WMG / Korra Tenzin And Family

For theories about other subjects, see The Legend Of Korra Wild Mass Guessing Index.

Tenzin will be able to see Aang in Spirit Advisor mode along with Korra.

Well, he is Aang's son, and to see his dead father again would set up some interesting plot points...possibly.

• There's a precedent from the original series: during Roku's first appearance, Iroh was able to see his spirit dragon.
  • But Iroh and Roku have no blood relation...
    • True. The point is that, canonically, people who aren't the Avatar can still see the spirits of past Avatars (and their companion animals) under certain circumstances.
    • Also, about the blood relation thing, you don't know that. Roku and Iroh are both Fire Nation nobility. There could be some family relation.
    • Actually, they are, by marriage; in the Avatar and the Fire Lord, Iroh revealed that Roku was Zuko's great-grandfather, on Ursa's side... Hence the wording "blood relation".
  • This troper was under the impression that Iroh could see Fang because he had been to the Spirit World. It's implied that people who visit gain the ability to see spirits.
• In The Deserter, Jeong Jeong is able to see Avatar Roku, despite having no apparent connection by relation or having visited the Spirit World, so it's possible.
  • It's established that the Avatar can channel past avatars, and observers see the the previous Avatar when this occurs. That's what in all likelihood happened in that case.
• Not to mention that Tenzin seeing his dad again would be a MAJOR Heartwarming Moments/Tear Jerker. Just imagining Aang telling Tenzin how proud he is at how he's been teaching Korra and the kids gives me The Feels.
• Possibly Jossed. In the Book 2 episode "The Guide," we discover that Tenzin is not meant to help Korra with her Spirit World duties, but rather, Jinora is.

Korra going into the Avatar State will distress Tenzin.

Being Aang's s son and the Airbending master destined to teach the Avatar, Tenzin knows about the Avatar State and all it implies: it triggers during moments when the Avatar is under great distress or danger. As such, when Korra activates the Avatar State, Tenzin will be greatly saddened, since he will feel that he has failed as Korra's protector, maybe inducing a Heroic BSoD. However, this will be followed eventually with Tenzin having a Big Damn Heroes moment that'll be his Moment of Awesome.

Tenzin will be able to bend dreams/memories.

I recently watched a marathon of the series with a friend of mine and occasionally gave hints at who Tenzin was (The correct answer at the time was "Aang and Katara's son"). However, my friend has a tendency of missing the point and somehow came up with this conclusion:Friend:I bet Tenzin can control dreams and memories.Me:All of life is a memory, eventually (What I'm really thinking: Well,he's definitely head of SOMEONE'S dreams).But now that I give it some thought, I like the idea. I have no idea how it would work or why; I just think it's kinda awesome.

In his youth, Tenzin formed a Power Trio with his siblings similar to that of Aang, Katara, and Sokka.

Tenzin was Aang's counterpart, obviously.

• Even better, he was Sokka's counterpart. Sure, he's wise and calm now but... TENZIN STYLE!

Tenzin is Zuko's godchild

Or whatever their non-religious equivalent is..Or possibly, he's friends with Zuko and Mai's children.

• The inverse is likely as well. Which means we could well have Fire Lord Katara on the throne by Korra's day.
  • Huh? Succession doesn't work that way. How would Katara have been the Fire Lord when she's not a member of the Fire Nation Imperial family? Unless, of course, you mean Zuko and Mai's child and heir to the throne was named Katara.
    • Exactly.

Tenzin will have had a romantic relationship with Zuko and Mai's daughter.

Just to drive the shippers insane. Because Mike and Bryan are like that.

• I support this theory.
  • I do too.
    • I don't even care about shipping and this would please me.
• Kya or Bumi having relations with Zuko's daughter (or any other possible children) would also achieve the same effect.
• Jossed, in a way: Apparently he had a thing for Lin Beifong, Toph's daughter.

Tenzin has had run-ins with Amon and the Equalists before.

A few of the trailers have him say things like "Amon is more dangerous then ever". This implies that Tenzin remembers a time when the Equalists weren't quite as dangerous. In his younger years, Tenzin encountered Amon and his group, and got to see Amon's Start of Darkness.

• Related theory: Pema is an ex-Equalist. However, she left the group when she realized that they were becoming too radical.
• Tenzin and Amon were best friends and Pema their mutual friend/Love Triangle object of affection. Tenzin supported Amon's belief in non-bender empowerment because he believed it supported balance in Republic City until Amon really got radical. Pema was in the movement until Amon tried to assassinate Tenzin and rejected him.

Tenzin will be Korra's Parental Substitute

after her parents freaked out and abandoned her as a baby when they found she was the Avatar.

• Jossed. In a leaked clip, her parents are shown hugging her when she leaves for Republic City.
  Korra's Mother: We love you so much.
  • He is sort of her guardian as well as a teacher. God knows Korra certainly acts like a Bratty Teenage Daughter to him at times.
  • Alternate Theory: After Korra was discovered, when Tenzin was still childless, he secretly and briefly hoped for just such a scenario, but his understanding that this was not to be helped him realize his frustrated familial impulses, and he went seeking a family of his own in earnest while cultivating an avuncular relationship with Korra.

Pema is Ty Lee's daughter.

Because their daughter looks way too much like Ty Lee for it to be coincidence, even wearing the same outfit! Plus, it has been noted that Tenzin's wife is a non-bender, just like Ty Lee.

• And there always was that WMG from At LA that said Ty Lee was descended from Air Nomads...
• The problem with that is that Ty Lee was about 50 when Pema was born. It would make a lot more sense to suggest that Pema is Ty Lee's granddaughter.
• Given that this WMG is largely based on Strong Family Resemblance, Pema could also be the daughter/granddaughter of one of Ty Lee's six identical sisters.

Pema is the daughter of the Foaming Mouth Guy.

There will only be a reference to this fact once, very briefly. One of Tenzin and Pema's kids will get very excited over something, and begin foaming at the mouth and then faint, prompting Tenzin to turn to his wife and say, "He/She gets that from your side of the family."

COMBO!!! Ty Lee and Foamy shacked up and eventually led to Pema.

Pema's age is kinda right on the cusp of being either the daughter or granddaughter of such a pairing. And since Ty Lee signed up with the Kyoshi Warriors, she'd be living in proximity to him. And they're both... erm... "distinct" in personality. Birds of a feather...

Pema will be forced to evaluate her views on bending as Amon gains more power.

Although she clearly loves her family, she expresses disdain at the thought of another bending child in the pilot and wants one that is "normal" like her. As Amon's anti-bending revolution sets into motion, she'll start to question her definition of "normal" and ultimately accept the possibility of having another bending child.

Before she comes to this conclusion, however, a rift of sorts may form between her and Tenzin. Pema will be used to give an average person's perspective into the Equalist movement — a non-bender who can understand their viewpoints, but who also has loved ones who bend. She may point out that Amon -does- have some valid points despite his extremism, which will undoubtedly piss off Tenzin. By the end, though, they'll reconcile and grow from the experience.

• Related to the above: Pema will become a target for the Equalists' ire as a non-bender in a mixed marriage (having three airbender kids, with a possible fourth on the way does not help her case either). Considering Tenzin's status in the city, Pema is a class traitor and a "race" traitor.

Tenzin's children are 1/4th everything.

To add to the aforementioned "Pema is Ty Lee's daughter" idea, Pema is Ty Lee's daughter via a man she married from Kyoshi Island. So Tenzin is half Air Nomad and half Water Tribe. Pema is half Fire Nation and Earth Kingdom. Therefore their four children are a quarter everything. In other words, the poster children for the United Republic of Nations.

Tenzin's eldest daughter, Jinora, either is or will become a Badass Bookworm.

We've been told that she's a bookworm, and I've heard that Jinora means "essence of victory" in Sanskrit. Which leads me to believe that Badass Bookworm, Knowledge Is Power, or both will be in effect for her

• Books! The best weapons in the world!
• Jinora, master of Sokka Style.

Tenzin has been an uncle/great uncle long before he became a parent.

Guessing how old both Kya and Bumi is, it won't be surprising to learn that they both may have teen to adult aged children and young grandchildren by now.

• Semi-Jossed. Kya never married or had children, according to Word of God.

Jinora will become a full airbending master at some point in the series, but won't want to shave her head and take the arrow tattoo.

The Korra/Tenzin bond will be tested when Korra sides with her master's daughter in a family dispute about what it means to be an Air Nomad in the modern era. Jinora won't want to inherit the temple and simply pass on her people's traditions to her children, nieces, and nephews. She'll want a life of her own, across the bay in that alluring Babylon. Tenzin, meanwhile, will have major angst over the idea that the Air Nomads might still die out despite his and his father's best efforts unless the children keep to the ancient ways. Korra will be torn between her personal feelings to Jinora and to Tenzin.

• From what we've seen of master Airbending women, they get the tattoo upon their forehead, but they don't shave their head.
  • They do shave their foreheads up to the top of their head. They are only shown having hair in the back of their heads.
• The teenage rebellion is Jossed in season 3. Jinora WANTS to get the tattoos but Tenzin is hesitant to give his blessing, despite acknowledging her mastery of Airbending and their culture's lore. She's probably gonna have to wear him down for a while before he finally gives his OK.

  • And thanks to her efforts on saving Korra TWICE by the end of Book 3 (once from Una Vaatu, then again from Zaheer), and pioneering a new airbending technique, she finally gets the tattoos AND shaved head in the Book 3 finale, where you realize how much she looks like Aang. She grows her hair back for Book 4.

Jinora will develop a crush on Mako

Birds of a Feather anyone?

• She does say he's cute in a new clip. Possible rivalry with Korra now that Makorra is confirmed?
• Perhaps a genetic tendency to favor older men, inherited from her mother's side?
  • Jossed. She develops a crush on Kai, a StreetUrchin airbender who is introduced in Book 3.

The gender of Tenzin and Pema’s 4th child

Take your bets!

• Male and female. Which is to say...
  • As of episode 10 Its a Boy

Pema will have twins.

Just when they thought they had their hands full enough with kids... BAM![[Jossed]]

Pema's fourth child will be a waterbender.

From a view that bending abilities might be genetic, Katara's waterbending ability may have passed Tenzin's generation and gone to her grandchildren.

• Tenzin's older sister Kya is already confirmed to be a Waterbender, so while the unborn child's abilities are in the air, waterbending did not skip a generation in Aang's family.
  • That, and Pema herself is stated as being a non-bender from one of the water tribes.
    • She doesn't look like she's from the Water Tribes. Where is this confirmed? From her appearance I'd judge Earth Kingdom to be a more likely home country for her.
    • Didn't Katara state in the series premiere that she saw her fourth child as turning out to be another airbender? I think this is jossed.

Pema's fourth child will be a non-bender.

She says she wants one, and to need to perpetuate the Air Nomads' numbers aside, she's earned it after how much trouble the older three must give her.

• I think this is jossed. Read the paragraph above this one.

Tenzin's family will be captured and held hostage by the Equalists.

You know the whole "I Have Your Wife" trope, and since it's up to Tenzin to help repopulate the Airbenders (who are not only mostly pacifists but also children at this point), that makes his family a bigger target for hostage situations. In any case, he'd either be forced to betray/kill/capture Korra or his family dies.

• I agree with kidnapping as well as it being a major arc in the season, but only Pema will get kidnapped and while she is in labour with her child. When the child is born Tenzin will have to sacrifice his bending to save his wife and child before Korra can finish learning Airbending. With him being "Depowered", this frustrates Korra to the point where she activates the Avatar State out of rage due to fact as she can no longer become a "true Avatar" with the only Airbending master gone. With her going rampant throughout Republic City this activates the trigger that the Equalists needed to show the true dangers of bending. Which in turn starts a full blown war between the Equalists and Benders.
  • Confirmed. Although they try to escape, Amon is able to capture them and set them up for a public debending in the Book 1 finale.

Tenzin and his family will be harassed and threatened by a cultural supremacist group, led primarily by waterbenders.

Since Avatar tends to reference real life, Tenzin would essentially be a mulatto; and quite a few waterbenders, mostly the ones from the north, would feel slighted by Katara choosing someone from another nation over them and form a hate group against mixed-race children. But is the son of the Avatar gonna put up with that?Like hell he is! At least one episode would feature a protest, maybe even a sit-in of sorts. It could be a fantastic homage to the civil rights movement, if executed right.

• Not too likely, casual racism doesn't seem to exist in this world. Consider how the Dai Li accepted Azula as their leader, and the Gaang experienced no discrimination while traveling in the Fire Nation. Not to mention no one in the Fire Nation even noticed that only Toph has the physical characteristics of an Earth Kingdom national. Sure Hama, and Jet had issues, but they had considerable wrongs done to them. More neutral parties are incredibly PC.
• Agreed. The Fire Nation mainly believed themselves to be superior due to their technological advancements and wealth, but that's about it. No one seemed to really care about physical differences in the Avatar world, especially since it's been shown that even within one nation, there's actually quite a lot of genetic diversity. Not everyone in the Fire Nation is pale-skinned and golden-eyed, just look at Pian Dao and Ty Lee. The only reason the Air Nomads and Water Tribes were more or less homogeneous is because one was comprised of Nomads and the other was extremely isolated.

Tenzin will, at some point, pretend to be Amon to teach Korra a lesson

With Korra continuing to be reckless in regards to challenging Amon and the Equalists, Tenzin will decide that the only way for Korra to realize how unprepared she is is by fighting her himself. He will dress like Amon, ambush her, and duel her without using any Airbending, highlighting how even a non-Bender could take down the Avatar if properly trained. This will finally convince Korra to practice patience in her training rather than continuing to seek Amon out before she's ready.

• "And that's why you always leave a note!"
• From the looks of things, Korra does not need to be taught a lesson about the danger Amon poses. This is jossed.
• I read a comic once where this actually happened, resulting in Korra fleeing and running into the REAL Amon.

Jinora will receive a flying bison

After Ikki continually begs for one, Tenzin will give in...and let Jinora get one, since she's the oldest and most responsible of the Airbending siblings. This will allow her to help out with Korra, Mako, and Bolin as their eyes in the sky during their adventures.

• Aang and his friends were six when they received their flying bison.

The Equalists will try to turn Tenzin's kids against him.

The Equalists will try to use the fact that it's up to Tenzin to repopulate the Air Nomads to convince them that their father doesn't genuinely love them. They say things like "Daddy doesn't really love you, he only 'loves' you so he can continue his people", along with fabricating the situation to make them believe the lies. That would be the biggest blow to Tenzin, who would have to go out of his way to prove he loves them.

• Jossed. This doesn't happen.

Tenzin knows who Amon is.

Or at least suspects. Take a look at his reaction at the end of "The Revelation," when Korra tells him what she saw. The look on his face could be interpreted as "That's impossible!" or "Uh-oh..." He knows of someone who could potentially permanently take away bending.

Jinora was born following some military victory and named in commemoration of that victory.

• Here's the theory: Aang's death led to an opportunistic war by someone trying to take advantage of the Avatar's absence (possibly the Earth Kingdom trying to reclaim the United Republic, which it views as it's rightful territory) Tenzin and Pema both fought in the war and it's how they met. Jinora was born either near the end or shortly after and her name (apparently means "Glorious Victory" in Sanskrit) is in commemoration.

Jinora admires Azula.

• We know she's a history buff. Who wouldn't want to shake the hand of the Magnificent Bastard who conquered Ba Sing Se with only two handmaids?
  • Well, she does find Ax-Crazy Firebender conquerors romantic...

Tenzin was born on Air Temple Island

• Following some of the ideas about Bending being derived from both culture and genetics, Tenzin (and his own children) have all been born and raised in Republic City, the closest substitute to an Air Temple. Kya and Bumi look more Water Tribe because they were born in the Southern Water Tribe, where Katara wanted to be with familiar faces while starting motherhood. But by the time Tenzin was conceived, Republic City was safe/stable enough that Katara was comfortable giving birth there.

Tenzin will at some point be forced to display just how skilled the current lone master of Airbending really is

• He seems to be far more ...controlled...than his father, but it's not unreasonable to expect that before Korra gets to display any decent airbending, something might force Tenzin to show how much of a badass he is on his own terms (and not just as the son of an Avatar). It'd be really great moment for Korra to gain some real respect for the one element she seems to have the least understanding of.

Amon will at some point take away Tenzin's bending

• And Korra, with the help of Spirits, will learn how to reverse it, or discover more behind Amon's style of energybending.
  • Jossed. He very nearly does, but Korra comes to the rescue.

In a dark turn for the story, Pema will eventually give birth, and Amon will kidnap the baby, forcing Tenzin to surrender

Seems like something Amon will do.

• But wouldn't that sort of thing upset his group, even though they are for ending bending? He's basically gotten off on just targeting the benders that either crossed the Moral Event Horizon or been JerkAsses and avoided Kick the Dog moments. Perhaps that is what will occur and start his downfall to making Korra tap into her airbending and be able to confront Amon without suffering repercussions because of the mistake he made.
  • As of episode 10 there's a baby, but they kidnap the whole family and try to debend them.

Amon is Tenzin's and Lin Beifong's son

• According to the series' wiki, Tenzin is in his early fifties (51, to be exact), judging from what we've seen of Amon, he could be in his late twenties to early thirties. Which would put Tenzin in his early twenties at the time of Amon's birth. This may also mean that Lin and Tenzin were not only lovers, but they were married and had children. Amon being one of them. One may bring up the story Amon described about his family, but it's clear that this could be easily falsified and the real reason Amon would hide his own identity would be the fact that he was the grandson of the past Avatar and the chief's son, which would mean that he would be well known. Seeing that Tenzin left Beifong/Amon's mother on sour terms and for another woman, this and the fact that Amon is not a bender but his half-siblings are may have fueled the anger/hate Amon has for his father. The entire Equalist movement may just be a huge Calling The Old Airbender Out by a jilted Amon.
• Jossed. Amon is the elder son of Yakone.

Monk Gyatso's first name was Tenzin

You know, like the Dalai Lama. It will turn out that Aang named his son in honor of Monk Gyatso.

Jinora and Ikki are the real villains

One of them openly swoons about mass murder, the other appears to be possessed by a demon in episode 8. Jinora has studied enough to realize the moon is still fully there when the moon isn't full, and has found a way for tarrlok to tap into that power (Maybe she found Yakone's secret during her study of the gaang's old adventures). Meanwhile, the demon inside Ikki is responsible for giving Amon the power to energybend.

Tenzin will subvert the Panicky Expectant Father trope

After all, this is his fourth child. He knows what will probably happen. Other residents of Air Temple Island, however, might not keep such a level head.

Tarlok will use his new law to threaten Tenzin's family

He must be intending to deal with Tenzin's continued opposition somehow. Tenzin's association with Korra, non-benders, and Asami (Hiroshi was given as the justification), gives the Councilman several possibilities should he find a 'legal' excuse to intimidate the residents of Air Temple Island purely to influence Tenzin.

• Which would be very easy to do as there are no confirmed benders on Air Temple Island apart from Tenzin and his kids. Meaning that there are a large number of non-benders there, including Pema.
  • Exactly what I was trying to suggest. Though it would be interesting to see how far Tarrlok bothers to justify (under his law) involving Pema and the Air acolytes. Or whether he simply abandons all pretense and arrests them for being non-benders.
  • Jossed. He never gets that far before he gets outed as a Bloodbender. Also, it's unlikely that such threats would have worked, considering that the Island is heavily implied to be Tenzin's private property, and the people on it are his guests and staff — as long as they are on the island, they can't break any curfews.

Meelo is the real Avatar.

This theory explains itself.

Tenzin's Air-Wheel-like technique was his unique addition to Airbending

One of the criteria as it seems for legitimately recognized mastery of Airbending is the fostering of a brand new technique. For Aang, it was his signature Air Scooter (that ball of air he can somehow ride on, or simply sit on for momentary levitation). Tenzin in the episode where he finally debuts his skill, shows off what seems to be a distinct variation; riding in the center what looked like a wheel of air - allowing for offense and defense at the same time. This is most likely his special new addition, as compared to Aang himself during a flashback in episode 9 where he still makes use of the Air Scooter (granted he got better with it and no longer needs to assume a stance of any kind and its size has increased).

The Air kids contribution to Air bending

As stated above someone needs to create an air bending technique before becoming masters, so what techniques will Tenzins children create?

• Jinora: Air copter- Taking an existing air move like the air scooter or air wheel as a base she'll create a move for unassisted flight
• Ikki: Megaphone- she gets the idea to combine air bending with her hyperactive talking to create a sound based volume move, and it will be the precursor to sound bending
  • Tenzin developed that technique first, using it to wake up the spider spirit in Book 2
• Meelo: Fartbending
  • In that case, he should already have his arrows... unless Fartbending is an ancient technique passed down from father to son. It does seem like something a young Aang would find hilarious.

Why Tenzin went with Pema instead of Lin

An incident involving Lin being protected by Toph resulted in her mother's death. Lin's guilt from the incident resolved her to never have her own children so as to avoid anyone from suffering from the same guilt. Shortly after, Aang died and Tenzin became the only living Airbender, so his duty to *ahem* "repopulate" the Air Nomads and preserve their culture gained even more importance. And after finding out about her decision not to have any children of her own, in spite of his love for Lin, he knew that they ultimately could not be together. Had he stayed with Lin, Tenzin knew that the Air Nomad culture, Airbending and eventually the Avatar cycle would cease to exist. Then along came Pema and...well...

Meelo really is special

Isn't 5 years old a little bit too old to still be using diapers? He just seems really immature for his age, implying that perhaps not all is there. Or maybe he's not "special" per se, but he just has ADD. Either way, something's not right with him.

• I thought he was 3.
• When have we seen him wearing a diaper? I need proof.
  • When Pema went into labor, Lin stayed to protect the kids while Tenzin went into town. Meelo poo'd his pants, and Lin used her metal cables to carry him offscreen, presumably intending to change him.
    • He didn't poo his pants, he just said he had to poo.

One of the Airbender kids will be Equalized.

Naturally, the Equalists would want to target the home of an entire bending culture. Ridding the world of the last four Airbenders would seem like an easy task, especially with three of them being children. It would be a Heroic BSoD and a possible Berserk Button for both parents, especially Tenzin. The aftermath would be an angsty moment for said kid, with Pema comforting said kid.

"Guess you got your non-bender kid wish, mom."

• To add to this: Pema has a huge Mama Bear afterwards and totals several Equalists. Just because she is a devoted Air Acolyte doesn't mean she can't kick ass. She even had the courage to be involved in Tenzin and Lin's relationship. It just fits more if Pema does it more than Tenzin.
• Jossed. All of them get Put on a Bus at the end of Episode 10, which is intercepted by Amon, who then tries to Equalize them, but is stopped by Korra.

Meelo is this generation's Toph

He invented a new form of bending: Pootbending.When he grows up, he will turn the police force into pootbenders.

• ...there are no words.

Tenzin is heading to one of the Air Temples

It's the most effective place to hide, due to how difficult they are to get to, and if they head to the one populated by those people, the descendants of the Mechanist, they can have people to hide them in case Amon comes looking.

• They could go to the compound where Korra grew up, it also has the added benefit of not being known to the public.
  • Jossed. Amon captures them anyway. They don't go to any Air Temples until Book 2.

Rohan will grow up to be alot like Aang, and will be a central character in Book 2

It's self explanatory.

Pema is part Air Nomad.

We know that among pure-blooded characters, Air Nomads have brown eyes, the Water Tribes have blue eyes, Earth Kingdom natives have green eyes, and Fire Nation natives have yellow eyes.

Now let's examine Tenzin's family: Tenzin has blue eyes and is a carrier for the gene for brown eyes (indicating that in the Avatar world, blue is dominant over brown, the inverse of how it is in real life). Pema has green eyes. Jinora has brown eyes, Meelo has blue eyes, and Ikki and Rohan have green eyes. Now here's the interesting part: there is no way that you can get that combination if Pema has two genes for green eyes. If green were dominant over blue and brown, all the kids would have green eyes, if green were dominant over brown but dominated by blue, none of the kids would have brown eyes, and if blue and brown were both dominant over green, none of the kids would have green eyes. The only way to wind up with kids with all three eye colors is if blue is dominant over green and both dominate brown (again, the inverse of how it works in real life) AND Pema is a carrier for the gene for the brown eyes that are characteristic of Air Nomads.

• Only Tenzin has gray eyes.
• And Air Nomad typically have gray eyes.
• Brown eyes are often incompletely dominant, meaning it's entirely possible for a green eyed parent and a blue eyed parent to produce a brown eyed child, depending on how strongly the brown eye trait is expressed. Combining brown and blue eye traits will result in brown, gold, hazel or green eyes. So eye color genetics clearly work in a similar fashion to the real world. The only exception is with an inherent earthbending skill that seems to equalize the expression of the brown eye trait and blue eye trait where both are present, resulting in all heterozygous earthbenders having green eyes.

When Meelo grows up, he will be a total ladies man.

• Because it would be hysterical to the little Keet Cloudcuckoolander grow up to be an attractive The Casanova. Obviously, the secret to his success would be a combination of lessons from Bolin and a mastery of Sexybending.

Pema will be an Action Mom in Book: 2

• The only reason we don't see her kick ass was because she was pregnant. but now that Rohan's been born, she will be a more central character and an awesome Mama Bear.
  • Jossed.

Air Nomad Culture will never be like it was before the Hundred Years War, thanks to Tenzin and his family.

• Young Air Nomad children were raised by monks or nuns and strictly segregated by gender— we never saw Aang interact with Air Nomad girls or even nuns in his memories of living at the Southern Air Temple. Likewise, it's never stated if Yangchen ever married or had children, while Kyoshi and Roku certainly did (Kuruk was going to get married, but...) This sex segregation isn't possible now, since the only four airbenders are Tenzin and three of his children (Rohan is too young to tell whether or not he's a bender). Also, Aang's parents are never shown, so we don't know how families were set up in Air Nomad culture. The gender segregation on Air Temple Island isn't quite so strict, as Tenzin and Pema share a bedroom, so only single Acolytes or residents like the Krew might be segregated. It's unlikely that Tenzin and Pema are the only married couple, and it would be pretty hypocritical. This leads to a more "typical" family structure among Air Nomads/Acolytes, with kids being raised by their own parents rather than being sent away to live with monks or nuns at a young age.
• Actually, we do see an Air Nomad nun in one of Aang's flashbacks. It's the one where Aang first meets Appa. This trooper agrees with the rest of your WMG though. Air Nomad culture has certainly change, and will continue to change as time goes on.

Tenzin had four children specifically to repopulate each Air Temple.

• Think about it , two girls two boys, eventually Jinora will be sent to the Eastern Air temple with a few selected Air Acolytes to repopulate the Temple, then Ikki will be sent to the Western Air Temple, Meelo to the Northen and Rohan (If he is an air bender) to the Southern.
  • This actually makes sense.
  • The concept art of the Southern Air Temple seen at SDCC shows it to look at least partially rebuilt...perhaps there are already Acolytes there, and they're simply waiting for one of Tenzin's kids to come of age so they can head over and lead them?

Tenzin was The Casanova back in the day

He's in his 50's but his children are still very young. So he would have been somewhere in his 40's when he finally had a child. Considering that he has the task of repopulating the air benders, you'd think he'd be trying to have children at a younger age.

Well before he met Pema, he actually didn't want to settle down. Tenzin was a party animal when he was younger. He loved to be free and certainly didn't want to commit. Not to mention, he was very skilled with the ladies and usually had a new partner every year or so. And with all the females he had left in the world to woo, he never felt he was even close to wanting to settle down and start a family.

However this all changed once Aang died. Tenzin was finally struck with the horror that there could really be a chance that no more air benders would exist after his own death. He gave up his part animal life style and skirt chasing and immediately had plans for a family from then on out. It was just bad timing that he was dating Lin at this very time, and his insistance of wanting a family (and a very big family) caused her to reject ever wanting children since it'd mean she'd have to quit her job to have as many children as Tenzin implied to want at this time.

Pema was first drawn to Tenzin back when he was The Casanova, and she knows he's only straighten his act up since his father's death, but her love for him never changed even as he did. Nowadays she sometimes reminds him of back when he could woo an entire shop filled with women at the same time, which always causes a flustered reaction from Tenzin.

• One problem with this theory. Katara stated that Tenzin was always the serious one of her three children and the banter between him, Bumi and Kya in series two confirms this further. If he was The Casanova, then Bumi or Kya would have no doubt brought it up

Tenzin and Pema are going to have more kids

I doubt that another kid will actually be born in Book 2, but I'm certain Pema is going to get pregnant again. Tenzin kinda has to repopulate the airbenders, what with there being only 5, not counting Korra while counting Rohan.

Rohan will be the one to teach Air Bending to the Avatar after Korra

I just like the idea is all.

• Jinora is the only one of the Cloudbabies with master tattoos at the end. Clearly she'll be the Airbending teacher.

Book Two will involve at least one of the kids getting their airbender tattoos.

Look, the trailer shows Jinora joining Korra on a Spirit World adventure and taking on Wan Shi Tong. She kind of deserves those arrows at this point.

• Jossed for Book 2, but at the end of Book 3, Jinora gets the tattoos.

Jinora will invent an Airbending subset in order to placate Wan Shi Tong.

We already know that Jinora will go to Wan Shi Tong's library and come face-to-face with the owl. Here's a guess as to how that will go: Jinora goes to the library to get information that could help them stop the current conflict. Wan Shi Tong refuses, still angry about what the Gaang did in the previous show. However, recognizing Jinora as a fellow scholar, he'll agree to help if Jinora can show him something he has never seen before. Unable to trump the owl's wealth of knowledge and experience, Jinora is forced to push herself to the limit to invent a new form of Airbending.

• WANT. It's been confirmed that a new subset of Airbending would be introduced, and this would be a STELLAR way to do it.
  • The new airbending technique doesn't come until Book 3. Wan Shi Tong allows Jinora into the library after she tells him she's Aang's granddaughter, but hands her over to Unalaq, who then uses her as a hostage to force Korra to open the North Portal and help him release Vaatu, the Big Bad of Book 2.
• She first corrects his knowledge of the radio, and then reveals her connection to Aang and that she came with Korra, at which point he allows her to enter.

Uncle Bumi is...

The original one reincarnated as his best friend's son.

Jinora learned how to enter the spirit world from Iroh the 1st

It was reveled somewhere by the creators that old Iroh had had experience in the spirit world (which is why he was able to see Aang fly over head on Roku’s dragon) Now Jinora is an avid reader, and from what examples we’ve heard of, its stuff well above appropriate age level (see her romance advice to Korra). Maybe she ran across Iroh’s memoirs in her reading, and from that learned how to enter the sprit world as someone other than the Avatar

Aang's other two children picked on Tenzin when they were kids (and still do today to some extent) because they were envious of him.

Tenzin was the only one of the three to inherit the power of Airbending from their father. In all likelihood, Aang probably spent more time with the only one of his kids to inherit his native element, leading to resentment in Kya and Bumi towards Tenzin that manifested as their constant teasing and harassing of him. Things may explode during the little "family trip" the group are on, especially seeing how the Acolytes at the Southern temple showered Tenzin and his family and curtly ignored Kya and Bumi...

• This is more or less confirmed by preview to "Civil Wars". Aang evidently took Tenzin on a number of trips with just the two of them.
  • And Katara did not approve of Aang only taking Tenzin, which is why she urged Tenzin to take Kya II and Bumi with him, to make up for it in a way. Katara did have some daddy issues in the original series because her father Hakoda had gone to war right after Kya I's death, and felt abandoned; but at least she had Sokka. Tenzin, Kya, and Bumi have all been separated from each other for some time and may not have seen much of each other after Aang's death. Generation Xerox anyone?
  • Confirmed.

Bumi suffered the most from Aang's Parental Favoritism, and it'll show soon.

Tenzin was the only airbender of the three, so Aang put a lot of pressure on him to carry on Air Nomad culture and airbending. This doesn't seem to have worked out that well for him— even though he got the most attention from Aang, he was in much the same position as Korra is now. And look how well Korra turned out!

Kya was a waterbender who was resentful of the fact that she had to give up her rather nomadic lifestyle to settle in the South Pole so that Katara wouldn't be alone. On top of that, Katara was THE last waterbender in the Southern Water Tribe for a while. So while Aang didn't pay a whole lot of attention to her, she seems to be close with Katara.

Bumi on the other hand? He's a non-bender. Even though he's an awesome comic relief character, you can tell the kind of struggle he's had to go through— he's also the oldest of the three siblings. Imagine being the non-bending son of the best healer in the world and one of the last Southern waterbenders, and the freaking Avatar who is the Last of His Kind. Ouch.

Aang heavily pressured Tenzin with I Want Grandkids

Not that Tenzin didn't want four children or didn't want children, but he must have felt a great need to one day have children because his father drilled it into his mind to have children, considering the fact he was the only one at the time able to have airbending children and so able to repopulate the world with airbenders.

Katara and Kya carry an early graying gene.

Contrary to Bumi being the oldest his hair is still black while Kya's is grey, take that with her being the only one to carry Katara's waterbending and darker skin tone and you get... Well some weird genetic predisposition toward similarities with a single parent but suffice to say, early graying gene.

When Jinora goes into the Spirit World with Korra, Koh will try to steal her face.

He still wants a child's face for his collection.

• And if the new theories about Koh being or being connected to Vaatu are correct, then her fate could be even worse if she runs into him.
  • Jossed. She doesn't run into Koh, but Wan Shi Tong and Unalaq capture her, use her to force Korra to open the north portal so Vaatu can escape, and then toss her into the Fog of Lost Souls, where Tenzin finds her in the Book 2 finale.

Aang didn't favor Tenzin over Bumi and Kya

True, Aang did need to spend a significant amount of time with Tenzin, but he also tried to include his other children as much as possible. However, as kids, Bumi and Kya wouldn't have been very interested in going on airbending-related trip considering they are a non-bender and waterbender, respectfully. Although Aang tried to coax them along every time, Bumi and Kya would always come up with excuses not to go to avoid boredom. As the years went on, Bumi and Kya started to regret that they chose not to spend that precious time with their father and by the time they were trying to make up for it, he had already passed.

• The book 3 episode, Original Airbenders give this theory some evidence. Kya mentioned she was never able to keep all Air Nomad gurus straight because there was so many of them and Bumi told Tenzin he never felt part of the Air Nation. The fact that Kya knows about Air Nomad gurus at all means that Aang did in fact teach all of his kids about their Air Nomad heritage, not just Tenzin. The way Kya talked to Tenzin seemed like she didn't care to know all the gurus. It would make sense for Aang not take Kya and Bumi on "family vacations" since they were probably when Aang was teaching Tenzin more about air bending and Air culture. Katara was never mentioned on being on those vacations either, so it hardly sounded like family outings that Tenzin remembered them as.

Tenzin is going to go Papa Wolf on Unalaq

An obvious one, I'll admit, but it's coming. Korra will probably take him along through the portal, he'll see Unalaq, beatdown will ensue.

• Actually jossed, because Tenzin goes to find Jinora while Korra deals with Unalaq.

Bumi was part of a squad that was nearly wiped out by cannibals.

Well it's what he was talking about in the Fog of Lost Souls.

Aang's duties as the Avatar negatively effected his family and put a rift between them

In book 2 Kya said that Aang let his job get in the way of his family life. Bumi and Kya believe the reason Tenzin got to go on solo trips with Aang was because he was an air bender, thus Aang's favorite. However, that doesn't mesh well with Aang's character or Katara's character. Katara would have called Aang out if he played favorites with their children so blatantly considering her Mama Bear tendencies. Aang was just so busy helping build Republic City, rebuilding the air temples, teaching the Air Acolytes, and brining the 4 nations together that he missed out a lot of his family life.

When Bumi and Kya were born Aang was away a lot. Katara understanding Aang has to be away didn't say anything at first. With Aang away Bumi probably grew closer to Sokka (explain why they are so similar)because they were both non benders of the family and sons to great men. Kya being a water bender probably bonded with Katara. They were children and didn't grasp why their father was away a lot. Katara probably brought this up to Aang. Feeling guilty Aang tried to spend more time at home, but felt left out because Bumi and Kya were close to Sokka and Katara respectively and he was the stranger.

In order to avoid that with Tenzin he took Tenzin on trips with him. He didn't realize that it made Bumi and Kya feel jealous and think Tenzin was his favorite because he was an air bender. Like with Bumi and Kya, Aang's duty as the Avatar still affected his relationship with Tenzin. He had to train Tenzin in air bending and teach him Air Nomad culture to ensure the Avatar cycle continued. He put a lot of pressure on Tenzin that he never really had a childhood. To make up for it Aang gave Tenzin little vacations to makeup for all the pressure he unintentionally put on Tenzin. All three of Aang's kids felt they got the short end of the stick from their dad and felt some resentment for each other. It was a bad situation that strained the whole family. Aang regretted the wrongs he put his children too.

Aang genuinely believed Bumi was supposed to be an airbender.

Bumi implies that Aang had really hoped Bumi would be an airbender. Now in season three, it appears that Bumi will discover he was an airbender all along. It just took waiting 60-odd years for Harmonic Convergence to realize it. Perhaps Aang tried to coax airbending out of Bumi, but when it never manifested, Aang got frustrated with himself, and unknowingly passed that frustration on to Bumi, who believed his father was disappointed in him.

• Don't know about that, but Bumi does become an airbender through Harmonic Convergence in Book 3.

Aang began favoring Tenzin because of paranoia caused by a close friendship between Zuko and Katara.

To be clear: this theory is not that Zuko fathered Bumi or Kya, rather, it's that deep-down, Aang FEARED he did. From what we've seen, neither Bumi nor Kya hold any great resemblance to the adult Aang; their hair is deep brown, not black, their skin is darker, and their eyes are both blue. Combined with the fact that neither were Airbenders, and Aang developed a subconscious fear that Zuko and Katara had slept together. It was only when Tenzin came along, bearing black hair, pale skin, grey eyes, and grey eyes like Aang, he began to favor the child, the airbending only caused Aang to double down, leading to the "Great Vacations" Tenzin remembers.

The Harmonic Convergence is activating the dormant bending genes in nonbenders.

Bumi is Aang's son, so we know he has to have the airbending genes even if it isn't dominant. The influx of spiritual energy from the merging of the Spirit and Physical Worlds is what activated it

• Impossible. Opal's parents (Suyin and Baatar), grandparents (Toph and whoever she ended up with) and great-grandparents (Lao and Poppy) were either earthbenders or non-benders. Even if one is to assume Aang somehow betrayed Katara and had Suyin with Toph, there's also the question of all of the other airbenders. The idea of each and every single new airbender having a dormant airbending gene left from over 170 years ago (The 70-year Time Skip between the original series and Korra + the hundred years Aang spent in stasis) would be the mother of all contrived coincidences.
  • Not necessarily. Obviously bending is somewhat genetic, and there's no reason to assume that airbenders only, ever, had children with other airbenders. There are numerous real-life examples of genes laying dormant for multiple generations. Or of genes that are relatively common, but only expressed under highly specific circumstances. And it is also possible in real life for genes that are not active at birth to be activated afterwards, or at least altered to some extent. It is plausible for an "airbender gene" to exist, but be unexpressed, in a fairly large number of people without assuming that Aang cheated. In fact, if this WMG were correct, the percentage of people with the airbender gene would be significantly higher than the number of people in whom it was activated by Harmonic Convergence.

Tenzin accidentally threw Korra off a Despair Event Horizon

While his speech in Venom of the Red Lotus is well meaning, he doesn't realizing how he's undercutting Korra, basically saying "You're not needed, the Air Nomads got this." Given Korra's identity as the Avatar has been her defining trait, and her worst fears are that she's going to screw up being the Avatar, seeing the world not needing her is crushing.

• Somewhat confirmed. If nothing else, Korra really hates being marginalized.

Rohan is a waterbender.

And from that we will learn that elements can indeed skip generations.

• Alternatively, he could be an Earthbender, since Pema appears to have Earth Kingdom heritage.