Legend Of Korra: Will It Bend!

[BRC]

Yea, I think its going to be awhile before the Avatarverse gets an Alternating Current or a bending equivalent, it seems they mostly figured out this stuff through bending first and science second.

At least not until Avatar Tesla shows up.

[Lord Raziere]

Which would be the most awesome Fire Avatar ever. I mean really, Avatar Tesla, the guy who tried to sell a death ray and such, being able to shoot lightning from his fingers.

by the way, since an Earth Avatar will be next, who do think they will be like? bookish, calm and scholarly? We've already had a lighthearted spiritual carefree monk who had trouble with earth, we have a forceful reckless impulsive water tribe girl who has trouble with air, my bet is that the next Earth avatar will be a calm rational, methodical scholar who has trouble with bending fire because he isn't good at expressing himself or his emotions, and would also be a little cold (pardon the pun.) if you will.

either that or some stuck up guy who is bad at being flexible or at relaxing or whatever, and would have a hard time bending water because he is a hard-working reliable, dependable workaholic. but that would suck and I would much prefer the scholar.

[Anarion]

Perhaps the technology in the Avatarverse progressed differently than ours. I mean, since they have people who can produce large amounts of electricity for apparently extended amounts of time, they didn't have to figure out the whole "current = rotating electric field" thing, just like how in the original series, the engines and balloons were powered by firebending instead of coal or wood. They'll eventually figure it out, but until then they have ways of powering their lightbulbs.

Meanwhile, I'm wondering how it's viable to wear your opponent down as a strategy in the three-minute Pro-Bending rounds, but it's possible to work a full (I'm assuming) shift at a power plant, while performing constant bending.

Just want to add, having done some Taekwondo sparring previously, that 3 minutes is actually a very good length for a round. I can go out running for an hour and be fine, but be breathing really hard after a 3 minute Taekwondo round. It's just a lot more tiring when you have to be aware of an opponent and ready to react at every second.

Which would be the most awesome Fire Avatar ever. I mean really, Avatar Tesla, the guy who tried to sell a death ray and such, being able to shoot lightning from his fingers.

by the way, since an Earth Avatar will be next, who do think they will be like? bookish, calm and scholarly? We've already had a lighthearted spiritual carefree monk who had trouble with earth, we have a forceful reckless impulsive water tribe girl who has trouble with air, my bet is that the next Earth avatar will be a calm rational, methodical scholar who has trouble with bending fire because he isn't good at expressing himself or his emotions, and would also be a little cold (pardon the pun.) if you will.

either that or some stuck up guy who is bad at being flexible or at relaxing or whatever, and would have a hard time bending water because he is a hard-working reliable, dependable workaholic. but that would suck and I would much prefer the scholar.

In theory the next avatar should also have trouble with air-bending. Historically it has been the element most opposed to the avatar's natural element and Korra is just weird in being more like an earthbedner than a waterbender, despite starting from the Southern Water Tribe. I would guess the next avatar would be calm, unlike Korra, but also very orderly and stubborn about doing things in their proper manner. He would therefore find it difficult to embrace the freedom that comes with airbending.

[thubby]

Which would be the most awesome Fire Avatar ever. I mean really, Avatar Tesla, the guy who tried to sell a death ray and such, being able to shoot lightning from his fingers.

by the way, since an Earth Avatar will be next, who do think they will be like? bookish, calm and scholarly? We've already had a lighthearted spiritual carefree monk who had trouble with earth, we have a forceful reckless impulsive water tribe girl who has trouble with air, my bet is that the next Earth avatar will be a calm rational, methodical scholar who has trouble with bending fire because he isn't good at expressing himself or his emotions, and would also be a little cold (pardon the pun.) if you will.

i will not pardon it *holds ruler menacingly*

though it does make me think about something. we know firebenders can control and redirect heat, so i wonder if we'll ever see a fire bender freeze something.
would definitely be interesting to see in a pro bending match, since they don't have rules about the firebenders making ice.

[Morph Bark]

Which would be the most awesome Fire Avatar ever. I mean really, Avatar Tesla, the guy who tried to sell a death ray and such, being able to shoot lightning from his fingers.

I would read (or hell, write) such a story with anticipation.

In theory the next avatar should also have trouble with air-bending. Historically it has been the element most opposed to the avatar's natural element and Korra is just weird in being more like an earthbedner than a waterbender, despite starting from the Southern Water Tribe. I would guess the next avatar would be calm, unlike Korra, but also very orderly and stubborn about doing things in their proper manner. He would therefore find it difficult to embrace the freedom that comes with airbending.

Historically that might have been the case most of the time, but exceptions are no doubt abound in the very long line of avatars. Narratively speaking, having the next one also have trouble with the element either of the previous two we've seen on screen a lot (Aang and Korra) also had trouble with would be the more boring option. Which would leave the Earth avatar with Fire or Water -- and the Fire avatar with the leftover option.

Personally, I think it'd be hilarious of the Fire avatar would have trouble bending his/her native element and thus with either discovering he/she can bend at all, thus developing other abilities and skills first. Like if a less comic-relief-y Sokka suddenly found out he could shoot lightning, twist metal and sprout icicles.

On that note, I was always a bit sad Airbending did not have any special subdivisions shown, unlike Lightning/Sand/Metalbending and the healing part of Waterbending.

[dehro]

though it does make me think about something. we know firebenders can control and redirect heat, so i wonder if we'll ever see a fire bender freeze something.
would definitely be interesting to see in a pro bending match, since they don't have rules about the firebenders making ice.

don't think so.
it's a waterbender thing and, more importantly, it would be hard to "realize" visually. waterbenders throw water at someone/thing and then freeze that, creating a block of ice around it/them. the object or victim then thaws out gradually. a firebender could only...remove heat..which would not be visually appreciable (certainly not in a cartoon).. and would, incidentally, kill a living being outright (or at the very least put them in cryogenic state..which sounds a bit out of tune with the rest of the show).

since we now know that bending can be taken away and given (Aang is given energybending in a matter of seconds).. would it be possible at all that the next avatar was born a non-bender? after all..once he's recognized he's going to get tutoring anyway..learning 4 elements instead of 3 isn't much of a big deal for the avatar
or weirder yet.. an energy bender..
now that energybending is back in the world of humans, it's entirely possible for the circle to be broken and the balance to need rewriting..which would be a pretty nice plot for the next book with Korra (and also tie in nicely with the idea that the next book could be called energy, since we have run out of elements)

[Morph Bark]

i will not pardon it *holds ruler menacingly*

though it does make me think about something. we know firebenders can control and redirect heat, so i wonder if we'll ever see a fire bender freeze something.
would definitely be interesting to see in a pro bending match, since they don't have rules about the firebenders making ice.

Personally, I think firebenders can insert heat, but not withdraw it, with waterbenders having the opposite ability. Well, maybe. Have we ever seen waterbenders turning water into steam without a heat source?

[Grey_Wolf_c]

Personally, I think firebenders can insert heat, but not withdraw it, with waterbenders having the opposite ability. Well, maybe. Have we ever seen waterbenders turning water into steam without a heat source?

Kinda. We have seen them whip up cloud covers (Aang and Katara on Appa, and the swamp guys when on the ships).

Edit: on the other hand, they can only manipulate water. A firebender can remove heat from anything (see: firelord 'I wipped out the airbenders' whats-his-name cooling down a volcano).

GW

[BRC]

don't think so.
it's a waterbender thing and, more importantly, it would be hard to "realize" visually. waterbenders throw water at someone/thing and then freeze that, creating a block of ice around it/them. the object or victim then thaws out gradually. a firebender could only...remove heat..which would not be visually appreciable (certainly not in a cartoon).. and would, incidentally, kill a living being outright (or at the very least put them in cryogenic state..which sounds a bit out of tune with the rest of the show).

since we now know that bending can be taken away and given (Aang is given energybending in a matter of seconds).. would it be possible at all that the next avatar was born a non-bender? after all..once he's recognized he's going to get tutoring anyway..learning 4 elements instead of 3 isn't much of a big deal for the avatar
or weirder yet.. an energy bender..
now that energybending is back in the world of humans, it's entirely possible for the circle to be broken and the balance to need rewriting..which would be a pretty nice plot for the next book with Korra (and also tie in nicely with the idea that the next book could be called energy, since we have run out of elements)

Well, unless Energy-bending picks up a use besides Removing Bending, I'm not sure how well it fits with the others.
Also, it looks like the Avatar is the Avatar from birth (Remember, Korra was using 3 elements as a young child). Taking Roku as the "Standard" avatar, it looks like the spiritual authorities of whichever nation is next in line identify the Avatar (probably through omens and the like), let them grow up normally until they are Sixteen (Letting them master their native element), then inform them of their avatar-ness and send them off to be trained. Aang is an odd case because the War with the fire nation messed things up.

Korra is also odd because she skipped the "Spend sixteen years living normally" phase. She was using three elements early on, and then spent her time livign in the White Lotus compound. Though she was born to the Water Tribe, Korra does not have a "Native" element, she's just as much an earth and firebender as she is a waterbender.

Hrmm, we know that there is a cultural component to Bending. Maybe Republic City is screwing things up. The Avatar is supposed to represent the World, four elements built into one. With Republic City as the cultural center of the entire world, Korra is now embodying the culture of Republic City, so at the age when most Avatars would be bending their "Native" element, she's got three.

[Hiro Protagonest]

Personally, I think firebenders can insert heat, but not withdraw it, with waterbenders having the opposite ability. Well, maybe. Have we ever seen waterbenders turning water into steam without a heat source?

Sozin took part of the heat out of an erupting volcano, channeling it out his other hand into the air.

[thubby]

don't think so.
it's a waterbender thing and, more importantly, it would be hard to "realize" visually. waterbenders throw water at someone/thing and then freeze that, creating a block of ice around it/them. the object or victim then thaws out gradually. a firebender could only...remove heat..which would not be visually appreciable (certainly not in a cartoon).. and would, incidentally, kill a living being outright (or at the very least put them in cryogenic state..which sounds a bit out of tune with the rest of the show).

volcano fighting guy pulled it off. using a similar stance and having the heat channeled into a fireblast in the other hand would probably be distinct enough.

but you're probably right. it would be odd for the show's style to do something so... shonen-y?

[Telonius]

Not sure if this has been mentioned as a possibility regarding Amon ...

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Crazy conspiracy theory time. It was established that Zolt knew something big was going down. (Otherwise he wouldn't have been hiring extra muscle). The "something big" was probably the Revelation. Would it be possible that Zolt is in cahoots with Amon, and the "energybending" was just an act to stir up support for Amon? They do have common interests (antagonistic to the police and not much liking the new Avatar).

The big hole with that theory is Bolin. He obviously didn't know what was going on. However, we do know that the Revelation was actually interrupted by Korra, so we don't know for 100% certain what Amon had planned. It's possible that a flashy rescue by the Avatar was exactly what he was hoping for - "See! They're scared!" - "Bad Avatar, stop inciting riots!" - with the image of a bender begging for his powers (and Amon benevolently granting him his wish if he takes a message back to the authorities) as a backup plan.

[BRC]

Not sure if this has been mentioned as a possibility regarding Amon ...

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Crazy conspiracy theory time. It was established that Zolt knew something big was going down. (Otherwise he wouldn't have been hiring extra muscle). The "something big" was probably the Revelation. Would it be possible that Zolt is in cahoots with Amon, and the "energybending" was just an act to stir up support for Amon? They do have common interests (antagonistic to the police and not much liking the new Avatar).

The big hole with that theory is Bolin. He obviously didn't know what was going on. However, we do know that the Revelation was actually interrupted by Korra, so we don't know for 100% certain what Amon had planned. It's possible that a flashy rescue by the Avatar was exactly what he was hoping for - "See! They're scared!" - "Bad Avatar, stop inciting riots!" - with the image of a bender begging for his powers (and Amon benevolently granting him his wish if he takes a message back to the authorities) as a backup plan.

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Maybe, but that requires Amon to not actually believe his own rhetoric. His rhetoric has been "all Bending is evil!", so letting a Bender go wouldn't fit with that. The True Believers in the Equalists wouldn't stand for it.
Also, I really don't see Zolt's motivation for going along with this plan. He would have to never bend again in order to keep up the Charade.

People seem to be jumping through lots of hoops to find a way for Amon to not actually be Energybending (If he's not, then I think he's doing super chi-blocking, which has the same effect).

[Silverraptor]

Korra is a min-maxer - she dumped her mental ability scores and the spiritual side of her gestalt for early entry into the three schools of bending she thought were the most powerful.

Not necessarily the most powerful, just the 3 elements that were next to come in the training cycle.

[Morph Bark]

So I only just got to watch the third episode. Am I the only thinking that it's possible that Amon

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is really Mako's/Bolin's father?

[Kairaven]

not all spirit are benevolent, and knowledge can have its price....

so Amon

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could have had his face taken in exchange for energy bending knowledge?

[Dusk Eclipse]

So I only just got to watch the third episode. Am I the only thinking that it's possible that Amon

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is really Mako's/Bolin's father?

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Would be kind of cliché. Frankly I kinda want a story where the bad guy isn't related to the main characters other than as the antagonist.

[Dusk Eclipse]

So I only just got to watch the third episode. Am I the only thinking that it's possible that Amon

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is really Mako's/Bolin's father?

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Would be kind of cliché. Frankly I kinda want a story where the bad guy isn't related to the main characters other than as the antagonist.

[dehro]

not all spirit are benevolent, and knowledge can have its price....

so Amon

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could have had his face taken in exchange for energy bending knowledge?

debunked several times already, further up the thread.. Amon still has eyes, which would not be the case if Koh had nibbled at his face.

So I only just got to watch the third episode. Am I the only thinking that it's possible that Amon

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is really Mako's/Bolin's father?

this is... actually a very real possibility
even though Amon does state that none in his family were benders..which of course could be a lie... so..the very tale that makes it possible also needs to be false for it to be possible..
insta-headache

P.S. then again, we've already been there, with the big baddie being the father of one of the good guys.

[Anarion]

debunked several times already, further up the thread.. Amon still has eyes, which would not be the case if Koh had nibbled at his face.



this is... actually a very real possibility
even though Amon does state that none in his family were benders..which of course could be a lie... so..the very tale that makes it possible also needs to be false for it to be possible..
insta-headache

P.S. then again, we've already been there, with the big baddie being the father of one of the good guys.

Debunked might be too strong. It's not likely, especially given that Koh has provided no reason to suddenly mess up the cycle, but it's not 100% ruled out either.

As for Amon, I hope that the major aspects of his story are true. I think it's much more interesting if he isn't just an evil liar but rather someone who truly thinks that bending is a bad thing. Him being a regular bender rather than an energy bender is possible, but would be a little disappointing, since it would be so hypocritical.

[Grey_Wolf_c]

Debunked might be too strong. It's not likely, especially given that Koh has provided no reason to suddenly mess up the cycle, but it's not 100% ruled out either.

Nothing can be "100% ruled out". That's how conspiracy theories survive: because you can always add yet another ad-hoc explanation when something doesn't fit. The idea that Koh is involved was interesting because someone with no face would use a mask. Except we know have evidence that Amon has eyes, so Koh did not steal his face. That was the only positive evidence for the idea, and now it is gone. Yes, you can start adding other details like "face so burnt he cannot emote" (nope, most emotion is carried in the eyes: if he can see, he can emote) or "Very, very good at keeping a straight face" which would fit, but have no evidence whatsoever. We don't know that Amon even went to the spirit world, no reason to think Koh is involved, or that he wants to harm the Avatar. Since there is no evidence, it is 100% debunked, in the sense that all the evidence in favour of the idea has been shown to not support it.

Could further evidence change back the idea into a theory again? Yes, but new evidence will be required. For example, Amon mentioning the name of the spirit that taught him, or knowledge of the spirit world beyond the attention-grabbing sob story.

Grey Wolf

[Kd7sov]

by the way, since an Earth Avatar will be next, who do think they will be like? bookish, calm and scholarly? We've already had a lighthearted spiritual carefree monk who had trouble with earth, we have a forceful reckless impulsive water tribe girl who has trouble with air, my bet is that the next Earth avatar will be a calm rational, methodical scholar who has trouble with bending fire because he isn't good at expressing himself or his emotions, and would also be a little cold (pardon the pun.) if you will.

either that or some stuck up guy who is bad at being flexible or at relaxing or whatever, and would have a hard time bending water because he is a hard-working reliable, dependable workaholic. but that would suck and I would much prefer the scholar.

It may (or may not; we don't exactly have a huge sample size) be worth noting that both of the Avatars whose training-in-progress we've observed in noticeable detail have had trouble with the base element of the previous Avatar of the opposite sex.

And now that I've said that, it occurs to me that Roku might have said something I've forgotten in Avatar and the Fire Lord about which one vexed him. Oh, well. It's not as if I'm putting much stock in this.

[Morph Bark]

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Would be kind of cliché. Frankly I kinda want a story where the bad guy isn't related to the main characters other than as the antagonist.

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It is certainly cliché, but story-wise I figure it fits better here than in tons of other media that seem to play specifically into clichés a lot of the time. Besides, despite all that we may want, it's the creators who decide in the end what's what and who's who in the show.

this is... actually a very real possibility
even though Amon does state that none in his family were benders..which of course could be a lie... so..the very tale that makes it possible also needs to be false for it to be possible..
insta-headache

P.S. then again, we've already been there, with the big baddie being the father of one of the good guys.

True, but

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it is a possibility that if that is the case, Bolin and Mako became benders afterwards. Or Amon is simply performing truthbending.

It does seem much less likely narratively speaking when you take into account something like this happened before, though in that case the good guy son only became a good guy late into the series.

[Fjolnir]

Here is the big piece of evidence FOR Koh being the culprit: Koh steals faces that show emotion, what do masks allow a user to do?

[Xondoure]

we know that because first Guru Pathik explains to Aang how he can't reach avatar state on account of his chi being blocked in his uhm...5th chakra.. (and all the while Aang can still do regular bending of elementS)
whilst in the last episode Aang says, and I quote: "I took your firebending away"
and does so by energybending the stuff outta him.
as I said... 2 very different things.

I still don't see it. Chakra control is pretty clearly "bending the energy within ourselves" which is a direct quote from the lion turtle. What I'm saying is Guru Pathik is an energy bender, and that bending another person's energy is like the metal/lightning/blood of energy bending.

It just seems bizarre to me that there would be personal "bending" energy and chi as individual things that also happen to be blockable by hitting the same pressure points. And all energy bending we've seen goes straight for the chakras. Them being separate just seems way too complicated.

[Grey_Wolf_c]

Here is the big piece of evidence FOR Koh being the culprit: Koh steals faces that show emotion, what do masks allow a user to do?

So, we have gone from "he wears a mask because he came in contact with Koh" to "he survived Koh because he wears a mask". Notice how there is no possible evidence that would disprove this. Since it is not falsifiable, it is not a theory. As I explained above.

And no, that doesn't work. A mask doesn't hide your eyes, as we saw in the last episode. If you are horrified, scared, amused or any other number of emotions, those emotions will show up on the eyes and for someone looking directly at the eyes those emotions would be easy to pick. And you can bet that Koh is very good at picking up on emotions, and would be watching the eyes.

It also doesn't address why Koh would be willing to participate, how Amon knew to enter the spirit world, and who to talk to, and how he knew to wear a mask. Or even if Koh knows how to energy bend.

Grey Wolf

[Kd7sov]

Here is the big piece of evidence FOR Koh being the culprit: Koh steals faces that show emotion, what do masks allow a user to do?

So, we have gone from "he wears a mask because he came in contact with Koh" to "he survived Koh because he wears a mask". Notice how there is no possible evidence that would disprove this. Since it is not falsifiable, it is not a theory. As I explained above.

And no, that doesn't work. A mask doesn't hide your eyes, as we saw in the last episode. If you are horrified, scared, amused or any other number of emotions, those emotions will show up on the eyes and for someone looking directly at the eyes those emotions would be easy to pick. And you can bet that Koh is very good at picking up on emotions, and would be watching the eyes.

It also doesn't address why Koh would be willing to participate, how Amon knew to enter the spirit world, and who to talk to, and how he knew to wear a mask. Or even if Koh knows how to energy bend.

Grey Wolf

Furthermore, even if we interpret "mask" as "perfect emotion-hider", it's still not evidence for Koh's involvement. It would (not "does"; remember, we're working from an unlikely assumption) allow Koh to be involved without horrific consequences for Amon, but I don't see that it makes Koh any more likely to have become involved.

[Xondoure]

I still don't see it. Chakra control is pretty clearly "bending the energy within ourselves" which is a direct quote from the lion turtle. What I'm saying is Guru Pathik is an energy bender, and that bending another person's energy is like the metal/lightning/blood of energy bending.

It just seems bizarre to me that there would be personal "bending" energy and chi as individual things that also happen to be blockable by hitting the same pressure points. And all energy bending we've seen goes straight for the chakras. Them being separate just seems way too complicated.

Continuing this line of thought, I think anyone could potentially master energy bending. It's less of a fifth element, and more spiritual enlightenment.

[Randomguy]

i will not pardon it *holds ruler menacingly*

'Cmon, thubby, why do you have to punish everyone for making little jokes?

It may (or may not; we don't exactly have a huge sample size) be worth noting that both of the Avatars whose training-in-progress we've observed in noticeable detail have had trouble with the base element of the previous Avatar of the opposite sex.

No, Roku had trouble with water, while Avatar Kurruk, the waterbending avatar before Korra, was male.


Even if Spirit Bending is learnable by anyone, then who taught it to Amon? No way that an art that was lost for thousands of years was rediscovered that randomly. And by "lost" I mean available to people other than the avatar. Remember, in the era before the avatar normal mortals could bend energy.

I wonder what energybending originally did, before there was any elemental bending to remove? Maybe we'll find out if:

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Korra gets her bending taken away, leaving only the spiritual aspect of the avatar, so she needs to learn how to be more spiritual and how to fight without bending to defeat Amon.

I don't think it's very likely, but it would certainly be interesting.

[Telonius]

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People seem to be jumping through lots of hoops to find a way for Amon to not actually be Energybending (If he's not, then I think he's doing super chi-blocking, which has the same effect).

It's because he wears a mask. As a wise man once said, people in masks cannot be trusted.