The Legend of Korra’s back for its final season and it starts pretty strong, if without a lot of Korra to show. As everyone is keen on reminding us three years have passed since Korra defeated Zaheer and Tenzin committed the newly-formed Air Nation to act as guardians of peace and justice throughout the galaxy while Korra recovers. How much has the world changed since that fateful day?
Well, for starters it seems Republic City has learned to live with the spirits, or at least part of it has. The impression I got was that that part of the city was more of an amusement park with only people like Gommu (to whom fate hasn’t been kind judging by his attire) actually living there. Time will tell if I’m right and there’s an actual segregation based on class status (similar to what we saw on Ba Sing Se last season). At least Korra’s got a statue now, right? I guess one needs to be almost-killed thrice for that.
After this short prologue, we’re quickly introduced to Asami who has apparently managed to put Future Industries back in the spotlight with a new train that will connect Republic City with the Earth Kingdom. We also get a hefty dose of politics as we learn the grand-nephew of the late Earth Queen, Prince Wu, is poised to become its new ruler and President Raiko is doing his very best to remain in good terms with him.
It’s a pity that, at least for this episode, the show decided to portray him as the typically spoiled prince who’s more concerned about fame and fortune than he is about the welfare of his citizens. Again, only time will tell if this is a case of a prince who has always been so isolated from his subjects (and the true state of his kingdom) that he honestly can’t act otherwise until he knows better or maybe he’ll remain unchanged even after witnessing the pain and suffering his people have gone through. I’m hoping for the former, obviously.
In the meantime, Prince Wu is being protected by none other than Mako, who gallantly saves Asami from the prince’s advances and the two have a pleasant exchange that borders normality and that Makami fans will see as a sure-fire sign of the couple’s return. But, wait, isn’t Team Avatar missing another member? You know, besides the Avatar herself. That’s right, where’s Bolin?
It just so happens that Bolin has been doing his civic duty as a proud (and naively enthusiastic) Earth Kingdom citizen helping Prince Wu’s political rival. Cue Kuvira, the former captain of Zaofu’s guard. In the span of three years Kuvira has taken it upon herself to reunite the shattered Earth Kingdom, and though we remain largely ignorant of her motives throughout the episode we’re not as ignorant of her methods.
After single-handedly thwarting an ambush in an impressive display of earthbending and metalbending prowess, Kuvira offers the would-be ambushers a choice: either pledge their loyalty to her (note the pronoun) and become “productive members of society,” or remain tied to the railway tracks in the hopes someone else rescues them before another train arrives. Some choice, right?
I was a bit disappointed that the writers chose to portray Kuvira this way rather than take a more “you catch more flies with honey” approach. If she had offered the prisoners their freedom, no hard feelings, whatever supporters she had gained would have undoubtedly been more loyal than any coerced oath of fealty. This is, for instance, the approach Grand Admiral Thrawn (from Star Wars’ excellent Thrawn Trilogy) would have taken and indeed took when he attempted to reform the Empire and it paid off in spades. Of course, he was less than kind to the Noghri and that ended up biting him in the ass.
This is not the last we see of Kuvira’s methods though. As we know, the Earth Kingdom is in disarray after the events of Book Three and, while everyone’s going through a rough patch, small and isolated villages are having it worse than most, lacking the military might to stop bandits from pillaging at their hearts’ content.
True to his word, Tenzin sends assistance in the form of air nation-Jedi Kai and Opal, who promptly and deftly stop some bandits from robbing yet another home. But as the village’s governor points out, there are hundreds of bandits to contend with and only two airbenders.
Their worries are soon answered (or reinforced) as Kuvira’s train shows up and Bolin reunites with Opal. That is about the only “happy” reunion though as she also meets her brother, Baatar Jr., whom she regards as a traitor for joining Kuvira (in more ways than one) instead of taking her mother’s side… which we know nothing about. It is nonetheless clear that Suyin does not approve of Kuvira’s actions what has undoubtedly caused a split in Zaofu, the extent of which will probably be defined in future episodes.
In any case, Kuvira arrives in town to offer the governor a choice, the same choice she offered the prisoners and apparently one she has offered him before: swear loyalty to me and my army will save you; refuse and stand alone. Again, it’s a rather harsh and somewhat cruel approach but, as Kuvira herself notes, the governor is running out of options. Yes, it’s almost certain that Kuvira isn’t doing this out of the bottom of her heart but rather for the valuable ore she can mine for her army but is the governor in any position to refuse?
Kuvira comes rather hard on him but I thought I saw a glimpse of genuine concern when she angrily asked him if he was willing to let his pride get in the way of saving his village. It’s a valid question that momentarily unnerves the governor but he remains steadfast in his answer, he won’t let himself be bullied into submission.
Kuvira decides to leave the village to its fate but not before handing Kai a copy of “the contract” and conveniently informing him she will wait at the outskirts of the village for one day. After that, they’ll be gone. Bolin follows suit and gets lambasted by Opal for not staying to help. It’s a difficult spot for Bolin who has chosen, for whatever reason, to aid Kuvira in rebuilding the Earth Kingdom. As such, once the governor turned down their offer for help his hands were tied. I can understand his position… but I can also understand where Opal’s coming from, even if she is probably projecting some of her frustration with her brother onto Bolin.
The fact remains that the Bolin of three years ago would not have complied meekly and left the village at the mercy of bandits. Has he changed so much? Why would he leave his brother back in Republic City and throw in his lot with Kuvira? Does he share her goals? He can’t possibly be ignorant of her methods. Does he approve? There are so many questions and precious few answers. To all intents and purposes he comes across as naively supportive of the idea of reuniting the Earth Kingdom and it can’t be denied he has a point, but more on that later.
Unperturbed by Kuvira’s ultimatum, Kai and Opal decide to handle this on their own, at least until reinforcements arrive. To that effect, they’ll need to gather provisions so the village can hold on long enough but are attacked by a bandit on a biplane on their way back. As expected, the bandit makes off with the supplies and our airbenders return to the village empty-handed. There’s only one thing left to do as Kai retrieves the contract Kuvira handed him earlier.
At this point, I don’t think it’s much of a leap to suggest Kuvira has a hand on these raids across the Earth nation. Not only was the attack on Kai and Opal far too convenient but the single attacker was both well-equipped and well-trained. It came across more as a professional on a mission rather than a pirate looking out to score. Bear in mind Kuvira seems fond of leaving people with only one reasonable choice: capitulation. The fact that she decided to stay within reach after the governor’s negative is also rather suggestive. All in all, it fits with what little we’ve seen of her character.
So the governor gives in and Kuvira moves stormtroopers troops and supplies into the village and it’s difficult to argue with the looks of happiness of people after having it hard for who knows how long. Bolin is evidently delighted to help. The village is now protected and well-provided. Whether it was a result of a scheme of Kuvira’s or not, it can hardly be disputed that she was one of only two parties willing to lend a hand, the first being Tenzin and the Air Nation who ultimately failed to protect the village.
The dilemma is obvious: the airbenders can’t protect everyone everywhere. Opal herself says they’re stretched thin and it’s impressive enough that they managed to send someone at all considering how fledgling the Air Nation is. If Kuvira and her promise of a united and secure empire is the only other option, then, paraphrasing the governor of the village, was there really a choice in the first place?
The episode ends as Mako, Asami, Lin, Tenzin, Pema, the kids, pretty much the entire gang, receives the news that a Southern Water Tribe ship is arriving at the docks and so they anxiously make their way to greet Korra. Instead, they encounter Naga followed by an older Tonraq who was under the impression Korra had been on Republic City for the past six months. The plot thickens, where's Korra?
Getting her ass kicked in a fight club, apparently. Well, so much for my idea of having her infiltrate Earth Rumble to uncover some plot of Kuvira’s. It looks like it’s the intro to Dark Knight Rises, only instead of being locked up in his mansion Bruce decided to travel the world looking for a fight again.
Despite the clichéd nature of the scene, it drives the point that Korra has decided she’s had enough. At the very least she seems to have lost the will to fight as her dismal performance showed. Is this what she has been doing for the past six months? I don’t think there are enough fight clubs to go around for that.
As Korra takes her “winnings” and makes her way out of the club, the organizer realizes how similar she looks to the Avatar and wonders out loud whatever happened to her. Korra simply replies...
That may actually be truer than we suspect.
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