Avatar State

In the American animated television series Avatar: The Last Airbender, the Avatar State is a defense mechanism that only the Avatar can utilize.

As the primary and current incarnation of the Avatar in the series, Aang mainly assumes this state. It was the Avatar State that kept him alive within an iceberg for a century.
Background
Initially, Aang (or presumably any Avatar) triggers the Avatar State when he is in potentially fatal physical danger or under extreme emotional stress. Through this, the Avatar sends a psychic distress signal to the Avatar Spirit, to which all of the past Avatars respond by augmenting the current Avatar's strength and power. In the Avatar State, all the knowledge and experience of the former Avatars are channeled into the current one, providing him or her with untold potency. However, Aang was also warned by Avatar Roku that though seemingly near-invincible in this state, if he is killed while in it, the Avatar cycle will be broken and the Avatar will cease to exist.

Mastering the State
Aang travelled to the Eastern Air Temple to attempt to master the Avatar State under the guidance of Guru Pathik. He was to do this by opening the seven chakras, or pools of spiraling energy, within him. Once opened, not only would his judgment and disposition be clearer, but Aang would also gain complete control of the Avatar State, entering and exiting it at will and remaining conscious of his actions while in it. Guru Pathik warned, however, that to interrupt the process of purging his chakras before all seven have opened would mean that Aang would not be able to enter the Avatar State at all.

Despite Pathik's warnings, Aang refuses to unlock his final chakra, the Thought Chakra, because it would require spiritually letting go of Katara as an earthly attachment in light of the grand scheme of the cosmos. During his metaphoric journey to reach mastery of the Avatar State, Aang has a spiritual vision of Katara in danger, which prompts him to return from his meditative state and go rescue her. In "The Crossroads of Destiny," Aang attempts once more to master the Avatar State by sorrowfully letting go of Katara. Aang didn't succeed in controlling it completely, as Azula shot Aang down with a bolt of lightning just after he entered the state, almost killing him, thus the Avatar Spirit was almost destroyed in the process as well.

In the online game "Avatar: Escape from the Spirit World", Aang returned to the Spirit World and successfully managed to heal the Avatar Spirit by reconnecting with four of his previous incarnations: Avatar Roku, Kyoshi, Kuruk, and Yangchen. However, according to Avatar Yangchen, Aang's ability to enter the Avatar State has been disrupted, and for the time being he won't be able to call upon his past lives for guidance and strength aside from his immediate past life, Avatar Roku.

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