4268 réponses à ce sujet

[SG-17]

The ending was wonderful. I love the show so much I wish it wasn't ending.

[leaguer of one]

Amon would've been great if they didn't go "oh he's just a Waterbender"

Amon would of been great if they just acknowledged he had a point. It mattered not if he was a bender.

[AresKeith]

Amon would of been great if they just acknowledged he had a point. It mattered not if he was a bender.

Him being a bender did ruin his character along with it not acknowledging he had a point

[Teddie Sage]

So Korrasami happened but it was never confirmed that Vanille and Fang were an item... Goddammit, Square-Enix!

 

Off-thread, I know, but those two ships are something I cherished these past few years.

 

[leaguer of one]

Him being a bender did ruin his character along with it not acknowledging he had a point

No it did not. Why would it? He himself as a bender is a victim of benders. Your point was that it takes away from his allure but that was always going to happen once what he was doing is explain. It did not matter if he was a bender or not. The problem is that by the end they turned his valid point to a raving of a 2 dimensional character. They never acknowledged his point, tried to counter it or confront him on it. All they did was just beat him down and called it a day. At least with the red lotus they did argue points.

[leaguer of one]

 

So Korrasami happened but it was never confirmed that Vanille and Fang were an item... Goddammit, Square-Enix!

 

Off-thread, I know, but those two ships are something I cherished these past few years.

 

 

They don't need to. It's obvious.

[DaemionMoadrin]

No it did not. Why would it? He himself as a bender is a victim of benders. Your point was that it takes away from his allure but that was always going to happen once what he was doing is explain. It did not matter if he was a bender or not. The problem is that by the end they turned his valid point to a raving of a 2 dimensional character. They never acknowledged his point, tried to counter it or confront him on it. All they did was just beat him down and called it a day. At least with the red lotus they did argue points.

 

The problem with Amon was that he was an extremist who used the fear of the people to manipulate and control them. He picked a minority as the scapegoat and proclaimed that he only wanted equality... but what he really wanted was dominance. "Bending has only brought suffering, it is the cause of every war in every era" ... yeah, right. What exactly was his valid point? Bending is evil? He lied about being a victim, he lied about all benders oppressing people.

 

There is historical evidence of those things and how they can play out. I'm not going to name names because of Godwin's Law but yeah.

 

The first season suffered from being too short to explore all the necessary details, it relied on people making those connections themselves which is asking for too much in a kid's show. Remember President Raiko? Non-bender in charge of Republic City. Varric and Asami are non-benders but rich, influential inventors. The majority of all soldiers in all the armies are non-benders. Most people are non-benders. Earth Queen? Non-bender. The actual power rests mostly with non-benders.

 

So what if there are a few benders who abuse their power? It's not because of their power that they are rotten. They'd still be bad people without the powers.

 

Amon made a grab for power, he didn't care about the people following him at all. He lied to them and in the end betrayed them. He had no valid point, only empty rhetoric.

 

Bending has already lost in importance because it is being replaced with technology. It's only a matter of time until everyone is on the same power level, bending or not.

 

My problem with Amon is that he had no goal in the end. How would this have played out if he succeeded? Republic City ruled by non-benders? Uh, we already had that. Benders are forbidden from entering? How would you enforce that? In the end he might have become a ruler but continued business as usual. Boring.

[Chewin]

 
The first season suffered from being too short to explore all the necessary details, it relied on people making those connections themselves which is asking for too much in a kid's show.

Exactly, which is the underlying problem with Amon. Throwing in exposition in the very last episode is not enough to cover so many factors that should have been taken into account and expanded upon throughout the show.

As I stated in my previous post, throwing in phrases about freedom and equality and then having an act of terrorism is not enough to justify its ideological views and instances that the show takes up.

[Dominus]

As I stated in my previous post, throwing in phrases about freedom and equality and then having an act of terrorism is not enough to justify its ideological views and instances that the show takes up.

It's hard to deny. Amon has dramatic flair going for him, but the background bits near the end won't necessarily push him to best villain in history.

[Il Divo]

Is she even obligated to solve the world's problems?

 

As Toph put it so eloqently: "The world doesn't need you one bit."

 

Great question, actually. We spend so much time in Korra pondering whether the world even needs an Avatar that we never really consider the basic question: what if she wanted a normal life? Last Airbender touched on this briefly, but I would love to see it explored in depth. 

[DaemionMoadrin]

Is she even obligated to solve the world's problems?

 

As Toph put it so eloqently: "The world doesn't need you one bit."

 

No, she is there to bring balance. Sometimes that means stopping an army, sometimes that means doing nothing.

 

Have you ever heard of the Superman problem? It describes how the world would react to some greater power taking care of all its problems. It even came up in the very first episode, when Lin told Korra that catching criminals is -not- the job of the avatar.

If Superman existed in real life, then society would change and depend on him. Why pay police officers, if Superman does the same job better and for free? What about fire fighters? Why invest into airplane safety if Superman is always around to catch you? Why have an army, if Superman is on your side?

Same is true for the avatar. Her job is keeping everything in balance, nothing more.

 

Korra has lots of influence, she tips the balance just by being there. She can walk up to any ruler, she's world famous and she is the single most powerful person on the planet. Perhaps leaving and letting the people find their own way, without relying on her, is the best she can do for now.

 

It takes wisdom to know when you are needed and how to apply your power in the best way possible. Which is why the avatar needs to be a spiritual person, someone who can find the right answers. Taking a vacation in the spirit world might be a good idea.

[SG-17]

Indeed. The Avatar is there to take care of the big threats. The genocidal dictators, doomsday weapons, existential threats to the world, etc.

Korra did more to balance the world than any Avatar since Wan.

[OdanUrr]

That's it, I'm finally done with the season finale!
 

 

Spoiler

I think I've been unconsciously postponing this review because then, in a small way, The Legend of Korra wouldn't be over for me. I suppose I could still do a review on Book Four as a whole, maybe even the series, but there's a finality to this particular review that can't be denied. If this review turns out to be my longest, well, now you know why.
 

Welcome to the second part of The Legend of Korra season finale. To be honest though, I think we can easily consider it a trilogy starting with episode 11, 'Kuvira's Gambit,' because it opens the story arc of Kuvira's final push to unite the Earth Empire by retaking Republic City.

The episode takes off right where we left it. Thanks to Hiroshi Sato's sacrifice, Team Avatar, this time comprised of Korra, Mako, Bolin, Lin, and Suyin, have made it into Kuvira's colossus, much to her dismay. Unlike previous episodes, most of the action in this one takes place in the colossus and features one-on-one bending duels where each of the characters get to show off their best tricks. In hindsight, it reminds me a bit of the Death Star sequence in Star Wars, except the stormtroopers are more competent this time around. As a matter of fact, they're more competent than they were fighting Zaheer in Book Three oddly enough.

Following Hiroshi's advice, Korra splits the group into three teams: Mako and Bolin will shut down the colossus' heart, its power source; Lin and Su will disable the spirit cannon; and Korra will go for the brain and ask Kuvira for a rematch. As usual, the action is top notch but that is something I've come to expect of this show. Lin gets yet another shot at showing just how much of a badass she is fighting one of Kuvira's henchmen. However, I was most pleased by Bolin's latest development as a lava bender for he has finally incorporated a lava disc to his combat arsenal in a similar fashion to Ghazan's shuriken.
 

Now we're talking.

During the combat between the brothers and the stormtroopers you can see that Mako in particular is putting his pro-bending skills to the test. It is a pity he hasn't mastered lightning in the same way Azula did in ATLA or this fight would have been over a while ago. Of course, perhaps using electricity in a place filled with metal might not be the best of ideas. Bolin is having similar trouble defeating his opponent even with his lava disc, what seems odd at best since lava would probably melt any metal his opponent is likely to use (except platinum since it has a melting point of 1,768 ºC but which, via the previous episode's own admission, can't be bended).

Before moving on to Korra's own predicament I would like to take a moment to note how strongly the dynamic between Lin and Su has evolved. We saw this already during the last episodes of Book Three when they fought P'Li together and again during 'Operation Beifong' but it is always welcome to see them work as the unstoppable team they truly are. They may be backup to our youthful Team Avatar but what I would give to have such a backup!
 

Looks like Toph got it right.

Kuvira's not about to let intruders roam about willy-nilly inside her mecha so when it becomes clear her spirit weapon has been compromised she decides to cut her losses and... rip out her left arm? Can she even do that? She tosses it aside the way she did Baatar Jr. (ouch) but it's time for Korra to make her move.

To her credit, Korra's more self-assured than before and proves to be a most proficient bender... but not incredibly so. I suppose I can forgive her metal bending not being a match for Kuvira's since the latter has probably been training from a young age and had a Beifong as her mentor whereas Korra had that one session with Su three years ago (and even so her metal bending was what impressed me the most). Her air bending can also be forgiven (even though it is powerful and I think Korra favours it a lot) since she only unlocked it at the end of Book One.

On the other hand, Korra has trained with the White Lotus masters to bend the rest of the elements since she was a kid. While the battlefield may negate her water and earth bending her fire bending works just fine but it's not incredibly powerful. Is this a "jack of all trades, master of none" type of situation? Even so, the point is rendered moot because Korra also has another weapon in her arsenal: the Avatar State... which she doesn't use.
 

Hey, don't look at me, I didn't create the Avatar's god mode.

Even if the Avatar State wasn't powerful enough to defeat the colossus (and I would hotly debate that), surely it's more than enough to topple one dictator, right? After all, when Korra went into the Avatar State in 'The Battle of Zaofu' she almost buried Kuvira before she had one of her visions. I mean, it's only in the game that I'm restricted to using it once per level, the show can use it more than once per episode, right? They say that everything is clear in hindsight but, come on, it doesn't take a lot to realize this battle would have been over once Korra entered the Avatar State and no collateral damage would have followed.

I realize this may be a bit of a slippery slope. After all, you could ask, then why doesn't she enter the Avatar State every time she goes into battle? Well, first, that would be overkill. Second, every time Korra enters the Avatar State she risks ending the reincarnation cycle if she gets killed in it (unless you have some magical water at hand). However, I think entering the Avatar State to defeat Kuvira and put an end to the conflict would be worth the risk, wouldn't it? Even Aang used it to defeat Fire Lord Ozai albeit accidentally.

While you ponder that question we'll switch back to the bending brothers who finally manage to defeat their opponents and invent American football while they're at it. I don't know if Mako's character needed some sort of redemption or not but the scene that transpires is his moment to shine. As they both realize they can't shut down the colossus' power source, Bolin reveals zapping the spirit core with energy will likely cause it to explode, prompting Mako to do the obvious and put his lightning generation to good, if questionable, use. It is an emotional scene for the brothers but for me the moment that made this scene great was Mako's slow build up of the technique leading up to the discharge with the powerfully moving musical piece playing in the background.
 

Don't worry, Bolin comes back for him.

When it comes down to it the real heroes here are the Beifongs for disabling the weapon and Mako for blowing up the core (Bolin's done more than his share), thus neutralizing Kuvira's giant threat. The subsequent explosion interrupts the duel of the Ks, at least until they're back on the surface. One would think this would be a good time for Kuvira to give up but instead runs away from the Avatar vowing never to give up.

Okay.

What follows is a bit too convenient but in line with Kuvira's rather caricaturesque villainy. Like I said, she runs away from Korra and finds her way into Republic City's spirit-vine park where she somehow cooks this up over the space of a few minutes...
 

Yeah, I don't think so.

I suppose the weapon could have fallen intact, conveniently got caught up in some vines, and still had a charge left but still... Korra easily dodges the blast and that should have been it except for the fact that the weapon is now drawing energy from the entire forest via the vines and Kuvira can't shut it down. That's what you get for messing with spirit vines. The weapon spins around re-designing Republic City and is about to blast a fallen Kuvira (YES!) when Korra intervenes (NO!)...
 

Why, hello, Avatar State, nice of you to finally show up.

I suppose this kind of makes up for the previous lack of the Avatar State. I won't deny this is an incredible display of power as Korra's essentially containing/redirecting the brunt of the spirit blast (and also did remind me of what Zaheer said earlier about Korra's powers being limitless). In so doing, a third spirit portal is created although I'm still fuzzy on the details. Is it possible that Korra somehow diverted most of the energy from the blast into creating the spirit portal? I very much doubt this would have happened without her intervention. It lacks the spiritual quality perchance of Aang's energy bending duel with Ozai but it is nonetheless impressive.

As a result, while Tenzin and the others search for signs of Korra, our Avatar finds herself alone with Kuvira in the Spirit World. Korra finally has some quality time with our main antagonist where they explore their similarities and the reasons behind Kuvira's drive to unite the Earth Nation.

Opinions on this subject are many and varied and I think I've stated my piece on this a while ago but I'll say it again. Trying to get us to empathize with the villains at the end of the season is useless, at least in my case. Kuvira made some good points I've already conceded about having to step up after Su chose to forego the responsibility placed upon her, not to mention Korra was convalescing back at the South Pole. Nevertheless, I also said the writers should have shown us what Kuvira had to go through to create her Earth Empire. Had they shown us what perils and tribulations she had to endure, as I'm certain there were some, we might have been more inclined to give her a break. As it stands, I could not see past the dictator who bullied everyone into submission and created a weapon of mass destruction to keep the local systems in line.

Likewise, her bonding with Kuvira felt quite forced to my mind. When Kuvira asks Korra why she saved her the latter replies it's because she sees a lot of herself in our main antagonist. Is that really why she saved Kuvira? Does that mean if someone else had been the main antagonist she would not have saved him or her?

No, I respectfully disagree. The reason why Korra saved Kuvira has less to do with Kuvira and everything to do with Korra and the kind of person she is. Simply put, is Korra the kind of person who would try to save an enemy's life? Yes, I do believe she is. Korra may be impulsive, brash, and resort to punching her way through problems most of the time, but her heart is always in the right place. She saved Kuvira because that's who she is regardless of whether Kuvira's fierce and determined to succeed (both of which she certainly is).

Consequently, I felt this scene in particular was rather weak but it's a problem all of Korra's villains share: no build up of their back stories until, maybe, the end of the season by which time we can't really relate to them. Be honest, how much more interesting Book Two would have been if we had seen flashbacks of Unalaq's relationship with his brother, Tonraq? At the very least it would have given both us and his character something to work with. The same can be said about Zaheer and the Red Lotus in Book Three and can be best exemplified by P'Li dumping on us her entire back story over a couple of lines in the second to last episode of the season.

Anyway, enough ranting. Eventually the pair returns from the Spirit World and Kuvira surrenders to the authorities. To celebrate this victory we're treated to the wedding of Varrick and Zhu Li, presided by Reverend Bolin. Even so, my favourite part of the wedding had to be when the band's revealed to be led by none other than Tahno, Korra's pro-bending nemesis from Book One.
 

Happy to see he's done okay.

Another small bit worth mentioning before we get to Wu was Ikki trying to get Huan to dance. Anyway, the time has come to round off a couple of characters. First in line is Prince Wu who out of the blue decides to abolish the monarchy in favour of the republican model, like the United Republic of Nations. Don't get me wrong, I whole-heartedly agree with Prince Wu and welcome his new-found insight. It is most likely he came to this conclusion because of Kuvira's actions but it's not something we've seen him ponder in previous episodes and, as a result, it takes everyone by surprise. Our singing sensation has certainly evolved from his earlier persona at the beginning of Book Four but I think it's fair to say his development has been uneven. Still, I appreciate the writers chose the second outcome I suggested for Wu in my review of the season premiere.

Next up is Mako whom Korra thanks for nearly giving up his life to save Republic City, or what's left of it after the giant nuclear-spirit explosion. Despite their baggage, which I wish they had never had in the first place, they part as good friends as Mako tells Korra he'll follow her into battle no matter what. I thought it was a bit of an odd thing to say, particularly in light of his follow up response which is far more common in this type of situation, "I've got your back and I always will." Did we expect otherwise from a member of Team Avatar? Not really. I still believe he owes Asami an apology though and I thought that was what 'Remembrances' was building up to. Maybe in the graphic novels?

Finally, as Korra takes a break from the party, Tenzin decides to join her for a few closing comments on what a bumpy ride their journey has been *cough* Nickelodeon *cough*. While I disagree that there was a specific purpose for what Korra had to endure this season I am nonetheless glad she took something from it.

And with this final interaction between master and apprentice we reach the end of Book Four and, indeed, the end of The Legend of Korra. As Tenzin said, it has been a bumpy ride beginning with the uplifting but disappointing ending to Book One (but it was supposed to be the one and only book at the time) all the way through the whole Kaiju-Unalaq-Vaatu story arc and the Red Lotus' agenda to restore chaos as the natural order.

While Book Four had its highs and lows, I think we can all agree it was a solid season overall that did an outstanding job dealing with Korra's recovery after her defeat in Book Three, even if the spiritual side of said recovery was somewhat lacking. Only the writers at this point know how much better Book Four would have been if they had had that extra episode Nickelodeon force them to cut (I know it's still there, and the writers did their very best with what little budget they had and I commend them for it but it does stand out from the rest).

I guess there's nothing left to say but to wish you all a Merry Christmas and hope you've enjoyed these reviews of mine. I may do a review of Book Four and perhaps even one of the series overall but I'll have to think about it. Until then!
 

...

You're not buying it, huh? Well, I guess if you force me to talk about it I have no choice but to do so, right? Just kidding. Although, in light of Bryan and Michael's recent statements I don't know what else to say. Book Four closes with Asami joining Korra in her reverie. Korra takes the chance to properly apologize for her three-year long absence as well as for her father's death. It was a powerful bonding moment for the couple (hint hint) that I wish had been explored more thoroughly in Book Three, especially in the episode 'Long Live the Queen' since they were conveniently stranded in the desert together.

It is at this point that Korra, seeing how downbeat Asami is, tries to cheer her up by suggesting they go on a vacation together. Asami happily accepts and proposes the Spirit World as their destination, leading up to the one scene everyone decided to focus on in detriment to the rest of the episode.
 

Now I may or may not have been a Korrasami shipper for a while (I ADMIT NOTHING!) but I think that even if I hadn't been, the writing was pretty much on the wall after watching this scene.

In Book Three we (happily, some may say ecstatically even) saw Korra and Asami strengthen their friendship with a few subtle hints at something more towards the end of Book Three and throughout Book Four. Bryke has already explained why subtleness was called for so I needn't elaborate on that. The subtext was there, certainly more than in Makorra's case, so suggesting it came out of the blue is decidedly unfair.

Is it a full-blown romance? Not yet, there wasn't enough subtext for that, to my mind, but it may certainly blossom into one in time. Hopefully, should Bryke decide to continue their partnership with Dark Horse Comics we'll get to see their relationship evolve organically in the form of graphic novels. In other words, YOU HAD BETTER RELEASE GRAPHIC NOVELS AFTER BOOK FOUR OR I WILL FIND YOU!

Ehem. Now that's out of the way, let me again wish you a Merry Christmas while I get back to making some eggnog for the first time ever. It had better be good that's all I'm saying.
 

[TheViper8234]

Because Iroh Man.

ohh that sounds cool 

 

Because Iroh that's why

he's no zuko

[TheViper8234]

if book 5 was existed you can imagine the next panel ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

[Ozzy]

 

if book 5 was existed you can imagine the next panel ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

 

Them playing Pai Sho with Uncle Iroh??????

[AresKeith]

ohh that sounds cool

he's no zuko

He's the next best thing

[Ozzy]

He's the next best thing

 

He's Brock Lesnar?

[AresKeith]

He's Brock Lesnar?

Don't insult Iroh with that.... crappy abomination

[TheViper8234]

Don't insult Iroh with that.... crappy abomination

Bork would german suplex and F5 Iroh and next day he would wear his EAT SLEEP CONQUER IROH REPEAT t-shirt

also bork laser is not abomination. HE's A BEAST !!! THE CONQUERER !!!!!!

I ship lesnasami 

[leaguer of one]

The problem with Amon was that he was an extremist who used the fear of the people to manipulate and control them. He picked a minority as the scapegoat and proclaimed that he only wanted equality... but what he really wanted was dominance. "Bending has only brought suffering, it is the cause of every war in every era" ... yeah, right. What exactly was his valid point? Bending is evil? He lied about being a victim, he lied about all benders oppressing people.

 

There is historical evidence of those things and how they can play out. I'm not going to name names because of Godwin's Law but yeah.

 

The first season suffered from being too short to explore all the necessary details, it relied on people making those connections themselves which is asking for too much in a kid's show. Remember President Raiko? Non-bender in charge of Republic City. Varric and Asami are non-benders but rich, influential inventors. The majority of all soldiers in all the armies are non-benders. Most people are non-benders. Earth Queen? Non-bender. The actual power rests mostly with non-benders.

 

So what if there are a few benders who abuse their power? It's not because of their power that they are rotten. They'd still be bad people without the powers.

 

Amon made a grab for power, he didn't care about the people following him at all. He lied to them and in the end betrayed them. He had no valid point, only empty rhetoric.

 

Bending has already lost in importance because it is being replaced with technology. It's only a matter of time until everyone is on the same power level, bending or not.

 

My problem with Amon is that he had no goal in the end. How would this have played out if he succeeded? Republic City ruled by non-benders? Uh, we already had that. Benders are forbidden from entering? How would you enforce that? In the end he might have become a ruler but continued business as usual. Boring.

Ok, I agree with you on that as well. It more of the same with my point that it was never really cover in book 1. His point was largely ignored and never  argued with.

[OdanUrr]

My problem with Amon is that he had no goal in the end. How would this have played out if he succeeded? Republic City ruled by non-benders? Uh, we already had that. Benders are forbidden from entering? How would you enforce that? In the end he might have become a ruler but continued business as usual. Boring.

 

Raiko was elected President of the United Republic of Nations in Book Two as a result of the events of Book One.

[DaemionMoadrin]

Raiko was elected President of the United Republic of Nations in Book Two as a result of the events of Book One.

 

Right. There were still non benders on the council, right?