My feelings were mixed but I kind of liked her in season one.
In the first season there were the known character flaws (from which I guess she would grow in season 3 and learn), bullshit relationship drama, and I didn't like how she won against Amon and her being able to return the bending to others. Other than that I liked her, especially as she got the most character development and interesting moments. She and Tenzen are probably the best characters of the show. or Amon before the reveal.
Season two was a mess and I disliked her. She regressed.
But it was indeed nice to see some growth in the character in season three. A lot of the drama about her responsibility to be the Avatar and important decisions she has to make works for me.
I guess the question is: what do earthbenders actually bend?
Waterbenders appear to only be able to bend H2O. To the extent that they bend other things, it may just be the case that other things are being pushed along by the water. They appear to be able to influence it as a solid, liquid, or gas.
Airbenders presumably bend at least N2 and O2, and there's not any indication that they can discriminate with their power (though they're probably ignorant of the fact that air is composed of multiple kinds of things). It's also possible that airbenders can't bend particular molecules but instead can bend gas of all types.
Firebenders are kind of hard to explain. They're the best evidence we've got that Avatar physics are just totally different from what we've got, and maybe instead of atomic theory being true stuff is just made of classical elements.
So what do earthbenders bend? "Earth" is going to be a pretty broad category, molecule-wise. Probably earthbenders mostly bend SiO2 and maybe feldspar. But we've also seen them bend coal. One would have thought that the impurities being bent in metal were made of carbon. Platinum and mercury are both very rare elements, and it's hard to see what distinguishes them. Mercury occurs often as cinnabar (HgS), which is at least a mostly rocky-looking mineral.
I'm pretty sure Avatar is working off a classical, ancient understanding of the elements, not a modern one. You probably aren't supposed to apply molecular physics to it at all. They literally just mean "Earth, Fire, Air, and Water."
**Researches classical elements on Wikipedia for several minutes**
Okay yeah. It's pretty much the classical system theorized by Greek, Hindu, Buddhist, Tibetan, and Japanese philosophers before people had any idea what atoms and molecules were. I imagine the Hindu tradition influenced the other Asian ones after it. What's odd to me is, it seemed like the Greek and Hindu traditions developed to be very similar, but in parallel. Not sure.
Also, you'd think Avatar would adopt the Chinese tradition (Wu Xing), but it's the most different from all the others, instead classifying things into Water, Wood, Fire, Earth, and Metal. The writers probably just meant to go with the Hindu/Tibetan/Buddhist one.
Here's the fucked-up part that the entire Avatar series has completely ignored though -- the classical Greek and Asian traditions include a fifth element: Aether (or Void). It's supposed to be central to all the others, essentially being the base makeup of the cosmos. The greeks (and later medieval Europeans) tried to use it to explain things such as light and gravity. I imagine if it ever did show up in Avatar, it would probably involve the manipulation of light, gravity, and possibly space-time. Perhaps energy bending is indeed Aether. I don't know. In Avatar, everything regarding Spirit/Energy seems to entirely concern the energy and life force within people. In the classical traditions it seems like Aether concerns the outward universe instead.
I was under the impression that Zaheer and the group would carry over to season 4 but they resolved their endings nicely.
Korra's fight with Zaheer seemed like a MoS flick.
Not sure how they are going to top the crazy bending we have seen from the past season villains. OP psychic bloodbending, dark avatar, lava bending, no arm waterbending, a flying airbender?
With disabled Korra and Red Lotus hype, season 4 can't come fast enough.
It's not hyperbole. Trust me, I know from experience that may people's reasoning amounts to just that. Part of the reason Korragaf is such a nice place to discuss things is that most of its members think beyond that and similarly superficial reasoning, but it is the unfortunate way of most people.
It's not hyperbole. Trust me, I know from experience that may people's reasoning amounts to just that. Part of the reason Korragaf is such a nice place to discuss things is that most of its members think beyond that and similarly superficial reasoning, but it is the unfortunate way of most people.
If that's the case you have the years and enough of my respect for your argument where I can believe that statement then. Regardless, this is a case of people not putting the effort to criticize. There are plenty of credible reasons to dislike Legend of Korra characters. Saying "well people just don't like X because they aren't like them" seems to insult any proper criticism with an all-encompassing statement.
If that's the case you have the years and enough of my respect for your argument where I can believe that statement then. Regardless, this is a case of people not putting the effort to criticize. There are plenty of credible reasons to dislike Legend of Korra characters. Saying "well people just don't like X because they aren't like them" seems to insult any proper criticism with an all-encompassing statement.
Yeah, here is a different story, where we dissect the characters to the point of making it a science. I just meant in general. In my earlier post, I essentially said that while personal prejudices may come into some of it, there are plenty legitimate flaws in LoK characters.
Great season finale, both episodes were really good, heck the whole season was good and is in my opinion the first Korra season that is as good as Atla (compared to book 1 or 3 of Atla, book 2 is still the best).
And it's majorly thanks to the new writers, Tim Hedrick and Joshua Hamilton (the new head writers I think) wrote the last episode.
Brian and Mike wrote the last episode of season 2 in comparison, and I almost can bet that if they had written this last one instead of Korra crying at the end, Katara would have busted into the room with some spirit water from the north pole and Korra would have jumped from the wheelchair and would've started to fly like Zaheer or something.
It was like the crazy finale fight in season 2 but it didn't leave me wondering wtf was I watching afterwards.
For now the only thing I didn't like was the lack of explanation as to how Zaheer was able to posses such a high mastery of airbending.
Must have missed it if it was shown but this guy got his magic airbending powers and just happened to be a follower of an airbender guru, immediately whipped out the air skills, and is the only other airbender known to fly.
I guess they could go further into it the next season but it looks like the focus is shifting to another group of lotus members and his role in the story is done.
You are so lucky, I almost spoiled you before I realized you must not have seen the second half. I was in full on panic mode, and scrambled to edit my post out. So glad I did. Holy crap.
good finale. i enjoyed this season more overall than ATLA book 3 tbh. it's easily the best full season of legend of korra too of course.
i didn't really understand the final scene though. is she depressed because of PTSD? or is it the effect of the poison.
if it's the former then it just felt out of character to see her down after she had no casualties AND they induct a new airbending master. i liked the shift in tone, but it just didn't seem consistent with prior seasons.
Great season finale, both episodes were really good, heck the whole season was good and is in my opinion the first Korra season that is as good as Atla (compared to book 1 or 3 of Atla, book 2 is still the best).
And it's majorly thanks to the new writers, Tim Hedrick and Joshua Hamilton (the new head writers I think) wrote the last episode.
Brian and Mike wrote the last episode of season 2 in comparison, and I almost can bet that if they had written this last one instead of Korra crying at the end, Katara would have busted into the room with some spirit water from the north pole and Korra would have jumped from the wheelchair and would've started to fly like Zaheer or something.
I wouldn't exactly call them new writers as they are both veteran writers from ATLA and were both brought back for Book 2.
Book 2 had quite a few episodes written by that duo.
That security girl people are talking about with two lines and a name is probably just a featured cameo I think as played by Zelda Williams. It was weird, I thought she would be a prominent character but it's probably just another guest feature like they did with tennis champ Serena Williams in Legend of Aang.
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Hate on Korra all you want, but my bone to pick with every character is that none of them have been exceptional simply because there are too many goddamn characters. Legend of Aang didn't have this problem and you could say the focus has always been on Aang/Katara/Sokka/Toph/Zuko plus Iroh and Azula.
I like Korra. I like every character. But none have been given consistent screentime for me to love them. I remember at one point where Asami says 2 lines the entire episode. Uh, what. The Legend of Korra is fighting a 22-minute running time and a huge and ever expanding world. First impression looked like it would be focused on Korra/Mako/Bolin/Asami/Tenzin/Lin but then it just spiraled the shit out of control each season. There's a Big Bad each season like Amon/Unalaq/Vaatu/Zaheer that never carried over like Zuko or Azula each season that took up a lot of screen time. Then there's Tenzin's family taking up screentime with Jinora/Kya/Bumi heavily recurring. Add that to the season-focused recurring characters like Tonraq/Suyin/Desna/Eska/that little Airbending kid thief bitch. And then finally add in the beautifully animated and more elaborate fight scenes.
It's silly to hate on Korra as a character when she's playing the lead in a stupidly huge ensemble. She doesn't have the luxury of having fun, filler episodes or the centralized focus Team Aang got. Legend of Aang would usually split focus between Team Avatar and Team Fire. Legend of Korra could often split between Korra, Brothers, Asami, Tenzin family, Lin, and Big Bad.
I have no problems with Korra's attitude. She's a refreshing female leader character. And leaders aren't always liked but they make the hard decisions no one else would. But her headstrong attitude is also unfortunately one big plot advance after another. With ensembles this big and story arcs so grand, it's usually always the Leader characters that have to move the plot while the supporting cast gets all the fun. If I were Korra, I'd let the whole world get destroyed with the world-ending shit she keeps having to deal with each season.
I wouldn't exactly call them new writers as they are both veteran writers from ATLA and were both brought back for Book 2.
Book 2 had quite a few episodes written by that duo.
I meant new writers for Korra not that they were "new writers", and yeah I know they were on the team since book 2, but apparently the whole staff got more freedom from Nick for books 3 and 4, so maybe that's just it.
so what a season. it had buildup, payoff, and development. i can agree with a lot of issues about there being too many characters, but i can't think of a wasted episode. everything fed into each other and everyone in the final episodes had a purpose that reinforced that buildup.
it was tense and dark, but dark in a really unsettling way. like chipping away at who a person is. and really i felt the whole finale was too dark for the humor they were going for (the flash to naga/pabu, bolin being bolin). however i thought some lighter moments worked, like ghazan vs. bolin, with bolin's smirk after lavabending at ghazan. i was also okay with stuff like meelo jumping up on korra at the end. a little levity was good - the attempts at full-blown comedy relief were not.
but otherwise i thought it was a wonderful finale. where i enjoyed parts of the finales for books 1 and 2, i enjoyed essentially all of book 3's ending. it really felt like it could be the end of the series. i have no idea where they go from here.
I know Mako's all about the swag ad everything but he's had some pretty decent chances to wipe out the red lotus gang before deciding to decimate water tentacles girl.
but did you guys see after Mako murderd her how he wasn't even phased? he just looked up and was like "Bolin isn't done yet?" and just went up there and helped finish off lava dude.
another thing, i was laughing at how strong they made tenzin look vs the bald dude. I mean, in every other fight we all know tenzin would have been knocked out in the first few seconds. same thing with aang's other worthless kids.
With what is implied she had the bloodiest death but a relative quick one.
The earth queen had the most brutal death for a kid's show though, she literally suffocated to death and suffocation is one of the worst ways to go.
Ming-hua had the on-screen death that is pretty messed up, electrocution and all, but the fact Mako just casually killed her is what gets to me. Guess the writers never really gave away that Mako and the others here were ok with taking a life?
Ghazan caused his own death, but went out like a trooper Terminator style.
I like Aang over Korra but you have to provide examples to as to why you think Aang wouldn't fall for this and provide counter-arguments as to what people might use to say otherwise. If not this stance will get you nowhere.
yea same here.. I didn't really care about the earth queens death but I said oh shit when i figured out what was happening when the metal clamped on her head
I totally expected them to just knocked her out, they fucking destroyed her
It's still the Earthqueens death for me, Just in the way her eyes starting going bloodshot as she started suffocating and the way she was gasping for air.
Its also a much more drawn out death compared to P'Li which while still brutal is at least quick.
It's still the Earthqueens death for me, Just in the way her eyes starting going bloodshot as she started suffocating and the way she was gasping for air.
Its also a much more drawn out death compared to P'Li which while still brutal is at least quick.
when bei fong's sis fired off her jacket I thought, oh, it's gonna trap her...then I thought, well,that wouldn't stop her from firing her forehead fire, then it wrapped around her head and they cut to the bald dude and I was like wait, did that wrap around her hea-ooooooooooohhhhhhhhhhhhhhh shiiiiiiittttttt.
when bei fong's sis fired off her jacket I thought, oh, it's gonna trap her...then I thought, well,that wouldn't stop her from firing her forehead fire, then it wrapped around her head and they cut to the bald dude and I was like wait, did that wrap around her hea-ooooooooooohhhhhhhhhhhhhhh shiiiiiiittttttt.
when bei fong's sis fired off her jacket I thought, oh, it's gonna trap her...then I thought, well,that wouldn't stop her from firing her forehead fire, then it wrapped around her head and they cut to the bald dude and I was like wait, did that wrap around her hea-ooooooooooohhhhhhhhhhhhhhh shiiiiiiittttttt.
She didn't exactly trust them she had the metal guard, Tonraq, Suyin and Lin Beifong waiting to ambush Zaheer once the airbenders were secured.
Her main motivation was to save the airbenders, which is something I'm sure Aang would have done.
This season was easily the best of Korra and I felt that the show finally lived up to my expectations from before the premiere of Book 1. It still had some of the same problems - comedy that was more annoying than funny, lack of character development for Asami and Mako, a few too many characters that take up too much time - but this season had enough good that I didn't mind.
Bolin had a couple decent jokes and got some good development in the form of a decent romantic subplot and providing some context for why he's always trying so hard: Bolin is deeply insecure. Which was a part of his character from the beginning, but I felt that the metalbending subplot made it feel the most real, for lack of a better term. Bolin getting lava bending was kind an asspull, but I'll allow it on the grounds that I think it's a better fit for his character than metalbending.
Asami and Mako are still pretty undercooked as characters, but at least they got something to do. Turns Mako isn't as insufferable when you don't tie him up in stupid romantic subplots that paint him as a dick. Seeing him flex his muscle as a detective was great and the sort of thing I wish they'd done with him from day one. And Asami has always been great and good on the writers for giving her more screentime after she was a complete non-entity in season two.
Yeah, here is a different story, where we dissect the characters to the point of making it a science. I just meant in general. In my earlier post, I essentially said that while personal prejudices may come into some of it, there are plenty legitimate flaws in LoK characters.
I feel like if you're going to charge people with just disliking Korra just because she's a woman, then you should take those charges to places where it's actually happening.
Off topic, but I feel like this happens a lot around here (Gaf in general, not just Korra-Gaf). You have posters giving detailed reasons for why they like or dislike a thing in a thread, and then a bunch of folks just run in and build strawman instead of engaging with what people in the present discussion are really saying or presenting their own points. It's a disservice to other posters and doesn't add to discussion at all.
She didn't exactly trust them she had the metal guard, Tonraq, Suyin and Lin Beifong waiting to ambush Zaheer once the airbenders were secured.
Her main motivation was to save the airbenders, which is something I'm sure Aang would have done.
