You know how in the series finale Ozai declares himself the Phoenix King? I’ve always found that odd, since dragon seems to be the prestige animal of the Fire Nation. However, once I realized what the phoenix in Avatar actually was, it all clicked.
The “phoenix” that Ozai is referring to is the “Vermilion Bird” or Zhūquè (朱雀). The Vermillion Bird is a mythological bird that is portrayed as bright red and perpetually on fire, basically the closest equivalent to a phoenix in Chinese culture. The Vermilion Bird also represents fire and the season of summer, the two most defining attributes of Sozin’s Comet.
So, essentially, Ozai is declaring himself the king of fire and summer and Sozin’s Comet and all things Fire Nation-y. We all could’ve figured that out without the cultural context, but it goes much so much deeper.
The name of Ozai’s father is Azulon, which I mentioned in an earlier post means “Azure Dragon”. The Azure Dragon is associated with spring. When Ozai declares himself “Phoenix”, he is basically calling himself the “natural” successor to the Azure Dragon. Summer comes after spring, after all.
Think about that. Ozai has been Fire Lord for 5 years already and he’s still obsessed with proving that he deserves the throne. That he was “destined” to have it. He knows he isn’t a dragon like Azulon or Iroh, so he decides he’ll be be even better than that: A phoenix! The ruler of summer! He’s the embodiment of fire—Yup, Mr. Fire Lord, the most Fire Lord man to ever Fire Lord, coming through. It’s all so very dramatic and pathetic and reeking of insecurity.
And if Azulon is spring, and Ozai is summer, then Zuko is autumn. Which makes sense, since Zuko’s reign is defined by the dismantling of the Fire Nation empire; the branches of their imperialism withering away. In Chinese culture, the season of autumn is represented by the element of Metal. The-Hot-Zone, @the-hot-zone, put it best:
For Zuko to also be associated with metal is… pretty fitting. Metalbending is an entirely new style of earthbending, and it completely changes how people view earth. This can symbolize the shift Zuko will bring to the Fire Nation: re-associating fire with life, with passion, with light. It’s about the new understanding of an element.
Also, the animal associated with fall is the White Tiger, which is pretty rad. Zuko’s fierceness is very tiger-like.
Another magic circle for Avatar the Last Airbender. I’m a huge fan of both Avatar: the last Airbender and Cardcaptors. I’ve always really like Li’s compass for finding the Clow Cards, so I redesigned it to find the next avatar.
How big is the ocean on the other side of the Avatar world?
We can find out how big the ocean on the backside of the Avatar world is by using these maps from LoK. According to my calculations, the backside ocean spans from about 140 degrees to 220 degrees, making it 80 degrees wide. This is about a quarter of the globe. To put this in perspective, the backside ocean would proportional be about the same size as our Pacific ocean.
Maps are from LoK S3 ep 2 & 11 respectively.
Bending101
Logo for my upcoming series about Bending in the world of Avatar: the Last Airbender. In this series, I hope to talk about the basics of Bending.
Feel free to ask me questions.
Water Bending Pamphlet
We know that water bending gets stronger at night; Katara says as much at the end of ALTA Book 1. However, the Moon is only in the night sky 50% of the time with the other 50% in the daytime. Since Katara probably has better sleeping habits than me, I’d assume she goes to bed before midnight. Therefore, she would only see the Moon at night about 25% of the time.
It’s a common misconception to think that the Moon only appears at night. In fact, it is more likely for people to see the Moon during the day because people are awake more in the day.
Then why is water bending stronger at night, if the Moon is only there 25% of the time?
The answer is interference from the Sun. We know that water bending and fire bending can interfere with each other in the case of a solar eclipse. The Moon moves in front of the Sun and blocks the “Fire Bending WIFI Signal”. water bending is interfering with fire bending, so it would make sense if it works both ways. Fire and Water are usually considered opposites, so it makes sense that water bending would be weaker during the day and at full strength during the night.
If you have any about Bending, Avatar, or Science feet free to ask on my page.
- SlightlyEmbittered
My pamphlet for earth bending. Air still to come.
Feel free to ask questions.
I’m a big fan of the game SKY: Children of Light. In the game, there are different seasons where spirits come and bring new stuff. This is my idea for a season.
Personally, I think “Avatar: The Last Airbender” was better than “Legend of Korra” for one specific reason, which I hope you'll agree with.
ALTA was able to achieve its full potential Whereas Korra never got that chance. (Do you agree or disagree. Post your thoughts below.)
WARNING: Minor Spoilers for the Kyoshi Novels.
Avatar Kuruk was the Water Tribe Avatar before Korra and is considered by many to be a failure of an Avatar. He was brash and was more interested in personal pleasure than keeping balance.
The recent Kyoshi novels explain that Kuruk wasn’t a failure. Rather, he spent his life fighting dark spirits which most people were unaware of. The Kyoshi novels suggest that he was a good avatar even though public opinion was very much against him.
However, this new information feels like a retcon to me for one specific reason:
Other than the novels, our info on Kuruk comes from the season 2 “Escape from the Spirit World” game, and the episode 319. Kuruk himself recounts that he wasn’t the best Avatar and spent most of his time goofing off.
However, if Kuruk wanted to explain he wasn’t a complete failure, then he had apple time to do so. Plus, as our main source of info he had full controlled how the fans viewed him.
I do not think the dark spirits were an original part of his character. I think it was a much later addition after dark spirits were introduced in Korra. I believe this retcon existed because Bryke didn’t want fans to think Kuruk was a total failure.
But a retcon is still a retcon.
And not all Avatars did a good job.
Thinking back to Republic City..... If it's a fusion of Earth Kingdom and Fire Nation Which represent China and Japan respectively.
Then maybe Republic City should represent a country that has both Chinese and Japanese influences. Maybe Korea or Hong Kong. Though I'm not sure if you could consider those countries a fusion a China and Japan.
Anyone from there have an opinion?
Which kind of bender are you?
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