What were the used for?
They must have had a purpose, something they did outside of their cells, or else tey would have had no reason to be kept alive, right? Hama was apparently kept alive decades, but why? Why did they kill Kya (Katara's mother), but kept all the other waterbenders alive? There mst be a reason.
AND if there was a reason why the original waterbenders were ept alive, why was Kya not cptured with them? It culd have been done easially, no doubt, but the Southern Raiders chose to kill her. Why? Why was their goal 60+ years ago to capture and keep the waterbenders alive, but not the 'last waterbender' of the S.W.T'?
Any help on this matter is welcome.