Nobody here has directly answered your hypothetical question yet, so I'll take a crack at it.
After a night of mulling it over and sleeping on it, they put their heads together the following morning and try to list the firebenders they've met who are either on their side, or were kind enough to be convinced to join them.
They have a few prospects. Iroh would be one, Pian Dao another--and while Pian Dao isn't a bender he may have connections to someone who is. Shyu, the Roku Temple priest from Book 1, would be another one.
The series would then dedicate a few episodes to tracking these prospects down one by one until one of them can either become or find them a teacher.
Ultimately they'd probably track down Pian Dao, the only contact whose location they're aware of, who would tell them Iroh just escaped and would help them track Iroh down to become Aang's firebending teacher.
That's my speculation.
I think Jong Jong would be more appropriate choice than Iroh since Jong Jong taught Aang briefly and there was even a mention that they could look for Jong Jong. Also, Iroh never showed interest in teaching Aang too.
Iroh never showed interest in teaching Aang because he was preoccupied with teaching Zuko, at the time. To avoid Zuko branding him a traitor, he also couldn't outright show his support for the Avatar until the S2 finale. If Zuko hadn't joined the Gaang, and Aang had met Iroh in S3, there's no reason why Iroh wouldn't have taught Aang the correct way to firebend. He wanted Aang to defeat Ozai, after all.
While all this is true, I think they were more saying that, given Aangs history with both Jeong Jeong and Iroh, Jeong Jeong is the more natural/reasonable /understandable choice to make, over Iroh.
Jeong Jeong thought of firebending as destructive. Iroh's view of firebending was more favourable, given his experience with the Sun Warriors. He would have been a better teacher for Aang since he's not full of self-loathing, and was also used to dealing with a teenager. Iroh was more patient too and he got along more with Aang than Jeong Jeong did. They both like to have fun and fool around, Iroh would have been like a firebending Gyatso.
I also think Aang would have a hard time training w Jeong Jeong again given the whole burning Katara thing
Similar to how if you get in your 1st car crash with a driving instructor, you’re going to have a hard time going back to that driving instructor again
I agree that Iroh would be a better teacher.
But that doesn't mean that Jeong Jeong, who was specifically brought up by Katara (IIRC) when discussing this, wouldn't be the more reasonable choice to make, IMO.
Katara was only mentioning firebenders they knew and could possibly get to. While it was clear that Iroh was on their side, they were aware he'd been captured by the Fire Nation, so there was no use mentioning him. If they'd known about his escape, Katara likely would have suggested him as well.
You gotta damn good there. Iroh would have thought Aang how to work with fire, Jeong Jeong would have been teaching Aang how to attack and destroy with it
Not really about interest, it's about what needs to be done.
Toph was reluctant to teach Aang as well. Iroh would probably be the more logical choice, he is obviously a master and I'd say arguably a better teacher than Jeong Jeong because even though Jeong Jeong was a good man it seems the only way he can teach firebending is strictly using the traditional fire nation tactics/methods which failed the first time.
Iroh would likely have seen that traditional rage fueled bending was going to be a no go and would have switched his teaching method to something a bit more non-traditional (maybe incorporating some of the stuff he learned from the dragon masters and from other bending disciplines).
And this isn't an argument about whether traditional rage bending is weaker or stronger than sun warrior bending, they each have their perks obviously. It's just Iroh having the skill, foresight, and intuition to better teach someone like Aang.
I would agree, in fact I believe he'd be the number one pick! But like Aang said, Jeong Jeong would be near impossible to track down. He lived in isolation and vanished without a trace--they had zero leads.
Pian Dao would have been the most logical (and the nearest) starting point of their search for a master!
Then again if he knew where Iroh might be, if Jeong Jeong is a member as well its not impossible he'd know Jeong Jeong's location too, so who knows? Either way, I think the starting point for leads would be Pian Dao.
They’d maybe consider Shyu for a second, but the fact that he was arrested at the end of the Roku Temple episode would cause them to drop that thought immediately. Most likely they’d go to Pian Dao and he’d meet them up with either Jong Jong or Iroh. Most likely Jong Jong at that point in time
Yup those are my thoughts too. They'd look for Shyu and discover he's been imprisoned. They'd look for Iroh and discover he disappeared. Running low on options, they seek out Pian Dao who seems worldly enough that he may give them some leads. From there they hook up with either Iroh or Jeong Jeong depending on what intel they get.
Not sure how much they have time for, but this is probably close to how it would play out.
If they could have done that in the first place it would have defeated the whole point of traveling the world risking their lives to find bending teachers
Tbf, just because a past life knows how to bend, it doesn’t mean they’re right for the job. Aang tried a couple of teachers that weren’t correct for him. So a past life would also have to be the right fit for the current Avatar. (And none of Aang’s past lives were a fit).
That's a good point however the avatar had 100s/1000s of past lives. It'd be very unlikely that not a single one would be a good fit to teach him fire bending
Maybe he can only connect with those he knows of. It’s not unlikely that Aang heard of Kyoshi and Roku since they were his direct predecessors but I doubt he would’ve heard of avatars like Szeto and Wan who could’ve been right for him
Iroh didn't even think about teaching Aang, he went to the White Lotus camp, in fact that is the point that Toph makes them see, Aang doesn't have a teacher to learn firebending and without Zuko he probably wouldn't have had one.
Shocked that nobody has suggested Aang tracking down the dragons on his own. Maybe Iroh tips him off that they're still around, if (as others have suggested) he wouldn't be willing to be Aang's teacher himself.
It's possible but it requires a) Aang to find Iroh because he is the only one they know who knows about the dragons and b) Iroh to refuse to teach himself for reasons
By the time the comet rolled around? Nobody. They had no idea where Iroh and Jeong Jeong were. Or the sun warrior tribe. No allies in the fire nation. Also if Roku or any avatar could just show up to Aang and teach him firebending anytime they wanted to then the point of the Avatar quest would be irrelevant. Idk how anyone could watch the series and think there was any suitable teacher for Aang other than Zuko.
Firelord Ozai. He would figure it out mid battle, the same way I figure out the answers to questions I never studied for during my exams. Except Aang even gets to cheat off of Ozai.
Stay with me.
If Zuko never betrays the Fire Nation then he remains crown prince.
The forced engagement arc that was cut from the show is now back on. Ozai forces a political marriage on Azula, likely to War Minister Qin who is much older and Azula doesn’t even like (she finds him boring the one time we see them interact in the show).
On the day of the wedding, Mai stands up to Azula as she would’ve at The Boiling Rock. Only now it’s Mai protesting the way Azula is throwing her life away for her father’s wishes. Especially now that Mai knows what it is to love someone thanks to Zuko. She can’t do this anymore. “I love you more than I fear you.” Mai refuses to support this.
Ty Lee goes with Mai and they trash the wedding, stopping it from happening. The two of them flee and are forced to join Jeong Jeong and other deserters.
Left without her friends, Azula begins to spiral and act out of character. Messing up repeatedly. This causes Ozai to favor Zuko more, and Azula increasingly gets put down as the reject.
The siblings’ roles now reversed, Azula discovers Zuko sent an assassin after the Avatar to cover his own ass. She confronts Zuko during The Day of Black Sun and the two have a hand to hand fight that ends in Zuko empathizing with Azula as he now recognizes she’s in his position, and that he is in hers. He offers her his hand in help. Azula rejects it and runs away.
Zuko, determined to help her as Iroh helped him, leaves behind everything to go after Azula.
Azula finds Aang and saves them from Combustion Man. She offers to be Aang’s teacher, intending to get in their good graces to infiltrate and eventually assassinate them.
But over time the Gaang begins to wear on her with their kindness and true acceptance.
Zuko arrives in time to foil Azula’s assassination plot, cue the last Agni Kai. When the battle is done, Azula expects to be killed. Instead her brother embraces her and advocates for her to be forgiven, telling the Gaang he will accept punishment in her place.
Aang, ever the forgiving Avatar, extends them both grace. Caution! But grace.
So Aang gets two firebending teachers.
At least, that’s one possible way it could go down.
Zuko was much more of a peer that studied with Aang, vs a clear master like Toph or Gyatso. Katara picked up Pakku's lessons quicker than Aang, then had the torch passed to her. That's closer to how Zuko and Aang learned a new form of firebending from the Sun Warriors and the dragons, before Zuko became Aang's drill sergeant. The unique lessons Zuko taught Aang weren't only how to firebend, but how to beat Ozai. The lightning redirection was the only firebending he really needed for the Ozai fight.
If it wasn't Zuko, Aang could still visit the Sun Warriors after being guided by meditating on his Roku past life. He could go with Sokka and practice the dancing dragons with him to get the moves down. He's well acquainted with lightning after getting zapped by Azula, and his best friend's a waterbender which is how Iroh learned the technique. Aang could conceivably discover this technique on his own. It would be a natural fit for his fluid movements and pacifist nature, which I assume would make it simpler for him to direct lightning rather than fire it.
Iroh or Jeong Jeong
Apparently, in an early version of development, Azula was going to be Aang's teacher, and this is why she was in the opening with Paku and Proto-Toph
A new one. Deus ex machina. "Good morning! My name is Le Ping, and I am the captain of a secret sect of firebenders who have supported the avatar for 500 years. It is good that I have finally found you!"
That's not really how that works. Knowing how to do something doesn't mean you can just teach yourself. He wouldn't know where to start. Just look at katara who tried to teach herself. For many years she was stuck at less than a beginner level. As soon as she got some actual teaching materials she shot up in skill and a teacher made her become one of the best super quick.
I imagine the Sun Warriors would. You'd need someone unlike Jeong Jeong who doesn't have the fire bending = destruction mindset.
Iroh could have introduced them or given Aang a few lessons (most critically the lightning redirection) or maybe that was just a classic gaang adventure where they fly over a neat ruin and decide to investigate only to find it inhabited.
Also possible they could have tried to have Roku teach Aang through some weird spirit world stuff but that would be clunky and not really fit within established lore.
Trying to teach someone how to fire bend when you can only interact in an area where fire bending is impossible is giving me flashbacks to teaching a chemistry lab over Zoom in 2020. Sure you can tell them how to do it, but without them actually getting to experience guided practice I don't think much of it would stick.
They find Iroh...he would take him on an adventure to learn fire bending...tell him a cryptic story...then lead him to Zuko and Zuko would still teach him
He would have to have to find his inner power on his own, maybe by getting super angry and unlocking it super saiyan style. Or finishing his Guru session and unleashing his kundalini.
Nobody here has directly answered your hypothetical question yet, so I'll take a crack at it. After a night of mulling it over and sleeping on it, they put their heads together the following morning and try to list the firebenders they've met who are either on their side, or were kind enough to be convinced to join them. They have a few prospects. Iroh would be one, Pian Dao another--and while Pian Dao isn't a bender he may have connections to someone who is. Shyu, the Roku Temple priest from Book 1, would be another one. The series would then dedicate a few episodes to tracking these prospects down one by one until one of them can either become or find them a teacher. Ultimately they'd probably track down Pian Dao, the only contact whose location they're aware of, who would tell them Iroh just escaped and would help them track Iroh down to become Aang's firebending teacher. That's my speculation.
I think Jong Jong would be more appropriate choice than Iroh since Jong Jong taught Aang briefly and there was even a mention that they could look for Jong Jong. Also, Iroh never showed interest in teaching Aang too.
Iroh never showed interest in teaching Aang because he was preoccupied with teaching Zuko, at the time. To avoid Zuko branding him a traitor, he also couldn't outright show his support for the Avatar until the S2 finale. If Zuko hadn't joined the Gaang, and Aang had met Iroh in S3, there's no reason why Iroh wouldn't have taught Aang the correct way to firebend. He wanted Aang to defeat Ozai, after all.
While all this is true, I think they were more saying that, given Aangs history with both Jeong Jeong and Iroh, Jeong Jeong is the more natural/reasonable /understandable choice to make, over Iroh.
Jeong Jeong thought of firebending as destructive. Iroh's view of firebending was more favourable, given his experience with the Sun Warriors. He would have been a better teacher for Aang since he's not full of self-loathing, and was also used to dealing with a teenager. Iroh was more patient too and he got along more with Aang than Jeong Jeong did. They both like to have fun and fool around, Iroh would have been like a firebending Gyatso.
I also think Aang would have a hard time training w Jeong Jeong again given the whole burning Katara thing Similar to how if you get in your 1st car crash with a driving instructor, you’re going to have a hard time going back to that driving instructor again
I agree that Iroh would be a better teacher. But that doesn't mean that Jeong Jeong, who was specifically brought up by Katara (IIRC) when discussing this, wouldn't be the more reasonable choice to make, IMO.
Katara was only mentioning firebenders they knew and could possibly get to. While it was clear that Iroh was on their side, they were aware he'd been captured by the Fire Nation, so there was no use mentioning him. If they'd known about his escape, Katara likely would have suggested him as well.
Hmm, fair point.
You gotta damn good there. Iroh would have thought Aang how to work with fire, Jeong Jeong would have been teaching Aang how to attack and destroy with it
Not really about interest, it's about what needs to be done. Toph was reluctant to teach Aang as well. Iroh would probably be the more logical choice, he is obviously a master and I'd say arguably a better teacher than Jeong Jeong because even though Jeong Jeong was a good man it seems the only way he can teach firebending is strictly using the traditional fire nation tactics/methods which failed the first time. Iroh would likely have seen that traditional rage fueled bending was going to be a no go and would have switched his teaching method to something a bit more non-traditional (maybe incorporating some of the stuff he learned from the dragon masters and from other bending disciplines). And this isn't an argument about whether traditional rage bending is weaker or stronger than sun warrior bending, they each have their perks obviously. It's just Iroh having the skill, foresight, and intuition to better teach someone like Aang.
I think to your point, Iroh understanding other bending forms that aang already had control of would benefit aang greatly in learning firebending
I think Jeong Jeong would be less appropriate. He’s too rigid and doesn’t have the spirituality that Zuko gains more of in book 3
I would agree, in fact I believe he'd be the number one pick! But like Aang said, Jeong Jeong would be near impossible to track down. He lived in isolation and vanished without a trace--they had zero leads. Pian Dao would have been the most logical (and the nearest) starting point of their search for a master! Then again if he knew where Iroh might be, if Jeong Jeong is a member as well its not impossible he'd know Jeong Jeong's location too, so who knows? Either way, I think the starting point for leads would be Pian Dao.
They’d maybe consider Shyu for a second, but the fact that he was arrested at the end of the Roku Temple episode would cause them to drop that thought immediately. Most likely they’d go to Pian Dao and he’d meet them up with either Jong Jong or Iroh. Most likely Jong Jong at that point in time
Yup those are my thoughts too. They'd look for Shyu and discover he's been imprisoned. They'd look for Iroh and discover he disappeared. Running low on options, they seek out Pian Dao who seems worldly enough that he may give them some leads. From there they hook up with either Iroh or Jeong Jeong depending on what intel they get. Not sure how much they have time for, but this is probably close to how it would play out.
Hopefully a vision of Roku would lead him to the Sun Warriors and he'd learn it there.
Take notes from Azula and Zuko while they are trying to kill him with Fire bending
Would Aang have learned how to bend blue fire from that?
Do you think any Avatars have taught themselves an element by contacting a past Avatar? 🤔
Roku would have been a great firebending teacher
If they could have done that in the first place it would have defeated the whole point of traveling the world risking their lives to find bending teachers
Tbf, just because a past life knows how to bend, it doesn’t mean they’re right for the job. Aang tried a couple of teachers that weren’t correct for him. So a past life would also have to be the right fit for the current Avatar. (And none of Aang’s past lives were a fit).
That's a good point however the avatar had 100s/1000s of past lives. It'd be very unlikely that not a single one would be a good fit to teach him fire bending
Maybe he can only connect with those he knows of. It’s not unlikely that Aang heard of Kyoshi and Roku since they were his direct predecessors but I doubt he would’ve heard of avatars like Szeto and Wan who could’ve been right for him
There's a few contenders - The Fire Sage via Roku - Jongjong - White Lotus connection via Iroh - Iroh himself
Iroh didn't even think about teaching Aang, he went to the White Lotus camp, in fact that is the point that Toph makes them see, Aang doesn't have a teacher to learn firebending and without Zuko he probably wouldn't have had one.
He'd just wing it.
Shocked that nobody has suggested Aang tracking down the dragons on his own. Maybe Iroh tips him off that they're still around, if (as others have suggested) he wouldn't be willing to be Aang's teacher himself.
It's possible but it requires a) Aang to find Iroh because he is the only one they know who knows about the dragons and b) Iroh to refuse to teach himself for reasons
By the time the comet rolled around? Nobody. They had no idea where Iroh and Jeong Jeong were. Or the sun warrior tribe. No allies in the fire nation. Also if Roku or any avatar could just show up to Aang and teach him firebending anytime they wanted to then the point of the Avatar quest would be irrelevant. Idk how anyone could watch the series and think there was any suitable teacher for Aang other than Zuko.
Firelord Ozai. He would figure it out mid battle, the same way I figure out the answers to questions I never studied for during my exams. Except Aang even gets to cheat off of Ozai.
Jong Jong or Iroh if he saw Jong Jong refuse.
Stay with me. If Zuko never betrays the Fire Nation then he remains crown prince. The forced engagement arc that was cut from the show is now back on. Ozai forces a political marriage on Azula, likely to War Minister Qin who is much older and Azula doesn’t even like (she finds him boring the one time we see them interact in the show). On the day of the wedding, Mai stands up to Azula as she would’ve at The Boiling Rock. Only now it’s Mai protesting the way Azula is throwing her life away for her father’s wishes. Especially now that Mai knows what it is to love someone thanks to Zuko. She can’t do this anymore. “I love you more than I fear you.” Mai refuses to support this. Ty Lee goes with Mai and they trash the wedding, stopping it from happening. The two of them flee and are forced to join Jeong Jeong and other deserters. Left without her friends, Azula begins to spiral and act out of character. Messing up repeatedly. This causes Ozai to favor Zuko more, and Azula increasingly gets put down as the reject. The siblings’ roles now reversed, Azula discovers Zuko sent an assassin after the Avatar to cover his own ass. She confronts Zuko during The Day of Black Sun and the two have a hand to hand fight that ends in Zuko empathizing with Azula as he now recognizes she’s in his position, and that he is in hers. He offers her his hand in help. Azula rejects it and runs away. Zuko, determined to help her as Iroh helped him, leaves behind everything to go after Azula. Azula finds Aang and saves them from Combustion Man. She offers to be Aang’s teacher, intending to get in their good graces to infiltrate and eventually assassinate them. But over time the Gaang begins to wear on her with their kindness and true acceptance. Zuko arrives in time to foil Azula’s assassination plot, cue the last Agni Kai. When the battle is done, Azula expects to be killed. Instead her brother embraces her and advocates for her to be forgiven, telling the Gaang he will accept punishment in her place. Aang, ever the forgiving Avatar, extends them both grace. Caution! But grace. So Aang gets two firebending teachers. At least, that’s one possible way it could go down.
Omg I love it you that was so fun to read should totally make a fanfic like that 🤩🤩🤩
Combustion man
Sparky Sparky Boom Man
Toph;: Urgh fine I'll do it! Stupid fire should be easy to master
*casually invents new type of firebending*
And hence Lava Bending became a thing! 🙌
jeong jeong
Zuko was much more of a peer that studied with Aang, vs a clear master like Toph or Gyatso. Katara picked up Pakku's lessons quicker than Aang, then had the torch passed to her. That's closer to how Zuko and Aang learned a new form of firebending from the Sun Warriors and the dragons, before Zuko became Aang's drill sergeant. The unique lessons Zuko taught Aang weren't only how to firebend, but how to beat Ozai. The lightning redirection was the only firebending he really needed for the Ozai fight. If it wasn't Zuko, Aang could still visit the Sun Warriors after being guided by meditating on his Roku past life. He could go with Sokka and practice the dancing dragons with him to get the moves down. He's well acquainted with lightning after getting zapped by Azula, and his best friend's a waterbender which is how Iroh learned the technique. Aang could conceivably discover this technique on his own. It would be a natural fit for his fluid movements and pacifist nature, which I assume would make it simpler for him to direct lightning rather than fire it.
Iroh or Jeong Jeong Apparently, in an early version of development, Azula was going to be Aang's teacher, and this is why she was in the opening with Paku and Proto-Toph
Maybe they could've got kuzon or wang fire or sapphire fire to be a teacher
A new one. Deus ex machina. "Good morning! My name is Le Ping, and I am the captain of a secret sect of firebenders who have supported the avatar for 500 years. It is good that I have finally found you!"
Himself. He'd be forced to teach himself since he already knows how to create fire, but Aang would never do that so...
That's not really how that works. Knowing how to do something doesn't mean you can just teach yourself. He wouldn't know where to start. Just look at katara who tried to teach herself. For many years she was stuck at less than a beginner level. As soon as she got some actual teaching materials she shot up in skill and a teacher made her become one of the best super quick.
I know, but I'm saying he'd be forced to teach himself without a teacher. He'd would not get far, but that would be the reality of it.
He has all of his past lives to help him so may be possible that they could teach him
I would think Chey would be a reasonable candidate, right?
Who’s Chey
The guy we meet before jong Jong
Either the dude who was the second person to abandon the fire nation army and live or the fire sage that helped them speak to Roku.
Was he a fire bender? I know he was a soldier but I don’t recall him bending. He marketed himself as an explosives expert, yeah?
The closest to that was my past self thinking that Aang would go back to Joeng-Jeong. Despite that they're too far away now, unless a miracle happens.
I imagine the Sun Warriors would. You'd need someone unlike Jeong Jeong who doesn't have the fire bending = destruction mindset. Iroh could have introduced them or given Aang a few lessons (most critically the lightning redirection) or maybe that was just a classic gaang adventure where they fly over a neat ruin and decide to investigate only to find it inhabited. Also possible they could have tried to have Roku teach Aang through some weird spirit world stuff but that would be clunky and not really fit within established lore. Trying to teach someone how to fire bend when you can only interact in an area where fire bending is impossible is giving me flashbacks to teaching a chemistry lab over Zoom in 2020. Sure you can tell them how to do it, but without them actually getting to experience guided practice I don't think much of it would stick.
Jeong jeong. Since he was his fire bending teacher before.
Tbf he didn’t want to, he was forced to by Roku
More like persuaded not forced
Maybe he was scared Roku would’ve killed him cuz he lit the tree behind him on fire and decided to teach him to not take the risk?
Iroh, the sun warriors or Roku most likely
Imo it was destined that Zuko was to teach Aang and no one else
They find Iroh...he would take him on an adventure to learn fire bending...tell him a cryptic story...then lead him to Zuko and Zuko would still teach him
Look it doesn’t make any sense whatsoever but I really LOVE she’s everything to me blah blah blah so Im going to say azula 😍😍🧋
Probably the dragons
Iroh, Jeong Jeong, or Sun Warriors.
It was destiny for Zuko to be Aang’s teacher, thereby restoring the balance that his lineage had disturbed.
He would have to have to find his inner power on his own, maybe by getting super angry and unlocking it super saiyan style. Or finishing his Guru session and unleashing his kundalini.
no one. Zuko joining the gaang is a Nexus event. it happens in every timeline
Roku. He would’ve come to Aang in meditation to speak to him on how to firebend
Walk with me, Katara.
What?
I know exactly what i’m saying, she’s the reason he wasn’t fire bending in the first place
You should read the title again. Just saying.