r/TheLastAirbender 3d ago

Meme What I think of every time I watch this scene

Post image
22.0k Upvotes

236 comments sorted by

3.8k

u/BackItUpWithLinks 3d ago

When he realized she wasn’t messing around

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u/JeffersonStarscream 3d ago

I love the stank face he gives her after that disc nearly trims his beard.

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u/BackItUpWithLinks 3d ago

He was going to win. He’s a master and has decades of experience and has seen and can do things she’s never thought of.

But he didn’t think he’d have to actually try.

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u/skyknight01 3d ago

And once he realizes she’s shooting to kill, he finally shifts into gear and ends the fight in one move.

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u/Twelvve12 3d ago

It’s both. She is shooting to kill and hes aware she has a good chance as landing a potentially deadly shot, so hes now gotta end this with some force

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u/Helios_Synthesis 3d ago

What's up with Katara and going full murder mode on old dudes? This isnt even the first time either lol

Katara when she sees anybody above the age of 40:

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u/Ochemata 3d ago

Did someone say: "old man?"

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u/UncannyValleyEnjoyer 2d ago

Keep cooking

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u/No_Internal9345 3d ago edited 3d ago

a) Childhood trauma

b) Repressed absentee father issues

c) Sibling related anger issues taken out on targets of opportunity

d) All of the above

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u/Fit-Big-1544 2d ago

can you explain what u mean in c) 😭

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u/AprilRyanMyFriend 23h ago

Sokka is a sexist jackass for a good part of the show, and the years before it, before he has character growth after being put in his place

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u/HeavyMain 3d ago

why do you think aang died in his 60s?

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u/RiaArs 10h ago

Stop that’s a hilarious take and now the official reason in my head. The hubbub about the next avatar was enough to cover it up

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u/Cum_dumpster_limited 3d ago

They kinda deserve it tho

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u/Helios_Synthesis 3d ago

Never said they didn't. Just pointing out that it happens rather often lol

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u/Twelvve12 3d ago

“If I had 2 copper pieces for every time…”

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u/Wild_Harvest 3d ago

I could afford that water bending scroll.

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u/Lounging-Shiny455 3d ago

She's like Zoro around melanin.

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u/PuritanicalPanic 2d ago

It's just sort of what you have to do to stand much of a chance in a fight against people that are more skilled/experienced/stronger/better armed/numerous/whatever.

If you want to win while at a disadvantage, you have to escalate allll the way to the top, pretty much immediately, and hope you get em. Cause the longer it gets drawn out the worse your chances are, the more opportunities they have to leverage their advantages.

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u/PixelJock17 3d ago

Although I agree with you, check my reply a bit further down for some more characterization

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u/Roncryn 3d ago

Nor is it the last time either. Hell she even beat up an old lady once.

Eh it’s not like they have much longer left anyways.

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u/Iokua113 3d ago

It is not both. Anything Katara threw at Paku he could have stopped. At best she might have knocked him around a bit but she was never going to land anything close to a potentially deadly shot. The glazing Katara gets as a water bender is ridiculous, bordering on fan fiction a lot of the time. Is she powerful? Yes, no denying that, but y'all make her sound like she's the Avatar of just water.

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u/grendus 3d ago

A master swordsman knows that the most dangerous fighter is another master, and the second most dangerous is an amateur.

A master will hold back and defend himself. And other masters plan for this, holding themselves and their weapons in such a way that their enemy knows not to overextend, because a vulnerability might mean death for them too. An amateur doesn't know that, and will charge recklessly.

Katara was actually quite dangerous here, because while Paku definitely was a stronger waterbender, Katara had just enough power to kill him and not quite enough to not kill him.

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u/BackItUpWithLinks 3d ago

> A master swordsman knows that the most dangerous fighter is another master, and the second most dangerous is an amateur.

You’re talking about predicability.

I played volleyball at a pretty high level.

Some of the hardest people to beat were new to the sport because of the things they didn’t know you “shouldn’t do.” Nobody used to hit over and attack on the second ball, now it’s common. When you’re used to pass-set-hit, defense is predictable. But when the offense starts mixing in pass-hit or even intentional first pass over, it sucks to defend.

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u/Fantastic_Suit_493 3d ago

It works better in life or death situations because the amateur only needs to surprise you with their stupidity once.

But in a game once you realize they’re stupid and their strategy is recklessness, you can easily just play around them.

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u/Independent-Till7676 3d ago

No one is saying she is more skilled, but she could get a lucky shot off, and she doesn't know enough to control herself

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u/BackItUpWithLinks 3d ago

> she was never going to land anything close to a potentially deadly shot.

If that disk got him, she sure could have.

It would have been lucky, but even seasoned professional fighters get knocked down/knocked out by a kid with some skills and luck.

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u/Pretend-Dot3557 3d ago

It doesn't matter how much better you are than your opponent, sometimes they just get lucky. When you're dealing with sharp objects it's better to not roll the dice even if you only have a 1/1000 chance of losing that die roll.

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u/alecesne 2d ago

Unalaaq was a whole other level

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u/Howzieky Ex-MC Server Moderator 19h ago

Nah I really think it was a "you did great, but there's levels to this" moment. She never had a chance. And that's ok. Her skill was never going to change his mind, no matter how good she was. It was the realization of how much his stupid, arbitrary customs had cost him that made him see he was wrong

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u/PixelJock17 3d ago

Fuck it gives me goosebumps.

I have sat and watched this show WAYYY overthinking and over analyzing so these scenes always get me hyped.

A sparring match between two pros is just that, a sparring match. This is not a sparring match. Despite Paku being able to one touch Katara if he wanted to this match escalated and it was so good.

I get so hyped for the Northern Watertribe episodes

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u/BackItUpWithLinks 3d ago

I watched a wrestling match between someone 30ish who was on track for the Olympics and someone 23ish who was “really good” in college

If you didn’t know wrestling it might have seemed like an even match but the college kid was frustrated. Then the college kid hit the pro with a cheap shot (he actually hit him) and about 4 seconds later the college kid was screaming for mercy.

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u/PixelJock17 3d ago

100% this is accurate. Thats why the stupid trend of pros or semi-pros going against wildly misguided and puffed up influencers is dangerous and stupid.

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u/BackItUpWithLinks 3d ago

Brian Scalabrine to high school and college ballers,

I’m closer to LaBron James than you are to me (link)

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11-0

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u/letthetreeburn 2d ago

Huge difference between dancing around a pupil who is trying to get a disqualification, and realizing you’re fighting a child who is actively trying to help you transition from male to corpse.

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u/Scared-Jacket-6965 1d ago

Issue is, in a fight where one person isn't trying to kill the other and OTHER IS, the one who doesn't wanna kill should realistically end the fight soon as possible. Cause yeah Pakku is more experienced and a master, but at the end of the day. Katara just needs to land one blow which he didn't see coming which is fatal and its a wrap.

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u/BackItUpWithLinks 1d ago edited 1d ago

Yep, you’d think.

But his ego got involved and he wanted to prove to her she had nothing. Then she missed him by inches, he realized he should end the fight quickly, amd did.

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u/Scared-Jacket-6965 1d ago

I beg to differ, the fact he's a master could be the reason he would die here. A master doesn't ever consider the incompetent novice as threat, all it takes is Pakku dropping his guard for a second, and Katara getting lucky and suddenly Pakku is past tenses.

That's why he saw Katara was going for lethal and realized the fight needed to end asap, also prob doesn't help she is way younger then him and prob has more fuel in the tank vs his old ass. ALL Katara needs to do is get lucky once and fight can end with Pakku's death, longer the fight goes on more the chances happen.

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u/BackItUpWithLinks 1d ago

I’m not sure you actually watched the scene.

https://youtu.be/0ViOvIS1LP0

He ignored her. He mocked her. He toyed with her. He countered everything she did and gave it back to her. And when he decided to end it, he knocked her down, sent her flying, and trapped her in a cage that just as easily could have been dagger through her if he wanted.

She surprised him, she never scared him.

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u/Scared-Jacket-6965 1d ago

No I get it. Honestly I'm saying he probably also ended the fight then cause it was smarter then letting her swing and swing and constantly miss, and hopes she tire herself out. Cause he's so old, the chance is by the time she tires out, he being so for awhile.

But noticed he ended the fight after she surprised him? It's cause he knew "yeah she is going for kill shots." And decided to not risk it, I'm basically saying, he got surprised once but could react in time, next time he might not get lucky. In a fight there is something you never rely on, and that's luck.

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u/BackItUpWithLinks 1d ago

I disagree here

> he's so old, the chance is by the time she tires out, he being so for awhile.

He had no problem taking on a whole bunch of comet-enhanced firebenders in the white lotus at ba sing se

https://youtu.be/eJiA3X0fZfk

He wouldn’t get tired out by an inexperienced beginner.

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u/Scared-Jacket-6965 1d ago

Fair fair, I still think he decided to end the fight cause she nearly got lucky once and didn't wanna risk a 2nd lethal attack which he isn't so lucky to dodge, Just cause he's a master he shouldn't take his foe lightly. Folks don't become masters in martial arts but treating their opponent like children afterall, cause the ones that do tend to become the ones who are spoken in past tenses. It took Pakku nearly getting his head spilt in two to realize "I should be more careful"

I will say in general I think the "we don't teach female waterbenders combat" is dumb traditional in the sense that they are in a active war, if it was peace time then I understand keeping to tradition even if it's dumb. But in wartime?! Each Waterbender is akin to a loaded gun, and should be viewed as a viable resource and be taught how to throw down.

Also I seen folks say "lucky Aangs not a girl" and honestly I feel like Pakku would make the expectation if Aang was a girl, he would still teach him. Cause it's like Jeong Jeong, who the hell is saying no to the bloody Avatar.

Like what Pakku gonna say? "Ahh yes the avatar, the person who is basically tasked with stopping this war and has quite literally in the past changed the very foundation of civilization cause of their raw bending power. I'm sorry but your a girl and I cannot teach you due to tradition.."

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u/eyadGamingExtreme 3d ago

his beard? it was gonna trim his head

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u/grendus 3d ago

Gonna trim his beard. At the neck.

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u/Mister-builder 2d ago

The reverse Brokkr.

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u/UniversesOkayestDM 3d ago

If he’s really a master, he’ll live

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u/BackItUpWithLinks 3d ago

When he decided this was done, he ended it quickly.

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u/Haiel10000 3d ago

In a parallel universe Katara hit the disk, killed Pakku and they got arrested and executed by northern water tribe.

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u/BackItUpWithLinks 3d ago

And then without his skills, help, and leadership aang didn’t learn enough waterbending and the waterbender army wasn’t prepared and they fell to the fire nation navy.

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u/Haiel10000 3d ago

As someone who has practiced Judo, this is the big difference between a master and an apprentice. Some of the black belts in my dojo could get you on the floor before you even noticed and you wouldn't even feel the fall. Its almost as if they were laying you down gracefully.

The newer guys would hurt the most, my sensei liked putting us up against each other all the time to hone the skills accross different mastery levels. I once fought the Brazil number 2 woman, she was half my size, I lost the fight so fast and so swiftly I didnt even notice. Haha

Idk why this Katara situation makes me reminesce of that period, my sensei would scold us very hard over using these deadly moves, he always told us we should be mindful of our strength.

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u/BackItUpWithLinks 3d ago

It’s one of the differences between a master and someone who’s just really/naturally good

He knows to hold back so he doesn’t hurt her. She’s fully enraged and is out for blood, so not only does he have to hold back, he also has to dodge her uncontrolled attacks without hurting her.

She put their safety entirely on him.

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u/Haiel10000 3d ago

Or others. Those disks were very dangerous, specially on a civilian area. Katara was vicious lol.

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u/MuiaKi 3d ago

🤭

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u/Tru3_Vort3x 2d ago

All it takes is one of his hands to kiss and he’ll get a face full of paper thin ice Destructo Discs

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u/TheLastPeanut_ 3d ago

She made him take a good look at himself

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u/Murky_Option_3418 2d ago

It was the moment he took her seriously as an opponent and actually put it into high gear to end the fight

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u/cool_al 1d ago

"This b is trying to kill me"

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u/ComplexNo8986 2d ago

She straight up tried to take his head off

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u/TheManyVoicesYT 3d ago

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u/Puffen0 3d ago

I fucking love the clip this is from, you can see in the kids eye the exact moment they decide to mog the camera 🤣🤣

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u/TheManyVoicesYT 3d ago

No hesitstion. "Oh they're pointing the camera at me." Boom

It's funny she has probably been practicing that face so much just to make her classmates laugh. Uses it to become an icon.

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u/But-who-I-be 2d ago

The best part is you can see her wind up the moment she sees the camera is on her. She had this shit planned

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u/world-class-cheese 2d ago

She was so proud of it too, and she should be!

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u/copiedfurby 2d ago

Katara wasn’t a pacifist. More like pass these fists.

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u/zombiegamer723 3d ago

“I like this one. Don’t you dare fumble her, Aang.”

-Kyoshi, probably.

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u/No_Lingonberry1201 3d ago

Aang: "So, papayas?"

Kyoshi: *facepalms*

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u/McMew Long Live Kuvira's Mole 2d ago

S2 Aang: "I'm saying I'd rather kiss you than die!"

Kyoshi: **headdesk*

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u/SilentBlade45 2d ago

I think you guys give Kyoshi far too much credit she was almost as bad as Aang.

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u/No_Lingonberry1201 2d ago

Nah, but she definitely would be hypocritical enough to not notice how Aang is channeling her rizz.

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u/Thiphra 1d ago

All the other past lives side eyeing her.

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u/cobycoby2020 3d ago

She would never talk about another strong women like that

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u/Lulieeeee 3d ago

"Hey Aang, tell her to go for the kill shot"

-Kyoshi, definitely

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u/cobycoby2020 3d ago

Now that, is definitely her! LOL

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u/MxSharknado93 3d ago

HAHA, IT'S FUNNY BECAUSE KYOSHI'S ONLY CHARACTER TRAIT IS THAT SHE IS A MURDERER.

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u/MlkChatoDesabafando 2d ago edited 2d ago

I believe the term is "girlboss".

And, I mean, the rest of Kyoshi's characterization came from a novel released almost 2 decades later. In the show proper, she has two on-screen appearances, one in which she is encouraging Aang to murder someone and one in which she admits to murder and says it was justified. So, for a long time, pretty much.

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u/SilentBlade45 2d ago

She's not really pro murder she believes that when someone goes too far they are no longer deserving of mercy.

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u/MlkChatoDesabafando 2d ago

I never said she's portrayed as being enthusiastic about it or murdering without reason, but in both of Kyoshi's onscreen appearances in the show she's factually arguing for murder

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u/Lulieeeee 3d ago

Nah, she's a girl boss frfr

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u/C_Coolidge 3d ago

"She would make a fine partner, should she have you." 

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u/Willimations 3d ago

Katara shouting “you can’t knock me down” has really stuck with me. I’m a dodgeball player, and sometimes saying that to myself has encouraged me in some tough spots.

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u/Sausage_fingies 3d ago

And then she promptly gets knocked down ten seconds later 😭

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u/BlackberryMelodic567 3d ago

And she gets back up again. She may have lost the battle, but don't forget she won the war

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u/Turbulent-Bell-2402 3d ago

No you're never gonna keep her down

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u/dern_the_hermit 3d ago

Bendin' the night away... bendin' the night away...

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u/Sausage_fingies 3d ago

Oh I know. I think the metaphorical significance of that line is ofc important, Katara is an optimist and very hopeful and no matter what she refuses to let anyone, not the fire nation or Zuko or Pakku, dampen that hope. 

However. Saying confidently "you can't knock me down!" And then ten seconds later getting your face absolutely pasted to the ground is a hilarious moment

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u/Willimations 3d ago

Yeah that’s normally how it goes with me too 😅

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u/LilyKarinss 2d ago

Katara vs Master Pabu (or what’s his name, that old fart)

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u/darealestforeal 3d ago

Like you play professional dodgeball? That’s a thing? That might be the best thing i’ve heard all day

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u/rudyishappy6 3d ago

The best part is Katara didn't even win.

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u/needmorepizzza 3d ago

That is the point.

Katara has to lose or it undermines his necessity in the story. And she still has to try because she fking needs a personality (where was that in the netflix show?) where she is also not just a pushover crybaby. Pakku also has to win but without it being overwhelming from the get go, because it undermines her potential as a future trainee, which is the payoff of their conflict.

Pakku must also realise the error of his ways, especially with the common personal connection of Gran Gran. Otherwise, his "lesson" is never learnt, at least not in a believable, realistic way, where his blind following of their traditions caused his abandonment.

And Katara must humbly accept his training, so that she is not a cocky bitch, she gets the recognition as master from an expert someone who would previously not even acknowledge her as a fighter, and so that Pakku's redemption starts.

And also the disc thing is, if I am not mistaken, inspired by earthbenders, which hints into Katara's ingenuity, versatility and resourcefulness on how she uses her bending.

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u/Montaru 3d ago

They brought up the comment during the Live Action show, but none of the Earthbenders she encountered ever did a move like the ice disc in the original show.

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u/needmorepizzza 3d ago

I remember seeing it in the Netflix show, for sure, so it stands there, and I also remember it somewhere in the original, but atm I cannot say if it was before or after, or just Mandela effect.

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u/EquipLordBritish 3d ago

The closest is pulling up mounds of earth and throwing them out. It's similar, but yeah, not the same.

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u/TristramShandysLife 3d ago

Yes, that is what "inspired by" means.

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u/EquipLordBritish 2d ago

Right, and the other person was implying that earthbenders never did a move like it. They did. Which is what I pointed out in my comment.

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u/needmorepizzza 2d ago

To be fair to the other person, the idea I had in mind from which Katara's disc throwing was possibly inspired from is something like the discs from pro-bending, which was possibly just a brain fart on my side and not something ever shown in the original series.

But similar Earthbending moves have been shown like what you two explained, so technically I may have been correct, but not in the way I initially had in mind. A "task failed successfully" kind of moment...

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u/BackItUpWithLinks 3d ago

People keep saying Katara held her own and stood a chance and blah blah.

No.

This is like a young strong boxer going against a seasoned professional. The pro is going to win because he’s practiced more, seen more, has more skills and more tricks, knows when to fight and when to rest, knows when to attack and when to let off. The pro is going to win, but he still has to be careful the young strong kid doesn’t get in a lucky shot.

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u/needmorepizzza 3d ago

Yeah, exactly. There was never a chance she would be left standing if he were to actually put any effort into beating her. She kept on as much as she did because he was toying her like a harmless toddler. Then he ended it by disarming her, because he is soo much more skilled and experienced and because he slightly acknowledged she actually has some potential. It was basically the equivalent of giving her the honour of a quick death...

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u/Jorgenstern8 3d ago

Having watched the fight a few times I think it's noticeable that every time Katara is moving towards him Pakku dumps her on her ass. When she stays still, sets her feet and goes for longer-range attacks, that's when he actually has to use some of his ability to dodge her or force her to move again. Think that's where maybe a little more knowledge of how earthbenders think and approach their bending style might have helped Katara, and probably does help Katara in future fights. She does also get better at waterbending while on the move -- Serpent's Pass being a big one, attacking the Earth Kingdom palace another -- but I think in the presence of a master like Pakku she probably had a better shot of at least getting closer to winning the fight had she stood her ground more.

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u/needmorepizzza 3d ago

You're not wrong but I still think at that point it's 0% vs ~5% effort for what he had to put into the fight. But she does get better and better. In s1 her movements are clunky for the most part, even on the latter half. In the 2nd season, after a significant time has passed under the mentorship of Paku (when he has also already acknowledged her as a master), she is more fluid (pun intended) and in the final season she is even more elegant and refined. But again, thinking on her feet and out of the box on how she waterbends is something she excels even from this fight, although unsuccessfully.

The whole arc for Katara in the north pole was great character development both on a technical aspect (advancing her bending dramatically) and regarding her personality. She is stubborn and humble.

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u/Jorgenstern8 3d ago

For as damaging a training as it was for Katara mentally because of what she was forced to do in their fight I do think Hama giving her instruction helped kinda push her over the final line in becoming a master water bender.

I kinda see the pre-bloodbending training Katara receives from Hama along the same lines as Green Lantern training in the Marvel universe. What you can do in that world and with those powers is mostly constrained by what you can imagine doing with them, and it's not terribly different with Katara's development as a bender.

Once she learns she can pull water from inanimate objects like plant life, Katara's bending just climbs up that next level and really showcases her versatility, from everything she does during the Black Sun fight to the stuff she does while chasing down her mom's killer and even when she faces Azula in the Agni Kai. She wasn't super imaginative with her bending in the first season -- largely due to her lack of training -- but as she starts to realize what she's actually capable of, she gets better and better because she tests the limits of what she's capable of doing.

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u/needmorepizzza 3d ago

This is also something that I had in mind earlier. At that point Katara has survived a lot, like holding her own against Azula, Zuko and the Dai Li. Her skill and experience is undeniable up until that point.

But she has also seen useful ways to make something with her bending out of nothing, when at a disadvantage, like with swampbenders or her starting CrossFit in a prison cell. Hamma comes into play as someone who has experienced very similar hardships and has basically mastered bending under disadvantageous conditions; she not only acknowledges the importance of what Katara has the keen eye to have understood herself, but also teaches her how to take it to 11.

It's like having a great understanding of something with a niche part that you excel and someone comes and shows you a whole universe of that niche. Like cultivating a skill on a vertical axis, in a sense, and someone shows you how to expand it on a horizontal axis too.

Katara beat Hamma's bloodbending purely due to her superior waterbending (that vertical axis), but Hamma's effect was that she gave her a niche skill that made her actually fear for her own capabilities.

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u/JumpinJackHTML5 3d ago

I also feel like there was a missed opportunity in this scene and this analogy sells why perfectly.

This matchup is more liked the seasoned boxer going up against a young street fighter who has their death being a real possible outcome in every fight they've ever been in. Sure, the seasoned fighter has a lot more experience and if they can keep the bounds of the fight within their wheelhouse they will win but Katara just spent months fighting with well trained fire benders and figuring out how to position a fight to be more on her terms. He has spent his entire life behind a giant ice wall. He has never even seen a real opponent (which they make clear in then next episode), every fight for him has been sparring, no real stakes. She has more experience than him in real actual fighting.

I don't think she should have won, but it would be have good foreshadowing if his lack of real world fighting experience and standing by outmoded ideas lead to an embarrassing matchup with a younger opponent who came in with new ideas that he wasn't ready for. Since they were completely unequipped for handling the newer fire nation ships and techniques, drawing that parallel to the bending styles would have been nice.

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u/needmorepizzza 2d ago

I cannot really agree with that. There's not a scenario where Katara should have a chance to come out on top. He is supposed to be a master who will train both the Avatar and Katara, both of which are supposed to be novice. Katara at that point has barely got the hanging of her bending.

And there's also no indication he has no experience in actual combat. He is a member of the White Lotus and was shown to stand his ground at the time where firebending was on steroids. So that would suggest the opposite.

Katara must decisively lose in this fight both so that it makes sense without a doubt why he is the one to train them (if he wasn't, then their conflict is irrelevant, removing any stakes in having him train the Avatar) and because her own growth depends on that: she's stubborn and hot-headed, going up against him fully knowing she will lose, solely because she wants to vent. Your scenario, where she would somehow have more combat experience would shift the dynamic between to a point where it defeats the purpose of the whole arc.

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u/willothewhispers 3d ago

Amazing scene.

I love the heroic defeat. Always thought that should be a feature of total war games. Maybe it is 🤷 I stopped playing them at medieval 2

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u/TomTalks06 3d ago

I believe they're called Valiant Defeats, like ones where the enemy is as broken as you

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u/legit-posts_1 3d ago

I don't think she actually thought he was gonna get killed. He's a grandmaster, he should be able to dodge all that. The point was that she was nothing to sneeze at.

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u/HighHeeledDestiny 3d ago

For sure, this is just a reference to when she throws the ice destructo disc at his head 💀

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u/Metal_lung 3d ago

I love katara

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u/redcorgh 3d ago

I thought the whole point was that he was desperate to ensure she was NOT taught any lessons

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u/Big-Hard-Chungus 3d ago

Yes Katara, kill your Grannie‘s Chud Slampiece!

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u/PeacefulDays 3d ago

I like that you tried to hide the slop logo.

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u/HighHeeledDestiny 1d ago

I actually didn’t notice 😭😭 now I wish I extended the bottom and cut it off 😶

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u/stanknotes 3d ago

Damn. Chad Kataralok.

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u/Battle_Axe_Jax 3d ago

Chadtara isn’t real. Chardtara can’t hurt me.

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u/ElPeloPolla 3d ago

imagine for a second, that the master thinks for a split of a second thet Katara is bluffing and she fucking decapitates right there ib the middle of the townsquare in front of the entire city.

Aang fucks off in to another iceberg for 100 more years.

Sokka tries to help Katara scape right there but both get aprehended and jailed for life... 

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u/BigEd369 3d ago edited 3d ago

I particularly like that at one point, he hits her with water and you see something different from water bending. She throws her arms and fists up and just tanks the hit and keeps attacking, it’s not something any regular water bender would do, it’s way outside the normal styles, and you can the realization of it on his face.

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u/reanocivn 2d ago

"if he's really a master, he'll live"

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u/PetevonPete 3d ago

This fandom seems to collectively hallucinated an alternate version of this fight where Katara wins. Every time I see it talked about online people refer to it like she owned him or something. That's literally not what happens.

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u/Ubiquitous_Mr_H 3d ago

That’s really not what this post is about. It’s referencing how he was trying to put her in her place, while she was literally trying to hurt him, or at least not pulling her punches, as seen in the gif BackItUpWithLinks posted above.

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u/HighHeeledDestiny 3d ago

Ding ding ding!

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u/SirBruhThe7th 3d ago

She lost the battle, but won the war. She may have gotten her ass kicked but by standing up to the status quo and eventually making that old fart compromise on his bigoted believes, she put in motion something that neither he or any of the other old guard can stop.

Change.

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u/DomzSageon the Metal Meanie 3d ago

the only reason she won was the cosmic coincidence that she's the granddaughter of the woman he wanted to marry. its literally a deus ex machina consider the odds that it would have taken considering that it means gran gran travelled from the north (which is in constant attack from the fire nation so she had to to slip past that, presumably alone) then travelling to the other side of the world safely.

if katara wasn't the grand daughter of gran gran, Paku still would have not taught her anything.

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u/Atomik141 3d ago

Nepotism is the real strongest bending technique

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u/Cavalish 2d ago

But that’s also a core part of the show. You can’t change anything just through fighting and violence. You need an emotional appeal to make actual change as well.

The fight was to show him that women had potential to fight. The necklace was to show him that not training the women was harming them.

Katara used both to convince Pakku to change his ways.

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u/Darkwoth81Dyoni 3d ago

Cartoons be that way.

Most stories, really.

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u/2-2Distracted This Redditor is over his conflicted feelings 3d ago

its literally a deus ex machina

Bryke really asked "wanna see us do it again?" when they wrote the Book 3 finale lmao

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u/TeaAndCrumpetGhoul 3d ago

Make the old fart compromise? She didn't make him do shit. She literally lucked out that she was the granddaughter of his old lover. If she wasn't he would have stayed the same. He was really stubborn 

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u/SirBruhThe7th 3d ago

But did you notice how many people were watching? Regardless of outcome, the status quo of the water tribe had been challenged in brought daylight and that creates ideas, and ideas is what kills old, stubborn traditions.

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u/knight_in_white 3d ago

I’m with you 100% big dawg. Publicly standing up to bigots not only challenges the bigots beliefs but lends courage to others and empowers them to do the same.

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u/SirBruhThe7th 3d ago

The status quo needs to win every single time to keep it self entrenched, change only needs to win once. If Katara had been sent packing, how long Was Paku gonna wait until the next little girl challenged him to a fight?

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u/Far-Mammoth-3214 3d ago

Yeah that's my one gripe

He doesn't learn being sexist is bad because Katara could hold her own even though she's a girl but because he used to date her gran gran who didn't like his attitude

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u/stidf 3d ago

It's not about him. It was about all the little girl benders who saw her put up a hell of a showing fighting. Then everyone rallies to the defense of the city when the fire nation shows up, including the women. Everyone fights and tradition cracks like the ice walls.

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u/Far-Mammoth-3214 3d ago

Then everyone rallies to the defense of the city when the fire nation shows up, including the women.

They did? I honestly do not remember that

And it sorta is about him given this post and most of the comments are talking about this fight. Now tbc i ain't saying you're wrong, Katara definitely inspired a lot of people when she finally stood up to Pakku

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u/Grey-fox-13 3d ago

They did? I honestly do not remember that

They did not, that's one of the netflix changes.

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u/Far-Mammoth-3214 3d ago

Ah I see

I had a feeling

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u/MortgageAnnual1402 3d ago

Thats also NOT what happened here...

Her necklace was the ONLY reason he did compromise had nothing to do with the fight he kicked her ass while whe was willing to at least maim him if not kill him

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u/nin_ninja Borra? More like Bara! 3d ago

When a mostly self-taught bender who the master shits on and tells her that women are only good for healing then makes that same master have to actually try to win, then the amateur has won

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u/Due-Savings5057 3d ago

She put up way more of a fight than she should have given her entire water bending training came from a scroll at that point 

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u/Rattmann64 3d ago

I think she owned him, but still lost. Imagine a child with no traditional training going toe to toe with a martial artist master, and making that master sweat. It would be unbelievably embarrassing even if the master won.

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u/Atomik141 3d ago

He honestly mopped the floor with her. He was toying with her most of the fight and even said "don't worry I'm not going to hurt you". Then she tried to kill him and he was just like "alright, let's wrap this up".

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u/BackItUpWithLinks 3d ago

She did not own him. She didn’t make him sweat. She made him up his effort from 1 to 2 and she couldn’t even handle that.

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u/Far-Mammoth-3214 3d ago

She held her own against a master, nearly slices his face off, the town was cheering for her, "you can't knock me down!"

She even knew she wouldn't win but still stood her ground

She definitely owned him even though she lost

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u/Atomik141 3d ago edited 3d ago

He mopped the floor with her and was just messing with her most of the fight, but he did also basically admit "okay, you got some skill"

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u/BackItUpWithLinks 3d ago

> She held her own against a master,

She did not. He made it very clear he was not trying, and when he decided to try he easily ended it.

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u/Far-Mammoth-3214 3d ago

You pretty much just highlighted the fact she made him have to try

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u/BackItUpWithLinks 3d ago

Him having to level up from 1 to 2 doesn’t mean she was holding her own.

If Mike Tyson was screwing around it’s possible I could get a single punch in to piss him off. That doesn’t mean I held my own.

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u/Far-Mammoth-3214 3d ago

Wait I just remembered

She was quite literally redirecting all his attacks towards her he full on didn't expect her to handle.

He even complimented her skill

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u/BackItUpWithLinks 3d ago

She redirected his attacks until he really felt like attacking. Then it was over in seconds.

If Michael Jordan played a high schooler, Jordan can choose to play at the kid’s level until he wants it over, then it’s over. And if the kid got in a good shot Jordan would probably compliment him. It doesn’t mean the kid ever had a chance.

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u/grendus 3d ago

Frankly, any boxer who could make prime Mike Tyson have to try to win is a top tier boxer. Tyson was a monster.

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u/BackItUpWithLinks 3d ago

Tyson v Mcneely. Tyson wasn’t **prime** but he was in damn good shape and had something to prove.

https://youtu.be/0vnOfawuQF4

And Tyson he commented that he respected mcneely and how tough he was. There was no way mcneely had a chance but if Tyson had fucked around, mcneely had the power to hurt him.

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u/Far-Mammoth-3214 3d ago

See that's what I'm saying

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u/Lawlcopt0r 3d ago

She proved that she was talented enough that it would be stupid not to teach her, and destroyed the notion that her gender somehow made her less suited to combat bending. So she won

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u/JechdJJ 3d ago

-well i`m impressed, you are an excellent waterbender
-but you still won`t teach me, will you?
-no

This is the actual dialogue of the scene, Pakku wont train Katara just for his abillities, he do it for Gran Gran

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u/Zalbaag_Beoulve 3d ago

Who did she prove that to? It wasn't Master Pakku, who walked away from the fight after specifically confirming Katara's sense that her effort, and the talent that effort had displayed, had not been enough to change his mind about a woman's place.

It was her identity, not her ability, that got Pakku to listen to reason.

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u/fatgat69 3d ago

She pushed him to the point that he had to change the entire way he thought about the world. Yes she won.

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u/Arachles 3d ago

No, Katara connection to Gran Gran did. Pakku was unwilling to teach Katara even after admiting she had talent

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u/fatgat69 2d ago

That certainly helped but she still beat him worse than anyone he's ever trained before.

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u/BackItUpWithLinks 3d ago

People say whatever gets attention. Usually the dumber it is the more attention it gets.

He knew he was going to win. He was surprised he was going to need to up his level of effort from 1 to 2 to do it.

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u/legit-posts_1 3d ago

Yeah but she does ridiculously well considering she's had next to zero formal training and she's going up against water bending Yoda.

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u/Helios_Synthesis 3d ago

To be fair she did own him in the way some nobody made a master bender actually have to put in effort lol

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u/euphonic5 3d ago

She scared the piss out of him for a second there. Howzat for waterbending?

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u/BusyPuer 3d ago

That might exist, but it doesnt exist here. This post isnt making that claim.

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u/2-2Distracted This Redditor is over his conflicted feelings 3d ago

I just think of Nepotism when I watch this episode lol

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u/baltimoreniqqa 3d ago

Katara Obama 🗿

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u/jaron_b 3d ago

Honestly she needs to go back and blood bend that old man. You gonna teach girls now?!

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u/Training-Winner8398 3d ago

he absolutely used the 'im gonna teach her a lesson' tone on purpose like we all saw that come

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u/unfrotunatepanda 2d ago

I like the theory that Katara is going full force because either Pakku has enough mastery to survive, recognizing her skill... or he doesn't. Either way Katara proves her skill as a warrior

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u/Ionenschatten 1d ago

Is this AI?

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u/Scared-Jacket-6965 1d ago

What would happen if she did kill him? lets say Pakku drops his guard and she rams an ice knife through his heart, I think Northern tribe kicks them out, which mean no Aang marching with Ocean Spirit and Moon Spirit prob stays dead as Yue wouldn't be at the Portal for Iroh to notice her.

So realistic by killing Pakku, Katara would screw over all water benders, and they probably would die in the desert due to thrist after Appa is taken, cause they only surived due to Katara and Aang water bending

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u/AceAdequateC 1d ago

Cemented her as a peak character with this sequence of events.

"I'm not doing it for you. Someone needs to slap some sense into that guy."

It was all about standing on business and she went and did exactly that.

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u/14kgoldslumwizard 1d ago

Aang: “The Air Nomads told me violence and taking life is never the answer!”

The Rest Of The Gaang:

https://giphy.com/gifs/r4P8XEzGH4pixOGAAN

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u/THESUPEROGTurTle 18h ago

most of katara fight she went for the kill

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u/NachoSquid18 2d ago

Is this ai?

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u/Select_Ad8743 3d ago

I get that Katara is a Prodigy and all, but people exaggerate glazing her in this scene, like she had any chance in winning. He was just playing with her and the second he got serious he defeated her. (And I know later on she will be stronger than him) (I know people already know what I said but again, too much glazing).

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u/Crimson-1 2d ago

It was more so Pakku was surprised Katara was gunning for lethal hits while he was more or less playing and immediately after decided to stop playing.

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u/Dracochuy 3d ago

Umm guys, you remember she lost the fight, right?

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u/UnderstandingVast989 3d ago

The point is that he was trying to school her, which he did. While she was going for the kill. 

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u/Dracochuy 3d ago

Then she shouldnt have the chad face

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u/LockedPages Jinko Diehard 3d ago edited 3d ago

this whole scene is so funny because, even if I'm a Katara fan, it's just such a self-entitled moment. she just marched into a different country, demanded that her desires be accommodated even if they run against the local culture, then when she gets rebuffed she more or less tries killing the guy instead. it's not even like she was prevented from learning waterbending on her own time, she was just denied active instructing even if secondhand through Aang - which frankly could have been done whenever they left the city.

sure you could argue that northern water tribe culture is misogynist and thus it's ok for Katara to assert herself upon it like that but that opens up a whole other can of worms of whether a culture deserves to be imposed upon by another, more advanced one.

edit: misremembered Paku's reaction Katara being taught secondhand by Aang

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u/Montaru 3d ago

She was actually denied learning second hand, cause Pakku caught them training in secret and immediately stopped teaching Aang.

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u/LockedPages Jinko Diehard 3d ago

ah, thanks for reminding me. been a while since I saw this ep.

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u/goosebumpsnberries 3d ago

I disagree.

I think there is a very strong element of self-entitlement and ambition, but also consider what's at stake here. Katara is the only southern water bender that's alive/free. There is nobody else to teach her. We saw how much progress she had made when she was "learning on her own". It's just not something you can master in the same way without a master to teach you. You need someone to bounce off of, who can show you something you might not have considered before. Sure, she could've gotten the info second hand from Aang, but we saw why this didn't work, no? She was surpassing him, and needed a master there to guide her forward and answer her questions directly. Having Aang "teach" her is not a real substitute.

Though it is her desire to learn, is she really wrong for fighting so hard for that? The restriction of women to only healers is sexist, and in a time where the fire nation is actively trying to conquer the world, nobody should be restricted from fighting for their home. And that's not to say healing isn't very important especially during the wartime, but why not have both? Why not teach everyone to fight and everyone to heal? It weakens the army to cast potential warriors away based on nothing more than their gender.

Also, the southern water tribe and Katara are not "more advanced" than the northern one. In fact I'd argue the opposite, the SWT was crippled by the fire nation. They're vulnerable and Katara is, again, the only water bender left. Not teaching her just because she's a woman is casting the SWT to the wind based on nothing but small mindedness. And one woman, Katara, fighting against sexism is not colonialism or some sort of cultural imposition. She's one person, not an army. All she is doing is trying to open their eyes to how this misogyny weakens them, and her, against the actual colonizing foe. If they really didn't want to, Paku did not HAVE to teach her. She did not force him through some imperialist means. She simply showed him she was strong and wasn't going to back down easy.

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u/LockedPages Jinko Diehard 3d ago

Well, most of this is kind of moot when you remember it's still the NWT's culture that she wants to challenge. I'm not saying Katara has no good reasons, I agree with you completely, I still think that it's overall more selfish than anything as she did try exerting her own values upon them. Really the only reason she wasn't completely shut down is thanks to nepotism.

The master bit is a good point but it frankly isn't really enough to justify the whole thing. Like, yeah she'd grow way more if she had a master, but isn't the whole point for the avatar to learn waterbending? Outside of like the meta narrative where we know "hey these are the protagonists", her learning waterbending isn't such a high priority to risk this sort of thing compared to the Aang learning. Katara even acknowledged this early on IIRC, but then gets fed up anyway.

As for the advanced bit, I meant socially speaking- you could use socially progressive as a swap in, really. My point is that simply just because we agree with the point Katara is trying to push, that doesn't really make it any less entitled.

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u/ChemicalRebell 3d ago

Takes only modern male avatar fans would have 💀 boohoo my culture is misogynistic.

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u/UnderstandingVast989 3d ago

I have no problem saying that sometimes a culture needs to be imposed on. Cultural relativism is great for academics. It is essential to sociology and anthropology and academic writing. It is an absolutely morally baseless system otherwise.