u/G_strike

Over the years, many people watched Avatar, and many criticize the series ending. Their main two points being:

1. Energy bending as a "Deus EX Machina" pull to circumvent the moral clash of Aang.

2. Aang going into the Avatar state even though his 7th chakra was "blocked".

But I think people simply misunderstood these events, and I'll explain each of them.

========== The 7th Chakra Controversy ==========

First, let's begin with the "blocked 7th chakra". We know that in the episode "Crossroads of Destiny" Aang attempted to unlock his 7th chakra but Azula "killed" him, and that...somehow, was interpreted as his 7th chakra truly being blocked, because Aang THOUGHT that happened. As a veteran lore theorist on Dark Souls and Elden Ring, one thing I always point out is that people often take what the characters in-game say as a "irrevokable truth", but they're inside the game, is not like they suddenly turn-off their NPC status to spill some truth bomb on you before going back to normal.

This same logic is valid here, Aang couldn't possibly know if his 7th chakra was truly blocked or not, because: he only ever entered the Avatar state while enraged or in self-defense, and there was no life or death situation in the 3rd book until THE VERY END. Not to mention that Guru Patik itself stated that Aang wouldn't be able to enter the Avatar state anymore RIGHT after he backed up from unlocking his 7th chakra, but...he entered the Avatar state anyways on the Crossroads of Destiny!

So...was the 7th chakra actually needed for the control of the Avatar state? I think YES, but the problem is the whole interpretation of the "letting go of earthly attachments" thing. But yes, Aang DIDN'T unlock his 7th chakra at that moment, and was PUNISHED by karma/the universe for attempting to let go of Katara (which, ultimately, was the responsible for his ressurrection). So if Aang didn't unlock his 7th chakra there...how did he enter the Avatar state in the end?

======== The Energy Bending Controversy ========

Many people, and I was one of them, always thought that the Energy Bending was a Deus EX Machina, and it kinda is, but it's definitely not on the same category as a dumb "asspull" or a lazy solution to Aang's moral dilemma. One core foundation of Avatar's world is buddhism and karma, and people often ignore that when investigating the facts of the story.

Energy bending, as it is in the world of Avatar, is bending of spiritual energy, the energy that binds all and is directly tied to destiny, fate and the cosmic forces in power.

At the end of his journey, for some reason, Aang was rewarded with the power of the universe, the 5th and most elevated element: Aether. But why? Why would the universe give to Aang the solution to his problem...?

== A Masterful Play on the 7th Chakra Philosophy ==

Much like a videogame, I think the whole "unlocking the 7th chakra" thing is similar to when you find a secret ending on a videogame or an alternative ending, where you get the results you want for the story.

What I think ATLA was trying to do was its own interpretation of the buddhist understanding of "letting go of earthly attachments", and it is totally valid. My point? Aang did let go of his earthly attachments!!

But how? He had 2 possibilities:

1. Letting go of Katara. But the universe basically punished him for that.

2. Letting go of his beliefs.

But... there's a 3rd, secret one, and I think that's what happened:

3. Letting go...of the World!

Wait, what am I implying? Let me explain, by standing true to his ideals to the very end, Aang putting himself against the duty of the Avatars, which is to the world. Aang refused to serve the world how it wanted to be served and use wordly resources (like killing) to solve problems, and by these standards Aang achieved true enlightment, he achieved Buddha.

Because of that, the universe rewarded Aang with the most reliable proof that he TRULY unlocked the 7th chakra (and I believe that nobody in history ever truly did, not even Guru Patik or previous avatars, but that's something for another post): the power of Aether, Energy Bending, and the full control of the Avatar state. So, it wasn't a normal "Deus EX Machina", but it had an explanation hidden inside Avatar's universe for this reward!

The ending of the series is a masterful play on this philosophy because they were telling us, all along, that Aang was in fact, against the world (and by extent, in the process of letting go of his earthly attachments) when he decided to spare Ozai and they've put 4, not 1, not only Kyoshi, but 4 avatars to confront him!!!

People just didn't understood what "Letting go of earthly attachments" truly meant and understood it as some sort of dichotomy, when it truly wasn't that.

Well, that's my defense, I hope you like my interpretation of the facts and I truly understand if you think I'm into some bullshit 🙏

It's beautiful when it hits

Ngl I thought I was going to die in the beginning because my big ass weapon blocked my view fr

Like, the Fire Nation had all the advantages.

1. The biggest city in the Earth Kingdom was already under their dominion. No reason to bother with the Earth Kingdom anymore.

2. They had the airships, basically countering a very big disadvantage they would had vs the Northern Water Tribe: the sea.

3. They had the Sozin's Comet, not even being in the north pole would nerf them.

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Was Ozai just trying to aura farm ffs?

Ghostflame Call AoW or "Ghostflame Ignition from Temu". This thing is ASS compared to the original from Death's Poker, and by being ass I don't mean "slightly weaker than the OG", it is TRASH DOO DOO.

Really wish they buffed it with a patch or on Tarnished Edition