Talk:Equalists/@comment-69.122.85.217-20120516151555

I think this series is turning out to be remarkable because it's giving us multiple perspectives on real issues. In this day and age we're all primed up to fear terrorism like it's a plague wiping people out by the millions. Even though we know it's not true. We know that things like driving cars, drugs or the weather accumulate way more casualties everyday. The power here comes from people being threatened and rendered completely vulnerable. It's terrifying because that's the intent. Make your enemy afraid and they will eventually submit. In reality the threat never matches the terror people feel. Which is why it's effective. The attack on the Pro-Bending arena was a non-lethal assault but the entire Metalbending Police Force was neutralized, spectators held hostage, the arena stage destroyed in a bomb blast and the surrounding Airship force destroyed as well. Everyone is going to be consumed by fear, that it could happen again anywhere, anytime. The fact that there were no actual casualties won't matter. That's the power of terror as a tactic. What comes now is the serious the question. People on either side (benders & non-benders) are bound to be emboldened to win this fight even more. That's when people focus on their own perspective and any possibility of negotiation vanishes. That's when the war starts.