Legend of Korra Book 4: Balance |OT| A Feast of Crows

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This is getting lost in a lot of the coments about Kuvira's giant mech suit:

It was made from the Zaofu metal domes. That's why they made a big deal out of Kuvira removing them earlier in the season, I guess. Don't know if she planned to put that spirit laser thing on it from the beginning, but she seemed to have planned the giant Mecha from before Varrick made the spirit vine discovery. Another reason she wanted Zaofu, also.
 
This is getting lost in a lot of the coments about Kuvira's giant mech suit:

It was made from the Zaofu metal domes. That's why they made a big deal out of Kuvira removing them earlier in the season, I guess. Don't know if she planned to put that spirit laser thing on it from the beginning, but she seemed to have planned the giant Mecha from before Varrick made the spirit vine discovery. Another reason she wanted Zaofu, also.

That's pretty good foreshadowing.
 
So we finally went full giant mecha. That first scene when Kuvira destroyed the fort looked like early Evangelion to me, what's next - a deconstruction of the series? The effects of the budget cuts were seen in those evacuation montages, but I don't expect a full montage like the end of that show.

Even if the final enemy of the series is a Muahaha tier, somewhat boring Kuvira you can feel the stakes raised. I suppose the shoutouts to the first season were done with that purpose, with a closure feeling in mind but without a real satisfying conclusion to those storylines (Did they seriously call Dante Basco for like 2 lines?)

This episode made obvious that the end will be Mecha-Kuvira vs Spirit-Korra, after a trip to the spirit world because of that attack at tthe end. Talking about that, I believe they lost the final chance for a development of Kuvira's personality in her actions surrounding Baatar's capture, so in my eyes she will end as the most boring main enemy of the series.

Even if my words sound negative, I still look forward to the finale next week.
 
Yeah, should've been a Spirit Realm threat or something.

This still seems sort of awkward. There are Spirit Realm-specific objections here - like can't he just walk out of the gates at the poles? - but the basic plan of keeping Bataar away from Kuvira forever is pretty implausible. So Korra's going to throw a guy into prison for life if he doesn't right then tell them how to defeat Kuvira's big mech? This seems awfully hard to commit to if she can't even bring herself to beat him up until he talks. Like, suppose he doesn't talk, and Kuvira conquers Republic City, and five years later the international order has basically settled down again except with the Earth Empire controlling all of its historical territory. Korra's still going to be keeping Bataar away from Kuvira? Or maybe Korra's aim is to get Kuvira to back down. Suppose Kuvira doesn't actually try to kill Bataar, but at least presents herself as willing to sacrifice him in order to reunify the Earth Empire. Does Korra still carry out that threat long after Kuvira's conquered Republic City and is clearly not going to give it back in return for Bataar? Edit: What happens when Kuvira starts executing hostages captured in the taking of Republic City until Korra gives up Bataar?

Of course, this is the same Korra who credibly threatened to have her polar bear dog rip the face off a judge who for all she knew just saw the facts of a case a little differently than she did, so it's at least a little surprising that she didn't break out the thumbscrews.
 
This is getting lost in a lot of the coments about Kuvira's giant mech suit:

It was made from the Zaofu metal domes. That's why they made a big deal out of Kuvira removing them earlier in the season, I guess. Don't know if she planned to put that spirit laser thing on it from the beginning, but she seemed to have planned the giant Mecha from before Varrick made the spirit vine discovery. Another reason she wanted Zaofu, also.
Yeah, I'm aware, but I don't feel that explains it better. The amount of domes they'd have to take off and basically forge into different shapes, with exact specifications to various pieces...my problem, isn't that it's narratively pulled out of it's ass, because besides your foreshadowing, the increasing emphasis on mechs, I saw a supermech coming eventually.

It's just that no matter how you look at it, it's impossible that they'd have been able to make it. Even granting they had the access to materials and even theoretical schematics they could use, the amount of time necessary to build, test and train a pilot for it would be nothing short of a decade at best.
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This still seems sort of awkward. There are Spirit Realm-specific objections here - like can't he just walk out of the gates at the poles? - but the basic plan of keeping Bataar away from Kuvira forever is pretty implausible. So Korra's going to throw a guy into prison for life if he doesn't right then tell them how to defeat Kuvira's big mech? This seems awfully hard to commit to if she can't even bring herself to beat him up until he talks. Like, suppose he doesn't talk, and Kuvira conquers Republic City, and five years later the international order has basically settled down again except with the Earth Empire controlling all of its historical territory. Korra's still going to be keeping Bataar away from Kuvira? Or maybe Korra's aim is to get Kuvira to back down. Suppose Kuvira doesn't actually try to kill Bataar, but at least presents herself as willing to sacrifice him in order to reunify the Earth Empire. Does Korra still carry out that threat long after Kuvira's conquered Republic City and is clearly not going to give it back in return for Bataar? Edit: What happens when Kuvira starts executing hostages captured in the taking of Republic City until Korra gives up Bataar?

Of course, this is the same Korra who credibly threatened to have her polar bear dog rip the face off a judge who for all she knew just saw the facts of a case a little differently than she did, so it's at least a little surprising that she didn't break out the thumbscrews.

I think the purpose was to try and show Korra's growth of as a character. Oh, she's not going to beat him up this time. That's what that old thug Korra would do. This Korra intends to put him through what she would consider psychological torture.

Progress?
 
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You were so close...

i was expecting a little smile
 
Are they actually leaving Nickelodeon for good or is just their announced vacation after finishing the series? If that the case, I think this marks the end of Avatar as we know it, or even as a franchise.
Any work they might do will be at least some years down the road, Nickelodeon or not, seeing as their relationship soured in the past few years.
 
Watching the episode now...

WHAT THE BLOODY HELL? The Mecha just makes no sense. Throughout the series/season, we've seen that Varrick is constantly pushing innovation.

Somehow, I'm supposed to buy that Varrick had no idea the mech was being built, Zhu-Li had no idea the mech was being built, and that in the course of a month roughly(Probably less because CLIPSHOW), Kuvira was able to make and forge a 25 Story tall mecha, wire/build the thing, TEST pilot it, keep it secret from EVERYONE but her inner circle(but Varrick didn't know, so WTBH), etc.

I get that there's supposed to be SOME stuff that can be stretched, but WHAT THE HELL IS THIS? This is breaking the laws/mythos in this story beyond comparison.
 
I guess I'll go full Toa Tak and say that I rather liked the giant mech. It was kinda weird upon introduction, but once they showed Kuvira inside controlling it with Metalbending, I thought it was kinda neat. *shrugs*

Oh, and RIP those guards. There was no scene showing them escaping. lol
 
Watching the episode now...

WHAT THE BLOODY HELL? The Mecha just makes no sense. Throughout the series/season, we've seen that Varrick is constantly pushing innovation.

Somehow, I'm supposed to buy that Varrick had no idea the mech was being built, Zhu-Li had no idea the mech was being built, and that in the course of a month roughly(Probably less because CLIPSHOW), Kuvira was able to make and forge a 25 Story tall mecha, wire/build the thing, TEST pilot it, keep it secret from EVERYONE but her inner circle(but Varrick didn't know, so WTBH), etc.

I get that there's supposed to be SOME stuff that can be stretched, but WHAT THE HELL IS THIS? This is breaking the laws/mythos in this story beyond comparison.

metal bending gets stuff done
 
I kinda appreciate how they made Kuvira into such a cartoon. The fact that she feigns compassion asking if Bataar was okay only to shoot a mega death beam at them from her giant mech is just so ridiculous. At least they went full on instead of trying to make her in some way redeemable after everything that has happened.
 
I kinda appreciate how they made Kuvira into such a cartoon. The fact that she feigns compassion asking if Bataar was okay only to shoot a mega death beam at them from her giant mech is just so ridiculous. At least they went full on instead of trying to make her in some way redeemable after everything that has happened.

Her getting engaged to Bataar was just a power move.

Oh Bataar, if only there were someone out there who loved you.
 
Her getting engaged to Bataar was just a power move.

Oh Bataar, if only there were someone out there who loved you.
Yeah... if only there was like, some parental figures that cared about their son no matter what political domination scheme he got roped into. Sure would be nice for him!
 
just realized that one of the twins can't die, unless Bryke wants to be accused of blatantly copying (popular book title)
Harry Potter
as that exact same storyline of the son that betrays the family and comes back in the time of need has been done before
 
A giant mech is the last way I wanted this season to go. After a giant spirit Korra took down the embodiment of evil, its pretty hard to take any other "big" threat seriously. That's why season 3 was so good; it made the plot and villains smaller in scope. And this season was making good on that promise too with all the Korra injured stuff... Until this episode (though we all saw it coming).

What purpose does the mech even serve from a narrative standpoint? Kuvira's army already gives her the needed power and the spirit laser the needed fear... But what purpose does the mech exist for? It's just a big mech for the sake of having a big mech.

And Bataar's inevitable heel turn next episode is going to be eyerollingly bad.
 
This is getting lost in a lot of the coments about Kuvira's giant mech suit:

It was made from the Zaofu metal domes. That's why they made a big deal out of Kuvira removing them earlier in the season, I guess. Don't know if she planned to put that spirit laser thing on it from the beginning, but she seemed to have planned the giant Mecha from before Varrick made the spirit vine discovery. Another reason she wanted Zaofu, also.

Ugh.
 
I kinda appreciate how they made Kuvira into such a cartoon. The fact that she feigns compassion asking if Bataar was okay only to shoot a mega death beam at them from her giant mech is just so ridiculous. At least they went full on instead of trying to make her in some way redeemable after everything that has happened.

wow. that is not the way i read the scene at all. i thought she was truly conflicted, and her greed won out in the end.

i saw fate/zero a month or two ago and a similar scene plays out between two very close characters. i think it would help to show some of the aftermath of it and kuvira actually being torn up by her decision.
 
Watching the episode now...

WHAT THE BLOODY HELL? The Mecha just makes no sense. Throughout the series/season, we've seen that Varrick is constantly pushing innovation.

Somehow, I'm supposed to buy that Varrick had no idea the mech was being built, Zhu-Li had no idea the mech was being built, and that in the course of a month roughly(Probably less because CLIPSHOW), Kuvira was able to make and forge a 25 Story tall mecha, wire/build the thing, TEST pilot it, keep it secret from EVERYONE but her inner circle(but Varrick didn't know, so WTBH), etc.

I get that there's supposed to be SOME stuff that can be stretched, but WHAT THE HELL IS THIS? This is breaking the laws/mythos in this story beyond comparison.

I understand not liking the mech. I'm kind of eh about it too, but I think you're overreacting a bit.
 
Yeah, I think Kuvira's at least fond of Bataar. But she's not going to let that kind of attachment get in the way of her mission.


Lava-bending doesn't seem any more OP than lightning or maybe blood-bending. Earth-benders have always been capable of doing a lot of structural damage really quickly, and nothing they've got has the range or speed of lightning or the irresistibly of blood-bending.
 
Yay, Bumi and Kai still exist. Now where'd all those team pets disappear to?

I bet Kuvira will anger the vines again at some point and they'll help lead to her downfall. Also, that spirit Korra will likely show back up; that or she just unceremoniously disappeared after Korra went into the spirit world.

So can we get two finales that go sorta well, or are we going to get another "we have no idea how to finish what we started" moment? And will
Korra loot a Sword of Kings off that giant Starman
? Here's hoping.
 
The end bit of this episode was laughable. As if Korra could keep Batar from Kuvira if she at all cared. As if Kuvira couldn't just start firing on the city in response as Korra's actions are a clear violation of any proclamation of surrender. As if Korra was ever going to torture Batar. All this is just a transparent way to get Batar to spill the beans on the super-mech so the heroes can actually have some shot at winning. Pretty eye-roll inducing to be frank.
 
Its annoying how useless team avatar is.
'Ok I think its best we try to stop the weapon ourselves to prevent a war'
.
.
'Oh shit they shot at us retreat. Them fighting back was totally unexpected'
 
Why has he not just made the feet under Kuvira lava?
It's such an OP technique it ruins everything. Probably my least favorite thing from book 3

Because he's not willing to kill her and getting close enough to that thing to bend it's feet without either Kuvira or her support troops noticing would be difficult.
 
Its annoying how useless team avatar is.
'Ok I think its best we try to stop the weapon ourselves to prevent a war'
.
.
'Oh shit they shot at us retreat. Them fighting back was totally unexpected'

Did you forget the part where they thought they were going to be sneaking into an army that still had a week's worth of preparations to go through to be battle-ready, so them running into an entire mobilized army by surprise like they did was never part of the plan.
Not to mention they thought they were going to sabotage a cannon-type weapon that would be transported by rail and had only the ability to adjust its aim vertically, apparently - not a 25 story tall fully articulated mecha-monster with the cannon attached to it in a way that eliminated the aiming deficiencies and gave it a far superior firing vantage.

It was supposed to be a stealth operation on an unsuspecting military. Instead they ran face-first into a marching military force with weaponry they hadn't even imagined yet.


You can make anything sound stupid if you don't pay even passing attention to the story and then try to blame it on the writing when you don't know what's going on.

Why has he not just made the feet under Kuvira lava?
It's such an OP technique it ruins everything. Probably my least favorite thing from book 3

The Colossus is 25 stories tall. I really doubt the "pools" that Bolin's Lavabending creates are even a full "story" deep.

Also, the Colossus is made of platinum, which has a melting point of 3,215 degrees Fahrenheit.
Lava ranges from 1,290 to 2,190. Significantly below what you'd need to damage it though the heat.
Even if we assume Lavabending isn't true to its name and actually bends "magma," the hottest magma recorded is still about 800 degrees too cold to do anything at all.

Even if Bolin could create, say, a pool of lava 10 stories deep, manage to bend it underneath the Colossus *and* hold it still long enough for it to sink to the bottom, it'd do nothing more than make it stationary, at best and slow it down, at worst.

Now I doubt the Colossus is heat *shielded.* If Bolin could submerge it completely then he could take out the crew through convection heat and make the Colossus inaccessible to anyone else, at least for a long time.
But, that's *ridiculously* outside the scope of Bolin's abilities. Lavabending is extremely rare, but it doesn't make him some kind of exceptional super-bender - just one blessed with a niche skill.
 
I understand not liking the mech. I'm kind of eh about it too, but I think you're overreacting a bit.

Eh, I admit I was exaggerating a bit, but here's my rational: Throughout this series, Varrick has basically operated as "God of Science". He's made a crap ton of inventions. In comparison, Bataar Junior, to be blunt, grew up in an artistic city that was all about expression. So, the plot is expecting for the viewers to buy the idea that in the course of roughly a month(Going by air time/other clues) that:

Something that Bataar Jr had no idea what how it worked he is able to completely understand now

Kuvira has managed to build, test, fine tune, etc all these things related to a Giant Mecha during and after the building process

Zhu Li and Varrick, her two Science officers, had no idea that this was even an idea, despite multiple things that are needed for this mecha to function requiring stuff Varrick was working on.

They've managed to tame and harvest multiple spirit vines, to the point where they went from explosions frequently(See Varrick initially) to stable enough to use as a power source without anyone knowing.

And finally, the fact that The United Republic refused to take Kuvira as a Legitimate threat for far too long(In Episode 3, she basically tells them " I'm coming for you") and that when they do, rather then use the multiple varying ways of scouting(Jinora's AP, the Bison, Planes, etc), they instead rely upon a bunch of guards at the walls of their territory, despite knowing Kuvira can destroy a lot with her cannon.


I mean, it's not a terrible plot, but it's still widely relying upon a bunch of stupid points that completely and utterly defy the way we've seen the characters act.
 
Did you forget the part where they thought they were going to be sneaking into an army that still had a week's worth of preparations to go through to be battle-ready, so them running into an entire mobilized army by surprise like they did was never part of the plan.
Not to mention they thought they were going to sabotage a cannon-type weapon that would be transported by rail and had only the ability to adjust its aim vertically, apparently - not a 25 story tall fully articulated mecha-monster with the cannon attached to it in a way that eliminated the aiming deficiencies and gave it a far superior firing vantage.

It was supposed to be a stealth operation on an unsuspecting military. Instead they ran face-first into a marching military force with weaponry they hadn't even imagined yet.


You can make anything sound stupid if you don't pay even passing attention to the story and then try to blame it on the writing when you don't know what's going on.
lol sorry missed that part. I thought they knew Kuvira was on the move, since it seems Zaofu(or wherever her headquarters are) would be a week or so march away, even longer if they had to build train tracks to move the weapon.
 
Not too bad for the world to go from bows and arrows for non benders to outright death lasers and giant mechs. That's kinda impressive, skipped gun powder and bombs! Benders really do get all the fun huh.

Seeing as how the spirit vines are you know, spirity maybe if you get killed by one your spirit is nuked as well. Wouldn't that be a hoot.
 
I do think that Republic city belongs to the Earth Kingdom. Aang and Zuko had no right to take a piece of the Earth Kingdom, and the Earth king should not have agreed to it in case he did. It should have been a piece of the Fire nation since they war that they launched for a 100 years, as an atonement to their mistakes. Kuvira is not wrong on that issue.
 
I do think that Republic city belongs to the Earth Kingdom. Aang and Zuko had no right to take a piece of the Earth Kingdom, and the Earth king should not have agreed to it in case he did. It should have been a piece of the Fire nation since they war that they launched for a 100 years, as an atonement to their mistakes. Kuvira is not wrong on that issue.

Wait, what?

The Fire Nation should have been given Earth Kingdom lad as atonement for their 100 year war/genocide?

I feel like I'm not reading your post correctly.
 
I do think that Republic city belongs to the Earth Kingdom. Aang and Zuko had no right to take a piece of the Earth Kingdom, and the Earth king should not have agreed to it in case he did. It should have been a piece of the Fire nation since they war that they launched for a 100 years, as an atonement to their mistakes. Kuvira is not wrong on that issue.
It was absolutely wrong of Sozin to take that land. It absolutely does belong to the Earth Kingdom.

But Fire Nation people had been living in those colonies for a century at the point when Aang, Zuko and the Earth King could finally do something about it. They had started lives, families, and even got along and married Earth Kingdom citizens. So would it have been right to remove the Fire Nation descendants and send them packing back to the Fire Nation and split up families? That is the predicamenent they all found themselves in. There was no good solution. So they had to compromise, and instead made the best of the situation with creating a fifth nation to represent unity amongst the people of the world.

So yes, the land did belong to the Earth Kingdom but this is now a 175 year old land dispute that Kuvira's trying to start a war over.
 
It was absolutely wrong of Sozin to take that land. It absolutely does belong to the Earth Kingdom.

But Fire Nation people had been living in those colonies for a century at the point when Aang, Zuko and the Earth King could finally do something about it. They had started lives, families, and even got along and married Earth Kingdom citizens. So would it have been right to remove the Fire Nation descendants and send them packing back to the Fire Nation and split up families? That is the predicamenent they all found themselves in. There was no good solution. So they had to compromise, and instead made the best of the situation with creating a fifth nation to represent unity amongst the people of the world.

So yes, the land did belong to the Earth Kingdom but this is now a 175 year old land dispute that Kuvira's trying to start a war over.

Yep. A real life comparison could be made to the US I guess, that was land that was essentially stolen and conquered from the people who lived there, but now hundreds of years later it wouldn't be fair to kick out people who've lived there all their lives because of what their distant ancestors did.
 
Wait, what?

The Fire Nation should have been given Earth Kingdom lad as atonement for their 100 year war/genocide?

I feel like I'm not reading your post correctly.
?
It was absolutely wrong of Sozin to take that land. It absolutely does belong to the Earth Kingdom.

But Fire Nation people had been living in those colonies for a century at the point when Aang, Zuko and the Earth King could finally do something about it. They had started lives, families, and even got along and married Earth Kingdom citizens. So would it have been right to remove the Fire Nation descendants and send them packing back to the Fire Nation and split up families? That is the predicamenent they all found themselves in. There was no good solution. So they had to compromise, and instead made the best of the situation with creating a fifth nation to represent unity amongst the people of the world.

So yes, the land did belong to the Earth Kingdom but this is now a 175 year old land dispute that Kuvira's trying to start a war over.

Yeah there were Fire nation settlers there. But the territory should have remained an Earth Kingdom territory. You give the settlers an option, accept it or fuck off. There was no reason whatsoever to give up a chunk of the Earth just to satisfy the setters, even though the Fire kingdom who started the whole mess and should have atoned for their mistakes. It feels like the Fire Nation had no repercussions whatsoever for their war. Removing Ozai and Azula does not constitute redemption or that the past of the Fire nation was wiped clean. Hell even Azula was released. They got off really easy about that. No trials for war criminals, no concessions from the fire nation, no promises about disarmament (Germany, Japan situation after WW2), no nothing. Just Zuko taking the leadership and no repercussions happened to the Fire Nation since Zuko is Aang´s friend.

It really strikes me as the Fire Nation kills a guy and then comes to his funeral and pretend to morn. The Fire Nation literally annihilated an entire culture and tried mass genocide on the Earth Kingdom. Even after many years there will still be grudges and hatred against the Fire Nation, and i don´t blame them at all.

Aang has really fucked up by giving a piece of the Earth Kingdom away.
 
You don't deserve a smile from the Good Hitler.
The Good Hitler oh Toa.
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The Colossus is 25 stories tall. I really doubt the "pools" that Bolin's Lavabending creates are even a full "story" deep.

Also, the Colossus is made of platinum, which has a melting point of 3,215 degrees Fahrenheit.
Lava ranges from 1,290 to 2,190. Significantly below what you'd need to damage it though the heat.
Even if we assume Lavabending isn't true to its name and actually bends "magma," the hottest magma recorded is still about 800 degrees too cold to do anything at all.

Even if Bolin could create, say, a pool of lava 10 stories deep, manage to bend it underneath the Colossus *and* hold it still long enough for it to sink to the bottom, it'd do nothing more than make it stationary, at best and slow it down, at worst.

Now I doubt the Colossus is heat *shielded.* If Bolin could submerge it completely then he could take out the crew through convection heat and make the Colossus inaccessible to anyone else, at least for a long time.
But, that's *ridiculously* outside the scope of Bolin's abilities. Lavabending is extremely rare, but it doesn't make him some kind of exceptional super-bender - just one blessed with a niche skill.

Again we don't know if the Giant Mech is made of platinum right now or not. In my opinion I'm leaning towards it not being made primarily out of Platinum as it seems it was constructed mainly from the Zaofu domes. They never indicate in the show that the domes are platinum. Plus if it was Platinum they sure managed to build a giant mech from it pretty fast considering how it's almost impossible for metal benders to work it. Must have been only a few weeks between Zaofu falling and Kuvira attacking Republic City with her new sweet mecha.
Will agree about it's sheer size preventing lavabending from taking it down though.
Suppose we'll find out this Friday if it's made of Platinum or not.
 
lol, Bolin could have easily just used lava bending during the rescue mission to do some damage to anything, wasn't even talking about the giant mecha that just seems so stupid and out of place.

Seriously, it's dumber than the stupid spirit giant.
 
lol, Bolin could have easily just used lava bending during the rescue mission to do some damage to anything, wasn't even talking about the giant mecha that just seems so stupid and out of place.

Seriously, it's dumber than the stupid spirit giant.
Lava bending is the new lightning bending, only used when plot demands so.
 
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