I think one thing i haven’t seen people talk about is this scene, and how Korra is bending the metal. She isn’t Metalbending like an Earthbender would. She is doing it like a Waterbender. This may seem a bit obvious but like, it’s just amazing how she is taking things she earned as a Waterbender from Katara and using it in a way that gives her an advantage over Kuvira. Kuvira just moves it like an Earthbender would. She keeps her defense up and keeps a steady stance. Korra is changing the metals form and changing it from defensive to offensive. That’s what waterbending’s all about, pushing and pull, not forcing it, but guiding it. She is just amazing.
I never actually thought about this…REMARKABLE
I was looking this scene over, and (bear with me, my descriptive skills aren’t the best,) some of the analysis doesn’t feel…complete. Not as complete as I’d like it to be…so I decided to jot down what I see.
It wasn’t just water bending style. when the metal is sent her way, she strikes this pose. Her lower body is the strength and stability of an earth bender. But already her hands have parted into the usual Fire bender style, exuding heat, she’s combining the control of earth bending, with the heat of a fire bender, using it to mold and soften the metal as it approaches.
By the time she breaks it down, she’s keeping one hand on her fire bending style, while the other is slowly rotating into Water bending style, controlling the liquid metal using the combination of earth and water bending styles
(akin to how Katara has controlled mud/slurry in the past,)
with a primary focus on Water bending while she’s stepping out of her fire bending stance,
when she’s rotating her hand and the metal, she’s already in full control of the liquid substance, using her water bending style to guide its path into her next step. Then, by the point she’s mostly collected it, her muscles are tensing up again, using the control of an earth bender with the fluidity of a water bender to keep it stable as she steps into her next movement.
After that, by the point she’s mostly collected the melted metal, her muscles are tensing up again, using the control and stability of an earth bender with the fluidity and flexibility of a water bender to keep it in place as she steps into her next movement,
She then breaks off the remainder of the metal and readies to switch from defensive to Offensive, using the fluidity of a water bender and the heat and ferocity of a fire bender (here alluded to with the wideness of her stance, akin to how firebending has a tendency to prefer wide versatile positions so as to keep proper control of the flames,) to keep the metal moving, to keep it from solidifying right away.
As she’s pulling the metal around, she’s starting to tap back into her earth bending form, the clenched fist using all of that stability to lead the metal’s path as it is now an attack, as opposed to a simple push and pull.
But she stll keeps that water bending fluidity, in the looseness of her movements while still keeping her legs parted and in an earth bending stance, she’s keeping a strong posture while she comes around to launch the metal with her earth/metal bending style.
Then, at the moment she’s ready to fire, she’s already lowering her water bending style , solely focusing on her earth bending, her body now rigid and precise as opposed to fluid and reactionary.
Last but certainly not least, the moment the attack is launched back at Kuvira, the scene is focused on her fist, and her posture, emphasizing her earth/metal bending as the sole driving force behind the attack. Her posture still retains the stability and rigidness of an earth bender, the fluidity of a water bender, the ferocity of a fire bender, and the open flawless guard of an air bender.
In addition, while it wasn’t entirely obvious, I’d like to think Airbending was present throughout all of those stances, guiding and providing a flow for the metal to mold through with relative ease (as shown by how swiftly the air shifts around Korra despite how little actual airflow was present in that scene. Korra is essentially embodying all forms of bending in this attack, much as Aang did against Ozai in his avatar state. The difference being, that they’re not shown in a visible form. Which actually goes in line with the idea that Legend of Korra was intended to take the Avatar’s journey in an opposite direction from how it was with Aang’s. But then, that’s just how I see it.
Saw something today that really made me want to reblog this.
