 New growth cannot exist without first the destruction of the old Anarchy is the condition of a society entity group of people or a single person that rejects hierarchy Zaheer has somewhat of a mysterious background his nation his achievements and frankly his past is quite vague But Zaheer belongs to a high-powered highly dangerous organization known as the Red Lotus He alongside the lava bender Ghazan the armless waterbender Minghua and the combustion bender Pali are amongst the strongest and most dangerous criminals in the world and that a time ago It took Chief Saka Fire Lord Zuko, Tenzin and Tanrock all of their might to take these four down and have them placed in specialized prisons that hinder each of their abilities a wood prison for an earthbender a frigid Tundra-esque prison for the firebender a waterless prison for the waterbender and they place Zaheer in the highest of mountains detached from society and Each four consistently checked upon by the white lotus in specific coordinated and precise shifts Their crimes are most likely similar to the ones we see them commit when they try to kidnap core as a child and Try to change the world Zaheer and the Red Lotus philosophy is based off of anarchy But as we know Zaheer is greatly influenced by Guru Lahima Though not explicitly stated it seems that Zaheer and Guru Lahima have the same ideals, but they approach them in a different way Lahima is an Air Nomad Guru long before the time of Zaheer He was most likely an anarchist as well But a peaceful one like Leo Tolstoy the Russian philosopher who believed in the elimination of governments in hierarchy But by their own course By natural development not by force Zaheer's beliefs constantly reiterate the notion of freedom an Airbender mindset, but since he did not grow up with the Air Nomads pacifistic views and what around the Air Nomad monks Zaheer decides to execute his plan in an aggressive fashion The Red Lois leader believes that if all nations and their leaders are torn down the world will fall back into its natural order It's natural state disorder, so his goal beginning with the execution of the earth queen Was to eliminate all world leaders and the avatar In order to have himself foster this new world With the spirits already living amongst humans he believed that all there was left to do was to take down the government And that doing so would usher a new growth as per the teachings of Guru Lahima But with great ideas You do need great power So I also want to look at his ability We can only imagine Zaheer before he received his airbending and to what degree his abilities were All we know is that he was a master martial artist and his threat level seemed to be quite high as he was equally as detained As his more uniquely skilled friends But Zaheer as the airbender we know completely opposes the calm serene nature of the air nomads Ang and Tenzin to a lesser degree were very traditional airbenders. They focused on avoidance and evasion Using air as a defensive measure Rarely using it offensively And conversely Zaheer was the only offensive aggressive airbender we've seen Zaheer uses the gift of air as an extension of his martial art knowledge The air nomad martial art by Guajang is specialized for airbending And when Tenzin and Zaheer go one-on-one It is shown that a freestyle form of airbending will always lose against one rooted in fundamentals And later on we see Zaheer lose his love Pali Allowing himself to become untethered by any earthly possessions Like Gula Hima He lets everyone and everything go similar to the thought chakra that is blocked by earthly attachment Zaheer becomes wind and he gains the ability to fly Although Zaheer's methods were forceful the intentions behind his plan Weren't inherently bad nor is he an inherently bad person His intentions were to allow the world to flourish in its natural state of chaos But this very thought would have executed the opposite Zaheer realizes that his thoughts are flawed and later helps the avatar in her own spiritual and mental journey Zaheer's flaw was that he was short-sighted and deeply rooted in his beliefs Yes, for that instant getting rid of the earth queen was a good idea But he did not foresee what this vacuum of power later revealed itself to be We know that this vacuum created Kuvira and her government Zaheer could not see any possibility other than chaos If the world itself by virtue of Tolstoy's beliefs removed all its own hierarchy And proceeded by natural peaceful order then maybe it could work Due to individuals understanding their own responsibility to the world and to others But by force it becomes brash unstable and people's future actions and reaction to the situation would be unpredictable Because freedom without responsibility is selfish Instinct is a lie told by a fearful body hoping to be wrong Was that supposed to mean it means that when you base your expectations only on what you see You blind yourself to the possibilities of a new reality