How was Zaheer able to hold his own against a master air bender

like Tenzin?
3

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19 Answers

Gilad Ironi, I've been a fan of Avatar for the past 10 years of life.
Updated April 29, 2020

Well actually he didn’t. I think it’s important to adress that while Zaheer was the best villian in
korra, he was probably the weakest. His powers don’t match to Amon’s insane bloodbending,
Unalaq’s spirit powers, or kuvira’s metalbending skills. It’s also important to adress that Zaheer
was the weakest of the 4 red lotus members. What made the red lotus so deadly was the fact
that they worked together in unison.

The episode you are referring to is s03e11 “The Ultimatum”. In this episode Tenzin alone fights
against all 4 members of the red lotus at once, after Ming-Hua and Ghazan beat Kya and Bumi. If
you’ll watch that battle again, you’ll see that tenzin is actually winning the battle against Zaheer.
And that makes perfect sense.

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Tenzin is an airbending master, son and student of the legend himself, Avatar Aang. Tenzin
practiced the arts of airbending for decades, and he also learned the traditions and philosophies
of the air nomads. He is(currently) the strongest airbender in the entire world.

Open in App
Zaheer on the other hand had just gotten his airbending. What makes him such a great
airbender(probably 3rd to best in the world after Tenzin and Jinora) is the fact that he learned
about the air nomads way before he got his bending. You see, Zaheer was a huge fanboy of the
air nomads. So even when he was a non-bender, he knew all about air-nomad philosophies. In
addition to his knowledge, he also learned martial arts, specifically martial arts that are used in
air bending. That is why he became such a strong airbender within days on gaining his
airbending. His proficiency in martial arts made him a strong bender immediately.

Even so, Tenzin still got the better of Zaheer in their battle. Zaheer just kept running away,
desperately trying to avoid shots from Tenzin. He eventually slipped and got hit but immediately
stood up. If the battle were to continue, Tenzin would have beaten Zaheer. But unfortunately, it
didn’t. Ming-Hua, Ghazan, and P’li decided to join in the battle, and poor Tenzin had to fight all 4
of them at once. In that scenario, he lost horribly, and that is no surprise, since the combined
force of the 4 red lotus members is impossible to beat alone.

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Vishnu Elayath
June 16, 2020
Tenzin was still doing well when Ghazan and Ming Hua joined. It was P’Li who changed the tides
of the battle. Her Combustion Bending was too fast and wild to be stopped which caused Tenzin
to fall down hurt. Once that happened, the others capitalised on it immediately.
Upvote · 30 Reply

Scott Karagavoorian
October 6, 2020
Very true. An unleashed air bender on high ground is a tough opponent. The northern air temple
created a good fighting environment for tenzin to be able to battle those guys but your right.
When he started getting blasted with combustion fire he couldn’t keep his defense and offense
up at the same time. He was winning when he was keeping them on their toes with his powerful
air bending but when he could keep them on defensive even for a second they came in for kill.
Upvote · 2 Reply

Jarin Kappan
December 1, 2020
Exactly, he was holding his own against the other three until P’Li joined in.
Upvote · 2 Reply

Hussein Baydoun
August 27, 2020
This is absolutely why this is my favorite fight scene between both series. Tenzin lost that battle,
but they didn't nerf him one bit. He showed what it really means to be a Master Airbender. Within
seconds of Ming-Hua and Ghazan joining the fight, you see that he already created a rhythm to
keep up with them.

With all the hate The Legend of Korra gets (I personally love it), I feel like this scene deserves so
much more appreciation. It's perfect.
Upvote · 15 Reply

Scott Karagavoorian
October 6, 2020
I agree. I don’t think there is so much hate tho. I just think we all wanted ATLA book four air. I
have loved Korra. Some really great action and dramatic villains etc. this battle is Almost on the
level of aang and Ozai in terms of action.
Upvote · 2 Reply Open in App
Ramon Robinson
April 25, 2020
I'd say Korra in her Avatar State could beat all of them, even if they were together, i would also
say that Avatar Aang could beat them all together, with or without Avatar State.
Upvote · 5 Reply

Kyle Huxtable
April 27, 2020
Are you kidding? Korra in her Avatar state couldn’t even beat one woman, one Earthbender.
Upvote · 17 Reply

Ramon Robinson
June 2, 2020
Ptsd and crippled
Upvote · 2 Reply

This comment has been deleted · December 16, 2020

Kyle Huxtable
May 1, 2020
That’s the thing. I don’t believe the PTSD gimmick, because she’s suffered worse and come
through without a problem. Having your soul ripped out and smacked around, nearly killed
multiple times over? Yeah, that dog doesn’t fly.

As for her not being close to full strength, she’s never actually shown at full strength. The
Avatar State was so weak because she could summon it at will. Turned the whole show into
a DBZ clone.
Upvote · 12 Reply

Jonathan Wong
May 13, 2020
When did she survive worse?
Upvote Reply

Kyle Huxtable
May 15, 2020
Having her soul ripped out of her (Rava) and beaten around.
Upvote Reply

Jonathan Wong
Open in App
May 15, 2020
 Her soul is still there even without Rava. And there’s a difference between going
through a short burst of lack of power and then getting it back almost immediately
and losing your body for months
1

This comment has been deleted · December 16, 2020

Kyle Huxtable
May 1, 2020
The creators didn’t make Aang’s Avatar State too powerful. It’s supposed to be powerful.
Every time it’s brought up, it’s like a Super Saiyan against, say, me. There’s very little one
can do against an Avatar engaging their past lives’ strength.

The reason they nerfed Korra’s state is because she could, at the beginning of Season 2,
utilize it at will. This is something that took Aang three full seasons to do, and it was a
real journey. Most times, he went into it in high-stress situations. Now, it’s little better
than a generic power-up.

Yes, Korra’s soul was ripped out. The whole Season 2 arc and the final fight, where Rava
was ripped out of her, was the comparative soul-ripping.

Yes, summoning it at-will, in the Legend of Korra show, made it weak, because the
writers wanted it to feel weak. How often does her Avatar State actually help her win a
fight? Not a little race against children, but an actual fight.
10

This comment has been deleted · December 16, 2020

Kyle Huxtable
May 3, 2020
The lore doesn’t nerf the Avatar State. Because the Avatar State is something only
called upon in dire need.

Korra’s being able to summon it at will is hand-waved away through some magical
mumbo-jumbo, and as such, the story-writers had to nerf it, otherwise any conflict
would be ended quickly.
3

This comment has been deleted · December 16, 2020

Kyle Huxtable
May 5, 2020 Open in App
 Yes. All of them can, and those Avatar States can end any conflicts. They’re
overpowered precisely because of that.

As soon as Aang could summon it at will, the show ended, because any other conflict
would be a non-issue.

Whereas Korra summoning the Avatar Spirit can only really defeat children at an air-
scooter race.
4

Manuel S. Student
May 5, 2020
Aang earned his overpoweredness by suffering for three seasons to earn his bending
stripes, mastering the four elements and their styles. He got his payoff. He got his
overpoweredness, then conflict became nonexistent, so the show wrapped.

Korra feels like a poorly written Aang without his journey to … Read More
5

Kyle Huxtable Aang earned his overpoweredness through character growth, yes. Korra didn’t…
thi Sh did ’t h Ai b di It lit ll j t i t h b fl k

Brody Smith
April 27, 2020
Anything korra can do aang can do, and he did it before it became a dbz clone
Upvote · 9 Reply

Dylan Redivik
April 29, 2020
That’s not the case. Korra is canonically superior to Aang in the physical aspect of bending.
Upvote · 2 Reply

This comment has been deleted · April 30, 2020

Dylan Redivik
April 30, 2020
The creators already stated she is physically stronger. On top of that, she can metalbend
(he can’t), quell spirits (he can’t), resist blood bending without the Avatar State and redirect
energy (he’s never shown himself able to).

She was basically born bending 3 elements. Not to mention Amon and Unalaq are both
undeniably stronger than Ozai—Amon is a better bender than Yakone and Yakone almost
killed the entire Gaang without breaking a sweat.
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Physically, she’s the better bender and it isn’t that close. Ozai would have gotten wiped by
Korra. Korra basically replicated Aang’s feats versus Zaheer and that was literally while she
was running solely off the life force of the Avatar state.
Upvote · 3 Reply

Brody Smith
April 30, 2020
The cringe in this answer lol the creators never said that especially when one of them
wasn’t involved in the series nice try, and yes ozai is far stronger than any of the korra
villains especially with the comet, lol korra is not even close without avatar state.

a lot of rules were changed to make korra seem more impressive but she is far inferior
in power

complete control of the avatar state can’t be beat and korra cut that power, every
avatars knowledge, every avatars bending skill, spirit Infused aang is the most powerful
avatar to exist, they had to completely change the style of the show to make korra
relevant she’s a joke compared to aang.

ozai was going to glass the world SINGLEHANDEDLY. You don’t even seem to know the
rules of the series which supercede the distortion of the much lamer korra series. Have
fun arguing that this dbz stand in is even worth ty lees time much less aang. She
wouldn’t even have bending by the time aang was finished with her
13

Killer Whale
April 30, 2020
Amon could use blood bend to take away bending. But his bloodbending in itself was
weak. Even Mako, a regular guy, could overcome it and strike him. So yeah, it doesn’t
compare to Yakone in his prime who did it to an entire public gathering. If anything,
Amon’s bloodbending was weak af and using blood bending to remove bending powers
is such a stupid concept.
3

Manuel S. Student
May 5, 2020
Actually, i found Amon’s bloodbending and usage of chi pathways to be quite
interesting, but it felt like a handwave. Amon would have DEFINITELY worked better as
a nonbender who learned to chi block from the Kyoshi Warriors/Dai Li

Killer Whale
May 18, 2020
Totally agree.
Open in App
 Plus, the fact that he faked his wounds made it even worse. It means that Amon had
no reason to hate benders. He was hungry for power and nothing else. And the fact
that he operated in such a small scale only means that he is just another generic
villain. In ATLA, he would have been a … Read More
1

Kyle Huxtable
April 27, 2020
Gonna disagree with your premise that Zaheer is the best villain in the series. He’s arguably not.
He has no real goal besides anarchy for anarchy’s sake.
Upvote · 10 Reply

Abdul Fattah bin Hashim

May 2, 2020
That only means you disagree with his methods which you are quite right to do so.

Zaheer views the status quo as a hindrance to people. The upper class, the leaders, are corrupt,
slow to act or are easily fooled. So, he proposes to tear it all down and let people truly decide
their fate. At first, we see him as monstrous, destroying the things our protagonist swears to
protect. But, as it plays out we start to question. We see him take down a tyrant. We see how
ineffective the spiritual guardian of the world is in an age of rejecting spirituality. We start to
wonder if Korra is truly right in defending the current establishment. I would say he’s a good
villain because of that.

He’s like Thanos that way. He presents himself as moral and knowing the truth of things and we
who usually don’t usually question why things are the way they are get taken off guard. But, on a
deeper look, what he believes is good for the world ultimately doesn’t work. Humans naturally
band together. Factions and countries are as set in stone as gravity. Yet, another reason why he’s
a good villain, he makes us question morality to arrive to a deeper understanding.

At least that’s my take on it. It’s been ages since I’ve watched it.
Upvote · 22 Reply

Kyle Huxtable
May 2, 2020
No, it isn’t just his methods. It’s his whole ideology. Chaos for its own sake is a stupid
methodology and serves only to create a power vacuum for authoritarianism. That’s how it
always works.

Zaheer is an idiot of a character.

Upvote · 6 Reply

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 Gavin White
August 23, 2020
and serves only to create a power vacumn for authoritarianism.

Yep, the creators knew this. That's the WHOLE POINT of season 4. Kuvira is the one who fills
that power vacumn with authoritarianism.
Upvote · 1 Reply

Killer Whale
April 29, 2020
Yes. He wants anarchy, an extreme form of freedom which is associated with airbending which
inspires Zaheer.
Upvote · 16 Reply

Manuel S. Student
May 5, 2020
Except what the Airbenders wanted/want is a passive hedonism where they were free to do
their own thing without bothering anyone else. What Zaheer wants is total lack of government,
which leads itself to chaotic apocalypses
Upvote · 2 Reply

Killer Whale
May 18, 2020
Amon wanted absolute equality which is why he removed bending powers to bring non-
benders at par with benders. Zaheer wanted absolute freedom which translates to anarchy.
Kuvira wanted absolute order which led to fascism. Order, equality and freedom are
necessary for any society to flourish but taki … Read More
Upvote · 2 Reply

Kyle Huxtable
May 1, 2020
And the most idiotic of ideologies, by far. Chaos for chaos’ sake.
Upvote Reply

Killer Whale
May 2, 2020
That's what makes him a villain.. if he wanted acceptable freedom, he would be a freedom
fighter like Iroh and the White Lotus…
Upvote · 4 Reply

Corvo Kielea
May 18, 2020
Open in App
 Yeah, except it’s still a boring, uncompelling motivation. Amon was way cooler, at least
before that stupid twist was pulled for no reason beyond having a twist.

Amon’s very existence was a deconstruction of the entire setting, which was really
interesting. Zaheer wasn’t interesting on that level.
Upvote Reply

Killer Whale
May 18, 2020
Amon was cool but taking away bending powers (which required energy bending which
only Avatar was capable of so far) was unrealistic from the start. It only got worse when
they revealed blood bending as the reason. And Amon became a cheap villain when it
was revealed that he faked his wounds which means he had no reason to target benders
except hunger for power like any generic villain. That's just lazy writing.

On the other hand, as Abdul commented below, Zaheer views the status quo as a
hindrance to people's freedom and aspirations. The upper class, the leaders, are corrupt,
slow to act or are easily fooled. So, he proposes to tear it all down and let people truly
decide their fate. At first, we see him as monstrous, destroying the things our
protagonist swears to protect. But, as it plays out we start to question. We see him take
down a tyrant. We see how ineffective the spiritual guardian of the world is in an age of
rejecting spirituality. We start to wonder if Korra is truly right in defending the current
establishment. I would say he’s a good villain because of that.

I think that it was a pretty cool concept with a lot of potential but they really needed
more time to establish his ideology and communicate the message to the viewers. One
of the reasons why LoK is average is because it was too rushed.
1

Ryan McClintick
April 30, 2020
could the emperor of the fire nation without comet beat the 4 red lotus members?
Upvote Reply

Kyle Huxtable
May 1, 2020
I fail to see how that’s a relevant question.
Upvote · 15 Reply

Killer Whale
May 18, 2020
Individually, yes. Collectively, no!
Upvote · 5 Reply
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 Cyril Honour
July 29, 2020
You grossly overestimate Ozai’s abilities

The only member of the red lotus Ozai might be able to defeat is Zaheer ( might).

“individually they could take down a nation, together they can take on the world”. This is
coming from a 90 year old lord Zuko who has seen a lifetime of combat.
Upvote Reply

Axel Henriksen
April 25, 2020
Amon, Yakone, Tarrlock and the Avatars could beat all four of them. Ozai with the comet
probably could too
Upvote · 3 Reply

Killer Whale
April 27, 2020
Amon cannot. His bloodbending is weak. If Mako could overcome it, it should be easy for Red
Lotus. Tarrlock cannot beat them alone either. Ming Hua already defeated him while rescuing
PLi. Ghazan took down an inner Ba Sing Se wall by himself too.
Upvote · 10 Reply

Omar Syed
April 29, 2020
Amon's bloodbending is weak? I just finished the show and he's shown to be an even better
bloodbender than Yakone.
Upvote · 2 Reply

Killer Whale
April 29, 2020
Mako could overcome Amon's bloodbending and strike him with lightning. If Mako can,
Zaheer, Ghazan or PLi can too. It seems Amon trained his bloodbending as a means to take
away bending rather than for combat.
Upvote · 9 Reply

Omar Syed
May 1, 2020
Ehh I don't really call it overcoming. Mako, in that particular scene, just happened to be
bloodbended in a position where he was able to use his lightning. You forget that right
after that happened, Amon bloodbended Mako again and he wasn't able to do much about
it. Open in App
Upvote · 5 Reply
 Upvote · 5 Reply

Killer Whale
May 2, 2020
But next time Korra overcame it and used airbending without Avatar state. Whereas
adult Aang required Avatar state to overcome Yakone.
1

Paúl Cortez
September 26, 2020
This is so satisfying to read. People don't realize how much different a battle between air
benders is, there are no such a thing as direct hits. Tenzin was so dancing around Zaheer but it
was so subtle and beautiful.
Upvote · 1 Reply

Bradley Vandersyppe
July 24, 2020
Could avatar aang in his prime beat the red lotus on his own?
Upvote · 1 Reply

Djwkrid Gollopata
June 8
No Zaheer was stronger than all the other villains and us the strongest red lotus member. Don’t
at me I don’t get notifs
Upvote Reply

Pietro Acquaviva
April 28, 2020
What series is this in?
Upvote Reply

Philippe Bekkers
June 15, 2020
I don’t know how anybody thought Zaheer was as strong or stronger than Tenzin. Did you see
the 1v1?? Zaheer couldn’t even hit Tenzin. THAT is how far the number 1 airbender was above
Zaheer.
Upvote Reply

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Sriraj Balaraman
Answered August 30, 2020

Define “holding his own”. Because this wasn’t some fair one-on-one fight. Zaheer was basically
holding Tenzin’s family hostage while dog-piling on him with his red lotus buddies.

There are a few factors that are responsible for Zaheer walking away from this fight.

1. As stated, Tenzin’s family and other airbending apprentices were being held hostage, so I’m
pretty sure that helped shake his focus, even if only a little.

2. Despite his proficiency with airbending I don’t think combat is Tenzin’s strong suit. Think about it
from Aang’s perspective, would you teach your only airbending child how to use airbending for
fighting (which goes against all the air nomad values that the monks taught him), or try and
instill in him the cultural and spiritual essence of the air nomad culture? I think it would be the
latter. The initial part of the fight where he overwhelmed Zaheer was a testament to the sheer
proficiency Tenzin had with his bending art.

3. This wasn’t a one-on-one fight. Zaheer had his Red Lotus comrades jump in to help and let me
remind you that even Zuko has admitted that each of them are very nearly unrivaled (two of
them are special benders remember: a lava bender and an explosion bender?(I’m not sure what
they’re called)). Also the Red Lotus gang due to their views are much more militaristic and
combat oriented unlike Tenzin.

1.2K views · View 3 upvotes · Answer requested by Akash Khond

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K.A. Green-Wall
January 29
P’Li’s scary sniper firebending talent is called combustionbending.
Upvote Reply

Kaustuv Mukherjee, now immersed in Aang's world

Answered July 9, 2020

As far as we know, Zaheer was the only member of the Red Lotus who was not born as a bender.
As a member of such an elite group of benders, Zaheer should be proficient in some kind of
Open in App
martial art forms like master Piandao. The fact that the White Lotus imprisoned him in sucha
high security prison, clearly indicates that he was a powerful and intimidating fighter even
without any bending abilities. Additionally, he was a scholar who read and researched about the
air nomads. Physical prowess coupled with a deep knowledge about the airbenders allowed
Zaheer to quickly pick up air bending even though he gained his bending abilities very late at his
life.

In the battle with Tenzin, a fully trained airbending master, Zaheer simply managed to escape
and deflect attacks for sometime. Instead of being a straight match up, it was mostly Zaheer
running away from Tenzin, with Tenzin in hot pursuit. Their battle was absolutely not conclusive
because Zaheer was quickly joined and assisted by the other Red Lotus members who attacked
Tenzin as well.
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Ask new question

Adam Wu, lives in Saskatoon, SK

Answered April 27, 2020

He… didn’t really hold his own.

He was getting his ass kicked. So long as the fight was one on one, Tenzin was in complete
control the whole time and was blowing ZaheerOpen
around
in like
Appa rag doll, at will.
All he DID manage to do was just survive long enough for his friends to help him, which is itself
pretty impressive.

How did he manage to do that?

Well, for one thing, he IS uber talented. Very much a twisted genius at bending. And for another,
he isn’t completely a raw novice either. He was an ardent student of Air Nomad philosophy and
history all his life, and it is quite likely that even as a non-bender, he studied air bending along
with that philosophy and history.

So he’s basically a prodigious talent with something like 30 years of theoretical study plus about
a year of practical experience and practice.

That doesn’t make you equal to a true master, but you’re not a putz either.
817 views · View 6 upvotes

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Mikhael Takoorpersad, I am the Avatar Fandom

Answered July 26, 2020

He was, as others on Quora have correctly pointed out, decisively outmatched by the Master
Airbender Tenzin but you are correct in pointing out that Zaheer did manage to put up a fight that
wasn’t entirely embarrassing.

Zaheer is an exceptional being. He stated that he always had a fascination with Air Nation
culture and their teachings and we can extrapolate from this that he was familiar with their
fighting styles which is why he was so quickly able to adapt to his new powers and use them
effectively.
Open in App
And we also know that he is the leader of the Red Lotus. This implies that, prior to him gaining
his Bending, he must have had some experience and talent in combat which would be another
contributing factor to his skills after gaining Bending.

But in the end, of course, it wasn’t enough

16K views · View 377 upvotes · View shares · Answer requested by Akash Khond

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Landen Drake
July 28, 2020
This was the most satisfying fight ever between to two series in my opinion. Never see two air
benders fight.
Upvote · 30 Reply

Pompey Parker
July 28, 2020
What’s ironic is that Tenzin isn’t even trying to kill him whereas Zaheer had no such restrictions.
Upvote · 22 Reply

Jose Fuentes
October 9, 2020
I think people don’t realize that when you fight to capture its a lot harder than fighting to kill.
Upvote Reply

Raul Bottrell-Rogers
July 28, 2020
You know you fucked up when someone Open in App
kicks the shit out of you while doing the limbo.
 Upvote · 28 Reply

Αяηαν Gαη∂єя
October 9, 2020
Tenzin vs. Gyatso. GO!
Upvote Reply

Soren, Love avatar the last airbender. That is the television series
Answered May 16, 2020

Initially, we must remember that Zaheer was brutal and non-paifistic, he did not follow the
airbender culture and their peaceful way of living. In terms of ability Tenzin and Zaheer are very
similar. So what gave Zaheer the edge? Zaheer's ability to aesphixate people is possible for
master's (like Tenzin) to perform, yet it is the bender's willingness to carry out brutal attacks, that
would stop them from doing so. This form of bending clashes with the air nomad's ethos,
meaning a master like Tenzin would not want to aesphixiate someone, but a bender such as
Zaheer who does not respect the air nomad lifestyle would not care about this ethos.

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Viet Nguyen
May 17, 2020
Zaheer had studied everything about the Air Nomads before his imprisonment. He was basically
an Air Nomad without the bending until the Harmonic Convergence. Despite that, he landed
about 3 hits on Tenzi, only one of those actually fazed him and was immediately countered.
Tenzin would have beat his … Read More
Upvote · 1 Reply
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 Rukia, Anime addict
Updated July 23, 2020

I’ve been asking myself the same question since 2014.

There’s no way a brand new air bender could have held his own against a master like Tenzin, but
they needed Tenzin & Zaheer to be at odds to make the episode more intense.

I guess If you take into account the fact that P’li was shooting explosions at Tenzin every now &
then, and that his wife & children were being held hostage, Tenzin was a little distracted.

but ya idk that whole fight was kinda bogus. The only reasonable explanation is plot armor. They
needed a villain airbender (to represent that every type of bender can be good or bad) so they
made Zaheer incredibly overpowered.

*** disclaimer: We don’t ever get to see what type of fighting style Zaheer used before he
became a bender. If he had a fighting style similar to Ty Lee (without chi-blocking,) I suppose
that might make airbending come more natural to him. Still, not a good enough excuse as to why
it was “equal” with Tenzin.
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Alexander Recalde, Seen all comics and episodes multiple times

Answered May 19, 2020

Multiple reasons. Let's remember who zaheer was before he started bending air.

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Credit goes to gurukorraasami on Tumblr

Zaheer was the leader of this badass group of remarkably skilled bending criminals while being
a non bender. He was probably a martial arts/chi blocking master similar to Ty Lee. He has
fought a lot of skilled benders in the past without any airbending. So when he got airbending it
was just another advantage.

He also studied air nomad culture heavily. He likely knew the style that Tenzin would use. He
probably even incorporated those airbending styles into his fighting style BEFORE he was an
airbender
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Dylan Redivik
Answered April 29, 2020

He really didn’t.

Throughout their battle Tenzin was all but wiping the floor with Zaheer, easily embarrassing him
and showing him what a real air bending master was capable of. It wasn’t until the rest of the
Red Lotus dispatched Kya and Bumi that they collectively overtook and even matched Tenzin.
Open in App
Tenzin as an airbender was superior even to Aang, and the only Airbenders known to be superior
to him are Zaheer after unlocking flight and Guru Laghima, inventor of flight. It’s worth noting
that the power-scaling of LoK and (Avatar as a franchise) is highly inconsistent overall and at
times, every character is as strong/weak as the plot demands, however out of line with their
characterization that may be.
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Will Campbell, Fan of ATLA for years

Updated August 5, 2020

How was Zaheer able to hold his own against a master air bender like Tenzin?

By dog-piling him together with his accomplices.

As long as the fight was one-on-one, Tenzin had total control of the fight. Zaheer was managing
to evade Tenzin for the most part, which is impressive considering he’s only had airbending for
like, a few weeks.

But at no point during that fight did Tenzin not have a clear advantage over his opponent. That
only changed once the others got involved. To be more specific, it only changed once P’li, whom
Tenzin could not reach and whose bending is most difficult to counter, got involved.
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Chris Du, Watched both ATLA and LoK

Answered July 17, 2020

As the other answers have said, he really didn’t. In fact, I’d go as far as to say that Zaheer was
getting absolutely schooled by Tenzin.

We see that over the course of the fight, Zaheer never actually landed a hit, while Tenzin landed
many. He may be a prodigy, but Tenzin is a real Airbending master. Even when Ming Hua and
Ghazan teamed up on him, Tenzin was still doing pretty well. P’Li was the one who really
defeated him.
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 K.A. Green-Wall, Fan of the franchise.
Answered January 29

A2A. He wasn’t. Until P’Li came to Zaheer’s rescue, Tenzin was mopping the roof with him—never
mind that Tenzin is a pacifistic family man in his fifties and Zaheer is probably ten years younger
and ten times meaner.

Don't get me wrong: Zaheer is a scary bastard. But that's because he’s an ex-prizefighter, a
master martial artist, and a ruthless so-and-so—not because of his rather mediocre (dispassion
superpower aside) airbending. And up against someone who's been training at airbending since
he was a little kid (read: probably since before Zaheer was born)? He was still pretty significantly
outmatched.
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Kyle Huxtable
Answered April 27, 2020

In a short answer?

Bad writing.

The writers of Korra were more interested in cool action setpieces in the third season, and
wanted an airbender enemy. We’d already seen the series give us a Firebender enemy (loads of
them), Waterbenders, and even Earthbenders, but never an Airbender as a foe to the main
heroes, to Team Avatar.

Plus, Zaheer was also outnumbering Tenzin. It wasn’t just Zaheer, there was the whole Red Lotus
with him who were absolutely wrecking Tenzin, in one of the few truly emotionally-touching and
heartbreaking moments of the series.
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Delato Bay, Republic City Representative of Foggy Swamp Tribe

Answered September 27, 2020

He was outmatched by Tenzin. But because of some help from his comrades that he was able to
bring Tenzin down. I think Zaheer was strong enough to hold back Master Airbender, but not
strong enough to defeat the latter. Zaheer probably proficient in hand combat or know about
airbending technique that he managed to fend off Tenzin.
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 2

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Chris Cummings
Answered August 13, 2020

Nothing specially addresses this as I can remember. We can say that he studied air bending
extensively and became a very dangerous non-bending fighter with extreme intelligence and
tactical prowess. This likely allowed him to understand everything about air bending minus the
physical act. Once he gained the ability it was easy to adapt it into his already master-like
fighting style.
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Mga Pope
Answered October 3, 2020

Zaheer was an extremely talented airbender naturally, and he already was one of the most
dangerous men in the world before he got bending just based off his martial arts. Combine that
with a deep knowledge of the air bending culture and philosophy, and you've got a very powerful
airbender right there,even as an ameture. His prodigious nature still wasn't enough to beat a true
master like Tenzin though, but he could put up a decent fight against him.
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Dustin Nguyen, Casual watcher of the franchise.

Answered July 26, 2020

It's only due to his prodigious use of his air bending and knowledge that Zaheer wasn't getting
wrecked that early.

He never stood a real chance against Tenzin, all he could do is delay the inevitable loss. When it
takes all of Zaheer's crew to batter Tenzin to submission…Well, damn.
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 William Moore, former Defense Analyst. (2009-2018)
Answered September 27, 2020

He didn’t.

You need to go watch the fight again.

Tenzin was winning against the one on one with Zaheer…. Pretty easily actually. It actually took
three of the four red lotus before they started to win, and then the Fourth basically stomped him.

It’s honestly a bit disturbing the number of people who seam to fanboy/girl overhype Zaheer.
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Nic Thomas, watched show

Answered June 12, 2020

tenzin was a master? compared to what. ang? his children? he didnt really do any specified or
intense techiniques that would denote him being a master. he was prob just ok at it. and since
he was the only one of course he was a master. kinda like starwars. sure that chick is a jedi
master. but did she study as much as obi won as an apprentice. train as much. have a mentor all
her life…. she is a master bcs the standards have been just as destroyed as their culture. when a
true savant like zaheer shows up. he demonstrates what a master truly is. he constantly tried to
get to another lvl. while tenzin was trying to get others up to his lvl. the difference is one
between master and teacher.
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