History Fridge / AvatarTheLastAirbender

* Just how many villages have the Rough Rhinos destroyed? And how long did it take for them to use "kinder methods" like they used in Chin village in "Avatar Day" and only go for the village leader, rather than the whole village like they seemingly did when they attacked Jets' home?

** Meanwhile why does Katara discover healing with waterbending now instead of years ago? Simple, she put her hands in water, something she'd never do in the frozen waters of the South Pole.

* Iroh teaches Zuko about the four elements and how they operate in balance, and how different approaches to different bending arts can be implemented. Zuko comments that "all this four elements talk sounds like Avatar stuff." While Iroh's explanation on how the four elements and the four nations operate in harmony makes sense, it becomes even more relevant in hindsight when it is revealed in "The Avatar and the Fire Lord" that Zuko is the descendant of Avatar Roku and Iroh tells him he has the power to bring balance to the world - which leads ultimately to Zuko's final turn to the good guys. Even in the middle of the second season, they were already laying the groundwork for the revelation of Zuko's ancestry.

* Bumi using jennamite to force Aang into his tests actually mitigates his apparent ruthlessness somewhat. Yes, the rock will keep growing until it completely encases Sokka and Katara and suffocates them, but it's later revealed that the substance is totally edible. Should Aang not finish the trials in time before his friends are completely entombed, Bumi was likely counting on them getting a taste of the jennamite when they inevitably start gasping for air and either chew or lick a little airhole for themselves. The crystal however would still grow faster than Sokka and Katara can eat away at it, so Anag would still have to complete the tests to get Bumi to remove the jennamite completely with Earthbending.

* Sokka's claim to have kissed a girl is treated like a lie, but he did in fact kiss a girl, as in Suki in her introductory episode. It's foreshadowing for Sokka [[CassandraTruth telling the truth and not being believed]].

* While it might seem like Sokka was just trying to impress Yue by claiming he was like a "prince" back home in the Southern Water Tribe, he wasn't entirely wrong. Despite living far, far, more modest lives than other royal families in the world of Avatar, and not actually using royal titles, as the children of the chief of the Southern Water Tribe, he and Katara ARE technically the closest thing the SWT has to a "prince" or "princess".

* Zuko giving Lee the knife Iroh gifted him could be seen as an apologetic gesture. The knife was given to Iroh by an Earth Kingdom general as a token of surrender during Iroh's siege of Ba Sing Se. By giving the knife to Lee, Zuko was technically returning the knife to its rightful owner.

* During his recovery, Zuko has a nightmare where he looks in the mirror, only to see himself outfitted with no scar and an airbending tattoo, as if he himself were Aang. This is a subtle foreshadowing for [[spoiler:the reveal that Avatar Roku is his mother's grandfather]].

** Aang playing with fire (literally) in "The Deserter" highlights as but one of his biggest mistakes. Because he went ahead with bending fire and tried to use it, Katara was badly burned (and would've scarred if not for her healing powers). However, it is notable that Aang had to make that mistake in order to humble himself from misusing fire ever again, and it even helps him relate to Zuko in "The Western Air Temple".

** Azula is an odd choice when it comes to representing the Fire Nation. She is a budding psychopath, she is mercilessly cunning and cruel, and seeks to get whatever she wants by any means necessary. Surely she'd best fit...until Book 3 comes in. We see the Fire Nation is full of good people and citizens leading normal lives as much as it has bad ones burning down villages on the front lines. We see how the Fire Nation schools indoctrinate their children to believing the Air Nomads had started the war first and somehow made the Earth Kingdom get in on it as well. We see how well they hold the Earth Kingdom, until capable benders are able to repel them from their city. Finally, we see Azula's characterization during The Beach and after Mai and Ty Lee betray her, and it all fits together. Azula's domineering and psychopathic visage fits how the Fire Nation appears to the world, while on the inside, the Fire Nation is incredibly deluded and indoctrinated to where it is today. It's incredibly damaged by years of its elders indoctrinating them to the point where trying to deal with others seems almost alien, and yet the damage is still potentially treatable, but still just one step away from crossing the MoralEventHorizon. After all, if the Fire Nation was truly irredeemable, would they not use Ozai instead?

* Remember Zhao's insistence on IWantThemAlive with Aang, even though it's obvious that everyone else in the Fire Nation doesn't care whether he's live or dead? In that same episode, it was strongly implied that Zhao is just after Aang as a vanity project. And what's more vain than keeping your foe around as a trophy? Also, Zhao does say that were he to kill Aang, the Avatar would simply be reincarnated into the Water Tribe, meaning the search would start all over again. Capturing the Avatar ''is'' a vanity project for Zhao to curry favour with Ozai, but keeping him alive also serves - from their point of view - a practical purpose.

** "We could have been friends if we'd known each other 100 years ago" Roku is his great-relative and there was a lot of comparisons between Roku's friendship with Sozin to Aang and Zuko and we only learn that seasons later. Going full circle with this one, ''Aang and Zuko fix Roku and Sozin's mistakes.''

** Furthermore, compare Azula's behaviour to Zuko's in ''The Storm''. The beginning of the incident that resulted in Zuko ending up dishonored, mutilated and banished was because he spoke out and criticised a general who was far too cavalier with the lives of Fire Nation troops; and even in the present day he gives up the chance to capture Aang in order to save one of his ship's crew. By contrast, Azula is clearly indifferent to the lives of her subordinates.

** She saw Tom-Tom happily asleep in Sokka's arms. He was with [[TeamMom Katara]] and Aang who looks about as threatening as a turtle duck (unless he's in the Avatar State). She realised that they won't going to hurt him (she grew up with Azula... she could probably pick that sort of thing) and trading King Bumi for a two year old is a bit silly. Mai just didn't count on being pwned by a giant, apparently-not-extinct, flying ball of fur.

* The Rough Rhinos invading Chin's village because a surprising moment of Fridge-Awesome when one bears in mind it is Chin's posthumous karma. Sure he actually died when he fell off that cliff centuries ago. But he only died in body. So long as his village remembered him as a "great" man through his statue and temple (and so long as his legacy as a conqueror existed), he would live on through the history of his people. But then along came the Rough Rhinos, who destroyed his legacy in a two-fold way. First, his legacy as a conqueror was wiped out because ''somebody worse'' (Ozai and the Fire Nation) came along. Second, his people's memory of him as a lauded hero was eclipsed by Aang's good deed protecting the village.
* The meeting between Chin and Kyoshi has an extra layer to it, Chin doesn’t look like he’s doing anything, but that is perfectly in tune with Neutral Jin where an Earthbender waits for the perfect moment to strike. Chin was looking for an opening. Which itself adds a further Layer of fridge awesome for Kyoshi: her bending feat while in the Avatar State didn’t open up for any moment to strike, Kyoshi showed no sign of weakness, in essence being impenetrable. Especially impressive considering that The Avatar State leaves the Avatar highly vulnerable.

** Further down the line, Avatar Korra would then later show an affinity for firebending as its powerful offensive capability bolsters her natural waterbending which though powerful, can't dole out the kind of straight forward damage that she likes to employ (plus having constant access to both types of bending regardless of location and timing). And now, Korra unlocks and masters airbending; it's her secondary element after firebending because, as much as Korra loves to engage in combat, there are times where enemies will possibly overwhelm her, so [[KnowWhenToFoldEm she needs to disengage before she tries again]]. This also reflects her CharacterDevelopment into how she uses diplomacy to reach peaceful resolutions and tries her best to understand others' motivations before making her own judgment. If it fails, she will not hesitate to bring her interests on the table with her usual force. And sometimes there are conflicts and fights that are not worthy of her time. Not to mention, blasts of air will increase her firebending's power, which will make her usual firebending attacks pack more punch than usual. This reflects on the fact that Korra embracing pacifism, being calm and levelheaded, and utilizing gentle hand in dealing with others and problems around her ironically makes her more powerful because she is less likely to make mistakes now, and her allies and her enemies finally start to take her seriously because they know that she is not all talk anymore, and she will not be swayed and deterred once she finally gets the full picture of the situation she is in.

** Further down the line, Avatar Korra would then later show an affinity for firebending as its powerful offensive capability bolsters her natural waterbending which though powerful, can't dole out the kind of straight forward damage that she likes to employ (plus having constant access to both types of bending regardless of location and timing). And now, Korra unlocks and masters airbending; it's her secondary element after firebending because, as much as Korra loves to engage in combat, there are times where enemies will possibly overwhelm her, so [[KnowWhenToFoldEm she needs to disengage before she tries again]]. This also reflects her CharacterDevelopment into how she uses diplomacy to reach peaceful resolutions and tries her best to understand others' motivations before making her own judgment. If it fails, she will not hesitate to bring her interests on the table with her usual force. And sometimes there are conflicts and fights that are not worthy of her time. Not to mention, blasts of air will increase her firebending's power, which will make her usual firebending attacks pack more punch than usual.

* Sozin's scroll is set up as some truth the Fire Nation wants to hide, but doesn't seem to reveal that much. However, if you think about it, not only it shows that Sozin's destruction of the Air Nomads was a deliberate and unprovoked attack, and we saw three episodes before that the Nation's propaganda says otherwise (and while Aang can testify for their culture, he wasn't there during the actual war, making that scroll the only concrete evidence of that), but if you think about it the scroll also directly contradicts Azula's version of the story. Azula tells it as if he planned to wait for the comet before striking it, but we see that actually Roku intimidated him to wait around twenty years after his first attack (and, noticeably, he didn't even need to go full avatar to do that). Knowing that, Sozin waiting for the comet to strike seems more like his fear of something like that happening again. The praised strategy of their glorious leader was actually a result of fear and weakness: that's the truth they can't allow to be known, and that's why they hide it.
** In addition, Sozin's scroll is not told in the manner of a man who is proud of what he has accomplished. He tells the story on his deathbed with a longing for the "brighter days" before the war and regret for Roku's death and for spending the rest of his life on a futile search for "the last airbender." In fact, one could say that it is reading this scroll which eventually leads to Zuko joining the Gaang. Imagine if others read this account [[BrokenPedestal and were presented with a different perspective on their hundred-years war.]]
* Sozin was technically Right when He commented on how it was an amazing stroke of Fate that He and Roku know each other so well. In the Kyoshi Novels, it’s revealed Kyoshi had threatened to murder Sozin’s ancestors. Since Avatars appear to be the opposite of their predecessors, it’s only fitting that Kyoshi would be reborn into Sozin’s best friend.
* Roku only uses air and earthbending to fight Sozin, with earth being what he uses to restrict him, and air destroying his palace. The Earth nation will be the one giving more difficulties to them during the war (blocking them), and an Air Nomad will be the one to finally lead a Fire Lord to change his way and end the war for good (figuratively shattering Sozin's legacy).

* The guards in the town used a wooden cell on Toph. Considering it was a Fire Nation jail, anyone they threw in there might be able to just burn their way out. The town's guards, through investigating Toph's scams, ''figured out that she was an earthbender''. Thus, they knew what cell to use, especially after Spark Sparky Boom Man showed up to help set the trap. Also, it only makes sense that a Fire Nation jail would have a cell specially designed to contain an earthbender, considering they're at war with the Earth Kingdoms and thus they might have to worry about earthbending agents.

* Tyro and the other Earthbenders were more or less accepting of their situation and collectively decided to just wait it out. It wasn't like they were being starved or beaten relentlessly while in prison (it was downright pleasant compared to the Boiling Rock). Tyro implied that the guards could be reasoned with, and Katara wasn't even punished for attempting to incite a prison riot. You'd think they'd be more aggressive towards their captors, even without the use of bending, rather than doing nothing more than waiting it out. However, it relates to what Bumi told Aang about Neutral Jing, and how the strongest Earthbenders are those who have mastered it. It makes sense that the imprisoned Earth Benders would be okay with waiting, as their apparent inclination towards Neutral Jing calls for them to do so. Suddenly the Earth Bender prisoners are far stronger than they seem. Even though they were unable to practice the physical aspect of their bending, they kept practicing the spiritual side of it. Another thing to mention is that earth doesn't move unless an outside force acts upon it. [[RuleOfSymbolism The earthbenders are the earth, the Gaang is the outside force!]]

* Upon rewatching, the moment when hope has returned to the world isn't when Katara and Sokka broke Aang out of his sphere but rather Lu Ten dying in the Siege of Ba Sing Se, resulting in Iroh's HeelFaceTurn. Why? Because if he didn't die, Iroh wouldn't have underwent his HeelRealization, meaning that he would have continued the siege and eventually returned to the Fire Nation as the legendary war hero that fulfilled his vision of conquering Ba Sing Se. He would have supplanted Ozai but that is little comfort as he is still evil. With the fall of the Earth Kingdom as a result, Aang being released matters little as he would have difficulty finding teachers for the other bending arts. The Northern Water Tribe can be easily blockaded and starved out now that more war resources can be diverted from the fallen Earth Kingdom. Bumi and Toph are definitely inaccessible, with all the earthbenders taken away (Bumi) or in hiding (Toph) in the years of occupation. With Iroh as Fire Lord and Zuko as unbanished royalty, both are under the sway of their society meaning that there are no firebending teachers available. Jeong Jeong's elusiveness makes it hard to find him, requiring the connections of the White Lotus to do so. In summary, [[ForWantOfANail Lu Ten's death saved the world]].

** If Pakku is intimidated into teaching, he would clearly not teach to the best of his ability due to being forced to, leaving both Aang and Katara unprepared for the future. Ultimately, Pakku has to realize what tradition cost him by himself, only then can he teach for real and become a better person.

* Wa Shi Tong at first dismisses Sokka's knot even saying Sokka is not very smart. While at first is mostly a joke at Sokka's expenses and his apparent lack of scholastic elements, it also reveals the spirit's biggest weakness. He sees his knowledge as a great treasure, but he's not really the kind of guy who wants to use said knowledge for anything, not just for war but also creating benefitting instruments or making new administration tactics to help other people. [[BookSmart He's knowledgeable]] [[BrilliantButLazy but also unable to actually do something with the information he has gathered overtime.]] Sokka's knot is a demonstration of practical knowledge, something that allows him to be the SmartGuy of Team Avatar not because he's a living encyclopedia but because he knows how to apply what he knows into actualy useful applications. Knots are a necessary skill for navigation and carrying important things during trips, something Wa Shi Tong wouldn't really appreciate by being isolated inside his library for too long merely reading about navigation without actually being anywhere near the sea. That's also why Sokka was the one who managed to knock him out: Sokka ACTS smart despite looking like a goofball whereas Wa Shi Tong merely flaunts being smart.

* The true opposite of love isn't hatred, it's apathy. And this is what Ozai's relationship with Azula really is. The irony is that for all of daddy's praises for her talents and accomplishments, Azula is not as important to Ozai as Zuko is. Ozai hates Zuko, but it's clear that his hatred stems from his desire to make Zuko into the son he always wanted. [[LikeFatherLikeSon He wants Zuko to be like him]] and his abusive behavior, in his mind, is just a form of ToughLove to burn out "sins" of peace and kindness. When Zuko supposedly killed the Avatar, Ozai gave everything back to his disgraced son, no strings attached. While Ozai does not hate Azula, he does not see her as anything but a useful asset to achieve world domination. And the fact he so casually tells Azula to stay behind and inherit a useless title as Fire Lord without emotion (aside from a stern outburst when Azula talks out of turn) showcases just how much she really means to him: disposable.
* Why Aang suddenly got cold feet when he ''did'' take lives throughout the series? The difference is because unlike Ozai, Aang is ''subconsciously'' pushing the deaths he previously caused on various excuses to keep himself from crossing the line. Now he is freaking out as he has no excuses to fall back on this time. This is also the reason why the others are angry and/or confused at his hesitation. To them, [[WhatMeasureIsAMook he did take lives and now he is thinking of sparing the life of the biggest evil that he has deal with]]. To list:
** The Northern Air Temple was due to InferredHolocaust. He didn't think about the implications of the soldiers being blown off the mountainside.
** The Ocean spirit rampage was due to the titular's rage and the Avatar State. He could just pin their deaths on it.
** The desert was him not thinking straight due to losing Appa and then finding out about him being muzzled.
** The Black Sun attack has him thinking that he would easily subdue a powerless Ozai during the eclipse with his friends, meaning that he doesn't have to kill him (immediately).