Legend Of Korra: Will It Bend!

[DomaDoma]

Korra coming to terms with her self-importance looks like it's going to be a major arc of the show, and the idea that Equalists have something of a point could easily figure into that.

[thubby]

why do i get the impression that this series is going to end with them finding a way to give everyone bending?

[BRC]

why do i get the impression that this series is going to end with them finding a way to give everyone bending?

Either Everybody gets Bending, Everybody gets Avatar-Style Bending (Korra must overcome her ego by removing the thing that makes her special), or they end up agreeing with Amon and everybody loses Bending.

[Flickerdart]

I wonder...when the Guru said that "people bent the energy within themselves", did he mean just benders, or all people? If the separation of the nations is breaking down locally in the Republic, and normals like Amon can gain access to energybending...

[Xondoure]

I wonder...when the Guru said that "people bent the energy within themselves", did he mean just benders, or all people? If the separation of the nations is breaking down locally in the Republic, and normals like Amon can gain access to energybending...

All people. Energy bending is just a name. It is not the same as bending the four elements.

And as for chi blocking being only applicable against benders. Uhm... wha? We've seen it used against non benders. And it is every bit as effective. It's a self defense technique nothing more. That doesn't mean the people learning it weren't actively involved with a hostile force.

[Fjolnir]

here is a question for you that the equalists and benders aren't asking... Is it possible for bending to be BESTOWED upon a person the same way?

[Seraph]

here is a question for you that the equalists and benders aren't asking... Is it possible for bending to be BESTOWED upon a person the same way?

I always assumed as much, although there's no canon confirmation of it.

obviously, It could only bestow the potential for bending, not immediately teach you the ability to do all the motions.

[Absol197]

here is a question for you that the equalists and benders aren't asking... Is it possible for bending to be BESTOWED upon a person the same way?

Before Legend of Korra was announced, I just assumed Aang took his newly learned energybending (or, as I've always called it, spiritbending) and used it to give the folks living in the northern air temple airbending.

If you can do something, it makes sense that you can undo it as well. Doctors have to train for years to learn to heal, for example, and would probably be very good at using that knowledge to harm, if they wanted to.

So, yes, my assumption is that it is possible, it just hasn't occurred to any of the main characters that finding that path might be the best course of action.

[Soras Teva Gee]

You're wandering off topic.

I'm saying that chi blocking as a subset of martial arts should be regulated or monitored due to its specific targeting against benders and hence the law enforcement officers.

I'm arguing that this is insufficient justification. That a portion (and might we add that if its not a portion that itself is a problem) of law enforcement will have less of an advantage is not sufficient to justify a mere skill being banned.

Hang on, are you saying that chi blocking is not a threat to benders? Did you watch the third episode, where one of Amon's men disabled the Avatar, the supposed pinnacle of the bending art, in a pretty much fair fight?

No. Its more of a threat then an otherwise unarmed fighter would be but it merely closes a gap. Same as say a sword or spear would help, but you are still at a disadvantage against someone who can stike from well beyond melee range.

Its a blatant hypocrisy to suggest that chi-blocking is somehow too dangerous while bending goes unlicensed and unregistered.

[dehro]

here is a question for you that the equalists and benders aren't asking... Is it possible for bending to be BESTOWED upon a person the same way?

that's pretty much what the lion-turtle does with Aang, so I'd say yes.

[dehro]

All people. Energy bending is just a name. It is not the same as bending the four elements.

And as for chi blocking being only applicable against benders. Uhm... wha? We've seen it used against non benders. And it is every bit as effective.

yes... except that the evolution thereoff, perma-chi-blocking seems to remove the bending and not the mobility of the victim.

[Seerow]

yes... except that the evolution thereoff, perma-chi-blocking seems to remove the bending and not the mobility of the victim.

But the perma-chi blocking is unique to Amon as far as we've seen. His minions use regular chi blocking, which seems to work the same as it used to.

[Hiro Protagonest]

I wonder...when the Guru said that "people bent the energy within themselves", did he mean just benders, or all people? If the separation of the nations is breaking down locally in the Republic, and normals like Amon can gain access to energybending...

Er, that was the lion turtle, not the guru.

[Soras Teva Gee]

But the perma-chi blocking is unique to Amon as far as we've seen. His minions use regular chi blocking, which seems to work the same as it used to.

Remember we don't know if Amon is chi-blocking, its currently an interesting theory with some interesting evidence but it is still equal with him having discovered energybending somehow.

Both call for an expansion of our current understanding.

[Flickerdart]

Er, that was the lion turtle, not the guru.

The guru was the lion turtle shapeshifted using energybending and you can't prove otherwise. >_>

[Fjolnir]

I always thought the lion turtle sort of imprinted the information psychically, rather than actually energybending Aang...

[Silverraptor]

Either Everybody gets Bending, Everybody gets Avatar-Style Bending (Korra must overcome her ego by removing the thing that makes her special), or they end up agreeing with Amon and everybody loses Bending.

Or the balance is put back between the benders and non-benders and all is gumdrops and Ice cream between everyone.

[Ozfer]

This is me commenting on the debate in general, as I haven't seen the episodes yet, so feel free to completely discount what I say.

If there is poverty and unhappiness, and there are benders with better lives, it doesn't necessarily mean the benders are at fault.

Without touching on too sensitive of an issue, I'd like to point out that this seems akin to the reasoning behind the Holocaust- Except for the Jewish didn't necessarily have better lives (Although benders probably do have better lives in most cases).

Essentially, if there is a group of people who are different in some way, it becomes easier to blame them.

Although I'm sure Amon has personal issues with benders, along with some other people (But then, I'm sure they also have problems with non-benders-- the benders just stand out more).

Thats my 2 cents.

[Kd7sov]

I always thought the lion turtle sort of imprinted the information psychically, rather than actually energybending Aang...

Possible, I suppose, but since Aang used exactly the same contact points on Ozai that the Lion Turtle had used on him, I'd tend to suspect they were using much the same technique.

[BRC]

Or the balance is put back between the benders and non-benders and all is gumdrops and Ice cream between everyone.

While the social issues involved with establishing equality in a world with inbuilt inequality (Benders are simply more capable than non-benders at many tasks) are fascinating, I think they may be outside the scope of the show.
Book 1: Air, Korra must master Airbending, come to grips with her duty as the Avatar, and defeat Amon.
Book 2: Sociology: Korra must now tackle the underlying issues that led to Amon's Rise. Combat and pro-bending matches are replaced with lengthy philosophical debates on the role of government in society and the nature of Inequality. In a climactic season finale, Korra presents the City Council with a series of social and economic initiatives designed to ensure equal rights and opportunities to non-benders. By dubbing them the "Wang Fire Plan" she makes it politically unwise to vote against it. A lengthy filibusterer is stopped when she punches somebody in the face.
Book 3: Korra goes off in search of Space Sword and Boomerang.

[John Cribati]

Honestly, the only "oppression by benders" so far I've seen (not counting Benders in Organized crime) is that benders tend to have better jobs. And that's not even due to the system; it's due to basic logic. I mean, say you want to order a hundred bricks from somebody, for whatever reason. Do you go to the non-bending stonecutter, who will take a few days to get the hundred out, or to and earthbender, who can make thousands of bricks out of boulders in the same amount of time?

Your pipes broken? Get a metalbender to patch it up (admittedly, they're probably too busy being cops)

And speaking of the cops: Why spend time making weapons for your police force when you can have a force with their weapons built in?

How many jobs are there where a bender of some sort wouldn't be orders of magnitude more efficient than non-benders? They're few and far between.

[DrBurr]

Honestly, the only "oppression by benders" so far I've seen (not counting Benders in Organized crime) is that benders tend to have better jobs. And that's not even due to the system; it's due to basic logic. I mean, say you want to order a hundred bricks from somebody, for whatever reason. Do you go to the non-bending stonecutter, who will take a few days to get the hundred out, or to and earthbender, who can make thousands of bricks out of boulders in the same amount of time?

Your pipes broken? Get a metalbender to patch it up (admittedly, they're probably too busy being cops)

And speaking of the cops: Why spend time making weapons for your police force when you can have a force with their weapons built in?

How many jobs are there where a bender of some sort wouldn't be orders of magnitude more efficient than non-benders? They're few and far between.

Exactly the problem the non-benders face every job they could do seems to be better done by a bender thus they are impoverished and feel oppressed cue a man who promises them jobs and an end to they're oppression and you have the equalists.

Its not about observing the social order logically, its about people being trapped on the bottom rung because they weren't born breathing fire, causing earthquakes or manipulating water.

[Silverraptor]

Book 3: Korra goes off in search of Space Sword and Boomerang.

God I would love it if this happened. But what should the book title be?

[Soras Teva Gee]

Honestly, the only "oppression by benders" so far I've seen (not counting Benders in Organized crime) is that benders tend to have better jobs. And that's not even due to the system; it's due to basic logic. I mean, say you want to order a hundred bricks from somebody, for whatever reason. Do you go to the non-bending stonecutter, who will take a few days to get the hundred out, or to and earthbender, who can make thousands of bricks out of boulders in the same amount of time?

Yeah we've been over by this. Oppression can be hyperbole depending on you value of it but it doesn't mean there isn't a problem. Its easy to say intellectually that benders are superior laborers, its another thing to be a non-bender living with it. Heck look at how much we've used 'non-bender' and not 'normal' just for a start.

How many jobs are there where a bender of some sort wouldn't be orders of magnitude more efficient than non-benders? They're few and far between.

Well ultimately technology promises to make bending a mere novelty. Demands of production (Satomobiles anyone?) should drive a demand that exceeds the supply of skilled benders. Which will create the methods to do without them.

The further up the tech tree the less meaningful benders become. Why hire a bender when any person can run a machine to make your product. Almost anything outside labor and bending is truly meaningless. Doesn't make you a better lawyer or banker.

This doesn't resolve the basic inequality though.

[Kd7sov]

How many jobs are there where a bender of some sort wouldn't be orders of magnitude more efficient than non-benders? They're few and far between.

Well, anything where bending itself isn't all that helpful. Intellectual-type work, for instance, although they could have an edge in fieldwork; just about anything culinary, unless you're using a poor oven or take a really long time to carry water by hand...

There is, of course, the question of pay-scales, which could well be oppressive against those jobs that don't use bending.

[Hiro Protagonest]

God I would love it if this happened. But what should the book title be?

Fan and sword!

[JCarter426]

Honestly, the only "oppression by benders" so far I've seen (not counting Benders in Organized crime) is that benders tend to have better jobs. And that's not even due to the system; it's due to basic logic.

...

How many jobs are there where a bender of some sort wouldn't be orders of magnitude more efficient than non-benders? They're few and far between.

I disagree. So far the practical uses of bending seem to fall under the categories of military and menial labor - neither of which is upper class or in high demand (the military in the Fire Nation may have been once, but now we're in a time of peace and no longer a dictatorship). Furthermore, there have been non-bender nobles (the Earth King, the Beifongs), soldiers (Kyoshi Warriors, Freedom Fighters, Piandao), criminals/freelancers (the pirates, June), and at least one non-bender member of the White Lotus (Piandao again). And of course, with the exception of Katara, the Southern Water consisted entirely of non-benders. We have also seen prominent non-bender inventors like the Mechanist, and (apparently) the Cabbage Merchant. So while there is an inherent inequality in a world with benders and non-benders, the world is like that already and it doesn't seem to be particularly bad for the non-benders. Perhaps things are different in the bender melting pot of Republic City, but so far I haven't seen any evidence of that; indeed, all of Mako and Bolin's Pro-Bending money goes directly into the pockets of their manager, likely a non-bender.

On the other hand, I think that's what makes the Equalists so interesting. They seem to be a mix of people who feel genuinely oppressed - unskilled laborers who blame their troubles on benders who take up all the unskilled labor, which may be true - and manipulators like Amon.

[John Cribati]

Well, anything where bending itself isn't all that helpful. Intellectual-type work, for instance, although they could have an edge in fieldwork; just about anything culinary, unless you're using a poor oven or take a really long time to carry water by hand...

I disagree on the culinary part. A firebender could control the temperature of the oven/stove/skillet with his mind. Hell, if Zuko increasing the temperature of his hands to melt ice is any indication, a firebender has the capacity to be the stove.

[Fjolnir]

I disagree on the culinary part. A firebender could control the temperature of the oven/stove/skillet with his mind. Hell, if Zuko increasing the temperature of his hands to melt ice is any indication, a firebender has the capacity to be the stove.

Brings new meaning to "handmade food" but...

[memnarch]

Fan and sword!

In keeping with the one word titles, how about Relics?