Talk:Aang/@comment-58.161.140.15-20120324105204/@comment-141.238.217.124-20120404153846

for some reason the ball of air only occurs subconsciously when the Avatar has no control over the Avatar State. Remember from "Escape from the Spirit World" when Roku tried to enter the Avatar State by aligning himself with the gemstone at the fire sage's temple? When he entered the Avatar State he simply rose into a ball of air with his eyes glowing. Same is true for Aang when he entered it for the first time at the Southern Air Temple, and the other occasions where he had no control. But in Ba Sing Se and in the Wulong Forest he simply began glowing and was able to control himself. It no longer became a defense mechanism in that it only triggered when he was in danger, so the ball of air wasn't automatically put there because it was Aang controlling the bending, as opposed to the other Avatars or the Avatar Spirit. When he had control over the state, it became a tool to magnify his bending times 100, which is why he decided to open the 7th chakra in Ba Sing Se. He figured that only that kind of power could take down the Dai Li, and Azula and Zuko. It also became a big part in the battle with Phoenix King Ozai, because not only would his firebending become even more powerful than any other's, he'd have equal strenth of the other elements that Ozai had to fire. (Normal firebenders would have 100x the power during a comet, while Aang in the Avatar State would be more like 1000x because not only does he have the comet, he also has the increase in power from all the past Avatars.)