Legend of Korra: A Fantastic Finale With a Perfect Ending

[AliasBot]

I choose to believe that Korra and Asami are an item, but it feels a bit forced to me. The only other time in the series that screamed, "ROMANCE!" between those two was when Korra blushed. Everything else could have easily been written off as just two girls being friends. I honestly had no idea that these two were an item among fans until that episode.

All and all, a good episode. I'm a little disappointed that Kuvira just surrenders (she did kill all those people, after all), but hearing the unforgiving tone in Suyin's voice made it a bit more bearable. Sad to see the series go, but hopefully we'll get some comic books like we did with Avatar.

I don't think they were revealing that Korra and Asami had been having a relationship off-camera with that last scene, I think that this was them essentially acknowledging a mutual attraction. There are a lot of minor things scattered at least as far back as the end of Season 3, their relationship was always far, far closer than Korra's relationship with any other character.

This is a distinction that a lot of people just seem to be missing: no, they haven't been "a thing" in the background this whole time. If this is a confirmation (and, in my eyes, the parallels between that ending scene and the Aang/Katara kiss at the end of Last Airbender are infinitely too many for it not to be confirmation - literally everything was the same except for the fact that they didn't kiss, which, obviously, is something they might have had trouble selling Nick on letting them show), it's a confirmation of a mutual attraction/affection that, now that the immediate crisis has been solved and things are actually calm and safe for once, they might be able to see where that attraction/affection leads.

I really just loved how the ending wrapped up in terms of focusing on Korra's development, the real main plot of Book 4 (Kuvira's rise and attack were a big deal, and a very important engine for that development, but it was still very much a B plot, so I'm a bit more willing to accept some plot holes in its conclusion - final battles have never been resolved by anything besides deus ex machina or plot holes in either Avatar series, I'm not going to start being annoyed about that now). The last five minutes of the show consisted of conversations between Korra and the three people she was closest to in Republic City - Mako, Tenzin, and Asami - showing how far she has come in her relationships with all three of them, and how well she has healed and even excelled since her near-fatal encounter with the Red Lotus. Then, when she recognized what Asami was going through, she was willing to do whatever she could to help her heal, too. The potential romance was nice, and very much there, but it wasn't the important part of that scene: the important part was that it showed that Korra had, finally, been able to find personal balance within herself, with the help of those around her...and now it was time to start returning the favor. It's one of the few sequences that gets better the more I think about it.

 

[UsefulPlayer 1]

Why is this review released so much earlier than scheduled? hmmm!?
Just kidding, this finale was awesome and basically demands attention in how they ended the series.

I sometimes honestly think A:TLA was a show that was tailored exactly for my personality. Like the show was just so awesome in exactly the way a person like me would love. Then Korra was finally coming out and I was ecstatic.

I will admit there were times my main motivation to watch the show was that "It is more Avatar," but this show has definitely evolved into its own. I will not strictly say it's the best show or better than A:TLA, but I would be hard pressed to find a show I have been invested in more.

My greatest criticism for the show is that there wasn't enough screen time for the characters to just relax and joke around. All the comic relief came cleverly, but had to be pieced in with all the calamity or just came from Bolin and Varrick. But I also think that is a compliment to the show, it shows how much I was enveloped in the show.

 

[Joccaren]

Whilst everyone is free to believe what they want to believe, the fact of "It could be romantic or it could be platonic", in fact implies that Korrasami is NOT official. Unless, of course. Molin or something is also official, 'cause, like, they're brothers, and you ship them as brothers, so its an official shipping >.>
Otherwise, wasn't blown away by the ending, but it wasn't bad either. I think the whole giant mech really got me going "Really?", let alone the literally impossible properties they gave the damn thing. Platinum isn't the hardest of metals. Its just slightly harder than iron. The amount of things that hit that mech - its got more than a few dents in it. Additionally, firing a blast of air at the top of the mech would very easily topple it. Its a problem skyscrapers have, where they sway in the wind, even with aerodynamic designs and tens of meters of underground anchors. The big problem with bipedal mechs is they are prone to falling down, and struggling to get back up. They're unstable. It is, admittedly, non reactive, thus it not even slightly rusting from being submerged in water is ok, and its melting temperature is 400' C above that of Magma [Generally, magma can get hot enough to melt it], however the foot would have been greatly softened by the heat, and likely would have deformed from the pressure of the rest of the mech weighing down on it.
Basically, I was watching the mech thinking how ridiculous it was. Yeah the show isn't exactly grounded in reality, but generally bending and spirits have been the main magical things, not... giant... mechs... Its just... weird.

 

[Razhem]

Well, Korra ended, it is no Last Airbender for sure, it's tempo and rythm is a lot shakier, Season 2 was mostly horrible and villain of the week syndrome really crippled the series. I'm still surprised that knowing they had 3 seasons they went with 3 villains without having something above them to get a bit more cohestion. I mean, who gives a fuck about the red Lotus whooahaha when it isn't referenced ever again in the final season? And Vatuu clearly won't be relevant for the rest of Korra's lifetime, hell, the whole "OH MEH GAWD! SPIRITS!" was also incredibly underutilized and another downer of wasted potential.

Kuvira was a horrible waste of a motivated gray that decided to take hard decisions that just became a fascist for the second half of the season, period, and no, a sob story at the end about "being an orphan" explains jack. I mean, if she had appeared on Season 3 fully, we had seen her with Su, seen her as caring, we could have had a much stronger transition since we would have known her, having her maybe not be a friend to Korra, but somebody that interacts with her and have a few moments of honest talk. Hell, seeing the bloody waste of space and time that Kai was, he could have been completely erased from the series, had Milo and Jiky be Jinora's wingmen and made some room to introduce Kuvira. I mean, at the end of the day, Kuvira was an ok Villain, but she had potential for so much more and it only needed a bit of groundwork.

I'm happy they went with Korrasami(and yes, it's there, anybody denying it please go look for every other cartoon series with 2 girl friends and show me any interaction that has as much intensity as the last scene in Korra, I'll tell you now, you won't find it, it's another thing that nobody still doesn't have the balls to go full out. Hell, now if they manage to do it with men, it'll be pure insanity, since lesbians tend to be more "accepted"? than gays, or at least that's kind of how it always seemed to me), but it really needed more development, there were a few nods here or there, but something a bit more fluid would have made it work a lot better, for now it just kind of seems that they went from a bit of blushing to "LOOK, THEY'LL DATE!" without going into the juicy part in the middle of those steps, so it kind of just becomes something they do to make a statement, not because it has been a story arc with an obvious conclusion to it.

At the end of the day, Korra is a fine series, but it has the problem of being from the same people that gave me Last Airbender and that makes me be a lot harsher with it than I would with other shows simply because I know they can do better. I don't know how much of this is Nicks fault and how much of this is themselves wrestling to get a narrative going. I do hope their next project isn't as shaky and definitely looking forward to it.

 

[LordFeast59]

more of people maknig up things about Korra and Asumi being gay..it's not cannon... both girls are straight.. people are reading waaaay to much into nothing..

Hahahaha, because you hold hands with your guy friends, stare soulfully into their eyes, and go on vacations with them just the two of you, but it's -totally straight-.

You forgot to mention how Asami was the only person Korra wrote to while being an invalid. She wasn't willing to give up that connection.
Also, this http://media.tumblr.com/b20853b6c8bf6949f4f17d5c00436461/tumblr_nf0y09OI1u1qj7g7io6_500.gif

more of people maknig up things about Korra and Asumi being gay..it's not cannon... both girls are straight.. people are reading waaaay to much into nothing..

It's not like they are accusing of their relationship but more of HOPING for that relationship, because reasons. Now considering they are holding hands. I guarantee someone will make a fan fiction out of it.

Of course it's because there are plenty of reasons to think that. How do you come to your conclusions?

Considering that the first thought in my mind would be the 'obvious' conclusion and thinking instead of only the two of them, I just wish that Korra will go to the Spirit world with all the new team Avatar. This is the series finale anyway, a proper goodbye with the rest of the characters would be nice.

But about that final scene, I like to think that Asami is the first and only female that can be considered as Korra's BFF while Mako and Bolin is like the potential romance that can affect her direction, responsibility and goal. Maybe that's why the writers don't want to give Korra and Mako the happy love ending, like Aang and Katara.

Kind of disappointing that they let Mako out of the picture and doesn't give him any major role (Well, all of the characters seem to receive the same treatment anyway, but still). Considering that Korra and Mako's romance already develop in the first season, it would be appropriate if it stay that way. Just to improve Mako's character instead of a wash-up for the series finale.

 

[Josh123914]

Hey all. I've had an absolute blast writing these reviews and reading your comments. I just wanted to thank all of you who have come back here to read these, week after week. I am really going to miss this series. Well, I would, except I'll probably just rewatch it and ATLA every other year.

Thanks again. You are all fantastic.

Y'know the Avatar subreddit plans to do 3 episodes a week starting from The Last Airbender in order to keep the subreddit alive.
If you want you could hitch onto that.
By the time it's done, Bryke may have announced something new.

 

[dantoddd]

korrasami seems a little forced, but it was ok. I hope this is not the end of avatar or even korra for that matter. i think there should be more emphasis on spirits in future episodes. more about what makes them tick and what kind of society they have

 

[Scarim Coral]

Just some nitpicks on the last episodes-

Did President Raiko, Iroh and the united force army (the foot soldiers at the barrier when the mech arrived) just sit at the sideline having a smoothies when this was going on? Ok sure they would of ended up as cannon fodders and the show being kid friendly and all but still, there should of been some soldiers defend the last people at the train station!

Speaking of the evcuation, didn't the badgemole buried back the earth behind them or did the mech got some digging tools?

I give credit that it wasn't as predictible as I expect it to be like Wu would be crown King at the last scene and we would have been given a flashback on Kuvira past. Ok I guess her verbal version on her past count but it didn't leave an impact for me to feel any sympathies toward her (she's still a ***** in my book). Also why do I get a feeling that Wu wull become the Frank Sinatra in their universe (well ok not perticually him but some famous stage singer)?

Was there really only 5 soldiers inside the mech (one at the cannon arm, two at the core and another two at the head)? Do I smell some off screen death since nobody had found their bodies during the search for Korra and Kuvira.

The marrage made sense to me despite some people disagree or they think it was rush. I'm pretty sure no one is that dedicated as Zhu Li was to Varrick without any hint of romatic feeling towards to that person especially if you had put up the many many flaws of that person! I mean look at Pepper Potts and Tony (ok sure they're not fully romatically involved but still). Also Varrick had a good long week to evaluate his life when he was given the brush off from Zhu Li.

I'm fine with the shipping at the end as I wasn't convince of MaKorra when one of the producers/ writers wanted shipped them back. I mean looking back there was some hints (Korra once mention that Asami is her only gal friend ever and she did blush when Asami compliment her new hairstyle) of it while the last episode had a strong vibe (Asami said she wouldn't handle it if she had lost both her father AND Korra and Korra personally aplogise to Asami alone for being away for so long!).

Overall I would say the writers were able to pulled it off for the most parts given that their originally intention was to be one season only. I suppose this will be another lesson that fan should just let it go than to asked for more of it in a form of a spin off/ sequel. In saying so I am pretty sure this is the last we will see of the Avatar universe in animated form (they will be more in graphic novel more) given to poor treatment the team recieve from Nick as they seen to no longer invested in the show they once had for it.

One last thing, it would of been 20% better if Korra was able to reconnect the past Avatar selves just for another sake of Aang cameo.

 

[Mike Hoffman]

I know I probably shouldn't jump in on this, so at the very least let me point out this post is just me as another member of the community jumping in on a conversation. This is not me trying to establish any sort of authority in this thread.

The show could have gone out on any number of images. Why have them turn to face each other? Why not have Mako and Bolin accompany them? Or Korra travel alone? Or something entirely different? Why this specific sequence? They chose these two characters to go on vacation together, they chose to have them hold hands, they chose to have them look into each others' eyes as golden light enveloped them. They also chose to have the camera work and the music resemble the final scene of ATLA.

When looking at creative productions, everything is (usually) very deliberate. Even more so for the last scene of the final episode of a series concluding over ten years of work. Bryke knew the message they were delivering with that ending.

Y'know the Avatar subreddit plans to do 3 episodes a week starting from The Last Airbender in order to keep the subreddit alive.
If you want you could hitch onto that.
By the time it's done, Bryke may have announced something new.

Thanks for the heads up, I'll check it out!

 

[KazeAizen]

more of people maknig up things about Korra and Asumi being gay..it's not cannon... both girls are straight.. people are reading waaaay to much into nothing..

Except we aren't reading way too much into it. As some people have put it play the exact same scene back in your head and then imagine one of the characters is male. What would be the natural conclusion people would draw from that? That they are dating or in love right? Also being a television show its about reading into the details of the scene. The music for instance is slow and almost like a love song. In fact it is actually titled "The Avatar's Love" and is a rendition of the same song that was played when Aang and Katara kissed at the end of ATLA. Also when they enter the spirit portal they don't simply just keep holding the one hand. They turn towards each other and take the other hand. Finally the look in their eyes. That is not a normal look and you don't just gaze into your friend's eyes like that unless it is a joke. sorry but Korra and Asami are either gay or bi sexcual and they are in love with each other.

 

[Shiftygiant]

I am hoping for a comic series to tie up loose end, like what happened to Kuvira and Batar Jr.?
But yeah, I loved the ending and the final reveal of Korra and Asami as a couple and am happy that Bisexuality is getting more acceptance in the mainstream.

 

[laggyteabag]

I can pretty much agree with everything that you said there, it was definately two of the best Korra episodes, and I would even go as far to say that I enjoyed it more than the TLA Book 3 finale. Great review.

I am sad to see it go, but at least it ended here in the spotlight instead of being dragged on until it died a slow and painful death. I am still pretty interested to see where they go from here if they decide to make some more comics in the vein of those that TLA got (and is still getting).

 

[DeepReaver]

I don't know how i feel about it. To me at least the ending felt like a non committal slap in the face, then again the whole series sort of had that feeling. I know it spawns from the fact that the people holding the money jerked them around so much, we want a 12 ep mini series....naawwww make it two seasons, after the first was in production, Actually can we get two more seasons on top of that? Working with people who jerk you around like that sort of made a disjointed mess of a series. Granted the last two seasons were much MUCH better than the fist two, but that just goes to show how being told 'make two seasons at once' goes a long goddamn way.

As for the ending itself... Well it goes back to the non-commitment for me, if you look back at the past two seasons with the thought that they have a budding romance it sort of becomes a different show but when they finally get to the end, and it is just them looking each other in the eyes with hand holding... It felt hollow for all that subtle buildup. I understand a company like nick does not want to risk getting people angry, they cannot be shown to stand for anything, so they stand for nothing. But it feels like nick is the reason Korra came off as worse than TLAB, which is sad, cause there were hints of true brilliance in this series.

All in all thought, i am sad to see this be the send off to the Avatar universe. It deserved better and although korra tried, the corporate meddling was so very clear.

 

[AntiChri5]

more of people maknig up things about Korra and Asumi being gay..it's not cannon... both girls are straight.. people are reading waaaay to much into nothing..

 

[AvtrSpirit]

So many great parts to this finale... the battle against the mech had me on the edge of my seat the whole time. Didn't expect that!

Regarding Korrasami, I don't think the last shot was a "Now they are in a relationship and dating" shot... it's more like the shot of Aang and Katara in the "Cave of Two Lovers" (rather than at the end of the series). It's saying... look, there's potential here for something and both of them recognize it.

It was a very gutsy move and I'm surprised and super glad that that's what they ended it with.

 

[Tanis]

Question:
What do those two finale Chinese characters mean?

 

[K12]

There wasn't enough build-up for the Korra-Asami "loving look" to mean very much to me... but then I am one of those people who needs things like that spelled out in bright flaming letters when it happens in real life so I'm probably not the best person to ask.

I am VERY glad that Korra didn't end with Mako though.