How FIREBENDING Completes Aang - Avatar The Last Airbender

Today at the Mystery Shack, we return to the world of Avatar the Last Airbender for a deep dive into Aang's mastery of the four elements and how fire truly enables that mastery.

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Further reading & links:
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LEMMiNO – Firecracker
CC BY-SA 4.0
LEMMiNO – Nocturnal
CC BY-SA 4.0
LEMMiNO - Cipher
CC BY-SA 4.0

We Shop Song
Creative Commons ► Attribution 3.0 Unported ► CC BY 3.0
Composed by
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Timecodes
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00:00 - Introduction
00:35 - The “Bad” Element
03:31 - Jeong Jeong & To Contain Fire
06:51 - Burned
13:34 - Zuko & Lighting the Flame Anew
16:59 - The Sun Warriors
19:14 - "ENOUGH"
24:35 - Fire & A Fully Realized Avatar
26:15 - Outro

#avatarthelastairbender

[SpammytheHedgehog]

"Water is cool and soothing. Earth is steady and stable. But, fire... fire is alive! It breathes... it grows..." *- Master Jeong Jeong*

[deandredukes]

*”Fire is the element of power. The people of the Fire Nation have desire and will and the energy and drive to achieve what they want.”* - Iroh

[charmainen]

Fire makes him force his potential to cause harm. For a pacifist, that’s a deeply painful truth to face and admit.

[SpammytheHedgehog]

Aang accepting Fire was the same as Aang accepting Zuko.

[ericschuller]

It's always challenging in martial arts to completely change your style and approach. I used to be a very mobile and dynamic fighter, emphasizing fluid and unpredictable movements, dodging and surprising people with a large and surprisingly adaptable body. But after a critical and permanent injury in my right leg, I had to completely change the way that I fight. Instead of being able to simply weave and dodge or run like I once did, I had to stand my ground. Thankfully, I had a teacher who helped me to change my ways to a more stable and grounded style, learning to cut off an opponent's options for lateral movement and making use of my long reach - for context I'm a swordsman - to go in for a finishing strike. I had to take ownership of my body and size, not simply trying to dance around opponents to strike them where it would cause the least pain. It took six months, training for about 20 hours a week, just to form the basis for a new way of fighting that would make my injuries worse. And it's taken seven years since then to truly understand my own philosophy when it comes to martial arts.

My point in this lengthy anecdote is that I get Aang's challenge with how he struggles to adapt.

[Inneys]

I would love for you to cover Zuko in the Final Agni Kai and how he bends like he's using other elements

[mategido]

God if I could ever experience this for the first time again…

[AlphatrusBensIII]

Think about the avatar cycle as a whole.
Fire. Air. Water. Earth

Aang’s fear is POWER and RESPONSIBILITY
A kin to Fire Benders

Korra’s fear IS LOSING CONTROL AND CHANGE
A kin to Air Benders

The nature is the same but the nurture is different in the avatar cycle

[phantasma_]

I think the reason Aang found it so easy to bend fire originally because he always had his inner fire lit, like most fire benders do. He just had to deal with the moral complexities developed during this time, and that's why he needed the sun warriors to realise where fire bending really comes from

[yurkdawg]

I always thought that the momentary flash of the Avatar State is the epitome of mastering all 4 elements. We see Kyoshi and Roku using it, and of course Aang at the very end. It allows them access to the complete Avatar State power, but by that expert-quick flash, practically eliminates the risk of dying in the Avatar State and breaking the cycle.

(Btw - that's also why I was annoyed as Tenzin to see Korra recklessly using it (at length) as a "booster rocket" in a silly race. 😜)

[Heylon]

Man, your analysis of the fight against Ozai is so beautifully written. Your scripts are getting better and better. Kudos to you, Koroto

[MicheleeiRettili]

gosh, your analysis was SPOT ON. I'm teared up

[Soulheim]

Great video! And it also made me realise why I loved the final battle between Aang and the fire lord so much; Aang was in complete control. His moves were meticulous and calculated, unlike previously where it was more a reactionary bending style.
I would love to hear your analysis on Korra's bending!

[Gemaco]

One thing the dragons do, that I feel is brushed over, is teach us as the audience the good parts of fire. Up until that point it's mostly been used for evil, bar from a few examples. But in order for Aang to use the "evil" element, they have to make it more than that to us as well. I think the sun also plays a far more important role there, it is the source of our daylight, warmth. We seek it out for comfort and look forward to it in the summer. Shifting fire from the evil destructive element, a wildfire consuming the world, to a sun inside of you, makes it appear more good-coded before showing Aang using it again

[wherethetatosat]

Something I always found fascinating was that Aang should be well aware by the time he meets Jong Jong how dangerous fire is. But his kid mentality treats it as a parlor trick. It's an aggressive element from what the show presents. Fire also represents being able to assert your will. So when Aang finally decides it's time to learn firebending and take it seriously, it shows that he's matured enough to take his duty as the Avatar seriously.

[deandredukes]

In everyone's life, at some time, our inner fire goes out. It is then burst into flame by an encounter with another human being. We should all be thankful for those people who rekindle the inner spirit.

[eonstar]

I feel so lucky to have grown up watching this on television

[SpammytheHedgehog]

Zuko: I want to join your group.

Aang: No. 😠

Zuko: I burned Toph.

Aang: Okay. You can join.

[anthonycannet]

The air bending philosophy is to avoid conflict wherever possible, water bending philosophy builds on that with the flexibility to react to an impending conflict and make it out, earth bending philosophy then teaches him to stand his ground when it isn’t possible to avoid or escape, and the fire bending philosophy teaches him to finish the fight.
When you cannot avoid conflict, escape it
When you cannot escape conflict, defend yourself
When you cannot simply defend yourself, fight back

[mirmatron]

in defense of “the Phenix King” lol he was gonna just burn down the whole earth kingdom and rebuild the new fire nation from the ashes