Koh's actions serve no purpose but for his own sick amusement.
He isn't a Spirit in my book. He's a demon.
Way I see it, if there is good in the world, there absolutly
has to be an equal amount of evil. And as such, Koh is the personification of all evil in Avatar, giving the balance. Which is what Avatar(and Zutara, and Taang) is all about.
Also the way I see it, millenia ago, Koh wiped out almost the entire Great Spirit Councele(the one
before Agni, Tui & La, Da Di and Feng<the latter two are my own names>). This resulted in the "kids" having to step up and leads into what I think a Spin-Off about the Spirits would be about.
As you can see, Koh would 'live', even though I think he's stuck in that tree, as punishment.
Also, am I the only on who thinks the most recent Avatars(Roku, Kuruk, Kyoshi, etc.) don't see Koh as the evil being that he is?
What if, this is just me rambling, what if Koh's not the big bad of the spirit world?
There's a Chinese saying, 'For every mountain, there's another one taller."
There might just be worse things out there and for all his bluster and bravado, Koh is exactly what he looks like, a bug when compared to the darker things that prowl the shadows and haunt the hearts and minds of men.
Koh shows up to take the faces of his victims, but if he were truly evil, he'd be taking names at every given opportunity.
Someone commits a mortal sin, fine, tell Koh he's got the green light to go ahead.
But what made that mortal sin in the first place?
For what I can guess, Koh doesn't influence his victims or trap them unless he's face to face with them, then he'd try his hardest to make them flinch.
He's like a Remora feeding off the scraps of a larger shark.
A bug.
A parasite.
If there is a new storyline regarding the Spirit World, I'd like to see a more threatening prescence than Koh. Perhaps the Dark One's were locked away, trapped in the hearts of Mankind, hence the various levels of self destruction humanity is oh so fond off, and Koh's just the last straggling lackey the Spirits deemed to be too pathetic and just locked him away in a Tree.
Maybe that's why he collects the faces of sinners. To consolidate the evil in them.
As for the recent Avatars, maybe they just can't take any action against him? Since for all intents and purposes, they are just human spirits, their power having passed down to the next Avatar in line.
As for Kuruk, how can he not hold any animosity against Koh?
"Oh I deserve this fate!"
Yeah, but Ummi didn't!
Why did the poor woman have to suffer for HIS arrogance?
Unless she fueled it...
As for the greater evil in the world, like I told Kaibasgirl, just look at humanity.
Aang is fighting a losing battle, no matter what nuggets of candy laced optimism Katara feeds him.
Beat the Fire Lord and end the war? Okay, easy enough.
Hell no.
Beating the Fire Lord just ends the reign of ONE social maleficient.
The man would have supporters.
Other kingdoms would have men with dark intents too. Long Feng anyone?
And this is not factoring in regular acts of crime and horror.
All any Avatar can do is stem the bleeding but never completely heal or stop what caused the wound.
Yes, he can save one group of people here but while their holding feasts in his honor another group of people are dying somewhere else....probably because he helped the first group of people to win.
I would so love to see a scene where Azula of all people explains this to our doe-eyed monk.
She will destroy him and not even have to touch him at all.
And in the end she offers him a solution,
Azula: "Kill everyone and then yourself."
Aang: "But there're good people in the world!"
Azula: "Oh yes, I'm sure. People like my brother, a well known turn-coat. What about Avatar Kyoshi, she killed an Earth Kingdom tyrant, right? My non Fire Nation history is a little fuzzy."
Aang: "She...got rid of him...to stop a war."
Azula: "And the ends justify the means?"
Aang: "Yes...I mean No! Killing is wrong!"
Azula: "But she still did it or is it all right simply because she was the Avatar? By that reasoning you could kill me and be hailed a hero...again. And you do so love being a hero don't you? For your waterbender?"
Aang: "Shut up! Stop trying to confuse me."
Azula: "Oh that's a good comeback. Really. Very sharp."
Aang: "Avatar Kyoshi saved lives by...getting rid of Chen."
Azula: "You can't even say the word can you? Yes, she saved lives at the expense of one. Weren't you the one who said all life is precious? Or is it only applicable to those you deem fit? Like the waterbender. I bet you'd kill for her. Tell me, hypothetically, you do understand what hypothetically means right?"
Aang: "I stopped Sokka from killing you."
Azula: "And I am ever grateful to you oh mighty Avatar."
Aang: "I stopped him from making a mistake."
Azula: "I tortured his lover for months. Kept her barely breathing just to prolong the torment but thanks to you, I'm alive, breathing and fairly comfortable as prison cells go. Now answer the question, would you kill for your waterbender? Even to protect her? Avenge her?"
Aang: "No! She wouldn't want it like that! Her killers would be arrested and jailed."
Azula: "Oh, you're comfortable with execution rather than death on the battlefield? Dead is dead, Avatar."
Aang: "Katara can take care of herself."
Azula: "There are many ways to die. Mine right now is a slow death behind bars. Are you okay with that?"
Aang: "You will never hurt Kata...you will never hurt anyone else again."
Azula: "And there we have it! The hypocrisy underneath all the nobility."
Aang: "You are not being hurt in anyway...."
Azula: "I am no longer free. My freedom has been taken from me. I have been relagated from human being to an animal in a cage."
Aang: "You ARE an animal...."
Azula: "Why? Because you said so?"
Aang: "Because you hurt and killed hundreds."
Azula: "And many thousands more loved me for it. Are you going to cage them too?"
Aang: "Yes. If I have to."
Azula: "Congratulations, you are now thinking like my father."
Aang: "I am not Ozai!"
Azula: "We are all Ozai! We are all the same! You being Avatar makes you no more a human being than the rest of us. Being Avatar does not make you divine."
Aang: 'There is goodness in the hearts of men."
Azula: "And there is darkness as well. Which brings us back to square one. Your perfect happy world will never exist not as long as even one of us exists. We are Legion, Avatar and you're one of us."
Aang: "You're insane."
Azula: "And you're a naive fool. Now why don't you go get my brother? I'm sure he'll be man enough to end my life. My brother is nothing if not practical. He knows keeping me breathing is just a disaster waiting to happen."
Aang: "No. I won't let Zuko kill you."
Azula: "I'm sure he told you that you might have to kill our father to stop him. Didn't he?"
Aang: "Yes and he's wrong. I defeated Ozai without killing him. Your armies have surrendered."
Azula: "For now. My father still lives and is out there somewhere planning, plotting. He will return...barring any assasination attempts my brother or uncle would surely send."
Aang: "Iroh would not stoop to..."
Azula: "And I thought the blind one was bad. You don't even use your eyes do you? My Uncle has a sentimental heart but that does not make him stupid."
Aang: "This is crazy. You're crazy."
Azula: "I live in the real world. It's crazy...but it's real. Where do you live?"