I feel like adding my theory into the mix now. I only saw it once or twice hwile searching and, for whatever reason, i dont know why people are not syaing this more. The first thing i thought when i saw General Iroh was this:

HOLY SHIT HE LOOKS EXACTLY LIKE MAKO!!!!!!

I didn’t even hear him being called General Iroh until I watched the scene again. I did assume that he was related to Zuko, either as a son or grandson, but only because thats what tends to happen int he fire nation. Important people get the best jobs. Hell, even in Republic City important people get the important jobs. So thats why i assume. I will point out its not just the fire nation though. Its the United Forces or whatever. I’d assume Water, Earth, and Fire.

Anyway, I’m mostly concerned with the almost identical look to Mako. I mean… LOOK! Could this be Mako and Bolin’s father? I mean, they look EXACTLY alike. Its incredible to me. I’m assuming that hes the father of Mako and Bolin, or at least Mako. Being the commander of the United Forces, it would make sense that he once spent a lot of time in Republic City. I think they said their parents died, but is very possible that they didnt. I mean, people get things wrong all the time.

And i just want to say that Lin has made incredible strides as a character. Of all the development and change in the story i think we have the most from her. She starts out angry and abrasive and by this last episode is the most caring and self sacrificing of all the characters. It amazing what theyve done. I feel closest to her, which is why it was incredibly depressing when she lost her bending.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again and this time i will have scientific backup.

In psychological terms, people often make their professions, the things they do, their identity. When these people lost their jobs or the ability to do whatever it is (say, a person who used to be a runner can no longer walk), they lose their identity and they respond as if they or someone close to them has died. That is why the loss of bending is such a tragic thing to us. We understand that, subconsciously.  We know what it means to them to lose their bending. It makes them so much more human that we ever thought. It’s Brykes way of killing people without actually killing them.

And i still maintain that Amon isn’t actually energy bending. And since Toph was the one to realize that Metalbending was possible, i think her daughter may possibly be the one to realize her bending is not gone. I have faith. I feel like, since the first series ended happily, this will too. I mean, Aang was able to wash away the fire after Energy bending Ozai, which wasnt the same as before but was still a nice “will once again be the same” feeling. Will all these benders need to relearn their bending from scratch, or will it pop back, like one of their chakra’s was blocked?

I also saw someone saying that Amon could be blocking Chakra’s, which is possible. I saw a counterargument which made sense. Aang had a blocked chakra and it just stopped him from going all Avatar state. However, i do believe that it could be a possibility. Not sure why exactly, but i can imagine.  Anyway, I’m done now.

I am convinced that one of two things will happen. Either:

A: My original theory will be played out. Korra will “lose” her bending and have to hone her spiritual abilities, i.e. the avatar state and speaking with past lives.

B: Korra will go into the Avatar state and fuck Amon’s day up just before he does it to her. Because, Aang said that the Avatar state triggers when the Avatar is in mortal danger. Now, losing bending isnt mortal danger, but to someone like Korra who’s whole identity revolves aorund bending… you know, since shes the avatar… it would be just a bad and i think upsetting enough to trigger it. I mean, Aang did it when he saw that Kiatso was killed by Fire nation. He wasn’t in mortal danger then. Despite Aang saying in that episode that he needs to be in mortal danger for it to happen, hes mostly in emotional distress when he goes into uncontrolled Avatar state (Kiatso, Water tribe, Appa’s kidnapping, etc) So its entirely believable if Korra was to go into the avatar state as Amon tried to remove her bending.

And im glad that they didn’t change Sokka much. Totally remove my theory about Amon being Sokka. No way. He and his trusty boomerang and meteor sword…. brings a tear to my eye…

And i know im like, 3 weeks late for this… but CABBAGES

Ok, so, here’s the thing:

We know that a person’s mind has a lot to do with their bending. People, especially water benders, need to think of what they are bending, exactly. I saw a post regarding Hama when she sucked the flowers dry. A person asked why Katara wasn’t dehydrated. The simple response in that Hama wasn’t trying to suck the water out of Katara, only the flowers. The same can be thought of when Katara uses her and Toph’s sweat to break out of the wooden cage. Clearly the bending mind doesnt try to bend EVERY piece of water, or ever piece of earth, or every flame, or every bit of air. It needs to aim. THe bender needs to think.

The second and probably most important point to what i am saying is metal bending.  All it took for Toph to metal bend was for her to think of metal as earth and not as a different thing. Her mind and the way she thought was the only way she was able to do it. Mind over muscle.

Next we can look at Aang. His thought process when learning Earth bending shows this. He doesn’t understand it. He cant put in in his mind that he can bend the earth. His mind, of course, ruins his bending for him.

The same thing happens to Zuko. When Zuko changes sides, he is unable to bend the way he did because he  thought differently. It took going to the dragons for him to get his fire bending back. It took a new way of looking at fire bending.

So, whats this got to do with Amon? Well, its all about brain power. He is the leader of the chi blockers. IE he IS  A chi blocker. Being their leader, he is probably the most powerful chi bender. So, if he can do something that disables a person;s bending for say, a few days, or maybe a week, that could mess with their heads. It has been proven that if a person believes htye cannot bend, they cannot bend. Look at Korra. She cant Air Bend, not because she physically cant, but she is not in the proper Air Bender mindset.

So think of it. Amon uses a powerful chi blocking move on people, telling them hes energy bending. They believe it. They try to for a few days after it first happens, but they cant do it. Remember the Guru? He talked about Chakras. If they are not cleaned, bending stops. He blocks their chakras, and they are unaware that they can unblock them. THeir believe they have no bending forever, and because they believe it it is true.

We know this is how bending works. Its more menat than physical, which is why Korra has such a difficult time with it. She’s a much more physical person than Aang ever was. That’s why she has an issue with Air bending. Its the most mental of them all. Aang knew it was mental and not physical, which is why he had such a hard time with Fire. Its the most physical of the bending.

Amon is messing with people’s minds. Theres a saying that goes: People will believe something if its a) something they wish to be true, or B) something theyre afraid is true. If you fear something so much and you think it happened to you, it happened to you.

Just think about it. They never say that Sokka died. Just that Katara “lost her brother” Could it be? Is it possible? I would hate to say that Aang and Sokka eventually became enemies, but teenage friendships can turn into that. Sokka could, potentially, have become a chi bender, no? I mean, Ty Lee joined the Kyoshi warriors, Sakka was banging a Kyoshi warrior. There’s a VERY good chance he could have learned it. Clearly Ty Lee taught people how to chi block. THIS IS INTENSE.

And I’m assuming that the story Amon told was a lie, thought there is a chance his face was burned by a fire bender. Maybe even Zuko.