Who is Avatar Gun?
And what new details do we have about Avatar Yangchen?
I see that you have some knowledge of the past.
Let's explore what we know about the past Avatars.
All these people are your past lives, Aang.
Wow, there are so many.
As a being who's been reincarnated many times,
most of history's Avatars reman a mystery;
however, we do know how the Avatar lineage began.
My name is Wan, and I will show you
how I became the first Avatar.
In the time before the Avatar, people weren't born
with the ability to bend elements.
They were granted that ability by lion turtles.
The power is yours to keep until your return.
Wan was first granted the ability to firebend,
so you might even say that the Avatar Cycle ignited
with a single flame.
And that flame grew after Wan misused
his firebending ability.
Despite the lion turtles commands.
Never again may you return to this city.
But I will allow to keep the power of the element.
Wan was left to fend for himself
in the dangerous Spirit Wilds.
Although his compassion towards all living creatures
eventually made him an ally to the spirits.
They even helped him master firebending.
The way Wan moves fire, like nothing I've ever seen.
Wan continued to break new grounds
when he broke the hold between Raava,
the spirit of light and peace
and Vaatu, the spirit of darkness and chaos.
Since the beginning of time, we have battled
over the fate of this world. And for the past 10,000 years,
I have kept darkness under control
and the world in balance until you came along.
Because of Wan, Vaatu was allowed to fly free
and corrupt unsuspecting spirits.
Wan had to team up with Raava
so he could learn the other elements
and stop Vaatu.
The Harmonic Convergence fell
and Wan and Raava combined as one permanently.
To overpower Vaatu once and for all.
This is your prison now, and I will close the portal
so no human will ever be able to physically enter
the Spirit World and release you.
Never say never.
We'll revisit this moment late, but at the time,
this marked a huge transition for humanity.
The world is entering a new age.
Our time protecting mankind is over.
We will no longer give humans the power of the elements.
Now, humans would either be bon with the potential
to bend a single element or no,
but one Avatar would always exist
with the ability to master every element.
We will be together for all of your lifetimes,
and we will never give up.
When Wan died, Raava traveled
to the Avatar's next incarnation.
Now we know that the reincarnation occurs
in a pattern. The Avatar Cycle rotates from fire
to air to water to earth and then back to fire.
When the Avatar dies, he's reincarnated
into the next nation in the cycle.
So we know that the next Avata, after Wan was an airbender.
And that's the only information we have
on history's second Avatar.
One Avatar who also remains a mystery is Avatar Gun.
They hailed from the Ru Ming era
but who came immediately before or after Avatar Gun?
Who is their origin element? We don't know.
We do know that Avatar Gun seemed haunted
by the loss of a companion.
You see, when a future Avatar relived Gun's memory,
they were drowning in grief.
Avatar Gun reportedly failed to hold back a tsunami,
threatening the port city of Ha'an.
But with the port still standig generations in the future,
it's speculated that Gun may have labeled
themselves a failure, due to the loss
of a close companion during that tsunami.
Afterwards, Avatar Gun removed himself from the public
for a brief period until returning to duty.
But their grief echoed through the memories
of Avatars ahead.
Avatar Salai is one we know even less about.
Their era, origin, element
and accomplishments are still buried in history.
We know that Salai was a standard bearer.
Successors would look back and strive to be
as good an Avatar as Salai.
Avatar Szeto is another who left behind
a legacy of greatness.
He lived seven cycles before the latest Avatar.
And while many Avatars were known
for their accomplishments in battle,
Szeto's most notable victories were in bureaucracy.
Szeto was born to a broken Fire Nation.
He eventually took a government position
as minister of the Royal Court
and grow to become grand advisr to the Fire Lord.
This has got to be the most boring job
in the Fire Nation.
Well, Szeto appeared to embrace his life
as bureaucrat, accountant and diplomat.
He connected the spiritual and legal leadership
within the Fire Nation.
It's speculated that without Szeto's hard work,
the Fire Island's would have splintered apart entirely.
Avatar wisdom is a thing of the past. Come on.
Szeto was a great orator who tempered ancient feuds
into lasting peace.
While this Avatars legacy was built by organizing chaos,
Szeto's successor would have quite the challenge
building her own legacy.
Avatar Yangchen succeeded Szet.
As the nature of the Avatar Cycle foretold,
she was born among the Air Nomads.
Yangchen's spiritual connection was stronger
than she could handle. In her youth,
she struggled to escape visions from past lives.
It's through those visions we learned about Avatar Gun.
Still as a youth,
Yangchen's overwhelming spiritual connection
turned tragic when she and her closest friend Jetson
visited the Spirit World and only Yangchen returned.
After experiencing her own tragedy
and tragedies from past lives,
that all left a massive weight on the Avatar.
You may think as an Air Nomad,
she would rely on peaceful interventions.
But Yangchen also knew when a situation
called for extreme measures.
Anything for the sake of balance.
Here is my wisdom for you.
Selfless duty calls you to sacrifice
your own spiritual needs
and do whatever it takes to protect the world.
Yangchen was called to duty just one week
after she mastered all the elements.
The Avatar faced a massive spirit.
General Old Iron was rampaging after the death
of another spirit.
Young Yangchen fought the spirit through the night
until both eventually came to an agreement.
General Old Iron would never again
take up his armor against humanity,
and humans would honor the fallen spirit
while also staying off this land.
That's just one example of the deals
Yangchen would broker between the realms.
Though she would admit to siding with humans
more often than spirits.
The no nonsense Air Nomad also fought hard
to unwind a massive corruption that infected the Earth Kingdo.
Though much of that work was done behind closed doors.
Avatar Yangchen left behind a legacy of greatness,
and perceived peace between humans and spirits
until she passed,
and her successor would be grave consequences.
Avatar Kuruk was born to the Northern Water Tribe.
His story is less a tale of victory
and more of a tale of misery.
When I was young, I was always a go with the flow
kind of Avatar.
People seemed to work out their own problems,
and there was peace and good times in the world.
But then I lost the woman I loved to Koh the Face Stealer.
Yet Koh wasn't the only spirit to torment Kuruk.
The Avatar sacrificed the healh of his body and soul,
fighting a war against dark entities.
Because he refused to lose another companion
to the spirits, he waged this war alone.
Kuruk's friends, family and the world had no knowledge
of his debilitating sacrifices
and instead just saw him as a bit of a hedonist.
This seemingly endless threat came to a crescendo
when Kuruk discovered a spirit who helped cause this war.
Father Glowworm was an ancient, malevolent being.
After their collision, Kuruk was left a fractured man
and Father Glowworm retreated into the depths of its realm.
A damaged Kuruk passed away at the young age of 33,
while Father Glowworm would reemerge years later
to take on Kuruk's successor.
Avatar Kyoshi was born in the Earth Kingdom.
She was abandoned by her parents early on
and wound up living on the streets as an orphan.
She eventually found shelter, working for a friend,
Yun, the false Avatar.
When the world found out
that naming Yun as the Avatar was a mistake
and Kyoshi was the actual Avatar,
she fled and joined her parent' old criminal gang,
the Flying Opera Company.
They taught her how to survive like an outlaw,
and in combination with the heartbreaking betrayal
she faced over time, Kyoshi became known
as a merciless force of nature.
Father Glowworm made a resurgence
when he was eaten by Yun.
Now, as part man and part spirit,
Yun was consumed by the urge to punish the world
that convinced him he was the Avatar.
It took everything Kyoshi had,
including the Flying Opera Company
to extinguish her old friend Yun
and simultaneously Avatar Kuruk's old foe,
Father Glowworm.
Avatar Kyoshi stood up to many forces in her time.
She stopped the resurgence
of the deadly Yellow Neck Uprising
and established the Dai Li, an elite force of earthbenders
meant to protect Ba Sing Se's cultural heritage.
She also ended the invasion of Chin the Conqueror.
In my day, Chin the Conqueror threatened
to throw the world out of balance.
I stopped him.
And the world entered a great era of peace.
[Aang] But you didn't really kill Chin.
Technically, he fell to his own doom
because he was too stubborn to get out of the way.
Personally, I don't really see the difference.
But I assure you I would have done
whatever it took to stop Chin.
I offer you this wisdom, Aang.
Only justice will bring peace.
I knew I shouldn't have asked Kyoshi.
Avatar Kyoshi used a proverbial hammer
when balancing the scales of justice,
and she did it over the course of two centuries
before she passed away at the incredible age of 230.
Avatar Roku was born to the Fire Nation after Kyosh.
He actually grew up alongside a very remarkable companion.
Nice one, Sozin.
You were friends with Fire Lord Sozin?
Back then he was just Prince Sozin.
And he was my best friend.
They even shared a birthday,
which meant that when the fire stages came to announe
the new Avatar, it could've ben either one of them.
It is our honor to serve you, Avatar Roku.
The two parted ways, while Roku left to learn
the other elements.
Roku particularly struggled to master waterbending,
as well as the Avatar State itself.
Avatar Roku appeared to have a very prosperous life.
When he married his childhood sweetheart,
Fire Lord Sozin was his best man.
But the happiest day of Roku's life turned sour
when Sozin made a heinous proposal.
We should share this prosperity with the rest of the world.
In our hands is the most successful empire
in history. It's time we expanded it.
No, the Four Nations are meant to be just that. Four.
Roku, you haven't even stopped to consider the possibilities.
There are no possibilities.
This is the last I want to hear about this.
As it turns out, Sozin went ahead with his plans
despite Roku's commands. So the Avatar issued
a stern warning to the Fire Lord.
I've seen the colony, Sozin.
I'm sparing you, Sozin.
I'm letting you go in the name of our past friendship,
but I warn you, even a single step out of line
will result in your permanent end.
The two parted ways for 25 yeas
before their relationship erupted again.
A volcanic event beckoned the aid of the Fire Lord.
But instead of help, Sozin brought betrayal.
Without you, all my plans are suddenly possible.
I have a vision for the future, Roku.
Descendants of Sozin would admt
that the Fire Lord had been jealous of Roku.
If Sozin couldn't be the Avatar
that he'd take power over all the nations by force.
When Roku needed his old friend the most,
Sozin left the Avatar to peris.
Avatar Aang was born next in the cycle.
Born, of course, to the Air Nomads.
For the better part of 12 year, Aang knew peace
as he studied airbending under Monk Gyatso,
Roku's old mentor.
[laughing]
Your aim has improved greatly, my young pupil.
Aang was informed of his Avatarhood
sooner than usual due to a looming threat.
The shock of this news drove young Aang to run away.
He hit a storm, nearly drowned
and instinctively used the Avatar State
to freeze himself in a ball of energy.
During that time, the looming threat came to fruition.
It was another one of Roku's old acquaintances,
Fire Lord Sozin.
I knew the next Avatar would be born an Air Nomad.
So I wiped out the Air Temples,
but somehow the new Avatar eluded me.
I've wasted the remainder of my life searching in vain.
I know he's hiding out there somewhere.
The Fire Nation's greatest threat, the last airbender.
100 years later, Aang was freed by two siblings
from the Southern Water Tribe.
The Avatar would quickly learn about the Hundred Year War
raged by the Fire Nation, the fall of the Air Nomads
and the deadline to save the world.
Aang was forced to master every element
in less than a year in order to stop
Sozin's successor, Fire Lord Ozai,
And he did all that successfuly without compromising his moral.
I took his bending away.
Wow. Who taught you that?
A giant lion turtle.
Beyond ending the Hundred Year War,
Avatar Aang earned other victories.
Aang established many peaceful relationships
with spirits, like with Hei Bai and the Mother of Faces.
Though, when humanity broke, Avatar Yangchen's promise
to General Old Iron and peace was not an option,
Avatar Aang would painfully favor the humans.
Avatar Aang and Fire Lord Zuko reignited the friendship
that Roku and Sozin once share.
Together, Aang and Zuko turned the Fire Nation colonies
into the United Republic of Nations.
A society where benders and nonbenders
from all over the world
could live and thrive together in peace and harmony.
Avatar Aang's century underwatr caught up to him eventually,
and he passed at the age of 66.
Well, technically, he was 166.
I'm the Avatar! You gotta deal with it!
Aang's successor was Avatar Korra.
Born to the Southern Water Tribe,
she embraced the Avatar identiy much sooner than Aang did.
Avatar Korra had mastered three out of four elements
by the time she was 17,
although she didn't learn how to airbend
until a companion was in grave danger
and chi blocking had already limited
her other bending abilities.
No!
[groaning]
Impossible.
I... I can airbend? I can airbend!
Korra and her team ousted
the charismatic cult leader, Amon.
And when the Harmonic Convergence returned,
Vaatu was freed from the prison established by Avatar Wan.
The dark spirit even took a chapter from Raava's playbook
and combined itself with a human, Unalaq.
Vaatu gained one major victory.
He had severed Korra's connections to her past lives
which meant that she was no longer able to connect
with our predecessors for guidance.
But against all odds, the power of light persevered.
In the aftermath, Avatar Korra decided
to keep the spirit portals ope, a history making decision.
Humans can now physically enter the Spirit World,
and spirits will be free to roam our world.
I will no longer be the bridge.
Humans and spirits must learn to live together.
Beyond those spiritual impacts,
Avatar Korra also overcame an attempted assassination
by the terrorist organization, the Red Lotus.
Their goal was to end the Avatar cycle entirely.
And later, another political figure.
Kuvira led an insurrection against Republic City,
driven by a giant mechanical suit.
Avatar Korra and her team deactivated that threat.
And inadvertently created a brand new spirit portal
in the process.
I bet Aang never could have imagined
there'd be a spirit portal rigt in the heart of Republic City.
Korra is the latest Avatar we've met.
And with her connection
to the Avatar's past lives severed,
we can only guess what's in store for her successor.
What do you think is ahead?
What Avatar do you want to know more about?
Comment below and keep watching
for all things Avatar.
I have mastered the elements a thousand times
in a thousand lifetimes. Now I must do it once again.