Legend Of Korra: Will It Bend!

[Madara]

It'll be very interesting. I'm excited!

All in all, the show is doing very well so far.

[t209]

Lets see:

Ancestor that had his life ruined by benders multiple times. Check
Possible connection to someone rich for funds (Satomobiles). Check
Traveled around the world so he could possibly pick up enough information to effectively fight the benders (the cabbage guy traveled a lot and quite fast). Check

Yeah I'm with you Morty the evidence is quite clear. Amon the Cabbage bender.

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Amon was a victim of Firebender extortionist who burn down his farm (Cabbage?). killed his family and burned his face. If it is a lie. Or he might be Aang since he can take powers away.

[CoffeeIncluded]

Did anybody else consider this episode to be chock-full of nightmare fuel?

[Kobold-Bard]

Did anybody else consider this episode to be chock-full of nightmare fuel?

Not necessarily nightmare fuel, but the Equalists are definitely more sinister and threatening than the Fire Nation as an enemy.

[Flickerdart]

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Amon was a victim of Firebender extortionist who burn down his farm (Cabbage?). killed his family and burned his face. If it is a lie. Or he might be Aang since he can take powers away.

He can't be Aang - for Korra to be alive, Aang had to have died.

[LordVader]

The metalbender police should be extremely dangerous opponents; their metal whips are going to be very difficult to dodge, and they're fully-fledged Earthbenders to boot.

There doesn't appear to be a whole bunch of them, though, which the criminals are probably lucky for. Paratrooping metalbending zeppelin police is not something I imagine most criminals would want to run up against.

Organized crime must have to be very discrete.


Amon isn't the cabbage guy; there's a corporation in Republic City called "Cabbage Corp". Cabbage Guy's offspring have their own company; it's not in their interest to upset the social order.

[Dr.Epic]

The metalbender police should be extremely dangerous opponents; their metal whips are going to be very difficult to dodge, and they're fully-fledged Earthbenders to boot.

Amon took out a firebender that could shoot lightning. Which is harder to dodge?

[ChaoticBroth]

Yeah, the metalbending police would be one hell of a force to fight against. Aside from being a paratrooping police force with a very solid basis in earthbending, you've also got to consider that they're in an industrial city, with cars and whatnot everywhere. That leaves them with a ridiculously good situational advantage in just about every part of the city.

Although, the fact that the Equalists are able to get that much influence means that the metalbending police isn't really dealing with problems very effectively (elimination purely by the police at this stage is more-or-less out of the question, as it provides more fuel about the whole "we're being oppressed by the benders" deal). Not to mention, the Triple Threat Triad manages to stay around, even with the police. From what we've seen so far, they're either stretched ridiculously thin, or they're really bad at their job.

This whole deal begs the question about where the hell Amon gets all of the equipment and training for his men. I don't think production and shipment of shock sticks, and rather suspicious gear would go by unnoticed. Or maybe Amon is the majority shareholder in Cabbage Corp, which fuels his revolution through a revolutionary, cheaper car.

[LordVader]

Amon took out a firebender that could shoot lightning. Which is harder to dodge?

Judging by what we saw of the metalbending police in S1E01 as compared to the way lightning works in Avatar, I'd say the metalbending whips.

[tyckspoon]

Amon took out a firebender that could shoot lightning. Which is harder to dodge?

Probably the metal benders, honestly. Firebending as most characters use it is not very flexible; if you can see or predict the line of attack quickly enough, you can defend against it. There's very little of the curved attacks and redirection you see in Katara's waterbending, Aang's airbending, or even Toph's Earthbending; Earth appears to be a 'slower' element for this kind of thing, but the ability is there. In Firebending, you only see that kind of control in the show benders who are doing fireworks tricks on streetcorners and the like; combat benders all launch attacks that follow only the same line as their physical movement, and it doesn't seem as possible to maintain control of the fire burst after you've launched it. Lightning has it even worse- all the lightning we've seen is fired in a straight and fairly narrow line, so you don't even have the option of the crescents/sprays of fire. (Well, controlled lightning, anyway- Zolt was kind of spraying all over the place when Amon was turning him off and he was freaking out. Good thing his hands were aimed up at nothing.)

Compared to that, the Metalbending cops have very fine and nearly instant control of their weapons. Less effective range, but within their personal zone of control they could be wildly unpredictable and massively difficult to defend against, because their actual strikes can come from almost anywhere.

[LordVader]

Also, we need to come up with good names for Team Avatar 2.0.

The best one that I've seen so far is the "K-Team". I think it rolls off the tongue very well and also contains an excellent referential joke.

Comments/ideas?

[John Cribati]

I still stand by the Korralition (like a Coalition), but some people call them The Krew.

[dehro]

don't they already have a team name in the arena?

am I missing something? it seems to me that a guy wielding electricity could do some nasty stuff to people wrapped in metal..unless they happen to shape said metal in a Faraday cage, they're gonna end up tazered

I have the distinct impression that so far, the benders other than Korra are...much less creative than the gaang... and that that's done on purpose-- be it to make chi blockers a more effective threat, be it to signify they're less capable or because of the constrictions of a much more restricted environment. Ba Sing Se had much more open space and low buildings.. republic city is more crowded..

[memnarch]

...

am I missing something? it seems to me that a guy wielding electricity could do some nasty stuff to people wrapped in metal..unless they happen to shape said metal in a Faraday cage, they're gonna end up tazered

...

If they ground the metal part to the ground (which would limit movement), they should be safe-ish. If the ground is through their body however, then they're tazered.

[John Cribati]

don't they already have a team name in the arena?

We were talking about the fan name for their team, like how Aang and his folk were "The Gaang."

[Veridis Quo]

I'm not entirely convinced that Amon is able to remove someone's ability.

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What he's doing is an elaborate act, a magic trick if you will. This trick relies on several factors to work.
1) Amon as a symbol
- The Equalists have set themselves up as a force against benders with Amon as their mysterious and supposedly powerful leader figurehead. This provides him with a certain level of intimidation to those who hear about them.
- Amon's speech in this episode also adds to this effect. He is the son of labour class parents who had a terrible fate. He is the chosen individual of the spirits and claims to possess an ability that makes him an incredibly imposing enemy to benders.

2) The Act
- In order for Amon to "remove" someone's ability to bend he has to set the stage so to speak.

First, he needs to impose himself on everyone as a capable person, this is what his backstory is supposed to do. He needs to make himself less a man and more a symbols for everything the equalists stand for.

Second, he needs to establish himself as a powerful individual. This is why he kidnaps the leaders of the triple threat thriad. Having done this he then challenges their leader to a one on one fight for their freedom. This is after he has proclaimed himself to be the chosen one.

Last, he needs to physically dominate his opponent in a situation where they think they can't lose. His opponent probably thought he was a strong firebender so for him to be physically dominated by a slower moving opponent was a huge shock to him.
Amon then utilizes a slower acting form of chi blocking to give the illusion of taking away his opponents bending.
I would guess that this slow acting chi blocking technique has a shorter effect so their is a risk that the bender could retaliate.

- With all these conditions met, the stage is set for Amon to pull off his grand illusion.

- From Zuko and Aang in the original avatar we know that a bender can lose their ability to bend due to a crippling psychological trauma. Zuko could not bend after he left his grandfather, and Aang was unable to bend at several points because he did not have the will too. This is what Amon does to people.

Amon doesn't take away a bender's ability. I think that he tricks a bender into believing that he has.

[Grey_Wolf_c]

I'm not entirely convinced that Amon is able to remove someone's ability.

I will counter that with Rule of Drama: Amon must be a credible threat, since he is either the BBEG or the Dragon, and as such he must be able to permanently remove Bending.

I do like the idea that, if he really has access to the spirit world, he knows that the way to dispose of the Avatar is to kill her in the Avatar state, and (again) Rule of Drama suggests to me it will be part of his plan.

Oh, my SO has suggested that Amon is also known as Bumi, the non-bender son of the previous Avatar... who actually is a bender: spirit bender, and has backstory-based hate for his siblings and has bloomed into hate of all things bending.

Grey Wolf

[TSGames]

So a theory about Amon, not really a theory, so much as some random facts....make of them what you will:

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Amon wears a mask to hide his face.
Amon also has the ability to permanently take away bending.
Interesting... We also know that ancient benders used to be able to bend pure energy and take away bending in this manner. However, this is apparently a lost skill and the previous avatar had to learn it from a very ancient Lion Turtle. So... the only one in the world who had the skill, as far as we know, was the avatar and he learned it from a very wise, powerful, and ancient spirit.

We know of another spirit that is ancient, wise, and powerful. A spirit that is nearly as old as the moon and ocean, a spirit that had been visited by the previous avatar, and is known for taking faces.

If Amon had met with such a spirit he may have learned the ancient art and almost definitely would have lost his face...

[Dr.Epic]

So who think Tenzin will turn out to be evil? He has a goatee. It makes perfect sense. So much sense he has to be Amon.

[Randomguy]

So a theory about Amon, not really a theory, so much as some random facts....make of them what you will:

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Amon wears a mask to hide his face.
Amon also has the ability to permanently take away bending.
Interesting... We also know that ancient benders used to be able to bend pure energy and take away bending in this manner. However, this is apparently a lost skill and the previous avatar had to learn it from a very ancient Lion Turtle. So... the only one in the world who had the skill, as far as we know, was the avatar and he learned it from a very wise, powerful, and ancient spirit.

We know of another spirit that is ancient, wise, and powerful. A spirit that is nearly as old as the moon and ocean, a spirit that had been visited by the previous avatar, and is known for taking faces.

If Amon had met with such a spirit he may have learned the ancient art and almost definitely would have lost his face...

I said the exact same thing a page or two back.

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The only problem with that theory is that Amon still has eyes, and Koh steals entire faces, eyes included. Also, the lionturtle is an animal, not a spirit.

[Kd7sov]

A thing occurs to me, regarding spirits opposing the Avatar.

How many of you have read the "Azula Trilogy" of fanfics?

I don't expect a directly parallel situation, but the basic idea might be relevant.

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The only problem with that theory is that Amon still has eyes, and Koh steals entire faces, eyes included. Also, the lionturtle is an animal, not a spirit.

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Is that necessarily a distinction? Let me put a few names to you, of spirits that certainly looked like animals: Tui, La, Hei Bai, Wan Shi Tong, that monkey-dude who gets annoyed with Aang...

[John Cribati]

So a theory about Amon, not really a theory, so much as some random facts....make of them what you will:

Spoiler

Show

Amon wears a mask to hide his face.
Amon also has the ability to permanently take away bending.
Interesting... We also know that ancient benders used to be able to bend pure energy and take away bending in this manner. However, this is apparently a lost skill and the previous avatar had to learn it from a very ancient Lion Turtle. So... the only one in the world who had the skill, as far as we know, was the avatar and he learned it from a very wise, powerful, and ancient spirit.

We know of another spirit that is ancient, wise, and powerful. A spirit that is nearly as old as the moon and ocean, a spirit that had been visited by the previous avatar, and is known for taking faces.

If Amon had met with such a spirit he may have learned the ancient art and almost definitely would have lost his face...

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If we take his backstory at.. er... face value, his burns could have been bad enough that he couldn't make expressions, and was thus able to milk Koh for all the spirit was worth.

[Hiro Protagonest]

Also, we need to come up with good names for Team Avatar 2.0.

The best one that I've seen so far is the "K-Team". I think it rolls off the tongue very well and also contains an excellent referential joke.

Comments/ideas?

Nothing is going to be better than The Fire Ferrets. I'll be honestly surprised if someone comes up with one that's good and not cheesy.

[Gnomish Wanderer]

What I found the most shocking about the episode was the factory workers lightning-bending. So apparently lightning bending has gotten either common or much easier to train. Definitely an interesting use of bending, I'd like to see in what other ways it's being used in this world's industrial age.
Pun intended.
Do you guys think Amon is even going to have a connection to the first series, just dramatically? I get the feeling it'll be either weak or not existent at all.

[Zeful]

A thing occurs to me, regarding spirits opposing the Avatar.

How many of you have read the "Azula Trilogy" of fanfics?

I don't expect a directly parallel situation, but the basic idea might be relevant.

Spirit that thrived on the 100-year war grants power to one likely to use it to restart war?

If Amon's not lying, then pretty much, yeah.

[TSGames]

Do you guys think Amon is even going to have a connection to the first series, just dramatically? I get the feeling it'll be either weak or not existent at all.

Yes, he will have a strong connection. We have already seen that his minions use chi blocking and that he can bend energy to seal bending. Both of these were techniques that were established to rare, if not exclusive to a few character in the last series. This guarantees that he is either directly connected or closely connected i.e. disciple of x or enemy of disciple of x at the very least.

[Dienekes]

If they ground the metal part to the ground (which would limit movement), they should be safe-ish. If the ground is through their body however, then they're tazered.

Actually, I believe it's even less restrictive. So long as the metal keeps a direct path from the point of contact to the lowest point on the object the electricity will take the path of least resistance to reach the ground, which would be the metal.

If you wear plate armor and jump in the air you should be absolutely fine if struck by lightning just as if you were standing on the ground.

And since we've seen Toph move incredibly easily by surrounding herself in metal mobility should not be a problem. So yeah, if using real-world rules the metal bending cops should be able to crush the equalists as now displayed.

Of course, they don't have to use real-world rules, or the equalists can have some other tricks up there sleeve.

[Veridis Quo]

What I found the most shocking about the episode was the factory workers lightning-bending. So apparently lightning bending has gotten either common or much easier to train. Definitely an interesting use of bending, I'd like to see in what other ways it's being used in this world's industrial age.

Given how we have seen Metal bending implemented on a larger scale it seems like the logical way to go. A more formalized education system would be able to teach the basic tenants of the more specialized bending schools.

[Silverraptor]

Fire FerretxPolar-bear Dog.

Let the cuteness begin!

[Dr.Epic]

Fire FerretxPolar-bear Dog.

Let the cuteness begin!

What if the two of them have a baby, and they have a Fire-Polar-Ferret-Dog?