ty lee is a descendant of airbenders and you can’t convince me otherwise: a thread

so to start off i wanna clarify i know that this is a very popular theory and lots of people already believe in it!!

i’m just collecting all the reasoning and arguments i’ve seen so far wnd putting them all together :)

first & most obviously, her appearance. ty lee has big grey eyes, similar in shape + color to aang’s. unlike every other fire nation character we see, her hair is brown (like jinora in lok) and not black. it’s also rumored her identical sister played aang in the ember island play

here’s some more examples of her looking like an airbender!!

next, her spirituality.

historically, the air nomads were by far the most spiritual of all the nations.

ty lee is very spiritual and this sets her apart from her fire nation background and peers. she listens to the universe and pays lots of attention to auras and energies.

another thing is her fighting style. ty lee is agile and light on her feet, and always moving– just like airbenders.

a key part of air nomad culture is nonviolence. ty lee’s signature move is chi blocking, a NONVIOLENT (and temporary) way to render your opponent useless.

these are all big things that point to her character being influenced by airbending/air nomads, but they don’t necessarily mean she’s a descendent of airbenders.

i have evidence for that, and i’ll be talking about how it’s very likely for her ancestors to have been air nomads.

in tlok, lots of brand new airbenders were found in ba sing se. ba sing se is not only an ideal place of refuge due to its immense size and population, but it’s also very close to the EASTERN AIR TEMPLE. there’s an incredibly high probability many airbenders sought refuge there.

similarly, lots of calls of new airbenders came from the earth kingdom around republic city.

not-so-coincidently, this area is bordering the WESTERN AIR TEMPLES.

just as many airbenders took refuge around the earth kingdom, many probably also went to the fire nation.

ty lee’s ancestors came from the western air temples and escaped to the fire nation, then blended in just as hama did.

we don’t know much about air nomad culture prior to the genocide, but we do know what happens when an air nomad leaves– it’s why ty lee is a nonbender.

(credit to mia @stcrryeyes for the last part of this theory!)

avatar kyoshi’s mother was an airbender– it’s where she got her fans from. her mother needed those fans because leaving the air nation and becoming a criminal “tainted” her spirituality and made her airbending weak.

that’s why ty lee is a nonbender. her ancestors had to give up their spirituality and culture to live in the fire nation. this “tainted” their airbending and caused it to die out by the time ty lee was born. had her ancestors been spiritual, she would likely be an airbender.

end of thread!

i firmly believe ty lee is a descendent of the air nomads. her design, her spirituality, geographical factors and even airbender lore supports this theory!! all bryke has to do is confirm it

let me know if i missed anything!!