Nickelodeon (ended 2008)
| Murraymuzz wrote: |
| Maybe Avatar Yangchen was wrong, seeing as the avatar is the bridge between the spirit world and the physical world, i'd say he has duties to the spirits also. She might have just said that because none of the other Avatar's knew of a way of defeating the firelord without taking his life, and if it was between letting him live or die, he had to be killed. |
| Gnosis421 wrote: |
| There are really two major reasons, in my opinion, that Aang was able to access the Avatar State fully. I don't think it has anything to do with letting go of Katara. Logically, that couldn't make sense considering how hung up on her he was at Ember Island. Reason 1 would be the Giant Lion Turtle. If you pay attention, you see that the Turtle touches Aang in both the centre of his chest and the top of his head. The centre of his chest is the precise location of the Heart Chakra, which is the centre of the body. It not only governs love and compassion (Katara) but it also controls the circulation of energy (Chi) throughout the entire body. Without the balance of the Heart Chakra, the energy of the body isn't balanced. The top of the head is commonly referred to as the Crown Chakra, or Sahasrara. It's symbol is the 1000 petal lotus and it represent complete spiritual awarenss and connection to the Universe. It's purpose is anything but earthly and represents connection to the world beyond, or "heavens." It also represents spiritual awarenss. But bending the energy within Aang's body, the Turtle must have opened and cleared the heart and crown chakras. Allowing for full mobility of energy and chi, not to mention spiritual awareness and thusly, a connection to the Avatar State. Let's not forget that Aang touched Ozai in the same places the Turtle touched him. Allowing Aang to bend the energy (5th element) in Ozai's body, negating it from existence. Reason 2 would be a lot more simple. If you recall, it was Roku who told Aang that the Avatar State is merely a defense mechanism. Perhaps, when Aang crash into the stone and hit his wound against the jagged piece of rock, it subconsciously brought back his near-death crisis and sent his Avatar Energy on overload.
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I believe you are correct. By giving Aang Spirit-bending, the Lion-turtle gave him the ability to circumvent the past avatars' desire to kill Ozai. It would be plausible that it would also allow Aang to circumvent the Guru's teaching that the Crown chakra may only be opened by sacrificing all earthly longings (particularly, his love for Katara).
In Crossroads of Destiny, we see Aang starting to achieve Avatar State by "letting go" of Katara. This process was interrupted by Azula's lightning, so Aang kept his "longing" for the girl. In the finale, however, during the Avatar transformation nothing shows that Aang is "letting go" of his feelings for Katara. In fact, it was his "earthly" pity and compassion for Ozai that made him stop the Avatar State from killing the Fire lord. So I believe it's fair to say that the rather inhumane teachings of the past avatars and the Guru have been superceded by Aang with help from the Lion-turtle's spirit bending.
This kinda reminds me of how Fire bending was explained to work: there's the dominant school of using one's rage and hatred to fuel the fire, and there's the Dragon method based on inner harmony (or whatever). The avatars and the Guru are scions of the ruthless, brute force approach to Avatarism (discard love and friendship, kill all who stand in your way), whereas Aang and the Lion-turtle are different (achieve Avatar State without sacrificing love and friendship, do not kill enemies but rather attempt to reform them).
| Gnosis421 wrote: |
| Let's not forget that Aang touched Ozai in the same places the Turtle touched him. |
Must...resist...urge...to make...sexual joke...willpower fading...
| MarryLarry wrote: | ||
Must...resist...urge...to make...sexual joke...willpower fading... |
| Undead_Prince wrote: | ||
I believe you are correct. By giving Aang Spirit-bending, the Lion-turtle gave him the ability to circumvent the past avatars' desire to kill Ozai. It would be plausible that it would also allow Aang to circumvent the Guru's teaching that the Crown chakra may only be opened by sacrificing all earthly longings (particularly, his love for Katara). In Crossroads of Destiny, we see Aang starting to achieve Avatar State by "letting go" of Katara. This process was interrupted by Azula's lightning, so Aang kept his "longing" for the girl. In the finale, however, during the Avatar transformation nothing shows that Aang is "letting go" of his feelings for Katara. In fact, it was his "earthly" pity and compassion for Ozai that made him stop the Avatar State from killing the Fire lord. So I believe it's fair to say that the rather inhumane teachings of the past avatars and the Guru have been superceded by Aang with help from the Lion-turtle's spirit bending. This kinda reminds me of how Fire bending was explained to work: there's the dominant school of using one's rage and hatred to fuel the fire, and there's the Dragon method based on inner harmony (or whatever). The avatars and the Guru are scions of the ruthless, brute force approach to Avatarism (discard love and friendship, kill all who stand in your way), whereas Aang and the Lion-turtle are different (achieve Avatar State without sacrificing love and friendship, do not kill enemies but rather attempt to reform them). |
Hey, so there's a Dark Side and Light Side to Avatarism 8=))
Roku: Aang, you do not yet realize your importance. You have only begun to discover your power. Join me, and I will complete your training. With our combined strength, we can end this destructive conflict and bring balance to the world.
Aang: I will never join you!
Roku: Aang, you can destroy the Fire Lord. He has foreseen this. It is your destiny. Join me, and together we can restore balance... as father and son.
Aang: NOOOOO!!
Roku: The Earth Kingdom... will die. As will your friends. Good, I can feel your anger. The Fire Lord is defenseless. Charge your energy. Strike him down with all of your hatred and your journey towards the Dark Side will be complete!
Hmm, the resemblance is actually quite uncanny...
| Eman5805 wrote: |
| Here's how I feel: To be the Avatar, you have to be able to detach yourself from your personal needs or wants and do what needs to be done to save the world. Aang had a choice of unlocking the chakra or rushing to save Katara. He choose Katara, which locked the chakra. Later on, Katara was surrounded by Dai Li. Aang had the choice of saving her or the Avatar State again. He let Katara go, which unlocked the chakra once more. HOWEVER, the lightning that killed him(temporarily) locked it again since he never fully unlocked it. Like someone shutting a door before you can walk through and then HOLDING the door shut. The shot to his back broke the physical lock and he could unleash the full force of the Avatar State on Ozai's poor Fire Lord butt. |
To further Eman's analogy, since he usually makes good sense with his points, the opening of the chakras in my opinion are like opening temporarily closed doors. Now that Aang has opened the final door, as the great Guru put it, he can go in and out of the Avatar State. Just think about it. When he opened the 7th chakra, he immediately went into the AS. Then he closed it and the AS went away. So the end result, to go AS he opens chakra 7 and to get out he closes it. The earthly attachment part is his way to unlock it. It is his acceptance that Katara will some day be lost to him. That is how he is detaching himself.
| tomtitan wrote: |
| Remember Yangchen's wisdom to Aang? 'Selfless duty calls you to sacrifice your own spiritual needs.' What Yangchen was telling Aang was that the Avatar can never open his 7th chakra. Why? Because his duty is to the world, therefore he is attached to it. If he were to unlock his 7th chakra it would mean he wasn't doing his duties as Avatar. He can't have both. Just my 2cents. |
but he did get control of the AS in the finale, thats why he released it before killing ozai, Yangchen was saying that the avatar could never be enlightened, i dont think she was talking about the AS.
