Avatar: The Last Hairbender & Legend of Korra

[ArgonV]

Ozai didn't seem like the type to relinquish power out of fear either. Maybe the Avatar can actually take away or at least permanently block bending, and Amon can only suppress it?
This would seem to support that...

[mr-mitch]

Ozai nearly corrupted Aang, though. It was a close one.

Unfortunately I can't see the image right now, imgur is under maintenance.

[Angua]

Spoiler:

I'm sort of wondering why they haven't put more emphasis on Korra trying to contact the spirit world. Amon said that the spirits were the ones who taught him how to spirit bend, so it would have made sense for someone to have told Korra she should be trying to do this. Also, it would be good if Aang had been trying to tell her more than just about Tarlok - he was nowhere near the threat that Amon is.

[ArgonV]

I'm guessing

Spoiler:

Amon will get his hands on Korra, try to spiritbend her, but that will call out the Avatar-state. And then everything will be fixed.

[Diadem]

Spoilered by request for info from trailer:

Spoiler:

That's not a guess. We saw that happen in the trailer for next week. At least we saw Amon get his hands on Korra and get ready to do it. We didn't see what happened afterwards.

[Ryom]

Spoiler:

Well, the way to do it IMO, would be for her to lose her bending and need to focus on her spirituality in order to eventually recover... rather than just hulking out in the Avatar state for a last moment save.

[Isaac Hill]

Diadem - Some people don't watch the trailers for next week to avoid spoliers like what you mentioned. Would you mind editing some spoiler tags into your post, maybe with a note that it's about the finale so people who've been reading the spoilers for aired episodes know not to click it?
Thanks.

[Sockmonkey]

The cage was open at the top with bars. She could have blowtorched through those without heating the rest of it much.

I'm not sure I'd like molten metal dripping on my head...

The box was roomy enough for her to stand to one side while torching the bases of the bars on the opposite one.

[Thadlerian]

No, seriously, love triangle is the only form of character interaction in this show. They actually managed to push another one into the episode, in parallel to the Mako/Asami one.

Why can't producers understand how much bad writing actually hurts storytelling? First Prometheus, and now this. This show seems afraid of doing anything that the previous series hasn't already done, and so it never takes any chances. This thing should have had writers without any links to the previous series, being given free reins, and then have the directors clean out anything that strayed too far from the vision.

Now we're ten episodes in, and we haven't seen anything carrying even remotely the emotional impact of any of these scenes from A:TLA (spoilers for the whole series):

Spoiler:

- Aang's first Avatar State Amuck scene in the Southern Air Temple, with Katara's intervention.
- Sokka swallowing his pride, training with Suki and the girls. Most shows would have played this one for a simple laugh, but then we're surprised to see them almost evenly matched. An early indication of the good storytelling that was to follow.
- Aang accidentally burning Katara (effectively blocking off his firebending training till nearly the end of the final season. Korra's airbending training has hardly been adressed since episode 2).
- Aang's chat with Zuko, as the unmasked Blue Spirit.
- Iroh's flashback to Zuko's Agni Kai.
- The fights by the moon spirit pool, and Yue's ascension.
- There were 999 ways to get the nomadic performers wrong, and they managed to hit the 1 right.
- The hallucinations in the swamp.
- Iroh teaching Zuko about the symbolism of the four nations (particularly about the freedom of the extinct air nomads, and the love and community of the water tribes - I regard this scene as perhaps the best of the whole series).
- The final confrontation with the Desert raiders. The only place where Aang truly loses his temper, with the Avatar State and again Katara's intervention.
- Iroh's tale, complete with song and everything.
- Sokka's tale (how to do intelligent comedy. The haiku battle is brilliant. Early reviews of Korra pointed out how the latter show takes on a more serious edge than the former. This is rubbish. Thematically, A:TLA is far more mature than TLK. Consider the multitude of fart jokes in the latest episodes)
- Zuko's confrontation with Iroh in Lake Laoghai.
- Jet's death.
- Zuko finally calming down, helping Iroh with his tea shop, and being happy about it. Look how much joy these scenes bring Iroh, and observe how you don't actually need jealousy for two characters to interact in new and unexpected ways.
- The fourth and sixth chakras, two immensely strong scenes combining dialogue, visuals, music and sound effects, tying Aang's experiences to other characters (but not the tenth chakra, as they cheated their way out of that one...)
- Aang and Katara's dance.
- Katara being manipulated into learning bloodbending.
- Iroh's imprisonment.
- Aang and Zuko's dragon dance (really, dance can do wonders. There's a reason people do it.).
- Katara losing her temper, bloodbending the raider captain, shocking even Zuko. This experience was probably what caused her to stay her hand when she finally met her mother's killer, another exceptional scene.
- Zuko and Iroh's reunion. Okay, that's not fair. This scene had three full seasons of character development building up to it. But it serves as a reminder of what you can reap when you carefully nurture your characters from the beginning.
- Sokka protecting Toph like a proper adult in the airship battle.

Attentive readers will notice I've left out quite a few great fighting scenes (Aang vs. Zuko in the first season, Sokka vs. his master, Zuko and Katara vs. Azula, Zuko vs. the Earth Kingdom bullies, Suki vs the Warden's guards, Iroh vs. his robber, etc.) That's because the fights in Korra are good, and more than a match for many of those in the first series. But it's a problem when everything that's not a fight feels like a chore, a slow bus ride that might hopefully take us there. Happily, most of them do.

As for this particular episode:

Spoiler:

Is Iroh related to Zuko? Of course he is. With the current level of plotting, anything else would have been completely unthinkable. With writers taking a chance, however, he can be anybody. There should be enough people who revere Iroh to name their sons after him.

Okay, so this post was mostly an excuse for me to talk about my favourite parts of A:TLA...

[Izawwlgood]

I think you just pulled 'great moments' from 3 seasons worth of a beloved show that introduced us to the world of bending for the first time, and are slightly unfairly comparing it to 10 episodes (not even a complete season) of a show that is the 'aftermath' of the events of the first show. I agree that most of what we've seen so far has been fairly boring, but I think you're ignoring a handful of pretty amazing things, and pretty deep characterization. Just from this last episode alone;

Spoiler:

Lin looking at Tenzin's family, at Pema and their new child, and deciding she is going to sacrifice herself to protect them. She sees what she could have had, what was supposed to be hers, and decides protecting them is the right thing to do, the responsible thing to do, is to undergo a suicide mission. Even when captured, she protects her friends.

[Joeldi]

No, seriously, love triangle is the only form of character interaction in this show. They actually managed to push another one into the episode, in parallel to the Mako/Asami one.
Why can't producers understand how much bad writing actually hurts storytelling? First Prometheus, and now this. This show seems afraid of doing anything that the previous series hasn't already done, and so it never takes any chances. This thing should have had writers without any links to the previous series, being given free reins, and then have the directors clean out anything that strayed too far from the vision.

While I strongly agree that Korra has been much weaker on the emotional impact and character moments than TLA, I disagree that the writers aren't treading any new ground. The focus on the adult characters brings plenty of new stuff. A father split between his family, his city and his ward, the loyalty and the betrayal Lin feels towards Tenzin. Lin's responsibilty to her corps, which is a different type of responsibility than what Aang felt to his Nakama and his world.

Not to mention that there was no love triangle in TLA, unless you count Jessie Flower in the fortune teller, or cusp-of-puberty Toph's minor crush on the attractive older Sokka that was presented in the show for all of 2 seconds. Zutara was never a thing.

So new emotional ground has been tread, but not all that well.

[Angua]

Spoiler:

I'm actually wondering if Asami is going to end up turning on Korra and the rest of the benders (or at least toying with the idea). She probably still has strong ties to her father, and if Mako chooses Korra, it might feel like it's benders going out with benders or something.

The love triangle might be going somewhere, is what I'm saying.

[Diadem]

For once in my life I'd like to see a love triangle resolved without one of the three people involved either losing interest or being rejected. A non-monogamous solution.

I don't expect that to happen in a kids show. But one can dream.

My predictions though:

Spoiler:

I predict Mako will end up being forced to choose between rescuing Asami or Korra. He chooses Asami, earning her forgiveness and repairing their relationship. Korra however ends up captured and loses her bending for the next season or so.

[Lucrece]

When will someone learn gonad-bending so they can apply it on Amon?

[cephalopod9]

I was let down that

Spoiler:

Lin didn't at least try to get one strike at Amon. It seems out of character for Toph's daughter to stop fighting. Maybe it was to show how emotionally worn down she was, or maybe there wasn't time for it between the airbender children and the introduction of General Iroh. Either way, kind of a let down.
I also would have liked to see Lin fight along side the airbender children. I think it could have been funnier and less ewok-ishly improbable.
It was cool when she tore the airships open though.

I'm actually wondering if Asami is going to end up turning on Korra and the rest of the benders (or at least toying with the idea). She probably still has strong ties to her father, and if Mako chooses Korra, it might feel like it's benders going out with benders or something.

The love triangle might be going somewhere, is what I'm saying

I have to hope Asami has more reason for siding against the Equalists than "this boy is nice to me".
I kind of want to see Korra and Mako figure out that they don't actually work as a couple.

I got kind of a weird idea, at the part where Hiroshi Sato was looking at the picture of his family, that he'd lied about what really happened to Asami's mom. Maybe I am just looking for common themes though.
Back to things actually in the show, Hiroshi is right there next to Amon. He's not just an enthusiastic contractor or something, he is playing a big part in leading this thing.

Is Tenzin going to see his siblings? I really want to see Tenzin's siblings.

[MinotaurWarrior]

Am I the only one who is desperate to learn what became of Sokka's family, the Kyoshi warriors (regardless of whether or not Suki & Sokka lasted), and the other non-benders from TLA? I'm glad that adult Sokka got some screentime, but overall it looks like the non-benders are getting sorely overlooked in the legacy department.

[Izawwlgood]

Am I the only one who is desperate to learn what became of Sokka's family, the Kyoshi warriors (regardless of whether or not Suki & Sokka lasted), and the other non-benders from TLA? I'm glad that adult Sokka got some screentime, but overall it looks like the non-benders are getting sorely overlooked in the legacy department.

I think they're trying to show that this is a new world, with new people and new problems. If the whole show was simply one big shout out to TLA, it'd be pretty boring.

[Zohar]

I disagree about there being a second love triangle in this episode - it was pretty much over and done with before the show started.

Also, did everyone notice how insanely powerful Tenzin was in this episode??

As for next season, I'm guessing it will indeed be "Spirit" or something.

[Ryom]

Looks like Pabu got left behind...

[The Mighty Thesaurus]

Maybe he was raptured

[PCal]

My takeaways from the episode

Spoiler:

Airbending is OP

Spoiler:

Also does any one else find Amon an awfully boring villain. He actions dont really seem to be those that are ones to win over the hearts and minds of the people of the city. It seemed like he was just indiscriminately bombing surely there was collateral damage that hurt non benders.

[Izawwlgood]

Oh totally. I also get the impression that the airbenders we've seen in the series aren't standard airbenders; we ONLY see the lightening bender equivalent. There are no 'run of the mill' airbenders in the world at any given time. Aang was a genius airbender, Tenzin was taught by his father and is obviously quite powerful, and, well...

[Thadlerian]

I think you just pulled 'great moments' from 3 seasons worth of a beloved show that introduced us to the world of bending for the first time, and are slightly unfairly comparing it to 10 episodes (not even a complete season) of a show that is the 'aftermath' of the events of the first show. I agree that most of what we've seen so far has been fairly boring, but I think you're ignoring a handful of pretty amazing things, and pretty deep characterization. Just from this last episode alone;

Spoiler:

Lin looking at Tenzin's family, at Pema and their new child, and deciding she is going to sacrifice herself to protect them. She sees what she could have had, what was supposed to be hers, and decides protecting them is the right thing to do, the responsible thing to do, is to undergo a suicide mission. Even when captured, she protects her friends.

I don't think it's unreasonable - the creators are the ones who did A:TLA, and I think it's completely legitimate to expect them to build on their experience. Korra season one should be at least close to the quality of a fourth season of Aang, that is allowing for a little skill degeneration for the delay between the two series. Aang is a beloved show, but Korra could have been that as well, if it hadn't been so - i think this is the right phrase - uninspired.

Regarding that scene: It might be that I will appreciate the depth of scenes like that upon re-watching, especially if future installments give the characters more depth that can be used to re-evaluate their earlier actions. For example, I think Tenzin as a character works fairly well if the idea of his character is a simple man who's been jettisoned into a position of far more power than he is capable of and comfortable with holding, because of his family ties. But it's hard to say - he might simply be a poorly written Large Ham, for all I know at this stage.

Specifically on that scene:

Spoiler:

Lin's decision of sacrifice didn't hit me that hard. I can't tell exactly why. But it's possible that the impact of her action had been weakened by her having done something similar before. In episode 6, she tried to board Amon's airship by herself, well aware that it would be packed with mooks, each and every one close to her match in prowess, not to mention Amon himself. There was no sacrifice needed in that attack, it was pointless. Hadn't the Lieutenant stopped her, hadn't Korra fallen through the ceiling, Lin would have been equalized in episode 6, plain and simple.

This gives the scene in the latest episode a sort of vague ambiguity: Did she sacrifice herself for the sake of the family, or just because boarding airships is what she does? Well, obviously it's the former, but the ambiguity does take some of the edge off the scene. Lin has shown herself willing to face equalizing for far less than this.

I think they're trying to show that this is a new world, with new people and new problems. If the whole show was simply one big shout out to TLA, it'd be pretty boring.

I think this is only partially true. The first episodes tried pretty hard to introduce the new world. But the shout out part has become more and more dominant. I think we can agree that the characters being given the most attention lately are the ones most closely tied to TLA - Lin and Tenzin. Also the flashbacks - TLA characters' roles in the past seem much more important now than they did in the beginning. The original characters, on the other hand, get less and less development (Tarrlok is the exception here). When was the last time we learned something new about Bolin?

I disagree about there being a second love triangle in this episode - it was pretty much over and done with before the show started.

Are we talking about the same thing? I was referring to

Spoiler:

Lin/Tenzin/Pema, which has been implied low-key a few places, but seemed more explicit in this episode. It does not actually need to be real, but regardless of that it seems to affect Pema, and it didn't feel resolved here.

[cephalopod9]

All we've seen is that

Spoiler:

Until recently Lin was sort of avoiding/hostile towards Tenzin and still finds it painful to see him with his family, and that Pema might be defensive about Lin and Tenzin spending time together

Which to me looks like the after effects of a love triangle, not an ongoing one.

[Isaac Hill]

Spoiler regarding background info which may or may not eventually be addressed in series:

Spoiler:

Some of the background/promotional material for LoK mention Zuko being alive and touring the world. When I heard that Dante Basco was going to be on LoK, I assumed it was to reprise his role as Zuko. Hearing his voice come out of new Iroh's mouth was actually a surprise. I wonder if the Zuko's alive backstory was just a bit of misdirection by the producers so fans wouldn't figure out that Dante Basco would be voicing a new character.

Aired episodes:

Spoiler:

This Episode 10 review makes a good point about the difference in emotional impact of the two series. AtLA Book 1 had a smaller main cast (Aang, Katara, Sokka, Zuko and Iroh) than LoK Book 1 (Korra, Mako, Bolin, Asami, Tenzin, Lin Beifong, Amon, Tarrlok and Tenzin's family) so they could spend more time per episode on each character. Plus, the AtLA cast traveled, so we could learn about the cast by how they interacted with the people they met, who would then be mostly forgotten.

cephalopod9 - We see Lin get zapped on the airship. I figure either the zapping or chi-blocking after her capture left her unable to bend while talking to Amon.

Ryom - I didn't see Pabu riding Naga, but he was on Bolin's shoulders at the end when the group walked into the sewer.

Zohar - Tenzin's seemed pretty powerful the past couple episodes, but flipping that solid platinum man-tank several stories high was beyond anything else we've seen him do. We hadn't seen that tornado he used against his would-be captors before, but a lot of his fights have been underground, so I don't know if he could have used it.

PCal - If Amon's got enough followers to pull off this plan, he might have already won over a lot of hearts and minds. We don't know what portion of the population of the city is non-benders. It's also possible that benders and non-benders are fairly segregated from each other. Tarrlok cut the power to a large neighborhood a couple episodes ago as part of his oppression against non-benders. I doubt he'd screw over benders, and I didn't see anyone in the mob bending.

I do wonder if the destruction was necessary, though. Kidnapping the council members (which reminded me of the simulataneous capture of the Earth King's 5 generals in AtLA Book 2) should have been enough to give him the equality he says he wants. If he couldn't threaten them into complying, he could take their bending, making the majority of the council non-benders. Tarrlok's narcissistic enough that I can almost picture non-bending Tarrlok becoming an equality fanatic, like in that South Park episode where Cartman rips on ginger kids, the others give him red hair and freckles, and Cartman becomes a ginger supremacist.

The talk of LoK as a stand alone series made me realize something. LoK establishes that Lin is Toph's daughter, Toph is a powerful enough bender to invent a new bending discipline, and Lin can sense things underground when she's barefoot. Someone seeing LoK without having seen AtLA will watch Toph get levitated over to Yakone in the flashback, notice her bare feet, and figure out that Toph can sense things underground, too. But, they won't figure out that she has to, because LoK never establishes that Toph is blind. Toph's added terror of being blinded by levitation as well as paralyzed would be lost on them.

The Promise Part II:

Spoiler:

I liked it, but it seemed a bit too much of a filler issue for a three issue series. Then I looked up the Three Act Structure on Wikipedia and I guess it's supposed to be like this, with the chracters not doing much but acquiring the wisdom needed for the climax. We've seen Zuko agnst over figuring out the right thing before, but asking his father for advice was new. I got a kick out of Ozai's facist take on believing in yourself: You can be sure that you'll do the right thing, because whatever you do becomes right.

I found Aang's insistence on separating the colony in Part I a bit puzzling. In the TV show, he mentioned having friends from all over the world, like Bumi and Kozin. He also learned from Guru Pahtik that the separation of the four elements was an illusion. Plus, he's dating a girl from another elemental group. Someone with that background saying that harmony requires a handful of separate nations seemed odd. I guess the time celebrating Air Nomad culture with the Earth Kingdom residents will be what finally makes him realize that heritage does not determine culure.

[Sockmonkey]

Spoiler:

New Iroh having the same voice actor as Zuko really clashed. I don't know if it's because the voice doesn't fit the face or because I'm used to it being Zuko's voice, but it really bugged me.

The first time Lin went after an airship she was pissed enough to put herself in danger but it's unlikely she was specifically sacrificing herself rather than risking herself. Later after going up against these guys several times and getting smacked around, as well as seeing her own troops de-bended would have really made it clear just how big a threat these guys are. This knowledge showed on her face this last time. She knew how it would turn out and had accepted it.

Isaac's point about Toph being extra-scared due to not being able to use her earthsense to see while being levitated is a good point.

I think the way the seeming contradiction of the world needing to be made of seperate nations yet all being one can be resolved thusly: Consider a painting. Many colors are combined to make it but the colors themselves are seperate from each other to a greater or lesser degree in order to give it form, otherwise it would all be a uniform shade of that weird purpley-green-brown color you get when you mix different packets of kool-aid together. We called it breen BTW.

Soooo, fart-bending huh? I can't say it's not perfectly plausible with airbending since we saw Aang sneeze-bend, and it was hillarious. However, I think it skirts the line a bit too close to anime goofyness.

[cephalopod9]

Spoiler:

I feel like the first airship was also more like a pick-up-and-drop-off vehicle for Amon, and these ones were more airborn tanks. Although it's interesting how they don't seem to have turrets, or guns on them (I don't think we've seen any airships fighting airships), and I can't tell if the explosives they're dropping are supposed be destructive, or more intimidation and crowd control kind stuff.

Oh Dang! Season finale is Saturday.

I hope season 2 jumps straight to where The Last Airbender was late in its third season, with episodes focusing closely on two or three characters at a time.

Spoiler:

MAYBE GOING OFF ON ADVENTURES IN GENERAL IROH'S AIRSHIP.

I just felt like sharing.

[The Mighty Thesaurus]

This is apparently a leaked image from the finale. I don't know if it's legitimate, but I'm going to throw up a MASSIVE SPOILER WARNING

Spoiler:

[Sockmonkey]

This is apparently a leaked image from the finale. I don't know if it's legitimate, but I'm going to throw up a MASSIVE SPOILER WARNING

Spoiler:

303476_480447041970539_2122828436_n.jpg

Spoiler:

Cute but impossible since the only airbenders are Aang's decendants and none of them can be that old and the eye color is wrong. Still a first-rate fake though since the raster lines match up.

[Izawwlgood]

Spoiler:

Unless... LE TWIST! Some Air Benders are still around, and the Fire Nation genocide convinced them to train Chi-blocking and hate bending in general!

[Isaac Hill]

Lin Beifong, Ep 10:

Spoiler:

Wasn't Lin knocked out while Amon took the Wolfbats' bending? When she climbed after the airship, the only evidence she had that bending could be taken away was the word of Korra, who she'd only begun trusting 5 minutes ago. It may be that it wasn't until interviewing Tahno later that she truly accepted that bending could be taken away permanently.

Plus, that first airship was over the arena. It would have gone down in the streets of the city. The airships chasing the airbenders looked like they were over a sea or ocean. I don't know if they would float, especially if water got in the holes Lin was ripping. Metalbending a bouyant, watertight raft from the pieces she ripped off might not be possible, and would just leave her a sitting turtleduck for an untold number of Equalists. It wasn't just the consequences of defeat that added gravity to the situation, it was the consequences of victory.

[Belial]

Soooo, fart-bending huh? I can't say it's not perfectly plausible with airbending since we saw Aang sneeze-bend, and it was hillarious. However, I think it skirts the line a bit too close to anime goofyness.

Spoilers omitted because this isn't really plot relevant.

That said, anime goofyness has always been a part of A:tLA, in the original series it just applied to *all* characters and was interspersed randomly throughout the series whenever there was a light moment. It seems like they wanted to make LoK more grounded and gritty, so you don't see much if any of the anime visual shorthand and gags in most of the series. Tenzin's kids, and the youngest in particular (I always forget their names) seem like a bit of a release valve on that stuff: they're the only ones you ever see doing it.

So yeah, the little kid is ridiculous, because he's doing all the ridiculous for the whole show.

[Okita]

This is apparently a leaked image from the finale. I don't know if it's legitimate, but I'm going to throw up a MASSIVE SPOILER WARNING

Spoiler:

303476_480447041970539_2122828436_n.jpg

So yeah that turned out to be incredibly wrong.

Just goes to show you people will go to great lengths to make crap up.

[Isaac Hill]

Korra Book 1 finale:

Spoiler:

So, you can have a murder/suicide in a Saturday morning cartoon now?

I don't mind, I'm just surprised they got away with it. When I saw Tarrlok reach for the glove, I expected another epic fight, with the two brothers battling it out on the speeding boat. Maybe with Amon zapped, there'd be a non-bending, straight up martial arts brawl. Then I saw Tarrlok calmly unscrew the gas cap.

The finale kept me immersed enough that I forgot stuff I knew would happen. It was pretty certain before the episode started that Korra would learn airbending, what with it being the finale of Book 1: Air. By the time she actually did, it had completely slipped my mind. I just thought, "Oh, right! That."

This episode is an example of why I avoid spoilers. If I had been told beforehand that Amon and Tarrlok were Yakone's two sons, it would have sounded cheesy, like a soap opera. Seeing it done, though, I was impressed. The evil father favoring his more gifted child could have come across as a rehash of Ozai/Azula/Zuko, but didn't, probably due to young Amon seeming like a decent enough kid. Tarrlok came off as a bit too noble and pure in that flashback, but that story was told from his point of view.

I was a bit disappointed that Amon wasn't crazy/dedicated enough to burn his own face to sell his story.

I didn't think too much of Korra going to a cliff to cry, since we'd seen her do it before. The theory suggested here is that the shot of the teardrop falling off Korra's face into the sea below means that Korra was leaning out over the cliff because she was contemplating suicide, either out of pity for losing earth fire and water bending, or a sense of duty that the world needs a fully powered Avatar that she can't be. The first reason doesn't seem likely to me since she's still a bender, one of only 5 or 6 airbenders in existence, but the second does.

[defaultusername]

Korra Book 1 finale:

Spoiler:

I didn't think too much of Korra going to a cliff to cry, since we'd seen her do it before. The theory suggested here is that the shot of the teardrop falling off Korra's face into the sea below means that Korra was leaning out over the cliff because she was contemplating suicide, either out of pity for losing earth fire and water bending, or a sense of duty that the world needs a fully powered Avatar that she can't be. The first reason doesn't seem likely to me since she's still a bender, one of only 5 or 6 airbenders in existence, but the second does.

Spoiler:

Interesting! That interpretation really seems to work, what with Aang's comment about Korra having "hit her lowest point". Rewatching the ending in that light makes it significantly more satisifying.

[Mat]

Korra Book 1 finale:

Spoiler:

So, you can have a murder/suicide in a Saturday morning cartoon now?

I don't mind, I'm just surprised they got away with it. When I saw Tarrlok reach for the glove, I expected another epic fight, with the two brothers battling it out on the speeding boat. Maybe with Amon zapped, there'd be a non-bending, straight up martial arts brawl. Then I saw Tarrlok calmly unscrew the gas cap.

The finale kept me immersed enough that I forgot stuff I knew would happen. It was pretty certain before the episode started that Korra would learn airbending, what with it being the finale of Book 1: Air. By the time she actually did, it had completely slipped my mind. I just thought, "Oh, right! That."

This episode is an example of why I avoid spoilers. If I had been told beforehand that Amon and Tarrlok were Yakone's two sons, it would have sounded cheesy, like a soap opera. Seeing it done, though, I was impressed. The evil father favoring his more gifted child could have come across as a rehash of Ozai/Azula/Zuko, but didn't, probably due to young Amon seeming like a decent enough kid. Tarrlok came off as a bit too noble and pure in that flashback, but that story was told from his point of view.

I was a bit disappointed that Amon wasn't crazy/dedicated enough to burn his own face to sell his story.

I didn't think too much of Korra going to a cliff to cry, since we'd seen her do it before. The theory suggested here is that the shot of the teardrop falling off Korra's face into the sea below means that Korra was leaning out over the cliff because she was contemplating suicide, either out of pity for losing earth fire and water bending, or a sense of duty that the world needs a fully powered Avatar that she can't be. The first reason doesn't seem likely to me since she's still a bender, one of only 5 or 6 airbenders in existence, but the second does.

Spoiler:

To me the lingering shot of the teardrop falling away from her just seemed symbolic of losing her water bending. She is contemplating her loss, but not suicide.

I was disappointed that we didn't get to see any of the characters who had their bending taken away adapt to being a non-bender. I think it would have been interesting if Korra's only connection to earth/water/fire bending was via the "spirit" connection and she had to work at it before she can restore bending. Having the big reset button at the end kind of diminishes the impact of what Amon did.

I'm hoping the next season focuses more on the wider world. I'm guessing the revolution will continue without Amon, since the technology and anti bending sentiment is not going to go away.

[Izawwlgood]

Spoiler:

So, can Korra bend all four elements plus spirit at will, or only when in the Avatar state? I'm not sure if they sort of left it up in the air (heh), but we don't see her bend anything without going all glow-y.

A little 'and now ALL the problems are solved!' for my tastes, but I thought it was a well handled finish. Whatever they've been feeding Naga, she got awesome. And, I can't help but feel bad for Asami.

Kind of annoyed actually now that I think more on it; nothing that happened to Korra was due to any personal advancement.

[Ryom]

Spoiler:

Agreed. The ending was way too pat... "we fixed everything in the last 10 minutes". Korra should have had to work to restore her bending (and others), not have it given back straight away. The sudden airbending after getting de-powered seemed odd. I'd have preferred to see the lieutenant allow them to escape while keeping Amon busy instead. Tarlok is quite self centered and selfish, I really don't see him committing suicide so it seemed out of character. He may have been able to convince Amon to restore his bending so he had a reason to not give up right off the bat.

It was entertaining but there were big flaws in the execution of the finale.

[Izawwlgood]

Spoiler:

Heh, yeah, speaking of the fact that Amon stole Tarloks bending, that boat ride seems REALLY awkward... Hey, brother, now that we're all the way out here, maybe, you know... help a brother out? What's this, you don't trust me? Yeaaaah, lets totes join forces!

[moiraemachy]

Spoiler:

Meh, I really disliked how they dealt with Amon and the whole equalist thing: apparently, the whole "equalists kinda have a point" thing was dropped, Asami's father got evil and Amon is simply a power-hungry psycho. I expected more ambiguity about his character.

Tarlok's blowing up that boat was awesome, though. Since Tarlok was portrayed somewhat positively before that, at first I thought that he did that because his brother was too dangerous for the world, but the more I think about it, the more it looks like plain vengeance.