The Best Part Of Katara And Aang’s Relationship Is That It Is Not Just Defined By The Grand, Epic,

the best part of katara and aang’s relationship is that it is not just defined by the grand, epic, romantic moments between the two, like the final kiss or the dance scene. rather, the mutual love, support, and dedication that the two have for one another can be seen the most through the smaller and more subtle moments. the underrated and often undetected or ignored moments. moments like:

1. when aang, without any trace of resentment or jealousy, was absolutely blown away by what he thought was katara’s quick mastery of waterbending (even though it was actually pakku) in “the waterbending master” (b1 ep18).

“that was amazing!”

he’s so awestruck by her that his hands are on his head and he looks absolutely delighted, like “that’s my best friend, everyone!”

2. when the invasion plan had drastically backfired in “day of black sun, part 2” (b3 ep11) and aang felt personal responsibility over the failure, including over hakoda and the other adults’ forced surrender to the fire nation. everyone had someone to say goodbye to, except for aang, who was alone on appa and in tears from his shame, regret, and humiliation. but there katara was, crouching beside him and communicating her support through her eyes.

katara didn’t say any words to him - and she didn’t need to. just the act of sitting next to him and letting him know that she was there was enough to motivate him to brush off his tears and get up on his feet. it was enough to remind him of exactly why he had to continue on, even at his lowest point. what his purpose was for saving the world: for the people he loved. for katara.

“I’m doing it to save the world, but more than that. I’m doing it for the people I love. I’m doing it for you, Katara.” (b3 e9)

3. when katara put aside her anger toward zuko to support aang’s decision in letting him join the team in “the western air temple” (b3 ep12). her face softens when she turns to aang, especially after seeing how worried he looked that she would say no.

and hardens again when she says, “I’ll go along with whatever you think is right.”

her words to aang are different compared to toph’s and sokka’s responses in letting zuko join the group. because while toph and sokka speak generally about the greater plan - “all i want is to defeat the firelord. if you think this is the way to do it, then I’m all for it,” (sokka) - katara’s words are much more personal. they echo her constant belief in him that she’s had from the very opening of the series (“but i believe that aang can save the world”).

she trusts and supports aang so much that she’s willing to set aside her personal anger towards zuko and everything that she associates with his betrayal (which had led to aang’s comatose state and one of the worst few weeks of her life). if having zuko join was important for aang and for the team/their mission, and if aang genuinely believed that this way was right, then she, without a doubt, would support his choice, no matter what.

aang also reacts differently to her answer compared to the way he reacts to sokka’s and toph’s answers. katara is the only person that aang actually walks over to, and asks in a very hesitant voice, “katara?” he cares about her so much to the point that if had she said no, zuko can’t join, he would have had to decline zuko, no matter how detrimental that would have been for the plan. and that was why aang was so worried.

thus, aang is initially surprised when katara actually agrees to letting zuko join. however, as soon as he processes her words, he gives her the biggest grin ever - a grin much wider than the ones he gives to toph and sokka. in that moment, aang’s smile conveys his gratitude for her unconditional support. it represents his happiness for the compromise that she has had to make, putting aside her anger and discomfort over having zuko join the team for the sake of aang needing a firebending teacher. his smile - and general reaction - shows just how much he cherishes and values her opinion, not just as another member of the gaang, but also as his waterbending teacher, best friend, and one of the most important people in his life.

4. when katara smiles softly at aang’s words about friendship in “the avatar and the firelord” (b3 ep6).

Aang: “Roku was just as much Fire Nation as Sozin was, right? If anything, their story proves anyone’s capable of great good and great evil. Everyone, even the Fire Lord and the Fire Nation have to be treated like they’re worth giving a chance. And I also think it was about friendships.”

notice how katara is the only one out of the rest of the gaang who is smiling at aang. sokka looks surprised, while toph looks reluctant and almost pained (which prompts her to ask one of the most infamous lines of the franchise that makes us all cry). however, katara is looking at aang with an expression of happiness and even pride. as someone who shares a similar hopeful and optimistic viewpoint of the world as aang, it makes sense for why she immediately accepts his words of giving the nation who waged war on the world a chance, while sokka and toph appear more reluctant over the thought. it also makes sense as to why she is impressed at the conclusion that he draws from the story: the power of friendship; how friendships can be so profound and special that they even transcend lifetimes.

i also believe that this moment right here, where aang explains the main lesson behind the story of roku and sozin, is one of the moments that cemented her love for him. as she describes in the canonical Avatar the Last Airbender: Legacy book in her letter to tenzin:

“one of the great joys of my life, and - I realized over the course of time - the thing that caused me to fall in love with your father; was watching him grow from the joyful, playful boy he was when I first met him to the amazing, thoughtful, powerful, and wise man he became on his journey to accept his fate and embrace the power and responsibilities of being the Avatar.” - Katara to Tenzin.

there are many times throughout the series that we see aang display a great deal of intelligence and maturity as he grows into his role as the avatar. this moment right here is one of them, in which he explains to his friends that the key to ending the 100-year war is to be more compassionate and kind; to understand that the root of evil and war comes from a cycle of thinking and ideals, rather than from humans themselves; that people are never born into binary categories of “evil” or “good” but instead become influenced based on system(s) that are controlled by institutional power, and that the solution to ending the cycle of hatred and bigotry is to dismantle these structures and systems of power. which is another reason why aang chooses to not kill the firelord but instead take away his firebending. in doing so, he dismantles the force of imperial power that ozai has utilized to coerce, control, and colonize the world.

Why Katara chose Aang over Zuko.

Katara chose Aang because he was her best friend, because she knew him well, trusted him, cared for him more than anyone else. It wasn’t a choice she made lightly; as evidenced first in the episode “The Fortuneteller” and several episodes after that such as The Cave of Two Lovers, City of Walls and Secrets, The Earth King, The Headband, The Invasion, and The Ember Island Players, this was something that Katara thought about for a long time before she decided to start her relationship with Aang at the end of the series.

“But no 14-year old girl would ever want to date a 12-year old, especially when she could have Zuko who is taller and more attractive with a wicked scar!” The problem with that argument is that it is based on the assumption that Katara is a normal teenage girl… and she is not.

First of all, let me point of that by the time Katara was ready to forgive Zuko, she’d already learned the hard way to NOT judge a boy by looks alone through her experience with Jet… her only other canon love interest in the entire series. Moreover, Katara is much more mature than the average teenage girl IRL; with Aang, she is able to look past the surface and see that he is mature and wise beyond his years, and that he has genuine feelings of love and affection for her. Katara says it herself in “The Invasion”:

“We’ve been through a lot together, and I’ve seen you grow up so much. You’re not that goofy kid I found in the iceberg anymore”. In this, we see Katara affirming Aang as her peer; she does not see him as a little brother, she does not consider herself a mother figure to Aang, she sees him as an equal.

Katara also grew up in a radically different environment from our modern world, and also lives in a very different culture. Dating a 12-year old at the age of 14 may seem strange to girls IRL, but to Katara it may not seem so unusual. Look at the Northern Water Tribe; in their culture, a woman can be married at the age of 16, something we would consider unacceptable in the modern world.

As for Zuko… for 55 episodes, Zuko was Katara’s enemy. He kidnapped her, tried to blackmail her, attacked her and her friends on several occasions… but most importantly, the one time Katara chose to give him the benefit of the doubt, he betrayed her in the worst possible way. He nearly got her best friend KILLED. Zutarians fail to recognize how traumatic an experience this was for Katara. It permanently damaged Katara’s relationship with Zuko, and opened her eyes to Zuko’s greatest flaw: As Iroh once said, good and evil are always at war inside him, something that carries forward into the comics even after Zuko helps end the war.

Katara says it herself when she threatens Zuko: “You and I both know you’ve struggled with doing the right thing in the past”. Because of this, Katara never even considers Zuko as a potential partner. In the end, it was not a choice between Aang and Zuko… it was a choice of whether or not she wanted to be with Aang, contemplating her feelings for him, and deciding what Aang meant to her. Zuko was not even a factor.

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Our Parker Solar Probe Just Touched the Sun!

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This marks one great step for Parker Solar Probe and one giant leap for solar science! Landing on the Moon helped scientists better understand how it was formed. Now, touching the Sun will help scientists understand our star and how it influences worlds across the solar system.

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But where exactly does the Sun’s atmosphere end and the solar wind begin? We’ve never known for sure. Until now!

In April 2021, Parker Solar Probe swooped near the Sun. It passed through a massive plume of solar material in the corona. This was like flying into the eye of a hurricane. That flow of solar stuff — usually a powerful stream of particles — hit the brakes and went into slow-motion.

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These bizarre shapes were first observed in the 1990s. Then, in 2019, Parker Solar Probe revealed they were much more common than scientists first realized. But they still had questions, like where the switchbacks come from and how the Sun makes them.

Recently, Parker Solar Probe dug up two important clues. First, switchbacks tend to have lots of helium, which scientists know comes from the solar surface. And they come in patches.

Those patches lined up just right with magnetic funnels that appear on the Sun’s surface. Matching these clues up like puzzle pieces, scientists realized switchbacks must come from near the surface of the Sun.

Figuring out where switchbacks come from and how they form will help scientists understand how the Sun produces the solar wind. And that could clue us into one of the Sun’s biggest mysteries: why the Sun’s atmosphere is much, much hotter than the surface below.

Parker Solar Probe will fly closer and closer to the Sun. Who knows what else we’ll discover?

Make sure to follow us on Tumblr for your regular dose of space!

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