Kyoshi is one of the most prominent Avatars in Avatar: The Last Airbender. During her time as Avatar, she defeated Chin the Conqueror and founded both the Kyoshi Warriors and the Dai Li. Kyoshi accomplished many things, but her long life span is by far her most bizarre characteristic. She lived to be 230, easily making her one of the oldest known humans in the series. Ever since this fact was known, fans have been trying to figure out how Kyoshi managed to live so long.
Over the years, there have been many different theories on how Kyoshi achieved her unnaturally long life. Some believe it was an advanced earthbending technique that extends a person's life. King Bumi was 112 at the start of the series and was still one of the strongest earthbenders in the world. Maybe the Avatar spirit, Raava, allows the Avatar to live an extremely long life. Aang froze himself for 100 years when he was twelve and then lived for another 54 years, making him 166. These are all interesting ideas, but the true answer to Kyoshi's long life exists in the novels that focus on her time as the Avatar.
Avatar Kyoshi Was Taught Immortality
Shortly after Kyoshi was revealed to be the Avatar, she wound up joining a gang of criminals known as the Flying Opera Company. One of the gang members was Lao Ge, an infamous assassin. Lao Ge taught Kyoshi about assassination and spirituality, but his biggest claim to fame was his immortality. He asserted that he had discovered the secret to immortality, and there are hints in the novel that Lao Ge is over 4,000 years old.
Lao Ge spent his long life assassinating individuals whose deaths would benefit the majority. Despite his personal code, Lao Ge did not always kill those who were evil. In the novel, he attempted to kill a child but was stopped by Kyoshi and was willing to spare a mass murder because he was an effective leader. Good and evil do not seem to move Lao Ge. His only objective is doing what will help the most amount of people.
Lao Ge taught these assassination skills to Kyoshi, who was the only disciple that he grew to like. In addition, he also taught Kyoshi spirituality. Lao Ge's understanding of spirituality was how he achieved his immortality. Since these lessons were passed down to Kyoshi, it's safe to say that she also learned the secret to immortality.
How Does A Person Become Immortal?
Lao Ge claimed that he extended his life span by keeping order within his body. The aging process causes the body to fall out of order as small individual parts begin to break down. These small amounts of damage and disorder add upon themselves until the body eventually dies. To stop this from happening, all a person has to do is repair the damage and reorganize their body.
The method that Lao Ge used to repair his body was concentrated meditation. He took inventory of his body and simply put all of the small parts of himself that had fallen out of order back. Through sheer mental strength and focus, Lao Ge stopped his body from aging and gained a form of immortality. He could still be killed by another person or from enough physical damage, but he would never expire from old age alone.
This method also means that a person's body will never change either. Their body will always stay in the state it is when they first start their inventory. As long as the inventory is maintained, their body will remain stagnant forever. This would explain why Kyoshi's spirit appears as a young woman instead of being elderly like Avatar Roku, who died at an old age.
How Did Immortality Affect Kyoshi?
Despite knowing the secret to immortality and using the method to extend her life, Kyoshi still eventually died at 230 years old. There is no known event or conflict that killed Kyoshi. From the information that's given, she died peacefully at the end of her life. This would mean that she stopped her concentrated meditation and allowed herself to pass on. Why would Kyoshi be willing to die if she knew the secret to immortality?
Before Kyoshi was revealed to be the Avatar, she befriended a firebender named Rangi. The two of them grew very close and eventually began a relationship together. Considering how long Kyoshi lived for, she would have had to watch Rangi grow old and die without her. As time passed and Kyoshi didn't age, she would have had to watch every one of her friends and close companions pass away in front of her. Toward the end of her life, Kyoshi had a daughter named Koko. It's possible that Kyoshi had grown tired of watching her loved ones die and refused to outlive her own daughter. After living for so long, Kyoshi could have decided that she had been around for long enough, and it was time to move on.
