Hey, I wanna talk about a piece of fridge brilliance (pun intended) in The Boiling Rock.
Specifically, about the Coolers. And about Zuko.
The Coolers are, first and foremost, a means of firebender suppression. They are invoked as a punishment against unsanctioned firebending. They are designed, specifically, to shut down firebenders who have toed out of line. Like the metal prison in Imprisoned, like the suspended cages in The Puppet Master, these are prison facilities designed with a specific sort of bender in mind.
So then - Zuko.
Why throw Zuko in the Cooler as part of the escape plan? He should be EXACTLY the sort of person the Cooler is designed to work most devastatingly against. It would almost make more sense to try to get Sokka thrown into the cooler - he’s from the South Pole at least. Or maybe Suki, who’s not a bender at all. But they choose Zuko. And he’s successful. Subjected to the most severe form of firebender suppression in the Fire Nation’s most high-profile prison, Zuko is able to dismantle the Cooler and walk away smiling.
Why?
I want to walk you through some facts:
In a tidbit of behind-the-scenes trivia, it was revealed that airbenders can regulate their body temperature with their breath alone. This is why Aang is so weirdly comfortable traveling around the South and North Pole (and really any climate in the series) in his normal monk garb. Everyone else changes outfits to reflect the changing climate, but not Aang, his breath has that covered.
It would be quite useful if a technique like that could be adapted to another style of bending. The same way that a waterbender’s redirection of their opponent’s energy could be adapted to the redirection of a firebender’s lightning. I bet the man who invented lightning redirection by studying waterbending would have some brilliant insight into using the breath for warmth by studying airbending.
In fact, that exact man tells Zuko “Remember your breath of fire. It could save your life out there.” back in Siege of the North. We see Zuko use his breath to warm himself that very episode, per his uncle’s instructions.
And we see Zuko use his breath of fire in one other case:
To endure the cooler.
I’m willing to bet - Breath of Fire, as a means to keep oneself warm, is not a native firebending technique. If it was, the whole concept of the Cooler would be laughable. Any prisoner would just Breath-o-Fire himself warm in there, and the prison guards would all collectively say “oh wow, the Cooler was a stupid idea, time for a new plan.”
But we know a traditional firebender would be sapped so cold in the Cooler that his firebending becomes unusable. If Zuko were relying on traditional firebending techniques, the same would happen to him. But he’s not.
Zuko’s Breath of Fire is an airbending technique.
One that Iroh taught him. One the Fire Nation has no precedent for. One which lets Zuko ward off the freezing effects of the Cooler like it’s nothing, and allows him to dismantle it from the inside and come away smiling, unhindered, unaffected, warm to his core.
It’s another case of Iroh’s brilliance. And I’m betting he and Zuko may be the only two firebenders in the world who could pull this off.
Iroh is often called the “Dragon of the West” and we can assume that a big part of that title is because of his “killing” of the last Dragons. However:
Iroh is also the only firebender (other than Zuko, who Iroh presumably taught) to breathe fire. And given that Iroh spent a lot of time trying to learn from the other elements, this technique coming from studying airbender form makes a lot of sense. (Though I wonder WHERE Iroh might have learned it from. Maybe some documents from Air Temples? Either way)
I love the idea of Iroh trying to teach Zuko Air Nomad philosophy to help cool his temper and help him process his trauma while also teaching him an extremely helpful and unique firebending technique that has ended up saving Zuko multiple times. <3
…
(Plus it looks cool)
