Avatar: The Last Airbender

Theories

Looking further into the world of Avatar: The Last Airbender, it is such a deep and intriguing world that there are many theories about it.

Iroh In The Spirit World

Iroh petting doggo.

Iroh was definitely the most spiritual man in the entire series. Don't lie, we've always wanted to grab a cup of his Jasmine Dragon tea and have him regale us with his wisdom. The question remains, however, how did Uncle Iroh make into the Spirit World and how could he see spirits?

Similar to Princess Yue, who possessed a part of the moon spirit within her, is it possible that Iroh also possessed a part of a spirit.

We do know that spirits do can foresee the future. Remember those cute foxes the "Knowledge Seekers" from Wan Shi Tong's library? There were 3 of them in The Last Airbender and only 2 in Korra. It's theoretical that the 3rd fox knew of its impending passing and chose to give part of its soul to Iroh while he was in Wan Shi Tong's library.

The Creation Theory

Yin and Yang Fish

Not much is known about how or where the world of the Avatar universe was created. Given that it's a world inhabited by spirits, elemental benders and... regular people, it definitely possesses a complicated background.

Yin and Yang, push and pull, good and evil is a recurring theme in the Avatar series, as it's obvious that the show draws on a lot of Asian mythology. It's theorized that the Lion Turtles (the giant beasts that taught Aang how to remove one's bending) created the world and the Tree of Time. Its roots hold the spiritual and human world together, as seen in Korra. There's a lot of Eastern Mysticism; Hinduism uses the shell of tortoises to explain where we exist and the significance of the special trees, of which their roots serve as connectors between various realms. Not bad for a kid's show.

Bio-Chemical Engineering Lead To Bending

Four Bending Powers

This is a theory that actually has a lot of traction. It's a little out there, yes, but this theory would indicate that bending, unlike how it's explained in the show, comes from a genetically modified trait.

The theory states that a total of four nations (fire, earth, water, and air) had transported a number of people to a planet in the far reaches of space for scientific research. When the research was completed, they injected hosts with the necessary genetics to give the people the ability to bend and manipulate natural elements to their disposal. Silly as this may seem, it's still possible. There's been a lot of talk about this one in particular on the far corners of the internet, and we'd be interested in hearing more.