Legend of Korra Book 3: Change |OT| SCHEDULEBENDING

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I hate the word prodigy being thrown around. It does not mean "Instant expert on something."

Intelligence in general is something that is highly complex and hard to define. But while it is true that some people are more in tune with certain activities than others, more so than anything, prodigies are just people who are capable of spending an inordinate amount of time on something. Mozart's ability in playing the piano weren't the result of him stumbling and randomly hitting notes, with the shocking realization that he inexplicably does it better than everyone else. As a child, he would spend hours upon hours just practicing. He's be so into it that he'd forget to eat, and he'd do it for days on end.

In most cases, there is nothing stopping any of you from becoming a prodigy on most things. Just stop what your doing right now, then do that thing, then keep doing it every day, all day for a few years, and then you'll be in the same sphere of talent as a prodigy. It's just a matter of focusing on something for an extended period of time.

So just labeling Zaheer's abilities a result of him being a prodigy doesn't say much. If the writers remembered that bending abilities come from having a certain mindset, and if Zaheer is the scholar that this dialogue has suggested him to be, then the only way he is a prodigy is that that he's a prodigious student in airbending philosophy, which has allowed him to control airbending once he got access to it.
Sure, he wasn't born with the ability to airbend if he would get the power, but what I meant was, that he could recreate the techniques by himself, since he probably had no airbender to each him. Bending is like martial arts nothing that you can simply learning by reading a tutorial, even if you read a book about it you probabaly need an advisor. But he got it somehow together by knowledge alone.

In what way? They showed a picture of Bolin and Mako's mom in episode 3 and she didn't have Combustion man's eye thing. Also if I understood the dialogue correctly, the airbender and combustion lady were dating (not married like Mako and Bolin's parents) not the earthbender and combustion lady.
Is the eye on the head really needed? It could just be a cultural thing. Heavens knows how Combustion Man got to his power.
There are certain hints that could lead to Bolins and Makos mother.
1) it would wonderfully tie in their story into the mainstory
2) grandma complimented their eyes for showing that their mother was very beautiful, and it stroke as odd that her upper face wasn't shown. Sure, it could just be to make her more threatning and mysterious. But it's a possilibity
3) Firebender, obvious
4) She is at least since 13 years in prison, Mako and Bolin are 19 or 20 years old, so it would fit with their parents death while they were children

Sure, she is called his girlfriend, but isn't it a bit naive that she couldn't be a cheat or started to date Zaheer after her husband died? Maybe it was Zaheer that made her kill him, directly or indirectly. Or she wasn't at all involved in her husbands death and joined Zaheer because he was after the guy who did it, too.
 
Is the eye on the head really needed? It could just be a cultural thing. Heavens knows how Combustion Man got to his power.
There are certain hints that could lead to Bolins and Makos mother.
1) it would wonderfully tie in their story into the mainstory
2) grandma complimented their eyes for showing that their mother was very beautiful, and it stroke as odd that her upper face wasn't shown. Sure, it could just be to make her more threatning and mysterious. But it's a possilibity
3) Firebender, obvious
4) She is at least since 13 years in prison, Mako and Bolin are 19 or 20 years old, so it would fit with their parents death while they were children

Sure, she is called his girlfriend, but isn't it a bit naive that she couldn't be a cheat or started to date Zaheer after her husband died? Maybe it was Zaheer that made her kill him, directly or indirectly. Or she wasn't at all involved in her husbands death and joined Zaheer because he was after the guy who did it, too.

1. Mako witnessed both of his parents being killed.

2. We've already seen combustion woman's face in the trailer and she looks nothing like his mom.
 
1. Mako witnessed both of his parents being killed.

2. We've already seen combustion woman's face in the trailer and she looks nothing like his mom.
Oh, that was something I was missing. Didn't watch any trailers, they spoil so much.
Schade, would've been interesting.
 
I am enjoying this season so much so far! And I am finally using something that I haven't since the original series (with the exception of the beginning eps) ... the replay button! I really hope that this story has a two season arc, just so they don't have to rush it like they did with the last two books.
 
Korra was more balanced out with Asami. She comes off less rough and they have good chemistry together. Mako being awkward because the break up allowed him to be more vulnerable and less high strung and aggressive. His scenes with Bolin were also pretty heartfelt.

Tenzin had a lot of great moments. His speech to Korra was great. His moment with his family was also awesome. Pretty much everyone came across as more likable and the writers did a better job pairing people off that they had chemistry with.

So I would argue that the majority of the scenes had good character moments.

I found Korra to be much much better in the Book 3 so far in comparison to what she was like in Book 2
Far less grating and the paring her up with Asami has been great

Interesting. While I think, that Korra-Asami was pretty good, I also think, that Korra hasn't changed significantly. The following scenes made me think that:

Korra managing the vines problem in the city. Korra talking to the press before, the building came down. Conversation with the major, after she safes the new air-bender and gets told, that she has to leave the city.

Conversation with the 22 year old air-bender, that lives in moms basement.

Last conversation with the Eart Queen.

Maybe, it's too early to discuss this, since we are only 3 episodes in, I don't know. However, I'm curious to find out, how the characters will develop, in the next episodes.
 
dai_zpsfe094a50.gif

I also like how the Dai Li were introduced, I was not expecting them to still be around.
 
I don't think I could have handled that drama.

The whole parents/children at odds thing is hardly ever done well.
Sure the question wether the will make it good is always there. I just think that it would be an interesting setup, with them both having to work with the reality that her mother is a criminal and wants to kill Korra. And she could be played very different: openly stating that she won't do anything her flesh and blood or being totally cold or being sorry for them, but puts her idology above her family.
Obe can dream.
 
Sure the question wether the will make it good is always there. I just think that it would be an interesting setup, with them both having to work with the reality that her mother is a criminal and wants to kill Korra. And she could be played very different: openly stating that she won't do anything her flesh and blood or being totally cold or being sorry for them, but puts her idology above her family.
Obe can dream.

That's kind of how I feel all family conflicts are done though and they usually end with confrontation or a teary reunion before that family member switches sides or sacrifices themselves.

They would definitely need time to set something like that up. Zuko had the time to do it. I don't think they would have enough here, especially with the pacing problems that each book has shown previously. If I had more faith in them with that department, maybe. If I knew this arc was spanning more than one season, maybe. Still though, the drama that something like that would bring is on par with the relationship stuff in the past seasons and it's something I hope they move away from.
 
Sure, he wasn't born with the ability to airbend if he would get the power, but what I meant was, that he could recreate the techniques by himself, since he probably had no airbender to each him. Bending is like martial arts nothing that you can simply learning by reading a tutorial, even if you read a book about it you probabaly need an advisor. But he got it somehow together by knowledge alone.

The thing with martial arts is that the mental and physical aspects of it are not separate. If he read the works of air nomad martial arts, he would understand the philosophy of evasion they have, and could create his own techniques that also incorperate evasion. They wouldn't arrive at identitical conclusions, but they'd be similar, and that's the vibe I get off Zaheer. Aang rolled around a lot, but Zaheer takes it to a new level, where most of his movements are doing that. It's also possible he studied the airbending martial arts under Tenzin or Aang when he studied the literature as well. There's no reason he couldn't incorperate that into a non-bending fighting technique.

Either way, I highly doubt this is the first time he's ever tried airbending techniques.
 
1. Mako witnessed both of his parents being killed.

2. We've already seen combustion woman's face in the trailer and she looks nothing like his mom.

Is trailer content the same as sneak peak content? Spoiling just in case.

So I just watched the trailer and I'm not sure I agree with your second point.

Plus, they share the same eye color.
 
Is trailer content the same as sneak peak content? Spoiling just in case.

So I just watched the trailer and I'm not sure I agree with your second point.

Plus, they share the same eye color.

The leaks give a better look at her face and it's definitely not the same person.
 
i'd lol if they turned out to be the good guys this time around.

somehow

There are precisely 3 things we know about their motives/goals.

1. They seek the end of the White Lotus
2. They seek the end of the Avatar
3. They believe their cause to be righteous.

Now, the White Lotus has changed a lot from the days of TLA. Back then, they were an underground movement, and their cheif members were old masters that we knew we could trust: Iroh, Pakku, Bumi, Piandao, and Jeong Jeong.

Now the White Lotus is an open active agency. It's members are much younger, but they are also much more anonymous. Katara was seen hanging out with the White Lotus judges during Korra's firebending trial, but she wasn't wearing their colors. The organization's structure must have changed, but who knows to what extent? And have they changed their goals? Because now they do tasks like finding and training the avatar, which was before left up to the respective nation to do.

As for why they'd go after the avatar, who knows? They've been imprisoned for 10 years, and that's before Korra became active as the avatar, so it's not any kind of personal beef. Maybe the white lotus and the avatar goals are related? Maybe he thinks the white lotus teachings have corrupted the avatar where they shouldn't have?

That view would be supported if we were still going by TLA rules. We know that in TLA that the planet itself moves in subtle ways to help aid the avatar's journey. It does not work like that in LoK. The spread of airbending abilities seem to be pretty random, but he took being granted airbending as a sign the planet wants him to accomplish his goal.

Book 3 seems to make a point of bringing back a lot of old elements of TLA that were missing in the first two seasons. Maybe Zaheer is another part of that.
 
It's just a possibility of a interesting set up, heavens know if they could make it work. The "I killed your parents" enemy is a far more annoying trope and grant less conflict. Only revenge and wether the do the revenge or not.

Sure thst possible too. And I think I wrote that in an ealier post. I just saying that Zaheer is a faster and more talented learner that other people.

i'd lol if they turned out to be the good guys this time around.

somehow
Well, they aren't evil evil. Zaheer believes in their plan and he himself didn't really kill somebody. His guards will be out as soon as he hit the othet prisons since they know that he had to escaped. Only one with true malice was Ming Wa.
They seem to be ideologists. But then again so did Amon and whatshisname.
White Lotus is basically the UN at this point
They already have a UN. The White Lotus is more liks a conspiracy. A secret or shadowy at least organisation that operates global in the shadows.
 
Well, they aren't evil evil. Zaheer believes in their plan and he himself didn't really kill somebody. His guards will be out as soon as he hit the othet prisons since they know that he had to escaped. Only one with true malice was Ming Wa.

I think their lack of killing was just because it's Nick. I mean, Zaheer doesn't seem like he is particularly sadistic, but I don't see him having issues with taking a life. I forget which one of them knocked that one guy into the lava, but even if it was Ming Wa, the fact that they have no issues associating with someone who wantonly kills speaks something of their moral code by itself.

They're coming across as Zealots right now. They believe in something, something righteous. But, and while I certainly hope this isn't the case, they could just be insane rather than having a true philosophical disposition.
 
Interesting. While I think, that Korra-Asami was pretty good, I also think, that Korra hasn't changed significantly. The following scenes made me think that:

Korra managing the vines problem in the city. Korra talking to the press before, the building came down. Conversation with the major, after she safes the new air-bender and gets told, that she has to leave the city.

Conversation with the 22 year old air-bender, that lives in moms basement.

Last conversation with the Eart Queen.

Maybe, it's too early to discuss this, since we are only 3 episodes in, I don't know. However, I'm curious to find out, how the characters will develop, in the next episodes.

The examples you gave are RIGHT, in that Korra is still hot headed. But it was used for humor this time. You didn't find it funny when she grabbed that hipster basement dweller? The entire situation was funny. As was Korra's outburst towards the President and the Press. Is it the BEST solution to her problems? Probably not.

The difference though is in the past, Korra's anger was aimed at members in her group, or was used in critical moments to poor effect (when there was more obvious solutions). In the past Korra's anger made everyone feel uncomfortable (or irritated by her thinking it was a proper solution). And while you could argue she's still doing this with the latter (ie. using it for a solution), the scenes which she used it in were set up where you didn't mind it (because I. The President and the Press are jackasses and II. The Hipster Basement Dweller was also an asshole). Plus, the entire montage was about the group doing things that DONT work, so Korra doing something that wouldn't work (worked with the scene).

Basically, I feel like the writers made scenes that WORKED with her anger/stupidity. And she wasn't really like angry the entire time (as I said, she was balanced out quite nicely with Asami. And had some tender moments with Tenzin and her talking down that new air bender). I'm not saying all the characters are magically fixed. I'm sure Korra will continue to do things that make us cringe. But I thought for the majority of Episode 1-3, all the characters were used effectively. Even their flaws were used to a better effect.

Mako: Usually high-strung/aggressive/cocky - NOW he's nervous/awkward and stiff. This allowed him to be the butt of jokes, because he was more open and vulnerable (vs constantly being on the defense). Him being paired off with Bolin allowed for him to have more down to earth moments, as they both share in the pain of their past/family.

Korra: Usually aggressive/cocky/ hot headed - NOW still hot-headed, but her scenes with Asami toned her down, so she wasn't as rough. She came off more down to earth (as her and Asami became better friends, and got to laugh about just general BS including Mako). For the most part, any time she was hot headed, it was used in more humorous situations. She also had more tender scenes (with Tenzin + The Airbender)

I would even say, Teznin was used better here. Sure, he was still a bit stubborn and had to learn he was wrong. But he was more willing to go with the flow after failing. And I think his worse traits were also used with humor (vs. him just taking it out on others like he did in Book 2). Tenzin also fell back more on being a mentor and father (which was more like his tender side in Book 1, which was missing in a lot of Book 2).
 
I think their lack of killing was just because it's Nick. I mean, Zaheer doesn't seem like he is particularly sadistic, but I don't see him having issues with taking a life. I forget which one of them knocked that one guy into the lava, but even if it was Ming Wa, the fact that they have no issues associating with someone who wantonly kills speaks something of their moral code by itself.

They're coming across as Zealots right now. They believe in something, something righteous. But, and while I certainly hope this isn't the case, they could just be insane rather than having a true philosophical disposition.

Agreed. Zaheer looking for the "righteous" path and all the talk about Lahima makes me feel like they need Korra to achieve some kind of spiritual enlightenment or reality of some kind.

I'll be seriously disappointing if we get the cliche "wants to kill Korra to take over the world" so there's a little personal bias here, but since there will be more cohesion between this and Book 4, I'm gonna bet Zaheer's goals are deeper than that.
 
i liked season 2 but i didnt think it was as good as season 1. And also Beginnings were the best episodes of that season. Absolutely beautiful.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not advocating the second season either, just Beginnings. Those two episodes alone did something that that whole season did not; make me care about it's characters and their objectives.
 
The Dai Li are shady as fuck. Definitely should have been disbanded.

They probably were. But when the Earth Queen grabbed power (when her father died), she probably saw the disbandment of the Dai Li as another weakness of her father. She already saw the Earth Kingdom losing territory and giving in to Zuko (the fire Nation + the Avatar at the time's) as a sign of weakness of the empire. In her mind, bringing back the Dai Li (but actually using it herself as a tool unlike her father) was just another step to getting the Empire back on track to...well getting its balls back.
 
Okay, nevermind, I've officially discovered Zaheer's motivation.

He just thinks Korra is an awful avatar.

I checked and they were imprisoned 13 years ago. Korra is currently 16-17. We know she was 16 at the time of Book 1, and 6 months passed before Book 2.

She was discovered as the avatar at the age of 4.

It's fairly obvious that the Zaheer was one of the White Lotus guards who discovered Korra. He foresaw how awful she would be from the moment she yelled "I'm the avatar and you got to deal with it!"

No, Zaheer vowed to himself. I will NOT deal with it.

This lead to a failed coup and now here we all are.
 
Okay, nevermind, I've officially discovered Zaheer's motivation.

He just thinks Korra is an awful avatar.

I checked and they were imprisoned 13 years ago. Korra is currently 16-17. We know she was 16 at the time of Book 1, and 6 months passed before Book 2.

She was discovered as the avatar at the age of 4.

It's fairly obvious that the Zaheer was one of the White Lotus guards who discovered Korra. He foresaw how awful she would be from the moment she yelled "I'm the avatar and you got to deal with it!"

No, Zaheer vowed to himself. I will NOT deal with it.

This lead to a failed coup and now here we all are.

LOL

I like this talk about him being one of the White Lotus that found her. It sounds plausible given his time of arrest. Obviously the writers won't make it about him KNOWING she would be the worst Avatar of all time. So I wonder what it was, that made him want kill her? (Assuming that's what he wants to do).

I'm scared about the plot they are going to come up with.
 
1. Mako witnessed both of his parents being killed.

2. We've already seen combustion woman's face in the trailer and she looks nothing like his mom.

1. That doesn't mean anything. This is a tv show, not real life.

2. I wouldn't say she looks nothing like his mom. Their faces have the same general shape. Similar hair, nose, mouth etc. Obviously his mom didn't have the third eye in the past, but her other two eyes look just like Mako's.
 
A big problem for these guys turning out to have some kind of a point after all is that Zuko and maybe Korra's dad have reasons to really, really want them in jail. Maybe the comics go somewhere else with this, but, for people coming from ATLA, Zuko reads as unambiguously a good guy. And we're just coming off of a season where Korra's dad was basically right about who the bad guys are and where when he got in trouble it was for being too reluctant to do something about bad guys.

So I think the best case scenario here is that they have some kind of legitimate grudge but are dealing with it by murderizing everyone who has anything to do with the White Lotus Society. Like that episode where Katara learns bloodbending. I think probably they're mad at the White Lotus Society just because the WLS imprisoned them, which the WLS did because these guys were being dicks.
 
1. That doesn't mean anything. This is a tv show, not real life.

2. I wouldn't say she looks nothing like his mom. Their faces have the same general shape. Similar hair, nose, mouth etc. Obviously his mom didn't have the third eye in the past, but her other two eyes look just like Mako's.
1. what
2. I'd say that's more to the fact that Korra has more generic faces than the original show, but how can a person just grow a third eye.
 
LOL

I like this talk about him being one of the White Lotus that found her. It sounds plausible given his time of arrest. Obviously the writers won't make it about him KNOWING she would be the worst Avatar of all time. So I wonder what it was, that made him want kill her? (Assuming that's what he wants to do).

I'm scared about the plot they are going to come up with.

Well, a friend of mine informed me that there is a real life event they count base this on. Currently, there are 2 panchen lama's right now. One that's picked by the chinese government, and another one picked by the actual lineage panchen lama has descended from. This happens in other religions too, like the antipope of catholocism.


It might be that Zaheer didn't see Korra as the legitimate avatar. And if nothing else, it turns out that he has had very good cause to believe this. Korra has to be the one though. Not because of her bending, but Aang directly showed up and talked to her at one point.
 
Well, a friend of mine informed me that there is a real life event they count base this on. Currently, there are 2 panchen lama's right now. One that's picked by the chinese government, and another one picked by the actual lineage panchen lama has descended from. This happens in other religions too, like the antipope of catholocism.


It might be that Zaheer didn't see Korra as the legitimate avatar. And if nothing else, it turns out that he has had very good cause to believe this. Korra has to be the one though. Not because of her bending, but Aang directly showed up and talked to her at one point.

Maybe he doesn't like how the Avatar is just born as some random member of one of the nations.

He views the avatar system as flawed because someone born as the avatar could easily grow up to be not worthy of the title and fail to do their job.
 
Woah if there are multiple multi-benders running around

that's a plot hook!

If Tenzin can get notified of airbenders half a continent away, someone would have surely seen a multiple multi-element benders running around.

But Korra's definitely the one. While I could concievably buy people with more than one bending ability, no one but Korra would be able to make contact with past lives, and she has definitely done that.

Maybe he doesn't like how the Avatar is just born as some random member of one of the nations.

He views the avatar system as flawed because someone born as the avatar could easily grow up to be not worthy of the title.

*shrug* Maybe, but that would have more to do with how they're raised...and Korra is the only sheltered Avatar we know of.

I've talked about this at length, but the avatar is primarily a diplomat. Learning how to bend each element is done so that the avatar can learn about each culture, and becoming a badass through that is only a nice side effect.

Korra is the only avatar that was not only sheltered within the confines of what is essentially a prison, but also the only one whose training was not over seen within other countries and among their people, but by instructors chosen by the white lotus whose organization has grown vast and mysterious and impersonal.


Real talk, if Zaheer's motivation is related to Korra's selection, it's probably due to how she was raised. The White Lotus took control of her life, and Zaheer might just see her as a corrupted avatar. He wouldn't be far off. Even this season, Korra's handling of the Earth Queen is severely lacking because she cannot pick up on the subtleties of politics and how to handle them. It's something that she'd have been taught if she lived and was taught among the earth nation as she should have been. It's the most plausible motivation I can think for the guy at present.
 
Just watched the episodes and it's already sooo much better than season 2. Really enjoyed it and it does feel they're able to course correct as far as characters, pacing and plot goes. Aside from the glorious animation my expectations were in the gutter, but now they are renewed. Here's hoping for a good season. Even if it gets off the rails again (season 1 had a strong first half but shat the bed by the ending episodes) I'd rather watch it with a positive mindset and these first 3 episodes got me in a good mood.
 
1. what
2. I'd say that's more to the fact that Korra has more generic faces than the original show, but how can a person just grow a third eye.

Spiderman watched the Green Goblin die, he even attended his funeral, but GG still came back later in the story.

I mean this girl didn't even die on screen, how can you be so confident that she's actually dead?
 
1. That doesn't mean anything. This is a tv show, not real life.

2. I wouldn't say she looks nothing like his mom. Their faces have the same general shape. Similar hair, nose, mouth etc. Obviously his mom didn't have the third eye in the past, but her other two eyes look just like Mako's.

1. What x 50000.

2.Here is Mako:
vMYDMLr.png


Mako and his family:
Mako_and_Bolin%27s_family_picture.png


Here is a link to a gif of
Pe Li
: Spoilers

Mako's mother is dead.
 

You bring some very excellent points to discussion. Pretty much agree with you, although I'm still not sure, what to think of everyones individual character development.
I know, they say at the beginning, that it has been only 2 weeks, after the events with Unalaq and Vaatu, but I expected more. It's not by any means bad. I just feel like something is missing, but I don't know what, if that makes any sense?!

Also, I thought the scene with the 22 year old, was hilarious. He just didn't give a damn about anything. :D

So I wonder what it was, that made him want kill her?

Probably got his ass kicked by young Korra and now he's mad. :lol
 
*shrug* Maybe, but that would have more to do with how they're raised...and Korra is the only sheltered Avatar we know of.

I've talked about this at length, but the avatar is primarily a diplomat. Learning how to bend each element is done so that the avatar can learn about each culture, and becoming a badass through that is only a nice side effect.

Korra is the only avatar that was not only sheltered within the confines of what is essentially a prison, but also the only one whose training was not over seen within other countries and among their people, but by instructors chosen by the white lotus whose organization has grown vast and mysterious and impersonal.


Real talk, if Zaheer's motivation is related to Korra's selection, it's probably due to how she was raised. The White Lotus took control of her life, and Zaheer might just see her as a corrupted avatar. He wouldn't be far off. Even this season, Korra's handling of the Earth Queen is severely lacking because she cannot pick up on the subtleties of politics and how to handle them. It's the most plausible motivation I can think for the guy at present.

I thought those guys were imprisoned in the first place because...:

They tried to assassinate Korra when she was still a kid.
 
I thought those guys were imprisoned in the first place because...:

They tried to assassinate Korra when she was still a kid.

We're only theorizing. We don't know what they did yet. And moreso, we're theorizing on what their goals and motives are, rather than their actions. Though yes, if we're right, they'd want Korra dead so they can get a new, uncorrupted avatar.
 
Haircut and a tattoo? Their faces aren't that different.

Yeah, I can buy that it's her if they said it.

That picture of her is old, so of course facial features could have changed in the time.

Also, it's a cartoon. It's kind of hard to differentiate people by faces to begin with.

Honestly, if they said it was a future Asami, I'd buy that too.
 
Spiderman watched the Green Goblin die, he even attended his funeral, but GG still came back later in the story.
what the hell are you talking about dude
in Avatar's world, which is not even a comic book series, no one has come back from the dead. The closest we've been to that was Aang's revival, and even then they explicitely state in the series that he didn't fully die and was only saved by Katara's extra super magic water.
 
Haircut and a tattoo? Their faces aren't that different.

This faces aren't the same.

Yeah, I can buy that it's her if they said it.

That picture of her is old, so of course facial features could have changed in the time.

Also, it's a cartoon. It's kind of hard to differentiate people by faces to begin with.

Honestly, if they said it was a future Asami, I'd buy that too.

Now, I know you all are just trolling. gg
 
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