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Recently I was going through the ATLA character profiles and noticed their speeds listed as merely superhuman. I questioned this as we do see several feats of lightning redirection, lightning dodging and even lightning interception. Zuko's feat was calculated at Mach 12.4 here (and was deemed an inconsistency). The speed of the ATLA universe is typically accepted as subsonic based on this calculation here . However upon review of the calculation I noticed that they have the speed of lightning as 150,000 meters/second. A quick google search however reveals that the average speed of a bolt of lightning is 3700 miles/second which translates to 5,954,573 meters per second or almost 6,000,000 m/s. Plugging these numbers into the calculation you get:
Using the altitude for cumulonimbus (thunderstorm) clouds. The average speed of lightning is 6 million m/s. The average cloud base altitude in a thunderstorm is 2000 meters. To find out the amount of time it would take the lightning to get to the boat we simply divide 2000m/6,000,000m/s= .0003 seconds. Now in the video we see Iroh's hands move from below his waist to above his head to intercept the bolt which is approximately 3 feet or one meter. This puts Iroh's reaction time movement at Speed=distance/time= 1m/.0003 seconds. That is 3,333 m/s. The speed of sound is 343 m/s. This puts Iroh's reaction at Mach 10.
Now Mach 10 reaction speed is remarkably consistent with the Mach 12.4 reaction speed we get from Zuko's interception feat. Many may say that this is inconsistent. However we must remember-Iroh's feat is a reaction to natural lightning while Zuko's feat is a reaction to bended lightning. Now obviously bended lightning is much weaker than natural lightning as seen many times in the series. However, Zuko's feat happened during Sozin's comet which gives a 100x boost to firebending. As lightning bending is simply an advanced form of fire bending it stands to reason that the comet also boosted the power of lightning bending. Whether it is a 1:1 ratio is irrelevant as it stands to reason that lightning bending gained some boost during the comet. This is also demonstrated as we see the lightning traveling a much farther distance and releasing a lot more electrical energy than at any other point in either show. This handily explains why this feat is "inconsistent" with other lightning bending feats as it occured during the time when firebenders were at their most powerful.
In conclusion based on Iroh's feat when calculated based on the real speed of lightning along with the fact that Zuko's feat happened at a time when firebending is at a peak. I propose that ATLA top tier profiles be changed to hypersonic reaction times.
Using the altitude for cumulonimbus (thunderstorm) clouds. The average speed of lightning is 6 million m/s. The average cloud base altitude in a thunderstorm is 2000 meters. To find out the amount of time it would take the lightning to get to the boat we simply divide 2000m/6,000,000m/s= .0003 seconds. Now in the video we see Iroh's hands move from below his waist to above his head to intercept the bolt which is approximately 3 feet or one meter. This puts Iroh's reaction time movement at Speed=distance/time= 1m/.0003 seconds. That is 3,333 m/s. The speed of sound is 343 m/s. This puts Iroh's reaction at Mach 10.
Now Mach 10 reaction speed is remarkably consistent with the Mach 12.4 reaction speed we get from Zuko's interception feat. Many may say that this is inconsistent. However we must remember-Iroh's feat is a reaction to natural lightning while Zuko's feat is a reaction to bended lightning. Now obviously bended lightning is much weaker than natural lightning as seen many times in the series. However, Zuko's feat happened during Sozin's comet which gives a 100x boost to firebending. As lightning bending is simply an advanced form of fire bending it stands to reason that the comet also boosted the power of lightning bending. Whether it is a 1:1 ratio is irrelevant as it stands to reason that lightning bending gained some boost during the comet. This is also demonstrated as we see the lightning traveling a much farther distance and releasing a lot more electrical energy than at any other point in either show. This handily explains why this feat is "inconsistent" with other lightning bending feats as it occured during the time when firebenders were at their most powerful.
In conclusion based on Iroh's feat when calculated based on the real speed of lightning along with the fact that Zuko's feat happened at a time when firebending is at a peak. I propose that ATLA top tier profiles be changed to hypersonic reaction times.
