4268 réponses à ce sujet

[Blacklash93]

Was not able to catch the epidsode today, but I don't like what I'm hearing.

- So Amon took Korra's bending away and she got it back in the end for being a hero? Same with Lin? Lame. Are the 4 types of bending different in some profound way because if he took her bending away how does that specify to the elements she currently had instead of her general capability to bend at all? Why can she still airbend if her general physical capabilies to bend were suppressed?

- And bloodbending is the pseudo-energybending? I suppose it makes sense but I was hoping Amon would be more than that. A frustrated and angry nonbender who, in an incredibly unlikely anomaly, happened to gain this unique power from strange spirits sounded much more interesting, tbh.

And on that chord it seems Amon was not even remotely genuine when giving some of his backstory early in the season and is PTM's brother and supposedly dies with him. After building him up to be this mysterious, imposing, and calculating figure through the whole season they just dump all that on us in the last 50 minutes of the season with no hints or foreshadowing prior?

Really I'd rather Amon remain an enigma and main antagonist, not a bender or related to PTM, and only see small hints to his true nature in this season. Also I've seen no reason posted so far as to why Amon was campaigning against bending. How do bloodbending, mafia daddy issues fit into that? Can someone elaborate for me, please?

- Tenzin's family getting caught sounds cheap seeing as the last episode had a significant chunk dedicated to allowing them to get away from Amon. It also makes Lin's sacrifice meaningless.

- I'm not going to bother complaining about what note the romance storyline ended up on, due to what people are telling me.

Sorry if I'm making mistakes or false assumptions. Feel free to correct me as I'd welcome it now that I can't see the episodes until monday.

Modifié par Blacklash93, 24 juin 2012 - 07:36 .

[stysiaq]

I also have some problems with Zuko's VA voicing General Iroh II. A more mature voice would better suit him imho, and right now I just can't take the character seriously. Not to mention all this Fire Nation military in the season's finale was some kind of a joke (not expecting underwater/aerial attack, when technology like this is around for quite a while, no scouts or spies infiltrating the Republic City prior to the attack, messages being intercepted and so on).

Tenzins' family being captured was kind of unnecessary, and annoyingly unexplained.

As for taking bending away by Amon, I think it's related to the episode about that guru.  We've seen Aangs ability to transform into the avatar state severed physically, so maybe Amon used bloodbending to physically (and irreversably) lock the individuals' chakras? I hope it will be addressed in the next season, or at least there will be a clarification DLC   an extra episode giving insight on it.

[Clover Rider]

What a great season finale.

Minus the whole Mako thing... He did alot this episode and kicked a whole lot of ass, and his partnership during the attack on Amon was admirable. Which was kind of my problem with him before. He was all talk an mope and did very little to prove himeself a few episodes back. Now I don't mind as much, if only the confession and acception thing didn't feel so fast and forced. It was honestly sort of disgusting to look at.

Iroh... everytime this guy talked I could not take him seriously. They really should have chose a better actor for this guy, as much I love him when he's playing Zuko. Aside from that, he's a compelling character. His intro made it seem like we were already supposed to know him, and that's pretty much what I didn't like about his presence. I guess this is what the season gets for being cut in half in terms of the amount of episodes. There's little buildup, and there's little care or admiration for characters that are seemingly great on the surface.

The backstories with Amon are Tarlock were the real highlights of these episodes. Not only there was buildup, it actual makes a ton of sense and in place of show's context. I was kind of predicting that he may have been a spirit of some sorts, but it feels a whole lot satisfying with the way the revealed the more predictable theory of all. And with that, it actually felt really good to see Amon's plan crumble to his inevitable defeat. Shame to see how he and Tarlock went down though. It was tragic tale indeed.

As for Korra regaining her connections with the spirits... I was eh... what? Maybe this happened all too quickly... but then agian. It's a quick season. I guess I can let this slide, but at the same time.... Korra is just powerful now. In one season too. I don't necessarily see this is a bad thing. I mean, look at how far bending has grown since the original series. Aside from Airbending not being prominent, there's other takes the story can go as far as elements. There's the concept of unique benders and they themselves are clearly more powerful than basic bending. So the question is... What's the plan now? Does the world really need an Avatar? What's the deal with the rest of the world? And are there unique bending or use of bending we have not really seen yet?

I'm honestly anticipating the following season, and despite what has been said here, I was not disspointed in this season at all. Aside from episode 10 and the overall pacing, I think it has told its story and I'm faithful it can only get better.

[KT Chong]

So the first season has ended.  Honestly, I felt underwhelmed by the  finale.  It is still a good ending, (compared to the big horrid pile of  sticky crap of an ending of Mass Effect 3, I supposed,) but it is just  not satisfying. The season finale left many unanswered questions and plotholes:

How did Amon acquire the ability to permanently take away people’s  bending??!   The finale fails to properly explain how Amon developed  that ability.  It is HUGE leap - and quite difficult to accept - for Amon to go from bloodbending to  being able to permanently take away other people’s bending.

Amon's motivation also remained a mystery.  Why did he want to take away   everyone's bending?  Why did he want to "equalize" the world?  Did he  really want to "equalize" the world?  Or was his "equalist  movement" just a ploy for him to take over the world?   Did he want to  take away everyone's bending so he could be the last remaining bender in the  world?  Did he really wanted to "equalize" the world and to  help  non-benders to achieve equality?  Why did he take away the bending of his brother Tarlok, someone he obviously loved?  I really could not  see  the connection between his daddy issue and his hatred for  bending, with him being the most powerful bender in the world. His  psychology and motives were never fully explored.  The finale only made his motives and actions inconsistent and lacking any sense.  Neotak/Amon, as a character, felt very underdeveloped.

It is also a big leap to go from being able to bloodbend people during a full moon to being able to do it during daytime.   The original series established that waterbenders derive their power from the moon -- the  moon controls waters, tides and currents; that's how the moon gives  waterbenders the power to control and manipulate the water.  That's why  waterbending is the stronger during nighttime and strongest during a  full moon.  That's why the full moon allows waterbenders to bloodbend  people.  The original series also established that waterbending is  weaker during daytime (while firebending is stronger during daytime.)   I was expecting this series to  "fill in the (plot) hole" and explain  how Yukone and his sons were able to violate the established rules of  waterbending and bloodbend during daytime.  The series ended without  properly explaining the mechanics of daytime bloodbending.  It  left a  big inconsistency in the plots.

The romantic subplot of   Korra/Mako/Asami was also handled rather poorly. Mako came off as a big douche: he abandoned Asami - the girl  who sacrificed everything, her family, her wealth, her privileged lifestyle, for him - for Korra. Were we supposed to feel huray for Korra and Mako??!  I certainly did not  feel good about how Asami  was treated.

The Legend  of Korra  still has a good finale,  but just not great or  spectacular.    It left too many questions unanswered, and it created  too many plot holes and  inconsistencies that contradicted rules that were established in tfhe original series.  I blame the problems on the  short season.  This  season has only twelve episodes, (the original  series had twenty  episodes per season.)  Twelve half-hour episodes are really not enough  to sufficiently develop characters and plots.  Everything felt so rushed and underdeveloped.

What I like about this new series: it  introduced a unique background: a 1920s Shanghai-like metropolitan with tranditional martial arts and bending transitioning into an early modernity with steampunk  technology, that's really something I had  never seen in any fantasy or story before.  It has a refreshing  storyline: the bender establishments with their bending birthrights  versus the non-benders and anti-benders who  have finally acquired means to "equalize" the bending ruling class with new progresses in science and technology.   The anti-benders  lost the conflict in the finale, but the inequality between the benders and non-benders  remained  unresolved.  Hopefully we will see Korra dealing with the issue in the  next season.

Modifié par KT Chong, 24 juin 2012 - 11:54 .

[Seagloom]

Blacklash93 wrote...

Also I've seen no reason posted so far as to why Amon was campaigning against bending. How do bloodbending, mafia daddy issues fit into that? Can someone elaborate for me, please?

This was one of my few serious criticisms with the finale plotline. There is a huge gap in Amon's history that is never explored. We never learn when and why he decided on an anti-bending campaign. The most his story implies is that he sought energy bending as an ultimate technique.

[KT Chong]

I don't like how "everything will be okay." I mean honestly, the fact that everybody can get their bending back makes the rest of the series feel like a waste of time.

Maybe not the Triad members and criminal elements of the Republic City.  I seriously doubt Avatar Korra would restore their bending.   Amon may have been the bad guy in the end, but he did the world a big favor by rounding up Triad bosses and members   at the beginning of his anti-bending crusade  and then   taking away those bad guys' bending powers for good.

Modifié par KT Chong, 24 juin 2012 - 01:10 .

[The King of Dust]

I don't have much of a problem with Amon's motivation or ability to block bending personally. It's clear he resented his father for the way he treated him and his brother, and he also resented being a bender on some level, because if he hadn't been, his family life wouldn't have ended up so messed up. He probably also blamed the avatar for the way his father treated him, because the avatar was the focus of Yakone's desire for revenge. When you combine all this, I can see why he'd consider bending as the source of conflict and suffering in the world. He lied about his backstory, but I don't think he lied all that much about his motivations.

As for his ability to block someone's bending, Amon was not only the best bloodbender in the world, he was also a chi-blocker. He probably sought to learn about chi-blocking after leaving his father, hoping to gain insight on how the avatar could take someone's bending away. Combining is knowledge of the human body, his ability to manipulate the water is someone's body at will and his knowledge of chi-blocking, I don't think it's much of a stretch that he could figure out a way to permanently block someone's chi.

The only 2 things I don't like much about the ending was how Korra just started to airbend without any explanation, and how at the end, the first time she enters the avatar state, she's already in full control as if she's mastered it. Every other avatar has had to struggle to master the Avatar state, but she just gets it handed to her on a silver platter. These two things should have had more weight to them. They're important steps on her journey to becoming a full-fledged avatar. Finally unlocking airbending should have been a bigger deal, and she should have had to struggle with the avatar state. Those two things felt really rushed and cheap to me. Other than that though, I enjoyed the finale.

Modifié par The King of Dust, 24 juin 2012 - 01:46 .

[KT Chong]

As for his ability to block someone's bending, Amon was not only the best bloodbender in the world, he was also a chi-blocker. He probably sought to learn about chi-blocking after leaving his father, hoping to gain insight on how the avatar could take someone's bending away. Combining is knowledge of the human body, his ability to manipulate the water is someone's body at will and his knowledge of chi-blocking, I don't think it's much of a stretch that he could figure out a way to permanently block someone's chi.

I'm Chinese and grew up reading martial-art fantasy novels and stories, and I am familiar with chi-blocking.  Chi-block has always been featured prominently in martial-art stories, and it has always been used to temporarily disable an opponent's martial ability.   So I know chi-blocking cannot and should not be able to permanently take away a person's "internal energy." (i.e., translated to bending in the world of Avatar.)  Anyhow, so far the chi-blocking in the Avatar series seems to be a fairly straghtforward adaptation of the standard chi-blocking fare from Chinese stories. 

(By the way, I have to applaud the creators of the Avatar series, and how much time and efforts they have spent into researching Chinese mythologies, folklores, philospophies and martial arts in creating their world and rules of the Avatar.  Those two Jews write Chinese martial art stories better than a lot of native Chinese writers did, and Chinese writers should be jealous.  I compared Avatar to the amatuerish attempt of BioWare in writing Jade Empire, which is a good RPG but a horribly misguided and awkward Chinese/Asian story, with an ending that tried to emulate "Hero" but then completely missed the point due to the writer's obvious lack of understanding of Chinese cultural and historical context.)

Back to Korra.... the problem we know bloodbending is temporary, and chi-blocking is also temporary.  I do not see the logic behind how combining the two can permanently severe a bender's connection to the elements. 

Back when the original series just randomly introduced energy-bending out-of-the-blue near the end of final season, viewers were complaining that energy-bending did not make any sense.  Energy-bending was never mentioned or foreshadowed in any previous season or episodes.  It felt too random, too contrived and too much a cheap  Deus Ex Machina.  It was created near the end of the story for Aang to use only once to specifically defeat the main antagonist to end the story -- it was a cheap ploy to resolve an ending to an otherwise terrific series. 

I thought this new series attempted to fix the mistake by making energy-bending into a major plot point and a nearly-impossible  obstacle for our new hero Korra.  When this new series first revealed that the vengeful Amon could use what seemed to be energy-bending to rid the world of all benders, I thought, wow, what an ingenious use of an old plot point that was  widely condemned as a Deus Ex Machina in the original series!   Instead, the finale gave us another unexplanable power that just came out of nowhere.  Another Deus Ex Machina?  The series should have done a better explanation of how the new, ridicilously overpowered ability worked.

Modifié par KT Chong, 24 juin 2012 - 02:31 .

[SilentNukee]

The season finale was AWESOME!! Too bad the season was so short. I feel really bad for Asami, though. :/

[SilentNukee]

The Mad Hanar wrote...

I don't like how they made Aang a Dues Ex Machina.

I don't like how rushed it felt.

I don't like how it became impossible to take Amon seriously in the last half of the last episode.

I don't like how "everything will be okay." I mean honestly, the fact that everybody can get their bending back makes the rest of the series feel like a waste of time.

The romance plot was done horribly.

These last two episodes don't stack up to the rest of the episodes.

Also, the "Iroh being the link to Zuko" thing was done so blatantly. "Oh, my grandpa trusted the avatar, so I do too!" Really bro? Really? Shut up.

I kind of agree with you, I thought perhaps she would have to relearn her bending thus making possible good future seasons but having Aang just give it to her... Felt kind of weak.

It would be cool to have non-happy endings sometimes too.

But I did read somewhere they are planing to make a new antagonist every season, which sounds kind of **** 'cuz to me it'll be rushed. 

[The King of Dust]

KT Chong wrote...

I'm Chinese and grew up reading martial-art fantasy novels and stories, and I am familiar with chi-blocking.  Chi-block has always been featured prominently in martial-art stories, and it has always been used to temporarily disable an opponent's martial ability.   So I know chi-blocking cannot and should not be able to permanently take away a person's "internal energy." (i.e., translated to bending in the world of Avatar.)  Anyhow, so far the chi-blocking in the Avatar series seems to be a fairly straghtforward adaptation of the standard chi-blocking fare from Chinese stories. 

(By the way, I have to applaud the creators of the Avatar series, and how much time and efforts they have spent into
researching Chinese mythologies, folklores, philospophies and martial arts in creating their world and rules of the Avatar.  Those two Jews write Chinese martial art stories better than a lot of native Chinese writers did, and Chinese writers should be jealous.  I compared Avatar to the amatuerish attempt of BioWare in writing Jade Empire, which is a good RPG but a horribly misguided and awkward Chinese/Asian story, with an ending that tried to emulate "Hero" but then completely missed the point due to the writer's obvious lack of understanding of Chinese cultural and historical context.)

Back to Korra.... the problem we know bloodbending is temporary, and chi-blocking is also temporary.  I do not see the logic behind how combining the two can permanently severe a bender's connection to the elements. 

Back when the original series just randomly introduced energy-bending out-of-the-blue near the end of final season, viewers were complaining that energy-bending did not make any sense.  Energy-bending was never
mentioned or foreshadowed in any previous season or episodes.  It felt too random, too contrived and too much a cheap  Deus Ex Machina.  It wascreated near the end of the story for Aang to use only once to specifically defeat the main antagonist to end the story -- it was a cheap ploy to resolve an ending to an otherwise terrific series. 

I thought this new series attempted to fix the mistake by making energy-bending into a major plot point and a nearly-impossible  obstacle for our new hero Korra.  When this new series first revealed that the vengeful Amon
could use what seemed to be energy-bending to rid the world of all benders, I thought, wow, what an ingenious use of an old plot point that was  widely condemned as a Deus Ex Machina in the original series!  Instead, the finale gave us another unexplanable power that just came out of nowhere.  Another Deus Ex Machina?  The series should have done abetter explanation of how the new, ridicilously overpowered ability worked.

In the Atla episode where the fire nation is drilling the walls of Ba Sing Se, Ty Lee chi-blocks the terra team with light jabs, and the block lasts for quite a while. If someone's bending can be completely disabled for a good while by light jabs even though they're wearing clothes/armor, I don't have any problem with someone being able to block bending for long enough that it's pretty much permanent if they can reach inside people and mess them up. And bloodbending could easily be used to cause permanent damage or death.

As you said yourself, chi-blocking is often used in martial-arts fantasy. Fantasy. The world of Atla/LoK is inspired in part by Chinese martial arts, but it has it's own set of rules, like any fantasy setting.

But for all I know, chi-blocking might not even be involved. He might just be messing up something else in their body. I don't really have a problem with them not giving a full explanation. After all, only Amon knows how it works, and he doesn't seem like the type who'd go around sharing that information. An actual explanation would have felt unnecessary, a waste of time simply to provide justification for a plot point. Plot points don't necessarily have to be justified, so long as they don't contradict pre-established lore. Giving Amon the ability to energy-bend would have required a justification, but him being able to block bending through bloodbending simply establishes new lore.

Amon being a bloodbender was also foreshadowed throughout the series, through the visions concerning Yakone, 2 of which happened as a direct result of encountering Amon, and through his ability to resist Tarlokk's bloodbending.

As I said, that's one part that I really don't have any problems with. I actually like it more this way than if Amon really used energy-bending.

Modifié par The King of Dust, 24 juin 2012 - 03:18 .

[SilentNukee]

Capt. Obvious wrote...

The Mad Hanar wrote...

Also, Asami get's totally betrayed by her dad and then gets unceremoniously dumped? The writers really hate that chick!

You know, all the **** that Asami has to put up with makes me admire her. Hell, you know what? It should be Korra x Asami, not Korra x Mako.

I LIKE THE WAY YOU THINK. =D

[Seagloom]

SilentNukee wrote...

But I did read somewhere they are planing to make a new antagonist every season, which sounds kind of **** 'cuz to me it'll be rushed.

I do not believe it changes the paradigm any. Book one of AtLA had Zuko as primary antagonist. Book two replaced him with Azula. Book three was split between Azula and Ozai. I think the rushed feeling comes more from the smaller episode count than switching to new antagonists. AtLA took its sweet time fleshing out Zuko, then Azula through Zuko's memories and encounters with her. Ozai, not so much but nothing's perfect.

Modifié par Seagloom, 24 juin 2012 - 03:25 .

[KT Chong]

The King of Dust wrote...
Amon being a bloodbender was also foreshadowed throughout the series, through the visions concerning Yakone, 2 of which happened as a direct result of encountering Amon, and through his ability to resist Tarlokk's bloodbending.

Amon being a bloodbender and related to Yakone were foreshadowed throughout the Korra series: Korra had a flashback of the Yakone trial everytime she encountered Amon, which implied that Amon was related to Yakone in some way. 

What I meant was energy-bending was not foreshadowed in the original series (i.e., Avatar: The Last Airbender) before it was introduced out-of-nowhere as a Deux Ex Machina to resolve the final showdown between Aang and Fire Lord Ozai.  It was created spefically to be used only once by the protagonist Aang to defeat the main antogonist Ozai.  Up to the penultimate episode, energy-bending or the power to permanently take away a bender's power was never once mentioned or foreshadowed in any of the previous seasons or previous 57 episodes (out of the total 60.)  The creators/writers seemed to have just made up totally new stuff to resolve the story ending, instead of creatively using pre-existing materials and rules that they had already established (which would be a better way to tell a story and resolve an ending.)

It seems to me that the series creators have a habit of using Deus Ex Machina to resolve dead-ends: making up energy-bending to let Aang defeat Ozai, inserting Aang's spirit to restore Korra's bending.  It's getting old and tiresome.  Let's hope they are not gonig to do it again in Season 2 of Korra.

Modifié par KT Chong, 24 juin 2012 - 03:39 .

[KT Chong]

I have been reading the Legend of Korra forums... here's what really funny:

EVERYONE KEEPS SAYING HOW THE ENDING MAY NOT BE PERFECT, BUT EVERYONE CAN AGREE THAT IT'S BETTER THAN THE CRAPPY MASS EFFECT 3 ENDING!

~LOL~

http://forums.avatar...1694.msg2155291

Modifié par KT Chong, 24 juin 2012 - 03:47 .

[The King of Dust]

Yes I understood what you meant with that part. I was just saying that I don't really see Amon's super-bloodbending as being a Deus Ex Machina. At least not in the way of energy-bending. The whole season was made upon the premise of having bloodbenders as the main antagonists, manipulating people to reach their goals. Puppet masters trying to control others in mind and body.

[Seagloom]

Seems like an apples and oranges comparison. One is the ending to a brief series and the other a video game trilogy. O.o There is a looong list of endings better and worse than LoK out there. XD

[KT Chong]

I did not say Legend of Korra season 1 has a bad finale. It has a good finale, just not a great one.  The series led up to how it was supposed to end: Korra finally confronted Amon.  She learned to airbend after losing her other bendings.  She used wit instead of brute strength to defeat Amon (honestly it would have been impossible and unbelieaveable for her to use bending or brute force to overcome Amon.)  She finally entered the spirit world and met Aang for the first time.  She finally entered the Avatar state for the first time.  The Avatar state restored Korra's bending.  Korra finally became a full-fledged Avatar.   Everything led up to its natural conclusion, albeit in a very rushed 10-minute timespan.

However,  the series failed to fully develop its characters and character motivations; and some of the important  characters (like Amon and Tarlok) who lacked depths and consistent movitations are unlikely to return for further developement in Season 2.  I still do not get why Amon want to wipe out benders, or how he was able to acquired the power to take away people's bending, a power that only the Avatar was supposed to have; and those were important questions that needed to be answered.  Now that Amon is dead, I do not supposed we would ever get an answer.  That is mostly the fault of a short season that has only 12 half-hour episodes that tried to cover too many characters and too much grounds.

Modifié par KT Chong, 24 juin 2012 - 04:06 .

[Seagloom]

Edit: Whoops, don't think you were responding to me. Nevermind!

Modifié par Seagloom, 24 juin 2012 - 03:54 .

[Savber100]

A great finale marred by god-awful pacing.

The finale just felt rushed beyond belief with Korra's struggle being condensed to less than 2-3 minutes.

Also hated the resolution for Amon... The character had HUGE potential but ended being more or less a kid with daddy issues (and some sincere beliefs).

And what's going to happen in Season 2 now? All the issues have been resolved...


Also with Korra becoming a fully-realized Avatar, all tension feels gone since NOTHING can beat an Avatar that has reached it's fullest potential. 

Sigh... I'm ranting but seriously the finale could have been so much better... 

Modifié par Savber100, 24 juin 2012 - 04:34 .

[Naughty Bear]

Oh Mako you sly dog!

Is Amn defeated then? Just like Savber said, everything has been resolved. Amon has been defeated, Korra got her ablities back i presume, got with Mako, Lin got her abilities back as well and Korra might as well start restoring everyone's bending abilities.

I got to remember it is a kids show after all but what a terrible ending for him and it was all just too happy, i knew Korra would enter that avatar state, too predictable!

I feel for Asami though, dad goes berserk and tries to kill you in the end, your joined team avatar and betrayed your dad just for a loved one only for him to fall in love with someone else. Asami is going to do something next season, i can feel it.

Modifié par Naughty Bear, 24 juin 2012 - 07:07 .

[darthnick427]

Of course Legend of Korra has a better ending than ME3