The Impact of Aang's Early Discovery: Would He Have Survived the Fire Nation’s Domination?

Imagine a world where the Avatar was not found until after Sozin's Comet. Without the assistance of Katara and Sokka, would Aang have endured and ultimately revived the balance of the elements? Or, might life as we know it have been extinguished by the relentless Fire Nation?

Random Searches Wouldn’t Work

The Fire Nation had been searching for the Avatar for a century. Due to the relentless and precise efforts of their search teams, the idea of them suddenly discovering the Avatar by chance on an iceberg in the middle of a sea is highly unlikely. Historically, the Fire Nation would have focused their efforts on strategic regions known to harbor elements of the Avatar. This suggests that if Aang had not been discovered by Katara and Sokka, the consequences could have been dire indeed.

Survival of the Benders

The fate of the Avatar is intertwined with the survival of the benders who support them. If the Avatar had not been found by Katara and Sokka, it's possible that the population of Earth and Water Benders would have dwindled due to the relentless aggression of the Fire Nation. This would have left Aang reliant on his Airbending abilities in an increasingly challenging world. Given his reliance on the water and earth elements, his chances of survival and mastering his other bending arts would have been significantly reduced.

The Fire Nation’s Inevitable Conquest

Without the Avatar and the benders to counter their efforts, the Fire Nation would have conquered the world systematically. Starting from the Earth Kingdom, where they might have encountered resistance, the Fire Nation would have moved on to conquer the Northern Water Tribe. The plan, as hatched by Admiral Xhao, would have involved the destruction of the Moon Spirit, an important figure in the balance of nature.

In the absence of a figure like Iroh, who could guide the Avatar, the Northern Water Tribe might not have stood a chance. With no Moon Spirit and the subsequent stopping of the tides, the world would have faced a catastrophic event. The Moon plays a critical role in regulating the water cycle and the Earth's climate. Without its influence, the world's water supply would evaporate rapidly, leading to a global food crisis and a dramatic decrease in the population as diseases and starvation spread.

The End of the World?

As the world’s water supply evaporated, the megacity of Ba Sing Se, a bastion of hope for the remaining people, would have faced severe challenges. Food shortages would have led to widespread famine and unrest. This, combined with the deterioration of the environment, would have resulted in the collapse of the city and, ultimately, the global population. The story would have ended not with the victory of good over evil, but with the bleak reality of a world reduced to ash and chaos.

As history shows, the Fire Nation’s rise to power would have been fueled by their relentless pursuit of control over the elements. Their ability to manipulate and dominate the natural world was what gave them their edge. If Aang had not been discovered early, the balance of power might have tipped in favor of the Fire Nation, leading to a world where the Fire Nation’s dominance was unchallenged.

In the end, the role of Katara and Sokka in discovering Aang was more than just a stroke of luck. It was a turning point that saved not just Aang, but the entire world from the impending doom that would have otherwise been inevitable.