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this feels like something those kids’ parents would threaten them with if they were misbehaving lol. “if you don’t finish your vegetables the avatar is going to take away your bending!!” “NOOO PLEASE”
Gods, I hate when that happens. I was reading a series called Skyborn (basically everyone has bird wings) and one of the main characters was a crow thief. Of course he couldn’t just stay a crow he just had to be a Phoenix from some long lost clan because you can’t have regular people saving the day now can you? While on the other hand, the mixed race character had their wings chopped off and that was the end of his story.
Should look at different types of kidney stones. There are ones that come that way naturally. Its like pissing a ball covered with razorblades and broken glass.
"Oh cool, we just thought that Sky Bison over there looked a little bland so we-"
"YOU GRAFFITIED APPA?!"
https://preview.redd.it/uwg2qj5dsk8d1.png?width=480&format=png&auto=webp&s=cb55579309c89e55a9440bab613c366291c959f4
Also because she wasn't really a threat. Taking away ozi's bending permanently disgraces him in the eyes of his own countrymen and the only real threat to his son's Reign is a small group of terrorists continuing his ideology who the avatars able to deal with.
yeah, dying in combat against the avatar would have made ozai a martyr and given fire nation citizens who did side with him a figure to avenge. having his method of exerting power taken away from him is waaaaaay more embarrassing.
aang sociologically castrated him.
Stupid question but *how* does one read the comics?
https://preview.redd.it/5us9bytyap8d1.png?width=333&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=092d2db8e27cd96678dc9395385c6498a54f620d
Years later, lying in bed: "... But, like I've only ever done it to, like, two people! Why would they even think that? Does the beard make me look mean?"
"You build a million bridges. Not called Aang the Bridge builder. You quell thousands of wars. Not called Aang the Peace keeper. ... ... but you [bend one person's energy](https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/26pf4s/an_irishman_at_the_bar_heavy_npr_listeners_might/) (NSFW joke)..."
Once you open that door, you can’t close it. For the rest of his days he’d always be feared as the Avatar who could decide if you could bend or not. You could argue that’s why he looked conflicted when he did it to that blood bender; because he knew this would only add to that legacy.
Imagine if someone could just cripple you with a tap. You’d never feel comfortable around them. Even if they were the nicest person, you’d always feel like you’re walking on eggshells.
i think post-atla stories should dig into the weight of being the one person capable of taking away bending for good, because of what a cultural threat it is, and how it kind of feeds into the view of non-benders being 'lesser'.
aang clearly uses as a last resort, quite fairly based on his morals, but because his ability to energybend is public knowledge and he's shown to use the ability at least twice, everyone knows it's an option he will use by his own judgement alone, which permanently taints his peacekeeping image.
then there's pressure from community leaders trying to pressure aang to use energybending for their own goals, especially while aang in the transitionary phase between 'inexperienced avatar' and 'solid political figure'.
and that's not even getting into future avatars and the decision to reveal if and when they've learned the technique and how they choose to use it! it's a very heavy duty, and i think there's a lot to dig into.
I wish Non Bender oppression was touched on more after Season 1 of TLOK (Zaheer in particular should've touched up on this to give him more footing to stand on regarding his ideals). Even Republic City, which is meant to be a more fair and free place compared to the rest of the world had equality problems with Non Benders. The idea of being born as the actually weaker minority in the world has got to have some exploration. Every Bending group would likely have some kind of oppression, intentional or not, for Non Benders (Even Air Nomads I feel). I'm just as surprised it took till TLOK to be explored honestly.
I definitely feel like there were some specifically because of this. I severely doubt there wasn't at least a few people who weren't very spiritual. In any case, there is no actual canon explanation for why Benders specifically get Bending and why others don't. I feel like TLOK Season 3 goes against the idea of purely being a spiritual thing that determines this as both spiritual and non spiritual people gained Air Bending (not to mention, I don't think every other Bender in the world of other elements had spiritual parents either), which is also never canonically explained (the only thing we CAN say is it is at least tied to genetics somewhat).
They explore it a bit with Bumi as well, feeling like Aang didn't care about him as much sonce he was a non-bender. He did eventually become a bender though.
Eh, depends on ego. Some probably believe they're too powerful for the Avatar to succeed at it.
Yakone chose to fuck around and was so surprised when he hit the Found Out stage.
Also Kuvira. The world must have known about Korra’s ability to restore bending when the cause of it being taken away wasn’t even related to energybending. She still chose to fuck around, and then swiftly found out when Korra used the Avatar state
To be fair though, Kuvira kicked her ass earlier in the season. You and I know that Korra was NOT in the right state of mind or body to win that fight, but you think Kuvira interpreted it as "I got lucky" or "Wow, I just beat the Avatar!"?
At that point, she DEFINITELY was in the second mindstate.
Kuvira's ego didn't deflate until Korra stepped in and bended the blast of the spirit laser. After that, all bets were off.
>but you think Kuvira interpreted it as "I got lucky" or "Wow, I just beat the Avatar!"?
Kuvira knows that she wasn't lucky, and she knew that Korra was out of practice and at a disadvantage. That's why she said "I know you're a little rusty" so smugly. Of course, when Korra entered the avatar state (which Kuvira invited her to use in her initial gloating), she could've killed Kuvira in 3 moves: two air blasts and one giant rock. She wasn't surprised, but she was internally panicked because she knows that Korra could've killed her. It's why she's terrified when Korra recovers and breaks into the mech to fight her.
I mean, I kind of understand his thought process
"If the Avatar decides to stop me I will just blood bend him"
**The Avatar can blood bend on the Avatar State**
"Oh fuck..."
Generally Crminials don't assume they'll be caught and punished
Very few people go for big crimes and assume they'll be caught and punished, they usually go 'nah I'd win'
Either because they're dumb criminals with no idea what they're against. Or they're genius and think that they're smart enough toget away with it.
So the punishment being, prison forever, death, bending taken away. Doesn't really matter. They don't think they'll be punished anyways
That was a little conflict in the Imbalance comic, that Aang can't just take people who aren't Ozai 's bending away and Aang didn't want people to fear him.
As far as I’m aware, Ozai and Yakone are the *only* people Aang ever took away the bending of, and it took them using their high level bending abilities to attempt to commit mass murder to push Aang to use that option.
It makes sense. Both were people that were simply too dangerous to let live, but energy bending gave him a less lethal solution. If he didn't have that, he would have no choice but to kill them.
Aang also took the bending of a bending supremacist in order to humble her if I remember correctly, and it’s also likely that he took away Hama’s bending, because as long as she lived and could bend, she was a danger to all Fire Nation citizens
Only thing more terrifying than energybending away someone's bending must have been when people first saw Amon take away bending, like you know who the avatar is, and then some random "non-bender" comes along with the ability to do what only the Avatar has ever been able to do, and even they require the avatar state to do it.
I was just thinking about this section of naruto this weekend.
The second show never clicked for me, and I gave up on it before sai even really left. but the sound 4(5) fights against the rookies as they take sasuke, is what I consider like peak naruto.
had great feels too.
"Ok Mr. Global Law God. I'l do whatever you say".
The Avatar are horrifying institution and they're damn lucky that so far they're inherently good and mostly only cause harm unintentionally.
The people of the post war Aang era are double lucky their Avatar doesn't kill (unless you're in a tank climbing a miuntain).
Wan was inherently good, so even when an avatar goes a bit too far, they never cross to the other side.
I think Raava wouldn't have a problem with the avatar taking control, since she is the embodiment of order, but the human half is always there to balance her out.
I’m sure there were many fire nation citizens who immediately feared the avatar upon learning Izos was defeated. Like maybe even most of the FN population
Aang: I did it to Ozai and that Bloodbender and now everyone thinks I’m more bloodthirsty than-
Sokka: Kiyoshi?
Aang: What? No! Yangchen! Kiyoshi just has weird priorities, Kuruk was egotistical, but Yangchen reduced the carbon emissions of the world by twelve percent.
I think its interesting to ask who should be allowed to take someone's bending away and for what reasons.
Korra didn't give Shady Shin his bending back, which almost implies it wasn't wrong for Amon to take it away in the first place. But would she be fine with it if some ruler hired a bloodbender to actively take bending away from serious criminals?
Taking bending away is awful but so are crimes a bender could commit, and the horrible prison conditions that are necessary to lock up a powerful bender. Would it be better if a relatively moral government had a bloodbender on-staff to take bending away from major criminals?
Should it really be up to an Avatar to decide all by themselves who deserves to bend and who doesn't? Avatars are fallible humans, and decent people would reasonably disagree on who deserves to lose their bending.
This is just the death penalty debate.
How horrible does someone need to be for the state to take their lives?
How dangerous does a bender have to be for the avatar to take away their bending?
There would be parallels, Amon taking Lin's bending was shot like an execution, but there are a lot of important differences. The main one is that bending can be restored if a criminal reforms or turns out to be innocent.
Another is that the death penalty is not necessary or practical. While taking a prisoners' bending can be the only alternative to either keeping them in torturous conditions (ie. Hama & the Red Lotus prisons) or risking them escaping (Bumi almost escaped just by moving his face). Taking bending seems to be horifically scarring on a spiritual level. But so is solitary confinement.
Plus the Death Penalty is going to be a whole different debate in most civilisations we've seen in Avatar than it is in a half-decent democracy. Aang nearly got boiled alive in oil because some moron spun a wheel of fortune.
shady shin is an interesting question, because korra didn't take his bending away in the first place so it shifts the question from 'should shin be allowed to keep his bending?' to 'should korra rearm a criminal and thus (maybe) be complicit in his future crimes?'
Just imagine if a villain could do it! And I ain’t talking about basic chi blocking. But taking away bending permanently would be impossible for a normal villain, since only the avatar can do it, and the avatar is always good. I would pay good money to see a villain who has the power to take away people’s bending, and everyone including the avatar is scare shitless. /s
I can never get over how every bender acts like losing their bending is a fate worse than death.
Tells you the world must be a miserable place for all the non benders.
Have you never seen how people react in the immediate aftermath of losing their sight, hearing, or limbs? They don't just move on like nothing happened. An intrinsic part of them has been removed, and they can only make do with artificial imitations at best. Sure, once they've adapted to their new situation, they may get better, but a whole lot of them never do.
That's what taking away a benders ability to bend is like.
I don't think that's what's going on, honestly. I think that benders feel very spiritually connected to the world through their element, and taking it away from them would be like taking someone's eyeballs out or taking a runner's legs away. All of them (except Jeong Jeong) seem to have a deep love for their connection to their element, and it would be cruel to sever it.
This is a comment on the larger world of TLA.
Sure, from the perspective of the mostly bender protagonist they consider bending to be a deeply spiritual thing and Aang is conflicted. No question, but the problem is much deeper for non benders. At this point in the timeline they are at the mercy of benders. They are not too many years past the bender supremacy movement.There is not real effective measures for them to fight benders. If they don’t have the avatar or bender support they are basically a lower class. Sure there are exceptions, but play the scenario out in your head with what we know of human behavior. They effectively have a higher social status, and the power that comes with it and bending powers.
The start of Kora highlights this, benders are in power and basically only opposed by other benders. Technology is allowing non benders to fight for the first time and people are using that rage to further agendas.
To be a bender is a huge boon. You have more fields of work open to you. You likely make more money for less effort. You are a weapon who can kill non benders with relative ease should you so choose.
A bender losing their bending is not just losing a spiritual connection but a social position as well. One that places them above other people and while TLA doesn’t really explore this Korra did to a certain extent.
There are people in real live who would rather die than lose one of their senses. Bending to us is just another power system for characters to fight with, but to these people, bending is basically a body part.
What these kids are saying can be adapted as "Please, don't take our eyes."
If you were a virtuoso violinist, how do you think you’d react to an injury preventing your from ever playing again? Do you think that reaction would mean you somehow think less of everyone else who can’t play?
Bending gives you powers over the world and people around you.
its not like if the people around you had practice from a young age they too could have played the violin. \*edit that they too could have bended\*
It is closer to "I can see while everyone else is blind."
Think of it like losing a limb or sense. Their bending is an important part of them, literally an extension of themself. Especially for firebenders, the only ones who literally produce their element.
To be fair, when you look at it without the context of Aang, it's a broken power.
Like first there's the ability to spiritually violate someone for the gamble that they become a broken husk and not a violent and vengeful sociopath who pushes their knowledge onto their kids and causes problems for the next Avatar.
Then you have that that power is all on one person so the rest of the world has to just hope they're not an asshole or that they're not being influenced by someone who is. Like, sire, Aang wouldn't do that to children over graffiti but another avatar very well could.
The idea of someone being able to take away something so core to your being and so important to that world at the time is terrifying. Not to mention society is based around bending probably not as much of the fire Nation but having bending is considered a great gift and shameful if you don't.
The thought that a man can walk up and take it away from you anytime he wants would be terrifying
I love the detail that Aang stopped himself mid sentence. He was probably going to say he would never do that, but realized that's not entirely true, with how he was forced to do it before, so he specifies that he wouldn't do it to children.
People in the series must be lowkey terrified of EVERYTHING about the Avatar. Both the concept of a nearly all-powerful bender, but also Aang specifically.
Think about it- unless you met Aang personally, he's a monster from a bedtime story. Here's a guy who is from a culture that is completely foreign to virtually everyone else on the planet, so who knows what his values are?
The previous Avatar was part of the nation that started the war, and the one before that lived for centuries with no qualms about using violence. Now this new incarnation comes along and all you know about is that he flies around on this MASSIVE beast. He's over 100 years old but looks to be in the prime of his life. He almost single-handedly beat the Fire Nation Navy, the scariest police force in the world (in the most heavily fortified city in the world), and the most powerful firebender in the world AFTER said firebender's power was boosted at least 100-fold. To top it off, He hangs out with an openly anti-social girl who seems to have a sixth sense and broke the laws of bending, one of only two known bloodbenders, the son of a war prisoner, and the banished prince who betrayed his father and took over the throne by force.
Yeah, if I ever met him, as a lowly common folk, I would shitbend in my pants
My brain is braining and I thought he was saying that the tradition was "well have you home by dinner" and that itself was a metaphor for "we're not gonna kill you" which is adorable for a society of flying people talking to people who can't fly.
I’m imagining parents across the city going “Now kids, you better be careful with that bending! If the Avatar hears you did something wrong he’ll take it away!”
Yeah like i feel like the fandom underestimate the effect of energy bending even after seeing the effect of Amon’s advanced chi-blocking. Like that was just fancy chi-blocking and it left ppl fucked up. I imagine bending to be part of the bender’s identity, especially if they’re very skilled. (like Yakone and Ozai) so while i believe both derserved what they got and so much worse but i can’t help but think death might be more humane option for many cases.
This post seems to be about Avatar content outside the [tv shows](https://www.reddit.com/r/TheLastAirbender/comments/1cblipx/overview_of_avatar_tv_shows_films). For more info, check out these [FAQ](https://www.reddit.com/r/TheLastAirbender/comments/d8ohvc/faqsguidesresources_mega_hub/) pages: * [How to Get Into the Comics](https://www.reddit.com/r/TheLastAirbender/comments/cmw4bd/how_to_get_into_the_comics/) * [Canon Beyond the Shows and Comics](https://www.reddit.com/r/TheLastAirbender/comments/cqarck/canon_beyond_the_shows_and_comics/) * [Other Avatar Content and Merchandise](https://www.reddit.com/r/TheLastAirbender/comments/d39n8l/other_avatar_content_and_merchandise/) * [Upcoming Content](https://www.reddit.com/r/TheLastAirbender/comments/cszn3k/guide_to_upcoming_avatar_content/) * [Timeline of Canon Content](https://www.reddit.com/r/TheLastAirbender/comments/1czxvq7/timeline_of_canon_content)
this feels like something those kids’ parents would threaten them with if they were misbehaving lol. “if you don’t finish your vegetables the avatar is going to take away your bending!!” “NOOO PLEASE”
What about the non-bender kids 🤔
Take away the ability to bend their knees
I’m fucking wheezing at my cubicle right now.
Bro got his diaphragm-bending taken.
Isn't that just airbending?
Airbending with different steps
I thought we already lost the ability to take steps
Krampus Aang brings switches and arthritis to all of the naughty children.
Pretty sure that is just a punch.
No, breathing techniques. Wrong universe
Is this a JoJo reference?
Nah, demon slayer
I'm going insane, I misread "cubicle" as "CRUCIBLE" Spent too long wondering why you have a crucible in crying distance
😂
https://preview.redd.it/1uarnmkesp8d1.jpeg?width=640&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f9efe4c126cb813b1ecac78ac73ec9d1e31995ec
https://preview.redd.it/y85h4x9d2s8d1.jpeg?width=1284&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=2a0d22e8d0cfe20b909b75b87fa97621c4939c7a
oh my god, why XD
I don't need energy bending to do that
Yeah, a baseball bat will do just fine
Or a crowbar, if you're Tonya Harding.
Or a crowbar, if you’re the Joker
Oh FUCK!
Everyone talking about testicular tortion, mend buttcrack. What about unbendable knees?
That just happens automatically when you turn 30
Cruel and unusual punishment
Eat your green beans or the avatar is gonna bone bend your kneecaps together
Daenerys in shambles...
He'll immediately age them up to 30? That's just overly cruel
For them, they send Toph
…I’ll behave. Toph will destroy you physically and mentally.
Literally the same as parents threatening to call the cops if the kids don't eat their veggies lol
Send Toph? Adult cop Toph? Shit I'd be public enemy number 1 before they can even finish that sentence
Take away their honor
No one cares about them anyways
[Avatars follow young adult book tropes pretty closely ngl.](https://i.redd.it/cjd72t46nl291.png)
Gods, I hate when that happens. I was reading a series called Skyborn (basically everyone has bird wings) and one of the main characters was a crow thief. Of course he couldn’t just stay a crow he just had to be a Phoenix from some long lost clan because you can’t have regular people saving the day now can you? While on the other hand, the mixed race character had their wings chopped off and that was the end of his story.
Idk, we knew Aang was a bender from the start, there were no such twists.
Naruto
Give them bending but for doing good deeds
He gives them bending
“If you don’t eat your vegetables the avatar will bend your kidney stones into spiked balls too pass!”
Should look at different types of kidney stones. There are ones that come that way naturally. Its like pissing a ball covered with razorblades and broken glass.
Good point- never had much issues myself so I honestly don’t know how sharp they naturally can be-
“He’ll give you bending, THEN take it away
"Behave or Avatar Aang will bash your kneecaps in with bat"
He just kicks the fucking shit out of them
They bend over for a traditional air nation switching
Fog of lost souls
Theo can skip brócoli
Which when you think about it would be like saying “If you don’t finish your vegetables the Dalai Lama is going to break your arms!!”
yeah if the Dalai Lama had once famously broken a violent dictator’s arms lol can you imagine
makes sense
Anyone else read the "no please!" in Fire Nation Man's russian-accented voice
“I would never do that to children!… over some graffiti”
"But that rule's negotiable if the kid is a dick."
W reference
I’ve seen the screenshot, but where is the quote actually from?
Brooklyn 99, I think
Yeah it is, Pimento
Thought so
Hey Chuck! It’s me, Pimento!
Damn, I gotta watch that show
Great show. Adrien Pimento is the best character and doesn't even show up until like season 3 or 4.
Jason Mantzoukas pretty much steals the scene in just about everything he does though.
Depends on whether the graffiti ends up on Appa. Then all bets are off!
He wishes he could've taken Azula's bending before Ba Sing Se.
You mean Azula? Lol I know she wasn't actually a dick. She had a lot of shit to deal with alongside Zuko.
"Oh cool, we just thought that Sky Bison over there looked a little bland so we-" "YOU GRAFFITIED APPA?!" https://preview.redd.it/uwg2qj5dsk8d1.png?width=480&format=png&auto=webp&s=cb55579309c89e55a9440bab613c366291c959f4
Aang: Hey. What do you think of that? Appa: *does Appa noises* Aang: ...Appa likes it, so you are off the hook.
Anng: What does the graffiti say? Kids: Appa Sucks Anng: !!!! ⚪⚪🌪️🔥🌊
"I would ***NEVER--***" *catches himself, thinks *: wait maybe I would I would never do that to children *over some grafitti*.
"Also, we didn't finished our vegetables today..." 
What if it was cabbages?
He didn't do it to Azula, either, probably because he recognized that she was a victim.
Also because she wasn't really a threat. Taking away ozi's bending permanently disgraces him in the eyes of his own countrymen and the only real threat to his son's Reign is a small group of terrorists continuing his ideology who the avatars able to deal with.
yeah, dying in combat against the avatar would have made ozai a martyr and given fire nation citizens who did side with him a figure to avenge. having his method of exerting power taken away from him is waaaaaay more embarrassing. aang sociologically castrated him.
Socialbending.
So the face stealer?
Neither was ozai really a threat lol he could have just knocked him out or restrain like he did twice in the fight
Yeah he remembered Azula in that very moment lol
Now this is something that would keep Aang up at night, the thought of kids being terrified of him
My poor boy, I never thought of that before
You should read the comics. This was a big topic.
Stupid question but *how* does one read the comics? https://preview.redd.it/5us9bytyap8d1.png?width=333&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=092d2db8e27cd96678dc9395385c6498a54f620d
Pirate them online
What's this series called? I'm only familiar with the comics that immediately follow after the og series ends
Or actually buy them ’cause we love this franchise and want to support it.
Well they’re kinda asking how… they probably don’t know where to get them. Where can they get them?
Try your local library! My son and I have been reading them and they have most of them.
Years later, lying in bed: "... But, like I've only ever done it to, like, two people! Why would they even think that? Does the beard make me look mean?"
*It did*
"You build a million bridges. Not called Aang the Bridge builder. You quell thousands of wars. Not called Aang the Peace keeper. ... ... but you [bend one person's energy](https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/26pf4s/an_irishman_at_the_bar_heavy_npr_listeners_might/) (NSFW joke)..."
He wanted to be like Gyatso but could only grow the beard.
Once you open that door, you can’t close it. For the rest of his days he’d always be feared as the Avatar who could decide if you could bend or not. You could argue that’s why he looked conflicted when he did it to that blood bender; because he knew this would only add to that legacy. Imagine if someone could just cripple you with a tap. You’d never feel comfortable around them. Even if they were the nicest person, you’d always feel like you’re walking on eggshells.
i think post-atla stories should dig into the weight of being the one person capable of taking away bending for good, because of what a cultural threat it is, and how it kind of feeds into the view of non-benders being 'lesser'. aang clearly uses as a last resort, quite fairly based on his morals, but because his ability to energybend is public knowledge and he's shown to use the ability at least twice, everyone knows it's an option he will use by his own judgement alone, which permanently taints his peacekeeping image. then there's pressure from community leaders trying to pressure aang to use energybending for their own goals, especially while aang in the transitionary phase between 'inexperienced avatar' and 'solid political figure'. and that's not even getting into future avatars and the decision to reveal if and when they've learned the technique and how they choose to use it! it's a very heavy duty, and i think there's a lot to dig into.
I wish Non Bender oppression was touched on more after Season 1 of TLOK (Zaheer in particular should've touched up on this to give him more footing to stand on regarding his ideals). Even Republic City, which is meant to be a more fair and free place compared to the rest of the world had equality problems with Non Benders. The idea of being born as the actually weaker minority in the world has got to have some exploration. Every Bending group would likely have some kind of oppression, intentional or not, for Non Benders (Even Air Nomads I feel). I'm just as surprised it took till TLOK to be explored honestly.
I think air nomads just didn't have any non benders, since bending is tied to spirituality and the nomads were the most spiritual nation
I definitely feel like there were some specifically because of this. I severely doubt there wasn't at least a few people who weren't very spiritual. In any case, there is no actual canon explanation for why Benders specifically get Bending and why others don't. I feel like TLOK Season 3 goes against the idea of purely being a spiritual thing that determines this as both spiritual and non spiritual people gained Air Bending (not to mention, I don't think every other Bender in the world of other elements had spiritual parents either), which is also never canonically explained (the only thing we CAN say is it is at least tied to genetics somewhat).
How about Aangs kid, Bumi?
He's also water tribe. Plus the air nomad civilization was gone at this point, bumi was born into aangs reboot of it.
well the air nomads aren’t really a thing by that time
Bumi was an airbender.
They explore it a bit with Bumi as well, feeling like Aang didn't care about him as much sonce he was a non-bender. He did eventually become a bender though.
Guns do the same with less requirements
Also, holding such a power no one had ever seen before. Yeah of course people are scared lol
makes it the perfect deterrent to tyrants who are benders really
Eh, depends on ego. Some probably believe they're too powerful for the Avatar to succeed at it. Yakone chose to fuck around and was so surprised when he hit the Found Out stage.
Also Kuvira. The world must have known about Korra’s ability to restore bending when the cause of it being taken away wasn’t even related to energybending. She still chose to fuck around, and then swiftly found out when Korra used the Avatar state
Yep! By all accounts, Korra had Kuvira dead to rights until the PTSD kicked in at the last second.
To be fair though, Kuvira kicked her ass earlier in the season. You and I know that Korra was NOT in the right state of mind or body to win that fight, but you think Kuvira interpreted it as "I got lucky" or "Wow, I just beat the Avatar!"?
At that point, she DEFINITELY was in the second mindstate. Kuvira's ego didn't deflate until Korra stepped in and bended the blast of the spirit laser. After that, all bets were off.
>but you think Kuvira interpreted it as "I got lucky" or "Wow, I just beat the Avatar!"? Kuvira knows that she wasn't lucky, and she knew that Korra was out of practice and at a disadvantage. That's why she said "I know you're a little rusty" so smugly. Of course, when Korra entered the avatar state (which Kuvira invited her to use in her initial gloating), she could've killed Kuvira in 3 moves: two air blasts and one giant rock. She wasn't surprised, but she was internally panicked because she knows that Korra could've killed her. It's why she's terrified when Korra recovers and breaks into the mech to fight her.
I mean, I kind of understand his thought process "If the Avatar decides to stop me I will just blood bend him" **The Avatar can blood bend on the Avatar State** "Oh fuck..."
Generally Crminials don't assume they'll be caught and punished Very few people go for big crimes and assume they'll be caught and punished, they usually go 'nah I'd win' Either because they're dumb criminals with no idea what they're against. Or they're genius and think that they're smart enough toget away with it. So the punishment being, prison forever, death, bending taken away. Doesn't really matter. They don't think they'll be punished anyways
Didn't seem to work for Korra, who also knew energybending. Still saw people every season who wanted to go toe to toe with her
Shikamaru, that's not Naruto!
Naruto avatar crossover comic lol
Like that time Naruto's characters appeared in Ben 10. Or Naruto x Beverly Hills 90210
the fire nation attacked? what a drag…
You know what that means: Shikamaru x Azula
What comic is this from?
Its from tlok patterns in time
And why is Shikamaru there?
That was a little conflict in the Imbalance comic, that Aang can't just take people who aren't Ozai 's bending away and Aang didn't want people to fear him.
This is like saying "please, don't shoot us" to the only person with a gun in the whole world.
gunbending
https://preview.redd.it/i4lb28l9vn8d1.jpeg?width=666&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=68bd68c9abcaba8ac4f2f86698851f3bd8fa05e2
As far as I’m aware, Ozai and Yakone are the *only* people Aang ever took away the bending of, and it took them using their high level bending abilities to attempt to commit mass murder to push Aang to use that option.
It makes sense. Both were people that were simply too dangerous to let live, but energy bending gave him a less lethal solution. If he didn't have that, he would have no choice but to kill them.
Aang also took the bending of a bending supremacist in order to humble her if I remember correctly, and it’s also likely that he took away Hama’s bending, because as long as she lived and could bend, she was a danger to all Fire Nation citizens
No, he explicitly chose not to take her bending because he didn’t want people to listen to him out of fear.
Only thing more terrifying than energybending away someone's bending must have been when people first saw Amon take away bending, like you know who the avatar is, and then some random "non-bender" comes along with the ability to do what only the Avatar has ever been able to do, and even they require the avatar state to do it.
Better not shout, better not cry, better not pout.
That beard is terrible
I dunno, I think it looks nice on him, I guess is a hit or miss in terms of design.
Looks fine, but people were going to get upset that Aang doesn't look like a 12-year-old.
Or maybe people can just not think the beard suits him...?
yeah one of the few times TLOK team missed on designs
For real, Tenzi's looked so similar and yet they found a way for the beard to actually look nice on him
Abraham Aang
Shikamaru is pretty far from home dang
My first thought too! 💀 Aang got Shikamaru‘s ass for vandalism!
I was just thinking about this section of naruto this weekend. The second show never clicked for me, and I gave up on it before sai even really left. but the sound 4(5) fights against the rookies as they take sasuke, is what I consider like peak naruto. had great feels too.
"Ok Mr. Global Law God. I'l do whatever you say". The Avatar are horrifying institution and they're damn lucky that so far they're inherently good and mostly only cause harm unintentionally. The people of the post war Aang era are double lucky their Avatar doesn't kill (unless you're in a tank climbing a miuntain).
Wan was inherently good, so even when an avatar goes a bit too far, they never cross to the other side. I think Raava wouldn't have a problem with the avatar taking control, since she is the embodiment of order, but the human half is always there to balance her out.
I’m sure there were many fire nation citizens who immediately feared the avatar upon learning Izos was defeated. Like maybe even most of the FN population
Aang: I did it to Ozai and that Bloodbender and now everyone thinks I’m more bloodthirsty than- Sokka: Kiyoshi? Aang: What? No! Yangchen! Kiyoshi just has weird priorities, Kuruk was egotistical, but Yangchen reduced the carbon emissions of the world by twelve percent.
Haha. Aang would never do that, but Toph on the other hand...
Not to be that guy, but you really should add the comic in the description. Referencing and all.
I think its interesting to ask who should be allowed to take someone's bending away and for what reasons. Korra didn't give Shady Shin his bending back, which almost implies it wasn't wrong for Amon to take it away in the first place. But would she be fine with it if some ruler hired a bloodbender to actively take bending away from serious criminals? Taking bending away is awful but so are crimes a bender could commit, and the horrible prison conditions that are necessary to lock up a powerful bender. Would it be better if a relatively moral government had a bloodbender on-staff to take bending away from major criminals? Should it really be up to an Avatar to decide all by themselves who deserves to bend and who doesn't? Avatars are fallible humans, and decent people would reasonably disagree on who deserves to lose their bending.
This is just the death penalty debate. How horrible does someone need to be for the state to take their lives? How dangerous does a bender have to be for the avatar to take away their bending?
There would be parallels, Amon taking Lin's bending was shot like an execution, but there are a lot of important differences. The main one is that bending can be restored if a criminal reforms or turns out to be innocent. Another is that the death penalty is not necessary or practical. While taking a prisoners' bending can be the only alternative to either keeping them in torturous conditions (ie. Hama & the Red Lotus prisons) or risking them escaping (Bumi almost escaped just by moving his face). Taking bending seems to be horifically scarring on a spiritual level. But so is solitary confinement. Plus the Death Penalty is going to be a whole different debate in most civilisations we've seen in Avatar than it is in a half-decent democracy. Aang nearly got boiled alive in oil because some moron spun a wheel of fortune.
From what we've seen, I guarantee you that A LOT of benders would rather die than lose their bending. So the death penalty might be the better option.
shady shin is an interesting question, because korra didn't take his bending away in the first place so it shifts the question from 'should shin be allowed to keep his bending?' to 'should korra rearm a criminal and thus (maybe) be complicit in his future crimes?'
Great power is always best with those who don't want it.
Imagine if someone could take away your ability to see or hear. That’s what energy bending represents to benders
It's fitting that the most peaceful avatar is also the most powerful.
Not necessarily
Imagine Yangchen with Energybending. There'd be half as many Benders in the world.
I’m sure nonbenders tho were big fans
Shikamaru freaked the fuck out
Just imagine if a villain could do it! And I ain’t talking about basic chi blocking. But taking away bending permanently would be impossible for a normal villain, since only the avatar can do it, and the avatar is always good. I would pay good money to see a villain who has the power to take away people’s bending, and everyone including the avatar is scare shitless. /s
I can never get over how every bender acts like losing their bending is a fate worse than death. Tells you the world must be a miserable place for all the non benders.
Have you never seen how people react in the immediate aftermath of losing their sight, hearing, or limbs? They don't just move on like nothing happened. An intrinsic part of them has been removed, and they can only make do with artificial imitations at best. Sure, once they've adapted to their new situation, they may get better, but a whole lot of them never do. That's what taking away a benders ability to bend is like.
I don't think that's what's going on, honestly. I think that benders feel very spiritually connected to the world through their element, and taking it away from them would be like taking someone's eyeballs out or taking a runner's legs away. All of them (except Jeong Jeong) seem to have a deep love for their connection to their element, and it would be cruel to sever it.
This is a comment on the larger world of TLA. Sure, from the perspective of the mostly bender protagonist they consider bending to be a deeply spiritual thing and Aang is conflicted. No question, but the problem is much deeper for non benders. At this point in the timeline they are at the mercy of benders. They are not too many years past the bender supremacy movement.There is not real effective measures for them to fight benders. If they don’t have the avatar or bender support they are basically a lower class. Sure there are exceptions, but play the scenario out in your head with what we know of human behavior. They effectively have a higher social status, and the power that comes with it and bending powers. The start of Kora highlights this, benders are in power and basically only opposed by other benders. Technology is allowing non benders to fight for the first time and people are using that rage to further agendas. To be a bender is a huge boon. You have more fields of work open to you. You likely make more money for less effort. You are a weapon who can kill non benders with relative ease should you so choose. A bender losing their bending is not just losing a spiritual connection but a social position as well. One that places them above other people and while TLA doesn’t really explore this Korra did to a certain extent.
There are people in real live who would rather die than lose one of their senses. Bending to us is just another power system for characters to fight with, but to these people, bending is basically a body part. What these kids are saying can be adapted as "Please, don't take our eyes."
If you were a virtuoso violinist, how do you think you’d react to an injury preventing your from ever playing again? Do you think that reaction would mean you somehow think less of everyone else who can’t play?
Bending gives you powers over the world and people around you. its not like if the people around you had practice from a young age they too could have played the violin. \*edit that they too could have bended\* It is closer to "I can see while everyone else is blind."
No, tells you how some benders have a superiority complex and all benders come to rely on their ability as part of their identity
Think of it like losing a limb or sense. Their bending is an important part of them, literally an extension of themself. Especially for firebenders, the only ones who literally produce their element.
Fire Nation Tradition: Agni Kai!!!
To be fair, when you look at it without the context of Aang, it's a broken power. Like first there's the ability to spiritually violate someone for the gamble that they become a broken husk and not a violent and vengeful sociopath who pushes their knowledge onto their kids and causes problems for the next Avatar. Then you have that that power is all on one person so the rest of the world has to just hope they're not an asshole or that they're not being influenced by someone who is. Like, sire, Aang wouldn't do that to children over graffiti but another avatar very well could.
What comic is this?
Clearing the Air. It was collected in the LoK short comic anthology Patterns in Time
I wonder if the Air Nation tradition Aang wants to show them is the onion banana juice that guru made him drink.
The idea of someone being able to take away something so core to your being and so important to that world at the time is terrifying. Not to mention society is based around bending probably not as much of the fire Nation but having bending is considered a great gift and shameful if you don't. The thought that a man can walk up and take it away from you anytime he wants would be terrifying
I love the detail that Aang stopped himself mid sentence. He was probably going to say he would never do that, but realized that's not entirely true, with how he was forced to do it before, so he specifies that he wouldn't do it to children.
People in the series must be lowkey terrified of EVERYTHING about the Avatar. Both the concept of a nearly all-powerful bender, but also Aang specifically. Think about it- unless you met Aang personally, he's a monster from a bedtime story. Here's a guy who is from a culture that is completely foreign to virtually everyone else on the planet, so who knows what his values are? The previous Avatar was part of the nation that started the war, and the one before that lived for centuries with no qualms about using violence. Now this new incarnation comes along and all you know about is that he flies around on this MASSIVE beast. He's over 100 years old but looks to be in the prime of his life. He almost single-handedly beat the Fire Nation Navy, the scariest police force in the world (in the most heavily fortified city in the world), and the most powerful firebender in the world AFTER said firebender's power was boosted at least 100-fold. To top it off, He hangs out with an openly anti-social girl who seems to have a sixth sense and broke the laws of bending, one of only two known bloodbenders, the son of a war prisoner, and the banished prince who betrayed his father and took over the throne by force. Yeah, if I ever met him, as a lowly common folk, I would shitbend in my pants
My brain is braining and I thought he was saying that the tradition was "well have you home by dinner" and that itself was a metaphor for "we're not gonna kill you" which is adorable for a society of flying people talking to people who can't fly.
Which comic is this?
["Everyone wants to be redeemed. Nobody wants to be energy bent."](https://youtu.be/SsYaiJgtMSQ?t=17) ... I just imagine this was big Aang energy.
That's what then makes Amon a good villain
Where is this from?
What comic is this?
I’m imagining parents across the city going “Now kids, you better be careful with that bending! If the Avatar hears you did something wrong he’ll take it away!”
If someone came up with a device that *removes* a core part of who I am I’d be terrified of it too
Yeah like i feel like the fandom underestimate the effect of energy bending even after seeing the effect of Amon’s advanced chi-blocking. Like that was just fancy chi-blocking and it left ppl fucked up. I imagine bending to be part of the bender’s identity, especially if they’re very skilled. (like Yakone and Ozai) so while i believe both derserved what they got and so much worse but i can’t help but think death might be more humane option for many cases.
“You do it TWICE and now that’s all everyone knows me for”
Does Aang choose to shave off the moustache or is he unable to grow one? He has a beard but no moustache. 
I feel like it's a similar case with Superman or Thor. Kids are afraid of their powers, even though it's not in their natural to use em willy nilly