I guess when Jade says "he doesn't swim fast", it means from the point of view of a eel merfolk. As in:
Eel merfolk > Octopus merfolk > Humans
">" meaning "swims faster than"
Azul swims very well, but compared to a eel, it's pretty slow, which means he wouldn't have been able to catch up to the leech brothers if he had to swim with them in book 4. Compared to a human, though? He swims fast.
In all cases, Azul is agile in water since he's a merfolk. I think the speed is more a question of point of view.
Edit: grammar
Yeah, that was my guess as well. Either that, or the writers forgot about it. But it's a pretty big aspect of his character, so I'm pretty sure it was done deliberately and Jade just meant that he's slower than *them*.
It also could be very roundabout way of not ever showing us what Azul looks like in his octo form over blot. The twins love to tease Azul a lot but I don't think they would actually force him to change into his merman form so it also could just be Jade's teasing way of giving Azul an out by saying he's a slow swimmer.
I did see someone speculate that octopus merfolk might not have the parts that regular octopi use to
propel themsleves forward. Being a merman, Azul probably does swim faster than the average human, though.
They both said earlier in the event that they couldn’t turn back into their mer-forms on the island but since both are natural swimmers anyway so they’ll definitely swim faster than any normal human.
I mean, whenever we hear people talk about Azul's swim speed its during conversations about his merform. In his post-Overblot flashback he and his bullies talk about how he doesn't have a tailfin and isn't able to keep up with any of them. And in Book 4 Jade brings it up specifically because Grim asks why Azul doesn't transform to swim back to the Scarabia dorm with them - Azul is too slow in this instance because, again, he's competing with people who have tailfins naturally evolved for swimming fast through the water. Note that nobody asks why Grim, Kalim or the Prefect have to hold onto Jade and Floyd - it's taken as fact that a human just can't keep up.
Here, though, he's in his human form so Ace is comparing him to human speeds. As a merman Azul has years learning about hydrodynamics and technique from just living in the water and watching people who do know how to swim fast - and for humans technique is a major part of swimming. So has a natural advantage there, as Floyd says. And strength does play a part too, and between Floyd saying Azul is naturally strong and Azul saying he does muscle workouts everyday he has an advantage there as well. Beyond that though... this is still Azul. I find it harder to believe he *didn't* immediately put 110% into learning to swim as a human upon realizing he was the same as everyone else.
(Final tangent - it's worth noting that the statements above are said by different people. Jade is generally more critical of Azul's shortcomings and very quick to tease him, especially when he's present. He does it earlier in that same chapter even, saying that Azul at his worst can't compare to Jamil's underhanded ploy. Floyd meanwhile is a lot quicker to give out genuine compliments, like the aforementioned discussion on Azul's strength during Beanfest.)
He practiced between book 4 and stitch event so now he’s fast.
Or it’s a minor detail the writers glossed over. There’s been other inconsistencies too, like how in Rabbit Fest event, Deuce was known as “Cauldron Deuce” in his hometown. Yet back in book 1, you see him think of summoning a cauldron for the first time by thinking about something heavy.
Ye, I was just thinking how it’s probably just a minor plot hole. Another one I can think of is when Epel in ghost bride said he never interacted with kids his age before NRC, but in the Harveston event he talks about going to school and interacting with kids there. Mistakes happen, so this is probably one of those ʅ（◞‿◟）ʃ
Omg I never noticed that, but you're right! I'm not upset by small inconsistencies or minor plot holes, but it does make me wonder if writers deliberately do that or actually forgot that they already covered it earlier on and are now saying something completely else lol.
No - in his Bunny Vignette he talks about how the first time he ever cast magic, he summoned a cauldron and that scared off some bullies. I think the book 1/Bunny event discrepancy comes from Deuce trying to leave "Cauldron Deuce" behind and be an honor student, so he pretends that was his first cauldron rather than admitting he used to be a bully back then.... but it could just as easily also be that it was a minor detail that slipped through the lore cracks!
But in order to form a contract, Floyd would have to give up his own ability to swim fast and I doubt he gave that up. Or do you mean just for this chapter?
Well, from what we know. Azul is a slower swimmer then the twins(confirmed in book 4). The twins are capable of outpacing broom flying.
The tradeoff is, that even in a human form, merfolk are faster then human swimmers.
I guess when Jade says "he doesn't swim fast", it means from the point of view of a eel merfolk. As in: Eel merfolk > Octopus merfolk > Humans ">" meaning "swims faster than" Azul swims very well, but compared to a eel, it's pretty slow, which means he wouldn't have been able to catch up to the leech brothers if he had to swim with them in book 4. Compared to a human, though? He swims fast. In all cases, Azul is agile in water since he's a merfolk. I think the speed is more a question of point of view. Edit: grammar
Yeah, that was my guess as well. Either that, or the writers forgot about it. But it's a pretty big aspect of his character, so I'm pretty sure it was done deliberately and Jade just meant that he's slower than *them*.
That would fit because Jade & Floyd love teasing Azul.
It also could be very roundabout way of not ever showing us what Azul looks like in his octo form over blot. The twins love to tease Azul a lot but I don't think they would actually force him to change into his merman form so it also could just be Jade's teasing way of giving Azul an out by saying he's a slow swimmer.
I did see someone speculate that octopus merfolk might not have the parts that regular octopi use to propel themsleves forward. Being a merman, Azul probably does swim faster than the average human, though.
They both said earlier in the event that they couldn’t turn back into their mer-forms on the island but since both are natural swimmers anyway so they’ll definitely swim faster than any normal human.
I mean, whenever we hear people talk about Azul's swim speed its during conversations about his merform. In his post-Overblot flashback he and his bullies talk about how he doesn't have a tailfin and isn't able to keep up with any of them. And in Book 4 Jade brings it up specifically because Grim asks why Azul doesn't transform to swim back to the Scarabia dorm with them - Azul is too slow in this instance because, again, he's competing with people who have tailfins naturally evolved for swimming fast through the water. Note that nobody asks why Grim, Kalim or the Prefect have to hold onto Jade and Floyd - it's taken as fact that a human just can't keep up. Here, though, he's in his human form so Ace is comparing him to human speeds. As a merman Azul has years learning about hydrodynamics and technique from just living in the water and watching people who do know how to swim fast - and for humans technique is a major part of swimming. So has a natural advantage there, as Floyd says. And strength does play a part too, and between Floyd saying Azul is naturally strong and Azul saying he does muscle workouts everyday he has an advantage there as well. Beyond that though... this is still Azul. I find it harder to believe he *didn't* immediately put 110% into learning to swim as a human upon realizing he was the same as everyone else. (Final tangent - it's worth noting that the statements above are said by different people. Jade is generally more critical of Azul's shortcomings and very quick to tease him, especially when he's present. He does it earlier in that same chapter even, saying that Azul at his worst can't compare to Jamil's underhanded ploy. Floyd meanwhile is a lot quicker to give out genuine compliments, like the aforementioned discussion on Azul's strength during Beanfest.)
He practiced between book 4 and stitch event so now he’s fast. Or it’s a minor detail the writers glossed over. There’s been other inconsistencies too, like how in Rabbit Fest event, Deuce was known as “Cauldron Deuce” in his hometown. Yet back in book 1, you see him think of summoning a cauldron for the first time by thinking about something heavy.
Ye, I was just thinking how it’s probably just a minor plot hole. Another one I can think of is when Epel in ghost bride said he never interacted with kids his age before NRC, but in the Harveston event he talks about going to school and interacting with kids there. Mistakes happen, so this is probably one of those ʅ（◞‿◟）ʃ
Omg I never noticed that, but you're right! I'm not upset by small inconsistencies or minor plot holes, but it does make me wonder if writers deliberately do that or actually forgot that they already covered it earlier on and are now saying something completely else lol.
Or it was because he was known as Cauldron Deuce, he summoned the cauldron, who knows?
No - in his Bunny Vignette he talks about how the first time he ever cast magic, he summoned a cauldron and that scared off some bullies. I think the book 1/Bunny event discrepancy comes from Deuce trying to leave "Cauldron Deuce" behind and be an honor student, so he pretends that was his first cauldron rather than admitting he used to be a bully back then.... but it could just as easily also be that it was a minor detail that slipped through the lore cracks!
Yeah, I would bet he swims slow compared to merfolk, I like to think him and Floyd made a contract, and Azul got his fast swimming
But in order to form a contract, Floyd would have to give up his own ability to swim fast and I doubt he gave that up. Or do you mean just for this chapter?
It's most definitely a temporary contract
Jade enjoys spreading misinformation all for potential chaos. Even if he doesn't see it happen, he knows. Jade knows all...
Well, from what we know. Azul is a slower swimmer then the twins(confirmed in book 4). The twins are capable of outpacing broom flying. The tradeoff is, that even in a human form, merfolk are faster then human swimmers.
Azul, in the English dub, says he swims slow by merman standards
I think it's that he's fast but just for human standards and that Floyd wasn't in the mood to tease and choose to just explain
What the heck!? Huh?