Legend Of Korra: Will It Bend!

[nhbdy]

hmm... so you crazy theorists were right... it appears Amon is an engergybender.

Now is it just me (and I apologize if this has been discussed) or does it seem exceedingly appropriate that Korra (given her views on bending) will likely have some climactic fight with Amon, but unable to use her bending?

This also begs another question... what happens to an avatar when someone energybends on them? Does the next one in the cycle carry the bending back? or are they still non bending? can they even do that? they implied in the first series that the avatar is not immune, but it could just be for backlash...

[t209]

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

Think German Shepherd and Chihuahua Hybrid for the possibility.
P.S- For the Amon's possibility of Cabbage merchant.

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He claims that he is a child of farmers (cabbages?) who was roasted by Fire Bender extortionists (if you believe it).

For the current episode,

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I am thinking that Amon deliberately put a map with red marks on the back of the pamphlets for picking out members who will figure it out

[Xondoure]

Think German Shepherd and Chihuahua Hybrid for the possibility.
P.S- For the Amon's possibility of Cabbage merchant.

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He claims that he is a child of farmers (cabbages?) who was roasted by Fire Bender extortionists (if you believe it).

For the current episode,

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I am thinking that Amon deliberately put a map with red marks on the back of the pamphlets for picking out members who will figure it out

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Oh my god Amon is the little kid Zuko gave his knife too.

[Connington]

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Oh my god Amon is the little kid Zuko gave his knife too.

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Except that he would be almost as old as Katara now. Presumably he didn't stay a little kid forever.

[Zevox]

On Amon in the most recent episode:

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I think a lot of people are jumping to conclusions in a lot of ways. First, we don't have actual confirmation that Amon can permanently remove bending. We saw him take away bending briefly, but Ty Lee's techniques can do that anyway. True his ruse would be exposed quickly just using those techniques as they are, but perhaps he found a way to improve upon them enough to make the effects more long-term, but still not permanent, and is using it for intimidation purposes.

Second, even if he can permanently remove bending, jumping the energy bending or taking his claim to have acquired anything from spirits at face value is quite the leap. Claiming to have received his ability from the spirits would be a way for him to try and claim legitimacy to his goals and his use of the technique even if it isn't true, so barring further evidence it's a suspect claim at best. And again even if he has a way to permanently block bending it could be a variant of Ty Lee's techniques rather than energy bending.

Zevox

[Xondoure]

On Amon in the most recent episode:

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I think a lot of people are jumping to conclusions in a lot of ways. First, we don't have actual confirmation that Amon can permanently remove bending. We saw him take away bending briefly, but Ty Lee's techniques can do that anyway. True his ruse would be exposed quickly just using those techniques as they are, but perhaps he found a way to improve upon them enough to make the effects more long-term, but still not permanent, and is using it for intimidation purposes.

Second, even if he can permanently remove bending, jumping the energy bending or taking his claim to have acquired anything from spirits at face value is quite the leap. Claiming to have received his ability from the spirits would be a way for him to try and claim legitimacy to his goals and his use of the technique even if it isn't true, so barring further evidence it's a suspect claim at best. And again even if he has a way to permanently block bending it could be a variant of Ty Lee's techniques rather than energy bending.

Zevox

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It is a kid show though. Chances are he isn't lying about what he's capable of. He is after all the main villain of this story (to our knowledge.) Not saying it isn't impossible just that extrapolating from what we do know (however zany) is equally plausible.

[Zevox]

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It is a kid show though. Chances are he isn't lying about what he's capable of.

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I don't see how that has anything to do with the matter. Certainly being a kid's show doesn't mean it's always straightforward or incapable of using misdirection or putting in surprise twists. Another such kid's show I watch, Young Justice, did that just recently, with the mole that was teased as being on the team turning out to be a character that wasn't actually on the team at the time they learned about it.

Zevox

[dehro]

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

I pretty much said the same thing a few posts back, adding to it the fact that chakra manipulation/chi blocking is available to the non-bender and does not constitute bending in and off itself.
the chakra located where Amon (and Aang) touch their opponent, interestingly, according to Guru Pathik, is blocked by illusion..so there might be more than just theory in this idea.

other observations by other people:
yes, it's a kid's show, but I do believe word of god is that they have targeted this one towards the kids that followed the original series.. that have now grown up and are able to follow a more convoluted plot.

I do believe there's going to be a strong connection to the Gaang in Amon's identity.. either that or it will turn out to be someone really important in the development of the current season...a new character relevant enough to make his identity a major plot issue.
I don't think it will turn out to be someone's child..that is, a character we don't get to see until he takes his mask of and only know the existence of because he's been talked about by other characters. to make an example, unless Bumi (song of Aang) shows up in Republic City and takes and active role in his "non masked persona", I don't think it's going to turn out to be him.. same goes for any other character that isn't actively onscreen without a mask. which is sad because I kinda liked the idea of it being Azula's child.

taking Amon's words at..face value.. do we know of anyone other than Zuko whose face has been burned?? I don't remember anything alike happening onscreen, so I do believe he's lying on that score..and most likely on the rest.

[Comet]

Man, this show. The backgrounds, animation and music are so very good, especially in HD!

The story is also shaping up excellently. The only thing that worries me a bit is Mako. He and his relationship with Korra seems to be going in a rather by-the-book direction. I really hope they shake things up a little instead of going through the obvious boy meets girl scenario.

[Ashen Lilies]

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Oh my god Amon is the little kid Zuko gave his knife too.

That was my first thought too, but then I realized the timelines didn't line up and I was disappoint.

Also, no one can take Makorra away from me. No one. Lalalala I can't hear you.[/notentirelyserious]

[Socratov]

OK, just seen the episode and I must say it bcomes clear more and more.

1st. on Korra and Co.

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WEll, indeed she never heard of chiblockers before (well, maybe from stories like Katara's and Kyoshi warriors, but it's not a real know technique. She also exacted surprise when she lost her bending liek WHAT FOUL CORCERY IS THIS!, but with an inner voice. Mako ofcourse educated her and she hasn't really fought them since. Scond, IN battle fire is the easiest to use and to adapt to. You create your won element and you can change (of the fire, water and earth bending styles) direction easiest. This will change ofcourse when she masters airbending. Then whe will be able to pwn those chi blockers since you can't block chi to people at your back.

on lightning

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Lightning is still rare. Indees mentioned the gangleader uses it in his name. Iroh explained lightningbending as beïng the purest form of fire bending in existence. You literally generate heat so pure it becomes lightning instead of fire. Also, in the factory we can only see a handful of them and it is known that bending has had quite the lift in power and knowledge abou tit since republic city has been formed. IN probending it is quite useless becuase 1) generating the lightning takes a lot of time and take a lot of stamina. Bolin explained that the dynamic nature of probending requires the earthbender to adopt a far more dynamic style, "Else you are a sitting turtleduck".

Last but not least, Amon:

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2 options present themselves to me: 1) Amon can actually really spiritbend and control his spiritbending to avoid teh flashy effects, and make the diminishing more gradual instead of just flipping the switch, or, 2) (most likely) it's indeed and advanced form of chi blocking. The reason i choose 2 above 1 is simple: IN the end of TLAB, ang faced the firelord head on and used the head and heartchakras to take away his bending (like the lionturtle did). Amon uses only 1 hand and faces the enemies back. (important detail) he lays his one hand on the head, and the other at the back (to disable the chakra azula struck too). the scene went liek this: bolt attacked with lightning, Amon grabbedthe arm, guided it, pinned it with chiblicking disallowing for arm movement, letting the element run free, and pressurize back and head to shut off the bending like one would close a watertap. That and I guess flashing lights is a prominent feature of spiritbending like we saw with Aang the lionturtle and Ozai.

The real question is: how does Amon access the spiritworld? IN TLAB we were told only the Avatar could enter the spiritworld and communicate with the spirits. This reeks of asspull...

[Ashen Lilies]

Remember that Iroh has had some sort of undefined journey to, and connection with the spirit world. Zhao remarks that he had heard something of the sort when Iroh tells him that the spirits are not to be trifled with, and he somehow is able to spot Aang and Fang on their jaunt to the Spirit World during "The Winter Solstice, part 1".

The Avatar is the bridge between the two worlds, but the Spirit World is not solely the realm of the avatar.

Also, Amon could be lying. We have nothing but his word that his power comes from the spirits.

[dehro]

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The real question is: how does Amon access the spiritworld? IN TLAB we were told only the Avatar could enter the spiritworld and communicate with the spirits. This reeks of asspull...

he doesn't. we only have his word for it that he does. the word of a scheming criminal who hides behind a mask, has at least one hidden agenda and claims to be an envoy of the spirits..something Korra, even in her "spiritually stunted" state, would be involved in or at least receptive to, to some degree.

Iroh is precedent that indeed you can travel to the spirit world and return from it..provided the claim regarding him is true. If he's the canon to go by, I'd say you come back from the spirit world wiser, not a lunatic bent on mass murder. but this is pure speculation, I agree. My previous point however stands. Amon doesn't energybend and therefore his claim of having learned how to remove bending from a spirit is highly suspicious at best.. and this puts his other statements in the "unlikely to be true" drawer.

[golentan]

Man, this show. The backgrounds, animation and music are so very good, especially in HD!

The story is also shaping up excellently. The only thing that worries me a bit is Mako. He and his relationship with Korra seems to be going in a rather by-the-book direction. I really hope they shake things up a little instead of going through the obvious boy meets girl scenario.

I'm hoping they'll get in some serious slash-tease like the original series. AangxZuko!

[Ashen Lilies]

I'm still hoping for an OTT resolution. It makes perfect sense! I mean, she's the Avatar. Who's to say she can only have one boyfriend?!

But then this is a children's show, so maybe not.

[BRC]

I'm willing to bet that Amon's energybending is legitimate, probably due to Koh the Face Stealer Shenanigans, if only because they need to set him up as a reasonable villain. I don't buy the "Smoke and Mirrors" explanation,

The only time we've seen somebody lose their bending was with Zuko, who was a Firebender, and that was explained. Firebending (As the Fire Nation had been teaching it) Was powered by Rage and Ambition. When Zuko joined Aang, the thing that had been motivating his Firebending (Capturing the Avatar, impressing his father) was no longer viable, since he had rejected both. Upon learning the origins of Firebending he was able to firebend again.
The other time was with Energybending.

Thunderbolt Zolt certainly did not lose his motivation to bend. IIRC he TRIED to bend, and it didn't work. What's more, Amon's trick would need to work consistently, if he was just tricking benders in some way then if just ONE bender was too arrogant to believe that his bending could be taken away, then Amon's entire facade goes down.

Also, did we ever learn what happened to the third Fire Ferret, the Waterbender who didn't show up to practice and got replaced by Korra?

[Kobold-Bard]

...

Also, did we ever learn what happened to the third Fire Ferret, the Waterbender who didn't show up to practice and got replaced by Korra?

We didn't. I guess he'll sit the rest of the season out & join a different team next year.

[Madara]

I'm starting to think Amon won't be connected to the previous series.

[Kobold-Bard]

I'm starting to think Amon won't be connected to the previous series.

Why would he be?

[LordVader]

On Amon in the most recent episode:

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I think a lot of people are jumping to conclusions in a lot of ways. First, we don't have actual confirmation that Amon can permanently remove bending. We saw him take away bending briefly, but Ty Lee's techniques can do that anyway. True his ruse would be exposed quickly just using those techniques as they are, but perhaps he found a way to improve upon them enough to make the effects more long-term, but still not permanent, and is using it for intimidation purposes.

Second, even if he can permanently remove bending, jumping the energy bending or taking his claim to have acquired anything from spirits at face value is quite the leap. Claiming to have received his ability from the spirits would be a way for him to try and claim legitimacy to his goals and his use of the technique even if it isn't true, so barring further evidence it's a suspect claim at best. And again even if he has a way to permanently block bending it could be a variant of Ty Lee's techniques rather than energy bending.

Zevox

Amon definitely can remove people's bending ability permanently. If he claimed to be able to do so, did it visibly, and his victims eventually recovered their abilities, that would undercut his support base completely.

That said, I agree that I'm not sure we're seeing energybending here, and it'd be odd for the spirits to turn against the Avatar.

If non-benders are in charge of everything, that means the spirits hold less influence over the world, as the Avatar is their conduit to the mortal realm.

[Zevox]

I'm willing to bet that Amon's energybending is legitimate, probably due to Koh the Face Stealer Shenanigans, if only because they need to set him up as a reasonable villain.

I really don't see why he needs energybending to be a reasonable villain. He certainly seems competent enough as-is, and simply having Ty Lee's techniques, even if he hadn't improved upon them, would make him a plenty valid threat to benders.

Zevox

[AtlanteanTroll]

Was that directed at me, or did I ninja you?

You ninja'd me.

[LordVader]

I really don't see why he needs energybending to be a reasonable villain. He certainly seems competent enough as-is, and simply having Ty Lee's techniques, even if he hadn't improved upon them, would make him a plenty valid threat to benders.

Zevox

Amon needs something to make him a really credible threat. Normal chi-blocking is all well and good, but that doesn't set him apart from his mooks.

Azula was a dangerous villain because she had advanced Firebending techniques that nobody else possessed; lightningbending and rocket booster feet, among others.

Fire Lord Ozai was a dangerous villain because of the sheer stakes of the battle with him; the Aang Gang was quite literally fighting to save the entire world from imminent destruction.

Amon needs something that creates stakes and makes his ascent to power a real, terrifying threat. The ability to remove bending, permanently, accomplishes just that.


People need to stop saying Koh is involved, though. We have seen Amon's eyes.

[pffh]

You know what also makes Amon a real, terrifying threat? The fact that he's capable of making so many non-benders follow him. When push comes to shove the non-benders will rise up and it will be a bloodshed. This is what makes Amon terrifying not some chi blocking or ability to remove bending.

[LordVader]

You know what also makes Amon a real, terrifying threat? The fact that he's capable of making so many non-benders follow him. When push comes to shove the non-benders will rise up and it will be a bloodshed. This is what makes Amon terrifying not some chi blocking or ability to remove bending.

Well, the chi-blocking and bending removal are actually very important in addition to that, as they're necessary tools if you want to lead a revolution against benders.

Still, agreed.

[eyeofsaulot]

People need to stop saying Koh is involved, though. We have seen Amon's eyes.

Did you see this, though?

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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.

That's a reasonable explanation, I think.

[LordVader]

Did you see this, though?



That's a reasonable explanation, I think.

I still don't buy it, for several reasons.

The first is that his eyes are untouched, and he can clearly move his mouth. That means he can have a reaction to something Koh does; he can still emote, and thus can still have his face stolen.

The second is, what possible motivation could Koh have for helping this guy? Koh's creepy as hell, but he helped the Avatar the last time the Avatar found him, and Koh displayed no proclivity toward destroying the Avatar or anti-bender sentiment.

As such, it might as well be any spirit. I don't believe Amon's claims, but even if I did, there's no evidence to suggest Koh's involvement over any other spirit.

I think we'll quite likely see Koh again, but I don't think it'll be as Amon's mysterious spirit ally.

[Zevox]

Amon needs something to make him a really credible threat. Normal chi-blocking is all well and good, but that doesn't set him apart from his mooks.

Azula was a dangerous villain because she had advanced Firebending techniques that nobody else possessed; lightningbending and rocket booster feet, among others.

Fire Lord Ozai was a dangerous villain because of the sheer stakes of the battle with him; the Aang Gang was quite literally fighting to save the entire world from imminent destruction.

Amon needs something that creates stakes and makes his ascent to power a real, terrifying threat. The ability to remove bending, permanently, accomplishes just that.

Azula was a dangerous villain because she was extremely skilled and intelligent. Her advanced firebending techniques helped make her dangerous in a stand-up fight, but what made her most dangerous was her cunning - such as was on display in the season 2 finale, when she infiltrated and conquered Ba Sing Se from the inside by subverting the Dai Li. Even in straight fights it was as much her cunning as her techniques that made her dangerous, such as when she moved around behind Aang to strike him as he entered the Avatar State, or when she used Iroh's slight distraction to strike him and create an opening for her escape.

Ozai was dangerous because of his sheer power, but that was in no small part because of the presence of Sozin's Comet. For most of the series it was the fact that he was in charge of the Fire Nation that made him the greatest threat - he was the one keeping the war going, and he had the world's most powerful military to do it with. Not to say that he wouldn't be a powerful firebender without Sozin's Comet around, but he would have been a much lesser threat personally without that.

Similarly, Amon need not be personally overwhelmingly powerful to pose a threat. Being able to hold his own in battle when he needs to is enough if his main goal is social subversion and manipulation, as it appears to be. He can be intelligent rather than powerful, like Azula without bending, and still be more than enough of a threat - especially to someone like Korra, who is best suited to physical conflicts, not other types.

Zevox

[LordVader]

Oh, I agree completely that Amon's political side is going to be a very huge aspect of what makes him an extremely serious threat.

At the same time, however, the villain needs to pose a threat to the hero on a personal level in order to be truly effective. If we believe that Korra could take on Amon at any time and, at the very worst, escape a little worse for the wear, then he's not as effective a villain as he could be because the tension inherent in the prospect of Korra confronting Amon is defused.

Giving him "energybending" and acute combat prowess greatly ups the stakes of any confrontation between Korra and Amon, and thus the tension for the viewer, as should she lose she runs the risk of losing her bending entirely.

As she's obviously not going to die in any conflict with Amon, this is a marvelous way of still giving him the potential to damage the protagonists immensely.

[eyeofsaulot]

I still don't buy it, for several reasons.

The first is that his eyes are untouched, and he can clearly move his mouth. That means he can have a reaction to something Koh does; he can still emote, and thus can still have his face stolen.

The second is, what possible motivation could Koh have for helping this guy? Koh's creepy as hell, but he helped the Avatar the last time the Avatar found him, and Koh displayed no proclivity toward destroying the Avatar or anti-bender sentiment.

As such, it might as well be any spirit. I don't believe Amon's claims, but even if I did, there's no evidence to suggest Koh's involvement over any other spirit.

I think we'll quite likely see Koh again, but I don't think it'll be as Amon's mysterious spirit ally.

I don't mind you disagreeing with it. Yes, it assumes a fair bit of truth in Amon's speech and capitalizes on our lack of knowledge about Koh and what motivations he could possibly have. But you were saying before that it shouldn't even be discussed because you find it so implausible. From what we know, it's really not that ridiculous of a theory.