1. Because its cool like that. Plus Boomi is a Hundred 113, as he is a couple months older than Aang *coughjustmakingthisupcough*
2. I'm sure others could... But I don't remember Zuko using weapons to help his firebending instead of using them otherwise.
3. He did other stuff. Plus Ozai wanted him to find the Avatar faster.
4. It's just their uniforms. It protects them.
5. He's cool like that.
6. Because people have natural affinities.
7. Because they aren't chaste monks. Because Aang feels he shouldn't be where the girls should be.
8. Because he hadn't met Roku yet and their bond wasn't as strong.
9. There was technological ingenuity. And Sokka.
10. He wasn't in the earth kingdom army... Ever...
11. Because they lack the control. Roku's a very powerful Firebender.
12. The Avatar State. Book 2: Earth, Chapter 1

www.youtube.com/watch?v=5HI5IxLUCYw&mode=related&search=

watch this video. Iroh and Zhao have a conversation that begins about 8 minutes and 30 seconds into the video. at about 9 minutes and 10 seconds, Zhao says, "I was a young leutenant serving under General Shew in the earth kingdom. I discovered a hidden library, underground in fact. I tore through, scroll after scroll. One of them contained a detailed illustration and the words moon and ocean. I knew then that these spirits could be found. And killed. And that it was my destiny to do so."

www.youtube.com/watch?v=3P18w33pTs4

And in this video, Aang asks Won-she-tun (sp?) "What do you have against humans?"
Won-she-tun answers, "Hmm, humans only bother learning things to get the edge on other humans. Like that fire bender who came to this place a few years ago, looking to destroy his enemy."

The second quote really had little addition to the first, but I just like to quote stuff!

and btw, Kamejei, were you serious when you said, or were you just kidding?

Hmmm....I'll try my hand at this.


1. I can't say for certain. I would speculate that it is King Boomi. Old age means more experience, but Toph has some good raw power.

2. Yup. For now.

3. The dual between Zuko and Zhao was a private affair seen by very few. Word may not have reached the firelord. The promotion was to aid in his seach for the avatar.

4. Blame the writers. Plus there is some speculation that it is for psycological warfare.

5. Bomi is insane and a genious. Maybe he found away to stay alive. Or just good genes. Again, blame the writers.

6. To much stuff to cover here. Best saved for its own topic.

7. That is a question that bothers me as well. The thing is that there is only three episodes where we see any airbending culture. That is not enough for an effective anylsis of the nomad culture. I would speculate that there is some non-bending, non-monk nomads that can breed and not be shuned.

8. Aang was still learning how to do his duties, including entering the spirtworld.

9. The airnomads are for the most part pacifists. They might not have fought well enough. Other theory is that the power of Suzin's Commet powered up the firebender to over run the temples. It might also be a combination of the two.

10. Zhao was in the Fire Nation Navy. What he was doing in the desert escaped me though...

11. I don't think that it is so much a control issue. Roku seemed to first contain the fire, add to it and then returned it. It is also possible that the other firebenders we have seen haven't learnd that move and/or it is just too powerfull a move for the average bender.

12. All ready covered

Question 4) This is an animator thing. It keeps the animators from having to invent six hundred different faces to represent six-hundred different men. If you simply draw something simple like a skull mask, you can spend more time on drawing other things that are important.

Question 10) When Zhao was talking about serving with the General in the Earth Kingdom, it meant that he was serving with the Fire Nation that was stationed in the Earth Kingdom to fight the war. He didn't serve in the Earth Kingdom army, he was just there. It's much like an American soldier saying, "I served with Eisenhower in Germany." or some such thing. As for what he was doing in the desert, well, perhaps he didn't find the Army to his liking, and he went to the Navy. Can be done.

thanks guys! your answers give me a better understanding of avatar. some of my questions I'll just have to wait and see what happens in the shoe.

2. Do the weapons actually help his bending or affect it in any way? I mean, I guess it makes since for the Earthbending hammers, but the swords can't create fire. Can they?

Well, in Zuko Alone, he creates an enormous flame after getting knocker over. just the attacks he uses in that episode are so sweet. and they may not necesarily affect his firebending, but sometimes I have trouble phrasing stuff, so I probably should've just said, "Is Zuko the only firebender who uses weapons?"

Well, when he slashed his fire shot out, and his swords were steaming, so that would hurt more.
But in that episode his swords seemed kinda weak. As The Blue Spirit he would've just ducked or jumped the rocks and that would would've been on his knees in no time.

What's up with those people, anyway? Zuko saves them all, and they tell him to get the hell out.
One second that Mom's begging him, and the next she's guarding her son from him.
Too bad that cool Dad wasn't there. He would've thanked Zuko.

1.) I think there is a literary term for such a use of two extremes (in this case age) resulting in the same end like this does, but I can't think of what it is. It may not have been at all intentional either. LOL

2.) So far he is the only one we have seen.

3.) I would also propose the notion that Zhao had other successes that he then presented to the Fire Lord as reason to promote him. One example would be the capturing of the Fire Sages and turning them over as traitors. Who knows what other events he claimed credit for as well. Given how ruthless Ozai is, I doubt too many people involved in Zhao's defeats would have reported them as Ozai most likely would have held them to task as well.

4.) To cover the face of the fire soldiers dehumanizes them and thus makes it easier for the viewer to see them as evil because we don't relate to them. This is in addition to the other comments already offered. In regards to the actual war, it could be argued that the masks would protect the face to some degree.

5.) It adds to the mystic qualities of the Avatar world. I can't speak for East Asian mythos, but in the Bible there was a whole line of people who lived to be over 900, Noah was 600 at the time of the flood, and Abraham was 100 and Sarah was 99 when they had Isaac.

6.) There was a whole discussion similar to this question on another post.

7.) I am going out on a limb here, but I seem to remember that the monks of Asian religions don't take vows of chastity like European Christian monks do. In fact I am almost certain I read about a branch of Buddhism that views sexual intercourse as a path to nirvana/enlightenment/something of that nature. If I am mistaken, my apologies, but if not, then it is possible that the Airbending monks follow a similar path. Regardless, Zuko commented in the pilot that since Aang was raised by monks he would not know anything of family. Such indicates that Aang was given to the monastery similar to what has been done in the past in the East Asian religions and I believe what is still done today.

8.) Addressed already, nothing more to add.

9.) The only reason the gliding non-benders won was due to the gas explosion. The fire nation may have been under the false assumption that such a weapon was only the first to be fired and more were at the ready. Given how much damage was done by just one, they wanted no more of it. The Airbenders also had to face a Fire Nation that was most likely at its height of military power. It had suffered no troop losses and was suped up by Solzen's comet.

10.) Addressed already, I have nothing to add.

11.) Roku is a master bender. I would say that most benders seen are intermediate in level. He was also in the avatar state when he did it and such may have also been a factor.

12.) Roku (taking control of Aang) also causes the volcano to erupt and destroy the fire temple in "Winter Solstice II".



This is a bit off topic, but I am not so sure the dad would have thanked Zuko. Think about the shock those people suffered to learn that their savior was also their most hated enemy. An enemy that had brought immeasureable misery upon them, the death of friends and relatives, as well as the power vacuum that allowed the mock soldier bullies to take control of their village. To make matters worse, Zuko was not just a firebender, but the son of the Fire Lord which he proudly stated to the earthbender bully. In the blink of an eye, Zuko turned from fellow Earth Kingdom citizen to Fire Nation noble and thus we saw the flood of emotions: Anger, Hatred, Betrayal, and most likely Fear.

Copper for your thoughts.

Ahem.. ;D about the male-female airbender thing. I know this is a bit fo track, but I am certain that in the episode 'Appa's lost days', when it shows Aang first meeting a young appa, the young monks were being overseen by a female monk. I'll go check again, but that's pretty weird.

they were. he was at the northeastern air temple. my post was made awhile before "Appa's Lost Days." because of the newly released information in that episode. since then though, I realise there are female airbending nomads. or would they be considered "nomadets?" (fyi, that was a rhetorical question that I felt like saying)

Edit: ...okay, scratch the better answer part, someone already said something along the same lines .... and for whatever reason, when I hit 'add reply' it didn't show that anyone else had replied >.< ....

Actually, I think I might have a better answer to number 4.

Take all the atrocities the fire nation army usually commits. Extorting every last bit of money from people, burning entire villages and forests to the ground, and being just plain evil.

Well, the scary thing is; that's what makes them normal. There's been a whole sleugh of tests and experiments done that show just how differently we as a people function when we have something like masks to conceal our identities. Without a mask, we tend to feel like people are watching; that if we do something bad everyone will notice. However, take even the nicest person, put them in a full-mask that hides everything but their eyes (like a KKK mask), and you would be very surprised at just how much different they'd act.

So, the short answer, would be that the masks make sure they will do anything their commanding officer asks of them. Burn a village to the ground, wipe out a temple full of benders (especially airbenders), etcetera.

As for number 10:

He wasn't in the earth kingdom army. He was serving the fire nation army while it was STATIONED in the Earth Kingdom.

Number 11:

I'd have to assume it just has to do with the energy they have. The avatar has much more to spare (being the most powerful and all), so naturally he could redirect the fire attacks and not have to worry about getting tired.

thanks for the information makoto. that makes alot of sense. I do not know how I never thought of that, because it seems extremely obvious. Almost to the point that it is impossible to realize...

edit: i was refering to the information regarding the fire nation's reasons for masks.

To answer number 10, Zhao was using the disguise as an earthbender to obtain information so he could then defect back to th Fire Nation with more knowledge on how to defeat certain tribes or places. Plus he was probably there looking for info on
Ba Sing Se to begin with knowing how he acts.

The answer to question #2 is no. If you may, recall the episode where Sokka and Katara become ill and Aang goes to find the frozen toads for them to suck on to cure them. On his way back he is attacked by Fire Nation soldiers with Bow and Arrows. They are Fire Benders that are specially trained to be able to "pin a fly to a tree at 100 yards and not kill it." So there are more Fire Benders that use weapons instead of bending.

[glow=Brown,2,300]Joychi Edit: This thread is going to be closed but doubleposting is forbidden.[/glow]

....using weapons instead of bending wasn't the question. The question was is Zuko the only one to use firebending WITH weapons at the same time. For example, shooting the blasts of fire from his swords.

And from what I've seen so far, he is the only one to combine the two. Obviously, there are the firenation soldiers that can bend AND have weapons; but I have seen none use them both at the same time. The closest was the one member of the Rough Rhinos that lit the fuses on his explosives using firebending, but that hardly counts :/