Legend of Korra: "We're Putting the Band Back Together"

Mike Hoffman

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Sep 25, 2013
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Legend of Korra: "We're Putting the Band Back Together"

Korra reunites with Asami and Mako for one last show.

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Tanis

The Last Albino
Aug 30, 2010
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Hype train for Toph going all out?
Yes, golly gee I sure hope so.
 

NinjaDeathSlap

Leaf on the wind
Feb 20, 2011
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Thing is, I know Wu is annoying as hell, but I kind of think we need to see more of him than we do right now. See, it's all well and good showing how Kuvira has gone mad with power, but she does have a large and loyal power base for a reason. She's a strong, effective leader who stood up when nobody else was willing or able to. Wu needs to actually develop as a character pretty soon, otherwise the good guys facing off against Kuvira are going to be undercut by the fact that, no matter how ruthless and cruel she is, they are essentially planning to replace her with a foppish puppet who couldn't give two shits about any of the actual responsibilities of leadership. Sure, he might not be marching people off to concentration camps, but it's hard to argue that he's what the Earth Kingdom really needs right now.

I was hoping that he and Mako could get more scenes and develop in tandem, Wu absorbing some of Mako's sense of responsibility, and Mako learning how to have a little fun, but it hasn't really happened, and the show is running out of time to make it happen.

Also, Korrasami? Can we not? Please? They work as friends, not to mention that neither of them have ever displayed any tendency of that sort in any other context. Is this a nod to non-straight fans of the show, or is it just juvenile innuendo by male writers that two girls can't be best friends without getting curious about each-other's genitals?

Of course, all that happened in the episode was a blush, and it wasn't lingered on, so it's really not worth getting worked up about right now. I just sincerely hope the writers are not going any further down that route.

It certainly wasn't a bad episode. I don't really think there's been a bad episode of Book 4 so far. I just hope what issues I do have aren't going to add together to negatively impact the last big payoff the show, and likely the whole Avatar universe, is going to have (I still think they should make a show for each stage of the Avatar cycle, but if the creators and/or Nickelodeon have had enough after Korra, I'd prefer they ended it rather than draw it out).
 

Dominic Crossman

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I think Toph's gonna get killed, there, I said it. Hope they make the last episode 2 hours like the last "the last airbender" episode. I think it's gonna feel rushed otherwise.
 

Furbyz

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Does the animation in fight scenes seem oddly slow to anyone else sometimes? I'm wondering if it's the player I use, or if they're saving their budget on the less important fight scenes and not using as many inbetweeners as they should.

That's probably the only thing I can say about this episode that I didn't like. Everything else was just perfect. I loved some of the little things, like Varrick turning and waving at the guy behind the glass looking at his wanted poster. Bolin actually gets to do stuff, which is always great. And that hype train at the end has no brakes.

I really hope that Toph doesn't end up losing a fight and they try and excuse it because of her age though. King Bumi had like 30 years on her and he was still indescribably bad-ass at a sprightly ~112 years young.

Can't wait to see what comes next.

Dominic Crossman said:
I think Toph's gonna get killed, there, I said it. Hope they make the last episode 2 hours like the last "the last airbender" episode. I think it's gonna feel rushed otherwise.
Yeah, that seems like a very real possibility. I don't think they'll go with, "And then Toph stops the entire Earth Empire single-handedly because she's Toph fucking Bei Fong, son!" as the end of the series, despite how much I personally would watch the hell out of that.
 

grey_space

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Apr 16, 2012
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I'm liking where they are going with this show. I never watched the previous series (TLA) But as it's evolved it's now one of my 'must-sees' during the week.

Really looking forward to Toph's inevitable showdown with the earth empire.
 

Scarim Coral

Jumped the ship
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At this point, I view Kuvira to be irredeemable at this point. Manipulating, threat and black mailing is one thing but to arrest anybody that is not from the Earth Kingdom??? Yeah good luck to those who still support her to try to convince me she was justify for doing that!

Yeah I liked this episode alot as it did had good action and Varrick was actually useful (he knows EMP). Even Prince Wu serve as a good standin for Bolin when it come to comedical relief in Team Avatar.

Lastly, wow that was super nice for Asami for letting Mako and Bolin family staying at her mansion and yeah good luck to Kuvira henchmen trying to snatch Wu again from his devorters well Mako and Bolin grandma!!
 

Haru17

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Toph vs Kuvira is so happening.

And Korra perv face: https://31.media.tumblr.com/0e3d5f92a76f8e2c1d38c14cae644286/tumblr_inline_nf27kuUrir1smj4rs.png
 

Amazing Mavis

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Haru17 said:
Toph vs Kuvira is so happening.

And Korra perv face: https://31.media.tumblr.com/0e3d5f92a76f8e2c1d38c14cae644286/tumblr_inline_nf27kuUrir1smj4rs.png
That reminds me of this scene from season 1: http://atthebuzzerpodcast.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/the-fire-ferrets-huttle.jpg

Bolin pines for: Korra pines for: Mako who is clueless of it all at the moment.




And anyhow, I kind of like seing Wu's antics. Shipping Wurra just for the heck of it!
 

PBMcNair

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Furbyz said:
I really hope that Toph doesn't end up losing a fight and they try and excuse it because of her age though. King Bumi had like 30 years on her and he was still indescribably bad-ass at a sprightly ~112 years young.
Problem is, Bumi never faced airpower and mecha-tanks. At least 2nd generation mecha-tanks in fact. Airpower might do it, as I seem to remember her having trouble with those bee's in the desert in TLA.

Still expecting it to be pretty awesome.
 

SilverUchiha

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Glad Wu is going to be gone for a bit. Glad the team is back.
I want to say I'm with the Korrasami fans. I'd rather see that than EITHER one of them ending up with Mako again. I hate that guy.
I'd say Varrick needs his own spin off show or OVA, but a Varrick/Bolin OVA would be something I'd pay out the ass for. I love both of them so much. I didn't care for Bolin at the series start, but now he's probably in my top five characters, easily. And I've loved Varrick since day one. More of both would be amazing!

Lastly, yes, really hoping to see Toph put the hurt in the dirt next week. I know I'll totally rewatch airbender soon, but i don't want to wait until then to see Toph kick someones ass.
 

Furbyz

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PBMcNair said:
Furbyz said:
I really hope that Toph doesn't end up losing a fight and they try and excuse it because of her age though. King Bumi had like 30 years on her and he was still indescribably bad-ass at a sprightly ~112 years young.
Problem is, Bumi never faced airpower and mecha-tanks. At least 2nd generation mecha-tanks in fact. Airpower might do it, as I seem to remember her having trouble with those bee's in the desert in TLA.

Still expecting it to be pretty awesome.
It's not that I think she shouldn't get beaten at some point, I just don't want there to be a moment where they specifically blame it on her being old. No Lethal Weapon references is basically what I'm after...though she was a cop.
 

Deshin

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It would be absolutely hilarious if Team Avatar & The Airbenders (now there's a band name) all team up and gather in the swamp and they just find all the mechs dismantled and all the Earth Empire soldiers, including Kuvira, strung up in vines and Toph just sitting there drinking and be all, "Oh THESE were the guys? Well they're all yours now, get 'em off my lawn!"

Of course the law of season finales demands this won't be the case but I'd accept that as a legit ending.
 

Wolyo

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Deshin said:
It would be absolutely hilarious if Team Avatar & The Airbenders (now there's a band name) all team up and gather in the swamp and they just find all the mechs dismantled and all the Earth Empire soldiers, including Kuvira, strung up in vines and Toph just sitting there drinking and be all, "Oh THESE were the guys? Well they're all yours now, get 'em off my lawn!"

Of course the law of season finales demands this won't be the case but I'd accept that as a legit ending.
Or maybe Toph will just kick the arses of some soldiers before they could take it all, but still grabbing some vines before leaving.
 

Methodia Chicken

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Is it wrong I'm still sided with Kuvira? even with whatever the re-education camps and her work on a super weapon all this done in the name of creating stability and unity in a nation thrown into chaos with a royal line less effective in leadership than Caligula's horse.

People were going to suffer either way, at least with the great uniter the earth kingdom (empire?) come out of this united, and strong. what would have happened otherwise? nobody else was willing to fill the power vacuum. the earth kingdom could have descended into small poor states (as we saw with the early villages) or even carved up by the other nations as it became clear the earth kingdom had irreversibly collapsed.

Kuvira's actions are harsh but necessary, she has personally done nothing harmfull any more than the other leaders inaction, or Suyin's blatant disregard for diplomacy.
She runs a borderline totalitarian state, but it is fair and it seems people benefit from it.
and it is effective for all intents and purposes she has succeeded she has reunited her homeland.

I know I should see this as evil or selfish or possibly dangerous to the rest of the world but it seems everything but.
all the protagonist's actions seem to be what is pushing war closer and Kuvira into aggression, It seems they are acting out of idealistic goals with no thought whatsoever to the consequences.

besides the spirit vines. I don't trust her with those spirit vines.
 

Wolyo

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Methodia Chicken said:
She runs a borderline totalitarian state, but it is fair and it seems people benefit from it.
and it is effective for all intents and purposes she has succeeded she has reunited her homeland.
Had she told the king to get lost and organised election without running in it, but stayed as the chief of the army, yeah maybe I could get behind her but right now she is a dictator.

It's not borderline totalitarian, it's totalitarian and facist, ya know, taking all the power for herself, purging everyone that's not from earth kingdom origin, prison camp for anyone who speak against her.

Sure a first people loved her, bringing food and all but most of them by now must have realised that they just exchanged and old fashionned tyrant for a despot. She brought stability by chainning everyone with power and fear.

You can understand why she do it, why she think it's the best way to do it to. She is a military, order and discipline are certainly the most important thing for her. Kuvira distrust politician and she was right to not trust the world leader who wanted to put a puppet on the throne. But as usual going to the extrem is not the way. It's on the big message of both ATLA and TLOK.
 

ryukage_sama

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Methodia Chicken said:
Is it wrong I'm still sided with Kuvira? even with whatever the re-education camps and her work on a super weapon all this done in the name of creating stability and unity in a nation thrown into chaos with a royal line less effective in leadership than Caligula's horse.

People were going to suffer either way, at least with the great uniter the earth kingdom (empire?) come out of this united, and strong. what would have happened otherwise? nobody else was willing to fill the power vacuum. the earth kingdom could have descended into small poor states (as we saw with the early villages) or even carved up by the other nations as it became clear the earth kingdom had irreversibly collapsed.

Kuvira's actions are harsh but necessary, she has personally done nothing harmfull any more than the other leaders inaction, or Suyin's blatant disregard for diplomacy.
She runs a borderline totalitarian state, but it is fair and it seems people benefit from it.
and it is effective for all intents and purposes she has succeeded she has reunited her homeland.

I know I should see this as evil or selfish or possibly dangerous to the rest of the world but it seems everything but.
all the protagonist's actions seem to be what is pushing war closer and Kuvira into aggression, It seems they are acting out of idealistic goals with no thought whatsoever to the consequences.

besides the spirit vines. I don't trust her with those spirit vines.
If Suyin had taken the responsibility of leading the force to reunite the Earth Kingdom, things would have been better. Unfortunately, Suyin was naively opposed to using military force to suppress an armed uprising and roving bandits. Kuvira on the other hand, sees no end to what can be justified in the name of unification. Given the wide-spread use of concentration camps and forced reeducation (something the Earth Kingdom has a history with), it won't take long for Kuvira to become as much of a blight to the people as the chaos she overran.

I had hoped the series would progress in a way that demonstrated that not only underdogs can morally justify violent force. Instead, Kuvira is crazy.
 

Nikolaz72

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Apr 23, 2009
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Kuviras rampage will stop when all the Earth Kingdom is under the Earth Kingdom again.

Including Republic City.

Afterall, Republic City is a small territory full of wealth and the entire rest of the country is basically a poor ass ghetto. They wanted to install a puppet king to make sure that remained so, a strong leader though will realize that this small city with its great wealth will probably be better spent divided amongst the rest of the peoples.

The citizens of Republic City will probably disagree but- I think at this point we've realized just how much she cares about what the people she is uniting thinks.

Still, I don't think she has any plans beyond that apart from securing the Earth Kingdom from invasion again and restoring infrastructure. Her reasons for all of this seems to be the same as the Firelord. The poorest regions of the Earth Kingdom had no schools, no good roads or trainstations. With the improvements made to the Water and Fire nation, the Earth Kingdom has officialy become the Avatar worlds Third World equavelant. She wants to change that.

To do that you'd have to stabilize the nation first, get rid of all the warlords/bandits. You can either do that by trying to defeat them all (Like Alexander did with Afghanistan resulting in decades of war) or you can do what she did and use 'diplomacy' which seems to have worked more or less for now. She gives them a better life than they would have had living as they otherwise would, as long as that is the case they will have no reason to become lawless again.

She has no faith in the puppet king, she does not think other world leaders will understand how working with the Warlords is better than fighting/rooting them out. She is willing to go to inhumane and mildly speaking very unethical lengths for stability, forcefully recruiting water and firebenders into her armed forces rather than letting them roam free.

But, taking all of this into account. What seems her primary motivation? Well, to me it seems as if her heart is in the right place. Even if her methods are wrong and she most probably is gone mad. She wanted to spread technology, education and wealth evenly around the Earth Kingdom rather than having wealth focused on a few main points. (Upper district of the capital, Republic city and Zaofu)The populations of these three areas will suffer, but that is in her eyes the expense of having to give said wealth to the rest of the starving and all around poor population of the Earth Kingdom.

Overall I think at this point we can very clearly see where they've gotten inspiration from.

A divided nation? Check.

Useless Royal Family? Check.

Bigass conflict just made things worse? Check, check.

Getting rid of the rich and giving the wealth out to every province equally? Perhaps check, not confirmed yet that this has actually happened but it is her stated intention for capturing the rich zones and keeping the walls of the capital torn down. As Bolin said, every district of the capital is now equally wealthy. The Upper district is virtually indistinguishable from the lower ones.

This is looking like post WW2 China. With Kuvera more like a Militaristic Female Lenin than a Mao.

That and not killing intellectuals probably helps too. But tbh I think the Soviets got over that at some point, they did well in the Space race.

She's basically already constructed a giant iron/stone curtain around the Kingdom.
 

Saltyk

Sane among the insane.
Sep 12, 2010
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ryukage_sama said:
Methodia Chicken said:
Is it wrong I'm still sided with Kuvira? even with whatever the re-education camps and her work on a super weapon all this done in the name of creating stability and unity in a nation thrown into chaos with a royal line less effective in leadership than Caligula's horse.

People were going to suffer either way, at least with the great uniter the earth kingdom (empire?) come out of this united, and strong. what would have happened otherwise? nobody else was willing to fill the power vacuum. the earth kingdom could have descended into small poor states (as we saw with the early villages) or even carved up by the other nations as it became clear the earth kingdom had irreversibly collapsed.

Kuvira's actions are harsh but necessary, she has personally done nothing harmfull any more than the other leaders inaction, or Suyin's blatant disregard for diplomacy.
She runs a borderline totalitarian state, but it is fair and it seems people benefit from it.
and it is effective for all intents and purposes she has succeeded she has reunited her homeland.

I know I should see this as evil or selfish or possibly dangerous to the rest of the world but it seems everything but.
all the protagonist's actions seem to be what is pushing war closer and Kuvira into aggression, It seems they are acting out of idealistic goals with no thought whatsoever to the consequences.

besides the spirit vines. I don't trust her with those spirit vines.
If Suyin had taken the responsibility of leading the force to reunite the Earth Kingdom, things would have been better. Unfortunately, Suyin was naively opposed to using military force to suppress an armed uprising and roving bandits. Kuvira on the other hand, sees no end to what can be justified in the name of unification. Given the wide-spread use of concentration camps and forced reeducation (something the Earth Kingdom has a history with), it won't take long for Kuvira to become as much of a blight to the people as the chaos she overran.

I had hoped the series would progress in a way that demonstrated that not only underdogs can morally justify violent force. Instead, Kuvira is crazy.
I'm actually convinced that this all stems from Suyin originally having a plan to invade the Earth Kingdom and overthrow the Queen.

Back in Season Three, she did state a dislike for the Queen and Monarchy. Her right hand man was not only a conspirator with Zaheer, but a human lie detector and when his betrayal was revealed she made a small but noticeable reaction that implied some sort of guilt. The city of Zaofu seems built to defend against attack. And let's not forget that the leaders of this Empire are her son and Captain of her guard (That she took in, raised, and trained) who were able to convince a large chunk of her personal force to leave with them. And there is the photo of her during her time in the circus with a man who's face, while partial obscured, does resemble Zaheer.

I think Suyin was a former member of the Red Lotus who left the group when she realized that, while she wanted freedom for people, Zaheer's plan was merely anarchy. She likely intended to end the monarchy and the classist segregation of the Earth Kingdom. Go back to A:TLA and check out the episodes in Ba Sing Sei. It's stated that the walls separate the poor, middle class, and rich in the city. Aang himself said he never visited because he heard the city was so different from the way he was raised (and keep in mind, that despite being a vegetarian, he never had any issue with Sokka or Katara eating meat so he was accepting of people having different beliefs).

However, she probably changed her mind after meeting Korra and after Zaheer's plans went into action. Also considering how much freedom she obviously gave her kids, she probably realized it would be hypocritical to impose her will over the Earth Kingdom. However, when the other leaders basically asked her to put her plan into action, she held firm to that and Kuvira saw it as the perfect time to put the plan they had into action. I think that's why Kuvira went againt Suyin's wishes and why her son joined Kuvira (they were probably privy to the details to begin with).

I feel like this is all supported with small bits of details here and there.

Anyway, I enjoyed this episode. Good comedy. Good action. Teasing the shippers ala classic Avatar. All around good stuff.
 

P-89 Scorpion

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Nikolaz72 said:
Kuviras rampage will stop when all the Earth Kingdom is under the Earth Kingdom again.

Including Republic City.

Afterall, Republic City is a small territory full of wealth and the entire rest of the country is basically a poor ass ghetto. They wanted to install a puppet king to make sure that remained so, a strong leader though will realize that this small city with its great wealth will probably be better spent divided amongst the rest of the peoples.

The citizens of Republic City will probably disagree but- I think at this point we've realized just how much she cares about what the people she is uniting thinks.

Still, I don't think she has any plans beyond that apart from securing the Earth Kingdom from invasion again and restoring infrastructure. Her reasons for all of this seems to be the same as the Firelord. The poorest regions of the Earth Kingdom had no schools, no good roads or trainstations. With the improvements made to the Water and Fire nation, the Earth Kingdom has officialy become the Avatar worlds Third World equavelant. She wants to change that.

To do that you'd have to stabilize the nation first, get rid of all the warlords/bandits. You can either do that by trying to defeat them all (Like Alexander did with Afghanistan resulting in decades of war) or you can do what she did and use 'diplomacy' which seems to have worked more or less for now. She gives them a better life than they would have had living as they otherwise would, as long as that is the case they will have no reason to become lawless again.

She has no faith in the puppet king, she does not think other world leaders will understand how working with the Warlords is better than fighting/rooting them out. She is willing to go to inhumane and mildly speaking very unethical lengths for stability, forcefully recruiting water and firebenders into her armed forces rather than letting them roam free.

But, taking all of this into account. What seems her primary motivation? Well, to me it seems as if her heart is in the right place. Even if her methods are wrong and she most probably is gone mad. She wanted to spread technology, education and wealth evenly around the Earth Kingdom rather than having wealth focused on a few main points. (Upper district of the capital, Republic city and Zaofu)The populations of these three areas will suffer, but that is in her eyes the expense of having to give said wealth to the rest of the starving and all around poor population of the Earth Kingdom.

Overall I think at this point we can very clearly see where they've gotten inspiration from.

A divided nation? Check.

Useless Royal Family? Check.

Bigass conflict just made things worse? Check, check.

Getting rid of the rich and giving the wealth out to every province equally? Perhaps check, not confirmed yet that this has actually happened but it is her stated intention for capturing the rich zones and keeping the walls of the capital torn down. As Bolin said, every district of the capital is now equally wealthy. The Upper district is virtually indistinguishable from the lower ones.

This is looking like post WW2 China. With Kuvera more like a Militaristic Female Lenin than a Mao.

That and not killing intellectuals probably helps too. But tbh I think the Soviets got over that at some point, they did well in the Space race.

She's basically already constructed a giant iron/stone curtain around the Kingdom.


Republic City is not a small territory it's the capital of the United Republic of Nations and is as big as the Fire Nation it's just the Earth Kingdom is so much bigger than the other nations with or without the United Republic of Nations included.