Thoughts on the Legend of Korra finale
IMO the finale was good but it definitely had some flaws. So here are my thoughts on it.
As much as I loved seeing General Iroh kick some major ass and flying like a Rocket Man, I don't really get why the writers bothered introducing a new character so late in the series. I know that Iroh is major fan service but he didn't really add that much to the story.
The romance parts were some of the weakest scenes in the episodes. It was clear that Mako and Korra would end up as a couple by the end of the finale but I found it very hard to be happy for them. I would've been happier about them getting together if it hadn't been for the Asami/Mako relationship.
It annoyed me a lot that Asami and Mako never had a decent talk about their relationship. Mako basically called it quits. I know he apologized for it but I still don't like how he treated Asami. She did nothing to deserve this treatment.
Having said that, the way Asami handled the breakup earned her some respect. She had every right to be upset and hurt but she handled the situation with grace. I feared that she would become a bitter, vindictive character. But she never held it against Korra that Mako loved her and she was as civil as can be towards Mako. I can't help but respect her for her behaviour.
I thought the back story behind Amon and Tarlokk was heartbreaking. Just when you thought Yakone couldn't get more evil and creepîer, he does that to his sons. I felt horrible for them both being pushed to the extreme with regards to waterbending and basically being turned into monsters.
Nonetheless, it doesn't really explain Amon's motives for wanting to cleanse the world of bending. I know that Tarlokk said that he believed that Amon believed it was the root of all evil. I can kinda see how that works. After all, bending is what made Amon into the person he was. But I still felt like Amon's story was missing something. It would've been helpful if we had gotten more information on what Amon did after he ran away and how he eventually decided to start the Equalist movement. It's a shame that we'll never get a real explanation on it either.
The scenes with Amon in the arena were pretty good. When he removed his mask to show his scarred face, I was surprised to see it actually burnt. It made me doubt Tarlokk's story. It's a bit of a cop-out that it turned out to be paint afterwards.
I literally held my breath when he brought out Tenzin and his kids, ready to be 'equalized'. Thank goodness that they didn't lose their bending. I knew it'd be unlikely for the show to show the kids losing their bending but I was still worried.
The showdown between Amon and Korra was a bit anti-climatic for me. There had been fan theories about Korra losing her bending. It made me happy to see they were right 'cause I thought it'd be a great opportunity for character growth. Tho I'll admit that her learning airbending after losing her other bending skills was a bit weird. I don't get how that could've happened really. It was also a tad disappointing to see Korra defeat Amon so easily with just airbending.
But to me, one of the biggest let-downs was the fact that Korra got her bending so quickly. Like I said, the Avatar losing her bending would've been a great opportunity for character growth. After all, the Avatar is known for his/her bending. So without it, what is the Avatar really? How would she deal with it? It would've been great if Korra had tried to find her identity outside of her being the Avatar.
In fact, that premise alone would've been a great story arc for Season 2. But instead of exploring how Korra would deal with losing her abilities, she gets it back without almost no struggle or effort.
We see her cry on a ledge and suddenly, there is Aang who gives her back her bending just like that. She didn't even have to do anything to get it back. It cheapened the whole experience.
Now I know that originally, the creators weren't sure that they'd get a season 2. So they wanted to wrap up everything in the finale. I also knew that realistically, the show wasn't gonna end with a powerless Korra. That would've just been too darn depressing.
But I preferred that it would've been similar to the ending of X-men 3. For those who haven't seen it, at the end of that movie, Magneto had been stripped of his powers by a cure/drug but in the ending shot, it was implied that the cure wasn't permanent and that his powers could slowly return.
I think it would've been a more powerful ending to have Aang tell Korra that her powers weren't gone and with time and training, she could regain them. Even if season 1 had been the end of the series, it would've still been a hopeful ending. To give a recent example, I think that the finale of the recent Thundercats series is a good example of 'still ending on a positive note despite not everything not being peachy'.
*SPOILER WARNING*Whilst the Thundercats did lose against Mumm-Ra in the finale, they also gained a lot of allies and succeeded in uniting the animals against him. They might've lost the battle but they hadn't lost the war. Eventho it looks like we wouldn't get a second season, you can still be hopeful that eventually, they will succeed.*END SPOILER WARNING*
Now the finale wrapped up all the issues too quickly and too conveniently.
Having said all that, overall, I greatly enjoyed Legend of Korra. It was still a great series with a good storyline and some amazing characters. Tbh I think the story of 'benders vs non-benders' was a lot more interesting than Aang's battle against the Fire Nation.
So yeah, I'm curious to see what events will happen in Season 2.
So what did you think?