Dragons and the Rising Sun
The decoration on the boxes containing Sozin’s multiple testaments mimic the two dragons and the rising sun we see in “The Firebending Masters”.
Look closely and you can see two dragons with a Fire Nation flame symbol in the middle.
Fire of Exalted Wisdom
The fire Zuko and Aang get given from the Chief symbolizes wisdom.
Remember Roku’s statue in the first season? The decorative flames behind him are called “Flames/fire of exalted wisdom”.
If you compare the flame filled door/alcove behind the Chief with the flames on Roku’s statue you will notice that they are similar in shape. Both share the tear-drop shape and the multiple layers, implying that, since they are from the same nation, they also share the same fundamental idea: wisdom.
Which makes sense in the greater scheme too: Zuko and Aang carry the flame of wisdom to the dragons, who then grand them wisdom (the true nature of firebending) by engulfing them in flames aka wisdom.
Image source: One
The Dragon will Hatch on the Next Solstice
Remember Avatar Roku’s temple in Season one, how the sun hit the statue on the Winter Solstice? Now compare the floor pattern and the door/sun opening mechanism in the Sun Warrior temple. They match.
On the Sun Warriors’ island Zuko tricks the door into opening, it was not yet time for it to do so. When Zuko and Aang do the dragon dance/imitate the ceremony, the egg rises, but since they’re too early, it does not hatch.
What this implies is: On the next solstice, when the sun hits the red gem and opens the door, the sun warriors will gather for the ceremonial dance. The egg will rise from the floor and the dragon will hatch.
dragon dance - dragon egg - dragon hatching
Fire Nation Origins – What does canon show us?
The misconception that the Fire Nation is mainly based on Japan, and that Fire Nation Japanese elements make up the majority of the Fire Nation culture, has been around for a while. Since I get asked about this topic several times a week, I have decided to make this a feature. Please note that this post is not about what you do in you fanfic or fanart, which is your own choice, but about what we see in the show.
We are going to take a closer look at the Fire Nation’s language, clothing and armor, geography, political system, architecture, food, hairstyles, names, festivals, traditions, weapons and last, but not least, real world parallels.
Geography
The landscape of the Fire Nation is composed from elements from several different regions/countries: Iceland, South East Asia, Mesoamerica and Japan.
Iceland
Ever wondered why the Fire Nation doesn’t look lush and tropical?
That’s because a lot of it is inspired by the landscape of Iceland e.g. Sokka’s waterfall is modeled on the Gullfoss (Golden Falls) Waterfall in southern Iceland, and the landscape around Hama’s village on the Herðubreið mountain in north-eastern Iceland.
Iceland was also the model for most of the Fire Nation’s volcanic landscape:
BRYAN: … I wanted to go somewhere that would serve as a model for designing the Fire Nation’s volcanic landscape. I ended up fulfilling a lifelong dream and visited Iceland … the landscape was raw, rugged, and violent, with a terrible beauty that perfectly encapsulated what I had in mind for Zuko’s turbulent homeland. I shot thousands of photos and edited them down for the background designers and painters … all these efforts helped us to give the Fire Nation a distinct geological flavor separate from every other locale we had seen in the Avatar world. (Art Book, page 132)
Thailand and South East Asia
There are a few times when the Fire Nation appears tropical. Mainly on Ember Island and the Sun Warriors’ Island.
Ember Island’s landscape and architecture, especially the beach (minus the black sand) is strongly influenced by Thailand.
Mesoamerica
While for the Sun Warrior’s island we gotta go to South America: Their jungles and mountains are mesoamerican.
Japan
The Fire Nation’s geographical shape i.e. long drawn out island chain and the volcanic nature of the islands does remind of Japan’s geographical shape.
All Roads Lead to the Forbidden City
Take a close look at the dragon water spouts at the Sun Warrior temple.
Not only the spouts, but the stair design is modeled on the Forbidden City in Beijing. The Forbidden City has shown up as an underlying style element in a lot of ATLA, especially in the Earth Kingdom and Fire Nation the capitals.
I do not think this is unintentional, or just lazy. Remember the Confucius quote on the map in the opening? Unite the World!
Throughout the whole show we have the underlying theme of: The four nations are actually one, that all the nations have a lot in common, that only superficial differences keep them apart and that it is the Avatar’s job to bring them back together, to unite the world, in harmony.
The Imperial Roofs of the Fire Nation and Earth Kingdom
Ran and Shaw
Ran and Shaw’s aka Ran and Shao’s names are very obvious puns.
Ran 燃 means ‘to burn, to ignite’
while
Shao 烧 means 'to burn, to roast’.
When you combine the two characters into 燃烧 (ran shao) it means 'to combust’.
Very fitting dragon names indeed :D
Here be Dragons Instead of Snakes
Love little details like this, how ATLA design always went that one extra step that makes the show so awesome.
Just look at how the Mayan snake god Kukulkan*, shadowy body winding up the pyramid during the Equinox, becomes a dragon to fit the universe but also the setting they picked for the Sun Warriors.
*related to the Aztec god Quetzalcoatl
Image source: One, two
Indiana Zuko and the Raiders of the Lost Dragons
ATLA loves sneaking in movie references. The Firebending Masters pays homage to Indiana Jones Zuko.
Sun Warrior Ruins
The Sun Warrior Ruins, architecturally and geographically are based on Mesoamerica, not Angkor Wat and the Khmer.
The temple we see on the right hand side when Appa flies in, is based on a Mayan pyramid/temple. The location, on the other hand, with the high mountains surrounding a lush jungle, are more reminiscent of the Incas i.e. compare Machu Picchu.
The Sun Warriors were descendents of the most ancient Firebending culture. The designers looked at Mayan ruins for inspiration. (Art Book, p.156)
Look, more Mayan pretty. Thank you, linkogecko!
