The Legend of Korra - Book One: Air
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^Yeah, that's all it was. The harder you blow on a wind instrument, the louder the sound, and he used airbending to blow really forcefully.
Still, it is a plausible conjecture that soundbending could be a specialized form of airbending. I don't think we've ever seen it, though.
Still, it is a plausible conjecture that soundbending could be a specialized form of airbending. I don't think we've ever seen it, though.
And if it was, the skill was probably lost when the airbenders were wiped out. Someone would have to rediscover it.
As an intersting aside, sound is the 5th element in the chakra system, where we have the following...
1. Earth
2. Water
3. Fire
4. Air
5. Sound (or ether/void)
6. Light
7. Thought (or consciousness/spirit)
Based on that, spirit bending would probably fall under "thought bending". And that lightning guy seems more like a light bender, especially since his lightning emanates from his third eye, where the 6th chakra lies. I like that system and thought it would have been nice if somehow, the mythology expanded to include sound, light and thought bending.
1. Earth
2. Water
3. Fire
4. Air
5. Sound (or ether/void)
6. Light
7. Thought (or consciousness/spirit)
Based on that, spirit bending would probably fall under "thought bending". And that lightning guy seems more like a light bender, especially since his lightning emanates from his third eye, where the 6th chakra lies. I like that system and thought it would have been nice if somehow, the mythology expanded to include sound, light and thought bending.
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Hate to nitpick but there is no such thing as Spiritbending. It is only canonically known as Energybending. Spiritbending is a fanon name.
Also, I think that the 6th chakra is very important to Amon's "energybending". I think that he closes a bender's 6th chakra and disrupts the flow of chi in the body (which is why they all collapse right after he does it) and since the obstruction of light is darkness/deceit, the lie that their bending is gone permanently prevents them from opening the chakra and regaining their bending.
Also, I think that the 6th chakra is very important to Amon's "energybending". I think that he closes a bender's 6th chakra and disrupts the flow of chi in the body (which is why they all collapse right after he does it) and since the obstruction of light is darkness/deceit, the lie that their bending is gone permanently prevents them from opening the chakra and regaining their bending.
You don't have to assume, we know it's seperate. The lion turtle said (I'm paraphrasing) "Before the avatar we did not bent the elements, we bent the spirit"
For some reason spritbenders were not made part of the avatar cycle and the ability was lost over time, there could still be spritbenders but because bending is now all about tangible elements they never realized their abilities (until a certain spirit who's not exactly a fan of the avatar found Amon and flat out told him).
The avatar can spiritbend because being able to bend all elements (even the one not part of the cycle) defines him/her.
Or maybe spiritbending was and still is the base of all bending and air, water, earth and firebending are just specialized forms of it. Every bender is a spiritbender just like every metalbender is an earthbender, spiritbending was just forgotten over time.
This also fits my other theory, that there is no genetic element to bending at all, every bender has the potential to bend every element at birth, the reason the water tribes only produce waterbenders is because their entire culture is build around water. If two waterbenders lived in Republic City their child could turn out to be a firebender. In an integrated society that doesn't groom the bender to be in tune with one specific element from birth the bending could manifest itself to suit the benders personality.
Edit: replace spiritbending with energybending if you like, who cares, doesn't change the theory.
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Deceit is actually the negative side of the 5th chakra. Anyway, I wonder how the avatar state will fit into all of this, assuming it does.
^ So maybe the avatar state can either clear the way or prevent an avatar's bending from being taken. How that would help others, I don't know. If others can achieve such a state, that would cause quite a paradigm shift, opening up the way for anyone to bend anything, I'd imagine. Can't wait to see how all this unfolds.
I doubt that chakras and chi energy flow are exclusive to the Avatar, especially since Guru Pathik was a non-bender.
Anyway I can't help but get the feeling that Amon's plan goes so far outside of just riding the world of bending. I'd even go so far to say that his "equalization" is just a front for something else.
Anyway I can't help but get the feeling that Amon's plan goes so far outside of just riding the world of bending. I'd even go so far to say that his "equalization" is just a front for something else.
If that is true, do you still need a special chakra blocking ability?
I like the theory, but is Amon special or could every equalist put on the mask and poke a bender's forehead and the bender's believe that their bending is taken away would be enough to block the chakra?
Well, whatever it is, they have two more episodes to wrap things up, unless season 2 picks up whatever developments next week's finale brings.
Well Amon is much more than a man in a mask. His personality projects so much confidence, so much power, it would be hard for anyone who has seen him in person to not believe he could do anything. Look at how he instills so much raw fear into Korra. That there sets up the illusion so when Amon physically blocks the chi paths and closes the chakra it doesn't reopen.
I would love to see Season 2 explore more about the nature of the Avatar and Bending in general. We've gotten bits and pieces from time to time, but I'd love to really delve into the hidden mythology/history of it all.
^ They could do that if everything we're talking about has some validity. I found this article that talks about a rumor concerning book 2's title.
I meant Book 2. 3 was a typo. 
But yeah, if that happens next season, I would also love to see Korra traveling the world, maybe trying to learn more about her spiritual side from different types of benders from the four nations. I'd love to see how the Fire Nation and the Earth Kingdom have changed. I bet Korra would have fun sliding around the chutes in Omashu.
But yeah, if that happens next season, I would also love to see Korra traveling the world, maybe trying to learn more about her spiritual side from different types of benders from the four nations. I'd love to see how the Fire Nation and the Earth Kingdom have changed. I bet Korra would have fun sliding around the chutes in Omashu.
You must mean Combustion Man, and he didn't fire lightning. According to the Avatar Wiki:
http://avatar.wikia.com/wiki/Combustion_Man#Powers_and_abilities
So it wasn't lightning, it was pure concentrated chi, the energy source for firebending. Instead of generating fire directly from his body, he projected chi toward a target (kind of a chi laser) and caused it to explode.
Semantics. When I first saw in in the A:TLA finale, I said to myself, "He's chi-bending!" Chi means life energy or lifeforce, and is reasonably close to the concept of the spirit. So they can be considered different ways of saying the same thing.
"In the era before the Avatar, we bent not the elements, but the energy within ourselves."
Well, in the sense that all bending is about directing one's chi to have a physical effect. Energybending is about altering the chi within another person instead.
Well, we know it's not mainly genetic, since Katara is a waterbender and Sokka wasn't. I think they even once mentioned a pair of twins who included a bender and a non-bender. But I don't think the rest follows. The thing to understand is that in this show's universe, the elements are defined in spiritual/mystical terms, and bending is derived from spiritual energy. So the nations have different bending abilities because of their spiritual essence as nations, as peoples with distinct mindsets and affinities and characters. The Earth Kingdom is grounded and settled, the Air Nomads flighty and free-flowing, the Water Tribes fluid and adaptable but strong and determined, the Fire Nation passionate and intense. So bending ability probably comes from the soul rather than the genes, which is why energybending can take it away.
So far, that has been shown to be kind of genetic, or at least lineage-dependent. Mako and Bolin are the children of a firebender and an earthbender, and each one got one of the parents' abilities. Aang and Katara's children included one airbender, one waterbender, and one nonbender. There hasn't yet been a case established of a child having a bending ability that neither parent had.
Still, if it is a matter of national character/psyche, then perhaps as the United Republic becomes more integrated as a culture, with its own distinct national "soul" emerging, there could one day be "crossover" births like that, or maybe even people who could bend more than one element.
Well, it doesn't say where that rumor comes from; it sounds like it's just a bunch of people online making the same rather obvious speculation I made.
It would be interesting to see the state of the rest of the world, but I don't think I want to see TLoK mimic the "world tour" format of A:TLA. The whole reason they created Republic City was because they didn't want to copy what they did the last time.