u/Inevitable_Zebra4222

Chaisee did horrible experiments. Lao Ge would have definitely wanted to kill her if he knew about it.

Why I don't think it's Salai
Me personally, I believe this isn't Salai. The fandom made the same mistake when ROK released, they thought Szeto was Salai. The reason I think this isn't Salai is because since he was known as a great and legendary avatar, the fire nation wouldn't be at the brink of collapse. Unless he was another Szeto where he focused on his nation. But that would have been just been a cycle because if the earth kingdom was struggling at the beginning of his life then the water avatar before him must've not focused on earth kingdom. When Szeto focused on the fire nation, it's not like the other nations were at the brink at collapse besides maybe the 40th earth king's assassination or Platinum Affair. Szeto had wars between clans, plagues, and natural disasters.

His possible personality
Now it's interesting how much Fong resembles this guy physically. It's even more interesting how Fong got his general position even though he's really harsh and extreme. What if this avatar was similar? Now that may seem like Kyoshi but we can put it in a good way. What if he was strict because his people were either incompetent or another lazy reason. Kuruk was a care free Avatar (in terms of physical world) which led to criminals becoming more bold. Something similar could've happened in this Avatar's life where the world had noticeable and more threats. I believe this avatar would have dealt with these threats but this is still very vague. Because of his earth bending personality, he would have faced problems head on and stand firm when problems occur. In Fong's time, he needed what he needed to do because of the war. Fong showed how hundreds of earth kingdom soldiers get injured every day fighting the war. With the connection from Fong to this avatar, we could say this earth avatar cared about soldiers who died in battle. Now I'm not saying him & Fong are the same person but Fong could have been inspired by him. Yes he attacked Aang but he also predicted Aang would say the Avatar State could be only done in immediate danger, it wasn't that Fong was obsessed with this avatar, it's that Fong could possibly believe in this Avatar's ideology which if true, this earth Avatar would have done the same thing and attack Aang. It's likely he respected bravery.

What he possibly did
His fit is almost identical to General Fong. However we cannot deduce he was a General from this. What we can deduce is that generals now wear an outfit similar to this Avatar and we must figure out why. Generals have a leading position over soldiers. What if during his time, their Earth King was the 40th? I used to believe that the 40th would have been either late Szeto/Yangchen but the earth kings lived long in between when Kyoshi was 40, and ATLA. Kyoshi's 46th earth king was when she was 40. Kuei is the 52nd earth king. 70 years passed to Korra there was the 53rd ruler. Would it be normal for the Earth King to live for long periods of time? If the Earth Kingdom was established from Sonam's era or right after which was 5,000 years ago, the average earth king before Kyoshi's would have lived over 102 years old. With this reasoning, I believe this Earth Avatar was some sort of leader with a similar general positioning that helped his people or especially soldiers. We could say he hadn't help the fire nation in a while because of Szeto's early life but that doesn't mean it'll be this Avatar's fault either. Natural disasters are natural and plagues aren't predictable.

His personal life
With Uncle Iroh's description of the personalities of all the four nations and what I gathered so far, this avatar would have struggled with air bending. His personality is very much like an earth bender because if he was strict like Toph, he would have propelled at earth bending but had a hard time with air bending. Jianzhu confirmed in his records of the Avatar, the avatars were always identified and found. This would have meant this earth avatar would have been found using geomancy. This would conclude this avatar was born and raised in one city in his early life. He wouldn't have moved out of states or cities. Avatar Szeto is noted to have the ability of lava bending but in the Avatar State. If a previous one of Szeto's lives did it, and Avatars mainly connect to the one most recent, could this Avatar have been the first Avatar capable of lava bending? It would make sense during his fire bending training, he might've have learnt lava bending from trying to heat up rocks. I believe his animal companion is a Shirshu. In Kyoshi's time, it was known politicians would use Shirshu to eliminate their opponents. If my theory about this earth avatar being strict is right, then it'll definitely up with him having a shirshu.

His companion...
Now here where things could possibly get wild. If my prediction about earth kings living long lives is right, then it's possible the 40th earth king not only was assasinated by Tieguei in his time but also was this earth king's companion. Earth King Zhoulai specifically... Zhoulai lived three hundred years before Yangchen so if Yi Ming was the 45th earth king, and then Yangchen's late life was 44th, Feishan possibly being 43rd, Szeto's life being 42nd, and because of how white and long this earth Avatar's beard is, maybe 41st Earth King being near his later life, and his companion being assassinated which would be the 40th. Now the Earth King being his companion would be fairly interesting if it's either through force or actual genuine friendship. If my theory about this avatar being strict is correct, then maybe the reasoning behind it was because of Zhoulai. The 40th earth king was assassinated by Lao Ge possibly due to him believing Zhoulai could have brought injustice to his people. Though If the Avatar and an oppressive Earth king was friends, wouldn't it be like another Roku's situation? Well there was a 15 year gap between Sozin suggesting world domination and Roku confronting Sozin. Roku could have possibly talked to his past lives to ask for help. This Earth Avatar might've thought his strict ideology may have been right and blamed himself for his friend's death.

Think about it. Salai was one of the most legendary avatars. He shouldn't be the one on the left just because he's the most recent, but because off accomplishments. This mural was painted during or after the time of Avatar Kyoshi. The one in the middle should be of most legendary importance. The evidence we have is known in Kyoshi's era as well as being one of the greatest Avatars. This Earth Avatar in the middle fits what we know. Everyone wants Salai to be the General looking one but it would make more sense for Salai to be this woman. Salai is also a unisex name. Salai is translated to an East Indian tree used for medicine. I think Salai (not being racist) fits also the East Indian description, perhaps being apart of the same people of Pathik. Maybe she was known for being an amazing healer.

For the most part, the way they are described sounds very similar to Raava's and Vaatu's conflict.

How would City of Echoes compare to the Chronicles of the Avatar novels? I think it's slightly better than Dawn of Yangchen but is still the second worse novel out of the seven.

Spoilers for the Legacy of Yangchen!!!

Fun Fact: Yangchen's Bison was unalived by a little boy.

After Yangchen's team avatar found out the truth on how combustion bending was created, she rescued a little boy who underwent the training to become a combustion bender. They went on top of her bison, and they supposedly fell asleep. However, he pretended to fall asleep, and as he did so, he overheard Yangchen's team talking about how they wanted to keep the boy safe because the government would want to pay any combustion bender to work for them. The little boy attacked the team when they all landed on the ground. Yangchen's bison rammed the boy to protect her, but the little boy tried to combustion bend. However, he never truly mastered the technique since he only went through one of many stages. Only pressured air came out which killed both the bison and himself.

After this, Yangchen locks in and threatens a double Su!c!de to both her and the villain creating the combustion benders by sending a signal to another combustion bender that means to strike. The villain just had a new born child, and her motive was that she wanted a legacy. However, Yangchen didn't care since she could just reincarnate while if the villain gets unalived, the villain dies. The villain was forced to give up the combustion bender's location.

There's a common misconception that the villain herself killed the bison but no it was a young boy.

Professor Zei stated he found lost civilizations all throughout the Earth Kingdom. What do we think he could have found? Foggy swamp? Underwater civilization? Wherever Guru Pathik came from? Civilization in mountains? The tribes from the Great Divide? Taku? Northern air temple? Kyoshi island? Cave of two lovers?

Would she immediately be identified, and pick all the toys correctly? Would Yun just continue to be a random earth bender in Makapu? Would they hide her identity until she turned 16 traditionally? How would Jianzhu par in training her in terms of earth bending? What would happen in the Fifth Nation battle? Would she still try to track down the Flying Opera Company?

In the Yangchen Novels...

Combustion bending was created from having fire benders chained underwater to the sea floor. They had to try to create pressure, and only when you believe your about to drown, is when you are capable to do the technique. The process was brutal and intense since most subjects died. Combustion bending also requires large lungs which explains the heights of Sparky Sparky Boom Man and P'li! The first combustion benders had to take dozens of deep breaths to create a combustion blast because they needed enough air to do so.

Would you want to be a combustion bender?

What if during the start of Flame's Warriors Arc, GodOfWar breaks out LettuceK out of jail instead of just asking him some questions. LettuceK is in Saparata's custody but would GodOfWar win against Shoebilly and an army?