As for my two cents, this episode seemed to be mostly setup with not a whole lot of story moving forward. Korra's still trying to come to grips with what happened to her, Asami and Varrick re-entered their partnership, talks about what to do about Kuvira (who was nowhere to be seen, again) and Bolin tries to make up with Opal. Eh, I guess it was okay.
Seeing Zaheer again was a nice twist, though I wonder how fast his facial hair grows. He'd been locked up in the mountain prison at the beginning of S3 for 13 years, and here only 3 years, yet he looked exactly the same. That means either the prison guards in his initial cell were polite and gave him a shave now and then, or his beard just stops growing after a certain point. His turn to help Korra felt a bit rushed, though we can't be sure if he had ulterior motives. Doubtful, since he's effectively eliminated from the series and can do basically nothing.
I'm expecting the next episode to pick up the pace. Things certainly seem to be heading in that direction. And there's still the unsolved question of Toph. In this episode the mecha suits seemed to go about their business as usual, so either Toph has decided to haul ass or has just stopped giving a fuck entirely.
hmm. the episode was certainly better then the clip show. but it was jut so-so.. it;s nice that Korra is finally back as the Avatar... (as she's claimed several times now) the episdoe didn't really move the story forward too much. Which is not the best idea considering this was the 9th episode of 13 episodes.. only 4 more episodes left so i'm curious how Korra will finally take down the nut bag Kuvria.. yeah it showed a tiny bit of what Kuvira's army was up to, but we didn't learn anything new that we didn't already know from previous episodes this season... we also learned that the other nations are too cowardly to do anything but sit on their hands and that the vines were upset about Kuvira's team harvesting the vines.. so again. not much outside of Korra being whole as the Avatar really happened here..I'd say that "I hope next week's episode is better" but i keep saying that every week and have been mostly disappointed for most of this season so far outside of 2 or 3 episode her ending there.. gotta say the team responsible for the show really went down hill for this last season. maybe they should have ended it at season 3.. just add two or three more episode to season 3 to show Korra get over her poisoning and then have her stand tall as the Avatar for the finale rather then drag the series on with a fairly bad final season like season 4 has been over all.. first 3 season were really good, but season 4 is been pretty bad so far for the most part.. what happened to the quality of writing here, Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko?
I didn't get why Desa and Eska weren't part of the meeting with the Fire Lord, the Republic mayor, Tenzin and even Prince Wu?
Also I think Opal was way too harsh on Bolin, sure I get she is distraught but it wasn't like Bolin was a total dick to her compared to Mako the last time he was in the city. He simply choose the wrong side or did she really think he was still on Kuvira side when she lied to her about Bolin being devoted to her?
Lastly, Zaheer prison look waaay too similar to the cave when they poison Korra (so the illuminating rocks don't come in another colour than green?).
It would have been nice, that with team avatar finally reunited again, they actually did something team avatar-y, rather than each have their own things to do. Like if they saved the reunion lunch a couple episodes ago for when Bolin got back. Of all the team members that end up accompanying Korra though, Mako is a surprise. How is it that after the only serious threat to prince Wu's life, Mako finally gets out of body guard duty?
Also I hope that getting Kora to the spirit world is not all that Zaheer does all season. I figured that Zaheer and the Red Lotus would have a fairly significant role this season. I mean he's the only surviving villain to date, the last season ended with speculation about remaining red lotus members, plus Zaheer and Kuvira have totally opposite ideals which is significant following Toph's discussion about balance.
I'm still not really feeling Bolin and Opal either. They have like zero chemistry.
By the Emperor, does every nation in that world have no spine at all? They do realize when Kuvira's done mopping up any little problems in the Earth Empire she will come knocking at their door? And by knock I of course mean kick it off the fucking hinges.
I did like Asami's little hand twist with Varrick to keep remind him not to try anything funny.
I'm a little confused by what exactly happened in the spirit world, I never really did understand anything that happened in that world.
Overall it was an ok episode but nothing much happened and we don't have many episodes left after Nick messed with their budget.
Seeing Zaheer again was a nice twist, though I wonder how fast his facial hair grows. He'd been locked up in the mountain prison at the beginning of S3 for 13 years, and here only 3 years, yet he looked exactly the same. That means either the prison guards in his initial cell were polite and gave him a shave now and then, or his beard just stops growing after a certain point. His turn to help Korra felt a bit rushed, though we can't be sure if he had ulterior motives. Doubtful, since he's effectively eliminated from the series and can do basically nothing.
I'm expecting the next episode to pick up the pace. Things certainly seem to be heading in that direction. And there's still the unsolved question of Toph. In this episode the mecha suits seemed to go about their business as usual, so either Toph has decided to haul ass or has just stopped giving a fuck entirely.
Well, since you spoilered this I guess I have to spoiler it too.
It's probably just the latter, that his beard "stops" (Let's just say hair growth is interesting and that's why I quoted) growing at a certain point. I mean, it's never implied that it took all 13 of those years for Zaheer to grow his beard out like that. I know my facial hair grows remarkably fast. There might have been other plot related reasons for them to want to do that too like reminding you he really is imprisoned again, making him look menacing (When he attempted to scare Korra) and/or pathetic (What? It can be both), things like that. So, if they are contradicting anything said or implied about his hair growth it could be for reasons like that I suppose. Wrote just a little more than I intended to do about his hair growth. Maybe, subconsciously, that's the best part of this show to me _>
I don't think helping Korra was rushed. It's not like he has anything better he could be doing. Going into the Spirit World for the 100th time and examining your chains gets old after all. He claims their goals are aligned for the moment and in sudden moments of crisis [insert cliche line about the enemy of my enemy is my friend]. That reaction when Korra reminded him who caused the conditions that gave Kuvira the opportunity? Don't think he's happy about his action's consequences.
How much time has passed since the end of episode 7? For all we know, Korra is just seeing five minutes after that ending, if even that. I think it's called cinematic time or something like that at the very least. This is when things were going on when you didn't realize they were going on, especially when these things were going on off-scren, and/or at a pace you didn't realize they were going at. Bolin and Varrick might have gotten back to Republic City before the episode's end due to cinematic time. I guess you could say it's like they're employing time skips and taking advantage of cognitive dissonance between real time and the show all in one. Imagine we were watching someone in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber from DBZ or vice versa depending on how the cinematic time is being employed. Toph may not have had time to do anything yet.
crazygameguy4ever said:
first 3 season were really good, but season 4 is been pretty bad so far for the most part.. what happened to the quality of writing here, Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko?
I could have sworn I just saw you on two other threads discussing Naruto and Bleach in a positive light. Let's just say it makes reading your post kind of awkward (Kidding aside, respect your opinion all the same).
Scarim Coral said:
I didn't get why Desa and Eska weren't part of the meeting with the Fire Lord, the Republic mayor, Tenzin and even Prince Wu?
I'm going to assume emergency meeting of leaders who hadn't left the city yet after Kuvira made her speech and headed back to the Earth Empire. Desna and Eska might have already gone back to the North Pole. There's also always the possibility they aren't really considered to have grown in their governmental roles enough to be worth contacting. They are pretty young leaders and it would not be the first time younger people get disrespected in the series. Though, I get the feeling that they probably do not make good leaders anyway and probably get a lot of help, acting as pseudo-figureheads until they get more experience to assume more legitimate Water Tribe ruler status. I'm curious why you are not also questioning why Tonraq is not there if the lack of leaders bothers you.
Bellvedere said:
Of all the team members that end up accompanying Korra though, Mako is a surprise. How is it that after the only serious threat to prince Wu's life, Mako finally gets out of body guard duty?
The kidnappers were taking him to Kuvira; they were not going to kill him. I suppose you might be implying Kuvira was going to, but even ignoring that I don't think that's what would have happened there's a few things to keep in mind. After the kidnapping attempt Mako wanted somewhere safe to secure Wu when he could not be around for him. He also hopefully managed to ingrain at least some basic boxing into him since the clip show. Between Mako's extended family all being around Wu and the possible extra benefit of Asami house security (since we've never seen if she has security, but I'd like to think so) he's probably somewhat safe. Wu was kidnapped when he was alone after all. I'm sure there's somebody else to cover for Mako too. Mako's personal bodyguard duties are probably relaxed due to the above things I think we should keep in mind and the fact Wu is not travelling to the Earth Kingdom as planned due to Kuvira.
I don't think that really makes it all that much better for Wu to be left like that because that's still lessened security, but it's better than nothing and...well, Mako is making more of an impact with Korra anyway. So, I guess all that justifying on my part is pointless because deep down maybe I just can't muster caring about Wu's predicament lol.
dalek sec said:
They do realize when Kuvira's done mopping up any little problems in the Earth Empire she will come knocking at their door? And by knock I of course mean kick it off the fucking hinges.
Raiko, with Fire Nation support, said that he would fortify defenses in the scenario that Kuvira came. They're prepared to fight her if she comes. The Fire Lord is just not prepared to preemptively strike her. Kuvira has amassed a following. It might not make the world leaders look good and without more info on what's going on it might end up being a bad move. Having said that...
While I thought it was great to hear the Fire Lord comment on how the Fire Nation doesn't want to remind people of their 100 Year War reputation I will admit I think she could easily make an attack on Kuvira work for her. The Fire Nation would be doing this in tandem with other nations, so it's not like it'd be the Fire Nation acting out on its own like it did in the 100 Year War. That's a lot of the world they'd be working with after all. The reasoning is also a lot more tangible than "We're so great and we should share our greatness with the world by crushing them and telling them how stupid they all are" propaganda. That didn't sit well with Roku, but the sociopolitical matters here probably would make the move just dandy with Korra especially considering how Raiko did not do anything during the Unalaq crisis. I try not to remember Book 2 though[footnote]Unless I'm talking about Wan's story, Tenzin's family trip, or anything we learned about the Spirit World that was not tied to something stupid[/footnote]. Point is she could turn this preemptive strike into an act of a proactive attitude positive towards world improvement in their goal to make sure they never repeat past mistakes. It would still come off the wrong way to someone nonetheless I'm sure. As your example shows though, inaction does not always come off the right way either even if it is a good contrast to former Fire Nation policy. She says she'll only resort to violence when it becomes absolutely necessary, but as you imply it might be too late for that. A fortified defense might not be enough if her inaction costs the world too much.
dalek sec said:
I'm a little confused by what exactly happened in the spirit world, I never really did understand anything that happened in that world.
I liked this episode but the scene in the prison felt very rushed, which was upsetting because I legitimately liked the idea of having Zaheer, of all people, helping Korra get over her mental block. Unfortunately I have a feeling this being rushed was due to effectively losing an episode to the budget cut.
By the Emperor, does every nation in that world have no spine at all? They do realize when Kuvira's done mopping up any little problems in the Earth Empire she will come knocking at their door? And by knock I of course mean kick it off the fucking hinges.
I think it is meant to continue referencing the rise of Hitler and the Nazis. Countries just sort of left them alone until they actually started invading other countries despite it being fairly obvious war was coming.
By the Emperor, does every nation in that world have no spine at all? They do realize when Kuvira's done mopping up any little problems in the Earth Empire she will come knocking at their door? And by knock I of course mean kick it off the fucking hinges.
I think it is meant to continue referencing the rise of Hitler and the Nazis. Countries just sort of left them alone until they actually started invading other countries despite it being fairly obvious war was coming.
Yeah, continuing in the political themeing of the villains of Korra, Kuvira is pretty much a fascist, what with the prison camps for non-earthbenders and obsession with national unity and control under one central figure.
I thought episode was a little bit tedious, they could have handled the 'Korra finally getting over her shit' in a much more interesting way, though I did love seeing Zaheer again.
I liked going back to Zaheer,and him deciding to help Korra. After all, an anarchist would be more opposed to a fascist dictatorship than anyone else (especially one that he helped put into power).
It's nice to see Korra whole again. I'd still have liked to see her past lives come back as that was always one of my favorite Avatar things, but I can let it slide.
I thought this was a good episode even though not much action happened, it set up what WILL happen excellently. The ball is rolling towards the finale, and I imagine it will be fantastic.
I liked this episode but the scene in the prison felt very rushed, which was upsetting because I legitimately liked the idea of having Zaheer, of all people, helping Korra get over her mental block. Unfortunately I have a feeling this being rushed was due to effectively losing an episode to the budget cut.
This for me was the only real interesting part of this entire episode. They've dragged out this Korra mental/spiritual block for way too long. I thought we saw the last of it with the poison being removed. But if they were going to go this far with it at least give us something more substantial. If the whole episode had been cut down to Korra and Zaheer having a dialogue about her own self doubt and the motivations/ramifications of Kuvira I think it would've payed off. A clash of ideologies and philosophies that maybe mirrored her own struggles. Instead we got microwave treatment on was a significant character growth moment.
I've detested Wu since he debuted and had hoped he'd be flushed away after Kuvira's speech was made and her cards were on the table. This guy is the Jar Jar Binks of this series for me. Every second he's on screen I can't help but think there are so many other things going on that could be getting attention. I don't know who screened this season but he's been the biggest waste of screen time.
I hope there's some explanation as to what the spirit vine's were actually doing with the captive people. What purpose was there to putting those people in a coma and trapping their souls? Maybe this gets expanded on next episode. Maybe Republic City is in for a double whammy of Kuvira's spirit weapons from without and a raging vine spirits from within in the impending confrontation.
I keep seeing interesting threads in the narrative but the Avatar team going nowhere with them. They've basically introduced weapons of mass destruction in a world that's barely gotten past the point of using medieval weaponry. It's technology that not only circumvents any kind of bending (safe some super spiritual bending of sorts) but might even eclipse the avatar. The bit of Asami's father seeking reconnection could've expounded on the psychological and emotional strain being in prison can bring.
The only real progress that happened was Korra seemingly is back to 100% or at least fighting form (unless we find some other damned reason she can't maintain focus or hold the avatar state). And Bolin/Varick are back in Republic City beyond Kuvira's reach. I wasn't expecting a lot of pieces on the board to move but this was a very tame episode, following a recap episode, that followed one of the more suspenseful closings that foreshadowed an all out war. The main plot pretty much lost all its momentum.
Let's face it- the show is going out of it's way to have the girl mad at him JUST so he'll be willing to go on this suicide mission with her to save her family.
Do you think Bolin wouldn't have jumped at the chance to help her even if she wasn't mad at him at all? This sort of mission-- going off half-cocked to help a bunch of people just because he likes them and they are related to his girlfriend seems like exactly the sort of thing Bolin would do, whatever his current status with Opal.
I was kind of disappointed that we only got a couple of episodes with Bolin finally acting competently before he was back to his same old "I'm-so-lame-it's-funny" routine. I would have liked it much better if he had, y'know grown up a little in the intervening time.
I imagine Bolin will end up with his life in danger, Opal realizes she was a *****, sadness hugs and blah blah blah she's a *****.
I liked seeing Zaheer again. He's honestly my favorite so far of any of the Avatar villains(Zuko doesn't count, he was like Team Rocket season 1, just kind of a dick in season 2, and became a hero in season 3). He has the presence that Ozai had, but also an actual character behind who he is, and a driven goal. Anyway, I'm still a little disappointed that it is PTSD entirely, not Vaatu or her thinking she really isn't needed anymore or any of those fan theories. That's my fault though, not the show's.
Opal is getting on my nerves. Bolin may of been on the wrong side at first, sure... but he didn't do it to take over the Earth Kingdom. At first, he did this because Kuvira + her men was actually helping people even though later on we learned that those towns became slave camps. He wasn't responsible for her family being captured or the city being taken over.
Heck, her own family is responsible for trying to take out Kuvira at night only to fall for the trap. The city itself, despite being a metal based city with amazing defense... lost it's stand in 2 days. Yeah ....... talk about 'Best security in the world hur hur.'
Opal is the kind of girl who would be mad at you for being somewhat related to any situation.
Imagine if Bolin went to the Earth Kingdom and decided to help out his family. Let's imagine that said Earth Kingdom somehow decided to become evil and take over the Metal Kingdom. Opal would find a reason to be mad at Bolin for that.
Let's face it- the show is going out of it's way to have the girl mad at him JUST so he'll be willing to go on this suicide mission with her to save her family. Why at any point, didn't she feel mad at her brother for... I don't know, betraying the Metal Kingdom, marrying Kuvira who's power hungry, the core reason her family IS held captive, and willing to cut down a spiritual tree in order to create a super weapon.
Screw off Opal. You're not gaining any sympathy from me and Bolin didn't do anything to deserve such treatment.
I love how Mako easily forgave Bolin despite they actually had a fight about who's side is right, and yet they made up easily.
.. .. . The episode overall was good though because Zaheer and the depth on Korra's character progressing further.
But seriously Opal is a really bland character to me at this point, remaining to bother me for her poor excuses to stay mad at someone who actually was on the wrong side, in order to make a better change and immediately leave when he realized that side was bad.
I'm going to have to disagree about Opal. She has an extremely high stake in this conflict, AND she repeatedly warned Bolin about Kuvira, yet he refused to even consider she might be right. She has every right to be emotional right now, AND is justified with being pissed at Bolin. Bolin's weak attempts at trying the brush this aside and get back to normal while Opal's whole family is still captured and likely in a very bad way aren't helping. The damage had already been done. She's not a robot, after all.
Mako forgave Bolin because he was only kind of mad at Bolin for siding with Kuvira in the first place. Their disagreement didn't have nearly the emotional charge that Bolin and Opal's did.
Ultimately I do think it was wrong of Opal to put an ultimatum of "help me free my family and then I'll love you again" on Bolin, but that's not an uncommon thing for someone in a relationship to do when faced with such a tough issue. But hey, pobody's nerfect.
Zaheers a boss and im glad to see a little more of him, I really enjoyed the Red Lotus as villains, they were entertaining to watch fighting.
Some people think its weird that Zaheer is so willing to help her but I dont personally. For Zaheer, I dont believe what he did to Korra was personal. He just believed that the world should not have authority figures telling people what to do, and the Avatar is the ultimate authority, always telling people whats right and wrong.... Zaheer didnt hate Korra, he just wanted a world without leaders, and the Avatar had to go as the ultimate leader.
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