#skybison

according to ATLA, each element has original benders that the humans maybe learned from. for the earthbenders it’s the badgermoles, the airbenders it was the skybison, the waterbenders learned from the moon and ocean, and the original firebenders were the dragons. 

from what we’ve seen in the show, it seems that these original benders are highly intelligent and have a consciousness- and they are able to understand and interpret the world better than other animals in the universe and in a way that is akin to the people. I mean take Appa for example. Appa not only understands everything the characters say, he shares a bond with aang that is so deep, it’s spiritual. 

Because of their intelligence, I don’t think it would be far fetched to say that these animals also have a sense of morality. What I’m trying to get at here is- do you think Sozin started the dragon hunting by slaying his own dragon once it started to defy him. This would connect to my headcanon that Sozin was personally at the Southern Air Temple carrying out the attack, and maybe his dragon saw that and all the destruction and refused to cooperate with him, which infuriated Sozin enough to start slaying these animals. 

Even if you disregard my headcanon, I still think Sozin’s dragon did something to make him realize that these creatures were much more sentient than he realized- and when they wouldn’t bend to his will to use their fire to carry out destruction, that’s when I think Sozin started the brutal tradition of dragon “conquering”. 

30/January 2021