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*SPOILERS* How did Toph do that?

  • Avatar of janedoe401

    janedoe401

    [21]Dec 6, 2006
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    Ix_Ixnay wrote:

    Alright, here's what we know: Apparently earthbenders aren't able to bend metal. In "Imprisoned" the fire benders took all of them to a metal ship in the ocean, so they couldn't bend anything.

    I agree in the fact that metal comes from the earth, so why shouldn't they be able to bend it?!? It may be that they just aren't powerful enough to bend the metal.

    I think she was able to bend the door because she has unnatural bending abilities, and was just strong enough.


    those earthbenders were of ordinary stock who, unlike toph, could not "see" earth the way she sees it.

    its either toph can actually bend metal, or bend the impurities in metal which have earth properties.?? Either way, it shows that she's pretty powerful because:
    ?????? ???? 1) if she can really bend metal, then that in itself is an unusual feat.
    ?????? ???? 2) if she can only bend the impurities in metal, then it shows how powerful she is in that she can manipulate tiny particles enough to actually move the metal surrounding those particles without tearing it out.
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  • Avatar of sifuIroh

    sifuIroh

    [22]Dec 6, 2006
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    I train kung fu and know various techniques.?? thats why I am such a big fan of Avatar.

    just a factoid:

    when toph was hiting the walls of the metal cage, she was using a training method called iron shirt or vest.

    her stance and how she used the back of her hands or top of wrist is how the application is done.

    in the real technique the forearm is used??for the stricking .

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  • Avatar of Eman5805

    Eman5805

    [23]Dec 6, 2006
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    sifuIroh wrote:

    I train kung fu and know various techniques.?? thats why I am such a big fan of Avatar.

    just a factoid:

    when toph was hiting the walls of the metal cage, she was using a training method called iron shirt or vest.

    her stance and how she used the back of her hands or top of wrist is how the application is done.

    in the real technique the forearm is used??for the stricking .

    Toph probably would have used her forearm if she wasn't 4'11" in a 6 foot(give or take)??cage...

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  • Avatar of Law20

    Law20

    [24]Dec 6, 2006
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    In The Blind Bandit, Toph said she ". . .Sees with earthbending. . ." In this case, she "saw" the earth impurities in the metal and used THAT to bend the metal. ALL metal has some earth/rock in it, and that gives anyone who uses metal a huge weakness against Toph. It also leaves room for other earthbenders to someday come to her level, but for now, let's leave it with this: metal is no longer safe with Toph.
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  • Avatar of dumbTVnut

    dumbTVnut

    [25]Dec 6, 2006
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    I don't buy the impurity theory (although what toph saw might be interperted that way) first of all it goes against what the guru said which was that metal was a part of earth, purified and refined. Second the amount of impurities in metals is extremely low (below 1%), and most water benders can't bend plants or people (70-80% water!) so how does that figure that Toph can bend the slightest impurity, by that logic Toph could bend bones and the phosphorous in cells! Worst case theory: the writers are just making it up as they go.
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  • Avatar of MCMLXVI

    MCMLXVI

    [26]Dec 6, 2006
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    Perhaps??it isn't so much metal "bending" as it is metal??"moldering" that she's doing.

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  • Avatar of HopeAndTruth

    HopeAndTruth

    [27]Dec 6, 2006
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    i don;t think so ...beacause when we mean Earth we mean metal ..anything that come from earth?

    same with fire = lighting?

    water=plants?

    Edited on 12/06/2006 9:00pm
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  • Avatar of doctor_lee

    doctor_lee

    [28]Dec 6, 2006
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    Toph basically saw the "earth" contained in the metal and used earthbending to bend the earth. (Impurity.)
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  • Avatar of HopeAndTruth

    HopeAndTruth

    [29]Dec 6, 2006
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    does this mean she can bend anything with EARTH in it???
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  • Avatar of Nalesnik

    Nalesnik

    [30]Dec 6, 2006
    • member since: 11/25/06
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    I think most people are confused with the impurity metal bending aspect. Most people think that there are bits of earth in the metal (impurities) and that Toph bends those and not the actual metal.

    This is what I think. In the earth there are many impurities. Some of tjose impurities are metal. Now earthbenders can bend the earth AND those impurities. With me so far? Ok, so metal is made by refining earth and extracting the metal from the earth. So Toph can actually bend the metal itself, and not just the "impurities in the the metal" Since metal is considered earth too. (that's what I got from the Guru talk) Then metal can be bent the same way earth is. Now the reason, other benders can't bend metal, is because, in their minds, they think metal is seperate from earth, while in reality, it is not. Like the guru said, everything is connected, the one and the same. And only a few select people can understand this concept. Ex: guru, avatar(cause he can bend all elements), and Toph (to a limited extent.)
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  • Avatar of Eman5805

    Eman5805

    [31]Dec 6, 2006
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    Toph has to be touching the metal to bend it. In this case Metalbending is done quite literally. Unless Toph upgrades on this she'll have to grab or touch the metal to do anything to it. Really seems like a secondary form of Earthbending in practice...not like she's punching??the air??and the metal curls up and flies away...
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  • Avatar of MCMLXVI

    MCMLXVI

    [34]Dec 7, 2006
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    Eman5805 wrote:
    Toph has to be touching the metal to bend it. In this case Metalbending is done quite literally. Unless Toph upgrades on this she'll have to grab or touch the metal to do anything to it. Really seems like a secondary form of Earthbending in practice... not like she's punching the air and the metal curls up and flies away...
    MCMLXVI wrote:
    That's just how to do it. Touch the metal. Force the bendable material out of formation. Make the metal brittle. Voila! Metalmoldering (that's what I'm now calling 'forcing metal to become brittle').
    MCMLXVI wrote:
    The reason I think Bumi's chin-up bending worked was that the earth "got the message" transmitted through the air. For metal, the only way the earth can "get the message" is through contact with the surrounding metal.
    Furthermore, Toph couldn't just touch the metal or shove the metal or stomp/ pound on the metal; she had to punch the metal or grab the metal, emulating one of the stronger earthbending forms (I wonder if I can still find a screencap of the form I am thinking about).
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  • Avatar of confucioussayhi

    confucioussayhi

    [35]Dec 7, 2006
    • member since: 11/23/06
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    Actually there could be impurities in the metal. If you have a crappy smithie whose smelting methods aren't that great impurities could be left in. And if said smithie's smithing isn't that great either it could drascitally(sp?) degrade the steel's strength. Even so there are impurites in just about every metal at least back then. They smelted steel with a bellows(or at least I think thats what its called)and a furnace.
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