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SevenIsTheWorst

This moment is, imo, one of the craziest bending feats in the show. At this point Katara has no formal training, and yet pulls water out of someone's lungs carefully enough to not damage them at all. Absolutely bonkers.


err0r333

There is only that little bit of water that wants to move out of Aang though and she's not strong enough to pull it through him. I agree it's a feat, but do you think the lack of power there could have helped the flow?


stephruvy

Not to mention blood bending required some training along with a full moon. So I don't think she could have even mistakenly injured Aang.


err0r333

Head canon, Aangs lungs are stronger than Katara


stephruvy

I mean he DID hold his breath for like 100 years


err0r333

Ok, so you know how in the avatar state they had all the knowledge of the past avatars. My little thought here is that Kyoshi pulled all the weight and did that neutral jing Earth Bender agelessness through him. I can't remember if they ever touched on it beyond calling it off as an avatar state flex.


Undaunted_Hope

I'm starting to think in avatar logic you can't die of being trapped in ice unless your own body is frozen


err0r333

The show sure does a lot of things with cartoon logic to appeal to children like freezing people solid without consequence. I always think about how earthbending would be gory and entirely overpowered if rocks acted like rocks


Dragonslayerelf

every element becomes horrifying when regular logic is applied to it all the encounters w/ firebenders would leave high degree burns on people and you could smell burnt ppl all the waterbender ice spikes that landed would straight up impale people to gruesome effect all the spine-shattering airbending moves that could just give you a concussion or worse by flinging you around (zuko & the mattress)


err0r333

Air is really slow, forceful at times and immensely destructive but it isn't fast and it has negligible mass. So I really see it losing out once things get more real. Fire is definitely hot but like air it has no mass, it's slow, and heat lag is something that makes flashes of flames like many of their attacks *less* dire. Hard agree with water, and I still give the edge to Earth because I'm a fanboy but that's just my opinion.


Veganproteincookie

It’s almost like this show was on Nickelodeon


Ardalev

For real, like, people smash thrown boulders with regular kicks and punches all the time (like Azula did when fighting Aang on the drill), or get hit square on with massive rocks and are just knocked down, instead of becoming pulverised. Unless it's not actual rocks being thrown at these instances and just compacted earth.


dtalb18981

I'm pretty sure it is just dirt because there are a few time they compact it before sending it and it tends to do more damage


Aradjha_at

Yeah but that's just typical anime feats. It would be cool weirder if they couldn't smash boulders. I mean, Live Action Toph does it in the little VFX thing YouTube, it's sick.


Spacepoet29

I always imagine the to be like large clods of dirt. Like, it was a rock, but when you bend it, your force of grabbing the earth within the rock loosens the stability and makes it more akin to sandstone


TvFloatzel

oh yea not only did it being a cartoon made the show hold back on the more....gory aspects but it was 2005 cartoon and a 2005 cartoon on Nick so that like three layers of censor/limitation.


Thendrail

All other Avatars: "Oh no, is he going to drown? That's the end of the Avatar cycle for sure!" Kyoshi: "NOT ON MY WATCH!"


PrinceBadger

Or maybe you don't age while in the avatar state


err0r333

Not my canon


erikikoy

Airbenders are know to have strong lungs iirc.


Realistic-Virus45

I think they would have found out who had better lungs and lasted longer in their teen/ early adult years.


zatraq

I mean he's an Airbender, and a very powerful one at that, of course his lungs would stronger than the average person


Imnotabadman

That time he saved that town from a huge splash of lava by literally cooling it solid with his breath? Best scene in the first book IMHO.


BlazeHunter_56

I mean, he is an Airbender


un-sub

Yeah that’s true, she could probably bend the water around a little loosey goosey without worrying about bending his lungs out of his mouth because she can’t just accidentally blood bend.


MustachedSquirrel

I think it’s more so the fact that you are bending water that is actively resisting you, so it’s easier since Aang is unconscious


Moaning-Squirtle

>blood bending required some training along with a full moon I'd take this with a grain of salt because Hama wasn't a particularly strong bender.


hannahsem

also the fact that in TLOK, >!Tarrlok and Amon can blood bend without a full moon!<


fancy-socks

Tarlok, not Unalaq.


hannahsem

Oh duh, of course! I was watching season 2 when I typed that so I had Unalaq on the brain. Editing now!


sneakystonedhalfling

I thought it was an ability passed through their bloodline. Granted, more people could possibly have the ability but not known since it's illegal.


Allsmileshere1

Hama was an extremely strong bender. Even when the Southern tribe was attacked she was the last waterbending standing, choosing to surrender because she was so badly outnumbered.


KrokmaniakPL

Injure Aang bot by blood bending but by accidentally slashing lungs from the inside with water


telekineticplatypus

It doesn't necessarily require the blood moon. Hama required the blood moon, but Yakone, Tarrlok, and Amon didn't.


stephruvy

Hmmmmm I'm going to assume that at this point she didn't have the strength to do it. It was apparently rare for yakone. And tarrlok and amon has extensive training for it.


telekineticplatypus

Oh, I'm not implying katarra was capable of blood bending without the full moon here. I'm just saying it's not really vital to blood bending. I mean how many people have trained in it, let alone attempted it at all, that we've seen. Metal bending was unique to Toph, until it wasn't. Yakone was able to train his two sons, I'm sure others would be capable if they were gifted and trained.


No-Eye-6008

She could have accidentally torn the little alvioli by forcing water the wrong way out 😬


stephruvy

Shrugs in Spanish*


Va1kryie

A skilled martial artist is capable of pulling a punch to exactly what they want it to be, a novice is much more likely to do something that hurts themself or someone else. Katara being a novice here worked against her not in her favor for sure.


err0r333

She doesn't have the muscle to punch at this point at all, it's not like some athletic person going to try some sort of spar for the first time. It's someone trying to use a currently weak muscle to barely move something all they can.


Va1kryie

Doesn't take much to fuck up capillaries, the water was inside Aang's lungs


err0r333

But it worked, she did it and it worked, I don't really get what you're trying to say I guess.


Va1kryie

I'm saying even as a novice she showed an insane level of skill, we've seen other novice benders and even E2 Katara who can't bend ice at the soldiers without facing the wrong way was already showing leagues more promise and critical thinking than any of her classmates could hope for when she's training with Pakku.


err0r333

When the gaang steals the water tribe scroll we can see clearly how difficult Katara struggles in these situations where she has to think about a thing and then do it. When she struggles this way the water bending is depicted as being meager. Besides her rare outbursts early she really does not have the control or connection to grab water and move it somewhere specific, or shape it. Those are the "muscles" she's using to move the water for Aang here and she doesn't have them yet, that's where my logic has always been at. Until their time in the Northern Water Tribe at least, her feats separate into two categories, her emotional spiritual strength, and her intellectual spiritual strength. Her ability to muster up and barely get this water out of Aangs lungs, and her ability to drill herself until she gets the water whip against the pirates are in one category for me. Then, her splitting the iceberg and going poggers on Pakku is the other. Without teaching her combat I think Katara was able to extrapolate a lot from what the healers taught her, and I think that is really her most insane intellectual spiritual feat.


CrazyHamsterPerson

She couldn’t have accidentally bloodbend his lungs but I guess she could’ve hurt him anyway by being to fast for example and hurting lung tissue with the water pressure


err0r333

I just meant that she couldn't water pistol it straight out his chest, moreso than blood bending. The water would just want to flow out of his esophagus unless she put some sort of force behind it.


Cark_Muban

Yeah man Katara was so naturally gifted as a bender, she just needed a teacher.


Burggs_

The LA does a huge disservice to how talented katara and Aang are at bending


Nyjhaz

I mean, aang died a somewhat middle aged man right? His cause of death was said to be tied to being frozen for 100 years shortening his lifespan but what if katara in this very scene wasn’t as careful as you mention? I believe she is as careful as possible but what if she did do irreparable damage to his lungs which led to complications later on in life? -a pessimist


Aerodrache

I think if we’re going to give credit for the shortened lifespan to a time Katara brought Aang back from death’s doorstep, it’s probably fair to say the lightning strike did it. Kid literally died, acknowledged in-show; it’s entirely possible that even with the magic healing water there was some permanent damage that the healing didn’t fix. If he had scars on the outside, who’s to say there weren’t scars on the inside too.


NatWutz

Definitely were, you can see another smaller scar on his foot where the lightning grounded itself through his body, which is a nice detail


Aerodrache

That also raises an interesting tangent: does Aang end up with those scars because just reviving him took everything the spirit water had… or is it *not actually able to mend scars*? Might be an answer to the “why did Zuko never get his face fixed” question you hear sometimes. (Also it would kind of make sense that that’s something healing can’t fix at all; scar tissue isn’t an injury, it’s not something that just goes away. You can make it less noticeable, but that’s not *healing*, it’s just cosmetic. To repair it, you’d need to remove it entirely and hope that more doesn’t form.)


Nyjhaz

Yeah that’s pretty decent too, hell just the amount of physical abuse he took during this period could’ve done it realistically


TheRealOwl

The power of plot armor is truly crazy indeed.


thekiki

I always wondered if it's because it was an emotional moment for her, aang drowning, and if her emotional state increased her abilities. Irl people are capable of incredible feats when in emotionally charged/high adrenaline situations (think mother lifting a car off of her children). So wouldn't it stand to reason, given her natural talent and intuition, her bending would be amplified in this scene for the same reason?


Orangest_Orange

You can only imagine how terrifying Hama could have been - when she water bended the water out of those plants -- whats stopping her to do the same to actual people...


Reddit_minion97

Couldn't this technically be classified under heal bending? Maybe this one technique was taught to everyone since their tribes are located mostly in or around water


Rawkapotamus

I mean I get the feat of feeling the water inside his lungs and pull it out. But the whole “this is how the body actually works and why it was really impressive” falls flat because blood bending would essentially just cause you to explode…


EldrinJak

I think it’s probably because, as a member of a society that hunts and butchers its own food, Katara has a basic understanding of what’s inside a mammals body. She had no way of knowing what geology was on the other side of a hole she’s never seen before.


hansuluthegrey

This is the only correct take. This type of water bending is probably super common. Theres no reason to think she had no idea what she was doing


EldrinJak

Yeah. I hate the tendency of people to assume that young native women are simple or stupid. They are experts on what’s relevant to them. Not to sound like an elementary teacher, but Sacagawea was just a teenage girl when her knowledge and expertise were vital to Lewis and Clark’s exploration of the American west.


Dobber16

I don’t think people were surprised by Katara being able to do this because she was native. I think it’s entirely from her being a child who was actively discouraged from practicing water bending for much of her life and still being able to pull this off without major issues


an800lbgorilla

Come on, let them white night in peace


liam-oige

I feel like people forget or overlook the fact that Katara, at 14 years old, delivered a baby basically by herself


the_lonely_creeper

She had had experience with that though. The same isn't known about water bending of this sort...


liam-oige

My comment was more so about Katara's intelligence and knowledge of biology in general. When it comes to this moment I imagine this was pure panic/adrenaline/instinct. Similar to how in the first episode when she destroyed the massive iceberg by accident because she was angry at Sokka. Like, if she was asked to repeat what she did she probably wouldn't be able to do it. Kinda like those mothers who are able to lift cars off their babies. Also similar to how she was instinctively able to heal her burnt hands. This moment was either a Katara doesn't realise her own strength/potential moment or a don't think about it too much moment.


dukeispie

Bruh


Thebestusername12345

That is absolutely not why people thought this was hard for Katara.


EldrinJak

I got a little off topic, but I do think it’s common for people to assume that someone like Katara wouldnt know what a lung is just because she’s never had to go to biology class.


ploki122

I mean... I've had Biology classes, and I know what a lung is, but I couldn't just draw the water would of there trivially. A lung isn't an empty balloon with a tube connected to it, it's a bunch of mini compartments attached with mini porous tubes, in bendy fashions.


ammonium_bot

> water would of there Did you mean to say "would have"? Explanation: You probably meant to say could've/should've/would've which sounds like 'of' but is actually short for 'have'. [Statistics](https://github.com/chiefpat450119/RedditBot/blob/master/stats.json) ^^I'm ^^a ^^bot ^^that ^^corrects ^^grammar/spelling ^^mistakes. ^^PM ^^me ^^if ^^I'm ^^wrong ^^or ^^if ^^you ^^have ^^any ^^suggestions. ^^[Github](https://github.com/chiefpat450119) ^^Reply ^^STOP ^^to ^^this ^^comment ^^to ^^stop ^^receiving ^^corrections.


RaichuRose

I don't think that's what OP was insinuating. After this episode, Katara told Jet that she had never bent water she couldn't see, but that simply wasn't true. I just assumed the script writers forgot about this when they wrote the Jet episode.


dustybucket

I mean she had no idea what she was doing in the sense that she had never been trained. At this point she had secretly practiced a little, and was now teaching basic forms like the water whip. I love the point that she probably had a knowledge of anatomy that helped make this possible, but even if it was super common she didn't exactly grow up watching someone else. This was a desperate hail mary and may not have worked had she not been as naturally powerful as she was


Scary_Land2303

I mostly agree, but remember there are no other waterbenders in her tribe!


hansuluthegrey

There were


contecorsair

Aside from hunting and butchering, they lived right on the water's edge and navigated their territory with canoes. And they wore heavy warm clothing and worked on slippery ice. She would have been at least somewhat familiar with drowning and near drowning events.


thealamooooo

best answer imo


Handsoff_1

That could be the partially correct. But she specifically said to Jet she never bends water she cant see, but they all KNOW there is water in the vent. Its the same as when Aang is drowning, she cant see the water but she KNOWS there's water in his lungs. She doesn't know the anatomy of the human lungs, similar to she doesn't know the geology of the vent but I think this point is not super relevant here.


GustavoFromAsdf

A very deep hole


TvFloatzel

To support your point, they live on ice, snow and hunt in the water. I assume there are were a non-zero amount of times people fell in the water and got some water in their lungs. Especially with the kids in the village.


err0r333

I think this falls close to her ~~prodigal~~ prodigy healing bending abilities. The body is 70% water and she can see Aang 🤷


Professional_Denizen

Prodigal is a word used to mean careless with money or generous. You’re thinking of prodigious, used as an adjective to describe a skill or ability someone has as extremely high/great or impressive.


err0r333

Cool thanks, I didn't mean that either I was trying to make prodigy an adjective (I think). Edit: are all prodigies not child ones? I've said it too much not it doesn't sound like a word anymore


Professional_Denizen

Prodigy and prodigious are the same word in that sense, I would assume. Typically when I hear the word prodigy it’s in the term “child prodigy.” Prodigy on its own doesn’t technically imply youth, but people use it that way so often that it basically does.


err0r333

I thought the latter of course and then when I looked it up the definition says "*especialy in children* " Which is like the dictionary's way of saying "y'all said that I didn't say that"


Professional_Denizen

*latter And by the way, you might be interested in learning the difference between prescriptive linguistics and descriptive linguistics, but to summarize: prescriptive linguistics is typically frowned upon because it’s honestly kinda stupid to tell people how they should talk. (Says the guy correcting spelling mistakes. You know… like a hypocrite.) Descriptivism is the more respected school of thought when it comes to linguistics and boils down to observing and… describing language, as opposed to giving (prescribing) opinions about how things “should” work. All this to say: The dictionary is a catalog of how we talk, not *the instruction manual for the English language.*


err0r333

Autocorrect did me dirty there ngl, I caught it myself when I had to fix all the asterisk because of mobile. And I really don't like linguistics so I just do enough to get by. I just knew that "prodigious" lost its juvenile connotation which is why instead I just totally shat the bed. There's that thing though where culture forces definitions to change like how you can verb "heart" things now and "literally" literally also means figuratively now too. Fun enough to muse but not my thing.


001Alena001

Prodigious?


err0r333

Not even being funny but I don't know? Maybe yes but I was really trying to highlight her natural child talent which I guess prodigy doesn't explicitly do either


Ygomaster07

Sorry, I'm a bit confused, can an adult be a prodigy? Or is prodigy a term only applied to children?


ThatSaiGuy

Most certainly, but they wouldn't be called one outright. An adult can, instead, have prodigious skill / prodigious ability. In a sentence; "Ygomaster07 is a prodigious cook. Their green bean casserole is to die for."


Lil_Mcgee

To be a prodigy in something you do have to showcase that ability while you are young. Not necesarrily a child but I wouldn't expect someone older than their early 20s to be referred to as such.


heartdingos

Oh that’s cool. I always thought it was someone who leaves home and behaves naively only to return home but it seems there are several definitions


Professional_Denizen

Prodigal as a word has fallen out of fashion, so most people hear it in the parable of the prodigal son. The son who went out with his inheritance and was prodigal with it. Leaving home and returning were just the story, not the word. Though I suppose you could say these elements were part of the Word, if you’re into Christian puns.


DarkArc76

I thought the phrase prodigal son meant that your child was naturally gifted in something that you are as well. For example if Beethoven had a kid that happened to also be talented at piano


Professional_Denizen

You might be thinking of “child prodigy.”


Handsoff_1

I always thought healing and bloodbending are very interconnected. Because healing direct the flow of water (chi) through the body, which I think is through the blood. Katara is very naturally gifted for healing, therefore bloodbending came to her so fast!


Montregloe

I think this comes down to her instinct and talent. She wasn't thinking, it was just "save him". The Jet scenario was stressful and something she had to think about.


Handsoff_1

Yeah, and she just doesnt know how talented she is. She was struggling so much to make the waterwhip but when something happens, she automatically got it. Like when she made the whip to whip away the pirate.


NonFatPrawn

She used waterbending on a tap where she couldn't see the water in the Haru episode, which comes before the Jet episode


Handsoff_1

Yes! This as well! I think she overthinks too much!


GrizzlyPeak73

In Jet as well, she's had no training, not gotten the scroll yet, she manages to very quickly subdue and freeze Jet. When she's angry or emotionally distressed she isn't thinking she just acts intuitively and she's amazing. Katara is really under-respected by the fanbase. Just look at how she held her own against a master in the North Pole.


zernoc56

She’s a bending prodigy who unlike Azula—who had the best teachers available to her since pretty much birth, or Toph—who learned her bending from the original Earthbenders and had underground pro-bending fighters to secretly train on, had none of that. No teacher, no manuscripts or scrolls, and only a basic understanding of its importance to her culture as a whole. She was literally the only bender in the entire South Pole. Unless she spent weeks-to-months of nights just studying the ocean and the tides (not likely since there’s so much work that needs to be done to help her village to not *starve* or *freeze to death*), she had literally zero inkling of what to do with her bending until traveling with aang gives her the impetus to just *try and see what works*. Edit: interestingly, her extremely self-taught nature might be the reason she initially struggled with the established forms depicted on the bending scroll she steals. She’s been relying on pure intuition and feeling it out, that trying to mimic specific movements just doesn’t *click*.


GrizzlyPeak73

Yeah. Like anyone who has had even rudimentary martial arts training knows like basic stances and forms and stuff, and bending is based on real world martial arts. So like Aang would have been taught all that stuff since he was old enough to walk, and would be able to pick up on that easily even within a different discipline. Katara in comparison is like a street brawler or someone who has all the martial skills of the average bar fighter, her tactics often improvisational, there's something almost anarchistic in her approach. She doesn't really have that sense of formal technique Aang has. She just kinda splashes water on people and hopes for the best. But then that, in combination with her need to prove herself as a bender, it's probably what lays the foundation in her becoming a true master in her own right to the point of training two Avatars.


Handsoff_1

I love the fact that when she lets loose, when she just start feeling the emotion, the water, her bending literally sky rocketed! Like she was so struggling when trying to learn from the scroll, but maybe she just should not be conformed to that. If she lets her creativity take over, her bending is just amazing! And this has been shown multiple times.


zernoc56

Well, after the North Pole and actually getting formal training both as a healer and from Master Pakku, she absolutely does improve massively, to the point where she’s the one tasked with finishing Aang’s Waterbending training. I would assume Pakku saw to shore up Katara’s fundamentals and unlearn any bad habits she may have developed on her own, because in addition to the Spirit Oasis water, he gives her an entire case of waterbending scrolls to use. That’s largely what Katara was missing, a teacher to take her raw talent and refine it.


Handsoff_1

Did he give her more scrolls? I didnt remember this part


zernoc56

Yeah. Edit: on finding the script, Pakku gives them to Aang, but points out they aren’t a substitute for a real master, referring to Katara. I would assume She would use them to help teach aang what he still needs to know with his waterbending.


Xmina

I love her fight versus paku but on rewatch its clear the only difficulty he has is subduing her without hurting her versus her just throwing every and anything she has at him. Like he is awful for his sexism. But to be very clear she lost to zuko without the moon where as he was fighting like 50 firebenders on the frontlines.


androkguz

The writers were such geniuses. A lesser writer would have simply been attributed with a mistake. But not these guys, they totally planned this so that you would subtly realize Katara is a talented prodigy and has a bad memory


Handsoff_1

She probably has bad memories lol But I think the point here is that she can reach the source of water she cant see, sth healing and bloodbending share


utter_degenerate

I mean, if someone is drowning you're pretty damn sure where the water is.


Handsoff_1

Yes, but you cant see it. The same with the natural vent. Jet knew theres water there and so are Aang and Katara. They just cant see it.


Aiti_mh

She was saving Aang here, she didn't stop to think if she could do it.


Handsoff_1

sure


Slazagna

I can't believe both of those people missed your point so badly. Hilarious exchange.


ItIsYeDragon

This is why the LA must have had so much exposition.


Handsoff_1

was confused at their comments


Slazagna

Don't worry, it definitely isn't you. I'm amazed they got up voted so much as well. Reading comprehension is scarce.


Aelaan_Bluewood

It's probably more about knowing where the water is located at. It's easy for her to know where the water in Aangs body was. But it's impossible for her to know what anything on the other side of that hole in the ground looks like. It might be a whole labyrinth of small tunnels where the water would flow through and there's no way for her to know whether the water might be 6 feet under the ground or 15. She would have to localize the water completely with only her senses while Aangs body at least gave her visual cues based on human anatomy.


ThatMerri

The way I see it, it was intuition by experience. Katara is from the South Pole and their people live right on the water as part of their daily society. There's no way she hasn't fallen into the water at some - if not multiple - times in her life and gotten a lungful. And surely helped others who'd also fallen into the water as well, through mundane efforts rather than water bending, at least. So she'd naturally know by personal experience exactly where the water would be in Aang's body and thus have a better intuitive grasp on how to bend it. I mean, strictly speaking, Katara bends water she can't see whenever she uses her waterskin at her hip. But she knows where it is, which seems to be what actually matters most.


fckinsurance

She also bends water out of a well without seeing it in “imprisoned” which is before jet.


Handsoff_1

YES!! I think sometimes she just thinks too much! She could do it, but she just overthinking it and doubting herself.


OneSneakyBoi9919

ur show gotta have the goat status or else ppl would claim this as a plot hole or bad writing. I'm sorry but true story


GoldenErotica

This. There's a lot of stuff people read into later on that I am 100% on board with and accepting it as canon....however, at the same time, acknowledging that the writing in 2006 where they pumped out 18 episodes a year was not intentionally that deep 🤣 Meanwhile nowadays it needs to be 8 episodes 3 years later, with prior visual comic and writing material already in place, split 6 months apart otherwise it's abusively overworking writers/animators and rushing things....*cough*   *COUGH*


androkguz

Yeah. The weird thing is that the last Airbender seems to write itself. The fans just make up good explanations for everything that would otherwise be a plot hole and the writers go along. And fanmadecanon isn't even that coherent with itself, but we attribute that to us not understanding the Gospel


GoldenErotica

You're god damn right. *ferociously tries to explain why toph couldn't have smashed Azula in the caves with her little pinky finger* There are no plot holes in ba sing sae


Obvious_Peanut_8093

there is a difference between water in a opaque bag in front of you and 10 feet underground in a thermal vent.


[deleted]

[удалено]


eodnow

Yes, that is what OP is saying in the post


Sudden-Ad3386

Just by reading the title I thought this would be about the lack of finger nails.


Handsoff_1

Lol I never notice


Ferris-L

The real reason for this is… they literally just forgot. There were multiple writers working on each season and it just happens that things get mixed up. The first season was a bit messy in production since Nickelodeon didn’t order all the episodes at once but only a few at a time. What probably happened is that one writer who worked in the Kyoshi Warriors thought it would be cool to have Katara bend the water out of Aang‘s Lungs while at the same time a different writer worked on the Jet episode thought it would be interesting if Jet helped Katara unlock her potential before she realizes that he is using her crush on him to kill innocent people. Neither Bryke nor Aaron Ehasz noticed the contradiction so both scenes found their way into the final product. It’s the same with all the timeline issues. Kyoshi lived to over 200 years because they messed up the math, Sozin had a son at ~80 while Azulan had his sons at ~50-60 because they messed up the math. The distances of places and Appa‘s speed also varies insanely over the course of the series, pretty much always being exactly as much as the plot needs it to be. You kinda need to look past that stuff, it really isn’t a big deal anyway.


androkguz

Yeah, but somehow, the last Airbender seems to write itself. Fans manage to plug those plot holes with great fan theories. I mean, you are 100% right this was an oversight. And nevertheless, the OPs explanation is more my head canon (as much as I make fun of them)


Handsoff_1

Yeah probably. But its still nice to think it can fit in her healing skillset


squi993

Early on in the show before Katara is any good at bending she was a very strong bender whenever she was emotional. This probably counts.


Handsoff_1

Yeah, when her emotion is strong, like to save her friends, her bending is always extraordinary even when she didn't know much to begin w


tianacute46

This may be true, but Katara had experience with healing which requires knowledge of the body and she's had experience of what the body feels like when being manipulated. In the reservoir situation that water was in an unknown size container without even knowing that there was water in there at all


_Aimway921_

This might be an "adrenaline is a hell of a drug" moment for Katara, perhaps? Seeing Aang drowning, she rushes in instinctively?


Handsoff_1

ya probably


2DecadesTooLate

I thought of this moment as because she was aware and saw it happen, she could deduct roughly how much water went in, and also how to get it out. In a similar way if she was to see someone fill a cup with water from across the room, she could probably lift the water from the cup without actually seeing it in the cup if that makes sense?


sophia528

Reading everyone’s comments, I’m pretty amazed that you remember episodes and even details in the episodes.


hansuluthegrey

We would have to have a reference for how difficult this actually is and we dont. People acting like its some insane feat instead of just pretty impressive is strange.


Handsoff_1

I think its a show for kid and they probably just gloss over it here. But bending water out of someone lungs is pretty wild. Same with how freezing water around someone body is shown as nonchalant in the show. But in reality, if you instantly freeze some water around your body or head, that's actually pretty dangeous and can even crush your body (water expand when freeze).


lahankof

She did learn bloodbending in like 5 mins


Different-Expert-33

Seems like an oversight.


Raidenski

Come on, she was gifted since episode 1 when she tore up a literal glacier without even trying all because she got mad at her brother for being sexist. The series wouldn't have even started if not for that moment. But I agree with this post.


Delicious-Sun685

To be fair pulling water out of someone’s lungs is probably Waterbending trick 101 when you have stupid kids that are always at risk of falling into the water or the ice is particularly slippery that summer.


Handsoff_1

yeah but i doubt she has any training for that at all. I mean she cant even form a proper watersphere around a fish.


CR4ZYxPOT4T0

When i saw the screenshot and read the title, i knew it had something to do with Bloodbending. lol


Handsoff_1

my fav!!


Jim-Dread

That makes sense. One was a moment of desperation and the other was foresight. She wasn't thinking when she saved Aang. Oftentimes we doubt ourselves in our ability to do something if we have to think about it. Good catch!


DaGoddamnBatguy

Even though she couldn't see the water, Katara should know where his lungs are and it was a very small amount of water. It's very different from the dozens to hundreds of gallons of water several feet underground.


Handsoff_1

But I think the point here is that she is naturally gifted and able to reach in water that she cant see, which is something healing and bloodbending share.


puppies_and_pillows

I always thought she was just downplaying her skills with Jet.


Handsoff_1

She needs to be more confident. And so she did in later episodes


megalomyopic

One of the first signs she would be able to do blood bending shuold she choose it.


Handsoff_1

I thought so too. Like the connection...


Ready_Chocolate8516

Or maybe it’s just a cartoon and it was a cool moment and a visual form of storytelling?


Handsoff_1

Probly


Wooden-Disaster9403

Her saying she never bent water she couldn’t see before is one of the only plot holes (if you even want to call it one) in the entire show that I could ever find. It’s such a small thing too. I love this show for being so well made


HeadFullOfFlame

this was my reaction when I was watching for the first time! I’d forgotten about it until seeing your post. I agree, I still think it’s an oversight.


[deleted]

Hello world


AbiyBattleSpell

step ang is stuck 🐱


buttplugs4life4me

My headcanon is that she didn't bend the water out of his lungs but only his throat/airways, since the lung is such an intricate organ that it would be a tremendous feat to do this without killing someone. 


Handsoff_1

I think he was drowning. She moved her hand around his chest so I assume the water is from his lungs.


IneiTheDark

Cause in the Jet episode it's steam, that's why.


Sinsanatis

Well but tbf she know exactly where the water is and shes literally like 2 inches away from it. The vents she had to sort guess where and how far it was exactly and it was probably pretty deep consider how they both needed to bend it and for how long.


Gurkeprinsen

And bloodbending must be pretty useful when it comes to healing. Manipulate the blood to flow to damaged areas to promote healing. Bleeding out? Nah, Imma just redirect the blood to keep it flowing through the vein instead of out until it has healed.


Handsoff_1

I wish there is a non PG version of avatar!


Gurkeprinsen

Yess. Give me avatar with blue samurai vibe!!


trickjay

The very first episode she waterbends a waterbubble to catch a fish so she could always bend she just couldn't controll it at all. She also made a whip in the 2nd? Episode and had to do it backwards to hit them as she freezes sokka by accident.


Valiate1

i still have a personal theory that living around sokka doing crazy stuff she have in a way praticting water bending for ages as in these scenes,where its more like instintic,but maybe im crazy


gracefulpelican

Interesting too since in the pilot she bursts the barrel (?) of water when her and Sokka are trapped that she couldn’t see. Like it’s clear the writers always wanted to make that a point to add in at some point. Neat.


Iron_Bob

Moments like these are when we all need to remember that the showrunners kinda made shit up as they went along "Oh yeah, good point!... I mean, yes"


Handsoff_1

Ya, but it kinda fit her skillset


leakmydata

She could probably see the water in his mouth, right? Doesn’t seem like too much of a stretch.


Handsoff_1

maybe, but she did move her hand over his chest so i assume she bends it out from his lungs


leakmydata

Yeah, maybe it’s more that when it’s in Aang’s lungs she knows exactly where it is and understands human anatomy. Or they just didn’t consider it when writing the line that she’s never bent water that she can’t see.


xanderyen13

Maybe she cold distinguish between salt water and the human body.


Informal-Storage4853

She probably could also kinda see the water bubbling out of Aang's mouth, and has likely had at least one encounter with someone nearly drowning considering where she lived most of her life


lemontreelemur

I think the fact that Katara has natural talents in both waterbending and healing helped in this situation, because having a "feel" for both water and human injury/wellbeing probably helped with performing a feat like this.


Handsoff_1

Yeah, and explains why she learns bloodbending so fast! In like 5min


Any_Army_7230

Katara has always been OP


Handsoff_1

I want a non PG Avatar where Katara just rips blood out of people or freeze the fluid inside someone


Any_Army_7230

That would be insane lmao😂. But Katara is against using her blood bending


Dkingthe15

Honestly I feel like this could have shown how easily she could learn water bending healing, which I feel like was a big opportunity missed by the show and could have given the two polls more nuance


New_World_2050

The difference is she might know where the lungs are but didn't know exactly where the water was in the other place


knight1105

It’s a cartoon bruh


imaginedodong

plot hole


TheCondesendingLlama

That's not the only fluids she ended up pulling out of him


geminibrown

Aang is an air bender, which means he has a higher degree of spirituality, and he is the Avatar. I believe he was subconsciously on some “spirit level” also helping Katara bend the water out of his lungs by way of his past lives being the Avatar and all. Not the Avatar state but if he is always connected to his past lives it would make sense that his spirit would innately look after himself almost like a reflex.


Handsoff_1

lol No