obligatory korra response post
because I haven't really talked about Korra much here yet at all. So many spoilers behind the cut.
1. Korra finally connecting with her past lives -- I loved it, but I think it should have come sooner in the episode. To the point that when she screamed no you don't, I was positive that she was about to go into the Avatar State, not... suddenly have the ability to airbend. Still, I actually cried when Aang showed up with that "but you called me here" and "when we hit our lowest point, we are open to the greatest change." I get emotional any time the You Are Not Alone trope comes into play, and... I was kind of emotional yesterday anyway.
2. That being said, I don't think he should have restored her bending. What I wanted was for him to restore the potential for her to bend actually what I really wanted was for the chakra to simply be blocked because energybending with bloodbending what and for Korra to have that ability, but that relearning the steps and recovering and finding out who she is without the word "Avatar" before her name would be the emotional thrust of season 2. I wanted a second season that would focus on healing after major trauma. And, while I love that Lin can earthbend again, it would have carried more weight if we'd seen her without it beforehand, and struggling to deal with it. As it is, Lin's sacrifice was shown but the sting was removed by having her disappear after losing her bending and returning just to get it back.
3. I'm kind of on the fence about Mako/Korra. I think the execution across the season was hit-or-miss, but they were doing well with it in the finale, with him finally breaking up with Asami and making it clear that it isn't that he doesn't care about her and he is sorry that everything got so messed up and they end it on a high note with no hard feelings, and the way he went with Korra when she insisted that she would do it alone, and how incredibly pissed-off he got after Amon took her bending (aside: holy shit that explosion of lightning; can we start the crack theories that Mako and Bolin are Azula's grandkids?) -- they were doing well with showing us how much he cared about her. But then the ending... It's not that it's terribly unrealistic for them to say "I love you" but it just... it made me cringe. Too much, too soon.
3.5. I really, really hope that my feelings on Makorra don't go the way my feelings with Kataang did -- that is, I thought it was cute in S1, liked it just fine in S2, and then started really disliking it hard in S3. It seems like they have this nasty habit of tripping at the finish line with the romances and. ://///
4. Finally, finally, finally, Bolin gets to do something other than crack jokes.
5. I didn't really have many feelings about Asami prior to this (well, other than her first appearance, where she seemed too sweet to be true), although I agreed after a couple of appearances that she was not secretly evil or going to betray the group or anything, and I didn't dislike her... she just never impressed me as a character. But then her fight with her father at the airfield. Oh, God. My heart broke for her, and the way she stuck by what she believed was the right thing -- and what her mother would have wanted -- no matter what it was going to cost her. I am officially part of Asami's fan club now.
6. That being said, Hiroshi suddenly going crazy and trying to kill his daughter was a cop-out and ruined an otherwise awesome fight scene/conclusion.
7. Amon should have been telling the truth. Making him a liar and having his army turn on him because of it only gets rid of Amon -- the problem that led to his rise, that led to him being able to command an army of dissidents, is left untouched. There should have been moral ambiguity with the villains antagonists (because they shouldn't have been true "villains" at all), who are really just desperate, oppressed people who've been crushed under the foot of benders for far too long. Making it into an all-out war with an army of terrorists rather than a rebellion with a good and armor-piercing point... it made for good action, but it ended up with the characters fighting against equality between benders and non-benders and that. That's a classic Broken Aesop right there, and one of the most cringe-worthy ones I've seen.
8. I love General Iroh, although I hope they don't try to turn him into Zuko 2.0. They did well in the little screentime he had, though (punching a missile, punching a motherfucking missile, I love you, with your Refuge in Audacity superpowers, you). I hope we see more of him (and the other Kataang kids, honestly, because I loved Tenzin far more than I thought I would and Bumi cracked me up in his three seconds and I require meeting Kya) in S2. I already have a feeling that Iroh/Korra is about to become Zutara 2.0, though (and likewise doomed-by-canon). I like the thought of it right now, but I'm reserving judgment until we know more about him.
8.5. I don't know how I feel about the popular fan-theory that Bumi is his father, though. He refers to Bumi as Bumi rather than Father or Dad, so it's probably not true?
9. This one isn't a reference to the finale, but rather episode ten: When Lin said "whatever happens to me, don't turn back," I don't think she was referring to being captured and having her bending removed. Think about it. She was destroying the zeppelins, the only things standing between her and a free-fall from a great height, with only twisting metal, debris, and burning bits/explosions between her and the ground. Lin was going to die if she hadn't been captured. And she knew it. So, really, being captured and having her bending removed was the best-case scenario. It was take out the zeppelins and die with them (and horribly), get captured and executed, or get captured and have her bending removed. There was no way she would get out unscathed, and only one way she would even survive.
9.5. Needless to say, Lin is my absolute favorite character in this entire universe. She beats out Mai and Sokka (albeit those two by a much smaller margin), Katara, and Toph. She kicks all the ass of Toph with more vulnerability, the maturity gained with age, and less arrogance, she's uncompromising and fair without being cruel or vindictive, she's loyal and self-sacrificing and compassionate, and she's Neutral Good, doing what's right whether or not the law is on her side. I freaking love her.
10. Also, I'm fully behind the theory that the reason Tenzin and his family got captured was because they did go back for her. I feel like it was a unanimous decision, too, and one that didn't even have to be said. Like, they all looked at each other and the decision was made. I don't feel like Tenzin (or Pema, for that matter) would have been able to live with himself if he ran away and left her to whatever fate. After all, he was raised by Katara "I will never, ever turn my back on people who need me" and seems to swear by that rule himself, too.
1. Korra finally connecting with her past lives -- I loved it, but I think it should have come sooner in the episode. To the point that when she screamed no you don't, I was positive that she was about to go into the Avatar State, not... suddenly have the ability to airbend. Still, I actually cried when Aang showed up with that "but you called me here" and "when we hit our lowest point, we are open to the greatest change." I get emotional any time the You Are Not Alone trope comes into play, and... I was kind of emotional yesterday anyway.
2. That being said, I don't think he should have restored her bending. What I wanted was for him to restore the potential for her to bend actually what I really wanted was for the chakra to simply be blocked because energybending with bloodbending what and for Korra to have that ability, but that relearning the steps and recovering and finding out who she is without the word "Avatar" before her name would be the emotional thrust of season 2. I wanted a second season that would focus on healing after major trauma. And, while I love that Lin can earthbend again, it would have carried more weight if we'd seen her without it beforehand, and struggling to deal with it. As it is, Lin's sacrifice was shown but the sting was removed by having her disappear after losing her bending and returning just to get it back.
3. I'm kind of on the fence about Mako/Korra. I think the execution across the season was hit-or-miss, but they were doing well with it in the finale, with him finally breaking up with Asami and making it clear that it isn't that he doesn't care about her and he is sorry that everything got so messed up and they end it on a high note with no hard feelings, and the way he went with Korra when she insisted that she would do it alone, and how incredibly pissed-off he got after Amon took her bending (aside: holy shit that explosion of lightning; can we start the crack theories that Mako and Bolin are Azula's grandkids?) -- they were doing well with showing us how much he cared about her. But then the ending... It's not that it's terribly unrealistic for them to say "I love you" but it just... it made me cringe. Too much, too soon.
3.5. I really, really hope that my feelings on Makorra don't go the way my feelings with Kataang did -- that is, I thought it was cute in S1, liked it just fine in S2, and then started really disliking it hard in S3. It seems like they have this nasty habit of tripping at the finish line with the romances and. ://///
4. Finally, finally, finally, Bolin gets to do something other than crack jokes.
5. I didn't really have many feelings about Asami prior to this (well, other than her first appearance, where she seemed too sweet to be true), although I agreed after a couple of appearances that she was not secretly evil or going to betray the group or anything, and I didn't dislike her... she just never impressed me as a character. But then her fight with her father at the airfield. Oh, God. My heart broke for her, and the way she stuck by what she believed was the right thing -- and what her mother would have wanted -- no matter what it was going to cost her. I am officially part of Asami's fan club now.
6. That being said, Hiroshi suddenly going crazy and trying to kill his daughter was a cop-out and ruined an otherwise awesome fight scene/conclusion.
7. Amon should have been telling the truth. Making him a liar and having his army turn on him because of it only gets rid of Amon -- the problem that led to his rise, that led to him being able to command an army of dissidents, is left untouched. There should have been moral ambiguity with the villains antagonists (because they shouldn't have been true "villains" at all), who are really just desperate, oppressed people who've been crushed under the foot of benders for far too long. Making it into an all-out war with an army of terrorists rather than a rebellion with a good and armor-piercing point... it made for good action, but it ended up with the characters fighting against equality between benders and non-benders and that. That's a classic Broken Aesop right there, and one of the most cringe-worthy ones I've seen.
8. I love General Iroh, although I hope they don't try to turn him into Zuko 2.0. They did well in the little screentime he had, though (punching a missile, punching a motherfucking missile, I love you, with your Refuge in Audacity superpowers, you). I hope we see more of him (and the other Kataang kids, honestly, because I loved Tenzin far more than I thought I would and Bumi cracked me up in his three seconds and I require meeting Kya) in S2. I already have a feeling that Iroh/Korra is about to become Zutara 2.0, though (and likewise doomed-by-canon). I like the thought of it right now, but I'm reserving judgment until we know more about him.
8.5. I don't know how I feel about the popular fan-theory that Bumi is his father, though. He refers to Bumi as Bumi rather than Father or Dad, so it's probably not true?
9. This one isn't a reference to the finale, but rather episode ten: When Lin said "whatever happens to me, don't turn back," I don't think she was referring to being captured and having her bending removed. Think about it. She was destroying the zeppelins, the only things standing between her and a free-fall from a great height, with only twisting metal, debris, and burning bits/explosions between her and the ground. Lin was going to die if she hadn't been captured. And she knew it. So, really, being captured and having her bending removed was the best-case scenario. It was take out the zeppelins and die with them (and horribly), get captured and executed, or get captured and have her bending removed. There was no way she would get out unscathed, and only one way she would even survive.
9.5. Needless to say, Lin is my absolute favorite character in this entire universe. She beats out Mai and Sokka (albeit those two by a much smaller margin), Katara, and Toph. She kicks all the ass of Toph with more vulnerability, the maturity gained with age, and less arrogance, she's uncompromising and fair without being cruel or vindictive, she's loyal and self-sacrificing and compassionate, and she's Neutral Good, doing what's right whether or not the law is on her side. I freaking love her.
10. Also, I'm fully behind the theory that the reason Tenzin and his family got captured was because they did go back for her. I feel like it was a unanimous decision, too, and one that didn't even have to be said. Like, they all looked at each other and the decision was made. I don't feel like Tenzin (or Pema, for that matter) would have been able to live with himself if he ran away and left her to whatever fate. After all, he was raised by Katara "I will never, ever turn my back on people who need me" and seems to swear by that rule himself, too.