History Headscratchers / TheLegendOfKorra

* [[Headscratchers/TheLegendOfKorraAmon Amon]]
* [[Headscratchers/TheLegendOfKorraTarrlok Tarrlok]]
* [[Headscratchers/TheLegendOfKorraEqualists The Equalists]]

* [[Headscratchers/TheLegendOfKorraProBending Pro-Bending]]

* [[Headscratchers/TheLegendOfKorraMisc Misc Headscratchers]] (currently including chi-blockers, the show's format, and misc. cosmology)

* [[Headscratchers/TheLegendOfKorraEqualists The Equalists]] (including the Lieutenant and Hiroshi Sato)

* [[Headscratchers/TheLegendOfKorraEqualists The Equalists]] (including the Lieutenant and [[spoiler:Hiroshi Sato]])

* [[Headscratchers/TheLegendOfKorraEqualists The Equalists]] (including the Lieutenant and Hiroshi Sato)

[[/index]]

* [[Headscratchers/TheLegendOfKorraEqualists The Equalists (including the Lieutenant and Hiroshi Sato)]]

[[/index]]


[[foldercontrol]]



[[folder: Seventy years later and there are only five Airbenders in the world?]]
...Three of whom are children and the fourth is the Avatar? Not a single bender emerged outside of Aang's bloodline or the Avatar cycle? Really?
* Five Airbenders known to the world, anyway. Maybe there's a kid out there with Air Nomad ancestry (or the bending gene and an Airbending disposition, or however it works) who's amusing his village blowing wind at people, and no one's connected the dots and informed Tenzin yet.
** Well, Aang was the last one for a reason. If they could just emerge, then this storyline would have been pointless. Also, the sixth airbender is about to be born.
** If there were any descendents of the Air Nomads they would have emerged during the 100 years Aang was frozen. One can assume the Fire Nation was thorough in their genocide and/or the Air Nomads were fairly insular.
*** I imagine that if there were any survivors and descendents, they would just stay hidden on account of, you know, the concerted effort to wipe them off the face of the planet.
** It's also established, time and again, that bending is just as much a discipline as a genetic thing. If there's no one to pass on the teachings, it's gone forever. For comparison, when the [[CommieNazis Commie Nazi]] [[PolPot Khmer Rouge]] were kicked out of Cambodia, you could count the number of people who knew how to perform an ancient type of ballet on one hand. Everyone on Earth is, theoretically, capable of performing this dance, but if there's no one left to show you, how are you going to know the moves? Scrolls burn and people die.
*** That's the point: In the the decades Aang was alive and active, only one Airbender - his son - emerged? For that matter, that son and his family are the only ones in the world who live the traditional Air Nomad lifestyle? I find that statistically implausible. Hell, even with dead languages, someone is still studying and learning it.
*** Most dead languages haven't had a whole nation trying to hunt down anyone who might have spoken that language, starting with a concerted effort to wipe them all off the face of the planet.\\\
The Fire Nation was, apparently, very thorough.
*** I has been proven that a culture didn't need to have benders for someone with bending potential to learn the art, Katara was completely self taught in the benderless Southern Water Tribe before Aang showed up, but [[WordOfGod all air nomads were air benders]] so when all the air nomads were wiped out there wasn't anyone left with the potential to air bend because unlike the other nations they never had anyone with a "hidden potential" for bending that could be passed down.Only Aang could continue the legacy and of the three children he had with Katara [[WordOfGod Kya was a waterbender and Bumi couldn't bend so only Tenzin was comfirmed to be able to continue the line.]] Apparently any children Kya or Bumi had didn't inherit the ability to airbend.
*** And not only was Katara self taught- she didn't become a master waterbender until they got to the north pole, where they had lessons with master Pakku. So it only takes a potential for bending for a child to discover she can bend an element, but without learning from an external source (the scroll, Pakku) it would stay at the same level (so a child being born an airbender is not enough for him to be a full grown airbender, if there's no one to teach him how to bend).
*** Which ignores Toph being self-taught, as her Earthbending instructor intentionally never showed her anything other than the very basics. (Stuff she already knew at that point.)
**** Toph wasn't self-taught, she learned earthbending from the badger-moles. While it isn't explicitly stated, the implication is that this is why she was such a skilled bender at such an early age. Like Zuko and Aang later did with firebending, Toph discovered the source of earthbending and learned its purest form from them.
* In the episode, "A Leaf In the Wind," we see that Tenzin and his family aren't the only ones on Air Temple Island. I assume that at least some of them are learning airbending. It probably doesn't come as naturally to them as it does with Tenzin's kids .
** They're presumably not benders (as bending's been pointed out above to be a mix of genetics and spirituality), but at the very least they can help preserve the remnants of Air Nomad culture, as well as the airbending teachings themselves. Even if the airbenders remain rare for a few more decades, the Air Nomads are certainly returning.
* However implausible it may be, the series itself does sort of answer this on its own. Its an established fact that all Air Nomads are born benders naturally through sheer level of spirituality amongst its peoples; so one would be correct to assume that Aang would automatically have airbending children. However, perhaps his intermarriage caused a hiccup in the lineage. It's not a jab at Katara mind you, a powerful master Waterbender, but because she didn't have the same innate understanding and enlightened spirituality of her husband (which is NOT to say she wasn't spiritual, just not the same level) it took a little bit (two kids in their case) for the kink to work itself out. Case in point, Tenzin and Pema's children; after Pema wholly embraced the Air Nomad culture - and all the spiritual focus it demands...all of their children (thus far) are natural Airbenders. Mind you, this works only if Aang really truly was the last Airbender post genocide, which all hints from the series seem to support, as well as that one simply can't find a Sky Bison and learn Airbending as it was originally founded.
[[/folder]]


[[folder: Why doesn't anyone learn some sort of defense against the chi-blockers?]]
* In the original series we had one person use this technique on a few people, two of whom had never had professional training (Katara and Toph) and one (Azula) who she took completely by surprise. Maybe there is no defense, but that ought to be said. Maybe this will be adressed, and some sort of defense can be constructed.
** There is no defense. Pressure points can't be moved, nor can the effects of hitting them changed. The Metalbenders should be immune thanks to their armor, though, since the force of the blows won't get through properly.
*** It should be possible to develop a style specifically to avoid being hit. A master air or water bender would probably be very difficult to stop with chi-blocking if they knew what they were getting into.
*** Not getting hit isn't much of a style. The trick is fighting back without being being hit.
*** "Not getting hit isn't much of a style"? Isn't that a big part of what Airbending is all about? Remember the training with the swiveling gates? Aang certainly was good at avoiding getting hit in the original series (and Ty Lee never managed to chi-block him). And it fits thematically, seeing as Korra is still struggling with attempts to learn Airbending now.
*** As I said, not getting hit, in itself, is not much of a style. You need to be able to fight back. Aang never fought Ty Lee up close, and chi-benders are all about close combat. Just dodging isn't going to help unless Korra can do damage at range, too.
*** "Not getting hit" is a pretty good summary of the airbending style as a whole, actually. Airbending does not have any purely offensive moves.
* It should be said that the original does showcase how to fight chi-blockers...by relying on hand to hand combat. This was best displayed by Suki in The Boiling Rock finale. The trick here Is that most of the benders we've been shown seemingly either aren't versed in it (like Katara previously) or are capable but aren't quite good enough (Korra herself in this case; who is a capable close quarters figher but doesn't quite measure up).
* Chief Beifong comments in [[Recap/TheLegendOfKorraS1E6AndTheWinnerIs And The Winner Is...]], that metalbender's armor blocks chi blocking, as justification for why they should defend against them, and they seem to be the only one with a solid defense.
** Which led to a bit of FridgeBrillance: The metal armor protects them from The Equalists' chi-blocking... but makes them doubly-vulnerable to The Equalists' shock weapons.
*** Which could theoretically be solved by making the armor as such that it forms a Faraday cage for the wearer. Or if the counter intuitive physics are a bit too much, have them use some non conductive padding underneath.
** Related to the above: Why doesn't someone simply develop close fitting ceramic armor? Ceramics are generally lighter than metal so it wouldn't be too heavy, they're completely non-conductive so electricity is out and given the presence and abilities of earthbenders shaping and mass manufacturing the armor would be incredibly easy. A single solid plate for the chest and back and segmented plates for the sides of the chest, legs and arms would basically render a person immune to chi blockers. Slap a decent helmet on there and a bender could basically tank anything the average equalist could throw out. It wouldn't even have to be large, say a quarter inch thick. Just strong enough to deflect a single person's blows. With that in mind it could even be worn under clothes as a nasty surprise to any chiblockers. It would be pretty funny to see them do the whole elaborate series of punches only to have the person step back completely unfazed.
*** Aren't really durable ceramics a fairly recent invention? With all the acrobatics involved in bending simple pottery would break.
*** The composite ceramics used in things like tank armor and semi conductors are fairly new, yes. But silicon carbide, the stuff they make the plates in bulletproof vests out of, has been mass produced since the early 1890's. And all of this isn't accounting for cermets (Ceramics mixed with metals). There are many examples of those that are nonconductive, flexible, light and strong as well.
*** Also, wrapping yourself in earthenware is a horrible idea in a world with people who can control earth. Of course, a person in metal plate going against an metalbender is in the same position, but it seems that metalbending is much rarer and largely contained to the police force.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Why don't non-benders learn chi-blocking?]]
* And for that matter if the metal-bending police force is a special force for benders stopping thier ability would be a uch better idea. But if a substantial number of people learn to stop benders from abusing thier powers for a short term, and then can report them to the police, I would think that would address the problem, without interfering with the society's infastructure.
** Why doesn't every real life person learn karate to stop muggers, or carry a gun for that matter? You should be able to see where this logic leads.
*** Having lived in a place where there was a firearm of some kind in almost every house, open carry was legal without a permit and CCWs were issued to anyone who wasn't a convicted felon, and having personally trained in the martial arts, something that convinced me everyone should do it, I'm having trouble seeing the negative implications here. '''I'm kind of bothered that the non-benders in this show jumped from living in fear of the triads who abuse their power, to supporting a violent revolutionary who wants to rid the world of bending altogether.''' You would think someone would have simply said, '''in regards to the triads''', " I don't want this to continue. Do you guys want this to continue? That's what I thought. Let's work something out." Then, get armed and organized.
*** You do realize that's exactly what the Equalists have done, and that it is emphatically a ''bad thing''? There's a reason governments hire and train personnel to defend the public. The Equalists formed in response to exactly that sort of problem, but demonstrate how it, very easily, escalates to something worse.
*** Yeah, because this is how all organized crime fell in RealLife, right? Lets face it, in reality citizen militias have rarely solved any problems, at best keeping old ones from escalating further.
*** There's also the fact that even if armed militias and vigilantes are able to defeat their enemies, they have often by that point [[HeWhoFightsMonsters turned into the very thing they were trying to destroy.]]
** Assuming the Equalist narrative about Republic City is true their membership (though obviously not all non-benders) is severely impoverished. The old, sick, starving, emotionally destroyed, and crippled don't make much of an army against people who can punch you across a football field. The limited pool of potential fighters ones would constantly be trying to make ends meet, leaving little time or energy to learn martial arts.
*** The task force bust in "A Voice in the Night" seems to imply that it may be illegal to learn chi-blocking in Republic City. (Of course, it could also just be that Tarlokk was overstepping his bounds in ordering the raid.)
*** The bust isn't about chi-blocking being illegal, it's about shutting down a training camp for insurgents who have publicly declared war on part of the population. It's not what they're teaching, it's why.
*** But it still sends a very violent and agressive message to non-benders; you are not allowed to defend yourself. Since non-bending methods of fighting seem to be rare and slightly elite, chi-blocking is probably the only option for non-benders who want protection. Violently assaulting arresting people for wanting a self-defence method is bad, no matter the intent. It just tells non-benders that Amon was right and the Council doesn't want them to fight back.
*** No, it sends the message that if you want to take the risk of training with the wanted criminals, you get what you deserve. Now, if they were shutting down a dojo that is being run with city approval, it'd be an entirely different story. This training area was meant to be a secret and is explicitly training soldiers. The only message it sends is that the city won't tolerate a growing revolutionary presence in its midst.
*** So? You are still illegalizing the only really effective method for non-benders to defend themselves (And there is absolutely no indication the government of Republic City allows dojo's to teach it), by doing so you are saying that Amon is right to oppose the city government as they are directly stopping attempts by non-benders to defend themselves.
*** There's no indication that it is illegal to be taught. The chi-blockers obviously learned from someone before they turned violent. I don't understand how you keep failing to grasp a simple concept. '''This is a training camp for insurgents.''' What part of that are you not understanding? It's not "free chi-blocking classes", it's "help overthrow the bending establishment." Would you join a terrorist group for shooting lessons, then act offended when you got arrested? Of course not, that'd be your own damn fault. If they want to defend themselves, they can take a class from people who haven't waged war on an entire section of the population. Seriously, stop trying to act like it's the material being targeted. It is nothing of the sort. It is the people doing the teaching and why that is under fire, and nothing more than that.
*** Amon's people are the only ones who teach chi-blocking (that we know of) and its hard to believe that any group teaching chi-blocking wouldn't be immediately grouped with them as a result. My real question is when it started being legal to take down Equalist cells, their advocate in the first episode didn't seem to worry about getting arrested.
*** Freedom of speech is a far cry from militarization, and Amon very recently declared war on bending itself. The training camp was training recruits for battle. The protestor is just talking.
*** The Equalists can argue, accurately even, that chi-blocking is a purely defensive despite all of Amon's rhetoric about a revolution (lots of real world countries have politicians who use that kind of talk without their followers being hunted down).
*** What they claim is ''can'' be used for doesn't change what they ''are'' using it for. They've already attacked several benders. Criminals or not, they've proven their intentions to be less than noble. That kind of spin-doctoring doesn't work for revolutionaries. Politicians can only get away with it because they have the clout. Amon doesn't have that.
*** Whether any of this is correct is probably beside the point. Anyone who is at all sympathetic to the Equalist position is going to see jackbooted benders taking away their constitutional right to bear electro-sticks, and Amon will be spinning it as exactly that.
*** I was under the impression that the camp was attacked because of the amon posters, indicating them as members of the equalists, not because they were learning chi-blocking.
[[/folder]]









[[folder: Why doesn't anyone use armor or padding?]]
It's pretty clear that chi blocking uses strikes to specific parts of the body. Why has no one, thus far, thought to wear any sort of protection over those body parts? ESPECIALLY someone like Korra, who has been taken down by Equalists more than once AND is a high-profile target?
* Look again. Tarrlok's entire taskforce, including Korra, indeed wear padded armour on the job. It's just that ArmorIsUseless; maybe the important pressure points are in the areas of the body that can't be covered with too dense material without sacrificing vital mobility? Wearing armour in everyday life is incredibly uncomfortable and over time even physically debilitating. It's better to stay agile and learn not to be hit.
** The task force units looked more fancy than useful. And note that, where they actually are wearing what could be armor, not a single Seperatist lands a blow, not even with their shock batons. And even assuming that the task force suits are armored... why didn't Korra wear it when going to confront Amon in "The Voice in the Dark." Of course, Korra was carrying a giant IdiotBall during that part, so that might have been the point of not wearing it.
*** Korra may of felt the armor was limiting her mobility, and she was expecting a one on one fight with Amon. A bit of an idiot ball for thinking he would be dumb enough to go alone, but still it might of not of been for not wearing armor.
*** Either way, Ty Lee's chi-blocking worked fine on Earth Kingdom soldiers in the original series. ArmorIsUseless, so better to preserve mobility.
*** However, in Episode 6, it's explicitly stated that the Metalbender police's armor is capable of blocking chi-blocker attacks, though they're essentially wearing plate armor.
** It's actually a bit of FridgeBrilliance, since most bends need to be extremely mobile and need a wide range of movement in order to fully take advantage of their bending abilities. Heavy armor would merely impair their movements and therefore directly impact their bending ability.
* The Metalbending Police ''do'' wear armor that guards the chakras. That's why the Equalists also carry electro-sticks. That said, waterbending or especially airbending in armor is probably next to impossible unless you're skilled enough to [[AssJokeAproposOfNothing bend by flexing your butt cheeks]] or something similar.
[[/folder]]



[[folder: What happens when a non-Bender dies?]]
The Avatar is explicitly reincarnated, and there is a Spirit World that I presume holds the rest of the dead people in some form or another, but bending is also a spiritual connection as well as a power. Non-Benders don't have that. So do they still end up in the same place as Benders when they die?
* The Avatar is a special case. Aside from animals, we've never seen a single human in the spirit world that wasn't an Avatar. It stands to reason the afterlife is all-inclusive, and Avatars are the ones being short-changed.
** I figured that everyone was reincarnated, and only the Avatar has access to his/her past lives.
[[/folder]]









[[folder: What happened to the spectators in the stadium?]]
We have a stadium full of excited spectators. In many cases, fans of sports teams are willing to literally kill you if their team loses. Why on earth, spectators stood still? We are talking about people who can shoot fire from their hands and they are watching their favorite team being tortured right before their eyes Are they so frightened by a lot of tasers that are not able to defend their team?

The second strange thing that happens is that when Korra ends her fight on the roof and back into the stadium there's nobody left. Is it possible to evacuate a building of that size so quickly? It's almost as if the writers were not sure what the hell to do with those people.
* Korra's fight lasts a while, long enough for everyone to pour out the exits. As for the behavior, they may not be at the "riot over a loss" stage of sports devotion.
** Large buildings are also designed with lots of exits (which we know the arena has, the Equalists are shown getting through them). You can evacuate enormous stadiums in less than a minute. Still you'd think the Equalists would want witnesses.
*** They did. The audience was forced to stay there while Amon was giving his speech. Only when the Equalists were making their exit did the audience flee.
* The creators are Americans, we don't have deadly riots over sports as a regular occurrence over here. You're also underestimating how scared of the Equalists people are. Amon has spent a long time building up his revolution.
* Tenzin didn't join Lin and Korra in the battle against Amon, so I assumed he was helping to evacuate the crowd. Mako and Bolin may also have assisted; Mako would certainly have wanted to make sure Asami was safe.
* We aren't talking about a group of people who stormed the ring because they hated a team or something. This was a terrorist organization! Most people aren't going to exactly be leaping to try and take on a threat like Amon, especially when he can take away their bending so easily.
* How would they access the arena? If they just shoot fire from where they're sitting, they'd risk hitting the team members, not to mention other spectators. Maybe the waterbenders could have conjured a flood, but again, risk of injuring the team, not to mention that a coordinated attack would have been difficult, not to mention that the guys with the gloves would have stopped any such attempt in a second. And would you really like to be the one person that Amon singles out from the crowd? Also, don't forget the police force. Most likely, people relied on them and considered themselves safe. Once all policemen started dropping like flies, they probably realised that their chances aren't strong. ALSO, most of them probably don't know how to fight. Remember, it's a time of peace. I'd imagine that most of them are as capable as someone who's been to some self-defence classes. You might be able to fight off a mugger, but it's not exactly a case of MuggingTheMonster.
* Not all pro-bending fans are benders. In fact, that was the whole reason for Amon's attack. Non-benders were lifting up benders as sports heroes.
[[/folder]]





[[folder: Why were all these people killed by firebenders?]]
Supposedly, Mako and Bolin's parents, Amon's family, and Sato's wife were all murdered by firebenders. Other benders can be killers too, so why have the writers used firebenders for each of them? Something's not adding up.
* Probably simply because the previous generation was still suffering from the aftereffects of the 100-Year War, and because the United Republic consists of the former Fire Kingdom colonies. It makes sense that the Firebenders were the most common type of Bender in the region until the recent times.
** Compare the many movie villains that have a German accent. A firebending is probably still seen as more evil than other forms of bending. This, I think, is why Amon says that his parents were murdered by a firebender. For the rest... It could be a plot point in the coming series, or a red herring.
* Firebenders can kill a lot easier, and cleaner, than other benders can.
** Not really...creative benders could find plenty of ways to kill quickly and easily. A clever and malicious water bender could easily drown their opponent, and then take the water with them afterwards, leaving no evidence afterwards; no mess. Earthbending probably would be messier, but a rock at full speed applied to just the right spot on the head will still kill instantly. It seems strange that firebenders are still the only rampant killers these days...unless, of course, all the attacks are connected somehow.
*** Drowning takes a lot longer than killing with fire would, and it's doubtful every earthbender could kill so efficiently.
*** Or they could make a spear or a blade out of water. Ice can have sharp edges, and can cut with them (I should know, I cut my finger on a jagged piece of ice once)
*** Smashing people in the head with rocks is a vastly easier method of murder than causing them to die of severe burns. If Zuko had taken a fist sized chunk of stone to the head rather than a blast of fire he would have been brain damaged or dead rather than scarred.
*** Or maybe they just electrocuted them, given that lightning bending is so much more widespread these days. That would be the easiest and fastest method. Nobody said anything about using fire.
*** A powerful waterbender could easily kill someone by [[NightmareFuel by clotting or freezing the blood in their veins or arteries]], which if done in the right place (e.g., the brain) could kill the victim within seconds or minutes, and leave no evidence behind (or plenty of space to plant false evidence).
*** But that's bloodbending. Yakone may well have done that a few times, but overall almost no one has that ability.
* You have to remember that Fire is the one element that is based almost entirely on offensive moves. Also Water and Earth, while they certainly can kill you, don't strike fear into the hearts of people the way Fire does so Fire is the logical choice, not to mention there is still the stigma from 100-Year War as previously mentioned
* As a whole, Firebenders tend to be more aggressive and more prone to resorting to violence to solve their problems, since that's part of the philosophy of their training. Also, since the Fire Nation technically lost the previous war, and Zuko has made attempts to make it a more peaceful nation, you can bet that there are thousands of disenfranchised Fire Nation soldiers who were suddenly out of a job, and their bitterness carried on to the next generation.
* Seemed to me like foreshadowing. Chances are we'll find out at some later point in the show that it was the same firebender in all cases.
* I read a theory on a message board that in fact all of these murders are the work of a waterbender called Alfred Firebender, and he is just commonly referred to as A. Firebender.
* That's only three instances. It is not statistically significant.
** If we were talking about real life then that would absolutely be the case. But this a story, and when events repeat themselves in a story it's usually for a reason.
*** The incidents are also removed from each other in time. Twelve years ago an unspecified number of Agni Kai Triad firebenders broke into the Sato mansion and killed Mrs. Sato. Ten years ago, a firebender mugged Mako and Bolin's parents. Depending on the veracity of Amon's statements, the incident that forced him to wear a mask could be anywhere from twenty to forty years ago. If the writers are attempting to lace these facts with any sort of meaning, they are burying it very deep indeed.
* We also don’t know the details of how all these incidents happened (correct me if I’m wrong; I’ve only seen all the episodes once), so it’s possible that one or more of these murders were done not by firebenders but by others who took advantage of residual anti-Fire Nation sentiment to make it look like a firebending incident.
* It turns out that [[spoiler:Only two of those attacks actually happened Amon's backstory was a complete fabrication, he was actually secretly a bender]]
* Which leads to another question, Hiroshi lost his wife to a Firebender but why did he blamed Earthbenders and Waterbenders as well? Instead of generalizing that all benders are bad, he should've developed a hatred towards Firebenders only.
** Remember: This is the guy who went on a MotiveRant about how Amon was going to end bender oppression and make things a better, more just world for Asami and everybody (who isn't a bender), while apparently forgetting that he's the richest person in the biggest, most advanced city in the world. Oppressing him would take some doing.
*** Considering how he started out in poverty and became something of a self-made man in spite of it, it wouldn't be hard to imagine that Sato might have had the bender grudge from much earlier in life. The murder of his wife would have just pushed him over the edge.
[[/folder]]


[[folder: Power Level Math does not work out at all.]]
So...thus far we have two EliteMooks who defeat Mako + Korra in a straight-up fight. One Equalist Lieutenant who defeats Mako + Bolin in a straight-up fight before getting blindsided by Korra. And now, as of Episode 7, Asami can defeat the Equalist LT in a straight-up fight? How does that power differential even work? Sure, there was a "self-defense classes" handwave, but the LT would very likely have had just as much training if not more, and it's not like bending moves (being the exact same movements as several real-life martial arts) are much different from h2h combat when you remove the elemental part of it, so how exactly is Asami that much better than Mako, Bolin, or Korra at melee?
* The Lieutenant likely assumed that Asami was just a normal girl and would be easy to take down. She proved him wrong. Basically, when he fought Mako and Bolin, he was fighting for real. When he attacked Asami, he just expected to quickly incapacitate her in a single strike.
* Anyone can make the same motions as a professional boxer that doesn't mean they can actually fight like one. Mako, Bolin, and Korra know how to stop bending from hurting them not fists, the defenses are completely different.
* "Power Level Math" is an utterly, completely false premise, for a start. Unlike Dragonball Z, no, there is no definite scale that determines who will or will not win a given fight of ''any'' kind. There are any number of factors that will tilt the odds in the favor of one side or another in any kind of conflict, regardless of who they are. Just boiling it down to who's fighting doesn't mean a damn thing.\\\
Because the Lieutenant beat Mako and Bolin once doesn't mean he always will. Nor does it mean he will automatically beat anyone those two have beaten. All it means is that he beat Mako and Bolin once. Him getting [=KOed=] by Asami doesn't mean Asami is an unstoppable badass who's better than the rest of the cast; all it means is he got [=KOed=] by Asami.
* And lets not forget that the Lieutnant has been trained exclusively to fight against Benders, as indeed are Mako, Bolin and Korra. Asami, on the other hand, seems to be trained to fight against martial artists in general.
** That was my thought as well. The Equalists are specifically trained to contend against bending-style martial arts; of course they have an advantage over the cast's benders. But Asami has been getting general martial arts training from a very young age, likely from multiple different teachers--and probably from Equalist teachers, as well, since I see no reason Sato wouldn't want her to have a head-start on that for when and if she was ever brought into the fold. She probably has more sustained martial arts experience than a number of the normal Equalists. Beating the Lieutenant can probably be explained as a combination of his surprise, her speed, and possible unwillingness on his part to use especially harsh force against the daughter of the dude who just built you all these big mecha that are standing around.
* Asami attacked him with electricity -- something none of his other opponents were seen using against him. It was as effective when used against him as it was when he used it against the other opponents we saw.
* ''And'' you have to factor in that the Krew just isn't very good at actual combat. Spectator sport brawling? They're beast. Actual life-or-death struggle? They're meat.
[[/folder]]





[[folder: Why did they not take out the mechas with more powerful Earthbending, or Airbending? They were all holding back except Lin.]]
They were in an underground bunker, the floor was all earth and some powerful earthbending moves like the ones Toph used would have sent the mecha into the walls or buried them in the ground, with enough force to knock out their drivers. A large boulder shot used in the last series could have smashed one of them to pieces. Air was powerful enough to rattle Sato's mecha and very powerful air blast/explosion or a cutting move like the one Aang used could have severely damaged a mech or toppled it. But since Airbenders always fight defensively, they never fight without inhibitions. Lin was devastating when it comes to fighting and was the only one who took out a mech, because she was really fighting to kill. It didn't occur to anybody but her that the Mecha's glass canopy is easily damaged. It appears that the metalbender cops are overly reliant on their cables and the Equalists took advantage of their weakness.

Doesn't it really seem like all the benders are holding back their best moves?
* I attribute it to surprise and not knowing what they were dealing with, so they stuck with the techniques familiar to them, then didn't last long enough to get their thoughts together and pull out the big guns. For example, Korra started out by throwing fire as she usually does. When that proved ineffective she switched to earth, but got taken out before she could do much with it. Next time they face the mechas they'll be better prepared.
** There were a lot of them as well, and they had the heroes flanked. Big fancy moves are best suited to fighting a single opponent who's counter attacks you can closely guard against. As for Korra's firebending, that was stupid yes, but she always opens up with firebending. At least she quickly worked out that wasn't working very well. As for the metal benders, they're just not trained in those sort of moves. That's like training cops in anti tank weaponry, expensive and pointless.
** I can buy them getting caught flatfooted by an unexpected enemy... But seriously, we've all seen footage of cops pulling out the stops when faced with that kind of firepower. That their training inhibited them to that degree in the heat of battle, in a place where cutting loose was not only justified, but mandated? In a situation where basic earthbending moves like pilar raising would've served them far better? Ruling on the field stands: ForgotAboutHisPowers[=/=]IdiotBall combo.
** Oooooorrrrr, the cops just aren't very good at regular Earthbending on the fly. Their training might, in fact, be almost entirely metalbending, given how much they rely on it.\\\
Also, don't discount training. Do you know what training is really for? It's not just techniques and protocols. It's conditioning. It's training your body such that when your mind is scared and you're unable to think, you can keep acting on what has become instinct. I.e., when you're scared and facing something like those mecha, chances are that you are going to be doing the rote techniques that you've had drilled into you for years instead of getting creative and fancy. That is how armies have worked for pretty much all of human history.\\\
It's not IdiotBall, it's people who have been trained for years falling back on that training when they're in a tense situation and borderline panicking.
** You don't want to inadvertently cause a cave-in and wind up killing yourselves in the process. Earthbenders might be most dangerous underground, but they are also vulnerable to being buried with the enemy in the process.
[[/folder]]










[[folder: Episodes? Season Finale?]]
I may have heard wrong, but according to the commercial, the Season Finale is next week, a One-Hour season finale. Cool, i'm excited, don't get me wrong, but one hour? that's two episodes, right? which means, after next week, the series will be at 11 episodes. I thought it was supposed to be twelve. I guess its possible to fit three episodes in an hour, but it doesn't seem likely given how many commercials will be involved. So, was an episode cancelled, did Nick just screw up, or did i just miscount?
* No, the season finale is being advertised coming out in 23rd of June, two weeks from now. Next week is still business as usual. They're just advertising early.
* Good, thanks for clearing that up for me. I think i'd go through withdraws if they cut an episode.
** At least I ''think'' this is the case. I got no confirmation either, but at least there has been no hint of leaving out next week's episode in any source I know. Our own wiki tells that Turning the Tides will come out in June 16th.
** Many people seem to believe there won't be an episode next week. Good job, Nick. I think that promo was more harmful than no promo at all like the last couple of weeks.
[[/folder]]





[[folder: Why is everybody so lightly dressed?]]
The only thing coming close to a reasonable outfit is Lin's coat.
* She had time to change, they did not.
** It's less about that, it's their choice of wardrobe in the first place. It's winter, and they're wearing the same things they are wearing all the time. Korra, of course, is the worst offender, leaving the house like that. The Satomobiles aren't exactly warm and cozy either, which would have explained why Bolin and Mako don't put on more clothes.
* Korra use to live in the South Pole. She's probably use to the cold. Mako, Bolin, And Asami didn't have time to change what with breaking out of jail and all. Tenzin's cloths seem pretty warm. (Don't quite remember what he was wearing.)
* Tenzin has the excuse of being an airbender. Aang seemed just fine in both Poles with his regular clothes; fandom is that he used airbending to insulate himself. Tenzin would have learned the technique from his father. As for Mako and Bolin, remember they lived as orphans on the streets; they know how to deal with being in winter weather without proper clothing.
* Korra and Mako are firebenders; they don't need heavy clothing to keep warm. Asami and Bolin are reasonably well dressed; judging from the copious snowfall, it can't be much below freezing, if at all. Thick snow only falls in relatively warm winter weather.
[[/folder]]




[[folder: Why wasn't Yakone in solitary after that stunt he pulled?]]
He somehow had the opportunity to beget Tarrlok 4 years later, despite receiving a life sentence for 12 counts of bloodbending and proceeding to bloodbend the entire courtroom to resist being sent to jail, and then bloodbends the Avatar with intent to kill. That seems like it merits the sentence being upgraded to life in prison with no human contact (and only because they don't have the death penalty out of respect for Aang), except the people who will bring his meals, who are in turn forbidden to speak to him.
* Sounds like you're expecting Republic City prisons to be as cruel as Fire Nation prisons in the original series. It's not unlikely that the influence of Aang/Katara/etc made the retributive system in Republic City more humane, and things like conjugal visits were allowed in their prisons, which would've made Tarrlok's conception possible. Since Aang took Yakone's bending away, he wasn't considered dangerous anymore, so he wouldn't have needed to be kept in solitary. That, or Yakone simply escaped from prison, and catching him wasn't a high priority anymore because he'd lost his bloodbending, so he managed to find a wife and live the rest of his life in hiding.
* Because they're not evil scum who want to drive their prisoners insane? Even Ozai wasn't given such treatment.
* Aang says he's 40 years old in the flashback which means that as stated it is 42 years ago, he dies 26 years later and Korra is now 16. According to the Welcome to Republic City game Tarrlok is 37. He was born when his father was in prison.
** Or Tarrlok's listed age is wrong or represents a lie he's told. A fit man in his forties could pass as 37, especially one as vain as Tarrlock.
** Could easily be a lie. Tarrlock does bare a resemblance to Yakone after all...if anyone brought attention to it, he could just make an offhand comment that he was born after Yakone was already in jail and the matter would drop.
** Or maybe Yakone was broken out of prison. He did have a criminal empire.
** It's possible that the background people, like JK Rowling, can't do math, and Tarrlock isn't supposed to have been born after Yakone went to prison.
** The math assumes the Avatar is reborn right away, which may not be the case. Alternatively, considering the catastrophic emotional consequences of removing someone's bending, the council may have amended his sentence on the grounds that he has "suffered enough" and is no longer a threat.
*** A previous episode specifically states that Yakone was defeated 42 years ago.
**** Considering the fact that nobody knew Tarrlock was Yakone's son, I would say that Tarrlock is older than 42 and lied about his age along with his parentage.
**** Same troper as above, I stay corrected. The real answer is that Yakone escaped.
[[/folder]]
















[[folder: How did Shiro Shinobi know Tarrlok was the one who kidnapped Korra?]]
And if he had used his old IntrepidReporter skills to find out, how did Tarrlok's cover story work? Would the truth not have been broadcast on the radio for all to hear?
* The "Previously On" segments are clearly not happening in-universe. I'm simply amazed that someone could have come to the conclusion they were. Just...''wow'', I seriously cannot understand how this is being asked for a second time.
* The confusion probably stems from the fact that, in the preview of the seventh episode, Tarrlok was the voice over and in the previous episode Shiro was attack, and Tarrlok's voice over is clearly in-universe. So to be fair, it's not completely unbelievable that someone would be confused.
** It is also the only time that the voice over has mentioned information that wouldn't have realistically be available to the public.
*** So who Mako and Korra have crushes on--that they've never told anyone about--is information available to the public, too?
**** [[EveryoneCanSeeIt There's a trope for that.]]
[[/folder]]












[[folder:Yakone's escape]]
* Forget solitary, how did Yakone get out of jail in order to start a new life in the North Pole?
** They explicitly said that some of his criminal buddies broke him out. He was the head of a vast criminal empire. Exactly why they broke him out when he was stripped of his bending abilities, who knows? Maybe he had assets that the next gang leader could use, and only he knew where to get them, or maybe he simply possessed a level of fanatical devotion in his subordinates (maybe its in the blood) that they didn't care about his bending status.
[[/folder]]







[[folder: Was Korra originally meant to be a six-hour long movie?]]
Is it me, or unlike ATLA, they've pretty much wrapped it up here, with Korra becoming a Fully realized Avatar? Was it actually meant to go on for only one season until late in production?
* Yes. It was originally supposed to be a one season miniseries, but they got a second season while the first one was alredy in production.
[[/folder]]



















[[folder:What happened to the North Pole?]]
More specifically, the Northern Water Tribe. The first series showed it to be a relatively large place with a design similar to Venice, Italy. Yet when we see it in Taarlok's flashback story, it's comparable to what we saw of the Southern Water Tribe back in "The Boy in the Iceberg". And considering it's only ever referred to as ''the'' Northern Water Tribe, there seems to be no indication it would be some sort of outpost town or settlement.
* Is there any actual reason to believe it ''wasn't'' some sort of outpost town or settlement?
* Yeah. The Northern Water Tribe is just the name of the whole tribe, like the Zulu. Just because the Zulu are referred by a common tribe name doesn't mean they all live in the same city.
* The Northern Water Tribe we saw was one after 100 years of war--a fortification made for defense. At the time, yes, that was probably where the entire Tribe lived--but after the war ended and the danger of Fire Nation soldiers attacking and abducting people was gone, it makes sense that they would expand into other settlements.
[[/folder]]













----

[[folder: Are we ever going to see Republic City call for help in dealing with The Equalists?]]
This would seem to be a situation tailor-made for a group of non-bender combatants to at least come in and consult with Republic City's law enforcement. Like, say... the Kyoshi Warriors (assuming they're still around, of course). For that matter, wouldn't word have gotten out about the Equalists by now, and the other three nations would've probably made inquiries about how they could help (if for no other reason than to keep the Equalist movement from spreading to their territories)?
* It's mostly a matter of politics and perception. The Equalists are the United Republic's mess, and having to call in foreign countries to bail them out of that mess would be deeply politically embarrassing. It would at the ''very least'' destroy the council's reputation, painting members like Tarrlok as failures. It would also run the risk of boosting the standing of the Equalists among the Republic's citizenry. Internal domestic disputes are one thing, but foreign troops would sharpen the battle lines: "The Equalists might be scum, but they're OUR scum."
* One has to remember that while the Equalists were being taken seriously they were not seen as something that couldn't be contained in the city, it was only in the last two episodes that they realized just how big of a threat the Equalists truly are.
* It is mentioned in the Welcome to Republic City interactive game that the Kyoshi Warriors are still around.
* Yes. In "Turning the Tides," Tenzin calls the United Forces fleet to help them.

[[folder: The ruling council of Republic City... Really?]]
A city of the size and importance of Republic City only as a five-member ruling council? Mayberry had more councilors than that! Not to mention there doesn't seem to be any non-bender on the council. That's a serious oversight in the best of times. And this is beside the fact that the members other than Tarrlok and Tenzin don't seem to have a collective spine between the three of them.
* I think that's kind of the point. The republic of nations was set up as the representation of an ideal, rather than as an actual, practical government. It symbolizes the nations coming together, so all the nations should get a representative. All nations should be treated equally, so they got an equal amount of representation (and Katara and Sokka probably insisted that they shouldn't be lumped in with the northern water tribe). I doubt anyone in the gaang actually considered any long-term consequences when they were organising the city. It's indeed a stupid way to organise a country, but it is one I can see the gaang, especially aang making.
* The size of the ruling Council is not unrealistic. The Swiss equivalent, the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swiss_Federal_Council Swiss Federal Council]] is not much larger.
* Um...OP, that's the point. The Equalists aren't completely wrong. Everyone on the council is a bender, they're not elected officals, not to mention, since they're each from a different nation presumably most of them lived in that nation until chosen as a council member (the exception being Tenzin). They're bringing in values and opinions that may not work in a place Republic City. It's like if the Governor of Texas was from Alaska.
* Remember that Republic City is just that, a city, and it has inhereted its politics from three monarchies and the loose confederation of tribes in the South. Five people sharing ultimate descision making power is probably quite large enormous by their standards.
* In the flashbacks, City Hall is full of people, with Aang sitting at one of the lower tables, occupying no special place. In the current time, five people sit in the middle of the giant, conspicuously empty hall, with no one around, not even a secretary to record minutes. Something seems to have happened that drastically altered the structure of government after the city's founding.
** Actually, it's more likely that the flashbacks are part of a trial. Specifically, Yakone's trial. The big room with the lines of benches that Korra threw Tarlok into before he started bloodbending? Yeah, it's that room.
* Did we ever actually get confirmation that everyone on the council is a bender?
** Tarrlok's speech in The Voice in the Night wouldn't be as effective if his audience had contained non-benders.
** And it's hard to imagine non-benders voting for the non-bender curfew law.
** It seems likely that the current Council only has benders on it but flashbacks indicate that it isn't a requirement, otherwise [[spoiler:Sokka]] could never have been a member.
*** Added to that, look two seats to the right of Sokka--there's someone wearing Air Nomad robes, who also couldn't be a bender.
*** Being the brother-in-law and chosen proxy (If he'd wanted to, Aang could've been on the Council) of a borderline deity (The Avatar) probably helped in that regard, and it's certainly possible that things have become more pro-bender and anti-nonbender since Aang's death.
* What's so wrong with there being only 5 councilors? Republic city isn't all that big (Well, compared to most other cities it is very large, but not when compared with nations, which are ruled by 1 person (Earth King, Fire Lord, Water... umm.... King). Omashu, which is of fairly comparable size, was ruled by Bumi all by himself. That said, I do agree that they should likely include a non-bender or two (to make the number odd to prevent deadlock) to the council. If Amon wasn't... well, Amon and the equalists had had a proper leader, that would have been a more likely course of action for them.
** What's so wrong with there being only five councilors is that The United Republic isn't just Republic City. The council is supposed to be passing laws for an entire nation, not just one city, and five people isn't enough for that sort of task.

[[folder: Why is there only one Earthbending councilor?]]
Much like the the Headscracther above, I also question why the council is set up the way it is. But for me I have to wonder why the earthbenders only have one representative? It is understandable why fire and air only have one. (Both have small populations.) And it is also understandable why the water tribes have two representatives. They are two nations and thus they need representatives from each nation. But the Earth Kingdom is a massive country with many different regions and probably the largest population out of all the nations. Plus, they even have a population of water benders (the swamp folks) and firebenders (those who came during the war and never left). You'd think they'd at least have two representatives like the water tribes?
* The Earth Kingdom is evidently still a kingdom, with a single ruler, so the representative is a representative of the Earth King.
** The Earth Kingdom probably doesn't recognize any Earth Kingdom territory that wasn't reorganized into the United Republic of nations as a separate entity, and any would-be independent Earth nations probably don't have the strength or influence to get a seat on the Council, as they probably would be hedged out by the Earth Kingdom. The Southern Water Tribe meanwhile probably gained a huge amount of influence due to two of their members being major players in ending the war, allowing them to be independently represented.
** Unlike the isolationist Northern Water Tribe, the South ''helped'' the Earth Kingdom during the war by providing it with a small but effective naval force. Perhaps the Earth Kingdom went ''quid pro quo'' post-war, repaying the debt by lobbying for the South to get a seat.
* Also the Fire Nation members who came and never left were formed into the United Republic of Nations, which Republic City was the capital of.
* The US Senate has two representatives for each state - the same number for Wyoming (568K people) and California (38M people, over 66 times as many) - and they have several exclusive powers the House does not. At the time the US Constitution was drafted, none of the less populated states would settle for a pure proportional representation scheme, due to fear of being marginalized by more populated areas with very different political interests. I think the analogy is appropriate here.
** The US also created the House of Representatives because the Senate system alone was completely unacceptable, although including that would make their politics much more complex without adding anything to the show.

[[folder: Episodes? Season Finale?]]
I may have heard wrong, but according to the commercial, the Season Finale is next week, a One-Hour season finale. Cool, i'm excited, don't get me wrong, but one hour? that's two episodes, right? which means, after next week, the series will be at 11 episodes. I thought it was supposed to be twelve. I guess its possible to fit three episodes in an hour, but it doesn't seem likely given how many commercials will be involved. So, was an episode cancelled, did Nick just screw up, or did i just miscount?
* No, the season finale is being advertised coming out in 23rd of June, two weeks from now. Next week is still business as usual. They're just advertising early.
* Good, thanks for clearing that up for me. I think i'd go through withdraws if they cut an episode.
** At least I ''think'' this is the case. I got no confirmation either, but at least there has been no hint of leaving out next week's episode in any source I know. Our own wiki tells that Turning the Tides will come out in June 16th.
** Many people seem to believe there won't be an episode next week. Good job, Nick. I think that promo was more harmful than no promo at all like the last couple of weeks.

[[folder: Why is everybody so lightly dressed?]]
The only thing coming close to a reasonable outfit is Lin's coat.
* She had time to change, they did not.
** It's less about that, it's their choice of wardrobe in the first place. It's winter, and they're wearing the same things they are wearing all the time. Korra, of course, is the worst offender, leaving the house like that. The Satomobiles aren't exactly warm and cozy either, which would have explained why Bolin and Mako don't put on more clothes.
* Korra use to live in the South Pole. She's probably use to the cold. Mako, Bolin, And Asami didn't have time to change what with breaking out of jail and all. Tenzin's cloths seem pretty warm. (Don't quite remember what he was wearing.)
* Tenzin has the excuse of being an airbender. Aang seemed just fine in both Poles with his regular clothes; fandom is that he used airbending to insulate himself. Tenzin would have learned the technique from his father. As for Mako and Bolin, remember they lived as orphans on the streets; they know how to deal with being in winter weather without proper clothing.
* Korra and Mako are firebenders; they don't need heavy clothing to keep warm. Asami and Bolin are reasonably well dressed; judging from the copious snowfall, it can't be much below freezing, if at all. Thick snow only falls in relatively warm winter weather.

[[folder: Why wasn't Yakone in solitary after that stunt he pulled?]]
He somehow had the opportunity to beget Tarrlok 4 years later, despite receiving a life sentence for 12 counts of bloodbending and proceeding to bloodbend the entire courtroom to resist being sent to jail, and then bloodbends the Avatar with intent to kill. That seems like it merits the sentence being upgraded to life in prison with no human contact (and only because they don't have the death penalty out of respect for Aang), except the people who will bring his meals, who are in turn forbidden to speak to him.
* Sounds like you're expecting Republic City prisons to be as cruel as Fire Nation prisons in the original series. It's not unlikely that the influence of Aang/Katara/etc made the retributive system in Republic City more humane, and things like conjugal visits were allowed in their prisons, which would've made Tarrlok's conception possible. Since Aang took Yakone's bending away, he wasn't considered dangerous anymore, so he wouldn't have needed to be kept in solitary. That, or Yakone simply escaped from prison, and catching him wasn't a high priority anymore because he'd lost his bloodbending, so he managed to find a wife and live the rest of his life in hiding.
* Because they're not evil scum who want to drive their prisoners insane? Even Ozai wasn't given such treatment.
* Aang says he's 40 years old in the flashback which means that as stated it is 42 years ago, he dies 26 years later and Korra is now 16. According to the Welcome to Republic City game Tarrlok is 37. He was born when his father was in prison.
** Or Tarrlok's listed age is wrong or represents a lie he's told. A fit man in his forties could pass as 37, especially one as vain as Tarrlock.
** Could easily be a lie. Tarrlock does bare a resemblance to Yakone after all...if anyone brought attention to it, he could just make an offhand comment that he was born after Yakone was already in jail and the matter would drop.
** Or maybe Yakone was broken out of prison. He did have a criminal empire.
** It's possible that the background people, like JK Rowling, can't do math, and Tarrlock isn't supposed to have been born after Yakone went to prison.
** The math assumes the Avatar is reborn right away, which may not be the case. Alternatively, considering the catastrophic emotional consequences of removing someone's bending, the council may have amended his sentence on the grounds that he has "suffered enough" and is no longer a threat.
*** A previous episode specifically states that Yakone was defeated 42 years ago.
**** Considering the fact that nobody knew Tarrlock was Yakone's son, I would say that Tarrlock is older than 42 and lied about his age along with his parentage.
**** Same troper as above, I stay corrected. The real answer is that Yakone escaped.

[[folder: How did Shiro Shinobi know Tarrlok was the one who kidnapped Korra?]]
And if he had used his old IntrepidReporter skills to find out, how did Tarrlok's cover story work? Would the truth not have been broadcast on the radio for all to hear?
* The "Previously On" segments are clearly not happening in-universe. I'm simply amazed that someone could have come to the conclusion they were. Just...''wow'', I seriously cannot understand how this is being asked for a second time.
* The confusion probably stems from the fact that, in the preview of the seventh episode, Tarrlok was the voice over and in the previous episode Shiro was attack, and Tarrlok's voice over is clearly in-universe. So to be fair, it's not completely unbelievable that someone would be confused.
** It is also the only time that the voice over has mentioned information that wouldn't have realistically be available to the public.
*** So who Mako and Korra have crushes on--that they've never told anyone about--is information available to the public, too?
**** [[EveryoneCanSeeIt There's a trope for that.]]

[[folder:Yakone's escape]]
* Forget solitary, how did Yakone get out of jail in order to start a new life in the North Pole?
** They explicitly said that some of his criminal buddies broke him out. He was the head of a vast criminal empire. Exactly why they broke him out when he was stripped of his bending abilities, who knows? Maybe he had assets that the next gang leader could use, and only he knew where to get them, or maybe he simply possessed a level of fanatical devotion in his subordinates (maybe its in the blood) that they didn't care about his bending status.
[[/folder]]







[[folder: Was Korra originally meant to be a six-hour long movie?]]
Is it me, or unlike ATLA, they've pretty much wrapped it up here, with Korra becoming a Fully realized Avatar? Was it actually meant to go on for only one season until late in production?
* Yes. It was originally supposed to be a one season miniseries, but they got a second season while the first one was alredy in production.
[[/folder]]



















[[folder:What happened to the North Pole?]]
More specifically, the Northern Water Tribe. The first series showed it to be a relatively large place with a design similar to Venice, Italy. Yet when we see it in Taarlok's flashback story, it's comparable to what we saw of the Southern Water Tribe back in "The Boy in the Iceberg". And considering it's only ever referred to as ''the'' Northern Water Tribe, there seems to be no indication it would be some sort of outpost town or settlement.
* Is there any actual reason to believe it ''wasn't'' some sort of outpost town or settlement?
* Yeah. The Northern Water Tribe is just the name of the whole tribe, like the Zulu. Just because the Zulu are referred by a common tribe name doesn't mean they all live in the same city.
* The Northern Water Tribe we saw was one after 100 years of war--a fortification made for defense. At the time, yes, that was probably where the entire Tribe lived--but after the war ended and the danger of Fire Nation soldiers attacking and abducting people was gone, it makes sense that they would expand into other settlements.
[[/folder]]








[[folder: The "Balance Patch" that is the Law in Republic City]]
* The Avatar is a focal point of balance towards goodness and the right choices in the world at large, which includes the city. Because of this, and the major role she plays in restoring balance and order to the world as they are fated to do, they are given a great deal of leeway. This is no longer the case, and that severely gimps Korra's overall effectiveness for very pedantic reasons. Benders should have the right to defend themselves, as should non-benders. So I'm not entirely seeing the law as helpful or beneficial to the long-run to the city, much less to her job. They would only serve to get in her way.
** That worked back in the old days. In an industrialized nation, Korra's antics are nearly as harmful as helpful, and she is not omniscient. The police are there to cover what she can't, which is basically everything except the occasional random incident.
*** Of course, but if they are putting their foot down and preventing the Avatar from doing what the Avatar does, they're as much a threat to the balance as they could be a help. I'm not speaking about stopping mafia here-which Korra, as the Avatar and a lot of precedent behind her from Kiyoshi and Aang, should be allowed to do-this can get much worse; what if they decide that restoring balance would cause too much instability within the city?
*** If Korra's keeping with the law, which should be entirely reasonable, then they have no reason to object. Tenzin could also extend some political protection if he needs to.
*** Um, where's it ever said that the law prohibits bending in any way? Or that benders can't defend themselves? The problem with Korra's actions in the first episode is more that she wrecked up the street, and that she was acting as a vigilante, not just that she was acting as a bender or the Avatar.
*** Precisely. Tenzin and the White Lotus may be sitting on museum pieces, but if Korra were allowed to inflict property damage at her own vigilante discretion, she'd deplete their operating budget in a matter of weeks...heck, the lack of HeroInsurance could be mined for a subplot.
*** It's all part of the deconstruction that is going on. As of now, there is no need for Avatar-involvement. Having Korra wreck the place is not necessary. It's an era of peace. I am sure that as the plot progresses, there will be a need for Korra to act as the Avatar to the world. But as of now, there isn't.
** This is hilarious. Its exactly the sort of political insanity that probably exists in the setting. The crime wasn't "bending" (though benders might well think of it that way) it was "blowing up other people's stuff and attacking the police". You shouldn't get away with destroying buildings just because you happened to do it with superpowers. I imagine that's exactly the mentality that has Equalist sympathizers scared.
*** I wouldn't be surprised to see merchants whose property she destroyed at an Equalist rally in the future, given that the reason anyone pays protection money is out of fear for their lives and livelihoods. Ironically, Korra may have done by accident what the Triple Threat Triads [[ShameIfSomethingHappened threaten to do]] when they go unpaid, and as a result some struggling business owners might just find themselves looking for a nice bush to sleep under.
*** The perfect opportunity for the return of the [[RunningGag Cabbage Seller]]!
*** Actually, Tenzin said that he would pay for the damages.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: The United Republic of Nations isn't very republican]]
* I'm using "republican" in the way that it's used in the US Constitution "The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government..." For the sake of clarity, I'll add [[http://www.constitution.org/fed/federa10.htm Federalist no. 10]], where Madison outlines the idea of a republic as I am used to using it. As far as I can tell, the government is chosen by the original four nations, not the people of the city. It's as if Wales was jointly governed by a representative of Ireland, Scotland and England. Such a government couldn't be called republican in any sense of the word, let alone the one I was thinking of. Now, it is true that no other government has been shown, meaning it is possible that the council is only in charge of Republic City. This led me to believe that it was the only game in town, and that the council is in charge of the entire nation.
** The US doesn't have a monopoly on the term. Seeing as how we've only seen the one city, one can hardly say the identified form of government cannot be considered a republic.
** I think your assumption of republic being "What the US defined it as is" is a bit of an oversimplification of a form of government that has had dozens of variants amongst them oligarchies very similar to the one in show. It should also be remembered that this government was designed for a different world than the one its in right now, back when the city was founded it made complete sense to have the city intended to be a melting pot be governed by representatives of each major group in the world, unfortunately this is now pretty obsolete as Republic City has developed its own unique culture.
*** I'm wondering what Republics you're thinking of that have oligarchies similar to the one on the show? The closest things I can think of would be Florence and Venice in the Renaissance. However, given that the Florentine republic included about a thousand citizens in its census for who counted as a citizen who could participate in government (circa 1500) and the Venetian aristocracy was abnormally large (which resulted in frequent problems of aristocratic poverty) and could could be bought into, I'm not sure they should count either since there is a big difference between around a thousand people sitting in a senate and five people ruling in a council. Remember, Venice's Council of Ten answered to a much larger senate and the Doge and Florence's Eight Saints were a war time necessity (and they were tax assessors).
* I don't think we know enough about it. Or could you clarify what doesn't seem republican to you? It doesn't seem to be a monarchy, so I guess republic in the meaning of "res publica" isn't so far off.
** Republic as a term is far older than the United States, and even today it has numerous definitions around the world. At core it simply means a nation ruled by an elected council. The election does not have to be democratic as we understand it, nor does the position of electee have to be open for everyone. Pre-Imperial Rome was a non-democratic Republic, for example. The United Republic does seem to be a democracy however, though how it functions is unknown. It seems that the representatives have to include members from the four Nations, and that Benders are overpresented compared to non-Benders. Tenzin is an influential member in spite of the near-extinction of the Air Nomads, for example.
*** Tenzin's father was one of the founders of Republic City. He's probably doing it as a legacy thing, not to represent the almost non-existent Air Nomads.
*** Except that the Council, or at least its leaders apart from Tenzin consist of representatives of Fire Nation, Earth Kingdom, and Southern and Northern Water Tribes. It seems fairly clear that the city is lead by the representatives of the four Bending cultures, even the near-extinct Air Nomads.
* I think the source of the confusion here is that we're assuming Republic City is an independent state, which may not be the case. It's possible Republic City is a kind of "neutral ground" that all four nations have limited control over. If this is the case, the representatives that control Republic city may very well be elected...by the total populations of the nations they hail from. So it's less like Wales being governed by representatives from Ireland, Scotland, and England and more like if everyone in the United States was able to vote for the mayor and city council of New York City.
** So Republic City is basically [[WashingtonDC Washington, DC]]. Limited home rule and all that.
** It's more like the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shanghai_International_Settlement Shanghai-that-Was]].
* Republic in its most basic sense means "state without monarchy." The council is made up entirely (I understand) by representatives of monarchies. So I honestly believe that the creators did not know what the word republic means. It is a common mistakes, I remember a couple of occasions where Jorge Luis Borges made ​​the same mistake.
** I'm sure they know exactly what it means. It means a state not ruled by a monarchy. It doesn't mean a state without any influence from any monarchies whatsoever. Republic City is ruled, as you said, by a council--not by a monarchy. That the councilmen represent monarchies doesn't matter.
** Also, the council isn't made up ''entirely'' of representatives of monarchies. The Air Nomads most certainly aren't a monarchy, they don't even have a state of their own, and nothing indicates Tenzin is considered to be their "king". The reason he seems to be the highest authority figure among them could simply be because he's the oldest, most experienced Airbender alive. Historically the Airbenders appear to have been ruled by councils of elders, one in each Air Temple, but we don't know what their current system is. As for the Southern Water Tribe, while they have a chief, there's no canon evidence that he's their sole leader, or that the position of the chief is inhereditary; for all we know he could be chosen by a tribe meeting, or by some other democratic process.
*** If Tenzin gets to be one of the most powerful people in the world just because he's the best Airbender that would be a real problem. Nepotism is honestly more likely.
*** Being a council person in one city makes you "one of the most powerful people in the world"? Just because the series takes place there doesn't mean it's the most important place in the world.
*** But being the world's only Master Airbender probably would make you "one of the most powerful people in the world" by default.
** Since when does "Republic" mean a "state without monarchy"? By that definition, fascist, democratic, anarchist, and theocratic governments would be republican. A better defintion of a "republic" would be a state with a mixed constitution, incorporating elements of democracy, aristocracy, and (elected) monarchy. By this definition, we could include Rome, Florence, Venice, and the US. France might be harder to fit, since it seemed to include only democracy and (elected) monarchy, as far as I'm aware. And, of course, this does not work as well for the 20th century when it seemed to become the fashion to style everything a "republic" regardless of its actual form. Also, keep in mind that I'm using the term monarch losely to refer to a small executive branch (like the consuls, Doge, Signoria, or president), the way Roman and Renaissance political theorists did.
*** You define the entire Western world as being ruled by monarchs? (because pretty much every nation has a president or prime minister)
*** "Since when does 'Republic' mean 'a state without monarchy'?" Basically since the term was coined in the classical world. Although modern developments have complicated the matter, that's still the most basic way to define the term, and essential to every other definition that incorporates other aspects. "By that definition, fascist, democratic, anarchist and theocratic governments would be republican." Yes. You treat these terms as opposed to either monarchy or republic while they aren't (except anarchism which is opposed to both). Iran can be described as a theocratic republic, Saudi-Arabia as a theocratic monarchy. The UK is a democratic monarchy, the US a democratic republic and so on. "A better definition ..." What follows is a pretty meaningless definition that has no descriptive purpose and no historical background. In general, people seem to be misled by the meaning of the word "Republican" in a US-American context, where it has a wider meaning, including rule of law, balance of power, democracy, equality before the law etc. and also carries a lot of historical and political baggage (there is a major party that derives its name from this word after all). This meaning comes from American history, not academic categorization of governments. And no, an elected head of the executive is not a monarch.
*** As to the idea of an elected head being a monarch, this is exactly how Polybius uses the term. Polybius defines Rome as a state with a mixed constitution, one that has elements of monarchy, aristocracy, and democracy. He equates the monarchical elements with the consuls, an elected office with one year in office. I am doing the same (note: a prime minister is not a head of state but a head of government, and thus would not represent a monarchic element). The definition of a republic as a state with a mixed constitution also comes from Polybius's understanding - he holds up Rome's Republic as an example of government to be contrasted with the democracy of Athens and various principates. I would argue that in most of the greatest historical examples, a balance of powers is an essential aspect of a republic, as it was in antique Rome and renaissance Florence and Venice. Aristotle would seem to agree given that he considers a mixed constitution as an alternative form of government to monarchy/tyranny, aristocracy/oligarchy, and democracy. Now, Machiavelli does seem to include all non-principate states in the category of "Republic", but given his historical environment, where the only non-monarchic states had mixed constitutions, states like Florence, Venice, and Bologna, I would hesitate to agree with his assessment, given that his analysis of Rome and the classical world was often heavily colored by his experience of politics in his own time. You say that classically this is how a republic was defined, but I'm not sure which classical authors you are refering to. As I said above, Polybius and Aristotle did not make such a division. Plato divided his types of government much more broadly, defining five types of states based on the values of the ruler/ruling class (kallipolis, timocracy, oligarchy, democracy, and tyranny). To Thucydides, your division would not make sense, since part of his history is devoted to comparing the sort of governments Sparta and Athens had and to equate them as of the same sort would be counter to his efforts. Since the term, however, comes from Latin, we could look at Latin authors, but they tended to defer to Polybius and Aristotle on this matter. And if we are going to defer to the term "res publica", then even the Roman Empire would be a republic, since for the first century or so of its existence it was still called a "res publica". So, I do not see where your definition comes from, aside from perhaps Machiavelli or the French Revolution, neither of whom/which are classical sources and both of whom/which existed in periods where a more nuanced view was unnecessary. And as to theocracy - you said you can have theocratic republics and theocratic monarchies, but what would the bishopric of Rome be? A republic, given the prominence of the college of cardinals? A monarchy, given that it has a single head? Also, you seem to be lax on what a monarchy is - is it simply a state with a king? would a tyranny without a king be a republic? It would seem unfair to call Cuba a republic just because its head of state does not call himself king. It would seem unfair to call Sparta a monarchy just because its heads of state were kings.
* At the very least we can say that Republic City does not seem very republican. A ruling body of five people who represent only a "bending aristocracy" (my term) is much more oligarchic than it is republican. And since this small ruling body seems to make policy decisions without consulting anyone outside of themselves (there's no mention of having a vote in the senate on what to do about the rebel problem or what to do about terrorist threats), I feel it's safe to say that just these five are governing Republic City. So... yeah. Sounds like an oligarchy - more like the Thirty Tyrants than the Council of Ten.
** That does fit within some definitions of Republic since those five are "the body of citizens entitled to vote", if they were elected to those positions in some way it fits most definitions. What Republic City is clearly not is a democracy, the general population has little to no say in the general affairs of government.
*** But size does matter in this. If you were simply going to say that a republic has a "body of citizens entitled to vote" a tyranny would be a republic where that body numbered one. The voting base needs to be broader than five, even if it does not have to include a majority of people. If you were to ask me to define how broad it needs to be, I would probably say at least 1% of the population. Though, there are other aspects of republic aside from having a voting base, namely the separation of powers - they tend to have at least an executive or executive body and a legislative body, but can also include bodies that propose legislation (like Rome's Senate) or various bodies that oversee economic or military concerns.
*** Represents a "bending aristocracy"? The councilmembers represent the different NATIONS, not the types of benders. We know that Tarrlok and Tenzin are benders, but it's never been shown about the others. True, Amon had them kidnapped, but that could be just as much to disrupt the current government as to target them as benders.
**** The way Tarrlok addresses them when he introduces his non-bender curfew certainly implies they are benders. And it seems unlikely they would have voted for the curfew if they were non-benders themselves.
* People have used the word "republic" to mean a lot of different things over the course of history. It is a usefully vague term, almost to the point of being meaningless, in a fictional setting.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Misc.]]
* Why did Korra stop Naga from stealing food from the food stand, but immediately tried to procure something to eat without payment? Stealing was probably the lesser of two evils, but trying to buy something without any money was just as foolish.
** "Lesser" of two evils? I'd say that asking first is better than stealing. In any case, the point was most likely to subtly show Korra's reckless personality to the audience; she most likely remembered she didn't have any money the moment she was asked for payment.
** Well, maybe she thought that everybody would give her food because she's the Avatar, but the old lady drove her away before she could play that card. Don't forget, Korra is insanely sheltered and probably never had to worry about food or a place to stay.
** As mentioned above Korra was provided with everything she needed by White Lotus so she has no concept of money and its value. (It was also common with Real Life royalty who could see the big picture (state economy) but were helpless in small since they never had to personally buy their everyday needs.)
** Also, the next course of action Korra takes is to fish. Most likely, it never occurred to her that there would be rules against hunting because the South Pole is too harsh to avoid it.
** She probably thought she could do some work in exchange for the food- surely there was something the merchant needed done that the Avatar could do fast.
* Korra thought the fish-from-a-lake was hunting/fishing, not stealing.
* So the whole reveal with Amon at the end. I can buy that groupthink could reasonably lead to "He has a scar, just like he said, this proves his entire backstory true," but then it just ends up being face paint? Really, Amon? Couldn't be bothered to spend 30 seconds actually scarring your face?
** Do you really, seriously think that "30 seconds" is all the inconvenience there's going to be from '''''burning your face off'''''? That is really, ''really'' not how it works. Burning his face off would have been one of the stupidest things Amon could have possibly done. You're saying he should have ''crippled himself for life''.\\\
Let's start from the top--his eyes. If he wants a scar that would justify wearing a mask, we're talking a really bad scar covering his face. This would mean ''cooking his face'', and you may not realize it but fire isn't a precision tool. There's no way he's going to get that big, that horrific a scar without burning out his own eyes.\\\
Next, his nose and lips--he's saying goodbye to his sense of smell at best, and without lips he's not going to be much of a public speaker. Then there's the recovery--maybe Amon is capable of healing, but could he concentrate on that when he's in maddening pain from literally cooking his own face?\\\
Facial burn scars aren't just some cosmetic thing you can just slap on and move on with your life. They're a crippling disfigurement.
*** Fire may not be precise, but this is also a world with firebenders (Which granted fire's uncontrollable nature is one of the key points of it, but they're able to achieve SOME level of precision with it). And obviously it would hurt, but I dunno, there's something decidedly disappointing about a villain who's not willing to go through excruciating pain for his cause (Death to the benders! I just hope none of those firebenders hit me, cause that stuff is like seriously hot, you gaiz). Hell, it doesn't even have to be that disfiguring, he just needs a scar to be like "See, that thing I said totally happened." Or he could have made up a different backstory that would be less painful to corroborate. I'm just saying, even if the villain is supposed to be wrong, it'd be nice if he'd at least commit (Even springing for face paint that isn't going to come off in water, especially given how large crowds plus underground steam vents generally equals wet).
**** He needs to have some alleged facial disfigurement to justify the mask. If he said he just wore it to avoid being recognised, or to hide a small scar, his fellow equalists may get suspicious if they NEVER see him with the mask off. That way, he has a sympathetic reason for this. Furthermore, actually hurting himself would be very impractical. Not only for the reasons mentioned above; without his mask, he can just disappear in a crowd. Nobody knows what he really looks like, and nobody expects him to not be disfigured. If something goes wrong, he removes the mask and the make-up and he's gone. I'll give you that, though, the face paint did come off rather easily.
***** I dunno, one of my friends did a Joker style cosplay for a con, and based on how long it took him to do the relatively tiny mouth scars, I would think that creating such a detailed and convincing scar every morning as part of a Xanatos Roulette (Not only on the off chance that someone calls him out on it, but even then banking on his followers being frothy enough to not actually stop and think about it) doesn't seem all that practical. Though I guess the ability to disappear in a crowd makes sense.
*** He's not going to use a Firebender, because that's either one person alive who knows the truth (which is one more than he would want), or someone he's going to have to kill to prevent loose ends--both of which are still more work and complications ''on top of'', once again, cooking his own face.\\\
And his make-up wasn't "detailed and convincing." If anyone had taken more than a cursory look at it, especially someone who had seen real facial scars, like Zuko's, they'd have been able to tell it was false. For one, his nose isn't at all misshapen, his eyebrows are still there, the skin itself isn't deformed at all except for upper lip--it was enough make-up to fool people from 15 or so feet away for 30 seconds before he put the mask back on. And more importantly, to fool people who were largely inclined to believe him in the first place--it was what they expected and wanted to see. Notice how the one person close enough to see the real details--the Lieutenant--actually does apparently begin to suspect immediately.

[[folder: Bullying A Dragon]]
* Okay, so once again, there's that "We hate the people with superpowers!" plot going on. Now, I understand the concerns of the non-Benders, and I get that not every Bender is a good-hearted soul who won't abuse it, but here is my issue: With all the "Let's permanently block their ability to bend!" talk, you'd think that someone would say, "Hey, uh...let's not give them a good reason to hate us!" Especially if said person is the AVATAR (aka, the one who could turn Republic City into a smoldering wasteland if he/she so chose.) Are they just asking for Korra to find a reason to go apecrap on them and the city in general? Plus, don't they remember Aang? The previous Avatar who saved their collective asses from the Fire Nation? If they know she's the new Avatar (and likely the reincarnation of Aang) why are they pissing her off? [[TooDumbToLive Are they just trying to get her angry enough to go apeshit and Avatar-State the crap out of them and the city in general?]]
** If i were an Anti-Bender? That is EXACTLY what i'd want. The Avatar using her godlike powers to slaughter a bunch of people? that's exactly the kind of press that proves every single thing that Amon is spewing. Martyrs make for good press. I'm willing to bet that this will be a plot point in future episodes, especially if Amon is smart enough to organize a situation wherein Korra goes Apeshit on some peaceful protesters.
** A large part of the Equalist's rhetoric seems to be that people ''shouldn't have to'' live in fear of offending a Bender just because of what that Bender might do in retaliation. Amon's story paints a nice little picture of this, with his family being oppressed by a Bender, and then them all being killed when his father tries standing up to said Bender. The people of the city suffering under the gangs aren't going to think "Gee, let's try to be as inoffensive as possible and maybe they'll leave us alone", because they know that there is no possible way that that could ever work. With the way he presents it, Amon's power seems like it's a perfect 'solution' to the problem of Bending; i.e. "Standing up to the Benders will just get us killed, but this guy can take away their Bending, and so we'll have nothing to fear from them anymore".
** And about Aang having saved them from the Fire Nation, the Equalist view is that a war wouldn't even HAPPEN if Fire Benders didn't exist to begin with, so the Avatar saving their asses would be unnecessary. It's a flawed point of view, sure, but one can see it working as propaganda.

[[folder: Why doesn't anyone learn some sort of defense against the chi-blockers?]]
* In the original series we had one person use this technique on a few people, two of whom had never had professional training (Katara and Toph) and one (Azula) who she took completely by surprise. Maybe there is no defense, but that ought to be said. Maybe this will be adressed, and some sort of defense can be constructed.
** There is no defense. Pressure points can't be moved, nor can the effects of hitting them changed. The Metalbenders should be immune thanks to their armor, though, since the force of the blows won't get through properly.
*** It should be possible to develop a style specifically to avoid being hit. A master air or water bender would probably be very difficult to stop with chi-blocking if they knew what they were getting into.
*** Not getting hit isn't much of a style. The trick is fighting back without being being hit.
*** "Not getting hit isn't much of a style"? Isn't that a big part of what Airbending is all about? Remember the training with the swiveling gates? Aang certainly was good at avoiding getting hit in the original series (and Ty Lee never managed to chi-block him). And it fits thematically, seeing as Korra is still struggling with attempts to learn Airbending now.
*** As I said, not getting hit, in itself, is not much of a style. You need to be able to fight back. Aang never fought Ty Lee up close, and chi-benders are all about close combat. Just dodging isn't going to help unless Korra can do damage at range, too.
*** "Not getting hit" is a pretty good summary of the airbending style as a whole, actually. Airbending does not have any purely offensive moves.
* It should be said that the original does showcase how to fight chi-blockers...by relying on hand to hand combat. This was best displayed by Suki in The Boiling Rock finale. The trick here Is that most of the benders we've been shown seemingly either aren't versed in it (like Katara previously) or are capable but aren't quite good enough (Korra herself in this case; who is a capable close quarters figher but doesn't quite measure up).
* Chief Beifong comments in [[Recap/TheLegendOfKorraS1E6AndTheWinnerIs And The Winner Is...]], that metalbender's armor blocks chi blocking, as justification for why they should defend against them, and they seem to be the only one with a solid defense.
** Which led to a bit of FridgeBrillance: The metal armor protects them from The Equalists' chi-blocking... but makes them doubly-vulnerable to The Equalists' shock weapons.
*** Which could theoretically be solved by making the armor as such that it forms a Faraday cage for the wearer. Or if the counter intuitive physics are a bit too much, have them use some non conductive padding underneath.
** Related to the above: Why doesn't someone simply develop close fitting ceramic armor? Ceramics are generally lighter than metal so it wouldn't be too heavy, they're completely non-conductive so electricity is out and given the presence and abilities of earthbenders shaping and mass manufacturing the armor would be incredibly easy. A single solid plate for the chest and back and segmented plates for the sides of the chest, legs and arms would basically render a person immune to chi blockers. Slap a decent helmet on there and a bender could basically tank anything the average equalist could throw out. It wouldn't even have to be large, say a quarter inch thick. Just strong enough to deflect a single person's blows. With that in mind it could even be worn under clothes as a nasty surprise to any chiblockers. It would be pretty funny to see them do the whole elaborate series of punches only to have the person step back completely unfazed.
*** Aren't really durable ceramics a fairly recent invention? With all the acrobatics involved in bending simple pottery would break.
*** The composite ceramics used in things like tank armor and semi conductors are fairly new, yes. But silicon carbide, the stuff they make the plates in bulletproof vests out of, has been mass produced since the early 1890's. And all of this isn't accounting for cermets (Ceramics mixed with metals). There are many examples of those that are nonconductive, flexible, light and strong as well.
*** Also, wrapping yourself in earthenware is a horrible idea in a world with people who can control earth. Of course, a person in metal plate going against an metalbender is in the same position, but it seems that metalbending is much rarer and largely contained to the police force.

[[folder: Why don't non-benders learn chi-blocking?]]
* And for that matter if the metal-bending police force is a special force for benders stopping thier ability would be a uch better idea. But if a substantial number of people learn to stop benders from abusing thier powers for a short term, and then can report them to the police, I would think that would address the problem, without interfering with the society's infastructure.
** Why doesn't every real life person learn karate to stop muggers, or carry a gun for that matter? You should be able to see where this logic leads.
*** Having lived in a place where there was a firearm of some kind in almost every house, open carry was legal without a permit and CCWs were issued to anyone who wasn't a convicted felon, and having personally trained in the martial arts, something that convinced me everyone should do it, I'm having trouble seeing the negative implications here. '''I'm kind of bothered that the non-benders in this show jumped from living in fear of the triads who abuse their power, to supporting a violent revolutionary who wants to rid the world of bending altogether.''' You would think someone would have simply said, '''in regards to the triads''', " I don't want this to continue. Do you guys want this to continue? That's what I thought. Let's work something out." Then, get armed and organized.
*** You do realize that's exactly what the Equalists have done, and that it is emphatically a ''bad thing''? There's a reason governments hire and train personnel to defend the public. The Equalists formed in response to exactly that sort of problem, but demonstrate how it, very easily, escalates to something worse.
*** Yeah, because this is how all organized crime fell in RealLife, right? Lets face it, in reality citizen militias have rarely solved any problems, at best keeping old ones from escalating further.
*** There's also the fact that even if armed militias and vigilantes are able to defeat their enemies, they have often by that point [[HeWhoFightsMonsters turned into the very thing they were trying to destroy.]]
** Assuming the Equalist narrative about Republic City is true their membership (though obviously not all non-benders) is severely impoverished. The old, sick, starving, emotionally destroyed, and crippled don't make much of an army against people who can punch you across a football field. The limited pool of potential fighters ones would constantly be trying to make ends meet, leaving little time or energy to learn martial arts.
*** The task force bust in "A Voice in the Night" seems to imply that it may be illegal to learn chi-blocking in Republic City. (Of course, it could also just be that Tarlokk was overstepping his bounds in ordering the raid.)
*** The bust isn't about chi-blocking being illegal, it's about shutting down a training camp for insurgents who have publicly declared war on part of the population. It's not what they're teaching, it's why.
*** But it still sends a very violent and agressive message to non-benders; you are not allowed to defend yourself. Since non-bending methods of fighting seem to be rare and slightly elite, chi-blocking is probably the only option for non-benders who want protection. Violently assaulting arresting people for wanting a self-defence method is bad, no matter the intent. It just tells non-benders that Amon was right and the Council doesn't want them to fight back.
*** No, it sends the message that if you want to take the risk of training with the wanted criminals, you get what you deserve. Now, if they were shutting down a dojo that is being run with city approval, it'd be an entirely different story. This training area was meant to be a secret and is explicitly training soldiers. The only message it sends is that the city won't tolerate a growing revolutionary presence in its midst.
*** So? You are still illegalizing the only really effective method for non-benders to defend themselves (And there is absolutely no indication the government of Republic City allows dojo's to teach it), by doing so you are saying that Amon is right to oppose the city government as they are directly stopping attempts by non-benders to defend themselves.
*** There's no indication that it is illegal to be taught. The chi-blockers obviously learned from someone before they turned violent. I don't understand how you keep failing to grasp a simple concept. '''This is a training camp for insurgents.''' What part of that are you not understanding? It's not "free chi-blocking classes", it's "help overthrow the bending establishment." Would you join a terrorist group for shooting lessons, then act offended when you got arrested? Of course not, that'd be your own damn fault. If they want to defend themselves, they can take a class from people who haven't waged war on an entire section of the population. Seriously, stop trying to act like it's the material being targeted. It is nothing of the sort. It is the people doing the teaching and why that is under fire, and nothing more than that.
*** Amon's people are the only ones who teach chi-blocking (that we know of) and its hard to believe that any group teaching chi-blocking wouldn't be immediately grouped with them as a result. My real question is when it started being legal to take down Equalist cells, their advocate in the first episode didn't seem to worry about getting arrested.
*** Freedom of speech is a far cry from militarization, and Amon very recently declared war on bending itself. The training camp was training recruits for battle. The protestor is just talking.
*** The Equalists can argue, accurately even, that chi-blocking is a purely defensive despite all of Amon's rhetoric about a revolution (lots of real world countries have politicians who use that kind of talk without their followers being hunted down).
*** What they claim is ''can'' be used for doesn't change what they ''are'' using it for. They've already attacked several benders. Criminals or not, they've proven their intentions to be less than noble. That kind of spin-doctoring doesn't work for revolutionaries. Politicians can only get away with it because they have the clout. Amon doesn't have that.
*** Whether any of this is correct is probably beside the point. Anyone who is at all sympathetic to the Equalist position is going to see jackbooted benders taking away their constitutional right to bear electro-sticks, and Amon will be spinning it as exactly that.
*** I was under the impression that the camp was attacked because of the amon posters, indicating them as members of the equalists, not because they were learning chi-blocking.

[[folder: Why doesn't anyone use armor or padding?]]
It's pretty clear that chi blocking uses strikes to specific parts of the body. Why has no one, thus far, thought to wear any sort of protection over those body parts? ESPECIALLY someone like Korra, who has been taken down by Equalists more than once AND is a high-profile target?
* Look again. Tarrlok's entire taskforce, including Korra, indeed wear padded armour on the job. It's just that ArmorIsUseless; maybe the important pressure points are in the areas of the body that can't be covered with too dense material without sacrificing vital mobility? Wearing armour in everyday life is incredibly uncomfortable and over time even physically debilitating. It's better to stay agile and learn not to be hit.
** The task force units looked more fancy than useful. And note that, where they actually are wearing what could be armor, not a single Seperatist lands a blow, not even with their shock batons. And even assuming that the task force suits are armored... why didn't Korra wear it when going to confront Amon in "The Voice in the Dark." Of course, Korra was carrying a giant IdiotBall during that part, so that might have been the point of not wearing it.
*** Korra may of felt the armor was limiting her mobility, and she was expecting a one on one fight with Amon. A bit of an idiot ball for thinking he would be dumb enough to go alone, but still it might of not of been for not wearing armor.
*** Either way, Ty Lee's chi-blocking worked fine on Earth Kingdom soldiers in the original series. ArmorIsUseless, so better to preserve mobility.
*** However, in Episode 6, it's explicitly stated that the Metalbender police's armor is capable of blocking chi-blocker attacks, though they're essentially wearing plate armor.
** It's actually a bit of FridgeBrilliance, since most bends need to be extremely mobile and need a wide range of movement in order to fully take advantage of their bending abilities. Heavy armor would merely impair their movements and therefore directly impact their bending ability.
* The Metalbending Police ''do'' wear armor that guards the chakras. That's why the Equalists also carry electro-sticks. That said, waterbending or especially airbending in armor is probably next to impossible unless you're skilled enough to [[AssJokeAproposOfNothing bend by flexing your butt cheeks]] or something similar.

[[folder: Why doesn't the Avatar State trigger when Korra is captured by Amon?]]
If the Avatar State is supposed to be a defense mechanism, intended to protect the Avatar when he or she is in mortal danger, why doesn't it activate at the end of "The Voice in the Night?" It certainly seemed like Korra was in danger of death, if not in the literal sense, then in the spiritual and metaphorical sense.[[hottip:*:Korra likely views the loss of her bending as something tantamount to death.]] She was also obviously in the throes of severe emotional distress, as her subsequent breakdown and admission indicate. Why then, when it would be most reasonable to do so, does the Avatar State not activate?
* 1) The Avatar State is a back-seat until a handle on the other elements is acquired. It isn't meant to be A defense mechanism but THE defense mechanism. Even more-so, if the avatar is defeated in it, bye-bye Avatar forever. If it activated every time things got stressful, that would be horrible. 2) Korra is not really spiritually active, instead relying on matter over mind. Since the Avatar State requires spirituality, it would be difficult for someone not spiritual to use it. 3) The most powerful emotion to activate it, barring spirituality, is anger. Korra doesn't restrain her emotions that much so it wouldn't be active that much - she might even be in a mini-avatar-state. Aang put aside his anger even when he was justified to be any amount of angry so he would go into it frequently as that emotion built and then exploded out.
* Aang's almost universally been angry when the Avatar State was triggered. Korra was frightened, but she was also trying to keep it in check. There's also Korra's lack of spirituality to consider. Aang was spiritual to begin with, which may have made his transitions more natural. Korra may be so grounded (so to speak) that she might not be able to access it without a really big push.
** True. Remember how after she was captured she had those Aang flashes. Maybe it was the Avatar state trying to be triggered only she didn't/couldn't let it take over. She did seemed for a moment to think she was saved by Aang, which is exactly what would have happened if he would have taken control
* I think it would have been triggered if he'd tried to take her bending away. When Aang took Ozai's bending, their spirits were basically fighting. When Amon took Lightning Bolt Zold's bending, this fight presumably happened too. Or not, if we assume that his "energybending" is not genuine. The point is, though, that it takes a bit of time, it doesn't happen within a second. So before he'll be able to take away her bending completely, the state would be triggered and he'll be flying across the room. However, since he didn't even try, it wasn't enough to trigger the state.
** This may well be one of the reasons he ''didn't'' do it - he wasn't sure if he would be successful if the avatar state triggered and he found himself in a battle of wills against the entire collective memory of all the Avatars that have ever lived (especially the last Avatar would actually knew energy bending, Aang). Far more effective to soften up Korra with some psychological manipulations.
** Remember what kept Aang from going Avatar State for the third season? His chi was blocked by a locked chakra. When Korra's tied up, she's just been chi blocked. If the chi paths have to be opened and flowing for the Avatar State to occur, then it makes sense if being chi blocked would prevent it.
*** But Aang had specifically gone through a process that would leave him without the Avatar State if any of his chakra were locked. Far as anyone can tell, Korra has gone through no such process. We don't know for sure if chi blocking is enough to block the Avatar State from triggering. Which makes me wonder if a fully-realized Avatar could resist chi blocking?
* The real question for me is why it didn't activate while she was being bloodbent by Tarrlok. Tarrlok had been seen by her past lives as a big enough threat that Aang was sending her visions, and Aang knows that (one of) the only things that can resist bloodbending is the Avatar State. Yakone was a big enough threat to require it, his (more intelligent) son isn't?
* As noted, with it all wrapped up for now, I think it really was just as simple as her lacking a spiritual connection as well as already being quite capable in and of herself. Aang prior his session with Guru Pathik went into the Avatar State involuntarily, generally out of anger. Being already of the most spiritual of the nations, he had no issues forming a connection at all; however he also was forced into many situations where he couldn't get by with just Airbending alone. As I see it, the Avatar State more or less picked up the slack for him until he could get by, and had Azula not shot him when she did - he could've reached full realization one element short (this is going by, realization = ability to blink in a out of the state at Will). For Korra, this wasn't necessary until the grand finale as she already has near mastery over every other element and for all intents and purposes didn't really need the State at all. Once everything had essentially hit rock bottom for her, it was then that she was able not only make a connection; I'd almost reason to say that the Avatar Spirit helped her bring out her own ability to Airbend as proof. Aang himself points this out to her, now that she finally faced something she truly could not get out of, her spirit called out for help; and in turn she became fully realized without having to have lapsed into the Avatar State unwillingly. Perhaps the Avatar Spirit has a minor degree of omniscience.

[[folder: What happens when a non-Bender dies?]]
The Avatar is explicitly reincarnated, and there is a Spirit World that I presume holds the rest of the dead people in some form or another, but bending is also a spiritual connection as well as a power. Non-Benders don't have that. So do they still end up in the same place as Benders when they die?
* The Avatar is a special case. Aside from animals, we've never seen a single human in the spirit world that wasn't an Avatar. It stands to reason the afterlife is all-inclusive, and Avatars are the ones being short-changed.
** I figured that everyone was reincarnated, and only the Avatar has access to his/her past lives.

[[folder: What happened to the spectators in the stadium?]]
We have a stadium full of excited spectators. In many cases, fans of sports teams are willing to literally kill you if their team loses. Why on earth, spectators stood still? We are talking about people who can shoot fire from their hands and they are watching their favorite team being tortured right before their eyes Are they so frightened by a lot of tasers that are not able to defend their team?

The second strange thing that happens is that when Korra ends her fight on the roof and back into the stadium there's nobody left. Is it possible to evacuate a building of that size so quickly? It's almost as if the writers were not sure what the hell to do with those people.
* Korra's fight lasts a while, long enough for everyone to pour out the exits. As for the behavior, they may not be at the "riot over a loss" stage of sports devotion.
** Large buildings are also designed with lots of exits (which we know the arena has, the Equalists are shown getting through them). You can evacuate enormous stadiums in less than a minute. Still you'd think the Equalists would want witnesses.
*** They did. The audience was forced to stay there while Amon was giving his speech. Only when the Equalists were making their exit did the audience flee.
* The creators are Americans, we don't have deadly riots over sports as a regular occurrence over here. You're also underestimating how scared of the Equalists people are. Amon has spent a long time building up his revolution.
* Tenzin didn't join Lin and Korra in the battle against Amon, so I assumed he was helping to evacuate the crowd. Mako and Bolin may also have assisted; Mako would certainly have wanted to make sure Asami was safe.
* We aren't talking about a group of people who stormed the ring because they hated a team or something. This was a terrorist organization! Most people aren't going to exactly be leaping to try and take on a threat like Amon, especially when he can take away their bending so easily.
* How would they access the arena? If they just shoot fire from where they're sitting, they'd risk hitting the team members, not to mention other spectators. Maybe the waterbenders could have conjured a flood, but again, risk of injuring the team, not to mention that a coordinated attack would have been difficult, not to mention that the guys with the gloves would have stopped any such attempt in a second. And would you really like to be the one person that Amon singles out from the crowd? Also, don't forget the police force. Most likely, people relied on them and considered themselves safe. Once all policemen started dropping like flies, they probably realised that their chances aren't strong. ALSO, most of them probably don't know how to fight. Remember, it's a time of peace. I'd imagine that most of them are as capable as someone who's been to some self-defence classes. You might be able to fight off a mugger, but it's not exactly a case of MuggingTheMonster.
* Not all pro-bending fans are benders. In fact, that was the whole reason for Amon's attack. Non-benders were lifting up benders as sports heroes.

[[folder: Why were all these people killed by firebenders?]]
Supposedly, Mako and Bolin's parents, Amon's family, and Sato's wife were all murdered by firebenders. Other benders can be killers too, so why have the writers used firebenders for each of them? Something's not adding up.
* Probably simply because the previous generation was still suffering from the aftereffects of the 100-Year War, and because the United Republic consists of the former Fire Kingdom colonies. It makes sense that the Firebenders were the most common type of Bender in the region until the recent times.
** Compare the many movie villains that have a German accent. A firebending is probably still seen as more evil than other forms of bending. This, I think, is why Amon says that his parents were murdered by a firebender. For the rest... It could be a plot point in the coming series, or a red herring.
* Firebenders can kill a lot easier, and cleaner, than other benders can.
** Not really...creative benders could find plenty of ways to kill quickly and easily. A clever and malicious water bender could easily drown their opponent, and then take the water with them afterwards, leaving no evidence afterwards; no mess. Earthbending probably would be messier, but a rock at full speed applied to just the right spot on the head will still kill instantly. It seems strange that firebenders are still the only rampant killers these days...unless, of course, all the attacks are connected somehow.
*** Drowning takes a lot longer than killing with fire would, and it's doubtful every earthbender could kill so efficiently.
*** Or they could make a spear or a blade out of water. Ice can have sharp edges, and can cut with them (I should know, I cut my finger on a jagged piece of ice once)
*** Smashing people in the head with rocks is a vastly easier method of murder than causing them to die of severe burns. If Zuko had taken a fist sized chunk of stone to the head rather than a blast of fire he would have been brain damaged or dead rather than scarred.
*** Or maybe they just electrocuted them, given that lightning bending is so much more widespread these days. That would be the easiest and fastest method. Nobody said anything about using fire.
*** A powerful waterbender could easily kill someone by [[NightmareFuel by clotting or freezing the blood in their veins or arteries]], which if done in the right place (e.g., the brain) could kill the victim within seconds or minutes, and leave no evidence behind (or plenty of space to plant false evidence).
*** But that's bloodbending. Yakone may well have done that a few times, but overall almost no one has that ability.
* You have to remember that Fire is the one element that is based almost entirely on offensive moves. Also Water and Earth, while they certainly can kill you, don't strike fear into the hearts of people the way Fire does so Fire is the logical choice, not to mention there is still the stigma from 100-Year War as previously mentioned
* As a whole, Firebenders tend to be more aggressive and more prone to resorting to violence to solve their problems, since that's part of the philosophy of their training. Also, since the Fire Nation technically lost the previous war, and Zuko has made attempts to make it a more peaceful nation, you can bet that there are thousands of disenfranchised Fire Nation soldiers who were suddenly out of a job, and their bitterness carried on to the next generation.
* Seemed to me like foreshadowing. Chances are we'll find out at some later point in the show that it was the same firebender in all cases.
* I read a theory on a message board that in fact all of these murders are the work of a waterbender called Alfred Firebender, and he is just commonly referred to as A. Firebender.
* That's only three instances. It is not statistically significant.
** If we were talking about real life then that would absolutely be the case. But this a story, and when events repeat themselves in a story it's usually for a reason.
*** The incidents are also removed from each other in time. Twelve years ago an unspecified number of Agni Kai Triad firebenders broke into the Sato mansion and killed Mrs. Sato. Ten years ago, a firebender mugged Mako and Bolin's parents. Depending on the veracity of Amon's statements, the incident that forced him to wear a mask could be anywhere from twenty to forty years ago. If the writers are attempting to lace these facts with any sort of meaning, they are burying it very deep indeed.
* We also don’t know the details of how all these incidents happened (correct me if I’m wrong; I’ve only seen all the episodes once), so it’s possible that one or more of these murders were done not by firebenders but by others who took advantage of residual anti-Fire Nation sentiment to make it look like a firebending incident.
* It turns out that [[spoiler:Only two of those attacks actually happened Amon's backstory was a complete fabrication, he was actually secretly a bender]]
* Which leads to another question, Hiroshi lost his wife to a Firebender but why did he blamed Earthbenders and Waterbenders as well? Instead of generalizing that all benders are bad, he should've developed a hatred towards Firebenders only.
** Remember: This is the guy who went on a MotiveRant about how Amon was going to end bender oppression and make things a better, more just world for Asami and everybody (who isn't a bender), while apparently forgetting that he's the richest person in the biggest, most advanced city in the world. Oppressing him would take some doing.
*** Considering how he started out in poverty and became something of a self-made man in spite of it, it wouldn't be hard to imagine that Sato might have had the bender grudge from much earlier in life. The murder of his wife would have just pushed him over the edge.

[[folder: Power Level Math does not work out at all.]]
So...thus far we have two EliteMooks who defeat Mako + Korra in a straight-up fight. One Equalist Lieutenant who defeats Mako + Bolin in a straight-up fight before getting blindsided by Korra. And now, as of Episode 7, Asami can defeat the Equalist LT in a straight-up fight? How does that power differential even work? Sure, there was a "self-defense classes" handwave, but the LT would very likely have had just as much training if not more, and it's not like bending moves (being the exact same movements as several real-life martial arts) are much different from h2h combat when you remove the elemental part of it, so how exactly is Asami that much better than Mako, Bolin, or Korra at melee?
* The Lieutenant likely assumed that Asami was just a normal girl and would be easy to take down. She proved him wrong. Basically, when he fought Mako and Bolin, he was fighting for real. When he attacked Asami, he just expected to quickly incapacitate her in a single strike.
* Anyone can make the same motions as a professional boxer that doesn't mean they can actually fight like one. Mako, Bolin, and Korra know how to stop bending from hurting them not fists, the defenses are completely different.
* "Power Level Math" is an utterly, completely false premise, for a start. Unlike Dragonball Z, no, there is no definite scale that determines who will or will not win a given fight of ''any'' kind. There are any number of factors that will tilt the odds in the favor of one side or another in any kind of conflict, regardless of who they are. Just boiling it down to who's fighting doesn't mean a damn thing.\\\
Because the Lieutenant beat Mako and Bolin once doesn't mean he always will. Nor does it mean he will automatically beat anyone those two have beaten. All it means is that he beat Mako and Bolin once. Him getting [=KOed=] by Asami doesn't mean Asami is an unstoppable badass who's better than the rest of the cast; all it means is he got [=KOed=] by Asami.
* And lets not forget that the Lieutnant has been trained exclusively to fight against Benders, as indeed are Mako, Bolin and Korra. Asami, on the other hand, seems to be trained to fight against martial artists in general.
** That was my thought as well. The Equalists are specifically trained to contend against bending-style martial arts; of course they have an advantage over the cast's benders. But Asami has been getting general martial arts training from a very young age, likely from multiple different teachers--and probably from Equalist teachers, as well, since I see no reason Sato wouldn't want her to have a head-start on that for when and if she was ever brought into the fold. She probably has more sustained martial arts experience than a number of the normal Equalists. Beating the Lieutenant can probably be explained as a combination of his surprise, her speed, and possible unwillingness on his part to use especially harsh force against the daughter of the dude who just built you all these big mecha that are standing around.
* Asami attacked him with electricity -- something none of his other opponents were seen using against him. It was as effective when used against him as it was when he used it against the other opponents we saw.
* ''And'' you have to factor in that the Krew just isn't very good at actual combat. Spectator sport brawling? They're beast. Actual life-or-death struggle? They're meat.

[[folder: Why did Shiro, the pro-bending announcer, get electrocuted by the Equalists?]]
According to WordofGod, he was also a non-bender.
* Amon probably didn't want anyone's voice going out on the airwaves except his own.
* The Equalists are violent, ideological revolutionaries. Non-benders opposing their agenda would be the equivalent of class traitors and treated as such.
** [[HarryPotter "If you ask me, a blood tratior's as bad as a mudblood."]]

[[folder: Why did they not take out the mechas with more powerful Earthbending, or Airbending? They were all holding back except Lin.]]
They were in an underground bunker, the floor was all earth and some powerful earthbending moves like the ones Toph used would have sent the mecha into the walls or buried them in the ground, with enough force to knock out their drivers. A large boulder shot used in the last series could have smashed one of them to pieces. Air was powerful enough to rattle Sato's mecha and very powerful air blast/explosion or a cutting move like the one Aang used could have severely damaged a mech or toppled it. But since Airbenders always fight defensively, they never fight without inhibitions. Lin was devastating when it comes to fighting and was the only one who took out a mech, because she was really fighting to kill. It didn't occur to anybody but her that the Mecha's glass canopy is easily damaged. It appears that the metalbender cops are overly reliant on their cables and the Equalists took advantage of their weakness.

Doesn't it really seem like all the benders are holding back their best moves?
* I attribute it to surprise and not knowing what they were dealing with, so they stuck with the techniques familiar to them, then didn't last long enough to get their thoughts together and pull out the big guns. For example, Korra started out by throwing fire as she usually does. When that proved ineffective she switched to earth, but got taken out before she could do much with it. Next time they face the mechas they'll be better prepared.
** There were a lot of them as well, and they had the heroes flanked. Big fancy moves are best suited to fighting a single opponent who's counter attacks you can closely guard against. As for Korra's firebending, that was stupid yes, but she always opens up with firebending. At least she quickly worked out that wasn't working very well. As for the metal benders, they're just not trained in those sort of moves. That's like training cops in anti tank weaponry, expensive and pointless.
** I can buy them getting caught flatfooted by an unexpected enemy... But seriously, we've all seen footage of cops pulling out the stops when faced with that kind of firepower. That their training inhibited them to that degree in the heat of battle, in a place where cutting loose was not only justified, but mandated? In a situation where basic earthbending moves like pilar raising would've served them far better? Ruling on the field stands: ForgotAboutHisPowers[=/=]IdiotBall combo.
** Oooooorrrrr, the cops just aren't very good at regular Earthbending on the fly. Their training might, in fact, be almost entirely metalbending, given how much they rely on it.\\\
Also, don't discount training. Do you know what training is really for? It's not just techniques and protocols. It's conditioning. It's training your body such that when your mind is scared and you're unable to think, you can keep acting on what has become instinct. I.e., when you're scared and facing something like those mecha, chances are that you are going to be doing the rote techniques that you've had drilled into you for years instead of getting creative and fancy. That is how armies have worked for pretty much all of human history.\\\
It's not IdiotBall, it's people who have been trained for years falling back on that training when they're in a tense situation and borderline panicking.
** You don't want to inadvertently cause a cave-in and wind up killing yourselves in the process. Earthbenders might be most dangerous underground, but they are also vulnerable to being buried with the enemy in the process.

[[folder: Are we ever going to see Republic City call for help in dealing with The Equalists?]]
This would seem to be a situation tailor-made for a group of non-bender combatants to at least come in and consult with Republic City's law enforcement. Like, say... the Kyoshi Warriors (assuming they're still around, of course). For that matter, wouldn't word have gotten out about the Equalists by now, and the other three nations would've probably made inquiries about how they could help (if for no other reason than to keep the Equalist movement from spreading to their territories)?
* It's mostly a matter of politics and perception. The Equalists are the United Republic's mess, and having to call in foreign countries to bail them out of that mess would be deeply politically embarrassing. It would at the ''very least'' destroy the council's reputation, painting members like Tarrlok as failures. It would also run the risk of boosting the standing of the Equalists among the Republic's citizenry. Internal domestic disputes are one thing, but foreign troops would sharpen the battle lines: "The Equalists might be scum, but they're OUR scum."
* One has to remember that while the Equalists were being taken seriously they were not seen as something that couldn't be contained in the city, it was only in the last two episodes that they realized just how big of a threat the Equalists truly are.
* It is mentioned in the Welcome to Republic City interactive game that the Kyoshi Warriors are still around.
* Yes. In "Turning the Tides," Tenzin calls the United Forces fleet to help them.

[[folder: The ruling council of Republic City... Really?]]
A city of the size and importance of Republic City only as a five-member ruling council? Mayberry had more councilors than that! Not to mention there doesn't seem to be any non-bender on the council. That's a serious oversight in the best of times. And this is beside the fact that the members other than Tarrlok and Tenzin don't seem to have a collective spine between the three of them.
* I think that's kind of the point. The republic of nations was set up as the representation of an ideal, rather than as an actual, practical government. It symbolizes the nations coming together, so all the nations should get a representative. All nations should be treated equally, so they got an equal amount of representation (and Katara and Sokka probably insisted that they shouldn't be lumped in with the northern water tribe). I doubt anyone in the gaang actually considered any long-term consequences when they were organising the city. It's indeed a stupid way to organise a country, but it is one I can see the gaang, especially aang making.
* The size of the ruling Council is not unrealistic. The Swiss equivalent, the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swiss_Federal_Council Swiss Federal Council]] is not much larger.
* Um...OP, that's the point. The Equalists aren't completely wrong. Everyone on the council is a bender, they're not elected officals, not to mention, since they're each from a different nation presumably most of them lived in that nation until chosen as a council member (the exception being Tenzin). They're bringing in values and opinions that may not work in a place Republic City. It's like if the Governor of Texas was from Alaska.
* Remember that Republic City is just that, a city, and it has inhereted its politics from three monarchies and the loose confederation of tribes in the South. Five people sharing ultimate descision making power is probably quite large enormous by their standards.
* In the flashbacks, City Hall is full of people, with Aang sitting at one of the lower tables, occupying no special place. In the current time, five people sit in the middle of the giant, conspicuously empty hall, with no one around, not even a secretary to record minutes. Something seems to have happened that drastically altered the structure of government after the city's founding.
** Actually, it's more likely that the flashbacks are part of a trial. Specifically, Yakone's trial. The big room with the lines of benches that Korra threw Tarlok into before he started bloodbending? Yeah, it's that room.
* Did we ever actually get confirmation that everyone on the council is a bender?
** Tarrlok's speech in The Voice in the Night wouldn't be as effective if his audience had contained non-benders.
** And it's hard to imagine non-benders voting for the non-bender curfew law.
** It seems likely that the current Council only has benders on it but flashbacks indicate that it isn't a requirement, otherwise [[spoiler:Sokka]] could never have been a member.
*** Added to that, look two seats to the right of Sokka--there's someone wearing Air Nomad robes, who also couldn't be a bender.
*** Being the brother-in-law and chosen proxy (If he'd wanted to, Aang could've been on the Council) of a borderline deity (The Avatar) probably helped in that regard, and it's certainly possible that things have become more pro-bender and anti-nonbender since Aang's death.
* What's so wrong with there being only 5 councilors? Republic city isn't all that big (Well, compared to most other cities it is very large, but not when compared with nations, which are ruled by 1 person (Earth King, Fire Lord, Water... umm.... King). Omashu, which is of fairly comparable size, was ruled by Bumi all by himself. That said, I do agree that they should likely include a non-bender or two (to make the number odd to prevent deadlock) to the council. If Amon wasn't... well, Amon and the equalists had had a proper leader, that would have been a more likely course of action for them.
** What's so wrong with there being only five councilors is that The United Republic isn't just Republic City. The council is supposed to be passing laws for an entire nation, not just one city, and five people isn't enough for that sort of task.

[[folder: Why is there only one Earthbending councilor?]]
Much like the the Headscracther above, I also question why the council is set up the way it is. But for me I have to wonder why the earthbenders only have one representative? It is understandable why fire and air only have one. (Both have small populations.) And it is also understandable why the water tribes have two representatives. They are two nations and thus they need representatives from each nation. But the Earth Kingdom is a massive country with many different regions and probably the largest population out of all the nations. Plus, they even have a population of water benders (the swamp folks) and firebenders (those who came during the war and never left). You'd think they'd at least have two representatives like the water tribes?
* The Earth Kingdom is evidently still a kingdom, with a single ruler, so the representative is a representative of the Earth King.
** The Earth Kingdom probably doesn't recognize any Earth Kingdom territory that wasn't reorganized into the United Republic of nations as a separate entity, and any would-be independent Earth nations probably don't have the strength or influence to get a seat on the Council, as they probably would be hedged out by the Earth Kingdom. The Southern Water Tribe meanwhile probably gained a huge amount of influence due to two of their members being major players in ending the war, allowing them to be independently represented.
** Unlike the isolationist Northern Water Tribe, the South ''helped'' the Earth Kingdom during the war by providing it with a small but effective naval force. Perhaps the Earth Kingdom went ''quid pro quo'' post-war, repaying the debt by lobbying for the South to get a seat.
* Also the Fire Nation members who came and never left were formed into the United Republic of Nations, which Republic City was the capital of.
* The US Senate has two representatives for each state - the same number for Wyoming (568K people) and California (38M people, over 66 times as many) - and they have several exclusive powers the House does not. At the time the US Constitution was drafted, none of the less populated states would settle for a pure proportional representation scheme, due to fear of being marginalized by more populated areas with very different political interests. I think the analogy is appropriate here.
** The US also created the House of Representatives because the Senate system alone was completely unacceptable, although including that would make their politics much more complex without adding anything to the show.

[[folder: Episodes? Season Finale?]]
I may have heard wrong, but according to the commercial, the Season Finale is next week, a One-Hour season finale. Cool, i'm excited, don't get me wrong, but one hour? that's two episodes, right? which means, after next week, the series will be at 11 episodes. I thought it was supposed to be twelve. I guess its possible to fit three episodes in an hour, but it doesn't seem likely given how many commercials will be involved. So, was an episode cancelled, did Nick just screw up, or did i just miscount?
* No, the season finale is being advertised coming out in 23rd of June, two weeks from now. Next week is still business as usual. They're just advertising early.
* Good, thanks for clearing that up for me. I think i'd go through withdraws if they cut an episode.
** At least I ''think'' this is the case. I got no confirmation either, but at least there has been no hint of leaving out next week's episode in any source I know. Our own wiki tells that Turning the Tides will come out in June 16th.
** Many people seem to believe there won't be an episode next week. Good job, Nick. I think that promo was more harmful than no promo at all like the last couple of weeks.

[[folder: Why is everybody so lightly dressed?]]
The only thing coming close to a reasonable outfit is Lin's coat.
* She had time to change, they did not.
** It's less about that, it's their choice of wardrobe in the first place. It's winter, and they're wearing the same things they are wearing all the time. Korra, of course, is the worst offender, leaving the house like that. The Satomobiles aren't exactly warm and cozy either, which would have explained why Bolin and Mako don't put on more clothes.
* Korra use to live in the South Pole. She's probably use to the cold. Mako, Bolin, And Asami didn't have time to change what with breaking out of jail and all. Tenzin's cloths seem pretty warm. (Don't quite remember what he was wearing.)
* Tenzin has the excuse of being an airbender. Aang seemed just fine in both Poles with his regular clothes; fandom is that he used airbending to insulate himself. Tenzin would have learned the technique from his father. As for Mako and Bolin, remember they lived as orphans on the streets; they know how to deal with being in winter weather without proper clothing.
* Korra and Mako are firebenders; they don't need heavy clothing to keep warm. Asami and Bolin are reasonably well dressed; judging from the copious snowfall, it can't be much below freezing, if at all. Thick snow only falls in relatively warm winter weather.

[[folder: Why wasn't Yakone in solitary after that stunt he pulled?]]
He somehow had the opportunity to beget Tarrlok 4 years later, despite receiving a life sentence for 12 counts of bloodbending and proceeding to bloodbend the entire courtroom to resist being sent to jail, and then bloodbends the Avatar with intent to kill. That seems like it merits the sentence being upgraded to life in prison with no human contact (and only because they don't have the death penalty out of respect for Aang), except the people who will bring his meals, who are in turn forbidden to speak to him.
* Sounds like you're expecting Republic City prisons to be as cruel as Fire Nation prisons in the original series. It's not unlikely that the influence of Aang/Katara/etc made the retributive system in Republic City more humane, and things like conjugal visits were allowed in their prisons, which would've made Tarrlok's conception possible. Since Aang took Yakone's bending away, he wasn't considered dangerous anymore, so he wouldn't have needed to be kept in solitary. That, or Yakone simply escaped from prison, and catching him wasn't a high priority anymore because he'd lost his bloodbending, so he managed to find a wife and live the rest of his life in hiding.
* Because they're not evil scum who want to drive their prisoners insane? Even Ozai wasn't given such treatment.
* Aang says he's 40 years old in the flashback which means that as stated it is 42 years ago, he dies 26 years later and Korra is now 16. According to the Welcome to Republic City game Tarrlok is 37. He was born when his father was in prison.
** Or Tarrlok's listed age is wrong or represents a lie he's told. A fit man in his forties could pass as 37, especially one as vain as Tarrlock.
** Could easily be a lie. Tarrlock does bare a resemblance to Yakone after all...if anyone brought attention to it, he could just make an offhand comment that he was born after Yakone was already in jail and the matter would drop.
** Or maybe Yakone was broken out of prison. He did have a criminal empire.
** It's possible that the background people, like JK Rowling, can't do math, and Tarrlock isn't supposed to have been born after Yakone went to prison.
** The math assumes the Avatar is reborn right away, which may not be the case. Alternatively, considering the catastrophic emotional consequences of removing someone's bending, the council may have amended his sentence on the grounds that he has "suffered enough" and is no longer a threat.
*** A previous episode specifically states that Yakone was defeated 42 years ago.
**** Considering the fact that nobody knew Tarrlock was Yakone's son, I would say that Tarrlock is older than 42 and lied about his age along with his parentage.
**** Same troper as above, I stay corrected. The real answer is that Yakone escaped.

[[folder: How does a terrorist group have so many members?]]
Seriously, am I the only one wondering why there seem to be an almost unlimited amount of Equalist soldiers? First of all, there wasn't much discrimination against non-benders to begin with, especially not violence. There are almost no reasons to join the Equalists unless someone you know got killed by a bender, like Amon [[spoiler: and Hiroshi]], but it's not like that many people have been killed by benders. Not to mention, these are dedicated soldiers, trained in the art of chi-blocking and all that stuff. It's obvious by now they aren't just {{Well Intentioned Extremist}}s, they're terrorists. You don't see someone who doesn't really like benders join a TERRORIST GROUP to try and get equality. So, how is there so many people willing to give up their life for the cause?
* The problem is assuming that he got all of his troops from Republic City instead of taking them in from all of the nations. He has a lot of people for one city, but from across five nations that span the entire globe it's a lot less unbelievable. As for there not being that much discrimination, there is still the fact that it appears all of the triads in Republic City alone are completely staffed by Benders, as we saw in the original series with Zuko Alone Benders still oppressed people. So think of it as generations of pent up aggression at the inequality of power between benders and non-benders.
* Also keep in mind that the Republic City houses millions of people, and judging by the numbers we've seen, I'd estimate that there are only a few hundred full-time Equalist chi-blockers out there. Sympathizers who are willing to look the other way, or give financial aid and other indirect support probably amount to a few thousand at most. There were organizations in early 20th century Europe with equally grand plans to reorganize the society to their liking with similarly numbered ranks, who took over countries and reigned for decades.
* The show has failed to show it but there were three large all bender gangs in the city. The number of non-benders people who don't want to be helpless in the face of that kind of abuse must be tremendous. Except for one scene all of this has been off screen so its impossible for us to really sympathize with their position.

[[folder: How did Shiro Shinobi know Tarrlok was the one who kidnapped Korra?]]
And if he had used his old IntrepidReporter skills to find out, how did Tarrlok's cover story work? Would the truth not have been broadcast on the radio for all to hear?
* The "Previously On" segments are clearly not happening in-universe. I'm simply amazed that someone could have come to the conclusion they were. Just...''wow'', I seriously cannot understand how this is being asked for a second time.
* The confusion probably stems from the fact that, in the preview of the seventh episode, Tarrlok was the voice over and in the previous episode Shiro was attack, and Tarrlok's voice over is clearly in-universe. So to be fair, it's not completely unbelievable that someone would be confused.
** It is also the only time that the voice over has mentioned information that wouldn't have realistically be available to the public.
*** So who Mako and Korra have crushes on--that they've never told anyone about--is information available to the public, too?
**** [[EveryoneCanSeeIt There's a trope for that.]]

[[folder:Yakone's escape]]
* Forget solitary, how did Yakone get out of jail in order to start a new life in the North Pole?
** They explicitly said that some of his criminal buddies broke him out. He was the head of a vast criminal empire. Exactly why they broke him out when he was stripped of his bending abilities, who knows? Maybe he had assets that the next gang leader could use, and only he knew where to get them, or maybe he simply possessed a level of fanatical devotion in his subordinates (maybe its in the blood) that they didn't care about his bending status.
[[/folder]]







[[folder: Was Korra originally meant to be a six-hour long movie?]]
Is it me, or unlike ATLA, they've pretty much wrapped it up here, with Korra becoming a Fully realized Avatar? Was it actually meant to go on for only one season until late in production?
* Yes. It was originally supposed to be a one season miniseries, but they got a second season while the first one was alredy in production.
[[/folder]]


[[folder:So is Equalism dead? Is that even a good thing?]]
Obviously Amon and his army were terrorists but defeating them still leaves the Avatar world with just about the worst possible social problem a society could ever face. Even if the somehow eliminate bender gangs, institutional oppression, and {{Smug Super}}s non-benders they've only just started to address the issue. There is a class of people with enormous economic and military privilege that is chosen entirely at random. Its kind of impossible for a society to not self destruct under that kind of pressure over and over again. The finale didn't do anything to address this, I guess I'll have to hope for the next season.
** I suppose we are left to assume things would improve without Tarrlok oppressive non-Bender rule and that the Equalists would be less of a threat to innocent Benders. Perhaps someone else would take Amon's mantle.
*** But Tarrlok was far from the only one oppressing the non-benders, and we never saw him oppressing the non-benders until later on. People like the members of the Triple Threat Triad seemed to be more of a direct threat.
*** Makes me really wonder how many Triple Threat Triad members Amon debended.
** They're probably going to deal with that stuff next season.
** I imagine that the reveal of Amon as a liar, as well as a bender, will have caused the terrorist Equalist movement to lose credibility and fall apart, for the most part, but a push for non-bender rights will still exist. Maybe it will come up in the second season.
[[/folder]]









[[folder:So is Equalism dead? Is that even a good thing?]]
Obviously Amon and his army were terrorists but defeating them still leaves the Avatar world with just about the worst possible social problem a society could ever face. Even if the somehow eliminate bender gangs, institutional oppression, and {{Smug Super}}s non-benders they've only just started to address the issue. There is a class of people with enormous economic and military privilege that is chosen entirely at random. Its kind of impossible for a society to not self destruct under that kind of pressure over and over again. The finale didn't do anything to address this, I guess I'll have to hope for the next season.
** I suppose we are left to assume things would improve without Tarrlok oppressive non-Bender rule and that the Equalists would be less of a threat to innocent Benders. Perhaps someone else would take Amon's mantle.
*** But Tarrlok was far from the only one oppressing the non-benders, and we never saw him oppressing the non-benders until later on. People like the members of the Triple Threat Triad seemed to be more of a direct threat.
*** Makes me really wonder how many Triple Threat Triad members Amon debended.
** They're probably going to deal with that stuff next season.
** I imagine that the reveal of Amon as a liar, as well as a bender, will have caused the terrorist Equalist movement to lose credibility and fall apart, for the most part, but a push for non-bender rights will still exist. Maybe it will come up in the second season.
[[/folder]]
















[[folder:What happened to the North Pole?]]
More specifically, the Northern Water Tribe. The first series showed it to be a relatively large place with a design similar to Venice, Italy. Yet when we see it in Taarlok's flashback story, it's comparable to what we saw of the Southern Water Tribe back in "The Boy in the Iceberg". And considering it's only ever referred to as ''the'' Northern Water Tribe, there seems to be no indication it would be some sort of outpost town or settlement.
* Is there any actual reason to believe it ''wasn't'' some sort of outpost town or settlement?
* Yeah. The Northern Water Tribe is just the name of the whole tribe, like the Zulu. Just because the Zulu are referred by a common tribe name doesn't mean they all live in the same city.
* The Northern Water Tribe we saw was one after 100 years of war--a fortification made for defense. At the time, yes, that was probably where the entire Tribe lived--but after the war ended and the danger of Fire Nation soldiers attacking and abducting people was gone, it makes sense that they would expand into other settlements.
[[/folder]]








[[folder: The "Balance Patch" that is the Law in Republic City]]
* The Avatar is a focal point of balance towards goodness and the right choices in the world at large, which includes the city. Because of this, and the major role she plays in restoring balance and order to the world as they are fated to do, they are given a great deal of leeway. This is no longer the case, and that severely gimps Korra's overall effectiveness for very pedantic reasons. Benders should have the right to defend themselves, as should non-benders. So I'm not entirely seeing the law as helpful or beneficial to the long-run to the city, much less to her job. They would only serve to get in her way.
** That worked back in the old days. In an industrialized nation, Korra's antics are nearly as harmful as helpful, and she is not omniscient. The police are there to cover what she can't, which is basically everything except the occasional random incident.
*** Of course, but if they are putting their foot down and preventing the Avatar from doing what the Avatar does, they're as much a threat to the balance as they could be a help. I'm not speaking about stopping mafia here-which Korra, as the Avatar and a lot of precedent behind her from Kiyoshi and Aang, should be allowed to do-this can get much worse; what if they decide that restoring balance would cause too much instability within the city?
*** If Korra's keeping with the law, which should be entirely reasonable, then they have no reason to object. Tenzin could also extend some political protection if he needs to.
*** Um, where's it ever said that the law prohibits bending in any way? Or that benders can't defend themselves? The problem with Korra's actions in the first episode is more that she wrecked up the street, and that she was acting as a vigilante, not just that she was acting as a bender or the Avatar.
*** Precisely. Tenzin and the White Lotus may be sitting on museum pieces, but if Korra were allowed to inflict property damage at her own vigilante discretion, she'd deplete their operating budget in a matter of weeks...heck, the lack of HeroInsurance could be mined for a subplot.
*** It's all part of the deconstruction that is going on. As of now, there is no need for Avatar-involvement. Having Korra wreck the place is not necessary. It's an era of peace. I am sure that as the plot progresses, there will be a need for Korra to act as the Avatar to the world. But as of now, there isn't.
** This is hilarious. Its exactly the sort of political insanity that probably exists in the setting. The crime wasn't "bending" (though benders might well think of it that way) it was "blowing up other people's stuff and attacking the police". You shouldn't get away with destroying buildings just because you happened to do it with superpowers. I imagine that's exactly the mentality that has Equalist sympathizers scared.
*** I wouldn't be surprised to see merchants whose property she destroyed at an Equalist rally in the future, given that the reason anyone pays protection money is out of fear for their lives and livelihoods. Ironically, Korra may have done by accident what the Triple Threat Triads [[ShameIfSomethingHappened threaten to do]] when they go unpaid, and as a result some struggling business owners might just find themselves looking for a nice bush to sleep under.
*** The perfect opportunity for the return of the [[RunningGag Cabbage Seller]]!
*** Actually, Tenzin said that he would pay for the damages.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: The United Republic of Nations isn't very republican]]
* I'm using "republican" in the way that it's used in the US Constitution "The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government..." For the sake of clarity, I'll add [[http://www.constitution.org/fed/federa10.htm Federalist no. 10]], where Madison outlines the idea of a republic as I am used to using it. As far as I can tell, the government is chosen by the original four nations, not the people of the city. It's as if Wales was jointly governed by a representative of Ireland, Scotland and England. Such a government couldn't be called republican in any sense of the word, let alone the one I was thinking of. Now, it is true that no other government has been shown, meaning it is possible that the council is only in charge of Republic City. This led me to believe that it was the only game in town, and that the council is in charge of the entire nation.
** The US doesn't have a monopoly on the term. Seeing as how we've only seen the one city, one can hardly say the identified form of government cannot be considered a republic.
** I think your assumption of republic being "What the US defined it as is" is a bit of an oversimplification of a form of government that has had dozens of variants amongst them oligarchies very similar to the one in show. It should also be remembered that this government was designed for a different world than the one its in right now, back when the city was founded it made complete sense to have the city intended to be a melting pot be governed by representatives of each major group in the world, unfortunately this is now pretty obsolete as Republic City has developed its own unique culture.
*** I'm wondering what Republics you're thinking of that have oligarchies similar to the one on the show? The closest things I can think of would be Florence and Venice in the Renaissance. However, given that the Florentine republic included about a thousand citizens in its census for who counted as a citizen who could participate in government (circa 1500) and the Venetian aristocracy was abnormally large (which resulted in frequent problems of aristocratic poverty) and could could be bought into, I'm not sure they should count either since there is a big difference between around a thousand people sitting in a senate and five people ruling in a council. Remember, Venice's Council of Ten answered to a much larger senate and the Doge and Florence's Eight Saints were a war time necessity (and they were tax assessors).
* I don't think we know enough about it. Or could you clarify what doesn't seem republican to you? It doesn't seem to be a monarchy, so I guess republic in the meaning of "res publica" isn't so far off.
** Republic as a term is far older than the United States, and even today it has numerous definitions around the world. At core it simply means a nation ruled by an elected council. The election does not have to be democratic as we understand it, nor does the position of electee have to be open for everyone. Pre-Imperial Rome was a non-democratic Republic, for example. The United Republic does seem to be a democracy however, though how it functions is unknown. It seems that the representatives have to include members from the four Nations, and that Benders are overpresented compared to non-Benders. Tenzin is an influential member in spite of the near-extinction of the Air Nomads, for example.
*** Tenzin's father was one of the founders of Republic City. He's probably doing it as a legacy thing, not to represent the almost non-existent Air Nomads.
*** Except that the Council, or at least its leaders apart from Tenzin consist of representatives of Fire Nation, Earth Kingdom, and Southern and Northern Water Tribes. It seems fairly clear that the city is lead by the representatives of the four Bending cultures, even the near-extinct Air Nomads.
* I think the source of the confusion here is that we're assuming Republic City is an independent state, which may not be the case. It's possible Republic City is a kind of "neutral ground" that all four nations have limited control over. If this is the case, the representatives that control Republic city may very well be elected...by the total populations of the nations they hail from. So it's less like Wales being governed by representatives from Ireland, Scotland, and England and more like if everyone in the United States was able to vote for the mayor and city council of New York City.
** So Republic City is basically [[WashingtonDC Washington, DC]]. Limited home rule and all that.
** It's more like the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shanghai_International_Settlement Shanghai-that-Was]].
* Republic in its most basic sense means "state without monarchy." The council is made up entirely (I understand) by representatives of monarchies. So I honestly believe that the creators did not know what the word republic means. It is a common mistakes, I remember a couple of occasions where Jorge Luis Borges made ​​the same mistake.
** I'm sure they know exactly what it means. It means a state not ruled by a monarchy. It doesn't mean a state without any influence from any monarchies whatsoever. Republic City is ruled, as you said, by a council--not by a monarchy. That the councilmen represent monarchies doesn't matter.
** Also, the council isn't made up ''entirely'' of representatives of monarchies. The Air Nomads most certainly aren't a monarchy, they don't even have a state of their own, and nothing indicates Tenzin is considered to be their "king". The reason he seems to be the highest authority figure among them could simply be because he's the oldest, most experienced Airbender alive. Historically the Airbenders appear to have been ruled by councils of elders, one in each Air Temple, but we don't know what their current system is. As for the Southern Water Tribe, while they have a chief, there's no canon evidence that he's their sole leader, or that the position of the chief is inhereditary; for all we know he could be chosen by a tribe meeting, or by some other democratic process.
*** If Tenzin gets to be one of the most powerful people in the world just because he's the best Airbender that would be a real problem. Nepotism is honestly more likely.
*** Being a council person in one city makes you "one of the most powerful people in the world"? Just because the series takes place there doesn't mean it's the most important place in the world.
*** But being the world's only Master Airbender probably would make you "one of the most powerful people in the world" by default.
** Since when does "Republic" mean a "state without monarchy"? By that definition, fascist, democratic, anarchist, and theocratic governments would be republican. A better defintion of a "republic" would be a state with a mixed constitution, incorporating elements of democracy, aristocracy, and (elected) monarchy. By this definition, we could include Rome, Florence, Venice, and the US. France might be harder to fit, since it seemed to include only democracy and (elected) monarchy, as far as I'm aware. And, of course, this does not work as well for the 20th century when it seemed to become the fashion to style everything a "republic" regardless of its actual form. Also, keep in mind that I'm using the term monarch losely to refer to a small executive branch (like the consuls, Doge, Signoria, or president), the way Roman and Renaissance political theorists did.
*** You define the entire Western world as being ruled by monarchs? (because pretty much every nation has a president or prime minister)
*** "Since when does 'Republic' mean 'a state without monarchy'?" Basically since the term was coined in the classical world. Although modern developments have complicated the matter, that's still the most basic way to define the term, and essential to every other definition that incorporates other aspects. "By that definition, fascist, democratic, anarchist and theocratic governments would be republican." Yes. You treat these terms as opposed to either monarchy or republic while they aren't (except anarchism which is opposed to both). Iran can be described as a theocratic republic, Saudi-Arabia as a theocratic monarchy. The UK is a democratic monarchy, the US a democratic republic and so on. "A better definition ..." What follows is a pretty meaningless definition that has no descriptive purpose and no historical background. In general, people seem to be misled by the meaning of the word "Republican" in a US-American context, where it has a wider meaning, including rule of law, balance of power, democracy, equality before the law etc. and also carries a lot of historical and political baggage (there is a major party that derives its name from this word after all). This meaning comes from American history, not academic categorization of governments. And no, an elected head of the executive is not a monarch.
*** As to the idea of an elected head being a monarch, this is exactly how Polybius uses the term. Polybius defines Rome as a state with a mixed constitution, one that has elements of monarchy, aristocracy, and democracy. He equates the monarchical elements with the consuls, an elected office with one year in office. I am doing the same (note: a prime minister is not a head of state but a head of government, and thus would not represent a monarchic element). The definition of a republic as a state with a mixed constitution also comes from Polybius's understanding - he holds up Rome's Republic as an example of government to be contrasted with the democracy of Athens and various principates. I would argue that in most of the greatest historical examples, a balance of powers is an essential aspect of a republic, as it was in antique Rome and renaissance Florence and Venice. Aristotle would seem to agree given that he considers a mixed constitution as an alternative form of government to monarchy/tyranny, aristocracy/oligarchy, and democracy. Now, Machiavelli does seem to include all non-principate states in the category of "Republic", but given his historical environment, where the only non-monarchic states had mixed constitutions, states like Florence, Venice, and Bologna, I would hesitate to agree with his assessment, given that his analysis of Rome and the classical world was often heavily colored by his experience of politics in his own time. You say that classically this is how a republic was defined, but I'm not sure which classical authors you are refering to. As I said above, Polybius and Aristotle did not make such a division. Plato divided his types of government much more broadly, defining five types of states based on the values of the ruler/ruling class (kallipolis, timocracy, oligarchy, democracy, and tyranny). To Thucydides, your division would not make sense, since part of his history is devoted to comparing the sort of governments Sparta and Athens had and to equate them as of the same sort would be counter to his efforts. Since the term, however, comes from Latin, we could look at Latin authors, but they tended to defer to Polybius and Aristotle on this matter. And if we are going to defer to the term "res publica", then even the Roman Empire would be a republic, since for the first century or so of its existence it was still called a "res publica". So, I do not see where your definition comes from, aside from perhaps Machiavelli or the French Revolution, neither of whom/which are classical sources and both of whom/which existed in periods where a more nuanced view was unnecessary. And as to theocracy - you said you can have theocratic republics and theocratic monarchies, but what would the bishopric of Rome be? A republic, given the prominence of the college of cardinals? A monarchy, given that it has a single head? Also, you seem to be lax on what a monarchy is - is it simply a state with a king? would a tyranny without a king be a republic? It would seem unfair to call Cuba a republic just because its head of state does not call himself king. It would seem unfair to call Sparta a monarchy just because its heads of state were kings.
* At the very least we can say that Republic City does not seem very republican. A ruling body of five people who represent only a "bending aristocracy" (my term) is much more oligarchic than it is republican. And since this small ruling body seems to make policy decisions without consulting anyone outside of themselves (there's no mention of having a vote in the senate on what to do about the rebel problem or what to do about terrorist threats), I feel it's safe to say that just these five are governing Republic City. So... yeah. Sounds like an oligarchy - more like the Thirty Tyrants than the Council of Ten.
** That does fit within some definitions of Republic since those five are "the body of citizens entitled to vote", if they were elected to those positions in some way it fits most definitions. What Republic City is clearly not is a democracy, the general population has little to no say in the general affairs of government.
*** But size does matter in this. If you were simply going to say that a republic has a "body of citizens entitled to vote" a tyranny would be a republic where that body numbered one. The voting base needs to be broader than five, even if it does not have to include a majority of people. If you were to ask me to define how broad it needs to be, I would probably say at least 1% of the population. Though, there are other aspects of republic aside from having a voting base, namely the separation of powers - they tend to have at least an executive or executive body and a legislative body, but can also include bodies that propose legislation (like Rome's Senate) or various bodies that oversee economic or military concerns.
*** Represents a "bending aristocracy"? The councilmembers represent the different NATIONS, not the types of benders. We know that Tarrlok and Tenzin are benders, but it's never been shown about the others. True, Amon had them kidnapped, but that could be just as much to disrupt the current government as to target them as benders.
**** The way Tarrlok addresses them when he introduces his non-bender curfew certainly implies they are benders. And it seems unlikely they would have voted for the curfew if they were non-benders themselves.
* People have used the word "republic" to mean a lot of different things over the course of history. It is a usefully vague term, almost to the point of being meaningless, in a fictional setting.
[[/folder]]

* [[TheLegendOfKorraTechnologyAndMedicine Technology and Medicine]]

[[folder: The whole ultra fast progress]]
Yeah, I know, just a show, I should relax, but still, it have been what, around 50-60 years and they managed to go from ancient history with touches of steam punk to the 1920's. It stretches the willing suspension of disbelief a little, even with benders being a big factor on making the changes go faster. And not only there were incredibly fast improvements in the tech, but the societal and cultural changes were mind blowing for such short amount of time.
* Which isn't that different from the real world. The potential was there. An era of peace brought the means to capitalize on it.
* We went from 185X to 192X in FarEast {{Wuxia}}land. Sounds about right.
* you're giving humans way less credit than we deserve, especially when you notice how much we've done in just 40 years. The reason the world hadn't changed sooner is a result of the strict divisions between nations. How slow would our development go if our own countries never interacted with each other?
* They had tanks, submarines, bombs, airships, trucks, a monorail, a GIANT FUCKING DRILL, elevators, and even jet skis in ATLA. The Fire Nation brought on a century-long war that kept most of the world in an industrial stasis, while they continued to innovate. The only area outside of the FN with technology like this, without the help of the Mechanist? Ba Sing Se. That is to say, the society that kept itself completely cut off from the rest of the earth kingdom, thanks to the influence of Long Feng, and presumably, the naivete or selfishness of the previous earth kings. The amount of evolution that the Avatar society went under makes perfect sense, after the war ended and Aang and Zuko presumably did *not* allow the machinery to be kept by only the elite of BSS and the militaries.
* Look at our history within the last 100 years. 1912, we were just beginning to grapple with motorcars, airplanes, and long-distance communications. [[HumansAreSpecial All it takes is the right spark, and the right people together to send civilization full steam ahead.]]
* Also they have a massive collection of people who can manipulate elements, it's shown that some lightning benders generate power, so tht is free energy. Which means they don't need to bring in as much resources just to keep the technology going. Normal firebenders can simply boil water, and water benders condense it providing vastly more energy. So effectively they can use all thier resources on production, rather then fuel.

[[folder: Bullying A Dragon]]
* Okay, so once again, there's that "We hate the people with superpowers!" plot going on. Now, I understand the concerns of the non-Benders, and I get that not every Bender is a good-hearted soul who won't abuse it, but here is my issue: With all the "Let's permanently block their ability to bend!" talk, you'd think that someone would say, "Hey, uh...let's not give them a good reason to hate us!" Especially if said person is the AVATAR (aka, the one who could turn Republic City into a smoldering wasteland if he/she so chose.) Are they just asking for Korra to find a reason to go apecrap on them and the city in general? Plus, don't they remember Aang? The previous Avatar who saved their collective asses from the Fire Nation? If they know she's the new Avatar (and likely the reincarnation of Aang) why are they pissing her off? [[TooDumbToLive Are they just trying to get her angry enough to go apeshit and Avatar-State the crap out of them and the city in general?]]
** If i were an Anti-Bender? That is EXACTLY what i'd want. The Avatar using her godlike powers to slaughter a bunch of people? that's exactly the kind of press that proves every single thing that Amon is spewing. Martyrs make for good press. I'm willing to bet that this will be a plot point in future episodes, especially if Amon is smart enough to organize a situation wherein Korra goes Apeshit on some peaceful protesters.
** A large part of the Equalist's rhetoric seems to be that people ''shouldn't have to'' live in fear of offending a Bender just because of what that Bender might do in retaliation. Amon's story paints a nice little picture of this, with his family being oppressed by a Bender, and then them all being killed when his father tries standing up to said Bender. The people of the city suffering under the gangs aren't going to think "Gee, let's try to be as inoffensive as possible and maybe they'll leave us alone", because they know that there is no possible way that that could ever work. With the way he presents it, Amon's power seems like it's a perfect 'solution' to the problem of Bending; i.e. "Standing up to the Benders will just get us killed, but this guy can take away their Bending, and so we'll have nothing to fear from them anymore".
** And about Aang having saved them from the Fire Nation, the Equalist view is that a war wouldn't even HAPPEN if Fire Benders didn't exist to begin with, so the Avatar saving their asses would be unnecessary. It's a flawed point of view, sure, but one can see it working as propaganda.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: How common will the new MechaMooks that Hiroshi created be?]]
He's said that they're made of Platinum. Platinum isn't exactly a common metal, it's more valuable than gold. Considering how much platinum comprises the blast door that traps the heroes and the amount that comprises the mecha mooks, that's gotta be a sizeable chunk of Hiroshi's fortune.
* More valuable ''today''. Think about this from their perspective. Platinum is probably dirt cheap in their world. They haven't advanced to the point where platinum's true value would be apparent. More pliable, impure metals would be in much higher demand, especially when metalbenders need it for equipment and such.
* There are two possibilities. Either platinum is more common in the Avatar universe, and thus less expensive, or earthbenders make mining far more productive than anything we can do in the real world. Meaning that the only reason the Equalists' anti-bender mechas are a plausible threat against metalbenders could be [[{{Irony}} because of labor only earthbenders can perform]].
* Even in RealLife platinum is more common than, say, gold. It's just needed in so many electrical appliances that it's price is higher. Since relatively few electronics still exist in the world, larger amounts would probably be just lying around, not yet seen as all that valuable by most people. In the 18th century plantinum was sometimes treated as little more than garbage, if you can believe that.
** Platinum is more expensive than gold because its much harder to get at despite its marginally greater presence in the crust.
*** Even so, platinum used to be dirt cheap, to the point that counterfeiters used it to counterfeit gold coins (the counterfeit coins were gold plated, of course, since platinum looks nothing like gold).
** In terms of abundance in the Earth, Platinum is nearly 100 times rarer than gold. The real issue is that platinum is weaker than normal armor armor materials like steel.
*** Weaker maybe, but as pointed out on the Fridge page it makes great armor against benders. It can't be bent by the metalbenders, has a high melting point to resist firebenders, and is resistant to corrosion by waterbenders. The weakness relative to steel will probably become apparent once the metalbenders wise up and start smashing the moving parts with rocks, though.
* Are we sure the stuff is solid platinum? Maybe they just have a shell a few millimeters thick that blocks the bending. Still hugely expensive but certainly less absurd.
** Hiroshi Sato ''explicitly'' stated that the walls and mechas were all solid purified platinum, though that might just be him being a hyperbolic rich man.
** A shell wouldn't block bending. The metalbenders would be able to sense the presence of impure metals and manipulate them.
* Aside from the rarity issue, pure platinum is actually a rather malleable metal, and wouldn't make very effective armor - any earthbender throwing a good sized rock should be able to at least severely dent the mechas. This may be a case of DidNotDoTheResearch. Alternately, the wall might have been pure platinum, but the mechas may have been using an alloy of platinum with another metal that was also pure. At any rate, Lin's ability to pierce the platinum armor with her metal-bended spikes (presumable iron/steel) is not surprising.
** She actually just pierced the cockpit glass. However, from what I can see throughout the series, metalbending requires you to actually touch the metal or touch earth touching the metal(since you need to be able to find the impurities with echo-sense earthbending). A thin layer of solid purified platinum would be enough to stop that.
*** No, it doesn't. There are plenty of examples of benders bending their element without the need to touch it. Including Toph metalbending.
*** For the other elements, yes. But I don't think we've ever seen metalbending without touching it or touching earth touching it. Can you name a counter-example?
**** The metalbender police hemming in non-benders at the supposed Equalist rally with loating wooden barricades with metal nails riveted through.
**** Those rivets disappear half-way through the bending process, which could admittedly be an animation error, but the barricades also bent a lot further than a thick plank of wood should, so I just assumed those things were made out of painted rock.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Mecha tanks with magnets]]
I suppose the metalbenders armour is made from steel or iron or something, but how strong were those magnets to lift up people?
* Magnets capable of lifting ''cars'' are routinely used in industrial work in RealLife. There's nothing special about magnets that can lift human-sized objects. What I wonder though is why none of the metalbenders thought to mess up with the magnets' structure and break down their polarity.
** I just wonder why they didn't slip out of their armour. The first few benders may not have had enough time, but the chief definitely had.
** Magnets can be very powerful but they don't have that kind of range. Its just a dramatic conceit.
** Good point on the car thing, was underestimating the strength of magnets. But to take their armour or to mess with the magnets structure, they would need to move their arms to bend, which they can't do.
** More to the point, it's explicitly stated that these mechas are made of pure platinum, which the metalbenders can't bend. Of course, Platinum is malleable enough that they should be able to just... bend it. How they even made a self-supporting Mecha out of the stuff in the first place (or even got enough to make so many mechas) is what bothers me.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: What's up with the massive leaps in medicine?]]
So, just thirty years or so after the original series, the Avatar world seriously has fully effective plastic surgery? Where did that come from? I mean, I know there was a technology boom as the world came together, but even throughout the rest of Korra, the most advanced medicine we see is made of bandages and waterbending.
* You know, I was about to say that they had plastic surgery in the 20s (which they did) but then I remembered that Yakone would've gotten the surgery over 40 years prior, in the equivalent of the 1880s. So, yeah, I think they pulled that clean out of their ass, unless this is a case of RealityIsUnrealistic and they actually had plastic surgery in the late 1800s.
** Dude, they had plastic surgery in AncientEgypt. Do some research yourself instead of complaining for answers, this is the Internet for God's sake.
*** Ancient India, they could reconstruct noses sliced off by swords. In Ancient Rome, they had ''sex change operations''. (Or at least they were talking/thinking about it enough that a particular Roman Emperor asked his physician to perform one)
*** When it comes right down to it, the basic techniques of lots of surgeries date ''way'' back in real-life. The thing that prevented them being used extensively until recently is the lack of effective anesthetic and infection control, which prevented surgeons from being too ambitious in terms of having procedures last too long or require too much tissue manipulation. Surgeons could readily dream up things like full facial reconstructions, but they couldn't do it on a living person without inflicting horrendous agony followed by death from infection and blood loss. But in the Avatarverse, waterbending healing can probably take care of the anesthesia, infection, and wound healing concerns, meaning that ambitious surgeries probably could have been contemplated quite early on in its history. (In fact, in 1800's real-world, a severe scar like the one Zuko received had a high likelihood of fatality from infection after the fact. Zuko's survival suggests medical care has always been pretty advanced, relatively speaking, in the Avatar world.)
* The basic techniques go back much earlier than the 1800s and they didn't make a huge change. Tarrlok and pre-surgery Yakone look fairly similar and only more similar post-surgery. With water bending healers they can keep a person safe through elective surgery like that. So its an AssPull to an extent but not totally absurd. The amazing thing is that they seemed to anesthetize him.
** I agree. It's good to bear in mind that in the decades after the war, the Fire Nation shared their vastly superior technology with the world. Combined with waterbending medical science, it seems pretty feasible to me.
*** The anachronistic thing that is setting off the question here is that the (1880-ish) surgeons are clearly dressed like modern-day doctors, in a room that looks almost ''exactly'' like an OR, complete with those power lights over the operating table. '''Nowhere''' in Korraworld do we see anything even remotely similar to that, so the scene came pretty much out of the blue.
**** Perhaps not so anachronistic. In the flashbacks we see that Republic City already was technologically advanced at that point. Satomobiles hadn't been invented yet, but there were still skyscrapers and city hall and they presumably had power lights. As far as inventing electricity, didn't the Fire Nation airships and that giant drill from A:TLA already have lightbulbs and such?
**** I don't think the issue at hand is lights existing, so much as a remarkably modern setting at all. I'm just spitballing here (and please correct me if I'm wrong) but that kind of OR didn't become until the 50s or so?

[[folder:Yakone's escape]]
* Forget solitary, how did Yakone get out of jail in order to start a new life in the North Pole?
** They explicitly said that some of his criminal buddies broke him out. He was the head of a vast criminal empire. Exactly why they broke him out when he was stripped of his bending abilities, who knows? Maybe he had assets that the next gang leader could use, and only he knew where to get them, or maybe he simply possessed a level of fanatical devotion in his subordinates (maybe its in the blood) that they didn't care about his bending status.

[[folder: Was Korra originally meant to be a six-hour long movie?]]
Is it me, or unlike ATLA, they've pretty much wrapped it up here, with Korra becoming a Fully realized Avatar? Was it actually meant to go on for only one season until late in production?
* Yes. It was originally supposed to be a one season miniseries, but they got a second season while the first one was alredy in production.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Magic plastic surgery?]]
I couldn't have been the only one who noticed. But Tarrlok looks just like his father post surgery.
* I think its okay to assume that Realism was abadoned for the sake of symbolism here. While Tarrlok look more like Yakone post-surgery, Noatak looks more like Yakone pre-surgery which is a neat contrast between the brothers.
* And it's not like Tarrlok ''doesn't'' look like Yakone even pre-surgery. People were pointing out the resemblance before the twist was ever revealed. He just happens to look slightly ''more'' like him post-surgery.
** Yep; see [[http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m50a7vyXCi1qlg334.jpg pre-surgery Yakone]] and [[http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m50a89w6tl1qlg334.jpg Adult Tarrlok]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Where did Tarrlok learn to bloodbend?]]
Katara was the only one who knew the technique, and she would never have passed it on like that; if she taught anyone at all, it would be Korra, and I doubt that she did. (Also, Tarrlok is from the Northern tribe, so he probably wouldn't have learned it from her anyway.) From what Korra said, it's not completely unheard of, just very rare; again, Katara certainly wouldn't have spread it around. Did someone else just develop it on their own in the interim?

* The first bloodbender, Hama, was imprisoned by the Fire Nation and she invented bloodbending because she was desperate for power, which she needed to escape the prison. We already saw Tarrlok's ambition for power, so it'd really make sense if he were to practice bloodbending on his own because he wanted the power.
* That, and [[spoiler:Yakone]] is implied to be a bloodbender, so the art was defenitely not lost.
* Maybe, one day in some pub in Republic city, one of Hama's victims told the story about how some freaky waterbender made him move around like a puppet. Someone overheard it and decided to try it out. I think it's one of those things where if you know it's possible, you can find a way to do it.
* Maybe the Ember Island Players uncovered Hama's story during their 'research' and worked it into their play. Once Bloodbending became common knowledge, any Waterbender with sufficient power could have independently developed the technique.
* Why not? The fundamental principle behind it is pretty simple. All it takes is for someone to observe that the human body is about 75% water and a villainous streak of insight to realize that it could be possible to bend a person's nerves and muscles by bending the water in them. More than one person could have figured that out. I mean it's not just the Japanese who made cool swords. The rest is all a lot of training. Eventually the bloodbender would become so powerful that they might not need the full moon at all. With even more skill they could bend even with their hands and feet tied (like King Bumi). Use a bicycle long enough and you can ride without using your hands.
* Also the Crescent Moon symbol on Yakhone's shirt is the same as the moon shown in the sky when Tarrlok drives Korra away. It's likely that Tarrlok is Yakone's son and he could have learnt it from him.
** [[spoiler:Confirmed as of "Out Of The Past."]]
* It's implied that the public (or the higher ups of Republic City) have fair knowledge of Bloodbending existance because Yukone's trial scene explicitly mentions it's outlawed.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: So, why doesn't Tarrlok just...kill everyone?]]
It sounds like a stupid question, but by the time the mid-point of episode nine rolls around, his secret's out, he's a wanted man, he has nothing left to lose, and he bloodbends virtually the entire extended Team Avatar right then and there, so...why not? Why not take it a little farther? He had the opportunity. He had the motive. Hell, since no one else knew he could bloodbend, it's a crime that almost covers itself right up. For that matter, I don't know why he didn't kill Korra when he got back to her little prison. Killing the Avatar is never the ideal solution, since they reincarnate, but that at least grants you a good 12-16 years of security while the new Avatar grows up. Basically, killing would seem perfectly in-character, and there just doesn't seem to be a good reason it didn't happen except for "It's a kids' show" and "There would be no plot."
* I figured he kept Korra alive as a hostage just in case. He even says so just before he meets [[spoiler:Amon.]] Also, as seen in the flash back, killing people take a lot more time then just knocking them out, time which he could use to make his escape.
** Keeping Korra as his hostage [[spoiler: to start a new life]] was his backup plan as seen in the following episode.
* If you payed attention during Korra's flashback to Aang's battle with Yakone, it explains why. Yakone, who is arguably far more powerful than Tarrlok since he doesn't even need his hands to bloodbend, was visibly exerting a ''huge'' amount of effort to kill Aang via bloodbending, and it was a very slow process as well, giving Aang enough time to go into the Avatar state. Tarrlok simply doesn't have the skill or time to kill off every single witness, and even then he'd have a very hard time covering it up.
* Bloodbending seems to involve a great deal of strain in general. Even knocking them out took a great deal of time and effort. If he takes the time to kill them he risks someone else entering the room, quite possibly a person more dangerous than his secretary.
* In addition, despite being quite the JerkAss, Tarrlok wasn't really portrayed as someone that would want to indiscriminately kill people. He wasn't THAT evil.

[[folder: Why Tarrlok and not Amon?]]
OK. So Aang is trying to communicate with Korra. Due to Korra's spiritual problems, he is not able to flat out talk to her, only show her disjointed visions. So why focus on Tarrlok instead of the far more threatening Amon? Granted, Tarrlok is dangerous and they needed him out of power as soon as possible. But Amon is obviously the bigger threat, having the big army, and the truckload of evidence that he has energybending powers and a connection to the Spirit World. So why focus on Tarrlok instead of getting Korra intel on Amon?
* Its entirely possible he has no intel on Amon.
* What if the visions Aang showed her weren't just about Tarrlok? What if Aang was trying to warn her about Amon, too, because Amon's also a bloodbender? I mean, [[spoiler: Amon just stepped right through Tarrlok's bloodbending.]] In "The Puppetmaster," Katara was able to stop Hama bloodbending her because she also had that ability.
** The preview for the season finale [[spoiler:implies that this is right on the money.]]
* I certainly hope that there's more to it, because otherwise, it would be quite disappointing for a variety of reasons: first and foremost, the warning was ineffectual. Second, the Tarrlok storyline is pretty much over, unless Amon didn't actually take his bending. Third, Tarrlok, while scary and creepy, wasn't the actual threat in this story. Fourth, it would seem like a weird attempt at shoehorning the Gaang in. The flashbacks served exactly no purpose. Korra still hasn't actually communicated with Aang, she still hasn't airbended, and the flashbacks didn't reveal anything to her that only Aang could have known and she didn't learn a lesson from it either.
** The flashbacks were intended as a warning about Tarrlok, but due to lack of spiritual side, she received the hint too late. But considering the Avatar's past lives are always with them, it's probably not the last time we'll see them. As for why the warning was about Tarrlok, and not Amon, Aang died without ever having known Amon at all, but he knew Yakone had a son at some point (they had to be keeping an eye on him after he took away his bending). So while he couldn't advise Korra about Amon, not knowing him much, he COULD about Tarrlok.
*** That's the problem though. Even if she had received it earlier, how would it have helped her? Without Tarrlok bloodbending her, she probably wouldn't have guessed that he's Yakone's son. She would have known what Tenzin probably could have told her too. Anyway, because someone brought it up below, I hope attention will be drawn to the fact that Aang and Amon take bending away differently. Because other than the person debended, who except Aang witnessed the debending? Now Korra knows and can get suspicious about it.
** Were the flashbacks all about Tarrlok? The most important part of the scene I noticed was the juxtaposition of the council members and the act of energy bending in the past and present. The flashbacks give perspective to both new viewers who've never seen the original series and Korra herself who needs to learn to look at problems more complexly, which she's already started by standing up for the innocent non-benders.
** From a more out-of-universe perspective, the flashbacks also served to flesh out the backstory of the current episode. It wouldn't have been very satisfying to learn "Tarrlok can break the rules and bloodbend without a full moon because his dad taught him how" without actually seeing his dad in action.

[[folder: Episodes? Season Finale?]]
I may have heard wrong, but according to the commercial, the Season Finale is next week, a One-Hour season finale. Cool, i'm excited, don't get me wrong, but one hour? that's two episodes, right? which means, after next week, the series will be at 11 episodes. I thought it was supposed to be twelve. I guess its possible to fit three episodes in an hour, but it doesn't seem likely given how many commercials will be involved. So, was an episode cancelled, did Nick just screw up, or did i just miscount?
* No, the season finale is being advertised coming out in 23rd of June, two weeks from now. Next week is still business as usual. They're just advertising early.
* Good, thanks for clearing that up for me. I think i'd go through withdraws if they cut an episode.
** At least I ''think'' this is the case. I got no confirmation either, but at least there has been no hint of leaving out next week's episode in any source I know. Our own wiki tells that Turning the Tides will come out in June 16th.
** Many people seem to believe there won't be an episode next week. Good job, Nick. I think that promo was more harmful than no promo at all like the last couple of weeks.

[[folder: Why is everybody so lightly dressed?]]
The only thing coming close to a reasonable outfit is Lin's coat.
* She had time to change, they did not.
** It's less about that, it's their choice of wardrobe in the first place. It's winter, and they're wearing the same things they are wearing all the time. Korra, of course, is the worst offender, leaving the house like that. The Satomobiles aren't exactly warm and cozy either, which would have explained why Bolin and Mako don't put on more clothes.
* Korra use to live in the South Pole. She's probably use to the cold. Mako, Bolin, And Asami didn't have time to change what with breaking out of jail and all. Tenzin's cloths seem pretty warm. (Don't quite remember what he was wearing.)
* Tenzin has the excuse of being an airbender. Aang seemed just fine in both Poles with his regular clothes; fandom is that he used airbending to insulate himself. Tenzin would have learned the technique from his father. As for Mako and Bolin, remember they lived as orphans on the streets; they know how to deal with being in winter weather without proper clothing.
* Korra and Mako are firebenders; they don't need heavy clothing to keep warm. Asami and Bolin are reasonably well dressed; judging from the copious snowfall, it can't be much below freezing, if at all. Thick snow only falls in relatively warm winter weather.

[[folder: Why wasn't Yakone in solitary after that stunt he pulled?]]
He somehow had the opportunity to beget Tarrlok 4 years later, despite receiving a life sentence for 12 counts of bloodbending and proceeding to bloodbend the entire courtroom to resist being sent to jail, and then bloodbends the Avatar with intent to kill. That seems like it merits the sentence being upgraded to life in prison with no human contact (and only because they don't have the death penalty out of respect for Aang), except the people who will bring his meals, who are in turn forbidden to speak to him.
* Sounds like you're expecting Republic City prisons to be as cruel as Fire Nation prisons in the original series. It's not unlikely that the influence of Aang/Katara/etc made the retributive system in Republic City more humane, and things like conjugal visits were allowed in their prisons, which would've made Tarrlok's conception possible. Since Aang took Yakone's bending away, he wasn't considered dangerous anymore, so he wouldn't have needed to be kept in solitary. That, or Yakone simply escaped from prison, and catching him wasn't a high priority anymore because he'd lost his bloodbending, so he managed to find a wife and live the rest of his life in hiding.
* Because they're not evil scum who want to drive their prisoners insane? Even Ozai wasn't given such treatment.
* Aang says he's 40 years old in the flashback which means that as stated it is 42 years ago, he dies 26 years later and Korra is now 16. According to the Welcome to Republic City game Tarrlok is 37. He was born when his father was in prison.
** Or Tarrlok's listed age is wrong or represents a lie he's told. A fit man in his forties could pass as 37, especially one as vain as Tarrlock.
** Could easily be a lie. Tarrlock does bare a resemblance to Yakone after all...if anyone brought attention to it, he could just make an offhand comment that he was born after Yakone was already in jail and the matter would drop.
** Or maybe Yakone was broken out of prison. He did have a criminal empire.
** It's possible that the background people, like JK Rowling, can't do math, and Tarrlock isn't supposed to have been born after Yakone went to prison.
** The math assumes the Avatar is reborn right away, which may not be the case. Alternatively, considering the catastrophic emotional consequences of removing someone's bending, the council may have amended his sentence on the grounds that he has "suffered enough" and is no longer a threat.
*** A previous episode specifically states that Yakone was defeated 42 years ago.
**** Considering the fact that nobody knew Tarrlock was Yakone's son, I would say that Tarrlock is older than 42 and lied about his age along with his parentage.
**** Same troper as above, I stay corrected. The real answer is that Yakone escaped.

[[folder:Why didn't Tarrlok bend the snow?]]
* I can understand needing to focus on bloodbending the rest of the chi blockers, but when facing Amon couldn't Tarrlok have bent the surrounding snow into the cabin and used that against him? I'm sure it's not impossible to bend snow with enough force to break glass.
** He was probably confident enough in his bloodbending abilities. When it didn't work against Amon, he didn't react fast enough out of surprise/shock/fright.
*** Pretty much. Plus, Amon moves really fast and there wasn't much room. By the time he could think to shift strategies, Amon would be up in his face.
** Is it even possible to bend both blood and other water at the same time? Been a while since I saw the Puppetmaster and I don't remember Katara or Hama from A:TLA bloodbending and waterbending at once. If Tarrlok still needed to bloodbend the other Equalists to prevent them attacking maybe he couldn't bend the snow.
* Honestly, a better question is why he didn't try to bloodbend the other Equalists into Amon. Though again, he was taken completely off guard and had to deal with a master of close-combat fighting at close range.

[[folder: Mecha tanks with magnets]]
I suppose the metalbenders armour is made from steel or iron or something, but how strong were those magnets to lift up people?
* Magnets capable of lifting ''cars'' are routinely used in industrial work in RealLife. There's nothing special about magnets that can lift human-sized objects. What I wonder though is why none of the metalbenders thought to mess up with the magnets' structure and break down their polarity.
** I just wonder why they didn't slip out of their armour. The first few benders may not have had enough time, but the chief definitely had.
** Magnets can be very powerful but they don't have that kind of range. Its just a dramatic conceit.
** Good point on the car thing, was underestimating the strength of magnets. But to take their armour or to mess with the magnets structure, they would need to move their arms to bend, which they can't do.
** More to the point, it's explicitly stated that these mechas are made of pure platinum, which the metalbenders can't bend. Of course, Platinum is malleable enough that they should be able to just... bend it. How they even made a self-supporting Mecha out of the stuff in the first place (or even got enough to make so many mechas) is what bothers me.

[[folder: How does a terrorist group have so many members?]]
Seriously, am I the only one wondering why there seem to be an almost unlimited amount of Equalist soldiers? First of all, there wasn't much discrimination against non-benders to begin with, especially not violence. There are almost no reasons to join the Equalists unless someone you know got killed by a bender, like Amon [[spoiler: and Hiroshi]], but it's not like that many people have been killed by benders. Not to mention, these are dedicated soldiers, trained in the art of chi-blocking and all that stuff. It's obvious by now they aren't just {{Well Intentioned Extremist}}s, they're terrorists. You don't see someone who doesn't really like benders join a TERRORIST GROUP to try and get equality. So, how is there so many people willing to give up their life for the cause?
* The problem is assuming that he got all of his troops from Republic City instead of taking them in from all of the nations. He has a lot of people for one city, but from across five nations that span the entire globe it's a lot less unbelievable. As for there not being that much discrimination, there is still the fact that it appears all of the triads in Republic City alone are completely staffed by Benders, as we saw in the original series with Zuko Alone Benders still oppressed people. So think of it as generations of pent up aggression at the inequality of power between benders and non-benders.
* Also keep in mind that the Republic City houses millions of people, and judging by the numbers we've seen, I'd estimate that there are only a few hundred full-time Equalist chi-blockers out there. Sympathizers who are willing to look the other way, or give financial aid and other indirect support probably amount to a few thousand at most. There were organizations in early 20th century Europe with equally grand plans to reorganize the society to their liking with similarly numbered ranks, who took over countries and reigned for decades.
* The show has failed to show it but there were three large all bender gangs in the city. The number of non-benders people who don't want to be helpless in the face of that kind of abuse must be tremendous. Except for one scene all of this has been off screen so its impossible for us to really sympathize with their position.

[[folder: Why didn't Tarrlok use the bloodbent Equalists guards to stop Amon when Amon resists the bloodbending?]]
Think back to "The Puppetmaster." Hama made Aang and Sokka attack each other using bloodbending. Tarrlok could have done a similar thing against Amon using his own Equalist bodyguards. My guess is that he was just too surprised to react quickly.
* Surprised and terrified, definitely. But even if Tarrlok had done that, Amon probably would have had no trouble sidestepping them and getting to Tarrlok. One second is all he'd need.
** In light of "Skeletons in the Closet", even if Tarrlok had tried to use the bloodbent Equalists to restrain Amon, he still would have overpowered Tarrlok by canceling out his blood bending.

[[folder: How did Shiro Shinobi know Tarrlok was the one who kidnapped Korra?]]
And if he had used his old IntrepidReporter skills to find out, how did Tarrlok's cover story work? Would the truth not have been broadcast on the radio for all to hear?
* The "Previously On" segments are clearly not happening in-universe. I'm simply amazed that someone could have come to the conclusion they were. Just...''wow'', I seriously cannot understand how this is being asked for a second time.
* The confusion probably stems from the fact that, in the preview of the seventh episode, Tarrlok was the voice over and in the previous episode Shiro was attack, and Tarrlok's voice over is clearly in-universe. So to be fair, it's not completely unbelievable that someone would be confused.
** It is also the only time that the voice over has mentioned information that wouldn't have realistically be available to the public.
*** So who Mako and Korra have crushes on--that they've never told anyone about--is information available to the public, too?
**** [[EveryoneCanSeeIt There's a trope for that.]]

[[folder: What's up with the massive leaps in medicine?]]
So, just thirty years or so after the original series, the Avatar world seriously has fully effective plastic surgery? Where did that come from? I mean, I know there was a technology boom as the world came together, but even throughout the rest of Korra, the most advanced medicine we see is made of bandages and waterbending.
* You know, I was about to say that they had plastic surgery in the 20s (which they did) but then I remembered that Yakone would've gotten the surgery over 40 years prior, in the equivalent of the 1880s. So, yeah, I think they pulled that clean out of their ass, unless this is a case of RealityIsUnrealistic and they actually had plastic surgery in the late 1800s.
** Dude, they had plastic surgery in AncientEgypt. Do some research yourself instead of complaining for answers, this is the Internet for God's sake.
*** Ancient India, they could reconstruct noses sliced off by swords. In Ancient Rome, they had ''sex change operations''. (Or at least they were talking/thinking about it enough that a particular Roman Emperor asked his physician to perform one)
*** When it comes right down to it, the basic techniques of lots of surgeries date ''way'' back in real-life. The thing that prevented them being used extensively until recently is the lack of effective anesthetic and infection control, which prevented surgeons from being too ambitious in terms of having procedures last too long or require too much tissue manipulation. Surgeons could readily dream up things like full facial reconstructions, but they couldn't do it on a living person without inflicting horrendous agony followed by death from infection and blood loss. But in the Avatarverse, waterbending healing can probably take care of the anesthesia, infection, and wound healing concerns, meaning that ambitious surgeries probably could have been contemplated quite early on in its history. (In fact, in 1800's real-world, a severe scar like the one Zuko received had a high likelihood of fatality from infection after the fact. Zuko's survival suggests medical care has always been pretty advanced, relatively speaking, in the Avatar world.)
* The basic techniques go back much earlier than the 1800s and they didn't make a huge change. Tarrlok and pre-surgery Yakone look fairly similar and only more similar post-surgery. With water bending healers they can keep a person safe through elective surgery like that. So its an AssPull to an extent but not totally absurd. The amazing thing is that they seemed to anesthetize him.
** I agree. It's good to bear in mind that in the decades after the war, the Fire Nation shared their vastly superior technology with the world. Combined with waterbending medical science, it seems pretty feasible to me.
*** The anachronistic thing that is setting off the question here is that the (1880-ish) surgeons are clearly dressed like modern-day doctors, in a room that looks almost ''exactly'' like an OR, complete with those power lights over the operating table. '''Nowhere''' in Korraworld do we see anything even remotely similar to that, so the scene came pretty much out of the blue.
**** Perhaps not so anachronistic. In the flashbacks we see that Republic City already was technologically advanced at that point. Satomobiles hadn't been invented yet, but there were still skyscrapers and city hall and they presumably had power lights. As far as inventing electricity, didn't the Fire Nation airships and that giant drill from A:TLA already have lightbulbs and such?
**** I don't think the issue at hand is lights existing, so much as a remarkably modern setting at all. I'm just spitballing here (and please correct me if I'm wrong) but that kind of OR didn't become until the 50s or so?

[[folder: Why did Tarrlok blow up the boat?]] They were both fleeing, and after failing Noatok truly felt regret. He said Tarrlok was the only thing he had left, and was looking forward to starting a brand new life. Tarrlok responds to this by... blowing up the boat they were on. What? His brother has decided to turn over a brand new leaf and Tarrlok decides to kill him, along with himself? How does that even begin to make sense?
* They're well known, wanted criminals who can no longer bear to use their only defense against being recaptured. Imagine them being confronted by the White Lotus. Noatok would bloodbend them, he would have to, and the emotional strain of that would either drive him to suicide or result in Tarrlok killing him (which would leave Tarrlok nothing to live for). Suicide also kills off their father's dangerous genetic legacy which secures one real victory for the Equalist cause.
* It's Tarrlok's first chance to collect his thoughts and have a MyGodWhatHaveIDone moment. They have both done monstrous things, violated all of their principles, and gained nothing for it. Suicide is a tradition response.
* Who said Noatak was planning to turn over a new leaf? Start a new life, sure. But even doing that didn't stop their father from trying to take revenge. Tarrlok just wanted it to ''end''.
** Notice how Tarrlok takes awhile to look at both the gloves and Noatak. This could be interpreted as him simply forming the plan... or it could be him realizing that, since Noatak still had the Equalist weapons, he hadn't really changed. And then he decides to end it all.
*** In addition, Noatak had manipulated all of Republic City. Tarrlok had one chance to stop his brother, and had very little reason to trust him. When would he get a chance to stop Noatak again? Given how powerful he was, maybe never, so killing him then and there was the only chance.
* Tarrlok commits suicide because he sees his entire life as a dead end and is deeply depressed. Remember, just a couple of ''weeks'' ago at most, he was the most powerful man in Republic City, a respected member of the City Council. In that time he was called out by Korra, publicly exposed as a bloodbender and Yakone's son, had his bending taken away, and realized that the terrorist who's been attacking Republic City is actually his own brother. Given all that, it doesn't seem surprising that he might decide to end his painful family legacy once and for all. Keep in mind that Tarrlok described himself as someone who isn't afraid to go to extremes.
* I don't think i have much to add to this discussion, but i had a small problem with that scene for a different, but related reason. When i saw him eyeing the glove, i thought he was going to KO Amon and take him back to Republic City so he could try and play it off like he was a hero (I hope that wouldn't work, given all he's done, but that's the kind of weaselly thing i'd expect from him). And, actually, if he played it off right and kept his connections in politics, he might have succeeded in at least absolving him of responsibility for his actions against Korra and Council. That would've been entirely in-character and solidified him as the coldest son of a bitch to ever be animated. So yeah, forget killing himself, why didn't he do that?
** Because no prison could ever hold either of them. Korra's energybending at the end was set way later. At that moment, the fact was that Tarrlok and his brother were downright unstoppable, and Tarrlok knew it. It was only going down one way.
** CharacterDevelopment
** ^ This. One of the main points of the flashback to his and Amon's childhood was that both of them hated their father for what he put them through, but ultimately ended up doing exactly what he wanted. Their father taught them bloodbending so that they could take revenge on the city and the Avatar. They thought they were rebelling against him, with Tarrlok becoming a councilman and Amon starting a crusade against all benders, but they end up attacking the people of the city and the Avatar using bloodbending, just like their father had planned. Tarrlok even lost his bending and then was going to escape to start a new life, exactly what happened to his father. It's pretty clear that Tarrlok realizes all this and decides he just wants it all to be over.
* He's probably quite familiar with how Yakone's trial went down- either from Yakone's own account or Republic City's archives. Noatok sounded just like Yakone fleeing the courthouse. I submit that he thought that it wasn't over until Noatok was dead, and the only means he had available to kill him was blowing up the boat- even if he survived the explosion he'd be miles from land, and even a master bloodbender would drown under those circumstances.
* Amon shed a single tear about two seconds before Tarrlock blew up the boat. He may have been in on it too. They both knew it was all wishful thinking, and Amon might have known what Tarrlok was about to do (he'd have figured out that no one else could have leaked his secret). For all his hatred of bending, Noatok couldn't escape the fact that he was a bender himself, and could only become Amon and get his dream with the very bloodbending he loathed.
** Noatok sheds a single tear when he hears his real name, suggesting just how much he hated being Amon at that point and how he also knew they could never go back to those happy times when Noatok UsedToBeASweetKid. Both of them had ruined their lives by crossing the MoralEventHorizon. So when he said he was planning to start a new life, ''he meant ending the old one literally.''
* Because RedemptionEqualsDeath.

[[folder:Yakone's escape]]
* Forget solitary, how did Yakone get out of jail in order to start a new life in the North Pole?
** They explicitly said that some of his criminal buddies broke him out. He was the head of a vast criminal empire. Exactly why they broke him out when he was stripped of his bending abilities, who knows? Maybe he had assets that the next gang leader could use, and only he knew where to get them, or maybe he simply possessed a level of fanatical devotion in his subordinates (maybe its in the blood) that they didn't care about his bending status.

[[folder: Was Korra originally meant to be a six-hour long movie?]]
Is it me, or unlike ATLA, they've pretty much wrapped it up here, with Korra becoming a Fully realized Avatar? Was it actually meant to go on for only one season until late in production?
* Yes. It was originally supposed to be a one season miniseries, but they got a second season while the first one was alredy in production.

[[folder:So is Equalism dead? Is that even a good thing?]]
Obviously Amon and his army were terrorists but defeating them still leaves the Avatar world with just about the worst possible social problem a society could ever face. Even if the somehow eliminate bender gangs, institutional oppression, and {{Smug Super}}s non-benders they've only just started to address the issue. There is a class of people with enormous economic and military privilege that is chosen entirely at random. Its kind of impossible for a society to not self destruct under that kind of pressure over and over again. The finale didn't do anything to address this, I guess I'll have to hope for the next season.
** I suppose we are left to assume things would improve without Tarrlok oppressive non-Bender rule and that the Equalists would be less of a threat to innocent Benders. Perhaps someone else would take Amon's mantle.
*** But Tarrlok was far from the only one oppressing the non-benders, and we never saw him oppressing the non-benders until later on. People like the members of the Triple Threat Triad seemed to be more of a direct threat.
*** Makes me really wonder how many Triple Threat Triad members Amon debended.
** They're probably going to deal with that stuff next season.
** I imagine that the reveal of Amon as a liar, as well as a bender, will have caused the terrorist Equalist movement to lose credibility and fall apart, for the most part, but a push for non-bender rights will still exist. Maybe it will come up in the second season.

[[folder:So is Equalism dead? Is that even a good thing?]]
Obviously Amon and his army were terrorists but defeating them still leaves the Avatar world with just about the worst possible social problem a society could ever face. Even if the somehow eliminate bender gangs, institutional oppression, and {{Smug Super}}s non-benders they've only just started to address the issue. There is a class of people with enormous economic and military privilege that is chosen entirely at random. Its kind of impossible for a society to not self destruct under that kind of pressure over and over again. The finale didn't do anything to address this, I guess I'll have to hope for the next season.
** I suppose we are left to assume things would improve without Tarrlok oppressive non-Bender rule and that the Equalists would be less of a threat to innocent Benders. Perhaps someone else would take Amon's mantle.
*** But Tarrlok was far from the only one oppressing the non-benders, and we never saw him oppressing the non-benders until later on. People like the members of the Triple Threat Triad seemed to be more of a direct threat.
*** Makes me really wonder how many Triple Threat Triad members Amon debended.
** They're probably going to deal with that stuff next season.
** I imagine that the reveal of Amon as a liar, as well as a bender, will have caused the terrorist Equalist movement to lose credibility and fall apart, for the most part, but a push for non-bender rights will still exist. Maybe it will come up in the second season.
[[/folder]]








[[folder: Why did nobody see through Tarrlok's little "Equalists kidnapped Korra" lie?]]
There was a huge crater on the floor of the main hall, half the floor in his office got ripped apart, an entire wall was askew, rock debris everywhere... Equalists can't do that. Even their mechas would have left different marks on the building. Further, he knocked himself out with an Equalist glove while wearing it. He had no guarantee he'd wake up in time to get it off!
* ''Korra'' can do all that, and Tarrlok's explanation was that they had fought the Equalists. Korra most definitely wouldn't care about some collateral damage if she was about to get captured. The bigger question in all this is why Tarrlok himself wouldn't have been captured right along with the Avatar, but he kept everyone too busy to ask that crucial question until much later.
* I figured Tarrlok was able to hold onto consciousness long enough to yank the glove off and toss it away after shocking himself.
[[/folder]]







[[folder:What happened to the North Pole?]]
More specifically, the Northern Water Tribe. The first series showed it to be a relatively large place with a design similar to Venice, Italy. Yet when we see it in Taarlok's flashback story, it's comparable to what we saw of the Southern Water Tribe back in "The Boy in the Iceberg". And considering it's only ever referred to as ''the'' Northern Water Tribe, there seems to be no indication it would be some sort of outpost town or settlement.
* Is there any actual reason to believe it ''wasn't'' some sort of outpost town or settlement?
* Yeah. The Northern Water Tribe is just the name of the whole tribe, like the Zulu. Just because the Zulu are referred by a common tribe name doesn't mean they all live in the same city.
* The Northern Water Tribe we saw was one after 100 years of war--a fortification made for defense. At the time, yes, that was probably where the entire Tribe lived--but after the war ended and the danger of Fire Nation soldiers attacking and abducting people was gone, it makes sense that they would expand into other settlements.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Magic plastic surgery?]]
I couldn't have been the only one who noticed. But Tarrlok looks just like his father post surgery.
* I think its okay to assume that Realism was abadoned for the sake of symbolism here. While Tarrlok look more like Yakone post-surgery, Noatak looks more like Yakone pre-surgery which is a neat contrast between the brothers.
* And it's not like Tarrlok ''doesn't'' look like Yakone even pre-surgery. People were pointing out the resemblance before the twist was ever revealed. He just happens to look slightly ''more'' like him post-surgery.
** Yep; see [[http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m50a7vyXCi1qlg334.jpg pre-surgery Yakone]] and [[http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m50a89w6tl1qlg334.jpg Adult Tarrlok]]
[[/folder]]







[[folder: The "Balance Patch" that is the Law in Republic City]]
* The Avatar is a focal point of balance towards goodness and the right choices in the world at large, which includes the city. Because of this, and the major role she plays in restoring balance and order to the world as they are fated to do, they are given a great deal of leeway. This is no longer the case, and that severely gimps Korra's overall effectiveness for very pedantic reasons. Benders should have the right to defend themselves, as should non-benders. So I'm not entirely seeing the law as helpful or beneficial to the long-run to the city, much less to her job. They would only serve to get in her way.
** That worked back in the old days. In an industrialized nation, Korra's antics are nearly as harmful as helpful, and she is not omniscient. The police are there to cover what she can't, which is basically everything except the occasional random incident.
*** Of course, but if they are putting their foot down and preventing the Avatar from doing what the Avatar does, they're as much a threat to the balance as they could be a help. I'm not speaking about stopping mafia here-which Korra, as the Avatar and a lot of precedent behind her from Kiyoshi and Aang, should be allowed to do-this can get much worse; what if they decide that restoring balance would cause too much instability within the city?
*** If Korra's keeping with the law, which should be entirely reasonable, then they have no reason to object. Tenzin could also extend some political protection if he needs to.
*** Um, where's it ever said that the law prohibits bending in any way? Or that benders can't defend themselves? The problem with Korra's actions in the first episode is more that she wrecked up the street, and that she was acting as a vigilante, not just that she was acting as a bender or the Avatar.
*** Precisely. Tenzin and the White Lotus may be sitting on museum pieces, but if Korra were allowed to inflict property damage at her own vigilante discretion, she'd deplete their operating budget in a matter of weeks...heck, the lack of HeroInsurance could be mined for a subplot.
*** It's all part of the deconstruction that is going on. As of now, there is no need for Avatar-involvement. Having Korra wreck the place is not necessary. It's an era of peace. I am sure that as the plot progresses, there will be a need for Korra to act as the Avatar to the world. But as of now, there isn't.
** This is hilarious. Its exactly the sort of political insanity that probably exists in the setting. The crime wasn't "bending" (though benders might well think of it that way) it was "blowing up other people's stuff and attacking the police". You shouldn't get away with destroying buildings just because you happened to do it with superpowers. I imagine that's exactly the mentality that has Equalist sympathizers scared.
*** I wouldn't be surprised to see merchants whose property she destroyed at an Equalist rally in the future, given that the reason anyone pays protection money is out of fear for their lives and livelihoods. Ironically, Korra may have done by accident what the Triple Threat Triads [[ShameIfSomethingHappened threaten to do]] when they go unpaid, and as a result some struggling business owners might just find themselves looking for a nice bush to sleep under.
*** The perfect opportunity for the return of the [[RunningGag Cabbage Seller]]!
*** Actually, Tenzin said that he would pay for the damages.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: The United Republic of Nations isn't very republican]]
* I'm using "republican" in the way that it's used in the US Constitution "The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government..." For the sake of clarity, I'll add [[http://www.constitution.org/fed/federa10.htm Federalist no. 10]], where Madison outlines the idea of a republic as I am used to using it. As far as I can tell, the government is chosen by the original four nations, not the people of the city. It's as if Wales was jointly governed by a representative of Ireland, Scotland and England. Such a government couldn't be called republican in any sense of the word, let alone the one I was thinking of. Now, it is true that no other government has been shown, meaning it is possible that the council is only in charge of Republic City. This led me to believe that it was the only game in town, and that the council is in charge of the entire nation.
** The US doesn't have a monopoly on the term. Seeing as how we've only seen the one city, one can hardly say the identified form of government cannot be considered a republic.
** I think your assumption of republic being "What the US defined it as is" is a bit of an oversimplification of a form of government that has had dozens of variants amongst them oligarchies very similar to the one in show. It should also be remembered that this government was designed for a different world than the one its in right now, back when the city was founded it made complete sense to have the city intended to be a melting pot be governed by representatives of each major group in the world, unfortunately this is now pretty obsolete as Republic City has developed its own unique culture.
*** I'm wondering what Republics you're thinking of that have oligarchies similar to the one on the show? The closest things I can think of would be Florence and Venice in the Renaissance. However, given that the Florentine republic included about a thousand citizens in its census for who counted as a citizen who could participate in government (circa 1500) and the Venetian aristocracy was abnormally large (which resulted in frequent problems of aristocratic poverty) and could could be bought into, I'm not sure they should count either since there is a big difference between around a thousand people sitting in a senate and five people ruling in a council. Remember, Venice's Council of Ten answered to a much larger senate and the Doge and Florence's Eight Saints were a war time necessity (and they were tax assessors).
* I don't think we know enough about it. Or could you clarify what doesn't seem republican to you? It doesn't seem to be a monarchy, so I guess republic in the meaning of "res publica" isn't so far off.
** Republic as a term is far older than the United States, and even today it has numerous definitions around the world. At core it simply means a nation ruled by an elected council. The election does not have to be democratic as we understand it, nor does the position of electee have to be open for everyone. Pre-Imperial Rome was a non-democratic Republic, for example. The United Republic does seem to be a democracy however, though how it functions is unknown. It seems that the representatives have to include members from the four Nations, and that Benders are overpresented compared to non-Benders. Tenzin is an influential member in spite of the near-extinction of the Air Nomads, for example.
*** Tenzin's father was one of the founders of Republic City. He's probably doing it as a legacy thing, not to represent the almost non-existent Air Nomads.
*** Except that the Council, or at least its leaders apart from Tenzin consist of representatives of Fire Nation, Earth Kingdom, and Southern and Northern Water Tribes. It seems fairly clear that the city is lead by the representatives of the four Bending cultures, even the near-extinct Air Nomads.
* I think the source of the confusion here is that we're assuming Republic City is an independent state, which may not be the case. It's possible Republic City is a kind of "neutral ground" that all four nations have limited control over. If this is the case, the representatives that control Republic city may very well be elected...by the total populations of the nations they hail from. So it's less like Wales being governed by representatives from Ireland, Scotland, and England and more like if everyone in the United States was able to vote for the mayor and city council of New York City.
** So Republic City is basically [[WashingtonDC Washington, DC]]. Limited home rule and all that.
** It's more like the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shanghai_International_Settlement Shanghai-that-Was]].
* Republic in its most basic sense means "state without monarchy." The council is made up entirely (I understand) by representatives of monarchies. So I honestly believe that the creators did not know what the word republic means. It is a common mistakes, I remember a couple of occasions where Jorge Luis Borges made ​​the same mistake.
** I'm sure they know exactly what it means. It means a state not ruled by a monarchy. It doesn't mean a state without any influence from any monarchies whatsoever. Republic City is ruled, as you said, by a council--not by a monarchy. That the councilmen represent monarchies doesn't matter.
** Also, the council isn't made up ''entirely'' of representatives of monarchies. The Air Nomads most certainly aren't a monarchy, they don't even have a state of their own, and nothing indicates Tenzin is considered to be their "king". The reason he seems to be the highest authority figure among them could simply be because he's the oldest, most experienced Airbender alive. Historically the Airbenders appear to have been ruled by councils of elders, one in each Air Temple, but we don't know what their current system is. As for the Southern Water Tribe, while they have a chief, there's no canon evidence that he's their sole leader, or that the position of the chief is inhereditary; for all we know he could be chosen by a tribe meeting, or by some other democratic process.
*** If Tenzin gets to be one of the most powerful people in the world just because he's the best Airbender that would be a real problem. Nepotism is honestly more likely.
*** Being a council person in one city makes you "one of the most powerful people in the world"? Just because the series takes place there doesn't mean it's the most important place in the world.
*** But being the world's only Master Airbender probably would make you "one of the most powerful people in the world" by default.
** Since when does "Republic" mean a "state without monarchy"? By that definition, fascist, democratic, anarchist, and theocratic governments would be republican. A better defintion of a "republic" would be a state with a mixed constitution, incorporating elements of democracy, aristocracy, and (elected) monarchy. By this definition, we could include Rome, Florence, Venice, and the US. France might be harder to fit, since it seemed to include only democracy and (elected) monarchy, as far as I'm aware. And, of course, this does not work as well for the 20th century when it seemed to become the fashion to style everything a "republic" regardless of its actual form. Also, keep in mind that I'm using the term monarch losely to refer to a small executive branch (like the consuls, Doge, Signoria, or president), the way Roman and Renaissance political theorists did.
*** You define the entire Western world as being ruled by monarchs? (because pretty much every nation has a president or prime minister)
*** "Since when does 'Republic' mean 'a state without monarchy'?" Basically since the term was coined in the classical world. Although modern developments have complicated the matter, that's still the most basic way to define the term, and essential to every other definition that incorporates other aspects. "By that definition, fascist, democratic, anarchist and theocratic governments would be republican." Yes. You treat these terms as opposed to either monarchy or republic while they aren't (except anarchism which is opposed to both). Iran can be described as a theocratic republic, Saudi-Arabia as a theocratic monarchy. The UK is a democratic monarchy, the US a democratic republic and so on. "A better definition ..." What follows is a pretty meaningless definition that has no descriptive purpose and no historical background. In general, people seem to be misled by the meaning of the word "Republican" in a US-American context, where it has a wider meaning, including rule of law, balance of power, democracy, equality before the law etc. and also carries a lot of historical and political baggage (there is a major party that derives its name from this word after all). This meaning comes from American history, not academic categorization of governments. And no, an elected head of the executive is not a monarch.
*** As to the idea of an elected head being a monarch, this is exactly how Polybius uses the term. Polybius defines Rome as a state with a mixed constitution, one that has elements of monarchy, aristocracy, and democracy. He equates the monarchical elements with the consuls, an elected office with one year in office. I am doing the same (note: a prime minister is not a head of state but a head of government, and thus would not represent a monarchic element). The definition of a republic as a state with a mixed constitution also comes from Polybius's understanding - he holds up Rome's Republic as an example of government to be contrasted with the democracy of Athens and various principates. I would argue that in most of the greatest historical examples, a balance of powers is an essential aspect of a republic, as it was in antique Rome and renaissance Florence and Venice. Aristotle would seem to agree given that he considers a mixed constitution as an alternative form of government to monarchy/tyranny, aristocracy/oligarchy, and democracy. Now, Machiavelli does seem to include all non-principate states in the category of "Republic", but given his historical environment, where the only non-monarchic states had mixed constitutions, states like Florence, Venice, and Bologna, I would hesitate to agree with his assessment, given that his analysis of Rome and the classical world was often heavily colored by his experience of politics in his own time. You say that classically this is how a republic was defined, but I'm not sure which classical authors you are refering to. As I said above, Polybius and Aristotle did not make such a division. Plato divided his types of government much more broadly, defining five types of states based on the values of the ruler/ruling class (kallipolis, timocracy, oligarchy, democracy, and tyranny). To Thucydides, your division would not make sense, since part of his history is devoted to comparing the sort of governments Sparta and Athens had and to equate them as of the same sort would be counter to his efforts. Since the term, however, comes from Latin, we could look at Latin authors, but they tended to defer to Polybius and Aristotle on this matter. And if we are going to defer to the term "res publica", then even the Roman Empire would be a republic, since for the first century or so of its existence it was still called a "res publica". So, I do not see where your definition comes from, aside from perhaps Machiavelli or the French Revolution, neither of whom/which are classical sources and both of whom/which existed in periods where a more nuanced view was unnecessary. And as to theocracy - you said you can have theocratic republics and theocratic monarchies, but what would the bishopric of Rome be? A republic, given the prominence of the college of cardinals? A monarchy, given that it has a single head? Also, you seem to be lax on what a monarchy is - is it simply a state with a king? would a tyranny without a king be a republic? It would seem unfair to call Cuba a republic just because its head of state does not call himself king. It would seem unfair to call Sparta a monarchy just because its heads of state were kings.
* At the very least we can say that Republic City does not seem very republican. A ruling body of five people who represent only a "bending aristocracy" (my term) is much more oligarchic than it is republican. And since this small ruling body seems to make policy decisions without consulting anyone outside of themselves (there's no mention of having a vote in the senate on what to do about the rebel problem or what to do about terrorist threats), I feel it's safe to say that just these five are governing Republic City. So... yeah. Sounds like an oligarchy - more like the Thirty Tyrants than the Council of Ten.
** That does fit within some definitions of Republic since those five are "the body of citizens entitled to vote", if they were elected to those positions in some way it fits most definitions. What Republic City is clearly not is a democracy, the general population has little to no say in the general affairs of government.
*** But size does matter in this. If you were simply going to say that a republic has a "body of citizens entitled to vote" a tyranny would be a republic where that body numbered one. The voting base needs to be broader than five, even if it does not have to include a majority of people. If you were to ask me to define how broad it needs to be, I would probably say at least 1% of the population. Though, there are other aspects of republic aside from having a voting base, namely the separation of powers - they tend to have at least an executive or executive body and a legislative body, but can also include bodies that propose legislation (like Rome's Senate) or various bodies that oversee economic or military concerns.
*** Represents a "bending aristocracy"? The councilmembers represent the different NATIONS, not the types of benders. We know that Tarrlok and Tenzin are benders, but it's never been shown about the others. True, Amon had them kidnapped, but that could be just as much to disrupt the current government as to target them as benders.
**** The way Tarrlok addresses them when he introduces his non-bender curfew certainly implies they are benders. And it seems unlikely they would have voted for the curfew if they were non-benders themselves.
* People have used the word "republic" to mean a lot of different things over the course of history. It is a usefully vague term, almost to the point of being meaningless, in a fictional setting.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: How does Pro-Bending work in terms of how much of an element you can use?]]
It seems like Earth has an inherent disadvantage, where the Bender can only pick up one or two discs at a time. Waterbenders could pull the entire channel of water to attack, like Korra does when she knocks that guy over the side. Fire, as in the previous series, is based entirely in the strength of the Bender, so they could theoretically be a dozen times stronger than the Earthbenders with their single discs.
* Waterbenders and firebenders can only use short bursts, no more than a second or so, and waterbenders are limited to the channel in their zone. Korra broke the rules in more ways than one with that first shot. Earthbenders, by comparison, can use as many of those little discs as they want.
** Where is is stated that they can only use small bursts? Mako does some pretty significant hits in his 3 on 1 moment. Definitely more fire than the other teams Firebender was using, at least. Also, Korra only pulls from her channel. It's just a lot of water. Much more mass than those discs.
*** The official rules of pro-bending state that bursts longer than 1 second can't be used.
** There is a limited number of the discs, though, meaning they can use them as frequently as they want, provided they don't run out.
*** There could be hundreds of those discs in the reserve; it's unlikely that they ever run out in the course of a single match.
*** Correct me if I'm wrong because I can't check right now, but didn't the one of Fire Ferret's opponents run out of discs during the second episode? I think there's a set number of discs available per game or round.
*** Are you referring to the "out of juice" comment? I think that this rather meant that they basically got tired, not that they don't have any materials any more.
*** Addendum to the disc comment as well, it looks like during the demonstrations of the rules and explanation of game mechanics vid put up, its stated that there's a loading mechanism not unlike a disc launcher gun loaded a plenty of the discs. It didn't specify how many but sounded like there was probably more than enough to not worry about it going dry.
* There's also the idea that highlighting these differences is not so much a glitch as it is a feature, a deliberate showcasing of the tactical differences and limitations each bender has for the benefit of the game.
* I'd say that all the elements have inherent disadvantages. For instance, the natural instinct for a water bender would be to throw a curving torrent of water that knocks an opponent sideways (probably why Korra tried this first). But the rules say that they can only knock opponents off the back of the ring, forcing water benders to concentrate on straight and direct attacks. Earth benders are limited to moving small disks of earth at a time, whereas in the real world the entire landscape is their weapon. And of course fire benders can only throw a small amount of fire at a time (probably for safety reasons, i.e. to prevent collateral damage), which goes completely against the normal fire bending orthodoxy of overwhelming force. Even air benders would seem to be at a disadvantage. Recall that Aang's typical air bending tactics involved a lot of movement, typically making long circular dodges on currents of wind. But in pro-bending the competitors are confined to a small field which limits their range of movement.
** Additionally, the game emphasizes the ability to push one's opponents around and off the ring. Fire doesn't provide as much knockback as earth and water. It appears that the availability of each element is inversely proportional to how dense/solid it is
* Officially, the fire- and water-benders can't use more than a second or two of their attack-types. They are limited in size of attack to a degree [blast of water, medium-sized stone slab] but not supply [maybe supply a bit, but the size of the stadium and the mechanisms of the slots mean running out is hard to do]. That is the heart of the sport - efficiency of technique, efficiency of supplies, restraint, and teamwork. It's like a minimally-spiritual Air-bending training session for other benders.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Why is Korra allowed in pro-bending?]]
Call me crazy but just for fairness sake I simply wouldn't allow the most powerful being in the universe to play a game that's based on your physical abilities. Just like I wouldn't allow Flash to enter the Olympics. While we're on the subject we're supposed to believe that a winning team with the Avatar on it had to luck into Henry Ford's expy to get sponsored? Unless the buy in is absurdly high I can't believe they don't have enough fans who'd pitch in to make something as stupid as the Team Avatar being to broke to go to the championship.
* The chief advantage Korra would bring is that she can bend all elements- which she's explicitly ''not allowed to do'' (I'm assuming that a ''sport'' is not going to trigger the Avatar State, and if something bad enough ''does'' happen to trigger it, then everyone probably has much bigger things to worry about than the game). Restricted to just waterbending, she's just a particularly talented bender, balanced out by her inexperience with the sport. As for the funds, the Fire Ferrets don't seem to have gone public with their financial troubles, and somehow riding on Korra's Avatar reputation to get cash seems out of character for Mako anyway.
* Well the last time an Avatar was kicked out of playing a sport he liked simply because he was the Avatar, he got depressed, ran away with his bison, and ended up frozen for 100 years while the world burned. Am I the only one who sees the irony is this question?
** That's not why he ran away; they wanted to separate him from Monk Gyatso. Also, it was a bunch of 8-year-olds that wouldn't let him play the children's game that he invented; that just lead to him resenting being the avatar. Obviously, the adults on the regulation committee are much better at rationalizing.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: How do you get away with cheating for as long as the Wolf Bats did when the media isn't in on the scam?]]
The radio announcer could see that the refs weren't calling blatant fouls against the Wolf Bats: Offsides (okay, even the announcer missed that one, but you can clearly see one of them stepped over the center line in order to attack), Icing, Hosing, Illegal Headshots, all broadcast over the radio. The announcer may as well have said, "This match is rigged," to the entire city. People bet large sums of money on sports, and they would be livid to find out they've been cheated. The ticket sales and attendance would suffer because people would stop taking the sport seriously (think Pro-Wrestling). How do you keep this scam going for four years?
* Considering the announcer was blatant about the wolfbats cheating, but didn't reference earlier cheating and seemed genuinely surprised by the referee allowing it, its probable that they don't actually cheat as their regular strategy. It could be that they were scared of the avatar or wanted to enact some revenge for Korra scaring them with Naga.
** They may have used a strategy of testing the referee's tolerance in their matches. Note how they started with small offenses. If in previous matches they get called on these earlier attempts, they dial it back, but if they don't get called they escalate until they do get called. It may well be possible that ''all'' experienced pro-bending teams do it, since every referee is probably different and has a different level of tolerance of borderline calls, and the matches stay fair because the calls are the same for both teams. The Fire Ferrets, being rookies, may simply have been to inexperienced to do this.
** It's also possible that Amon had someone contact the Wolf Bats anonymously and tell them the judges were bribed; it was actually Amon who paid the bribes. The anonymous henchman could've just told the Wolf Bats he was representing someone who had bet a lot of money on their behalf. The Wolf Bats saw it as an easy chance to secure their victory, so they swallowed the bait. Amon's propaganda speech relied on the Wolf Bats cheating, so he had to make sure they actually did so.
*** Amon may not even have needed to contact the Wolf Bats at all. If he knew their style of play well enough, he could probably predict that they would escalate to blatant cheating if the referee allowed it, and he may have been counting on it.
*** It doesn't seem in line with Amon's character to "make" benders that are bullies. He punishes benders that are bullies just cause. His speech suggests this isn't the first time the Wolfbats have done this, and given how practiced they are, the possibility of them having cheated before is very high.
*** On the other hand, it is somewhat plausible that he knew the Wolfbats were bullies and put them in a position to prove it. Notice that Amon didn't mention the Fireferrets rallying valiantly without resorting to the same cheating. Kind of counterproductive to his message.
*** He does point out that the Ferrets were bullied, though. He compares the treatment of the Ferrets to how he believes benders behave on average. It's not really counterproductive to his message. "There are some good eggs" doesn't really defeat his argument that they're bad on the whole.
* Alternatively, while they do cheat, they don't do it quite as blatantly. The ref's "bad calls" in the first match are relatively tame. He made a couple of mistakes and someone might pass that off as bad judgement. When the Fire Ferrets stayed in the game, the Wolfbats had to go to increasing lengths to win, and that is what outed them as blatant cheaters.
** The damage to the team the Wolfbats faced in the semi-finals implies that they cheat even when they don't really need to. (Especially the damage to their masks, which seems to have come from their 'mixing peddles into a water whip' trick)
* Another alternative is that it's all part of the show - the ref wasn't paid off, but the owners of the tournament deliberately rig it in the favour of the Wolfbats since they make good champions. They don't usually need to cheat, but the refs are instructed to look the other way on the few occasions they do, provided they can keep it relatively deniable. Their ridiculously over-the-top entrance is part of the whole showmanship thing they have going.
** Unless you're talking about Pro Wrestling, competitors who cheat that blatantly tend to be unpopular. (Ex. Sammy Sosa's fall from grace, not from steroids, but from being caught with a corked bat.)
*** And yet the crowd still ate the Wolfbats up like candy when they won. The media just loves cocky assholes, their fanbases were secure.
**** Their cheating wasn't really very blatant. The hosing foul could be a judgment call, very few people would notice an earthbender bending a disc outside his zone, can spectators really tell if there's ice on the ring, the firebending headshots, the rocks in the water, none of these fouls could be spotted by anything more than a hardcore pro-bending fan. And while I'm sure there were more than a few angry fans in the stands that night, I'm not sure the laymen audience would have understood the nuances of all the rules of pro-bending.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Pro-bending waterbender colours]]
This is a very minor point, but why do pro-waterbending waterbenders have a grey belt and head marking, rather than the blue which you'd normally associate with waterbending? You'd think that they'd want to keep grey available for when airbending populations have grown.
* They'd have to rework the entire game for airbenders. They'd have a huge advantage, even with short bursts of air.
* They look blue to me... not quite deep-sea blue, but still.
* They are the same shade of blue as the Water Tribe clothes.
* I have to agree with the 'they are blue' front. I also have to think that the people who organised the pro bending colors wouldn't be that seriously concerned with the idea that the colors (not to mention the entire structure of the game) would have to change to accomidate airbenders once they become more common in.... a couple hundred years or so.
[[/folder]]

* [[Headscratchers/TheLegendOfKorraTeamAvatar Theories relating to the members of Team Avatar]]
* [[Headscratchers/TheLegendOfKorraAmon Theories relating to Amon]]
* [[Headscratchers/TheLegendOfKorraEqualists Theories relating to the Equalists (including the Lieutenant and Hiroshi Sato)]]
* [[Headscratchers/TheLegendOfKorraFormerCast Theories relating to characters from the original series]]

[[folder: Another question about bending genetics]]
I didn't see this in the AtLA headscratchers page, and since it relates to characters from legend of Korra, I'd thought I'd post it here.

Okay. We know that bending is one part genetic and one part spiritual. We know that if, say, An Earthbender and a Waterbender had a kid, that kid would be an Earthbender, a Waterbender, or neither. We can see that in Aang's kids - a Waterbender, an Airbender, and a non-bender.

So here's my question; can Kya, Aang's Waterbending child, have kids that can Airbend? I was always under the impression that the type of bending is partly determined by the culture you were born into, so what does that mean for second generation children of mixed families? Does the fact that Kya had an Air Nomad father mean that she has a chance, if only a slight one, of having an Airbender, or does the fact that she's a Waterbender mean it's impossible for her to have Airbending children?

And for that matter, what about Bumi, Aang's non-bending child? We know that you don't have to ''be'' a bender to father one, so does that mean that Bumi has the exact same odds of having an air/water/non-bender as his parents? Does marrying a Waterbender decrease his chances of fathering an Airbender? What if he married a Firebender or an Earthbender (supposing he's married at all, of course)? Or to make things really crazy, suppose he married a non-bender who's parents were Earth and Firebenders. Does that mean their kids could be ''any'' element, including none of the above!?

* Genetically speaking, a bender/non-bender would have that specific trait as the dominant one, with the other possibility being recessive. If the airbending trait is recessive, it would have to be recessive in both parents for it to manifest in the child (implicitly, this would explain Katara being the offspring of two non-benders). They can't have airbending kids, not without some serious squick.
* I'm inclined to think that the general Bending ability is hereditary, but which Bending style a person learns is dependent on the environment. Raise a Water Tribe child with Bending talent from birth in an Air Temple, and I suspect you'd get an Airbender, not a Waterbender.
** If it were that simple, wiping out the Air Nomads would not have been a solution to the Avatar cycle. Aang being the last Airbender is never treated as anything other than a concrete fact. If a Water Tribe couple could just bonk at an Air Temple and turn out an Airbender, it wouldn't be so serious.
*** That wasn't the point I was making. What I meant was that the Bending ability is genetic, but the Bending styles are cultural. Remember that people originally learned them from observing various animals and the Moon. It wouldn't matter if somebody was raised in an ''abandoned'' Airtemple because there'd be no-one to raise or teach the child to become an Airbender, but on the other hand, if you put a baby with Bending talent to close proximity with Skybisons from birth, they might figure out Airbending on their own.
*** It wouldn't be the environment so much as a combination of how they're raised and their own personality. It's more likely that just the ability to bend is genetic and recessive, but which ''element'' you are is a separate, dominant allele, and you need both to bend.\\\
So, if you have Aang and Katara's kids. Aang is an '''A'''irbender, with his bending gene bb, and his element gene Ax. Katara, as a '''W'''aterbender, has the bending gene bb, and element Wx. So they have kids, who are all going to have bb. But of the element gene, you'll have one with AW, one with Ax (Tenzin), one with Wx (Kya), and one with xx (Bumi). Alternatively, Tenzin is AW, and in that case it randomly "sides" with one or the other--turning it into AA, which would explain why all of his children are airbenders.\\\
Alternatively, it might be tied to the XY chromosome, so that any male children will have the father's element, while any female children will have the--wait, no. Mako and Bolin rule that out.
*** I think it has more to do with the culture and the spirituality around them rather than the actual place. If two waterbenders bonked at an airtemple and had a kid, they'd still either be a waterbender or a nonbender because they've only experienced waterbending and water tribe culture. However, if those two waterbenders bonked in the middle of the Fire Nation, and their child was consistently exposed to Fire Nation culture and surrounded by firebending (more so than their water tribe heritage), then I'd say that it's possible that that kid would end up a firebender. They couldn't create more airbenders because the genocide destroyed everything that composed the air nomads, not just the people, but their books, stories, spirituality, and everything else that made up their civilization as well.
**** Maybe, though Kori Morishita is an earthbender who grew up in a Fire Nation colony, otherwise in the Earth Kingdom, and identifies herself as a Fire Nation Citizen so she probably grew up proudly with their culture. Her mother is an earthbender, and her father is of the Fire Nation.
** Don't forget the possibility that bending might not be a simple recessive/dominant trait, but more complicated. Most real traits are controlled by a variety of things such a poly-genetics, promotor regions ''and'' environment. Throw this all together and it might not be so easy to predict.
*** This is most likely the case, as an episode in the first series showed a set of identical twins where one was an earthbender and the other was a non-bender. Since identical twins have the same DNA, other factors are likely involved in determining bending ability.
* Before the Air Nomads were wiped out, they were 100% Airbenders, because they were the "most spiritual" nation. What that means hasn't been explained further to my knowledge.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Why are benders so afraid of having their bending being taken away by Amon?]]
What's the big deal? All that happens is that you won't be able to bend anymore, and yet they treat it as big as death. The procedure is probably painful or scary, but in the end how is having you're bending being taken away dangerous at all?
* The people that bend have learned how to use it to work and fight. This is their livlihood. Imagine losing a limb. Now imagine that your job ''required'' working with that limb. Get it now?
** Oh, don't worry, we'll just cut your eyes out. All that happens is that you won't be able to see anymore!
** Except the ability to bend is more like a superpower than a body part. Losing a leg would make your life immeasurably harder. Losing the ability to bend would make you...normal. Benders don't actually need their bending to do their jobs (except the pro-benders) it just makes their jobs easier. I mean, think of it this way. Imagine a man fell in some nuclear waste and developed x-ray vision. He uses this power to become the greatest surgeon in the world. Then he gets accused of using his x-ray vision to look through women's clothes and a judge orders him to get a simple, completely non-life threatening operation that would do nothing other than remove his x-ray vision. So now he's gone from being a super-surgeon to...a perfectly normal surgeon. Is being brought back down to normal really such a great tragedy?
** It is when you've lived your whole life since early childhood that way, and what do you mean? Imagine the devastation if he were to hit the metalbending police force. How would they know what to do? The waterbender healers in hospitals? This society's logistics are built around privileging benders.
*** Is it? Undoubtedly there are benders who make important contributions to society, but there is no evidence (so far) that they are the backbone of Republic City. The metalbenders aren't the only law enforcement. We can clearly see evidence of perfectly normal police who presumably arrest criminals in perfectly normal ways. In fact the metalbenders seem to be an elite force sent after bender criminals, so taking away everyone's bending would make them unnecessary. We've seen no evidence whatsoever that the healthcare system in Republic City is reliant on waterbenders. As of Episode 3, the closest thing we've seen to a bender-based infrastructure is that scene where we see firebenders shooting lightning into machines to power the city. But there's no reason to believe society would collapse without them. Lightningbenders are a minority among firebenders, who are a minority among benders in general, and benders in general are (probably) a minority in the Avatar-verse. It's highly unlikely that an entire city could be critically dependent on a minority of a minority of a minority. Especially given the level of industrialization we've seen in Republic City. If they can build motor vehicles they can build generators to do the exact same job as those lightningbenders.\\
\\
Just to be clear, I'm not saying benders should have their bending taken away from them. Especially not against their will. Even if it's completely painless and harmless, it's still a violation of their human rights. What I am saying is their ''reaction'' to the idea is a little over the top.
*** Their reaction is in no way "over the top". It is an integral part of who they are, a fact of their life. It's like being able to smell or see. It's cutting away an aspect of their identity. Even if you don't take it that far and just treat it as a skill, it would still be horrible. If you had a natural talent for chess, for example, and played it your entire life (it doesn't matter in what context) and suddenly lost that ability, would you honestly feel anything less than crushing depression at being rendered unable to do something that for so long you took for granted? The answer to that is no. Trying to treat stealing bending as anything less than something horrible is absurd. Ozai earned that punishment, and look at him after the fact. He was a broken man when that finally set it.
*** Ozai was broken because he was a bending supremacist who lost the ability to bend (as well as a massive war that he very nearly won). It would be like a white supremacist being magically turned into a black man. The thing he thinks makes him ''better'' than everyone else is now gone, so of course he broke down afterward. But most benders are not like that (or at least we've seen no evidence that they are). Taking away their bending would be unfortunate, but it's not like they've had one of their eyes plucked out. Being upset is understandable. Treating it like you've just been made a quadriplegic is over the top and overreacting.
*** It is hardly overreacting. You're just trying to diminish its importance. It is not like superpowers, which only a select few have. It's not like it's some acquired ability, because it's innate. Bending is a fundamental part of any bender, the essence of who they are, and losing it would be every bit as terrible as being unable to walk or see.
* You assume that bending is like superpowers. But it's not "Cosmic rays gave me fire-powers", it's something you've had and been living with your whole life. As an example, imagine what would happen to Ron if he would lose any access to magic and magical items. He would be utterly lost and handicapped.
** "You assume that bending is like superpowers." It's not just "like" superpowers. It ''is'' a superpower. It's a superhuman ability that goes beyond what humans can normally do. Just because benders are born with it doesn't make it any less of a superpower. As for your example, the problem is that Ron Weasley lives in a totally different world where the ability to use magic is not only commonplace but essential. The Wizarding World in HP is a society totally dependent on magic that exists almost completely separate from muggle society. Ron would not only be unable to function in the Wizarding World, he would be unable to function in the muggle world as well because he has no idea how it works. This is not the case in the Avatar-verse. Benders and non-benders live in an integrated society and which could probably function just as well if everyone was a bender or if no one was.
*** "Superpower" implies rarity or unnatural origins. Bending is neither. Ron fits with the Avatar world because a bender would automatically default to bending as a means to make a living, and having that taken from them would leave that bender struggling to compensate. It would be an awful thing.
*** Bending may be a superpower from the perspective of a non-bender, but for a bender it would be no more a "power" than walking or opposable thumbs.
* Imagine your entire life being capable of doing something. Something simple, something you'd never even second-guess or think "I wonder how life would be like without that?" It feels inherent. It's a part of who you are. A portion of your life is dictated by this capability. It's part of your culture, it can protect you from harm, provide you with a way to make a livelihood, and make you feel powerful and/or fulfilled, like you have a purpose. This simple and inherent capability that you've lived most of your life with. Suddenly, it's gone. It's been ripped away from you by a person in a mask who thinks of you like a bunch of evil creatures. He has henchmen with rods that can electrocute you and have studied in an artform that can paralyze you. You are now even less guarded. You've had your armor stripped away, and these people who have felt repressed and express resentment towards you now have the UPPERHAND on you. You're going to be horrified. The thing you've been living with that you used as your main form of defense has been removed and now the people who have a personal vendetta against you are above you offensively. It might not be the mere idea of losing their bending, as much as the capabilities of the group capable of doing it on top of that violation of their human rights that horrify them. Something that's a part of who you are is being taken away, and the people who hate you for having it now have a serious edge in their battle against you. You've been violated in more ways than you'd ever imagined having to deal with (part of your soul being ripped up or blocked off) and now these people who hate you can paralyze you, tie you up, zap you with volts of electricity, and take over your government. How many of you honestly believe Amon will merely present equality, rather than allowing the non-benders to unleash their resentment and vengeance upon them? While it may just be added propaganda, if it's to be believed, his family was killed and his face mutilated by a firebender. He has every reason to antagonize them, rather than merely bring them down to the same level.
** You say all that like benders would dissolve into blubbering puddles of jelly unable to so much as wipe their own noses if their bending was taken away. But we've seen no evidence that benders are ''that'' reliant on their bending abilities to function. If you're a firebender who suddenly can't bend anymore, you're still a reasonably fit human being. You can still work. You can still recreate. You just have to do it the same way everyone else does. Would it be upsetting? Sure. But it's not like your soul has been sucked out.\\
You do make a good point that Amon's endgame after he takes away everyone's bending probably isn't true equality. But if that was the message the writers intended they didn't get it across very well. The main message seemed to be "OMG he can take away bending for good THAT'S HORRIBLE!!1" Except...it's not that horrible, in and of itself.
*** Except, yes it is, very much so. It's taking away, forcibly, a facet of someone's life that they've come to see as innate. It's a part of who they are. It's every bit the extreme violation the show presents it as, and to treat it as anything less is to make light of their suffering.
* Another I just thought of, is that deep down the benders know that the Equalists are right in a few respects. Benders are aware of just how much more defenseless and downcast they are without bending. That's pretty horrifying in and of itself. Not only do the Equalists prove that they're right by making benders realize what they have to go through on a daily basis, they also resent benders and can target them specifically.
* "Is being brought back down to normal really such a great tragedy?" you ask. To which I say, "[[PerspectiveFlip Aren't non-benders the real freaks]]? Born deaf and dumb to the fundamental forces of nature and their spiritual undercurrents, blundering through life with only their physical bodies to provide for themselves, reduced by the cruel accident of birth to comforting each other with the silly notion that they're the default template for humanity, and that inflicting your birth defect on the rest of us is an act of goodness." (In other words, we shouldn't let our real world position color our perception of what's "normal" and not in-universe for humans there. A good argument could be made that either benders or non-bender are the "normal" ones, or that the term applies to both group.)
** You seem to be forgetting one thing; Nonbending ''is'' the default state of humanity in the Avatarverse. We don't know the specifics of the Energybending Era, but what we do know is this: that art was lost completely to humans, there was a long period with no bending at all, a small collection of people from each nation studied nature to learn to bend the elements and eventually passed it on to others, and even in the current timeline the bender-to-non ratio is quite firmly in favor of the nons except for the element Air. Bending is far from a rare mutation, but it is hardly the norm for the majority of the population at large, just wanted to let everyone know.
* It ''is'' as big as death, maybe [[FateWorseThanDeath even bigger.]] Bending to those with the ability is like seeing, hearing, or walking is to us. The avatar world, no matter how [[FantasyCounterpart similar]] to ours, is not like the world we know. We can't fully appreciate how important bending is to benders because we know it's not real. But to them it is real; it's not a superpower that exists as an extension of their bodies; it's a part of them and a part of life has always been there. Imagine a maniac in a mask blinding you or cutting off a body part and telling you that you deserve it.
-->"Hey, you have legs and we don't! [[TallPoppySyndrome How dare you walk around when other people can't.]] You use you special ability to walk to take all the good jobs, gain representation in politics, and bully us. [[InsaneTrollLogic We should cut off everyone's legs in order to gain true equality.]]"
** "Bending to those with the ability is like seeing, hearing, or walking is to us." No it isn't. Becoming blind, deaf, or unable to walk is a handicap (and a major one) because human society is built primarily to serve sighted, hearing, and walking people. Losing one or more of those abilities restricts your ability to function in society. Losing the ability to bend, even if you've enjoyed it all your life, does NOT restrict your ability to function. If you're a firebender who makes money by shooting lightning into power generators and you suddenly have your bending taken away, you can still get any number of other jobs. In fact since benders seem to be extremely physically fit by definition, they would still have more opportunities than most.\\
Your point about the Equalists' TallPoppySyndrome is valid, however that's a different argument. The OP's original point was that the benders are acting like not being able to bend anymore is akin to being ''murdered''.
*** Yes, it is. If everyone in the world had superpowers, the same superpowers in fact, then to lose that would be treated as nothing less than the loss of something just as vital as walking or seeing. Losing that ability would require someone to learn a completely different skillset just to adapt. A man who loses the use of his legs could get another job, but if his previous job was one that required a lot of walking around, that's a major change in career. Same thing here.
* So a lot of tropers have been arguing that it is a big deal because it is like losing something that was always there, removing one's identity, one's ability to realize their place in life. I agree with this line of thinking, however as the conversation shows, there are still those who don't so let me phrase it this way: balance. The Avatar exists in order to reset balance to the world once it goes out of whack. That's why Ozai had to be stop. Not only did he exterminate an entire race of people, attempt to do the same thing to another race of people, and enslave all those in between, he was trying to create a world in which those born with the Fire element reigned over all those who didn't. That is NOT balance in the slightest. In a similar vein, Amon is trying to take away other's bending, to "level the playing field". However, that too is not the right balance. Benders exist for a reason, they are the ones that are more connected to the spirit world, to nature, to the very essence of the world around them. Amon removing them would create a world that does not understand itself, or its roots. The human world would lose its connection to the vast spirit world. Before Amon coming, the world wasn't balanced either because people were forgetting that their ability is a gift from nature and connected to nature. That was why the world became so corrupt in the first place, with people abusing their powers. However, the world after Amon won't be any better.
** This also makes sense thematic wise. Aang was trained to connect to the spirit realm from the beginning. He was so connected that one of the main conflicts he faced was reconnecting with the demands of the secular world i.e. killing Ozai for the greater good of the world. In the end, he learned how to reconcile both sides by de-powering Ozai. Korra, on the other hand, lacks the spirituality that Aang possessed. She is completely immersed in the world around her, shown by her joining a sport that uses bending for entertainment. What she will need to do is find a way to reconcile her secularity with the spirituality she needs to possess in order to be the Avatar. The Avatar is the bridge between two worlds; Korra needs to start making a connection to the spirit world.
* Upon re-watching episode 3, it occurs to me that the OP was overstating the issue. Almost none of the characters seem to treat losing the ability to bend like being killed or having a limb chopped off. Mako seemed hardly affected by it at all. Once he got his brother out of danger he pretty much put it behind him. Bolin was pretty spooked by it, but that's understandable since he had just been kidnapped, tied up, and taken to an unknown location by people who would probably be just as happy beating him to death and leaving him in a ditch. Tenzin seemed more afraid that this could cause more and more non-benders flock to Amon's cause, leading to a dangerous power shift in Republic City.\\
In truth the only character who seems to see losing the ability to bend as serious as losing one's life is '''Korra'''...which makes perfect sense. We're talking about a girl who has essentially been told every day of her life that her bending abilities make her ''the most important person in the world''. She's lived for years in an extremely isolated environment where her ability to bend is not only her most important attribute but her ''only'' important attribute. Her entire life she's been training to do exactly one thing: be the Avatar. And without her bending she can't possibly be the Avatar. In Korra's case Amon wouldn't just be taking away her bending. He'd be taking away her entire reason for being.
* Exactly. It's a part of who they are, just like walking is a part of who we are. Cutting them off from bending is us like cutting off both your legs, and telling you that you deserve to be crippled.
** And the guys who actually lost their powers. It's pretty significant when you get hit by the energybending and lose your ability to use it. I'd say it's a bit like being a hearing person, but becoming hearing impared. You can still get around without any difficulty, still talk and learn to read lips to communicate, but you can never appreciate music the same way, or hear a loud noise behind you. To lose the bending ability means you lose touch with that spiritual side of the world, and it'd be pretty damn terrifying. So maybe it's not the same horror as dying, but you don't want to lose that power.
** It gets even worse for people who depend on bending for their livelihood. Firebenders get paid to shoot lightning into generators, you have police forces who rely on their bending, there are pro-bender athletes, and there are probably other jobs that can only be done by benders. If a firebender works at the power plant shooting lightning into generators and he loses his firebending powers, he loses his livelihood, affecting not only him but anyone he has to take care of.
*** You know what happens in the real world when someone loses an ability they rely on to do their job? They get a different job. But whereas a person who loses his legs would have extreme difficulty functioning in the real world, a former bender would have...not much difficulty at all. They couldn't get paid to shoot lightning into power generators but they could still do every single job that a non-bender could do. And to be perfectly frank, the fact that so many people would compare not being able to shoot fire out of your fingertips with not being able to ''walk'' is offensive to me.
**** Imagine spending a decade learning to become a surgeon, only to develop a hand tremor. You're still able to function in every day life, but you can't be a surgeon anymore- ten years and $300,000+ in training and tuition down the drain. Yes, you can get a new job, but not something that will replace what you lost. You may have borrowed money and budgeted based on being a surgeon, only to find you are now only qualified for jobs that pay a third of what you were making as a surgeon.
**** I agree with the above statement. Or, if you want to talk about benders who don't have a job that relates to bending (although those people are probably pretty rare), imagine that you had one skill that you've developed because you loved doing it. You've used it for much of your life to express your feelings, to vent, and to escape from the world. Maybe a bunch of people have complimented you on it, maybe you've won competitions and received awards for it. For example, playing the piano. Suddenly, something happens that renders you unable to make the finger movements, or read any sort of musical notation. You have also lost your sense of relative pitch, so you can't play by ear. Your hand would still be mostly functional, and your eyesight would be perfectly fine. You will not be able to play the piano, but you will remember what it was like to play it and what it means to you. If I was in a similar situation, I think I would be pretty damn broken, OP. I spend a lot of time on honing my skills if I have the internal motivation, whether I have the innate talent or not. That's an emotional outlet and years of practice gone to waste.
*** But not everyone reacts like how OP describes. As one person pointed out above most people brushed it off, except Korra (who sees her whole purpose in life is to bend) and Bolin who got kidnapped. And it is scary, when you lose bending you basically become a second class citizen. Even a child who knows a little bending can manage to kill an adult who doesn't. The representatives in the city are representatives of the 4 nations (and might all be benders). The police force is made up of benders. The non-bender merchants we saw in the first episode were being oppressed by bending criminals. There is a whole sport devoted to benders. It's scary because you can't fight back against most benders unless you have training. Suddenly people are going to look down on you. In addition bending is something that is a natural part of life for some people, who practice and put effort into it. It may not cause them to not be able to make a living anymore, but it's like losing a car that you spent years working on,and then having it destroyed. So to summarize no it's not a death sentence, but it is a horrible experience and the benders are allowed to be scared at the prospect of having it taken away.
*** So far every non-Equalist who's seen or been told about Amon's power has been horrified, its a pretty universal reaction.
*** Imagine a boy wants to be a writer. He has the potential. He takes classes, trains hard, and becomes a great writer. He bases his life around his writing, getting a good job as a novelist, and supporting his family. Then someone takes away his ability to write. Can't support his family now. Can't live his dream. Those years he spent learning? Wasted. Yeah, he can get another job, but it was a part of his life for decades. For a lot of people, bending is a part of their life, and many have devoted time and effort to it, and it just gets taken away, and they're left at the mercy at the people they 'oppressed.'
*** How about people like Mako and Bolin? The only thing that's barely stopping them from living on the streets or working for criminals is their pro-bending. If it were that easy for them to get legal, non-bending jobs then they probably would've gotten them instead of turning to mob activity in the first place. If Amon had taken Bolin's bending then it's likely that the Fire Ferrets would be out of a job and forced into poverty and likely homelessness again (it seems unlikely they could still live off of Mako's job at the power plant considering it was treated as just being a little cash on the side), and it'd be even worse if Mako lost his bending too. And that's just two people out of a whole ''city'' of benders.
** How about this for a real-life, personal analogy: I play the piano for a living. It's a combination of inherent ability (dexterity, ear, focus) and many years of training. It certainly isn't a superpower, but most people can't do it. In order to take this ability away from me, someone would merely have to break my fingers so they never healed fully-- even if they healed enough for a non-pianist to go about his/her life with no issues, I really need the full range of flexibility to keep not just my career but one of my primary enjoyments in life (which is why I had the focus to make it my career in the first place!). If that did ever happen, would I be able to get another job? Sure. Would I still undergo a major, MAJOR grieving process? ...Are you kidding me? I'd be emotionally useless for months. And if I was actually conscious while somebody restrained me and then deliberately broke all of my fingers for that exact purpose? "Blubbering pile of jelly" seems about right as a reaction to me.
*** This is also pretty much what happened to Comicbook/DoctorStrange. He was a gifted surgeon before he suffered nerve damage to his hands which meant he could never safely operate on anyone again (in most depictions they have a small but uncontrollable tremor). He didn't really recover from this until he found a new calling (or rather, the call found him) as the Sorcerer Supreme.
* Another way of viewing this as of episode 4: Think of the ability to Bend as virginity. While people are perfectly fine living without it, having it forcefully taken away can be a very, ''very'' bad experience.
** Yeah, while the show obviously can't go there its pretty clear that removing a person's bending is basically spiritual rape. On top of that its an attack on the person's cultural identity that they can never reclaim and it forces them to find a new job (so far every bender we've seen who isn't a politician needs their bending to work).
** I see it like this. One day someone pours bleach in your eyes. You have no permanent damage to your vision except you're colorblind[[hottip:*:As in like a dog see only in black in white colorblind]]. You can never experience the world the same way again.
*** I was confused at first, but not by the characters' reactions to the notion of bending being taken away, but from the act itself. What is so terrifying about it? I was expecting public executions, or beatings, or something. It reminded me of the copout that Aang took in the end of the first series, in order to have the show be acceptable for kids, a way to downplay violence for the network executives. But then I began to think. With the rapish scene with Korra, and some of these arguments, I think I understand now. Someone reaching into you and permanently altering you is a lot like forced castration or even rape. It won't affect your role in society afterward, but it is still disturbing and highly violating. My theory that for the characters in universe itself, it isn't the aftermath that is terrifying to them, but the act itself. It's like getting a tooth pulled. They're more afraid of Amon mind-raping and violating them than the repercussions afterward. It's more primal than logical. While getting a tooth pulled, or a vasectomy, or even castrated, shouldn't inherently cause fear in us, the pain and humiliation of the process, and the disturbing nature of the process itself is what causes the fear. So the fact that they seemingly overreact is actually what should be expected. So while some people have argued the other way around (the process is quick and painless, while the aftermath is crushing and life-altering and depressing) I think I see it the other way around. The act is painful, humiliating, confusing, and terrifying, while eventually they would get over the fact that they could no longer bend. What would you think if a sociopath with a ton of resources and dedicated followers could at his discretion have you kidnapped and then publicly violate a deep spiritual part of you? It's more hysteria, apprehension, and paranoia than anything. The fear stems from the fact that they DON'T know what it's like to be a non-bender, and the build-up of that paranoia, combined with Amon's sadistic methods of taking that away from them. If I'm right, then in my mind the way the show handled this not only redeems my initial judgments, but may just bump it up to fridge brilliance.
** It's essentially rape. Rape on a spirtual scale, and the benders are being told they deserved it.
** First it was not a "copout" in the original series, how could a thirteen year old pacifist ever really be comfortable to commit murder for any reason and we already saw various deaths on screen and heavly implied before hand. Energybending is easily comparable to a spiritual form of rape but if the process is painful why doesn't anyone ever scream or make a painful sound of any kind? Zolt didn't and Tahno seemed to just go into shock. What seems to scare benders most of all is the idea of living without their bending since Tahno sounded devastated when he told Korra that it was even after visiting "every healer in the city" he still couldn't bend. This is a form of rape which can take away something that they consider their very "Identity" is in extreme cases such as the avatar,or a pro-bending champ,or a crime boss with many bending enemies known for his primary skill, or even just a bender who only knows how to make an honest living through his bending. For them, regardless how "overeacting" some people may view it, Amon's ability to take away their bending with his own energybending is a fate worse than death, because it means he IS killing a part of who they are and they can't just "adjust and move on" after suffering something as traumatic as that.
* Personally, I compare it to having a talent. Like myself, I have a talent for drawing, i've had for it as long as I can remember. It's part of what makes me, ''me.'' I draw. Now, is it NECESSARY? is it genuinely important to my physical being? is my life completely halted if I never do it again? honestly, the answer to all of that...is no. I can do other jobs sure, and I can live a life fine without it. ''But'' ...I wouldn't be who I am today, if I didn't. If I were to have someone suddenly go...I'm not cutting off your left arm, but I ''am'' killing your ability to make pretty pictures with it! forever! Or for other examples, if you're an athlete- and you've been one for forever and suddenly it just vanished from you (but you still have all of your limbs and motor functions intact, you just suddenly can't do sports), or a mathematical prodigy who suddenly can't solve simple arithmetic. I'd be scared shitless. It's part of what I am, something that makes me unique if at the very least, to myself. I could understand having something like that happen to be a very frightening prospect indeed. Sure by OUR standards, they're superpowers...but not for THEM, no, for benders it's part of who they are, even if they're asses (in which case its deserved, but still). Remember, you can't look at something like this through ''our'' perspective in the ''real'' world, because in the world of Avatar this is something that's part of the very fabric of everything.
* The trauma of a former bender can be seen in this [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O1Beqq3_9yw&feature=relmfu clip]]. He's clearly still trying to process the change and lost in his abilities.
* It's been stated before here, but having one's bending removed is akin to having one's talent and identity permanently altered. For example: Let's just say that there's this talented violin virtuoso. He's exceptionally skilled. He's had years of training and tutoring. He was even top of his class of some music college! But, let's just say that he gets into an accident that renders his hand completely useless. Now he can no longer play the violin.
* Also, what the OP seems to be forgetting is that bending has a spiritual component; what this means is that bending is literally tied up in a bender's being, it's an integral part of their identity and soul. Therefore, taking away someone's bending is to tear away, not something akin to a limb, but something akin to a piece of their very being. Amon isn't waving his hands and magically taking away Peter Parker's mutant ability to shoot webbing and climb walls; he's raping your soul and castrating it, and he's doing it in front of a jeering crowd who think you deserve it.
* Bending is not simply the ability to control the elements, it is the user using his spiritual power to bend them to his will(hence the name). When one's a victim of Energybending, one ''LITERALLY'' loses a piece of one's self. Look at the victims of it so far(Ozai, Lightning Bolt Zolt and Tahno). They're more than distraught, they're downright ''DEFEATED''. They have literally had their very ''soul'' violated. This gives Energybending a much more urgent and sinister quality. I certainly can't see Aang ever doing it again. He only used it on Ozai because to him the alternative(killing Ozai) was even worse in his mind, but he can't possibly have not felt regret over it, especially since he actually made contact with Ozai's very essence when he did it. He sure as hell didn't teach it to anybody. If Amon's Energybending is legit, [[NightmareFuel then him using it so casually takes on a whole other level of horrifying]].
* I thought of the whole conflict as basically a form of [[HisDarkMaterials Intercision]], with a person's bending (both spiritual and physical) being such an integral part of them it's essentially part of their soul. It's not like losing a limb, it's like losing a bit of who you are, a piece of your soul! Add the distinctly rape-y tones to the horror the Intercision subjects feel (remember Lyra's reaction in the first book!) and you have one utterly terrifying concept. Yikes.
* Remember that benders are born, not made. Though skill is accrued through training, the ability is innate. A bender probably knows he or she is a bender from earliest childhood. They have likely no conception whatsoever what it is like not to have the ability. To them bending is not some "superpower", it is a normal ability, and just because they can intellectual know that others do not have that ability, it doesn't mean necessarily that emotionally they wouldn't be terrified of losing it themselves. Some of them would very likely view it as a form of mutilation, others would certainly experience it like being crippled. For still others it might be a milder form of fear, the like fear of a world-class sprinter or athlete might have of an injury that prevents them from competing in their specialty anymore, even if otherwise they are still able to function normally (imagine what Peyton Manning might have been feeling in the early phases of his neck injury), and still others might not be all that afraid of losing their bending. It is enough for Amon's purposes that ''some'' benders are terrified of losing their bending. It doesn't have to be all.
* A lot of arguments are made that bending can't be equated to losing a sense like eyesight. Well, I couldn't disagree more. Bending isn't just an ability, it's also a sense, in fact, it's more sense than ability. I think the most obvious example is earthbenders... look at Toph, she 'senses' the earth, its vibrations, etc, and use their chi to influence it. Firebenders sense the sun's energy, on a metaphysical level, and use it to ignite their chi and ampligy and direct it. Waterbenders sense the tidal forces of the moon, and use it to help their chi thusly push and pull water. I'm not sure about airbenders, but a smiliar case could probably be made. Sure, it may not be a 'vital' sense, but we can't say that, none of us having them... but even if that is the case, suddenly being cut off from it would be a pretty scary thing... if more for the fact that they don't know what's it's like not to have these senses, and never have not known... if someone had ESP and was told that they were an oppressive monster and a freak, and that someone was going to take away that sense and ability from them, while a crows leered at the painful and humiliating process of it, that person would be terrified. Just because we aren't special and can't sympathize with the benders doesn't mean we can't empathize for what's clearly a violation of civil rights.
** Everyone seems bsessed with bending beeing comparable to eyesight, so lets look at Toph again. Removing her bending would leave her completely helpless, because she never had to be truly "blind". She has no idea how to deal wih it, just ike a normal person would. In keeping with the OP, how would Toph react to her bending being nullified?
*** There was a season 3 episode where they were at a village where everything was on raised wooden platforms. She's seem constantly holding onto someone. Like that.
* How has no one brought up yet that taking away someone's bending is downright ''impossible''? So far everyone's compared it to you losing your eyesight/talent/whatever or having someone break your fingers/chop off your legs. These people aren't just losing their bending though. Amon ''takes'' their bending away. Imagine if someone had the power to ''steal'' your eyesight. How does that even work? You don't lose your eyes in an accident, or get blinded by acid or a crippling disease, you have someone actively take away your vision through some spiritual process you don't even understand that is physically impossible. Absolutely no one other than the Avatar has shown to have an ability like this, and even then, there's only one real incident of something like this happening, which required the full power of the Avatar State. Now all of a sudden this completely normal man shows up with the ability to do the impossible: take away someone's bending. Even without the aftermath and feelings of the victim to take into consideration, most people's reactions to having their bending taken away would at some point require them to ponder just HOW this is even possible. And now that Equalists are beginning to develop technology that makes them superior to these now defenseless former-benders, becoming one of Amon's victims must be the most terrifying experience anyone in the Avatar world could possibly face.
** Well... duh, that's kind of the point? That's why so many people wonder if it's the real deal. That's why Tenzin says that only Aang had that ability. It's a big part of the mystery surrounding Amon.
** The first thing Tenzin says on hearing about it is, "But that's impossible!" But, apparently, it's happening repeatedly, and by all appearances is genuine. So it's clearly not impossible. Why would you expect people to keep going, "But that's impossible!" when they can and do see the evidence for it right in front of them on several occasions?
*** The point being made here was that we've made lots of arguments for why benders are afraid of having their bending away, but even if losing your bending wasn't that big a deal, the fact that someone is able to take their bending away using a method that up until now has been completely impossible but is still happening somehow, that alone should be more than enough reason for benders to fear losing their bending. Imagine what other "impossible" things Amon could be capable of.
* It's also possible to view losing bending similar to a person with an IQ of 130 getting knocked down to 100. Sure, you'd still be 'normal'...but it wouldn't be normal ''for you''. You'd have lost something integral to your life and your identity, something that made your life better and let you have a greater impact on the world.
* First, it's a part of you. You are raised with it. Your techniques rely on it. Your philosophy is probably built on it. How you use it makes you you. Would you want it taken from you? Would you want this special quality that makes you different or unique ripped away from you? Would you want the people taking it away from you to be telling you that you deserve it?
** Second, they are not just taking your you-ness but your soul. They have to reach into your mind, overpower your will, and dig it out. Reaching deep, very deep. Forcefully, inflicting much emotional and psychological pain.
** Third, it would be used to establish your way of life. And then you have it ripped from you. Work directing lightning for a factory? Not any more! Mining for a living? Not any more! Healing the sick, injured, and abused? Not any more! And these are the obvious ones. Artisans would be more hard-pressed.
** Fourth, the power is impossible so how could it be happening to you? Imagine that Superman crashed into your house, stared you in the eyes, blasted your hands off with his heat-beams, and spit in your face. Would you sleep at night, knowing that you are not safe. If he really wanted, Superman could kill you. But he's having his fun watching you suffer instead. But then you get boring so he crashes in while you are asleep and flattens your head like a pancake or smashes it like a pumpkin.
** Fifth, from that...The only form of protection you had is now gone! Your family is doomed. You, who protected them, cannot protect them any more. Sure, you may have martial arts skills but they were to supplement the bending and your natural weaknesses were covered by the bending. You could be a safe distance away, giving more freedom and safety but now you need to go in close. Oh, and they can get weapons that can knock you out and even kill you so you don't want to get close on the chance that they have such a weapon. And these are just the basics of why losing one's bending is a 'fate worse than death' if not an actual death sentence.
*** If not being a bender is a '''death sentence''' for you and everyone you love its really hard to see Amon as the bad guy anymore...
**** It's not just being a non-bender, it's ''becoming'' a non-bender. Non-benders know how to survive without bending but benders [[CripplingOverspecialization don't]]. Someone who's born blind (think [[HandicappedBadass Toph]]) knows how to get around that, but someone who lived their whole lives relying on their sight then suddenly losing it would be totally lost.
* The OP's argument seems to completely skim over the fact that having your banding ''forcefully removed by Amon'' is MindRape, and all the horrors implied. Also notice how no benders actually volunteer for this procedure. It's one thing to choose to be de-powered for the good of society, it's another to be rounded up, tied and blindfolded, shoved in front of a man in a creepy mask and then have him break in to your mind and rip away a part of you which is part of your identity.
** Having your bending removed I think would be more like a stroke than loosing a sense or limb. It leaves you able to do some things and function, but you would no longer be able to do one thing you used to be able to do, for example ''read''. Oh you can still see writing and letters, but you won't be able to recognize that those abstract shapes represent sounds. What's worse you ''know'' you you used to be able to understand it. The human brain is amazing and can sometimes rewire itself to do what was lost by repurposing other parts of the brain. But that part that was blocked is still dead, and will never work again. To return to LoK, since Amon has blocked off the portion of the mind/body/spirit that focuses the chi energy it can't be healed like a brain. Only someone else able to bend energy is able to reverse it.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Changes in bending; Secret lightning? What's that?]]
Going back 60 years lightning bending was a secret ultra dangerous tech. Only Ozai and Azula were shown to consistently being able to use it. Come present day, oh, well, even a random crime boss can do it. In fact they use whole rows of lightning benders in the power plant to generate the city's electricity. Did they discovered a cheap and safe way to do it that don't risk instant death if they don't channel it correctly or something?
* Lightning isn't dangerous, it's difficult. You're thinking of lightning redirection, which can be fatal if done wrong.
* I don't think lightning was ever implied to be a secret technique.
** It was. Only three people were confirmed to be capable of it in ''[[AvatarTheLastAirbender The Last Airbender]]''. However, nothing stays secret forever, and it only takes one teacher to let masses learn the technique.
* Alternatively, maybe it was once illegal or taboo for anyone to generate lightning except the royal family. Before Iroh developed his secret redirection technique, lightning was a guaranteed one-shot kill ability. If there's no prohibition on non-royals using lightning in Agni Kais -- and while admittedly Azula wasn't in her right mind while battling her brother, ''Zuko himself'' was counting on her blasting him with lightning -- then what's to stop some ambitious quick-drawing admiral from [=KOing=] the Fire Lord in a duel using lightning if not some legal or social restriction? Before, lightning could be excused as just a really difficult technique that only top-tier benders could do, but now we know it's not. It's in fact common enough that Mako can get hired off the street to do some work at the power plan for a decent but not outrageous wage. So a legal/social restriction makes more sense pre-[=LoK=], and by [=LoK's=] time those restrictions don't exist anymore for whatever reason. Like the United Republic having different laws and morals, or Iroh's redirection technique diminishing lightning's lethal potential, or just simple practicality in an age where electricity is widely used.
* Zuko co-founded Republic city and the influence of fire nation technology is rampant. His expertise in lightning as well as his more peaceful mindset as well access to minds like Sokka would have gone a long way into finding more appropriate uses for it, giving civilians a reason to learn it. It's connected to the change from spiritual to scientific. Lighting as a rare art to a source of energy.
* Just look at metalbending in comparison: it goes from exactly ''one'' user to an entire police force's worth in the same time period. Lightning is an already established subset of firebending; if metalbending can become that commonplace, so can lightning.
** Especially considering that more people would have incentive to learn the ability as it became more needed. The power plants pay firebenders to shoot lightning into generators, and according to Mako, it's good money.
* Think of it like basic algebra in the real world. As a society advances and the free exchange of information becomes easier, arts that used to be limited to a select few become more common place.
* Whether or not lightning bending was ever a "secret" isn't really an issue. But... wasn't it previously implied to be ''so freaking difficult'' that it ''automatically'' signified a degree of mastery that the overwhelming majority of fire benders would never attain? If so, that it's now so easy to pick up as to be used by factory workers is a problem. The situation with metal bending is rather different, in that while the technique may have taken centuries to discover, there was never any implication that it would be particularly hard for Toph to pass on.
** Things thought to be difficult once are not always necessarily so. Lightning, as it was taught in the Fire Nation before, came from the "wrong" teachings of using anger as strength. If the technique was refined and taught the Sun Warrior way, it would doubtless be easier to achieve the state of mind necessary to do it.
** Things that used to be impossibly difficult became everyday matters as the society and technology developed. Once knowing how to read was practically a superpower, but now everybody is taught how to do it. It's only a matter of more focused, standardized education that allowed masters to teach large numbers of pupils for the first time, also without the traditional habit of keeping some techniques secret. And those pupils go on to teach even more people, and before you know it, what was once a secret, ultra-rare technique is available for everybody.
** Another possibility is that NOT all firebenders can master lightning, but the teachings are there or available to the general public. Remember, in ATLA, Zuko had access to the way the technique was performed too, but was unable to control his own emotions enough to actually shoot lightning. This could be the case for regular citizens "now" as well--they might understand the theory but can't do it in practice. Mako says his job at the plant makes 'good money.' Presumably it makes good money because it's a difficult skill that not everybody CAN do, which means they'd pay extra to find firebenders skilled enough to supply electricity. Not at all unlike modern-day jobs that give employees with more experience bigger paychecks.
* One of the reasons why Lightning Bending was rare in ATLA was because the ''teaching'' of it was restricted. It was basically a secret taught only to the Fire Nation Royal Family, and jealously guarded. But at the end of ATLA, what happens? One of the world's greatest masters of Lightning Bending moves to the Earth Kingdom and sets up a tea shop in the capital city, and the taboo against teaching the technique widely probably falling by the wayside as a result of Zuko's reign (and the possibility that Iroh may well have simply decided to ignore such a taboo), and the prevalence of Lightning Bending by Korra's time would easily have been the natural consequence of Iroh deciding to freely teach it in a years immediately after the end of ATLA.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Why don't benders learn chi-blocking?]]
Given the threat posed by Equalist chi-blockers, one would think that at least some benders might decide it is a good idea to learn the skill themselves. Even if there is no direct way of nullifying the effects, ''knowing'' what chi-points are being targeted and ''knowing'' the hand-to-hand techniques used to attack those points should help benders defend themselves in combat. And then there is the potential of ''combining'' chi-blocking techniques with bending. Think about the combat potential, for benders fighting other benders, of targeting chi-points from a distance, striking them with a stone or a small piece of ice, for example. It would be a great equalizer for a skilled-but-weak bender, who cannot move large amounts of his/her element. Think how effective it would be in the hands of the metal-bending police, with their combat tentacles, when fighting the bending gangster triads. Just imagine what a blood-bender could do with knowledge of chi-blocking.
* Most Benders wouldn't know Chi-Blocking any more than any other martial art because most Benders are civilians in this day and age. As for why they don't learn Chi-Blocking, the threat of the Equalists only really came out recently so learning Chi-Blocking would require a trainer (the only ones we know of being Equalists), and the requisite time it takes to learn a martial art, which is probably a fair bit of investment of time. The Metal-Bending Police Force should definitely be taught such things, but again that will take time to find Chi-Blocking teachers who aren't with the Equalists and then train them. There might very well be Chi-Blocking benders, but they're probably not well-known enough for them to be on Republic City's payroll.
** [[spoiler: Okay, we've seen what a chi-blocking bender can do. I'm guessing a combination of chi-blocking and bloodbending can permanently shut down someone's bending.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Does the Avatar have to be "set" to be a bender to begin with?]]
Just wondering, is it possible for an avatar be the offspring of two non-benders?
* It is established that two non-benders can have a bender child, but it's strongly implied that a child has to be born a bender to be an Avatar. Korra is the only Avatar that we know of to have figured out she could bend all the elements at such a young age.
** We have no idea whether either of Korra's parents is a Bender or not, at least as far as I've been able to tell.
*** [[http://botanymajor95.tumblr.com/post/22159766256/swagbot9001-legend-of-korra-lineage-family They both are]]
* Whether the Avatar's parents both need to be benders has never been commented by WordOfGod.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Can Metalbenders not Earthbend?]]
During the fight with the Equalist mechs, we see Korra earthbend to throw chunks of the floor at one mech. You would think a group of elite benders like Lin and the Metalbenders would've thought to earthbend to knock the mech off their feet or combo bend to throw giant chunks of floor at them. They don't (and seemingly forgot last week's lesson that their metal makes them easy pickings for the Equalists' shock weapons). Are Metalbenders so specialized that they simply can't do standard earthbending anymore? And this is a take that gets thrown into more confusion when you take into account Lin using her mom's trademark "bending as 'sight'" trick. So either we have a case of CripplingOverspecialization or an egregious case of ForgotAboutHisPowers.
* They can. I wondered the same thing until I noticed that they bend a little earth at their feet to be able to pull the mechas. Not that it helped them much. Why they didn't just bend the earth under the mechas is beyond me. It would have been an interesting demonstration of not just the metalbenders' power, but also Korra's power. Here's the chance to do some destructive large-scale bending. From a meta pov, it was probably to set up Asami's character development.
* This may be a case of FridgeBrilliance. The police are specifically trained not to cause unnecessary collateral damage with their Earthbending, and stick to their metal whips and small, precise chunks of earth and metal. They're police officers, not soldiers, after all, and are expected to use nonlethal force if at all possible, and protect people's property, not destroy it.
** Agreed. I expect that the next time Metalbenders, or at least Lin, face off against the mechas, they'll be better prepared and willing to take off the kid gloves, so the fight will be more even.
* The episode, "When Extremes Meet," confirms that yes the police can indeed earth bend.
* After reading the first two parts of The Promise (which shows the beginning of Toph's Metalbending Academy), we see that Toph found people who had potential to be Metalbenders but didn't even seem to know any Earthbending. It's very possible that they train exclusively in Metalbending, and neglect Earthbending. In "When Extremes Meet" all of the Metalbending cops Earthbend in sync. Maybe they're just more comfortable Metalbending, or just not very good individually with Earthbending.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Are we supposed to believe benders are better people than non-benders?]]
Because that seems to be what the show is pushing for.
Asami has been one significant non-bender who wasn't evil (Pema is pretty tangiental) whereas non-benders are apparently onboard with massive acts of terrorism due to nothing more than a few gangs on the streets and a few dicks in sports arenas. The conflict they tried to set up in the first few episodes falls apart when everyone who can't bend is over the top evil and benders are almost never shown doing bad things (the Triads in the first episode are the only benders we've actually ''seen'' doing something criminal).
* So {{smug snake}}s like Tarrlok and Tahno don't count as "bad?"
** To be fair, those two are nuisances, not villains. The worst they have done is political mudslinging and sport-fixing respectively, which is hardly "evil" evil.
*** Not anymore. As of 'When Extreme's Meet', Tarlock is now Evil with a big fat capital E.
**** Tahno still didn't do anything wrong enough to warrant villain status though.
* 100 year war. That's one hundred years of fire benders abusing their power. Don't forget just how easy it is to kill someone with bending. Or extort them. There's a reason the revolution has followers.
** Basically, the series and franchise as a whole has done a good job of showing that benders, like anyone else, can be real assholes. Just in this series, benders have killed Mako and Bolin's parents and Asami's mother and those three are main characters. It's not on-screen, but it's not exactly out of focus, either.
* In fact I'm hoping the writers dare to show how an extremism can lead to another. Something like the appearance of a violent group of benders who want to purify the city no-benders.
** Personally, this is what might be happening as of 'When Extremes Meet', what with Tarlock cutting off power, enforcing a curfue, and basically accusing anyone who's a non-bender of being an Equalist conspirator and arresting them for interrogation. From my perspective, as of now, it seems like Tarlock is going to be of a 'Bender Superiority' train of thought, which is the almost-direct opposite to Amon's ('Bender's are scum who abuse their powers'). Or he could just be a simple extremist who believe that the end justifies the means, and sees nothing wrong in his treatment of non-benders as long as it gets rid of equalists in the end. Of course, We'll simpley have to wait and see.
* I don't think that's the case. Remember that the original series wasn't totally black and white. There were bad guys in the Earth Kingdom and the Northern Water Tribe was sexist- yet those were the "[[AntiHero hero]]" [[GoodIsNotNice nations]]. Iroh, Zuko, Piandao, Joeng Joeng, Mai, and Ty Lee were from the [[ANaziByAnyOtherName Fire nation]] and they were all heroes in the end. The same can be said here: there are heroic benders and heroic non-benders; there are villianous benders and villianous non-benders. Also, you're overstating the issue. Gangs can be ''extremely'' violent and dangerous, especially if there are a lot of them and they have a powerful advantage over that averasge nonbender. Not all non-benders support the Equalists (Asami Sato? Shiro Shinobi?); Amon mentions that some nonbenders don't support the Equalists, WordOfGod states that the Protestor's parents are fine with benders, and Asami flat out states that being a non-bender does not mean being an Equalist (sympathizer). Overall the point Bryke is trying to make is this: what you do is more important than where you come from or what group you belong to; we all have the potential for good or evil.
** The problem is that none of this bad stuff from benders ends up on screen. Mentioning that gangs are around doing bad things has much less emotional impact than watching Korra getting dragged into a darkened room by dozens of chi-blockers. There's obviously a conflict going on ''in the setting'' but the story is being told in such a way that sympathy can only possibly lie with benders.
*** They haven't just been mentioning it. In the very first episode we see for ourselves a group of benders trying to extort money from a (presumably non-bender) shop owner, threatening to burn his shop down if he didn't pay them.
**** As the OP said that has been the ''only scene'' with benders abusing their powers. We're more than halfway through the first season now.
*** Well, the protagonists ''are'' in large part benders, so of course the sympathy lies with them. But it's also true that neither benders or non-benders are being portrayed as monolithic forces of good or evil - to see it as an "us vs them" scenario is to make the same fundamental mistake as the Equalists. I think the compressed seasons compared to ATLA have hurt ''Korra'''s world-building; Bryke did the best they could to set up the conflict, but with only 12 episodes in the season they had to get things moving. Even so, it's there if you look that between the Triads, other benders lording it over non-benders, and the all-bender ruling council (only five people in that giant hall? What happened?), the Equalists do have a point about bender oppression and advantage. It's just as clear that Amon's revolution is an overreaction and that many benders would prefer a more harmonious society without undue advantages based on bending. Amon's methods are wrong, but so is his core point: that all benders look down on and oppress their non-powered fellows. Many do, but not all, so being a bender does not make you a bad person (nor does being a non-bender).
*** Responding to the above poster's part about not having enough episodes to to world-building: In my opinion, that's what fans get for complaining about filler. Even the worst fillers in the last series made the world and characters fuller (with the exception of The Great Divide).
*** Two things: One, it's still a kids' show, meaning as ambiguous as the conflict might actually be, they're going to skew it toward black and white, which means if the heroes are benders, they're not going to show a whole lot of badguy benders. Hell, in the original series, how long was it until we really got to see non-antagonist Firebenders besides Jeong Jeong? And he was made out to be a major exception.\\\
The other thing is, on some level they don't have to show Benders being oppressive, because the evidence of it is in the strength of the equalists--Amon isn't drumming up hundreds of people in support just by being persuasive. It must be a genuine issue for a lot of people. I'm betting if there's a second or third season, that's what they'll focus on.
* Don't forget that it is only about halfway into the first season. A common story-telling trick is spend some time setting up your audience's expectations going one way, and then, once your audience has gotten comfortable with that and come to accept that this is just the way things are in your fictional world, you pull the rug out and reverse it. The dramatic punch is much stronger that way if properly done, and it is an excellent way of dropping anvils subtly.
* Well, Tarrlok is established as a villain now.
* The problem with this black and white view is that it ignores the larger Avatar world. We know of bender oppression very well because we saw The Last Airbender. The Fire Nation and the Dai Li both used bending to oppress and control people at one time or another. We have also seen the Triad and we know of the people killed by “A Firebender” so clearly there is plenty of evil benders. If you look at just what we see in The Legend of Korra you are missing the point. RuleOfPerception is at work. We are not seeing “the benders vs. the non-benders” we are seeing “The Krew, the Council, and the police vs. The Equalists.” They are two very different things. From what we have seen The Equalists probably number somewhere in the thousands but there are tens if not hundreds of thousands more non-benders in Republic City. The non-benders we are seeing are the one’s who are being the villains and the benders we are seeing (besides the Triad and now Tarrlok) are the ones acting as the heroes. We have seen non-benders who do not support the equalists and we have seen evil benders. We are just not seeing them much because they are not the focus of the story. In fact “When Extremes Meet” is basically an answer to this view by showing that Tarrlok is going too far and acting just like Amon with his military state response. Tarrlok arresting all of the protesters is treated as a horrible action because it is explicitly stated that not all non-benders are Equalists. We have a man who wants to remove all bending fighting a man who sees all non-benders as enemies. If there ever was any truth to the statement that we never see benders doing bad things it certainly doesn’t hold ground any longer.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Why don't firebenders resist bloodbending by bending their breath into flames?]]
Bloodbending somebody in a way that isn't intended to kill means the victim is still breathing, which in turn means that a firebender could still breathe flames.
* Does Korra look like she's having an easy time breathing or doing anything when she's being bloodbent?
** Not to mention that even breath-bending flames requires a certain type of movement, and you can't do that if you can't move your chest.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: How does bloodbending knock people out?]]
Bloodbending controls people by waterbending the fluids in the body. Maybe I don't know enough biology, but I don't see how this could cause someone to go unconscious.
* There's any number of ways complete control over a person's muscles could be used to render them unconscious. Choking, for starters.
* Stop or slow the flow of blood to their brain. Cause a cardiac event.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: How widespread is metalbending?]]
It was all fine and dandy when there was a metalbending police-force, it seemed to be common enough not to worry about it going extinct like airbending nearly did, but now [[spoiler: Amon has more or less taken over and captured captured the metalbenders and even Lin, who's left to teach it?]]
* Lin may not be able to bend anymore, but she still knows the principles of the art. She's ''the'' master of it. There's a good chance she could still be able to teach. Although, personally, I don't believe she'll stay de-bent, anyway.
** I'm thinking the same thing (Lin's too awesome to stay depowered), though I am worried how anticlimactic it would be for everyone to get their bending back, and it would sort of ruin her sacrifice there.
*** Maybe next season would have people either find a way to get their bending back though this would take some time or learn to live with it? Now I'm wondering if there's going to be major character developments next season.
* It would be foolish assume that all the metalbenders in the world are even in the Republic City. Ba Sing Se and Omashu would be foolish not to have their own metalbending forces at this age of industry and steel.
* I was given the impression that metalbending was reserved for the police, is there anywhere that says it spreads further afield than that?
** Other countries besides the United Republic have police forces, too. And the United Republic is larger than just the Republic City. Why wouldn't Earth Kingdom cities hire retired metalbenders from Republic City to train their recruits in this incredibly useful art, even if they didn't actively seek to spread the skill as wide as possible?
* I think that once a kind of bending is "discovered" that's an extension of a kind of bending that already exists, there will always be someone to continue the tradition. It's not like airbending that would disappear completely. All you need to know about metal bending is that there are impurities in metal you can bend. All you need to know about bloodbending is that blood is a liquid. I mean, it's more than just the knowledge, but also a particular awareness of those facts, but that can be developed.
* this troper wouldn't be too surprised to find Ba Sing Se replacing it's wallswith metal, as per the changing times. Just imagine how lucrative the entire thing could be for the metalbenders and metal manufacturers...
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Did Bloodbending Do that?]]
So, this Fridgelogic just hit me like a freight train while i was looking at Amon's character page. It says there that he used bloodbending to take away peoples bending. um...How? I mean, i'll buy that, don't get me wrong. But How? Because whatever he didn't wasn't physiological. it was spiritual. How do i know this? Because Korra/Lin's bending to be Energy-Bended back into place. Unless the avatar now contains some kind of end all be all healing touch, Energy Bending fixes a problem with the Spirit, not the body. Am i wrong? is there a WordofGod on this? Did they even say, explicitly in the show, that he used Bloodbending to take away people's bending? It's just that there's a huge gap between the last time Tarrlock saw him and the moment he became Amon. He really could've been granted the ability to Energybend by a Spirit. In fact, you'd think an evil spirit (looking at you, Koh) would be rather interested in someone who mastered the art of Bloodbending.
* Azula sealed one of Aang's chakras shut with lightning, which stopped him from going into the Avatar State. Both that and the practice of chi-blocking indicate that physical means can cut off access to bending abilities. Presumably Amon is using bloodbending to mess around with one or more chakras and/or to affect the person's chi flow, which prevents the target from using bending.
* The physical and the mental/spiritual are deeply connected in both the avatar-verse and RealLife. I choose to look at it a bit like brain damage, which is extremely difficult to restore. Brain damage has been proven in some instances to alter even one's ''personality.'' Seeing a physical act(bloodbending) affect some spiritual aspect seems very logical to me. Conversely, bending one's spirit/chi to circumvent/heal that damage makes sense.
* OP. Okay, yeah, that makes sense. But then why couldn't Amon undo the damage he did? it stands to reason that if he could turn off the bending, he could turn it back on, right? he didn't state it outright, but he seemed to imply during his final moments that he couldn't restore Tarrlok's bending. And again, if it is physical damage, why couldn't it be healed? Azula's Lightning strike and Aang's connection to the spirit world was undone by him getting pinned to a rock, not by spirit mumbo-jumbo. And, i don't mean to sound like i'm ungrateful, but it'd honestly be kind of disappointing (to me, anyway) if that's all there was to it.
** It's a lot easier to break or destroy something than it is to fix it.
** And who said Amon ever even considered how one could undo what he did?

* Amon's bloodbending technique is basically just reverse healing. Instead of manipulating chi to heal, he simply does so to sever chi pathways/possibly parts of the nervous system. Really, it's like rudimentary energybending.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Psychic bloodbending]]
So, is the ability to bloodbend (and presumably, by extension, waterbend) using just the mind the waterbending equivalent of Combustion Man's bending "with his mind"?
* That's probably why Sokka mentioned him in the flashback. Nicely hidden foreshadowing.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: So Hama was not actually the first to discover bloodbending?]]
Yakhone tells his sons that their family has the strongest bloodbending genes in history, if I heard right? Perhaps this is why explains why they had to make it illegal. At some point they discovered the skill was more widespread than anyone thought. And it's pretty positive Hama could not have taught anyone while living in the Fire Nation during the War.
* Well actually he uses the phrase "strongest line of bloodbenders". Doesn't this mean that bloodbending has been around for a long time? Wonder how they kept it secret.
* It's most likely Yakone was a genius, waterbending's equivalent of Toph. This also fits in with how he managed to teach the technique to his sons, just like how Toph was able to teach metalbending to the police.
** Or how Sokka managed to get a blind Toph to create a Mini-Mecha out of fire nation armor.
* Yakone may have just been bragging about the genes. As for being the first, Hama was the first known user of bloodbending, an art Katara made sure to be illegal from then on. And that's only possible if at some point it had become a major crime weapon. Perhaps there were other criminals like the Triad gangs who started using it.
* However Yakhone remains the first person to develop psychic bloodbending and use it without a full moon. It doesn't rule it out the possibility of his ancestors using ordinary bloodbending.
* I had noticed this, and after this scene, I decided that bloodbening was probably a little-known skill or one that wasn't talked about much (because why would you want to spread the idea), and it's what gave Hama the idea to bloodbend. I'm fairly certain she never says she invented the skill, but was probably the only prisoner willing and not broken enough to try to escape with it. With Katara, it probably became more widely-known, and was then made illegal.
* For one, Yakone was probably exaggerating about coming from a family with strong bloodbending genes. Its likely that once Katara and the Gaang made bloodbending illegal that the story of Hama got passed down until someone thought "Hey, what if I tried to do that!" and Yakone experimented with the bending style until he became skilled enough to do it without the full moon.
** Why would they make it illegal if the gaang and Hama were the only ones to understand what is was at all? Unless other villains figured it out too? You make something illegal that no one knows about, it would just give people ideas would it not? And why would Katara make it more well known? It's likely that bloodbending was outlawed in response to it becoming more widespread. Yakhone would have been at his prime when the gang was just learning (looking at the age difference), so he must have been developing his skill then or would do so shortly. It might be that there were mysterious incidents of people puppets in the Northern Tribes and eventually in Republic City, until Katara recognized it and declared it illegal.
*** It's not unlikely that other people figured it out too. Also, as I mentioned in the Fridge page, keep various (real life) legal provisions in mind that make it illegal to punish someone for conduct that does not constitute a crime. (Article 7 of the European Convention on Human Rights for example.) The sentence you get for bloodbending matches the severity of the crime. However, if bloodbending wasn't illegal, they could only charge him with misuse of bending or something like that. (Assuming Republic City has such a provision, which I do.)

[[folder: How can lightning benders power an entire city?]]
How could humans continuously generate that much power without any breaks in supply? And how many humans would that need? How could they control voltage and current? A thermal power plant seems a much more possible alternative. A hydro electric plant also wouldn't be impossible.
* It's never said lightning benders power the entire city. The Avatar World probably has various methods of generating power, just like our world has, with lightning benders being just one of them.
* Provided they've already invented power turbines, waterbenders, metalbenders, and regular firebenders (via steam generation), could also contribute power to the city.

[[folder:What happened to the North Pole?]]
More specifically, the Northern Water Tribe. The first series showed it to be a relatively large place with a design similar to Venice, Italy. Yet when we see it in Taarlok's flashback story, it's comparable to what we saw of the Southern Water Tribe back in "The Boy in the Iceberg". And considering it's only ever referred to as ''the'' Northern Water Tribe, there seems to be no indication it would be some sort of outpost town or settlement.
* Is there any actual reason to believe it ''wasn't'' some sort of outpost town or settlement?
* Yeah. The Northern Water Tribe is just the name of the whole tribe, like the Zulu. Just because the Zulu are referred by a common tribe name doesn't mean they all live in the same city.
* The Northern Water Tribe we saw was one after 100 years of war--a fortification made for defense. At the time, yes, that was probably where the entire Tribe lived--but after the war ended and the danger of Fire Nation soldiers attacking and abducting people was gone, it makes sense that they would expand into other settlements.

[[folder:Magic plastic surgery?]]
I couldn't have been the only one who noticed. But Tarrlok looks just like his father post surgery.
* I think its okay to assume that Realism was abadoned for the sake of symbolism here. While Tarrlok look more like Yakone post-surgery, Noatak looks more like Yakone pre-surgery which is a neat contrast between the brothers.
* And it's not like Tarrlok ''doesn't'' look like Yakone even pre-surgery. People were pointing out the resemblance before the twist was ever revealed. He just happens to look slightly ''more'' like him post-surgery.
** Yep; see [[http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m50a7vyXCi1qlg334.jpg pre-surgery Yakone]] and [[http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m50a89w6tl1qlg334.jpg Adult Tarrlok]]
[[/folder]]



[[folder: How does the "water hold" work?]]
Can someone explain the logic of the "water rope" used by Tarrlok to [[http://piandao.org/panshots/tlok/tlok1x08-panshot13.png restrain Asami]] in episode 8? This move appeared in [[AvatarTheLastAirbender the first series]], too, and I didn't get it then either.
* I assume he freezes it around her arm, but keeps it otherwise liquid for more flexibility. I guess it's kind of similar to the water whip.
* I don't think it has to do with freezing. I think because he's continuously bending it, it keeps it shape so that she can't yank her wrist through the water.
[[/folder]]



[[folder: The "Balance Patch" that is the Law in Republic City]]
* The Avatar is a focal point of balance towards goodness and the right choices in the world at large, which includes the city. Because of this, and the major role she plays in restoring balance and order to the world as they are fated to do, they are given a great deal of leeway. This is no longer the case, and that severely gimps Korra's overall effectiveness for very pedantic reasons. Benders should have the right to defend themselves, as should non-benders. So I'm not entirely seeing the law as helpful or beneficial to the long-run to the city, much less to her job. They would only serve to get in her way.
** That worked back in the old days. In an industrialized nation, Korra's antics are nearly as harmful as helpful, and she is not omniscient. The police are there to cover what she can't, which is basically everything except the occasional random incident.
*** Of course, but if they are putting their foot down and preventing the Avatar from doing what the Avatar does, they're as much a threat to the balance as they could be a help. I'm not speaking about stopping mafia here-which Korra, as the Avatar and a lot of precedent behind her from Kiyoshi and Aang, should be allowed to do-this can get much worse; what if they decide that restoring balance would cause too much instability within the city?
*** If Korra's keeping with the law, which should be entirely reasonable, then they have no reason to object. Tenzin could also extend some political protection if he needs to.
*** Um, where's it ever said that the law prohibits bending in any way? Or that benders can't defend themselves? The problem with Korra's actions in the first episode is more that she wrecked up the street, and that she was acting as a vigilante, not just that she was acting as a bender or the Avatar.
*** Precisely. Tenzin and the White Lotus may be sitting on museum pieces, but if Korra were allowed to inflict property damage at her own vigilante discretion, she'd deplete their operating budget in a matter of weeks...heck, the lack of HeroInsurance could be mined for a subplot.
*** It's all part of the deconstruction that is going on. As of now, there is no need for Avatar-involvement. Having Korra wreck the place is not necessary. It's an era of peace. I am sure that as the plot progresses, there will be a need for Korra to act as the Avatar to the world. But as of now, there isn't.
** This is hilarious. Its exactly the sort of political insanity that probably exists in the setting. The crime wasn't "bending" (though benders might well think of it that way) it was "blowing up other people's stuff and attacking the police". You shouldn't get away with destroying buildings just because you happened to do it with superpowers. I imagine that's exactly the mentality that has Equalist sympathizers scared.
*** I wouldn't be surprised to see merchants whose property she destroyed at an Equalist rally in the future, given that the reason anyone pays protection money is out of fear for their lives and livelihoods. Ironically, Korra may have done by accident what the Triple Threat Triads [[ShameIfSomethingHappened threaten to do]] when they go unpaid, and as a result some struggling business owners might just find themselves looking for a nice bush to sleep under.
*** The perfect opportunity for the return of the [[RunningGag Cabbage Seller]]!
*** Actually, Tenzin said that he would pay for the damages.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Is the first part of the title "Avatar" or "The Last Airbender"?]]
The latter appears in the official trailer, but it makes no sense. Could it have been an error?
* You can blame James Cameron for that. He got lawyer-happy when he found out his precious "avatar" title was already being used by someone else.
* Is that a fact (that James Cameron threatened to sue them over the title of this cartoon, not the live-action film?), or a theory?
* [[SchrodingersGun Take your pick]]. The possibility of a lawsuit brings financial risk with it, since win-or-lose a lawsuit would be very expensive. [[RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgement Best to just avoid the issue altogether and move on]].
* Is it a fact that there was no official lawsuit, but they changed the title to be on the safe side, or is that just a theory?
* Apparently, Nick's application of trademark for Avatar: The Legend of Korra had an underwear company lawyer up, too, because apparently one of their lines is called "Avatar" or some shite. Basically, it's a combination of James Cameron and some underwear company being {{Attention Whore}}s, as Avatar is a pretty popular series.
* Marketing difficulties related to trademark filing/clashing: confirmed.
** How can you trademark the word Avatar? Not only did the original series start using it 5 years before the movie did, but Avatar is a religious term isn't it? From Hinduism? So how can it be trademarked?
*** The same way studios can trademark {{Glee}} and TheBigBangTheory. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe trademarks are divided by industry, area, and use. James Cameron's Avatar and Avatar: The Last Airbender are both television/movie media, so they probably feared running into problems there. You could probably set up a line of inflatable pool toys or a resturant with the name "Avatar" as long as they didn't feature Airbenders or the Na'vi. ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'' might be able to get away with it, since "Avatar" is pretty generic, but lawsuits are expensive even if you win. Or possibly, they may not fear lawsuits at all, and just want to avoid confusion for audiences.
*** "Marketing difficulties related to trademark filing/clashing: confirmed", "Or possibly, they may not fear lawsuits at all, and just want to avoid confusion for audiences." These are contradictory statements.
*** And doesn't address the fact that the cartoon was already using the word in its title for years before the movie, so obviously its sequel should have the right to keep using it.
*** It's a sad, old world, but having a right and having the resources to defend that right are two different things. Cameron basically has a bottomless purse that he could use to hire an army of lawyers. As others have noted, even if Nick has a case, it could still be too costly to make it worth their while to defend themselves from a lawsuit. So it makes sense that they'd prefer to avoid the problem altogether.
* As of the two new trailers that confirmed the premiere date as April 14th, the title (in the US) will be The Legend of Korra, and Avatar:The Legend of Korra internationally.
* Contrary to popular belief, the law never got involved on this. Cameron and Nick mutually agreed on the changes because they figured confusing the audiences was a bad idea.
** Which begs another question: "How can ''anyone'' get the two confused? Ones about giant blue cat aliens, the others about Asians with ElementalPowers, do Bryke and Cameron really think that their fanbases are severely mentally handicapped?
*** Again, I believe it's mostly for the sake of clarity. If you say you're a fan of Avatar, either one, you're always going to have to explain which one you mean. With Legend of Korra, there isn't that confusion.
*** So then why not just say "Legend of Korra" but keep the title? "The Last Airbender: Legend of Korra" makes no sense because it isn't about any last airbenders, like the first series, which was called "Avatar: The Last Airbender."

[[folder: The "Balance Patch" that is the Law in Republic City]]
* The Avatar is a focal point of balance towards goodness and the right choices in the world at large, which includes the city. Because of this, and the major role she plays in restoring balance and order to the world as they are fated to do, they are given a great deal of leeway. This is no longer the case, and that severely gimps Korra's overall effectiveness for very pedantic reasons. Benders should have the right to defend themselves, as should non-benders. So I'm not entirely seeing the law as helpful or beneficial to the long-run to the city, much less to her job. They would only serve to get in her way.
** That worked back in the old days. In an industrialized nation, Korra's antics are nearly as harmful as helpful, and she is not omniscient. The police are there to cover what she can't, which is basically everything except the occasional random incident.
*** Of course, but if they are putting their foot down and preventing the Avatar from doing what the Avatar does, they're as much a threat to the balance as they could be a help. I'm not speaking about stopping mafia here-which Korra, as the Avatar and a lot of precedent behind her from Kiyoshi and Aang, should be allowed to do-this can get much worse; what if they decide that restoring balance would cause too much instability within the city?
*** If Korra's keeping with the law, which should be entirely reasonable, then they have no reason to object. Tenzin could also extend some political protection if he needs to.
*** Um, where's it ever said that the law prohibits bending in any way? Or that benders can't defend themselves? The problem with Korra's actions in the first episode is more that she wrecked up the street, and that she was acting as a vigilante, not just that she was acting as a bender or the Avatar.
*** Precisely. Tenzin and the White Lotus may be sitting on museum pieces, but if Korra were allowed to inflict property damage at her own vigilante discretion, she'd deplete their operating budget in a matter of weeks...heck, the lack of HeroInsurance could be mined for a subplot.
*** It's all part of the deconstruction that is going on. As of now, there is no need for Avatar-involvement. Having Korra wreck the place is not necessary. It's an era of peace. I am sure that as the plot progresses, there will be a need for Korra to act as the Avatar to the world. But as of now, there isn't.
** This is hilarious. Its exactly the sort of political insanity that probably exists in the setting. The crime wasn't "bending" (though benders might well think of it that way) it was "blowing up other people's stuff and attacking the police". You shouldn't get away with destroying buildings just because you happened to do it with superpowers. I imagine that's exactly the mentality that has Equalist sympathizers scared.
*** I wouldn't be surprised to see merchants whose property she destroyed at an Equalist rally in the future, given that the reason anyone pays protection money is out of fear for their lives and livelihoods. Ironically, Korra may have done by accident what the Triple Threat Triads [[ShameIfSomethingHappened threaten to do]] when they go unpaid, and as a result some struggling business owners might just find themselves looking for a nice bush to sleep under.
*** The perfect opportunity for the return of the [[RunningGag Cabbage Seller]]!
*** Actually, Tenzin said that he would pay for the damages.

[[folder: How badly Korra got owned at Pro-Bending]]
* Korra is a Master of Water Bending and the Avatar besides so why does she get beat on so badly? Pro-benders stay light on their feet and use smaller, quick attacks. Did no one ever use these before? Did benders never think of speed as an important factor? Were all the people in Last Airbender moving in slow-mo? I'm sorry but 12 year old Aang defeated whole troops of soliders of veteran soldiers but Korra, who is older and stronger, can't defeat a couple of athletes? Having only a small amount of water to bend with never slowed Katara down. And the small ring size wouldn't effect Toph who was quite an imobile fighter. It makes Korra and the Avatar look weak.
** Korra is a Dojo-trained fighter thrown into the UFC ring. She has literally missed out on the development of an entire new mixed-arts school while training in highly scholastic, traditionalist forms while ''isolated in a compound,'' under no real-world threat, while Katara and Toph experienced free-form no-holds barred threat-of-death combat in the real world. Despite this, after only one match she's an InstantExpert, and starting to beat three on one. This is weak?
** Korra's been playing in Training Mode all her life. Then she tries to fight a bunch of guys who are literally professionals. Of course she's going to lose.
** Agreed with the two previous posters, and I'd add that Korra was also handicapped by not being used to moderating herself. As Episode 1 demonstrated, Korra favors raw power over finesse, and close-quarters combat. Pro-bending doesn't allow that behavior ''at all''. It's a tactical game, one where you have limited resources and must fight from a specific distance to your opponent.
** Aang had the advantage of airbending which absolutely nobody knew how to combat. The soldiers he was fighting were also unlikely to have had experience fighting benders. Remember the Fire Nation had been in charge for about 100 years by that point with most non-firebenders shipped off the concentration camps.
** No benders probably didn't thinking of pro-bending style attacks. Much like the real martial arts they're based on the TLA bending styles are strongly rooted in philosophical teachings that are passed down from teacher to student. Note that Tenzin's problem with pro-bending is not that it's dangerous or violent but that it strips away the spiritual side of bending that is so important to him.
** To clarify even further, Korra isn't losing in the first match because she's weak; she could beat all three of her opponents at the same time effortlessly. She's losing because she doesn't know the rules, and either accidentally breaks them, or concentrates on them so much that she can't concentrate on the fight itself.
** This is all but explicitly pointed out when Korra blasts somebody out of the ring with ease, but is slapped with a penalty. Her success in Pro Bending is partly about her bending skills, but also about her ability to play within the rules and work with her teammates. Aesop anybody?
** Well, which kind of bending is all about being light on your feet? Airbending. What is Korra really bad at? Airbending. Funnily, Korra is learning the exact opposite of what Aang learnt: When Aang learnt earthbending, Toph told him repeatedly to widen his stance. Korra is told that her wide stance slows her down. Also, remember the episode with the Blue Spirit? Two guards were talking about how the airbender is extremely fast, and one of them said that it was just Fire Nation propaganda. Cue Aang running past them at top speed. Not to mention that Korra is the "face stuff head-on" type, which Aang wasn't. Under usual circumstances, she'd block the attacks with ease. Look at how she fights. She jumps right into the attack of her opponent, which she can't do in the pro-bender matches. And even though she was born in the water tribe, I'm not sure how right it would be to say that waterbending is what she's best at. After all, even from young age, she's relied on three elements, which probably gave her many advantages, but also gives her the disadvantage of relying too much on the other two.
** I don't think the issue is really that. Compare Mako's 3v1 victory to Korra's 2v1 assaults. Mako was able to hold his own because he was concentrating on evading attacks, whereas Korra was concentrating on blocking them. It goes back to the lesson of the episode; be the leaf. When Korra stopped trying to meet force with force she stopped getting owned. Also, I'm not so sure that Tenzin's qualm with pro-bending is merely it's lack of spirituality, it appears that pro-bending suffers from a lack of strategy that an airbending master might find repugnant. Think about it, waterbenders should be able to fulfill and amazing role as supporters to their team. Ensnaring opponents, shielding allies, creating veils of fog to mask ally attacks, but it seems they're only allowed to slap water at the enemy team. To be fair, we've only seen this sport in one episode and I'm sure we don't know all the rules to it, but the fact that we've seen four different waterbenders compete and none of them thought of any of these tactics makes me suspect it's in the rules, which really makes pro-bending seem like a hollow shell compared to the traditional styles of bending.
** Their limitations are part of the rules. Just as Mako isn't just throwing constant streams of flames, waterbenders can't bend giant amounts of water or change its state. Earthbenders are just stuck using those little disks. Part of what makes it fair is limiting their skillset.
** If one wants to have a sense of just how powerful a waterbender Korra is, just consider her very first move in the match, where she effortlessly lifted up her opponent with a giant wall of water and tossed him off the side. Which of course, was against the rules. The rules are specifically designed so that one can't just abuse overwhelming power to win.
*** Additionally, pro-bending's rules make sense for modern urban combat in a way that the traditional bending Tenzin is familiar with doesn't. What happens when Korra goes all-out against those thugs in Episode 1? She causes a crapload of collateral damage, like when she ripped up the street to attack that getaway car. Pro-bending's tactical fighting -- emphasizing small, discrete elemental attacks instead of big powerful ones -- minimizes collateral damage while still taking out your enemy. Which is something the city's authorities might want to encourage via the sport, considering what happens if, say, someone accidentally damages an underground gas main while earthbending. If you look at it from that light, pro-bending isn't a hollow shell of the traditional styles, it's just a necessary adaptation to Republic City's urban environment.
** Tenzin's dissapproval of the Pro-Bending is likely to stem from the fact that the sport uses Bending simply as means to an end, rather than a part of spiritual lifestyle.
** Episode 6 shows Korra is definitely no slouch in a straight-up fight. The problem is, of course, she's often either playing a sport with rules and limitations (pro-bending), or gets ambushed (episode 4).
** "And The Winner Is..." shows us quite clearly moves that are illegal in Pro-bending, and many of them are moves that Korra(or any bender in a fight, for that matter) would use. For example, two benders are not allowed to combine attacks, sustained attacks(shooting water like a hose or fire like a flamethrower) are disallowed, and Waterbenders cannot restraing the opponent with Icebending. When all's said and done, Pro-bending is not a combat sport proper. It has elements of it(knockouts, ringouts), but it's mostly about zone control, like American football. Think of it this way: an Olympic wrestler would probably have a hell of a tackle in the football field, but he's not gonna be suplexing anybody.
*** I can back this up. My former martial arts instructor used to tell us that it was extremely easy for a mixed martial artist to beat a boxer in a match because boxers are extremely predictable in their movements. They may be good at boxing, but a mixed martial arts match is an entirely different fight with different rules. Just because you have mastery in one thing doesn't mean you can pick up something related and be an instant master in that too. There's alot you have to learn/re-learn.
* Also, lets just face it, the combat is much more realistically portrayed in Korra than it was in the original series. None of the teenaged heroes are as powerful as their adult, veteran counterparts, one or two chi-blockers are a significant threat even to the main protagonist and there is simply no such thing as a OneManArmy.
* I'm just going to throw in my two cents and go with the above posts that Korra prefers raw power over finesse and how she's never pro-bend before, along with the fact that she's going against professional, so of course, she's going to suck. However, there's also that she's trying to restrain herself, since she has to stick to one element. If she could, then she could have shook the arena and blasted the opposing team into the water.

[[folder: Another question about bending genetics]]
I didn't see this in the AtLA headscratchers page, and since it relates to characters from legend of Korra, I'd thought I'd post it here.

Okay. We know that bending is one part genetic and one part spiritual. We know that if, say, An Earthbender and a Waterbender had a kid, that kid would be an Earthbender, a Waterbender, or neither. We can see that in Aang's kids - a Waterbender, an Airbender, and a non-bender.

So here's my question; can Kya, Aang's Waterbending child, have kids that can Airbend? I was always under the impression that the type of bending is partly determined by the culture you were born into, so what does that mean for second generation children of mixed families? Does the fact that Kya had an Air Nomad father mean that she has a chance, if only a slight one, of having an Airbender, or does the fact that she's a Waterbender mean it's impossible for her to have Airbending children?

And for that matter, what about Bumi, Aang's non-bending child? We know that you don't have to ''be'' a bender to father one, so does that mean that Bumi has the exact same odds of having an air/water/non-bender as his parents? Does marrying a Waterbender decrease his chances of fathering an Airbender? What if he married a Firebender or an Earthbender (supposing he's married at all, of course)? Or to make things really crazy, suppose he married a non-bender who's parents were Earth and Firebenders. Does that mean their kids could be ''any'' element, including none of the above!?

* Genetically speaking, a bender/non-bender would have that specific trait as the dominant one, with the other possibility being recessive. If the airbending trait is recessive, it would have to be recessive in both parents for it to manifest in the child (implicitly, this would explain Katara being the offspring of two non-benders). They can't have airbending kids, not without some serious squick.
* I'm inclined to think that the general Bending ability is hereditary, but which Bending style a person learns is dependent on the environment. Raise a Water Tribe child with Bending talent from birth in an Air Temple, and I suspect you'd get an Airbender, not a Waterbender.
** If it were that simple, wiping out the Air Nomads would not have been a solution to the Avatar cycle. Aang being the last Airbender is never treated as anything other than a concrete fact. If a Water Tribe couple could just bonk at an Air Temple and turn out an Airbender, it wouldn't be so serious.
*** That wasn't the point I was making. What I meant was that the Bending ability is genetic, but the Bending styles are cultural. Remember that people originally learned them from observing various animals and the Moon. It wouldn't matter if somebody was raised in an ''abandoned'' Airtemple because there'd be no-one to raise or teach the child to become an Airbender, but on the other hand, if you put a baby with Bending talent to close proximity with Skybisons from birth, they might figure out Airbending on their own.
*** It wouldn't be the environment so much as a combination of how they're raised and their own personality. It's more likely that just the ability to bend is genetic and recessive, but which ''element'' you are is a separate, dominant allele, and you need both to bend.\\\
So, if you have Aang and Katara's kids. Aang is an '''A'''irbender, with his bending gene bb, and his element gene Ax. Katara, as a '''W'''aterbender, has the bending gene bb, and element Wx. So they have kids, who are all going to have bb. But of the element gene, you'll have one with AW, one with Ax (Tenzin), one with Wx (Kya), and one with xx (Bumi). Alternatively, Tenzin is AW, and in that case it randomly "sides" with one or the other--turning it into AA, which would explain why all of his children are airbenders.\\\
Alternatively, it might be tied to the XY chromosome, so that any male children will have the father's element, while any female children will have the--wait, no. Mako and Bolin rule that out.
*** I think it has more to do with the culture and the spirituality around them rather than the actual place. If two waterbenders bonked at an airtemple and had a kid, they'd still either be a waterbender or a nonbender because they've only experienced waterbending and water tribe culture. However, if those two waterbenders bonked in the middle of the Fire Nation, and their child was consistently exposed to Fire Nation culture and surrounded by firebending (more so than their water tribe heritage), then I'd say that it's possible that that kid would end up a firebender. They couldn't create more airbenders because the genocide destroyed everything that composed the air nomads, not just the people, but their books, stories, spirituality, and everything else that made up their civilization as well.
**** Maybe, though Kori Morishita is an earthbender who grew up in a Fire Nation colony, otherwise in the Earth Kingdom, and identifies herself as a Fire Nation Citizen so she probably grew up proudly with their culture. Her mother is an earthbender, and her father is of the Fire Nation.
** Don't forget the possibility that bending might not be a simple recessive/dominant trait, but more complicated. Most real traits are controlled by a variety of things such a poly-genetics, promotor regions ''and'' environment. Throw this all together and it might not be so easy to predict.
*** This is most likely the case, as an episode in the first series showed a set of identical twins where one was an earthbender and the other was a non-bender. Since identical twins have the same DNA, other factors are likely involved in determining bending ability.
* Before the Air Nomads were wiped out, they were 100% Airbenders, because they were the "most spiritual" nation. What that means hasn't been explained further to my knowledge.

[[folder: Seventy years later and there are only five Airbenders in the world?]]
...Three of whom are children and the fourth is the Avatar? Not a single bender emerged outside of Aang's bloodline or the Avatar cycle? Really?
* Five Airbenders known to the world, anyway. Maybe there's a kid out there with Air Nomad ancestry (or the bending gene and an Airbending disposition, or however it works) who's amusing his village blowing wind at people, and no one's connected the dots and informed Tenzin yet.
** Well, Aang was the last one for a reason. If they could just emerge, then this storyline would have been pointless. Also, the sixth airbender is about to be born.
** If there were any descendents of the Air Nomads they would have emerged during the 100 years Aang was frozen. One can assume the Fire Nation was thorough in their genocide and/or the Air Nomads were fairly insular.
*** I imagine that if there were any survivors and descendents, they would just stay hidden on account of, you know, the concerted effort to wipe them off the face of the planet.
** It's also established, time and again, that bending is just as much a discipline as a genetic thing. If there's no one to pass on the teachings, it's gone forever. For comparison, when the [[CommieNazis Commie Nazi]] [[PolPot Khmer Rouge]] were kicked out of Cambodia, you could count the number of people who knew how to perform an ancient type of ballet on one hand. Everyone on Earth is, theoretically, capable of performing this dance, but if there's no one left to show you, how are you going to know the moves? Scrolls burn and people die.
*** That's the point: In the the decades Aang was alive and active, only one Airbender - his son - emerged? For that matter, that son and his family are the only ones in the world who live the traditional Air Nomad lifestyle? I find that statistically implausible. Hell, even with dead languages, someone is still studying and learning it.
*** Most dead languages haven't had a whole nation trying to hunt down anyone who might have spoken that language, starting with a concerted effort to wipe them all off the face of the planet.\\\
The Fire Nation was, apparently, very thorough.
*** I has been proven that a culture didn't need to have benders for someone with bending potential to learn the art, Katara was completely self taught in the benderless Southern Water Tribe before Aang showed up, but [[WordOfGod all air nomads were air benders]] so when all the air nomads were wiped out there wasn't anyone left with the potential to air bend because unlike the other nations they never had anyone with a "hidden potential" for bending that could be passed down.Only Aang could continue the legacy and of the three children he had with Katara [[WordOfGod Kya was a waterbender and Bumi couldn't bend so only Tenzin was comfirmed to be able to continue the line.]] Apparently any children Kya or Bumi had didn't inherit the ability to airbend.
*** And not only was Katara self taught- she didn't become a master waterbender until they got to the north pole, where they had lessons with master Pakku. So it only takes a potential for bending for a child to discover she can bend an element, but without learning from an external source (the scroll, Pakku) it would stay at the same level (so a child being born an airbender is not enough for him to be a full grown airbender, if there's no one to teach him how to bend).
*** Which ignores Toph being self-taught, as her Earthbending instructor intentionally never showed her anything other than the very basics. (Stuff she already knew at that point.)
**** Toph wasn't self-taught, she learned earthbending from the badger-moles. While it isn't explicitly stated, the implication is that this is why she was such a skilled bender at such an early age. Like Zuko and Aang later did with firebending, Toph discovered the source of earthbending and learned its purest form from them.
* In the episode, "A Leaf In the Wind," we see that Tenzin and his family aren't the only ones on Air Temple Island. I assume that at least some of them are learning airbending. It probably doesn't come as naturally to them as it does with Tenzin's kids .
** They're presumably not benders (as bending's been pointed out above to be a mix of genetics and spirituality), but at the very least they can help preserve the remnants of Air Nomad culture, as well as the airbending teachings themselves. Even if the airbenders remain rare for a few more decades, the Air Nomads are certainly returning.
* However implausible it may be, the series itself does sort of answer this on its own. Its an established fact that all Air Nomads are born benders naturally through sheer level of spirituality amongst its peoples; so one would be correct to assume that Aang would automatically have airbending children. However, perhaps his intermarriage caused a hiccup in the lineage. It's not a jab at Katara mind you, a powerful master Waterbender, but because she didn't have the same innate understanding and enlightened spirituality of her husband (which is NOT to say she wasn't spiritual, just not the same level) it took a little bit (two kids in their case) for the kink to work itself out. Case in point, Tenzin and Pema's children; after Pema wholly embraced the Air Nomad culture - and all the spiritual focus it demands...all of their children (thus far) are natural Airbenders. Mind you, this works only if Aang really truly was the last Airbender post genocide, which all hints from the series seem to support, as well as that one simply can't find a Sky Bison and learn Airbending as it was originally founded.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Misc.]]
* Why did Korra stop Naga from stealing food from the food stand, but immediately tried to procure something to eat without payment? Stealing was probably the lesser of two evils, but trying to buy something without any money was just as foolish.
** "Lesser" of two evils? I'd say that asking first is better than stealing. In any case, the point was most likely to subtly show Korra's reckless personality to the audience; she most likely remembered she didn't have any money the moment she was asked for payment.
** Well, maybe she thought that everybody would give her food because she's the Avatar, but the old lady drove her away before she could play that card. Don't forget, Korra is insanely sheltered and probably never had to worry about food or a place to stay.
** As mentioned above Korra was provided with everything she needed by White Lotus so she has no concept of money and its value. (It was also common with Real Life royalty who could see the big picture (state economy) but were helpless in small since they never had to personally buy their everyday needs.)
** Also, the next course of action Korra takes is to fish. Most likely, it never occurred to her that there would be rules against hunting because the South Pole is too harsh to avoid it.
** She probably thought she could do some work in exchange for the food- surely there was something the merchant needed done that the Avatar could do fast.
* Korra thought the fish-from-a-lake was hunting/fishing, not stealing.
* So the whole reveal with Amon at the end. I can buy that groupthink could reasonably lead to "He has a scar, just like he said, this proves his entire backstory true," but then it just ends up being face paint? Really, Amon? Couldn't be bothered to spend 30 seconds actually scarring your face?
** Do you really, seriously think that "30 seconds" is all the inconvenience there's going to be from '''''burning your face off'''''? That is really, ''really'' not how it works. Burning his face off would have been one of the stupidest things Amon could have possibly done. You're saying he should have ''crippled himself for life''.\\\
Let's start from the top--his eyes. If he wants a scar that would justify wearing a mask, we're talking a really bad scar covering his face. This would mean ''cooking his face'', and you may not realize it but fire isn't a precision tool. There's no way he's going to get that big, that horrific a scar without burning out his own eyes.\\\
Next, his nose and lips--he's saying goodbye to his sense of smell at best, and without lips he's not going to be much of a public speaker. Then there's the recovery--maybe Amon is capable of healing, but could he concentrate on that when he's in maddening pain from literally cooking his own face?\\\
Facial burn scars aren't just some cosmetic thing you can just slap on and move on with your life. They're a crippling disfigurement.
*** Fire may not be precise, but this is also a world with firebenders (Which granted fire's uncontrollable nature is one of the key points of it, but they're able to achieve SOME level of precision with it). And obviously it would hurt, but I dunno, there's something decidedly disappointing about a villain who's not willing to go through excruciating pain for his cause (Death to the benders! I just hope none of those firebenders hit me, cause that stuff is like seriously hot, you gaiz). Hell, it doesn't even have to be that disfiguring, he just needs a scar to be like "See, that thing I said totally happened." Or he could have made up a different backstory that would be less painful to corroborate. I'm just saying, even if the villain is supposed to be wrong, it'd be nice if he'd at least commit (Even springing for face paint that isn't going to come off in water, especially given how large crowds plus underground steam vents generally equals wet).
**** He needs to have some alleged facial disfigurement to justify the mask. If he said he just wore it to avoid being recognised, or to hide a small scar, his fellow equalists may get suspicious if they NEVER see him with the mask off. That way, he has a sympathetic reason for this. Furthermore, actually hurting himself would be very impractical. Not only for the reasons mentioned above; without his mask, he can just disappear in a crowd. Nobody knows what he really looks like, and nobody expects him to not be disfigured. If something goes wrong, he removes the mask and the make-up and he's gone. I'll give you that, though, the face paint did come off rather easily.
***** I dunno, one of my friends did a Joker style cosplay for a con, and based on how long it took him to do the relatively tiny mouth scars, I would think that creating such a detailed and convincing scar every morning as part of a Xanatos Roulette (Not only on the off chance that someone calls him out on it, but even then banking on his followers being frothy enough to not actually stop and think about it) doesn't seem all that practical. Though I guess the ability to disappear in a crowd makes sense.
*** He's not going to use a Firebender, because that's either one person alive who knows the truth (which is one more than he would want), or someone he's going to have to kill to prevent loose ends--both of which are still more work and complications ''on top of'', once again, cooking his own face.\\\
And his make-up wasn't "detailed and convincing." If anyone had taken more than a cursory look at it, especially someone who had seen real facial scars, like Zuko's, they'd have been able to tell it was false. For one, his nose isn't at all misshapen, his eyebrows are still there, the skin itself isn't deformed at all except for upper lip--it was enough make-up to fool people from 15 or so feet away for 30 seconds before he put the mask back on. And more importantly, to fool people who were largely inclined to believe him in the first place--it was what they expected and wanted to see. Notice how the one person close enough to see the real details--the Lieutenant--actually does apparently begin to suspect immediately.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: How does Pro-Bending work in terms of how much of an element you can use?]]
It seems like Earth has an inherent disadvantage, where the Bender can only pick up one or two discs at a time. Waterbenders could pull the entire channel of water to attack, like Korra does when she knocks that guy over the side. Fire, as in the previous series, is based entirely in the strength of the Bender, so they could theoretically be a dozen times stronger than the Earthbenders with their single discs.
* Waterbenders and firebenders can only use short bursts, no more than a second or so, and waterbenders are limited to the channel in their zone. Korra broke the rules in more ways than one with that first shot. Earthbenders, by comparison, can use as many of those little discs as they want.
** Where is is stated that they can only use small bursts? Mako does some pretty significant hits in his 3 on 1 moment. Definitely more fire than the other teams Firebender was using, at least. Also, Korra only pulls from her channel. It's just a lot of water. Much more mass than those discs.
*** The official rules of pro-bending state that bursts longer than 1 second can't be used.
** There is a limited number of the discs, though, meaning they can use them as frequently as they want, provided they don't run out.
*** There could be hundreds of those discs in the reserve; it's unlikely that they ever run out in the course of a single match.
*** Correct me if I'm wrong because I can't check right now, but didn't the one of Fire Ferret's opponents run out of discs during the second episode? I think there's a set number of discs available per game or round.
*** Are you referring to the "out of juice" comment? I think that this rather meant that they basically got tired, not that they don't have any materials any more.
*** Addendum to the disc comment as well, it looks like during the demonstrations of the rules and explanation of game mechanics vid put up, its stated that there's a loading mechanism not unlike a disc launcher gun loaded a plenty of the discs. It didn't specify how many but sounded like there was probably more than enough to not worry about it going dry.
* There's also the idea that highlighting these differences is not so much a glitch as it is a feature, a deliberate showcasing of the tactical differences and limitations each bender has for the benefit of the game.
* I'd say that all the elements have inherent disadvantages. For instance, the natural instinct for a water bender would be to throw a curving torrent of water that knocks an opponent sideways (probably why Korra tried this first). But the rules say that they can only knock opponents off the back of the ring, forcing water benders to concentrate on straight and direct attacks. Earth benders are limited to moving small disks of earth at a time, whereas in the real world the entire landscape is their weapon. And of course fire benders can only throw a small amount of fire at a time (probably for safety reasons, i.e. to prevent collateral damage), which goes completely against the normal fire bending orthodoxy of overwhelming force. Even air benders would seem to be at a disadvantage. Recall that Aang's typical air bending tactics involved a lot of movement, typically making long circular dodges on currents of wind. But in pro-bending the competitors are confined to a small field which limits their range of movement.
** Additionally, the game emphasizes the ability to push one's opponents around and off the ring. Fire doesn't provide as much knockback as earth and water. It appears that the availability of each element is inversely proportional to how dense/solid it is
* Officially, the fire- and water-benders can't use more than a second or two of their attack-types. They are limited in size of attack to a degree [blast of water, medium-sized stone slab] but not supply [maybe supply a bit, but the size of the stadium and the mechanisms of the slots mean running out is hard to do]. That is the heart of the sport - efficiency of technique, efficiency of supplies, restraint, and teamwork. It's like a minimally-spiritual Air-bending training session for other benders.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Mako and Bolin's apartment.]]
They are supposed to be poor, and barely make the ends meet. So how on earth do they afford the bachelor pad of dreams with huge open space, high roof and the best view in the city? Few people even from upper middle-class background could afford anything like that in RealLife, especially in a city like New York, which the Republic City remembers. Makes you think that they could move to more modest lodgings and actually get themselves decent savings in a few months.
* It was stated in Episode 2 that they live in the attic of the bending arena, doing odd jobs in exchange for living there. I'm not completely sure what rent was taken out of their winnings, but Toza (the man who threatened to turn Korra over to security) is their "landlord". It is a pretty sweet crib, though.
* However nice it looks at a glance, it isn't that good. Look at it objectively. It's just an attic. There aren't even any beds up there. They have to sleep somewhere else or on the couch. They have to be using the on-site facilities because there sure aren't any in that room. It has a heater, which is nice, but that room has to have shitty insulation. It must be cold as hell at night.
** Indoor facilities weren't really a thing in the early 20th century even for majority of the citydwellers. Hygiene was a real issue until the 1960's or so. I'd expect things to be similar in the Republic City, though plumbing is unlikely to be featured in the show. I expect that the brothers have futons tucked somewhere for sleeping. But seriously, the space and the view alone would make it worthwhile to renovate the place to a proper apartment and rent it at top prices.
*** But even with a nice view, I doubt a lot of people would want to live inside the attic of a pro-bending arena. It would constantly be loud, not to mention all those bright lights might be annoying.
* They're staying at the Republic City version of a room at the YMCA. Not sure what the big deal is.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: The United Republic of Nations isn't very republican]]
* I'm using "republican" in the way that it's used in the US Constitution "The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government..." For the sake of clarity, I'll add [[http://www.constitution.org/fed/federa10.htm Federalist no. 10]], where Madison outlines the idea of a republic as I am used to using it. As far as I can tell, the government is chosen by the original four nations, not the people of the city. It's as if Wales was jointly governed by a representative of Ireland, Scotland and England. Such a government couldn't be called republican in any sense of the word, let alone the one I was thinking of. Now, it is true that no other government has been shown, meaning it is possible that the council is only in charge of Republic City. This led me to believe that it was the only game in town, and that the council is in charge of the entire nation.
** The US doesn't have a monopoly on the term. Seeing as how we've only seen the one city, one can hardly say the identified form of government cannot be considered a republic.
** I think your assumption of republic being "What the US defined it as is" is a bit of an oversimplification of a form of government that has had dozens of variants amongst them oligarchies very similar to the one in show. It should also be remembered that this government was designed for a different world than the one its in right now, back when the city was founded it made complete sense to have the city intended to be a melting pot be governed by representatives of each major group in the world, unfortunately this is now pretty obsolete as Republic City has developed its own unique culture.
*** I'm wondering what Republics you're thinking of that have oligarchies similar to the one on the show? The closest things I can think of would be Florence and Venice in the Renaissance. However, given that the Florentine republic included about a thousand citizens in its census for who counted as a citizen who could participate in government (circa 1500) and the Venetian aristocracy was abnormally large (which resulted in frequent problems of aristocratic poverty) and could could be bought into, I'm not sure they should count either since there is a big difference between around a thousand people sitting in a senate and five people ruling in a council. Remember, Venice's Council of Ten answered to a much larger senate and the Doge and Florence's Eight Saints were a war time necessity (and they were tax assessors).
* I don't think we know enough about it. Or could you clarify what doesn't seem republican to you? It doesn't seem to be a monarchy, so I guess republic in the meaning of "res publica" isn't so far off.
** Republic as a term is far older than the United States, and even today it has numerous definitions around the world. At core it simply means a nation ruled by an elected council. The election does not have to be democratic as we understand it, nor does the position of electee have to be open for everyone. Pre-Imperial Rome was a non-democratic Republic, for example. The United Republic does seem to be a democracy however, though how it functions is unknown. It seems that the representatives have to include members from the four Nations, and that Benders are overpresented compared to non-Benders. Tenzin is an influential member in spite of the near-extinction of the Air Nomads, for example.
*** Tenzin's father was one of the founders of Republic City. He's probably doing it as a legacy thing, not to represent the almost non-existent Air Nomads.
*** Except that the Council, or at least its leaders apart from Tenzin consist of representatives of Fire Nation, Earth Kingdom, and Southern and Northern Water Tribes. It seems fairly clear that the city is lead by the representatives of the four Bending cultures, even the near-extinct Air Nomads.
* I think the source of the confusion here is that we're assuming Republic City is an independent state, which may not be the case. It's possible Republic City is a kind of "neutral ground" that all four nations have limited control over. If this is the case, the representatives that control Republic city may very well be elected...by the total populations of the nations they hail from. So it's less like Wales being governed by representatives from Ireland, Scotland, and England and more like if everyone in the United States was able to vote for the mayor and city council of New York City.
** So Republic City is basically [[WashingtonDC Washington, DC]]. Limited home rule and all that.
** It's more like the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shanghai_International_Settlement Shanghai-that-Was]].
* Republic in its most basic sense means "state without monarchy." The council is made up entirely (I understand) by representatives of monarchies. So I honestly believe that the creators did not know what the word republic means. It is a common mistakes, I remember a couple of occasions where Jorge Luis Borges made ​​the same mistake.
** I'm sure they know exactly what it means. It means a state not ruled by a monarchy. It doesn't mean a state without any influence from any monarchies whatsoever. Republic City is ruled, as you said, by a council--not by a monarchy. That the councilmen represent monarchies doesn't matter.
** Also, the council isn't made up ''entirely'' of representatives of monarchies. The Air Nomads most certainly aren't a monarchy, they don't even have a state of their own, and nothing indicates Tenzin is considered to be their "king". The reason he seems to be the highest authority figure among them could simply be because he's the oldest, most experienced Airbender alive. Historically the Airbenders appear to have been ruled by councils of elders, one in each Air Temple, but we don't know what their current system is. As for the Southern Water Tribe, while they have a chief, there's no canon evidence that he's their sole leader, or that the position of the chief is inhereditary; for all we know he could be chosen by a tribe meeting, or by some other democratic process.
*** If Tenzin gets to be one of the most powerful people in the world just because he's the best Airbender that would be a real problem. Nepotism is honestly more likely.
*** Being a council person in one city makes you "one of the most powerful people in the world"? Just because the series takes place there doesn't mean it's the most important place in the world.
*** But being the world's only Master Airbender probably would make you "one of the most powerful people in the world" by default.
** Since when does "Republic" mean a "state without monarchy"? By that definition, fascist, democratic, anarchist, and theocratic governments would be republican. A better defintion of a "republic" would be a state with a mixed constitution, incorporating elements of democracy, aristocracy, and (elected) monarchy. By this definition, we could include Rome, Florence, Venice, and the US. France might be harder to fit, since it seemed to include only democracy and (elected) monarchy, as far as I'm aware. And, of course, this does not work as well for the 20th century when it seemed to become the fashion to style everything a "republic" regardless of its actual form. Also, keep in mind that I'm using the term monarch losely to refer to a small executive branch (like the consuls, Doge, Signoria, or president), the way Roman and Renaissance political theorists did.
*** You define the entire Western world as being ruled by monarchs? (because pretty much every nation has a president or prime minister)
*** "Since when does 'Republic' mean 'a state without monarchy'?" Basically since the term was coined in the classical world. Although modern developments have complicated the matter, that's still the most basic way to define the term, and essential to every other definition that incorporates other aspects. "By that definition, fascist, democratic, anarchist and theocratic governments would be republican." Yes. You treat these terms as opposed to either monarchy or republic while they aren't (except anarchism which is opposed to both). Iran can be described as a theocratic republic, Saudi-Arabia as a theocratic monarchy. The UK is a democratic monarchy, the US a democratic republic and so on. "A better definition ..." What follows is a pretty meaningless definition that has no descriptive purpose and no historical background. In general, people seem to be misled by the meaning of the word "Republican" in a US-American context, where it has a wider meaning, including rule of law, balance of power, democracy, equality before the law etc. and also carries a lot of historical and political baggage (there is a major party that derives its name from this word after all). This meaning comes from American history, not academic categorization of governments. And no, an elected head of the executive is not a monarch.
*** As to the idea of an elected head being a monarch, this is exactly how Polybius uses the term. Polybius defines Rome as a state with a mixed constitution, one that has elements of monarchy, aristocracy, and democracy. He equates the monarchical elements with the consuls, an elected office with one year in office. I am doing the same (note: a prime minister is not a head of state but a head of government, and thus would not represent a monarchic element). The definition of a republic as a state with a mixed constitution also comes from Polybius's understanding - he holds up Rome's Republic as an example of government to be contrasted with the democracy of Athens and various principates. I would argue that in most of the greatest historical examples, a balance of powers is an essential aspect of a republic, as it was in antique Rome and renaissance Florence and Venice. Aristotle would seem to agree given that he considers a mixed constitution as an alternative form of government to monarchy/tyranny, aristocracy/oligarchy, and democracy. Now, Machiavelli does seem to include all non-principate states in the category of "Republic", but given his historical environment, where the only non-monarchic states had mixed constitutions, states like Florence, Venice, and Bologna, I would hesitate to agree with his assessment, given that his analysis of Rome and the classical world was often heavily colored by his experience of politics in his own time. You say that classically this is how a republic was defined, but I'm not sure which classical authors you are refering to. As I said above, Polybius and Aristotle did not make such a division. Plato divided his types of government much more broadly, defining five types of states based on the values of the ruler/ruling class (kallipolis, timocracy, oligarchy, democracy, and tyranny). To Thucydides, your division would not make sense, since part of his history is devoted to comparing the sort of governments Sparta and Athens had and to equate them as of the same sort would be counter to his efforts. Since the term, however, comes from Latin, we could look at Latin authors, but they tended to defer to Polybius and Aristotle on this matter. And if we are going to defer to the term "res publica", then even the Roman Empire would be a republic, since for the first century or so of its existence it was still called a "res publica". So, I do not see where your definition comes from, aside from perhaps Machiavelli or the French Revolution, neither of whom/which are classical sources and both of whom/which existed in periods where a more nuanced view was unnecessary. And as to theocracy - you said you can have theocratic republics and theocratic monarchies, but what would the bishopric of Rome be? A republic, given the prominence of the college of cardinals? A monarchy, given that it has a single head? Also, you seem to be lax on what a monarchy is - is it simply a state with a king? would a tyranny without a king be a republic? It would seem unfair to call Cuba a republic just because its head of state does not call himself king. It would seem unfair to call Sparta a monarchy just because its heads of state were kings.
* At the very least we can say that Republic City does not seem very republican. A ruling body of five people who represent only a "bending aristocracy" (my term) is much more oligarchic than it is republican. And since this small ruling body seems to make policy decisions without consulting anyone outside of themselves (there's no mention of having a vote in the senate on what to do about the rebel problem or what to do about terrorist threats), I feel it's safe to say that just these five are governing Republic City. So... yeah. Sounds like an oligarchy - more like the Thirty Tyrants than the Council of Ten.
** That does fit within some definitions of Republic since those five are "the body of citizens entitled to vote", if they were elected to those positions in some way it fits most definitions. What Republic City is clearly not is a democracy, the general population has little to no say in the general affairs of government.
*** But size does matter in this. If you were simply going to say that a republic has a "body of citizens entitled to vote" a tyranny would be a republic where that body numbered one. The voting base needs to be broader than five, even if it does not have to include a majority of people. If you were to ask me to define how broad it needs to be, I would probably say at least 1% of the population. Though, there are other aspects of republic aside from having a voting base, namely the separation of powers - they tend to have at least an executive or executive body and a legislative body, but can also include bodies that propose legislation (like Rome's Senate) or various bodies that oversee economic or military concerns.
*** Represents a "bending aristocracy"? The councilmembers represent the different NATIONS, not the types of benders. We know that Tarrlok and Tenzin are benders, but it's never been shown about the others. True, Amon had them kidnapped, but that could be just as much to disrupt the current government as to target them as benders.
**** The way Tarrlok addresses them when he introduces his non-bender curfew certainly implies they are benders. And it seems unlikely they would have voted for the curfew if they were non-benders themselves.
* People have used the word "republic" to mean a lot of different things over the course of history. It is a usefully vague term, almost to the point of being meaningless, in a fictional setting.
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[[folder: Why doesn't Korra carry a water skin?]]
I get that firebending suits Korra's style of fighting, but she uses it extensively over her other two elements, and doesn't even have any way of carrying water with her to bend - outside pro-bending, I'm sure I can count the number of times she has manipulated water on one hand, and seeing as she IS Water Tribe, it stands to reason she'd carry a water skin as Katara did.
* She's the Avatar. She has other elements to fall back on. Waterbenders do that because they'd be defenseless otherwise.
** also she might've picked up getting water from air.
** Not to mention, despite being born a waterbender, Korra doesn't seem to have a particular connection to waterbending. Out of all the elements she's mastered she's used waterbending the least, even when near sources of water. When checking to make sure she could still bend she automatically used fire, as opposed to water or earth. It makes sense; her personality and style are agressive and forceful, which doesn't work as well with water. Same reason she struggles with airbending.
** Original poster: I was going to say something that she isn't giving each element a balanced use, then it occurred to me that that may be the point - she's not that balanced a bender, seeing as she doesn't focus on the spiritual side of things. However, it would be cool to see the "water from air" thing given more uses.
** I think the water-from-air technique is a little shaky with regards to Korra. On one hand, considering she was trained as master waterbender by Katara, it’s awfully hard to believe she wouldn’t know that technique, but during her fight with [[spoiler:Tarrlok]] she says “You don’t have any water left, pal.” Which means it clearly didn’t occur to her that he could pull water from the air [[spoiler:or bloodbend, obviously]]. Then again, she was worked up and in the middle of a fight, so it could go back to her not instinctively turning to water as her element of choice, even though it’s her “native” element.
** Another thing to keep in mind is she's only been away from the south pole for, what, a couple weeks? She's lived her entire life in an environment ''filled'' with water and ice for her to use. The idea that she'd need to carry water around with her to use it probably hasn't sunk in yet. That and, as noted, she has other elements to fall back on. If Katara was caught without her waterskin, she was in big trouble. If Korra's caught without a source of water, she's still got plenty to work with.
** Also, Korra prefers to overwhelm her opponents. Kinda hard to to with only like, what, a quart of water?
* Actually she does carry one. There is a waterskin attached to Naga's saddle, seen in episode three.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: How strong is Korra?]]
Think back to Aang. Within a year he had mastered all four elements, capable of performing jaw dropping feats at the drop of a hat, even without using the Avatar state, which is even more amazing when you consider that he was constantly on the move while learning. Meanwhile, Korra has been kept away in a stronghold where all she did was learn to bend, and the most we have seen her do is is flip a car in the air. Really, she hasn't done anything that your average bender couldn't do him/herself. How does that work out? It could be her lack of interest in the spiritual part of bending, but even so, you think she'd manage to pull something impressive off via brute force, considering she was bending three elements before the Order of the White Lotus came knocking.
* Aang's skills came from using bending in real-life battles and threatening situations. So far Korra has had few opportunities to hone her bending in such situations. Also, as someone noted above, Aang mostly exerted his bending in open air and on the countryside, where he was relatively free to do "big" bending moves. Korra has to operate in the limited space of a busy city, where she has less chances of doing big moves, unless she wants to risk causing collateral damage – something which she obviously wants to avoid, as her very first bending battle lead to her getting arrested for damaging property.
* Question for the OP: When have we seen Korra ''need'' to do anything big and impressive looking? The really huge feats of bending we saw Aang do were when he was in life or death battles, or had to stop something like a volcano. We've only seen Korra launch a car because she didn't need to level half the city to stop it.
** True, I suppose. Well besides that, shouldn't she be a bit more knowledgeable about bending? For example, the earth armor that Aang was able to create shortly after learning to earthbend. It certainly would be a help against chi blockers.
*** From what, exactly, and when would she have the opportunity? She'd have to tear up the street just to do it, for starters. She didn't know who she was fighting the first time, and the second they ambushed her. She hasn't needed to use any big displays of bendings. And honestly, why are you complaining when it's only been ''four episodes''? The biggest display of power in equivalent time in ALTA was Aang doing a waterspout. Have some patience.
**** I'm not complaining, I am enjoying the show and would do so even without those displays. I was just wondering about the difference in power.
* To answer the question literally, she's proven herself ''quite'' strong. Obviously she's a physical force to be reckoned with and her natural leaning to that allows for the three bending arts she does have down, to hit with a lot more ''oomph'' so to speak. Not to mention, strictly as an Avatar, she's by default stronger than Aang what with being to channel ''his'' power now along with everyone else, which we probably won't see until she hits that state, but the rules of the nature of Avatar make that solid. So yea, I can't attach a number per se but she ''is'' very powerful. It's only her circumstances that make it hard for her to display just ''how'' powerful she really is. As stated by everyone else, we'll get there. After all...she can't do a lot of power demonstrations under the restrictions of pro-bending...OR in the city lest she wants to tango with the Chief all over again.
* Keep in mind that Aang was also under ''tons'' of pressure to fully develop his abilities before Sozin's Comet returned, or else the Fire Nation would decisively crush its enemies and win the war once and for all. Korra's training was rigorous, but she was just not under that kind of time pressure.
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[[folder: The trio's escape in Episode 6.]]
So, the Lieutenant ties the trio, including 2 Firebenders, up with rope -- normal, average, every-day, chewable rope -- and doesn't bother to block their chi, given how Korra goes into action a minute or two later. They didn't need Pabu's help to escape at all. Why didn't Korra or Mako just burn their way out?
* Bending requires arm movements (unless you're Combustion Man).
* *COUGH*iroh*COUGH*bumi*COUGH*
** Also Azula has been shown firebending with just her mouth.
* Those are super-badass masters. Most benders cannot bend with their face.
* But Firebenders can bend with their ''breath''.
** Sit down, with your back against something like Mako and Korra were. Look down, how you'd have to in order to breath fire on those ropes. Fire isn't a precision instrument. Burning hot enough to sever rope quickly is going to lead to you torching your own stomach and--perhaps more importantly--your own crotch. When the plan results in char broiling your own groin before you even make contact with the enemy, it's a bad plan.
** Not if you were Avatar Roku, who could send an ultra large blast of fire that simultaneously blasted Zhao and his mooks, and melted metal chains off the Gaang without even the slightest scratch on their skin.
*** Avatar Roku is a special case, being an Avatar, having potential access to the combined wisdom and skill of the Avatar Cycle, and being a spirit at the time he took down Zhao.
* Except a) We see at the end of Episode 8 that Korra is perfectly capable of firebending with just her breath, b) Iroh demonstrated in the original show that he could superheat his metal handcuffs and cause immense pain to an earthbender captor with precisely zero negative effects to himself, so there are obviously some aspects of being a firebender that cause heat and/or fire to not be as much of a bother, and finally c) Zuko repeatedly demonstrated that controlling the intensity of candle flames was a form of exercise during peaceful meditation... moving absolutely no part of his body at all. Same thing with Aang when Jong Jong had him try and prevent the leaf from burning. Even Iroh did something similar just before the White Lotus began retaking Ba Sing Se, by causing a surrounding fire to expand just by inhaling and exhaling. Like he was flexing a muscle. The idea that simply restraining a bender's limbs somehow renders them completely helpless is just something they carried over from the original show because they need something to create a sense of drama, even though when you stop and think about it, it really makes no sense. Katara completely froze herself and Azula during the finale, yet somehow thawed just herself to move enough to chain Azula down. Given this, how would it ever be possible to restrain a waterbender in ice, like Paku did during the first season? Toph completely surrounded herself in metal, wearing it like a suit of armor, even though doing so should have made moving all but impossible. If she can do this it should not be possible to restrain her with anything made of metal, or earth. Despite this, she and Aang were somehow "captured" by the Dai Li. Aang even lampshades this in the episode where they meet the Earth King by floating the rocks they bound him with for a few seconds before going back to pretending to be helpless. It pretty much boils down to the writers playing fast and loose with their own rules and going out of their way to establish as little as possible so they can do cool things when they want to without having to explain themselves later.
* Zuko is living proof that being a firebender does NOT make you fireproof. Lighting yourself on fire to burn through some ropes generally sounds like a bad idea to me.
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[[folder: Asami staying at Airbender Island?]]
Why? I mean, yes, her father's considered a criminal now, but wouldn't his assets go to her? Or at least the house?
* I guess she could stay in the mansion with Mako and Bolin, but maybe Tenzin and Pema could provide her with the comfort of a family that Asami no longer has, as her mother is dead and her dad turned out to be a criminal? Plus she'd just started to bond with Korra too, so maybe this whole surrogate family on Airbender Island would be better for her than just the three of them in the mansion? Not to mention that the Equalists may want revenge on her for being a non-bender who turned against her own father to protect benders, so she should be safer living in the same place as Korra and Tenzin.
* Option A = living all alone except for servants in a house the size of a mall that's not only full of memories of your dead mother and evil father but a known site of significant terrorist activity, in fact owned by a high-ranking member who has a knack for creating secret tunnels and rooms where who-knows-what could be going on and who-knows-who might show up = neither physically nor psychologically safe. Option B = living with friends, training and planning with them to end the war = safer, more enjoyable, and makes tons more sense.
** Repeating the above, "a known site of significant terrorist activity". The police likely would have the mansion closed off until they could fully investigate all of it, knowing it already has at least one secret tunnel. Yes, she could stay at the mansion, but Asami would have to wait weeks until her father's dealings were fully investigated and she was actually allowed back into it.
** As for money, Hiroshi's public assets are definately going to be frozen, and that probably includes Asami's trust fund, or whatever way her father used to treat her to luxury.
* Since I guessed that Hiroshi would be the suspected ally, I wondered for a while whether Asami would live with them or maybe get her own apartment somewhere in Republic City. I was quite surprised that the former happened, but it does make sense. She's probably in the top ten list of enemies, so she wouldn't be safe alone. And who could she hire to defend herself?
* Staying on the island is also a way for Asami to avoid the press.
* Seeing how Asami most probably isn't of age yet, she just might be legally unfit to hold/govern her father's assets even if they weren't frozen.
** The age of majority in the Avatarverse is sixteen, and she's most definitely at least that old.
* In addition to all the above, with her father and who knows how many other collaborators who had/have easy access to the mansion still at large, Asami may not be safe staying alone there.
** Pretty much. As far as we know, Hiroshi might want to take his daughter back, even if it has to be by force. If she stays on Air Temple Island, she has people to protect her.
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