History NightmareFuel / TheLegacyOfYangchen

* The Unanimity Project and the island where it took place will make your hair stand on end. As part of her quest to make her position as Zongdu lifelong and hereditary, Chaisee had her agents recruit people desperate for extra money from around the isolated islands between the Fire Nation and Earth Kingdom and smuggle them to a tiny island heavily implied to be the same one where she grew up. [[spoiler:Based on the evidence Yangchen, Kavik, and Jujinta uncover, there were well over a hundred recruits, including children. Only five recruits got off the island alive, and only two make it to the end of the book.]]

** The firebenders were trained to become combustionbenders. [[spoiler:Only four people survived the process: Yingsu, Xiayun, Thapa]][[spoiler:, and Raitei. Raitei is a boy no older than thirteen, Aang’s age at the end of the original show. After he's rescued from the island, he [[DeathofaChild dies]] [[PowerIncontinence trying to assassinate Yangchen with his technqiue]], and her bison, Nujian, sacrifices his life to save her]].
** The black temple. ''Raava protect us, the black temple.'' It’s described as blocks of fresh volcanic rock fused together to form a windowless shape taller than a Taku apartment. Given how residential buildings built before the invention of elevators could be up to ten stories tall and the legendary extravagance of Taku, the temple is clearly enormous. Yet, the only entrance is a short, narrow crevice that people passing in and out have to crawl through. Jujinta guesses that the design is meant to prevent things from escaping. Inside, Yangchen and her friends find [[spoiler: a bunch of disassembled metal rings greased with animal fat. They’re piled on top of a chair with leather restraints for the wrist, ankles, and head. The wooden arms of the chair bear gouges from desperate fingernails, and the cushion is stained with human waste. Guess now we know where the Dai Li brainwashing technique came from.]]
*** [[spoiler:If brainwashing was invented here, there had to have been lots of trial and error before Chaisee’s agents got it right. Three guesses what happened to all the washouts from her chi-blocking program…]]
*** [[spoiler: Once she learns all she can from the black temple, which isn’t much, Yangchen sinks the entire building straight down into the ground to hide its secrets. Yet we know that the Dai Li were brainwashing people hundreds of years later. That means someone independently rediscovered how to do it. Which in turn means that another place like the black temple existed at some point between Yangchen and Aang’s eras.]] Sweet dreams.
** The secret to creating combustionbenders is finally revealed, and just as Thapa implied in the last book, it's TrainingFromHell. [[spoiler: Firebenders are chained deep underwater, where they can’t breathe or create flames. They have to let the pressure compress their power deep inside them, then push it out all at once to create as much concussive force as possible. Either they break the chains and float to the surface with the ability unlocked, or they drown. According to Raitei, the initial breakthrough only comes if you truly believe you’re going to die.]] The later stages of the training are never explored, but based on Thapa's hints in the last book, it probably isn’t any more pleasant.

* The Unanimity Project and the island where it took place are practically made of FridgeHorror. As part of her quest to make her position as Zongdu lifelong and hereditary, Chaisee had her agents recruit people desperate for extra money from around the isolated islands between the Fire Nation and Earth Kingdom and smuggle them to a tiny island heavily implied to be the same one where she grew up. [[spoiler:Based on the evidence Yangchen, Kavik, and Jujinta uncover, there were well over a hundred recruits, including children. Only five recruits got off the island alive, and only two make it to the end of the book.]]

** The firebenders were trained to become combustionbenders. [[spoiler:Only four people survived the process: Yingsu, Xiayun, Thapa]][[spoiler:, and Raitei. Raitei is a boy no older than thirteen, Aang’s age at the end of the original show. After he's rescued from the island, he [[DeathofaChild dies]] [[PowerIncontinence trying to assassinate Yangchen with his technqiue]], and her bison, Nujian, sacrifices his life to save her]]. Sweet dreams.

*** [[spoiler: Once she learns all she can from the black temple, which isn’t much, Yangchen sinks the entire building straight down into the ground to hide its secrets. Yet we know that the Dai Li were brainwashing people hundreds of years later. That means someone independently rediscovered how to do it. Which in turn means that another place like the black temple existed at some point between Yangchen and Aang’s eras.]]

** The black temple. ''Raava protect, us the black temple.'' It’s described as blocks of fresh volcanic rock fused together to form a windowless shape taller than a Taku apartment. Given how residential buildings built before the invention of elevators could be up to ten stories tall and the legendary extravagance of Taku, the temple is clearly enormous. Yet, the only entrance is a short, narrow crevice that people passing in and out have to crawl through. Jujinta guesses that the design is meant to prevent things from escaping. Inside, Yangchen and her friends find [[spoiler: a bunch of disassembled metal rings greased with animal fat. They’re piled on top of a chair with leather restraints for the wrist, ankles, and head. The wooden arms of the chair bear gouges from desperate fingernails, and the cushion is stained with human waste. Guess now we know where the Dai Li brainwashing technique came from.]]

* The Unanimity Project and the island where it took place are made of this trope. As part of her quest to make her position as Zongdu lifelong and hereditary, Chaisee had her agents recruit people desperate for extra money from around the isolated islands between the Fire Nation and Earth Kingdom and smuggle them to a tiny island heavily implied to be the same one where she grew up. [[spoiler:Based on the evidence Yangchen, Kavik, and Jujinta uncover, there were well over a hundred recruits, including children. Only five recruits got off the island alive, and only two make it to the end of the book.]]