WMG / Korra The Setting

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

Harmonic Convergence did not 'create' new Airbenders, it just awakened latent power. In a way, it jump-started the bending potential of non-benders.

We know that Bending is transmitted by blood. Previously I had read that bending was more cultural but Legend of Korra show several characters of mixed origin. Fittingly, the major set of mixed siblings all display a variety in their elements. Mako and Bolin are brothers yet one is a firebender while the other is an earthbender. Aang and Katara's children are also a similar case; one is a waterbender, one is an airbender and the third was (previously) a non-bender. Isn't it just the neat little coincidence that Bumi, the child of the former Last Airbender just so happen to suddenly become an Airbender himself? My theory is that harmonic convergence 'jump started' the untapped bending potential of individuals.

But you may be wondering; what about all those airbenders all over the world? Their dad wasn't Aang. Well, see, Aang may have been the Last Airbender but I find it dubious he was the only one with Air Nomad blood. I mean, come on, let's be realistic here; surely there were people who had Air Nomad ancestry somewhere in their family tree. Even if it was as far as a dozen generation behind. So, what hapenned is this; some (all?) the non-benders who had Airbender blood, no matter how thin, received a boost that was just enough to activate their distant and latent airbending. It didn't work on the people with Air Nomad blood who already had bending because only the Avatar can bend more than a single element.

• I thought this too. I even went so far as to say that the lack of Airbenders is what prevented the spontaneous eruption of airbenders across the world, this is what people are talking about when they talk about the world being out of balance; it is not just a political balance. Aang achieved a political balance, but harmonic convergence reset the metaphysical balance of the world to a pre-genocide status, bringing out those who had the capacity to have been born an airbender, the descendants of the air nomads.

Raava is not inherently good and Vaatu inherently evil

After all, she was a racist bitch to Wan and all. With the latter, it's defenitely harder to prove, but he did honour his promise to Unalaq and allowed him to take control (since he was the one who wanted to destroy civilisation and Unavaatu said to Korra he "he'd be the one true Avatar", something that seems very silly for Vaatu to be saying). It's just that their personalities are currently set this way.

• Makes sense. Raava and Vaatu already have some personifiation of the Yin-Yang concept in that neither can exist without the other.

There will be a hidden Airbending culture

Just like the Sun Warriors in Avatar: The Last Airbender, the will be a tribe of ancient airbenders hidden. They will be called the Sky Barbarians, they will be based off the Mongols, they will have Canadian accents (there's waterbending rednecks, so why not?), and they will have been plotting world domination for decades.

They will invade Republic City at some point. They will be the polar opposite of the Air Nomads, preffering violence over everything else and using all dangerous airbending techniques like tornados, hurricanes, choking people, venemous-gas/fart bending, soundbending and lightbending.

As it turns out, Korra will have a dillema. To save the world, she'd have to commit genocide.

• This troper wants this to be true just to see fart bending.
  • Haven't we already seen Meelo do that?
    • If we hadn't before we have now
    • We have all tasted his fury
• I like this idea except I'd personally prefer to see airbending ninjas than barbarians.
• So...Basically, The Vandenreich- Avatar style?
• Certainly looks likely as of the Book 3 trailer!
  • Except they're not so much hidden as newly emergent.

The invention of guns will appear

• Mostly it'll be flintlock pistols, rifles, muskets, and blunderbass, in order to give power to non-benders. The heroes will all be gunhaters naturally.
  • Guns are useless against benders, and not just metalbenders. Airbenders would just make it hard to aim accurately. Firebenders would actually heat the metal, either melting it or making it too hot to touch. Waterbenders would freeze either the bullet or the actual gun.
  • Possible. There was gunpowder in the original series, as well as some prototypical cannons in the third season. Guns would be a natural development from those.
  • Who says they should hate guns? Benders may not use guns because they don't NEED guns! I always kind of liked to picture a hard-core Sokka with a shotgun (of the blunderbuss variety.) Maybe the normals of this season will pack heat!
    • They could hate guns because of corrupt militias that use guns to massacre civilians or benders. Arrows, swords, and other such weaponry (and bending too) require training and discipline, and thus much time and money to create armies with. Mass-produced guns mean instant armies of whoever happens to be on hand. Anti-bender revolts could get bloody.
    • That's a silly generalization. You mass distribute guns — especially older, primitive guns — without any training or discipline and you end up blowing yourself up. Just because guns are not as flashy as non-firearm weaponry doesn't mean there's no training or discipline involved. By that logic they should also hate spears or javelins since they are also easily mass produced, required relatively less training compared to swords, and far outranged swords. And, you forget that corrupt militias have already been using bending and other non-firearms to oppress people (remember that episode with Zuko defending the town) for far longer. Lastly, guns = instant armies may be true now because of modern industry and guns like the Kalashnikov, but any guns likely to be developed in this time will be like the older arquebuses. Not to mention the need to manufacture gunpowder and ammo. And given that any gun industry would be in its infancy given that there wasn't one before, they're still at least years away from any sort of large-scale mass production, much less "instant armies".
  • Gun might have existed in the Gaang's time. The tech we see during the Gaang's time implies they had to have had the possibility of such weapons. They might have just not been that pronounced for various reasons. Namely like those stated above, the guns of Gaang's time were too unstable for mass use and the high bender count in armies would look down on such weaponry. The Anti-Bender mentality mixed with more advanced and stabler weapons could very well allow for the anti-bender forces to take up guns or refine gun related tech into guns to equalize the common man against the "magical" benders.
• Although there is argument for both sides, I doubt it. Having guns would continue the creator's habit of introducing nuanced, mature subjects. It would also be consistent with the probable theme of technological advancement. Lastly, it is a good way to even the odds between benders and common non-benders, although low-level earthbenders would obviously have it easier than low-level airbenders. That said, guns would be more difficult to pull off. American cartoons are bound to certain expectations, far more so than Japanese ones. I seriously doubt we'd see anyone killed or crippled onscreen by gunfire. Because of that, it would be very easy for the gun-wielding bad guys to degenerate into Imperial Stormtrooper Marksmanship Academy, which would make them nonthreatening. As much as I would like to see it, I don't think the creators would risk that when, in the original, there were several threatening nonbenders, although admittedly they were in the top three percent.
  • One thing you have to remember is the style of gun that they would have had are very very very inaccurate. They were really only effective with massed soldiers and very short distances. It really wasn't until the late 1700's that very accurate guns cam, even then it took trained marksmen to be accurate over a dozen yards.
  • Now that the show is actually out (I assume this guess was made before it aired), the setting has turned out to be a lot more 20's-like than was initially believed; considering the level of technology we've seen, something like a revolver or even a Tommy gun wouldn't seem too out of place.
• The guns might look like Steampunk versions of the weapons found in the Huolongjing, a Chinese text on the use of gunpowder.
  • The United Forces ships seen at the end of episode 10 have what are unmistakably cannons mounted on their decks. Considering how even the original series managed to have cannons at some point (mounted on the Fire Nation airships), it might be safe to assume that while artillery is okay, handheld guns may still be verboten.
    • Wait, never mind— the "cannons" turned out to be long-range Firebending enhancers. Still no powder-based projectile weapons of any sort.

Despite the high technology, guns will not' make an appearance

The creators want to keep the show kid friendly and know it would be too much of a Game-Breaker in terms of story telling.

• Four words: Batman: The Animated Series.
• Considering that the Republic City police force mainly uses Metalbending, guns wouldn't be as much of a Game-Breaker as you'd think.
• Indeed, guns may not appear in any significant capacity, because any Metalbender could crush them into pieces of junk metal without effort. And since they make the bulk of the police force, any criminal relying on a firearm would be apprehended in a flash.
  • Indeed, that may be why metalbenders are the police, and would account for why there aren't any guns. Even if they existed, if your weapon is easily destroyed by the police, chi-blocking techniques would be much more effective and therefore the weapon of choice for non-benders.
    • Might be confirmed since the Equalists' Humongous Mecha are made of platinum, impractical armor against firearms but purified enough that metalbenders can't affect them. Courtesy of Hiroshi Sato.
  • What does Batman: The Animated Series have to do with no guns? There were plenty of guns in the show.
    • Mostly likely a counter to the idea that "no cartoon has guns," although Bruce Timm and the rest had to bend over backwards to get them in (had to set the series some version of the 1930's, so lasers simply wouldn't make sense.)
• This was sort of both joshed and confirmed during the season final. The United Forces ships had cannons that were some kind of "long range firebending" focusers, and WW2 style bombs made an appearance, but nobody had anything resembling a handheld firearm. We will just have to wait for season 2 I guess...

The Show will have some proto Cyber Punk elements

Going with the gangster theory, the show will potentially involve immortals.

Hey, taking place in a 20's-esque setting. Although there is the potential of an overload of awesome.

The play performed by the Ember Island Players has gone on to become an all-time classic, with the original ending substituted for the actual ending of Aang beating Ozai.

It's a national treasure of the Fire Nation and is performed all around the world.

• ... That's just silly enough to work.
• Is there an on-ice version? A few waterbenders and a bunch of ice skates here and there and you're all set.
  • A musical on-ice version.
• No way. Fire Lord Zuko would never allow the play to leave Ember Island, let alone become a "national treasure of the Fire Nation."
  • Yeah, but you've seen how many people go to those things, even if just because they're So Bad, It's Good. Besides, I'm sure Toph would have a word with her ol' buddy if he tried to cancel it...
  • The troupe could have easily changed the show in order to look better in the eyes of their ruler. In Shakespearean times, playwrights sucked up to the royalty through their scripts all the time.
    • Given, however unless Zuko bans it or sets the playwrights on fire they may not realize how irritated he is over the whole thing. I can see him and/or Mai trying to set the record straight via official histories and memoirs if they have the time but....
    • It will probably be a silly, campy Rocky Horror style show.
    • Annnnd I just imagined Ozai in ladies Lingerie... come to think of it he'd probably be able to carry off the look. Is Iroh the criminologist? Or Dr. Scott?
  • I'm guessing there's enough common knowledge of the Gaang now that they've at least made Toph female.

A lot of waterbenders will function as doctors.

And boy, they will cost much. Also, imagine what kind of sickness they could cure if they're using actual medicine instead of water. It worked so well and fast with regular water! They will certainly cost a lot. Maybe Katara opened up a medical school when she was younger?

• In episode 7, Tahno mentioned going to several healers after Amon took his bending away. So that could be taken as evidence that waterbenders set up shop for their healing services.

Silent film now exists in the Avatarverse.

Well, this is apparently set in their equivalent to the twenties, so why not?

• And "The Boy In The Iceberg" with a Revised Ending, will be the most popular picture. Korra and Tenzin will each either love it or hate it.
  • Or fall over laughing at the absurdity.
• Confirmed! Bolin's starring in "Nuktuk, Hero of the South.

Pro Bending will become fake

Professional Wrestling started out as a legitimate fighting sport, but gradually became more scripted, until it eventually became the totally fake exhibition performance it is today. Pro bending seems to be going the same way already, what with the Wolfbats' pyrotechnics-laden entrance and heelish antics, the coslaying fans, etc., so it may very well become increasingly staged as time goes on to keep the fans' interest, after all- not every fight can have the Avatar in it

• You should realise that if anything is an analogy to pro wrestling its the Earth Rumble.

One word: Steambenders

Hey, cultural melting-pot city, fantastic, almost unimaginable technological progress...perfect setup for the formation of a new form of bending. A special subform at the very least, or an entirely new "hybrid" discipline at most/worst. Plus, goggles. Gotta have the brass goggles.

• Steam is just evaporated water, so this is pretty likely. Like how "sandbenders" were just earthbenders who had better control of sand than the average earthbender, a steambender would just be a waterbender with better control of steam than the average waterbender.
• That is not a new bending type, they could bend it in the original, it is waterbending.
  • Aang and Katara shaped clouds to manipulate the fortuneteller, and Aang harvested a cloud for drinking water.
    • But maybe they could be airbenders...
  • Katara specifically created steam as a cover on the ship at the beginning of the third season and Korra had no problem doing this in "The Revelation." It was already established in the original series that Waterbenders can bend all states of water though like powering plants with lightning generation it still could/has applications in an urban setting.
• If this is the case, I would be happy if there was one Steambender voiced by Richard Horvitz...
  • I will second this if it's a Raz expy.
• There will be a guild of Firebenders and Waterbenders who are bound to create and improve steam-based technology. And their leader will be a red dragon.

Iroh's Jasmine Dragon will be the new Starbucks.

Wouldn't it be funny to see people walking around Republic City drinking tea from Jasmine Dragon labeled paper cups?

• I support this
  • ...I would buy from Irohbucks... (As long as this◊ is the logo.)

The Fire Nation will be a rustbelt and declining power.

• All empires and superpowers eventually decline, for one reason or another. By Korra's era, the Fire Nation will no longer be a superpower. Why? Because the newly industrialized Earth Kingdom (and possible Water Tribes) will have a leg up on them when it comes to their infrastructure, being able to apply the best practices learned during the Fire Nation's industrialization to their own countries, as well as producing homegrown innovations in the means of production. The EK and WT also won't be saddled with the legacy of a hundred years of industrial civilization. Over time, this means that other countries will be able to out-compete the Fire Nation when it comes to producing things like textiles, cheap steel, and the other goods of an industrial society. While Zuko and his descendants will attempt to combat their nation's decline, lingering cultural chauvinism will prevent it from adopting 'foreign' ideas. Also, Fire Nation workers simply won't be able to compete with the sheer manpower supply in an industrializing Earth Kingdom; they'll work longer for cheaper because there's ten other Earth Kingdomers in line to take their job.
  • This seems probable. The end of the war is most likely going to hit the Fire Nation hard, what with the reparations and recessions that accompany the end of war economies. While it's possible that they can bounce back from this (compare Japan after World War 2 to Japan today), they will have lost several of their advantages, as you said. Also, from what we've heard of the interquel comics, we know that there's another major Fire Nation conflict bad enough for Aang to get involved. Depending on what that conflict is (say, a Civil War against Zuko by Ozai sympathizers), that's most likely going to compound their problems.
    • I could see this being the case if the Fire Nation was still The Empire, but seeing as it was Zuko and Aang that started The Republic, this seems a lot less likely. The proliferation of Steampunk technology would have been a collaboration of the FN and the Mechanist's group, at least for the first few years. By the time time the EK could compete with them again, there would no more EK or FN, just the Republic. As for reparations, the leaders of all the nations were at that point on good terms with the Gaang, and seeing as Fire Lord Zuko was a member, I really don't see them going all Treaty of Versailles on the FN's Germany.

Agni Kai will be illegal in Republic City. It will also be seen by many as an anachronism.

Historically, as societies become less feudal and the rule of law becomes more important, judicial combat declines and is eventually outlawed. The agni kai will be treated the same way in Republic City. The popular perception of it will be less "means to avenge wounded honor" and more "excuse for vigilante brutality". They'll still occasionally be fought, mind you, but they'll be relegated to the shadows, like street racing is.

• Of course Mako is eventually going to be challenged to one, because it'll be a good way to milk drama about multicultural families and to illustrate to Korra (and the viewers) how cultural customs are different in Republic City compared to, say, the Fire Nation with how firebenders are expected to behave.

We will see the rise of new spirits.

There are already forest and nature spirits, and so machine and city spirits will arise, the city spirits' rapid expansion will clash with the nature spirits, forcing Korra to become more spiritual to mediate a compromise, meanwhile machine spirits will arise and will be prayed to similarly to the Adeptus Mechnaicus in Warhammer 40,000 as well as delivering fortune to those who properly maintain their machines.

• I kinda want to marry this idea.
• Bonus points if we get to see a literal Spectre of Communism (or Equalism).

Benders in Republic City will be expected by custom or law to wearing something identifying themselves and their element.

With the end of color-coded clothing, and the intermixing of peoples meaning eye/skin color aren't even useful as a rough indicator in Republic City of someone's elemental background, benders will start wearing tokens to show their alignment. This will take two forms. First, something like a colored scarf (a la Mako's neck one and Bolin's waist one). Second, it might be a piece of jewelry, like a sun or moon necklace. But whatever the case, it'll be something worn on top of a regular outfit.

• May be a coincidence, but of the the three bender thugs Korra fights in the trailer and leaked footage two wear an article of clothing with their bending colors (the firebender and the earthbender) while the waterbender doesn't. It may be more of a status symbol than a legal thing, though I wouldn't doubt that benders have to be licensed to bend within city limits like having a driver's license. Korra may have to get three licenses for the bending arts she has mastered. with comic results.
  • Let's expand on that further: maybe the bender license thing was introduced as an appeasement to the anti-benders. It sounds like something they'd want-being able to track of every bender in the city. In addition, bending in fights is illegal in certain parts of the city; bending in school gyms or special arenas or non-violent bending (healing with waterbending, building stuff with earthbending, lighting a match with firebending) would be alright but using bending to beat people up, like Korra did, is illegal. Of course, this does more harm than good since the benders are bound to resent it.

There will be a countercultural element in the United Republic that mocks the traditional cultures of the Four Nations.

Alongside the bender/non-bender divide, there will be a conflict between the United Republic of Nations and the other four countries. Among the older generations, like Chief Beifong and Tenzin, the United Republic is a place that can be broken down into "tribes" that fall under the regular Four Nations. They'd see Mako as being a wayward son of the Fire Nation and Bolin as that to the Earth Kingdom. In contrast, the younger generations will simply see Mako and Bolin as citizens of the United Republic, and the fact that they bend is distinguishing in a way that whatever element they bend is not. As a rebellion against the "tribal" framework more traditionalist folks impose on them, Republic City's counterculture will purposefully adopt foreign elements as a way to mock them for being hollow symbols in a 'modern' era. For instance, a firebender might wear his hair in a Water Tribe wolf's tail, or a non-bender might wear clothes cut in the style of the Fire Lord. Some other countercultural types will take it a step further by doing such things as wearing their robes right over left and decorating with intentionally bad feng shui.

The United Republic of Nations has begun taking the Avatar's job.

The Fire Nation started the war during a period when the Avatar was too young and too inexperienced to stop them. As a result, the Republic was given special diplomatic and military powers so that they could act in the Avatar's stead while an Avatar is growing up and training. In keeping with the Romanticism Versus Enlightenment themes of the series, some of them are starting to wonder if the Avatar is now superfluous.

• This very much seems like it's going to be the case. Avatar Korra as a figure doesn't receive nearly the same amount of regard as Aang did, at least in the first episode.
• I think that is White Lotus responsibility. We have only seen Republic city council manage internal problems (With exception of possibly Tenzin who is WL member).

Pacifism will be a popular global philosophy.

Pacifism, once the domain of the Air Nomads, will have become a popular global philosophy owing to Aang's energybending of Ozai and his general behavior in ending the Hundred Years' War. However, the Avatar-verse's definition pacifism will be a bit different from what we think of it, as the go-to model will be Aang. So it'll be more of a militant or technical pacifism. Which isn't to say you won't have different ideological flavors. Killing will always be right out, but there will be disagreements about how far to take non-lethal injuries in a fight. Some will see energybending as an endorsement to cripple or maim (but not kill!) opponents to ensure they are no longer a threat. Others will see violence as only necessary in combat or training for combat, meaning some pacifists will protest against Pro-Bending as idealizing violence. Others will even view Aang's militant pacifism as an unhappy yet necessary concession to the dystopic state of the world at the time of his defrosting, but, now that the Hundred Years' War is long over and the world is largely peaceful, believe that strict pacifism should be practiced lest people slide down that slippery slope of justifying violence with technical pacifism.

The pro-bending championship is fixed.

In crime-ridden Republic City, organized crime just has too much money at stake when it comes to the big pro-bender championship. So the high-end matches are fixed; sometimes outright, sometimes just for the point spread. Except now that the Avatar is involved with a team aiming for the top, asking the Fire Ferrets to play along nicely isn't really an option, so the squeeze is gonna be put on Bolin or Mako to stay silent and comply with the mob's orders lest the other brother get hurt.

• Well, the Wolf Bats were allowed to get way with blatant cheating in episode 6. It's quite possible. However no-one's threatened the Fire Ferrets...yet.
  • In Republic City Hustle we see the Triple Threat Triads fixings matchs.

The Boulder is one of the pioneers of pro-bending

• Wow, just seeing that title prompted me to read it out loud in The Boulder-voice.

The Southern Water Tribe primarily uses a barter system.

Hence, why Korra thought she could still get by in Republic City and tries to purchase food without having any money, the logic being that there were plenty of favors she could trade, being the Avatar.

Mixed marriages are not as common as we've been led to believe.

Tenzin, the son of a Air Nomad father and a Water Tribeswoman mother, married a woman of an unknown ethnicity and Mako and Bolin are brothers of mixed heritage. But just because the war is over doesn't mean everyone's all buddy-buddy now. Outside United Republic, mixed marriages are still rare and frowned upon.

• We aren't even sure that Mako and Bolin are the product of a mixed marriage, they could just as easily be half-brothers.
  • "Half-brothers" means they still share a mother or share a father, which would still make one of them biracial. I think the word you are looking for is step-brothers. And I disagree because its too much detail for such a trivial point, unless its going to be plot-relevant. Also, Bolin and Mako's biracial heritage represents the cosmopolitan nature of the city. Why make that detail, then erase it later?
  • We do know for sure now that Mako and Bolin are the product of a mixed marriage - a Fire Nation mother and an Earth Kingdom father.
• Interracial marriages and families are a pretty big plot point in the graphic novel series that serves to tell some of the story about what happens between the Hundred Year War and the events of the Legend of Korra. The Fire Nation colonists in the Earth Kingdom, established by Sozin (and discussed when Roku's storyline was outlined), were still there at the end of the Hundred Year War. Zuko and Aang attempted to remove them to keep the nations separate, but eventually concluded that it was impossible to do so. One of the things that stopped them was realizing how integrated the Fire Nation colonists had become in the Earth Kingdom, partially because of a earthbending would-be assassin who turned out to be part of a mixed marriage. This is pretty clearly canon, as it spurred the creation of both the United Republic and the Air Acolytes. It's difficult to tell from the background events, but it appears that interracial marriages - while perhaps not exactly common - are still not necessarily a surprising or unorthodox thing, like they would have been during the Hundred Year War.
• In addition to the above, the Air Acolytes probably have to have a lot of interracial marriages, since they have members from all of the nations.

There will be new forms of Bending due to Aang's Energybending

He'll eventually give Ozai's bending to a bender of a different element after being pressured into an experiment. After a huge success wherein the two forms of bending combine (think lavabending if it's an Earthbender for example) instead of being controlled separately (because only the Avatar can do that), other Benders line up to have their powers mixed and matched. Eventually hundreds of Bending forms are spawned and taught around the world, even to nonbenders who are training to receive the ability to bend from Aang (cause you know, he can do that with Energybending). If this happens it'll probably be an attempt at recovering from the [very well done] Ass Pull that is Energybending, but I'll be damned if it won't be awesome all the same.

The glowy light show that Aang pulled off with Energybending? That's just what it looks like from the perspective of the bender and their target.

Witnesses just see it without the light show, akin to what Amon did.

• Seemingly confirmed by "Out of the Past" - when Aang depowered Yakone, there was no light show.

The gangs of the city stem from varying post-war attitudes.

We've got the Agni Kais, the Red Monsoons, and the Triple Threat Triad. To go in reverse order, the Triple Threats are (as we know) made up of allied earth, water, and fire benders. Clearly, then, the founding firebender didn't have any issues with fraternizing with people from other nations, and would have likely been considered a sympathizer by the Fire Nation during the war. The Red Monsoons is a step away, being allies of water and fire benders. The founders, for some reason, didn't like earthbenders. The one with the biggest red flag are the Agni Kais. Just from their name, it's pretty obvious that they're some sort of Fire Nation nationalist or supremacist group.

The other gangs, then, would be varying mixes of earthbenders and waterbenders.

The Equalists will create their own monster.

Ok, there was speculation above that this series is just a set-up for another series that will parallel WWII. However, there's one problem with that: The Equalists seem to represent Communism (an extreme version of "equality" that leaves no room for accomplishment through natural talent), and we weren't fighting Communists in WWII, we were fighting Nazis...but wait! Prior to Hitler's rise, there was a strong Communist presence in Germany...in fact, many people voted for Hitler who otherwise wouldn't have been, because they thought he was better than Communism! In the same way, the Equalists will lead to the rise of a faction dedicated to the extermination of all non-Benders, forcing the sequel series (of which Korra will still be the star, there's no way they'd have time for her to die, and the next Avatar to grow up) to fight a war both for freedom, and for the very survival of non-Benders.

• Tarrlok would be the most likely candidate to launch a fascist takeover. He favors violent methods to stop the Equalists without addressing their underlying grievances, Tenzin says he's greedy for power, and he seems to have the other three Council members in his pocket.

The 36 Levels of Airbending will finally get explained or shown in full

Unlike the other bending arts, Airbending specifically had a series of trials one had to undergo to affirm their mastery. Aang being the brilliant little punk he was, was so good his invention of his signature Air Scooter promoted him to Master one tier early; marking him as the youngest official 'Master' level Airbender in history- and coincidentally, relieves the need to display his native training and focus on the training of the following Arts. Perhaps during Korra's ongoing lessons with Tenzin we will finally see what it is that these 36 Levels are, and what was the last step Aang didn't have to do. Heck, it'd be really cool to see her do as her predecessor and make a distinct technique all her own.

• There have been insinuations that the last step in Airbending mastery is devising a new Airbending technique. Since Aang already fulfilled that...

The "Advanced Airbending" will be Sound

Each of the other elements have a sort of "advanced" version. Water becomes healing and bloodbending, fire becomes blue fire and lightning, and earth becomes metal. Korra, Tenzin, or one of Tenzin's kids will advance Airbending to the point where they can bend sound.

Alternatively, the advanced version will be Vacuumbending

Basically, the ability to create vacuums, which can be used to pull air into a concentrated form to be shot out(air bullets, or even air blades), and it could be used defensively by sucking in attacks thrown by other Benders. It could also be used to suffocate people by creating a vacuum field around the victim which sucks the air away.

• Dunno if it's an advanced form, but it looked like vacuumbending is a modification of Aang's air ball technique.

The Airbender population will not be replenished solely by Tenzin and his family.

Through spiritual enlightenment and practice, airbenders will begin to be borne spontaneously to nonbender Air Acolyte couples.

• I support this theory. While the Fire Nation killed all the Airbenders, it just means they killed all the ACTIVE Airbenders. Doesn't mean there can't be Airbender descendants who don't have the Airbending ability but do carry the genetic potential for it.
  • Especially considering that Katara is evidence that two non-benders can have a bender child. We know that Katara and Aang had two other kids who, while not airbenders, do carry the airbender genes. It's highly possible that Kya and Bumi could have airbending children.
• Or there are already born airbenders out in the world, but are unknowing and unable to really control their abilities due to not knowing the methods of airbending. After all, airbending is the 'non-showy' form of bending; how can you prove you are actually airbending to other people, or realize growing up you are able to? -jaymie.
• Confirmed. Harmonic Convergence ends up making a bunch of new airbenders.

Benders will adopt Equalist weapons.

Everyone can have the power of a chi-blocker in the palm of their hand... including benders. Imagine waterbenders electrifying their water whips, or metalbenders with a shootable tazer built into a glove. Not to mention dual-wielders like Zuko who will combine their bending and their shock glove to have varied short- and long-range attacks.

• This is a horrible idea. Benders with Equalist weapons can be defeated if their opponents use the same bending style.

It is illegal to bloodbend in Republic City.

Given Yakone's work bloodbending 42 years ago, it isn't much of a stretch laws were enacted against this form of bending being used due to its massive cruelty potential. That is why Tarrlok asked his secretary if the other members left before dismissing her so nobody would catch him using it in combat against Korra.

• In Harry Potter there were only three curses that resulted in an automatic life sentence: Imperio, which controls people, Crucio, which tortures (and is potentially fatal) and Avada Kedavra, which is an instant death spell. It wouldn't be surprising for the Avatar world to see bloodbending (unless used to save somebody's life) the same way that the Ministry of Magic sees Imperio.
  • What makes it disturbing is that bloodbending is able to act as all three of those spells.
• Confirmed in "Out of the Past".

In another hundred years, pro-bending will have four-man teams, with the fourth member either an airbender or a nonbender

If the guess about the air acolytes getting airbender children is right, there will probably be a few hundred airbenders running around in a hundred years. It would be hard for the pro-bending sport to ignore that. However, even with a few hundred airbenders, there likely won't be enough willing to join the competition to require one in every team. Instead, teams can have either an airbender or a non-bender. In order to maintain a bit of balance, non-benders will be allowed to use a shield and a stick with a weighted end. Airbenders will get limited in that they can't spend more than a second off the ground, as well as not being allowed to channel air for more than a second (like waterbenders)

The Kyoshi warriors have or will learn their own unique style of waterbending

Currently, the kyoshi warriors do not appear to have any benders on their island. However, they do live nearby a mystical creature that spews water. Many of the bending arts were originally learned by observing animals. You do the math.

• Likely jossed, as the people of Kyoshi Island were former earth kingdom citizens with Avatar Kyoshi herself representing earth.

Republic City is facing an Evil Versus Evil Scenario

As of Episode 8, we have The Good, the Bad, and the Evil. Korra and co. are the good.

There will be sky pirates.

We've seen that zeppelins are fairly common in and around Republic City. It's probable at least one got into the hands of some less-than-honorable people, who now go gallivanting around the world stealing whatever they want and escape in their zeppelin. As an added bonus, the Steampunk crew will be a mixture of water and fire benders.

There will be tanks, bi-planes, destroyers and bombs

It is the Roaring Twenties. By this time in the real, all these had been invented. We already had a lot of cool tech in ATLA, so we will have

• Bi-planes, destroyers, and bombs were confirmed by the season finale preview. Tanks (unless you count Hiroshi's mechas) weren't, but the Fire Nation had them even in the time of ATLA, so there's no reason they couldn't appear here as well.

Republic City will become the setting for a World War-esque conflict and a Great Depression

It's the best way to give Amon a chance at removing the world of as many benders as he can - get them in one place. So maybe his assault on the City will force the Krew to call for assistance from the 3 nations. Even the Order of the White Lotus will have to join the fight. If he could pull off the impossible and keep winning (for a while at least), he would collect mass POWs and de-bend them all. We have a city in the Roaring Twenties without a war so far so if the Season finale promo is any hint, things are about to get much, much worse. Benders are the backbone of the city's industry, if they lose their bending, the industry will collapse. Not to mention that Sato, the biggest industrialist in the city is on the enemy's side. If he goes, his empire goes with him. Since we don't see a Stock Market in town, this would be the best way to introduce it. Then the criminal gangs will go on mass looting through the city, and the krew will have a major clean up job on their hands, assuming all of them survive with their Bending intact.

• Has everyone forgotten about Asami? If Hiroshi goes down, which did happen, Asami would inherit the company and the empire.

The next series will be set After the End

Given the longevity of Avatars and the rapid pace at which technology is advancing in the Avatarverse, by the time Korra's successor is born we'll get either Avatar in Space or Avapunk, which would be stretching things a little too far in my opinion. By the time the next Avatar comes around, a huge cataclysm, be it global war or a meteorite impact, will have reduced most of the world to a smoking wasteland and set back technology decades or even centuries. Alternatively, we'll get a Prequel.

• Sozin's comet is due back in less than thirty years. That could easily spark some kind of cataclysm.
  • Izumi explicitly stated that the Fire Nation would no longer be involved in meaningless wars.

The United Forces is a small army

After the world finally had peace, the former bending nations didn't want any army to become to large to avoid another war. The United Forces was set up to be peace keeping force, just big enough to keep all the nations inline, but small enough to not be a threat against all the other nations on it's own. Sadly, this meant that they don't have that many troops to fight Amon.

Water Tribe noodles are made with alcohol.

How else can anyone get drunk off noodles? Perhaps it is boiled in sake?

The majority of the water benders in the city are decedents of the Swamp water tribes

The majority of the northern and southern water tribes have very dark skin, yet all just about every water bender we see (barring Korra) in Republic city has much lighter skin tone. The only water benders we ever saw that had anywhere close to that light of skin was the Swamp people. It would make sense, since most of the other waterbenders would find the heat of a city so close to the equator discomforting. Korra doesn't mind, since she also is a firebender (who can't firebend in extremely cold places).

• Really? This troper assumed that most of them had light skin because of mixed ancestry.
• It's very possible to get sunburns/tans at the poles thanks to sunlight reflecting off the snow and ice; so Water Tribespeople in Republic City might just be getting less sun exposure, leading to lighter skin. It's true even for darker-skinned people in RL. And mixed ancestry might play a part as well; Tenzin has pretty light skin for someone who's half Water Tribe.

Dragons really are dead now.

With only two members of their species left during the only time we saw them, they're very likely extinct.

• Large animals typically have long lifespans, but even if they are still alive in Korra's time, they'd likely be functionally extinct anyway. (meaning, at least one member of the species is still alive, but there's no hope of having a viable population again) Well, unless dragons are highly resistant to inbreeding depression...
• Book 3 has Zuko on a dragon. Jossed.

The Northern Water Tribe no longer practices arranged marriages.

Back in ATLA, arranged marriages were normal for the NWT, and the marriage/betrothal age was 16. This was a case of Values Dissonance even for Katara and Sokka, who were from the Southern Water Tribe. Arranged marriages didn't seem to be the norm anywhere else in the world, even for prominent families like the Bei Fongs and the Fire Nation royal family. Arranged marriages will be seen as very bizarre and backwards in Republic City. And considering that we'll see Korra's female cousin in season 2, there might be some allusion to the arranged marriages in the NWT and whether or not the cousin will be ready for marriage. Or, it might have something to do with why Korra's father is at the South Pole while his brother is the NWT chief.

• Partly Jossed by The Search, Ozai and Ursa's marriage WAS arranged and they barely got to know each other before their wedding. For everything else, we'll just have to wait and see.

The White Lotus Society is now a public organization.

Look, an army of them took over the Capital City of the Earth Kingdom and saved it from genocide. I think it's fair to assume that they're no longer a secret society.

The spirit world will have a lot of Miyzaki references and inspiration.

The creators of the show are fans of Hayao Miyzaki, most notably evidence by Appa being inspired by the Catbus. Many of Miyzaki's works focus on spirits, so it's the perfect opportunity for the creators of the show to throw in a few homages.

A large portion of the Northern Tribe still have issues acknowledging Korra as the Avatar

Not only she is from the Southern tribe rather than the Northern one, but she is a female and the North was rather sexist towards females in their society until Katara came along. Assuming those attitudes are kept, Korra will receive a rather poor reception when arriving at the Northern Tribe at some point in Book 2.

• Seemingly Jossed in Book 2. Korra's family is from the Northern Tribe originally and her uncle is the leader of it and freely acknowledges her and asks her to accept him as her mentor. None of the other many Northerners seen seem to have an issue with her gender either.

Rules for Airbenders in Pro Bending

Assuming the Airbenders eventually become populous enough to be able to contribute to the Pro Bending scene, how would one make rules to deal with them? Airbending sports do exist. We've heard of Bison Polo and have seen air scooter races and airball, so Airbending is not incompatible with sports. However, how can one include it in the Pro Bending?

• They'd probably make them have to use a visible projectile, because otherwise you can't see what's being thrown. Airball used balls, so having something like that could be in use.
• To avoid cheap shots, you might consider filling the playing floor with small particulates like dust, so if an Airbender tries to push someone off the side with an air blast without a designated projectile, they could be seen and penalized.

There will be a rise in new refining technology

And thus Metalbending will face a new challenge as people develop weapons and tools immune to Metalbending because they have been refined so far the impurities are so small or just not there. And the people who help in this process are Metalbenders.

• Confirmed. Episode 7 shows that platinum is metal so refined that there are little to no particles of earth left in it to bend. Hiroshi Sato takes advantage of this by creating Mini Mechas made out of the stuff for the Equalists, specifically to counter the Metalbending Police.

Tenzin and his family are not the only Airbenders out there.

It's unlikely that the Fire Nation killed all the Air Nomads. Some of them probably escaped into other nations, where they got married, had kids, and assimilated into the local culture. Airbender genetics are likely within a few small communities within the Water Tribes or the Earth Kingdom.

• There's a WMG that Ty Lee has Air Nomad ancestry.
  • Confirmed! The Harmonic Convergence ends up making a bunch of new airbenders.

The Avatar universe is completely fundamentally different from ours

The Earth is made of different minerals (it has no iron in the crust, unlike ours which is fairly dense with it) and is in a different shape and position from the Sun. The sun and comets are made of fire and considered ancient firebenders. Basicly everything down the atoms that creat the matter in their universe is different. That is why there are some things that we do not understand when comparing it to our world.

The Avatar world was born from a post-apocalyptic one—likely the result of nuclear war.

Follow the destruction of most of civilization, the survivors picked up the pieces (retaining vocal and written language from the old world's two biggest superpowers, America and China respectively) and set to work rebuilding from scratch. Meanwhile, however, the suffering and hate from a planetary-scale nuclear war fueled Vaatu in the spirit world to the point he became powerful enough to break the veil between realms. Subsequently, the spirits looked upon the war as proof the humans have lost their right to dominate the earth, so they began moving in to kick them out.

Following the growing establishment of the Spirit Wilds, lion turtles began protecting pockets of humanity on their enormous backs and giving them the power of an element whenever they had to leave for any reason. As the generations went by, humans completely forgot about the old world, even forgetting there are other humans on other lion turtles. And then Wan's story happened, and the rest is history.

• More to the point, or alternatively, the portals, the spirits, the lion turtles, bending, and the funhouse world map that bears some resemblance to ours, are all collectively the result of "ill-advised physics experiments" at some point in our future.

The Lion Turtles weren't really hunted to extinction.

• Historians and archeologists noticed that Lion Turtles were everywhere in ancient artwork, but could not be found in the world. They came to the logical conclusion that these animals had been hunted down. In reality, the Lion Turtles chose to withdraw from a world where they were not needed (until Aang needed one, anyways). We already know Lion Turtles have vast power and even Raava was courteous to one of them. They could have easily entered the Spirit World or another world entirely to discourage humans from trying to find them and rely on them for protection.
  • This is supported by one noting that the time of the Lion turtles protection is over. And well, look at the things, they are HUGE. I am pretty sure it would take more than a bit of "power of fire" to take one of those things down.

The Air Acolytes are a cult

• First, let's look at their formation. The original Air Acolytes were a group of Earth Kingdom and Fire Nation teenagers who were motivated to follow Aang through either fascination with Air Nomad culture or hero worship of Aang himself. In short, they were disaffected young people taking on the ways of an ancient, alien culture passed down to them by a messianic figure.
• Second, the Acolytes live apart from other people, either on Air Temple island or the other isolated Air temples. True, that's how the original Air Nomads lived, but for people who aren't technically Air Nomads, it seems less like a temple and more like a compound.
• Third, while most of the living Acolytes were probably born into their culture, the original Acolytes were from other Nations. They had homes and families that they left to join Aang. Did they ever see them again? Did they ever want to? If you join the Acolytes as an adult, do you have to cut yourself off from your old life? What if you want to leave? People born into close-knit religious communities leave occasionally, and in the process often lose everything.
• Fourth, the near-religious obsession the Acolytes have for Airbenders is just disturbing. Some of the original Acolytes were the "Avatar Aang Fan Club", it makes sense that Aang himself would inspire respect and admiration—he saved the world, after all. But the Acolytes seem to worship Tenzin and his children on heritage alone. Hell, the fact they didn't even seem aware of Kya and Bumi's existence is troubling enough. They simply didn't know about Aang's other children because they weren't Airbenders, and therefore irrelevant.

• Even without the cult undertones, there are other issues:
  • Benders. All Acolytes so far have been non-benders, but we've seen that benders can be born to non-benders, and it's not entirely clear what determines who's born a bender. What if say, a firebender is born to Air Acolyte parents, would they ever be accepted? Would they be an outcast? Would they be forced to never use their bending if they want to stay?
  • The future. The Airbender population needs to grow and Tenzin's kids will need to fulfil that, and it's likely that they'll take partners from the Acolyte population, and so on down the line. Eventually however, the Airbender gene pool will be large and diverse enough to be self-sustaining. Assuming any Acolytes are left, what becomes of them? Essentially what's coming is two groups of people sharing the same culture. One group has mystical powers, and the other has no magic powers and worships the ones who do. It's a Fantastic Caste System waiting to happen.

The Air Nomads will be reborn, but the Acolytes will have nothing to do with it.

Chong and his hippies, true nomads, have spawned a movement of thousands of people, all wandering across the Earth Kingdom in search of freedom and peace. They've detached themselves from homes and material possesions, and they have pretty good senses of humour. Eventually they'll stumble upon a Lion Turtle, who'll grant them the power of airbending.

• At this point, Tenzin and 40% of the Air Acolytes will die of self-inflicted blunt force trauma to the forehead. The rest will suffer only moderate concussions and bruised palms.
• Confirmed. Harmonic Convergence grants airbending to a multitude of people, including Bumi and a few Acolytes. At the end of Book 3, Tenzin declares that the Air Nomads have returned, and will embark on peacekeeping voyages.

The world was much more like our own.

The world of mortals originally had no spirits, no lion turtles, no dragons, or any other such creatures. Humans evolved much as they did here on Earth (supported by the fact Vatu taunted Wan by mentioning "crawling out of mud"). Humans grew in knowledge, going through the stone, bronze, and iron ages, building up civilizations, becoming the dominate species on the planet. However, something caused the worlds to collide. The spirits flooded into the world, most through the portals at the portals, others through many other gaps the Avatar world seems to contain. Raava and Vatu also continued their eternal struggle in the mortal realm. Humans could face the threat, how could they fight monsters that aren't fully solid, faster and more agile than the fastest animal, and stronger than ten men, with iron swords and spears? However, some very ancient and powerful beings, the Lion turtles, decided to help humans. They allowed them to build their cities on their backs, gave protection, and the ability to fight back.

The Fog of Lost Souls is much like the Island where Dreams Come True from The Voyage of the Dawn Treader.

It seems to play on the fears of its captives, causing them to relive their worst nightmares and/or memories. Kya's worst nightmare somehow involves losing or being abandoned by her family, while Bumi's clearly involves bloodthirsty cannibals. Tenzin is already living a parent's worst nightmare, so the Fog settles for his second worst: Failing the rest of the family and the world.

The physical world and the spirit world are not on different planes, but rather are two separate planets.

We see in a lot of the visuals that the Avatar world is just a run of the mill planet like Earth, in a system much like our own (meaning that maybe it exists out there somewhere in the cosmos? But that's another WMG). So what's to say the spirit world isn't the same? It could easily be that the spirit world is simply another planet in another system joined to the Avatar world by a wormhole (or two, depending if you count each pole as a separate wormhole).

Because of their having evolved so long in the presence of these wormholes, the people of the Avatar world have a psychic connection with the wormhole, and can project themselves through it and manifest themselves in the spirit world thusly. They can also physically travel there. Spirits, being the native sentient population on the other planet, have the same ability.

Iroh got stuck in the Fog of Lost Souls while searching for his son.

It's generally accepted that Iroh's first experience in the spirit world was right after Lu Ten died. And Iroh seems to have some kind of personal experience with the Fog, given the way he warns Tenzin and his siblings about it. Perhaps he, like Tenzin, traveled there intentionally while searching for his kid, was trapped there briefly and was only able to escape after some sort of epiphany.

• That said, it's entirely possible Lu Ten is still trapped in the Fog.

The reason why there's new Airbenders popping out.

Because all the new Airbenders have Air Nomad ancestry, even though Word of God said that all Air Nomads are benders, they didn't say those who are only part.

The Earth Kingdom will now change into the Earth Federation.

The Earth Queen's dead without an heir it seems, so once order does reach Ba Sing Se, a new Democratic Republic will take over.

• Jossed, never mind, there's already an heir named Prince Wu. And he loses his throne to Kuvira, who transforms the kingdom into the Earth Empire, apparently the main antagonists of the final Book.
  • HOWEVER, as of the finale, Prince Wu has decided to abdicate the throne and suggests a new, democratic system for his nation. So we may yet see an Earth Federation, assuming there's still fiction after this.

Pro-Bending will be amended to include airbenders.

Now that the entire airbending population isn't 5, they'll be able to amend things to include airbenders. It is going to take a while because the arenas haven't been designed to account for airbending, and rules for how airbending is to be done will take a while to hash out, but since not every airbender didn't choose to be an Air Nomad, there will be plenty of people who will want to try to adapt their new abilities to the sport.

On mixed race bending

Since we're in a setting with increasing numbers of individuals with mixed ancestry, this could lead to new hybrid forms of bending. In the most recent episode, we have Bolin, a mixed Earth/Fire character, discovering his latent lavabending abilities. Lavabending seems to blur the line between earth and fire, (and in the first series, we saw firebenders controlling lava). This may well mean that Mako is also a lavabender.

Other possible hybrid abilities may be:

• Weatherbending (water/air)
• Combustion (fire/air) (we've already seen this, but it's possible that Combustion Man and P'Le both have mixed fire and air heritage from centuries ago)
• (earth/air)
• (fire/water)
• Lavabending (fire/earth)
• (water/earth)

The secret to Lavabending is not Fire, but Water

What is lava/magma? Rock in a different phase of matter. Waterbenders consider altering their element's state one of the most basic techniques. It is those techniques that can be applied to Earth to create and manipulate lava, and change it back to rock. Would-be lavabenders only assumed that Firebending techniques were involved because magma is so hot. When that assumption didn't pan out, it was written off as impossible for non-Avatars and nobody ever questioned the root assumption. That's why it took someone like a member of the Red Lotus, who is devoted to questioning such "common knowledge", to discover the art.

The Earth Kingdom (or at least part of it) will join the United Republic of Nations.

The western parts of the Earth Kingdom (perhaps including Omashu) are close to the United Republic. Some of the local leaders might ask President Raiko to send in the United Forces to help maintain order. Before long, people in those areas will realize democracy's not such a bad idea.This is the change Zaheer was talking about, the one that can't be stopped. The boundaries of the four nations will begin to dissolve as the Republic expands, consuming them all, uniting the world into one people under a democratically elected leader.

Every part of Air Nomad culture becomes apparent when Zaheer's brutality is shown.

Pacifism and Vegetarianism? Intentional restraint. If an airbender wanted something dead it wouldn't have any chance. They could drive entire species extinct if they hunted with regularity. The nomadic and monastic lifestyle is the same- remove any desire for material belongings and land, no airbender has a reason to form an army and conquer. The relative isolation of the temples? Same- other nations never get a chance to test the extent of airbending and see just how scary they are. For over ten thousand years the only reason every other nation hasn't fallen under the airbender's heels is because of culture-wide saintlike restraint.

• Flat-out contradicted by Word of God's claim that bending is only as good as the person using it and one isn't better than the other/.

The next series will take place during the adult life of the next Avatar, and he'll be Out of Focus.

We've seen two young Avatars come of age under very different circumstances, but we've also gotten hints from Aang's kids about how trying it is to grow up in the shadow of the Avatar. We'll get to see the next Avatar's kids struggling to try to live up to their father/mother's legacy. The show will eventually develop into more of an espionage thriller, when it's decided that the Avatar will use his political standing to create distractions, while his kids slip around and do the dirty work.

The Avatar-verse won't get realistic guns but will get Family-Friendly Firearms.

They will include the Flare Gun, the Lightning Gun, and the Grenade Launcher.

• Kuvira's mechs already have flamethrowers and lightning guns. It's only a matter of time before someone makes a portable version.

The next Avatar will be an introverted, bookish nerd.

We've seen a playful Avatar who had to learn resolve, and an angry Avatar who had to learn inner peace. I think a standoffish, shy Avatar, who really wishes the rest of the world would just leave him to his books would be an interesting contrast.

• He'd be a Twilight Sparkle or Orion Pax-like librarian/archivist, who is mentored by an older, surviving character from Korra's era. Said mentor encouraging him to "make some friends!" is optional.
  • And eventually he'll get a big dose of Surprisingly Realistic Outcome and Not So Above It All. For the first time in the series history he'll square off against a villain who has no interest in dueling him one-on-one, and whose army has a clear line of succession to prevent it from being defeated by his death. This will literally leave the booknerd Avatar with no choice other than to get down in the dirt, and charge at the head of an army of thousands, battling another army of thousands, in a bending free-for-all.
    • Sounds a bit cliched imo

Badgermoles hate roaches.

The moment Wu called the Earth Empire soldier a roach, their ears perked up and they promptly circled round and attacked him and his squad.

A few million years ago, a giant, platinum-filled asteroid crashed into the planet.

Such things exist and it would explain how there's so much platinum on the planet.

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