The Legend of Korra: Book 4 - Balance (3/5)
Similar to my review of book 3, this is going to be part plot summary, part review, since I feel it's the best way to convey my thoughts on the season.
So, season 4 starts off with an excellent premise. Carrying over from season 3, the Earth Kingdom's fallen into chaos, and a 3 year military campaign under Kuvira is nearly complete, in as much that it's nearly united the entire country. Kuvira's become known as "the Great Uniter," and has amassed a loyal army at her beck and call. She's getting the job done, but there's whispers of harsh tactics, re-education camps, and we see in the first 1-2 episodes that she's willing to do false flag attacks in order to get villages to come into the fold.
So, from the outset, I absolutely love this premise. It's a good lead-in from the previous season, making sense from an in-universe perspective. Also, there's a lot you can do with this idea - yes, good idea to restore the Earth Kingdom (in theory at least), but at what social and emotional cost? Also, I've commented on TLA that something it could have done is make the Fire Nation arbitrarily evil, but instead, showed a more nuanced view of things. The Fire Nation is imperialist at this point in time, but this is a world where war and conquest existed beforehand. Season 2 of LoK kind of did this idea in season 2 (the Northern Water Tribe going imperialist), but now, it's eerie how simialr the visuals are in season 4 to the Fire Nation in TLA. legions of faceless soldiers, equipped with technology beyond that of the other nations, waging conquest for 'the greater good.' Kuvira's rationale is eerilly similar to that of Azulon in TLA - "I can make the world better, and if that means conquest, so be it." However, there's some issues here, and this is where LoK falls short. We hear about Kuvira's attrocities, we hear about the re-education camps, we hear that villages she's left behind have actually experienced decreases in their welfare, but we never actually see this. In TLA, across three seasons, we saw on-screen the effects of war. LoK however, doesn't give us the same treatment. Now you can point out that TLA had three seasons of 20 episodes each, while this war is one season of 13 episodes, but again, that's the burden LoK has to bear - four vaguely connected stories rather than one single coheisve one. I'll get to Kuvira as a character later on, but from the outset, as excellent as the premise is, it's a premise that's never fully explored.
What DOES work much better is the second episode, Korra Alone, where we see how Korra's coped with the physical and emotional scars of her battle with Zaheer (or, rather, not coped). This is easily one of the best episodes in the season, possibly the entire LoK series. And, of course, we get re-introduced to Toph, who even after 70 years, is still awesome. What's slightly less awesome is that the re-contextualization I heard about here isn't really some great revelation. Toph tells Korra to reflect on the actions and beliefs of her former enemies, but there isn't some great insight here. I mean, I like the idea, that each villain represents an ideal taken to its extreme, but it's an idea that doesn't seem to come from LoK itself, but rather, certain interpretations of it.
So Kuvira's at the end of her campaign to reunite the Earth Kingdom. All that's left is the city of Zhao Fu. The world leaders want to make Wu (queen's son or nephew) as king, and have Kuvira step down. The fact that Bolin is working with Kuvira does generate some tension, but, again, we keep hearing that Kuvira has done various war crimes (not literally called that, granted), but never really see it. So on one hand, it makes Bolin's cluelessness understandable, but on the other, makes the criticisms of his working with her come off as hollow. And Wu is...Wu is a take it or leave it character. I'll leave it at that. But, TL, DR, Kuvira refuses to step down, declares the monarchy abolished, and the birth of the Earth Empire, and marches on Zhao Fu. Again, while the execution could perhaps be better, the plot is very solid.
Also, Varrick and Bolin escape. Varrick is, like, the one bright spot in all of LoK, so, yay? He, er, does the thing...
So, I'm going to actually talk about Kuvira at this point, because once again, it's a case of great idea, not so great execution. Kuvira arguably has parallels with Azula, in that they're both highly determined, ruthless, command their forces, believe in their cause, and are prodigies in their respective bendings. However, there's a difference. Azula was built up over two seasons, and foreshadowed as early as season 1 of TLA (which is technically her first appearance, even if she has no lines). Because of flashbacks, among other things, we understand why she is the way she is. With Kuvira, we get no such luxury. She had only a few lines of dialogue in season 3, and while we hear about the tensions between her and her adoptive family, we never actually see it bar a single flashback. Show, don't tell, as the saying goes, and LoK does a lot of telling here. So when I hear about Kuvira's war crimes, when I hear about her family issues (and Bataar's for that matter), it kind of rings hollow. I know that I'm comparing this to TLA a lot, but even if TLA didn't exist, the problems would remain. Again, I like Kuvira as an antagonist, but she feels undercut by a lack of fleshing out.
So, Kuvira's army arrives at Zhao Fu. Korra, returned as the Avatar, challenges her to a 1 on 1 duel for the fate of the city. A duel that Kuvira easily wins. I've seen some people complain about this, the idea that Kuvira can only hold her own because Korra's been knocked down so much, but I disagree. Korra getting her mojo back from the last season is an arc that lasts throughout the season, and it's far better than the DEM ending we got at the end of book 1. But, anyway, protagonists escape, but Zhao Fu is taken.
What follows is mostly character development stuff. Bolin and Varrick make their way through Earth Empire territory (walls are going up, ethnic Fire Nation/Water Tribe people are being put in camps), we get a clip show episode that's absolutely hilarious, and Korra goes to Zaheer. Former nemesis who helps her get get her mojo back since, at least for now, they share a common enemy with Kuvira. Also, the Bei Fong kids reunite with Toph and rescue Zhu Li. Most of this is solid stuff, and I can't complain about this segment. The one exception is that Toph comes off as way too cold when she basically tells Lin to get over never knowing her father. I mean, Toph is usaully a loveable jackass, but this is the one case where she's just a plain jackass.
So. Kuvira's marching on Republic City, under the rationale that the United Republic of Nations is former Earth Kingdom territory, and as such, is rightfully part of the Earth Empire. As motivations go, this isn't bad, and there's the lingering question for the viewer (well, for me at least), that if Kuvira incorporates the URN into her empire, would she actually stop there, or just keep going, believing it's for the greater good? Dunno. What I do know is what follows is about three episodes dedicated to the buildup to the battle, and the battle itself, said battle side-stepping any great army fight (despite the presence of soldiers stationed for the city's defence), and mainly, a giant mech fight. One with a "SPECIAL BEAM CANNON!" that fires spiritual energy. I've seen this idea compared to the atomic bomb, the idea of a weapon that changes the nature of the world by its mere existence, but I disagree. It's simply an uber gun on an uber mech. Visually entertaining, but not really thematic IMO. Also, Kuvira's mechs cut part of a giant spirit tree to get the energy needed. So...Avatar, the cartoon, is mimicking Avatar, the movie, and the Earth Empire is apparently the RDA. 0_0
