Avatar: The Last Hairbender & Legend of Korra

[Izawwlgood]

(Creator statements do not count as canon. If you want me to know something about the world you've created, put it in the story.)

Others tend to disagree.

I'm completely with Joeldi on this one; I've had many a fantastic story ruined because the creator decided to throw some non-included spin on something they felt about their tale.
My viewing, my interpretation. If it didn't make it in, you can suck it.

[Box Boy]

I tend to just go with what the creator says, but everything else which doesn't get mentioned is up to interpretation however.
Meh, differs from person to person I suppose, and it only annoys me in the few instances when someone insists that something is canon and can't be refuted even though the creator has gone on record to say it isn't.

[SecondTalon]

The greatest argument I've heard for the Creator's Word not meaning a damned thing is... Ray Bradbury (in the last decade or so) on Fahrenheit 451. Granted, that was about interpretation of the work and not "Chuck's eyes are blue" but.... it still makes a compelling argument.

[Box Boy]

Never read Farenheit 451 myself, probably should get around to it one of these days.....

[Mother Superior]

One of my Literature professors once said Beckett later regretted calling his play 'Waiting for Godot', because everyone thought 'Godot' meant God and the play was about two people waiting for God to show up in their lives. Beckett claimed this was not the intent of the play at all. My professor then quickly added; "But he was wrong, and let me show you why!"

Word of god(ot)= Take it or leave it.

[Sockmonkey]

Yeah, but meaning and intent are seperate issues than what happened and how things work. Artitsts know people will get different things out of their work and generally only take issue when someone claims some fucked up idea is the author's true intent.

[cephalopod9]

More info on the New Series!

[animeHrmIne]

Wait, Aang only lived about 50 more years? Bumi lived to be well over 100! Besides that, the premise looks really, really cool -- I'm guessing metalbending took off, or at least some metal-sense. Steam-punk would incorporate the four elements, with earth being the coal and fire the metals, or earth the metals and fire the heating. I'd love to see what mixing all four elements in one city would do -- WordOfGod has said that bending is in the spirit, and if that's true, and the children of all four nations are mixing together, does that mean that an airbending spirit would be able to turn into a bending power, even in an earthbending family (for example)? It seems to me that if they had mixed schooling, that it would be much easier to be culturally in a completely different nation than one's parents.

Speaking of mixing schooling, maybe that could be an issue they touch on, segregation and intolerance. I think Avatar could make a good episode out of that premise, without being heavy-handed like most children's shows are. They've been pretty good about that.

I wonder who will have survived that long, and who we'll meat. I'd love to see Teo and the Mechanist, because they'd adapt pretty well to changing times. I hope Sokka's still alive (He'd be about 87, but he could totally be a White Lotus badass). I wonder if Korra's teacher would be Aang's only son, or if he had tons of kids to pass on Airbending.

...

I'm rambling now. But I hope that this is excellent.

Also! If there is a movie sequel, I am boycotting. This one made money because it was our duty as fans to see it. I am not going to pay money to see the next one.

[Durinthal]

More info on the New Series!

Okay, I'm eagerly anticipating that as of right now. The link in that article to the interview didn't work, so convenient reference link with more info.

Also, I haven't seen the movie and will continue not seeing it.

[Mother Superior]

Personally, I cannot wait to see Aang in an Avatar Roku-type role.

[cephalopod9]

You know what I love about this? They are making a new story and going new directions instead of trying to draw out the previous set up for as long as possible.

[Box Boy]

You know what I love about this? They are making a new story and going new directions instead of trying to draw out the previous set up for as long as possible.

...But they didn't make a new story!
They just cut out bits of the old one, threw in some wrong pronunciations, made the characters act completely unlike themselves and some of the best scenes were changed! (For example, Katara having to fight for her right to be trained at the Northern Water Tribe!)

[Jesse]

You know what I love about this? They are making a new story and going new directions instead of trying to draw out the previous set up for as long as possible.

...But they didn't make a new story!
They just cut out bits of the old one, threw in some wrong pronunciations, made the characters act completely unlike themselves and removed some of the best scenes were changed! (For example, Katara having to fight for her right to be trained at the Northern Water Tribe!)

Are you being intentionally obtuse, or did you just miss what was going on. Ceph is talking about the new animated series, not the movie.

[Box Boy]

Huh, I thought this was meant to be a film only thread for a second there, and now that you mention it, how the heck did I miss what Ceph was actually talking about?

[Sockmonkey]

Hmm, It looks to me like since they wanted to have some of the original characters do cameos they had to have Aang die early. Saying he still burned up time while in the iceberg might come across as contrived because they didn't want to have him die in battle or accident and have to explain the circumstances.
I am of course totally going to be watching this.
I so want to see old Sokka but I hope to god they make him wise/mature and not just teen Sokka with grey hair.
Heck I'd love to see all the old gaang and their kids but I suspect the writers will be wise enough not to show everyone since that would take to much focus away from Korra.

[Minchandre]

Hmm, It looks to me like since they wanted to have some of the original characters do cameos they had to have Aang die early. Saying he still burned up time while in the iceberg might come across as contrived because they didn't want to have him die in battle or accident and have to explain the circumstances.
I am of course totally going to be watching this.
I so want to see old Sokka but I hope to god they make him wise/mature and not just teen Sokka with grey hair.
Heck I'd love to see all the old gaang and their kids but I suspect the writers will be wise enough not to show everyone since that would take to much focus away from Korra.

Since we see Aang's son, I bet we'll see Katara too.

Sokka I hope to see as an ancient sword-master and war hero, presiding over a horde of descendants with Suki...and still cracking horrible jokes on a constant basis.

[Box Boy]

One of the story's settings is Republic City, a "metropolis powered by steampunk-type technology, inhabited by people from all nations.

*orgasms repeatedly*

[cephalopod9]

Huh, I thought this was meant to be a film only thread for a second there, and now that you mention it, how the heck did I miss what Ceph was actually talking about?

That's ok. It seems like everyone has to mention The Movie when bringing up Avatar now. And even if they aren't allowed to say that it's awful, you can tell that they're thinking it. Even knowing about the new series, reading "Avatar sequel planned" still made me think Augh, before I remembered it was Yay.

[thecommabandit]

Sokka I hope to see as an ancient sword-master and war hero, presiding over a horde of descendants with Suki...and still cracking horrible jokes on a constant basis.

This. Ahh, it would give me that warm fluffy feeling inside to see this. Looking forward to anything they put out on this line, though, because it was such a good series. You only have to look at how many adults enjoy it to see that.

[Izawwlgood]

I'm curious to see if Aang lived the rest of his life in peace. I.e., do him and Zuko play nice from now until a ripe old age?

[Sockmonkey]

That's ok. It seems like everyone has to mention The Movie when bringing up Avatar now. And even if they aren't allowed to say that it's awful, you can tell that they're thinking it.

Oh yes, the fact that it was so obvious that the creators were trying so hard to keep from being backed into a corner and admitting they hated the movie made me smile.

[Chfan]

Sokka I hope to see as an ancient sword-master and war hero, presiding over a horde of descendants with Suki...and still cracking horrible jokes on a constant basis.

I'm sure that this will happen.

[Mavketl]

*orgasms repeatedly*

WITH AN ORK!

(Also, I can't wait for the new series to come out... I was soooo happy when I heard the news!)

[cephalopod9]

oh dang, Science! It'll be super awesome to see the technology take off in the new series. They were moving pretty fast in the year the last series lasted, what with the steam engines and hot air balloons.

I wonder how long it'll be before we see any previews, or get more info on the new series, and what part of '11 it'll be released in.

[thecommabandit]

It wouldn't surprise me at all if Sokka actually became an inventor. Behind the sarcasm and comedy (and the meat), he was actually one of the smartest characters on the show.

[Sockmonkey]

Well the Fire Nation had steam tech well before the start of the series.
(IIRC they were the most technologically advanced nation, which inspired Sozin to stary the war to introduce it to everyone)
One of the flashbacks in Sozin's tale showed a fire nation steamship.
It was when they found the Mechanist that they began using steam engines for land vehicles and airships. He had been working on the designs for those for a long time before the start of the series as well.
After 70 years it's not surprising to see former millitary tech being used by civillians everywhere.

[Belial]

Hmm, It looks to me like since they wanted to have some of the original characters do cameos they had to have Aang die early. Saying he still burned up time while in the iceberg might come across as contrived because they didn't want to have him die in battle or accident and have to explain the circumstances.

It's also weird because, even if the iceberg time counts, 180 or so is still pretty young for an avatar. Didn't Kyoshi live to be 300-some?

[Box Boy]

Does it say anywhere how he died?
I'd imagine that it wouldn't be something like illness due to Katara's healing powers, so perhaps he was murdered or killed in some form of accident?

[Zarq]

The movie was worse than I expected
The acting was extremely bad, the dialogue boring and the ending was an anticlimax. I had expected that, but I had hoped for some funny quotes and cool action sequences. There were none.
The bending looked ridiculous too

[Belial]

The movie was worse than I expected :(
The acting was extremely bad, the dialogue boring and the ending was an anticlimax. I had expected that, but I had hoped for some funny quotes and cool action sequences. There were none.
The bending looked ridiculous too

I honestly giggled with malicious glee at how badly the movie failed.

If Shyamalan wasn't going to do it right, I'm glad he also didn't do it successfully.

[Sockmonkey]

It's also weird because, even if the iceberg time counts, 180 or so is still pretty young for an avatar. Didn't Kyoshi live to be 300-some?

I think she was 200-some. I'm not sure if living that long is common for avatars, let alone ordinary people.

[Joeldi]

RE: Iceberg time, I'd say it's not from simply hibernating for 100years, it's from hibernating in the Avatar State that would drain one's energy.

[Mother Superior]

Re: Kyoshi. We know of three characters in the show who physically aged beyond 100 years: Two of which are Earth benders. So maybe Earth Benders just live longer in general, and Avatars in particular, so Earth Avatars can live for 270 years like Kyoshi, and regular Earth benders can live to 112 and still be in ass-kicking shape (IE King Bumi), whereas everybody else can just barely nip past 90. And Avatars live for a bit longer than that.

[stillfocus]

I'm completely psyched for the new series and I'm glad that they decided to go in a new direction. I'm sure we'll see plenty of hints as to things that happened in the break period. Was there any mention of toph? She was probably my favorite character and I'd love to see how she changed over the years (if at all.)

Though now 2011 can't come fast enough...

[Rek]

The only two requirements I'm looking for in the show are Appa and Toph. The other characters can be long dead for all I care. Well, except for maybe Momo, and Iroh, though that's impossible.

[cephalopod9]

I really hope the skybison and lemurs make a comeback, but I also think Appa carrying on without Aang would be really really sad.

It was when they found the Mechanist that they began using steam engines for land vehicles and airships. He had been working on the designs for those for a long time before the start of the series as well.
After 70 years it's not surprising to see former millitary tech being used by civillians everywhere.

I'm not sure how, or whether, to compare it to real world/historical parallels, but things seemed to move pretty rapidly into mass production. It couldn't have been more than a few months between the time the hot-air-balloon was invented, and the time the Fire Nation had whole fleets of them. They also built a working submarine, and looked to be discovering fossil fuels. It'll be interesting to see if they start figuring out electricity, or if bending abilities makes it less appealing. More sciencey content would be pretty awesome.

[Belial]

The only two requirements I'm looking for in the show are Appa and Toph. The other characters can be long dead for all I care. Well, except for maybe Momo, and Iroh, though that's impossible. :(

Listen. I agree with you mostly, but crazy-old-man-Sokka is a fucking necessity.

[Mother Superior]

The only two requirements I'm looking for in the show are Appa and Toph. The other characters can be long dead for all I care. Well, except for maybe Momo, and Iroh, though that's impossible.

Listen. I agree with you mostly, but crazy-old-man-Sokka is a fucking necessity.

If the show does not have crazy-old-man-Sokka playing a game of Pai Cho using the White Lotus Gambit, I will be disappointed.

[ArgonV]

Yeah, I can see him getting inducted to the Order of the White Lotus directly after the war

[Sockmonkey]

I'm not sure how, or whether, to compare it to real world/historical parallels, but things seemed to move pretty rapidly into mass production. It couldn't have been more than a few months between the time the hot-air-balloon was invented, and the time the Fire Nation had whole fleets of them. They also built a working submarine, and looked to be discovering fossil fuels. It'll be interesting to see if they start figuring out electricity, or if bending abilities makes it less appealing. More sciencey content would be pretty awesome.

The fire nation was already industrialized andin full time war production mode. They had factories in place making tanks and were expecting delivery of plans for the drill and airships so factories would have been in built already to build those too. The subs weren't really "subs" in that they were just nonfunctional metal cans that needed waterbending to actually do anything. Yeah, they burned coal for steam and seal oil in lamps and knew about explosive gases but it's a really big leap from that to something like an internal combustion engine. In some ways bending has held them back because it's a quck and easy solution to many things. I think one of the reasons the fire nation invented steamships and tanks is because they had to compete with waterbender ships and earthbender trains without earth or waterbending.

The only two requirements I'm looking for in the show are Appa and Toph. The other characters can be long dead for all I care. Well, except for maybe Momo, and Iroh, though that's impossible.

Listen. I agree with you mostly, but crazy-old-man-Sokka is a fucking necessity.

If the show does not have crazy-old-man-Sokka playing a game of Pai Cho using the White Lotus Gambit, I will be disappointed.

Agreed.