Avatar Roku - Blog Posts
The avatars if they were in a punk rock band together!!
+ w/o text & Wan, their underworked 40 something manager
Avatars as unconventional things cause I like unconventional things
Have one of Roku and Fang. I hope I can get around to do the other Avatars and animal guides some time.
Avatar: Dragon Eggs and the Solstice
In Episode 313 (The Firebending Masters) Aang and Zuko enter a secret chamber and discover a ‘gem’ that “feels almost alive”. This has led many fans to believe that the ‘gem’ is actually a dragon egg.
Let’s assume this theory is correct.
But if it’s a dragon egg, why would the Sun Warriors hid it here?
The obviously reason is for protection. Dragons had been hunted almost to extinction, and a dragon egg would be rare and very precious thing.
But I have another theory.
The Sun Warriors hid the egg in a chamber that could only be opened during the solstice (most likely the summer solstice). In the avatar world, the solstice is when the spirit world and the physical world are closest together and spiritual energy is at its peak. The solstice is also when the Sun is at its strongest/ weakest (relative to the perspective on earth). The Sun is the source of firebending. And since Dragons are the original firebenders, it would make sense for dragons to have some connection to the Sun and the solstices.
My theory is that secret chamber is specifically designed to hatch dragon eggs.
On the solstice the chamber would open. Then Sun Warriors would bath the egg in sunlight concentrated from the sunstone outside. The concentrated sunlight during the solstice would fill the egg with spiritual energy and cause it to hatch. (Just like how Roku used the solstice to talk to and empower Aang.)
To me at least, it makes sense that the original firebenders would be born on the solstice.
Avatar: Is Roku to blame for the War?
When something goes wrong in the world, people have a tendency to blame others; especially those in power. In the United States for example, it's very common for people to blame the president for current problems, regardless on whether or not he/ she has any actual control over the problem.
Likewise, people in the world of ATLA tend to blame the Avatar when something goes wrong.
The fire nation attacks; blame the Avatar.
People get hurt in a war; blame the Avatar.
Can't solve your own problems; blame the Avatar.
The Avatar's mission is to bring balance to the world. However, the Avatar did not create the world's problems, and is ultimately not responsible for the actions of other people.
Like the janitor for the world, the Avatar cleans up messes and helps bring order to the world, but more often than not the janitor is blamed for the mess existing in the first place. The irony is that if people cleaned up their own messes, there would be no need of a Janitor.
This brings me to the subject of Avatar Roku. Many Avatar fans blame Roku for the 100 yr war, and Roku even blames himself.
But is it really Roku's fault?
Roku grew up in the Fire Nation with his best friend Sozin, eventually finding out he was the Avatar, and traveling across the world. When Roku returned to the Fire Nation, Sozin told Roku his plans for world conquest which Roku immediately rejected. Later, Sozin invaded Earth Kingdom territory for which Roku confronted and defeated Sozin. Roku had given Sozin two warnings, and there would not be a third. However, as soon as Roku died, Sozin renewed his plans for global domination.
Although fans and Roku himself blame him for the war, I can not fault him. Roku saw a problem and did something about it. He was decisive.
Just because his wasn't able to prevent a war, doesn't mean he caused the War nor is he responsible for the actions of other. (Sozin's an adult. And can be responsible for his own actions.)
Roku's actions were natural and reasonable. Plus, most people don't think of murder as their first solution to everything.
(Seriously, execution isn't the only way to solve problems.)
On a similar note, companies do "preventative measures" to keep people safe. However, people will still get hurt because no rules or regulations can protect stupid people from themselves.
The Avatar isn't some perfect person who can perfectly solve every problem. (Say that 5 times fast). They are a human being who is doing the best they can.
Avatar: What order should you learn the Elements?
Each Avatar must learn to master the four elements. It’s traditional to learn the elements in the same order as the avatar cycle, but this isn’t mandatory. There are several examples where an Avatar learned the elements “out of order”. One idea I’d love to see is an Avatar learning in reverse order. (Such as Korra learning: Water, then Air, then Fire, and finally Earth) I like this idea because it might help the Avatar connect better to their past lives. By learning in reverse order, the Avatar could learn about their predecessors along with learning the elements. e.g.
Korra would learn about Aang while learning Airbending.
Roku as she learned Firebending.
And Kyoshi as she learned Earthbending.
(She would still learn waterbending first since it’s her native element, and I see no reason for her to learn about “Kuruk the idiot”.) The past Avatars might even be able to help the current Avatar learn the bending.