The Chakra Plot Hole & Irrefutable Proof That Kataang Was NOT Always Going to Be Endgame Canon
So, I’ve talked a lot about the shipping in Avatar and how it negatively impacted the story. I’ve described from a simply narrative standpoint why Kataang was a failure. And I’ve discussed why Zutara would have done the narrative and the characters FAR more justice.
Now I’m going to discuss a different aspect about the infamous chakra plot hole that deserves its own post. One of the most aggravating things about the Book 3 finale for me was the way it absolutely butchered the metaphysical component of the Avatar State and the chakras. As well as the meaning of the Crown Chakra. I’ve seen Kataang fans come up with different theories or explanations for why Aang mastering the Avatar State was not a plot hole or Deus Ex Machina, but I vehemently disagree with their interpretations, for reasons I’ll explain. Let’s start with this scene.
This scene is very important. The reason that all of that energy is twisted up in Aang’s back, is because he was midway through activating his kundalini. While in the Crystal Catacombs, Aang was meditating, and trying to let Katara go. Although he didn’t quite understand it at the moment, his selfless desire to put his own feelings aside to master the Avatar State in order to protect Katara, was exactly what allowed him to temporarily enter the Avatar State. That is exactly what the Guru meant when he said to be detached. Putting your selfish needs aside for the sake of others. That’s why the episode was called The Awakening. It was both referring to Aang awakening from his coma, and to Zuko’s spiritual awakening, which I will mention later.
The kundalini is an energetic coil located at the base of the spine, said to be shaped like twisted serpents. While meditating, the spiritual energy rises through each Chakra, and eventually reaches the Crown Chakra. Once the Crown Chakra is activated, it connects your consciousness to the spiritual realms. Essentially, you connect to the Divine, and see reality in an entirely different manner. You see that all sentient life is connected to the same Source, and we are all One. This helps you transcend the bounds of the ego, and become capable of extreme acts of altruism and selflessness.
The energy in the kundalini is NOT physical. It is not something that can just be sent through you by physical force. It only happens when your consciousness reaches a certain state, through meditation or some other significant event in your life. Mike and Bryan will never, ever, EVER be able to come up with an explanation that isn’t complete bullshit for this scene and how it happened. Because there is none.
In fact, Zuko’s entire illness during The Earth King, was a result of this very process; just one more of Aang and Zuko’s many parallels. His selfless decision to let Appa go put him into a position he didn’t expect. It triggered certain aspects of his consciousness that he had repressed, and spontaneously awakened his kundalini. He simply was not ready for all that energy. Premature kundalini awakening is said to cause physical illness, and altered states of consciousness. Zuko’s fever and bizarre nightmares and psychedelic experience are entirely consistent with kundalini energy associated with rising consciousness.
Even the dragons in Zuko’s dream symbolized the kundalini serpents. At the end of this process, however…
Once the kundalini is able to open the Crown Chakra, your consciousness is expanded, and you are never able to experience life the same way again. You experience a state of bliss called Samadhi, and you recognize your true spiritual nature, as well as everyone else’s in relation to you. You will never be the same person again. It’s a brand new, permanent way of experiencing reality.
After this process, you experience heightened compassion and empathy. Previously repressed emotions all come to the surface and you experience your emotions and those of others much more intensely than ever before.
The reason that Aang received a vision of Katara was because he activated his 6th chakra, the Third Eye Chakra. The Third Eye Chakra is located in the pineal gland at the center of the forehead and is said to be the gateway to telepathy, clairvoiyance, and other psychic phenomena.
Aang needed to “let Katara go” because she was his remaining earthly attachment. Not because he cared about her, but because his attachment was selfish. In Buddhism, attachments are things you want for yourself that interfere with loving others properly. He has an expectation for Katara to reward him with her affections when he saves the world, even though she is uninterested in him romantically. He needed to let go of the expectation for a reward to access his spirituality.
The Crown Chakra has absolutely nothing to do with giving up love or bonds. Quite the opposite, really. It was Aang’s misunderstanding of the message that caused the problem. But since Bryke dropped this plot altogether, it was never clarified. Notice how the Crown Chakra also allows one to reconnect with their past lives. That is the very reason that it was the key to mastering the Avatar State. For Aang to open this chakra fair and square, he would have had to give up his desire for the girl he likes to reward him later with her affections. He needs to pursue the highest good with no expectation for a reward. There was one other attachment that Aang had.
Aang was very committed to his philosophy of respecting all life. He felt so strongly about it that he even condemned Katara for the justifiable rage and hate she had for Yon Rha.
But as Yangchen tells him, he needs to be able to set aside his personal feelings in order to do what is best for the world. It was his attachment to the idea of himself as pure and untainted that was his other stumbling block. He would have needed to come to the realization that his own feelings about killing don’t matter and let that go.
Ironically, it would have been that very selfless choice to willingly sacrifice his own morals temporarily that would have allowed him to spare Ozai’s life. If he opened his chakra through letting go of his attachments and connected his consciousness to the cosmic energy, he’d master the Avatar State and be able to energybend.
At that point the meaning of being the “bridge between the human world and spirit world” would be literal and figurative. He can travel there astrally, and also be the bridge between the human world and the spiritual values of selfless love from the spiritual realm. Like Yangchen said, the Avatar can never disconnect from the world. That is his purpose. To be the bridge and bring balance to the world by serving its people selflessly.
There is no way to reconcile any of this with the canon ending. Quite simply, it makes absolutely no sense and it defies all logic and common sense that it was planned that way from the start. Aang never opened his final chakra. Period.
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