<p>The Avatar's job isn't to keep people from journeying into the Spirit World or attempting to contact them, he's meant to be a bridge between the two. He'd work more as a mediator between the two different worlds in major issues, such as what he did with Wan Shi Tong and the Gaang during The Library episode, not run to and fro in order to answer and figure out every little squabble people want to blame on the Spirits. Not to mention, I've already agreed that not just any random person could get in contact with them, so it's a mute point to try and use as a defense. </p><p>The problem with that idea though is we get confirmation on how many were devoted to their ways just by looking at how many of them were benders, and why they were. As this wikia itself says, "Unlike the other nations, the people of the Air Nomads were, without any seen exception, all benders due to the high level of spirituality of their people." Since their heightened level of spirituality is the seeming cause for their unique percentage of Airbending population, it's more than safe to assume they were all quite devoted to their spiritual beliefs. </p><p>How exactly did I validate your point by arguing that Air Nomads aren't stupid? Your entire argument seems to be that "optimistic idealism ends up being wiped out, because they keep getting caught in traps, leaving only the outlying members of their society who for some reason are willing to change a belief system that's been in place for thousands of years because wartime always results in 100% of a surviving force turning into cold, pragmatic Lawful Evil monks who would do anything to silence a potential threat."  Even if such a thing happened over a long period of time, it would happen over multiple generations of terrible things happening, not a mere 100 years. The entire concept I'm inferring here, that their idealistic attitude is bad and results in their death, is ludicrous because we have first hand evidence that having an optimistic ideal outlook doesn't keep Airbenders from being any less effective in battles. Look at Aang, who is easily on of, if not outright, the most idealistic character in the show. He manages to travel across the known globe, enduring tragedies and battles that would kill most trained soldiers of our time, almost every step of the way, and yet manages to remain so idealistic that he finds a way to end the war without killing the most powerful Firebender in existence at that point, someone who Iroh himself wasn't sure he could be beaten at all if the Avatar failed. </p><p>All Air Nomads embody their core concepts, that's been established. You're misinterpreting the phrase "Seperating ones self from worldly concerns", and taking it to mean something radically different though. Seperating yourself from worldly concerns doesn't mean ignoring everything that happens in the world outside of your own nation. It means to keep your mind and soul pure through lack of physical attachment, to phrase it basically. This could be practiced in any number of ways, some of which we've seen on the show itself. For example, during his Earthbending training with Toph, when she starts snacking on his nuts and using his glider to crack them. He had no real problem with her eating the nuts, and even though he was hesitant and resistant to her using the glider, he ultimately allowed her to abuse it. Both of these actions are examples of seperating yourself from worldly concerns. Though Aang had dear memories for the glider, it is still only a physical object and has no bearing on the emotions and thoughts brought on by it existing. A more modern and relatable example would probably be walking out to head to work and seeing your car was stripped by thieves during the night for scrap parts. You'd most likely be freaking out and pissed, especially if it was a relatively new car, but a person who has masterfully seperated themselves from worldly concern wouldn't bat an eye, seeing it as merely a material item they never truly needed. They'd still feel the emotions associated with such an act, but they would get over the initial negative influence and instead move past it all to acceptance significantly more quickly. Now, this exact same person who gets over the destruction of their car in moments, could also see a report about a terrorist bombing and feel terrible anguish at the fact that such a thing happened, same as any other guy. According to your interpretation though as i understand it, he wouldn't even bat an eye at the death of innocents, and instead would treat it as if it doesn't affect him, even if it's in the same city he lives in. That's not Air Nomad philosophy, that's nihilism. </p><p>War preparations don't have to, and rarely do, involve any one of those, and I know that for a fact. I've been a part of veteran assistance groups since I was 11 years old, and I've heard every story you could imagine, ranging from World War 2 to the Persian Gulf War, and every engagement inbetween. The only time the concepts of fortifying and hunkering down came up were due to the soldiers having already exhausted all means of potential escape, while defenses were something that was constantly maintained cause you could never know for sure when an enemy would attack. You don't train and practice for years on evading danger and finding a path out of danger, such as the Air Nomads would, only to resort to trying to absorb damage and outlast the enemy in a war of attrition at the first sign of violence. That would be like training exclusively in jujitsu for an MMA match, and then trying to win by exclusively throwing punches, it just makes no common sense. </p><p>Also, to be fair, I'll answer why we wouldn't see any defensive structures. It has been a hundred years since the initial genocide, and we've seen that the Temples were on fire to the point of being considered a conflagration. Even if the Airbenders had erected defensive structures for some odd reason, between the fires capable of scorching the earth, a hundred years of mountain weather, and the Fire nation engaging a war which would mean they take all resources they can, I would have been much more surprised if there had been any remnants of the structures left. </p><p>As a side note, why do you keep assuming Sozin's Comet was always a harbinger of doom? There would be no reason in their time to assume a mighty celestial object, which at the time was known just as the Great Comet, would herald the initial assault of a war. They had no way of knowing, nor any way of expecting, that firebenders got such a massive power boost from the comet. The only reason anyone even knows this happens a hundred years later is because Avatar Roku specifically tells Aang the comet does as such. Which only goes to show how well prepared for the war the Fire nation was, that they managed to keep such a thing secret. </p><p>The only reason they didn't is probably because Aang ran away and trapped himself in ice at the first mention of being taken to a new Temple, away from his father figure, because he was eavesdropping. If he hadn't run away, he would have been safely in the Eastern Air Temple long before the Comet arrived, which could very well have been where any secondary plans to keep him safe would be put into action if needed. </p><p>Would telling a 12 year old he would have to single-handedly stop an entire nation from going to war, and failing to do that, lead a battle to ultimately kill a man, really be a smart move? You can't assume that just because he's the Avatar he can handle such responsibility, he's a child whose entire life is already breaking down in front of him. They had already broken a big taboo and informed him he was the Avatar 4 years before they should have. Just from that realization, it essentially crippled his normal life to the point that airbender children ostracized somebody who was like a brother to them, and the majority of his Elders started treating him like a concsripted soldier. Even if he hadn't run away, why do you think the smart plan would be to tell the 12 year old that not only would the fate of the world soon rest upon his shoulders, but that in order to stand a chance of restoring balance he would have to try and learn and master a skill being used by the very people he's supposed to be fighting, who are most likely aiming to kill him, and are the only people capable of teaching him this skill. How, exactly, would that be a good idea? </p>

<p>The Avatar's job isn't to keep people from journeying into the Spirit World or attempting to contact them, he's meant to be a bridge between the two. He'd work more as a mediator between the two different worlds in major issues, such as what he did with Wan Shi Tong and the Gaang during The Library episode, not run to and fro in order to answer and figure out every little squabble people want to blame on the Spirits. Not to mention, I've already agreed that not just any random person could get in contact with them, so it's a mute point to try and use as a defense. </p><p>The problem with that idea though is we get confirmation on how many were devoted to their ways just by looking at how many of them were benders, and why they were. As this wikia itself says, "Unlike the other nations, the people of the Air Nomads were, without any seen exception, all benders due to the high level of spirituality of their people." Since their heightened level of spirituality is the seeming cause for their unique percentage of Airbending population, it's more than safe to assume they were all quite devoted to their spiritual beliefs. </p><p>How exactly did I validate your point by arguing that Air Nomads aren't stupid? Your entire argument seems to be that "optimistic idealism ends up being wiped out, because they keep getting caught in traps, leaving only the outlying members of their society who for some reason are willing to change a belief system that's been in place for thousands of years because wartime always results in 100% of a surviving force turning into cold, pragmatic Lawful Evil monks who would do anything to silence a potential threat."  Even if such a thing happened over a long period of time, it would happen over multiple generations of terrible things happening, not a mere 100 years. The entire concept I'm inferring here, that their idealistic attitude is bad and results in their death, is ludicrous because we have first hand evidence that having an optimistic ideal outlook doesn't keep Airbenders from being any less effective in battles. Look at Aang, who is easily on of, if not outright, the most idealistic character in the show. He manages to travel across the known globe, enduring tragedies and battles that would kill most trained soldiers of our time, almost every step of the way, and yet manages to remain so idealistic that he finds a way to end the war without killing the most powerful Firebender in existence at that point, someone who Iroh himself wasn't sure he could be beaten at all if the Avatar failed. </p><p>All Air Nomads embody their core concepts, that's been established. You're misinterpreting the phrase "Seperating ones self from worldly concerns", and taking it to mean something radically different though. Seperating yourself from worldly concerns doesn't mean ignoring everything that happens in the world outside of your own nation. It means to keep your mind and soul pure through lack of physical attachment, to phrase it basically. This could be practiced in any number of ways, some of which we've seen on the show itself. For example, during his Earthbending training with Toph, when she starts snacking on his nuts and using his glider to crack them. He had no real problem with her eating the nuts, and even though he was hesitant and resistant to her using the glider, he ultimately allowed her to abuse it. Both of these actions are examples of seperating yourself from worldly concerns. Though Aang had dear memories for the glider, it is still only a physical object and has no bearing on the emotions and thoughts brought on by it existing. A more modern and relatable example would probably be walking out to head to work and seeing your car was stripped by thieves during the night for scrap parts. You'd most likely be freaking out and pissed, especially if it was a relatively new car, but a person who has masterfully seperated themselves from worldly concern wouldn't bat an eye, seeing it as merely a material item they never truly needed. They'd still feel the emotions associated with such an act, but they would get over the initial negative influence and instead move past it all to acceptance significantly more quickly. Now, this exact same person who gets over the destruction of their car in moments, could also see a report about a terrorist bombing and feel terrible anguish at the fact that such a thing happened, same as any other guy. According to your interpretation though as i understand it, he wouldn't even bat an eye at the death of innocents, and instead would treat it as if it doesn't affect him, even if it's in the same city he lives in. That's not Air Nomad philosophy, that's nihilism. </p><p>War preparations don't have to, and rarely do, involve any one of those, and I know that for a fact. I've been a part of veteran assistance groups since I was 11 years old, and I've heard every story you could imagine, ranging from World War 2 to the Persian Gulf War, and every engagement inbetween. The only time the concepts of fortifying and hunkering down came up were due to the soldiers having already exhausted all means of potential escape, while defenses were something that was constantly maintained cause you could never know for sure when an enemy would attack. You don't train and practice for years on evading danger and finding a path out of danger, such as the Air Nomads would, only to resort to trying to absorb damage and outlast the enemy in a war of attrition at the first sign of violence. That would be like training exclusively in jujitsu for an MMA match, and then trying to win by exclusively throwing punches, it just makes no common sense. </p><p>Also, to be fair, I'll answer why we wouldn't see any defensive structures. It has been a hundred years since the initial genocide, and we've seen that the Temples were on fire to the point of being considered a conflagration. Even if the Airbenders had erected defensive structures for some odd reason, between the fires capable of scorching the earth, a hundred years of mountain weather, and the Fire nation engaging a war which would mean they take all resources they can, I would have been much more surprised if there had been any remnants of the structures left. </p><p>As a side note, why do you keep assuming Sozin's Comet was always a harbinger of doom? There would be no reason in their time to assume a mighty celestial object, which at the time was known just as the Great Comet, would herald the initial assault of a war. They had no way of knowing, nor any way of expecting, that firebenders got such a massive power boost from the comet. The only reason anyone even knows this happens a hundred years later is because Avatar Roku specifically tells Aang the comet does as such. Which only goes to show how well prepared for the war the Fire nation was, that they managed to keep such a thing secret. </p><p>The only reason they didn't is probably because Aang ran away and trapped himself in ice at the first mention of being taken to a new Temple, away from his father figure, because he was eavesdropping. If he hadn't run away, he would have been safely in the Eastern Air Temple long before the Comet arrived, which could very well have been where any secondary plans to keep him safe would be put into action if needed. </p><p>Would telling a 12 year old he would have to single-handedly stop an entire nation from going to war, and failing to do that, lead a battle to ultimately kill a man, really be a smart move? You can't assume that just because he's the Avatar he can handle such responsibility, he's a child whose entire life is already breaking down in front of him. They had already broken a big taboo and informed him he was the Avatar 4 years before they should have. Just from that realization, it essentially crippled his normal life to the point that airbender children ostracized somebody who was like a brother to them, and the majority of his Elders started treating him like a concsripted soldier. Even if he hadn't run away, why do you think the smart plan would be to tell the 12 year old that not only would the fate of the world soon rest upon his shoulders, but that in order to stand a chance of restoring balance he would have to try and learn and master a skill being used by the very people he's supposed to be fighting, who are most likely aiming to kill him, and are the only people capable of teaching him this skill. How, exactly, would that be a good idea? </p>

<p>Except that even spiritual people seem to have trouble communicating directly with the spirits. Chief Arnook, while successful in his endeavors, had no real way to communicate with the moon spirit aside from shouting at the sky, and something tells me most spirits aren't going to have a convenient celestial object you can scream at in hopes of getting their attention. The peoples of Hei Bai's or the Painted Lady's village were most likely very spiritual, yet could not contact their patron spirit in a meaningful way. Even the Avatar, the greatest medium on Earth, had no real idea of how to resolve spiritual concerns; many times, he simply got lucky. </p><p>I'm saying that, had the Air Nomads simply wanted to keep to their ways, they would probably have bought into the idea that Air Nomad colonies were just sitting out in the open. Just moving along like nothing happened. Those Nomads that would be a bit more open to change and concern would probably be a bit more cautious, start to think as one would in a combat or survival situation. </p><p>On its own, the comet isn't a harbinger of doom. However, taking into account that the Fire Nation had already started forming colonies in Earth Kingdom territories, it very well could be interpreted as something the Fire Nation could use. Plus, there's no missing an event like that, even if it is a once in a century thing. In our own world, Hailey's comet tends to get a lot of attention, and you can barely see it from the ground. Sozin's Comet lights up the whole sky, as we see in the finale, so I'm guessing most people were aware of its existance. Also considering it comes every hundred years like clockwork, my guess is that its effects on firebending were fairly well known, as again, its pretty hard to miss that sort of power boost. </p><p>The Air Temples were held very sacred to the Air Nomads. Something tells me that, had they suspected they might be a target, they would put some effort into erecting defenses just in case. Consider how angry Aang got when the Mechanist "improved" the Northern Air Temple, and that was a positive thing (technically). </p><p>Considering the rather pristine condition of the Air Temples, I would think that there would be some defensive structures still standing. </p><p>"Detaching myself from the world so my spirit could be free" to put it in Aang's words, seems to leave little room for error there. </p><p>If they didn't think he could handle the responsability, why reveal his nature to him then? Why drop a bomb like "You're the Avatar" then leave out what he's going to do? The world was on the brink of war, you'd think emphasising that people's lives were at stake would be a good motivator for him to train instead of play pai sho. Is it going to be hard on a 12 year old? Undoubtably, but its not like Aang's duties could be put on hold. He needed to know what he was in for, and unfortunately, it seems the monks dropped the ball. He didn't know the world was going to go to war, and for nearly a century, the peoples of the world paid the price. </p>

<p>Neither of those two villages you mention had ever actually dealt with spirits before though, and neither had Aang up until the very episode involving Hei Bai. None of them could have had much knowledge on dealing with spirits. For Senlin Village Hei Bai was always a silent protecter, and abducting villagers was the first time any of them saw it, at which point it was almost too enraged to listen to any reasoning. For Jang Hui, it was a spirit that had outright left after the fire nation polluted her river, leaving the village she was guardian of to rot, only returning after Katara and Aang fixed the problem for her. In one case the spirit was enraged in a near-blinded fury, while in the other the spirit in question straight up left. Even if we assume both villages were full of spiritual people, neither spirit was in any mood or position to be spoken to. As for the part about the Avatar, you seriously need to stop assuming that just because Aang was destined to do this job, he should be perfect at it without any training on the matter. In fact, if you want to argue Aang wasn't good at his job, look at how well he handled Koh, stated in canon to be one of the oldest and most perilous of spirits. </p><p>There is no rational canon info to suggest they would act that way though. Being carefree and being gullible are two completely different things. Air Nomads are literally the element of flexibility and adaptation. I have no doubt there would be some change, but it would all still conform to their basic principles. We have first hand experience how they change and adapt in a survival situation, with Aang constantly being hunted throughout the series. What did he do again, when under duress and the threat of death? Oh, that's right, he didn't just blindly keep walking into traps, he chose a path that couldn't be followed and left. </p><p>I never said nobody outside of the Fire nation knew of the comet, from what the material tells us it's obvious that all 4 nations knew of it. The problem is that up until the Fire nation's first attack, nobody could have reasonably assumed the comet would enhance a firebender's power. Remember, before those first colonies, the 4 nations were mutually exclusive to each other, never coming into extended contact with each other, except for seemingly the Air Nomads who travelled anywhere they were allowed. Now, where is this assumption that the power boost was fairly well known coming from? Last I checked, the comet isn't exactly in the sky for a long period of time, all of a half hour on the long end if we assume Ozai timed it so he could begin scorching the Earth kingdom at the earliest possible moment. Now, a half hour, every one hundred years, and considering this is a cosmic event there's a very high chance the nations each devoted some sort of spiritual ceremony or festival around it before the war, in their own homes, and add to that the only reason a firebender could discover the power boost is if they just so happen to use firebending during that half hour....yeah, I find it damn near impossible to rationalize that the other nations would have even a clue about it, considering even the Fire nation citizen's would have had a hard discovering it. </p><p>Something tells me that the threat of genocide and the lives of their very own people were ultimately more important than the temples themselves. Erecting defenses, even minimal ones, would have been a waste of both time and resources, which could instead be spent on getting important artifacts and children out of harm's way. As for the mechanist example, you have to remember that Aang's last memory of these places were as bustling hubs of spiritual enlightenment, not as 100 year old barren tombs. He saw culture and history being destroyed, and he even managed to get over it pretty quick considering it all. </p><p>Pristine doesn't mean everything that was there at the time of the attack would be intact. I guarantee if you set up a bunch of defenses on top of a clear and windy mountaintop, repeatedly burned them, and then left them for 100 years, none of them would be left around. </p><p>Yeah, except that could fall under the exact same type of misinterpretation as from before. </p><p>Have you never handled a 12 year old before? You go tell a 12 year old his mother's life depends on whether or not he can learn to kill a man, see how well it turns out. Now think of that, but on the scale of the entire world. Forget running away, Aang might have ended up getting himself killed trying to  match up with everyone's expectations. We see first-hand that when the pressure piles on he ends up training non-stop to the point of never sleeping. Now imagine that in a time where his elders are already pushing him to train harder than ever before, he could very well have started suffering from sleep deprivation in the days immediately before and during the Fire Nation's first attack. Never mind being gone for a hundred years, he may very well have entered the Avatar State in the middle of an ultra-powered firebending army and gotten himself killed, ending the Avatar process entirely. </p>

<p>Who said that the four nations were mutually exclusive? From what we see from the lore, there was and remained to Aang's day a fair amount of trade and presumably exchange of ideas. The Northern Water Tribe city used to be a bustling port town before the war, which was when the ice sheet came up. Something along the lines of a comet that enhances a firebender's powers a hundred fold would most likely be well known in the world, even if the massive comet were only in the sky for a few hours. </p><p>Except Aang rarely runs into traps, period. Lets face it, the Gaang is relatively rarely ambushed, the only notable exception I recall being Combustion Man's ruse, which the group bought hook, line, and sinker. </p><p>If the giant pai sho room can survive the battle, I'm sure some of the defenses would remain. </p><p>Here's the thing; your description of the Nomad's natures veers a bit more into the "aloof" catagory rather than "detaching from the world". When Aang spoke to Yang Chen, he spoke of the latter concept as if it were something he had yet to achieve, not the already possessed nature you describe. To me, when you detach yourself from worldly concerns, it generally means you believe yourself above the common crowd, beyond their petty squabbles and concerns. Hence why the Avatar can never have such an attitude, as his duty is to the world. </p><p>I have, but alas said 12 year old didn't posess the powers capable of ending wars between nations. Its a nice thought that the monks, Gyatso specifically, would want to preserve Aang's childhood a bit longer. There comes a time, however, when the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, and Aang is unfortunately the few. Circumstances beyond his or the monk's control were at play, forcing the monk's hands to reveal Aang's destiny, yet for some reason omitting what he would be expected to do. Its like telling a kid he's going to be a great scientist yet not telling him what it will take to get to that level or that he's the one everyone's counting on to find the cure for cancer. </p><p>Getting slightly back on topic, one must wonder why the Fire Nation found it necessary to stock the caves they planned on ambushing the Air Nomads at with weapons and airbending equipment. Having already cleared the temples, they must have figured out what the items were capable of, if not from battle then from solid reasoning. It would be like ambushing a waterbender by a lake, why give them an advantage like that? </p>

<p>I think alot more Airbender's "escaped" from the fire nation, though they were probably traveling, and not at the temples at all. My theory is that the Air Nomads airbending gene was recesive to all other bending genes, becuase air is the most spiritual ellement and the main connection to the spirit world was closed. This is why the air nomads had the lowest population, they traveled so much that they would often settle down, and lose the air bending trait would be lost in the next generation. This does not aply to anng and his bloodline, as he is the avatar and he is connected to the spirit world. When the spirit world portals were both opened it made the gene possitive, giving them airbending abillities.  </p><p>
</p><p>The reason why most were in the Earth kingdom and U.R.  is when nomads were fleeing they wen't to the earth kingdom. Before that when settling down it was more complicated to settledown in the F.N. and to marry their citizens because of all the structure and order and so when air nomads wanted to marry fire nation citizens, they go to the earth kingdom. They there were still many times when an air nomad could live in the F.N. but durring colonial periods those with air nomad ancestery were often sent to the colonies. This also explains why so many were in ba-sing-si. Escaped Nomads on the run could find shelter in the walled citie of Ba-sing-se. </p>

<p>I'm going to have to say no here. If there had been survivors, they would have shown them by now, unless they're saving it for some comic. </p>

<p>I've mentioned this in a previous thread, but it's worth bringing up again. I've never believed that Fire Lord Sozin wiped out every single airbender (other than Aang). These people were masters of evasion, and even comet-enhanced firebenders would have a hard time killing them all. I have to believe that some of them escaped to friendly territory, namely the Earth Kingdom or the Water Tribes. They would intermarry with the local population and have children who would grow up in those culture, but nevertheless have at least some Air Nomad ancestry. I would fully expect that the Fire Nation would release propaganda stating that the airbenders were extinct, and they would undoubtedly continue their search, which would result in a few of the refugees being caught (and probably killed), but not all. Fast-forward +/- 170 years to the present day, and the world is filled with the descendants of these refugees, albeit with distant relations. Perhaps it is these people who had a small portion of Air Nomad ancestry who became airbenders, and Harmonic Convergence simple reactivated their latent ancestral abilities. </p>

<div class="quote"><i>Avatar Steve wrote:
 Perhaps it is these people who had a small portion of Air Nomad ancestry who became airbenders, and Harmonic Convergence simple reactivated their latent ancestral abilities.</i></div>
<p>But that would raise some questions. For example, if that were how it worked, why was Opal the only one from the Metal Clan to become an airbender? </p>

<div class="quote"><i>QueenCeline wrote:
<div class="quote">Avatar Steve wrote:
 Perhaps it is these people who had a small portion of Air Nomad ancestry who became airbenders, and Harmonic Convergence simple reactivated their latent ancestral abilities.</i></div>
But that would raise some questions. For example, if that were how it worked, why was Opal the only one from the Metal Clan to become an airbender?</div> <p>
Assuming that my theory is true, then it would stand to reason that only non-benders would benefit from this change. I would also theorize that a person who is already born a bender (fire, earth, or water) would only be able to pass on that trait to their offspring, Air Nomad ancestry or not. I would imagine that even if Suyin Beifong had Air Nomad ancestry (a possibility, considering we don't yet know the identity of her father), she still inherited her earthbending abilities from her mother. Therefore, she would only be able to pass on earthbending, which was the case with three of her children (the twins and the emo kid). Therefore, I would hypothesize that Opal's airbending ability would have been inherited from her father, Bataar Sr. Why he and his younger namesake did not develop the same skill, I don't know. Seeing as Harmonic Convergence was an event that was based on the restoration of balance to the world, I would guess that not everyone with Air Nomad ancestry became a bender...only enough as were necessary to bring a nearly-extinct population back to life. </p><p>Keep in mind that even before the original Air Nomads were wiped out by Fire Lord Sozin, they were still a relatively small percentage of the global population. It's obvious that the four nations were not of equal size in terms of geography or population, and the Air Nomads were the smallest of all in both respects. Whether or not each nation had equal numbers of benders is another question, but seeing as benders were the minority in all other nations, and every Air Nomad was a bender, it's clear that a balanced world would require a much smaller number of Air Nomads. Thus, to achieve that same level of balance in the modern world, only a certain number of airbenders are needed. </p>