So in avatar the last airbender the first earth benders where Oma and Shu but in legend of korra it was said that people already knew how to bend earth because of the lionturtles. And it’s not only earth benders it’s with all the different bendings. Can someone please explain why this can make sense. (sorry if it’s hard to understand English isn’t my first language)

With enough training do you think an air bender could condense air into a solid or liquid form? If so could they still use it like how water benders can use steam or ice?

I think Gyatso knows that Sozin killed Malaya. Sozin made the final blow with firebending and burned her whole body. Unless her body was severely damaged in the tunnel collapse, there’s no way those burns go unnoticed. I think Gyatso couldn’t bring himself to tell Roku that Sozin was responsible for her death so soon after the battle. I think it’ll come up in the sequel when Gyatso and Roku are fighting again over Sozin and his morals.

So as its been been in both ATLA and ATLOK Aang was always spiritually much stronger than Korra whose physical prowess was much better as a fighter.

Is it just me or does anyone else also think that when Aang went into the Avatar state he was much stronger and freakier than Korra in the Avatar state(barring the convergence arc in which her avatar state was overpowered imo in the context of the series)

Hi All,

I’m re-watching ATLA for the millionth time, and the question that always comes to mind when watching is how did the Southern Raiders know about Katara being the last water bender in the Southern Tribe. I looked online and have seen a few theories:

1 - There was a spy in the tribe. (I, for one, think this is very unlikely. They South Pole is a very remote location, and though they are not completely isolated from the world, being that the tribe is so small and how suspicious they were of Aang when he arrived, I don’t think think someone would be able to sneak in/hide their true intentions while being in the tribe.)

2 - They were looking for Hama [The Puppetmaster]. (I like this theory, but I don’t know if it’s feasible. From Hama’s flashback, she was still relatively young when she escaped the fire nation prison. I can’t remember how long she said she was held captive, but like I said she seemed to still be young. The timeframe doesn’t really match for me. I’m not that knowledged on the exact ages of Team Avatar or the timeframe of the series, but from some estimates I know that:

• The time from when Aang left the iceberg to when Team Avatar met Hama was maybe a year or less. (In the beginning of the series, Avatar Roku said Aang had to defeat the fire lord by Summer’s End). I’m guessing Katara is 14/15, and her mother was taken (☠️) by the Southern Raiders when Katara was a child, I’m assuming maybe 6 years old based on how she looked during the flashback. This timeline does not match up to me because, like I said earlier, Hama still seemed young when she escaped. Let’s assume she escaped at 30 years old, and she looks to be at least 70 when Team Avatar met her. This means the Fire Nation waited at least 40+ years until they raided the Southern Water Tribe to look for Hama, which is a bit too long in my opinion for this theory to pan out. )

I propose a new theory. So - we know Admiral Zhao went to the library in the desert. There - he found out the the Ocean & Moon Spirits crossed over into the mortal world and were located in the Northern Water Tribe. Also, when Katara was about to attempt to fight Wan Shi Tong, they mentioned that they knew Northern, Southern, and Swamp fighting styles. This means that they had information on the Southern Water Tribe. My theory is that when Zhao was looking for and reading the Ocean & Moon Spirit’s information, he stumbled across something that made him aware of a water bender being in the Southern Water Tribe, and he told the Fire Nation this information! We also know that the library seems to be sorted by Nations, because the Fire nation [I’m assuming it was Zhao since he was the only other person that was mentioned being there] burned everything in their area. Being so, we can assume that the Water Tribe(s) location are in one area, so Zhao could have easily stumbled across a document that mentioned the Southern Water Tribe having a water bender!

Let me know what you guys think of this theory! I would love to discuss further. Also - I have not seen my theory anywhere, so if someone else already said or guessed this first I apologize!

• EDIT: To clear up any confusion that may happen, I referred to Wan Shi Tong as they/them because I didn’t know their pronouns.

What if Energy is a normal element like fire, water, etc that anyone can use? What if people never visited or lived on the lion turtle that gave energy bending, therefore nobody can energy bend? It's possible because we saw Aang getting energy bending the same way people in the past got their bending.

I have a theory...

Maybe because Korra could bend 3 of the 4 elements when she was four because they tell the avatar that they are the avatar when they are young so that if a war breaks out (like with aang)so they can master the elements faster or something?

So we know that the elements all have their own unique sub elements such as lightning for fire or blood for water and we also know that the elements are all very separate from each other. My point is that, there is air in water and fire so why can’t air benders at least manipulate said elements?

Listen, We all know that everyone only controls one element and that's it, except for the avatar. We also know, that many techniques like metal bending or lightning bending are learnable by basically all earth and fire benders, only that some have more talent in it than others.

However, some special bending styles apparently don't quite fit. Not everyone can learn to magma bend, or at least it is implied, and we know for a fact that not everyone can combustion bend.

Now, stay with me, what if magma benders are, while being 100% earth bender, only magma benders because one of their parent were a fire bender ? It would make a lot of sense, not only because of the "heat" and "fire" aspect of coming magma bending in contrast to other earth bending styles, but also because at least for one of the magma benders in the show (Bolin) we know that one of his parent was a fire bender, in order for Marco to be one.

So maybe there is a direct link between being able to do some sorts of rare bending styles and being the child of 2 different benders.

Same thing sort of goes for combustion benders. I heard that in the comics it is explained as a very difficult breathing technique, and that people that can do it come from some sort of tribe where they learn to breath on mountain tops from a very young age. Therefore it may be a stretch to combine the fire of combustion with a parent of another element, like the breathing styles of air benders.

It may also be, that the "bending gene" just gets passed on for multiple generations, and that lightning benders were only able to do so because they were mixed with the flow of water benders, and it just so happens that at least in korras world, many people were long decedents of water and fire benders.

In conclusion, I don't know everything there is to know about the franchise apart from the series and some information I caught up on about the comics, so it may be something easily debunkable, but I find it to be an interesting thought if it isn't,

I am not sure if anyone has asked this question before, but can someone clarify how were airbenders born? I don't think the monks were having children themselves. So were the airbenders born elsewhere and brought in? If so, how did getting rid of the previous generation of monks/airbenders got rid of them for a 100 years. Would not more of them had to have been born somehow?

Theory: each of the 4 elements has a Spirit World sub-bending that corresponds to the nature of that element, of which, Spirit Bending (the healing of Spirits) is just one type. I'm calling it Spirit World sub-bending for lack of a better name, but it does seem like this type of bending can be used in the Spirit World (as seen by Korra using Spirit Bending in LoK Ep. A New Spiritual Age even though she didn't come in through a Spirit Portal).

Energy bending is the Spirit World sub-bending of fire because it's shown to Aang by the Fire Lion Turtle (see image - the markings of Aang's Lion Turtle (Atla Ep. Sozin's Comet) match the Fire Lion Turtle (LoK Ep. Beginnings Part 1)). This makes sense as lightning (a subset of fire) is just pure energy. The spirit version of it is channeling energy within the body instead of in the environment.

We know Spirit Bending is a Water sub-bend because it's taught to Korra by her water bending Uncle Unalaq. This makes sense as healing is a sub-bend of Water bending.

Spiritual Projection is the Spirit World subtype of Air, as it's only known practitioner is Jinora, an Air Bender. That said, I think when Avatars Roku and Kyoshi appear to the world in the place of Aang (Atla Eps. The Deserter and Avatar Day) they are using Spiritual Projection through the Avatar state. Whether either of them knew how to do this in life doesn't really matter as in the Avatar state they have access to all the power of all of the Avatars. In any case, this form of Spirit World sub bending makes sense for the Air element as Air is all about freedom and being nomads, is often focused on travel and movement.

The only Spirit World sub-bending we haven't seen is earth. My guess is that the earth version of Spirit World bending would be based on either locating spirits or locating things in the Spirit World - like a Spirit version of the seismic sense. The Spirit World doesn't seem to have a set layout (like when Korra goes to run up a hill and is suddenly very far from Iroh in A New Spiritual Age), so a way to pin things down would be very useful. Another idea would be that it would allow the user to change form (just as earth benders manipulate matter) like the way the Spirits can get really big or small at will.

What do you think earth Spirit World sub-bending is like?

Lion Turtle Markings from LoK (Left 4) and Atla (right)

Mine is that Avatar and Pokemon take place in the same universe. It’s the post-Pokemon era, all the bending animals evolved from Pokemon and that’s why there’s so many hybrid animals. And that’s how animals know how to bend elements.

do they create acetylene, and if they do is that everybody or maybe just combustion man, could combustion man weld with his forehead

I'm starting to watch Avatar: The Last Airbender again. I noticed that in the episode where Hama appears, someone refers to her as a witch. This made me wonder, do witches or witchcraft exist in the world of Avatar: The Last Airbender? " Why are they called witches?

Here's my attempt at explaining what it means to be the Avatar and what purpose the Avatar serves. I wrote this in a kind of narrative/essay form since I find that more engaging as a reader. Enjoy.

"Different groups of people must learn to live together." -Wan

"What if humans and spirits weren't meant to live apart." -Korra

What makes the Avatar worthy of being the master of all four elements with the capability of bringing balance to the world? To master another element requires you to transcend your own way of thinking, to step into the shoes of another and adopt a new perspective. An airbender's outlook is the complete opposite of an earthbender's, so the Avatar has to be someone who can understand all different types of people. This serves the Avatar's goal: uniting different groups of people. The existence of "Team Avatar" is evidence that every Avatar possesses this uniting quality, each Avatar connects with people from different cultures and together they unite in service to the same cause, just like Wan and Raava.

In Wan's time the spirits were feared by people, but Wan actually learned to live among them and learn their ways. He even won over Raava because he proved through his actions that he was willing to put his life on the line for her cause, the two found common ground and this became the basis for their relationship. It was Wan's curiosity and humility which enabled him to overcome the barrier between humans and spirits and earn the spirit's trust. His ultimate goal was to duplicate his achievement on the macro scale, to create a bond between humans and spirits just like he did with Raava and the Aye-Aye spirit.

But to reach this goal baby steps needed to be taken. First humanity itself would need to achieve some sort of unity, for if people can't accept other people who are different from them then they'll never be able to accept spirits. So for 10,000 years Wan and Raava worked to create an environment where "different groups of people [could] live together", and this was finally achieved when Avatar Aang established the United Republic of Nations, a place where the Four Nations could merge into something new.

By Korra's time humanity had gained dominance over the earth due to their elemental and technological mastery, so now they were in a strong enough position where the spirits couldn't push them out like the last time; this is important because it diminishes the danger of dark spirits, since humans can better defend themselves now. This combined with the creation of the Republic made the conditions right for the spirits to return to the physical world, because now the two species would be on equal footing. The spirit's return was also necessitated by another factor: with the extinction of the Air Nomads and the decimation of the rest of the world by the Hundred Year War spirituality suffered a steep decline, the damage was so deep that only outside interference could restore balance.

Who knows if it'll take the Avatar another 10,000 years to help humans and spirits learn how to coexist, but the one thing which is certain is the spirits couldn't have chosen a better place to live. Republic City being built on sacred Air Nomad land and being a multicultural city makes it have the highest likelihood of success in the human-spirit integration project. And if it succeeds it will serve as an example to the other nations on how to live with the spirits. And if the Four Nations working together can create Republic City, just imagine what human-spirit cooperation could accomplish.

One thing which can be gleamed from this is that the Avatar's efforts aren't pointless, it isn't that the Avatar achieves something which is then undone and then the next Avatar has to restore their predecessor's accomplishment, keeping the world in statis. With every passing Avatar the world is slowly moving forward to its end goal of harmony between all living beings, and the Avatar has two roles to play within this context: either to guide the world an inch towards this goal or to end any threats to this goal. Examples of the latter include things like Sozin's genocide of the airbenders or Chaisee and Zaheer's attempts to kill the world leaders, because all of these result in hostility and bloodshed between people. Even the matter of whether a leader is just or tyrannical is of concern to the Avatar, because if the goal is to create harmony between different groups of people then each group has to have internal harmony first. And a tyrant only turns people against them, creating internal discord.

To expand on what it takes to make an Avatar, every Avatar must have these three qualities in order to achieve their goal:

1. Humility: A prerequisite for learning is acknowledging you don't know everything. Whenever the Avatar learns another element they have to awaken in themselves a part of their personality that was dormant before, for example Aang was only able to earthbend after he embraced the qualities of endurance and steadfastness. But to do this he had to move past the airbender mindset, something especially hard for him considering he was the only airbender left. He had to acknowledge that in order to evolve he needed to go beyond what he already knew.
2. Curiosity: If humility enables the Avatars to learn from those different from them, then curiosity is what motivates them to seek out an actual friendship with others. They aren't content to only keep as company those they're familiar with, they want to get to know those who are different from them and find something they have in common, something they can share, like how Roku worked for years to earn the trust of Taqukaq, his waterbending master.
3. Hope: The Avatar's job is backbreaking and their efforts are frequently disrupted by the very people they're trying to help. This led some Avatars, like Gun, to fall into despair but even he eventually resumed his Avatar duties, showing that while an Avatar can experience feelings of hopelessness they always overcome. Humanity's potential for creating a positive change in the world, for helping it move forward, is what maintains the Avatar's hope. And this hope is validated in every generation by the presence of Team Avatar, ordinary people who have dedicated themselves to help the Avatar. It's focusing on this potential goodness which keeps the Avatar going, as Iroh said, "If you look for the light you can often find it, but if you look for the dark that is all you will ever see."

But many humans possess the qualities of humility, curiosity and hope, so what makes the Avatar unique here? Wan cared about things being fair, he wanted to protect and help the helpless, and he was willing to sacrifice his own life and safety to do it, but none of this distinguishes him from others. What makes him stand out is that he was so passionate for the wellbeing of others that he was willing to live and die for +10,000 years just to continue helping everyone. It's his dedication which makes him unique, everyone else would have reached their limit at some point but he never gave up. Again, Iroh explains it very concisely: "Fire is the element of power. The people of the Fire Nation have desire and will, and the energy and drive to achieve what they want." Unlike the other firebenders of his time, Wan's drive was for harmony and balance and he devoted the rest of his life and lifetimes towards achieving that goal. Because all Avatars are reincarnations of Wan they all share his drive, it's the quality which connects all Avatars, while in other aspects their personality can differ. But what motivates this drive? Yangchen hit the nail on the head when she said every Avatar holds a deep regret and they all hold themselves to a high standard of accountability. Wan released Vaatu which ultimately led to the death of his friend Jaya and all the people from his old home, feeling responsible he made a decision to offer his life many times over to honor those lives he couldn't save. Every subsequent Avatar felt responsible for failing to save someone, and it's to keep the memory of those fallen alive that the Avatar continues to fight.

But when all is said and done, even when the Avatar fails to maintain balance, like in the case of Avatar Roku, just the way they lived their lives is enough. Just by learning from other cultures and connecting with different people they themselves are serving as an example for how to achieve global harmony. The fact that the most powerful being in the world chooses to live in service to humans and spirits rather than seeking to control them is what earns the Avatar respect far and wide.

If we put toph in a hyperbolic chamber that the flow of time is 1000 times faster but toph does not age, do you think she discovers carbon bending thus allowing her to bend living beings similar to blood bending but far more effective?? This thought came from the painted lady episode where toph has no sight due to the whole place being made of wood. But deep down all that wood has(at least what I think) an earth bendable element in there she could potentially use.

I'm probably not the first one to think of this but I'm surprised we haven't seen a form of sand bending that transform normal earth to Sand/dust like lava bending, it would be a form to integrate water bending techniques and forms, something like Gaara's from Naruto use it for both offense and defense, maybe even a really talented metal bender can make like iron dust

What other weird bending do you think could be possible?

It’s probably a stretch and not really a big deal but in Zuko’s “STRIKE ME” scene where he wants a lightning to strike so he could redirect it, it almost feels like he’s talking to someone..?

Airbending styles developed by Air Nomads were a result of their pacifist nature. Aang and to an extent Tenzing used air bending mostly for defence. However Zaheer showed us how lethal airbending could be.

As the new generation of benders-both Tenzing's kids and newly formed Airbenders develop the technique further with free spirit and without the air nomadic pacifist values. I wonder how detrimental this bending style could be.

People keep saying that aang died because he spent too much time in the avatar state in the ice. And while that may be confirmed already, I wanted to propose a more interesting theory. I think Raava killed aang early.

Korra mastered most element by the time she was three. And we know that harmonic convergence only happens once every 10000 years. Raava would’ve also known the customs of the revealing of the avatar since she did it so many times in so many bodies. But Korra is the only example (other than aang) of people knowing before she was 16.

I think Raava killed aang so she could go to a fresh body in order to fight Vaatu more effectively. What do y’all think?