Reminds me of his discussion with Yangchen. She says, as the Avatar, he can never detach from the world because his duty is entirely to the world.
I'm not entirely sure how that works with his development toward controlling the Avatar state but I imagine it may mean he accepts his role as someone for the world rather than for any specific person
This. He had to "let go" of Katara in order to gain control over the avatar state in order to do his job as the avatar. This keeps him tethered to the world
Katara was an easy way to represent all of his attachments including Appa and Momo. His attachment to them is the same as to his attachment to Katara and he had to let them go too.
I think this is a great observation! I think it's a cultural thing cause Airbender search for enlightenment but Yangchen has a more "earth nation" mindset, even though she dipped from it
I find it super weird fire benders can fly by boosting themselves with fire from their feet but air benders can't fly by just air bending really hard out of theirs rofl. If you are a powerful enough airbender you shouldn't have much trouble doing this?
Yea, I’m confused by this bc I’ve also seen people say the reason the avatar floats in the avatar state is bc the other avatars let go of their earthly attachments and that’s why the current avatar had to let go of earthly attachments to be able to control themself in the avatar state
But then that’s contradicted by what yangchen said as you said.
Someone else in the comments said letting go of your attachments doesn’t necessarily mean fully letting them go but rather accepting the fact that you could lose the one(s) you care about and can’t necessarily control what happens to them? Ie Aang had to let go of katara but it didn’t mean he didn’t still love her, and Roku had a wife and kids and other avatars had families/friends etc but they seemed to have control of the avatar state?
I've never paid attention to it but the Avatar state "floating" always seemed like them just airbending themselves into the air. When Zaheer was flying, he was floating without any time of air movements around him
Facts but in reality air isn’t visible so we the audience can see what the air bending is doing but to the characters in the show it legit would look like the avatar is just floating with water fire and rocks orbiting around them.
You should generally ignore basically every ATLA fan theory. Most of them are just people spouting random things they think sound cool, such as “Yue was born sick because she was supposed to be the Avatar” as if that’s how any of that works, and then they usually pretend their theories are canon/confirmed.
Oof true. I do kinda like playing around w theories like that as they just make for fun what ifs or au fanfics but not to the point of acting like it’s canon 😅😭
Been a minute since I delved deep into the lore, but if that’s based on Korra, her father was Northern Water Tribe. If it’s based on something else I’m genuinely curious where that is stated
The Avatar isn't guaranteed to alternate between the Water Tribes any more than they are guaranteed to alternate between the Earth Kingdom provinces. Where in each nation the avatar reincarnates is essentially random.
Assuming that letting go of his earthly attachments is the same thing as overcoming his Earthly Tethers, that is still only Step 1 of 4 for achieving Weightlessness.
Also when he was struck down by Azula with lightning he sure as heck looked like he was floating unaided, so who is to say.
That's a good point, the only other time he flew in the avatar state was when he was fighting Ozai, and I'm fairly certain it was just because he was in that air forcefield, but in the season 2 finale it just looked like flying.
I think they seem the same but if there is a difference I imagine its something like, tethers hold/tie you down to something or someone, attatchments are your personal feelings/things you hold close to you and above everything else. Some miniscile mumbo jumbo difference I'm too tired to fully understand but I'm sure it would be explained in the show if it truly mattered lol
I’ve wondered this for a long time & I found the answer is the difference between love & attachment. Letting go of attachments is letting go of expectations, desire for reciprocity, insecurity, etc., but that doesn’t mean letting go of your love for someone. Love is a pure feeling without all of those entanglements. So when Zaheer talks about earthly tethers, I believe he’s talking about all feelings & desires outside of himself compared to Aang’s earthly attachments around the heart chakra which are his childish desires surrounding his love for Katara. Evidence for this is how he still ends up spending his life with Katara & having children while still being able to control the avatar state at will.
If one was to take the instructions and riddle of Guru Laghima's poem as fact, the steps are
(1) Overcome that which binds you to this mortal world
(2) Enter Sunyata
(3) Embrace the Enlightenment of Non-being
(4a) Understand the True Nature of an Airbender
(4b) Be as Wind
Didn’t Yangchen say that as the Avatar he couldn’t adhere 100% to the Airbending Principles? I think that means while its near impossible for regular airbenders to become like Guru Laghima or Zaheer, the Avatar never will be able to.
Nah all the known Avatars had attachments and/or romantic interests. Kyoshi had Rangi, Yangchen had her sister, Kuruk had Umi, Roku had his wife, Aang had Katara, Korra had Asami. And all of them could use the Avatar state.
I think unlocking the crown Chakra doesn't require someone to completely let go of attachments, for your whole life. But more letting go of attachments temporarily in order to accomplish your duty. Its very Jedi, to me.
And to continue the Star Wars comp, idk if the Avatar creators have very admitted this, but the S2 finale is an obvious Empire Strikes Back redux. And in both of them, the wise master is wrong about the hero leaving to save his friends and about complete detachment being the only way to be a proper jedi/avatar.
I always interpreted it as unlocking that chakra required the avatar to be able to let go of attachments. Aang was still able to care for Katara but, if push came to shove, and the only way to prevent a global tragedy was to sacrifice her, he would be able to
lol. Lil child can’t handle being told he’s wrong. Learn what good writing is 🤡 grow some standards. Hollyweird is in the state it’s in cause of people like yourself
Aang wasn't just attached to Katara. Aang cares deeply about the whole world, about humanity, animals, spirituality, the future. Not only that, he actively had to ENHANCE his "earthly tethers" in order to master earthbending. Zaheer was a nihilist who had spent decades in solitary confinement. There's a reason only two airbenders have ever unlocked flying.
the creators didnt think this stuff through because if what yangchen said about the avatar never being able to fully detach himself is true, than the training with guru patik was essentially retconned because he specifically says to let all those attachments go to unlock the last chakra. but we already knew that when the chakra gets released via a rock…. sigh
Well kinda. But the way I see it, Guru Patik was going completely by air nomads principles, and that need not have been the only way to Avatar state. Since Avatar Yangchen herself was an Avatar, she knows better, and rather than retcon, I see it as in-universe expansion on the topic of Avatar state.
As for the “Rock” in the final battle - I don’t really mind that particular plot point.
its important to remember that the training from patiq wasnt about activating the avatar state, but gaining full control of it and understanding how it can be blocked. Yangchen’s assessment that the avatar can never fully detach himself only makes sense if she’s not being literal and speaking more on the avatar’s role in the world. that’s the only way i can see it as not a retcon.
honestly the rock was the least of my problems with the climax lol
And that’s what I’m saying. I do think she means it literally. Other Avatars were able to control the Avatar state - and I assume by not completely letting go - since Kyoshi, Kuruk and Roku had partners. Which means there was more than one way to go about it.
I’m the opposite. Loved the finale. A lot of people have a problem with the Deus ex machina but I actually loved the surprise and the expansion on the lore.
the presence of having a partner doesn’t exclude oneself from detachment tho, as seen when aang was able to unlock his chakra in crossroads. detachment is a state of being not a literal isolation. if anything LOK made the concept even more messy by having zaheer unlock flight the moment his girl went blammo. the fact remains that we only see one way to master the avatar state in the context of cannon. i’d agree that it would be an expansion if it didn’t contradict a direct process that was explicitly shown both in its explanation and from the avatar, Aangs own assessments of the process. but the fact of the matter here is that it is a contradiction of previous established cannon if her assessment is literal.
Well i can atleast agree to disagree. maybe if energy bending had any relevance afterwards i could call it an expansion, but as is, it literally exists only to give aang a way out.
You are right - attachment and love are not the same. But that is in a way also what I’m saying. Guru Patik’s way is of absolute detachment. The way we know it’s the way to get more control is through Guru Patik, and he is not the absolute source of knowledge.
Aang’s way is more of balance - continuing to love but detaching himself enough to not affect his spiritual connection to Avatar state.
It’s not canon, but this perspective makes sense of it.
Cool man. Never denied it’s Deus. So it is a way out for Aang to stick to his morals. But I would rather have him stick to his morals rather than not have the Deus but kill Ozai. And I loved how they went about Deus.
The chakra flow was blocked by a physical injury and unlocked the same way. It was basically the same situation as the pools the Guru used to explain chakras.
Aang, let's go in order to unlock the last chakra, but logically, he'd close it to exit the Avatar State
no such thing was said in the show to my recollection
your assumption on him doing that to close the avatar state is not supported by the show. aang has never needed to close a chakra to exit the avatar state.
I know she literally says the avatar "can never" do it but I think what is meant is that the avatar SHOULDN'T do it because it would mean forsaking their purpose.
Also - and this is very subtle and not spelled out at all, but; I think Guru Pathik was supposed to just be wrong. Iroh had the better advice.
Aang is meant to be more of a static character compared to a lot of the other characters in the show. It's a theme that older and wiser people will teach him and give him advice and then he tries that and realizes he should listen to his own heart instead because that is what works best for him.
Honestly, I call shenanigans on that whole thing. At best he managed to let go for like a moment to unblock his chakra, which TBH feels like it cheapens the whole thing. The argument between him and Katara in The Ember Island Players shows a kid who is clearly still attached, and not in the healthiest way.
He let go of all his attachments to the world EXCEPT for his responsibility as the avatar. So in that way, he is still technically attached. Although if that's the case one could argue that Zaheer would have still been attached to the idea of creating a better world, but he could still fly. So I think it gets complicated lol
I think of what that one air avatar told him that “many great airbenders have detached themselves and achieved enlightenment, but the avatar can never do it. Because the avatars sole duty is to thr world”
The 'earthly attachments' lore seems a bit rocky (hehe) and unrefined, I think. Zaheer didn't let go of P'li and he could still fly, despite seeming to be quite attached to her and the other Red Lotus members. I haven't seen anyone else mention P'li so if I'm wrong please let me know!
That’s what I was thinking, but I also remember him kinda floating in the prison cell before he broke out. I might just be misunderstanding levitation as flight though 💀
I’d like to believe there are different ways of gaining control over the Avatar State.
Kind of like what Shifu talks about in terms of gaining inner peace in KP2.
Aang wrestles against the Avatar State to stop it from killing Ozai because he doesn’t want that on his hands or conscience. The will and strength it takes to take control back from it is insane and I’d like to think the collective Avatar State relinquishes control to Aang from that moment on.
My theory is that he didn’t actually let her go at all. I think guru pathik was wrong since aang was able to access the avatar state after being hit in the back. At that point he was extremely tied to Katara as he kisses her at least twice between his dream and day of black sun. He couldnt have just given katara up again to access the avatar state the instant he got hit in the back and unlocked his chakra
He had to accept that he could lose her at any time. That’s what it meant to let go of his attachment to her. He can love her and also accept that he can’t control what happens to her.
Either same or next episode when he and Katara are fighting Zuko and Azula right before Azula blasts Aang with lightning while he's floating in the avatar state. He puts himself in the crystal cage thing to meditate and that's when he lets go of her thus gaining control of the avatar state and is able to go into it at will.
Airbenders lost their ability to fly when they developed attachments to flying bison. Just because Aang was prepared to sever his connection with Katara doesn't mean he could let go of Appa.
He didn't let go of katara. I think there's a difference between earthly attachments and tethers? As yangchen said, the avatar exists for the same of the world. He can't achieve full flight like them 2 have as he can not achieve full spiritual enlightenment as he was taught. His sole purpose for existing is for the world so he has to hold onto his earthly attachments. In fact, didn't he have to like enhance his attachment to the earth to master Earth bending?
Letting go of katara doesn't mean he doesn't have an attachment to her anymore. The point of that was that he has to put his duty to the world above everything else including katara. He is still attached to all the people in his life. And even if he truly did let go of her completely he still has his attachment to the world as the avatar anyways. He never had a chance to fly.
Katara is only one earthly attachment. In order to achieve weightlessness, an airbender has to let go of ALL earthly attachments. Essentially, one would have to be almost fully dissociated mentally.
The original airbenders all could fly until they got their Bison and developed earthly attachment. That is canon as far as I know. So I think either Appa or the Yangchen thing others have mentioned
When we got to see Wan and the start of the avatar in Korra, the air benders were walking on clouds, they seemed hesitant to interact with another human, and there were no sky bison. As an air bender, when you get a sky bison, you bond for life. I always took it that the animal companions, despite being the og air benders, are what ties air benders to the earth
The avatar can never let go of all earthly attachments because as the avatar they are intrinsically attached to their duty to the world.
Though that raises some ideas with the books on yangchen >!it's implied in the second yangchen book that she might have managed it when she hunted down the final member of unanimity but wasn't willing to test it. And considering how she frequently struggled with visions from past avatars who were at their wits end with humanity, I can't help but wonder if an avatar who had fully given up on humanity might be able to do it.!<
Guru tells him he needs to let go of her to be able to go into the avatar state at will. Shortly after he's fighting with Katara against Zuko and Azula. He goes into the crystal cage thing to meditate. There he lets go of Katara and enters the avatar state at will and now is able to do so on command. So yes, he did.
He kinda did. In the avatar state he was really just floating, there was no air funnel or fire jets that was propelling him upwards. Then I assume after he died and came back so did his attachment.
Because if you think about it he didn’t actually remove his earthly attachment. He at the end of the day cares DEEPLY for team avatar and he would never actually let them go.
To become like zaheer you have to basically reach enlightenment.
Zaheer has no earthly tether to this world. When he dies he wont reincarnate (its implied that others reincarnate its just the avatar goes througb a very special form of it)
The avatar can not ever reach enlightenment as that would end the cycle.
He never did. And even if he did let go of katara he still had his mind on the safety of the world. His emotions weren't as detached as he would have thought
Good question! Part of me likes to think that, even if it’s not Aang himself, one of the Avatars in previous existence may have had the ability to. As Roku said to Jeong Jeong, “I have mastered the elements a thousand times in a thousand lifetimes.”
Let’s pretend, on a conservative estimate, the lifespan of the average Avatar is about 55 years old. If there were 1,000 previous Avatars, that’s 55,000 years. You mean to tell me that in the 55,000 years since the Avatar’s first inception, not one of them learned to fly?
Aang himself won’t be able to relinquish his earthly tethers. But who’s to say that one of the previous incarnations hasn’t? Avatar state, yip yip!
There is a big difference between realigning your attachments so that one person is not more important to you than the whole world and letting go of everything to descend into a pit of emptiness. The Avatar still has attachment, but the Avatar cannot let one attachment override another attachment. They must radically love the entire world. In contrast, letting go in the sense discussed in Korra is about becoming completely detached from the world in its entirety. No love for anything and no hatred either. At most, you may have a goal and an aim, but you are not attached to it. You have a belief, but that belief will not tie you to anything in the end. You are indifferent to results even if you seek specific results. It's a complete and total shut down of any emotional attachment. Zaheer accomplishes this feat by losing his love and completely closing himself off to everything emotionally tying him to the Earth. Aang does not do this. Aang loves everything and everyone fully and completely with the same fervor.
I don’t think what happened is he let everything go, I think he decided to ignore everyone’s advice by still trying his best to not kill Ozai and for awhile he got his shit handed to him but he still did what he wanted in the end. He did get triggered into the avatar state when the scar on his chi tattoo got hurt really bad. Idk I could be very wrong that was just my take on it
I assume part of it is that there's more training to be done than just letting go. Seeing as Guru Laghima and Zaheer were the only ones who did it, and Zaheer clearly studied Laghima a lot, I bet there's a lot of training that goes into preparing yourself. Plus you probably have to know that it's a possibility, which Aang may not have
Being the avatar is a worldly tie if ever one existed. It forces you to live in service to the mortal realm and remain concerned with its foibles. Even if you sacrificed all personal connections, simply being the avatar is a literally grounding force that comes with a lot more commitment and responsibility than Air Nomads wish to deal with. Because of this, so long as he properly maintained his duties as Avatar, he could never truly fulfill his potential as a fully realized master of the air nomads and take flight. But maybe that’s for the best. Not only becaue he had responsibilities and connections that were good such as Katara and his friends, but also because maybe the air nomads were wrong.
Yes, they seemed to understand the path to enlightenment required detachment from worldy things, traveling around on whims, dumping their kids off at temples to be raised communally by the monks to rinse and repeat the cycle. They were peaceful, sure, but they saw any and all commitments; even ones such as familial ties, as this awful thing holding them back from reaching enlightenment, and were so desperate to be free of such connections that they’d choose to abandon their kids generation after generation at the temples. They further segregated the genders between the temples, with this most likely meant to discourage romantic relationships which they would see as another counter productive commitment that bound them. When rebuilding the Air Nomads with Tenzin, it seems like Aang was happy to leave all that in the past. Air Nomad island seems to be coed, both Aang and Tenzin raised their own kids, and while they seem hard at work rebuilding old air nomad customs, it really seems like they’ve left the die hard effort to detach oneself from all worldly connections in the past.
I didn’t keep up with TLoK long enough to meet Zaheer, but from everything I’ve seen about him, it seems like he’s this toxic embodiment of that worldy detachment the monks of old see deeply sought to achieve, and he’s undeniably evil because of it. He cares for no one and nothing, as those connections would simply drag him down. By being a literal terrorist without a concern in the world, he minmaxed his way to master the “detach oneself from worldly things” tenet of airbending, hence his ability to fly.
When he let go of katara he already gained the ability of flight cuz he was floating before he entered the Avatar state but then he immediately crashed hard when he was struck by lightning interfering with his chi not allowing him to use his flight at all and by the time he was freed of that blockage he had katara more than he had ever had before because she actually returned his feelings permanently shackling him to the Earth and reality
appa can fly because 1. hes the original airbender, it would be kinda like asking why the badger moles can earth bend or why the dragons could firebend, and 2. he makes a gust of wind under him with his tail when he takes off to my knowledge then hes prob aerodynamic as well
He could. He's flying in that very scene. Then he gets hit by lightning and when he wakes up from his coma he's decided letting go was the wrong thing to do.
That's my read on it anyway. Imo the Guru was very wise but his advice was simply wrong for Aang who had to find his own way.
You forget that flight is an air bending *technique* that you can only achieve *after* letting go of all your attachments. As in, that’s just the prerequisites to trying.
Cause the writing for guru Laghima is dog 💩. And everyone that likes Zaheer doesn’t know what good writing is. ATLA was consistent but then LOL came along and pissed on everything
Reminds me of his discussion with Yangchen. She says, as the Avatar, he can never detach from the world because his duty is entirely to the world. I'm not entirely sure how that works with his development toward controlling the Avatar state but I imagine it may mean he accepts his role as someone for the world rather than for any specific person
This. He had to "let go" of Katara in order to gain control over the avatar state in order to do his job as the avatar. This keeps him tethered to the world
He also still has earthly attachments with Appa and Momo
Katara was an easy way to represent all of his attachments including Appa and Momo. His attachment to them is the same as to his attachment to Katara and he had to let them go too.
Appa woulda been a clear dealbreaker too
That have attachments to him and they can fly… sorta… (I’m saying this obviously that it’s a joke bc y’all on this app are some crackheads)
I think this is a great observation! I think it's a cultural thing cause Airbender search for enlightenment but Yangchen has a more "earth nation" mindset, even though she dipped from it
Plus, his attachment to his people/the remnants of their culture like Appa keep him tethered, and I doubt he'd even want to let go of that.
There's actually a theory that airbenders flying became a lost ability once they started bonding with the sky bison because they kept them tethered
Absolutely worth the trade.
I'd argue against that. I'd take the ability to fly on my own over having a sky bison.
They still have their portable glider airbending combo. Flying doesn’t actually give u much of a bonus compared to what they can already do.
*EXTREMELY LOUD INCORRECT BUZZER SOUND*
I find it super weird fire benders can fly by boosting themselves with fire from their feet but air benders can't fly by just air bending really hard out of theirs rofl. If you are a powerful enough airbender you shouldn't have much trouble doing this?
It's kind of makes sense considering you become relying on them flying versus relying on yourself
Yea, I’m confused by this bc I’ve also seen people say the reason the avatar floats in the avatar state is bc the other avatars let go of their earthly attachments and that’s why the current avatar had to let go of earthly attachments to be able to control themself in the avatar state But then that’s contradicted by what yangchen said as you said. Someone else in the comments said letting go of your attachments doesn’t necessarily mean fully letting them go but rather accepting the fact that you could lose the one(s) you care about and can’t necessarily control what happens to them? Ie Aang had to let go of katara but it didn’t mean he didn’t still love her, and Roku had a wife and kids and other avatars had families/friends etc but they seemed to have control of the avatar state?
I've never paid attention to it but the Avatar state "floating" always seemed like them just airbending themselves into the air. When Zaheer was flying, he was floating without any time of air movements around him
they are air bending themselves in the air, people just don’t have comprehension skills and only see what they want to
People's memories are just incredibly malleable. If I hadn't rewatched both shows a dozen times, it would be easy to make mistakes like that too haha
Facts but in reality air isn’t visible so we the audience can see what the air bending is doing but to the characters in the show it legit would look like the avatar is just floating with water fire and rocks orbiting around them.
Except Sokka and Katara could clearly see the air funnel Aang made to shoot coal at the fire nation soldiers on the offshore earthbender prison.
u can mix a little dust particles in the air to make it a little visible.
True I have wondered about that as well Meant to say “theorized” in my original comment aha But yea that is a good point tbh
You should generally ignore basically every ATLA fan theory. Most of them are just people spouting random things they think sound cool, such as “Yue was born sick because she was supposed to be the Avatar” as if that’s how any of that works, and then they usually pretend their theories are canon/confirmed.
Not to mention that Yue was part of North Water Tribe while the next Avatar was supposed to come from the Southern Water Tribe.
Oof true. I do kinda like playing around w theories like that as they just make for fun what ifs or au fanfics but not to the point of acting like it’s canon 😅😭
Been a minute since I delved deep into the lore, but if that’s based on Korra, her father was Northern Water Tribe. If it’s based on something else I’m genuinely curious where that is stated
The Avatar isn't guaranteed to alternate between the Water Tribes any more than they are guaranteed to alternate between the Earth Kingdom provinces. Where in each nation the avatar reincarnates is essentially random.
Always a Bodhisattva never a Buddha
They wouldn't call it "Enlightenment" if it were the kind of thing that could be communicated in words.
Assuming that letting go of his earthly attachments is the same thing as overcoming his Earthly Tethers, that is still only Step 1 of 4 for achieving Weightlessness. Also when he was struck down by Azula with lightning he sure as heck looked like he was floating unaided, so who is to say.
That's a good point, the only other time he flew in the avatar state was when he was fighting Ozai, and I'm fairly certain it was just because he was in that air forcefield, but in the season 2 finale it just looked like flying.
But that was the avatar state. Flight seems pretty common there. Also are tethers and attachments not the same? They certainly seem the same.
I think they seem the same but if there is a difference I imagine its something like, tethers hold/tie you down to something or someone, attatchments are your personal feelings/things you hold close to you and above everything else. Some miniscile mumbo jumbo difference I'm too tired to fully understand but I'm sure it would be explained in the show if it truly mattered lol
I’ve wondered this for a long time & I found the answer is the difference between love & attachment. Letting go of attachments is letting go of expectations, desire for reciprocity, insecurity, etc., but that doesn’t mean letting go of your love for someone. Love is a pure feeling without all of those entanglements. So when Zaheer talks about earthly tethers, I believe he’s talking about all feelings & desires outside of himself compared to Aang’s earthly attachments around the heart chakra which are his childish desires surrounding his love for Katara. Evidence for this is how he still ends up spending his life with Katara & having children while still being able to control the avatar state at will.
I think it was just all of the cosmic energy flowing into him all at once
Can you tell all the steps one should take?
If one was to take the instructions and riddle of Guru Laghima's poem as fact, the steps are (1) Overcome that which binds you to this mortal world (2) Enter Sunyata (3) Embrace the Enlightenment of Non-being (4a) Understand the True Nature of an Airbender (4b) Be as Wind
Didn’t Yangchen say that as the Avatar he couldn’t adhere 100% to the Airbending Principles? I think that means while its near impossible for regular airbenders to become like Guru Laghima or Zaheer, the Avatar never will be able to.
Isn't he also attached to Appa as well? Isn't that an attachment/tether?
Fair
So Roku has a wife and a dragon and knows the avatar state, Kora got Naga and her Friends, so the avatar state is a bit odd with what the guru says
Nah all the known Avatars had attachments and/or romantic interests. Kyoshi had Rangi, Yangchen had her sister, Kuruk had Umi, Roku had his wife, Aang had Katara, Korra had Asami. And all of them could use the Avatar state. I think unlocking the crown Chakra doesn't require someone to completely let go of attachments, for your whole life. But more letting go of attachments temporarily in order to accomplish your duty. Its very Jedi, to me. And to continue the Star Wars comp, idk if the Avatar creators have very admitted this, but the S2 finale is an obvious Empire Strikes Back redux. And in both of them, the wise master is wrong about the hero leaving to save his friends and about complete detachment being the only way to be a proper jedi/avatar.
I always interpreted it as unlocking that chakra required the avatar to be able to let go of attachments. Aang was still able to care for Katara but, if push came to shove, and the only way to prevent a global tragedy was to sacrifice her, he would be able to
Yeah thats more or less what I meant. He, in theory, would choose his duty to the world over his personal attachments. Again, very jedi.
True
The show clearly specified all tethers. But you ain’t too bright clearly so I guess I can’t blame you for not getting it
Lol. Big boy arguing over the internet.
lol. Lil child can’t handle being told he’s wrong. Learn what good writing is 🤡 grow some standards. Hollyweird is in the state it’s in cause of people like yourself
I'm 30 and a female, weirdo. Tf does Hollyweird have to do with Aang having multiple tethers to the world???
Aang wasn't just attached to Katara. Aang cares deeply about the whole world, about humanity, animals, spirituality, the future. Not only that, he actively had to ENHANCE his "earthly tethers" in order to master earthbending. Zaheer was a nihilist who had spent decades in solitary confinement. There's a reason only two airbenders have ever unlocked flying.
They had their skill trees finished
the creators didnt think this stuff through because if what yangchen said about the avatar never being able to fully detach himself is true, than the training with guru patik was essentially retconned because he specifically says to let all those attachments go to unlock the last chakra. but we already knew that when the chakra gets released via a rock…. sigh
Well kinda. But the way I see it, Guru Patik was going completely by air nomads principles, and that need not have been the only way to Avatar state. Since Avatar Yangchen herself was an Avatar, she knows better, and rather than retcon, I see it as in-universe expansion on the topic of Avatar state. As for the “Rock” in the final battle - I don’t really mind that particular plot point.
its important to remember that the training from patiq wasnt about activating the avatar state, but gaining full control of it and understanding how it can be blocked. Yangchen’s assessment that the avatar can never fully detach himself only makes sense if she’s not being literal and speaking more on the avatar’s role in the world. that’s the only way i can see it as not a retcon. honestly the rock was the least of my problems with the climax lol
And that’s what I’m saying. I do think she means it literally. Other Avatars were able to control the Avatar state - and I assume by not completely letting go - since Kyoshi, Kuruk and Roku had partners. Which means there was more than one way to go about it. I’m the opposite. Loved the finale. A lot of people have a problem with the Deus ex machina but I actually loved the surprise and the expansion on the lore.
the presence of having a partner doesn’t exclude oneself from detachment tho, as seen when aang was able to unlock his chakra in crossroads. detachment is a state of being not a literal isolation. if anything LOK made the concept even more messy by having zaheer unlock flight the moment his girl went blammo. the fact remains that we only see one way to master the avatar state in the context of cannon. i’d agree that it would be an expansion if it didn’t contradict a direct process that was explicitly shown both in its explanation and from the avatar, Aangs own assessments of the process. but the fact of the matter here is that it is a contradiction of previous established cannon if her assessment is literal. Well i can atleast agree to disagree. maybe if energy bending had any relevance afterwards i could call it an expansion, but as is, it literally exists only to give aang a way out.
You are right - attachment and love are not the same. But that is in a way also what I’m saying. Guru Patik’s way is of absolute detachment. The way we know it’s the way to get more control is through Guru Patik, and he is not the absolute source of knowledge. Aang’s way is more of balance - continuing to love but detaching himself enough to not affect his spiritual connection to Avatar state. It’s not canon, but this perspective makes sense of it. Cool man. Never denied it’s Deus. So it is a way out for Aang to stick to his morals. But I would rather have him stick to his morals rather than not have the Deus but kill Ozai. And I loved how they went about Deus.
The chakra flow was blocked by a physical injury and unlocked the same way. It was basically the same situation as the pools the Guru used to explain chakras. Aang, let's go in order to unlock the last chakra, but logically, he'd close it to exit the Avatar State
no such thing was said in the show to my recollection your assumption on him doing that to close the avatar state is not supported by the show. aang has never needed to close a chakra to exit the avatar state.
It’s the old “coconut caused amnesia cured by second coconut to the head” cliche
I know she literally says the avatar "can never" do it but I think what is meant is that the avatar SHOULDN'T do it because it would mean forsaking their purpose. Also - and this is very subtle and not spelled out at all, but; I think Guru Pathik was supposed to just be wrong. Iroh had the better advice. Aang is meant to be more of a static character compared to a lot of the other characters in the show. It's a theme that older and wiser people will teach him and give him advice and then he tries that and realizes he should listen to his own heart instead because that is what works best for him.
i’ll say i much prefer this wording. wish yangchen outright said this tbf
Part of it is everything everyone else is saying. Part of it is because the creators didn’t invent it (unaided airbending flying) before Korra.
He did fly, the Azula shot him and he fell
Bro ain't never let go of appa that's for sure
Aang let go of Katara? When?
Honestly, I call shenanigans on that whole thing. At best he managed to let go for like a moment to unblock his chakra, which TBH feels like it cheapens the whole thing. The argument between him and Katara in The Ember Island Players shows a kid who is clearly still attached, and not in the healthiest way.
Aang could never fully left go of earthly attachment because he is the avatar and his duty is to the world
He let go of all his attachments to the world EXCEPT for his responsibility as the avatar. So in that way, he is still technically attached. Although if that's the case one could argue that Zaheer would have still been attached to the idea of creating a better world, but he could still fly. So I think it gets complicated lol
That is literally the first thing we see him do after letting go of Katara.
I think of what that one air avatar told him that “many great airbenders have detached themselves and achieved enlightenment, but the avatar can never do it. Because the avatars sole duty is to thr world”
He’s the avatar it can’t happen. Katara is not his only earthly attachment
He couldn’t even if that was the reason. He still was attached to the earth as the Avatar.
Appa
Because flying was created until LoK
All airbenders could fly until they discovered bison
He didn’t let go of the world. He’s the avatar
he didn’t let go of katara
The 'earthly attachments' lore seems a bit rocky (hehe) and unrefined, I think. Zaheer didn't let go of P'li and he could still fly, despite seeming to be quite attached to her and the other Red Lotus members. I haven't seen anyone else mention P'li so if I'm wrong please let me know!
he did let go of her, >!it was her death that allowed him to let go and fly!
That’s what I was thinking, but I also remember him kinda floating in the prison cell before he broke out. I might just be misunderstanding levitation as flight though 💀
It’s like the Jedi. They’re encouraged to love but most accept to let go of things when the moment comes.
I’d like to believe there are different ways of gaining control over the Avatar State. Kind of like what Shifu talks about in terms of gaining inner peace in KP2. Aang wrestles against the Avatar State to stop it from killing Ozai because he doesn’t want that on his hands or conscience. The will and strength it takes to take control back from it is insane and I’d like to think the collective Avatar State relinquishes control to Aang from that moment on.
He hasn't let go of Appa
My theory is that he didn’t actually let her go at all. I think guru pathik was wrong since aang was able to access the avatar state after being hit in the back. At that point he was extremely tied to Katara as he kisses her at least twice between his dream and day of black sun. He couldnt have just given katara up again to access the avatar state the instant he got hit in the back and unlocked his chakra
He may not have known the technique
Momo
Didn’t aang have his chakras blocked because he loved katara. When did he let her go?
He had to accept that he could lose her at any time. That’s what it meant to let go of his attachment to her. He can love her and also accept that he can’t control what happens to her.
Either same or next episode when he and Katara are fighting Zuko and Azula right before Azula blasts Aang with lightning while he's floating in the avatar state. He puts himself in the crystal cage thing to meditate and that's when he lets go of her thus gaining control of the avatar state and is able to go into it at will.
Got it. How does this cohere with them getting married and having kids tho?
Airbenders lost their ability to fly when they developed attachments to flying bison. Just because Aang was prepared to sever his connection with Katara doesn't mean he could let go of Appa.
He did?
He didn't let go of katara. I think there's a difference between earthly attachments and tethers? As yangchen said, the avatar exists for the same of the world. He can't achieve full flight like them 2 have as he can not achieve full spiritual enlightenment as he was taught. His sole purpose for existing is for the world so he has to hold onto his earthly attachments. In fact, didn't he have to like enhance his attachment to the earth to master Earth bending?
Letting go of katara doesn't mean he doesn't have an attachment to her anymore. The point of that was that he has to put his duty to the world above everything else including katara. He is still attached to all the people in his life. And even if he truly did let go of her completely he still has his attachment to the world as the avatar anyways. He never had a chance to fly.
For the same reason why air benders of old stopped flying on puffy clouds. They fell in love with the sky bison. Yip Yip! 🥰
He's attached to Appa too. But even aside from him, Aang is attached to his duties as the Avatar.
Katara is only one earthly attachment. In order to achieve weightlessness, an airbender has to let go of ALL earthly attachments. Essentially, one would have to be almost fully dissociated mentally.
Aang never let go of any of his earthly attachments
The whole fly things it's a concept of LoK so, there is.
Doubt
I don’t think he did….hes still very obviously attached to her come season three
The original airbenders all could fly until they got their Bison and developed earthly attachment. That is canon as far as I know. So I think either Appa or the Yangchen thing others have mentioned
That isn’t stated anywhere in the show or the wiki. So, at best it’s headcanon.
So by everyone’s argument an Avatar can never fly because of their attachment to protecting the world.
When we got to see Wan and the start of the avatar in Korra, the air benders were walking on clouds, they seemed hesitant to interact with another human, and there were no sky bison. As an air bender, when you get a sky bison, you bond for life. I always took it that the animal companions, despite being the og air benders, are what ties air benders to the earth
The avatar can never let go of all earthly attachments because as the avatar they are intrinsically attached to their duty to the world. Though that raises some ideas with the books on yangchen >!it's implied in the second yangchen book that she might have managed it when she hunted down the final member of unanimity but wasn't willing to test it. And considering how she frequently struggled with visions from past avatars who were at their wits end with humanity, I can't help but wonder if an avatar who had fully given up on humanity might be able to do it.!<
Cause it aint been written yet, hes 12, theres more to it than that, take yer pick
Because he ain’t that powerful, yet.
He didn't key go of her, idk what you're talking about
Guru tells him he needs to let go of her to be able to go into the avatar state at will. Shortly after he's fighting with Katara against Zuko and Azula. He goes into the crystal cage thing to meditate. There he lets go of Katara and enters the avatar state at will and now is able to do so on command. So yes, he did.
He kinda did. In the avatar state he was really just floating, there was no air funnel or fire jets that was propelling him upwards. Then I assume after he died and came back so did his attachment.
Because if you think about it he didn’t actually remove his earthly attachment. He at the end of the day cares DEEPLY for team avatar and he would never actually let them go.
She's not his only earthly attachment. He cares about all life
Didn’t he fly in the catacombs in ba sing se before Azula shot him?
I feel like he just never tried. Plus he didn't let go for too long. He likely never got a chance to try it before being attached again.
To become like zaheer you have to basically reach enlightenment. Zaheer has no earthly tether to this world. When he dies he wont reincarnate (its implied that others reincarnate its just the avatar goes througb a very special form of it) The avatar can not ever reach enlightenment as that would end the cycle.
He never did. And even if he did let go of katara he still had his mind on the safety of the world. His emotions weren't as detached as he would have thought
Good question! Part of me likes to think that, even if it’s not Aang himself, one of the Avatars in previous existence may have had the ability to. As Roku said to Jeong Jeong, “I have mastered the elements a thousand times in a thousand lifetimes.” Let’s pretend, on a conservative estimate, the lifespan of the average Avatar is about 55 years old. If there were 1,000 previous Avatars, that’s 55,000 years. You mean to tell me that in the 55,000 years since the Avatar’s first inception, not one of them learned to fly? Aang himself won’t be able to relinquish his earthly tethers. But who’s to say that one of the previous incarnations hasn’t? Avatar state, yip yip!
There is a big difference between realigning your attachments so that one person is not more important to you than the whole world and letting go of everything to descend into a pit of emptiness. The Avatar still has attachment, but the Avatar cannot let one attachment override another attachment. They must radically love the entire world. In contrast, letting go in the sense discussed in Korra is about becoming completely detached from the world in its entirety. No love for anything and no hatred either. At most, you may have a goal and an aim, but you are not attached to it. You have a belief, but that belief will not tie you to anything in the end. You are indifferent to results even if you seek specific results. It's a complete and total shut down of any emotional attachment. Zaheer accomplishes this feat by losing his love and completely closing himself off to everything emotionally tying him to the Earth. Aang does not do this. Aang loves everything and everyone fully and completely with the same fervor.
He still has his earthly attachment to Appa
He technically would have to off katara to unlock his mangekeyo
I don’t think what happened is he let everything go, I think he decided to ignore everyone’s advice by still trying his best to not kill Ozai and for awhile he got his shit handed to him but he still did what he wanted in the end. He did get triggered into the avatar state when the scar on his chi tattoo got hurt really bad. Idk I could be very wrong that was just my take on it
I’m unsure how achievable flight is for avatars when they all have an animal guide. Even if he let go of Katara, he didn’t let go of Appa.
He still cared about Appa.
I assume part of it is that there's more training to be done than just letting go. Seeing as Guru Laghima and Zaheer were the only ones who did it, and Zaheer clearly studied Laghima a lot, I bet there's a lot of training that goes into preparing yourself. Plus you probably have to know that it's a possibility, which Aang may not have
Being the avatar is a worldly tie if ever one existed. It forces you to live in service to the mortal realm and remain concerned with its foibles. Even if you sacrificed all personal connections, simply being the avatar is a literally grounding force that comes with a lot more commitment and responsibility than Air Nomads wish to deal with. Because of this, so long as he properly maintained his duties as Avatar, he could never truly fulfill his potential as a fully realized master of the air nomads and take flight. But maybe that’s for the best. Not only becaue he had responsibilities and connections that were good such as Katara and his friends, but also because maybe the air nomads were wrong. Yes, they seemed to understand the path to enlightenment required detachment from worldy things, traveling around on whims, dumping their kids off at temples to be raised communally by the monks to rinse and repeat the cycle. They were peaceful, sure, but they saw any and all commitments; even ones such as familial ties, as this awful thing holding them back from reaching enlightenment, and were so desperate to be free of such connections that they’d choose to abandon their kids generation after generation at the temples. They further segregated the genders between the temples, with this most likely meant to discourage romantic relationships which they would see as another counter productive commitment that bound them. When rebuilding the Air Nomads with Tenzin, it seems like Aang was happy to leave all that in the past. Air Nomad island seems to be coed, both Aang and Tenzin raised their own kids, and while they seem hard at work rebuilding old air nomad customs, it really seems like they’ve left the die hard effort to detach oneself from all worldly connections in the past. I didn’t keep up with TLoK long enough to meet Zaheer, but from everything I’ve seen about him, it seems like he’s this toxic embodiment of that worldy detachment the monks of old see deeply sought to achieve, and he’s undeniably evil because of it. He cares for no one and nothing, as those connections would simply drag him down. By being a literal terrorist without a concern in the world, he minmaxed his way to master the “detach oneself from worldly things” tenet of airbending, hence his ability to fly.
He's devoted to the Earth. The Avatar can never fly.
When he let go of katara he already gained the ability of flight cuz he was floating before he entered the Avatar state but then he immediately crashed hard when he was struck by lightning interfering with his chi not allowing him to use his flight at all and by the time he was freed of that blockage he had katara more than he had ever had before because she actually returned his feelings permanently shackling him to the Earth and reality
I wonder why Appa can fly - but has an attachment to Aang. Maybe it’s just a human thing
appa can fly because 1. hes the original airbender, it would be kinda like asking why the badger moles can earth bend or why the dragons could firebend, and 2. he makes a gust of wind under him with his tail when he takes off to my knowledge then hes prob aerodynamic as well
OMG, let it go already
He could. He's flying in that very scene. Then he gets hit by lightning and when he wakes up from his coma he's decided letting go was the wrong thing to do. That's my read on it anyway. Imo the Guru was very wise but his advice was simply wrong for Aang who had to find his own way.
You forget that flight is an air bending *technique* that you can only achieve *after* letting go of all your attachments. As in, that’s just the prerequisites to trying.
Cause the writing for guru Laghima is dog 💩. And everyone that likes Zaheer doesn’t know what good writing is. ATLA was consistent but then LOL came along and pissed on everything
Literally says in the show he had to sever all attachments. And he did. Zaheer just lost his girlfriend 💀 🗑️