The Legend of Korra Books 2-4

Isn't the fire within them, that sort of thing. I always kinda assumed firebenders were the only ones that could create their element just from their will + energy of some such nonsense. The breath and all that.

Scratch what I said, the president is some non-bender guy who's briefly shown in the first episode of the season. Apparently Zuko has retired and is chilling somewhere. Or rather, flaming somewhere.

Haha yeah

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Originally Posted by xxMATEOSxx

Isn't the fire within them, that sort of thing. I always kinda assumed firebenders were the only ones that could create their element just from their will + energy of some such nonsense. The breath and all that.

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Correct, firebenders in the avatar franchise (outside the horrid live action adaptation) have never required a source of fire to actually bend their element unlike water and earthbenders and can generate fire freely assuming they have the drive and capacity to breathe (and presumably, oxygen to burn).

And while I am glad this season seems to have much better pacing than the last, count me among those who are a bit disappointed (though not exactly surprised) that you-know-who is evil.

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Originally Posted by Dapiek Absaroka

Correct, firebenders in the avatar franchise (outside the horrid live action adaptation) have never required a source of fire to actually bend their element unlike water and earthbenders and can generate fire freely assuming they have the drive and capacity to breathe (and presumably, oxygen to burn).

And while I am glad this season seems to have much better pacing than the last, count me among those who are a bit disappointed (though not exactly surprised) that you-know-who is evil.

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That is true. The last season was super fast and shouldn't have been. Maybe they have a plan behind the speed of it

Even after giving this season a chance too. I think I can honestly come to the conclusion that I still find the whole Legend of Korra series to be a fairly big disappointment for me.

The writing feels very Immature and very rushed. It feels like it's made only for unwise angsty teens between the ages of 13 to 16. And lacks a lot of focus in general. At this point it feels like I'm only still watching it out of nostalgia sake of the first series. I still like the first original series a lot. It was just so much better done in it's story telling imo. Korra as much as I wanted it to, It's just not even half as good as I wish it was. Ohwell. At least the show still has great animation & style I suppose. *mew

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Originally Posted by fumetsusozo

Even after giving this season a chance too. I think I can honestly come to the conclusion that I still find the whole Legend of Korra series to be a fairly big disappointment for me.

The writing feels very Immature and very rushed. It feels like it's made only for unwise angsty teens between the ages of 13 to 16. And lacks a lot of focus in general. At this point it feels like I'm only still watching it out of nostalgia sake of the first series. I still like the first original series a lot. It was just so much better done in it's story telling imo. Korra as much as I wanted it to, It's just not even half as good as I wish it was. Ohwell. At least the show still has great animation & style I suppose. *mew

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Yes, so true. I love the characters in this season though. (not that I didn't love Katara, Aang and Sokka and them all, they were legit) but I love how boss the new ones are

Just wanted to give all of the viewers a heads up that the new episodes are still on Fridays, but the timeslot has changed to 8: 30pm (5: 30 pacific), not 7pm.

I've been rewatching the whole series, both TLA and LOK, and noticed something interesting. It seems that once an avatar attains full mastery of the avatar state, his/her eyes (and tattoos, if they have any) only glow for a while when the ability is activated. Then the glow fades, but said avatar still has the power boost that comes with the ability.

I think this means they activate the avatar state, take only the amount of power and knowledge they need, and then deactivate it. It means they have the control and restraint to not go fully berserk with it.

At the very end of the original series Aang is about to kill Ozai when he suddenly gains control over the avatar state and opts for the non-violent solution. Afterwards when he puts out the fires by waterbending the whole ocean, he only enters the avatar state for a few seconds to take the amount of power he needs. He finally mastered the avatar state and therefore became a fully-realized avatar.

It also serves another important purpose. If the avatar were to be killed while in the avatar state, the whole cycle would be broken. That's why they only go into the state only for the time they need to, and no more.

Even though she unlocked all four elements, Korra isn't a fully realized avatar because she hasn't yet learned to control the state. When she goes into it, her eyes just glow continuously. She doesn't snap out of it immediately like her predecessors. It demonstrates her lack of restraint.

What I got out of this latest episode..

1. Lots of focus on Asami just being greedy and only focused on her company it feels like. :p
2. Korra is not phased whatsoever when seeing Bolin shirtless.
3. General Iroh still sounds too dang young.
4. All of the character development for Lin from S1 feels like it's been thrown straight out the window, and now it's like she's just some blinded jerk police chief criticizing the very people she helped to defeat Amon. The meh dialogue doesn't help.
5. Tenzin's stuck doing nothing but teaching life lessons to each of his children while his siblings stand idly by until they can hopefully get in on some kind of action. :mad:

Responses (spoilers of course)

1. While how Asami is handling the situation looks bad, I don't think it's her intention to be a greedy arms dealer profiting on the war. But it certainly comes off that way. If she starts double dealing then we have real problems.
2. Good point, not even a quick mention. For all the comedy the show is trying to get in, that was a missed attempt.
3. I feel rather that his design is too old. Result is the same.
4. Definitely felt like Lin was just thrown in for appeasement, which could have been handled better. If the show survives (changing timeslots no bueno) then maybe when she has real stuff to do with the plot, it'll improve.
5. Don't take what happens with Tenzin and the kids at face value. Yes, they've dedicated one episode to each so far, plus one for the siblings (is the wife next?), but they're usually for parallels or in this case, give a bit of Tenzin's continuing reaction to Korra abandoning his tutelage. It's slow but not pointess.

In addition

A. Yes snipy, I that's a good idea concerning the avatar state. Also, her overuse makes it feel even weaker than it already is for her. Honestly, there was a time when Avatar State meant stuff was gonna go down. Now it's just, well nothing in the overall. On that note however...

B. Maybe a Pirates of the Caribbean 2 trip to the spirit world will help Korra on that side of things. And speaking of people imprving themselves...

C. Wow am I glad Mako at least has a chance now to develop even a bit of character. Get him on his own for a bit so that he'll have more to do.

Varrick's rapidly becoming my favorite character.

I also liked that the theme of social unrest returned, even though if was only for a few brief minutes. It reminded me of that tension and seriousness from season 1. I liked it. It made it seem like the Avatar universe had matured. More of that, please.

I don't think Lin was genuinely antagonizing Mako. It looked like she berated him because she has to keep the image of hard*ss police comissioner with the President of the URN present. She even made a casual joke a few minutes later, suggesting they're on friendly terms. She just treats him like any other rookie officer for the sake of appearances.

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Originally Posted by Dragonvarsity

What I got out of this latest episode..

1. Asami's greedy and only focused on her company.
2. Korra is not phased whatsoever when seeing Bolin shirtless.
3. General Iroh still sounds too dang young.
4. All of the character development for Lin from S1 was thrown straight out the window, and now she's just some blinded d-bag police chief criticizing the very people she helped to defeat Amon, and now she gets to be the one who was given the worst lines in the entire episode. "What the Flameo?" Seriously? Is that what she's been reduced to?
5. Tenzin's stuck doing nothing but teach life lessons to each of his children while his siblings stand idly by until they can hopefully get in on some kind of action.

*sigh*

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Originally Posted by xxMATEOSxx

Responses (spoilers of course)

1. While how Asami is handling the situation looks bad, I don't think it's her intention to be a greedy arms dealer profiting on the war. But it certainly comes off that way. If she starts double dealing then we have real problems.
2. Good point, not even a quick mention. For all the comedy the show is trying to get in, that was a missed attempt.
3. I feel rather that his design is too old. Result is the same.
4. Definitely felt like Lin was just thrown in for appeasement, which could have been handled better. If the show survives (changing timeslots no bueno) then maybe when she has real stuff to do with the plot, it'll improve.
5. Don't take what happens with Tenzin and the kids at face value. Yes, they've dedicated one episode to each so far, plus one for the siblings (is the wife next?), but they're usually for parallels or in this case, give a bit of Tenzin's continuing reaction to Korra abandoning his tutelage. It's slow but not pointess.

In addition

A. Yes snipy, I that's a good idea concerning the avatar state. Also, her overuse makes it feel even weaker than it already is for her. Honestly, there was a time when Avatar State meant stuff was gonna go down. Now it's just, well nothing in the overall. On that note however...

B. Maybe a Pirates of the Caribbean 2 trip to the spirit world will help Korra on that side of things. And speaking of people imprving themselves...

C. Wow am I glad Mako at least has a chance now to develop even a bit of character. Get him on his own for a bit so that he'll have more to do.

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Yeah, I kinda agree. The newest episode wasn't as strong as the rest of Book 2 episodes. On the plus side, the interview with Bolin bit was funny, especially the silent treatment and a cough that's recognizable in ATLA. And Tenzin's family lessons is still enjoyable when he teaches Milo how to train a lemur. Mako has improved even better, too. I say this episode is a 7.5 out of 10. Judging by the end of the episode's cliffhanger, the next episode will probably be better. So far, here's my review grades of season 2 episodes:
One hour premiere: (tied) 9/10
Civil Wars Part 1: 8/10
Civil Wars Part 2: 8.9/10
Peacekeepers: 7.5 /10

Spoiler -  Episode 5

I hope the trouble with that sea spirit doesn't stop Korra from visiting Zuko's daughter.

Yeah, I did enjoy the ending, was hoping for more psycho chase from Eska though. The reason I mentioned Asami being greedy was simply because she's barely done anything this season aside from helping infiltrate last episode, but it'd be nice if she at least mentioned her concerns over all the things going on between the water tribes and whatnot. I liked the whole Agni Kai plotline, and I'm actually fine with

Spoiler -  spoiileer

Mako having totally ratted them out,

it makes things more interesting. ^^

I'm also excited about Korra meeting you-know-who, especially since he's the one main character from you-know-where that we haven't actually gotten to see... well, old. And I don't really have a problem with Tenzin's plotline, I was just hoping it would ramp up some by now with Jinora's interesting connection and the inevitable appearance of Wan Shi Tong, as well as Tenzin's siblings being there with him. I don't know what it was, but there was just something I didn't like about Lin, but maybe cause we haven't seen her enough. I think I've also been spoiled with the character drawings/animation from last season and it's getting to me this time around with some of the "returning characters."

Do you guys remember when Roku and Kyoshi "possessed" Aangs body, even changing it to their appearance?

I've been wondering, maybe Aang will do the same to Korra. It could be a very poignant scene especially if Aang's family is present.

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Originally Posted by Dragonvarsity

Yeah, I did enjoy the ending, was hoping for more psycho chase from Eska though. The reason I mentioned Asami being greedy was simply because she's barely done anything this season aside from helping infiltrate last episode, but it'd be nice if she at least mentioned her concerns over all the things going on between the water tribes and whatnot. I liked the whole Agni Kai plotline, and I'm actually fine with

Spoiler -  spoiileer

Mako having totally ratted them out,

it makes things more interesting. ^^

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I'm probably being a bit bias as I've mentioned before that she was my favorite character from the previous season but I don't really mind Asami's behavior so far, though I would agree that she could do a bit more. She's concerned about monetary issues for sure, but I'd like to think it is less out of greed and more due to the fact that she's trying to salvage a company as well as the livelihoods of who knows how many employees that work for it. If nothing else, she seems less greedy then Varrick at worse.

I also like to imagine the Agni Kais really aren't tied to present tensions between the Water Tribes but are using them as a smokescreen for something else, though that does raise some questions as who they really answer to since there don't seem to be any real hints yet.

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Originally Posted by Dapiek Absaroka

I'm probably being a bit bias as I've mentioned before that she was my favorite character from the previous season but I don't really mind Asami's behavior so far, though I would agree that she could do a bit more. She's concerned about monetary issues for sure, but I'd like to think it is less out of greed and more due to the fact that she's trying to salvage a company as well as the livelihoods of who knows how many employees that work for it. If nothing else, she seems less greedy then Varrick at worse.

I also like to imagine the Agni Kais really aren't tied to present tensions between the Water Tribes but are using them as a smokescreen for something else, though that does raise some questions as who they really answer to since there don't seem to be any real hints yet.

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Spoiler -  More on Ep. 5

Good points, and her focus on the company is totally understandable given that it was suddenly given to her with her father being hauled off to prison for conspiring with the Equalists. I don't really have any problems with Asami actually, it was just a little odd that she wasn't contributing much, but that sounds more like the writer's not involving her enough. I'm just hoping she can help out some more, although it does kind of serve in the whole of Team Avatar sort of... you know, splitting up? I mean, Mako ratted out Korra and is busy tracking these firebenders with them now broken up, Korra just got swallowed by some beast and is now possibly being transported to the spirit realm or.. somewhere, Bolin's off doing crazy plans with Varrick, and Asami's doing what she can to keep her father's industry from totally collapsing.

And Mako is basically creating CSI: Republic City.

Oh.

This episode.

Spoiler - Episode Spoilers Aplenty

So I just finished watching this thing.

First off, Varrik...Varrick...Varick...Howard Hughes. I'm glad he's a villain. I'm glad there is someone here who is both interesting and relevant to the plot. Will his humor drop? Probably. But still, it gives us something and I'm happy for that.

Mako.

At first, I was perfectly happy with how the episode was going. Mako finally had something interesting to do this season. He was finally out from under the relationship shadow. He even has a cool fight sequence. Enter Asami, a character who has been pretty stable in terms of being a good character for me. Well, forget that nonsense, we need another relationship conflict drama poop. How much do the writers want to make it clear that the breakup with Asami and his relationship with Korra had zero meaning. The fact that the characters are expecting to be right back to their normal shenanigans is just...

...

Anyway, I'm now distracted by Lin. What the heck is wrong with Lin this season. Wasn't she the one who, when she wasn't able to take care of business under the law, decided to work outside it to save he fellow officers and fight Amon. Now she's relegated to be person Mako has to work around. She was the resident awesome character of the series, but now she's just...

And Korra.

Korra, Korra, Korra, Korra...

At first, when they played the amnesia card, I wanted to groan. But since thinking about it, this is actually a good thing. Actually, I should say it can be a good thing. Frankly, Korra has been terrible this season. She seems to have not only stagnated since the end of last season, but even fallen back in some ways. The longer this goes on, the worse it becomes. But this...amnesia...plot could be a way to sort of reboot her. Let her learn new things about herself, the world, anything. She's made it clear thus far that she hasn't changed, so maybe this is a way to force her to do so. The problem is pulling it off. I trust the writers of A:TLA and first season of Korra to do decent job of pleasantly surprising me with this. The season's not over yet, anything can happen that could change my opinion on this whole story.

Also, that scene with Unalaq?...Una...anyway, with him stepping outside the portal, the son saying that the spirits were out of control (combined with daddy stepping out of the portal seeming to imply that una thinks he can control them), was anything said that the audience couldn't figure out for themselves. Also, the daughter saying the avatar is dead, I can understand the characters thinking that, but there is very little chance that the audience (who as far as I know are not supposed to be toddlers who have never experienced a simple plot twist before), would be taken in by the oh so dramatic moment. And without anything expanded, this really felt like a waste of time.

Finally, the movie, er mover.

I still think Bolin is at least somewhat funny. Not a good character mind you, just funny. But we're not talking about Bolin [then why did I bring him up (shrug)], we're talking about references to older material in the avatar universe. The movie is of course, the ember island players, (makes sense seeing as their both propoganda), Lin saying flameo (this really makes little sense since even in TLA time, that saying was outdated. even if Aang led to its revival leading to its current form, it felt out of place coming from Lin), Iroh returning for his cameo, etc. They really seem to want us to remember, hey, this is all stuff you liked right. Here you go.

The problem is that for me at least is that it reminds me constantly how much better the previous seasons were compared to this. When they made those allusions and references in season 1, the statues, casting Dante Basco as Iroh, etc, it felt appropriate since we were visiting the universe again after a long absense. Likewise in TLA, when they latched onto a running joke, it rarely felt intrusive.

Now, it feels forced and therefore that much less funny or meaningful. Not only that, the comparison between the two series does not play out favorably. Now let me make it clear, I don't think a sequel series should not be judged solely based on whether or not its as good as the original. If that were the only criteria, season one of Korra would have been declared terrible, which it certainly is not. Not even close. Likewise, the original series should not be ingored because it shows the quality that these creators are capable of. Now, if a show isn't as good as the old one, but still has things about it that are good, then it can still be easily seen as a good show. But season two so far has less (not zero) things going for it right now, so adding the comparison on top of it is just adding to the strain.

Yes, there are things about the series I like beyond the (still great) animation. Like I said, from this episode, the earlier Mako parts were nice, and I am intrigued to see Mr. Billionaire Insano be an entertaining villain (hopefully). Asami, despite a major setback or two, can still be a good character for the team, and there's hope for Korra yet. Not to menton we still have stuff with Tenzin and Co. to look foward to.

Wow this came out longer than I thought. But I shouldn't just keep writing. I'm supposed to be working on math. I really should do that.

Bye.

Spoiler - Spoilers on Ep. 6

Very interesting episode indeed. About the relationship struggles, yeah, I'm not sure at this point. I liked that the writers just decided Mako x Korra and leave it like that, but I guess the love triangle was too strong with this show. I did like how there was some focus towards Asami this episode and her rash move, I guess could be justified, and after all the fighting with the avatar, it would be interesting to get the main protagonist away from romance issues and just let it be Masami.

Korra's series of emotional discoveries/events (her parents keeping her past a secret, her uncle's betrayal, harshly leaving Tenzin and then hugely regretting it, her determination to go after her uncle only to focus far less on her friends and boyfriend, Mako ratting her out, Desna/Eska trying to wipe her out and finally, getting swallowed up by a spirit monster and the case of amnesia) could lead her to a point of isolation, even when she does get her memory back. (or at least some of it, depends on how the writers will handle it) It would show serious growth for the character after her overuse of the Avatar State and unwillingness to master the fourth element to see herself more as needing to master her gift while accepting the choices of those around her, moving her rashness aside.

It's very cool seeing Varrick's evil, he's one of my favorite characters on the show and it was a nice path for him to go. I'd also say his assistant Julee would be one of my favorite characters in the show, oddly enough. Hopefully she can still be a part of the show, helping her evil boss unknowingly. Also, yeah, I realize Lin was kind of a jerk in Season 1 at first too, but that's because she cast doubt on the Avatar and her friends. After helping save Republic city, you'd think she'd be more willing to help. Then again, Mako is a rookie and when you think about it, his theories are big stretches so it would be unrealistic to just go along with everything, but it still isn't natural to just flat out being the obstacle to getting to the badguy. I agree with MATEOS, it felt a little cliche for Eska to just assume the Avatar's dead. At the very least they could try showing a repressed side of her where her anger has turned into a mixture of sadness and denial, trying to block out Korra's image by "assuming" she's dead, or, I don't know, something other than an unneeded statement to hype the supposedly cliche-deficient users. Still excited for what's to come nevertheless. ^^

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Originally Posted by xxMATEOSxx

Oh.

This episode.

Spoiler - Episode Spoilers Aplenty

So I just finished watching this thing.

First off, Varrik...Varrick...Varick...Howard Hughes. I'm glad he's a villain. I'm glad there is someone here who is both interesting and relevant to the plot. Will his humor drop? Probably. But still, it gives us something and I'm happy for that.

Mako.

At first, I was perfectly happy with how the episode was going. Mako finally had something interesting to do this season. He was finally out from under the relationship shadow. He even has a cool fight sequence. Enter Asami, a character who has been pretty stable in terms of being a good character for me. Well, forget that nonsense, we need another relationship conflict drama poop. How much do the writers want to make it clear that the breakup with Asami and his relationship with Korra had zero meaning. The fact that the characters are expecting to be right back to their normal shenanigans is just...

...

Anyway, I'm now distracted by Lin. What the heck is wrong with Lin this season. Wasn't she the one who, when she wasn't able to take care of business under the law, decided to work outside it to save he fellow officers and fight Amon. Now she's relegated to be person Mako has to work around. She was the resident awesome character of the series, but now she's just...

And Korra.

Korra, Korra, Korra, Korra...

At first, when they played the amnesia card, I wanted to groan. But since thinking about it, this is actually a good thing. Actually, I should say it can be a good thing. Frankly, Korra has been terrible this season. She seems to have not only stagnated since the end of last season, but even fallen back in some ways. The longer this goes on, the worse it becomes. But this...amnesia...plot could be a way to sort of reboot her. Let her learn new things about herself, the world, anything. She's made it clear thus far that she hasn't changed, so maybe this is a way to force her to do so. The problem is pulling it off. I trust the writers of A:TLA and first season of Korra to do decent job of pleasantly surprising me with this. The season's not over yet, anything can happen that could change my opinion on this whole story.

Also, that scene with Unalaq?...Una...anyway, with him stepping outside the portal, the son saying that the spirits were out of control (combined with daddy stepping out of the portal seeming to imply that una thinks he can control them), was anything said that the audience couldn't figure out for themselves. Also, the daughter saying the avatar is dead, I can understand the characters thinking that, but there is very little chance that the audience (who as far as I know are not supposed to be toddlers who have never experienced a simple plot twist before), would be taken in by the oh so dramatic moment. And without anything expanded, this really felt like a waste of time.

Finally, the movie, er mover.

I still think Bolin is at least somewhat funny. Not a good character mind you, just funny. But we're not talking about Bolin [then why did I bring him up (shrug)], we're talking about references to older material in the avatar universe. The movie is of course, the ember island players, (makes sense seeing as their both propoganda), Lin saying flameo (this really makes little sense since even in TLA time, that saying was outdated. even if Aang led to its revival leading to its current form, it felt out of place coming from Lin), Iroh returning for his cameo, etc. They really seem to want us to remember, hey, this is all stuff you liked right. Here you go.

The problem is that for me at least is that it reminds me constantly how much better the previous seasons were compared to this. When they made those allusions and references in season 1, the statues, casting Dante Basco as Iroh, etc, it felt appropriate since we were visiting the universe again after a long absense. Likewise in TLA, when they latched onto a running joke, it rarely felt intrusive.

Now, it feels forced and therefore that much less funny or meaningful. Not only that, the comparison between the two series does not play out favorably. Now let me make it clear, I don't think a sequel series should not be judged solely based on whether or not its as good as the original. If that were the only criteria, season one of Korra would have been declared terrible, which it certainly is not. Not even close. Likewise, the original series should not be ingored because it shows the quality that these creators are capable of. Now, if a show isn't as good as the old one, but still has things about it that are good, then it can still be easily seen as a good show. But season two so far has less (not zero) things going for it right now, so adding the comparison on top of it is just adding to the strain.

Yes, there are things about the series I like beyond the (still great) animation. Like I said, from this episode, the earlier Mako parts were nice, and I am intrigued to see Mr. Billionaire Insano be an entertaining villain (hopefully). Asami, despite a major setback or two, can still be a good character for the team, and there's hope for Korra yet. Not to menton we still have stuff with Tenzin and Co. to look foward to.

Wow this came out longer than I thought. But I shouldn't just keep writing. I'm supposed to be working on math. I really should do that.

Bye.

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Originally Posted by Dragonvarsity

Spoiler - Spoilers on Ep. 6

Very interesting episode indeed. About the relationship struggles, yeah, I'm not sure at this point. I liked that the writers just decided Mako x Korra and leave it like that, but I guess the love triangle was too strong with this show. I did like how there was some focus towards Asami this episode and her rash move, I guess could be justified, and after all the fighting with the avatar, it would be interesting to get the main protagonist away from romance issues and just let it be Masami.

Korra's series of emotional discoveries/events (her parents keeping her past a secret, her uncle's betrayal, harshly leaving Tenzin and then hugely regretting it, her determination to go after her uncle only to focus far less on her friends and boyfriend, Mako ratting her out, Desna/Eska trying to wipe her out and finally, getting swallowed up by a spirit monster and the case of amnesia) could lead her to a point of isolation, even when she does get her memory back. (or at least some of it, depends on how the writers will handle it) It would show serious growth for the character after her overuse of the Avatar State and unwillingness to master the fourth element to see herself more as needing to master her gift while accepting the choices of those around her, moving her rashness aside.

It's very cool seeing Varrick's evil, he's one of my favorite characters on the show and it was a nice path for him to go. I'd also say his assistant Julee would be one of my favorite characters in the show, oddly enough. Hopefully she can still be a part of the show, helping her evil boss unknowingly. Also, yeah, I realize Lin was kind of a jerk in Season 1 at first too, but that's because she cast doubt on the Avatar and her friends. After helping save Republic city, you'd think she'd be more willing to help. Then again, Mako is a rookie and when you think about it, his theories are big stretches so it would be unrealistic to just go along with everything, but it still isn't natural to just flat out being the obstacle to getting to the badguy. I agree with MATEOS, it felt a little cliche for Eska to just assume the Avatar's dead. At the very least they could try showing a repressed side of her where her anger has turned into a mixture of sadness and denial, trying to block out Korra's image by "assuming" she's dead, or, I don't know, something other than an unneeded statement to hype the supposedly cliche-deficient users. Still excited for what's to come nevertheless. ^^

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Like what you both said, an interesting episode.

Spoiler - Episode 6 review

Mako and Asami plotline seems to handle better than season 1. Also, Verrick as a villian just got a lot more interesting. Bolin in a movie is cheesy yet funny. It reminds me of an episode of ATLA when Aang and the gang went to the Fire Nation Theater to see the poorly written drama of Aang's journey. The boat chase scene is pretty good, too. The end of the episode is even more 'cliffhanging' than last episode, so can't wait to see if Korra can get her memories back in the next episode (or the episode after that).

Overall: an 8.8 out of 10.

Spoiler -  Episode 6

Korra clearly ended up in a Fire Nation island. Judging by those guys' robes, it's probably a reconstruction of that temple Aang visited during the very first season to meet up with Roku.

That leads me to believe the spirit that attacked Korra in episode 5 was actually saving her from the twins and helping her reach her destination: the Fire Nation.

Well that was beyond fantastic.

I agree.

Spoiler - Warning: This spoiler contains spoilers from last night's episode.

You think Verrick knows the truth about the spirit portals and the dark spirit?(which I already forget his name)

Also, how Wan became the first avatar almost confused me. My sister was like, "What just happened?"

If Rava is bonded forever with the avatar, why can't/doesn't Rava speak? She's inside all of them, and she was able to speak to Wan.

I just have to say that the latest episodes were beautiful. Love that art style! And the fight at the end was brilliant. I feel like i just watched a whole season of a show.
As for Korra, I'm looking forward to whatever happens next.

Much Better.

Spoiler - Some Thoughts on the Episode

First off, animation was wonderful. The exception I take is only with some of the spirit designs and possibly the lion turtles. First seeing the lion turtles took me out of the moment but then I got used to it, except perhaps the eyes. Otherwise, the change in style is a plus.

Was it really necessary for Korra to have lost her memory? Was it really? All it did was give something you could end the last episode with.

Aladdin is a cool character, so is Wan.

Going back to the lion turtles, it makes perfect sense that they would provide the ability to bend, but I always thought people at least believed it was from various sources, badger moles, sky bison, moon, dragons. Suddenly the story of Oma and Shu has less meaning because whoever spread that is full of...no, I suppose either A: people had the ability but mastered it by learning from the sources, or B: it became lost somehow and relearned. Maybe? Or something else, after all, plenty of history can be forgotten or misinterpreted.

Annihilation! I just had to smile when Kava started yelling at Wan. Also, when all else fails, throw in a time limit for your story, instant free conflict escalation. I wholely approve as I really wasn't interested in the main conoflict before, now I am, at least for now, we'll see what happens.

Another minimally Korracentric episode is a plus until further notice. Again, she learned ploty things, but I didn;t see any reason to assume she had grown from it as of yet. Until further notice.

As for how this concerns Howard Hughes, I really hope the increase in the main plot makes his evil subplot less evil by comparison so that he can stay on the cast. I don't want a case of Avatar the last airbender where I was more interested in the Zuko vs Azula sub-fight than the main one, I want Varrick to be the Spike of this series.

Of course the spirits that like Wan have child voices. Why not?

I'm starting a fund for Naga, I hear thousands of polar bear dogs are abandoned every year when their owners get a sky bison.

Overall, yes, it was like watching a summarized version of a different Avatar series alltogether, and I quite liked it.

I completely agree. Fantastic episodes.

Spoiler - The Beginnings Review

The whole story of how Wan became the first avatar was amazing, especially on how did he learn all four elements and how he must stop the war. The spirits on some mystical lake are a crack up, too. The different artwork of the episodes looked great, and the final battle was epic. There's nothing else to say about this episode right now.

Overall, both got a 9.5 out of 10. Best episodes of the season so far.

The episodes telling Wan's story were animated by Studio Mir, the guys who did Season 1. That's why they look so great.

Spoiler - Episodes 7 & 8

About the lion turtles being the ones who gave powers to humans, and not the other sources specified in TLA... To me it seems that the lion turtles only gave humans the elemental powers, not bending itself.

Notice how simple Wan's fire attacks are when he first acquired the ability. He only uses basic firebolts. But later on that dragon spirit teaches him how to bend fire properly (the dragon's dance), and from then on Wan becomes an actual firebender. That captain guy even said it's like fire had become an extension of himself.

So my conclusion is that lion turtles gave people the ability in its rawest form, and these people became like the protobenders. But the sky bisons, the moon, the badger moles and the dragons taught them how to bend the elements properly.

EDIT: Oh, and did you guys notice how the tree where Wan trapped Vaatu looks like the tree above Koh the Face Stealer's lair? Maybe that's why Unalaq trained Desna and Eska to look emotionless. Maybe he wants to release Vaatu, and doesn't want his kids to lose their faces to Koh when they get near his tree.

Why would Unalaq want to unleash Vaatu? I see two possibilities:

1- Vaatu promised to give him power. Maybe he promised he'd bond with Unalaq (like Raava bonded with Wan) to turn him into some kind of anti-avatar as a reward for freeing him.

2- Unalaq's actually a well intentioned guy and is simply being tricked into unleashing Vaatu, like Wan was.

Either way, I believe is was Vaatu who taught Unalaq how to pacify (and maybe even control) the dark spirits.

I do like how so much from the episodes expanded upon elements from the first series that were largely left unexplored or just sort of thrown in. What was once something we just had to accept as part of the setting, and if we didn't ended up feeling like a writer cop-out actually makes sense now. Also, fairly sure we know who's going to be the big bad of the season.

If I had any complaint, it's about how the writers seem to treat the idea of...

Spoiler - "balance":

These episodes seem to indicate that the state of the world is contingent on the relationship between two primal spirits of light and darkness (Raava and Vaatu). My personal problem is that what we are told is that true balance in the world is only possible when light is dominant over darkness and how it just feels like either a very unambiguous, unnuanced presentation of morality in (quite literally) black and white terms, or a very poor analogy to Taoism. Taoist philosophy has played a heavy role in the Avatar franchise even from the beginning (remember the Moon and Ocean spirits as black and white koi fish?) and the latest episodes even more so. We have two opposite forces, great significance placed on words such as harmony and balance and if you look carefully at the site of the harmonic convergence the two craters formed by the spirit portals even form a Yin-Yang shape. The thing is, in Taoism neither Yin or Yang (which both Raava and Vaatu seem to symbolize) is inherently good or evil; they may be opposites but they are also interdependent and both sides together in harmony are necessary for a true balance rather than one side having dominance over the other. Yet here, Vaatu seems more like a Satan-figure than anything else while Raava is unambiguously a force of good.

The parallels to Taoism that are there seem too deliberate for me to personally ignore, yet I also can't ignore how...inappropriately they seem to be implemented. This in itself ties back into similar problems I had earlier in this season in regards the conflict between the Northern and Southern Water tribes; at first, Unalaq seems to have a good point about how the South had become spiritually negligent in spite of the fact that he is willing to use force to address the problem. Yet this is all undone when he is properly revealed as a Machiavellian schemer and the Southern Tribe's issues are swept under the rug while Tonraq is vindicated of all wrongdoing.

I do hope that the writers, whom I will genuinely laud if they do so, choose to have the plot itself shake up the dynamic of it's treatment of the notion of "balance" to reflect that true balance does not come from one side dominating, or being presented as solidly morally superior/inferior to the other. I.e. have Unalaq genuinely have good intentions behind both his past and present immoral actions, or have Raava and Vaatu realize they are one whole that, when together allows the world to truly be at balance, which is something Raava could not achieve even with Vaatu out of the picture. I realize I'm probably expecting too much, but it's certainly not out of the realm of possibility and I also feel like if the writers did pull this sort of rabbit out of the hat that it would put Legend of Korra on par with, if not potentially surpass the Last Airbender in storytelling.

Whew, do I feel like a nit-picker...

More Korra and Tenzin, less Mako and blinded Lin please.

Last night's episode was pretty good, but it had issues involving Mako, Asami, and Lin.

Spoiler - "The Guide" Review

Korra has finally becoming a much more 'avatar' character than being too stubborn in this season's first half. She apologized to Tenzin and goes back to needing his help after what went wrong at the end of Book 2's episode 1. Also, Tenzin has once again being a proper character, even though he worries too much about not entering the spirit world. But the biggest issue of the episode is the Mako, Asami, and Lin bit. Mako being framed and got arrested by Lin seems too random, and Asami hasn't done anything to defend him, or will she in the next episode. I guess that what the police has to do after 'The Sting' operation. Other than that, Korra and Tenzin have both improved a lot, and the episode has an interesting ending as Korra and Jinnora are about to enter spirit world and put an end to Uralaq's evil plan.

Overall, this episode is an 8.2 out of 10. The Mako, Asami, and Lin bit could have done better, but the biggest improvement of the episode is Korra and Tenzin.

-Aang: didn't know his father;
-Sokka and Katara: grew up without their mother, their father left them to fight in the war;
-Toph: her parents are overprotective and don't allow her to do anything on her own;
-Zuko: his father disfigured and banished him for speaking out of turn;
-Azula: Ozai raised her to be a psychopath;
-Korra: her father kept his past from her;
-Asami: disowned when she refuses to join the equalists;
-Tenzin: since he was the last hope for the revival of the airbenders, Aang put too much pressure on him, which made him constantly fearful of not living up to his legacy;
-Kya and Bumi: extremely insecure because Aang paid much more attention to Tenzin than them;
-Noatak and Tarrlok: their father made them torture animals and each other via bloodbending;
-Desna and Eska: Unalaq doesn't give a crap about them.

I'm starting to see a pattern here. This series has so many characters with daddy issues, it almost rivals Game of Thrones.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by SnipySev

I'm starting to see a pattern here. This series has so many characters with daddy issues, it almost rivals Game of Thrones.

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Don't forget Firelord Azulon, who expected Ozai to kill Zuko as "punishment" for speaking out of turn; it's likely that his parental favoritism towards Iroh contributed to Ozai's eventual villainy and he comes off as even less pleasant when you learn about his machinations regarding the reasons for Ozai and Ursa's marriage in the comics.

Monk Gyatso and General Iroh were decent parental figures at least, though even they messed up at times. Gyatso tried to postpone Aang's destiny, which might have been done with the best intentions and worked out for the best in the end but then again the world really did need the avatar at the time. Likewise, Iroh was probably the best thing in Zuko's life but then again he lost his actual biological son as a result of the Fire Nation's attempts to take Ba Sing Se, which he himself actually lead. I'm actually wondering how good a father Zuko turned out to be...

Additionally, what mothers were given any characterization weren't much better. Katara and Sokka's mom was nice, so of course she had to be killed off before the series even began. Toph's mom was basically complicit in her father's smothering of her. Finally, and very recently in the ATLA post-season three comics we get insight into two other mothers who basically screwed up hard:

Spoiler - Marked for MAJOR spoilers

Remember Zuko's mother, Ursa? Turns out she went to ground for reasons other than saving Zuko's life. Namely she was in love with someone other than Ozai which is understandable but to be with the man she willingly rewrites her very identity with the help of the Mother of Faces and effectively disregards all memory of them and abandoning them to Ozai. Ursa herself openly expresses self-loathing just before her "reformatting." And the Mother of Faces? She's also Koh's mother who abandoned him, which is the origin of his face-stealing habits.

Just saw "A New Spiritual Age" episode. Amazing episode with well-executed animation, much better plot, and two familiar faces from ATLA.

Spoiler - A New Spiritual Age Review

The episode's plot was well-told, as Korra and Jinnora were traveling to the spirit world to find Vaatu's portal and stop Uralaq's plan of releasing the dark spirit. The episode's animation was well-drawn with more amazing spirits and clever effects. Also, it's great to see General Iroh and Wang Shi Tong again. It's weird to see Korra turning into her much younger self, which was seen at the very beginning of the series, but that's not the gripe of the episode. The only gripe of the episode is a few dialogues, but Iroh's messages and Jinnora talking about the legends are the best dialogues of the episode. The episode has a lot great visual animation, and the ending is well-climated.

Overall, a 9.5 out of 10.

So I just finished watching the newest one, pretty good stuff to go on.

Spoiler - 1 Referential Observation

When Mr. Owl shows up, the tootsie roll pop disappears. The candy in this case first being Aapa, and now Jinorra.

So.. has Tenzin and everyone else not yet found the giant flying bison Korra rode to the Southern Air Temple on?

She's been upgrading transports really fast lately so it's probably already gone.

Just a matter of time before she catches a comet to fly around on.

If anyone is wondering why the animation looks better, it's because studio Mir, the animators of season 1, are back for the remainder of the series.

Studio Pierrot was great at animating fight scenes, but everything else left a lot to be desired. Their conversation scenes are especially awful; the caracters just stay perfectly still and never change their facial expressions. Notice, for example, how no one never blinks in Pierrot episodes.

Studio Mir's animation quality is more balanced overall. I'm happy they're back.

Whoa, wait a minute.

Apparently, we're not only getting the next two episodes of Korra tonight, but the two-part season finale will also be available to watch online at midnight, a week before it was scheduled.. (although it'll still air on TV next week)