Ah. My assumption was that he didn't fully unlock it, like he was in the process and getting killed stopped him from doing it. But then again, he did go into the Avatar state. So when the Guru told him he had to give up his love for Katara, did he not mean literally?
Again, this goes into some very abstract, conceptual stuff. But the gist of it, as I understood it, it deals with love as attachment. The purpose of the avatar is to be connected not to just any one person, but the entire world. The avatar must strive to love every person on earth. His love for Katara remained, but it's not a love that's bound by earthly attachment. It relates to the previous Air Chakra. Aang loved and was loved by Monk Gyatso. He died, but his love remained, and was transferred to Katara. So, he's basically saying he's let go of the attachment he has to Katara, but not the love, which can go be transferred to anyone else. So basically he loves her, but he's not in love with being in love with her and he's able to project that love on others.
Ah okay. Was getting confused. SO I'm not entirely crazy (well, clearly I am with how much I obsess over this show). Anyways, my head hurts. I think while we disagree on certain aspects of this (more so the technical aspects). But I think we both agree that Aang being able to give her energy bending and being able to fix her was pretty poorly handled (if not illogical given what past stuff we've heard about the spirit world, and how past avatars interact with current avatars).
All this said, I was never defending the actual ending from a writing stand point. Even if the writers could explain how Aang was able to do it, and it all made sense without being a retcon or stretching it, I still think it was a mistake to wrap it all up so quickly at the end of the season. And even from a character arc perspective, it's dumb to give her control of the avatar sate + energy bending so soon, and easily.
Fair enough. I think we can end it here, since all we disagree on are technicalities. It's one of the most peaceful debates I've had over this, really.
Pretty much like you just said, it doesn't excuse it. There are plenty of ways they could have done it, even if they were to end it on the cliffhanger. I would not have been upset about the series ending with Korra finally humbly learning that she needs to buck down and really learn spirituality as it is meant to be.However, I always keep in mind this was supposed to be ONE season originally. Not that, that excuses their writing decisions. Even had this been a stand alone plot, they shouldn't have written a plot in the first place that required that to fix Korra getting her bending taken away.