey, a successful nation needs good _literacy and comprehension_ to allow it to grow and prosper and be more innovative . They got *both!*
“Ackxchually”
Ja Wot😅
Plus they also had gender equality although did take a step back in regards to LGBT rights.
barbiquearea
Well hey, the Fire Nation has gender equality back in those days, so that’s good enough for me.
Plus, given the culture, I doubt Sozin even had to outlaw LGBTQ rights for it to be unpopular. I imagine the Northern Water Tribe also did this.
Even though it was said in the Air Nomad Culture that they didn’t care, considering who the Air Nomads were based off of, I’d say that that is the ONLY part of their worldbuilding they messed up.
The Air Nomads were inspired by Tibetan/Buddhist Monks, and the Dali Lama (I think that’s who it is, their leader) who’s name is “Tenzin Gyatso” (those names sound familiar?) is against gay marriage as well, so I think that was messed up a bit.
*Essentially, given what the inspiration for the Air Nomads was, they shouldn’t have been “inclusive” like the Korra Comics said they supposedly were.* They wouldn’t even have to outlaw it, their culture already isn’t something that would make the monks think of gay marriage even in the slightest. Everything they learned would (albeit indirectly) contradicted all and any LGBTQ ideals.
Basically, the Southern Water Tribe at the time of ATLA was the only place that let whoever be with whoever, and everywhere else, people either didn’t want to, or never thought to even try given the cultures.
That moment when the fire nation is Hawaii, Iceland, and Japan put in a blender and shredded into a nice cohesive narrative.
And mesoamerica*
Brayden Rothe
True. Well, old Fire Nation was Mesoamerica, but now it’s mainly Iceland/Japan with hints of Hawaii. Overall yeah, it’s amazing how it’s such a cohesive blend.
All three are wet humid islands
Brayden Rothe wheres the Icelandic influence?
swiftmarshtomp
Tim explained it in the video. The geothermal activity there, along with a lot of the rich iron ore that they both have, and some other geographic similarities.
i love that the elements are all based upon... their elements.
The fire nation is a series of volcanic islands. The Earth Kingdon is situated on a supercontinent (pure bedrock, earth). The water tribes are built upon/out of ice and snow, frozen water. Not only that, but they love on icesheets spreading over the oceans. Air nomads float throughout the lands, spreading hints of different cultures throughout the planet just like oxygen
Theres also water tribes living in the swamp, not just the icy poles.
Also Airnomads love to live on high altitudes
I’d like to point out that Ba sin se is like half the size of the entire fire nation. The frick man, that’s to big
They have earth benders who can quickly move people with rock trains
Ba sing se is pretty much a nation on its own, also like 90% of all earth kingdom's citizens live there so it's gotta be big. Putting all of china's big cities together in an area you'd probably get sth resembling the area of ba sing se, which should be half the size of japan. After all reallife japan isn't even bigger than china's biggest province
Ba Sing Sei, if the Avatar world was the size of IRL earth, would be approaching the size of the continental united States, but it is clearly nowhere near that big, as the walls around it's agricultural district are visible from each other, and only a couple hundred feet high.
Hence the Avatar world is just incredibly small, probably smaller than the moon.
@@GonnaDieNever Or that they’re a smaller continent on a much larger world. There’s no reason to believe this is the only landmass on the planet.
I mean could you guys imagine an age of exploration but in avatar.
@@tiringsarcasm The entire exposition would incline us to believe that there are only 4 major landmasses. There's also the Fire Nation's naval capabilities leaving that door very much open for over 100 years by now, and given the Avatar hasn't gone beyond the 4 Nations its pretty safe to assume there's not much out there.
And in legend of korra, we see that after the discovery of metal bending, the earth kindom had it's own industrial revolution.
Fascist revolution*
@@ASWE15 no industrial, the fascism was unrelated to the type of bending the dictator used.
Yeah but they was industrialized partially.You can see a modern monorail passed over the modern-slums in Ba Sing Se
@@theasianboy315 Basically China and other developing countries right now.
@@hanselsihotang Yeah, you're right. China also had high tech and very good infrastructure with lower living standards. Also,in my home country where you can see a subway flyover constructed above slums or commuter rail that passed through many slums
Who says you can't have genocide, next level world-building, and amazing character arcs in just a kid show?!?
Not anymore apparently :/
@@falcomaksim3320 yeah
Kids deserve good stories as well. Oddly, my story telling gateway was japanese, as was my son's.
Hey, I raise Weebs, not tragedies.
@@astrothsknot That has to be the parent quote of year
@@astrothsknot "I raise weebs, not tragedies" by Fallout Boy
On lightning bending being used exclusively by royal family members in TLA: I think during the shows runtime you could argue that the established ultimate firebender breeding program lent the notion that lightning bending was genetic creedence, but now that LoK is available we see mako (a peasant of mixed race) and a number of nameless lightning benders apply their skills to the less than auspicous task of refilling Republic City's batteries. What I think is that the royal family hoarded the information surrounding lightning bending, and that is was only after FireLib Zuko letting that formerly classified information stew in the pubic for a genration is why we see non royals capable of the feat strutting about. Like how only rich assholes know how to play squash despite it being glorified hell in a cell wall ball.
Yes. Its one of the many reasons why the world-building in LoK is a downgrade compared to TLA. Because Iroh clearly states that only very few selective fire benders are able to do it, so you can't just teach it to some random fire benders. Just one of many TLA rules that were simply ignored in LoK. Nothing new i guess.
I think it is mostly that loyal family horded all the best fire bending training and knowlege for them selfs and let ewery one else only minimum to secure there power only reason there wore no comen fire soldiers of Ozai level during 100 year war is because he and those before him did not let that hapen but it is obvious Zuko by Kora time made all that knowlege exesable to ewery one atleast that makes sence to me
@@LegioXXI korra was the star wars prequels equivalent in avatar
@@LegioXXI in Iroh's time electricity wasn't a thing, I think later firebenders experimented on bending electricity giving them more intimacy to it add that Zuko may have undid the method of firebenders power source, also the lighting generated by the new generation seems to be weaker, development of a weaker but easier variant of the technique is possible. Also the Firenation Royals are skilled in multiple areas of firebending and others for all we know those other lightning benders may suck in any other area aside from shooting lightning at a stationary target for hours, like comparing a full blown samurai to a kyudo archer.
Hey I know a lot of squash playing peasants lmao
Earth benders not developing metal bending makes me think of the Asian countries that mastered amazing ceramic skills and never developed GLASS like the western world.
It is impossible to metalet bend because metal is not a natural element after it has been changed by fire.
Despite metal being One of the Five Chinese Wu Zing
1) Fire 2) Water 3) Wood 4) Metal 5) Earth
Wu Zing are the 5 Chinese Phases of Change. They also represent 5 Seasons, 5 Type of Organs 5) In Chinese medicine.
Basically Chinese 5 Classical Elements
I like to imagine that element bending uses atoms of Water, Earth, Air, and Energy for fire. Like in Full Metal Alchemist except in Full Metal Alchemist They bend alove chemical substances.
Maybe Metal atoms are too dense to move.
@@covenawhite4855 Wu Jing*
@@covenawhite4855 I mean, no it isn't Toph does metalbend
Only Toph could discover metal bending because she had the tools available
Women can be fascist murders too!
Azula: That's my girls!
More like tyrannical murderers, but whatever.
Kyoshi entered the chat
Hell yeah you go girl
*cough* Kuvira *cough*
@@kalyanigollamudi759
kuvira is the most badass and hottest character in the show
A correction, if I may: while the Fire Nation’s industrialization, strong navy, and expanding imperial conquest were inspired by Japanese history, the aesthetic is actually a blend of Chinese and Southeast Asian cultures. The Yellow Crane Tower in Wuhan, China is listed in the official art book as inspiration for a lot of the Fire Nation’s architecture. Much of the clothing and jewelry we see in the Fire Nation is heavily based on Thai, Lao, Chinese, and Cambodian clothing; the volcanic terrain and black sand are heavily based on Iceland, and the clothes were see Roku’s wife wear to their wedding is heavily based on Korean wedding clothes. Kyoshi Island is the only place where we see a lot of a Japanese-inspired aesthetic.
yeah, i dont see why everyone is only referencing the political similarities to japan. the names, clothes, builsings, ect are all distinctly chinese
Exactly. All of 4 Avatar nations have some Chinese influence, but the Fire and Earth nation are the most Chinese influenced. The Fire Nation is based on pre-1600s China (Han clothing, culture, etc) while the Earth Nation is based on post-1600s China (eg. Manchu clothing, culture, etc). The Fire Nation's clothing (based on Han clothing, including their topknot hairstyle), architecture, fire temple (based on Yellow Crane Tower in China), weapons (like the dao, jian, hook swords, sword-spear sha),, armor (Tang and Song Dynasty armor), colors (red and black Chinese asthethic), writing system (traditional Chinese), and fire-bending combat style (Northern Chinese Shaolin martial art) are all based on Chinese influences. The Fire Nation also has some SE Asian influences on clothing and buildings in their tropical regions. The most Japanese nation of Avatar is actually Kyoshi Island, which is a semi-autonomous entity of the Earth Kingdom.
@@Intranetusahow the fire nation operated is basically Imperial Japan
@@user-td2jw9ze2c Yes, the Fire Nation policies/how they operated could certainly be influenced by imperial Japan during WW2. However, there were also imperialistic and aggressively warlike empires in ancient China too like the highly authoritarian and expansionist (almost fascist like) Qin Empire.
@@Intranetusa they are a mix of Imperial Japan, Mongol Empire, China and Iceland.
The gender equality bit is insanely interesting. The writers truly thought of everything.
Sozin: "Our nation is enjoying an unprecedented time of peace and wealth.... so let's end that."
The fire nation never stops prospering from roku to aang to korra
"But who needs the peace part, when we can have even greater prosperity atop a mountain of imperial plunder!" - The Fire Nation/Britain/United States/etc
Iain Cameron
Pretty much. Sozin started his ideals off with the best of intentions, but then slowly became something else as he aged, getting more ambitious.
I mean, their nation did keep mostly peace between their own islands, you never hear about the earth kingdom or the water tribes attacking on the fire nation lands, all the Water tribes and earth kingdom did was defend themselves. So all the horrors of War stay on foreign lands and inside the fire nation they keep relative peace.
Rafael Rubio
True. The day of black sun is the only attack that took place on Fire Nation soil, and even then, minimal civilians and troops were even stationed up and around the palace, since most of them hid ahead of time before the eclipse.
So even if collateral damage happened, not much of it did because there was little resistance besides the main gate and entrance area.
All of that could be cleaned and repaired with relative ease too, so...
Everyone: “The perfect story doesn’t exist”
ATLA: ahem
me: im gonna make a well thought out comment about the geopolitical influences in the fire nation and get likes
everyone else: nah imma Wright an avatar meme instead
"where are the flaws"
*screams in The Great Divide*
@@UdyKumra then watches something else to relax and discover its still better
The only things I would consider flaws are Aang's voice just doesn't work imo, Fire Lord Ozai's voice doesn't either (I love Mark Hamill but he just doesn't work here), and Zuko should've joined the gang way earlier except the last 5 or 6 episodes.
@@DKxRAMONESxSP well i guess I'm lucky to first watch avatar in Hebrew dub for your 2 first points. as for the last one, i think zuko wasn't really ready yet until he faced his father, and he couldn't make the choices he did before he got "everything he ever wanted".
Regarding the gender equality, I feel like there's another factor at play here: Being a seafaring nation.
Compare it to the Dutch in their golden, seafaring ages. Women often served as the head of the household while the men were away. Taking care of business in the absence of their men who were often gone for months if not years on end.
We also hardly ever see firenation women soldiers until Aang and friends are in the firenation itself, and even then, they are always firebenders. On the other hand, the earth empire never shows earthbending women in their military. Aside from Toph, we never see earthbending women, outside that one firenation prison.
Dan de León that’s not entirely true, though. In the Episode „the headband“ you can see a female warrior with a sword as her weapon, when the fire nation adults storm the secret party.
I guess that's because Earth bending comes from inner strength and standing your groundn, something associated with men more than women.
@@violentscorl697 they said we hardly see female fire nation soldiers _until_ aang is in the fire nation. and as you said, that female soldier showed up to aang's fire nation dance party, so the point still stands
Note also that the Vikings, another seafaring people, had surprising amounts of gender equality.
I love the irony of the Fire Nation being a Naval power. Also, I learned more about how civilizations naturally move and adapt economically, politically, and militaristically from this video than from any school lesson, so thanks for that. I love your videos and how well you explain everything btw! amazing analysis
Most people praise Avatar for its character interaction, character development, story telling, feels factor and magic system. This made me appreciate how much effort went into making the fire nation a realistic threat that lasted 100 years with ZA WAROLD!
Tldr: This gave me a new appreciation for world building and deepened my love for the show.
The thing is is that none of those things they praise are possible without proper worldbuilding. If, for example, the characters don't fit the world they live in, the audience might not know what is wrong, but it will certainly feel wrong.
Ended well.
Nickeel WRRRYYYYYYYYYY
@The Martial Lord of Loyalty I'd say both are important. It's like a house. The world building is the foundation, while the story and character development are the walls and roof. You can have a great story and great character development, but all of this will crumble away if the world building is weak, kinda like a foundation. Of course, if you have no house or a weak one at best, it doesn't matter how good your foundation is.
@The Martial Lord of Loyalty because if you give an unrealistic and nomsensical setting, then the story doesn't become believable. Imagine if they claimed that the Water Tribes or the Earth Kingdom were secretly as technologically advanced as the Fire Nation. While that may be good for the story line, it would not be even close to realistic when you analyze the world around them. Or, imagine if the Fire Nation was extremely far away from all the other kingdoms, or if they had tons of fertile soil, then the blockades, the invasion of other lands, and the contact the Fire Nation has with their troops becomes exceedingly unrealistic and impractical.
Like I said, a good story requires good world building, but a perfectly designed world doesn't mean anything if the story is weak.
"usually pirates... occasionally the french" gave me a good genuine snicker
fucking frenchman... always up to something ;)
Honhon we arrrre everrrrywherrrre
More like Spanish.
Explain this joke, I have a feeling like you can’t because it’s not a really good one
@@reecev2087 i think it's more of an historic joke about piratery in the caribean. Many people when they hear pirate will think about the uk, spain, the netherland but a country that is easily forgotten is france which had a hell of a lot of pirates (understatement). The trope of the pirates burying treasures for example come from olivier levasseur.
That or simply france messing with the island nation that is the uk.
I also like how each of the four factions represent their elements thematically. The Fire Nation is at war and also undergoing an industrial revolution because, yes, while fire is representative of aggression, it is also a symbol of technological advancement, progression, and determination.
Wow, you really made me realize how much thought went into this show... and how much detail and nuance it takes to make a world feel as alive as the Avatar world. Then again none of it is at the forefront of the show or draws attention to itself so the average viewer would never even notice it... It's like learning the secrets behind a magic trick
It makes sense the war would stalemate like it did. The fire nation does not have the resources or manpower to subdue much more of the earth kingdom but the earth kingdom does not have the political cohesion or military power to defeat the fire nation in open battle.
It also makes sense they wouldn't really put much effort into the watertribe. Have some semi-independent raiders harrass them and slowly weaken them but no more than that. After all as long as they don't interfere with firenation ships or directly aid the earth kingdom they can stay where they are. The poles are very far from the fire nation and aren't very valuable land to begin with. The fire nation didn't really settle the air nomad temples either. The inventor and his people were earth kingdom, not fire nation.
I always thought the Fire Nation was basically Imperial Japan during WWII. The Earth Kingdom would be China, large but unindustrialized.
As in many other things, AtlA operates on many levels.
There are primary themes with secondary characteristics sprinkled in. The Aztec-based sun warriors have absolutely NOTHING in common with Japan, but the emphasis on the sun does tie into fire bending's dependence on the sun.
Plus the genocide of the air nomads was clearly based on China's brutal conquest of Tibet.
Japan however has heavily influenced the mountain nations of south america for quite some time. Although that's more Incan than Aztec.
It's Europe...
Sean Wadey
Oh really? Did they travel across the sea and leave a few things over there? How did they know to go all that distance tho?
Something regarding the Fire Nation's military I've always appreciated is the use of technology as a force multiplier. Across the series you see at least half of any military force the Fire Nation fields in tanks, airships, or defensive positions. This makes sense because historically mechanization is one of the best ways to bring about force while shoring up low manpower. Since the Fire Nation is minuscule compared to the size of the Earth Kingdom they have considerably less manpower to field even with a genderless military. Thus mechanization becomes more and more critical to their capability to wage war against a much larger opponent.
I'm sure a dozen people have already made comparisons to the second Shino-Japanese war, and it's an extremely apt comparison.
God this show is so _good_
wait i've never seen any comparisons to the Shino-Japanese war, can you talk about that please
Oh? I could've sworn there were. Oh well, if not I'll give a quick bit.
The Second Shino-Japanese war started in 1937 between Japan and China and essentially involved Japan taking a good chunk of northeast China as well as some sporadic large costal cities. The Japanese army was well equipped and trained while China had a staggering manpower pool to draw from. They pretty much reached stalemate in 1939 where Japan had the large cities but didn't have the manpower to control the Chinese countryside and the Chinese had the men, but not the resources or infrastructure. (China's interior is very mountainous and difficult to traverse)
They pretty much stayed that way, probing each other until Japan's eventual surrender in 1945. In the aftermath the total number of Japanese dead is estimated at 480,000 to 700,000 depending on source. The Chinese records are much less consistent but the most common numbers I can find say somewhere between 20 to 35 million, though this feels a little exaggerated. Regardless this is a pretty extreme example of how much force multiplication superior technology, organization, and defensive fighting can contribute to an army's effective might.
The situation feels very similar in Avatar. The Fire Nation have their colonies on Earth Kingdom territory but if the war has really been going on for 100 years then it seems to be in a similar stalemate with the Fire Nation lacking the manpower to completely crush the Earth Kingdom. (Pre Azula of course but as shown the Earth Kingdom was hardly defeated by the fall of Bah Sing Se) It explains why the Fire Nation are so quick to adopt new technology, (Sokka's war balloon; they have an entire fleet of 17ish war zeppelins by six months? nine? 2-3 seasons?) since they are in the equivalent of trying to eat a burger too large for their mouth.
It's kinda hard to judge army sizes since they are only mentioned off screen so I don't really have any big set pieces to compare, but I imagine it'd be a similar if not-quite-as-extreme distribution.
And now this bit has become more of an essay intro.
Long story short, Avatar has some of the best world building I've ever seen in any media, not just television, and it is so good that I'm still thinking this deeply about it 14 years later, half my life. That fact alone is mind boggling, I'm so glad we got to grow up with something this good and I love it so much I don't think I properly express my appreciation.
If I might add to this, the Russo-Japanese war in 1904-5 is also a good comparison (though I don't know enough of the nitty gritty details to teach anybody about this). Tsar Nicholas II and his council were aware of the discontent among his subjects due to the poor economy and corruption among the local authority, so their propaganda against Japan during the war was designed to turn the populaces attention towards a common outside enemy rather than within. They had every right to be confident, as their numbers were more than 150,000 strong, and Asian nations then were considered underdeveloped and more likely colonies than colonisers. They had even refused an armistice from Japan (although the government's desperation to scrape a win may have played a part).
So Japan's win, largely attributed to its very quick Industrial Revolution, training imitating the British Navy, and implementation of the most recent military hardware like omnidirectional reloading (well, and Russia's general incompetence in directions and keeping the soldiers morales high) surprised the western hemisphere and finally made the country an actual force to reckon with. The term "Little Japan" was less derogatory than admiring at that time, and made some countries a little wary of this newcomer on the world stage.
This last point played a part in the result of the treaty, on which the general consensus within Japan was that they had been robbed of the riches they had fought and died for, giving birth to some bitterness towards the western powers as well as their weak government. This in turn fed into the government's need to capture more land and resources to apease the citizens...but that's another story.
Oh, and the Tsar became the last of his title, because losing the war against a perceived easy target did not give him any love from his subjects (particularly when around 120,000 died compared to Japan's 86,000). He and his wife and children were shot by revolutionists, bringing an end to the Russion Imperial Family. Might not be the best comparison, but the Earth Queen comes to mind for me.
Ebi Toro I am agree to curtain extent , it is true that due to Russian defeat revolution of 1905 happened but it never threatened Russian Emperor at all , since 1907-1913
Russian empire sustained prosperity and enormous economic growth , the ww1 and Emperor uncertainty caused the 1917 revolution , and also despite overall defeat Russians had inflicted huge economical and manpower loses to japan ,during port Arthur assault Japanese forced lost around 100k which was significantly more than their Russian counterparts , Japanese leading general committed suicide later on due to him believing that he lost too many soldiers and not worthy of being alive , also Japan was on the brink of economical collapse closer to the end while Russia did not lose any vital economical areas , what Russians had truly lost was prestige among European empires , so that’s why I believe that Russo-jap war is not a good example
I love how the further you dive into the show, the better it gets. As a kid, I loved the show because it was fast pace and full of action. As a young adult, I love this show because of all the minute details and development within the show. While some parts are rough to watch, namely some of the episodes in Season 1 (good season, would give it an 8.5-9/10), the overall show is consistently excellent, especially in Season 2 and Season 3 (hard to say which one is better).
Guru Pathik & Iroh we’re always dropping life lessons and facts I remember I used to “fake” meditate as a kid not even realizing this show was planting so many seeds
The fire nation always fascinated me, I always wonder what its like in the world of the villains and the show gives really good context! This video helps me understand how to write the environments evil can be created in!
"Conventional livestock"
*Shows pig-cows and pig-sheep.*
Seriously, though, this just makes the series even better because they went "We need some background animals that we will never directly address. Let us invent two completely new species in the style of the series instead of just sticking two pigs in front of our audience.
Ah. You don't seem to have noticed that all animals in this series are double animals. See the turtle-ducks in the firelord palace, the polar bear-dog of korra, the platypus-bear in omashu... (I don't know if the lion-turtle counts as an animal though)
Actually single animals are rare and treated as wierd (see the cast reaction when they learn that the earth King pet is a bear)
@@alexandreocadiz9967 what about fish though?
@@alexandreocadiz9967 Bosco the Bear! It's a really clever trick to just merge two animals together like this. It means that you get a fantasy creature for your fantasy world and yet they are instantly familiar to the audience. You already know how a Polar Bear Dog will behave.
@@alexandreocadiz9967 I know, it's just cool when a series does something that no one's ever going to really talk about (because the episode is Zuko Alone, people are going to be too busy with the story), but that is absolutely 100% accurate to the world. It helps push worldbuilding over the top because the setting adheres to its own rules even when no one is paying attention to it.
@@MaxIronsThird The fish are salmon-trout or something. They are hybrids between two types of fish.
"and promptly stolen by Sony". I'm dying.
Ikr
Wait what? When? Why?
I recommend checking out JoergSprave's channel. He's got some videos on this topic.
He also has some videos on cool weapons, so that's cool too
@Persephone Diggen Others Sony, I think, filed a copyright infringement claim against several of Tim's videos regarding Avatar, or which contained Avatar within a wider topic of discussion. It sucked balls
3:25
I can still hear Sokka's voice as he calls everyone over the intercom
So, we come back to the root of all civilizations: "Geography is Destiny"
"But naval control of the region also gives on other major advantage... Texas."
I swear I heard Texas too! Lmao
@@colleennewholy9026 so did the captions
Omg, I thought I heard "Texas" too. 😩💀😆
I heard it too
@French Bryan well it is red!
Something that I really find neat about ATLA is how most of the time, when you pick it apart and analyze parts of it, you'll find that the writers already thought, weighed, and carefully considered things. It's not like a lot of other shows, which start to fall apart when analyzed, or have you sort of fill in spaces that the writers didn't bother to fill.. Avatar already has such a strong logical base and rich, detailed world.
Yep, it's because if you look at the behind the scenes this was a passion project of the creators.
I love the part where a random teenager and her friend acomplished more in ban sing se than decades of siege that has endured multiple attempts by the Fire nation's brightest mind. Peak realistic writing
“Fire bending comes from the BREATH! Not the muscle.”
How amazing that this show is so detailed that videos like this can even exist.
*"A Study in Worldbuilding - The Fire Nation"*
*Ants Canada:* I'm listening
Duchi I was gonna say that
Lol
You watch ant,s Canada?
Yes
Why did I understand this
its been 11 years since ATLA ended...how is it still so cool and relevant still to this day...it truly is a masterpiece
to this day still. A timeless classic.
Because it’s the best most awesome spectacularly incredible and beautiful gorgeous immense open world animated series of all freaking time to ever be written and aired for its time and as of today it stills exist in our memories and worthy enough to deserve a live action that’s why
also the firenation is pretty good with nonbenders as well. Like yes Zuko was looked down on for being a late bloomer at firebending but that was mostly because he was the first heir to one of the branches of the royal family and, as mentioned within the video, firebending is extremely important to the royal family. However outside of the royal family within the firenation nonbending is not nearly as looked down upon as it is in other pockets of the ATLA world. Mai and Ty-lee are never belittled for being non benders as sokka is throughout the series-instead they are seen as highly skilled and competent warriors. Mai’s family, within which there is no evidence of firebending, are trusted with governing over new-ozai. There’s also evidence of specialization within the military for non-benders. Ty-lee and her chi-blocking, Mai as a weapons expert, Master Piandao with sword fighting, and to a lesser extent because he does become a fearsome firebender in his own right, but Zuko with his dao blades, etc. On the whole the firenation really doesn’t give a shit about your gender or ability to bend as long as you can effectively get the job done
it's also worthy to note that firebending would be really REALLY useful in the process of manufacturing steel
I always wondered how modern era would look like in Avatar - with Legend of Korra showing full-blown Industrial Revolution of their universe, imagine what it would look like with modern technologies.
But one image always remained in my head about this topic: firebenders, airbenders and earthbenders working together to launch a *spaceship.* How cool would that be?
Not likely in Korra's life time but the Earth bender after her, and fire bender after them, will be dealing with information age technology, and that works best if you have satellites in orbit, so... yeah.
Imagine all the most powerful fire benders getting together during Sozins Comet to power it.
@@isakpalsson9012
That's the best possible use for it. The kind of once in a century opportunity that astronomy and spaceflight are all about.
Though if it gets close enough to physically affect lifeforms on the planet, it may get in the way of a launch.
@@jlokison
Avatars seem to average at least a couple hundred years. Even if she falls short, if we equate ALoK to the early 1900s, Kora could easily live long enough to see the advent of the internet.
@@BonaparteBardithion I could see it maybe being possible with Sozin's Comet, but other than that, I'm not sure why people expect spacecraft to be launched via bending. Chemical or even spirit fuel would be much more efficient than trying to use hundreds of benders, who then add weight, requiring even more benders to lift the ship, etc.
Part 5: "We are all One People but we live as though divided", "Things you think are separate and different are really one and the same", or "Everything is connected"
All these things, senators, which we hold to be of the highest antiquity, were once new.
I just realized something and I wanted to bring it up in the latest video.
Remember how you said that bending is connected to chakras? Well, there are four known elements, but seven chakras in total. Could there possibly be additional bending elements such as sound, light, or even energy?
Isn't energy bending a thing already? The lionturtles bent energy to give the power of element manipulation to humans.
@@NavidIsANoob Exactly. Note that to teach Aang Energy bending, the Lion Turtle touched his forehead, stimulating that specific chakra.
The Chakra are nodes where energy is focused and as seen with Chi Blockers all bending uses energy. So all benders can use all 7 Chakras, it's just that some benders specialize focusing their bending from one Chakra like we see with the combustion benders from their forehead.
Nitpick, but at 16:33:
As volcanic islands, the Fire Nation represents relatively "new" land compared to the rest of the continent. Their land mass will continue growing as long as volcanic activity persists in the region, and it's highly unlikely that any land bridge connected them, as the islands of the Fire Nation are likely several thousand years younger than the the main continent.
"...and they even researched Chemistry."
I'm seeing Age of Empires II references all over the place lately, and I'm loving it.
EDIT: "...and good farm placement."
He also uses sounds from AoE2 at around 11:45
Yeah, I've actually gotten into the AoE II community lately and I'm glad to start seeing these references
He also mentions how the Earth kingdom hadn't even researched Loom lol
i am more of a star wars battlegrounds saga kind of guy (star wars reskin of aoe2 with a few changes and tweeks to fit the world)
SerialSnowmanKiller yessssss
Another factor to the gender roles of the earth kingdom could also stem from, particularly earlier, philosophy of earth bending being more closely tied to traditional machismo, like strength, unbending, etc.
There’s definitely a raw physical aspect to esrthbending that would probably automatically be associated with masculinity and male-dominated jobs, particularly those requiring more physical strength.
That seems likely. Very few female earth benders are featured, and almost all of them are strongly on the tomboy side. The nature of earth bending teaching practices combined with the non-bending culture they exist in might discourage women from practicing even if it's not expressly forbidden.
This is somewhat less the case for the metalbending society later on, but there are several other factors involved there.
BonaparteBardithion
True. The girls maybe used earthbending sparingly, to maybe stop kids from running down the street or keep them in place for a time-out. Not for combat.
Maybe a few female earth Benders that were strong enough and had a hardy mindset joined the earth kingdom army.
@@BonaparteBardithion I think a big factor is that the founder of this principle, is a woman, Toph Beifong, showing very clearly that women are very much capable of becoming great metal and earth benders.
@@argr4sh yes definitely they are capable. However Toph is also shown to be not a typical female, with a disregard for the softness and elegance most women around her carry themselves. She embodies a lot of the stereotypical "male machismo". In this sense, it is exactly because she embodies more male traits despite being female that she is so capable at earthbending.
12:17 wait, did Ozai plan on incinerating land that was under Fire Nation rule for decades and had his citizens?
Well, it would definitely be in-character.
I think he was approaching from the other direction. Flying from the Fire Nation's west coast and landing on the Earth Kingdom's east coast. If Avatar's world is round and that's the whole map, then the Fire Nation and Ba Sing Sei are actually really close to each other. The whole Earth Kingdom would have been a bit much, but reducing Ba Sing Sei and everyone in it to a pile of ash would destroy the Earth Kingdom as a country for good.
@@wafflingmean4477No it says on the map at 12:21 mesa where aang took ozai's bending away in sozins commet
And it is in the fire nation colonys
Fire nation = Japan
Earth kingdom = China
Water tribe = Indonesia and Polynesia (best I can put together at least)
Air nomads = Indian Hindu monks (at least many in terms of philosophy and life style)
I'd say the water tribes were based on Inuit and native American cultures
The Air Nomads are tibetans
@@brazguy5999 holy shit I feel like a dumbass for not realizing that
@@jacobwhitley5799 it happens lol
Water tribe are Eskimos
I really loved the part about eqaulity
I have thought about other points of the video before but I never ever ever thought about the gender roles in avatar and how much they differ between the nations
Sorry for my english
[Can't find any English grammatical or spellings mistakes. No punctuation? Pshaw. At or above most native speakers] 👍
Mark Uhler
True, he spoke far more fluently than most who are born native English speakers! 😅
Looking at how gender roles are done in fiction can be a massive tell at how much effort went into the world building. Hate it when fiction simply says 'women are treated badly just because'. Tell me why there treated differently. In real life gender roles are not as simple as 'women are seen as less than men', there's so much subtle details to them.
Jessica Sayers
I agree. There were reasons (some better than others) as of to why women were usually treated differently. Not necessarily looked down upon, but simply placed in different roles.
In the Avatar World, the roles and reasons behind have been explained rather well.
Granted, I see where the Northern Water Tribe was going, but I think at the very least the girls should have been taught how to defend themselves. Learn how to make walls of ice, or help repair certain water ways or walls.
I mean, I dunno how to explain it quite right, but I feel that while healing and martial arts in water bending are 2 different subjects, that overlap between the 2 should have been explored.
Think about it, what if when Master Pakku left for the Southern Water Tribe with some other warriors, one of them got injured? Have any of the men been taught how to heal?
Seems like an awfully helpful skill to learn, would it not? Even if they couldn’t heal as _well_ as the females, then that could be a good reason as to why they split the genders, but still, I feel if it was me who led the tribe, I’d allow for both genders to participate in all sorts of water bending.
Maybe, if they still wanted to have the genders split, it could be with jobs. Maybe only the men would learn advanced ice techniques, (for building structures or imprisoning people) and women learn more advanced/in depth healing techniques?
Females could take water out of clothing easier if they are more familiar with fabric (because maybe they spend more time sewing) and stuff?
Your thoughts?
The Avatar I mean I’m not sure but the only thing I could think of is soldiers are taught basic first aid by their commanding officers. Like how a medic in the army will know different to what a doctor knows. Tbh, I don’t think girls would get given any self defence training as it would be assumed that they didn’t need it and men would protect them. If we think of it as being similar to Western patriarchal societies then women weren’t taught how to defend themselves most likely because it was thought that they couldn’t. If a man with a sword comes as an unarmed woman, what could she realistically do.
I think the division between men and woman comes down to similar reasons we have those divisions which are kinda complex but do help structure societies. If you want to create a wartime community then dividing people into noticeable differences (men and women) and saying that men should fight and women should heal because it is their duty as men or women would be quite a drive for most people.
Sorry if this doesn’t make sense as I’m not too informed on the issue (I enjoy studying social history but gender differences aren’t one of my favourite topics).
I can not tell which one is more intricate:
Avatar the Last Airbender's world building
Or
Your essay
I would never have considered it before, but your description of how naval powers develop and build around their trade requirements has got me looking at the Fire Nation in ways that are reminiscent of Medieval and Renaissance Venice.
I really appreciate how your videos always give me new ways of looking at things.
There was a fanfiction that gave a competent answer to why Sozin decided to invade the air temples aside from trying to destroy the avatar's cycle. The air benders were nomadic monks that tried to remove themselves from worldly affairs as much as possible and it can be speculated that they relied on the nearby fire nation for food and pastures for the sky bison. Seeing the size and weight of the huge bison, we can say that the land might be frequently damaged even if the bison just landed never mind when they grazed (volcanic soil). Also, the fact that there were no non-benders among the air nomads is quite concerning, were they just dropped down to fend for themselves in the fire nation???The fire nation people would have felt that they were being exploited without too much in return. This all would have made it easy for the common folk to resent the air nomads and helped Sozin to start the war or at least spread propaganda against the air temples.
I don’t really like this answer. But one thing the air temples are spread out across the earth kingdom, and for another thing, the air temple closest to the fire nation is much closer to earth kingdom fertile plains than it is to the fire nation.
Other materials kinda made that mute, only the young and the elders live in the temples and they can relie on mountain plant and they seem to be allowed to eat eggs and milk. The traveling nomads lived off the land, charity or payment from religious work or odd jobs.
Aren't vulcanic regions really fertile? Isn't that why people keep living near volcanoes even though they cause destruction?
They still have to find enough flat enough land for sufficient farming. Otherwise their population will be limited by resources. Small plots of extremely fertile land only help small populations, which is part of the problem Japan is having.
Also, we actually live near volcanoes because they look awesome. 🗻
I think I read/heard/watched something that said volcanic soil depletes its nutrients very quickly, so until that next explosion that destroys your villiage, you're screwed.
@@markuhler2664 iirc, andisols (volcanic soils) deplete in part because they are "fluffy" and susceptible to wind erosion.
Because, just like Japan, there isn't enough space. Countries like Japan and Greece are mostly mountains, not enough flat land to produce like say, France.
True... Indonesia is in the ring of fire... specifically Sumatra, Java, Bali, and Nusatenggara islands.. but those islands are also the place where 85% of population live
Nobody:
HFM: *"So a good example of this is in Avatar: The Last Airbender.."*
But being real here, a good example of *everything* is in Avatar: The Last Airbender.
azfadel
It’s awesome really!
Can we blame him, though?
I am blown away by the level of detail. ATLA is a masterpiece.
The most obvious parallel to the Fire Nation's resource extraction policy would be their most notable real-life inspiration, Japan. Who invaded nearby Manchuria in order to have a stable source of food for the rapidly growing population needed to fuel their modern industries.
I'm a simple man. I see a video essay on Avatar, I click.
Two fire nation soldiers are collecting taxes from impoverished peasants and one says -"Dude..." -"What" -"Are we the baddies?"
"we've got skulls on our helmets"
OneEyedJoe
Eh, not skulls per say, but I guess that’s what the design was eluding too.
But what about the advanced Fire benders that had those 3 slits instead? And the open helmets too?
OneEyedJoe the funny thing with that joke is that the skull was a traditional Prussian symbol long before WW2, and the SS hijacking it (though tank crews also brandished the symbol).
11:26 You coward! Anything is edible if you try hard enough!
One thing I really enjoy is how integrated the magic system of bending is in the world building. The fire nation has a near limitless power supply and thus becomes the most technologically advanced. The earth kingdom can have fully working trains and transportation systems without having any of that technology cause they can literary push it using earth bending.
This is one of my favorites in a WHILE! I love how you have this firm grasp on all kinds of concepts, I really learn a lot bout the elements of worldbuilding in these
man every time i see a analysis of avatar i love it more and more, the work and atencion to details realy makes theshow shine
One of your best and simultaneously coolest videos ever. I love how you mesh education, humor and cinematic quality in your videos.
Love the Age of Empires references with chemistry and loom
And the sound effects
"Occassionally the French.."
Shots fired ^_^
Tim: Usually pirates... occasionally the France.
Me: He-he-he-he *click like*
You're supposed to add Sorry for my English at the end
@@Chocolatnave123 Oops, did I annoy you? Did I spell something wrong? You got a problem with my dyslexia? What I wrote seems perfectly legible to me, apart from the fact that youtube took the asterisks to mean "make bold" which I didn't know would it do. You want to be the spelling and grammar police? Maybe you should use some quotation marks and a full stop.
SaryTheWolf Sorry if I sound rude but you did make a grammatical error, but knowing that you have dyslexia and such, I won’t argue. Though the way you responded to the other person was very aggressive and makes it as if you cared about what he said.
@@cjnicolas3438 Very aggressive? It was meant to be sassy. Unfortunately I do care, it hard not to when people imply I've done something wrong like that. It was the words "suppose" and "sorry" that did it, like I'm meant to be a good little illiterate and analogize to people for having to read my pre-school level trash. I don't mind people pointing out my errors (though I may not agree that they're worth fixing) but that is not what the first replier was doing.
Hello future me! My boyfriend and I have been watching your videos for a while now and I just wanted to drop in and say that I really appreciate and enjoy them. Please keep them coming. The world building and societal breakdowns are some of my favorites since I’m a psychology and sociology major. My heart lies with the air nomads so I’ll be looking out for that video.
I really like the equal opportunity societal characteristics of the fire nation across gender, bending, and sexual orientation though with such a focus on power, your position/role is often at risk which makes for a culture of high stress.
Katara’s cycle of war was also one of my favorites.
I honestly think it's really sad we didn't get to see the fire nation in the Legend of Korra, Its culture is so interesting, and I'd love to see a less strict peaceful version of the Fire nation during the series, with lightning bending more common and widespread just imagine how it now plays into their culture, maybe kids try forming shaped out out of the bolts, or maybe there's celebrations involving using lightning and fire as art, there are so many missed opportunities!
We did see a little bit of that in Legend of Korra like when Mako took a job doing lighting bending in a factory. We see a few other workers do the same. Very industrialist society. It was a tiny bit but still something.
I look forward to the Air Nomade episode in a few years. ^_^
Basically just bhuddist monasteries.
Air Nomads basically ruled by the Jedi Council and live in isolation in their air temples.
I wanna see the water tribe episode
When you realize 'Kyoto' is an anagram for 'Tokyo'
Half of the kanji spelling them is the same too. The Kyo (京) part means "capital".
I like to say that the other kanji is the same thing with the position reversed, but sadly they're just homophones.
The To in Kyoto (京都) is "metropolis" while the To in Tokyo (東京) is "east".
Capital City and East Capital.
@@BonaparteBardithion I wonder why naming conventions are so different in East Asia vs Europe. No capital city in Europe is named Capital, East Capital or anything like that (as far as I know). Also, renaming is not as common in Europe and most names are very ancient and have an unknown origin.
@@kacperwoch4368 Capitals changed far more often and were not intentionally made to be capitals most of the time in Europe, outside of Roman times, and Rome referred to itself solely as "Rome" up until the Byzantine Empire fell many many years after Rome had ceased being in the state
kyoto means capital city and tokyo means east capital. The Kyo is both mean capital but the to in tokyo means east and the to in kyoto means city
@@TheJesterInYellowyou mean the eastern roman empire
1:52: Small nitpick: Stone coal was in use long before the Industrial Revolution, but mainly for heating. What made Coal so important was the discovery of pyrolysis, to make Coke (not the soft drink). If you melt iron with coal, you produce brittle iron that has bonded with sulfur and other impurities found in the raw coal. Coke doesn't have those impurities and burned much better, and hotter than the wooden coal used previously. Simultanously, the invention of the modern blast furnace made mass production of iron, and later steel feasiable, driving the first wave of industralization in Europe.
3:55
The militairy is also to help protect them. To make sure you have a central force capable of protecting everyone rather than each province having to defend themselves.
Small spoiler for Rise of Kyoshi. Rangi's mom from Rise of Kyoshi is known to have killed family members in alot of Agni Kais.
I'm also going to wildly theorize that the firenation royal family in Rise of Kyoshi will all be murdered resulting in Rangi being the Firelord someday and is the great great great.... grandmother of Azula and Zuko.
the fire lord lineage is already explained in "smoke and shadow" comics
Well that transition was as smooth as a documentary on CuriosityStream®
"I think this is really cool" procedes to describe arranged marriages based on genetic purity.
Really fascinating! The contrast between firebending and waterbending society is especially interesting. Had Sozin not have changed the game and conquered other nations, the fire nation might have ended up being one of the most equal societies among the four elemental kingdoms.
So did you contest the claim by Sony? Your essay videos appear to be clearly fair use.
Also, Sony doesn't own Avatar. Viacom does.
Generic Person
Who’s Viacom? Where’s Nickelodeon?
Everyone out here talking about Sony and Viacom, and I’m here thinking “why is no one taking about Nickelodeon having the rights to Avatar”?
@@thalmoragent9344 most company's are owned by other company's ex ABC is owned by Disney , fanta is owned by coca cola
Fire Nation Soldier
Viacom is the parent company of Nickelodeon
You always find the most interesting and thought provoking frames to put these nations in, really fascinating stuff!
Its called Geopolitics.
You probably won't see this comment, but I wanted to thank you for your love of Avatar. I watched it for the first time recently and I instantly fell in love with it. I'm watching it again. All because of you. Thank you so much. Also your channel is amazing and Zuko is my favourite character and his relationship with Uncle Iroh is my favourite part of the whole series.
“but naval control of the region also give one other major advantage”
TEXAS
I already think Avatar the last airbender is perfect, like no detail is needed to make it better. But every time I watch one of your videos it just blows my mind.
Really loved this. Republic City next ? I really was intrigue on how this city kind of became it's own nation, while being born out of the other 4.
God I love your content
"And they even researched chemistry! This is all in marked contrast to the lower tech levels of the water tribes and the earth kingdom, who haven't even researched LOOM"
"Historically, merchant fleets have been accompanied by ships capable of defending them from... usually pirates, occasionally the French"
These videos are always fascinating. As a budding Avatar youtuber learning things from a contextual position from your channel - great video and can’t wait to see if you’ll do similar for the other nations
You know a series has been carefully managed when it’s filled with examples in writing/literature
Honestly I'm impressed on how much information you are able to obtain
I hope you eventually do worldbuilding videos on the Water Tribes and the Air Nomads. There is definitely enough to work with.
If they ever do more series to fill out the world or animate the comics or go further than Korra, I hope their team includes you or someone like you
You know watching these videos about ATLA blows my mind. I think theirs no way Bryke thought that much into it. Like how do you have a show that goes that deep with all of it. Just crazy
My guess is that avatar is something that was being worked on way before the show ever got pitched.
azfadel
There is a documentary you can find in UA-cam where the creators go in depth in how they created the world of Avatar.
Apparently I've watched several of your videos throughout the years and never realized this was all being created by you. So.... subscribed! Glad to see your channel thriving - happy for you. And thanks for the videos. :)
These videos are amazing man. I get so excited every time I watch them. Keep it up dude!
Will you do a video on the Yuyan Archers? I would love to see how you break down their origins based on the real-life influences and how they work in the world of ATLA.
I've been studying history of japan and china in college. And these videos give me the tingles. SOOOO GOOD
I enjoy how you dissect each part of this series, even down to each minute detail of land formation and access to natural resources, this explains how the fire nation was an formidable one
Honestly, the last airbender is one of my favorite shows, but they way you put this video together is brilliant...
I've seen the entire series at least 10-15x and these thoughts never even occured to me. nice vid 5/5
I never really took time to appreciate how detailed and purposefully the geography was. Really amazing work Tim!
13:10 I can't speak for the sun warriors, but to my understanding Mesoamerican societies liked their gold because of two major reasons: One they had access to lots of it, either through trade with other Mesoamerican societies or direct acess to the ore. Two, they did not use it for currency, either favoring other currencies such as Aztecs using Cocoa Beans or relying on barter for trade, making gold useless for pretty much anything but decoration and circuit boards. They went with decoration.
that ad transition was SMOOTH
I would love to see this kind of breakdown of Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials. With the parallel worlds, and how their technological advancement is similar to or differs from ours, I feel like there is so much to unpack there
Ok I've only got one problem with this. As a chain of volcanic islands the fire nation nessicarily hasn't been part of the landmass the earth kingdom is on. While yes plate tectonics is likely the root cause of the formation of these islands their volcanic nature and shape suggests that they were formed as an arc similar to Japan or the Philippines, which is where the collision of two oceanic plates causes folding and increased volcanism. The land created usually follows the shape of the plate boundaries which is why an arc is usually formed. I think this is probably a more likely scenario for the fire nation than having been part of the larger continent and breaking off as that would result in a more compact landmass like Madagascar or from the flooding of land bridges which would usually show the physical geography of the islands to be pretty similar to the mainland like the UK and Ireland. (Sorry I don't mean to be an ass but I've gotta use the geography degree for something)
Your degree just paid for itself with your comment lol seriously- great comment and good luck 💫