2020-05-24 20:38:37 ¶ ●

## FIREBENDER RESULT

Firebenders are interesting in that they’re the most personally driven of the elements. Where Earthbenders crave stability and Airbenders wish for freedom, Firebenders are driven by their unique desires, binded by their willingness. It’s why we see Uncle Iroh, who’s kind and thoughtful, easily leave the tea shop he was originally working at–where they treated him well–without second thought. Another bender may have been humble, may have favoured loyalty, but firebenders most likely wouldn’t. Inside every Firebender exists a sun that burns brightly and fiercely. A Firebender on a mission is someone you do not want to get in the way of as they are the pinnacle of an unstoppable force.

This isn’t to say Firebenders don’t have morals or that they’re always willing to bypass others for anything. No, actually Firebenders are very efficient and selective. They know what’s worth their energy, which fights are worth the trouble. Firebenders, at their best, are best exemplified through, oddly enough, Azula. She’s calculated and as strong as she is, what makes her so threatening is that she knows which fights she’ll win. When Azula enters a battle, it’s on the hypothesis that she’ll claim victory and she typically does. Through her, we can understand that the best Firebenders don’t follow the stereotype of being impulsive. The best Firebenders carefully pick the places they choose to spend their energy on–especially when faced with conflict. Iroh is another example of a Firebender at their best; someone who isn’t impulsive, but someone who works purposefully.

Don’t get me wrong. There are impulsive Firebenders. These Firebenders are often struggling emotionally. We see this with not only Zuko during Book 1, but with Azula by the very end of the show. In Book 1, Zuko is impulsive and angry, determined to regain his honour. At the end of the show, Azula has an extreme mental breakdown. Most of the time, these types of benders are repressing something emotionally that transforms itself into volatile anger or just general uncontrollable emotion. That selectiveness found in the best Firebenders is no longer available and the people around them will likely feel the repercussions. They don’t care who sees, they are at their worst and they can no longer hide it. Calculated control is thus an absolute necessity otherwise your fire may turn destructive rather than productive.

Once again, Firebending is unique in how personal it is to the given bender, but as Firebenders are driven by their desires, they’re also bonded by their intuition. Firebenders feel it in their gut when something is wrong and they use that as a guide when faced with conflict. Even if everyone around them thinks differently, a Firebender won’t succumb to the pressure without the sense of wrongness eating away at them.

This is what I call a Doused Firebender. This is a Firebender who compromises what they really want in favour of appeasing other people or being convinced that what they truly want isn’t right. A good example of this is none other than Zuko in the beginning of Book 3. For Zuko, trauma had deluded him into believing his father’s love and respect would make him happy, but when he seemingly gets everything he wants, he’s still not happy. It becomes apparent then that it’s not actually what he actually wants, what he really believes. He worked on the external problem–his banishment–as a Firebender would, placed all his energy in fixing that, only to find it didn’t fix the internal issue. The determination he’s felt since Book 1, the one that made him impulsive and volatile, then transforms into an innate sense of wrongness. He gets what he thinks he wants, but in doing so, he’s compromised who he really is and what he really wants in favour of what he’s been made to believe is right. This is what leads to his explosion on the beach.

It’s quite possible for a Doused Firebender to look like an Earthbender. Earthbenders are quite likely to sacrifice personal wants in favour of a greater sense of order and stability. For Earthbenders, this will never or rarely ever feel wrong to do, but with Firebenders, that sense of wrongness will grow and build inside them until they figure out what they really want or risk imploding or putting their own fire out altogether. Another example of a Doused Firebender would be Daniel Le Domas from the film Ready or Not. Daniel, who’s been raised to follow certain traditions, is shown to be deeply unhappy with his family. While at first he participates and follows the lead of his parents, when it counts, he disobeys them and follows his heart.

Fire takes many forms. It can be soothing like a campfire, warming you on even the coldest of nights. It can be a small flame burning on a candlewick, lighting your way. And yes, it can be a destructive wildfire, burning through a forest. Fire is, in the end, dependent on the bender and how they choose to use their energy. I can only caution control and self-assessment for those of you struggling to figure out what you really want and who you are.