<p>i algo have been thinking about this... yes most likely is genetics with a spiritual connection thats unseen or unaware... and the popping of nomads, i think it is also genetics..... remember the air nomads are so spiritual that ALL become benders... so if the spiritual connection has been restored/strengthened after harmonic convergence, then long lost air nomad relatives will have their bending reawoken... is obvious we cannot assume that 1 or 10 air nomads or any other nation in 10,000 didnt venture out and had marriages with people from other kingdoms and blended into the new nation/culture.... it well explains how the evil guy knows so much about air nomads...maybe he was made aware there was some air nomad blood in him back in the day, and it explains how bumi somehow got the bending as well... and well its easy to say that these new ones popped out because they have a air nomad relative way deep in the past........ </p>

<div class="quote"><i>Intelligence4 wrote:
i'm just gonna bring this over here... <p>
here's another bone to chew on: the avatar can bend all four elements b/c wan learned all four and got reincarnated - his bending abilities carried over into his next lives.  the lion turtles said they would no longer give man bending powers. so does that mean that all benders are reincarnations of the original benders? </p> </i></div>
<p>Interesting you say that ahha umm i think the reason why every avatar had all four elements was because rava too also had the elements ... rava was given the element of air etc who probs carried it on to the future lives of the avatar themselves ... </p><p>just generally i believe that the lion turtles gave humans their respective elemental bending and from then on, the humans future generations had inherited the bending. Becuase whilst yes the lion turtles did say they aren't giving the power of the elements to any more humans... it doesn't mean that they took the bending away from those who already got it given to them ... who then had kids and passed it on :) </p>

<div class="quote"><i>AdamantiumBladez wrote:
But in Avatar, they say Airbenders and Dragons are extinct in the episode that they are literally proved wrong (B1E1: The Boy in the Iceberg and B3E13: The Firebending Masters). With the return of the Airbenders, that contradicts the first series which is literally titled "Avatar: The <u>Last</u> Airbender". <p>
</p> </i></div>
<p>in regards to the extinct airbender and dragons ... as aang was alive the extinction never happened as he carried on to live as well as the two dragons... i think it was a merre belief from almost the whole world that these extinctions occured. </p><p>as for this 'contradiction' i'm sorry to say but your wrong, as i say above it is more along the lines of a belief that their was an extinction of all the airbenders but by aang living, no such extinction occured as well as the fact that aang had tenzin who in turn had airbenders, making airbending not extinct and to have new airbenders pop up through the harmonic convergence doesn't contradict ATLA as airbenders where not truely extinct.    </p>

<div class="quote"><i>Intelligence4 wrote:
i'm just gonna bring this over here... <p>
here's another bone to chew on: the avatar can bend all four elements b/c wan learned all four and got reincarnated - his bending abilities carried over into his next lives.  the lion turtles said they would no longer give man bending powers. so does that mean that all benders are reincarnations of the original benders? </p> </i></div>
<p>Seeing as the only visible instance we have of reincarnation is Roku to Aang, who was clearly birthed, I'd say no. I'm sure you can think of how that wouldn't work out, lol. </p>

<div class="quote"><i>Intelligence4 wrote:
i'm just gonna bring this over here... <p>
here's another bone to chew on: the avatar can bend all four elements b/c wan learned all four and got reincarnated - his bending abilities carried over into his next lives.  the lion turtles said they would no longer give man bending powers. so does that mean that all benders are reincarnations of the original benders? </p> </i></div>
<p>Seeing as the only visible instance we have of reincarnation is Roku to Aang, who was clearly birthed, I'd say no. I'm sure you can think of how that wouldn't work out lol. </p>

Maybe Wan was the only one who could bend at the time. Then humans started learning from animals. Then it became inherited or not.

<p>With the sole exception of the Avatar, bending can be either inherited from families with benders, bestowed upon by Energybenders like the Avatar or Lion Turtles. According to people like Yue, Toph, Aang, Zuko and others, before the revelation of the Lion Turtles, people learned to bend the elements from sources like the Moon, Badger Moles, Sky Bison and Dragons. It's also due to a person's spirituality; the higher their spiritual connection to their element is, the higher the chances of having the ability to bend the element are. And Noatok and Tarlok, the sons of Yakone, prove that bending can be inherited from one that had their bending removed. </p>

<div class="quote"><i>Empressofmelnibone wrote:
I'm pretty sure that the Lion Turtles "gave" bending, but when the Lion Turtles sent humans out to the spirit wilds the firebenders <i>perfected</i> it from the dragons, waterbenders from the moon and tides, and earthbenders the badgermoles.</i></div>
<p>That actually makes so much sense! Especially since reïncarnation is already a common ideology, especially in Asian cultures  </p>

<p>What about those two brothers one earthbender and one non-bender? Does that means bending isn't genetic? </p>

<div class="quote"><i>SaitamaBro wrote:
What about those two brothers one earthbender and one non-bender? Does that means bending isn't genetic?</i></div>
<p>There are plenty of brothers with different traits. Your example doesn't exclude genetics... </p>