But earthbenders and??perhaps other nations first learned bending from animals so he should be able to learn from them.

Also I have a question about the xings that were mentioned by Bumi. what were they and how do the work? Also how did Ty lee stop Katara from bending?

From what I observe she bends two things: 1) blue fire??2) electrical charges. I see a distinct difference. When bending electricity she has to kind of charge up the electrons (and there's a crakling sound) and then does a discharge (like when she broke through the wall Toph put up to stop them the first time we saw them on the lizard things, but when firebending in battle??she just shoots out blue fire which then turns red/orange as the heat dissipates.

I of course am not an expert, this is just how I have interpreted what she does.

Thank you, I feel a little better knowing its not just me. I did send them a message explaining my frustration as a passholder at not being able to have access to the episodes at the same time as they are available for individual purchase.

OK I have a different question now. In Winter Solstice 1 we saw the Earth Kingdom soldiers were attempting to crush Iroh's hands to prevent bending (which may have been ineffective anyway since it was his breath that seemed to heat the shackles) and it does seem hands are usually needed to bend elements - although maybe not for masters such as Iroh and Bumi. So my question is, if Zuko were to use his broad swords??to somehow maim (not in a graphic sense) or if Toph (or anyone I guess) were to try to crush Azula's hands would that diminish her power?