i heard some people donât know about the Taang/Kummi theory
So this was originally supposed to be a response to an ask I had gotten about this ATLA theory, but because Read More links on Tumblr asks seem to break once you edit them, Iâm reposting so that people can actually see the post lolÂ
For anyone who wasnât a part of the Toph x Aang LiveJournal fandom in the early 2000s, buckle up, because this bugged me out as a 13 year old.Â
Remember the end of âThe Swampâ (Book 2, Episode 4)? We find out the swamp isnât haunted, Huu was just protecting it the whole time, and then he explains to Katara, Sokka, and Aang why the swamp is so mystical and sacred.
The swamp is just one big banyan grove tree thatâs grown out over miles and miles. All the branches and trees they see are connected because theyâre one big breathing organism. And that extends to life as well. Weâre all living beings. We all share the same roots. We all are from the same tree, even if we donât act like it. Everything is connected! Cool stuff.
But when Katara asks what her seeing her mother and what Sokka seeing Yue meant, Huu explains that âin the swamp, we see visions of people we lost, people weâve loved, folks we think are gone, but the swamp tells us theyâre not. Weâre still connected to them. Time is an illusion, and so is death.â So Katara never really lost her mother and Sokka never really lost Yue because the connections we make in life transcend death and time. Theyâre not gone. Theyâre still a part of us. The swamp reminds us of this.
Now, to keep in theme with this, we probably wouldâve expected Aang to also see visions of people heâs lost and loved before (Gyatso, the other Airbenders, his culture, etc.)
But for some reason, Aang seesâŚToph. Someone he doesnât know.
Huu doesnât really give Aang an explanation for this, he sort of just lets Aang figure it out for himself. And what weâre left is âokay well if time is an illusion and this isnât someone Iâve made a connection with yet, itâs someone I will make a connection with.â Weâre made to accept that as viewers, but why was Aangâs vision so different? Was it really just to lead him in the direction of his Earthbending Master so that he can continue on with his destiny?
Or was it because, unbeknownst to Aang, Toph actually was someone that he had loved and lost before? Just not in this life. In another life. A past life. When he wasnât Aang, but rather Avatar Kuruk, the Southern Water Tribe Avatar that came before Avatar Kyoshi.
â¨Basically the theory is that Toph is one of the reincarnations of Ummi, the southern water tribe woman that fell in love with Avatar Kuruk and had her face tragically stolen by Koh, the Face Stealer.â¨
Stay with me, because it gets way deeper.