I just recently watched ATLA at the ripe age of 22 for the first time and was shocked I had never watched it before!! Good plot amazing characters and super cool/fun action scenes!! I knew the movie was bad so I watched it just because but I wasn’t prepared for how they literally just sucked the life out of everything AND WHITEWASHED IT. Like that might’ve been the worst movie I’ve seen in my entire life lol. The name mispronunciation along side the fact that there was so little bending the characters barely spoke and everything was rushed is just mind boggling. Like how do you fumble so hard with so much content. Hoping the live action show and Korra are better because holy crap

Peak ATLA is right there and they keep doing stupid remakes

If this were the case, it would explain so much.

There are several mysteries about firebending that can easily be explained if we treat it as plasma bending instead.

1. Why don’t firebenders need a fuel source?

In the real world, fire needs oxygen and something to burn, like wood, coal, or oil.

But firebenders just conjure flames from nowhere, seemingly breaking the laws of physics.

As was addressed in the movie that didn't happen, every other element manipulates existing matter, but firebenders appear to be creating something from nothing.

Plasma bending explains this. Plasma is superheated, ionized gas. It doesn’t need fuel, just energy and ordinary air. Firebenders aren’t actually creating fire from nothing. They’re compressing and energizing the air around them until it becomes plasma.

2. Why is lightning bending an advanced firebending technique?

Fire and lightning don’t seem related at first glance.

But firebenders who master lightning bending aren’t learning a new ability. They’re just taking what they already do to the next level.

Lightning is already a type of plasma. Instead of shaping and controlling a stable plasma flame, lightning benders discharge all their plasma energy at once, creating an electrical arc. This suggests that firebenders were always manipulating charged particles, but only a few could generate the extreme electrical separation needed for lightning.

3. How can firebenders have different colored flames?

Azula’s fire is blue, while normal firebenders use orange or yellow flames.

In real-world physics, plasma changes color based on temperature. Hotter plasma glows blue, white, or even ultraviolet.

This suggests that Azula isn’t just stronger. She’s generating a more refined, hotter form of plasma. A true master firebender could eventually generate white or even invisible plasma, making their flames near-unseeable but devastatingly hot.

4. How can firebenders control the shape of their flames?

Normal fire spreads randomly based on wind, fuel, and oxygen levels.

Yet firebenders can create precise shapes like fire whips, dragons, and even small controlled jets of flame.

They can even redirect fire in midair rather than letting it dissipate like normal flames.

Plasma explains this. Unlike regular fire, plasma responds to electromagnetic fields. If firebenders are actually ionizing and shaping plasma, then their ability to create structured fire attacks makes perfect sense. They’re not just bending heat. They’re controlling charged particles to hold their flames in place.

5. Why is firebending so closely tied to the sun?

Firebenders get their power from the sun more than any other natural energy source.

During Sozin’s Comet, firebending becomes absurdly powerful.

The sun is made of plasma. Sozin’s Comet likely supercharges the ionosphere, making it easier for firebenders to manipulate high-energy particles in the air. This suggests that firebenders are fundamentally linked to solar physics, not just combustion.

6. Does this mean firebending might actually be a form of airbending?

Plasma is just ionized gas, meaning firebenders are manipulating charged particles in the air rather than actual flames.

If this is true, then firebenders aren’t creating fire. They’re just energizing and controlling air molecules.

This means firebending might actually be a specialized branch of airbending. The two disciplines could have originally been the same, with some airbenders learning to superheat air instead of moving it normally.

It also suggests that airbenders could theoretically learn to generate lightning by ionizing the atmosphere.

For those who didn’t see the last post I’m watching ATLA for the first time ever since I never got to watch as a kid. I’ve just reached Winter Solstice: Part 1 and wanted to share my thoughts so far! To start, I love the animation and the overall vibe of this show, it’s so beautiful and silly at times, it keeps me engaged and entertained! And the story so far has been a little dull, other than the Zuni and Iroh parts (although you all did say that would be the case). My favorite character(s) so far have been the women from the village who fought with fans, I really hope that I see more of them later in the show! Ok, that’s all my thoughts for now, I’ll be binging alllllll night so hopefully I’ll hit the end of the water bending part before bed tonight :3

Edit: Zuko not Zuni, I hate autocorrect >:[

I was listening to the song “one short day” from the Wicked movie, and the spoof play in the middle of it with the original Broadway cast are called the “Emerald City Players”… is this a coincidence or are they based on the ember island players or vice versa?

I wanted to share a drawing I did of where I thought Sokka's sword could have ended up with Hawky keeping an eye on it until Sokka could come for it 🥹

Wish me

I honestly don’t hate Korra or TLoK, but I do think that many people try to make her out to more than she is, and at the same time try to lessen Aang to less than he is. They were both great, and loving Aang more doesn’t mean hating Korra.

Roku just told Aang to be decide when the time calls for it, Kiyoshi just told him that he cannot let Ozai go unpunished, Kuruk told him he has to be the one to decide Ozai's fate, not anyone else, and Yangchen was the only one told Aang to kill Ozai, thoughts on this interperetation?

After reading this post about different titles for Ursa I began thinking of titles for the other members of the Royal Family. A few of the titles here, especially for Ursa, are those ones that I liked best from the post, while the others are based on how I imagine future generations would see these figures.

Sozin: Sozin the Envious, The Betrayer, Scourge of the World, Sozin the Accursed, The Ash Lord, Bloody Dragon, Nomad Butcher, Vaatu Incarnate.

Azulon: Dragon of the South, Earth Slaver, Azulon the Wayward, Golden Lord,* The Immortal Warlord.

• Since Azulon's reign covered most of the war I imagine he must have been extraordinarily wealthy, from all his conquests.

Iroh: Dragon of the West, Master of Chains, Dog of War, Whimpering Dragon,* The Jasmine Dragon, Lord of Tea, Sage of Harmony, Liberator of Ba Sing Se, The Repentant Heir, Guardian of Youth, The Gamesman, The Comet's Arrow.

• People who resented Iroh's abandoning of the siege would mock him for his cowardice, if not openly then at least behind his back.

Ozai: Sozin Reborn, Dread Lord, Master of Fear, The World Burner, The Hollow Lord, Kin-Slayer, Ozai the Inscrutable.*

• A lot of Ozai's actions were really poorly thought through, like how openly scarring and banishing Zuko showed the Royal Family wasn't united or how razing the Earth Kingdom would have made it impossible to colonize. For this reason I think Ozai deserves the epithet.

Ursa: The Lost Princess, The Phoenix Tamer, The Hearth Queen, Mother of Dragons, Nurturer of Heroes, Poison Princess, The Compassionate Conniver, The Smiling Slayer, The Masked Mother.

Zuko: The Redeemer Heir, The Great Redeemer, Zuko the Honorable, Fire's Salvation, The Marked Prince, The Visionary, Lord of Balance, Zuko the Merciful, The Indomitable Hunter, Forger of Destiny, Dragon Lord.

Azula: The Azure Demon, The Prodigious Weapon, Chain-Breaker,* Crystal Queen, Shattered Princess, Lady Whisper,* Ozai's Curse, Fire's Shadow.

• This refers to her breaking the Avatar cycle when she killed Aang in the Avatar State, even if only temporarily.
• Since Azula was imitating the Kemurikage I thought it would be cool if she also transformed into a scary legend over time.

If anyone has anymore suggestions please feel free to share.

Sorry if this has been done to death.

Tenzin refusing to be leveraged is my favorite scene in the series and never fails to make me tear up. The man was truly ready to 3v1 or 4v1 the most dangerous benders alive. Willing to die if needs be.

Would he have been willing to kill?

I've come around on Aang's refusal with Ozai being the right thing. As the last airbender, if he forsakes the air nomad way, that's the end of the culture.

Would Tenzin feel that same obligation? On the one hand, he was raised with all of Aang's hopes for the rebirth of the culture. More than anyone, Tenzin would have been instilled with that lesson. His oldest child is 7 years younger than Korra, which is to say Tenzin himself spent 7 years as the last airbender. For most of his adult life, he understood himself as father of all airbending, and even after Harmonic Convergence he's still the main custodian of the culture. So if anyone's gonna inherit Aang's philosophy on killing, it's Tenzin.

On the other hand, when he fought Ozai, Aang wasn't a father yet. Aang had to protect the culture by maintaining it himself. So it would be intact for him to pass on to hypothetical future generations. But Tenzin's future generations aren't hypothetical. They're right there, and they're in mortal danger. What's more, he's no longer the last airbender. Like Yangchen, Tenzin may feel more free to sacrifice his personal convictions for the physical safety of those under his care.

So, think he would have done it?