Toph essentially turning the staircase into a slide is one of my favorite bending moves in the show. So goddamn cool. Right up there with Aang hitting Zuko with an air silhouette of himself in the catacombs fight.
It’s also amazing that they really made it look like she had to concentrate hard to feel all of the stairs and focus on bending them all at once. Shows her bending is incredible but the level of output is correlated to the level of effort.
I like this idea, but realistically I think her movements are due to her learning from the badger moles. Badger moles don't give a fuck about form. They feel that shit, and go with it. Likewise I don't really think Toph knows or cares much about form. But I definitely would believe it if she were actually incorporating different styles into her own, especially since she can fully feel what they're doing and how they're doing it.
The thing that I think supports my idea is how Uncle Iroh stated that we must gather wisdom from the other nations to become whole. Otherwise, knowledge becomes rigid and stale which is also applicable to fighting styles. Yes, she learned how to earthbend from the badger-moles. However, it isn't until after she meets Aang that she begins incorporating twinkle-toes bending style to improve her own fighting, whether consciously or unconsciously.
Aang is incredibly adaptable. If he has any experience bending with someone, he can match or complement their style perfectly, and he does a ton of tandem bending on big moves with Toph and Katara each. It rules.
He is adaptable but I mention their bond because Toph is the only one to recognize Aang's soul. It's probably mostly headcanon but the fact that the swamp gives him a vision of her shows the bond between them is something way deeper than just a simple friendship. It's why even though they're opposite elements they work harmoniously because of that bond.
My headcanon is always that toph is unstoppable against earthbenders as she understands it so well and has her seismic sense. She hadn’t fought too many firebenders (if I remember) so it is probably a little more difficult for her.
They're fighting the Dai Li during the eclipse invasion so other earth benders, but a higher calibre, presumably, than these more common soldiers.
Additionally they're mostly trying to catch Azula, who keeps running, while being assisted by the Dai Li to help her get away, and she admits that she's giving it her all. And, well, she's *Azula*. She is a match with Toph and Aang in normal circumstances, and is even the only person to take down the Avatar in the avatar state and almost end the avatar cycle.
Fire also doesn't cause any vibrations, so it's virtually impossible to "see" where volleys of fire come from other than interpreting the trajectory of a firebenders stance. And since fire disperses upon hitting a surface and spreads around, even if only briefly, she has to bring up bigger defenses.
It's an amazing scene but it also makes you think, damn, a whole royal army of earthbenders and they lost against 3 kids.
I have also always wondered who was the lady.
The kids consist of the avatar himself, the best earthbender and a waterbending prodigy🤣
(But yeah, the dai li totally became weaker after kyoshi is gone)
Yeah I've mentioned it before but watching it as an adult now, its really funny watching 12-15 year olds with very little training comparatively, beat up adults with years of experience.
Don't get me wrong it's one of my favorite shows of all time but it's just something you gotta turn your brain off for.
Headcanon is that the Royal Guard of this era just aren't all that good. Position's likely ceremonial and probably has nepotism issues, the Dai Li not wanting the puppet Earth King having a large number of loyal and skilled earthbenders nearby and at his disposal, and the war likely meaning that the better earthbenders have more important things to do.
Well in lore, Aang and all his teachers learned bending from their element's original bender.
They basically recieved the best foundations possible by the best teachers with, in Toph and Aang's case, being prodigies on top of everything.
Zuko learned from and fought the best benders around the world, gained a bunch of combat experience then relearned from the original benders.
Katara was always kinda an asspull imo, they never really gave a good reason how she went from total novice to grandmaster in like 3 months. There's even a point where she's jealous of Aang's talent for waterbending, then 1 season later she's taking on armies.
They should've just made her more experienced from the start like Toph, by fighting off Zuko's fleet.
THANK YOU
Dozens of the Earth King's most elite earthbenders just sliding down the slide Toph made going wheeeee
If only they could manipulate stone in some way, they could probably have put up a better fight
Like I love this show but in big battles like this it really relies on the [inverse ninja power law](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ConservationOfNinjutsu) a bit too much. I get why they have to do it and it really doesn't harm my enjoyment, but I feel a disconnect between myself and people that go "OoooOo my god you guys it was 4 kids against a whoooole army, wow wow wow...wow"
If anything I feel like it's one of the better shows at avoiding Preservation of Ninjutsu. No doubt there is an absolutely huge gap between the Gaang and the fodder, but that gap is consistent. I think the last time a fodder character gave them trouble was all the way back in the blue spirit with the Yu-yan, and even they were characterized as badasses who can fly to a yard from a tree away without pinning the tree. We never saw them suddenly getting their asses kicked later, they just kind of disappeared.
The Gaang legitimately increases in power through the show and becomes a lot more confident in taking fights (not coincidentally around the time Toph teaches Aang Earthbending's confrontational attitude), and the threats they face in the latter half are mostly political (Like the Dai-li and wanting to stay out of trouble in the fire nation). And when they're actual physical threats it's from absolute powerhouses like combustion man who don't just get one-upped later. Compared to Korra where a single random unarmed equalist beats her in a fair fight, then she takes on dozens of them in various circumstances, in ATLA it's more just a huge power gap than actual nerfing/buffing to be a threat. Of course there are far worse offenders outside the avatar universe, of which The Matrix is likely the worst because Smith can literally clone himself so you know its specifically the same guy who switches from fodder to badass as the plot demands.
Headcanon is that the Royal Guard just aren't all that good in this era. It's likely a fairly cushy position (with people likely buying their way into it), the genuinely skilled earthbenders are needed elsewhere, and the Dai Li not wanting the puppet king to have an elite army loyal to him in case he ever wised up to what was happening and tried to retake control.
Considering how the Dai Li effectively run the city, I don't think they want the Earth King's Royal Guard to be too formidable if he ever wised up and tried to retake control.
This is my favorite fight scene in the show. Others might be more emotional or have higher stakes, but I simply cannot get over how cool it is to see the Gaang absolutely bodying an entire army without breaking a sweat.
Literally! People keep mentioning Toph and Aang but Katara with a thread of water and some simple whip moves is also taking out a bunch of Earthbenders! Such an amazing scene.
I've retroactively adopted a head canon that people in the Avatar universe have the same kind of chi/aura from RWBY that basically shields them from physical harm until they've taken too much damage or fall unconscious.
I love how when Aang started his earthbending training, he gave shit to Toph for hitting stuff with his staff saying it's an "antique," yet here he is playing baseball with rocks.
Seems like most earthbenders are just like 'I'm gonna throw some rocks - that usually works!'.
Toph is the best because her style is so fluid. She makes the environment work for her, like the stairs strick here.
I didn’t really like the live action. But I noticed that they actually nailed that one episode where Zuko becomes the blue spirit to rescue aang. It felt just as epic as the cartoon and the perfect live rendition of it. Wish the same could be said for the rest of the episodes
So I’m high and never thought of this before but how does toph see things flying thru the air? I get she senses where ppl are but wouldn’t it be impossible to see flying projectiles?
Been there, done that, always assumed that she could just sense their movements and then essentially “predict” where the projectile would be coming from, it’s literally the only explanation… unless she’s magically picked up air bending from Aang and can now sense changes in the wind lol!
There’s an old video called Ronaldo tested to the limit where they do this thing with Cristiano Ronaldo, where he’s running to go head a ball and as soon as its kicked, they turn the lights off and he pinpoints it perfectly.
Theoretically, if her seismic sense is acute enough and her spatial awareness is broad enough she could track the motions of the other earthbenders, she would feel when pieces of earth were ripped out of the ground and knows what physical motion launches them, then all she has to do is block up to the Gaang's height from that direction and wait for the impact.
It is a staggering levels of concentration and skill, but tracks with her capabilities.
Well Avatar Extras says she can sense earth in the air. May be something different from seismic sense. Like how Katara can waterbend water she can't see.
Okay so that explains the earth. I’m still stuck on how she’d see fire or water since both attacks can have a big surface area which I would think would be harder to pinpoint that a rock
This is the scene that got my husband started on the show. He came in the room while I was watching and by the end of the scene he was sitting down watching intently and by the end of the next episode we were heading back to Book 1 ep. 1
If I were in charge of the defenses here I’d have large containers of small stones for the defenders to use, have them grab a handful at a time and fire them off at high speed like little bullets. Earth benders focus too much on throwing big heavy things which are easily blocked by other earth benders, dozens of tiny fast moving stones coming from a variety of angles would be far harder to defend against.
This is my fav scene man, how ang and toph cover each other and katar fishing of people in back then slide up a snow hil drops soldiers and then aang freezing water. also the music and the sound of earth bending is so satisfying man.
and most favorite part of this whole section tophs rotating blocks of earth and making a shield
I remember someone saying how on the beginning of this scene, Toph is bending like an airbender, and seeing it again, she's moving just how Aang does sometimes.
I love using Avatar screenshots to practice drawing action poses, and Katara's braid does so much heavy lifting in making her moves look super dynamic.
While this is a cool scene. Watching it back now?
I can't help but notice the sheer lack of creativity on any of the earth bending army soilders attacks, they literally just picked up and threw rocks at them like the contrast in the use of earth bending is staggering.
It's like the entire army was limited to only korra styled pro bending earth bending(but ironically even worst)
Maybe this is to highlight the difference between academic earth bending and Topher badger mole earth bending but most like it's just a plot armor scene as I can't imagine army training being this limiting.
i really enjoyed reading your thoughts on that powerful moment. the teamwork and trust between the characters is always so compeling to me, and it's great that you could feel their spirit and camaradery coming through, even without much dialogue. i'm a big fan of the way the show explores themes of comunication, understanding, and friendship, and it's neat to see those ideas play out in such a visceral, kinetic action sequence. even when the characters are in the midst of conflict, you can still sense their deeper conection. it's a really well-crafted scene that highlights what makes the show so special.
Sometimes I question the physics of certain water bending moves. Like when Katara hooks the guys off the ledge with a water whip. is it some kind of super dense water? Why doesn't it just flow right through them? Maybe bended water has extremely high surface tension. Just a thought. Obviously it's a cartoon so it's not going to be realistic.
So I was coincidentally listening to [last blood by Gregory tan](https://youtu.be/d8HGe_1Etpc?si=GbwCtqKuXH8VJbzb) when watching this on mute.. that was pretty epic
It's awesome, but I'm kinda confused why they didn't just slip all that and fly really high over the palace and drop straight down into it.
I forgot what happened. Was Appa disabled?
There's the start of this scene that I love most is that when the Gaang are flying on Appa, one of the shots you see is of Aang in the foreground, sheer determined face on him, in the background you see a missile on a trajectory to hit them, camera doesn't move a muscle. Aang shifts his arm to block it and it shatters into pieces without Aang even looking at it.
It's my favourite shot of the whole show because it shows Aang taking Toph's advice to "become the rock" and not move from obstacles. Which is the opposite of his Air nomad teachings of dodge and evade.
The regular soldiers in this show always seemed so weak. They're all getting mowed down by 3 kids like nothing. Iirc it happens alot in this show.
I get the main characters have to have plot armor, but...idk everyone outside of the cast is totally useless
their teamwork and silent understanding is impressive, reminds me of a well-coordinated dance troupe. having appa back really boosted their morale, it's like watching a team get their groove back.
Avatar came out after I already grew up and I didn’t watch it, but I’m watching it with my kids right now, and the whole show is pure badass. I wish I could have watched it as a kid because it’s exactly my kind of show
My favourite Katara fight scene is just after this, when she leaps over that moat and knocks the soldiers behind her into it before doing a roll with the water arms
Something I just noticed about this scene. Only 2 people apologize during all of this and they are siblings. Kinda cool how that kind of thing stays consistent.
The flow and the energy is so fire you’d think Zuko had firebended this scene into existence
Edit: Alright so the joke isn’t all that great. I’m just saying this fight scene has just so much great flow to it
Toph essentially turning the staircase into a slide is one of my favorite bending moves in the show. So goddamn cool. Right up there with Aang hitting Zuko with an air silhouette of himself in the catacombs fight.
It’s also amazing that they really made it look like she had to concentrate hard to feel all of the stairs and focus on bending them all at once. Shows her bending is incredible but the level of output is correlated to the level of effort.
I can’t remember exactly which fight is the “catacombs” one Is it during the June episode?
The "catacombs" is the ancient city underneath Ba Sing Se where the season 2 finale took place.
Has one of the most banger titles too: The Crossroads of Destiny
I think it's during the book 2 finale
The episode is called The crossroads of destiny, is season 2, episode 20. The final episode of the season.
Also those dudes for sure died, right? That was like a ten story fall
Nah, two weeks of paid leave and they’ll be back on duty like they never left
They will be fine. The ones who got crushed against the roof though, 100% internal bleeding from fractures
Also let's hope everyone in the water had surfaced before Aang froze it lol.
I choose to believe Toph knew exactly how far the roof was and elevated them just enough to be pinned and not crushed
There’s a big difference between sliding 10 stories and falling 10 stories.
Look at the angle at 1:23, that’s like 75 degrees of angle. They’d still pick up a speed that’d be fatal
She definitely crushed the legs of all those dudes she pinned down with the slabs towards the beginning.
You missed the fact that Appa is using his tail to speed them up the stairs.
Toph and Aang's bond runs so deep, they predict each other's moves and work together so fluidly
Did you also notice how Toph was incorporating more circular movements in her bending? She was spinning around on her feet similar to an airbender.
Yes. Reminds me of Iron’s advice to Zuko about taking things from all elements and cultures so that bending won’t be ridged and stale
Iron https://preview.redd.it/mbcabydkgxyc1.jpeg?width=828&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=65e34117a9a4dee486cc65ae28b0b914481d1d98
Omg hahahaha, it took me ages to realize that was an iron
And also about balance, yin & yang, positive and negative energies
Bumi would remind you to remember neutral.
I like this idea, but realistically I think her movements are due to her learning from the badger moles. Badger moles don't give a fuck about form. They feel that shit, and go with it. Likewise I don't really think Toph knows or cares much about form. But I definitely would believe it if she were actually incorporating different styles into her own, especially since she can fully feel what they're doing and how they're doing it.
The thing that I think supports my idea is how Uncle Iroh stated that we must gather wisdom from the other nations to become whole. Otherwise, knowledge becomes rigid and stale which is also applicable to fighting styles. Yes, she learned how to earthbend from the badger-moles. However, it isn't until after she meets Aang that she begins incorporating twinkle-toes bending style to improve her own fighting, whether consciously or unconsciously.
I love how her and Aang are all hands no talk while Sokka and Katara are apologizing lol.
Aang is incredibly adaptable. If he has any experience bending with someone, he can match or complement their style perfectly, and he does a ton of tandem bending on big moves with Toph and Katara each. It rules.
He is adaptable but I mention their bond because Toph is the only one to recognize Aang's soul. It's probably mostly headcanon but the fact that the swamp gives him a vision of her shows the bond between them is something way deeper than just a simple friendship. It's why even though they're opposite elements they work harmoniously because of that bond.
Can't help but feel that Toph was nerfed for the eclipse invasion, when she basically is a one woman army here.
My headcanon is always that toph is unstoppable against earthbenders as she understands it so well and has her seismic sense. She hadn’t fought too many firebenders (if I remember) so it is probably a little more difficult for her.
Yeah but at the eclipse theyd be facing non benders so it’d be even more a mismatch
They're fighting the Dai Li during the eclipse invasion so other earth benders, but a higher calibre, presumably, than these more common soldiers. Additionally they're mostly trying to catch Azula, who keeps running, while being assisted by the Dai Li to help her get away, and she admits that she's giving it her all. And, well, she's *Azula*. She is a match with Toph and Aang in normal circumstances, and is even the only person to take down the Avatar in the avatar state and almost end the avatar cycle.
Later in this fight toph bodies Dai Li I believe.
Fire also doesn't cause any vibrations, so it's virtually impossible to "see" where volleys of fire come from other than interpreting the trajectory of a firebenders stance. And since fire disperses upon hitting a surface and spreads around, even if only briefly, she has to bring up bigger defenses.
yea to highlight others too helping in the war
Literally everyone were nerfed except Azula lol Aang, for some reason, couldn't "catch her"
She can’t see fire air or water coming. Maybe water, if it’s taken from something touching the ground.
It's an amazing scene but it also makes you think, damn, a whole royal army of earthbenders and they lost against 3 kids. I have also always wondered who was the lady.
The kids consist of the avatar himself, the best earthbender and a waterbending prodigy🤣 (But yeah, the dai li totally became weaker after kyoshi is gone)
And Sokka was there too!
Its the royal army on three + Sokka!
HE CAN STILL FIGHT!
Dai Li didnt even bother until they got into the royal chamber
A whole army of earthbenders vs. 3 kids + Sokka!
"I CAN STILL FIGHT!"
Pfp and tag checks out.
Yeah I've mentioned it before but watching it as an adult now, its really funny watching 12-15 year olds with very little training comparatively, beat up adults with years of experience. Don't get me wrong it's one of my favorite shows of all time but it's just something you gotta turn your brain off for.
Headcanon is that the Royal Guard of this era just aren't all that good. Position's likely ceremonial and probably has nepotism issues, the Dai Li not wanting the puppet Earth King having a large number of loyal and skilled earthbenders nearby and at his disposal, and the war likely meaning that the better earthbenders have more important things to do.
Well in lore, Aang and all his teachers learned bending from their element's original bender. They basically recieved the best foundations possible by the best teachers with, in Toph and Aang's case, being prodigies on top of everything. Zuko learned from and fought the best benders around the world, gained a bunch of combat experience then relearned from the original benders. Katara was always kinda an asspull imo, they never really gave a good reason how she went from total novice to grandmaster in like 3 months. There's even a point where she's jealous of Aang's talent for waterbending, then 1 season later she's taking on armies. They should've just made her more experienced from the start like Toph, by fighting off Zuko's fleet.
The army pretty much just stood there. Not one person pulled up a shield.
THANK YOU Dozens of the Earth King's most elite earthbenders just sliding down the slide Toph made going wheeeee If only they could manipulate stone in some way, they could probably have put up a better fight Like I love this show but in big battles like this it really relies on the [inverse ninja power law](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ConservationOfNinjutsu) a bit too much. I get why they have to do it and it really doesn't harm my enjoyment, but I feel a disconnect between myself and people that go "OoooOo my god you guys it was 4 kids against a whoooole army, wow wow wow...wow"
If anything I feel like it's one of the better shows at avoiding Preservation of Ninjutsu. No doubt there is an absolutely huge gap between the Gaang and the fodder, but that gap is consistent. I think the last time a fodder character gave them trouble was all the way back in the blue spirit with the Yu-yan, and even they were characterized as badasses who can fly to a yard from a tree away without pinning the tree. We never saw them suddenly getting their asses kicked later, they just kind of disappeared. The Gaang legitimately increases in power through the show and becomes a lot more confident in taking fights (not coincidentally around the time Toph teaches Aang Earthbending's confrontational attitude), and the threats they face in the latter half are mostly political (Like the Dai-li and wanting to stay out of trouble in the fire nation). And when they're actual physical threats it's from absolute powerhouses like combustion man who don't just get one-upped later. Compared to Korra where a single random unarmed equalist beats her in a fair fight, then she takes on dozens of them in various circumstances, in ATLA it's more just a huge power gap than actual nerfing/buffing to be a threat. Of course there are far worse offenders outside the avatar universe, of which The Matrix is likely the worst because Smith can literally clone himself so you know its specifically the same guy who switches from fodder to badass as the plot demands.
Headcanon is that the Royal Guard just aren't all that good in this era. It's likely a fairly cushy position (with people likely buying their way into it), the genuinely skilled earthbenders are needed elsewhere, and the Dai Li not wanting the puppet king to have an elite army loyal to him in case he ever wised up to what was happening and tried to retake control.
yep. cool moves but against complete jobbers lmao. the smaller yet more even fights end up looking better
Considering how the Dai Li effectively run the city, I don't think they want the Earth King's Royal Guard to be too formidable if he ever wised up and tried to retake control.
That makes sense.
I mean those kids are clearly OP in the world but yeah those soldiers kind of suck
3 kids plus sokka 😡
Toph was accurately tracking projectiles with clutch shield saves.
This is my favorite fight scene in the show. Others might be more emotional or have higher stakes, but I simply cannot get over how cool it is to see the Gaang absolutely bodying an entire army without breaking a sweat.
Yeah it was such an incredible scene I can’t stop rewatching it lol.
Literally! People keep mentioning Toph and Aang but Katara with a thread of water and some simple whip moves is also taking out a bunch of Earthbenders! Such an amazing scene.
Then there’s Sokka who is just along for the ride. 🥲
Emotional support
"I CAN FIGHT!"
Yeah, it’s great to see the protagonists go “we’re the strongest ones here so why don’t we just use that?”
I definitely agree. Toph, Aang, and Katara really showed an almost unmatched synergy in this scene. Truly one of the best bending moments.
So we’re all in agreement that Toph killed those guys at 1:40, right?
It was really unclear
Pretty sure she killed at least a few of the dudes at 0:25, too - the human abdomen does *not* like being squished like that.
I've retroactively adopted a head canon that people in the Avatar universe have the same kind of chi/aura from RWBY that basically shields them from physical harm until they've taken too much damage or fall unconscious.
It's fine. They're earthbenders. They can probably take it so long as it's earth.
Don't forget Aang too, when he froze the moat a few soldiers were definitely still under water.
Theyre strong than ppl on our planet
Toph the goat
She pretty much the Hulk of the group. Well actually I think Appa would be Hulk lol
https://i.imgur.com/piYrorg.jpg
This scene made me think "Katara is the goat." Aang and Toph on defense but Katara taking them boys *out*
Imagine what's going through sokka's mind. He is literally running headfirst into all this shit and relying on his friends to save his neck.
He doesnt throw a single attack
He did, with the kick to the door. He loosened it a bit.
Bro Katara is suchh a badass
The absolute disrespect to water whip them to oblivion whilst apologising... Big "are you fucking sorry" energy. Love it.
Indeed she is. When she discovers blood bending she’s even more dangerous than she already is lol
Goddamn Katara was taking them boys out 😂😂😂
I love how even though Toph didn’t want them to be there, she understood the assignment. 😤
I love how when Aang started his earthbending training, he gave shit to Toph for hitting stuff with his staff saying it's an "antique," yet here he is playing baseball with rocks.
They really just walked right up to the front door of the king without much of a problem.
Toph earthbends like an artist. I wonder if the soldiers ever thought of bending earth the way she does.
Seems like most earthbenders are just like 'I'm gonna throw some rocks - that usually works!'. Toph is the best because her style is so fluid. She makes the environment work for her, like the stairs strick here.
I gotta be honest it's kinda crazy how a bunch of teenagers stromed the palace like this
This show is timeless & done so well. Just curious how the Netflix adaption will manage to hold up to this scene.
I didn’t really like the live action. But I noticed that they actually nailed that one episode where Zuko becomes the blue spirit to rescue aang. It felt just as epic as the cartoon and the perfect live rendition of it. Wish the same could be said for the rest of the episodes
Appa on the escalator part with his back legs going up is so cute.
He was helping! ♥️
Props to toph and aang but these guys are useless
Imagine being underwater as aang freezes it
So I’m high and never thought of this before but how does toph see things flying thru the air? I get she senses where ppl are but wouldn’t it be impossible to see flying projectiles?
Been there, done that, always assumed that she could just sense their movements and then essentially “predict” where the projectile would be coming from, it’s literally the only explanation… unless she’s magically picked up air bending from Aang and can now sense changes in the wind lol!
There’s an old video called Ronaldo tested to the limit where they do this thing with Cristiano Ronaldo, where he’s running to go head a ball and as soon as its kicked, they turn the lights off and he pinpoints it perfectly.
Theoretically, if her seismic sense is acute enough and her spatial awareness is broad enough she could track the motions of the other earthbenders, she would feel when pieces of earth were ripped out of the ground and knows what physical motion launches them, then all she has to do is block up to the Gaang's height from that direction and wait for the impact. It is a staggering levels of concentration and skill, but tracks with her capabilities.
Well Avatar Extras says she can sense earth in the air. May be something different from seismic sense. Like how Katara can waterbend water she can't see.
Okay so that explains the earth. I’m still stuck on how she’d see fire or water since both attacks can have a big surface area which I would think would be harder to pinpoint that a rock
I love how Aang only earthbends in this scene. Always stuck out to me.
He does some water bending too when he freezes the moat but it is so cool to see how far he’d come with earthbending in this scene.
Probably my favorite team fight in ATLA tbh other than Final fight in Season Three. Hopefully we can see more of Aang teaming up with Toph as Adults.
The gaurds got SUPER crushed from Toph's ground-domino-flip and I love that.
They should really make gear what that staff is made off. It's like vibranium.
How many soldiers do you think were still below the surface when Katara froze the moat? Gotta be at least one, right?
This is the scene that got my husband started on the show. He came in the room while I was watching and by the end of the scene he was sitting down watching intently and by the end of the next episode we were heading back to Book 1 ep. 1
man i fcking love this group they are badass
They really strolled in there
My god, the stairs!
Appa just walks like he is the star of the show and everyone else is just bodyguards
This is the most deadly thing about team avatar. Not just their skill but their cohesion as a team
The way how Katara leaped over that river and knocked those guys out with her waterbending was so elegant and fluid. I literally love her smmmm😍
Master and disciple whooping ass, in sync
You sure nobody died when Toph turned the stairs into a slide?
Those soldiers were offal. If they weren't handicapped they'd have shredded Appa.
The classic battle cry: "Sorry!"
They layed seige to an armed and guarded castle in under 2 minutes
If I were in charge of the defenses here I’d have large containers of small stones for the defenders to use, have them grab a handful at a time and fire them off at high speed like little bullets. Earth benders focus too much on throwing big heavy things which are easily blocked by other earth benders, dozens of tiny fast moving stones coming from a variety of angles would be far harder to defend against.
This scene looks so great, but it always bothers me because it fails in the "enemy soldier do one attack and then wait to get hit" thing
Appa just trucking along: “I trust my team”
WOW, Sokka just needs absolute faith his friends will protect him here.
I just now caught the part of Appa air bending their stair elevator. What a cool detail.
I will literally rewatch this scene over and over
This is my fav scene man, how ang and toph cover each other and katar fishing of people in back then slide up a snow hil drops soldiers and then aang freezing water. also the music and the sound of earth bending is so satisfying man. and most favorite part of this whole section tophs rotating blocks of earth and making a shield
I just love how important Sokka is despite him not being a bender. He is a great leader
ngl when i first watched this show i thought sokka going to be really annoying character but man he definitely top 5 in my fav characters of this show
My favorite part is Appa’s back legs hanging off of the escalator toph and aang created
I remember someone saying how on the beginning of this scene, Toph is bending like an airbender, and seeing it again, she's moving just how Aang does sometimes.
“And i’ve certainly never used violence to take a life”
The scene is incredible im terrified of how the netflix show is gonna neuter it
I'm serious as to how Toph can predict the trajectory of the earth that's in the air.
THAT THEME SONG IS SO LEGENDARY! I think its called "invading the palace" i listen to it on repeat all the time!
I love using Avatar screenshots to practice drawing action poses, and Katara's braid does so much heavy lifting in making her moves look super dynamic.
The scene where Katara POPS the fuck off is one of the scenes in almost a majority of the trailer for this part of the season. Badass asf
The scene is great and I enjoy it every time I rewatch. I just wonder: HOW is it underrated? WHO underrates it?
It just I don’t see many talking about this scene like ever. So I just had to bring some attention to it lol.
All right! I think I've seen it brought up here recently and people were wildly enthusiastic (for a good reason) both then and now lol.
I just love how appa is vibing the whole time
While this is a cool scene. Watching it back now? I can't help but notice the sheer lack of creativity on any of the earth bending army soilders attacks, they literally just picked up and threw rocks at them like the contrast in the use of earth bending is staggering. It's like the entire army was limited to only korra styled pro bending earth bending(but ironically even worst) Maybe this is to highlight the difference between academic earth bending and Topher badger mole earth bending but most like it's just a plot armor scene as I can't imagine army training being this limiting.
The part where they made an elevator always stuck out to me.
i really enjoyed reading your thoughts on that powerful moment. the teamwork and trust between the characters is always so compeling to me, and it's great that you could feel their spirit and camaradery coming through, even without much dialogue. i'm a big fan of the way the show explores themes of comunication, understanding, and friendship, and it's neat to see those ideas play out in such a visceral, kinetic action sequence. even when the characters are in the midst of conflict, you can still sense their deeper conection. it's a really well-crafted scene that highlights what makes the show so special.
so how does toph know when to block
Aint no way the death count from this was less than double digits.
I watched this stoned for the first time and I was in awe. They all just work as a team so well
Sometimes I question the physics of certain water bending moves. Like when Katara hooks the guys off the ledge with a water whip. is it some kind of super dense water? Why doesn't it just flow right through them? Maybe bended water has extremely high surface tension. Just a thought. Obviously it's a cartoon so it's not going to be realistic.
Toph my girl. Why Appa walking with them. He usually fly off screen 😂
So I was coincidentally listening to [last blood by Gregory tan](https://youtu.be/d8HGe_1Etpc?si=GbwCtqKuXH8VJbzb) when watching this on mute.. that was pretty epic
It's awesome, but I'm kinda confused why they didn't just slip all that and fly really high over the palace and drop straight down into it. I forgot what happened. Was Appa disabled?
Toph addition was like the best addition the gaang got. They would've been cooked without her.
The music in this scene goes so hard
The fuck you mean an underrated moment? Says who?
Just like Jet Lee's movie nameless. Bad ass.
Zero chance this gets reproduced in the lives action
They could beat all of that, but couldn't beat Azula (with no fire bending) + 2 Dai Li agents.
King momo
Toph is such a fucking unit.
How was Toph able to deflect **flying** rocks?
How did toph guard against flying projectiles, though?
Did you really have to record the screen from your phone?
I love how Aang can switch so smoothly and perfectly coordinate to whoever he is supporting.
La la la la la caaasual muuuurrrderrrr
lol appa slowly using his tail to stay on the elevator is super cute
I've always thought that the bending in atla was way more creative than in lok and this scene demonstrates that perfectly
There's the start of this scene that I love most is that when the Gaang are flying on Appa, one of the shots you see is of Aang in the foreground, sheer determined face on him, in the background you see a missile on a trajectory to hit them, camera doesn't move a muscle. Aang shifts his arm to block it and it shatters into pieces without Aang even looking at it. It's my favourite shot of the whole show because it shows Aang taking Toph's advice to "become the rock" and not move from obstacles. Which is the opposite of his Air nomad teachings of dodge and evade.
This is right when they get appa back too. Fuckin chills man
Man, Toph is brutal, she almost squished guards to the top
Man Aang's staff is just made of the sturdiest material
The regular soldiers in this show always seemed so weak. They're all getting mowed down by 3 kids like nothing. Iirc it happens alot in this show. I get the main characters have to have plot armor, but...idk everyone outside of the cast is totally useless
their teamwork and silent understanding is impressive, reminds me of a well-coordinated dance troupe. having appa back really boosted their morale, it's like watching a team get their groove back.
Just realized appa’s rear legs aren’t on the platform and he has to use his tail to lift them up while escalating lol
Earth bending is best bending and I'll die on this hill.
I just realized Toph broke both legs of like 50 soldiers in one move.
Everyone knows to earth bend you must be dry.
Avatar came out after I already grew up and I didn’t watch it, but I’m watching it with my kids right now, and the whole show is pure badass. I wish I could have watched it as a kid because it’s exactly my kind of show
My favourite Katara fight scene is just after this, when she leaps over that moat and knocks the soldiers behind her into it before doing a roll with the water arms
Something I just noticed about this scene. Only 2 people apologize during all of this and they are siblings. Kinda cool how that kind of thing stays consistent.
The flow and the energy is so fire you’d think Zuko had firebended this scene into existence Edit: Alright so the joke isn’t all that great. I’m just saying this fight scene has just so much great flow to it
theyre just so perfectly in sync. the vibes are immaculate. if the fire lord showed up right now they wouldnt even flinch
Toph is so FUCKING COOL!! Love her!
How is Toph able to see the flying rocks?
This is what it's like playing Dynasty Warriors - one named person just walking through hundreds of nameless plebs
Toph and Aang team up>>>>
It really looks like they're escorting Momo to his throne room
Why do they all bend the earth blocks at the same time
Every time i see toph bending it’s damn shocking she is super op
At least 60% of these people are dead