"I don't suppose you're here to rescue me."

Korra walked up to Tarrlok's cell. "We had no idea you were here. Are there other prisoners on the island?"

"No, I'm the only one." Korra narrowed her eyes. "And what makes you so special?" The next bit of news Korra got were shocking. "I'm Amon's brother." 

"Amon is from the Northern Water Tribe. He's a waterbender and a bloodbender, just like I was." Korra was surprised. "What?" 

"Did you know this all along?" Mako asked. "No, not until after he captured me." Tarrlok hung his head.

"How did your brother end up becoming Amon?"

"It all began with my father, Yakone. With the help of his former gang, he escaped prison and underwent surgery to change his appearance. He assumed a new identity, and settled down in the Northern Water Tribe. That's where he met my mother, a warm, caring woman. Before long, they started a family together. Amon was the firstborn, under the name Noatak. I was born three years later, and we had a sister who was born 4 years after me. Noatak was a good-natured kid, always looking out for me. Those were the good years...before my brother and I discovered we were waterbenders. At first we were excited by our new abilities, but our training brought out a different side of my father."

**********

"Tarrlok, you'd better shape up or you'll be out here in the cold all night until you get it right!" Yakone yelled. "I'm trying, but-"

"Try harder!" Young Tarrlok dropped the water. "Your brother was never this sloppy." Tarrlok wiped away his tears. "Dad, he'll get it. He just needs time."

"Don't talk back to me, son! Ever!" 

**********

"Even back then, my brother wanted everyone to be treated fairly and equally. When I was seven, my father took me and Noatak on a hunting trip far away from our home. He told us his true identity was Yakone, Republic City's most notorious crime boss, and that he was once a bloodbender of rare skill."

**********

"What's bloodbending?"

"The most powerful and feared form of bending in the world. It was declared illegal thanks to that coward, Katara. Our family has the strongest line of bloodbenders in history. You boys have this power inside of you, and I will teach you to master it." Noatak looked away with a slight sigh and asked his father a question. "What happened to your bending, Dad?"

The Avatar stole it from me." He stood up. "That's why I brought you out here, to learn your destiny. You two will become bloodbenders of the highest order. When the time is right, you will claim Republic City and you will destroy the Avatar. You must avenge me."

"That is your purpose in life."

**********

"The good days were behind us. [Cut to Yakone and his sons hiding from a herd of yaks.] Every full moon, our father took us on another supposed "hunting trip," where he secretly trained in bloodbending. We kept the truth from my mother..."

"A few years later, my father taught us to bloodbend anytime, without the need of the full moon. We practiced constantly, and I hated every minute of it. I had no stomach for manipulating helpless animals. My brother, however, seemed to revel in this newfound power. He was a prodigy, mastering my father's psychic bloodbending technique by the time he was fourteen."

"Even though Noatak was my father's favorite, it wasn't any easier for him. He carried the burden of all Yakone's expectations and demands. Something changed in Noatak over the years; the loving brother I once knew became cold and detached. Our father pushed us to extremes, and one day..."

"...he made us bloodbend each other."

**********

"Noatak, go!" Noatak inhaled, and Tarrlok struggled against the bloodbending. Tarrlok fell to his knees, and Noatak narrowed his eyes, making him lean back. "Excellent."Noatak freed Tarrlok. "Tarrlok, your turn."

"No! I won't do it!" Tarrlo stood up. "Bloodbend your brother, Tarrlok!" Yakone said sternly. "That felt awful. I don't want to do that to anyone. I never want to bloodbend again!" Yakone stepped forward. "You're a disgrace, a weakling. I'll teach you a lesson, you insubordinate-" Yakone gasped and struggled against Noatak's bloodbending. 

Noatak moved to stand in front of his brother protectively. "Stay away from him." 

"How dare you bloodbend me!" Noatak brought Yakone to his knees. "What're you gonna do about it? You're the weak one. You always say bloodbending is the most powerful thing in the world, but it isn't. The Avatar is. He took your bending away. What could be more powerful than that?"

"I made you what you are. You're mine!"

"We're your sons, not your tools of revenge. [To Tarrlok.] Let's go. We can run away from him. Forever." Tarrlok looked at his brother. "Run away? But what about Mom? We can't just leave her." 

"He was right about you. You are a weakling." He threw Yakone a distance with bloodbending and ran off into the blizzard. "Noatak!" Tarrlok called out. "Don't leave! Please!"

"Noatak!"

**********

"My father and I searched for days, but we never found a sign of Noatak. We thought he perished in that storm. My mother was never the same after the loss of my brother. My father stopped training me. With Noatak gone, his hopes for revenge withered. And he passed away, a few years later."

Korra processed what she just heard. "That's one of the saddest stories I've ever heard." Tarrlok sighed. "Avatar Korra. I am truly sorry for all that I did to you. I thought I was better than my father, but his ghost still shaped me. I became a soldier of revenge, just like he wanted me to be. And so did my brother. The revolution may be built on a lie, but I think Amon truly believes bending is the source of all evil in the world."

"How did you figure out Amon was your brother?" Korra asked. "When he took my bending, the sensation was somehow familiar. I later recognized it as my brother's bloodbending grip." Tarrlok recalled the time when his brother had been forced to bloodbend him. "So, he somehow uses bloodbending to take people's bending."

"I don't know how he does it, but then again, I've never encountered a bender as strong as Noatak." Korra looked hopeless. "How in the world do we beat him?"

"We can't. Any attack we throw at him, he'll redirect with his mind. That's how he's been able to challenge any bender." Korra started pacing, trying to figure out a new plan. "So much for our ambush. If we stay here, we're toast. But there's another way to beat him."

"How?"

"This whole time, Amon has been one step ahead of us. But finally we have the advantage. We know the truth about him. If we expose him as a bender in front of all his supporters..."

"At the rally!"

"We could take away his true power!"

"And undermine this whole revolution!"

Korra looked at Tarrlok. "Thank you, for your help." Tarrlok nodded his head. Mako started to leave but Korra stopped him. "Wait. We can't just leave him here." Tarrlok stood up and gripped the cell's bars. "Go. Amon can't know anyone spoke with me. Defeat him."

"Put an end to this sad story."