Legend of Korra, anyone?

[Ophiucha]

I don't care too much, but if I had to choose, I'd ship Borra. Bolin is just a cutie and I kind of like Mako with Asami. They seem cute together, and I really hate the attitude the show has right now towards girlfriends. Both Korra and Pema remind me of a bad archetype out of a Taylor Swift music video, and it makes me uncomfortable that they aren't discouraging it as much as they should...

As for the show itself, I quite like it. The animation is beautiful and I love a lot of the characters. Tenzin and Lin are probably my favourites, but I love Asami and Bolin as well. The acting has been alright. Korra's voice actress is the only one of the bunch I don't like. I'm excited to see more about the old 'gaang', and the random flashes of Aang seem to indicate we'll get a nice full flashback mode. I also really hope we get to meet old!Zuko and his daughter somewhere down the line.

 

[morfiction]

SPOILER....................................................

I'm surprised Toph's daughter didn't break her foot doing that............. I have no idea what her proper name is and I don't care! Since when did Toph herself have to STOMP so damn hard to.. well do what she does..........................

end spoiler............

 

[morfiction]

Possilby spoileric...........

I wonder.......... Did Toph marry Zuko OR did she marry Saka?

 

[Mindfire]

Possilby spoileric...........

I wonder.......... Did Toph marry Zuko OR did she marry Saka?

Neither...

 

[Aravelle]

She honestly doesn't strike me as the type to marry. However, I like to think that Sokka is Lin's daddy.

P.S. I have officially changed ships. Forget Makorra: I'm all about Kahno now. I feel so fickle for it. xD

 

[Mindfire]

She honestly doesn't strike me as the type to marry. However, I like to think that Sokka is Lin's daddy.

P.S. I have officially changed ships. Forget Makorra: I'm all about Kahno now. I feel so fickle for it. xD

Actually, Toph married an "unknown earthbender" according to canon. Haru maybe? Sokka stayed with Suki and Zuko stayed with Mai more likely than not.

 

[Aravelle]

Actually, Toph married an "unknown earthbender" according to canon. Haru maybe? Sokka stayed with Suki and Zuko stayed with Mai more likely than not.

Really? I'm surprised I hadn't heard that. I'm a-okay with Zuko and Mai but I never was big on Suki.

 

[Mindfire]

Really? I'm surprised I hadn't heard that. I'm a-okay with Zuko and Mai but I never was big on Suki.

What did you have against Suki? I thought she was pretty awesome as far as non-benders go. Easily in the top 5 non-bender warriors of the series. The other 4 would be Sokka, Master Piandao, Jet, and Mai, not necessarily in that order.

 

[Aravelle]

What did you have against Suki? I thought she was pretty awesome as far as non-benders go. Easily in the top 5 non-bender warriors of the series. The other 4 would be Sokka, Master Piandao, Jet, and Mai, not necessarily in that order.

She was badass, but her personality never really struck me. She seemed bland to me. I may have to watch the series again to re-evaluate, but she seemed pale in comparison to other characters.

 

[Burst]

Absolutely love Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra... Best shows on Nickelodeon.

 

[Garren Jacobsen]

Who all just watched the season finale of Legend of Korra? Seriously one of the best endings I have ever seen.

 

[Kelise]

Honestly? I was incredibly disappointed by it. She didn't do anything yet her problems were solved easily. The build up to General Iroh II was pointless.

Though I could just be grumpy over only getting four hours sleep this past week and I'm grumpy anyhow.

 

[Ophiucha]

Spoilers ahead!

I didn't like it much either. A lot of things that could have carried over into season 2 were just resolved in the last five minutes. The lingering threat of two bloodbending brothers? Solved. Korra needing to unlock her spiritual side and gain access to the other three elements? Solved. Nearly every bender in Republic City without their powers? Solved, once she rounds 'em all up and goes all Avatar on them. Hell, even the not-particularly-interesting Mako/Korra/Asami love triangle was settled, though... did Mako ever actually break up with Asami? That part wasn't very clear.

I guess my issue is that this season doesn't seem to have any consequences. The only things that have really changed from Episode 1 to Episode 12 is that Korra has a fine piece of man and a couple of friends and now she can airbend. Like, everything with Amon now just seems sort of pointless, and I wonder what the hell season 2 is even going to be about. I hope it is about the nonbenders who weren't necessarily genocidal Nazi-imagery maniacs who have legitimate complaints about the bending elite, because as of now the only non-bender we have in the Krew is Asami, who is so rich that any privileges the benders get probably go unnoticed to her.

I did, however, like that she got into a giant robot fight with her dad. That was cool.

 

[Mindfire]

I firmly disagree with you guys on this. This season finale is on par with the Sozin's Comet event. And I think that's how it should be viewed. remember that originally, LoK was only going to have one season. So this was originally going to be the series finale. They HAD to wrap everything up. And honestly, I like loose ends being tied up and they way they were tied up makes sense.

-Tarrlok's murder/suicide with Amon is his way of finding redemption for all the horrible things he did, for making up for failing to stop Amon himself, and for making sure that his father's legacy- the monsters he created- doesn't continue. I thought it was a very powerful image.

-As for Korra's airbending, spirituality, and getting her bending back, what did you WANT exactly? To see her go on a quest or something? Because we've seen that story already. It was The Last Airbender. That's why the writers didn't do that. They didn't want to re-tread old ground. Plus, Korra getting her bending back and entering the Avatar state isn't as Deus ex Machina as you think. (And even if it was, that wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing.) Read this. Once you realize that the true reason Korra went up to that cliff was to commit suicide it all makes sense. She didn't unlock her spirituality just by crying. She did it by deciding to keep living even if she wasn't the avatar anymore, even though that's how she's defined her entire life. Read the article. It explains better.

-As for the other benders getting their powers back? I wanted that to happen. Especially for Lin. She deserved it. After everything she did and went through and her heroic sacrifice, she more than earned getting her powers back. But I'm sure Korra won't do it for ALL the ex-benders. I can think of a certain crime lord she probably won't be helping.

-And you're wrong about this:

he only things that have really changed from Episode 1 to Episode 12 is that Korra has a fine piece of man and a couple of friends and now she can airbend.

Korra's been going on a spiritual journey this season. Because this show is aimed at a slightly older audience a lot of this is more subtle than in the original show, but it's there. When we first meet Korra, how does she introduce herself? "I'm the avatar and you gotta deal with it!" And the entire middle of the series is about her questioning whether or not she is a true avatar. About trying to live in Aang's shadow. About how being the avatar dominates her life and is her only source of identity. The ending pulls her arc together nicely. She realizes she's not really the avatar any longer. The only thing she's defined herself as is gone. She decides there's no more reason to live and goes out to jump off a cliff. But at the last moment, she decides that even if she's not "special" anymore, she's going to keep living anyway and be who she is. She's going to find her true identity outside the avatar title even though it's painful lo lose that part of herself. And in the very moment she makes that choice, Aang appears. "When we reach our lowest point, we are open to the greatest change." Indeed, Aang. Indeed.

Other things that happened this season:
-Mako learning not to be an indecisive prick.
-Asami dealing with her daddy issues.
-Revealing how Yakone, Amon, and Tarrlok are all connected. Interesting theme of the past spilling over and having repercussions in the present.
-General Iroh II being awesome. He's my new favorite character.

As for the Equalists, I don't think they had any legitimate grievances. Or at least very few ones. Amon was just stirring the people up to create unrest and achieve his own ends. And even if he really believed it was in the people's best interest, we know it wasn't. I mean, when do we actually see bender oppression or any kind of bending "establishment"? They have metalbender cops out of necessity, not privilege. But we see they have non-bender cops as well, and I'm pretty sure the police will start adapting some of the Equalists' methods also in order to improve their effectiveness. As for the government, the council may be composed entirely of benders now, but Sokka was on the council once so we know it wasn't/isn't always like that. In fact, we only know with 100% certainty of TWO benders on the council: Tarrlok and Tenzin. We don't know what the other three are. They could easily be non-benders of South Water Tribe, Earth Kingdom, or Fire Nation heritage. We also see that the United Forces employ benders and non-benders alike without prejudice. Look at Commander Bumi for instance. In fact we never in this show that I can recall, ever see an ordinary bender go out of their way to be mean to an ordinary non-bender, or even do something mean in passing. The only people who do stuff like that are the triads, but come on. You can't judge an entire city by its criminals. The pro bending sport is enjoyed by bender and non-bender fans alike. Even the hobos have a society where benders and non-benders peacefully coexist. Given the overwhelming evidence, I'd say Amon was stirring up the people over mostly imaginary sorrows. His hatred of bending had nothing to do with how people in Republic City were treated. It was about his hatred of himself and his father. Here's Amon's thinking:

"Most powerful kind of bending" = bloodbending.
bloodbending = causes pain and misery
causes pain and misery = evil
bloodbending = evil
most powerful (or "purest") form of bending = evil
therefore, ALL BENDING = evil.

It had nothing to do with the common man at all.

The council will probably select a non-bender from the Northern Water Tribe to replace Tarrlok on the council, hold a meeting with the people, address the probably few legitimate grievances the non-bender people have, the Equalists will decline into a fringe terrorist group far less effective than they used to be and now lead by the Lieutenant guy. Korra will pursue her relationship with Mako, Asami will hook up with General Iroh, and they'll most likely introduce a new villain for season 2.

As for the Mako/Asami breakup, it was kind of just understood between them. Kind of an "I care about you, but we're not meant to be" kind of deal.

 

[Mindfire]

Also, we know the White Lotus don't discriminate by bending ability since one of their most prominent members was Master Piandao, one of if not THE greatest swordsman who ever lived. The guy was so awesome, he could fight alongside Master Pakku, Iroh, Jeong Jeong, and Bumi and somehow NOT be overshadowed by their awesomeness. He was like the Batman of the 19th century Avatar-verse.

 

[Ophiucha]

Regardless of their intent to end the series this way, this wrapped things up entirely too neatly in entirely too little time. I never felt like Korra went on a spiritual journey, or even got any series sense of her training with Tenzin in airbending and spiritualism by the time Amon became a real threat. In fact, until this episode, it almost seemed like an abandoned plot line, and then suddenly "oh, airbending, also Avatar State". In order to avoid rehashing the first series, rather, I think they should have had her spent the next season really learning to tap into her spiritual side, which Aang had already mastered by season 1. It could have gone a few ways. One way could have been to have Season 2 take place predominantly in the Spirit World. We could have extended the Makorrasami triangle with her giving up on him in order to attain a spiritualism, in a similar way to what the Master told Aang to do with Katara when he was trying to unblock his chakra, and what he refused to do at first.

Further, while I can sort of accept the badass suicide/murder of Tarrlok and Amon, I find everything about it to be just a bit too convenient. Honestly, they made Tarrlok come across as sympathetic this entire finale, and really, that didn't work for me. I really didn't forgive him for any of that crap he pulled. The whole "he's my brother" plot came out of the complete left wing and I just didn't see a thing in his character that makes him the sort to pull what he did. At least not yet. I could see this as the ending to a Season 2, if season 2 were about the return of the brothers as bloodbending badasses, and Tarrlok inevitably pulls the betrayal kill at the end. But not this suddenly. It didn't give him enough time.

I certainly wanted Lin to get her bending back, but again, it's just too damn easy. There are no consequences of Amon's reign of terror. Think about how great a season it would have been to deal with a city without benders except Tenzin's family and the homeless guys. The lingering thoughts of revolution in the minds of a few Equalists. The discontent. That'd have been quite the conflict. But now everything in that city is basically going to go back to normal, and the Equalists are just a bunch of disorganized chi-blockers worth little consideration.

Further, they very much do have a point.
- All of the councilmen are benders. The police force are all benders. Everyone in power is a bender.
- Benders have a useful, marketable talent from birth. Even Mako and Bolin, who are poor and homeless, can easily obtain jobs because of their powers. When we see Mako working to get money for their entry into the tournament early on, he is working a factory job that requires firebending. There are very few jobs a bender wouldn't be better at. It is desirable. Further, as technology progresses in this world, we can see that non-bending jobs are fading out. In the first series, there were plenty of places for non-benders. In Republic City, at least, it seems like everything is menial labour - which benders are better at - or 'high class' jobs like businessman or a scholar. It doesn't fairly support the proportional number of benders to nonbenders.
- When Tarrlok attacks the Equalists, he tosses people against the walls, freezes them into little miniature iceburgs, and seriously could be hurting these people who are, really, learning self-defence. Benders are powerful. Like, wrap people up and lift the ground they're under powerful. There's a reason to fear them.
- And it seems like all of the crime bosses are benders, too. And all of their lackies, at least that we've seen.

So benders in this city are taking all the jobs, have all the power (legally and illegally), and - Amon is right - are the cause of the devastating war that happened less than a century ago. They have a distinct privilege over nonbenders, and while Amon may have used that for his own purposes and to resolve his own little issues, the actions of his Lieutenant (the dude with the little Fu Manchu moustache) show that there are nonbenders who feel the same way, and I really don't think they're all Yakon's kids. I want to see that Lieutenant be the villain in the next season, and I want to see his side of the argument represented more fairly.

Also, Mako is kind of a Mary Sue. He gets both of the ladies, and I've seen no sign of him not being an indecisive little prick still or redeeming himself in any way for his actions. He's so ~special~ that he can break away from Amon's bloodbending when nobody else has ever done so. He's so ~precious~ that the thought of him losing his firebending broke something in Korra and unleashed her never before used airbending powers. I mean, god, Korra, just go date Bolin or something, Asami can date Iroh or whatever, and Mako should just get crushed by a boulder.

Unrelated: Bumi II - awesome, more of him please.

 

[Mindfire]

On the first half of your statement, we'll have to agree to disagree. But I will address the second half.

Further, they very much do have a point.
- All of the councilmen are benders. The police force are all benders. Everyone in power is a bender.
- Benders have a useful, marketable talent from birth. Even Mako and Bolin, who are poor and homeless, can easily obtain jobs because of their powers. When we see Mako working to get money for their entry into the tournament early on, he is working a factory job that requires firebending. There are very few jobs a bender wouldn't be better at. It is desirable. Further, as technology progresses in this world, we can see that non-bending jobs are fading out. In the first series, there were plenty of places for non-benders. In Republic City, at least, it seems like everything is menial labour - which benders are better at - or 'high class' jobs like businessman or a scholar. It doesn't fairly support the proportional number of benders to nonbenders.
- When Tarrlok attacks the Equalists, he tosses people against the walls, freezes them into little miniature iceburgs, and seriously could be hurting these people who are, really, learning self-defence. Benders are powerful. Like, wrap people up and lift the ground they're under powerful. There's a reason to fear them.
- And it seems like all of the crime bosses are benders, too. And all of their lackies, at least that we've seen.

So benders in this city are taking all the jobs, have all the power (legally and illegally), and - Amon is right - are the cause of the devastating war that happened less than a century ago. They have a distinct privilege over nonbenders, and while Amon may have used that for his own purposes and to resolve his own little issues, the actions of his Lieutenant (the dude with the little Fu Manchu moustache) show that there are nonbenders who feel the same way, and I really don't think they're all Yakon's kids. I want to see that Lieutenant be the villain in the next season, and I want to see his side of the argument represented more fairly.

Also, Mako is kind of a Mary Sue. He gets both of the ladies, and I've seen no sign of him not being an indecisive little prick still or redeeming himself in any way for his actions. He's so ~special~ that he can break away from Amon's bloodbending when nobody else has ever done so. He's so ~precious~ that the thought of him losing his firebending broke something in Korra and unleashed her never before used airbending powers. I mean, god, Korra, just go date Bolin or something, Asami can date Iroh or whatever, and Mako should just get crushed by a boulder.

Unrelated: Bumi II - awesome, more of him please.

1. The councilmen, police, and people in power are NOT all benders. I addressed this. The council is not always composed of benders only. Sokka was a member you recall, as was a non-bender air acolyte at one time. This suggests that the council members are selected based on ethnicity, not bending talent. You can only say that council member selection is discriminatory when we see that ONLY benders are elected to office. As far as the police, we've seen non-bender officers. The metalbenders aren't the whole police force. They're the SWAT team. The elite. And this is from necessity, not prejudice. Metalbending is second only to bloodbending when it comes to the difficulty of countering it, which makes it a desirable skill for police officers, especially when there is no ready alternative. After this crisis however, I can see the council allocating funding for a new regiment of non-bender elite cops armed with electric gloves and chi-blocking skills. Also, we see that very rich and powerful businessmen are non-benders, like the Cabbage Corp guy and Asami's dad. So clearly benders do not have ALL the power. We also never see a legit bender abusing their power. We only see that coming from the Triad gangs and from Tarrlok, who was- DUH- a bad guy. You cant blame ALL the benders for what they did.

2. Just because benders have a useful talent from birth isnt a cause for outcry, not is it a reason to take away their talents so people can be more "equal". That's like wanting to handicap a star athlete because he's a natural, or wanting to give Stephen Hawking a lobotomy to make him less of a genius. In an industrialized city like Republic City, I'd argue benders are less necessary, not more. In the old days, benders made up the bulk of the army and the work force because there were tasks only they could do. Now, with the new technology, this is less so. There are more opportunities for non-benders as engineers, technicians, repair guys, politicians, scholars, educators, police officers, assembly line workers, businessmen, etc. There's hardly any job a firebender can do that an ordinary joe can't do with a blowtorch. In a modern city, non-benders have MORE opportunity, not less.

3. Again, you can't judge all benders based on Tarrlok. That's like judging all Muslims based on Al Qaeda. Yeah sure benders could do those things. But the fact is that they don't. Benders abusing their power is never actually shown outside of Tarrlok and the Triads. And really, it's unfair to judge someone based on what they could do. I could grab my dad's shotgun and go on a shooting spree. But does that give my neighbors license to live in mortal terror and demand the police take my dad's guns away? NO! Fear of what could happen, but is unlikely to happen is called paranoia.

4. Yeah the crime bosses are benders. You're surprised by that? The crime bosses prove my point more than yours. The crime bosses are evidence that there are benders trying to keep their privilege by resorting to being crime bosses. They're doing this because they're in a society that needs them less and less. Technology is replacing bending in many ways, so they try to hold on to their importance through crime.

5. You cannot blame ALL the benders for the 100 year war. The only ones to blame for that are Sozin, Azulon, and Ozai. And perhaps Azula. And let's be honest. Even if they didn't have bending, we all know those psychos would have started a war anyway. The 100 year war was about national supremacy, not bender supremacy. And who were its first victims? Airbenders.

6. There are doubtless non-benders who sympathized with the Equalist cause, otherwise there wouldn't be an Equalist cause. But this does not necessarily mean that these people are right or their grievances are legitimate. This is a show you remember. They don't have any legitimate grievances until we see their legitimate grievances. And so far we have seen jack all that justifies the Equalists' blatant terrorism.

7. The Lieutenant probably will come back, but like I said, with the passing of their charismatic leader, the cause will doubtless decline into a fringe group. And in reaction against the Equalists, I have no doubt that Korra, Tenzin, and the council will make every attempt to address whatever few legit complaints the non-benders have. They will if they're smart anyway.

8. I don't share your harsh opinion of Mako. He's a bit of a jerk but somehow he still remains likable to me. Don't know why. Just does. Also, I don't think he was just so ~special~ that he powered through Amon's bloodbending. Because he didn't power through it. He sucker punched Amon with lightning. There's a difference.

And yes. Bumi II is awesome.

 

[Ophiucha]

I'll particularly address the issue of the work force, since the rest is left primarily to what we see and what we can infer. But the work force? That's worldbuilding. We see firebenders using their powers in factory life. Bending in an industrialized world is more useful. The idea that technology makes magic useless frankly just shows a lack of thought in the creators. I'll quote something I wrote on my tumblr a few weeks ago in regard to this.

I’ve always been confused when people say “magic or technology, never both, they cannot coexist”. Legend of Korra demonstrates, for better and for worse, just how I’ve always seen them coexisting. Using magically generated fire or electricity as a source of energy, using earthbending or something similar to flatten the ground and build up a house (if earthbenders and waterbenders can bend mud, which we saw with Toph and Katara, they could certainly bend cement), waterbenders can build entire canals in days and work at a hydro plant. If you wanted to build a water dam, you could get a team of waterbenders to simply hold back the water while they work.

It’s hard to find a job that a nonbender would be better at. Now consider what the industrial revolution did for the workforce in the real world. How many jobs were replaced by tractors and the like? Consider also the existence of tameable, magical, and relatively intelligent animals - such as sky bison - and you’re left not needing nonbenders. If technology advances sufficiently, there simply won’t be a place for them at all. Not just stuck with the crappiest jobs or the jobs that bending doesn’t aid in, but simply with no jobs at all. Even merchants could eventually die out. After all, in modern times, many stores have shut down in favour of internet retail - an equivalent of which could exist another hundred years down the road.

Of course, they are still the spouses, parents, and siblings of benders. There are still jobs of the mind and heart. Literature, art, music. Scientists, engineers. But I doubt a society could sustain itself if 80% of the population or whatever the numbers are were poets and sculptors. And, ****, benders are still more than capable of taking those jobs as society exists. An earthbender would make a fine sculptors, as evidenced by the sand castle Toph made in the original series. Painter!waterbenders? Airbending flautists? It just doesn’t end.

Just as I did then, I still believe there is a distinct use for bending in an industrial world, because the only thing that could replace such profound power as we've seen benders have is fifty or so non-benders per bender or very advanced technology, which replaces both of them. Heading into the future, there's a chance - I think - of an equal society for the two, if it becomes so much like our world that most of the jobs are for the office, but honestly, I think it's naive to think benders won't find a use for their power in a modern civilization to maintain their power.

The moment I saw Mako working in a factory, I was basically on the side of the nonbenders. Not the Equalists, I don't agree with them. But there is a divide. And regardless of how you use that power, this is an unequal society. The fact that most benders do not use their powers for evil doesn't mean they don't have that power, and as long as their is no fair equivalent for non-benders (which is what chi-blocking was meant to be, to me), it really can't be an entirely equal society. In our world, we have things for that. There are discrimination laws and laws to help handicapped people. Until there's evidence of that in this world, I'm not sure how comfortable I feel dismissing the Equalist's point, even if I disagree with the method.

 

[Mindfire]

Well, what are you suggesting? That benders shouldn't be allowed to work? That their gifts should be banned or forcibly taken? They have families to feed to, you know. And on a really practical level I'm not convinced that this is a concern because the number of jobs is greater than the number of benders from what I can see. The benders will doubtless gravitate to jobs where their skills are needed while non-benders take jobs in management, the sciences, art, education, etc. In fact, I could see the non-benders becoming the white-collar class with benders doing the grunt work before I could see the reverse happening.

The problem with looking at the situation in the way you described is that there is no solution. You can't strip people of their abilities just to make them "equal" with everyone else. That's just as wrong as oppression would be, as Amon's terrorists have shown us.

Well, on second thought, there is one possible solution. Since we know that energybending can restore bending, it's not a huge stretch of suspension of disbelief that it could bestow or unlock bending potential in those who want it. But even if the non-benders are at a disadvantage I see no evidence that they're being "oppressed." There are rich and powerful non-benders and benders alike.

And your point about chi-blocking is double-edged. As far as I recall, it's not illegal. If somebody really feels uncomfortable or nervous, they can go learn that skill, as long as they don't learn it from the Equalists.

 

[Ophiucha]

I won't disagree that there are no easy solutions, but I think there is a problem - or, at least, the beginnings of one, and I refuse to believe that absolutely nobody who sided with Amon had legitimate grievances, since it seemed like he had a pretty big following. If I'm honest, my biggest problem with Legend of Korra, overall, has been Amon in general. They portray him more like Hitler - hell, look at all the Nazi imagery in this finale - when really, up until the big reveal, he just sort of seemed like an extremist freedom fighter. This wasn't a matter of propaganda, it's an underground movement. While I'll always disagree with extremist methods, I simply can't help but feel like the rhetoric he used had to have some valid points to it.

Also, his motives were pretty poorly explained. Evil dad, bloodbending woes ... destroy all bending??? I feel like there's a big piece of that story we're missing, but since they decided to just kill him off, I guess we'll never know what happened there. Or with Tarrlok, who somehow went from "bloodbending is wrong and it hurts!" to "muahahahahahaha" to "ohnowait, bloodbending is wrong!". :/ I mean, gah, there's just so much about Tarrlok and Amon that is completely unexplained and just killing them off is such a terrible way to end their story that I can't even begin to list all the things that could have been done better with them.

Was she seeing her visions of Yakon to warn her about Tarrlok... or Amon? That was never made particularly clear and now that they've said they're brothers, I just want to find anything in the previous episodes that could even have slightly hinted at this, and that's really the only thing that ties them. But it's just sort of left ambiguous, even though she had a chance to talk to Aang and ask directly.