Avatar:Yangchen
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"Selfless duty calls you to sacrifice your own spiritual needs and do whatever it takes to protect the world."
Yangchen was the Air Nomad Avatar succeeding Avatar Szeto and preceding Avatar Kuruk. She grew up during a period of relative isolation among the four nations in the aftermath of the Platinum Affair.[7] After mastering all four elements in her youth, she was eager to make a difference in the world despite her inexperience.[8] Following her confrontation with General Old Iron in Tienhaishi, Yangchen resolved to adapt to the complex political landscape of the four nations, relying on manipulation, espionage, and deceit to her advantage in an era where loyalty was bought rather than earned.[9][10]
While on an official visit to the shang cities, Yangchen sought to alleviate the severe divide between the rich and poor in Bin-Er. Working behind the scenes to root out widespread corruption, she partnered with her new companion, Kavik, to investigate the Unanimity project, which aimed to consolidate power in the hands of the shangs.[9] After defeating three combustionbenders used as human weapons and apprehending Zongdu Henshe, Yangchen concealed the crisis as an incident related to spiritual imbalance and successfully petitioned Earth King Feishan to grant her administration of Bin-Er.[11]
She eventually became a respected figure and was celebrated for her wisdom, determination, and power. Although Air Nomad culture emphasized pacifism and the sanctity of life, Yangchen was feared for her willingness to do whatever was required to maintain balance and peace throughout the world in her role as the Avatar.[12]
Due to her devotion, no threats of war emerged for an entire generation after her death.[3] In death, she was revered as a holy figure, and people in the Earth Kingdom even prayed to her for protection.[13] However, her methods also contributed to an increase in dark spirit attacks during the era of her successor, Kuruk.[14]
History
Early life
Yangchen was born and raised by Air Nuns in the Western Air Temple.[15] Her favorite person in the world was Jetsun, an older nun she admired and regarded as an older sister. She always loved animals, and they were naturally drawn to her. On Bonding Day, most bison calves flocked to Yangchen, but she chose a single calf and named her Nujian.[16] She was also plagued by the voices of past Avatars for as long as she could remember.[9]
Before the age of eight, Yangchen began periodically falling into extremely painful fever episodes that resembled epileptic fits, during which she initially rambled incoherently. The Air Nomad healers did everything they could but found no cause for her suffering. Over time, however, her screams resolved into recognizable names and even full sentences. Abbess Dagmola began documenting her words in the hope that they held meaning. Yangchen occasionally reenacted scenes from her past lives as well. In one episode, she spoke directly to Earth King Zhoulai, dead for three centuries, whom her caretakers recognized. Combined with Dagmola's notes, it became clear that all the individuals she mentioned were companions of previous Avatars. Jetsun and the others discovered that reading texts written by these people eased Yangchen's pain – especially when she relived the personal losses and betrayals of ancient Avatars, which caused her intense distress.[17]
As a result of continually reliving her past selves' experiences, Yangchen had realized her Avatarhood by age eleven. Though her possession episodes grew less painful, the elders were troubled that they continued. Jetsun attempted new ways to help. Eventually, she guided Yangchen in meditating into the Spirit World. Assisted by Abbess Dagmola and Librarian Tsering, they made their first attempt from a meadow above the Western Air Temple. Using her latent Avatar abilities, Yangchen succeeded on her first try. She was initially thrilled by the Spirit World's beauty until they encountered a group of shishi.[18][19] Yangchen herself did not fear them, but one of her past lives did, and she was overwhelmed by a powerful memory while still in the Spirit World. The shishi darkened and Yangchen regressed in age. Jetsun tried to save her, shouting at her to wake up. Yangchen managed to return to the physical world, but Jetsun did not. Yangchen was by her side when she passed away, and Jetsun was honored as a temple elder and companion of the Avatar who gave her life protecting the bridge between humans and spirits.
After the funeral, Yangchen researched which of her past lives might have triggered the memory but found nothing, and she began to wonder if the tragedy had been her fault.[16][19][20]
Early career as Avatar
Yangchen managed to begin controlling the memories of her past lives by practicing mental exercises with Abbess Dagmola, creating a sturdy bridge between the banks of her memories.[2] She performed her first act of waterbending on a small island in the Mo Ce Sea[21] and, like all Avatars, mastered the elements and the Avatar State to maintain world peace.[3]
Before she began traveling, her elder caretakers made Master Boma promise to watch over the young Avatar until she could be on her own. A week after Yangchen had mastered the four elements, she set out with Boma and her two winged lemurs, Pik and Pak, on her sky bison for her first official mission: a trip to Tienhaishi, a shore-side city whose king had requested her help. Upon arrival, the king told her that local fortune tellers had predicted a tragedy from the sea that very evening. Believing the prophecy, Yangchen waited on a cliff overlooking the water. Past midnight, an enormous spirit emerged from the sea; sensing overwhelming grief from him, Yangchen tried to make contact. He knocked her down, and the two fought through the night, leaving the city in ruins.[8]
At dawn, Yangchen finally convinced the spirit to reveal who he was and what he wanted. She could not allow him to exact revenge on the citizens for "killing" Lady Tienhai, so she struck a deal with him – one she promised to uphold for eternity in exchange for peace.[8] General Old Iron vowed never to take up his armor against humanity so long as the land remained free of human development. In return, Yangchen constructed a statue in Tienhai's memory and established an annual ritual for the Air Nomads to visit the site, proving that humankind could protect nature. As long as the land remained sacred, no one would dare develop it and risk Old Iron's wrath.[22]
After the battle, Yangchen helped the people of Tienhaishi find new homes, but they were repeatedly turned away, doors slammed in their faces, and locals told them to keep moving. They slept in fields, survived on alms, and began losing people to illness. Yangchen vowed to use anything at her disposal to protect them, and she began playing the game of politics in earnest, learning manipulation and leverage. She forged letters to spread rumors that two competing nobles coveted Tienhaishi's craftsmen, and frightened a spiritually inclined governor's husband into opening their lands. Eventually, the people of Tienhaishi were absorbed into the continent.[10]
Another early mission as a fully realized Avatar took her to Ma'inka Island, where unseen forces were damaging the outskirts of the villages belonging to the Saowon clan. Working with Duke Zolian and his heir, Lohi, she informed them that the disturbances would cease if inhabitants stayed more than three li from the cenotes and caverns inhabited by the phoenix-eel spirits.[23]
Yangchen's attention turned to the shang merchants, who had grown extremely wealthy and influential since the major diplomatic disaster known as the Platinum Affair, which occurred during her childhood and restricted controlled international trade between the Earth Kingdom, Fire Nation, and Water Tribes to four cities controlled by the shangs.[7] Yangchen negotiated amnesty for Tayagum and Akuudan, two of Chief Oyaluk's formerly trusted warriors who had been imprisoned in the Earth Kingdom since the Platinum Affair and abandoned by their chief.[24]
Unanimity project
Yangchen and Boma began an official tour of the shang cities, starting at Bin-Er and taking up residence in the Blue Manse. Before she began the tour, she left Pik and Pak in the care of the Northern Air Temple.[2] They were joined by Sidao, an Earth Sage and the Minister of Special Territory Relations, who became an increasingly prominent member of her retinue. She was assigned many personal guards, though she did not trust most of those recruited in the "city of spies". For nearly a month, Yangchen scouted the docks of Bin-Er from above on Nujian, noting that the shangs were violating their charter with the Earth Kingdom by failing to control dock traffic within the proper limits.[25]
Just before Yangchen was due to meet with the shangs, the manse was raided by an errand runner named Kavik. After spotting him, she screamed for her guards, though they violently beat him despite her order to leave him unharmed.[26][27] This incident gave her grounds to dismiss all her guards for disobeying her instructions. After Kavik claimed to live in poverty and said his parents were dead, Yangchen let him go and gave him a large sum of coins.[5] Suspicious, she followed him on her glider, arriving at his home and smiling as she met Kavik's mother and father.[28] The couple treated her with great respect, and she claimed she was there to listen to the concerns of Bin-Er's ordinary residents. Pretending that Kavik had saved an important piece of information from a thief, she spoke to him privately, noting that he was far better off than he had claimed and that she had been fooled by his act.[29][30] She offered him a recruitment pitch, explaining that she needed a personal informant who had no debts or allegiances, was low-level enough to avoid notice, also valuing him as a skilled waterbender and spy. Choosing not to blackmail him, she announced proudly to his parents that Kavik would become her official companion in recognition of his supposed bravery.[30]
Yangchen's retinue relocated to an ancient inn after the break-in at the Blue Manse. She was soon due for her first official meeting with the shangs, parading through the streets of Bin-Er on Nujian with Boma beside her. Several troublemakers in the crowd threw rotten fruit, followed by an elderly man striking Boma with a clay jug. Furious, she threw the fruit back into the crowd.[2] After formally introducing herself to the shangs and Zongdu Henshe, she listened as they presented the history of their system. While Sidao praised their model of human accord, Yangchen countered that no system was perfect and that the suffering in the city could not be ignored. When she asked for workers to be paid fairly and for alms to be distributed, Sidao argued that there were no formalities for such reforms, and Shang Noehi told her she had no authority to demand charitable actions from them.[7] Knowing appeals to generosity would fail, she cited the Earth King's concern over treason and revealed she had records proving the shangs were failing to keep dock traffic within limits, hinting at a large unregulated economy.[31] In a private meeting with Henshe, she regretted her delivery but not her message. She asked Boma to impersonate the Avatar and fly off on Nujian, allowing her to sneak into the shangs' buildings through underground flues. Struggling with claustrophobic memories from a past life, she managed to regain control and overheard the shangs discussing a mysterious Unanimity project.[32] She returned to the inn covered in soot and began planning a trip to Jonduri to investigate.[25]
Yangchen met Kavik at the Golden Cloudberry teahouse, disguising herself in Earth Kingdom winter clothing and a Fire Nation–style wig. They discussed the letter she had instructed him to give his broker, Qiu, revealing it was meaningless bait meant to trace leaks. While charming the teahouse owner, she explained that the shangs sought an asset that would grant them unlimited leverage over their cities and the four nations. Kavik agreed to join the mission only if she secured exit passes for his family; she wanted to help but explained that granting such passes would draw suspicion toward them. Only after verifying he was not a plant for Henshe or the shangs did she formally agree to partner with him.[33]
After leaving the city, Yangchen returned to the Northern Air Temple, meeting Kavik at the village hospital at its base, where she worked to save a woman suffering from a raging fever. With Kavik assisting her waterbending, they broke the fever, though the woman revealed that her child remained missing.[34] While Yangchen deflected Abbot Sonam's protest to her bringing her "spy" into the temple, she continued her work inside the hospital.
On the temple grounds, Yangchen watched Kavik bond with Nujian during their first flight. Once they reached the top of a turret, Kavik asked Yangchen about how much more heroic and inspiring she seemed around the Air Nomads. Yangchen reminisced about her actions at Tienhaishi and explained that witnessing suffering made her determined to learn the arts of politics and intrigue so she could use such tactics to help others. Pik and Pak confronted her for leaving them in the care of the temple for so long. That night, she practiced her bending with frustration on the airball court, unwilling to let go of her failures.[10]
Reaching Jonduri, Yangchen dropped off Kavik to be collected by Tayagum so he could enter the city unnoticed.[35] She continued onward with a formal delegation from the Northern Air Temple, leaving her animals with Monk Samten. Upon meeting Zongdu Chaisee, she was introduced to the works of Guru Shoken. Chaisee promised charitable reforms but hesitated when asked how long they would take, revealing she was insincere. Disgusted by Chaisee's vague threats of making rivals "disappear", Yangchen was summoned to address an urgent situation involving the Saowon on Ma'inka Island.[36] Forced to divert from her investigation, she flew to Ma'inka and confronted the Saowon for breaking their agreement with the spirits.[23] After learning their children had been cursed into unending sleep, she ventured into a cavern, noting damage caused by the branch houses. Confronted by dark phoenix-eel spirits, she was struck by a vision of Jetsun trapped in a howling mist. Desperate, she begged to renegotiate, claiming she could impose a longer-lasting burden than a single generation of loss. Three days later, she returned with a new agreement: the Saowon would not regrow their hair for fifty years and adopt taboos and quirks that would ruin their reputation and income. Lohi was furious, but she encouraged him to focus on a future where their clan could eventually prosper again. She returned to Jonduri immediately after reading Chaisee's letter claiming the Avatar's spy had been caught.[16]
Yangchen reunited with Kavik at Tayagum and Akuudan's inn. After learning that Sidao and Qiu had been killed by Chaisee's association, she was devastated, feeling responsible, and fled in panic. Kavik found her at the loudest beach in Jonduri, where she contemplated abandoning the mission, but he encouraged her to continue. She performed a mourning lament for Sidao and spoke words of remembrance for Qiu.[37] Kavik prepared to raid a key warehouse believed to house a logbook on Unanimity. Yangchen briefed him on the plan and gave him Nujian's bison whistle for extraction if needed.[38] When he returned, he reported that the warehouse was irrelevant and that Unanimity was instead aboard the Sunbeam, a ship transporting the project from Port Tuugaq to Jonduri. Leaving Tayagum and Akuudan to protect threatened workers, and keeping Kavik in his undercover position, she departed for Port Tuugaq.[39]
She flew to Shimsom Big Island without resting after a nightmare about Jetsun.[19][20] Exhausted and hungry, she landed Nujian outside the city and used earthbending and airbending to create distractions to slip past the gate into Port Tuugaq. While heading for the docks, she realized she was being tailed toward the eastern district. She defeated two pursuers with earthbending and a third with airbending, revealing herself as the Avatar. Needing a secure place for her captives, she decided to appeal to the Order of the White Lotus, dragging the unconscious bodies by earthbending to a qarmaq she knew they used. She recited recognition codes recalled from a past life to a confused man, who promised to find a higher-ranking Lotus member.[20]
After sleeping and eating stew, she was introduced to "Mama", who immediately realized Yangchen did not personally know the codes. When Mama criticized Yangchen for being too proactive, Yangchen deduced the White Lotus was investigating something significant and offered an information trade. Mama urged her to consider what kind of Avatar she wanted to be, arguing that truth could illuminate more than deception, but inadvertently revealed knowledge of Yangchen's strong past-life connections. Yangchen was shaken upon realizing the White Lotus must have had a contact within her own home, the Western Air Temple. After calming down, she admitted she had sought guidance from her past lives and that none had wished they had been more passive. Mama revealed she was investigating bright lights and noise; Yangchen confessed everything she knew about Unanimity.[40] Mama, surprised, noted that no ship named Sunbeam had docked in the city for two months. Reinvigorated after eating, Yangchen requested to visit the site with Mama of the supposed spiritual disturbance, reaching a large inland hill. Yangchen found no spirits, but Mama noted that there were uneven depressions in the environment. Yangchen cleared a wide swath of snow in the Avatar State, revealing evenly spaced depressions arranged like a target range, damage which Mama noted. Yangchen felt no known machine or bending technique could cause this damage.[41]
Concluding that she and Kavik were wrong about the Sunbeam, she flew back to Jonduri.[42] Nearing the city, Nujian flew directly to a meadow where Kavik's partner Jujinta was meditating and blowing the whistle Kavik had given him. Although Kavik was missing, she gathered Tayagum, Akuudan, and Jujinta and flew them to Bin-Er for protection and support.[43] At Boma's inn, Yangchen and her allies learned that Unanimity consisted of three firebenders with an extraordinary ability – later known as combustionbending – being used as human weapons and leverage against the Earth King. They tracked the trio just before their display of power: Thapa fired a warning shot at the Earth Kingdom army, while Xiaoyun and Yingsu intimidated civilians.[44][43] They first raided Xiaoyun's location, with Yangchen removing the air from the room to knock him unconscious. After Tayagum and Akuudan carried him away, they repeated the maneuver with Thapa just before he launched an explosion toward the Water Tribe Quarter, apprehending him and Zongdu Henshe.[44]
The raid on Yingsu proved more difficult. Realizing her comrades were compromised, she retreated to the gathering hall. Kavik, forced to follow her, entered her line of sight. Yangchen thought he would die, and although Jujinta offered to shoot an arrow, there were too many possible angles. Yangchen hurled herself toward Yingsu, bellowing at her to stand down, staying out of the Avatar State in case she died. Yingsu fired an explosion at her, but Yangchen used airbender speed to survive and reached the hall. Instead of removing the air from the room, she chose restraint and healed Yingsu with waterbending, knowing the woman would have died otherwise. By accepting the Avatar's mercy, Yingsu surrendered, and the final member of Unanimity was apprehended.[43]
Unanimity's loose ends
After the incident, the shangs stayed out of sight, and monks from the Northern Air Temple arrived to provide alms and blessings.[11][45] However, she received and read a letter Kavik had sent while believing she was still in Port Tuugaq, confessing he had betrayed her on behalf of his brother Kalyaan by lying about the Sunbeam's location. When she met with Kavik, she told him part of her truly believed his confession, but she could no longer trust him. She deemed he was no longer her companion, though she stated he could still be an asset with all his connections and knowledge.[42]
Yangchen soon left Bin-Er for Ba Sing Se, where she met with Earth King Feishan, both disguised, in a wine shop in the Middle Ring. Having heard reports of fireballs in the sky, Yangchen told the Earth King the city had fallen out of balance due to its greed. Taking a risk, she blamed him for his mismanagement after he complained about losing face and revenue, and asked to take on the city's administration to ease its residents' burden while increasing the king's revenue. This was granted after she lied Avatar Szeto would make all the calls and her involvement would be minimal. The Earth King mentioned he had received a cryptic message from Henshe before the incident, and threatened he might do something terrible if he learned a man had caused what happened, but still toasted to a brighter future with Yangchen.[11]
Following the meeting with Feishan, Yangchen returned to the Northern Air Temple, where the combustionbenders had been confined to hamlets inaccessible without a flying mount, and Henshe confined to a room in the temple. Thapa refused to give up any more information, and Henshe only offered a lead she already knew about; the role of Kalyaan as his plant within Chaisee's organization. After talking with Thapa, Yangchen was met by Abbot Sonam, who expressed disappointment in her for making jailers of the monks, warning they would no longer be Air Nomads if they got a taste for dominating other human beings. Retreating to the Avatar's quarters, Yangchen pondered what it would be like to retreat from the world and become a figurehead, giving her enough time to find Jetsun. However, Sonam arrived and told her the woman she healed had found her son, which reminded Yangchen of her duty to save others, and that she never gave up on people. She promised to visit the woman and her son the following day.[46]
Aftermath of the Bin-Er crisis
Some time after her conversation with Sonam, Yangchen hid Tayagum, Akuudan, and Jujinta by setting them up with new lives within the village near the Northern Air Temple.[47] Several months following the battle with the combustionbenders, Yangchen fell asleep in a room of Bin-Er's gathering hall she had commandeered for her office. While asleep, she dreamed she and Jetsun were playing keep-away with an airball. Aware of her sister's ability to read her tells, Yangchen closed her eyes and swung blindly, making it impossible for Jetsun to anticipate her motions. She grabbed something, but instead of the airball, she found herself holding a pulsing light she judged to be her sister's spirit. Attempting to return it, Yangchen approached Jetsun, but the older nun drifted away before being ensnared by mist tendrils, at which point Yangchen woke up.[48]
After Boma told her she was late for a planned meeting with both the shangs and Inspector Gu – an official from Ba Sing Se assigned to the city following the supposed spiritual disturbance – Yangchen met the two parties in the main room of the building. Beginning the meeting, Yangchen detailed the need for four new wells in the city, only for Teiin and Nohei to reply the shangs' finances were too stretched to justify the expense, owing largely to funds being tied up in arrangements and loans made with the absent Henshe. In response, Yangchen ordered Teiin to give her his hat, Nohei to hand over her earrings, with Teiin quickly deducing Yangchen intended to have the shangs sell their possessions to pay for the wells. To keep Gu from catching on to the agreement she had made with the shangs – who were playing along with her ruse of a spiritual disturbance to avoid the Earth King's wrath – Yangchen agreed to sell off her glider staff, with the city's merchants quickly rushing forward to make their own contributions.[48]
Yangchen talked with Gu following the meeting's conclusion. The inspector remarked she would likely have her glider staff purchased and returned to her by someone seeking the Avatar's favor, but Yangchen insisted she would do without it, not wanting to undermine her message the powerful could make do with less. She left the meeting hall to be greeted by a massive crowd of people, all grateful for everything she had done for the city. The sight made her feel trapped, knowing her accomplishments were built on lies that could be found out any day now, and Bin-Er was growing too fast for her to manage.[48]
Following the meeting in Bin-Er, Yangchen traveled to Agna Qel'a, the capital city of the Northern Water Tribe, to meet with Chief Oyaluk. Once they were alone, Oyaluk commented on her apparent favoritism toward the Earth King, claiming her focus on Bin-Er was generating money for a man wholly unsuited to be a head of state. Yangchen replied she was merely trying to contain the damage Oyaluk and Fire Lord Gonryu had done with the Platinum Affair, to which Oyaluk assured her he still regretted his role in the matter, and admitted he had only funded General Nong because he thought he would have made for a better Earth King than Feishan. He also revealed his most senior advisors had inspired him to do so over a game of Pai Sho, having told him Gonryu was doing the same, and Nong would have more success if backed by both heads of state. Noticing the involvement of Pai Sho, and having previously heard a similar story from Gonryu, Yangchen concluded the White Lotus was ultimately responsible for the Platinum Affair, further increasing her enmity toward the organization.
Putting her feelings toward the White Lotus aside for the moment, Yangchen told Oyaluk he could make amends for his mistakes at the upcoming convention in Taku, one of the regular yearly conferences between the zongdus of the shang cities. Since the Earth King, Fire Lord and Chief of the Water Tribes would be in Taku to formally renew the terms by which the zongdus and shangs operated – the only time they could interact face-to-face following the Platinum Affair – Oyaluk would have an opportunity to formally reconcile with the Earth King, and Yangchen hoped such a thing would end the Platinum Affair, and thus the need for shangs, zongdus and the ills associated with them. Oyaluk replied the convocations were merely formalities, and the Earth King had had no respect for him during the last one, but Yangchen reminded him she was making Feishan richer, and thus happier. Nevertheless, Oyaluk warned her that her plan would not work, as Feishan had come to suspect his fellow world leaders were responsible for the events in Bin-Er, a revelation that left Yangchen reeling.
As Yangchen struggled to maintain her composure, having deduced that Feishan had learned about Unanimity through the White Lotus, she insisted the incident in Bin-Er was the Earth King's doing. Oyaluk replied regardless of whether or not his suspicions were correct, Feishan was readying his troops to go to war, and the Water Tribe would have to do the same. Yangchen claimed he would be dragging his people into a senseless conflict, but Oyaluk snapped unlike the Air Nomads, his people could not simply fly away to avoid trouble. He assured her he would attend the upcoming convocation in peace, but only to avoid alerting Feishan to his intentions, insisting preparing for war was his only rational option, and Gonryu would no doubt do the same.
Sensing she would be unable to persuade Oyaluk, Yangchen prepared to depart, but before she could leave, the Chief asked after Akuudan, the man being his cousin. Yangchen assured him Akuudan was well, and Oyaluk insisted he could not have gotten involved following his capture, since it could have led to Akuudan being revealed to be a relation of Oyaluk's, thus making him far more valuable as a hostage. Aware Oyaluk wanted to know if his cousin had forgiven him, but unable to speak for her friend, Yangchen replied only he did the rational thing.[49]
Reunion with Kavik and Ayunerak
Following the meeting with Oyaluk, Yangchen traveled to the Spirit Oasis to find Jetsun. Attempting not to dwell on her thoughts, she began meditation to enter the spirit world, but was unable to shake her frustrations about how badly things had gone with Oyaluk, on top of the fact the Four Nations were once again racing toward war in spite of everything the past Avatars had done for them. As she stewed on the idea the world should be allowed to suffer for its mistakes, Yangchen cast her physical body into the spirit world, finding herself near a canyon filled with fog. Entering the canyon, she soon found herself surrounded and accosted by the maddened victims of the Fog of Lost Souls, all trapped in the worst moments of their lives. She identified the scene as the same one the phoenix-eels had shown her on Ma'inka Island, and the fog as a malevolent spirit, before the fog attempted to consume her, forcing her to run. With her last thoughts before blacking out, she begged for help from her past lives,[50] and woke up to find herself back in the Spirit Oasis with Kavik and Ayunerak nearby.[51]
Afterward, Yangchen, Kavik and Ayunerak gathered in a safehouse near one of the branch canals of Agna Qel'a. Yangchen explained to Kavik about the fog, guessing it had spat her out after finding the regrets of all the past Avatars far too much to consume. She told him she had been looking for someone trapped within, but did not mention her sister's identity, causing Ayunerak to ask whether her mission had been worth the risk to her life. Biting back her retort, Yangchen commented on Kavik's involvement with Ayunerak, correctly deducing he had joined the White Lotus. Kavik replied he had no choice, since Oyaluk's Thin Claws had been hunting for him following the Unanimity incident, and he had still needed help getting his family out of Bin-Er. He also admitted he had passed along his information about Unanimity to the White Lotus in exchange for them agreeing to protect his family, with Yangchen admitting she could not blame him for doing so, as she too had once thought the White Lotus could be trusted with her secrets. She mentioned her deduction the White Lotus had deliberately arranged for Feishan to learn about Unanimity, but Ayunerak denied such a thing, insisting the Avatar had no proof to support her claim, and the White Lotus was a neutral party regarding the Four Nations. Yangchen retorted this meant the White Lotus was either corrupt or incompetent, to which Ayunerak assured her the matter would be investigated.
With matters concluded, Yangchen coldly thanked the other two for saving her life, before announcing she would leave to find a solution to the problems caused by Unanimity, insinuating Kavik was responsible for most of them. Kavik urged her to let them speak to her further, with Ayunerak telling her to take him back as an Avatar's companion. She claimed to be offering a trade: In exchange for allowing one of their own to travel alongside Yangchen, the White Lotus would help her fulfill her goal of bringing an end to the Platinum Affair and the strife it had caused across the four nations. Yangchen retorted ending the Platinum Affair was no longer her goal, and she would be lucky to have a collection of ruined and divided cities left over once things came to an end. Ayunerak insisted their two factions could still work together to ensure peace, but Yangchen was skeptical of the White Lotus's ability to influence the world, recalling how it had caused the Platinum Affair in the first place.
Sensing Ayunerak's methods were not working, Kavik convinced her and Yangchen to let him speak with the Avatar in private, claiming he just wanted to catch up with her. Once Ayunerak had left the room – leaving Kavik and Yangchen alone for the first time in six months – Kavik apologized for allowing the combustionbenders to escape before, as well as for sneaking up on her in the oasis, and admitted the White Lotus intended to have him spy on her for them, a fact Yangchen had already deduced for herself. Kavik questioned whether it was really so bad to have someone helping her, citing the incident at the Spirit Oasis, but Yangchen, mocking Kavik, replied she valued her freedom. Deciding to drop the matter, Kavik asked about Tayagum, Akuudan, and Jujinta, with Yangchen assuring him the three of them were okay, but they all had to lie low thanks to Kavik's betrayal, with Tayagum and Akuudan in particular forced to abandon the life they had built in Jonduri. Kavik argued Tayagum, Akuudan, and Jujinta deserved a chance to call him out on what he had done, dismissing Yangchen's offer to give him a blessing of forgiveness on their behalf.
Before Yangchen could reply, Ayunerak re-entered the hideout, having narrowly avoided a guard patrol. She insisted Yangchen needed the influence of the White Lotus to mediate the brewing conflict, before revealing she did not have a means of extracting Kavik from Agna Qel'a, forcing the Avatar to smuggle him out herself to keep him and his knowledge about Unanimity away from Oyaluk's grasp. Yangchen realized Ayunerak had deliberately arranged things this way to make sure she and Kavik would leave Agna Qel'a together; after listening to Kavik react with indignation at being smuggled into a hostile location without an escape route, Yangchen angrily remarked on a saying in Pai Sho and generalship that encouraged a side to make a deliberate bad move to force the hands of enemies and allies. With little other choice, she silently accepted Ayunerak's terms.[52]
Return to the Northern Air Temple
Yangchen smuggled Kavik out of the city by rolling him up in a carpet gifted to her by Oyaluk, alongside several other items. Once they had flown out of Agna Qel'a, Kavik attempted to engage Yangchen in banter about being able to meet famous people, but the Avatar made it clear she was only tolerating his presence, and he could not simply go back to how things had once been with them. She asked about Kalyaan, reminding Kavik of his betrayal in the process, but Kavik admitted he did not know his brother's status or location. He told her Ayunerak had agreed to help search for Kalyaan, to which Yangchen warned him he would likely not receive that help until the next era, claiming if nothing else, the White Lotus was good at waiting.
Yangchen flew toward the Northern Air Temple to drop off Oyaluk's gifts, which would be sold to support the village and hospital. As night fell and she became increasingly tired, Kavik convinced her to land Nujian and rest. Shortly after they set up camp and ate, Yangchen slipped into the life of Avatar Gun and lamented to Mesose how humanity always squandered her help while resenting her for not doing more, before questioning why they had been blessed with an Avatar. Mesose –or rather, Kavik posing as Mesose to keep her calm – admitted he could not answer her question before urging her to believe that humanity was nevertheless worthy of a protector. This answer failed to satisfy Yangchen's past life, who went into mad laughter over the notion she was expected to have blind faith in humanity being able to change, prompting a fearful Kavik to bend a mass of water onto the camp's stove, shocking the Avatar out of her trance with the sound of hissing steam. Upon confirming he had been told about her condition, Yangchen asked Kavik what she had done in her trance, with Kavik claiming she had been complaining to a judge about a competition she had taken part in. He helped her into her tent, whereupon she fell asleep.[53]
The pair resumed their travels the next morning. As they approached the Northern Air Temple, Kavik spotted the village he and Yangchen had traveled to on their last visit. He commented on how it had expanded since they were last there, but Yangchen revealed it was gradually becoming too overpopulated to sustain itself on the surrounding land. She used airbending to launch him out of Nujian's saddle and into some bushes, not wanting him to be seen by the villagers who would assemble to greet her as she landed,[47] before being joined in the air by Mingyur and his flying bison, Fengbao. After Mingyur noticed her missing glider, Yangchen lied and claimed it was buried under Oyaluk's gifts, prompting Mingyur to advise her to keep it close at all times, as he did for the monks standing guard over the three combustionbenders. This caused Yangchen to feel a fresh wave of guilt, as she thought about how her role in bringing the combustionbenders to the Temple had allowed such a way of thinking to take root among her people.
Pulling Nujian away from Fengbao, Yangchen landed and dismounted upon a small grassy slope where the village's people were gathered. She began to make a speech, before being interrupted by a pair of explosions that made her realize at least one of the combustionbenders had gotten loose, with the second blast causing a rockslide that threatened to wipe out the village. Acting on instinct, Yangchen used her earthbending to hold the rockslide back, but soon realized she would need the power of the Avatar State to stop it completely, or the weight of it would kill her. However, she was unable to access the Avatar State in her current position, since the release of energy that came with it could cause damage of its own. She was saved from the dilemma by the appearance of Nujian and the other Air Nomads, who lent their efforts to keeping back the rockslide and allowing her to break away to access her complete power.
Entering the Avatar State and flying with the aid of a sphere of air, Yangchen effortlessly forced the rockslide back and compressed it into a solid part of the mountain. Afterward, she considered how powerless other humans were compared to her, and contemplated remaining in the Avatar State indefinitely, before another explosion caused her to panic and lose control of it as she considered the danger to the nearby people. With the air sphere disappearing, she landed upon Nujian's saddle, and ordered Mingyur to gather the other Air Nomads and evacuate the townspeople while she dealt with the combustionbenders. Once Mingyur had left to carry out her orders, she gathered up Tayagum, Akuudan, Jujinta, and Kavik, and tasked the former two with informing Sonam of what was happening and setting up a perimeter, before sending Jujinta and Kavik to check the room in which she had imprisoned Henshe.[54]
Duel with Thapa
With her allies dispatched, Yangchen flew Nujian toward the hut where she had been keeping Yingsu, only to see the combustionbender hiding behind a large outcrop while keeping one of her guards in a chokehold, with the other guards lying nearby on the ground. Enraged by the sight, Yangchen vaulted off Nujian's saddle and charged through the sky at the combustionbender, but halted her attack when she saw Yingsu gesture for quiet from the prone guards, slamming into the mountainside nearby. An explosion went off close by moments later, but Yangchen held it back with her airbending, and Yingsu revealed Thapa was trying to kill her from the other side of the valley.
Deciding not to question how such a situation had come about, Yangchen attempted to whistle for Nujian to evacuate the group, but Yingsu stopped her, warning she would only be providing Thapa with a big target. Instead, Yangchen earthbent two large stone discs from the mountain and sent them rolling in different directions to force Thapa to let one of them go unharmed, with the monks taking cover behind one of them, and she and Yingsu using the other. Thapa chose to destroy the stone being used by Yangchen and Yingsu, but the two women managed to hide within a shallow ditch, while Yingsu's guards escaped on Nujian. Having been foiled, Thapa began blasting at the part of the mountain where Yangchen had halted the rockslide, seemingly assuming his targets were hidden there, before eventually halting his attack.
With things going silent, Yangchen and Yingsu – unable to move from the ditch without being seen – talked about how the latter had previously attempted to kill the former, before Yangchen asked Yingsu why she believed it was Thapa trying to kill them. Yingsu cited the blast pattern as well as Thapa's own duplicitous nature, prompting Yangchen to laugh at the irony of how Unanimity's members had turned on each other. As the conversation continued, Yingsu, no longer so concerned with safeguarding the honor of her masters, admitted before Kalyaan had had them shipped to Henshe in Bin-Er, the plan had always been to deploy Unanimity within Taku during the date of the convocation. This caused Yangchen to realize Chaisee was planning to use the three combustionbenders to assassinate the rulers of the Four Nations.
Thapa chose to fire off another blast nearby, causing Yingsu to ask Yangchen which of the two would deal with him. Yangchen guessed Yingsu wanted her to use the same means she had used to subdue Thapa back in Bin-Er, unaware of its limits due to not experiencing it herself. In lieu of explaining this to the combustionbender, Yangchen claimed she needed to take Thapa alive, but Yingsu replied she only needed to be able to question one of them, and other prisoners would only be complications, as demonstrated by the current situation. She offered to kill Thapa if Yangchen elevated her to a position in which she could get a clear shot, but Yangchen hesitated, causing Yingsu to warn her hesitation got people killed.
Yangchen made no response, and the two women saw Mingyur flying toward them to aid his sister. As Yangchen tried to get him to turn back, Yingsu urged her to let the monk serve as a decoy for Thapa and buy them a chance to survive, or else the combustionbender would kill all three of them. Instead, Yangchen launched herself into the air and toward Mingyur, quickly concluding she would be unable to reach him in time, and would also allow Thapa to pinpoint where Yingsu was hidden.[55] Indeed, Thapa fired off a blast that would've killed all three of his targets, but Yangchen used her airbending to create an airless void around the explosion and suppress it. Mingyur was caught in the void, causing him to suffocate and get battered by the sudden rush of air filling the empty space, but in any event he was still alive.[56]
Aftermath of Thapa's escape
Yangchen brought Mingyur to the hospital, where she and Kavik saved his life, while the bodies of Xiaoyun and Yingsu were taken to the hospital's morgue. While treating Mingyur, Kavik told her Henshe had been found murdered by Kalyaan, causing Yangchen to remark she should have recruited him instead of his younger brother. Moments later, the village captain and a group of other locals came up to Yangchen and demanded to know what had happened to the gifts Oyaluk had given her, having intended to use them to fund the village's expansion. As Kavik tried to keep the captain away from her, Yangchen replied she had been forced to cut the gifts loose while continuing to treat her patient. The captain continued to protest, to which Yangchen responded by using airbending to launch him out of the hospital, forcing Kavik to catch him using his own bending and a refuse pile.
Yangchen later confirmed Thapa had escaped the Temple by getting a coded letter delivered to Jonduri, which enabled Chaisee to discover his location and arrange his rescue. Soon after, she debriefed her team in a ceremonial chamber of the Temple, assuring them that Mingyur would survive – though he would likely remain permanently deaf from his injuries – and they could continue concealing the truth about Unanimity from the villagers. She told them about Thapa's escape and betrayal of his fellow combustionbenders, deducing he had done the latter to make himself the last of their kind and thus drive up his own value, before having Kavik explain his theory Kalyaan had murdered Henshe, guessing he had switched his loyalty to Chaisee and thus silenced a figure who could have testified about her involvement with Unanimity.
Yangchen told her team about Chaisee's plan to use Unanimity within Taku, and how she would be able to enact that plan now that Thapa was free. She stated the five of them – being the only ones she could trust who knew what he looked like –would have to go to Taku themselves and deal with Thapa. Jujinta asked about having the Air Nomads who had guarded Thapa accompany them, since Taku was much larger than Bin-Er, and they had only been able to find the combustionbenders in the first place because of Kavik's help, but Yangchen only responded they were unlikely to get any further aid from the Northern Air Temple.
Yangchen dismissed everyone except Kavik from the chamber before asking him if he had enough failures on her part to report to the White Lotus and vindicate Ayunerak's opinion on her. Kavik replied Ayunerak should look at her own work before grading Yangchen's, and his own opinion was of no worth under the current circumstances, before reminding Yangchen that the White Lotus had also tasked him with helping her, momentarily surprising her. Before she could reply, Sonam entered the room and requested Yangchen gather four nonexistent objects after leaving, thereby signifying she was banished from the Northern Air Temple. Accepting her punishment, Yangchen swore not to return until she had the objects in question. Kavik meanwhile became outraged and urged her to defy the order once Sonam had left, but Yangchen refused, not wanting to undermine the Abbot's authority, and also wanting to be held accountable for her actions. She claimed if she could not be an airbender when it came to her actions, she could at least be one when it came to the consequences of them.[57]
Conspiring with Yingsu
Following the scene at the temple, Yangchen met with Yingsu in a nearby mountain cave. They briefly discussed Mingyur's health and Thapa's betrayal, before Yangchen told Yingsu that the world now thought her dead, and she would not correct them as long as the combustionbender avoided causing any further trouble with her ability, reminding her that many dangerous people would try to hunt her down over it. She also offered to set Yingsu up with a new life as she had done for her own friends, but in exchange, Yingsu would have to tell her how many other combustionbenders there were in the world. Yingsu replied she did not know for certain, as while she, Thapa and Xiaoyun had trained with other firebenders on an island, the three of them were the first to complete their training and leave, though she offered to pinpoint the location of the island so that Yangchen could search it for herself.
Yingsu expressed concern if Yangchen displayed knowledge of the island, it could serve as an indication that one of the supposedly dead combustionbenders was still alive. Silently remarking on Chaisee's failure to take advantage of Yingsu's smarts, Yangchen considered tricking her team into taking part in a fake mission she could use as her source of information on the island, which would also have the advantage of misleading Chaisee and Zongdu Iwashi, the ruler of Taku. She noted this would mean lying to her companions and putting them at risk despite all the loyalty they had previously shown her, but Yingsu reminded her that those same companions had beaten her and the other combustionbenders, and they could handle themselves.
Deciding not to dwell on the matter for the moment, Yangchen ordered Yingsu to stand up and attack her with her combustionbending, intending to master the technique she had used against Thapa's blast for when they next encountered each other. At the same time, she also wanted to make sure her decision to let the three combustionbenders live would be worth the problems she had had to deal with since the events in Bin-Er. Yingsu initially refused, but Yangchen reminded the combustionbender that she had now saved her life twice, and had the power to decide whether or not she could live in peace. Yingsu pointed out that she could simply kill Yangchen with her ability, but Yangchen replied that, if she did, Nujian would flee with all her supplies, leaving Yingsu stranded in the mountains with no hope of survival. With that, the combustionbender capitulated, and the two women headed to a flatter part of the mountain to begin training.[56]
Yangchen spent four days training with Yingsu, keeping the rest of her team in the dark about her activities. Near the end of this period, she asked Kavik to get the White Lotus's help in keeping the world leaders away from Taku, but the White Lotus were hesitant to lend such aid, wanting to see Thapa deployed in the city so they could acquire him and his power for themselves.[57] Jujinta observed Kavik sneaking away to relay Yangchen's request, but did not understand what he was doing, and Yangchen told him to drop the matter once he reported it to her.
Arrival in Taku
Once Yangchen and her team were ready, they flew on Nujian to Taku, where Yangchen would be representing Bin-Er at the convocation. Though provided with a mansion in which to stay, the team instead secretly took up residence in a safehouse, with monks who had traveled with them from the Northern Air Temple screening them from observers as a last favor from Sonam. Shortly after arriving in the safehouse, the five of them heard the great gong of Taku, and Yangchen explained to the others that it was the city's means of indicating the time.[58]
The night before the start of the convocation, Yangchen gathered her team within the safehouse to work out their plan. She had determined there was no way for the five of them to find Thapa before the world leaders arrived, since not only was Taku larger than Bin-Er and unfamiliar to them, but the convocation meant that there was now a high number of fighters within the city due to the merchants' needs for additional security, meaning a man of Thapa's size would no longer stand out from the crowd. With the world leaders unable to be swayed from coming to Taku, Jujinta correctly guessed that Yangchen therefore intended to go on the offensive against Chaisee, with the Avatar explaining she intended to steal records from Iwashi to narrow down the area they would need to search. Drinking a highly energizing tea used by visitors to the Spirit Oasis, she told her team she expected Chaisee to use Iwashi as an unwitting intermediary for her preparations, since his influence as zongdu meant he could make any arrangement she might need. At the same time, he would also be a much easier target for them to rob than the zongdu of Jonduri.
Continuing her explanation, Yangchen – who had been planning to target all of the shang cities and their zongdus prior to getting held up in Bin-Er – informed the others that sailing was one of Iwashi's passions, with the zongdu preferring to sleep and handle his business affairs onboard his pleasure ship, the Bliss Eternal. She planned to distract Iwashi with a game of Sparrowbones – another of his passions – after the convocation adjourned for the day tomorrow, during which time the rest of her team would raid the Bliss Eternal for information. As the best Sparrowbones player of the team, Kavik would participate in the game with her, leaving Tayagum, Akuudan, and Jujinta to hit the ship.
With the team's plan worked out, Yangchen and Kavik stealthily returned to Yangchen's official residence for the night, the two of them posing as lovers as they did so. Once back at the mansion, she asked him if he was certain Chaisee would not recognize him tomorrow, but Kavik guessed that she wanted to know whether or not Kalyaan might have betrayed him by now. He expressed doubt of this, claiming Kalyaan would have nothing to gain from it, and his older brother would not risk his life the way she would. Yangchen recalled how she had originally coerced Kavik into aiding her before agreeing to help get his family out of Bin-Er, and silently regretted disavowing him as an official companion, believing the two of them would have had an easier time risking his life if he was more than just one of her assets. Kavik advised her to go to sleep first, so he could talk to her if she slipped into one of her past lives, with Yangchen listening to him work as she fell asleep.
The next morning, a maid discovered both Yangchen and Kavik asleep in the same room; though only Yangchen had been using the room's bed, the sight nevertheless reinforced their cover story of being lovers. Once they had eaten, the two of them headed to the council hall of Taku for the convocation, Kavik attending as Master Lio, a fictional grandson of Boma. Yangchen took notice of his discomfort when he saw Chaisee, figuring he was not as sure about Kalyaan keeping his silence as he had been earlier, but Chaisee showed no sign of recognizing him.
The distraction
As part of her plan, Yangchen and Kavik sought to entice Iwashi into a game of Sparrowbones while the convocation was in session. Not wanting to be uncertain about whether or not they had succeeded at the end of the day, Yangchen told Kavik to be more aggressive in doing so, while making it look natural. Kavik argued these were completely opposite cues, but Yangchen demonstrated otherwise by blowing into his ear, seemingly flirting with him and embarrassing him in front of the other attendants. Kavik spoke up a few moments later to remind Zongdu Ashoona of some calculations he had lost track of during the discussions, having kept track of them in his head, while also using a Sparrowbones term to draw Iwashi's attention. Just as they had hoped, Iwashi invited the two of them to a private Sparrowbones game after the convocation finished for the day, with Chaisee selected as the fourth player.[59]
Prior to the game, Iwashi led Yangchen, Kavik and Chaisee through an art gallery he had set up within the hall. As they walked together, Chaisee congratulated Yangchen on bringing the Bin-Er shangs under her control, remarking they now seemed to fear her, with Yangchen replying that people were capable of great change, and the common good rewarded those who tended to it properly. Chaisee prepared to give a rebuttal, but was distracted when she saw one of the gallery's paintings was a forgery, engaging in banter with Iwashi over it as Yangchen observed the two zongdus with disgust. Iwashi led the group into a private parlor, where Yangchen was disgusted to see the room's Pai Sho table had been carved from the heart of an ancient purple rosewood tree from the Foggy Swamp. Seeing the results of such destruction done for vanity's sake nearly sent her into a rage, but Kavik chose that moment to bump into her, allowing her to pull herself back and calm down.
The four players took their seats around the table. As Iwashi proposed setting the stakes at one ingot of silver per point, Yangchen became hesitant to continue the game due to how she would be gambling with Bin-Er's funds, but Iwashi argued it would be no different than what they had been doing during the convocation; risking public funds on ventures they hoped to profit from. As an extra incentive, he offered up the greatest treasure of his collection as a bonus prize, with the treasure in question turning out to be Yangchen's glider staff. Despite the sentimental value it held for her, Yangchen remained reluctant to participate, until Kavik indicated the Bliss Eternal was docked within view of the parlor. With this reminder Iwashi's attention had to be kept away from his beloved ship for her plan to work, Yangchen agreed to play, confident she and Kavik could work together to keep the game even.
As the game got underway, Chaisee revealed she had heard the Saowon clan was getting ready for war in the far future, with Iwashi able to confirm as such due to selling them stone for their Ma'inka fortresses. Yangchen became incensed the Saowon were continuing to scheme for power and influence in spite of everything she had done to save them from the consequences of their past attempts to do so, and Chaisee apologized for not advising her to leave the clan to its fate back in Jonduri, claiming lessons could only truly be learned through pain. Iwashi remarked it was typical of new leaders to place too much faith in humanity, telling the group how he had once been as idealistic as Yangchen until he learned firsthand that, however much good he did for his people, he would be judged and denigrated by those eager to cosy up to his successor. Yangchen claimed Iwashi had simply feared future criticism, but the zongdu remained unswayed, arguing that the source of all the world's problems lay deep within humanity itself. Yangchen stated he would always be wrong, but Iwashi noticed one of her little fingers twitching as she spoke, claiming it to mean part of her agreed with him.
Inexplicably, Iwashi cleaned out the entire table on his first turn with the highest scoring hand the game allowed, depriving Yangchen and Kavik of any opportunity to draw out the proceedings as planned. The zongdu of Taku offered to continue the game, however, but with no limits on stakes, with Yangchen and Kavik having little choice but to agree to continue drawing his focus.[60] The pair soon found themselves losing large amounts of money that could have been invested in Bin-Er and the lives of its people to Iwashi, and at one point Yangchen wanted to give up the mission, but hesitated, and Kavik took advantage of her silence to agree to continue playing, causing Yangchen to consider how well Yingsu's warning that hesitation would get people killed applied to her current situation.[61]
Iwashi continued to rack up winning combinations, particularly against Kavik, until the young man asked for a break and let Yangchen follow him back to the art gallery. Once they were alone, Kavik revealed Iwashi was cheating to get his winning combinations, with Yangchen realizing she had failed to see it herself due to being distracted by the table, the glider and Chaisee's presence. She argued they should catch Iwashi in the act of cheating to force him to annul their losses, but Kavik claimed they should instead raise the stakes as high as they could, since getting caught would not bother the zongdu. After confirming he was not lying about his belief he could outplay Iwashi, Yangchen agreed to his plan, and the two of them returned to the table, where Yangchen feigned reluctance to play further until Iwashi, eager to continue tormenting them, offered to pay out gold to their silver. The game resumed, with Kavik using his waterbending to deftly shut down Iwashi's attempts at cheating and carry out his own, unnerving Iwashi as he found himself no longer able to dominate play, with Yangchen also doing her part to irritate him. As the game continued, Yangchen aided Kavik by using her firebending to heat up the room and facilitate his waterbending, as well as passing tiles to him under the table when necessary, with the pair proceeding to not only recoup their losses, but make a large profit from the game thanks to Iwashi's lopsided bet. The game ultimately ended when Yangchen and Kavik noticed the Bliss Eternal had been set ablaze – the signal Tayagum, Akuudan, and Jujinta had completed their part of the mission –causing Iwashi to let out a scream almost on par with one of Yangchen's.[62]
Aftermath of the mission
Once they had returned to the safehouse – Yangchen relishing the recovery of her glider – the Avatar and Kavik jubilantly celebrated their victory, with the rest of the team joining them shortly afterward with ledgers taken from the Bliss Eternal. After Jujinta took issue with the jovial mood, Yangchen grabbed his and Kavik's hands and claimed they were all a team, but struggled to come up with a reason why they could work together, since she felt Kavik was acting out of self-interest, she knew Akuudan and Tayagum would have preferred to stay retired in Jonduri, and she also knew Jujinta often struggled to keep his emotions in check. In the end she stated she should not have to babysit the team on top of everything else, but this only caused her to keep Kavik and Jujinta from fighting with each other after the former provoked the latter with a jibe about her words. As Akuudan and Tayagum egged the two boys on, Yangchen silently prayed the next Avatars would not keep such company.
As the pair returned to their official lodgings afterward, Yangchen told Kavik he needed to get along with Jujinta, but Kavik curtly reminded her he was not part of the team, causing Yangchen to get angry as she recalled how she had put this aside during the Sparrowbones game. Driven by her anger at Kavik for not making such a lapse, she coldly told him to give her endorsement of his abilities to Ayunerak, to which Kavik retorted he was always happy to help the next time she nearly ruined a city with her plans. The two of them continued the rest of their journey in a bitter silence until they came to Yangchen's room in the mansion, where she offered to talk things out with him, only for the pair to discover Kalyaan waiting for them in the room.
After assuring them that he only wanted to talk with Yangchen, and he had not said anything to Chaisee, Kalyaan congratulated the pair on bankrupting Iwashi, before warning such tactics would not work on the zongdu of Jonduri. Citing the deceased Henshe as an example of what happened to people who interfered in Chaisee's business, Kalyaan advised Yangchen to withdraw from the conflict and let her win. Yangchen refused, and claimed Kalyaan was bluffing when he warned them Chaisee could have other combustionbenders at hand. She moved forward in preparation to attack Kalyaan, only for him to reveal he currently had an agent watching over Feishan, who had personally come to Taku undercover ahead of the convocation's end to investigate the supposed plots against him. If Kalyaan was not able to leave the mansion, his agent would kill Feishan, with Yangchen realizing such a thing would provoke the war she had hoped to prevent.
Kalyaan proposed a truce with Yangchen, claiming he could root out her Taku safehouse along with her team if he chose to try and do so. Yangchen asked what he wanted in return, and Kalyaan replied she was to stop manipulating his brother for the sake of her schemes, accusing her of taking advantage of Kavik's feelings. Yangchen was silent as she considered this, having refused to consider Kavik might have been aiding her out of guilt for his previous betrayal until now, and Kalyaan claimed if she was worth anything, her companions would be following her entirely of their own free will. He left after taunting Kavik, effortlessly slipping past the mansion's servants and passing by Feishan unseen. Yangchen wanted to go after him with Kavik once he had passed Feishan, but a despondent Kavik replied his brother was too good to be caught without his consent. He punched at the wall out of frustration, forcing Yangchen to intervene to keep him from permanently damaging his hands, while also allowing Kalyaan to disappear. As she healed Kavik, she considered whether his actions could be part of a plan to keep her from pursuing Kalyaan.[63]
The island
Following Kalyaan's visit, Yangchen spent the night looking over the materials taken from the Bliss Eternal. At dawn, she learned Iwashi – still reeling from the events of yesterday –had called for a temporary adjournment of the convocation, and saw it as an opportunity to search for the island where Unanimity had been created. Calling her team together shortly afterward, she claimed to have discovered that Chaisee had been using Iwashi's ships to ferry essential supplies to a secret location, and this was likely the place where Unanimity had been developed. Tayagum replied he had not been able to deduce such a thing from his own look at the notes, but Yangchen put this down to him not being as familiar with Iwashi's use of codenames as she was. She argued the location was somewhere in Chaisee's territory, and was likely an uncharted island located away from shipping lanes and Air Nomad flight routes. Kavik expressed skepticism, claiming even if such a location existed, they would have to leave Taku and search for it manually, but Yangchen replied she needed to confirm whether or not there were other combustionbenders within the world. She proposed to take Kavik and Jujinta with her to look for the island on Nujian, while Tayagum and Akuudan remained in Taku to search for Thapa.
The trio began making plans to leave soon after the meeting, Yangchen not wanting to give Kavik an opportunity to pass on information to the White Lotus. Kavik tried to encourage her to take time to rest, but Yangchen – who by this point was using stimulants to push herself at an unhealthy pace – retorted enemies in real life did not take turns with each other, and others had already suffered due to her not taking action.[64] She later watched Jujinta attempt to compete with Kavik for Nujian's affection, and reminded the pair she could turn the bison against them both with ease to get them to behave.
As the trio began their search over the ocean, Yangchen overheard Kavik taunting Jujinta for his lack of wit, and glared at him for it. Kavik brought up how Jujinta had never spoken to any of them about his home prior to Jonduri, and he and Yangchen encouraged the knife expert to open up about it, Yangchen equating it to dropping a heavy stone into the sea. Jujinta replied there was no point in talking about his home, since he could not return there, a claim the other two were skeptical about. Yangchen pointed out time could heal wounds, but Jujinta – raising his voice at her – retorted responsibility for past mistakes never faded, and claimed as the Avatar, she had no idea what it was like to be unwelcome anywhere, unaware she had been banished from the Northern Air Temple. The trio subsequently continued their search in silence until Nujian noticed a flock of seabirds, indicating the island was nearby.[65]
After finding and landing upon the island, Yangchen instructed Nujian to stay on the beach, not wanting to risk exposing him to an attack from a combustionbender. She, Kavik and Jujinta headed into a forest upon the island, where they eventually came to a clearing housing an abandoned compound. Investigating the buildings, they discovered the compound had been capable of housing a hundred people; after Kavik balked at the possibility of that many combustionbenders existing in the world, Yangchen suggested they keep searching before coming to such a conclusion. The trio investigated a larger building dedicated to martial arts training, where they found an old Air Nomad acupuncture map; Yangchen claimed Chaisee should never have been able to obtain such a thing, even when Kavik pointed out the zongdu's hobby of collecting rare books. The trio left the building, whereupon Yangchen discovered a footpath that led to a large temple made from cooled lava. Finding an entrance and crawling inside, she and the others discovered a heap of different-sized iron rings, as well as a chair in which occupants had been forcibly held. As Kavik retched at the implications of what he was seeing, Yangchen ordered him and Jujinta to leave, before following them out a short time later and using her earthbending to bury the place underground. She uttered a prayer urging the spirits to leave the place alone.[66]
With the site gone, Yangchen and her team followed another trail to a seemingly undisturbed cove. As Jujinta questioned what role such a place could play in Unanimity's development, Yangchen noticed a boy and girl observing them from nearby, and called out to them. The boy and girl stepped out of hiding, and Kavik attempted to approach them, but the girl struck him with a blow that disabled his bending before she and the boy ran. Yangchen examined Kavik for injury, but failed to find anything, and Kavik told her he would walk off whatever harm had been done. The trio followed the pair of children to a grotto where they had evidently resided for a while, discovering them in the process of climbing a rock face to escape. Yangchen and Kavik attempted to talk the pair down, but they were unsuccessful, and Yangchen prepared to reveal herself as the Avatar to try and gain their trust. Before she could do so though, Jujinta – who had identified the children as rejects of the island's harsh training program – intimidated them into compliance.
The boy and girl – who gave their names as Raitei and Hsien, respectively – explained they and many others had come to the island's compound from the Natsuo Island chain, having joined up with Unanimity due to a lack of available work. Raitei remarked they were likely coming off as rubes, but Yangchen assured them they had not had many other options when they made their choice. They revealed the non-benders had been trained to use the technique Hsien had performed on Kavik, while the earthbenders had been grouped and taken somewhere close to the island's volcanic interior, and a randomly selected group had been taken to the island's leeward side to learn "herbalism". In both cases, no-one from the latter two groups was seen again, and those among the non-benders who failed to keep up with the others disappeared in a similar manner, ostensibly being sent home with less pay. Raitei revealed several months ago – around the time Henshe had deployed Unanimity within Bin-Er – the people in charge of the compound had abandoned it, with the shipping of recruits and supplies to the island coming to an end. By that point there were only two dozen trainees still alive, including Raitei and Hsien; when they realized the island had been abandoned, the other survivors scavenged longboats in an attempt to escape, abandoning the two children due to a lack of space, only to be hit by a storm and killed.
After hearing the story, Yangchen asked Raitei what group he was in and how he had been trained. Raitei told her he was one of the firebenders, and he led the group to the beach where Yangchen, Kavik and Jujinta had first landed, where he revealed to Yangchen that he and the others had been chained underwater. Yangchen turned pale at this, and waterbent to investigate the seabed and confirm the story, retrieving a night abalone. Raitei explained the goal had been for the firebenders to use the force of their bending to push back against the water that would have otherwise drowned them, with the chains intended to serve as additional motivation. Enraged by all she had learned, Yangchen stormed back onto the beach, prompting Raitei to panic and reveal three of the firebenders – Thapa, Xiaoyun, and Yingsu – had departed the island on a ship prior to the compound being abandoned, the only members of the group to do so. With the number of surviving combustionbenders confirmed, Yangchen announced her intention to leave the island, before tossing the night abalone to Kavik.[67]
Return to Taku
Yangchen and the others departed the island on Nujian. After Raitei and Hsien fell asleep, Yangchen remarked to Kavik and Jujinta that Unanimity had merely been Chaisee's biggest success in her goal to create and mass-produce weapons through the sacrifice of others, and resolved to make the zongdu pay for all she had done. She also expressed a desire to try and return them to their families, before noting Chaisee could potentially attempt to retrieve them, particularly since Raitei would be her best shot at obtaining another combustionbender if she lost Thapa. She remarked hiding them until the heat died down would likely be the best move.
The group landed on the outskirts of Taku and disembarked from Nujian, whereupon Yangchen assured Hsien she and her companions would help the two children. Raitei asked if she intended to take down Chaisee and the people who ran the compound, with Yangchen confirming it and promising to leave the zongdu with nothing. In response, Raitei attempted to attack her with combustionbending; having feigned sleep during the journey, he had overheard Yangchen speak of his value to Chaisee, and intended to try and integrate himself into the zongdu's ranks, with Yangchen subsequently becoming an obstacle to his plans. Realizing the danger Yangchen was in, Kavik attempted to tackle her and Hsien to the ground to try and protect them – inadvertently drawing Yangchen's focus away from Raitei – while Jujinta drew a knife in a futile attempt to stop the combustionbender. Before Raitei could attack however, Nujian flew in and rammed him, putting himself between the combustionbender and Yangchen and taking the blast intended for her. Having never mastered the combustionbending technique, Raitei died from his attempt to use it, but not before inflicting fatal internal damage to Nujian. When she realized what had happened, Yangchen attempted to use her healing on her bison, but was unable to save him, and was reduced to weeping into his lifeless fur.[68]
By now the end of the convocation was drawing near, at which point the security details for Feishan, Gonryu and Oyaluk would arrive in Taku, making further covert operations impossible within the city. A short while after Nujian's death, Yangchen – half-dressed and unkempt in her grief – gathered her team within her sleeping quarters of the safehouse, with Kavik the last to arrive. Recalling how Kalyaan had advised her to let Chaisee win during his visit to her mansion, Yangchen asked Kavik if his brother had convinced him to betray her with the same words back in Jonduri, with Kavik unable to answer.[69]
Yangchen stated Chaisee had already won, and their goal was now to keep Gonryu and Oyaluk from entering the city while the zongdu of Jonduri had control of Thapa. Akuudan suggested they simply warn Gonryu and Oyaluk not to come to Taku, but Yangchen remarked this would likely cause the world's rulers to return to their home nations and declare war on each other. Tayagum proposed Yangchen claim there was a spiritual disturbance that necessitated the convocation's cancellation, but Yangchen expressed doubt such a story would stick. With no further ideas forthcoming, she assured her team none of their suggestions would be rejected, at which point Kavik urged her not to give up, claiming they had so far only tried to stop Chaisee's plans, and suggested they instead look to attack her. He proposed he be used to lure Kalyaan out of hiding – his older brother being Chaisee's top henchman in Taku – at which point he would blackmail the older waterbender into defecting to Yangchen's side by threatening to reveal his past as Henshe's plant to Chaisee, a move that would effectively condemn Kalyaan to a torturous death.
Dismissing everyone except Kavik from the room, Yangchen asked if his plan was intended to aid the White Lotus, but Kavik replied he intended to keep them uninvolved, claiming they were more interested in taking control of Thapa than stopping him, and they would likely use Kalyaan to train more combustionbenders for their own use if they captured him. Yangchen angrily questioned why he was willing to help her now following his previous betrayal, to which Kavik urged her to trust him, just like she had when they went up against Iwashi. Yangchen laughed and retorted they had competed with Iwashi over money, but they were now doing so over the world, while also letting slip she considered her own mental state at risk, a reveal that mortified her. Kavik replied Jujinta had told him to balance the books – i.e. atone for his past betrayal – and doing so was all that mattered. Her resolve broken, Yangchen admitted she was unable to tell when Kavik was lying, and she had already made a grave mistake trusting him once before. Nevertheless, she silently agreed to his plan, having no other options available to her.
Yangchen questioned what they should do if Kalyaan refused to co-operate with them in response to their threat. Kavik proposed Akuudan and Tayagum pretend to torture him in front of Kalyaan to force his co-operation, reasoning he was Kalyaan's only weakness. Yangchen balked at the idea, claiming it would be no better than actual torture, to which Kavik replied she could atone for her involvement in it by spending the rest of her life working to bring balance to the world, and continue to do so after her death. As Yangchen reacted with disbelief at his words, Kavik taunted her by asking if she had had other plans for her next life, prompting her to throw her blankets at him and storm out to organize the rest of her team.[70]
Stopping Unanimity
The morning after she and her team had made their plan, Yangchen returned to the Taku convocation hall for the final stage of the discussions, still grieving the loss of her bison. Noticing the absence of Kavik – who had left to locate Kalyaan – Ashoona asked what had happened to him, and Yangchen almost forgot to use his alias before claiming he was busy looking over discrepancies in Bin-Er's logbooks. She thought to herself how the moment perfectly encapsulated the lack of mercy the Avatar could expect from others.
After Yangchen took her seat at the table with the three zongdus, Ashoona stated the day's business would be light as Taku prepared for the arrival of the world leaders. Despite having studied the process herself, Yangchen allowed Chaisee to explain how the security details of the world leaders would enter the city first to secure it for their charges, at which point the Avatar knew it would become impossible to run any clandestine operations there. Thus, Chaisee's explanation was essentially a claim Yangchen had run out of time to stop her, and Nujian's death had ultimately been meaningless.
Her mind dulled from all that had happened over the last few days, Yangchen asked if she should walk out the gate and back through, causing those in the hall to burst out laughing. The sound of the laughter almost caused her to lash out with her bending, before one of Iwashi's attendants alerted her to the presence of Jujinta, who had come to the hall to deliver a message to her.[71] Reading the message, Yangchen learned the rest of her team had captured Kalyaan, and gotten him to reveal that Thapa was to attack the convocation hall if he heard the great gong of Taku sound three times at an incorrect hour.[72]
Once she had read the message, Yangchen incinerated it with her firebending before slumping back into her seat. Taking note of her distressed state, Chaisee claimed she and the others in the hall had been working themselves too hard and called for a recess, causing Yangchen to think of how her enemy was her only source of mercy right now. The others in the hall departed, leaving Yangchen and Chaisee alone, at which point the zongdu asked the Avatar to join her upstairs.[71]
The two women returned to the room where they had previously played Sparrowbones with Kavik and Iwashi, whereupon Chaisee revealed she had taken on some of Iwashi's debts following the game, effectively giving herself control over the zongdu of Taku. Remembering Chaisee had officially finished the game without winning or losing anything, Yangchen commented on how she always seemed to come out on top, before claiming the zongdu was better than her. Chaisee asked what she was better at, claiming she and Yangchen were business partners, friends and equals, to which Yangchen – now frustrated at being unable to speak plainly – asked if the two of them could drop the act. Chaisee however simply questioned Yangchen's belief that the two of them were foes, before chiding her for letting herself be convinced that her pride was at stake, claiming such a thing should never be brought to the table.
Yangchen responded by using her airbending to blow open the doors to the balcony. Chaisee was unfazed by this and headed outside, with Yangchen soon following her. Upon the balcony, she observed the city of Taku – taking note of the many places Thapa could be hiding – before Chaisee claimed she did not think Avatarhood fair. Yangchen initially assumed Chaisee was referring to the Avatar's ability to bend all four elements, but Chaisee explained she was referring to how people would consistently blame the Avatar for matters like the Platinum Affair, as if they were responsible for every single event in history. Yangchen recognized the seemingly sympathetic remark as an indirect threat of what would happen if Chaisee was defied, and realized the zongdu was trying to turn her into one of her assets. Continuing the conversation, Chaisee suggested people would act with more wisdom if the Avatar did not exist to watch over them, but Yangchen replied she did indeed exist, with Chaisee conceding the point and stating she therefore had to be accounted for.
With that, Chaisee revealed her intent to have Yangchen help her make the office of zongdu a lifelong and hereditary post, thereby granting her control over Jonduri and its trade until her death, while also allowing her son to inherit both afterward. Yangchen asked about the other shang cities, but Chaisee replied she had no interest in ruling them as well, with Yangchen guessing she intended to control them behind the scenes, just as she had unofficially taken control of Henshe and Iwashi. She justified her ambition on the basis that she was the shang system's most competent official, she would raise her son to be equally capable, and she would be able to provide stability in uncertain times. Considering the proposal, Yangchen conceded Chaisee's scheme could indeed allow her to carve out her own domain alongside the existing nations.
Chaisee assured Yangchen allowing her to ascend in such a manner would not lead to another crisis for the world, and both of them could benefit with her as a lifelong zongdu, rather than have to contend with the uncertainty generated by the current system of rotating zongdus. Yangchen figured Chaisee would use Unanimity to further extort her after the convocation, before the zongdu asked the Avatar to help secure her legacy, suggesting they could work on Yangchen's afterward. Yangchen remarked providing the requested aid would require her to ignore all of Chaisee's past crimes, but Chaisee replied the past could not be changed, and it was better to focus on the future. After thinking no-one but her and her successors would ever know if she accepted Chaisee's deal, and doing so would likely save the most lives, Yangchen told the zongdu she thought they could come to a solution.[73]
Looking into Chaisee's eyes, Yangchen admired how much the zongdu had permitted herself to do as she pleased, knowing she herself would never be allowed to exercise that much freedom without being labelled a bad Avatar and Air Nomad. She looked at Taku, thinking of the efforts made to make the city appear perfect on the surface and conceal the unpleasant realities of the industries necessary to support it, comparing the latter to the high volume of chores carried out by the Air Nomads to enable their meditative lifestyle.
Yangchen used her earthbending to seal the door back inside the hall, trapping Chaisee on the balcony, before striking the great gong of Taku twice with her airbending. Remembering how Nujian had died and an island of people had disappeared as a result of Chaisee's schemes, she struck the gong for a third time, and used her earthbending to bend a sheet of rock from the ground and enclose the balcony. By now Chaisee had started to panic; as she attempted to break through the seal on the wall, Yangchen looked inward toward her past lives, not wanting to slip into one of them at this moment. No such thing happened, and Yangchen imagined her past selves backing away from her, not wanting to be involved in her plan.
Satisfied she could remain herself, Yangchen suggested to Chaisee the two of them sit down together, feigning ignorance of Thapa all the while. Chaisee insisted they could not remain upon the balcony, to which Yangchen – eager to see what blind action would accomplish after failing to gather the full picture for so long – revealed her awareness of Thapa's impending attack, before offering to save the two of them from it if Chaisee gave up the combustionbender's location, effectively drawing the zongdu into a lethal game of chicken. Realizing Yangchen's intentions, Chaisee warned that her and the Avatar's deaths would throw Taku and the four nations into chaos, and asked if she could truly depart the world without regret in such circumstances. Yangchen burst out laughing at the idea of someone threatening her with regret, believing she would always experience it regardless of what choices she made in the future, and reminded Chaisee that the Avatar Cycle meant she would always return to the world upon dying. She pointed out Chaisee's death would leave her son without a mother, and sarcastically voiced a belief the zongdu's subordinates would be able to take care of him in her place.
Following Yangchen's remark, Chaisee told her that Thapa was hidden beneath the very hall they were trapped upon. Yangchen responded only by crossing her arms, unconvinced Chaisee would break so quickly, to which the zongdu– now starting to sound desperate – reiterated her claim, explaining there was a basement under the hall. Yangchen replied that Chaisee had told her too many lies for her to take her word at face value anymore, and to go and investigate beneath the hall would mean giving the zongdu a chance to escape. Now truly fearful, Chaisee grabbed the front of Yangchen's robes and shouted that there was no more time, before finally collapsing to her knees and begging the Avatar for her help, admitting her responsibility for the current situation and tearfully promising to do anything to make it right.
Now convinced Chaisee was being truthful, Yangchen ascended up through the top of the enclosure and into the sky with an air spout, finding herself lighter than ever before. She momentarily considered trying to replicate Guru Laghima's ability of unassisted flight, before entering the Avatar State and using earthbending to shift the above-ground portion of the convocation hall to the side, exposing the basement Chaisee had told her about. She descended into the basement, noting its resemblance to an airball court upon landing, and discovered Thapa there, with the sight of him causing her to realize Chaisee had chosen such a hiding place on the basis that no-one aware of Thapa's attack range would expect him to be positioned so close to his target.
By the time Yangchen had entered the basement, Thapa was in the final stages of readying his blast. He looked up at her, and Yangchen noticed both a glazed look in his eyes and a blank expression on his face, the latter a sharp departure from the attitude she had previously seen from him. She tried to convince him to back down by telling him he had a choice, but Thapa fired off his blast regardless, and Yangchen raised her hands, remembering the time she had spent with Yingsu.[74]
As she had done during her last confrontation with Thapa, Yangchen used her now mastered technique to snuff the combustionbender's blast. She thought to herself afterward about how it could have failed, and how she would never be able to keep consistently performing it once her reflexes inevitably dulled with age, but nevertheless accepted she had succeeded on this occasion. Thapa meanwhile lost his earlier blankness and glared at Yangchen, seemingly only now realizing his current situation, and the Avatar smiled at him, aware she gained the most from a tie with the combustionbender. Thapa snarled and fired off a quick blast, forgoing the buildup for it much like Yingsu could do; though taken by surprise, Yangchen managed to suppress the blast once again. The use of the quick version of his technique left Thapa bleeding from his nose and ears, and Yangchen realized he was unable to perform it without killing himself. She shouted at him to stop, but Thapa nevertheless attempted to blast her once again, only to end up jerking to the side while clutching his neck as sparks started going off in the air around him. Knowing the combustionbender was doomed, Yangchen earthbent a deep pit beneath him to drop him down into the ground, before he exploded with enough force to knock her off her feet.
As she lay on the ground following Thapa's death, Yangchen felt herself being pelted by stones and dirt clods flung by the explosion. With no more strength to bend left, she allowed the debris to pelt her, believing it the least she deserved, before eventually getting back to her feet and whispering a funeral benediction for Thapa. She used the steps leading down into the basement to get back onto Taku's streets, where she noticed a small crowd of Taku's citizens staring at her. She briefly considered what story she could use to explain to them what they had seen, before spotting the disguised Feishan in the midst of the crowd, looking furious as he realized his fears of conspiracy against him had indeed been well-founded. Yangchen knew from the sight that she would not be able to deceive the Earth King again after everything he had seen, but pushed past him for the moment, wanting to be able to sleep.[75]
Resolving matters
Following the death of Thapa, Yangchen allowed Chaisee – who had now lost all her leverage over the Avatar – to leave Taku and go into hiding with Kalyaan and her son, while swearing to both her and Kavik that she would not allow the infant to come to any harm. Her intention was to pit both Chaisee and Feishan against one another, and thereby prevent either of them from causing her and the world any further trouble.[76] She knew Feishan would do everything he could to obtain Chaisee's knowledge on Unanimity if he knew of its existence, and he would kill the former zongdu if he ever acquired it, thereby preventing Chaisee from being able to do a deal with him. Under these circumstances, Chaisee and her family would be forced to spend their lives constantly on the move, unable to stay in one place long enough for the former zongdu to rebuild her status and power base, lest they draw attention to themselves that Feishan's agents could use to track them down.
Some time after Chaisee had disappeared from Taku, a disguised Yangchen and Feishan met upon a ship docked at the city. After Yangchen had sailed them away from the coast, Feishan called her out for lying to him about the spirits being responsible for the explosions and destruction within Bin-Er, having seen the truth for himself. Appreciating she could at least be honest about Unanimity now, Yangchen told Feishan about the project, and how Chaisee had planned to use it to assassinate him, Oyaluk and Gonryu during the convocation, as well as how the former zongdu of Jonduri had arranged for Henshe to be killed to cover her tracks. Feishan asked about Chaisee's current location, indicating to Yangchen that he had taken her offered bait, and Yangchen replied only Chaisee had fled Taku after her scheme had been foiled, not mentioning how she had allowed the other woman to do so. She also assured Feishan she had not told anyone else about Unanimity, which was true in a sense; Kavik and her team had seen the combustionbending technique for themselves, and Kavik had been the one who passed the information onto the White Lotus.
Yangchen told Feishan he could stand down the troops he was currently using to intimidate Oyaluk and Gonryu, now that he knew his fellow rulers were no longer behind the events in Bin-Er. Feishan tried to downplay the scale of the operations Yangchen referred to, but Yangchen was not convinced, having previously seen them for herself from the air. She argued such a gesture would be seen as an act of goodwill on Feishan's part, and give him a reputation for benevolence he had never before enjoyed, having speculated that part of him desired to be popular among his subjects. As Feishan entertained such a scenario in his mind, Yangchen imagined asking him to reopen his borders and recommence diplomacy with Oyaluk and Gonryu, thus allowing for the dissolution of the shang system. Accepting such a thing was an impossibility in the world she lived in, she instead proposed she be put in charge of the shang cities and their trade, rather than having them be entrusted to the care of corruptible and fallible zongdus. She reasoned to herself such a strategy would allow her to relinquish the power associated with them in time.
Yangchen's proposed plan would require endorsement from Feishan in front of Oyaluk and Gonryu, but the Earth King took the idea he might provide such support as an insult. Reminding Yangchen that she had deceived him about the events in Bin-Er, he guessed she had deliberately allowed Chaisee to escape, before accusing her of trying to protect Oyaluk and Gonryu from his wrath. He suggested that such measures meant his fellow heads of state and their nations were weak, and voiced the idea he could use his supposed superior position to further punish them for their support of Nong, now that he had recovered following the rogue general's rebellion.
Yangchen was unfazed by the threat, having previously dealt with Chaisee. She warned Feishan that if he tried to start such a conflict, she would provide the Water Tribes and Fire Nation with the means to make use of combustionbending themselves – though in truth she had no intention of doing so – before using her waterbending to signal to Yingsu, who was situated on a nearby boat alongside Tayagum and Akuudan. Upon seeing the signal, Yingsu began using her ability to blast at the air and water around Yangchen and Feishan's vessel, sending the Earth King into a panic as he experienced the power Yangchen had threatened to hand over to his perceived enemies, while Yangchen used her waterbending to keep their ship from sinking. As this happened, Yangchen recalled her previous encounters with Feishan and Chaisee, and thought to herself how it was sometimes wise to feign irrationality and recklessness in front of an opponent.[77]
Return to Agna Qel'a
Some time after dealing with Feishan, Yangchen and Kavik met with Ayunerak within the Agna Qel'a safehouse where they had previously gathered, and Yangchen explained the events in Taku to the older woman. Ayunerak was incredulous that Yangchen had decided to let Chaisee go free, citing the danger of Feishan capturing her and obtaining her knowledge of Unanimity, but Yangchen replied that Chaisee had both skills and resources that would enable her to stay out of the Earth King's grasp. The reply allowed Ayunerak to figure out Yangchen had effectively converted Chaisee and her resources into assets of her own, and commented with bitterness on this victory of the Avatar's. Yangchen herself was unenthused about such a win, knowing she would have to investigate and manage Chaisee's affairs and compensate the former zongdu's victims, but she at least took comfort in having access to Chaisee's wealth. Ayunerak questioned if Yangchen was willing to allow Chaisee's crimes to go unpunished; aware the former zongdu's fate would remain in her hands until either Feishan or Chaisee died, Yangchen was unable to answer, but Kavik spoke up and claimed that retribution was for amateurs, quoting Ayunerak back at herself. Yangchen noted Ayunerak's reaction to this statement, and figured the older woman wanted to throw Kavik into the nearest body of water.
After the meeting with Ayunerak, Yangchen and Kavik left for the Spirit Oasis, Yangchen wanting to search for Jetsun within the Spirit World and reluctantly accepting Kavik's help. As the two of them traveled the streets of Agna Qel'a, Kavik thanked Yangchen for stopping Kalyaan, believing his older brother would have eventually pushed his luck too far and gotten himself killed were it not for her. Yangchen made little response, and Kavik remarked that the Avatar had become "the zongdu of everywhere", with Yangchen replying that she would now be able to use the shang cities' resources to fix the problems there, as well as in other parts of the world, feeling the need to justify such a use of money that was unbecoming of an Air Nomad. She claimed she would own the Platinum Affair, having failed to end it, but Kavik assured her she did not have to convince him, and he trusted in her to do the right thing.
The pair arrived at the entrance to the Spirit Oasis. Recalling Kalyaan's accusation that she was selfishly making use of Kavik for her own ends, Yangchen warned him what they were attempting could be dangerous, to which Kavik reminded her that he had been the one to save her from the Fog of Lost Souls during her previous journey there. Yangchen assured him he had done more than enough to atone for his betrayal of her back in Jonduri, and thus he was under no obligation to help her here if he did not want to, but Kavik leaned toward her and replied that he was not acting out of any form of compulsion. The Avatar was unconvinced of his sincerity, however, prompting Kavik to get annoyed and emphatically state he was helping Yangchen because she deserved it, before asking if he would have to tattoo the message across her skull. With that, Yangchen relented, and the two of them sat down facing each other in the Spirit Oasis, Kavik keeping watch over Yangchen as she meditated into the Spirit World.
Returning to the Fog of Lost Souls, Yangchen attempted to search for her sister, but the sight of the mist's many other victims soon began to overwhelm her, and she was quickly reduced to crawling on her hands and knees, believing there was little point in trying to help others if the successes she had doing so could never last. Before she could break through, she came across an area where the mist's victims were resting upon the ground as opposed to acting out their traumas. Recognizing the place as an anomaly within the mist, she explored further, and discovered her long lost sister sitting upon a rock, looking no different than when she had first led Yangchen into the Spirit World.
Yangchen addressed Jetsun, before hugging her after the other nun asked what she was doing within the fog. She tearfully apologized, but Jetsun assured her she had nothing to be sorry about, as it was the spirits who had taken her to her current location after she had returned Yangchen to the physical world. Yangchen asked how she could help Jetsun escape the fog, but the older nun expressed confusion over the question, before turning to face a man Yangchen had encountered on her previous visit, who had appeared behind Jetsun as if drawn over by the commotion.
As the man lunged for Jetsun, Yangchen attempted to shout a warning, only for her sister to catch her would-be attacker in her arms before soothing him into calmness and lowering him down onto the ground, joining dozens of others resting peacefully nearby. Taken by surprise, Yangchen asked Jetsun what she was doing in the fog, to which the older nun nonchalantly replied that she was reliving the worst day of her life, and fixating on her fears and regrets. The answer gave Yangchen much relief, the Avatar realizing her sister was immune to the fog's effects. She recalled an ancient saying about how those with a strong mind and heart could endure illusions and poison, and thought to herself about how Jetsun was strong enough to share her peace with others just as she had once done for Yangchen in the physical world.
Looking over the resting victims of the fog, Jetsun commented on how she could only briefly ease their pain before they inevitably got up and allowed themselves to be affected once again, suggesting parts of them wanted to suffer and be punished. She guessed Yangchen was in a similar situation within the physical world, to which Yangchen began to break down and claimed that she could not help others the way her sister could. Curling up upon the rock, she spoke of how she did not want to be the Avatar, how she was constantly losing parts of herself – first Jetsun, and later Nujian – and how she did not think her actions were worth anything when the world continued to repeat its past mistakes.
Jetsun took Yangchen's head into her lap, and the two sisters sat silently for a short time. Much to Yangchen's surprise, Jetsun admitted she had sometimes hated her sister, explaining having to take care of her had been a massive source of stress that had left her altered as a person, echoing Yangchen's thoughts on her own trauma. Despite what she had suffered though, Jetsun assured Yangchen she had loved her far more than she hated her, and taking care of her sister had always been worth the pain. She bade Yangchen stand up, and proudly encouraged her to not fear the consequences of missing chances to help others. Yangchen started to protest, but Jetsun told her that she herself could only help a fraction of those trapped within the mist, before asking if she should subsequently refuse to help those she could. The Avatar gave no answer, and Jetsun spoke of how both sisters were where they needed to be, before urging Yangchen to wake up, as Kavik needed her.
Returning to the physical world, Yangchen discovered part of the fog had traveled into the Spirit Oasis through her and surrounded Kavik, who was now reenacting his past betrayal of her back in Jonduri. Unwilling to lose a third loved one, Yangchen waterbent from the oasis's pool around Kavik, forcing the fog to relinquish its hold on him. The fog disappeared, and after allowing Kavik to recover and cough up water he had swallowed, Yangchen lay down next to him, the two of them utterly exhausted. Despite saving Kavik, Yangchen felt guilty; seeing how Kavik had acted under the fog's influence meant she could now trust him without reservation, something she felt she did not deserve. Wanting to make things right between them, Yangchen admitted to setting up the Bliss Eternal mission as a ruse; Kavik forgave her deception, but he insisted she apologize to the others, particularly Jujinta, a demand Yangchen silently agreed to. She revealed Yingsu was still alive, to which Kavik – after reacting to the revelation – asked if she was going to join the Avatar's network. Yangchen replied that she did not know, thinking to herself while Yingsu certainly seemed to enjoy serving her, she would have to choose whether or not to continue doing so.
Yangchen asked Kavik what he planned to do now, with Kavik replying he was leaving the world of espionage, since the events in Taku meant he was no longer being hunted over Unanimity. He added he had asked the White Lotus to arrange for him to become a healer's assistant, and Yangchen recalled how she had been his source of experience in such a role. Unwilling to lose Kavik, even to a good cause, Yangchen took his hand and urged him to stay and continue helping her. Remembering how he had originally been recruited into Yangchen's network, Kavik laughed and told her that he would consider it.[76]
Later life
Yangchen went on to face great dangers together with her team of companions.[79] Over time, she also became well learned[80] and studied many different philosophies, including the writings of Laghima and Guru Shoken.[79] At some point, Yangchen met the leader of the Fifth Nation pirate fleet and signed a treaty with him, according to which the corsairs would leave the Earth Kingdom's southern coast in peace.[4] She also made further pacts between humans and spirits, such as in the case of the Heartwalker of Yaoping Mountain.[14]
Avatar Yangchen died in 345 BG[4] and was reincarnated as Kuruk of the Northern Water Tribe in accordance with the Avatar Cycle.
Legacy
Even though Yangchen had strongly disliked the idea of being treated as some kind of idolized figurehead,[10][40] she became revered as a holy figure in the Earth Kingdom and among the Air Nomads after her death. People in the Earth Kingdom would even pray to her for protection and luck.[4][81] Wayside shrines were dedicated to her throughout the Earth Kingdom.[21] The devotion to Yangchen was such that people even prayed to her when facing another Avatar, such as Kyoshi.[13] Her compassion toward others became a legend and she was remembered for this characteristic of hers.[14] In remembrance of her intervention with General Old Iron, the Air Nomads continued to make yearly pilgrimages to the statue of Lady Tienhai, renaming the ritual Yangchen's Festival.[22] The island on which Yangchen had first used waterbending became a holy site to the Air Nomads until it was accidentally destroyed by Avatar Kuruk.[21] Over time, the Air Nomads made at least two giant statues of Yangchen: one in the Eastern Air Temple and one in the Western Air Temple.[3][82]
Yangchen's political decisions also had a long-lasting impact. Her devotion to her duty as the Avatar ushered in a prolonged period of peace, as no threats of war occurred for an entire generation after her death.[3] Communication between the nations was also a lot more open and calm after her death than it had been during her youth.[83] The Fifth Nation pirates honored her treaty for three generations until it was broken by their commander, Tulok, shortly after Kuruk's death.[4] Her political decisions were also analyzed by scholars, who would write treatises on the subject. These were read by Yun, who was initially presumed to be Kuruk's successor.[84]
Contrary to popular belief, however, her effect on the world was not wholly positive. When humans and spirits came into conflict with each other, she often sided with the humans, trusting they would respect their end of the bargain to take care of the physical world. While some humans did respect the new treaties, as in the case of Tienhai's city, many others did not. When humans violated the new promises, many spirits turned dark. This led to an abundance of dark spirits in the lifetime of Kuruk. After her death, she regretted that she gave the four nations everything they wanted. She acknowledged that no-one was entitled to their every desire, and in order to live in true balance, humans must know when not to take everything from the world, and from each other. The ramification of her choices in favoring humans over the spirits led to her reincarnation's suffering, which weighed heavily on Yangchen in her afterlife.[14]
Appearances during Kyoshi's life
Kyoshi wished to contact Yangchen many times in her early life, though was not able to until she came to terms with her immediate predecessor, Kuruk.
Yangchen first appeared to Kyoshi in a spring located in the forests near Yokoya. Initially, the Earth Avatar thought she was speaking to Kuruk, and gasped in shock, believing she was seeing the ghost of her Air Nomad mother, Jesa. After she realized who Yangchen was, she explained the confusion, causing the compassionate airbender to meet a tearful Kyoshi with a gentle embrace, and she told Kyoshi that all would be right.
Kyoshi raised that she had so many questions, as Yangchen was the first Avatar who could properly guide her. When Kyoshi explained her doubts about Kuruk hunting dark spirits, Yangchen explained that he was forced to take on the responsibility as a direct result of Yangchen's policies relating to spirits, and that every Avatar makes mistakes. She sensed Kyoshi's disappointment, but her successor simply responded that she was confused. She advised Kyoshi that she must give up looking for an easy answer, as even if she spent a thousand years talking to the past Avatars, she would not know how to best guide the world. Before she dissipated, she asked Kyoshi to replace a clay turtle that she had broken, a traditional relic that identified the Air Avatars.[14]
Appearances during Aang's life
In 100 AG, Yangchen was sought out by Aang in the Spirit World, who was in a coma at the time. During their brief meeting, she discussed Aang's failure at protecting Ba Sing Se from Azula. Amid the young Avatar's embarrassment, Yangchen convinced him to not feel guilty for his shortcomings, as previous Avatars had also made mistakes and struggled to successfully perform their duties. Although she told Aang little about her personal experiences, she was empathetic toward his shame and sadness.
Yangchen also imparted to Aang the reason the Avatar takes human rebirth each time: in order to have a desire to protect humanity, the Avatar must feel compassion toward humans and the only way of doing so was living among them. If the Avatar was instead an all-powerful immortal spirit living at the top of a mountain, he or she would not have anything in common with ordinary people. She acknowledged that the Avatar must experience human life and emotions, such as sadness, anger, joy, and happiness, in order to learn how precious human life is and therefore understand the need to protect it. Thus, with every reincarnation, the spirit of the Avatar comes closer to fully comprehending what it truly means to be human.
At the end of the meeting, Yangchen told Aang that the spirit of the Avatar had been healed, though his ability to use the Avatar State was disrupted and he would, therefore, need to rely on his friends, not past lives, for guidance. As Aang departed, Yangchen told the young Avatar that the memory of his journey in the Spirit World would be erased once he awoke from his coma.[85]
When on the lion turtle, Yangchen was the last of his past lives Aang summoned for advice on how to defeat Ozai without killing him, thinking a fellow Air Nomad would easily sympathize with his views and support a bloodless victory over the Fire Lord. Although Yangchen remarked the Air Nomad belief that all life was sacred, she reminded Aang that the Avatar could never detach themselves and achieve spiritual enlightenment as their sole duty was to the world. As such, she imparted him with the wisdom that selfless duty required him to sacrifice his own spiritual needs and do whatever it takes to protect the world, which left Aang deeply discouraged.[1]
In 102 AG, the day before Yangchen's Festival was to be celebrated, Yangchen appeared as a mysterious hooded figure to Aang in Yu Dao and led him onto a balcony. She tried to speak to him, though Aang could not hear her voice. After she disappeared, he eventually concluded that she came to remind him to revive the celebration. When Team Avatar subsequently made their way into a town that was built upon a meadow sacred to the Air Nomads, she appeared to Aang once more, leading him to investigate the grounds of the Earthen Fire Refinery and discover a polluted river. Some time later, she appeared a third time and imparted a vision upon him of a monster destroying a settlement, leaving him to wonder whether it was a vision of the past or the future.[86]
Later that day, when Aang was saying a blessing before having the ceremonial meal of Yangchen's Festival with the Air Acolytes, he crossed over to the Spirit World, where he was able to fully connect with Yangchen. She explained to him that all the Avatars are connected to one another like a chain, so when he broke off his relationship with Roku, he also damaged his connection to all the Avatars that preceded him. However, traditions like the ceremonial meal served as a temporary conduit for them to connect. Yangchen told him of her past dealings with General Old Iron, though before she could complete her story and tell Aang the specifics of the deal she struck with the spirit, Aang's meditation was interrupted by another earthquake.[8]
Aang later repaired the connection with his past lives by re-crafting the fire medallion on his meditation beads. After reconciling with Roku, Aang made his way down to Yangchen, whom he urged to finish her story. After she did, she confirmed that the metal that had been dug up was Old Iron's armor and warned Aang that his return was pending. As Yangchen lamented that her promise had been broken, Aang suggested that he could bury the armor once more and return the land to its natural state. She did not answer, instead telling Aang to return to his friends.[22]
Appearances during Korra's life
Yangchen was among all the other Avatars when Aang passed on the knowledge of energybending to Korra and restored her bending, representing the newly established connection she made to her spiritual self.[87]
While Unalaq was attacking Raava, Korra envisioned Yangchen among the Avatar lineup she had seen prior to regaining her bending; however, her connection to Korra was severed due to Unalaq's assault on and subsequent destruction of the light spirit.[88]
Personality
Yangchen was an encouraging, empathetic woman toward others, including her successors, and was remembered for her great compassion.[1][14] She valued her friends and family greatly, and though usually level-headed and friendly, she could become extremely angry upon seeing them being hurt.[2] Yangchen also disdained unnecessary violence, especially when it was paired with cruelty.[36]
She was deeply afflicted by her constant reliving of past Avatars' experiences to the degree that it resembled dissociative identity disorder or schizophrenia;[2][32] Yangchen herself admitted that the voices "never stop".[37] She used different techniques to force herself to remember who she was,[2] yet often fell into moments where she lost sight of her own reality and even personality. Even after gaining a rough control over the foreign memories as a teenager, Yangchen could fall into periods of possession and panic for an extended time.[32][5] The overlap between herself and the past was so intense that the phoenix-eel spirits of Ma'inka described her as a "hollow shell".[16]
Beyond these direct burdens, her scrambled but strong connection to her past lives meant that she felt tired and trapped as if in an endless wheel: Just as every Avatar before her, she would always choose to help others and try to change the world for the better. However, she also knew that every Avatar had failed in some way, and that regardless of their efforts, the suffering would never fully disappear. Sometimes, she struggled to care any longer about the wider world and just secretly wished that she could escape it all.[46] Yangchen was especially frustrated by humanity's seeming inability to learn from mistakes, including its tendency to break deals with the spirits or to choose short-term gains even if this resulted in long-term problems.[2] As a result of her relativist worldview and the experiences beyond her age, Yangchen was open to different philosophies,[79] and was convinced that no absolute truths existed, including no absolutely correct way to act as Avatar.[14] Despite being raised by the Air Nomads and understanding their respect for all life, Yangchen was thus also willing to put pacifism aside to fulfill her duties, believing that the goal of protecting the world and human emotions justified the means.[1]
Regardless of her private reservations and struggles, Yangchen was never able to just completely give up on herself and others, even as she wished for it.[46] Although the Air Nomads taught separation from the physical realm, she believed that the Avatar could never do this because their sole duty is to the world.[1] She maintained a strong desire to prove herself and to perform her duty as the Avatar, even putting on a facade of confidence during fearful situations.[8] In her duty of protecting life and improving the situation of others, Yangchen displayed a willingness to make deals with criminals and engage in espionage and conspiracies to prevent bloodshed.[2][4][30] To deescalate a situation or save lives, she was even ready to make deals which would cause other people suffering over extended periods.[16] Regardless, this view of the dark side of life and the personal betrayals connected with it took a further toll on her mind.[46][37][42]
Abilities
Bending
As a reincarnation of the entity known as the Avatar, Yangchen possessed the power to bend all four elements. She was known for mastering so many techniques and having immense control over the element, "as if they feared to make mistakes on her presence", she could perform amazing bending feats with the least possible movement.
Airbending
Yangchen was an airbending master, having achieved arrow tattoos at a young age. While in the Avatar State, she could form circular air currents strong enough to even move the sky.[89] She continued to hone her airbending skills even after her formal training had ended.[78] As her native element, she had extreme mastery over it, being able to summon several air spouts to hold her and her companions at once and blowing wind gusts strong enough to knock people away with just wrist gestures. She also used airbending to empower her speed to run past guards crossing a field in the blink of an eye. A signature technique she used was using her bending to raise her voice in order to attract attention to herself.[43] She also invented the "vile" technique of removing air from a room in order to suffocate someone, though her pacifist philosophies meant that she only did this so someone would feel dizzy or pass out, and always returned the air before death could follow.[44][43]
Waterbending
A waterbending master, Yangchen was particularly known for her great skills as a healer, and the four nations loved the image of the Avatar healing the sick with her own two hands. She treated many gruesome conditions, and saw the worst of physical damage.[23] She knew several skilled techniques, such as repairing collapsed lungs to revive a man from the brink of death, preventing frostbite, and sealing wounds through healing.[5][34]
While in the Avatar State, Yangchen was able to melt and wipe the snow off an entire field, accomplishing in minutes what would normally take an entire season's worth of change.[41]
Earthbending
After mastering earthbending, Yangchen showed a lot of skill at the element such as raising and thickening sands to build a shelter for her and a companion. Holding a landslide at bay with a stone wall she summoned. She once used her bending to stabilize herself in the underground flues beneath the Bin-Er gathering hall, and later tunneled a safe passage so that she could escape from the building.[25] When she came to Port Tuugaq, she found herself in a situation where she could only rely on her earthbending, and was able to bend the sod belonging to a house, making it burst and knock out two of the three men trying to apprehend her.[20] In her last duel with Thapa she dropped the ground under the combustionbender to bury him before he blew himself up.
Firebending
While Yangchen often relied on her airbending if she could, she was still a firebending master. She used her bending once to raise the temperature in a room to make people in it sweat. She often used the element to create a candles worth of flame to light her way in different occasions.[25]
Medium
As the carrier of the Avatar Spirit, Yangchen had the capacity to act as a medium, a bridge between the mortal world and the Spirit World. She sensed and comprehended the complex nature of the Avatar Spirit, including its needs for human reincarnation.[85] Her spiritual abilities were extremely strong, to the point of being a hindrance, as she had started talking to visions of past Avatar companions since before she was eight years old.[17] At the age of eleven, she was able to cross over to the Spirit World shortly after her very first attempt at meditation,[18] although she was unable to stop herself from being overwhelmed by a traumatic memory from one of her past lives, leading to the spirits turning dark.[19]
As she grew older, Yangchen started to control her memories by practicing mental exercises. However, she still found it difficult to separate the past from the present. She could still become overwhelmed by her past lives when she was in a situation that could trigger a traumatic response from one of the past Avatars, from phobias to specific experiences.[2][25]
Unlike the usual way the past Avatars possessed the current, Yangchen did not take the shape of the past Avatar and instead kept her own physical form. Furthermore, she would only re-enact events from the past Avatars' lives.[51]
Relationships
Relatives
Appearances
Avatar: The Last AirbenderBook Two: Earth (土)
Appearances: 1
Escape from the Spirit WorldBook Three: Fire (火)
Appearances: 1
Graphic novels
Appearances: c
The Legend of KorraBook One: Air (气)
Appearances: 2
Book Two: Spirits (神靈)
Appearances: 2
Book Four: Balance (平衡)
Appearances: 2
Chronicles of the AvatarThe Shadow of KyoshiThe Dawn of YangchenThe Legacy of YangchenOther Avatar booksAvatar games |
Trivia
- When abruptly asked for the name of the female airbender Avatar at the Pacific Media Expo, Bryan Konietzko jokingly dubbed her "Avatar Susan", indicating that they initially did not plan on developing the previous Avatars aside from the two already introduced.
- In Escape from the Spirit World, she was the only Avatar to not tell Aang of a mistake she made when she was alive.
- This is later elaborated on in The Rift trilogy, as well as in The Shadow of Kyoshi and The Dawn of Yangchen.
- "Yangchen" (Tib: དབྱངས་ཅན།
(dbyangs can), Wylie: dbyangs-can) is the Tibetan name for Saraswati, the Hindu goddess of learning and music. In Tibetan Buddhism, she is known as one of the 21 forms of Tara, a female bodhisattva. - Yangchen liked to use the Avatar State to power her airbending in a meadow near Yaoping Town.[78]
- Although Yangchen did not appear in The Last Airbender, the accompanying prequel manga, The Last Airbender Prequel: Zuko's Story, featured additional information about Yangchen, such as her building a hermitage near the Eastern Air Temple where she retired to in her later years.
- F. C. Yee has commented on the fan interpretation of Yangchen as an aromantic and asexual character, saying that it is an extremely valid and fitting interpretation, but that he did not intend this from the beginning.[83]
- In her youth, Yangchen cringed at the idea that people would probably create statues of her in the future, and expressed the hope that hers would be smaller than usual, as she did not "need everyone staring at my giant head for eternity".[10] Ironically, the Air Nomads built at least two giant statues of Yangchen after her death.[3][82]
- While most Air Nomads were largely immune to the cold weather, Yangchen was not as good at it and greatly disliked cold temperatures.[2]
| Preceded by Szeto |
Avatar Unknown - 345 BG |
Succeeded by Kuruk |
| Preceded by Henshe (as Zongdu) |
Protector of Bin-Er Year 17 of era of Yangchen - Unknown |
Succeeded by Unknown |
| Preceded by Chaisee (as Zongdu) |
Protector of Jonduri Year 17 of era of Yangchen - Unknown |
Succeeded by Unknown |
| Preceded by Ashoona (as Zongdu) |
Protector of Port Tuugaq Year 17 of era of Yangchen - Unknown |
Succeeded by Unknown |
| Preceded by Iwashi (as Zongdu) |
Protector of Taku Year 17 of era of Yangchen - Unknown |
Succeeded by Unknown |
References
ar:يانجتشين de:Yangchen es:Yangchen fi:Yangchen fr:Yangchen he:יאנגצ'ן id:Yangchen ms:Avatar Yangchen nl:Yangchen pl:Yangchen pt-br:Yangchen ru:Янгчен uk:Янгчен vi:Yangchen
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