Avatar promise!
ImageIt's a good thing Aang didn't walk into Sokka's tent on that night. Because he would be yapping his mouth the next day about it.
The thing most people don't understand about the Air Nomads are the differences between them and the other nations. Air Nomads can't produce nonbenders with each other, they can detach themselves from worldly concerns to achieve enlightenment, and they are all fluent in Yappanese.
Not gonna lie, had me for the first 7/8's right there...
I kind if thought they dropped all nonbending children off at random houses, creating the 4 Nations myth of the “stork brings babies” but with Sky Bisons
i think there was like a "fixed" or "maximum" number of benders of each element, so since the air nomads are so few, everyone of the offsprings are benders
And it was in the same episode xD
Like 2 minutes later.
True. But technically he only mentioned the dragon not the sun warriors. It’s possible he told them they just ran into dragons.
The best part is Aang doesn't even really care that much about material possessions, hes scamming these mfs solely for the love of the game.
That smile is so perfect. You know hes having the time of his life
“solely for the love of the game” killed me lol
“Did I mention I’m an incorrigible trickster? ;D”
Ember Island Players knew.
Incurable prankster.
You’re right haha. I couldn’t remember the exact wording.
Please never make a reference that off again
WHO CAN STOP ME!?
I’M AN INCURABLE PRANKSTER!
SOKKAPOW
That made me laugh man. You‘re right😂😂😂
Oh hey, cake day fellow!
It's not even about the material possessions, he's just ready to pull up and support his homies when they want a crew to do something stupid and fun.
Yeah Aang's promises pretty consistently aren't worth much. Guess that's what happens when you make a 12 year old the chosen one
I mean, pretty much every Avatar was 12 at some point
Most Avatar outside of Aang (and strangely enough Korra) didn't know they were the Avatar until their 16th birthday. Even then, they would usually spend years (if not decades) learning the other elements before they truly started doing their Avatar's job, which gave them enough time to understand things like "lying is bad".
A random 12th years old lying all the time is . . . not good but manageable. The "Bridge with the Spirit world" and "Only hope to restore balance" lying all the time is a pretty good problem, and I'm surprised the point didn't come in the last season, like Aang trying to get someone's support by making a promise and the other guys answering "we know what your promises are worth".
Especially considering avatar kuruk got completely fucking screwed over because essentially, yang-chen couldn't keep promises to the spirits.
Imagine the heibai incident, but happening all across the globe within short spans of time, and every time he's forced to end one of them it takes a year off his life.(he died at 33)
Starting to think there is a link between Air Nomads and lying.
Then again, it makes sense. Air is the element of Freedom, and Air Nomads are pacifist. They probably think a white lie is better than the use of violence, even if few people would agree with them.
The conversations between Kuruk and Yangchen must have gotten really awkward towards the end.
I wonder if those two even have a working relationship with each other lol. I can just imagine them not being on talking terms in the Avatar afterlife 😂
Can dead Avatars even talk with each other? Because while the current one can contact the previous ones (and yeah, I wouldn't be surprised if Kuruk just blocked his connection to Yangchen likes Aang does to Roku in one of the comics), but I don't think we have any example of 2 dead Avatars talking with each other, like Kyoshi and Roku having a chat about killing your best friend or not.
Idk tbh, but I like to think it's possible. It's my little headcanon, and with AbsoluteKyoshist on TikTok, I can at least see what it would look like, so yeah.
i love that account
Wait so aang can’t talk to roku at all anymore?
He can. Aang did the block himself because of a disagreement and it was only temporary, the connection was restored at the end of the Comics issue, it was the 1st or the 2nd one I think.
What is even weirder, Aang was basically raised a Buddhist, and their 4th principle is to not lie
He's 12. He only had enough time to learn the first three principles.
Isn't the second one about sexual misconduct?
And did he do any? Exactly
Well, he's 112/113 and decided to have sex with/marry a girl who's a century younger than him. I don't know, seems pretty skeevy behavior to me.
Damn. To be fair he kept that like any other avatar promise
Unless you're basing your info off some sketchy fan art r34 comics, I don't recall him breaking that principle.
I have no idea; I was just making a joke about Aang learning the principles of Buddhism very slowly and one at a time.
Fair, I'm trying to learn them myself as of late, so they are a little fresh in the brain
Everyone knows that you take 4 years per principle. That's why all the others were told they were the avatar until 16, to master all four principles.
Everything changed when the principle of sexual misconduct attacked.
(and strangely enough Korra)
Korea wasn't exactly hard to figure out IIRC. Something about a 5 year old throwing around 3/4 elements felt like a tipoff.
That is true, but then again, Aang was simply a victim of circumstance
I think it was more the "in order to be told at 16 you had to make it past 12" logic. Like saying... every avatar had to be born at somepoint. Every avatar died at some point. Every avatar blinked at some point.
Yes, but my point is that Avatars are traditionally only told what they are by their 16th birthday specifically so they could have "normal childhood". Even if all of them were "Chosen One" by the time they were 12 (or the day of their birth really), they didn't have the responsability of one.
By their 12th birthday, Kyoshi was either homeless or a servant girl (not sure of the timeline), Roku was chilling with his bro Crown Prince Sozin and even Korra (who knew she was the Avatar) was living in a South Pole compound with almost no contact with the outside world.
Aang's lying is worse because, unlike others, he was already the World's hope rather than having the illusion to be a normal kid. He was clearly not ready for this responsability (especially season 1) and it's not fair to put so much pressure on the kid, but that's how things were.
Is it really a problem?
In this season, Aang was forced to lie about his identity to make sure that the Fire Nation doesn’t try to kill him before he’s ready.
He also lied to two warring Earth Kingdom tribes to get them to stop fighting in Great Divide.
There are different kind of lies.
Nobody would blame Aang just because he didn't yell he was the Avatar in the middle of an enemy territory, that's pure self preservation. And I will even forgive him for lying to Zuko about letting himself be captured in Season 1, though I want to point out that (outside of Zuko) pretty much any Fire Nation officer we have seen in the series would have made a detour to the Water Tribe village and murdered everyone after this stunt (because that's the normal consequence after a fake surrender).
But Aang doesn't only lie when it's necessary, but also when it's convenient. In this scene, they had already earnt more than enough money and didn't need to scam anymore, yet Aang still went along with it because he had fun. His promise to Katara was only because he didn't want to listent to her sermon. In Season 1, he didn't have to lie about the 2 tribes past (imagine what could happen in the future should they learn the truth), he did it because it was convenient and easier than truly look into what happened. And he also didn't have to lie to Jeong Jeong about being carefull, but he wanted to do sick moves with fire so he did before breaking his promise anyways. He didn't have to lie to Bato and the siblings about the map to rejoin Hadoka's fleet.
Aang's problem is that he doesn't understand the consequences of his actions. If lying gets him what he wants (even something stupid), there is a pretty big chance he is going to do it, and "being sorry" doesn't mean anything if he is going to pull the same shit 3 episodes later.
For most children, it's not a problem because there is a limit to the troubles they can cause and you have the time to teach them better, but Aang is the Avatar. In a more mature show, Aang's lie could have had big consequences (like the Water Tribe village being destroyed), and at least some people would have refused to help/follow Aang simply because they can't trust him.
Once it became clear that the two tribes were going to use any excuse to go to war with each other, lying became a necessity.
Yangchen also found out when she was young due to having weird possesion moments.
I was trying to think of an Avatar that wasn't 12 at some point, and I guess it would be Wan, the first Avatar because he didn't become Avatar until he was already an adult.
It's also likely that at least one Avatar died as a kid.
5 year old going into the avatar state to kick butt.
Kyoshi: I skipped by 12 out of spite >=[
Most Avatars don’t know they’re Avatars till 16.
Aang is a troll lol
My biggest gripe with the live action, he didn't just seem like a kinda bratty 12 yo sometimes.
I think this was a victim of the rushed pace. In Season 1 we get so much time with Aang and the gang to allow them to flesh out their personalities and so their range. Aang is a goofy friendly kid who is also deeply spiritual and has wisdom beyond his years. Katara is a caring and gentle but also has a temper when provoked. Sokka is a prankster and loves poking fun at Katara but also knows when to be serious and take lead when the situation demands it. They just didn’t have time to cover all that ground in the live action adaptation.
Live action had roughly the same runtime. It was eight 45min to 1 hour episodes, the cartoon was twenty 22min episodes. Cut out the episodes they clearly wouldn't adapt like Great Divide and Fortune Teller and Netflix had even more time to work with.
They just sucked at actually spending time with the characters interacting with each other and developing personalities/relationships. Needed more moments like Zuko and Iroh at the funeral, fewer moments like Aang telling the audience that he's just a kid who wants to play air ball
Idk even the Great Divide showed what a trickster Aang is and highlighted Sokka and Kataras personalities and their relationship.
There are no filler episodes on ATLA, every episode moves the story or does a decent amount of character development. Imo more shows should go back to a 20min 24 episode format because it allows for so much more character development.
Totally agree. The Great Divide is definitely not the best episode but it shows Aang's leadership and diplomatic skills that are important to see.
Yeah I like those episodes but there just clearly wasn't going to be a good place for those little side adventures in the Netflix format. But since the runtime is the same there was no excuse for them to skip out on the same type of character development in the plot lines they did adapt
They did though. They just chose to replace meaningful dialogue with exposition vomit
God I've been harassed so many times on the ATLATV sub for saying this
It’s the same amount of time. They just did it poorly lol.
Aang addicted to that cash.
In Aang's defense, the literal first Avatar himself was not exactly a paragon of honesty...
Wan was just straight up Alladin
I know this isn't the point of the post, but I love how happy he looks in the third picture.
No he didnt make it a habit he stopped after this
…Allegedly… aang has a lot of secret identities
Important to mote that Aang wasn’t in the Avatar state in either instance.
It doesn’t mean much, but just throwing that out there can’t hurt.
Agreements done by an minor are not legally bounding
Imagine he uses this line more often
"Katara, I'll personally make you an Avatar-promise that I will take out the trash"
“Luckily for me! Avatar aangs technically dead!”
I love that moment in Episode 3 of Book 3. They needed money and they were able to get money fast
I like how the arrow disappears
I think the idea is that his headband fell down a bit and he's scrunching his forehead up, so it's entirely blocked by the headband.
But in actuality, the artists just weren't that consistent with arrow placement on his head. This is true for the live action, as well.
It is blocked by the headband, but your reading of the scene is off.
When he makes the promise, he deliberately pulls the headband up to reveal his tattoo, to emphasize that it's an Avatar promise. You can see how it's pinching his hair up in the first two shots, then it's lower and his hair is floppier in the third.
Ah, okay. Yeah, that makes sense. Guess I should rewatch these scenes before commenting on them instead of just going off the pictures, heh.
He said “an Avatar promise”. The Avatar he meant was Kyoshi:
Last, I swear never to make an honest living from those who abide the law. I will take no legitimate wage, and work for no legitimate man. Should I ever accept coin for my labors, may I be sliced to bits by a variety of knives.
Its not a habit it's a lifestyle katara
An Avatar promise is the equivalent of a rock fact
He’s a monk scamming is on his blood. Take no offense monks of reddit.
An “avatar promise” is such bs lol. Always cracks me up
I loved Aang with his hair and school-uniform. He looked so cute in it.
And yet, people say him lying in the great divide is out of character.
I love the little detail of the fire symbol on the coins!
Just noticed his arrow slides up his head so that the headband isn’t comically low on his forehead
To be fair they just did a bunch right then and not much after. So it wasn’t a complete habit more of a week gambling binge
And that’s why the library of Alexandria was taken from the mortal realm.
Just like when he made that promise with Wan Shi Tong to not abuse the knowledge found in the library
Avatar promises from Aang mean shit. "if I go with you, will you leave the tribe alone?"
Zuko: yep
Aang: immediately escapes
Zuko: doesn't actually go back to the tribe to destroy it, like Zhao definitely would do
Aang: I promise not to abuse the knowledge in this library to hurt people .
Wan shi tong: fine
Aang: find the exact date, when fire benders will be powerless to take out their leader
Wan shi tong: f you guys and humanity
That stretch of several episodes where Aang becomes a comic relief side character in his own show.
Correct me if I'm wrong but they did kinda just do it for one episode so he's not wrong, but at the moment he was lying about it
They did stop after that episode. Hardly a habit.
Lol I laughed out loud when I was rewatching and this scene came up
He kept his promise though he didn't do those scams he started doing other scams.
The real reason Air nomads shave their hair is their hair make them to mischievous and sexy so it’s to avoid them to conquer the world with fun and games
You know Airbud is a minor, right?💀
one can be factually hot without ME personally wanting to bang said person.
Ang looked a lot cooler with hair
Promise only valid after 100 years🗿
I just realised how rectangular Aangs head really is
He said he wouldn't make it a habit. Not that he would never do it again. He can totally quit any time, he just doesn't want to.
They look like Jackie Chans Talismans. Of the 8 he’s holding, which ones would they be? 👀
This is one of my favorite scene transitions in the series tbh. It goes from Aang being so serious an honorable to "look ma! I learned some magic tricks!"
To be fair they did only do this for a couple days. So one could argue they didn’t really make it a habit.
What Avatar? I only see the Kuzon. A student from the colonies.
Ok but why does his left hand have two thumbs
Miss you Aang after watching Netflix live adaptation I had to bleach my eyes :(
The Great Divide detractors: it’s out of character for Aang to lie.
That's Kuzon though, right?
Was just a few weeks. Not a habit! We are good katara. /j
Jokes aside tho I think it would be funny if Toph and aang still did this as adults.
that transition from him bowing to flaunting the coins was clean af
Technically he kept his promise because they stopped after a while and korra never tried to scam anyone if I remember correctly
Did they ever make a callback to "Avatar Promises" in Korra? I hope so!
Where did his arrow go?
I love this hair and look on him man, I mean so freaking cute
Do not trust Aang 😂. Avatar or not, he's terrible at keeping secrets, and most certainly in making/keeping promises.
STRAIGHT UP CAP🗿
Sun Warrior Chief: "We will let you leave, but you must never speak to anyone of our people and its secrets. Seriously. Don't."
Aang to his entire friend group: "So then the Sun Warriors' secret dragons showed up! It was so sick, you guys!"