Avatar: The Last Airbender - 1x16 "The Deserter" FULL REACTION
Added 2021-04-14 21:12:50 +0000 UTCEnjoy!
Comments
Very true. I feel like Jeong Jeong leans very heavily towards confirmation bias. He made up his mind about fire being a purely destructive element a long time ago, and now ONLY brings up instances that prove that to be true, like Zhao and the current war being waged by the Fire Nation. Meanwhile, he completely ignores anything positive, like fire providing heat and light, cooking food, fuelling ships, melting metal for use in construction etc etc.
Jamie Morgan
2021-04-15 01:40:02 +0000 UTCI guess fire is a lot easier to lose control over. A tiny flame can quickly grow into a destructive wildfire on its own. I don't think the same is true for water, earth or air. If you spill a few drops of water and then leave, they won't grow into a tsunami. But yes, there's definitely destructive power in all the elements ... and power can corrupt.
G. Smith
2021-04-15 00:32:16 +0000 UTCJeong Jeong's statement about how fire is the only element that is destructive without the aid of a bender is quite interesting, because it isn't really true. It feels true because fire is the only element where if you touch it, it injures you. But water, earth, and air all have huge destructive capabilities in nature, and to me it feels like Jeong Jeong isn't simply being imprecise by not mentioning that. Jeong Jeong is speaking from a place of fear and self-hatred that come from his abilities and experiences with fire. What he's saying about fire might be true, but he's leaving out its positive qualities (light, warmth, food) in his assessment, and sort of venerating the other elements at the same time. We don't know his life story and I'm sure he has other fire-related regrets, but the main regret presented in this episode is teaching Zhao. But it wasn't fire that made Zhao power-hungry and sadistic, it was Zhao himself. Yet Jeong Jeong seems to blame the destructive nature of firebending nonetheless. Zhao wouldn't hold quite the same level of power if he couldn't firebend, but that wouldn't make him a better person and probably wouldn't lessen the suffering he causes all that much. I love it because I don't actually think anything Jeong Jeong is saying is wrong. There's just a much larger picture to consider, and it's all about perspective.
KT
2021-04-14 23:52:53 +0000 UTC
