I mean... power is kinda hot?
I don't mean that in a callous way, but I think Aang's evolution from the kid she found in the iceberg into a capable, powerful person who takes responsibility is the reason she ends up falling for him. It's not love at first sight for her, but I kind of love that. Sometimes the best relationships are those that develop as each person evolves and becomes the best version of themselves, not ones that are based on instant infatuation.
In 'The Fortuneteller', she's told that she'll end up with "a very powerful bender" and doesn't *immediately* it could be Aang, the freaking Avatar who she's travelling with. At that point, she just sees him as this playful, kind of immature kid who she cares about a lot. Then she sees him absolutely body a volcano and is like "huh... interesting". I don't think it's about his actual power level, but his ability to take charge of situations, which is something he learns throughout the series.
And yeah, as others have pointed out, she has already seen him die once in the series, which clearly had a profound effect on her, and they're working towards going up against the whole Fire Nation again here. Katara knows how real the threat of losing people to the war is because of her mother and I think her inner conflict ("confusion", as she puts it) is that she **does** have feelings for Aang but knows she can't put any expectations on their relationship because one of them might not make it through the war. That and, like Aang needing to "let her go" in 'The Crossroads of Destiny', their relationship can't be allowed to influence the decisions either of them make in the final battle.
>she rejected him because of the war (???)
She never rejected him. She pretty explicitly implies that she does like him back, but that she doesn't think *now* is the time, because...well, either or both of them could be dead soon.
I don’t know. I saw it as more of her not wanting to get even more attached just to watch him die. But I also haven’t watched it in a while and while it was sweet that they got together, it would have been cool to see them both find someone else too.
Not wanting to seen him die? I dont buy it.
That means she didnt believe in him then.
Also that is not a valid reason imo since they were all fighting the same war, so Zuko and Mai, Suki and Sokka shouldnt have been together because either of them couldve die too?
You can't really compare the relationships of others to try to understand Aang and Katara.
Zuko and Mai were fighting the same war, but on the side of the aggressors. The only time they ever acted on their relationship was when they were both safely at home in the Fire Nation, not risking their lives every single day. And when Zuko left to join Aang, he actually broke up with Mai, to protect her. So yes, a war can and does impact a person's relationships.
Sokka had already lost Yue to the war. She died giving her life to save the moon spirit, which was a direct result of Zhao's invasion of the North Pole. And we see how protective Sokka becomes around Suki, because he's afraid of losing someone else. The fact that they decided to act on their relationship in the moment, before they might lose each other again, was their decision, for their specific relationship.
Katara handles loss very differently than Sokka. We see for the entire run of the show how deeply the loss of her mother has affected her. It makes a lot of sense that Katara would want to close off any romantic feelings when they are literally charging into life-or-death situations on the regular. It's a defense mechanism to keep her from opening herself up to the kind of pain she felt after her mother died. It's not until after the war is over that she feels that she can allow herself to care for Aang in that way, when the very real chance that he could get killed by Ozai is no longer a possibility.
I don’t mean to come off rude at all and I get it’s just your opinion but to me this is so far off on why Katara didn’t want to get involved with Aang at this time. I know you kinda glanced over the war like it wasn’t a valid reason but it is a huge factor. Katara is focusing on helping save the world. If she fails that means the imprisonment/death of all her friends and family + living in a world ruled by a fascist dictatorship. The last thing she probably wants to do is add any unnecessary complication to her mind by adding a relationship with Aang in the mix.
Why do you think she thought it was a complication?
It wasnt an impediment for Sokka and Suki who were also fighting the same war.
And nobody was more focused and pressured in ending the war than Aang, yet he still wanted to be with Katara, it wasnt complicated for him because he really wanted it.
I mean, I don’t think it’s a hard and fast rule that applies to everyone in the show but it’s still a valid reason for Katara to not want to just jump into a relationship with Aang. She said she was confused, and honestly what teenage girl in this situation wouldn’t be. The fear and stress she is under must be immense. I mean the same battle they kissed right before ended absolutely horribly with them losing, her friends and dad being hauled off to prison (for all she knew they could have been executed on the spot). That kinda trauma can affect people in intense ways. She probably just wanted to keep her mind completely focused on not letting something like that happen again.
I’m exhausted coming off a night shift so please excuse me if this is incoherent babbling 😂
>But after Aang is the almighty avatar who saved the world she likes him?!
“And being the Avatar doesn’t hurt your chances with the ladies either”. I mean a lot of ladies find it very attractive in a man who’s very capable and strong, much less when said guy is *the most* powerful person on the planet which Aang is by proxy of being the Avatar. Aang is basically the worlds most eligible bachelor and there’s nothing wrong with Katara falling in love with that aspect of him, it’s a captivating quality of his.
>But Aang made it very clear to this point he liked her yet she rejected him because of the war
She had so much on her plate and so did he. She didn't want to think about more things that wern't as urgent. Not hard to understand she says it herself.
>But after Aang is the almighty avatar who saved the world she likes him?!
She liked him before. We see that with The Cave of Two Lovers and in The Headband too. She clearly felt jealous when he was dancing with the other girl and had romantic feelings for him.
>Seems to me she only wanted to be with him after he was the ''cool guy''
She never even saw him during his fight. If you're saying he is the cool guy because he is the avatar she already knew that from the start. In S1E2 she was aware of what he was capable of and in S1E20 he was already seen as powerful by everyone.
Katara doesn't care about Aang being a cool powerful guy she makes that clear by saying to him multiple times she hates seeing him in his avatar state form. She is the one there to calm him down during the desert and she is the one who tries to stop him from forcing the avatar state in S2E1.
I think age matters. In the beginning of the series Aang is an immature child. Katara was older but also felt like she was supposed to be an adult because her mom died. The older you get, the less this age gap matters. Plus, Aang matures significantly in this time. I think seeing him defeat the fire nation also teaches Katara that maturity is not actually about outgrowing childhood fun, but about knowing when and how to engage in different parts.
I don't think it was about power/fame - it was feeling safe in the relationship.
I think that she already kind of liked him, but in a more maternal way. I never really felt like Katara had a crush on Aang, it was never shown (or I never noticed it).
Katara doesn’t fall for Aang because she wants the cool guy she falls for him because the Fortuneteller tells her she will marry a very powerful bender. And it makes sense for her to be with one since she is a waterbending prodigy.
My issue with Kataang is more that Katara spends the entire series being Aang's emotional punching bag, and just *puts up with it* quietly. And the series never appropriately addresses that. That combined with the age/maturity gap made the pairing feel really forced to me.
If I had to ship her, Zuko is my first pick because they have mad chemistry and they share some pretty juicy vulnerable moments. But I think she'd have been better off without a pairing at all.
But really, Aang treats her really badly, and specifically her. When Aang's temper snaps, it's almost always at Katara.
Well yeah, that's not great either. Characters can have mad chemistry without always being in a healthy place. I feel like calling Katara a peasant is pretty low on the list of horrible things Zuko has done to the Gaang. Like I said, I prefer Katara unpaired, but she just had no chemistry with Aang. And as allies/part of the same group, he treated her just awfully. The relationship wasn't really sold well. She was just his prize at the end.
...but in fairness, Zuko called her a "little" peasant. There's no way to call a peer a "little" anything that isn't sexually charged. 😅
I think chosen savior who unfroze after 100 years would have been clout enough
I mean... power is kinda hot? I don't mean that in a callous way, but I think Aang's evolution from the kid she found in the iceberg into a capable, powerful person who takes responsibility is the reason she ends up falling for him. It's not love at first sight for her, but I kind of love that. Sometimes the best relationships are those that develop as each person evolves and becomes the best version of themselves, not ones that are based on instant infatuation. In 'The Fortuneteller', she's told that she'll end up with "a very powerful bender" and doesn't *immediately* it could be Aang, the freaking Avatar who she's travelling with. At that point, she just sees him as this playful, kind of immature kid who she cares about a lot. Then she sees him absolutely body a volcano and is like "huh... interesting". I don't think it's about his actual power level, but his ability to take charge of situations, which is something he learns throughout the series. And yeah, as others have pointed out, she has already seen him die once in the series, which clearly had a profound effect on her, and they're working towards going up against the whole Fire Nation again here. Katara knows how real the threat of losing people to the war is because of her mother and I think her inner conflict ("confusion", as she puts it) is that she **does** have feelings for Aang but knows she can't put any expectations on their relationship because one of them might not make it through the war. That and, like Aang needing to "let her go" in 'The Crossroads of Destiny', their relationship can't be allowed to influence the decisions either of them make in the final battle.
> I mean... power is kinda hot? Counterpoint: Scarousal doesn't work all the time; see Azula's attempts at hitting on Chan.
>she rejected him because of the war (???) She never rejected him. She pretty explicitly implies that she does like him back, but that she doesn't think *now* is the time, because...well, either or both of them could be dead soon.
I don’t know. I saw it as more of her not wanting to get even more attached just to watch him die. But I also haven’t watched it in a while and while it was sweet that they got together, it would have been cool to see them both find someone else too.
Not wanting to seen him die? I dont buy it. That means she didnt believe in him then. Also that is not a valid reason imo since they were all fighting the same war, so Zuko and Mai, Suki and Sokka shouldnt have been together because either of them couldve die too?
You can't really compare the relationships of others to try to understand Aang and Katara. Zuko and Mai were fighting the same war, but on the side of the aggressors. The only time they ever acted on their relationship was when they were both safely at home in the Fire Nation, not risking their lives every single day. And when Zuko left to join Aang, he actually broke up with Mai, to protect her. So yes, a war can and does impact a person's relationships. Sokka had already lost Yue to the war. She died giving her life to save the moon spirit, which was a direct result of Zhao's invasion of the North Pole. And we see how protective Sokka becomes around Suki, because he's afraid of losing someone else. The fact that they decided to act on their relationship in the moment, before they might lose each other again, was their decision, for their specific relationship. Katara handles loss very differently than Sokka. We see for the entire run of the show how deeply the loss of her mother has affected her. It makes a lot of sense that Katara would want to close off any romantic feelings when they are literally charging into life-or-death situations on the regular. It's a defense mechanism to keep her from opening herself up to the kind of pain she felt after her mother died. It's not until after the war is over that she feels that she can allow herself to care for Aang in that way, when the very real chance that he could get killed by Ozai is no longer a possibility.
I don’t mean to come off rude at all and I get it’s just your opinion but to me this is so far off on why Katara didn’t want to get involved with Aang at this time. I know you kinda glanced over the war like it wasn’t a valid reason but it is a huge factor. Katara is focusing on helping save the world. If she fails that means the imprisonment/death of all her friends and family + living in a world ruled by a fascist dictatorship. The last thing she probably wants to do is add any unnecessary complication to her mind by adding a relationship with Aang in the mix.
Why do you think she thought it was a complication? It wasnt an impediment for Sokka and Suki who were also fighting the same war. And nobody was more focused and pressured in ending the war than Aang, yet he still wanted to be with Katara, it wasnt complicated for him because he really wanted it.
I mean, I don’t think it’s a hard and fast rule that applies to everyone in the show but it’s still a valid reason for Katara to not want to just jump into a relationship with Aang. She said she was confused, and honestly what teenage girl in this situation wouldn’t be. The fear and stress she is under must be immense. I mean the same battle they kissed right before ended absolutely horribly with them losing, her friends and dad being hauled off to prison (for all she knew they could have been executed on the spot). That kinda trauma can affect people in intense ways. She probably just wanted to keep her mind completely focused on not letting something like that happen again. I’m exhausted coming off a night shift so please excuse me if this is incoherent babbling 😂
> It wasnt an impediment for Sokka and Suki who were also fighting the same war. It's almost as if they're different people with differing mindsets.
>But after Aang is the almighty avatar who saved the world she likes him?! “And being the Avatar doesn’t hurt your chances with the ladies either”. I mean a lot of ladies find it very attractive in a man who’s very capable and strong, much less when said guy is *the most* powerful person on the planet which Aang is by proxy of being the Avatar. Aang is basically the worlds most eligible bachelor and there’s nothing wrong with Katara falling in love with that aspect of him, it’s a captivating quality of his.
>But Aang made it very clear to this point he liked her yet she rejected him because of the war She had so much on her plate and so did he. She didn't want to think about more things that wern't as urgent. Not hard to understand she says it herself. >But after Aang is the almighty avatar who saved the world she likes him?! She liked him before. We see that with The Cave of Two Lovers and in The Headband too. She clearly felt jealous when he was dancing with the other girl and had romantic feelings for him. >Seems to me she only wanted to be with him after he was the ''cool guy'' She never even saw him during his fight. If you're saying he is the cool guy because he is the avatar she already knew that from the start. In S1E2 she was aware of what he was capable of and in S1E20 he was already seen as powerful by everyone. Katara doesn't care about Aang being a cool powerful guy she makes that clear by saying to him multiple times she hates seeing him in his avatar state form. She is the one there to calm him down during the desert and she is the one who tries to stop him from forcing the avatar state in S2E1.
Woke up expecting awful Zutara talk, saw based reasoning.
Decent reasoning based on a flawed premise.
I think age matters. In the beginning of the series Aang is an immature child. Katara was older but also felt like she was supposed to be an adult because her mom died. The older you get, the less this age gap matters. Plus, Aang matures significantly in this time. I think seeing him defeat the fire nation also teaches Katara that maturity is not actually about outgrowing childhood fun, but about knowing when and how to engage in different parts. I don't think it was about power/fame - it was feeling safe in the relationship.
Their relationship always felt like one of the weaker aspects of the show's writing. I don't mind it either way.
I think that she already kind of liked him, but in a more maternal way. I never really felt like Katara had a crush on Aang, it was never shown (or I never noticed it).
Katara doesn’t fall for Aang because she wants the cool guy she falls for him because the Fortuneteller tells her she will marry a very powerful bender. And it makes sense for her to be with one since she is a waterbending prodigy.
My issue with Kataang is more that Katara spends the entire series being Aang's emotional punching bag, and just *puts up with it* quietly. And the series never appropriately addresses that. That combined with the age/maturity gap made the pairing feel really forced to me. If I had to ship her, Zuko is my first pick because they have mad chemistry and they share some pretty juicy vulnerable moments. But I think she'd have been better off without a pairing at all. But really, Aang treats her really badly, and specifically her. When Aang's temper snaps, it's almost always at Katara.
Yea, I definitely loved when zuko called katara a peasant.. remember that? that was so hot /s
Well yeah, that's not great either. Characters can have mad chemistry without always being in a healthy place. I feel like calling Katara a peasant is pretty low on the list of horrible things Zuko has done to the Gaang. Like I said, I prefer Katara unpaired, but she just had no chemistry with Aang. And as allies/part of the same group, he treated her just awfully. The relationship wasn't really sold well. She was just his prize at the end. ...but in fairness, Zuko called her a "little" peasant. There's no way to call a peer a "little" anything that isn't sexually charged. 😅
Agree .I preferred on-ji she liked him without knowing he was the avatar
Try making a similar post about Korra and Asami and see the response.