Legend of Korra Book 3: Change |OT| SCHEDULEBENDING
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Admiral Woofington
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At least he wasn't a diva like in season 2, that's when I really hated him. This season he was simply the butt of the joke with the "lol he can't metal bend" and the really bad jokes he told, but then the finale redeemed him for me because the jokes actually worked (outside of his opening bird joke), and he got lava bending. As long as they explore it I'll be fine with it.
Again, it's stated clearly by the Lionturtles at the end of the Beginnings story that they won't be giving bending to humans again. After that particular harmonic convergence, humans obtained bending through the means we already knew about from ATLA.
No, it was made clear that ALL bending came from Lion Turtles. Humans didn't "obtain" any bending from observing animals like they explained in ATLA.
The best explanation is that bending was passed downed through genetics and future generations learned to control their already existing, but forgotten, bending skills by observing animals.
Infinite Justice
Member
eh Bolin always sucked even in Season 1 but you saw the potential of him being a bender version of funny Sokka (the season 1 shipping ep was a nice example complete with him having a strong rapport with Korra). Also Mako being worthless shipping fodder made Bolin look better as well.
Sucks that the concept of him growing up a bit hasn't really happened (at least imo)
Sucks that the concept of him growing up a bit hasn't really happened (at least imo)
Nope. Nothing in Beginnings contradicts that bending was later learned by humans on their own from watching each element's original benders after the beginning of the first era of the Avatar.
None of the benders that were created by the Lionturtles before Wan became the first Avatar survived the Vaatu crisis (Wan's friends were killed by spirits in that fight, remember) and the Lionturtles explicitly said that they will no longer give bending to any humans. "You're on your own now", basically.
Humans later discovered that some of them could bend by themselves, learning from the original benders. It could be that humans that were exposed to the Lionturtles' energybending were left with the power to bend later on, or pass down their enhanced "chi" to new generations, but those are just theories.
So far, the ATLA mythology is intact. In the era before the Avatar, "we ben't not the elements, but the energy within ourselves." Afterwards, humans looked for other ways to obtain the "power of the elements" once the Lionturtles stopped giving it to them.
m_shortpants
Member
The Bolin gags in season 1 made him more a clumsy but capable guy rather than just moron with borderline mental issues.
I was watching season 1 again this past week and he was way better IMO.
Wolf Akela
Member
I gave Korra another go. I stopped watching around episode 5 of Book 2 because it was terrible. Korra kinda grew up at the end of book 1 but acted like a child again at the start of Book 2.
Book 3 redeemed Korra for me. I can't believe I no longer hate Korra and Mako.
Korra: 3>1>>>>2
TLA: 2 >>>>3>1
Book 3 redeemed Korra for me. I can't believe I no longer hate Korra and Mako.
Korra: 3>1>>>>2
TLA: 2 >>>>3>1
TacticalFox88
Banned
Season 2 was a train wreck watching it, but man oh MAN is it awful with re watches and hindsight.
GIANT MONSTER FIGHT
I think the creators already addressed this. Does someone have a link?
Anyway, your theory doesn't explain modern day benders which was also a plothole before we got the Turtle explanation. They learn bending from other benders, not animals and that would also imply that non-benders like Sokka could also learn to bend with enough training.
Bending has to be some sort of "gift" or gene, otherwise there's no reason for non-benders to exist.
Only watchable with appropriate soundtrack.
I now want a super hiqh quality version of this without the other music from the dialogue snippets getting in the way.
Also based Zuckerman still giving me the feels with that damn song. I need more OSTs Nick.
I really wish the writers had the hindsight of how this show was going to be run because Korras story is so interesting. A girl who, unlike Aang, completely identifies herself and revels in the fact that she is THE avatar. Not only that but she has to compare herself to Aang who stopped a century old war and founded a city that brought everyone together and she had a completely sheltered life so she was never challenged on what it meant to be an Avatar.
That video really brings perspective of what she's thinking in the final moments of S3. Jinora and the airbenders are the new generation and are taking on a role that has been given only to one person in all of history. If she can't be the Avatar then who is Korra?
Also do you think Korra will ever hook back up with Nick again? Thats one romance I wouldn't mind seeing.
TheRealTalker
Banned
Korra always looks better with her hair down
plus her full long-sleeve winter get up
plus her full long-sleeve winter get up
Shyamalan couldn't kill my love for the Avatar franchise, Cameron couldn't take my connection of the name Avatar and the show, Nick couldn't drown the show out of my sight. And the flaws of Korra are minor against that. They can't even begin to overshadow the greatness that is Avatar the Last Airbender.
That's true. It's not that I hate LOK, though. I think it's vastly inferior in pretty much every way imaginable with the exception of animation, it's still amusing and fun to watch. What really annoys me though is that the original series became one of Nick's most successful shows of all time, and LOK not only shat up a lot of concepts of the original show, it hasn't managed to inspire confidence for another sequel, at least not for a couple of years if we're lucky.
Sure does Republic Rim I still absolutely love the score that Jeremy Zuckerman did for the finale though.
"Damn Nicks they ruined Nickelodeon"
Nick still gets the full blame from me for the rating woes LOK has had but I still don't think the franchise is quite dead as it wouldn't surprise me if Nick attempted a spin off of their own with the avatar series aimed at a younger audience without Bryan or Mike behind it.
Kind of similar to what happened with Teen Titans Go! on Cartoon Network as I'm guessing the franchise is way too profitable for nick to outright kill.
I may be alone here, but with Season 3 being so good, I feel less inclined to dislike Season 2.
In fact, if ignoring all the really shitty relationship stuff, the convenient and equally uneeded amnesia, the multiple character assassinations, the poor villain, the retcons, the REALLY poor dialog, the ofttimes dodgy animation, the...
...Hmm...that list of cons turned out to be longer than I thought it would be. I guess I am saying I liked most of the post-amnesia stuff. Piss-poor by TLA standards, but really fun otherwise.
I have even learned to forgive Jinora's shenanigans. On a re-watch, I now see that there are enough clues to explain what really happened. Only a little more than the Lionturtle though--another shitty twist I had to learn to live with.
I always liked the Kaiju battle though. From beginning to end, that sequence before Korra goes to Republic City strike exactly the right emotional and nostalgic chords.
In fact, if ignoring all the really shitty relationship stuff, the convenient and equally uneeded amnesia, the multiple character assassinations, the poor villain, the retcons, the REALLY poor dialog, the ofttimes dodgy animation, the...
...Hmm...that list of cons turned out to be longer than I thought it would be. I guess I am saying I liked most of the post-amnesia stuff. Piss-poor by TLA standards, but really fun otherwise.
I have even learned to forgive Jinora's shenanigans. On a re-watch, I now see that there are enough clues to explain what really happened. Only a little more than the Lionturtle though--another shitty twist I had to learn to live with.
I always liked the Kaiju battle though. From beginning to end, that sequence before Korra goes to Republic City strike exactly the right emotional and nostalgic chords.
That's a nice video.
So basically Aang didn't want to be the Avatar but came to realise the world needed him to be. Korra really wants to be the Avatar but is slowly coming to terms with the world not needing the Avatar now.
Starting to think Book 4 will end with Korra being the last Avatar by choice. It seems to be the key theme running through all her story. Either that or she'll figure out some new way she can be useful I guess.
You are not alone my friend. I've seen other fans say the same thing. I remember there were fans saying that Bolin was fine in the Book 3 finale too (birdcalling be damned). I will admit, it's possible that my hate for him in Book 3 could be partly bias. In that, because I expected more from Bolin (or wanted him to go into a different direction), his use in Book 3 upset me more.
But I still think he was was pretty obnoxious on paper. His stuff with Opal was really bad (his douchey talk to Mako about Opal that was offensive. Him pushing Opal's mom down on the ground and grabbing her. The sock in Zaheer's mouth. The stupid bird calls. His interruptions throughout the season to tell a joke, only for the group to tell him he's not funny and is only stalling them from their mission). I don't feel like going through and literally listing every single moment I found bad with him, but I found it to be consistent enough that I found it baffling (ie. wondering what the writers were going for).
And I still don't like how they've made Bolin a really stupid manchild. Go back and watch Book 1, you can tell they've really shifted the intention of the character drastically. It's disappointing. So I can admit that, maybe he wasn't AS bad as I'm making him out to be in Book 3 (I still think so, but I can admit I'm biased). But I still think overall, he's been one of the overall missteps of the show.
Azula, had this been a discussion on Season 2 Bolin, I would have been right there with you.
Season 3 Bolin was much improved. I actually really liked all his interactions with Opal; she curbs all the douche-y tendencies in full display during the second season.
Hell, she even makes his shitty jokes more bearable.
I guess what I am saying is that Opal needs to join the Krew. Suki style.
Season 3 Bolin was much improved. I actually really liked all his interactions with Opal; she curbs all the douche-y tendencies in full display during the second season.
Hell, she even makes his shitty jokes more bearable.
I guess what I am saying is that Opal needs to join the Krew. Suki style.
Yeah, but Beginnings came after ATLA. So in a way, it's clarifying past plot before it by stating: this is how it always was.
Anyways, I agree with the interpretation that: bending was originally given to humans by the Lion Turtles, but that bending is genetic after being given to them. So bending gets passed on by people having offspring etc. People only looked to Dragons and other elements of the earth to teach them how to use the bending power they have (just because you are born with bending, doesn't mean you know how to bend. It's why Aang had to use external fire at first, as he didn't know how to create fire internally himself).
So no, non benders could never learn how to bend. And if anyone did learn how to bend from someone else, it was because they already had it in genetics, and just unlocked it by learning from something else. That is IMO the cannon interpretation of bending. Going back and watching ATLA though, it's not really implied one way or the other. There are stories of people learning to bend from older things from the earth. But that doesn't mean they gained the ability to bend from these things. Rather, these old things from earth (Dragons for instance) were the original bending masters that could train people.
Still, I can agree why some people find it inconsistent. I remember in ATLA them talking about the Bison being the "original" airbenders. And there was a lot of talk about people learning bending from older earth elements. So it feels implied that bending came from that, and not Lion Turtles. I dunno. I personally don't think they stated it specifically enough, for it to feel like a retcon with Beginnings. More like a clarification.
Lol I'll just accept i'm wrong. I feel like I'm in the Twilight Zone, I thought Bolin was easily the worst in Book 3. Improved? Damn. I thought all of his jokes were so bad (and much more obnoxious then the past seasons). Oh well. I gives up. I hope I end up liking Bolin in Book 4, because he was one of my favorite characters in Book 1, and I want to like him.
GTFO OF HERE.
I already mentioned this after rewatching season 1. Bolin's character was assassinated.
First half of Season 1 is better than any similar stretch of episodes.
Learning? He didn't learn it, he just magically got it.
Same thing pretty much
I wish.
I don't recall Bolin ever being that douchey in Book 1 (what he said to Mako before falling for Opal...lool and boy him falling for Opal was pretty gross).
And I still fail to see how Bolin was that dumb in Book 1, personally.
Bolin's best moment in the entire series was sticking a Sock in the villains mouth, to literally make a put a sock in it joke.
Plenty of foreshadowing, so I am willing to give that--rather poorly executed--scene a pass.
To Azula, I feel like there's no right or wrong when it comes to feeling about characters, especially in this show.
Honestly I didn't mind Bolin much at all this season, which is better than S2 bolin which I disliked and S1 bolin which I kind of liked then sort of forgot about for not really being there.
Tbh Bolin is barely a factor for me, I don't really swing with him on either the like or dislike train, he's just....there most of the time.
Same with Asami but at least when Asami has a spotlight (lol) she actually does something useful and helps build character to those around her.
But then again I also really liked Kai and wish there was more of him so what do I know?
Honestly I didn't mind Bolin much at all this season, which is better than S2 bolin which I disliked and S1 bolin which I kind of liked then sort of forgot about for not really being there.
Tbh Bolin is barely a factor for me, I don't really swing with him on either the like or dislike train, he's just....there most of the time.
Same with Asami but at least when Asami has a spotlight (lol) she actually does something useful and helps build character to those around her.
But then again I also really liked Kai and wish there was more of him so what do I know?
What foreshadowing? He not being able to metalbend and Ghazan being able to lavabend is not a foreshadowing that he is suddenly able to. If he heated stone before or something, would be foreshadowing. His ability to snipe would've been a good foreshadowing to him being a sniper, but his good aim was just there for the episode to knock out P'Li. It was never introduced before and never used again after.
To Azula, I feel like there's no right or wrong when it comes to feeling about characters, especially in this show.
Honestly I didn't mind Bolin much at all this season, which is better than S2 bolin which I disliked and S1 bolin which I kind of liked then sort of forgot about for not really being there.
Tbh Bolin is barely a factor for me, I don't really swing with him on either the like or dislike train, he's just....there most of the time.
Same with Asami but at least when Asami has a spotlight (lol) she actually does something useful and helps build character to those around her.
But then again I also really liked Kai and wish there was more of him so what do I know?
To be clear, I actually still like Bolin (his core personality). I like the idea of Bolin. I just hated how he was used in Book 2 and 3. I liked Kai more than Bolin by the end of Book 3 though.
I can see why people think Bolin in Book 2 was worse. Like I said, his mover plot was dragged on too long. Separating him from the group, and making him a diva (in reaction to how Mako always treated him), wasn't the most likable thing. So I guess having Bolin be back in the group and doing more things, was definitely an improvement.I think people were just tired of douchey characters. We already had to put up with it with Koorra in Book 1 and 2. So when Korra was finally chilled out, and Mako was also kind of pulled back with Book 2, we had a fresh start. I don't think people wanted to deal with another character in Book 3 that was going to be a selfish pain in the ass. But Kai was handled pretty well, and ended up being a really cool character (his personality was actually awesome in the end).
I find, Korra fans are like someone that has been abused. They are now hyper-sensitive to any little movement (okay that is a really terrible analogy lol). BUT my point is, I think fans are always on edge now and quicker to get upset by things. I think that's why some fans were annoyed by Tenzin's actions in the second half of Book 2 (his little tantrum about not being able to enter the spirit world, and delaying Korra going in when the world was in danger). In hindsight, Tenzin's character was well built up, and his actions made a ton of sense. But it came immediately after Korra was a super/relentless raging douche for half of the season. So it's like, TENZIN you too!? We can't go one second without someone being a selfish pain in the ass? hah
But Tenzin's plot was actually really good (one of the better elements of Book 2 IMO). So I think people that didn't like Kai initially, were just on the defensive, expecting the worst from him. But the writers showed us he was actually a really cool character.
Gotdatmoney
Member
Rewatching season 1 I disagree strongly. Bolin was actually amusing in season 1. He added banter that was in line with his personality. He made "flawed" choices but his heart was always in the right place. In season 3 he literally stops the movement of the plot to tell unfunny jokes. His funniest and most genuine moments come when they are just interacting and his humour is integrated into the story. When he's playing Asami in Pai Sho, that was legitimately amusing because he didn't force it. I dunno, Season 2 Bolin I find way worse than season 3 but they both very much falter compared to season 1.
Season 2 and 3 make me dislike Bolin because he has this douchey tendency that he never had in season 1. When he struggled with Metal Bending that was when you saw him be a lot more genuine in his actions. He has always had a confident personality but he would show a bit of vulnerability when he really wanted something. Mako on the other hand has 0 redeeming qualities. Bolin was actually likable.
I agree, it also doesn't help that Korra losses a lot in a very short period of time whereas Aang only has a handful of losses stretched out over 3, 24 episode seasons.
Yeah I think we have to always come back to that context: 13 episode format. A lot of complaints can always be explained by realizing that things are strained or moved a long quicker because of the format. That is why, for me personally, despite Korra being terrible in Book 2, I can still step back and see the bigger picture with her. Or rather, even if her physical plot wasn't always enjoyable (how it was executed), I think in the overall context it can all be explained and I can forgive the character. Like so much of who she is and how she reacts to things (which is what we didn't like), is actually a result of bad decisions that others made for her. It was a failure on her guardians part. But the way the plot is told, we experience the full blast of her awfulness with only a quick exposition that explains it. It makes sense. But it's still not the plot we experienced.
Foreshadowing does require concrete plot points to lead explicitly to a conclusion. Just enough hints and nudges to open the audience to a possibility.
That entire Air Temple sequence was completely engineered to give Bolin Lavabending.
It was so obvious that I was almost bored by the revelation.
Creating a situation to introduce the new ability isn't foreshadowing.
Of course not. That part of my post was an added note.
Most of the things you dismiss in your original post are.
It takes some really impressive powers of "interpretation" to watch humans bending all four elements (even if on a temporary basis thanks to Lion Turtles) and consider that to be "bending the energy within ourselves" and not the elements.
It's a retcon, same as the Avatar State explanation from "Beginnings".
LOK restates Bison are the original airbenders again, in, well, the "Original Airbenders" episode, so yeah, that clearly means that Bryan and Mike did not intend to retcon the origin of bending mythology from ATLA, simply that before the Avatar, people didn't bother to learn bending, just ask Lionturtles for the ability. Afterwards, everything from ATLA stays.
Some people have the ability to extend their chi to elements and manipulate them, other don't. Why this happens (genetics, luck, talent) is still not explained.
Er, now I'm really confused! So...you think that people CAN learn how to bend without the help of the lion turtles? I guess, I always just assumed that, Lion Turtles gave them the bending ability, and then only after that, those that had bending from them, were able to pass it on with genetics.
I never though that, bending was something anyone could achieve. Or that there was bending in genetics prior to the Lion Turtles. lol Then again, the whole thing is kind of confusing to me. The fact that Bison are the original air benders, wat. So like, I guess Turtles are animals....so I guess that kind of makes sense? That animals had bending before humans, or something.
*head explodes*
Bison being the original airbenders doesn't really change anything. We can assume they were born with bending and humans weren't.
jediyoshi
Member
Midi-chlorians.
I actually assume when people say "learn", they mean it more in the metaphysical sense of it being something granted rather than it being literally taught.
So basically, Lion Turtles and other animals had bending for some reason. Whatever. Doesn't matter, they had it. Lion Turtles then gave the ability to bend to Human's. Prior to that, human's could NOT bend (it was not in their genetics, so they couldn't even learn how to bend if they wanted to). But after the Lion Turtles started giving humans the ability to bend, it became a genetic trait that humans could pass on to other people. Those that have bending genetics, then would look to other animals that could bend, to learn how to use their bending (ie. learn how to use their genetic power, not actually obtain the bending ability).
Is that about right?
Yeah basically.
Spring-Loaded
Member
badgermoles ^-^
What did you just call me?
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