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chiefesskatara · 8 months

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The parallels between Katara & Aang throughout Avatar The Last Airbender

This will be a long post where I present parallels between Katara and Aang from the show, Avatar The Last Airbender.

Survivors of genocide

Katara: [Sadly.] No. You're looking at the only waterbender in the whole South Pole.

Aang: [Sadly.] But you were right. And if the firebenders found this temple, that means they found the other ones, too. [Close-up of his sad face, as he closes his eyes.] I really am the last airbender.

Early on in the show we are introduced to the fact that both Katara & Aang are the last remaining benders of their homes. They were both children when they survived the genocides that was done to directly hunt them down. Katara and Aang show us how different their experiences of genocide can be.

The genocide of Aang's people was absolute, he does not meet a single air bender up until his third Childs birth, Tenzin. Katara was the last water bender in the entire southern water tribe. The water bending culture in the South Pole had been obliterated after the benders of her grandmothers generation were taken away or killed.

Aang grew up with other air benders and was brought up by his master and father figure, Monk Gyatso. After waking up from his long sleep in the iceberg, his culture and people had been wiped out and forgotten. The genocide of the air nomads was absolute, he does not meet a single air bender up until his third Childs birth, Tenzin.

And from there their friendship blossomed. From penguin sledding to training together to helping each other rebuild their homes/cultures.

Katara, the last water bender of the southern water tribe & Avatar Aang, the last air bender of the Air nomads.

The Southern Raiders: She runs nervously past her brother. Several Water Tribe warriors are shown running about in a frantic motion. The camera focuses on Katara again, who arrives at their igloo and pushes back the curtain. Young Katara: Mom! She runs in to discover her mother seated on the floor, a man towering over her. Kya: Just let her go and I'll give you the information you want.

The Southern Air Temple: Aang enters the room and looks around with a sad expression on his face. The scene switches to a closer shot of the skeleton in the snow and slowly zooms in on it. The skeleton is adorned with a round necklace that supports the symbol of airbending. Close-up of Aang, as he stares at the skeletons. Cut back to a close-up of the skeleton dressed in yellow monk robes. The camera focuses on the round, wooden necklace. Cut back to Aang, whose eyes are trembling with sadness and hold back tears. Aang: [Devastated.] Gyatso.

No hesitation

In this parallel we are presented with how far Katara and Aang are willing to go for each other.

Katara, without any hesitation, chooses to be banished from her village and gets ready to leave with Aang. In a similar manner, Aang chooses Katara in a heartbeat over this one chance of learning water bending from a master water bender. The rejection and disrespect thrown at Katara from Pakku was enough for the monk to dismiss him.

These choices are extremely hard to pick and puts them both in very tough spots. Katara potentially losing her whole family and Aang losing a master whom can teach and guide him as the Avatar. Yet, they both plead to the other to not make rash decisions based on them. The respect and love and understanding these two have for each other is outstanding.

Imprisoned

Imprisoned: Approaches Katara, kneeling to stare into her obstinate expression. She crosses her eyebrows, scowling coarsely at the man. Warden: Simply treat me with courtesy that I give you– And we'll get along famously.

The Blue Spirit: Zhao: Tell me, how does it feel to be the only airbender left? Do you miss your people? [Aang looks down sadly.]

Katara & Aang are imprisoned for their bending abilities, chained down & humiliated. They bravely face the imperial violence & work in together with the members of the other nations to free themselves.

Oma and Shu

The Cave Of Two Lovers: A man and a woman from feuding towns met atop a mountain. Despite the dangers of meeting, the loving couple found a way to continue their relationship in secret. After learning earth bending by observing the natural skills of badgermoles, they created a labyrinth, which only they could navigate successfully and served as a meeting place.

The narrative symbolism in the show represents the love between Katara and Aang. The rest of the elements, where two people can’t be together because of the war, where one of them is killed (Aang & Shu), which leads to a powerful display of bending in the exact same position between Katara and Oma.

Can't be together because of the war - Katara telling Aang that their biggest priority should be focusing on the war in "The Ember Island Players" episode.

Shu is killed in the war – Aang enters his Avatar State to fight against them, but is wounded in the back by Azula's lightning and falls to the ground, dying.

Oma, in a fit of blind rage and sorrow, destroys everything in her path – Katara unleashes a powerful display of her water bending abilities and creates a huge wave.

The Southern Raiders and Sozin’s Comet

The Southern Raiders: Yon Rha: [Falls to his knees.] I did a bad thing! I know I did and you deserve revenge, so why don't you take my mother? That would be fair! [Attempts to smile weakly.] Katara: [Sorrowfully.] I always wondered what kind of person could do such a thing, but now that I see you, I think I understand. There's just nothing inside you, nothing at all. You're pathetic and sad and empty. Yon Rha: [Humbly.] Please, spare me! [Cries.] Katara: But as much as I hate you ... I just can't do it.

Sozin's Comet: Aang: [With the voices of all previous Avatars.] Fire Lord Ozai, you and your forefathers have devastated the balance of this world, and now you shall pay the ultimate price! [Aang, under control of his past lives, combines all four elements together for his final attack. At the last second, however, he manages to regain control; he comes out of the Avatar State, lets his attack die out, and floats to the ground, freeing Ozai in the process. He now speaks in his normal voice.] No, I'm not gonna end it like this. Ozai: Even with all the power in the world, you are still weak!

Katara and Aang, two children who were stripped of their culture at a young age, and were able to have the chance to come face to face with the men who took away their loved ones. Yet, they both choose to let them go instead of taking revenge in the form of killing them.

Pride

Imprisoned: Katara: [Sits beside Haru, sets her fingertips on her necklace.] See this necklace? My mother gave it to me. Haru: It's beautiful. Katara: I lost my mother in a Fire Nation raid. [Hangs her head, turning away.] This necklace is all I have left of her.

The Awakening: Sokka: Here, [Offering a Fire Nation bandana.] tie this around your head. It will cover your arrow. Aang: I'm not going out if I can't wear my arrow proudly! [He lies back down.]

Katara and Aang who proudly showcase their cultures in the form of a necklace and tattoo's. They honour the people that were taken away from them and the sacrifices made in their name.

Exploitation

"Let’s talk about how in these parallels, Aang and Katara are explicitly being exploited by adults that they thought they could trust, in an attempt for these adults to harness destructive power from within the children. in either episode, Aang and Katara, devastated and tearful, are brought to their knees, begging for the pain and torture to stop (in Aang’s case, he’s preventing general Fong from hurting Katara; in Katara’s case, she’s protecting herself from Hama, who is willing her to bloodbend). ultimately, the two children reach their breaking points, which results in them not only generating great bouts of power, but picking up a bending technique/state that goes completely against their moral beliefs." Read the rest here

A beautifully written parallel analysis on Kataang and the corruption of their powers! Written by the lovely @kataraslove

Disguises

The Painted Lady: Katara: Well, what was I supposed to do? Sokka: Leave! Do nothing! Katara: [Angrily.] No, I will never, ever turn my back on people who need me! [Gets up.] I'm going down to that village, and I am gonna do whatever I can.

The Headband: Male student #1: [Shyly hiding his face behind his collar.] I don't think my parents want me dancing in a cave ... Male student #2: [Runs in front of the camera.] Yeah! What if someone finds out?! [Looks around nervously before exiting left.] Aang: Oh boy. Listen guys, dancing isn't something you think about. It's a form of self-expression that no one can ever take away from you.

The Painted Lady (Katara) and Kuzon (Aang) are both identities that Aang and Katara put on to understand the Fire Nation people, to help them through their troubles , and to understand that good resides in places that were once thought to be inherently evil. These alter egos are driven by a desire to help the greater good.

Avatar Aang, the bridge between the spirit world and the human world, went undercover as his friend Kuzon to a Fire nation boarding school. There he spends his days playing hide and explode, making a noodle picture of the fire lord and seeing how the children of the fire nation are fed war propaganda.

Katara took it in herself to become a hero inspired by the village's wood carved spirit: The Painted lady, after seeing in what state the villager's were left in. Deprived and devastated by illnesses caused by the pollutants in their waters. She hid her identity and used her healing abilities to nurse them back to health and with the help of her friends, they clean up the river.

Bending Abilities

And at last, some overlooked bending parallels between Katara & Aang that they most likely learned by training together!

#pro kataang #kataangtag #katara #aang #katara and aang #kataang parallels #avatar the last airbender #atla #otp: sky and the sea

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thethiefandtheairbender · 2 months

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Hiii, I really love your ATLA analyses. I'm genuinely interested, what can you say about this take? I mean, it sounds pretty logical, and I'm really interested to know what objections there might be to that view of EIP?

https://www.tumblr.com/writer-rider-dirty-thirties/744225630324965376?source=share

There's a few main things that meta like this one, I think, miss out on. That said beyond the two paragraphs I'm not really discussing their meta in particular. Everyone's entitled to their opinion, but it does play into why I think EIP gets blown out of proportion while ignoring the more... grounded subtext there? Which is what the rest of the meta response here is about as follows. Please refrain from sending me specific metas in the future - discrediting other people's work is not what I'm about, even I don't necessarily think it's always well argued.

They acknowledge the Doylist perspective... and then completely ignore the actual, textual Doylist perspective they have going on. The writers' intent was to, very evidently, use Ember Island Players to acknowledge their own and fans' reactions to the show (which is why the Great Divide, an episode that the writer of EIP wrote, gets the shaft in the play) by exaggerating and making fun of their own characters and plot points. Grounded in their portrayals yes (Katara does indeed make speeches about hope) but so heavily distorted; just look at how they portray this Katara and Jet, who are completely remorseless about drowning a town ("Oh Jet, you're so bad~").

But the distortion is key. The play pretty glaringly says "Canon Katara would never like Zuko" or vice versa, "because to do so would be a great distortion of her character and characterization." Furthermore, for Katara to only see Aang "like a little brother, and that you don't have feelings for me" is also a distortion, which is why Katara outright states on the balcony, "I didn't say that. An actor said that". It's also worth noting I think that the play itself also erases Aang's romantic feelings for Katara ("I wouldn't want it any other way!"). He doesn't make his feelings plain and be rejected in the play; they just don't exist. So even the play itself isn't saying that there's a love triangle, they're saying that a distorted version of these characters would feature a Katara and Aang that don't have feelings for each other, and a Katara and Zuko that would.

Now, I don't think the play is meant to be that dismissive of fans, either. Like I said - it's meant to poke fun, and the ZK faction had always been quite large and vocal. The crossroads of destiny and its associations with Oma and Shu (which serve the basis for Kataang's love theme) are the bulk of what the ship tends to stand on, 'canon' wise. It makes sense if you're going to do a ship tease with them to do it there, and it's also the last instance you can really make actor Katara 'like' anyone.

It's also a misread to assume Aang would get this angry over jealousy, as well, given that Katara was very obvious with Jet both times, and Aang was very sparingly jealous in Book 1 and only slightly so in Book 2. EIP is one of the rare instances where Aang projects onto other people, a trait more usually seen from his friends.

What makes him upset - and we Know this, because he repeats it outright when they actually Talk about it - is this exchange between actor Katara and Zuko:

EIP!Zuko: I thought you were the Avatar's girl. EIP!Katara: [Laughs] The Avatar? Why he's like a little brother to me. I certainly don't think of him in a romantic way.

That's what makes him potentially upset, which fair enough: it can be upsetting when someone doesn't like you back, especially when Katara previously has given plenty of indications that she does. But he's not mad at her on the balcony. He doesn't take his frustrations over her not seemingly returning his feelings out on her. He's mad because Katara can't, or won't, give him a straight answer.

Aang: You said that I'm just like a brother to you, and that you didn't have feelings for me. Katara: I didn't say that. An actor said that. Aang: But it's true, isn't it? We kissed at the invasion and I thought we were going to be together, but we're not. Katara: Aang, I don't know... Aang: Why don't you know?

AKA "if you don't like me, which I just gave you a perfect out to acknowledge, can you at least confirm it for me?" And she won't even do that.

Katara is usually a very openly emotional person, which is why when it comes to whether she has feelings for him or not (and he has very good reasons to think that she does, given if you remove the Aang's POV we see, Katara is wayy more obvious with her affection than he is), it's accordingly frustrating that she won't just come out and say it. When does someone like Katara hold back? Well... normally when she's concerned about Bigger Things (i.e. not initially pushing with Pakku because Aang learning waterbending is more important to her) or when she's not sure what to do (when Aang rejects her comfort in The Serpent's Pass).

Conversely, his feelings for Katara also makes Aang more likely to stop evading or dodging and to stick his landing. He's the one who tries to confess on two different occasions. He's the one who kisses her first. And he's the one who wants to actually discuss their relationship now. (These are all reasons why I think, if they ever did break up, Aang would actually be the one with the guts to say it out loud, just FYI.)

Alternatively, if we wanna talk about Framing, let's talk about the actual balcony scene, namely Katara's dialogue, and the placement of the moon:

Not only does this balcony scene take place on a balcony like their infamous finale kiss, with parallel framing of Katara walking up behind Aang and seeking him out to talk (if Katara hadn't approached him, it's likely neither would've happened either time) but like

When Yue finds herself in a similar situation with Sokka - a young man she loves, has kissed, but finds herself unable to be with for a variety of reasons - she says almost beat for beat what Katara says here about her feelings and reasonings for wanting more distance. But like both Yue and Katara say, there's more important things going on:

I say this because everyone ignores the aspect of Katara's bond with Aang that is informed by her own trauma and fear of losing people. Aang kisses her because "What if I don't come back?" Katara literally watched him die and brought him back to life. She watched her father mourn her mother and Sokka mourn Yue (The Swamp), which the play likewise gives her an ample reminder of. She watched Jet die too. Katara has faith that Aang will be different ("I knew you'd come" from CoD and "He's gonna come back; he has to" in Sozin's Comet) but that doesn't mean she's not scared. Everyone else going on is complicating her feelings for Aang, and that's perfectly valid -- but like I said, it's a 1 for 1 with Yue.

Which is why she kisses Aang first after the war, on another balcony, because now it is the right time.

This isn't even touching on the in-universe canonical reading of EIP being Fire Nation imperialist propaganda, but that's a meta for another day.

Not to mention: EIP also teases Zukaang through Aang and the Blue Spirit, has them similarly react in distaste, you can equally read Zuko wanting to sit in between them as wanting to sit next to Aang, and Zuko and Aang's dialogue is a lot more ship teased in canon, Anyway.

June: What happened? Your girlfriend run off on you? Zuko: It's not the girl I'm after. It's the bald monk she's travelling with.

Zuko doesn't even correct June for implying a romantic connection, only who he's looking for (love you Avatar "Zuko I want you to dance with me" Aang).

I also personally think that basically any episode that has 'strong' Zuko-Katara subtext actually has far stronger Zuko-Aang subtext, but that's a meta for another day.

I do always think the ZK fandom is a fascinating example of what can happen to a fandom when they only have maybe 5 episodes to work with, nor does ship teasing make something implied canon, otherwise The Dragon Prince (also created by Aaron Ehasz) would have a very different endgame ship (to the point that every Soren/Rayla shipper I've seen also ships ZK, funnily enough, because neither of those are remotely canon).

People have gotta stop taking the bone they're thrown and acting like it's a feast.

#antizutara #atla meta #thanks for asking #pro kataang #atla #analysis series #kataang #otp: penguin sledding

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