Harmonic Convergence revolutionized the status quo in The Legend of Korra. Whereas Avatar: The Last Airbender established Aang as the only surviving member of his people, the spiritual events of Korra granted many nonbenders throughout the world with the unique wind-twisting abilities.
However, it forgot the one person who deserved those abilities most. Why in the world did anyone else get airbending when Pema didn't? She absolutely deserved it.
Nearly all airbenders were wiped out following the Fire Nation's attack at the start of the Hundred Year War that dominated the original series. Although Aang managed to survive and carry on the legacy of his people throughout his life, it came down to his children to carry that legacy on past his eventual demise. After his first son Bumi and his daughter Kya were both not born airbenders, it was his youngest, Tenzin, who shouldered the full weight of that responsibility. Luckily, there were plenty of converts to the philosophies of airbending from all around the world to help him -- people who believed in the righteousness of the Air Nomads' way of life.
Perhaps most important of all of them was Pema -- an acolyte who eventually won Tenzin's heart and became the mother to his children. Tenzin and Pema's partnership brought more airbenders into the world than ever before, as their first three children all proved to have the ability. When it came time for her to have a fourth child, the put-upon mother even expressed her hope that they would be a nonbender like her due to how exhausting raising her previous children had been. However, when Harmonic Convergence happened, everything changed.
Airbenders suddenly appeared all around the world as nonbenders gained the unique abilities. It seemed like there was some logic behind how the Harmonic Convergence chose which nonbenders gained the abilities. There was Zaheer, the imprisoned would-be kidnapper of Aang's successor, whose dedication and study to Air Nomad philosophies made him an instant expert in the elemental martial art. Even Bumi, Aang's first child, gained the ability to airbend. And yet somehow, Pema went entirely ignored.
Pema was arguably every bit as committed to the teachings of airbenders as Zaheer ever was. The Air Acolytes abandoned many of their worldly possessions and citizenship among the other nations for their position, and certainly in her role as a loving and dutiful mother, Pema provided invaluable contributions to those traditions surviving. Zaheer's violent methods and Bumi's total lack of Air Nomad attitudes would seemingly count against them when it came to deserving Harmonic Convergence's rebalancing of the scales -- yet the scales were never more off than where Pema was concerned.
Of course, there's always the possibility that Pema really did gain the abilities and simply never told anyone. She received little attention through the sequel series of The Legend of Korra or indeed the successor comic books that continued the tales of its characters. Finding out that she had her own ability to airbend and kept it to herself could be a remarkable turn for the character in future installments.
However, for the time being, it seems it would be safer to assume she never gained the abilities at all. And this is a shame -- the beleaguered mother had it hard enough throughout the series. A little airbending could certainly help lighten her load.
