Avatar Legend of Korra

[Xagzan]

that I can't help but feel the writers just got lucky the first time around.

Actually, the writers simply weren't here this time. Mike and Bryan were, of course, but I believe Aaron Ehasz (spl?) and the rest of the writing team from ATLA did not return for Korra.

I think it shows

[ginger02]

I liked this ending =]

I felt like some things were really rushed. I kind of wanted Amon's story to be expanded and not all given at one episode. I liked his story though. Some things i still am wondering, like how they know bloodbending so well and what happened to Asami's dad. Did she kill him or just knock him out?

I wish Iroh was explained more. I still don't know who's grandson he is. But i love his character. The romance was decent, though quick. Romance from Avatar wasn't anything great either though.

I hated the first season of Avatar. It just didn't appeal to me or please me in any real way. Season 2 and 3 were better though, so I hope i like season 2 of this more. I didn't like the show at first, but i liked it more with every episode.

I do admit, if it hadn't been for that scene with Turlock and Amon in the boat, i probably wouldn't have liked this episode as much. That scene shocked me, and was hard to watch, but i loved it. The music fit in great, and it was just a nice emotional scene, and the actors did a good job with it.

[KuroiKage]

Almost a perfect ending IMO. Only downside is the pace was very quick. If we just had more time to let things sink in while watching, it probably would have been about as good of an ending as I could have asked for.

[Who]

Originally Posted by ginger02

I liked this ending =]

I felt like some things were really rushed. I kind of wanted Amon's story to be expanded and not all given at one episode. I liked his story though. Some things i still am wondering, like how they know bloodbending so well and what happened to Asami's dad. Did she kill him or just knock him out?

I wish Iroh was explained more. I still don't know who's grandson he is. But i love his character. The romance was decent, though quick. Romance from Avatar wasn't anything great either though.

I hated the first season of Avatar. It just didn't appeal to me or please me in any real way. Season 2 and 3 were better though, so I hope i like season 2 of this more. I didn't like the show at first, but i liked it more with every episode.

I do admit, if it hadn't been for that scene with Turlock and Amon in the boat, i probably wouldn't have liked this episode as much. That scene shocked me, and was hard to watch, but i loved it. The music fit in great, and it was just a nice emotional scene, and the actors did a good job with it.

Really? Well, if you had to guess whoever Iroh was related to, who would it be? Take a guess before you look at the answer; it should be surprisingly easy.

Spoiler for Iroh's relative; no cheating.:

Zuko's grandson. They're voiced by the same guy and he's named after Zuko's uncle Iroh.

And I don't think Hiroshi died, unless he has a surprisingly weak heart or something. Tenzin, Lin, Mako... a majority of main and secondary cast have been electrocuted and came out fine.

[sayde]

Originally Posted by Kaijo

Bloodbending - Katara had to learn from someone else, and that old woman only learned it due to her situation (being deprived of waterbending and wanting to escape). So how did Yakone, a 2-bit crook, not only learn to bloodbend, but become 100x better at it then Katara?

Just throwing a couple possibilities here. For starters, I'm sure thanks to Katara, if bloodbending had been a deep dark secret amongst water benders before her time, it wasn't anymore. So just by revealing its existence, we have to account for the possibility of there being water benders who would take it upon themselves to try and learn bloodbending on their own in secret. Now learning bloodbending on one's own probably isn't easy, but it's obviously possible since Hama was able to do it. Another thing to keep in mind was that its specifically stated that Tarlok's water bending bloodline in particular was naturally strong at the art of bloodbending. So there stands a good possibility that he would have a much easier time discovering how to bloodbend on his own--especially since his genetic traits allowed him to practice without a full moon. That also helps explain partially why he was probably much better at bloodbending in comparison to Katara.

On top of that, Katara learned bloodbending when she was young. However, at the same time, she quickly abandoned the art after just picking it up. She even went so far as to outlaw the art amongst water benders period. So its not hard to see why she wouldn't know about some of the other possibilities bloodbending can lead to (ie: taking away peoples bending abilities). Afterall, since she disapproved of it, it's not something she would practice. I mean, the last time we saw Katara bloodbend in this franchise may have very well been the last time in her entire life she used it. It's also not something she probably felt she needed to practice since as far as she knew, no one else would learn it or use it. Therefore, she wouldn't know how to counter any techniques that use bloodbending. On the other hand, not only was Tarlok naturally gifted in bloodbending, but he enjoyed using it. And without the need of a full moon, this guy (and his offspring) had virtually infinite amounts of time to discover the ins and outs of bloodbending to take the art much farther than anyone before him ever could or would.

That's all. I've nothing to state against any of your other points.

[Eratas123]

Was I the only one who thought Tarrlok was lying at first? Seriously, his story painted him in a way too positive light.

"I never wanna use blood bending to hurt anyone!"

Yeah, he says this 3 episodes after he was shown being a dick about it:/

[orion]

I loved the ending. My only complaint was that the kiss wasn't long enough.

Too bad about Tarrlok. I liked him now.

All hail Makorra!

[sergel02]

Liked the ending too.

That boat scene was tragic in the best possible way.

[orion]

Originally Posted by sergel02

Liked the ending too.

That boat scene was tragic in the best possible way.

But I'm a sucker for redemption. I was rooting for them to make a clean break and do good. Amon was crying too.

[Master_Yoma]

Very nice season finale I cant wait tell next season to see what Korra dose

[Somnus]

Just finished watching the finale, and I have to say that I'm on the boat that was underwhelmed at all the unanswered questions or forced developments. The actual episodes still had me engaged, but the ending left me with too many "wait, what?"s.

Hands down the best moment for me, Aang showing up. And he was around for 10 seconds. Though I wish he didn't give Korra her bending back, just the Avatar state. Even without knowledge of the green light for the second season, it would've made for a better fitting ending. WITH knowledge of the second season, it could easily tie into the spirit world, and exploring it to restore her bending.

Also, the new characters stole the show. Iroh and Bumi. What can I say? They definitely have the charm of Avatar:TLA running through them. Here's hoping season 2 concentrates on travelling the world and meeting the various members of the United Forces.

As for the romance, well, it's not that I didn't see the end result coming, but the way that it was "handled" was downright ridiculous. I'm sorry, but that was purely for pandering to the louder ship, and increase overall approval for the show. Granted, from a business standpoint it was the right thing to do. From a quality standpoint, well...let's just say quality took a day off.

Also, what I loved about the finale of TLA. Equality (guess that makes me a bad guy?). Seriously though, if this was made under the assumption that it was to be a SERIES finale, then there was no equality here. In Sozen's Comet, EVERY MEMBER (and even significant allies!) got their time to shine! Here? It's all Mako and Korra, and even then, they didn't shine very brightly. Hell, I'm somewhat inclined to say that Mako had more opportunity than Korra did.

Bolin, you are now my favourite member of the New Team Avatar. Asami, drop the douche and go for the better brother.

Lastly, I will gladly acknowledge hands down that Tarrlock's final action took me by surprise. VERY well done. My jaw dropped for a bit, followed by an unconscious nodding of approval. So many subtleties and emotions in that short scene. Again, very well done.

[Eratas123]

I can't believe I actually found myself feeling sorry for Douchy McBloodbender and Mustache Man:/ THey were assholes, but what a way to go.....

[Slayerx]

Originally Posted by Kaijo

Bloodbending - Katara had to learn from someone else, and that old woman only learned it due to her situation (being deprived of waterbending and wanting to escape). So how did Yakone, a 2-bit crook, not only learn to bloodbend, but become 100x better at it then Katara? My theory going in was that the spirit world was involved somehow in this, which would have made his HAX abilities make some sense... but we get a big fat nothing. And again, nothing at how he was able to remove bending abilities, despite the vague notion that it was due to bloodbending... which Katara couldn't reverse. What the hell?

Katara HATED bloodbending and never wanted to use it. It stands to reason that she would have never explored the possibilities; unlike Amon. Furthermore she outlawed bloodbending; that alone would tell waterbenders around the world that it is possible to bend blood... all it takes is for a sink minded water bender to actually try it... And in Yakone's case, his bloodline just happened to be VERY strong when it came to bending.

And how can bloodbending block bending?... Well to "take away" bending requires "energy bending" and the only form of energy we know of that exists in this series is Chi... Do you know how healing works? Waterbenders use water bending to manipulate the chi paths using water as catalyst... so there actually IS a presedence for waterbending to have the ability to manipualte chi, which in turn means their is the possibility that water bending may be capable of doing what only an eergy bender can do... Namely, block someone's chi so that they can no longer bend. Bloodbening + Chi path Knowledge = simulated energy bending... if Katara had been willing to explore bloodbending, maybe she would have figured it out aswell... And the reason is use the term "simulated" is because is still think the subtle difference in Aan'g technique and Amon's are important and thus Aang's is a superior version, while Amon's is more of a knock off.

Mecha Tanks? Airplanes? Yes, I understand the technology level is moving forward. But Mecha tanks? Seriously? It really felt like they had to give the bad guys every conceivable advantage, even it required cheating. Bolin's group suddenly captured? Electric taser gloves? Like bloodbending, we don't need to explain! It just happens, and you be a good viewer and just smile and nod your head.

The air planes were plenty believable. If you look at the history of cars, you could say that the cars that existed in this series were the same kind as you would have seen in the 1910's which is when we had WWI, which is where we first saw bi-planes being used for combat... And those meches were rather simple... i mean picture a WWI tank, only built in the shape of a human and with a grapping hook instead of a gun. I mean the legs did not move, they were just standing on treads, and the arms have a very limited rang of movement; The only reason WE never built such a thing is because it isn't as practical as a tank (one good cannon shot and that thing will fall over). I'm not even sure if the electric weapons are that farfetched when you consider that Tesla was trying to develop electric weapons back in the early 1900's; though it might be a tad much for them to have made them so portable. So frankly, it does not really go beyond my suspension of disbelief.

Tenzin and his family suddenly captured?

God forbid we have a surprise twist and some tension.

Well, at least Korra gets her asspull, too. She can suddenly airbend? Without using any kind of martial arts moves to bring it up? What happened to the avatar state? The one kind of HAX that actually makes sense in the show... she never accesses. What happened to it being a defense mechanism?

There have been times when Aang was beaten or captured where the avatar state was not triggered... the same holds true for Korra; merely being beaten by Amon was not enough to trigger the defense. We have also seen that the avatar state CAN be triggered by distress as Aang was triggered when he found out the air monks were killed and when he thought Katara was buried

Also if we look too Aang's earth bending, we know that unlocking your most difficult art sometimes does not come from training but by entering a a certain emotional state. In Aang's case, it was learning to have guts and stand firm in face of great danger... In Korra's case it was desperation to save Mako when she had no other bending to fight with... Also she did throw a punch when she threw that first air attack at amon.

They missed out a great way to tie this series back into the first. I was really expecting Amon to have gone to the Spirit World and come back changed. Thus, the bloodbending. And had his face stolen by Koh, who wanted revenge on the avatar, which would have been why Amon didn't take Korra's bending before; because he would have been saving her for Koh. Now that I know how things really are... why the hell didn't Amon take Korra's bending that time on the island?

That would be out of character for Koh... Koh told Aang that he does not hold grudges, especially not against the future reincarnations of the avatar; he understands that the new avatars are not responsible for what the previous avatars have done.

And Amon explained why he did not take Korra's bending away; because he didn't want to turn her into a martyr. Amon was not ready to make his move, their was still time to win people over and time for them to abandon his movement... He feared that if he took out the avatar, someone who is commonly considered a force of good, the reincarnation of one of the founder's of republic city, and a 17 year old girl; The benders might rally behind her plight and she might win sympathy from non-benders... that's why Amon started with the criminals, as taking them out would win support from the non-benders.

Originally Posted by Eratas123

Was I the only one who thought Tarrlok was lying at first? Seriously, his story painted him in a way too positive light.

"I never wanna use blood bending to hurt anyone!"

Yeah, he says this 3 episodes after he was shown being a dick about it:/

Well he was desperate. Everything he had worked for was crumbling before him. He even admits that he always thought he was better than his father but that he turned out just the way his father wanted him to... frankly, its not too uncommon for villians to being more positive in their youths than how they turn out

And y'know, some people i have seen said Tarlock was stupid for not simply killing korra and those that knew of his bloodbending and blaming it on the equalists... and now we know why, its because despite being a bastard he's just not evil enough to be a murderer.

Originally Posted by orion

But I'm a sucker for redemption. I was rooting for them to make a clean break and do good. Amon was crying too.

Well i certainly feel like Tarlock redeemed himself with that last move

[Who]

I'm actually glad that Mako got more of an opportunity to shine than Korra did this episode. While it doesn't justify his actions involving Asami and Korra, if you're going to be a jerk, at least be a relatively skilled one and contribute instead of doing almost nothing. It's almost as if Bryke predicted that the fandom would hate on Mako and gave him chances to prove himself.

[Eratas123]

The problem is that it wasn't just his actions. If he acted extreme, fine, we can just say he was doing what he had to (In his POV). The problem is he has a smug ego and seems to revel in putting others down and being an outright ass to everybody. For all his explanation,s he really did just turn out like his father, in more ways than one.

[kitten320]

That was... I have mixed emotions. If series were not that rushed it could've been a good ending but like this...

Unbeatable Amon suddenly gets his ass handed to him. I understand that a lot had happened but to get defeated that fast right after he took over the city is just MEH! Especially when he got killed.

Korra suddenly can airbend? And well? I could forgive an accidental punch but when she actually had mastered it just out of the blue and convenience, that's too much for me. Am not surprised that her airbending did work though. Amon never took airbending away before. There is high chance that Tenzin and his family would be fine too.

What happened to general Iroh? Is he still hanging there? At least someone can properly bend here not counting Korra, Tenzin and Lin. Actually that makes all 4 elements. Too bad his role was so minor.

Good to see Asami with still positive mind, it better stay that way. If creators will ever decide to pair her with someone, Bolin would be a nice choice for a change. He would not be an ass like Mako that's for sure.

Mako a prodigy? PFFFF... Sorry Amon, you were wrong. He has 0 talent and 0 depth. The worst character of the series.

Hated whole Makorra ending. Actually I hated whole romance thing here. It killed everything. Mako is a total ass and needs good punch in the face. He is angry at Asami for being jealous and then next moment confesses and kisses Korra. WTF dude? What right do you have to be mad with her? Unlike you she handled whole situation well.
Makorra was so damn forced! HATE IT!

People say that Mako's hate is undeserved because he is realistic... well isn't that a good reason to hate him? A jerk like that would not be forgiven in real life and there are 90% of chances that he would dump Korra too. Just because he is a character doesn't make him better than real person.

Dumb Mako also stole all spotlight from Bolin who had potential to be a good character.

Oh just great... what was all this drama for? So many people lost their bending and now BAM! Korra knows how to give it back!
It took so much time for Aang to learn all the elements and to take bending and here Korra learned all of it in seconds!
Where is the tension?! Why do we even need season 2 with such ending?!

Disappointing, very disappointing.

What could've been good series became a total waste -_-

I hope creators learn from this and make something more decent in season 2.

[Asuras]

Spoiler for Amon Theory, Spoiler?:

So I've been having this theory on how Amon really takes away people's bending ability. Considering he's been teaching chi-blocking, most likely, he knows of different chi points on the body. Using his blood-bending skills, maybe he kills nervous and circulatory connections to the main chi point on someone's head permanently? Almost like a small stroke, you could say.

[Slayerx]

Originally Posted by kitten320

Unbeatable Amon suddenly gets his ass handed to him. I understand that a lot had happened but to get defeated that fast right after he took over the city is just MEH! Especially when he got killed.

Was their anything unbelievable about his fall? His airforce was grounded, and the leadership of the equalists was destroyed and his exposure ruined their moral. How could he possibly be expected to hold the city when his followers will no longer listen to him and he no longer as the weapons to use against Bumi's fleet? And i would say his end was totally epic and dark

Korra suddenly can airbend? And well? I could forgive an accidental punch but when she actually had mastered it just out of the blue and convenience, that's too much for me. Am not surprised that her airbending did work though. Amon never took airbending away before. There is high chance that Tenzin and his family would be fine too.

Recall Aang's learning of earth bending... at first he could not move a pebble, but once he did it ONCE he was able to do it repeatedly. And Korra showed no real expertise as all she was doing was throwing out random burst of air; She wasn't exactly pulling off tornado's or aan'gs air scooter technique

Oh just great... what was all this drama for? So many people lost their bending and now BAM! Korra knows how to give it back!
It took so much time for Aang to learn all the elements and to take bending and here Korra learned all of it in seconds!
Where is the tension?! Why do we even need season 2 with such ending?!

Aang started the series with only ONE element, while Korra started out with three... and Aang picked up each element fairly quickly when he started learning. He outshined katara when she started teaching him, and even when he had trouble with earth bending, he STILL manage to get it in like a day.

Hell even energy bending was something that Aang learned literally overnight. No training required, he just needed to have the knowledge imparted to him... And the avtar state allows an avatar to access the knowledge all of her past selves, so it only makes sense that she would be able to tap into aang's knowledge of energy bending.

[james0246]

^

It took so much time for Aang to learn all the elements and to take bending and here Korra learned all of it in seconds!Where is the tension?! Why do we even need season 2 with such ending?!

To be fair, Korra had already spent 10 or so years learning all the elements sans Air, and then she has spent the series learning the movements for Air but not the ability to control the element. So, it is not like she suddenly gained the ability with no training. She had the training, just not the 'will'.

As for energy bending...well, Aang learned the technique near instantly and simply by touch, so I had no problem with Korra learning the technique similarly (though I did think it ruined the end of the season).

---

Overall, I really liked the season. Korra was a very good character and many of her compatriots were also as good. While the pacing for the entire season was always erratic, it was still very week told story with quite a bit of good drama and decent character development. I did greatly dislike the romance (and the character of Mako), but I was not adverse to the idea of the romance, and it was never featured too prominently. 80/100.

[Destined_Fate]

Ugh, Asami deserves love but pushing her to the lesser Brother would be a mistake and make her a brother hopper. It would also give justification to hate Asami since if she dated Bolin it would always be "I'm only dating him to get back at you Mako" no matter what happens and Bolin would always be "Second Best that is only with her because the best is with another". Best to avoid that fully and let Bolin get with a new character in Book 2.