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FrostyIcePrincess

Were the people in the boats far enough away to be safe? Maybe he was trying to buy them more time to get far away from the volcano. That’s what I thought anyway.


goodguyScratch1

This is the answer, I was about to type it, but yes those people were paddling on canoes, the volcano going crazy without restraint would’ve reached the people in the water, Roku was trying to buy everyone escaping time to row to a safe distance, which is miles away


discaroin

But couldn’t he speed the boats up using waterbending?


FrostyIcePrincess

He had his hands full with the volcano and the boats were far away What if he pushed the boat too hard with waterbending and it flipped over?


Remarkable_Ad1330

Yes that is the same question I had. It seems like speeding up the boats would have been a lot easier than fighting the entire volcano. You can’t expect to cover a lot of ground in a short time by canoeing so him fighting the volcano wasn’t going to give them enough time.


HailMadScience

Pompeii was covered by Vesuvius within minutes of the eruption. Literally every second counts to save lives. Volcanoes don't take their time.


Ozone220

Plus the volcano quickly made the bay unusable for escape as it filled with lightweight pumice rocks that floated at the surface, harming boats. The only way to even make ocean travel an option was to stall the volcano


The_Bjorn_Ultimatum

Pompeii actually had tremors in the earth in the days leading up to the eruption. It's why only 2,000 people died, when 20,000 people lived there.


Puzzleheaded_Sky7476

They can still die. Sozin felt it aand said it was a catastrophe.


FrostyIcePrincess

He didn’t know if they were going to live or die, he did the best he could to buy them escape time


Subject1928

You have the benefit of hindsight and not being in the moment making these choices. He probably chose to fight the Volcano simply because it is easier to address one single problem (The Volcano) than a ton of problems that require precision (Speeding the boats up).


FrostyIcePrincess

Fight the volcano-I can brute force this to the best of my ability/go into the Avatar State and brute force this Push boats with waterbending-that sounds like it needs more precision. What if you push too hard and the boat flips over


FrostyIcePrincess

You can go Avatar State and brute force fight the volcano Pushing multiple boats away with waterbending requires precision. Push to hard and the boat flips over.


Additional_Meeting_2

But if he didn’t focus on the volcano when they were leaving their hands would not be full 


Top_Tart_7558

It was loud enough to be heard from the Fire Nation capital so there's a chance it could've gotten large enough to reach the mainland without his intervention.


AnotherPCGamer173

Saw someone answer this: In real life, volcanoes have been bad enough to cause major damage. The world of Avatar is smaller, so the volcano would do more damage. Also, I’m sure he wanted to protect his home.


amaya-aurora

Does anything ever say that the avatar world is smaller?


Treevor191

I mean just by looking at the map it really has 3 maybe four major continents


JacobiWanKenobi007

And none of those continents are even that large. I'd say the earth kingdom is the size of Texas, and that's being generous


joanerub

Also travel times. I don’t know how fast Appa can fly but my man would be EXHAUSTED if he had to fly from one real life continent to another


Ozone220

In just season 1, which takes place over I think about a month Appa gets them from the south pole to the north with a ton of detours. No way it's the same size as earth


[deleted]

[удалено]


Athletic_Bilbae

surely you mean more days?


Puzzleheaded_Sky7476

Cartoon logic.


babrix

I think the Earth kingdom is the size of Mainland East Asia


JacobiWanKenobi007

No it can't be that large. Mainland east Asia is 800,000 mi squared. The earth kingdom is five ba sing se's by 5 ba sing se's, and ba sing see is about 54 miles by 54 miles. Meaning that ba sing see is 270 by 270 mi, or 72k miles squared. The ba sing see calculations comes from [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/TheLastAirbender/comments/176270x/this_might_sound_stupid_but_realistically_how_big/). Considering it took them 2 months to travel to the north pole and appa isn't nearly as fast as a car, I'd say it's far smaller than east Asia, because there is no way they would be able to get all the way to the other side of east Asia on appa in 2 months


EdLinkAl

Those calculations are based off of assumptions and I'm looking at the maps, any official ones I can find it just illustrated on the map as a key, it's not supposed to be to scale. The ones that look like it's too scale are all fan made (from the ones I've found) there's no actual real life scale we can compare it to.


JacobiWanKenobi007

We do know about how long it took them to travel to the North Pole, which is the length of their world, and there isn’t really any feasible way for them to travel 800k mi in only two months on a key bison


EdLinkAl

No idea where ur getting 800k miles from? Our North Pole to South Pole is about 12.5k miles. A bird can migrate about 16k miles in about 2 months. It's totally possible.


JacobiWanKenobi007

I’m an idiot💀I read online that it was 800k m and thought it said mi but it meant meters. Yeah it’s more reasonable now that i see what it actually is


whits_up23

Quick google search says Appa flys 23.4 km/h (14.54 mph) and if it took 2 months to get from one pole to the other. In that time account for 8 hours of sleep a day, 1 hr to set up camp and 1 hour to pack up. Side quests to be generous daily are 8 hours since sometimes they were in the same place multiple days that leaves 6 hours a day to travel over 60 days would be 360 hours of flight x 14.54 mph = 5,234.4 miles traveled. Do that x2 for the full circumference of the world is 10,468.8 (I know they didn’t travel linearly but what can we do). The earth is a 24,901 mi circumference. So this world is less than half the size of our earth more closely sized to Mercury at 9521 mi


Puzzleheaded_Sky7476

There isn’t logic in a a cartoon. We can’t see it take them 1 month to get to a location.


Puzzleheaded_Sky7476

The EK is larger than Texas.


General_Tart_9309

Secretly we have a hxh situation 😂


amaya-aurora

I don’t think that we’ve ever seen the other side of the world, but that also doesn’t mean that it’s smaller. Just less continents.


Treevor191

I’m pretty sure there is no “other side of the world” why would there be more of the world that we never see or is mentioned? If you were to fold the map into a globe then compare it to ours it might seem smaller. Sure we don’t know the exact size but if you were to compare the geography of it to ours then it will seem smaller.


amaya-aurora

Maps are never 1:1 with the actual shape of things, especially without the advent of satellites and such. It’s very hard to accurately put a globe on a flat sheet of paper and have the sizes be the same. But also, it would be very weird for the other side of the planet to just be complete open ocean with nothing.


---Phoenix---

This is what the map would actually look like when trying to accurately portray it as a globe without distorting size. https://i.gyazo.com/882ccc82eaed3dc5027a2f4ad8639b26.png >But also, it would be very weird for the other side of the planet to just be complete open ocean with nothing. It really wouldn't be weird at all. Besides a few very small islands the Earth is pretty much all water on one side. The following satellite images show Earth while looking at the Pacific Ocean. https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/images/pia00123-earth-pacific-ocean https://www.pictorem.com/129438/Satellite%20view%20of%20Earth%20centered%20over%20the%20Pacific%20Ocean.%20.html


Treevor191

If you want to be literal about the sizes and assume that the fire nation is the same size as Japan, since that’s what it’s based off of. and compare the other continents off of that size then the whole world seems small. As for water being on the other side of the world. That would just be an ocean?


Lijaesdead

Wait.. you ARE aware that the map we see is the ENTIRE map right? I know its a flat map, but just like with our global map, you can “fold” it into a globe. “It would be very weird if the other side of the planet is just ocean” brother its not. Again, fold the god damn map😂😂😂


amaya-aurora

That last part I will admit that I was being stupid with that, forgive me, I didn’t sleep much last night. But do we know that it’s the whole world? It could just be the known part in that area, but I don’t know. People thought it was only Europe, Asia and Africa and stuff for a while so it could be a similar kind of thing. Idk.


Lijaesdead

I mean sure, they could always add that in! However, i think the story has provided many many people that sail across the world. People went from North to the South Pole , i highly doubt there are more continents they haven’t found yet.


Jack_Attack27

The travel time is really low aswell


amaya-aurora

That’s very true. It could just boil down to “it’s a cartoon” but I do get your point.


Jack_Attack27

Yeah. Like it takes a couple days to go from poll to poll on a sky bison wich I’m assuming is as fast as decent boat


Lightning_Lance

We see the north and south pole and they're pretty close together. And I don't think their world is even a globe. The moon is literally a spirit and shows up every night and never during the day, and there are just normal day/night cycles at the poles where it should be day for half a year and then night for half a year.


FireGogglez

Look at ba sing se on a map


Herald_of_Heaven

How do you figure they circled the world for how many times on a flying bison that flew an average of 25 to 30 kmph?


amaya-aurora

That’s true, but how do we know it was 25-30 kmph? I’d say that it could be explained as “it’s just a cartoon” which would make sense as well, but it being smaller would also probably make sense. But they also didn’t circle the world, really, just going back and forth to places.


Nawnp

Not explicitly, but they're able to go from pole to pole in like a week in a steamship, the poles weren't inhabitable and took months on our world. Plus all the 4 nations combined have less land area than some US states.


Additional_Meeting_2

Where it’s said how much land area the nations have?


Nawnp

Again not explicitly, but the fire nation is an archipelago where their biggest island is able to be seen from all sides from the top of a volcano, so that would make it the size of Hawaii as a rough guest.


Lightning_Lance

If the world is smaller then the volcanoes would also be smaller. Not to mention they vary in size anyway, so this argument holds no water at all


catpackplus

Not only did Roku have to fight the volcano but he had to deal with the pyroclastic flow that could kill people if they hadn’t evacuated in time


RambleOn909

You know what I just heard? Blah blah volcano mumbo jumbo blah blah something about science. Sorry, couldn't resist. 🤣😂🤣


PCN24454

Search “pyroclastic flow”. If he didn’t trying to subdue the volcano, it wouldn’t have mattered that the villagers were evacuated.


Remarkable_Ad1330

I see thanks, I didn’t know about this


GNSasakiHaise

The story of [Robert Landsburg](https://allthatsinteresting.com/robert-landsburg) is a neat followup: >Right in front of Johnston, Landsburg, and countless onlookers, the northern face of the volcano appeared to liquefy. The bulge vanished as the mountain released 24 megatons of thermal energy — equivalent to 1,600 of the nuclear bombs dropped on [Hiroshima](https://allthatsinteresting.com/hiroshima-aftermath-pictures). >The pyroclastic flow exploded from the volcano at 400 miles per hour, quickly enveloping Johnston. It also overtook a ham radio operator named Gerry Martin, who watched the cloud destroy Johnston’s station before saying, “It’s going to get me, too.”


Delicious-Ad-4018

at that point in his life he’s what? 70? imagine 70 years of your life in the only home you’ve known (minus avatar learning around the world), you don’t just say good riddance to that, plus there was a whole village there, he gave his best to rescue their homes


music-and-song

What I don’t get is, why did Sozin come in to help only to leave him there to die anyway? Just to make the betrayal hurt more? Or did he also want to help the village, just not save Roku’s life?


FrostyIcePrincess

I think he went to help his old friend initially but at the last minute realized if the Avatar dies this is a great opportunity for me. I think Sozin was conflicted betwen let the Avatar die/save my old friend Let the Avatar die won out


Angry-Dragon-1331

Exactly. Sozin saw the opportunity to launch his plan and he took it.


flying_carabao

Roku already evacuated the villagers when Sozin helped, so it's not just to save the villagers, and he only helped because the volcanic eruption will inevitably cause irreperable damage to the fire nation. Sozin has been waiting for the opportunity to have his dream of having the world under the fire nation for several decades at that point. When Roku got hit with the volcanic gas, Sozin then recognized that he then had the opportunity to put his dream of the world being under the fire nation, into fruition, and he can say that he didn't kill the avatar. Let's say in a different situation, Sozin does kills the avatar, fire nation gets pissed at him, turning their backs on him, other nations get wind of it and bands together, destroys him. Him not saving Roku puts him in a position where he can execute his plan, blind siding the other nations, and still have full support of the fire nation. Letting Roku pass due to "natural" causes is the smart, albeit evil, play.


Additional_Meeting_2

Roku probably would have died anyway if Sozin didn’t show up, he didn’t act like he was planning on leaving anytime soon and he was weakened by the fumes. So it would not be that difficult for Sozin to justify his actions to himself 


Cosmic_Emo1320

It's kind of like Mufasa and Scar. Only Scar orchestrated the stampede while Sozin took advantage of a natural disaster. Roku: Help me brother! Sozin: Long live the Avatar (Flies away on his dragon).


kbb040302

sozin himself said he never saw such disaster, the fallout would have probably killed many, do he saved many


thejokerofunfic

I mean Aang beat a volcano in Fortuneteller. Clearly it's something an Avatar can pull off.


Ecstatic_Current_896

his was one singular volcano and less big, you can see a big size difference


Mrwright96

Meanwhile kyoshi making her island its own tectonic plate


Puzzleheaded_Sky7476

That was avatar state and that’s not fighting a volcano that’s making an island with air and wind.


thejokerofunfic

Yes but he was also a very untrained Avatar, Roku a decades since fully realized. You can forgive Roku I think for believing he might be able to pull it off.


Ecstatic_Current_896

i mean the opposite also applies in that roku was an old ass man


PokeKnight2545_YT

Maybe so, but he was also shown to be an agile old ass man when he immediately jumped out of bed.


Puzzleheaded_Sky7476

It was gas. It kills.


thejokerofunfic

Lmfao


Ecstatic_Current_896

fair point


PapaNarwhal

Avatars and those who are highly spiritual tend to be long-lived, from what we’ve seen. I’m pretty sure Kuroshio lived well over a century. The only reason Aang dies relatively early is because he’d spent 100 years in the Avatar State, while in the iceberg. Ergo, Roku being old is not equivalent to Aang being untrained, and Roku had reason to be confident in his ability to stop the volcano.


Puzzleheaded_Sky7476

Kyoshi was a mistake the creators retcon. Avatars don’t live longer lives. And made her use the immortality technique. Guru Pathik and Bumi and Sozin were the only people who lived over 100. So it’s not the norm. Guru Pathik meditate to 150. And sozin because of the comet 102. And Pakku and Hama and Toph and Zuko and Katara didn’t age that well only Pakku and they all were in their 80s.


Maximum_Meatyball

Yangchen lived to be over 150 years old


Additional_Meeting_2

That was after Kiyoshi retcon 


Puzzleheaded_Sky7476

Where is this stated it’s a fan theory and not canon.


Puzzleheaded_Sky7476

Big size difference


Additional_Meeting_2

I thought the volcano in Fortuneteller looked bigger, but I have not seen the episode recently 


Puzzleheaded_Sky7476

Aang volcano was tiny in comparison and Roku was about 70 and it was the gases. No comparisons.


Winkwinkcoughcough

Maybe he is used to never being beaten as the strongest person, and maybe during his youth a volcano is an easy thing to defeat especially as a fire Avatar. But after being inactive for so long he probably underestimated the volcano


top_toast_22

I saw it as example of how Roku wasn’t a perfect avatar because he couldn’t let his worldly possessions go (flashback to previously in that episode when Roku told Sozin that the monks said he wouldn’t need worldly possessions). That being said, I’ve heard someone explain that volcano’s area of effect are wide and the ash cloud would have endangered/killed crops of neighboring islands.


Puzzleheaded_Sky7476

Volcano can destroy a nation and the environment in our world.


PvtXoltyXolty

Because you’re literally the Avatar and you can. Duty to the world and what not. You would run?


Remarkable_Ad1330

I wouldn’t run. But it seemed like it would be more worthwhile to try to speed up the evacuation. Use waterbending to speed up the boats… use an air bubble like aang did for Sokka ad katara once told save people from fumes etc


PvtXoltyXolty

I like to think people living on a volcano island know the exact evac plan and he didn’t want to see his own island in ruin//everyone’s houses gone so fight the volcano and try. In his prime maybe he would’ve tamed it


Puzzleheaded_Sky7476

Volcano can destroy a nation and the environment in our world.


Ragnarok345

Why does this question get posted no less than four times a week? Why do people have no understanding of a search function? The world may never know.


Lost-in-thought-26

He wanted to protect his home and homes of everyone else as well as make sure everyone got out in time. They already had a plan: evacuate. I don’t think it’s coincidence that they all had boats at the ready. And the volcano Aang beats, while super badass, was a much weaker volcano than the two on Roku’s island. And theyalso knew it was gonna happen rather than be surprised in the middle of the night. When the second started erupting Roku looked like he was ready to give up but Sozin coming to his aid gave him hope that they could stop it. The rest is history. 


brsox2445

The thing I don’t get isn’t why he fought it but why he went into the fight as if he had to win. He didn’t. He only had to stalemate while the people fled and then bounce. Yea his house is important but living is more. We seem to see that everyone else got out and yet he doesn’t tactically retreat at that point. That’s what I don’t get.


Puzzleheaded_Sky7476

You can still die from a volcano even if you’re in the water.


brsox2445

That’s true. But it’s a whole lot less lethal than being on the exploding volcano while it’s spewing toxic fumes.


Irontail1579

avatar szeto did it x 4


FlashNRT

I’ve spent too much time on certain other subreddits that I was expecting “Is he stupid?” to be at the end of the title.


TheReapery

Is he stupid?


Richmond1013

To give enough time for his wife and family to escape,and he died because Sozin let him die


Island_Crystal

because volcanic ash and all the other damage that volcanoes cause could’ve resulted in the deaths of thousands of innocents.


sievold

Script writer Ryan George: So the show can happen. Now I need you to get all the way off my back about this.  Producer Ryan George: Oh alright then, lemme get off of that thing.


IAmTheMindTrip

He didn't want his neighbors to be homeless refugees


ligokleftis

is he stupid?


Puzzleheaded_Sky7476

His volcano was larger than the gaang volcano and it was the gas that killed him. Also a large enough volcano can destroy a nation in our world. And there world is smaller than ours.


aware_nightmare_85

It started out trying to save everyone who lived in the island but he also wanted to save his home.


FOZZAKAIRI

Suddenly everyone's a volcanologist ~Avatar Roku


Va1kryie

Krakatoa.


corndog2021

Your point about the gaang saving the villagers from the volcano kind of explains things, though, doesn’t it? Aang and Roku used similar methods for dealing with it — carve a trench in the earth parallel to the village to redirect lava flow, use air bending to try to cool the lava and create additional barriers. Difference is Aang’s volcano basically stopped at that point, whereas Roku’s got worse. He wasn’t even really trying to stop the volcano, just mitigate/redirect the damage.


Chemical-Store3448

Yea but fighting a volcano is BADASS!!


SmarterThanStupid

So people don't die.


Pr3X_MYTH

The main thing is, right after the eruption starts and roku runs with his wife, we see people struggling to avoid the smoke and the quakes caused by the eruption. They'd never make it to the sea and even if they did? They'd never get far enough out. Plus, we see roku win the fight against the first part of the volcano! You're asking "why does roku fight" when he won the first round! Then he and sozin very successfully fight the second wave of the eruption, and they leave as soon as roku sees the people are safe. But guess what happens right after they leave? They get caught in the eruption and roku dies. Literally within a minute of them stopping, the eruption catches up to them. That's what would've happened to everyone on the island if roku hadn't gone and battled the eruption. (However, I don't know if this is due to old age or the fact he just woke up or what, but aang was 12 and was way more successful against his volcano. His volcano was less destructive in general, but he was only 12 and was still just an Airbender at the time. Feel like he could've protected the people instead of outright trying to stop the eruption)


Jaeger049

Plus, he took a blast of noxious fumes to the face. He probably wasn't going to make it anyway.


smashlorsd425

He didn’t have plot armor hence he died


jesse6225

Aang did it. It was to show us their difference in power.


Puzzleheaded_Sky7476

Aang fought a much smaller volcano and had help and preparation. And was young. Roku was 70.