Aang kills?

Seeing as how they're the ones who wrote it, I'd say they're minds are correct. That was La, not Aang.

Let's be bad guys.

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Well he was in the avatar State and fused with a spirit. He probably weren't in complete control of his actions. He acted more on pain and instinct.

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The Avatar State, with all of its power, would know how to give them enough force without giving them the amount of force that would kill them.

But you can't think about incidental deaths when we're talking about these kinds of characters. It's the same dilemma characters like Batman get into. When not killing is an integral part of a character's narrative, but constant fighting is what the show is about, you pretty much have to suspend disbelief and accept that people will only die if they mean to kill them.

---
Pride is not the opposite of shame, but its source. True humility is the antidote to shame.

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The "airbenders don't kill" thing definitely came out of nowhere. Aang may have never directly and intentionally murdered someone, but there's no way he never killed anyone with all the collateral damage he causes throughout the series.

Monk Gyatso's body is also found in a way that suggests he killed many Fire Nation soldiers before dying and Aang doesn't act like this would have been uncharacteristic of him.

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by hotrats2112 » Wed Aug 3 2016 11:04:33

Spoilers about the season 1 finale. Turn back now if you haven't seen it. Because it's amazing.

In season 3 Aang has his misgivings about killing Ozai but didn't he technically kill a bunch of fire nation navy soldiers at the end of season 1?

He was possessing La, not possessed by La. He was moving the Koizilla as he washed away the soldiers and he destroyed all those ships. I have to assume that some of them died either by drowning or blunt force trauma from the force of the waves hitting them. There's a great shot of a fire nation soldier getting hit full on with a wave of water. And those tanks sinking with people in them would have been hard to get out of before drowning.

Anybody else thinking along these lines?

I listened to the commentary with the creators and head writer and they do say that they made it a point to show that it was La, not Aang, that killed Zhao so maybe in their minds Aang didn't kill anyone but I don't agree.

You must understand that Aang and Avatar Aang are two completely different things. At least before he mastered the Avatar State.

Before mastering the Avatar State, "Avatar Aang" was on auto-pilot as a defense mechanism, controlled by "The Avatar" as a power, instead of the vessel (Aang) controlling the power. It was activated in times of great emotional turmoil (Zhao killing Twi, the sandbenders selling and muzzling Appa, thinking Katara was buried alive, realizing all the Air Nomads have been wiped out, etc.). Whenever he was on auto-pilot, he had no control over anything.

Now, no one was possessing anyone when Koizilla happened. It was auto-pilot Avatar Aang merging powers with The Ocean Spirit. Aang didn't destroy all those ships, nor did he wash away any soldiers -- it was auto-pilot Avatar Aang, along with The Ocean Spirit. The Ocean Spirit is "La," the "End," the "Evil" part of the balance, and it was set to unleash its wrath on the people involved with killing its eternal partner, the Moon, Twi, the "Beginning," the "Good" part of the balance. So, yes, I do agree with the creators and head writer that it was, indeed, La responsible for most of what happened, because Aang wasn't even himself when they merged -- he was on auto-pilot mode. That was kind of part of the point of his journey at mastering the Avatar State. He needed to learn all the elements AND be able to enter the Avatar State at will, in full control over it, because he didn't want to risk harming anyone.

Aang's dilemma about killing the Firelord in Book 3 was his "duties as the Avatar" clashing with "what he learned growing up as a monk." The monks taught him all life is sacred; he's even a vegetarian, which is why he's against the idea of killing. It was Aang the monk VS. Aang the Avatar, basically. Past Avatar Yang Chen, also a monk, knew that her duties as the Avatar was far more important than her own personal principles, because being the Avatar means looking out for the whole of mankind, and that sometimes means sacrificing one's own "spiritual needs" (principles) to protect the world. If you have the DVDs, listen to what Avatar Yang Chen says to Aang in "Sozin's Comet Part II - The Old Masters." She flat-out tells Aang, "This isn't about you (as a monk). This is about the world (needing you as The Avatar)."

Also remember that Aang is just a child. He's 12-years-old. Avatar Yang Chen understood that Yang Chen the monk and Yang Chen the Avatar are two completely different things because she presumably had a lot of time to learn the differences, and also had a lot of time to adjust. Aang got sucker-punched with the responsibility of an Avatar due to the war. He barely had any time to train for all the elements, much less adjust to the idea of what being an Avatar truly means.

Anyway, when Aang was finally able to enter the Avatar State at will, as well as be in full control over it, he did find a way to not kill. Spirit-bending happened. This was his one unique feat in his time as the Avatar. Even with the wisdom of past Avatars, including one of his own kind, Avatar Yang Chen, his principles were much too strong that he decided to merge it with his duties as The Avatar -- especially after hearing the wisdom of the lion-turtle.

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