The First Airbending Regiment was a short lived unit of Earth Queen Hou-Ting's army in Ba Sing Se. The unit was formed following Harmonic Convergence and the subsequent reemergence of airbending in the world. Its primary objective was to be an elite fighting force and to protect the Earth Queen's life at all costs.[1][2]
History[]
Following the emergence of new airbenders after the Harmonic Convergence of 171 AG, Earth Queen Hou-Ting ordered the Dai Li to forcefully conscript all citizens of Ba Sing Se who developed the ability to airbend. Once in the custody of the Dai Li, the airbenders were taken to a secret military compound built underneath a temple the Earth Queen had been constructing, which comprised various facilities including training rooms, barracks, and solitary confinement cells. Despite the monarch's attempts to conceal the existence of the unit, the abductions gained the attention of Lower Ring citizens, with rumors abounding that the Earth Queen was imprisoning the new airbenders for experimentation.
Two weeks after Harmonic Convergence, during his theft spree, Kai was cornered and caught by Dai Li agents in the streets of Ba Sing Se and taken to the facility,[1] where he trained to develop his combative airbending abilities alongside other conscripts such as Yung. After discovering that the Earth Queen was conscripting new airbenders, Team Avatar set out on a mission to rescue Kai and the eleven other prisoners. Jinora volunteered to use her spiritual projection ability to survey the old Lake Laogai fortress and communicate with Kai while he was kept in solitary confinement after demonstrating disobedience during a training session. While doing so, she realized that the airbenders were being kept under the Earth Queen's Temple.
The airbenders of the First Airbending regiment fended off the Dai Li.
Later that night, Avatar Korra and her team led a rescue mission, breaking into the compound and successfully extracting the conscripted airbenders, only to be accosted by the Earth Queen and Dai Li at the temple's entrance. Despite the Earth Queen's threat to declare war if Korra took her regiment, the Avatar refused to let the airbenders be used as weapons, prompting the monarch to order her Dai Li escorts to subdue the agitators and escapees. Defending both themselves and their liberators, the airbenders used their training and abilities to keep the Dai Li at bay, bending a sustained blast of air in unison until they were evacuated by two airships. They were met by Mako, Bolin, and Jinora who managed to free Kai and defeat the sergeant and two other Dai Li agents. The group hastily fled the capital while under attack from the Dai Li, who fired boulders toward the airships in an attempt to ground them.
The freed airbenders were transported out of the city to an abandoned and ruined Earth Kingdom town atop a mountain range; there, Tenzin gave them the option and support to either relocate somewhere safe from the Earth Queen's grasp, or join him and his family to learn how to be Air Nomads. Unanimously, the airbenders elected to join the new Air Nation at the Northern Air Temple in order to hone their skills.[2]
Fulfilling her threat to Korra, the Earth Queen placed bounties on her and her comrades, while also retaining her interest in finding the fugitive airbenders;[3][4] in particular, criminal elements attempted to kidnap some of the airbenders and deliver them to Ba Sing Se in hopes of obtaining a reward from the queen.[5] However, the Earth Queen's efforts to locate and seize the airbenders were permanently halted after she was assassinated by the Red Lotus.[4]
Training[]
An airbender was hit with an earth disk during training.
The airbenders were forced to train their newly discovered abilities by the Dai Li. Dai Li instructors drilled the airbenders by having them spar each other and block flying stone discs launched by agents. The style of bending seen performed was unlike the Air Nomads' and was based more around aggressive movements, rather than evasion and negative jing.
As the airbenders' loyalty was to be first and foremost to the queen, any display of empathy or camaraderie between the trainees was quashed. Airbenders who did not comply with or attacked instructors were restrained and thrown into solitary confinement cells, such as when Kai attacked an instructor at the end of a training session.[2]
Known conscripts[]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Hedrick, Tim (writer) & Graham, Ian. (June 27, 2014). "The Earth Queen". The Legend of Korra. Book Three: Change. Episode 3. Nickelodeon.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Hamilton, Joshua (writer) & Zwyer, Melchior (director). (July 11, 2014). "In Harm's Way". The Legend of Korra. Book Three: Change. Episode 4. Nickelodeon.
- ↑ DiMartino, Michael Dante (writer) & Graham, Ian (director). (August 1, 2014). "The Stakeout". The Legend of Korra. Book Three: Change. Episode 9. Nick.com.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Hedrick, Tim (writer) & Zwyer, Melchior (director). (August 8, 2014). "Long Live the Queen". The Legend of Korra. Book Three: Change. Episode 10. Nick.com.
- ↑ Hedrick, Tim (writer) & Zwyer, Mel (director). (July 18, 2014). "Original Airbenders". The Legend of Korra. Book Three: Change. Episode 7. Nickelodeon.