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lunauc
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The Swamp Vision Connection and Accompany Theories
« Thread Started on Jan 14, 2007, 7:39pm »

I offer first and foremost, this modest gathering of theories and observations is not meant to question, debase or in anyway bash the ships which others enjoy. It is simply an explanation of how the TophAang ship can be presumed a valid prediction, regardless of whether or not it is to became canon fact. Please do not stop reading at this point simply because you are not a Taang/Tophaang shipper. I would like as many varied responses and even debates as I can get. I figured since there had been several threads in the Relationships board questioning why anyone would ship Taang, it would be a fair proposal to offer some of the Taang Theories here to be reviewed and responded to, rather than leaving them in the Tophaang thread, where only the like minded bother to read it. So, regardless of your chosen ship, please, read, think it over and respond. Now on to the theories!

My inspiration to write this post, began with reading this one: http://community.livejournal.com/aang_toph/28465.html#cutid1

To summarize, it describes the similarities between scenes in Siege of the North, during Aang's visit to the spirit world, and The Swamp. In SotN, Aang finds himself in a swamp which seems dead, brown, murky and silent. There Roku instructs him to visit Koh, the Facestealer, who once stole the face of one the Avatar loved in a previous life. Koh lives in a giant dead tree, reminiscent of the great tree in the Swamp. Though this one is dead. Koh is a creature whos apparently favored face is that of a noe mask. He speaks of his former run in with the Avatar and the loved one stolen from him with Aang. In the Swamp, Aang comes to the great tree and once mroe meets a monster, the vine puppet, who also wears a mask. And when they speak of their visions in the swamp, Hue explains, "In the swamp we see visions of people we’ve lost, people we loved… folks we think are gone. But the swamp tells us they’re not. We’re still connected to’em. Time is an illusion and so is death."

This prompted a theory that Toph either represented or was the reincarnation of the love whom the Avatar lost to Koh. I though myself that this was a wholly unfounded idea. Yet one more bit of evidence, not mentioned in that post, caught my attention. In both episodes, before Aang goes to the trees, he has a chase scene. When I made this realization, I was prompted to examine this theory. In the Swamp, Aang chases Toph's image. She's laughing and playful, and the swamp is green and alive. In the Siege of the North, Aang is prompted to follow a glowing orb. (http://youtube.com/watch?v=wJVtLdTfzWM) The Orb is mostly white, though fringed in a greenish gray hue, very similar to Toph's coloration in the Swamp vision, or more curiously the color of her eyes. In both scenes the phantom he follows gets away, and chronologically they both fit in before Aang goes to the tree. But what grabs my attention most about it, is that there seems to be almost no reason for the orb scene. On an apparent whim, Aang is told to follow the orb and he does so, but never catches it. As soon as he sees Roku's reflection in the water he lets it go. Symbollically, Orbs represent spirits or ghosts. One would figure the spirit world would be full of them. However, Aang only encounters the one, as if it saught him out. Here's where the theory begins to get curiuos. Since the only dead person mentioned in the episode is the lost love Koh mentions to Aang at the tree, it is possible that the spirit orb is meant to represent this lost love. If that is true, then equilaterally for Hue at the tree in the Swamp to speak of lost loved ones and Aang to have encountered Toph's image in the swamp would be relating her to the lost love of the Avatar.

We can also tie in a couple other Taang theories based on the happenings of these two episodes. For instance, the 'Opposites Attract' theory, though I almost regret bringing it up. I am not a fan of this defense for the personal opinion that it sounds like a cop out for people who can't come up with a better excuse. However, it is true that the writers of the show use the idea of yin and yang, balance of nature and such quite often. Thus, we cannot put it past them that it may be a factor in deciding how the ships will turn out. In SotN, Aang enters the spirit world trying to find the identities of moon and ocean, Tui and La. They are an obvious representation of the Yin and Yang. And while this does not seem connected to Taang, I propose a simple idea. In the Swamp, Aang is also looking for something, the identity of his earthbending teacher. Though he does not enter the swamp purposely seeking this knowledge, he finds it, and possible the identity for the completion of his own yin and yang.

Think that sounds crazy? Try this one.

The Momo Connection: It was a theory I had a long while back, revolving around the fact that ever since Toph join the group, whenever Momo is not seen with Aang, he's usually hanging around Toph. Thus the lemur becomes a subtle silent connection between the two. But after watching the Siege of the North again, to investigate my orb theory, it occurs to me that the one who told Aang to follow the orb was a white furred primate spirit, sitting in a ruined little shrine atop a mound. Aang met the white furred lemur in the ruins of the air temple, which rests atop a mountain. Coincidence?

Most likely...

However, the ape spirit also bears a resemblance to Guru Pathikk, the one who told Aang to 'let go' of Katara. Coincidence?!

Yeah, probably... but I thought I'd offer it for others to review my perception.

Anyhow, this has been a small offering of Taang theories, here for your perusal and comment. I do not declare that these observations represent things purposely written into the show to foreshadow Taang, just possibilities. Thank you for reading, and please, be fair.