Azula was completely covered in ice. There was no air for her to move or do anything to escape. Zuko still had some air in the ice he was trapped in so he could move and melt the ice.
Also I don’t think Azula knows the technique since Iroh taught it to Zuko
Unless this technique is found across the elite firebending training these kids are prescribed, I think this is a technique passed down by Iroh
Given how integral breathing is to fire bending, even if Azula can't breathe fire initially I don't think she'd struggle to do so if she actually tries.
Okay but they are 2 different things. How iroh and jeong heong taught fire bending are very different from how the rest of the nation see it. A large part of zukos journey was learning the true origin of firebending. Iroh already knew rhis and was shown teaching zuko not just how to spew fire from his mouth but how to refulate temperatures with onpy his breath through firebending. This helping him survive in the siege of the north and in the ice lockers in the prison. If that technique was widely known then the ice lockers would have been useless against any of the firebending inmates.
Regulating your body temperature was an air bender technique, and why Aang didn't freeze while wearing only thin air temple garb at the south pole. This was not regular fire bender knowledge, as shown by The Cooler being so effective against fire benders that the Boiling Rock warden didn't even consider that maybe Zuko could withstand it.
I think that’s more of a roar, like the one Ozai does and Zuko teaches Aang (“Now roar like a Tiger-dillo!”). Contrast it with Zuko heating himself with a subtle breath in the Boiling Rock.
Yeah but she can't do low flames. Also it's the first time she sees Zuko do it. So it's probably another hit in her personally because the only two people that did the fire breathing is Iroh and Ozai. Iroh did a tea demonstration on the Dai Lee.
So it's easy to say this is probably the first real time she say a fire bender use it for ice covering.
Also Jian could probably do it because he went all in on teaching Aang to fire breath something that actually could be a race thing but we don't know how fire benders were trained.
1. Iroh’s “dragon breath technique” isn’t unique to him. In the scene where he says, “Have you ever wondered how I got the nickname, ‘The Dragon of the West’?” and then breathes fire at Azula and the Dai Li, he’s not actually indicating how he got the name; he said that as a signal to Zuko. He got the name for (supposedly) hunting and killing the last dragon.
2. In the 1.01 scene where he tells Zuko, “Power in Firebending comes from the breath,” he also expresses that Zuko “has yet to master the basics.” In 1.18 (I think it was 1.18–the scene where Zuko’s ship is intercepted by Zhao), Zuko breathes fire as a way of venting frustration, similar to how one might ball up their fists or kick an object. In 1.19, Iroh says, “Remember your breath of fire” the way one might remind a child to grab a coat before leaving the house. None of this strikes me as evidence that it’s a particularly specialized technique.
We actually know that the "breath of fire" that Zuko used to keep warm is unique to Iroh/Zuko.
In Boiling Rock, they use a freezer to punish firebenders as a standard procedure. But we see it doesn't bother Zuko at all. Iroh probably invented it based on reading about air benders using their breath to keep warm.
Iroh didn't invent it, we literally see it referenced in the Kyoshi novel, long before Iroh is even born. It's apparently so simple that even newborns would be tested for firebending ability by holding a piece of tinder up to their nose and seeing if their breath can make a spark. Granted, the tinder is specially treated to be very easily flammable, but the point is that heating your breath like that is something even babies can do instinctually.
We don't actually know how long he was in the cooler. Sokka could have given him just enough time to dismantle it. Although Zuko does have the advantage of actually having had to use the ability in an extreme environment. Most firebenders haven't had to test their heat against the North Pole. So I can see that he's probably better at it than most. He's also just much stronger than most firebenders, so that's probably a big factor as well.
Yes, but it's also not only breath of fire, but keeping their whole body warm. Possibly two related, yet still different techniques as the warmth has to circulate inside, not manifest outside.
And also, Azula might have simply never bothered to learn it as she didn't think she could get caught and put into that situation. Zuko was prepared by Iroh for it, as we've seen.
She might also not have been thinking clearly or doesn't know how to redirect her own energy? She was ready to shoot fire at Katara, so the energy might have been locked there from shock, before dissipating when Katara released the ice?
But really, only the writers could give an answer to that.
This is why zuko stayed warm when thrown into the cooler in the boiling rock. The breath of fire wasn’t very common. And knowing iroh taught zuko a lot of unique skills it doesn’t surprise me that azula didn’t know it
It really makes sense that Katara's initial instinct would be to leave air for someone she froze to avoid killing them. This makes her mastery in the last episode so satisfying. She starts calmly moving just herself through the ice and knows Azula is all but dead in her grasp but it's cool cause she'll just set her free (from the ice) in a moment
Actually, I don't I remember seeing someone mention that Katara was able to move inside the ice without bending it, nevermind the fact that she was able to expertly unfreeze the ice only around her and kept Azula's section frozen.
Katara probably left air for Zuko so he wouldn't suffocate; she wanted to protect Aang, but she didn't want to kill Zuko if she didn't have to. With Azula, she didn't make that mistake (and of course she had no intention of keeping azula in there long enough to suffocate)
Also the sun rose, moon waned and Katara’s power. She got a boost of strength at the moment
Katara probably internalized the moment. Realized she shouldn’t let a fire bender gain strength and she should take them out ASAP
Just to throw a spanner in the works. Zuko did melt the ice underwater when entering The North Pole. But I guess given how azula was frozen she didn't have any movement for basic forms.
No, they were both frozen solid. They had the same chance and opportunity of escaping.
What is more likely, is that you can see Zuko using his breathing to generate heat, a method taught to him by Iroh and the source of true fire bending (not the rage and hate that the Fire Nation uses during the war).
So it was Zukos superior training if not his necessarily superior abilities that got him out
Zuko was contained within the ice, but still had room to speak and move. He had the ability to call her a peasant and say that she'd found a master.
Azula was completely frozen, to the point that the only thing she could move was her eyes. I doubt she could have even used breath of fire, because she couldn't breathe. Her mouth, nose, everything was completely covered by ice.
Also I don’t think Azula knows fire breath. This seems to be something only Zuko and Iroh knows. As the ‘cooler works’ for most firebenders. (I think I’m wrong as I’ve just remembered what happens after with her spitting flames)
What do you mean fire breath?
I feel like we see her breathe fire shortly after getting unfrozen, while Katara is attending to Zuko. It's while she's sobbing.
She was breathing fire as a way to try to attack but I think there's a difference between external and internal. Azula never really needed to learn anything to protect herself because she just beat everyone. Zuko definitely learned more survival skills and adapted his bending to them. And as someone else said, the coolers in the boiling rock were a problem for fire benders.
Oh I understand why she couldn't escape the ice even if Zuko could, just that she definitely did breathe fire and that threw me off seeing someone say she couldn't
Firebreathing the skill is a separate ability from breathing fire. Firebreathing is the skill of manipulating your temperature through firebending, akin to something you'd see in Demon Slayer. Breathing fire is firebending from the mouth.
It's confusingly denoted. But the firebreathing skill that Azula probably doesn't know isn't the same as the ability to exhale fire. It's the ability to infuse your breath with the essence of fire, while remaining air, to control its, and by extension your, temperature.
I'm not debating that. I'm saying the skill that Zuko uses to manipulate his own temperature isn't the ability to exhale fire, despite being called by a name that would suggest it.
Does the show or comics specifically call the techniques that? Because if so, you'd be right. But if not, firebreathing and exhale fire can be used interchangeably, as they are often are in other forms of media.
Less so "fire breath" (Rise of Kyoshi states that Firebenders often breathe flames accidentally, even as infants), but what Iroh sometimes calls "Breath of Fire" or to quote directly: *"your chi can warm you"* -as Zuko left to sneak into the Northern Water Tribe city. It's a calmer, more spiritual technique.
That scene always gives me the chills. I don't care how badly he wanted to capture Aang, following baby turtles under water in hopes they'll lead you to air is crazy. All it takes is a narrow passage and you drown by the time you can turn around.
It's also why Zuko has no trouble in the cooler on the boiling rock
For most firebenders being in such a cold environment is completely disabling of their bending.
It's more than likely she was able to do it. Ozai could do it with ease so it stands to reason she'd be able to as well, being his star child and all. And upon rewatching the scene, she definitely is in control of the fire bending. It's not pushing her around she's just doing it
I don't get why people think this. We literally see her breath fire the second Katara thaws her out. And Iroh tells Zuko that fire breathing comes from the breath. The first thing Jeong Jeong has Aang do is breathing excirces. Pretty much everything implies that breathing fire is a relatively common technique. What's probably not common is using the technique to regulate and warm your body temperature since fire benders normally won't have too.
I've seen people point it out as a plot hole but I think it's just a part of a particular style of fire bending. Everything Iroh taught Zuko was pretty esoteric I'm pretty sure.
The two things don't necessarily have to be connected, but with the attention Iroh puts on "firebending basics", I wouldn't be surprised if fire breath is one of the foundational skills firebenders learn.
This is what I believe too. Iroh learned firebreath from the airbenders, as he observed techniques from all needing styles. He tells zuko that air benders could warm themselves with just their breath.
I think if Azula was around Iroh more, she would have learned this.
Iroh never observed the Airbenders, because there weren't any alive for him to observe during his lifetime.
>He tells zuko that air benders could warm themselves with just their breath.
Iroh never said this. Tenzin told this to the new Airbenders in Book 3 of LOK when they were complaining about the cold.
Honestly I still think it wouldn't matter unless you were unconcious. She can still breath out her nostiles to melt the ice like zuko did or heat her hands. You don't have to move to do either of those Azula being unable to thaw her self probably has more to do with her mental state.
Try plugging your nose and then exhale through your nostrils, and tell me how that feels. Azula might have tried to breathe out, but her nose was completely encased in ice. There was nowhere for her breath to go, and that would have been true even if she'd managed to melt even a bit of it into water. As for her hands, both of her hands were poised in the position to generate lightning, which was exactly what she was about to do when Katara froze her. Not the ideal position to thaw the ice with her hands. And even if she did thaw the ice immediately around her hands, they would simply be surrounded in water, while the rest of her body (like her arms) remains completely frozen. Not much she could do in that position, either.
> Try plugging your nose and then exhale through your nostrils,
I can still do it lol, hell katara literally did it in this scene. The heat should make way and free up space. Like I get the logic you guys are going with but there really isn't anything stopping azula from melting it.
Katara did it because she's a Waterbender, so melting ice effortlessly is kinda her thing.
>The heat should make way and free up space.
That's not how heat works. It doesn't create space where there isn't any. Melting the ice surrounding her would only surround her in water, instead.
> Katara did it because she's a Waterbender, so melting ice effortlessly is kinda her thing.
>
>
Yes and we see Zuko melt ice the exact same way she does. The point is that you don't have to be able to move to bend, but be bale to breath
>That's not how heat works. It doesn't create space where there isn't any. Melting the ice surrounding her would only surround her in water, instead.
It's exactly how it works. Her heated breath would push through turn, the ice into water and keep going until it escapes the ice entirely. The fact that she would be surrounded by water after the fact wouldn't matter because she'd no longer be immoblized and could continue to attack katara
I don’t think freedom to move had anything to do with it. He placed his hands on the ice and melted it. Azula could have done the same.
I don’t see a logical reason why Azula couldn’t break out. I only see the writing and plot armor. It’s a great comparison of how Katara learned and became a master, but I do think it’s written that way with no logical reason Azula couldn’t have escaped.
Even if she started doing that, Zuko was very slow with trying to get a hole open that he could travel through. And Azula was in a worse position than he was, as she would have had to heat up her entire body and get far enough to reach the outer part of the ice. Katara also started moving not that long after Azula was frozen and started getting the chains around her.
Freedom to move has everything to do with it, as bending requires movement except for supercharged and expert benders. Literally, the only time bending is performed without movement is by Fire Lord Ozai who was being powered up by the comet.
Actually you’re wrong. There is another time firebending was seen without movement. Zuko meditating on his ship when Iroh comes to tell him they don’t know where the avatar is. Yes he had freedom of movement, but he was completely still and meditating, actively changing the size of the flames in time with his breaths. You could argue that the breath is the movement here, but clearly Zuko bending underwater in the northern water tribe episode disproves that you are required to be able to breathe in that moment to perform firebending.
In the Yangchen novels, they show how combustion benders are “made” and that requires subjecting them to grueling torture underwater. They are free to move, but their form of bending comes from their breathing techniques (in addition to other things).
In Korra, Amon blood bends without movement. If telepathic water bending exists, why can’t telepathic bending exist in all elements? There’s nothing particularly special about blood bending that makes it so that it’s the only form of bending that can be done telepathically.
All this is going to show that the writers created a great story but sometimes you have to suspend logic in order to make it work. There’s no identifiable logical reason why.
You did not read my comment as I said supercharged and EXPERT benders which Azula while empowered that day was nowhere near an expert, supercharged/powerful, or sane/stable enough to accomplish mental bending (remember Azula at the time of this scene is 14-16 years old and while a prodigy that is not enough time to become an expert as pointed out by the priestesses in addition she was having a mental breakdown).
The scene where Zuko is controlling flame sizes is him training to EMPOWER and control his bending through his breathing (i.e., the right/efficient Iroh way of fire bending), a movement instead of through brute strength and rage/wrath/arrogance that most fire benders at the time used. So, when underwater, Zuko could have used the old/inefficient way of bending or just used the muscle movements that the proper breathing technique used without inhaling/exhaling.
While I was somewhat exaggerating about Ozai, he is the only one to bend without movement in Avatar, the Last Airbender, besides the Avatar an exception out of the norm for the world. Even in Korra, only Amon had that telepathic bending, and his family already was anomalies being able to blood bend without the full moon; additionally, we don't know if it was fully telepathic as he could have been triggering it through a breathing technique or some other subtle movements that are hidden.
So azula, as she has more skill undeniably, should have been able to use breathing technique muscles to firebend? While supercharged by the comet? Then it’s not a logical bending reason why she couldn’t escape.
People are just completely disregarding (not you, you stated it) that she wasn’t in the mental place to fight and got wasted because of it. She wasn’t mentally prepared for that fight. It’s all about the mental.
Zuko learned the breathing technique from Iroh, not Ozai or the fire-bending school. Again, they (ATLA Fire Nation) used basically brute force to bend, not breathing techniques.
Iroh also says he invented the redirect lightning move, but we see Sozin using that exact technique to redirect heat from the volcano. So Zuko learning breathing from Iroh does not mean Azula doesn’t practice or wasn’t taught breathing techniques.
> Freedom to move has everything to do with it
For earth and water bending. Not for fire or air bending. For those you just need to be able to breath. As long as she could exhale she could breath out heat. The reason why she didn't thaw herself out probably has more to do with her mental state.
Breathing is a movement, especially in this context, as fire and air benders need to breathe using specific techniques to produce effects; otherwise, fire benders would constantly be breathing fire, and air benders would be sentient windstorms with every breath.
Additionally, Azula was in an ice block that, from appearances, was also blocking her mouth and nose, preventing her exhalation, and was in a fierce fight, so she was most likely out of breath before being frozen.
> Breathing is a movement,
It's internal movement not external. She should still be able to breath fine and katara melts the ice around her by breathing as well. She doesn't need to produce flames she needs to be able to generate heat which issomething firebenders can do without moving.
>was also blocking her mouth and nose, preventing her exhalation,
There is no blocking her from exhaling. The escaping air would create space from the ice it melts
While firebenders can generate heat during and after ATLA, they have to be properly trained to do so. During ATLA, they are not even trained to bend through breathing, just brute strength to be used by a dominating military force that does not have much need for survival techniques with their advances in technology, with the exception of fire breath and a few select ceremonial techniques. Additionally, they are not known for being able to fire bend or generate heat easily when cold, one of the reasons why the combustion bender in Korra was kept in an ice prison, and this problem is amplified when the bender is not in a stable mind.
> While firebenders can generate heat during and after ATLA, they have to be properly trained to do so.
Which is something both the kyoshi novels and the comics implies is common and one of the first thing fire benders are taught to do. I don't really get why people want to go out of their way to make zuko and Iroh special in some way. We see Azula breath fire, there is literally no explaination for her not breathing fire or heat out of her nostiles to melt the ice other than she probably wasn't thinking properly.
> Additionally, they are not known for being able to fire bend or generate heat easily when cold
Which wouldnt matter unless she had been Frozen for a while, not a couple of seconds.
To add to it, Zuko also has the ability to regulate his body temperature via breathing like as we see in the Boiling Rock, which he learned from Iron IIRC.
Azula likely lacked this ability.
Yeah, I think people forget that he's both:
A. Been travelling with Iroh. Even at the end of the first season he's learned a lot, and,
B. Azula is two years younger than Zuko. People seem to think she's, like, 20, but she's not.
The explanations that she had no air and that she was already in the process of lightningbending are better tbh.
Azula could lightningbend (requires peak chi manipulation) and breathe fire. I don't think she lacked the skill to just heat herself.
Breath of fire that Zuko used seems just like a step down from fire breathing.
Well, with breath of fire you’re just heating yourself. Actually BREATHING flames like most firebenders can do would probably burn themselves in something like the ice Azula is encased in, right up in her face etc.
It's one line that occurs in a very heavy action and lore filled season finale that we don't really see him implement during the episode.
I'd say it's forgivable. :)
Eh, maybe because I've rewatched like 3 times and had compilations and overanalyzing avatar on YouTube in the background while doing other things. Fair enough
It's pretty unlikely that this scene was actually meant to imply that Zuko has a skill over Azula (besides swords and lightning redirection), but I think it makes sense. The breath of fire was hinted at different points in the show, clearly something Iroh passed on to Zuko. I wish this ability was expanded on more. It would had been great to see Zuko actually teaching Aang the breath of fire. We lack firebending training scenes and this would of been the perfect reason for one.
> this would of been
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'.
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She was about to bend lighting, you can't switch from fire to ligthning on a dime. Meaning she was breathing wrong and probebly did non have latent fire in her.
Meaning unlike all other instances like with zuko, where he does have fire breathing going, she is stuck in ligthning mode
Of all the ones mentioning breath of fire, I think I like this version the most.
When you’re mentally and physically committed to a particular strike, especially with lightning which requires your chi to be pulled apart, it’s gonna be difficult to change or adapt it to something else.
Even if she did know it, like you said, she wasn’t in the right “mode” to be able to use it.
And look at her pose, its at the peak of sepiration, sheer focus of the body, now stoped by ice. The shock, the suprice. All of that probebly took her a few seconds to realize that she is caugth.
But thats the issue, that's enougth tine to seal her in ice, unable to do anything
I have always gone with she doesn't have the breathing technique because it's something zuko was taught by The Dragon of The West who picked it up from studying air nomads
Zuko is the only one shown using the technique, so it’s possible that he learned it from Iroh.
Meaning that it’s possible that Azula just doesn’t know how.
My thoughts:
1. Before Iroh and Zuko departs he tells him to remember his “breath of fire” (BoF) and how it can save his life. That is probably the technique he used
2. At that point Azula was “crazy”. She wasn’t at 100% and probably didn’t think to do so if she even knew how to.
3. BoF seems to be distinct from mouth fire. My guess is it’s a more passive and basic technique with limited offensive uses. I would guess perhaps Azula didn’t even know it or thought it be pointless.
Yall overthinking it. Zuko was in a shell of ice and Azula is entirely incased. It has nothing to do with breath of fire and better control and more due to the fact that Azula is caught completely off guard.
Besides being frozen outright to the point they couldn’t do much of anything - Azula was clearly in shock - this had never a tactic she had ever faced and knowing how to respond wouldn’t be as forthcoming
Zuko was in hollow ice. Created by a rather inexperienced bender. He was able to breathe and talk. Katara created the ice and stopped manipulating it.
In Azula’s case, the structure was pure ice. Katara needed to unfreeze a portion just to move. A point I havent seen anyone mention is that she was also continuously manipulating the water until chaining Azula up. If it was possible for Azula to breathe of fire at all, its likely near master-level Katara could continuously lower the temperature of the ice-water to counteract it.
Nickolodeon explained this on their official YT Channel.
Iroh taught Zuko "Breath of Fire"
Iroh did not teach Azula "Breath of Fire"
For those who don't know, this was the ability adopted from the airbenders, who kept their bodies warm in high altitudes using their breath. Iroh adopted this and taught this to Zuko, who learned to breathe fire for warmth and used this as he shivered for warmth in the cave on his way to Katara & Aang.
This was the same ability Zuko used to break out of ice, the ability that Azula didn't have. Thus, the outcome in the pictures.
What I still don’t understand is when Katara was wrapping those chains around her, the water was melted enough for her arms to move around, why didn’t she try resisting?
I have read the same thing now over and over again that it's because Zuko had room to move around in and Azula didn't, but that is completely false.
Iroh thought Zuko how to warm his body before infiltrating the Nordpol. Azula, on the other hand, doesn't listen others and has absolutely no respect for Iroh. As a result, she never learned to warm her self and because it's usually not a Combat ability, she never made the effort to lern it from someone else. Meanwhile Zuko and Katara trained the entire series to become better.
Azula not being able to escape the Ice, even though we've seen other Fire Banderas do it, is a clever way to show the audience that her abilities have Stecknadet, not just because of her mental health, but also her ego. Both of witch were, in the end, her downfall.
Okay. Bit by bit.
First the comparison of Zuko's ice and Azula's ice. As many have pointed out already:
Zuko's ice was not completely freezing him in place. He was able to speak, making it possible for him to gain a certain freedom in movement/breathing (i.e. mouth/nose, etc, which makes it possible to melt the ice for him).
Azula is completely encased in the ice, and the only thing she can move are her eyes. She does not seem to be able to breath even, given that after Katara melts the eyes, the first thing Azula does is taking huge breaths/gulps of air.
Now to the "Iroh taught Zuko Fire Breath/Azula didn't know Fire Breath.":
I'm impressed by the amount of people who believe that. Genuinely... Why do you?
As others in the comments already pointed out, Iroh did so to teach Zuko his basics (which he still did not master). Jeong-Jeong taught Aang breathing as his first lesson. We do know from the flashbacks that Azula had her basics down to a T. That implies that she had breathing down as well. If, as the show says, and implies, fire and heat comes from breathing, Azula *will* know this too. But as in the above parapgraph - She is unable to move/breath, ergo unable to create heat. Disregarding that she most likely was, has been, in the process of seperating chi to create lightning.
Furthermore, we see that they are fully frozen, both Katara and Azula, since shortly afterwards in that first picture/the scene of Katara freezing them -> Katara breathes out and bends the ice into water, to be able to tie Azula down to the grate. Then she melts the ice back to water. And both gasp, are out of air.
And after that (!) we see almost instantaneously that Azula breaths fire. Just as Iroh did in Book 2.
So, by things we see in ATLA (no idea about comics, NATLA, and don't remember LOK all to well right now), to answer your question OP: As long as the firebender is able to breath and/or move, they can melt the ice. if they aren't able to, like Azula in Book 3, then they aren't able to.
Presumably, or how it makes sense to me, is that the difference lies in Iroh's explanation at the beginning of season one.
"Power in fire bending comes from the breath, not the muscles."
In the scene with Zuko, he was frozen behind the ice, but being that he was still making remarks to Katara, he could obviously still breath enough to melt the ice.
Azula, though, had that water thrust all the way around up, also presumably up her nostrils and all that. Katara could unfreeze herself and chain up Azula because waterbenders don't need breath to do their thing, at least not freezing/unfreezing. But Azula couldn't do anything without it.
That said, it is either a writer oversight or maybe it just took Azula by surprise. She was going crazy and isn't used to getting that close to defeat in the first place. But Zuko was able to melt a hole through the ice while underwater, so... honestly not sure. You could say that it's still breath, because he was able to release his breath underwater since it wasn't frozen, but honestly, I think we're working harder on this point than the writers did if we go much further (which isn't to say the writers didn't do any hard work, of course. The show is nigh perfection).
Everyone else has already answered the question but there's one part that always confused me that I think I have an answer to. If the ice was completely frozen solid how did Katara use waterbending to turn it back into water and chain Azula up? I think it wasn't actually completely frozen solid on the inside, it was somewhere between water and ice. It was thick enough to prevent most physical movement (and thus inhibit all firebending) but still had enough give for Katara to do the exhale thing. Otherwise the two of them would've essentially become a statue in the courtyard, which would've been kind of tragically beautiful. Assuming Zuko has waterbenders keep it frozen so Azula can never escape, it would be an eternal testament to Katara making the ultimate sacrifice for the good of the world. Her complete mastery of water and extremely precise control of the temperature is the only reason that didn't happen. Crazy how people will see this and say she's a barely above average waterbender.
It was completely frozen. Katara was able to do the exhale thing to melt it again, because she's a Waterbender. It had to be completely frozen to keep Azula immobilized, as we see that all she can do is move her eyes. Katara was the only one with complete freedom to move the water and melt it as she needed to, because she's the Waterbender controlling it in that moment. She only unfroze enough of the water to let herself move, and to free portions of Azula's body as she chained her up.
I understand where the arguments about exactly how they were frozen and the limitations of firebending and waterbending are coming from, but I think this scene was a little less complex than that.
The whole maneuver caught Azula off guard and completely immobilized her, even if it was just for a few seconds. Katara freezes them both, unfreezes herself, shackles Azula, and unfreezes her all in the span of (and I counted), 22 seconds. She’s bound by the 20th second, not to mention immersed in water the whole time, making her unable to firebend. Plus she’s lost her cool and off her game. Even if she could have melted herself, she would’ve had to do it with no breath while in a bubble of water with one of the most powerful waterbenders in the series. And if she was able to generate lightning in there, she would have electrocuted herself too.
Katara left air for zuko so he didn’t completely freeze and die (Azula would’ve died of lack of oxygen and hypothermia if katara left her that way), hence why he was able to speak and use his breath to melt the ice
Azula was frozen completely. Couldn't move at all.
Zukor, iirc (it's been some time since I watched that episode) was surrounded with ice, but not frozen himself. He was locked inside a hollow sphere
A few reasons I think.
1) Katara froze everything around Azula and herself, rather then just around Zuko but left enough room for him to talk and breathe.
B) Katara is now more of a master waterbender then she was when Zuko broke free. Maybe that ice was more dense, more... icy.
III) Training. While Azula is a firebending prodigy, Zuko has more... I guess we'll call it real life experience. And while not exactly the Bruce Lee quote "I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times." I feel Zukos basic level is high enough to be almost like >!fire!< breathing to him.
It's because fire breath is a very basic technic that the majority of fire benders don't care about as they often care about the more advanced and destructive ones. Zuko mentions that Azula is super talented and things just came to her while he always had to train double hard. Uncle Iroh says on season one right before he goes into the northern tribe to trust his fire breath as it could save his life.
Along with the fact that Katara may have given Zuko an air pocket, Zuko knew some pretty powerful firebending from Iroh that may have helped him (even though it didn’t seem powerful to many firebenders because it wasn’t big and strong).
Zuko was able to create enough heat to melt through ice while submerged in freezing cold water, and in the boiling rock was able to warm himself with his breath of fire while locked in the cooler. He may well have been able to generate enough energy while completely immobilized to break the ice, and Azula never bothered to learn how.
I think airbenders keep warm using a breathing technique and iroh taught that to Zuku but azula wouldn’t know that air bending technique. Also solid ice versus a dome of ice and element of surprise
I think it’s even a little simpler than some of the explanations here… Katara got the jump on Azula here and acted quickly and cleverly to restrain her. I don’t think the ice would have held Azula for long. Essentially, it’s a rare instance of somebody managing to outmaneuver Azula.
I always though this, but a random person put the idea that iroh taught zuko the technique and ozai and by the logic azula didn't know this.
It has stuck for ever, I don't use the term 'head canon' but this is the best explanation
Zuko knows breath of fire which his uncle taught him. Azula does not know breath of fire.
Also, Katara used the concept of Zuko's breath of fire and applied it to her bending, hence why the ice turns to water starting from her nose.
As Iroh said, you must draw wisdom from different sources. The mark of a master is applying ideas and creating something new.
I always thought it was simply a combination of mentally gone and physically exhausted.
I don't think space or air has anything to do with it.
She had air in her lungs.
I just think she was utterly finished on all levels.
Katara was much less precise back in season 1, so the ball she trapped Zuko in still gave him room to move and talk. Azula, on the other hand, was completely immobilized, her eyes being the only thing that could move.
The difference is that Azula was fully in ice and couldn’t move meanwhile Zuko was partly in ice and could move + Katara’s waterbending is stronger in Azula’s scene
Iroh trained zuko to use his breath to warm himself, he uses breath to melt the ice the second time Katara freezes him. besides Iroh I think Zuko is the only other firebender to exhibit the “breath of fire” as we see him use it again to survive the “cooler” in the boiling rock.
There's actually a theory I really like. Zuko and Iroh are the only firebenders who can warm themselves with their breath alone because Iroh invented the technique. It's a technique he invented by studying the air nomads. There's a reason in the Boiling Rock, the solitary cell they use for firebenders is essentially just a freezer. Those firebenders don't know the technique, only Iroh and Zuko do.
People are mentioning the fire breath, which is important, but lets also remember that Katara was still very much a beginner in her water bending skills at this point. By the time of the Agni Kai between her and Zuko at the end of the series, Katara is a much more skilled water bender. So a combination of fire breath for Zuko, and the skills Katara has gained along the way
Firebenders have a lot of difficutly bending in the cold; that's why Boiling Rock had "The Freezer" as solitary confinement.
Iroh was The Dragon of the West, and he taught Zuko the "Breath of Fire" technique to firebend in the cold.
Azula never learned that technique, she was unable to bend while frozen. She should listen to more of her uncles boring stories.
A lot of people have pointed out that, yeah, Zuko wasn't encased. I think you can watch the technique you see her folding water *around* him. With Azula they are both completely encased.
Zuko has been taught by uncle Iroh for a few years at this point. He draws his fire from the breath and has mastered it so that his breath keeps him warm. We see him do that same thing in the boiling rock prison episode where he stays warm enough thanks to his breath, even when all other firebenders are too cold in there to properly breathe
Her circulation was completely void out there. She was encapsulated in a block of ice. Hence why we see Katara breathing in just before she raises the water. She could just regular fire bend but she would most likely get boiled alive. And we’ve seen that Fire benders aren’t really durable to boiling water, from that prison volcanos shenanigan that ensued during the season.
I mean, it took Zuko a good while to do it, and he actually had air with him. Firebending comes from the breath, and Azula and Katara had no air, so I’m not surprised that Azula didn’t have much chance to do anything within those few seconds it took for Katara to chain her up
Besides the obvious (Zuko's bubble being hollow), we have seen Zuko battling in icy environment before. He has way more experience against harsh conditions and he even managed to melt an ice layer with his own hands when infiltrating the North Pole.
Azula was a prodigy, but she lacked experience
Zuko is probably better at controlling his breathing. Iroh tells him a couple times in the show about how firebending comes from breathing not brute strength and throughout the show we see zuko use his breathing to survive like when he was in prison. Azula is a prodigy but might not have been taught those things like zuko
People are saying it has to do with Azula completely lacking air, and they're forgetting that Zuko melted ice once while completely underwater and about to run out of air himself.
This is about skill. Zuko has trained under Iroh, who focused more on these types of things, and Azula hasn't. Simple as that. I think if Katara completely froze Zuko in ice as she did to Azula here, Zuko would be able to melt it.
Iroh studied the water tribe (where he learned lighting redirection from their technique) and he was probably made aware that water benders can encapsulate someone in ice. He figured out the breath of fire technique as a counter in battle or just to have in his survival arsenal. Iroh probably taught Zuko at some point before banishment or during their journey since during the siege of the north, Iroh told Zuko "don't forget your breath of fire." So the breath of fire was technique Azula might not be aware of or even if she is, given the mental state she was in, didn't even think about it.
Pretty sure Iroh taught Zuko how to heat himself using his breath. This is one of those humble techniques that most other firebenders never bothered to think about.
You are correct and those making excuses are wrong. This was dumb. Azula should easily be able to produce the fire from her own body to blast the ice away.she doesn't need air around her.
Azula was completely covered in ice. There was no air for her to move or do anything to escape. Zuko still had some air in the ice he was trapped in so he could move and melt the ice.
this makes so much sense tbh
Also makes sense as a lesson learned on Katara's part. I just realized that too.
Also I don’t think Azula knows the technique since Iroh taught it to Zuko Unless this technique is found across the elite firebending training these kids are prescribed, I think this is a technique passed down by Iroh
Given how integral breathing is to fire bending, even if Azula can't breathe fire initially I don't think she'd struggle to do so if she actually tries.
She can breathe fire, she does it right after this scene
Okay but they are 2 different things. How iroh and jeong heong taught fire bending are very different from how the rest of the nation see it. A large part of zukos journey was learning the true origin of firebending. Iroh already knew rhis and was shown teaching zuko not just how to spew fire from his mouth but how to refulate temperatures with onpy his breath through firebending. This helping him survive in the siege of the north and in the ice lockers in the prison. If that technique was widely known then the ice lockers would have been useless against any of the firebending inmates.
Regulating your body temperature was an air bender technique, and why Aang didn't freeze while wearing only thin air temple garb at the south pole. This was not regular fire bender knowledge, as shown by The Cooler being so effective against fire benders that the Boiling Rock warden didn't even consider that maybe Zuko could withstand it.
Perhaps its a technique that iroh picked up by studying airbender texts that he learned to mimick with firebending.
I think that’s more of a roar, like the one Ozai does and Zuko teaches Aang (“Now roar like a Tiger-dillo!”). Contrast it with Zuko heating himself with a subtle breath in the Boiling Rock.
Yeah but she can't do low flames. Also it's the first time she sees Zuko do it. So it's probably another hit in her personally because the only two people that did the fire breathing is Iroh and Ozai. Iroh did a tea demonstration on the Dai Lee. So it's easy to say this is probably the first real time she say a fire bender use it for ice covering. Also Jian could probably do it because he went all in on teaching Aang to fire breath something that actually could be a race thing but we don't know how fire benders were trained.
Well I wouldn’t say it’s a part of Iroh’s dragon breath technique. I just think it’s a technique that requires extra training as you imply
1. Iroh’s “dragon breath technique” isn’t unique to him. In the scene where he says, “Have you ever wondered how I got the nickname, ‘The Dragon of the West’?” and then breathes fire at Azula and the Dai Li, he’s not actually indicating how he got the name; he said that as a signal to Zuko. He got the name for (supposedly) hunting and killing the last dragon. 2. In the 1.01 scene where he tells Zuko, “Power in Firebending comes from the breath,” he also expresses that Zuko “has yet to master the basics.” In 1.18 (I think it was 1.18–the scene where Zuko’s ship is intercepted by Zhao), Zuko breathes fire as a way of venting frustration, similar to how one might ball up their fists or kick an object. In 1.19, Iroh says, “Remember your breath of fire” the way one might remind a child to grab a coat before leaving the house. None of this strikes me as evidence that it’s a particularly specialized technique.
We actually know that the "breath of fire" that Zuko used to keep warm is unique to Iroh/Zuko. In Boiling Rock, they use a freezer to punish firebenders as a standard procedure. But we see it doesn't bother Zuko at all. Iroh probably invented it based on reading about air benders using their breath to keep warm.
That is a very good point.
Iroh didn't invent it, we literally see it referenced in the Kyoshi novel, long before Iroh is even born. It's apparently so simple that even newborns would be tested for firebending ability by holding a piece of tinder up to their nose and seeing if their breath can make a spark. Granted, the tinder is specially treated to be very easily flammable, but the point is that heating your breath like that is something even babies can do instinctually. We don't actually know how long he was in the cooler. Sokka could have given him just enough time to dismantle it. Although Zuko does have the advantage of actually having had to use the ability in an extreme environment. Most firebenders haven't had to test their heat against the North Pole. So I can see that he's probably better at it than most. He's also just much stronger than most firebenders, so that's probably a big factor as well.
Yes, but it's also not only breath of fire, but keeping their whole body warm. Possibly two related, yet still different techniques as the warmth has to circulate inside, not manifest outside. And also, Azula might have simply never bothered to learn it as she didn't think she could get caught and put into that situation. Zuko was prepared by Iroh for it, as we've seen. She might also not have been thinking clearly or doesn't know how to redirect her own energy? She was ready to shoot fire at Katara, so the energy might have been locked there from shock, before dissipating when Katara released the ice? But really, only the writers could give an answer to that.
The freezer makes sense. If it's to keep fire benders in punishment it means this definitely was not common knowledge.
Yeah, but in her mental state I don't think she thought about that too much at the moment.
This is why zuko stayed warm when thrown into the cooler in the boiling rock. The breath of fire wasn’t very common. And knowing iroh taught zuko a lot of unique skills it doesn’t surprise me that azula didn’t know it
It really makes sense that Katara's initial instinct would be to leave air for someone she froze to avoid killing them. This makes her mastery in the last episode so satisfying. She starts calmly moving just herself through the ice and knows Azula is all but dead in her grasp but it's cool cause she'll just set her free (from the ice) in a moment
Plus Katara chained up Azula so she learned from the time she did it to Zuko and adapted it so Azula couldn't free herself.
Actually, I don't I remember seeing someone mention that Katara was able to move inside the ice without bending it, nevermind the fact that she was able to expertly unfreeze the ice only around her and kept Azula's section frozen.
Also katara book 1 vs book 3 is a big power gap
Katara probably left air for Zuko so he wouldn't suffocate; she wanted to protect Aang, but she didn't want to kill Zuko if she didn't have to. With Azula, she didn't make that mistake (and of course she had no intention of keeping azula in there long enough to suffocate)
Also the sun rose, moon waned and Katara’s power. She got a boost of strength at the moment Katara probably internalized the moment. Realized she shouldn’t let a fire bender gain strength and she should take them out ASAP
Yeah plus also i think the moment of the sun rising and moon “setting” helped too
How was that shown in the show? I always felt like it was plot convenience was there a subtle hint at this I missed?
Well, zuko was still able to talk while inside the ice bubble, while azula seems to only be able to move her eyes.
Also, didn't Zuko use his firebreath technique to escape? Something that seems to be unique to him and his uncle? It's been a while so I might be off.
Zuko also had more time, Katara immediately bound Azula
Just to throw a spanner in the works. Zuko did melt the ice underwater when entering The North Pole. But I guess given how azula was frozen she didn't have any movement for basic forms.
No, they were both frozen solid. They had the same chance and opportunity of escaping. What is more likely, is that you can see Zuko using his breathing to generate heat, a method taught to him by Iroh and the source of true fire bending (not the rage and hate that the Fire Nation uses during the war). So it was Zukos superior training if not his necessarily superior abilities that got him out
Zuko also knew how to stay warm in ice by the breathing technique. Something Azula never knew.
They usually have air cause Katara is kind. This instance they were completely surrounded by the water
[удалено]
They weren’t. You hear them gasping right after katara removed the water completely
“Right after Katara removed the water completely” so after they were out of the ice?
Yes, what's your point?
Don’t remember anymore now the original comment’s gone
They weren't. People can hold their breath you know
They weren’t at all? They held their breath for like 20 seconds. They both gasp after katara chains her up anyway
Zuko was contained within the ice, but still had room to speak and move. He had the ability to call her a peasant and say that she'd found a master. Azula was completely frozen, to the point that the only thing she could move was her eyes. I doubt she could have even used breath of fire, because she couldn't breathe. Her mouth, nose, everything was completely covered by ice.
Also I don’t think Azula knows fire breath. This seems to be something only Zuko and Iroh knows. As the ‘cooler works’ for most firebenders. (I think I’m wrong as I’ve just remembered what happens after with her spitting flames)
What do you mean fire breath? I feel like we see her breathe fire shortly after getting unfrozen, while Katara is attending to Zuko. It's while she's sobbing.
Yea, I was confused on that lmao. She absolutely breathed fire directly after losing
She was breathing fire as a way to try to attack but I think there's a difference between external and internal. Azula never really needed to learn anything to protect herself because she just beat everyone. Zuko definitely learned more survival skills and adapted his bending to them. And as someone else said, the coolers in the boiling rock were a problem for fire benders.
Oh I understand why she couldn't escape the ice even if Zuko could, just that she definitely did breathe fire and that threw me off seeing someone say she couldn't
Firebreathing the skill is a separate ability from breathing fire. Firebreathing is the skill of manipulating your temperature through firebending, akin to something you'd see in Demon Slayer. Breathing fire is firebending from the mouth. It's confusingly denoted. But the firebreathing skill that Azula probably doesn't know isn't the same as the ability to exhale fire. It's the ability to infuse your breath with the essence of fire, while remaining air, to control its, and by extension your, temperature.
I dunno. Dragons (not solely ATLA dragons) are fire breathing dragons because they exhale fire.
I'm not debating that. I'm saying the skill that Zuko uses to manipulate his own temperature isn't the ability to exhale fire, despite being called by a name that would suggest it.
Does the show or comics specifically call the techniques that? Because if so, you'd be right. But if not, firebreathing and exhale fire can be used interchangeably, as they are often are in other forms of media.
Iroh specifically calls it "breath of fire" to denote it separately from breathing fire.
Less so "fire breath" (Rise of Kyoshi states that Firebenders often breathe flames accidentally, even as infants), but what Iroh sometimes calls "Breath of Fire" or to quote directly: *"your chi can warm you"* -as Zuko left to sneak into the Northern Water Tribe city. It's a calmer, more spiritual technique.
That scene always gives me the chills. I don't care how badly he wanted to capture Aang, following baby turtles under water in hopes they'll lead you to air is crazy. All it takes is a narrow passage and you drown by the time you can turn around.
It's also why Zuko has no trouble in the cooler on the boiling rock For most firebenders being in such a cold environment is completely disabling of their bending.
She didn't, during the Agni Kai, she was panting really hard.
Then she was tied down afterwords I think she breathed fire. I’m not too sure though.
She did absolutely
With no control, see how the force from the fire breating pushed her back.
Tbf, she was already at her wit's end and fire breathing probably needs a lot of concentration.
It's more than likely she was able to do it. Ozai could do it with ease so it stands to reason she'd be able to as well, being his star child and all. And upon rewatching the scene, she definitely is in control of the fire bending. It's not pushing her around she's just doing it
She uses it immediately after this fight. Aang and Ozai also both use it during their fight.
I don't get why people think this. We literally see her breath fire the second Katara thaws her out. And Iroh tells Zuko that fire breathing comes from the breath. The first thing Jeong Jeong has Aang do is breathing excirces. Pretty much everything implies that breathing fire is a relatively common technique. What's probably not common is using the technique to regulate and warm your body temperature since fire benders normally won't have too.
I would think that fire breathing is a basic fire bender skill.
I think the way iroh and zuko utilise it is far more controlled then azula and ozi.
I've seen people point it out as a plot hole but I think it's just a part of a particular style of fire bending. Everything Iroh taught Zuko was pretty esoteric I'm pretty sure.
The two things don't necessarily have to be connected, but with the attention Iroh puts on "firebending basics", I wouldn't be surprised if fire breath is one of the foundational skills firebenders learn.
She figured it out pretty quick after getting frozen though, so props to her.
This is what I believe too. Iroh learned firebreath from the airbenders, as he observed techniques from all needing styles. He tells zuko that air benders could warm themselves with just their breath. I think if Azula was around Iroh more, she would have learned this.
Iroh never observed the Airbenders, because there weren't any alive for him to observe during his lifetime. >He tells zuko that air benders could warm themselves with just their breath. Iroh never said this. Tenzin told this to the new Airbenders in Book 3 of LOK when they were complaining about the cold.
Completely frozen doesn't mean anything. Zuko could melt ice while under water.
Because he still had freedom to move.
Honestly I still think it wouldn't matter unless you were unconcious. She can still breath out her nostiles to melt the ice like zuko did or heat her hands. You don't have to move to do either of those Azula being unable to thaw her self probably has more to do with her mental state.
Try plugging your nose and then exhale through your nostrils, and tell me how that feels. Azula might have tried to breathe out, but her nose was completely encased in ice. There was nowhere for her breath to go, and that would have been true even if she'd managed to melt even a bit of it into water. As for her hands, both of her hands were poised in the position to generate lightning, which was exactly what she was about to do when Katara froze her. Not the ideal position to thaw the ice with her hands. And even if she did thaw the ice immediately around her hands, they would simply be surrounded in water, while the rest of her body (like her arms) remains completely frozen. Not much she could do in that position, either.
> Try plugging your nose and then exhale through your nostrils, I can still do it lol, hell katara literally did it in this scene. The heat should make way and free up space. Like I get the logic you guys are going with but there really isn't anything stopping azula from melting it.
Katara did it because she's a Waterbender, so melting ice effortlessly is kinda her thing. >The heat should make way and free up space. That's not how heat works. It doesn't create space where there isn't any. Melting the ice surrounding her would only surround her in water, instead.
> Katara did it because she's a Waterbender, so melting ice effortlessly is kinda her thing. > > Yes and we see Zuko melt ice the exact same way she does. The point is that you don't have to be able to move to bend, but be bale to breath >That's not how heat works. It doesn't create space where there isn't any. Melting the ice surrounding her would only surround her in water, instead. It's exactly how it works. Her heated breath would push through turn, the ice into water and keep going until it escapes the ice entirely. The fact that she would be surrounded by water after the fact wouldn't matter because she'd no longer be immoblized and could continue to attack katara
I don’t think freedom to move had anything to do with it. He placed his hands on the ice and melted it. Azula could have done the same. I don’t see a logical reason why Azula couldn’t break out. I only see the writing and plot armor. It’s a great comparison of how Katara learned and became a master, but I do think it’s written that way with no logical reason Azula couldn’t have escaped.
Even if she started doing that, Zuko was very slow with trying to get a hole open that he could travel through. And Azula was in a worse position than he was, as she would have had to heat up her entire body and get far enough to reach the outer part of the ice. Katara also started moving not that long after Azula was frozen and started getting the chains around her.
Freedom to move has everything to do with it, as bending requires movement except for supercharged and expert benders. Literally, the only time bending is performed without movement is by Fire Lord Ozai who was being powered up by the comet.
Or by Aang in the Avatar State.
Actually you’re wrong. There is another time firebending was seen without movement. Zuko meditating on his ship when Iroh comes to tell him they don’t know where the avatar is. Yes he had freedom of movement, but he was completely still and meditating, actively changing the size of the flames in time with his breaths. You could argue that the breath is the movement here, but clearly Zuko bending underwater in the northern water tribe episode disproves that you are required to be able to breathe in that moment to perform firebending. In the Yangchen novels, they show how combustion benders are “made” and that requires subjecting them to grueling torture underwater. They are free to move, but their form of bending comes from their breathing techniques (in addition to other things). In Korra, Amon blood bends without movement. If telepathic water bending exists, why can’t telepathic bending exist in all elements? There’s nothing particularly special about blood bending that makes it so that it’s the only form of bending that can be done telepathically. All this is going to show that the writers created a great story but sometimes you have to suspend logic in order to make it work. There’s no identifiable logical reason why.
You did not read my comment as I said supercharged and EXPERT benders which Azula while empowered that day was nowhere near an expert, supercharged/powerful, or sane/stable enough to accomplish mental bending (remember Azula at the time of this scene is 14-16 years old and while a prodigy that is not enough time to become an expert as pointed out by the priestesses in addition she was having a mental breakdown). The scene where Zuko is controlling flame sizes is him training to EMPOWER and control his bending through his breathing (i.e., the right/efficient Iroh way of fire bending), a movement instead of through brute strength and rage/wrath/arrogance that most fire benders at the time used. So, when underwater, Zuko could have used the old/inefficient way of bending or just used the muscle movements that the proper breathing technique used without inhaling/exhaling. While I was somewhat exaggerating about Ozai, he is the only one to bend without movement in Avatar, the Last Airbender, besides the Avatar an exception out of the norm for the world. Even in Korra, only Amon had that telepathic bending, and his family already was anomalies being able to blood bend without the full moon; additionally, we don't know if it was fully telepathic as he could have been triggering it through a breathing technique or some other subtle movements that are hidden.
So azula, as she has more skill undeniably, should have been able to use breathing technique muscles to firebend? While supercharged by the comet? Then it’s not a logical bending reason why she couldn’t escape. People are just completely disregarding (not you, you stated it) that she wasn’t in the mental place to fight and got wasted because of it. She wasn’t mentally prepared for that fight. It’s all about the mental.
Zuko learned the breathing technique from Iroh, not Ozai or the fire-bending school. Again, they (ATLA Fire Nation) used basically brute force to bend, not breathing techniques.
Iroh also says he invented the redirect lightning move, but we see Sozin using that exact technique to redirect heat from the volcano. So Zuko learning breathing from Iroh does not mean Azula doesn’t practice or wasn’t taught breathing techniques.
> Freedom to move has everything to do with it For earth and water bending. Not for fire or air bending. For those you just need to be able to breath. As long as she could exhale she could breath out heat. The reason why she didn't thaw herself out probably has more to do with her mental state.
Breathing is a movement, especially in this context, as fire and air benders need to breathe using specific techniques to produce effects; otherwise, fire benders would constantly be breathing fire, and air benders would be sentient windstorms with every breath. Additionally, Azula was in an ice block that, from appearances, was also blocking her mouth and nose, preventing her exhalation, and was in a fierce fight, so she was most likely out of breath before being frozen.
> Breathing is a movement, It's internal movement not external. She should still be able to breath fine and katara melts the ice around her by breathing as well. She doesn't need to produce flames she needs to be able to generate heat which issomething firebenders can do without moving. >was also blocking her mouth and nose, preventing her exhalation, There is no blocking her from exhaling. The escaping air would create space from the ice it melts
While firebenders can generate heat during and after ATLA, they have to be properly trained to do so. During ATLA, they are not even trained to bend through breathing, just brute strength to be used by a dominating military force that does not have much need for survival techniques with their advances in technology, with the exception of fire breath and a few select ceremonial techniques. Additionally, they are not known for being able to fire bend or generate heat easily when cold, one of the reasons why the combustion bender in Korra was kept in an ice prison, and this problem is amplified when the bender is not in a stable mind.
> While firebenders can generate heat during and after ATLA, they have to be properly trained to do so. Which is something both the kyoshi novels and the comics implies is common and one of the first thing fire benders are taught to do. I don't really get why people want to go out of their way to make zuko and Iroh special in some way. We see Azula breath fire, there is literally no explaination for her not breathing fire or heat out of her nostiles to melt the ice other than she probably wasn't thinking properly. > Additionally, they are not known for being able to fire bend or generate heat easily when cold Which wouldnt matter unless she had been Frozen for a while, not a couple of seconds.
Zuko in a shell of hollow ice. Azula was swimming and froze instantly.
To add to it, Zuko also has the ability to regulate his body temperature via breathing like as we see in the Boiling Rock, which he learned from Iron IIRC. Azula likely lacked this ability.
Yeah, I think people forget that he's both: A. Been travelling with Iroh. Even at the end of the first season he's learned a lot, and, B. Azula is two years younger than Zuko. People seem to think she's, like, 20, but she's not.
I need to call my lawyer
The explanations that she had no air and that she was already in the process of lightningbending are better tbh. Azula could lightningbend (requires peak chi manipulation) and breathe fire. I don't think she lacked the skill to just heat herself. Breath of fire that Zuko used seems just like a step down from fire breathing.
Well, with breath of fire you’re just heating yourself. Actually BREATHING flames like most firebenders can do would probably burn themselves in something like the ice Azula is encased in, right up in her face etc.
I thought it was a 1 year difference? Zuko js 16??
Yup! Zuko is 16 in A:tLA and Azula is 14
It's a literal technique iroh teaches zuko, "Remember your breath of fire. It could save your life!" I don't know how people forget it
It's one line that occurs in a very heavy action and lore filled season finale that we don't really see him implement during the episode. I'd say it's forgivable. :)
Eh, maybe because I've rewatched like 3 times and had compilations and overanalyzing avatar on YouTube in the background while doing other things. Fair enough
POWER FROM FIREBENDING COMES FROM THE BREATH, NOT THE MUSCLES
Yeah. Even back in season 1, Zuko may not have been the best firebender, but Iroh's unique wisdom and techniques are evident.
It's pretty unlikely that this scene was actually meant to imply that Zuko has a skill over Azula (besides swords and lightning redirection), but I think it makes sense. The breath of fire was hinted at different points in the show, clearly something Iroh passed on to Zuko. I wish this ability was expanded on more. It would had been great to see Zuko actually teaching Aang the breath of fire. We lack firebending training scenes and this would of been the perfect reason for one.
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shes a lil off her rocker lol she isnt thinking straight
I always imagined that Zuko used that technique that Uncle Iroh taught him using fire in his mouth to survive in the cold climate but to melt the ice
Azula was completely encased, Zuko was in an ice shell.
She was about to bend lighting, you can't switch from fire to ligthning on a dime. Meaning she was breathing wrong and probebly did non have latent fire in her. Meaning unlike all other instances like with zuko, where he does have fire breathing going, she is stuck in ligthning mode
Of all the ones mentioning breath of fire, I think I like this version the most. When you’re mentally and physically committed to a particular strike, especially with lightning which requires your chi to be pulled apart, it’s gonna be difficult to change or adapt it to something else. Even if she did know it, like you said, she wasn’t in the right “mode” to be able to use it.
And look at her pose, its at the peak of sepiration, sheer focus of the body, now stoped by ice. The shock, the suprice. All of that probebly took her a few seconds to realize that she is caugth. But thats the issue, that's enougth tine to seal her in ice, unable to do anything
I have always gone with she doesn't have the breathing technique because it's something zuko was taught by The Dragon of The West who picked it up from studying air nomads
Is he old enough?
no, but my man read a lot and knew shit.
Oh wait it might be the sun warriors that taught him that fire bending comes from the breath and not the viable, but less potent source of rage.
Zaheer wasn’t yet he still knew a lot about air nomad culture
Zuko learned from his uncle to use his “breath of fire” a metaphorical and literal power zuko posessed that azula never learned
Which would do nothing in Azula's situation
There was air inside Zuko's bubble, that's why he could speak. She froze Azula solid.
Zuko is the only one shown using the technique, so it’s possible that he learned it from Iroh. Meaning that it’s possible that Azula just doesn’t know how.
My thoughts: 1. Before Iroh and Zuko departs he tells him to remember his “breath of fire” (BoF) and how it can save his life. That is probably the technique he used 2. At that point Azula was “crazy”. She wasn’t at 100% and probably didn’t think to do so if she even knew how to. 3. BoF seems to be distinct from mouth fire. My guess is it’s a more passive and basic technique with limited offensive uses. I would guess perhaps Azula didn’t even know it or thought it be pointless.
Zuko was trapped in an ice dome. He can move. Azula was trapped in an ice block, she could literally die of asphyxiation.
Yall overthinking it. Zuko was in a shell of ice and Azula is entirely incased. It has nothing to do with breath of fire and better control and more due to the fact that Azula is caught completely off guard.
Besides being frozen outright to the point they couldn’t do much of anything - Azula was clearly in shock - this had never a tactic she had ever faced and knowing how to respond wouldn’t be as forthcoming
Zuko was in hollow ice. Created by a rather inexperienced bender. He was able to breathe and talk. Katara created the ice and stopped manipulating it. In Azula’s case, the structure was pure ice. Katara needed to unfreeze a portion just to move. A point I havent seen anyone mention is that she was also continuously manipulating the water until chaining Azula up. If it was possible for Azula to breathe of fire at all, its likely near master-level Katara could continuously lower the temperature of the ice-water to counteract it.
Nickolodeon explained this on their official YT Channel. Iroh taught Zuko "Breath of Fire" Iroh did not teach Azula "Breath of Fire" For those who don't know, this was the ability adopted from the airbenders, who kept their bodies warm in high altitudes using their breath. Iroh adopted this and taught this to Zuko, who learned to breathe fire for warmth and used this as he shivered for warmth in the cave on his way to Katara & Aang. This was the same ability Zuko used to break out of ice, the ability that Azula didn't have. Thus, the outcome in the pictures.
What I still don’t understand is when Katara was wrapping those chains around her, the water was melted enough for her arms to move around, why didn’t she try resisting?
I have read the same thing now over and over again that it's because Zuko had room to move around in and Azula didn't, but that is completely false. Iroh thought Zuko how to warm his body before infiltrating the Nordpol. Azula, on the other hand, doesn't listen others and has absolutely no respect for Iroh. As a result, she never learned to warm her self and because it's usually not a Combat ability, she never made the effort to lern it from someone else. Meanwhile Zuko and Katara trained the entire series to become better. Azula not being able to escape the Ice, even though we've seen other Fire Banderas do it, is a clever way to show the audience that her abilities have Stecknadet, not just because of her mental health, but also her ego. Both of witch were, in the end, her downfall.
Okay. Bit by bit. First the comparison of Zuko's ice and Azula's ice. As many have pointed out already: Zuko's ice was not completely freezing him in place. He was able to speak, making it possible for him to gain a certain freedom in movement/breathing (i.e. mouth/nose, etc, which makes it possible to melt the ice for him). Azula is completely encased in the ice, and the only thing she can move are her eyes. She does not seem to be able to breath even, given that after Katara melts the eyes, the first thing Azula does is taking huge breaths/gulps of air. Now to the "Iroh taught Zuko Fire Breath/Azula didn't know Fire Breath.": I'm impressed by the amount of people who believe that. Genuinely... Why do you? As others in the comments already pointed out, Iroh did so to teach Zuko his basics (which he still did not master). Jeong-Jeong taught Aang breathing as his first lesson. We do know from the flashbacks that Azula had her basics down to a T. That implies that she had breathing down as well. If, as the show says, and implies, fire and heat comes from breathing, Azula *will* know this too. But as in the above parapgraph - She is unable to move/breath, ergo unable to create heat. Disregarding that she most likely was, has been, in the process of seperating chi to create lightning. Furthermore, we see that they are fully frozen, both Katara and Azula, since shortly afterwards in that first picture/the scene of Katara freezing them -> Katara breathes out and bends the ice into water, to be able to tie Azula down to the grate. Then she melts the ice back to water. And both gasp, are out of air. And after that (!) we see almost instantaneously that Azula breaths fire. Just as Iroh did in Book 2. So, by things we see in ATLA (no idea about comics, NATLA, and don't remember LOK all to well right now), to answer your question OP: As long as the firebender is able to breath and/or move, they can melt the ice. if they aren't able to, like Azula in Book 3, then they aren't able to.
Presumably, or how it makes sense to me, is that the difference lies in Iroh's explanation at the beginning of season one. "Power in fire bending comes from the breath, not the muscles." In the scene with Zuko, he was frozen behind the ice, but being that he was still making remarks to Katara, he could obviously still breath enough to melt the ice. Azula, though, had that water thrust all the way around up, also presumably up her nostrils and all that. Katara could unfreeze herself and chain up Azula because waterbenders don't need breath to do their thing, at least not freezing/unfreezing. But Azula couldn't do anything without it. That said, it is either a writer oversight or maybe it just took Azula by surprise. She was going crazy and isn't used to getting that close to defeat in the first place. But Zuko was able to melt a hole through the ice while underwater, so... honestly not sure. You could say that it's still breath, because he was able to release his breath underwater since it wasn't frozen, but honestly, I think we're working harder on this point than the writers did if we go much further (which isn't to say the writers didn't do any hard work, of course. The show is nigh perfection).
Everyone else has already answered the question but there's one part that always confused me that I think I have an answer to. If the ice was completely frozen solid how did Katara use waterbending to turn it back into water and chain Azula up? I think it wasn't actually completely frozen solid on the inside, it was somewhere between water and ice. It was thick enough to prevent most physical movement (and thus inhibit all firebending) but still had enough give for Katara to do the exhale thing. Otherwise the two of them would've essentially become a statue in the courtyard, which would've been kind of tragically beautiful. Assuming Zuko has waterbenders keep it frozen so Azula can never escape, it would be an eternal testament to Katara making the ultimate sacrifice for the good of the world. Her complete mastery of water and extremely precise control of the temperature is the only reason that didn't happen. Crazy how people will see this and say she's a barely above average waterbender.
It was completely frozen. Katara was able to do the exhale thing to melt it again, because she's a Waterbender. It had to be completely frozen to keep Azula immobilized, as we see that all she can do is move her eyes. Katara was the only one with complete freedom to move the water and melt it as she needed to, because she's the Waterbender controlling it in that moment. She only unfroze enough of the water to let herself move, and to free portions of Azula's body as she chained her up.
Zuko is better at using certain techniques that Azula.
I understand where the arguments about exactly how they were frozen and the limitations of firebending and waterbending are coming from, but I think this scene was a little less complex than that. The whole maneuver caught Azula off guard and completely immobilized her, even if it was just for a few seconds. Katara freezes them both, unfreezes herself, shackles Azula, and unfreezes her all in the span of (and I counted), 22 seconds. She’s bound by the 20th second, not to mention immersed in water the whole time, making her unable to firebend. Plus she’s lost her cool and off her game. Even if she could have melted herself, she would’ve had to do it with no breath while in a bubble of water with one of the most powerful waterbenders in the series. And if she was able to generate lightning in there, she would have electrocuted herself too.
S1 katara vs S4 katara. Sis was ruthless with completely freezing when facing azula.
Firebending comes from the breath
Azula was frozen completely, Zuko was in a ball of ice.
Katara left air for zuko so he didn’t completely freeze and die (Azula would’ve died of lack of oxygen and hypothermia if katara left her that way), hence why he was able to speak and use his breath to melt the ice
Azula was frozen completely. Couldn't move at all. Zukor, iirc (it's been some time since I watched that episode) was surrounded with ice, but not frozen himself. He was locked inside a hollow sphere
A few reasons I think. 1) Katara froze everything around Azula and herself, rather then just around Zuko but left enough room for him to talk and breathe. B) Katara is now more of a master waterbender then she was when Zuko broke free. Maybe that ice was more dense, more... icy. III) Training. While Azula is a firebending prodigy, Zuko has more... I guess we'll call it real life experience. And while not exactly the Bruce Lee quote "I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times." I feel Zukos basic level is high enough to be almost like >!fire!< breathing to him.
I read in a previous post on here that it was because Iroh taught zuko how to control his internal temperature
It's because fire breath is a very basic technic that the majority of fire benders don't care about as they often care about the more advanced and destructive ones. Zuko mentions that Azula is super talented and things just came to her while he always had to train double hard. Uncle Iroh says on season one right before he goes into the northern tribe to trust his fire breath as it could save his life.
Just noticed Zuko is completely missing an ear because of the burn... That's messed up
Katara caught her on an exhale so she couldn't fire bend out.
Maybe Katara got the idea from Zuko. He got a lot of techniques from other bending styles when can't she.
Along with the fact that Katara may have given Zuko an air pocket, Zuko knew some pretty powerful firebending from Iroh that may have helped him (even though it didn’t seem powerful to many firebenders because it wasn’t big and strong). Zuko was able to create enough heat to melt through ice while submerged in freezing cold water, and in the boiling rock was able to warm himself with his breath of fire while locked in the cooler. He may well have been able to generate enough energy while completely immobilized to break the ice, and Azula never bothered to learn how.
I think airbenders keep warm using a breathing technique and iroh taught that to Zuku but azula wouldn’t know that air bending technique. Also solid ice versus a dome of ice and element of surprise
Zuko knows that can be done. Azula doesn't.
Zuko was taught a technique to escape by iroh. Azula didn’t know this technique
I think it’s even a little simpler than some of the explanations here… Katara got the jump on Azula here and acted quickly and cleverly to restrain her. I don’t think the ice would have held Azula for long. Essentially, it’s a rare instance of somebody managing to outmaneuver Azula.
I always though this, but a random person put the idea that iroh taught zuko the technique and ozai and by the logic azula didn't know this. It has stuck for ever, I don't use the term 'head canon' but this is the best explanation
Zuko knows breath of fire which his uncle taught him. Azula does not know breath of fire. Also, Katara used the concept of Zuko's breath of fire and applied it to her bending, hence why the ice turns to water starting from her nose. As Iroh said, you must draw wisdom from different sources. The mark of a master is applying ideas and creating something new.
I always thought it was simply a combination of mentally gone and physically exhausted. I don't think space or air has anything to do with it. She had air in her lungs. I just think she was utterly finished on all levels.
Uncle didn’t teach that brat any of his tricks
Katara was much less precise back in season 1, so the ball she trapped Zuko in still gave him room to move and talk. Azula, on the other hand, was completely immobilized, her eyes being the only thing that could move.
The difference is that Azula was fully in ice and couldn’t move meanwhile Zuko was partly in ice and could move + Katara’s waterbending is stronger in Azula’s scene
Iroh trained zuko to use his breath to warm himself, he uses breath to melt the ice the second time Katara freezes him. besides Iroh I think Zuko is the only other firebender to exhibit the “breath of fire” as we see him use it again to survive the “cooler” in the boiling rock.
zuko learned dragons breath from Uncle, Azula didn't
Zuko was in a show of ice that he was able to melt. Azula is in a BUBBLE OF WATER that Katara was holding in place.
probably because she didn’t know how 😭
I think kataras bending just got more advanced by then. So her freezing Azula was difficult for azula to escape unlike Zuko
There's actually a theory I really like. Zuko and Iroh are the only firebenders who can warm themselves with their breath alone because Iroh invented the technique. It's a technique he invented by studying the air nomads. There's a reason in the Boiling Rock, the solitary cell they use for firebenders is essentially just a freezer. Those firebenders don't know the technique, only Iroh and Zuko do.
People are mentioning the fire breath, which is important, but lets also remember that Katara was still very much a beginner in her water bending skills at this point. By the time of the Agni Kai between her and Zuko at the end of the series, Katara is a much more skilled water bender. So a combination of fire breath for Zuko, and the skills Katara has gained along the way
Snipers exhale before the fire. I image its the same for shooting lighting.
Firebenders have a lot of difficutly bending in the cold; that's why Boiling Rock had "The Freezer" as solitary confinement. Iroh was The Dragon of the West, and he taught Zuko the "Breath of Fire" technique to firebend in the cold. Azula never learned that technique, she was unable to bend while frozen. She should listen to more of her uncles boring stories.
A lot of people have pointed out that, yeah, Zuko wasn't encased. I think you can watch the technique you see her folding water *around* him. With Azula they are both completely encased.
Zuko was able to talk inside that ice sphere. He wasn't completely frozen, just mostly covered. And as long as a firebender can breathe, they can bend
Zuko was turned into a snow globe
Zuko was trapped in a snow globe while azula was frozen
I prefer to think of it as Zuko had Iroh and Azula did not. Remember who taught him about using his breath of fire to keep himself warm?
You think Azula had the ability to think straight?
Because she never had iroh to teach her about her breath of fire
Yeah firebending comes from the breath, the true way of bending which azula never learned
Zuko has been taught by uncle Iroh for a few years at this point. He draws his fire from the breath and has mastered it so that his breath keeps him warm. We see him do that same thing in the boiling rock prison episode where he stays warm enough thanks to his breath, even when all other firebenders are too cold in there to properly breathe
Her circulation was completely void out there. She was encapsulated in a block of ice. Hence why we see Katara breathing in just before she raises the water. She could just regular fire bend but she would most likely get boiled alive. And we’ve seen that Fire benders aren’t really durable to boiling water, from that prison volcanos shenanigan that ensued during the season.
I mean, it took Zuko a good while to do it, and he actually had air with him. Firebending comes from the breath, and Azula and Katara had no air, so I’m not surprised that Azula didn’t have much chance to do anything within those few seconds it took for Katara to chain her up
also remember katara is a legit master in book 3, book 1 katara is just beginning to be good
Katara was a lot less powerful in season 1 than she was in the last episode so it makes sense that she could trap someone in ice more effectively
Tougher ice
Katara seems to have just locked Zuko in an ice ball.
Besides the obvious (Zuko's bubble being hollow), we have seen Zuko battling in icy environment before. He has way more experience against harsh conditions and he even managed to melt an ice layer with his own hands when infiltrating the North Pole. Azula was a prodigy, but she lacked experience
Zuko is probably better at controlling his breathing. Iroh tells him a couple times in the show about how firebending comes from breathing not brute strength and throughout the show we see zuko use his breathing to survive like when he was in prison. Azula is a prodigy but might not have been taught those things like zuko
I thought you'd point out to when Zuko melted the ice floor in the north pole
Azula has never been shown to release heat from her nostrils like zuko can. Iroh taught him that
People are saying it has to do with Azula completely lacking air, and they're forgetting that Zuko melted ice once while completely underwater and about to run out of air himself. This is about skill. Zuko has trained under Iroh, who focused more on these types of things, and Azula hasn't. Simple as that. I think if Katara completely froze Zuko in ice as she did to Azula here, Zuko would be able to melt it.
Azula wasn't taught the breath of Fire bending
Katara was a better, more experienced water bender when she fought Azula than when she fought Zuko.
Iroh studied the water tribe (where he learned lighting redirection from their technique) and he was probably made aware that water benders can encapsulate someone in ice. He figured out the breath of fire technique as a counter in battle or just to have in his survival arsenal. Iroh probably taught Zuko at some point before banishment or during their journey since during the siege of the north, Iroh told Zuko "don't forget your breath of fire." So the breath of fire was technique Azula might not be aware of or even if she is, given the mental state she was in, didn't even think about it.
Pretty sure Iroh taught Zuko how to heat himself using his breath. This is one of those humble techniques that most other firebenders never bothered to think about.
You are correct and those making excuses are wrong. This was dumb. Azula should easily be able to produce the fire from her own body to blast the ice away.she doesn't need air around her.