Wow-The legend of Korra Finale

[uneek]

For some reason Korra constantly seems to be up and down for me, as a general perspective on the whole series I hate the way they moved away from the spiritual side of things.

Spoiler: Moving into spoilerific territory here

Aang struggled and spent so long trying to master the spiritual side of the Avatar and to connect with the others and master the avatar state, that moment when he nearly completely lost the ability to enter the avatar state so he could save Katara was absolutely incredible, they just kind of handed it to Korra while she was feeling down, I hate to compare it but it's going to happen regardless, but Korra just feels cheapened in some way.

Where are the same amazing moments like when Toph first managed to metal bend? Or the amazing and emotional moments where Aang in rage would be taken by the avatar state and sweep away fire nation fleets with ease.

Also Amon's death felt rather cheap, he was built up to be this huge enemy who could shrug off bending attacks with ease, then he dies in a poxy explosion?

He'll probably come back, but it didn't seem justifying.

I want to love Korra but whenever I start to get into it, I'm jerked back into cynicism by something or other.

As long as you want to.

 

[Scorched_Cascade]

*snip*
Particular things I didn't like in the order they come to mind
*snip
3. The whole Korra/Mako relationship thing is kinda... blargh. It seems forced and makes Mako look like a giant asshat.

>Agreed and besides from that one date they had I'd say Korra and Bolin seem perfect together while Mako is just a bit of a twat all round.

4. The most egregious example of rushed scenes is the very end where Korra gets her abilities back due to "hitting rock bottom and connecting to the spirit world". Still it was nice to see Aang and the other Avatars again albeit briefly. That should of been a whole episode (the first of the next season) in my opinion.

>It's implied that she was considering suicide by throwing herself off that cliff. She would be reborn as a new avatar in the cycle who would have all their bending available to them and would be able to fix her mistakes. What possible purpose does a broken avatar have? None, she can't keep balance like that.

There was something in the previous series about unblocking each chakra and the most important one for attaining the avatar state was "letting go of everything". I'd guess that's what she was doing if she was planning on killing herself.

5. Tarroks character takes a 180 personallity turn. From powerhungery to a remorseful good guy. He goes from being willing to take out the Avatar and worm his way into power to suddenly realizing that this is exactly the opposite of what he wanted his entire life.

>He has been sat in that jail cell a long time. He's both just lost his bending and just found out that his brother is still alive after all these years. I'd imagine he was doing some reflection.

 

[Thespian]

Okay, I hate to be THAT GUY, but I hated this ending. I've loved basically every moment of Korra up till now. This was just so disappointing. I'm crushed right now.

First off, some plot holes. Yay!
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----SPOILERS BEYOND THIS POINT----
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1 - How were Tenzin and his family captured? This was never explained. Was Lin's sacrifice pointless then? Oh wait, yes it was, because Korra makes it all better at the end with Avatar magic.

2 - How does Blood-bending remove bending powers? Seriously, how? Explain. Do it now. Do it.

3 - Why was Korra able to Air-bend?
3.1 - She had no aptitude for Air-bending previously. Aang never went from zero to full on bending before with an element he had trouble with. Even when he learned Earth-bending, finally, Toph warned him that he couldn't control it.
3.2 - Why wouldn't Amon's bending removal affect Air-bending? That makes no sense. I thought it severed the connection between bender and elements? Or is it just *some* elements? 3/4? That seems pretty arbitrary.

4 - So Aang has to meet a giant Lion Turtle to get Energy-Bending, but Korra just has to cry. Hmm, okay. So why can Aang pass powers and bending on spiritually? If that was possible, why didn't Roku just give Aang fire-bending through spiritual meetings? It makes sense if she could still bend while in Avatar State. That'd be cool, actually.

5 - Why was Korra able to resist Blood-Bending? Did she like... What did she... Explanation? No? Only Amon has done this before, and that's because he was a Blood-Bender too. No explanation? None? She just does? She's a wizard? Okay.

Okay, so beyond the plot holes, here's the problems I had with it narratively.

1 - EXPOSITION NO JUTSU. Seriously Tarrlok, shut up. Everything important in episode 11, the first half, is flash-back. Geez. Tarrlok just doesn't shut up. And it's not done in a clever way at all. It's just dumped there. We knew absolutely diddly squat about Amon for the entire season and they just drop all this tragic backstory on us now. Very poor foresight.

2 - Makorra. Uggh, I was so dreading this. I like Asami and Bo-Lin a lot. I respect them. But they get shoved aside for the obligatory Makorra romance. And Asami is treated awfully. I actually hate Mako for being so inconsiderate and downright cruel to Asami. He is an awful character. Asami is betrayed by her father and has no one else, and Mako just betrays her too without a second thought. In these last two episodes, he has one line of dialogue with her, and it's basically just him friend-zoning her without having the balls to do it properly.

3 - Asami Vs. Hiroshi. I expected a "final moment of redemption" from Hiroshi as he realized that he should dedicate his life to his living daughter and not his dead wife. Nope. That wouldn't be the only way to go, but a really forced scene that tries to get us to care about two characters with very little development is not better. Especially not when he is about to awkwardly kill her at the end. What? He was going to murder his daughter?! Yeesh.

4 - Korra's plan. "I have some information about Amon," Thinks Korra "I shall use it against him somehow." So she walks right into enemy territory and just blabs the secret to the whole crowd. Subtle. And then she's shocked when they don't believe her. "The cult-like public doesn't believe me when I tell them bad things about their leader? GASP!"
There are so many better ways to utilize the info against Amon. Or hey, stick with the Ambush plan. Have Mako shoot lightning in his back. Problem solved.

5 - Amon's facepaint. Not a big deal, but I lol'd. He brainwashes a city with a scar tattoo.

6 - Iroh and Boomi. Iroh is about 11% as cool as he should be. He had some cool scenes, but mostly he just got his shit wrecked by those Nazi planes. This guy should have shown up three episodes ago. He didn't live up to his introduction at the end of episode 9. And Boomi! I was waiting for this guy as soon as he was mentioned and he gets like, two seconds at the end? Gah!

7 - The bending plot point. I was actually really happy and quite surprised when Korra lost her bending. Oh snap! She's gonna have to deal with this! It'll be so tough and challenging for her character oh look she's better now.
What?! I felt so cheated! Korra losing her bending was such a cheap shock tactic.
Look, I would have loved it if she got up and said "So? You took my bending away, who cares? I'm not the Avatar, but I'm still ME!" or something. That would have tied in with the Equalist plot point and Amon would have been all "Gasp, Bender or not, it's the person that counts!"
But no. She just inexplicably starts Air-bending and then at the end she fixes everyone. Oh, that's something else.

8 - She fixes everyone. Korra gives everybody their bending back. Presumably, anyway. Lin got hers back, rendering her sacrifice, i.e the best moment of the whole series, totally irrelevant and unnecessary. Seriously, Lin gets her bending back and Tenzin is captured anyway. Lin might as well have just arrested Tenzin and sold him to Amon for all the good she did.
Anyway, it's so cheap to just magically restore everyone. I'm fine with happy endings, but maybe don't just make the entire season pointless? This leads to my next gripe...

9 - I guess the moral of the story is... Yay Korra? Avatar: Legend of Aang was about stopping the Fire Nation and it ended with all Nations allied. It was a very happy ending, but things in the world had still changed. There was a point.
Now, Legend of Korra was ending with a large number of Benders de-powered. This could have given some closure to the Equalist sub-plot. Wait, that's not a sub-plot. It is the plot. Of the series. And some benders learning to live as NON-benders would be interesting. There could be a reform int he government. They could realize "Hey, we have all these magical powers and pretty much everyone in the world who matters is a Bender. Maybe they have a point with this Equalism thing?"
But no. Bender supremacy rules! Burn the infidels!

10 - A totally Multi-Dimensional Villain. So, we get a big feed dump of info about Amon and what his true goals are and it's not expanded on at all. He hates benders because his dad did. Actually, he sort of disagreed with his dad. I guess he removes bending from people because he said the Avatar did that and it's the greatest power in the world. So I guess he likes the Avatar? But he sure is mean to Korra. Is he doing this for his dad or not? Why is he doing any of this? Does he actually believe in Equalism? What does getting rid of Bender have to do with anything? Tarrlok said "He blames bending for all that happened to him" - Why?! He uses Blood-Bending regularly. He has no beef with bending. His dad lost his bending by the time he had kids. Why does Amon give a fuck about equalism or bending or the avatar or anything? If he was out to destroy criminal empires or water-benders in a rebellious, adolescent rage against his father that would make sense but this is completely arbitrary. We know exactly the same amount of things about Amon as we did at the Season's opening - He hates Benders and is kind of a douche. Oh well, maybe we'll learn more at another point in ti-

11 - RANDOM SUICIDE! Oh that makes sense. After all, Tarrlok has been looking for redemption the whole time. Wait no, he's been looking for self-gain and power this whole time, he just started seeing the error of his ways like, five minutes ago. Because apparently he hated Korra because his father told him to. I guess. It's cool that they are showing how powerful a parent's influence is, but... Not in a good way. What about his mother? He had one of those, you know. She was around way longer than his dad, and we see Tarrlok reject his dad. But I digress. Why does Tarrlok kill himself and Amon? Why does Amon let it happen? When did Amon stop wanting to live? Is Tarrlok THAT remorseful for all the terrible things he did? I guess he did kill people. Hm, no, he didn't. He did hand Korra over to Amon though. Except she escaped. So, what is he killing himself for? For being immoral and almost doing something bad that one time?

I know this is rambly, but the point is - FORCED DRAMA. So much of it. And it's so weak. And there was even sub-par action. It was a giant yawn-fest, and so disappointing. The fact is, all my favorite characters (Tenzin, Bo-Lin, Asami, LIN <3) were pushed aside for the sake of a stupid romance sub-plot and a desperate attempt to tack on unnecessary depth to the villain. Could you imagine if the second last episode of Legend of Aang was spent with a flash-back telling us how Ozai's mother didn't let him have a dog when he was a kid and for that THE WORLD MUST BURN! That would have been awful. There was enough cool blood-bender legacy stuff with Tarrlok for the complex villains to be done. Amon was creepy and a very believable threat to the avatar. They should just say that the Spirits gave him the Bending-removal power because Benders of the world had become too frivolous with power and it was a warning and maybe not all spirits agree but still it's something to think about okay Benders? Then Korra has a new mission - Bring Equality. Be a bender for everyone, not just those in power.
But nope! Bullshit childhood tragedy that makes no sense. Yay benders. Fuck the commonfolk.

Like I said. Crushed. =[

 

[CommanderL]

I liked it, I thought it could have been better but all in all it was pretty damn good

Spoiler

The biggest thing that bugged me was Amon's identity. I was really expecting him to be the Avatar who was born after Aang died the first time.
That would mean Korra was supposed to be the Earth Avatar, which would explain why she had such a hard time learning Air bending. But what ever,

You just blew my fucking mind, that would have been so cool

never would have happend aang died in the avatar state the first time which also kills the avatar spirt and ends the avatar cycle

 

[the_pleasure_is_mine]

Well...

Spoiler

This was just the first time Korra ever got into the avatar state afaik and it seems to have to do with her first time actually seeing her past lives. She's kind of behind Aang in that regard. Not sure whether she has more control over the avatar state or anything.

Also, didn't think Amon's death felt rather cheap, he's killed by his brother who regrets what they've become. He's just as vulnerable to explosions behind his back caused by someone he trusts as anyone else. Though he might come back.

Spoiler: Spoiler conversations, yay!

It just felt ridiculous the way she instantly jumped into the avatar state in a cotrollable way, all throughout Last Airbender there was this running theme of the spirit world, chakra, emotions affecting the avatar state, then Aang just hands her some new abilities and sends her on her way.

Also Amon was blasted with fire, lightning, launched out of window 40ft+ high, it just seemed ridiculous, Korra went on for ages about how it was her duty to face Amon, then he was killed by his brother in a murder suicide.

The writers just seem to have taken some random direction that I can't enjoy in the same way.

 

[the_pleasure_is_mine]

For some reason Korra constantly seems to be up and down for me, as a general perspective on the whole series I hate the way they moved away from the spiritual side of things.

Spoiler: Moving into spoilerific territory here

Aang struggled and spent so long trying to master the spiritual side of the Avatar and to connect with the others and master the avatar state, that moment when he nearly completely lost the ability to enter the avatar state so he could save Katara was absolutely incredible, they just kind of handed it to Korra while she was feeling down, I hate to compare it but it's going to happen regardless, but Korra just feels cheapened in some way.

Where are the same amazing moments like when Toph first managed to metal bend? Or the amazing and emotional moments where Aang in rage would be taken by the avatar state and sweep away fire nation fleets with ease.

Also Amon's death felt rather cheap, he was built up to be this huge enemy who could shrug off bending attacks with ease, then he dies in a poxy explosion?

He'll probably come back, but it didn't seem justifying.

I want to love Korra but whenever I start to get into it, I'm jerked back into cynicism by something or other.

As long as you want to.

That was a fabulously worded post with great discussion value, thank you.

 

[Scorched_Cascade]

Well, that was a monster post. Let's see if I can answer some of these here points

*snipped*

Spoiler

2 - How does Blood-bending remove bending powers? Seriously, how? Explain. Do it now. Do it.

My guess would be some form of brain alteration, possibly from cutting off blood supply or bursting bloodvessels in the bending area of the brain (Amon applies directly to forehead)

3 - Why was Korra able to Air-bend?
3.1 - She had no aptitude for Air-bending previously. Aang never went from zero to full on bending before with an element he had trouble with. Even when he learned Earth-bending, finally, Toph warned him that he couldn't control it.

She had been training with Tenzin for a few weeks now and Korra makes her best breakthroughs under fire (first seen when she learns to "be the leaf" during a pro-bending match). She knows a few moves and movements she just doesn't have the "link" with the element because she doesn't yet embrace it's teachings (Air is very spritual and Korra is not, like when Aang had to learn that Earthbenders face things head on).

She also only uses very, very basic airbending when she does unlock it (A few tiny punches and kicks)

3.2 - Why wouldn't Amon's bending removal affect Air-bending? That makes no sense. I thought it severed the connection between bender and elements? Or is it just *some* elements? 3/4? That seems pretty arbitrary.

My guess here would be that she hadn't yet formed a link with Air for Amon to break?

4 - So Aang has to meet a giant Lion Turtle to get Energy-Bending, but Korra just has to cry. Hmm, okay. So why can Aang pass powers and bending on spiritually? If that was possible, why didn't Roku just give Aang fire-bending through spiritual meetings? It makes sense if she could still bend while in Avatar State. That'd be cool, actually.

Roku could not energy bend, Aang is one of the very few who learned how to do it. Energy bending involves a passing of knowledge and is governed by willpower, the lion turtle taught Aang by energy bending him. If Aang is a strong willed individual he could probably teach himself from beyond the grave? The avatar state is supposed to be the sum total of all the experience the past lives have.

5 - Why was Korra able to resist Blood-Bending? Did she like... What did she... Explanation? No? Only Amon has done this before, and that's because he was a Blood-Bender too. No explanation? None? She just does? She's a wizard? Okay.

She's a waterbender. Katara tells the old lady bloodbender in the original series to GTFO too. Strong Waterbenders resist bloodbending. Forgot to say that Aang has resisted bloodbending too but to fully break the grip he had to go avatar (seen in the flashbacks of Korra)

 

[Ragsnstitches]

I liked it, I thought it could have been better but all in all it was pretty damn good

Spoiler

Tarlok's redemption wasn't really a mystery, I wasn't expecting him to blow up the boat though. That was cool.

Air bending after losing the other 3 elements was fucking sweet.

The Avatar state restoring bending was a bit of a cop out, but not one I didn't see coming.
That could have been handled better but I'm still stupidly happy that Lyn got her bending back.

Am I the only one who's a little miffed that they wrapped up the whole relationship thing. I don't mind the way it turned out, but it TLA they played with it for 60 episodes, when there really wasn't any question that Aang and Katara were going to get together. In LoK they have some complicated love triangle building up over the season then it gets resolved like that (Implying that I snapped my fingers) I hope they play with that some more in the next season.

Did Sokka have any kids?

The biggest thing that bugged me was Amon's identity. I was really expecting him to be the Avatar who was born after Aang died the first time.
That would mean Korra was supposed to be the Earth Avatar, which would explain why she had such a hard time learning Air bending. But what ever,

Just nitpicking over your last comment, in TLA it was explained that it isn't the diametrically opposite Element that an Airbender struggles with, but the element that conflicts most with their personality. Aang struggled with earth bending because of his highly kinetic, open minded and carefree personality (which opposed earth bendings need for stubborn, focused and determined traits).

Korra struggles with Airbending because it requires calmness and patience, 2 things she most definitely does not have.

Spoiler

Which makes it even more improbable that she would achieve it under such heightened stress

It was a good series regardless. Very high standard. Though they leave a messy relationship dynamic to deal with in the next season, I'm still looking forward to the next adventure of the New Team Avatar.

Spoiler

On another note... why all the mako hate? He's a realistically flawed character. I feel bad for Bolin since he had his heart set on Korra, but Korra just wasn't interested and even gave him a shot, but he took it like a champ and has moved on. Though not until after one hilarious scene:

Asami was unfortunate to be involved with Mako, but the dynamic between him and Korra was established before she even entered the scene.

I hope they don't gloss over this in the next season as it would be fairly distasteful.

 

[CODE-D]

The original Avatar was one of my favorite shows and I watched the first two episodes of this on Nick's website then noticed the picture with Bolin, Korra and Mako and was promptly reminded to Twilight and began to hate it, counting this series an another sacrifice to Twilight fans. If someone can conform that this has not been ruined by a two guy one girl triangle(which I really HATE now) then I will watch it.

Like I said, its only ruined by mako(who has a girlfriend) as bo lin backed off.
Every korra/mako moment makes me cringe.

 

[CODE-D]

For some reason Korra constantly seems to be up and down for me, as a general perspective on the whole series I hate the way they moved away from the spiritual side of things.

Spoiler: Moving into spoilerific territory here

Aang struggled and spent so long trying to master the spiritual side of the Avatar and to connect with the others and master the avatar state, that moment when he nearly completely lost the ability to enter the avatar state so he could save Katara was absolutely incredible, they just kind of handed it to Korra while she was feeling down, I hate to compare it but it's going to happen regardless, but Korra just feels cheapened in some way.

Where are the same amazing moments like when Toph first managed to metal bend? Or the amazing and emotional moments where Aang in rage would be taken by the avatar state and sweep away fire nation fleets with ease.

Also Amon's death felt rather cheap, he was built up to be this huge enemy who could shrug off bending attacks with ease, then he dies in a poxy explosion?

He'll probably come back, but it didn't seem justifying.

I want to love Korra but whenever I start to get into it, I'm jerked back into cynicism by something or other.

You either die a great villain....or you live long enough to become silly.

 

[uneek]

That was a fabulously worded post with great discussion value, thank you.

Sorry about that.

Aang struggled and spent so long trying to master the spiritual side of the Avatar and to connect with the others and master the avatar state, that moment when he nearly completely lost the ability to enter the avatar state so he could save Katara was absolutely incredible, they just kind of handed it to Korra while she was feeling down.

She wasn't just feeling down. She lost the bending that she spent most of her life learning.

Where are the same amazing moments like when Toph first managed to metal bend? Or the amazing and emotional moments where Aang in rage would be taken by the avatar state and sweep away fire nation fleets with ease.

The thing about amazing moments is that they're unique. There's never going to be a moment like those. It may be just my opinion but I thought there were plenty of awesome moments in "LOK".

Also Amon's death felt rather cheap, he was built up to be this huge enemy who could shrug off bending attacks with ease, then he dies in a poxy explosion?

bloodbending looks like it's very painful. But it can't more painful than an explosion. Also he was caught by surprise by his own brother.

That's all I have to say about it.

 

[PBMcNair]

I thought it was really lame the way they all got caught too xD

That could definetly been handled better. You'd think a general would be suspicous about the lack of phyical defences.Or sentries.

Also why was a General commanding a fleet ?

Ah, screw it, it was still excellent.

 

[Navvan]

The original Avatar was one of my favorite shows and I watched the first two episodes of this on Nick's website then noticed the picture with Bolin, Korra and Mako and was promptly reminded to Twilight and began to hate it, counting this series an another sacrifice to Twilight fans. If someone can conform that this has not been ruined by a two guy one girl triangle(which I really HATE now) then I will watch it.

1. Triangle romances have been in fiction for far longer than the existence of the author of Twilight much less twilight. They can even be done in a manner that is meaningful. I'm fairly sure the authors were not trying to appeal to "Twilight" fans.

2. While Bolin does want to be with Korra he backs down and loses interest after he learns that she wants to be with his brother like a normal human being.

3. There is a love triangle but its between Asumi-Mako-Korra (two girls one guy) and while it is prevalent throughout the series its not a major plot changer. Its worth watching even if you don't like the romance bits.

So no its not ruined by a triangle romance and if you like TLAB then you should like TLK.

 

[Reincarnatedwolfgod]

it was not bad it had some good moments but at the same time it could have been a lot better
maybe i will go in to detail about some other time but for now i will say this
over all i enjoyed the season and plan on watching season 2

 

[Imp_Emissary]

Just finished watching it. It was pretty awesome, I have a few complaints.

1. A lot of it seemed pretty rushed. Like, Amon's origin story just kinda came out of nowhere after being a really slow burn for the whole season. Same with Korra getting her bending back. It took like, 10 seconds. I mean, what the hell is season 2 supposed to be about? She's already a fully realized avatar. There's not really anything that could possibly challenge her now.


Anyway, everything else was REALLY awesome.

I don't want it to be true, but what I heard at the start of this was that it was a one season deal only. That's why the whole thing was a bit fast, good, but fast.

I do hope they do more though, or at least make something new.

But maybe that's changed by now.

 

[Korten12]

I mean, what the hell is season 2 supposed to be about? She's already a fully realized avatar. There's not really anything that could possibly challenge her now.

I have been wondering this as well... What could they possibly do for another season?

Maybe...

-A powerful evil spirit? The Face Stealer really isn't evil perse, but there must be some spirit that is just plan evil.

-Another person like the avatar? A possible anti-avatar? Cliche but only thing I could think of that would actually pose a threat.

 

[Korten12]

I don't want it to be true, but what I heard at the start of this was that it was a one season deal only. That's why the whole thing was a bit fast, good, but fast.

I do hope they do more though, or at least make something new.

But maybe that's changed by now.

No they already announced season 2, and it might be longer if fans want it to be.