He still has a ways to go before he can match Azula, though. I think he'll manage it.

I think he's probably on the level of Azula already, that chick was crazy at the end but most everything else was calm and calculating, much like Amon, who is even more scary because he makes YOU the villain to the public's eyes while you are trying to face him.

There is also no easy way to tell if someone is one of his supporters or not. unlike the fire nation where you could assume people would be loyal and everyone no fire nation would be against them.

So far normal chi blockers have been shown to the equal to what Azula did, succeed merely by appearance and require extreme luck or surprise to be beaten or bested. The smartest thing they are doing is not putting Amon in a fair fight vs the Avatar, because either way if you fight someone you know about them, they lose of their mystique.

If you best them then they don't seem like as much of a threat, if they beat you and you survive then they lose some tension to future conflicts.

So far Amon has been untouchable and mysterious. we don't know who he is or even if what he says about himself is true, he could be anyone. He could be ZUKO, but then I would have to hate the entire series for being so boring and stupid.

Right now Amon is Syler from the first season of Heroes. All we know for sure is he seems to have a devastating power and be unstoppable in combat. As soon as he gets defeated he loses those things and becomes a pushover.

In-universe, I'll agree that he's at least on the level on Azula, if not beyond her. But out here? Ehh... he's doing a damn fine job, but the level of menace she managed to build up by the end of Season 2 is not something you can build in the time he's had. He's definitely getting there and getting there fast, though, for pretty much exactly the reasons you list. And because it's entirely possible that Amon may not even be a man. Being faceless means it could be any number of people posing as a single person.

Also, calling it now: I think Amon is tied to Koh the face stealer.

I disagree. When Koh steals a face he takes everything. The one thing we know about Amon's face is that he has eyes, they are clearly visible.

I'm not saying it wouldn't be cool if he was, just that it seems not to fit. Had Amon been an agent of Koh I feel he would have also extracted some sort of price from the Avatar. Koh seemed to just want to steal faces. Imagine how it would be to steal Korra's when Amon had her all tied up and vulnerable in episode 4 I mean the girl is all emotion so it would be a simple task.

Part of me wants it to be somehow related to one of the freedom fighters. They always were a favorite villains of mine from the first series because they reminded you that not everyone who fought the firebenders were just and righteous, and not everyone in the fire nation was deserving of vengeance. Also their first appearance also allowed Sokka to showcase his particular brand of resourcefulness and helpfulness while the people with bending were kinda useless (Which is always a plus)

Thought I do like the idea that Amon could be a collection of individuals, in a sense that would give him pseudo immortality. even if they cause one Amon another could just insist that one was an impostor and he was the real Amon. Thus discrediting the benders and the city's government for cachting and harassing an innocent man.

BTW who is starting to think that maybe a new 100 year war wouldn't be such a bad thing... it would probably distract from Amon's anti-bending call. It's hard to preach anti bending to a mass of people who want the benders to protect them from the bad people.

He didn't say he WAS Koh but tied to him. There is a lot of symbology in Avatar and some of that is foreshadowing Koh... maybe.

Plus, unless I missed something, there really isn't any explanation of what precisely happens to somebody that Koh has stolen from. The face-stealing may only be spiritual. Indeed, having your face stolen could leave you a puppet for Koh. Among many, many, many other possibilities.

One thing is certain: Using spiritbending at all, let alone to seal someone's bending, is something that was forgotten by all but the oldest of creatures (like the lion turtle). Koh is an ancient, ancient spirit, and seems very ... wise, if malevolent.

There may be a touch of wishful thinking in there too. Koh was really damn cool, and one of my biggest gripes about ATLA is that Koh never came back.

Did I miss something, the most recent episode I saw was the fire ferrets getting into the finals of the pro-bender tournament.

Naw that's it till next weekend. I'm bummed because I'm used to having avatar on Netflix for me to watch one after another

So finally watched and got caught up with this.

Only 5 episodes in and it is already more tight and solid in its structuring and development than the best ATLA had to offer. In fact, Its deeply gratifying to see the creators/writers finally finding their feet and come back with something that, so far, is well honed. it's so good, it nearly doubles as an apology for season 3 ATLA.

This is definitely a show I will continue to follow.

I never felt Avatar needed to apologize for season 3. It was really good. Thought the whole Spirit bending makes more sense now.