Avatar: The Last Airbender

[Kor]

So... for a pretty mundane season, these last two episodes weren't too bad. I mean, finally at long last we have a Korra season finale that actually has some decent bending going on. Still, it's not without problems, and the lack of... anything in this season just didn't support this finale so well.

I still can't get my head around these villains, though. Why do they do what they do? Were they even consistent with their plans and mindset? In episode 9 it was said they cooperated with Unalaq in the past - why did the writers make this connection? It was completely unnecessary and it raises more questions than answers. Why do I barely know anything about these villains?

Okay, a quick rundown.
Episode 12:
Bolin makes bird sounds. Okay, this was a complaint I had last season too, but why does Bolin have to act like an idiot?
Zaheer and the three eyed lady talk. Finally they find some time to give us some backstory. Problem is, three eyed lady is saying something to Zaheer that he already knows. It was a horrible way to give this exposition, plus it was already too late for me to care. Really, it feels like the writer just wanted us to slightly care more for this character because she was going to die.
Speaking of which, it was a pretty interesting way to kill her. But why did the writer/animators make this scenario if we can't actually see it properly? I mean, it surely was very bloody, so I can understand why we cut away, but still...
What is it with the Avatar series and their bloody deus ex machina moments? Seriously, Bolin conveniently learns lava bending. Whoop de doo. This came completely out of nowhere.

Episode 13 was mostly made of cool fights and closure to most of the plot threads in this season, so I don't have much to say about it (I do give it props for using the air benders to resolve the fight). I was surprised that they finished the season on a somewhat downer ending for Korra, which was pretty effective I guess, and it left enough of a plot thread for the next season to follow. Problem is, I don't find this last plot thread interesting enough.
I seriously hope the next season will have higher stakes (considering it's probably going to be the last Korra season) and better villains that will actually get some proper development.
Oh, and will they ever somewhat utilize the spirits again? I mean, there was a conflict established between some of the spirits and humans not being too happy with each other in the material world. Are they ever going to touch on this subject, or are we supposed to think it's just a status quo that will not produce anything?

[mangaluva]

So. DAT FINALE.

Spoiler:

P'Li's death was awesome. YOUR HEAD ASPLOOOODE

Also, while I fully think that she, Gazan and Ming-hua deserved what they got, I still would've killed for some backstory on these people. I did find P'Li and Zaheer frustratingly adorable in a "NO I HATE YOU PEOPLE SHE SHOT DOWN A LITTLE BOY AND YOU GUYS BEAT THE CRAP OUT OF TENZIN I HATE YOU STOP HAVING AN ADORABLE HEIGHT DIFFERENCE AND STARING AT EACH OTHER IN SUCH A LOVING WAY" kind of way. I almost felt sorry for how heartbroken Zaheer looked. Almost.

But seriously, no backstory aside from one short line from P'Li about being used as a human weapon? Nothing at all? I'm just... kinda disappointed. Maybe there'll be stuff in Book 4, though, since Zaheer's still alive (Bolin's reaction to his angry ranting was perfection) and Korra's still recovering

Also major points to the art department for that tremendously hyping creepy shot of Ming-hua going full Shelob. That legitimately scared me. And super points to the writers for bringing in Mako and Bolin's advanced bending skills--lightningbending and lavabending (YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAS BOLIN IS A LAVABENDER I loved his sassy lil wink to Gazan so much). I don't think it was entirely out of nowhere--Bolin's been trying all season to metalbend and can't, which is an odd trend for a main cast's power development... unless his skills lie in another branch of earthbending. Also, as he mentioned, being about to die (if he hadn't successfully lavabent, I think he was fully ready to die putting up rock barriers to hold that lava back) is a pretty good motivator--it reminded me of Korra unlocking her airbending after the rest of her bending was taken and Mako was about to lose his.

Also, the art for Korra and Zaheer's fight was stunning. I felt like there were a lot of visual references to Aang's fight against Ozai--only this time, it's the villain that's airbending all over the place and the Avatar that's chasing after him on fire blasts.

I was confused at first how Jinora knew that the poison was metallic, but then I remembered that she'd seen Korra's imprisonment in her spirit form. Also LET ME TELL YOU WHAT AN AMAZING PRECIOUS BABY JINORA IS. I was expecting her to get her tats by the end of the series, but I was still floored by how much she looks like Aang now that she has them. I wonder if she's going to grow her hair back, or if she'll keep flying around looking weirdly like her grandad?

I also cannot tell you how goddamn relieved I am that Tenzin, Korra's dad and Lin all survived the episode. Also, that metalbending captain that saved Korra's dad--was she a relevant character before? Suddenly named characters in finales always make me nervous, but she didn't seem to play any role after that.

There's a pretty solid parallel to the ATLA Book 2 finale too, actually, wherein Aang was also injured in the avatar state after fighting in a cave full of crystals and nearly died. Suyin's metalbending to remove the poison was reminiscent of Korra's use of the spirit water.

Also, when Asami said "I'm here for you, if you want to talk, or... anything" to Korra, I was just "ALL ABOARD THE GOOD SHIP KORRASAMI". I've been increasingly shipping it anyway since neither of them worked out with Mako, but I'd like to point out that "I'm here for you" is something that Mako said to Korra in Book 1 when he didn't want to admit that he loved her, and I think Bolin also said it when he was hitting on Korra. The line has romantic history, is what I'm saying. I just desperately want this ship to happen.

Generally, I think it was a really good finale to a season that I was a little back-and-forth over, largely because of the villains. I really think they were underused. I wish Korra books were as long as ATLA books, because I feel like we really could have done with the extra episodes to properly explore them and their motivations. Also, more Lord Zuko. Seriously, I'm dying for them to go to the Fire Nation. How has it recovered in the seventy years since it was brought low at the end of the Hundred Years War? How do people there remember the end of that war--as a victory for the good of the world, or a humiliating defeat? CAN WE PLEASE JUST MEET ZUKO'S DAUGHTER ALREADY?!

And yeah, can they do SOMETHING with the spirits? Please?

Speaking of finales, this damn show has me making AMVs again. This one's for the ATLA Book 3 finale, though, not the Korra one.

[url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gIGmp1f ... vf7vt2E8og]I See Fire[/i]

[Kor]

Apparently season 4 will begin in less than a week (Friday). There's a trailer too.

[kkslider5552000]

Apparently season 4 will begin in less than a week (Friday). There's a trailer too.

wait what?

[Jecka]

O_O
Man, I haven't even seen season 2 yet :V

[Raiden]

Spoiler: Season 4 trailer \o/

http://youtu.be/NCEFMY4TWGw

[mangaluva]

DAT HAIR

TOPH

CREEPY DAGOBAH SWAMP

TOPH

KUVIRA'S EARTH KINGDOM TAKEOVER OR WHATEVER THE HELL SHE'S DOING

TOPH

NEW AIRBENDER FLIGHT SUITS

TOPH

OCTOBER 3RD, DON'T FORGET

[Kor]

Episode aired today, so... spoilers below in case you haven't watched it yet.

Decent first episode. Like, it actually carried some stuff and plot points from last season, which is good. So far the timejump seems pretty effective. I do wish Kuvira had been slightly more prominent last season, because while her playing warlord is cool, it's yet another (potential) villain that is pretty underdeveloped at this point. Of course we'll probably get some more stuff on her later on.

Too bad obnoxious kid Kai is still around, but oh well. (On a semi related note, the writers are still awful people for that Kai Jenora ship. It was written horribly).
Jenora has her hair back. Did the show-runners get cold feet on the whole bold thing, or was it always intended that she'd have hair again?

The only biggest worry I have now is that we're potentially facing yet another character regression for Korra. Like, it really seems like she's gonna be acting emo and mopey again. While it can actually fit her character this time after her near death experience, we've already been on this boat with angry angry Korra learning stuff in season 1, and then forgetting all said stuff and then she's angry angry Korra again in season 2. Hopefully I'll be proven wrong and we're not heading in that route again.

One last thing, though. Back at the start of season 3: "the spirits and humans don't get along too well in the city". Start of season 4: "the spirits and humans get along well in the city". Dear writers, why did you establish an interesting conflict (that made a lot of sense) and yet you never actually went through with it?

[mangaluva]

I kinda like the fact that Korra wasn't in the episode until the end. It emphasizes the fact that, in her mind, she's irrelevant and the world can go on fine without her... I wish she could've been able to see how excited the airbabies were at the thought of getting to see her again T_T I don't think she's "emo and mopey"; I think one of her biggest struggles throughout the series has been that she's staked all of her self-worth to her identity as the Avatar rather than herself as an individual, and as such when she struggles with being the Avatar she suffers a HUGE self-worth crisis. With the Airbenders "balancing" things for her, she probably feels even more like she is of no use or purpose than before. I'm hoping for a journey of self-discovery, not of herself as the Avatar but herself as Korra, and underground Earth Kingdom brawling isn't doing that for her.

I'm expecting a number of flashbacks to what we've missed in the past three years, since clearly some big shit has gone down. Hopefully that will include some of the transition between "Republic City vs Spirits" to "Republic City loves Spirits". It might just be to emphasize that Raiko's freakout at Korra about the Spirit Wilds is unjustified because people can adjust to anything, but I would like to see more interactivity between humans and spirits and how that's affecting the world. Has that played into Kuvira's takeover at all? Is she uniting the Earth Kingdom for Wu or for herself? (I wouldn't mind Wu getting assassinated, tbh. He's just obnoxious comic relief and, frankly, the Earth Kingdom keeps getting slapped with out-of-touch/shitty rulers and could do with a break. Just not with Kuvira instead because she's sinister as hell)

I really like the new Airbender Lemur suits, though. They're a great idea and the Airbenders ninja leaping around in skintight outfits look hella cool XD I LOVE OPAL. But the poor girl clearly seems to have gone through some shit.

Also, I love the fact that Meelo's hair looks just like Aang's XD Ikki looks really pretty, too. I figured Jinora would grow her hair back, since all of the Airbending nuns that we've seen in flashbacks (including Avatar Yangchen) all had very long hair, but I think she could've rocked bald as well. And Rohan's getting big too <3 But he looks so glum... he was such a happy baby. Rohan, bby, what happened? D:

[Kor]

I kinda like the fact that Korra wasn't in the episode until the end. It emphasizes the fact that, in her mind, she's irrelevant and the world can go on fine without her... I wish she could've been able to see how excited the airbabies were at the thought of getting to see her again T_T I don't think she's "emo and mopey"; I think one of her biggest struggles throughout the series has been that she's staked all of her self-worth to her identity as the Avatar rather than herself as an individual, and as such when she struggles with being the Avatar she suffers a HUGE self-worth crisis. With the Airbenders "balancing" things for her, she probably feels even more like she is of no use or purpose than before. I'm hoping for a journey of self-discovery, not of herself as the Avatar but herself as Korra, and underground Earth Kingdom brawling isn't doing that for her.

My problem is that there were two times already before in which she was knocked into a similar situation, only in both times, the writers pushed the reset button and gave her back the Avatar powers. She lost most of her bending at the end of season 1. She could have had her journey of self discovery, but nope, Aang ex machina. She lost her powers again and her connection with past avatars and with Raava in season 2, but got that again an episode later. At long last, the writers decided to linger more on some element of loss for her, but for me it's a bit too late, because the writers have already had those opportunities before.
It just feels like there's been a lot of meandering around with Korra for the writers, and there was never a true solid plan what to do with her, because she hit the same character points and situations multiple times already.
Also I'd argue that the self-worth journey was already tackled (not in the very best manner, though) back in season 2.

I have some more thoughts about the grand scheme of this series as a whole, but I'll leave that for another time.

Episode 2.
Lots of flashbacks. At least there was the grand payoff at the end.

[mangaluva]

I think the only reason for those Deus ex Machinas was that the writers didn't know if they were getting further seasons at the end of Book 1 and Book 2; Book 3 is the first season that they got to create in full assurance that they were going to get another season to work with. I think they had to cobble together some quick endings and did the best they could with it, but yeah I do wish they'd had a chance to plan it out better. I do kinda like the recovery they're pulling, with it all piling up as "proof" in Korra's mind that she isn't strong, she isn't important, she isn't special... she's a lackluster attempt at an Avatar. I get the impression that she's been struggling for a while with being in Aang's shadow, and I'm not sure if it's helping her that through her recovery she's been surrounded by people who are offering her advice based on Aang's struggles and Aang's patterns of recovery. She isn't Aang, and she's not just Aang's replacement, and she needs to understand that, Avatar or not, she matters and she is loved.

Spoiler:

That said, Toph greeting her as Twinkletoes made em so happy XD I'm really looking forward to seeing more Toph in the next few episodes.

I'm also curious about the hallucinations that Korra's having. Are her hallucinations capable of becoming a little more tangible because she's the Avatar? Or is it more than that--something from the Spirit World attacking her in a form that it can tell she's vulnerable to?

(I also had a happy Korrasami squee over Asami offering to drop everything to go to the South Pole with Korra and Korra only writing back to Asami... )

[Kor]

I do kinda like the recovery they're pulling, with it all piling up as "proof" in Korra's mind that she isn't strong, she isn't important, she isn't special... she's a lackluster attempt at an Avatar. I get the impression that she's been struggling for a while with being in Aang's shadow, and I'm not sure if it's helping her that through her recovery she's been surrounded by people who are offering her advice based on Aang's struggles and Aang's patterns of recovery. She isn't Aang, and she's not just Aang's replacement, and she needs to understand that, Avatar or not, she matters and she is loved.

I don't think this sort of inner conflict can work at this stage. At season 1 and most of season 2, I could buy it that she's struggling at being the avatar, and living in Aang's shadow. But as of the end of season 2, she's probably even more important than Aang is. She purified Vaatu and saved the whole world from ten thousand years of darkness, AND she reconnected the spirit world with the material world, AND she's the only avatar left in the line of avatars (thus creating a new line of which she would be the first). It just doesn't seem believable to me that she'd have such a conflict anymore.

At the very least, what I'm hoping she's going through is just a temporary depression after her traumatic experience and for being out of commission for so long, and I hope she'd get back in shape sooner than later. It's the last season, so I really don't think we need to delve on this particular inner conflict for too long, and I hope we get a more meaningful final arc for Korra, in which she can get to some new character points that didn't happen before.

[mangaluva]

Personally, I disagree, because I never got the sense in seasons 1 or 2 that she felt any pressure from coming after Aang. We're first introduced to her as a small child yelling "I'M THE AVATAR AND YOU GOTTA DEAL WITH IT", and she maintains that attitude for most of Book 1. It's kinda heartbreaking now to rewatch Book 1 and see how confident and self-assured she was. She was excited, enthusiastic and more than a little arrogant about being the avatar. There was no doubt in her mind that she was the greatest in the world. While I do wish that they'd known ahead of time that they were getting a Book 2 so they could've come up with something more substantial than Aang Ex Machina, I think they've done a pretty good job of showing that, even though Korra got her bending back, the blow to her confidence has never fully recovered. For the first time, she started to genuinely fear that she wouldn't be a good Avatar. I think this feeds nicely into Book 2, where she's visibly putting a lot more effort and devotion into her Avatar duties than she was in a lot of Book 1 (where she basically assumed everything to come easily to her, which is why Airbending being difficult was so frustrating for her--she's not used to ANYTHING being difficult at this point).

In Book 2, she also becomes the first Avatar in probably centuries, if not millennia, to be made aware of the Avatar's monumental duty in the battle between Raava and Vaatu, and the second Avatar to fight it. Yes, she purified Vaatu, but in the process she lost the memories and support of all of her previous Avatars, and without Jinora's aid she might well have lost. Such a skin-of-her-teeth win, on top of the betrayal of a close relative that she seemed to have been quite fond of prior to him turning out to be evil, is difficult to recover from. It's not just "yay, I won, everything's okay," it's "I won but at a tremendous cost, I came this close to costing the world the Avatar and casting it into ten thousand years of darkness, and the fact that my decision to keep the spirit portals open seems to be questioned and hated by pretty much everyone and that's not helpful to my badly shaken confidence". I think it's very believable that these things can pile up on her, because emotional trauma is not quick-reset cured.

The Last Airbender was all about maturing Aang in a way that built him up and made him stronger and more assured in his role as the Avatar, but Korra started out that way and her three Books so far have been emotionally breaking her down. She hasn't been facing enemies that have been trying to take her out because she's a credible threat so much as enemies that want rid of her for ideological reasons: Amon simply because she's a bender (and she gets smacked in the face with the fact that he genuinely is not threatened by her when he captures her and chooses to let her keep her bending, because he feels he has the luxury of getting to decide when to destroy her--and he would have, if Airbending hadn't been somehow protected from his blocking off the rest of her bending); Unalaq was happy to build up her knowledge and experience with Spirits because he was confident that ultimately it would do her no good, that the real battle was between Vaatu and Raava and that he and Vaatu would win and replace Korra (the idea of being unneeded and a failure crop up heavily for Korra late in Book 3, so it's evident that this is preying on her mind) and the Red Lotus wanted to end the Avatar cycle because they believed the Avatar to be unnecessary to the world. The damage they've done to her, long-term, is WAY more than physical.

Korra has been steadily breaking down for three books. She no longer has any confidence, assurance, or enthusiasm for ANYTHING, least of all her abilities as the Avatar. Quite a few people have noted that Tenzin assuring her that the Airbenders can handle the whole balance thing for her, well-meaning though it is, really isn't helping because in her mind it's confirming that she's not needed. A lot of this isn't about how the world perceives Korra, it's about how Korra perceives Korra, and right now it's not good. Right now, I don't think she needs to be hearing about other Avatars to live up to.

tl;dr: I don't think she's ever been "back in shape" from any of her defeats. All of them have done long-term damage to her mental and emotional state, and I think Book 4's going to be about fully addressing and repairing that. The girl's got depression and a truly phenomenal case of PTSD, so it's not going to be a quick fix, but I trust them to make it good.

[mangaluva]

*happily giggles "Toph" repeatedly*

Spoiler:

I kinda want to hug Toph because she seems to be really embittered about a lot of stuff, but she's not the huggy type so I'll settle for laughing because she's still so awesome. I can't help being amused by how much fun she's having kicking Korra's ass XD And how she's still the greatest earthbender in the world... DAMN I want a fight between her and Kuvira so much. SO MUCH.

And I think she's pretty on point with telling Korra that, subconsciously at least, she's afraid and wants an excuse to stay out of it. IDK if she's genuinely as much of a bitter crone as she appears or if she's deliberating being abrasive in order to push Korra (much as she did with Aang), but I'm enjoying it.

I also thought it was kinda sweet that she brought up that she can see Su and Lin from the swamp. She's not a particularly present mother or grandmother, but she's still watching out for all of them.

Speaking of Kuvira, could that woman BE more blatantly sinister? Seriously. I laughed when Bolin asked "what's with the crushing?" Also, Kuvira's kinda freaky in how smoothly she can go from "it's just tough rhetoric, we're doing good, aren't we? *puppy eyes*" to "BOW OR DIE BITCH" when called out by Suyin.

I do feel kinda sorry for Wu. I still don't think he's really leader material, but he is remarkably open to criticism from people who ignore his tantrums and talk to him straight, so I think he could learn to be a pretty good leader in time. He definitely seems less prone to crushing, anyway. I kinda like how him and Mako are starting to develop a genuine friendship. And it was nice to see Mako and Bolin reunited, even if they fought and stormed off on their own by the end.

AND I AM SO ANNOYED THAT WE ONLY GOT A COUPLE OF SHOTS OF ZUKO'S DAUGHTER. WE STILL DON'T KNOW A DAMN THING ABOUT HER. WE DON'T EVEN KNOW HER NAME BECAUSE NOBODY'S SAID IT AND SHE HASN'T HAD ANY LINES YET SO SHE'S NOT IN THE CREDITS. I WAS PRAYING FOR MORE ZU-DAUGHTER THIS EPISODE BECAUSE SHE WAS AROUND FOR THE CORONATION BUT NO. WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY

Also, Varrick sciencing that spirit vine is all kinds of sinister. I'm really worried about what kind of Aperture Science shit he's planning with them.

Anyway this gif sums up me the past couple of episodes.

[Kor]

Kinda noticed it just in this episode, but I'm not a fan of Kuvira's voice (or at least acting). It sounds too tryhard when she's trying to sound menacing. At the very least, it's the first time there's a female antagonist in Korra.

The Korra aspects of the episode were mostly okay, and it seems to be going in the direction I hoped (temporary traumatic depression she'll grow out of soon). Just the "lol you still have metal poison, Su sucks" thing feels pretty contrived.