Regarding blood bending, I really would have liked to see Katara using blood bending combined with her healing techniques to revert the blocked bending instead of Korra doing random Avatar stuff to give everyone's bending back. It'd give Katara some kind of redemption since she seemingly hated beeing a blood bender and blood bending itself, and now she can use it for something good. This could also add an interesting new layer to blood bending so it's not just pure evil. Maybe Katara could have figured out how Amon blocked the bending (and then also explains it for the viewers) after she knew that Amon blocked the elements with blood bending. On the next full moon she could try using blood bending after many decades again and there she actually manages to revert the blocked bending from people including Korra. Katara could teach that to some other medical waterbenders and after some full moons, everyone has their bending back. Would be cool if even Korra learns that healing bloodbending then. Of course, using it in a damaging way should still be kept forbidden and Katara would never teach how to do that.
It would be great if benders that got their bending blocked be sent to Katara as she's the best medic. Katara can see that something is off and that only through using blood bending can it be achieved to take a person's bending away. Korra can then relay this message and people can make a setup that would force Amon to water bend and showed to everyone, then talk about how much of a "hypocrite" Amon is and how his ways won't "solve anything". However, that alone shouldn't be enough to solve the problem as Korra should also listen to the non-benders' problem along with the benders' perspective and consult it with others, especially Tenzin as he seems to know about the issue and could've discussed about his point of view and talk about how Aang may potentially solve it. Then Korra would make a speech about how she would solve the issue the best she can. That would be a better closure than what is given in the show
Same! That’s the part I hate the most because I feel like it doesn’t make sense. I feel like they should’ve made bloodbending strong enough where you can basically paralyze someone permanently. I think that makes more sense given how once you’re bloodbended, you can’t move unless you’re strong enough to break out of it. This is also why I say Amon should’ve been a non bender that found a way to weaken a benders ability to bend when he chi blocks. Like maybe he learned that if you hit harder, or maybe hit them more in places where their chi flows, if that person doesn’t know how to open it back up they can’t necessarily get their bending to be back on par as it was usually. That would also give some depth to Korra when she realizes she can’t just punch as hard as she used to, so she has no choice but to really focus on air bending and non aggressive fighting taticsc and overall becoming a smarter fighter. It would also explain how Katara can only “ease” tension but she can’t actually fix the benders who’ve been affected since their chi paths would need to be reopened (similar to what was being talked about in the gru episode of Atla).
Another thing I never understood was why pure platinum cannot be metal bended Metal bending is about bending the "pure earth" inside the refined metal (natural vs non-natural) However pure platinum can be found in nature (just like gold, copper and silver) and thus should be bendable while steel should not
Katara was able to sense the bundle of chi mangled up in aang's back when she was healing him in the first episode of szn 3 but suddently a much more experienced version who actually knows bloodbending wouldn't know to feel that is such a major leap in unbelievability its ridiculous
@@kubomagico8853 I think the difference is the purity. Like 24K gold would probably be harder to bend than 10 karat gold. The more pure the metal, the harder is to bend. You need more random little rocks and pebbles, etc. to be able to bend metal. For instance butter is probably bendable, but it’s probably harder to bend than just milk. Because there is more water in the milk than there is in the butter.
There is a theory, back in ATLA in the fortuneteller, Sokka was told he’d have lots of pain and misfortune (pretty sure I got that wrong) most of it self-inflicted. What if he and Suki went on a mission together, his idea. That got her killed? As for Sokka, people assume he died while originally fighting off the red lotus.
I wish they would've given Korra the Bloom Enchantix treatment. While she has practically willed herself into learning airbending, she could've had obvious struggles with other ways of airbending. She might've been able to do these air punches, but maybe not the iconic air ball thingy Aang used, or more gentle ways of chanelling air to solve certain problems. In general her style of bending is (from what I rememeber) just aggressive and not that diverse in combat, which could've also been some kind of sub-plot for following seasons. As I said maybe I need to re-watch the show bc i could be wrong abt that.
Agreed. The main two issues that LoK had were the twelve episodes seasons and the stories they were telling. One of the Last Airbender's greatest strengths were the seasons long arcs each character went through. -Sokka character development from an arrogant boy pretending to be a warrior to one of anime/T.V. greatest leaders. -Katara didn't go through any visible change but she learned to be my compassionate and less bias to other people. -Toph learned that being independent doesn't mean having no responsibility -Zuko, do I need to talk about the masterful writing of his arc? -Aang was a kid to afraid to face his destiny to someone willing to bare the responsibility of the Avatar. Each season built on each of the character's developments and it felt organic. LoK seasons feels like a self-contained story which have a small impact on it's next season on the characters. Now onto the stories of LoK seasons. Unlike the Last Airbender which had one primary villain and few side ones LoK had four primary villains each season. Which could have been great if the seasons were longer, in season 1 the Equalist showed a conflict that was inspired by our own history and even today. If season 1 had been the standard twenty episode length then the writers could have gone in-depth with showing the disparity between benders and non-benders in Republic City to paint Amon in a more morally gray villain. Instead of Amon being the standard evil guy. Same goes with Korra's evil uncle who just wanted to become king of both the South and North poles not because he wanted to become the Dark Avatar but to get more power or to help the South Polers reconnect to their spirituality. The Red Lotus and Season 3 were the best of the four seasons. Season 4 showed us that the world is becoming more independent and not needing the Avatar to deal with all the world's issues. I would not have Kuvira make a meha but a rail-road gun instead.
I'm sorry, but when I first read your comment I immediately imagined Korra having a magical girl transformation 😅 In all seriousness though, yeah, the series didn't really touch on Korra having any difficulty with airbending. Like the commenter above me stated, I feel like the major issue is that the series was too short to show her actually refining her airbending talents. Which is another compaint I have about the Netflix show and it's 8 episode structure, but that's a topic for another day
@@jakebrook I would say Katara has a solid ark. She starts of as a rookie water bender and ends up becoming a master. She is generally seen as weak by other characters (complimented by the fact she can't always use her bending and isn't skilled like Sokka). By the series' end, she becomes very resourceful and powerful, taking on a deranged comet-empowered Azula and winning. I do agree her personality didn't get MUCH of a change but the minor tweaks we got of her becoming more compassionate and less hot headed were a plus.
I was genuinely questioning the creators and the writers for approving that plot twist. I also questioned the Korra’s sudden ability to airbend at the end. And yeah! HOW THEY DID GET TENZIN AND HIS FAMILY?! I was like DID I MISS SOMETHING? I dont deal offscreen sh*t well. Lin’s sacrificed was a joke cuz of this
Honestly the older you get and have better understanding of life, lessons and politics of the real world. You go back and watch LoK it didn't age well at all in most areas and cliché. My issue with LoK are the lessons that they pretend to have but contradict one another. and no consistency of both lore and characterization and that. It has so much potential but it's those flaws and inconsistencies that holds it back to the audience outside of the fans/stans Edit: to the Korra stans getting triggered in my comment section, if you love the show, then I'm happy for you but stop gaslighting me and constantly tagging me to get a response or putting words in my mouth of something I never said. It isn't going to change anything. Watch your show in peace and leave me alone.
@@ryanmoore6259 not really especially with the lore and world building that they butchered from the ATLA. Bryan and Mike inserted way too much of western and Christian ideology with Eastern philosophy and mythology into it. This is why me and majority of ATLA don't consider it canon as a direct sequel to the original series. Book 2 was the egregious offender out of all of them
8:26. So glad someone else realizes this is a big problem with LoK. This is a serious gripe I have with a lot of modern media as a whole, a laser focus on plot and only plot with no room for fun character-focus episodes to build the world and flesh out the character dynamics. Republic City could have easily been an entire world in of itself with the cultures of the 4 Nations coming together into a melting pot of culture.
YESSS, like I always wondered why Republic City wasn’t handled in a similar fashion to Zootopia with the different climates and animals living differently. It would also drive in the difference the creators wanted for Korra. Because while Aang literally was going all over the world, Korra would do the same but in republic city, but at least in the series it isn’t large scaled as she stays in the city.
They didn't actually. It's a bit of misinformation perpetuated by the creators in retrospect. Initially the internal deal at Nick that has been later revealed but hidden for the sake of not suffering too much ire is that TLoK was approved for two, twenty-six episode seasons
Yeah, that was very believable. Spirits do all kinds of rule-breaking stuff not to mention that bending does not work in spirit realm so maybe there could be some kind of connection here.
I genuinely just think Amon is a really bad villain. If not for his aesthetic and Steve Blum’s vocal performance, there just wouldn’t be anything to latch onto about the guy. He’s *boring.*
The problem with Amon at a fundamental level is the disjunction between human-being Amon and symbol Amon. Amon as a human being is a talented but abused young man who doesn't like benders; this is boring and rather petulant. Amon as a symbol is the refutation of the main claim of the Avatar Universe, which is that bending imputes personal value (which is why the Avatar > elder benders > normal benders > nonbenders is the existing value set in the universe). Amon as a symbol is the power to collapse this hierarchy in the name of equality. This IS an interesting conflict for us to resolve; the Avatar is now, by her very power, a leader of the ancien regime hierarchy and would need to defend this gross inequality if she agrees to Amon's framing. But that conflict never actually happens. Amon as a symbol is thrown away by Episode 10 and replaced with Amon the human being, allowing Korra to never have to reflect on the power hierarchy in the ATLA world. There would have been an easy way to avoid this problem: (1) Make Amon a non-bender who learned energy-bending and decided it was his role to remove bending rather than the petulant human story we got and (2) have Korra actually promote the equality of nonbenders by raising them up rather than by pushing all of the benders down.
When I watched LoK with my mom as it was airing she was like "After Avatar, this is awful." And I agreed. I never really watched after Book 1 aired. Years later I came back to it and watched all 4 and I was like "This sucks". I've rewatached it a few times and I don't think it's very good in a lot of ways but I think it's ENJOYABLE and I do enjoy it. It's got ISSUES (God, I despise Book 2) but I can have fun watching it.
My story is a bit similar! My cousin actually told my mom and I that there was a new avatar and she was a girl. I’m not sure how my mom felt (I was still in elementary school getting ready to go to middle school) but I was really excited and we would try to catch an episode whenever it aired. After a couple of episodes (we didn’t watch them in order or like right after the other because we were busy so it would be like one week we watched an episode, the next week we did another, and another on a weekend) , I did notice that my mom wasn’t paying attention like she was when we first started. I never asked and she never said anything. Then I realized that I barely paid attention to the plot because all I paid attention to was the fight scenes. I didn’t even know that Amon was a waterbender yet alone Korra being from the southern water tribe. Then we kinda stopped for a moment, and I think once I was close to graduating from middle school we started back up again and this time we were kinda able to watch the episodes in order more frequently. Once again my mom didn’t seem as interested and then I started noticing some things that I didn’t like about the show at all. However I wrote it off and once again I only ever paid the most attention to the fight scenes. Then at the start of high school we watched again (this time we were able to watch season 1-2 in order as season 3 was just starting) and then I was no longer as interested as I was beforehand. Once more episodes came out for season 3 however both my mom and I were more invested in the story. To do a little jump cause my comment is getting long, my last 2 years of high school (I think it was my last or whenever they had tlok on Netflix) I wanted to rewatch both Atla and Tlok with my mom and we did. Once we got to Tlok we kept falling asleep on it, not paying attention, and overall scoffing at the show. I think I was the one who was more annoyed by it but my mom ended up loving season 2 especially Bolin. I only ended up loving season 1 the most, and surprisingly so, I wasn’t really interested in season 3 like I was before. Then my mom and I decided to talk about the show and that’s when I learned she didn’t like the show too much but there were some things she enjoyed about it. However she liked watching the show WITH me so she kept watching anyways. She does think Atla is better and stronger narratively (she’s an English teacher lol) but she says tlok is not that bad. I’m just the one who pays attention to details and lore more than she does so when I see how they went about some things especially after freshly watching Atla, I started disliking it (but I noticed this a bit beforehand). I did watch the show again like maybe a year ago by myself to see if my opinion would change because I really want to like Tlok as much as I like Atla, but once again I only pay the most attention to season 1 in its entirety, half of season 2, and the ending part of season 3, and maybe the 1st 3 episodes of season 4.
Im gonna have to rewatch but from my memory it goes from mid but fun to messy and well it's something to a pretty flawless season 3 and then a ok season 4
I don’t even like LoK but I’m glad people are revisiting it and liking it more. I think if it wasn’t in the same universe as the closest to perfection American animation has ever gotten, it would have been a lot more well-received
I think this too but they would have to edit some stuff. However I can say if LOK came out now people probably would love it way more. But me personally, what I really want is a remake of the show because I think it deserves it and I don’t like when things get remake.
@G3NTOK1 This deserved the Netflix remakes treatment more than The Last Airbender. Aside from giving us an improved version of the 2010 film, which still pales in comparison to the original series and satisfying uncultured people who think animation is only for kids, who was NATLA for? The Legend of Korra should have gotten that treatment instead. This would have given the writers an opportunity to iron out the kinks in the original series and make it more streamlined season by season. The smaller episode count Korra had, compared to ALTA, would be more beneficial if they pulled a Netflix and gave us 8 1-hour episodes which combined a bunch of plots together as compared to NATLA and TLA2010 which cut out a bunch of somewhat important "filler" content and moments. Along with the more limited location variety, it would be a lesser effort on the CGI landscape animators because they'd mostly be making CG recreations of Republic City and the other minor locations seen throughout the show as compared to having to make multiple locations like the Southern Water Tribe, The Southern Air Temple, Kyoshi Island, Omashu, Northern Water Tribe, etc.
Ah, a classic example of a show using populist arguments but never actually intending to make them be taken seriously. Wouldn't want to *actually* validate trying to change the system that is the cause of these inequalities... 5:45 yes, exactly the word, neoliberal
That's.....not really fair seeing how often the status quo changes. The Council government is replaced with a president, the spirit world and human world are merged and the Earth Kingdom essentially ceases to be.
@@thomastakesatollforthedark2231 populism noun a political approach that strives to appeal to ordinary people who feel that their concerns are disregarded by established elite groups. I advocate for the redistribution of wealth from the ultra rich back into the society they exploit in order to build infrastructure and social programs.
Korra should've had pushed Amon out the window and regained her bending by meditating and connecting to the the elements on a personal level, that allowing her to connect with Aang and then he could help her learn to bend again, would’nt have taken more than an episode You can cut the love triangle to have time for that
Book one being called Air can be explained with there only being one season. Making it Water, Earth, Fire and Air for the 3+1 seasons it could have ended up as.
Wasn't the whole point of energy bending that your mind and heart haft to be clear of lies and hatred in order to remove another person's energy? Not to win the war through might makes right but through clarity and love. I guess that doesn't matter anymore because all you need to remove someone's bending is to be a really really strong water bender, and a touch of eugenics.
I dont think so, i remember the fight with Ozzai and Aang, which correct me, but the lio turtle said, your will has to be stronger than the person you facing. I think
@@ShogunApach3 “The true mind can whether all the lies and illusions without being lost. The true heart can tough the poison of hatred without being harmed. Since beginingless time darkness thrives in the void but always yields to purifying light.” “To bend another’s energy, your own spirit must be unbendable or you will be corrupted and destroyed.” In other words, your proficiency to bend someones energy to remove their element is dependent on the unbendability of your own spirit, which is itself determined by your ability to navigate through lies and hatred. While yes, will is an important aspect, the pursuit of love and truth also plays a big role. Even if I am wrong and that it's just will alone, which I'm fine with that interpretation, its still bs that you can do the same thing just by being a really really good water bender, and a touch of good genetics.
I feel like it would have made her journey into learning the philosophies of the other elements more cohesive if she actually travelled and got to learn about them (yk…. like the Avatar’s Journey) by understanding the communities and the people and their culture. She could have received her ability to bend but should still not have been able to control the elements (like when Zuko lost his “spark” and had to go to an ancient temple were the original dragons were kept safe so he could learn how to fire bend again). It’s what frustrates me about this series (although I still enjoy it but it doesn’t engage me as much as the og series does). Sometimes bending in LoK seems more like magical bs than an actual spiritual philosophy.
I personally did not like Amon’s motivation or his abilities. Instead of a water/blood bender he should’ve been a non bender who learned how to disable bending through the spirits. This would’ve been a good entry into the second season and along with his “scar” a much better motivation.
A plot twist should make the series more interesting, and have hints leading up to it so you can look back in hindsight and see how it all ties things together. Amon being a super blood bender isn't more interesting than being gifted by the spirits, and doesn't have any lead up. If they wanted to do the bloodbending route for Amon, they should have made him do these gatherings where he removes the bending from someone only when the moon was full. Would have been a cool clue for the audience and characters to work out (first couple of times we see him there could just be a shot of the full moon, and then pan down to the scene, later they notice the pattern of once per month and eventually during the full moon, spend some time wondering why before the reveal that he's bloodbending), and it gives Amon an interesting limitation to work around.
okay but the thing about "air" not getting enough screentime because every minute needs to be dedicated to the equalists is just wrong. Why the hell did we WASTE half of this season in the arena? or with the bermuda trio? And don't you dare tell me the first was about learning air bending, they drop the evading-&-dodging shit after the second ep. Not to mention this is not what air bending is all about
Honestly romance in Avatar is a weakness they kinda refuse to acknowledge (I’m looking at you Kataang) and in LoK since it was a more prominent plot it SHOWS, like a lot, to be fair I’ve seen worse, this is just messy but it’s entertaining which makes it ok, not good, but ok
@@samflood5631It isn’t, people just want Katara and Zuko together and will twist narratives in order to make Aang look like he doesn’t value Katara more than as a plaything.
Honestly the twist wasn't bad, but it wasn't something built up; we had no idea who Noatak was at that point. And I wanted redemtpion over suicide, seeing the brothers change and grow past their trauma.
And where was Noatak gonna go?? Do you really think they would give him a second chance, even though he started a race war and literally taking bending away from gang leaders for the entire public to see. No, honestly I don't think they'd ever forgive him..I'm not saying suicide was a good choice, but where would he even go after they found out he was a waterbender-? Sure, he may lay low for a few months, but how long will it take for whatever place he settles in to find out what Noatak did in his past life. Honestly, there's no other way.
@@Little_Duckling18 I personally think they could've went off the grid, found some sympathizers, and pop in and out. Their bloodbending abilities allow them to lay low a bit easier vs if they were another type of bender.
28:29 Book 2 was about spirits with some discussion on how humanity has pushed them back and disconnected from nature. Reconnecting with their elements could have been a great way to tie the spirit world in with how it relates to bending.
For me the essential problem of LoK is that its a neoliberal, 'enlightened centrist' show that gets all the politics it tries to do so so so wrong. It just drips with how american it is. I'd recommend Kay and Skittles as a basic intro to these things. DO NOT watch that aussie/new zealand guy because oohh boy, does he have the same problems. The political illiteracy is wild.
The earth empire going democratic (without the people voting for it like Italy in 1946) like Republic City because America in S4 was the most in your face of examples. Not every established power is bad or evil. There are yeah but not all. The earth kingdom people were doing fine with or without the royals. The king in the og show was an idiot because of a Chinese monarchy joke that doesn't even exist post 1940s. Will the poorer side of the EK in Korra enjoy that or create their own stuff? What about the middle and richer classes? Will it last? Probably yes cause the show ignores the non benders after S1 but still.
Except the centrists aren't portrayed as right either; Raiko (the embodiment of centrism in the show) is a craven fool at best. The issue is that the solutions each villain comes up with is self gratifying. As someone else said "I agree with you that most of the villains’ ideologies are so entangled with the world they live in, that it’s difficult to directly apply them to our world. People have to remember that even though the tone is a bit more mature than ATLA, Legend of Korra is still a children’s show. The children are just a bit older this time around. As a result, I think this show is much more interested in asking the audience questions that giving them clean answers. It’s prompting viewers to engage with issues without spelling out what they should think. It does have some opinions though. For example, the protest scene in When Extremes Meet makes it clear what the writers think about use of police violence against marginalized groups. Also, more broadly, it’s clear that the villains usually need to be stopped because their solutions to such legitimate problems are extremely violent and self-gratifying. It’s trying to make the viewer engage and try to find their own position in the middle ground. I think this is a fair approach to take with an audience that is only just beginning to engage with politics. I think people who don’t like the show’s politics are expecting a more explicit endorsement of an ideology, and these kinds of opinions are the result of a failure to find that. Facts and opinions get distorted until the show is sponsoring “good” politics or “bad” politics. Personally, I probably would have been annoyed if the show explicitly embraced any ideologies, because I don’t think it had the audience or the screentime to give these things the full breadth of the attention they deserve if you want make up solutions to these problems. People are still struggling to do that convincingly for most of these issues in real life." Kay and Skittles are extremely intolerant to any differing interpretations and they also get a lot of basic details wrong. If anything the Australian guy is entirely correct.
No they're politically literate. Kay and Skittles is overly smug and refuses to countenance any disagreement. He's angry that HIS idealogy is being threatened.
I feel like the biggest problem with the equalists is their inconsistency. The writers just can not seem to make up their mind whether or not nonbenders are actually oppressed, because the equalists seem to flip-flop multiple times between a genuine political movement with valid grievences, critiques and ideas who just take their ideology too far, and basically a cult that uses populist rhetoric to turn benders into a scapegoat for Republic City's crime and poverty issues and/or settle their own personal grievances with bending/benders. I personally favour the latter interpretation, because we only ever see a handful of instances that could even be remotely interpretted as nonbender discrimination throughout all Avatar media, while we have plenty of evidence to the contrary.
Both can be true. Take red pill incel people. Nobody in their right might would call men on the whole oppressed. But men who are unfamiliar with how feminism actually does encapsulate concern on their end and fighting toxic masculinity which imposes unfair expectations on both genders, they don’t feel that way. So lost, they turn to the group which acknowledges their daily struggles and that’s how the internalization of problematic behaviors and rhetoric begin. Men face a hefty amount of social stigma online when in mixed spaces, their emotions are often cast aside and disregarded by both genders, and they’re judged very heavily for vulnerability. These are real issues which are valid. Using these issues to downplay the actual danger women face from dangerous rhetoric is obviously wrong, but young men get radicalized by turning to the ear which hears them and then the rhetoric sneaks in like a worm or a snake. The nonbenders might feel oppressed. The entire police force are benders, most the politicians are benders, there are jobs and things which are closed off entirely to nonbenders. They might not all be radicalized, but they might go “well I’m not supporting the terrorists, but these people are voicing my concerns and nobody else is.”
I would say that the show does (unintentionally) show that non-benders are oppressed in that the entire council is made up of benders (or at least, the only people who talk are benders) and the entire police force are benders - to the point where they're able to round up non-benders as a whole using bending. We don't see a single non-bender in a position of importance in the city, the only non-bender is Asami - out of a huge cast of characters, only naming a single non-bender (who isn't an antagonist) is clearly showing what type of person the writers think deserves time and attention. In the OG ATLA, characters like Suki and the Kyoshi Warriors, Jet and the Freedom Fighters, the random villagers they meet along the way, the leader of the Northern Water Tribe, June, Mai, Ty Lee, The Mechanist and Tao, Bato, Hakota, and the list goes on and on and on of great non-bending characters, some of which have institutional power, shows that you don't have to be a bender to be important to the story - LoK, specifically season one, only focuses on benders with a single token non-bender - that speaks volumes about the world the writers created whether they knew it or not.
@@aprilshighfantasysoul5891 While I agree there are things that hint at nonbender oppression, there are just as much if not more that hint/show that they aren't oppressed. Like, yes all current members of the council are benders, but they kind of undermine that point by having Sokka as its leader in the past. Additionally they go out of their way to show that both benders and nonbenders are affected by poverty and that it's not a bender vs nonbender issue. In fact (unintentionally) they kind of hint that poverty effects benders more, given that all wealthy industrialists seem to be nonbenders, while most bender-only or bender-majority jobs, except healing, seem to be jobs that in real life are/were mostly done by people of immigrant, low income or otherwise marginalised backgrounds, like factory work (Mako's lightning bending job at the powerplant), organised crime (see the origins of the Irish and Italian mafias in the United States), police work (see the origin of the stereotype of the Irish police officer in the United States) and probending (boxing, etc.). And those are just two examples and there are a lot more. And while I do agree that the original show handled nonbenders way better and that Korra should've had way more important nonbending characters, that is more of a writing issue than a sign of in-universe oppression. And in fact all of ATLA's powerful, wealthy and skilled nonbending characters make the equalists' points even more questionable, considering Amon claims in multiple speeches that nonbender oppression has been a thing for centuries, when the original show just shows us that that is flat out untrue. So I still think the writers don't make it clear whether or not nonbenders are actually oppressed.
@@SvenVersluis I think that's exactly why this show is so frustrating to me. Every decision shows the writers don't understand how real-world social justice movements work nor how irl society works, and they did no work to show us how/why their bending society might operate differently from what we'd expect in social and economic equality terms despite making that the focus of the season. It's so frustrating when writers try to introduce real issues and represent them so poorly, it could inspire a great deal of misunderstanding in those watching it if they, themselves don't know better
I feel like it sort of makes sense considering the philosophy of air and how it's opposite to earth. Or that descendents of air benders settled in the earth kingdom long before. Obviously, they could have made the storyline more cohesive. Maybe even answer questions about Ty Lee's ancestry since that's been a topic of debate for awhile. It's kind of like how people begin to feel a sense of enlightenment when they connect to their culture, language, people, etc. That's how interpret it. But ig it's easier to convey that one event gave people the ability to airbend all of a sudden. I feel like the writers feel that people aren't media literate and that's why the show is so blah.
Aman being given the power to take away people's bending by the spirits was more interesting and made more than the blood bender twist that they went with.
Honestly as someone who rewatched the series myself I also say that Books 1 and 3 were personally the better written seasons. Book 4 was just as decent as Book 3 but Kuvira as an Antagonist just doesn’t have the charisma that Amon And Zaheer + Red Lotus have as Villains. Kuvira was both the Show’s Best and Worst Villain in the series. Basically metal bending Ozai with less intimidating factor Ironically it was KORRA who was the most interesting character in Season 4. I mean Kuvira as a character at least gets expanded on in the comics, Specifically Ruins of the Empire" and going on kind of a redemption arc but I don't know if it makes her any more interesting.
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Late to the show but, I was always under the impression that the final part of Korra's Airbending block came from her connection and ease of acquisition of the other 3 elements. By being disconnected from the others, her final obstacle was "overcome" and thus, "I'm an airbender now!"
My interpretation is that her fears of losing her bending the entire show was what stopped her airbending progress. So when she did lose it, she became free from her fears, and she finally developed the skill.
my personal feelings about kora being a marry sue is being a 4 year old capable of bending 3 elements, something at that point unheard of. for 10,000 years most avatars didnt know they were the avatar till they were 16. they had to be instructed on how to move, figure out the chi flow, and a mindset in order to bend an element. it takes me out heavily when a rambunctious 4 year old could somehow figure out a chi flow that other avatar take months to years to learn
@@ryanmoore6259 what? If you're talking about 4 year old korra bending 3 element, she actually bends them pretty well. From the looks of it, it looks as if 4 yo korra has a better handle of her bending control then the first time we see katara bending in atlab. She has great form for a literal 4 yo and my question is who taught her that? Did she teach herself?
Here's the one of the factors that i think makes it a semi bad semi good sequel: Some of the things in show rely on you having watched the first show and knowing how the world works. In my opinion a good sequel is one that is capable of being watched as a stand alone for first time fans.
One of the big problems I have with Blood Bending is that the show treats it as inherently evil, much like they did with Fire bending in the episode the Deserter with Jong Jong. When that’s never been the case for bending. And it’s more about the people using it than the power itself. Not to mention can you imagine all the medical applications blood bending could do for people? But no it’s one of the most overhyped bending abilities out there.
I'm actually fine with the idea of amon being a blood bender, but psychic blood bending is too much. The best part about bending is how much the movements play apart of it. Giving someone the ability to control someone with your mind at anytime is overkill.
Are we gonna ignore how Noatak/Amon was clearly BLEACHING his skin because that man came back a whole new race? Like, was he wearing that mask for 20 year?!?!
19:27 I think Yakone was the first psychic bloodbender while every other bloodbender in his family before him and Amon could only use it with their hands.
I've been wanting to try rewriting this show just for fun to see what i can do with the resources and characters of this show for like a coupke years now, but idk I also don't want to make it worse. 😅
While Legend of Korra DOES have its problems, there are quite things in it that I like but I'm too lazy to be listing some of those things cause I just woke up and say that Thomas posted but again there are things that I like in it but some of them aren't enough to save the show. As Thomas always says, "The Legend of Korra is a mess, but it's MY mess." I always quote Thomas whenever I talk about the show with my friends and/or my cousins. Also I'm kind of fearful for the Earth Avatar series after the mess Legend of Korra. I can only hope that it's not bad but a mess like Korra is because I think it will also be is the original Avatar series' shadow like Korra was.
@@berilsevvalbekret772 A lot of the criticism is people upset that it doesn't meet THEIR idealogical views. I've noticed that a lot of younger people are embracing communism because Capitalism is a deeply flawed system......True, but communism still doesn't address the problem.
I think when Korra exposes Amon, the twist should be that he really was burned by a firebender and lost his family. After running away, he gave up bending for good and met a woman he loved. Then, after she was killed by a fire bender, he went on a crusade to rid the world of bending after so many people abuse that power to oppress the weak.
Years later the more I think about it the more it makes sense that benders would be discriminated against in Republic city. Unlike basically all the other nations there is no built in place and purpose for benders in society. Plus with the city's focus on industrialism and capitalism it makes sense that Republic city would be considered the place for non-benders, most likely making Non-benders the majority population in the city. We don't see any benders in prominent positions of power, outside of Tarlock and Tenzin. And the jobs we see benders in the most are criminal, manual labour, or cop.
For Korra, wouldn't the avatar state alone be sufficient to restore her bending? As it's bloodbending and the avatar state have blocked bloodbending in the flashback. Also there's some irony with patience being attributed to air, when we had Bomi giving it to earth.
It would’ve been amazing if they made the reason Amon can take away bending is because the connection with the bending traditions. Making bending a more superficial thing and not as a core part. The logical reason could be that Amon’s ideologies dig so much deeper into your belief systems that your ability to bend starts to waver as you battle these ideologies in your head. Having the connection already broken your bending seems like a lost cause. We can parallel this with the Katara and the captured earth benders episode where she brings them the rock but they still don’t bend showcasing that their will is the broken thing in them. The getaway point of Korra can be that only her fire bending remains as some fire benders fuel it with their rage and frustration. Fixing the finale can be done by having Korra also face Amon ideologically and not physically after their fight. Where Korra gains the Knowledge of the previous avatars and regains her trust and connections to her bending styles making it possible for her to relearn them in the proper way and not just through sheer will. And when she finally confronts Amon again her bending is unbendable and she is able to defeat him
Ya know, I really liked how LoK didn’t just forget all the sh*t that happened to Korra over the seasons. Like all stress and pain she went through actually came back to bite her and put her in 3 year long slump that struggled to move pass. She couldn’t just walk away from all that, she had to accept what happened and face her fears.
MASH was one of my parents' favorite shows! Of course, they saw it as it was coming out. To put how old that show is into perspective, my mom turned 60 yesterday, and was a young adult when the show aired. We don't talk about the dad and paternal side.
You know what the best parts of Korra? When well written, Korra. The talk she has with the guy who gained airbender powers (which was SUCH a bullshit let the horrific scars of war stay for a WHILE or just let small handful gain powers my god) and was so terrified he wanted to kill himself. The way she handled the situation was AMAZING and showed us what a kind person she truly is and truly a worthy person to be avatar. I fucking LOVE that scene. Tenzen and family is amazing so is Opal and her family etc. Tenzen is such a compelling character with janora? Sorry Idk how to write her name! We ignore the "god vs satan" christianity/abrahamic religion nonsense its not canon. Ignoring is a great thing! When written with care relationships
Not really. Raava and Vaatu is fine; it's Zoroastrian at best, and even then it manages to capture elements of Yin and Yang (Raava is kind of a jerk when we meet her and a spirit of order combining with a chaotic and passionate being like a human fits the dynamic fine).
Given that Raava starts out as a massive jerk and has to develop to see humans aren't bad it's hardly a christian vs satan thing. Moreover, evil does exist in Asian myth.
She typically gets called a Mary Sue for two reasons; 1) With the exception of Airbending, she instantly unlocks all her bending abilities by age 4 and can use them well (Shady Doorags did a video on this) 2) She might get called out for her actions at times, but never suffers consequences & ultimately gets what she wants
No she suffers consequences. Season 4 shows her suffering with PTSD, she looses the Avatar State in Season 2 (and at 4 she's basically flailing.) She also admits she's wrong quite a few times.
@ryanmoore6259 the fact that she can bend all the 3 elements at age 4 doesn't mean she had complete control over them if she had the white lotus wouldn't have trained her for 12 years And no2 she dies suffer consequences like believing her uncle which cost her the ability to access her past lives and she had ptsd and trauma after fighting the Red lotus like are actually watching the show or spouting nonsense
@DominicAduGyamfi-pz5qi 1) The mere fact that she can just access them is Mary Sue-ish, seriously, watch the Shady Doorags video 2) that's late in season 2, and she never has it negatively impact her
@@ryanmoore6259 season 4 was written waaaàay later, and the Avatar State was later in season 2, and it never negatively impacts her And just cause she admits fault at times, doesn't negate Mary Sue status either, cause she doesn't suffer for been wrong
For some book one idea o like to share… I think they could swapped some plot point around. Like say the episode where Bolin get kidnapped could have happened after when Mako started dating Asami. Like it’s kinda weird for Korra and Mako have this bonding moment of finding and rescuing Bolin only to toss it away when Asami shows up and then when Korra is taken away Mako now acts on his feelings to her.
They realized that their less-gullible viewers would be put off by a show that portrays civil rights groups as the bad guys so they forced in a dumb plot twist that allows viewers to immediately side with the main protagonists who would otherwise be villains for opposing civil rights and enforcing the status quo
i used to hate Korra because i felt like she was just not what i expected but recently i realized that if we had more episodes to get to know her outside of main plot id probably have liked her more.
Thank you for this video and i couldn´t agree more with you, you listed every problem i have with the show. I think a lot could be fixed by extending the season to at least 20 episodes. I don´t care about love triangles, especially when they are done in such cheap way. I want to know who Mako, Bolin and Asami are as people, not as potential love interests for Korra. I actually like the plot twist of Amon being Noatak but it needed some foreshadowing, because it came out of complete nowhere. I also have such problem with the ending. Korra magically getting airbending unblocked without learning anything and then she gets all her powers back again without learning anything. Like i get it they thought there won´t be any more seasons but they could´ve done it differently. Korra reaching her bottom, thinking about jumping off that cliff, Aang appears and Korra has a talk with him - like all of this is good, but instead of Aang giving her back her bending he tells her that there is a way to get them by reconnecting with true nature of bending, it´s spirituality and philosophy. This way audience would know that Korra will be OK because she will get them back eventually and it opens doors to many potential plot lines for future seasons. This ending would nicely tie with Season 2 main theme - Spirits. Just imagine it: Throughout whole season Korra is spiritually reconnecting with elements and learning their philosophies and grows as a person while also dealing with spirits. It would be much more interesting than whatever season 2 was.
19:07 Bloodbending is such Bullshit, (in a good way) power scaling wise. That when Kitara had it officially reported as a technique, she moved to have it banned immediately because it was just too powerful. But it was kinda cool that the writers wanted to expand upon it for the first season. It just wanted written the best.
25:49 What if Korra didn't get her other Bending back until the end of the second season. There when she achieves her self Avatar state, she figures out to break through Amon's Blood bending blocks due to sheer force of Will. Especially since Angg in his Avatar State was also able to block out Blood Bending entirely.
Now that i think about it why is taking away a person's bending associated with bloodbending when its associated with Airbending due to the air nomads being more spiritual. I'd understand if they were blocking the bender's chi, but we never get that explanation from what i remember from the show.
M*A*S*H* was one of the most important shows of my childhood, on a similar level to Avatar. It taught me to find joy in hardship and alotta other good lessons.
I'm a big defender of Legend of Korra, one time I watched a book 2 (+book 1 finale) rewrite and it was amazing. I really wish season 2 had been greenlit right away... I love the characters of Korra, Tenzin, Lin, Bolin (minus in book 4), Suyin, Asami so much
I haven’t finished Korea yet on the end of season 2 but I’ve sorta been spoiled over the years for the remaining episodes and I like to think it’s an underrated show.
as a lifelong ATLA fan and someone who was in the Legend of Korra fandom back in the day... the show appeals to me less the more I go back to it, largely because of other shows that were off branches of the creative team, like The Dragon Prince. the dragon prince has Less episodes than tlok per season (only 9) and also has "magical epiphanies unlocking new powers" as plotlines, and still manage to show how and why a character reaches said epiphanies while becoming someone new or understanding something fundamentally different than what they were searching for before, sometimes with seasons of quiet buildup in advance, or just in 9 episodes.
Picture this... Instead of Korra gettingher bending back on her own. And you know giving it back to the rest.... WHAT IF we had Katarra find out that it was blood bending... and KATARRA who swore off blood bending dedicated herself to using it to restore the harm that was done. That said I admittedly don't get all the spiritual bits and admittedly liked Korra more so than atla... as someone who watched them both as they unfolded.
11:22 So, I always took Korra struggling to learn airbending as how she was raised. Air's the element of freedom and korra's been pretty much a prisoner, locked up in a compound her whole life, then when she finally *does* get to Republic city she's watched over by the White Lotus. Once again, a prisoner. She's never known freedom, so how is she expected to learn air? When Amon takes her bending, it kind of makes sense why her airbending wasn't taken, because that chakra was blocked. So, when she has nothing left, when her friend/crush is moments away from getting his bending taken, that's the moment that chakra unblocked since she doesn't want his bending (bending = freedom) robbed from him. 17:10 Honestly, I'm not a fan of how the equalist movement dropped at this reveal. I could see some equalists feeling betrayed, but if anything, this should reinforce the movement. Since a bender is the one leading nonbenders, it would make them see that not all benders are oppressors, and because their leader is only using bending to remove it from others, he hates bending as much if not more than them. BTW, speaking of there not being any gays in the show, I've read a wattpad fanfic that makes korrasami look like even more of a mess than it already is. To avoid spoilers, the fanfic is about another member of Team Avatar, a girl name Kihone, and in books 3-4, her and Korra end up a couple. They have so much chemistry together, way more than makora or korrasami ever will, and I just eat it up!
I think if anything Korra should have struggled with water, as it is the element of change.like can you imagine her struggling to connect to her own culture? Alas I still love her and the series as a whole
Yeah, Amon's family's bloodbending has always confused the 💩 out of me. ATLA pretty clearly established that waterbenders could only bloodbend during a full moon because that's when their bending is the strongest. But lo and behold, Amon and his family can always do it with no issue regardless of whether there's a full moon or not. Also, Amon can somehow use it to take people's bending away? 🤨
Anomalies exist. Sure, on average set conditions need to be in place for blood bending to be possible, but realistically, somewhere out in the world, someone would be capable of utilizing in without the prerequisite. (How it took away bending is a mystery, but imo they should have tied it to the spirit bending thing introduced in season 2.)
@@BlazeWolf9511ok for like one thing ok, it's a reboot after all. but that and also in the same scene you don't have to move anymore which was a thing throughout the entire last series. You don't actually get points for the "realism" of random shitt happening and a lack of foreshadowing in a fictional story because it be like that sometimes. If the same twist was good and people liked it more than the old story then it would be okay but it was bad, 0 points for style.
I agree 100% that learning the elements should come with change in the character, embracing the "element" of the element. But to be fair, Aang kind of unblocked his fire-bending magically too... The dragons gave him fire-bending as much as Noatak gave Korra airbending. I'm not saying that neither is ideal, though.
In it's defense, it was only mean't to be a one-hint miniseries before it became popular enough by fans to have more seasons. If the showrunners had been given the 4 seasons from the start, I'm sure it would have been petter for everyone.
lmao s1 would've been the perfect season to elaborate on characters and wtf happened to them since that was their first season and since they weren't sure if nickelodeon was giving them another one that was kind of their chance to
Yeah. The issues with Korra for me didn’t really come up until later seasons. In book 1 I disliked that as a child she was already bending 3 of the elements (before it was revealed officially that’s she was the avatar) without difficulty. A comment on another video pointed out that it would’ve been interesting if she actually struggled with water since her personality fits more to fire and earth, and her water bending actually ended up looking more like the others
I think korra should speak to aang for the first time on the cliff & he tells her about the spiritual dates & times & how can they enhance someone's spiritual energy & in the first 4 episodes of season 2 could be about korra learning more about bending & spirituality & then she tried a final solutions provided by her uncle unalaq (him being the villain was stupid) who told her about harmonic convergence & how spirits are threatening them without the avatar to stop the conflict later when korra opens both portals she regained her bending back but now after navigating the spirit world & the dangerous furious spirits & humans who are fighting with spirits.
I enjoyed this show when I was younger, but I was am SO DONE with the lack in the political writing considering how avatar was literally entirely about a revolution against an imperialist force. I def think a lot of LOK losing what avatar was in the breath of the writing feels the same as how we have gradually lost connection to nature in real life. We lost the core of the series writing just as we made the show closer to our reality with technological advances and modernized political villains. Edit: Meaning, the people writing were only able to analyze oppression, revolution, and politics through the lense of a time in the past--but as soon as it became closer to what we know, it became harder for them to unpack because they are living in it, and didn't do enough research into current issues politically and socially to make a good foil for it in fiction.
I just rewatched the series. While it does have a fair share of issues, it's a pretty engaging series. The love triangle nonsense is still bad, but I almost felt bad for Korra and Mako's breakup in season two. Their relationship isn't amazing, but they had some kind of chemistry in season one. Season two throws that away for them to argue almost nonstop. It was a better and smarter choice to keep them as friends going forward, but it might have been better received if they actually did something with their relationship instead of fighting all the time. The ending doesn't really bother me that much, or at least I can't hold it against the writers that much. Maybe it would have been worse if it was the series finale, but when they were given the orders for more seasons at the last minute, that does make it harder for them to make a natural lead into the new seasons. Despite being pretty unlikable for most of season two, Korra herself has some really great development. Tenzin is terrific too. I think that if they had been able to plan all four seasons from the bat instead of what happened, the character writing might have been stronger for the rest of the main cast.
I would have loved it that s2 was just her going on the avatar journey to regain her elements back, learning from masters and building her character from what it once was. Instead of the spirit BS. Im still salty that there's spirit portals in the world cause it makes aang trying to go to the spirit world look dumb. Also, f**k the datk avatar.
I really like Korra as a character and think the show had a lot of good ideas, but because of the lot of the issues you mentioned, it felt like so much potential wasted. And it's hard because most people either completely ignore the positives or completely ignore the negatives. I appreciate the fact that you like the series and can share what you like about it, while also acknowledging the flaws and understanding the reasons why other people may not like it. I would love to see a Korra rewrite from you.
You say Aang had a spine made out of jelly and later say how much more mature Korra was. 1. Aang was raised by monks and is a monk, no shit he's gonna be on the less side of non confrontional, but he still managed to deal with the threat that was Ozai in the biggest humbling I've seen in entertainment. 2, Korra is not as mature as you're making her out to be, and even then she's 17 in her book 1 and Aang was 12. 112, but mentally 12 for fucks sake
Korra is mature. She learns to defeat Kuvira using compassion and she handles Daw (who's on the edge of suicide due to his traumatic power awakening) with incredible grace (offering him help). In book 3 she only lashes out against the Earth Queen, who's so awful Mr Rogers would punch her in the face.
0:30 yh, I’m showing my best friend atla for the first time, and to quote her “it’s so nostalgic!” despite her never seeing it before. We got to Imprisoned and I accidentally made a comment about metal bending and she then said “yh, like it’s such a logical next step, why can’t they do that?” To which I nearly said “oh just u wait til u meet Toph”. Her favourite character’s also Uncle Iroh. I swear it’s like he’s her spirit animal
amon is just a bad villain in general for what was supposed to be the final big bad. The equalist as well just kinda didn't make sense as they say they want equality but we never see them being oppressed. Its less of 1900s racism and more like that one chick at McDonald's who yells racism when the cashier doesn't give them what they want. I thought that was the point as well, maybe amon is targeting the poor not because they are nonbenders but because they are poor and easy to manipulate, this makes sense as we see non benders have good lives like the person who invented flipping cars. The show wants to show nonbenders as disadvantaged but in fact shows the opposite. Its the same reason gang members tell people all cops are racist and you have to trust the community and not cops, because the gang members are not looking for a change in the police force they are looking for control. I thought that's what amon wanted, not change but control. Given that the twist is actually better because its a person with power using the powerless to get what he wants, ultimately being the thing he's warning others about. HE could even believe it as a lot of criminals believe people would commit crimes would do so if they could get away with it, or secretly want to they are just afraid. Showing amon as a person who's manipulating the poor instead of a person who wants equal rights is better because it actually delivers on the twist. The show clearly doesn't have a corrupt government, and the only nonbender discrimination we see is from gangsters which isn't a governmental thing, its a personal thing. And no matter what policies you put into place you can't fully get rid of something like racism BECAUSE it lives in a personal level. So LOK tearing down the system and starting a new one does NOTHING because the problem they are presenting is not a governmental problem, its a person by person problem. The only time we see the government discriminate is when the police start rounding up nonbenders but they did that after amon starts gaining traction, and because the equalist party are basically terrorists, the people are on edge, so I don't see it as racism but instead fear. America actually did something similar after the bombing of pearl harbor, in fear of Japanese spies and soldiers they gathered Japanese Americans into camps, this isn't me saying that its a good thing, but pointing out that ifs not racism that is the driving factor, its fear of a terrorizing movement. Again its NOT good, just something that should be noted. Overall the biggest problem is that they wanted both sides of amon, they wanted a terrorist psychopath with a redeemable goal. They wanted to talk about equality while also having a villain that is evil and a fraud. Those two aspects don't work.
Korra just getting air without much work feels a lot like when Aang just got the ability to take Ozai's bending instead of actually dealing with his moral issues vs avatar duties.
Had they known they'd get more seasons, the ending should've gone like this: Korra should've lost her bending in the penultimate episode, and loses hope. The rest go to stop Amon and Korra in her grief, accidentally links to Aang, who inspires her to fight with her friends as she's the Avatar regardless if she can bend or not. She accepts this (as much as she can) and goes to help her friends (have the air buzz a little around Korra as she walks about the door, hinting that something has changed about her). The fight commences as usual, and Korra uses her training from the season to evade equalist attacks. Mako is captured and is about to lose his bending but Korra arrives and engages Amon. Here, I'm ok with her forcing her air bending out in a moment of desperation (shows she is still a tad bit headstrong even when weakened). Korra begins to fight Amon as best she can. Her and Mako tag team and defeat Amon. The seasons ends with a non-bending president elected but signs that the equalist movement is still VERY MUCH alive and active (for season 2 drama). At the meditation hut, Korra makes a remark to Tenzin that somewhere, deep inside, she can faintly sense her connection to the other 3 elements. She remarks that she always took being the Avatar for granted and didn't know it till she lost it - seeing the elements as tools rather than ways of life. She resolves to learn the elements in a new way, hopefully tapping back into fire, earth, and water. The season ends with Tenzin asking Korra to meditate with him. She grumbles, but Tenzin jokes that "she might as well start by learning about the only element she currently has". she laughs in response and we fade to the sky... Not perfect, but I think better than what we got.
Ain’t no way people unironically believe Korra is Mary Sue! Are we seeing the same character!?? This girl right here? The one who managed to F up royally in nearly everyone season is a Mary Sue? Yeah yall can miss me with that.
I think it's an issue of the circles that humor it find Korra is a lost cause, they recognize she has flaws and isnt a mary sue but also dont like her as a character either. Those who call her a mary sue likely checked out early on or never bothered re-evaluating their opinion of "she realized 3 styles as a toddler." It's like "why waste my energy on defending a character I don't like."
@@ryanmoore6259if it was a guy I wouldn't like the character doing the same things either like instantly knowing how to bend 3 out of 4 elements at the age of five without any teachers now if she did something similar as a teenager or young adult id believe it if she had the teachers or they came in checking on her progress or they shown a extremely test and she can slightly control the other elements as they give her some simple instructions whenever she's young
To be honest I kinda like that almost all blood benders in Avatar universe had one common life path - being victims to cruel people but then discovering this forbidden power and then being corrupted and becoming abusers themselves even though trying their hardest not to become like people who hurt them in the first place (Amon taking away people's bending and Tarrlok refusing to bloodbend until he has to because their grooming dad was obsessed with bloodbending, Hama secretly killing fire nations civilians because of what she suffered from fire nation). I find this to be a very fitting storyline for characters who learned the power to bend others to their will. P.S. maybe I am too reading into this but I just kinda always liked lok better than atla because I can't stand sexualization of minors and atla has plenty of that
yes atlas treatment of Ty Lee always have rubbed me the wrong way like just the idea of a grown ass man animating those underage girls cleavage makes me so uncomfortable
Regarding blood bending, I really would have liked to see Katara using blood bending combined with her healing techniques to revert the blocked bending instead of Korra doing random Avatar stuff to give everyone's bending back. It'd give Katara some kind of redemption since she seemingly hated beeing a blood bender and blood bending itself, and now she can use it for something good. This could also add an interesting new layer to blood bending so it's not just pure evil.
Maybe Katara could have figured out how Amon blocked the bending (and then also explains it for the viewers) after she knew that Amon blocked the elements with blood bending. On the next full moon she could try using blood bending after many decades again and there she actually manages to revert the blocked bending from people including Korra. Katara could teach that to some other medical waterbenders and after some full moons, everyone has their bending back. Would be cool if even Korra learns that healing bloodbending then. Of course, using it in a damaging way should still be kept forbidden and Katara would never teach how to do that.
this is a really good concept!
It would be great if benders that got their bending blocked be sent to Katara as she's the best medic. Katara can see that something is off and that only through using blood bending can it be achieved to take a person's bending away. Korra can then relay this message and people can make a setup that would force Amon to water bend and showed to everyone, then talk about how much of a "hypocrite" Amon is and how his ways won't "solve anything". However, that alone shouldn't be enough to solve the problem as Korra should also listen to the non-benders' problem along with the benders' perspective and consult it with others, especially Tenzin as he seems to know about the issue and could've discussed about his point of view and talk about how Aang may potentially solve it. Then Korra would make a speech about how she would solve the issue the best she can. That would be a better closure than what is given in the show
I never got how bloodbending basically works like chi blocking, when clogged blood should be the FIRST thing any waterbender healer would notice.
Same! That’s the part I hate the most because I feel like it doesn’t make sense. I feel like they should’ve made bloodbending strong enough where you can basically paralyze someone permanently. I think that makes more sense given how once you’re bloodbended, you can’t move unless you’re strong enough to break out of it.
This is also why I say Amon should’ve been a non bender that found a way to weaken a benders ability to bend when he chi blocks. Like maybe he learned that if you hit harder, or maybe hit them more in places where their chi flows, if that person doesn’t know how to open it back up they can’t necessarily get their bending to be back on par as it was usually. That would also give some depth to Korra when she realizes she can’t just punch as hard as she used to, so she has no choice but to really focus on air bending and non aggressive fighting taticsc and overall becoming a smarter fighter. It would also explain how Katara can only “ease” tension but she can’t actually fix the benders who’ve been affected since their chi paths would need to be reopened (similar to what was being talked about in the gru episode of Atla).
Another thing I never understood was why pure platinum cannot be metal bended
Metal bending is about bending the "pure earth" inside the refined metal (natural vs non-natural)
However pure platinum can be found in nature (just like gold, copper and silver) and thus should be bendable while steel should not
Katara was able to sense the bundle of chi mangled up in aang's back when she was healing him in the first episode of szn 3 but suddently a much more experienced version who actually knows bloodbending wouldn't know to feel that is such a major leap in unbelievability its ridiculous
@@kubomagico8853 even with those that can't be found in nature... they are a result of mixing natural metals. Like it makes no sense.
@@kubomagico8853 I think the difference is the purity. Like 24K gold would probably be harder to bend than 10 karat gold. The more pure the metal, the harder is to bend. You need more random little rocks and pebbles, etc. to be able to bend metal. For instance butter is probably bendable, but it’s probably harder to bend than just milk. Because there is more water in the milk than there is in the butter.
“What happened to sakka?”
What happened to Suki?!
There is a theory, back in ATLA in the fortuneteller, Sokka was told he’d have lots of pain and misfortune (pretty sure I got that wrong) most of it self-inflicted. What if he and Suki went on a mission together, his idea. That got her killed?
As for Sokka, people assume he died while originally fighting off the red lotus.
Still wish they included Azula in the series.
@@natnerdzthere's a theory that Zaheer was the one who killed Sokka, I don't remember where I saw it though 🤔
@@OpticalSorcerer Hm... I think that could have ruined het character a bit if not handled well.
@@Blodreina1kru Korra came out in 2012 and "The Search" came out in 2013. As long as they kept that in mind, it could've worked.
I wish they would've given Korra the Bloom Enchantix treatment. While she has practically willed herself into learning airbending, she could've had obvious struggles with other ways of airbending. She might've been able to do these air punches, but maybe not the iconic air ball thingy Aang used, or more gentle ways of chanelling air to solve certain problems. In general her style of bending is (from what I rememeber) just aggressive and not that diverse in combat, which could've also been some kind of sub-plot for following seasons. As I said maybe I need to re-watch the show bc i could be wrong abt that.
Yess! I feel as if she struggled but then the writers just forgot about said struggle by the next season.
Agreed. The main two issues that LoK had were the twelve episodes seasons and the stories they were telling. One of the Last Airbender's greatest strengths were the seasons long arcs each character went through.
-Sokka character development from an arrogant boy pretending to be a warrior to one of anime/T.V. greatest leaders.
-Katara didn't go through any visible change but she learned to be my compassionate and less bias to other people.
-Toph learned that being independent doesn't mean having no responsibility
-Zuko, do I need to talk about the masterful writing of his arc?
-Aang was a kid to afraid to face his destiny to someone willing to bare the responsibility of the Avatar.
Each season built on each of the character's developments and it felt organic. LoK seasons feels like a self-contained story which have a small impact on it's next season on the characters.
Now onto the stories of LoK seasons. Unlike the Last Airbender which had one primary villain and few side ones LoK had four primary villains each season. Which could have been great if the seasons were longer, in season 1 the Equalist showed a conflict that was inspired by our own history and even today. If season 1 had been the standard twenty episode length then the writers could have gone in-depth with showing the disparity between benders and non-benders in Republic City to paint Amon in a more morally gray villain. Instead of Amon being the standard evil guy.
Same goes with Korra's evil uncle who just wanted to become king of both the South and North poles not because he wanted to become the Dark Avatar but to get more power or to help the South Polers reconnect to their spirituality.
The Red Lotus and Season 3 were the best of the four seasons.
Season 4 showed us that the world is becoming more independent and not needing the Avatar to deal with all the world's issues. I would not have Kuvira make a meha but a rail-road gun instead.
I'm sorry, but when I first read your comment I immediately imagined Korra having a magical girl transformation 😅
In all seriousness though, yeah, the series didn't really touch on Korra having any difficulty with airbending. Like the commenter above me stated, I feel like the major issue is that the series was too short to show her actually refining her airbending talents. Which is another compaint I have about the Netflix show and it's 8 episode structure, but that's a topic for another day
I was literally just thinking about the similarities. I don't know how I didn't see it before.
@@jakebrook I would say Katara has a solid ark. She starts of as a rookie water bender and ends up becoming a master. She is generally seen as weak by other characters (complimented by the fact she can't always use her bending and isn't skilled like Sokka). By the series' end, she becomes very resourceful and powerful, taking on a deranged comet-empowered Azula and winning. I do agree her personality didn't get MUCH of a change but the minor tweaks we got of her becoming more compassionate and less hot headed were a plus.
I was genuinely questioning the creators and the writers for approving that plot twist. I also questioned the Korra’s sudden ability to airbend at the end. And yeah! HOW THEY DID GET TENZIN AND HIS FAMILY?! I was like DID I MISS SOMETHING? I dont deal offscreen sh*t well. Lin’s sacrificed was a joke cuz of this
Honestly the older you get and have better understanding of life, lessons and politics of the real world. You go back and watch LoK it didn't age well at all in most areas and cliché. My issue with LoK are the lessons that they pretend to have but contradict one another. and no consistency of both lore and characterization and that. It has so much potential but it's those flaws and inconsistencies that holds it back to the audience outside of the fans/stans
Edit: to the Korra stans getting triggered in my comment section, if you love the show, then I'm happy for you but stop gaslighting me and constantly tagging me to get a response or putting words in my mouth of something I never said. It isn't going to change anything. Watch your show in peace and leave me alone.
No they're actually pretty consistent in a lot of ways. Books 3 and 4 were solid and books 1 and 2 had strong points.
@@ryanmoore6259 not really especially with the lore and world building that they butchered from the ATLA. Bryan and Mike inserted way too much of western and Christian ideology with Eastern philosophy and mythology into it. This is why me and majority of ATLA don't consider it canon as a direct sequel to the original series. Book 2 was the egregious offender out of all of them
Case 1@@ryanmoore6259
Still a great show
@@GiveonKing well I'm happy that is a great show to you
8:26. So glad someone else realizes this is a big problem with LoK. This is a serious gripe I have with a lot of modern media as a whole, a laser focus on plot and only plot with no room for fun character-focus episodes to build the world and flesh out the character dynamics. Republic City could have easily been an entire world in of itself with the cultures of the 4 Nations coming together into a melting pot of culture.
YESSS, like I always wondered why Republic City wasn’t handled in a similar fashion to Zootopia with the different climates and animals living differently. It would also drive in the difference the creators wanted for Korra. Because while Aang literally was going all over the world, Korra would do the same but in republic city, but at least in the series it isn’t large scaled as she stays in the city.
Bolin kind of reminds me of how I picture Iroh when he was young minus the war crimes.
I didn't know that the creators thought this would be a series finale
They didn't actually. It's a bit of misinformation perpetuated by the creators in retrospect. Initially the internal deal at Nick that has been later revealed but hidden for the sake of not suffering too much ire is that TLoK was approved for two, twenty-six episode seasons
Imagine if amon ACTUALLY was blissed with a spirit?
Yeah, that was very believable. Spirits do all kinds of rule-breaking stuff not to mention that bending does not work in spirit realm so maybe there could be some kind of connection here.
Would’ve been more interesting. But Amon still my favorite LOK antagonist
Dante Basco as General Iroh II: "Now why am I in it?" 😂
DEADASS
I genuinely just think Amon is a really bad villain. If not for his aesthetic and Steve Blum’s vocal performance, there just wouldn’t be anything to latch onto about the guy.
He’s *boring.*
The problem with Amon at a fundamental level is the disjunction between human-being Amon and symbol Amon. Amon as a human being is a talented but abused young man who doesn't like benders; this is boring and rather petulant. Amon as a symbol is the refutation of the main claim of the Avatar Universe, which is that bending imputes personal value (which is why the Avatar > elder benders > normal benders > nonbenders is the existing value set in the universe). Amon as a symbol is the power to collapse this hierarchy in the name of equality. This IS an interesting conflict for us to resolve; the Avatar is now, by her very power, a leader of the ancien regime hierarchy and would need to defend this gross inequality if she agrees to Amon's framing.
But that conflict never actually happens. Amon as a symbol is thrown away by Episode 10 and replaced with Amon the human being, allowing Korra to never have to reflect on the power hierarchy in the ATLA world. There would have been an easy way to avoid this problem: (1) Make Amon a non-bender who learned energy-bending and decided it was his role to remove bending rather than the petulant human story we got and (2) have Korra actually promote the equality of nonbenders by raising them up rather than by pushing all of the benders down.
When I watched LoK with my mom as it was airing she was like "After Avatar, this is awful." And I agreed. I never really watched after Book 1 aired. Years later I came back to it and watched all 4 and I was like "This sucks". I've rewatached it a few times and I don't think it's very good in a lot of ways but I think it's ENJOYABLE and I do enjoy it. It's got ISSUES (God, I despise Book 2) but I can have fun watching it.
I agree. I had to literally force myself to watch LoK if I'm being honest but some aspects are fun icl. Season 3 was okay tho
My story is a bit similar! My cousin actually told my mom and I that there was a new avatar and she was a girl. I’m not sure how my mom felt (I was still in elementary school getting ready to go to middle school) but I was really excited and we would try to catch an episode whenever it aired.
After a couple of episodes (we didn’t watch them in order or like right after the other because we were busy so it would be like one week we watched an episode, the next week we did another, and another on a weekend) , I did notice that my mom wasn’t paying attention like she was when we first started. I never asked and she never said anything. Then I realized that I barely paid attention to the plot because all I paid attention to was the fight scenes. I didn’t even know that Amon was a waterbender yet alone Korra being from the southern water tribe.
Then we kinda stopped for a moment, and I think once I was close to graduating from middle school we started back up again and this time we were kinda able to watch the episodes in order more frequently. Once again my mom didn’t seem as interested and then I started noticing some things that I didn’t like about the show at all. However I wrote it off and once again I only ever paid the most attention to the fight scenes. Then at the start of high school we watched again (this time we were able to watch season 1-2 in order as season 3 was just starting) and then I was no longer as interested as I was beforehand. Once more episodes came out for season 3 however both my mom and I were more invested in the story.
To do a little jump cause my comment is getting long, my last 2 years of high school (I think it was my last or whenever they had tlok on Netflix) I wanted to rewatch both Atla and Tlok with my mom and we did. Once we got to Tlok we kept falling asleep on it, not paying attention, and overall scoffing at the show. I think I was the one who was more annoyed by it but my mom ended up loving season 2 especially Bolin. I only ended up loving season 1 the most, and surprisingly so, I wasn’t really interested in season 3 like I was before. Then my mom and I decided to talk about the show and that’s when I learned she didn’t like the show too much but there were some things she enjoyed about it. However she liked watching the show WITH me so she kept watching anyways.
She does think Atla is better and stronger narratively (she’s an English teacher lol) but she says tlok is not that bad. I’m just the one who pays attention to details and lore more than she does so when I see how they went about some things especially after freshly watching Atla, I started disliking it (but I noticed this a bit beforehand). I did watch the show again like maybe a year ago by myself to see if my opinion would change because I really want to like Tlok as much as I like Atla, but once again I only pay the most attention to season 1 in its entirety, half of season 2, and the ending part of season 3, and maybe the 1st 3 episodes of season 4.
Honestly even Book 2 is kinda a blast to watch. So much awesome moments.
Im gonna have to rewatch but from my memory it goes from mid but fun to messy and well it's something to a pretty flawless season 3 and then a ok season 4
I don’t even like LoK but I’m glad people are revisiting it and liking it more. I think if it wasn’t in the same universe as the closest to perfection American animation has ever gotten, it would have been a lot more well-received
I think this too but they would have to edit some stuff. However I can say if LOK came out now people probably would love it way more. But me personally, what I really want is a remake of the show because I think it deserves it and I don’t like when things get remake.
@G3NTOK1 This deserved the Netflix remakes treatment more than The Last Airbender. Aside from giving us an improved version of the 2010 film, which still pales in comparison to the original series and satisfying uncultured people who think animation is only for kids, who was NATLA for? The Legend of Korra should have gotten that treatment instead.
This would have given the writers an opportunity to iron out the kinks in the original series and make it more streamlined season by season. The smaller episode count Korra had, compared to ALTA, would be more beneficial if they pulled a Netflix and gave us 8 1-hour episodes which combined a bunch of plots together as compared to NATLA and TLA2010 which cut out a bunch of somewhat important "filler" content and moments.
Along with the more limited location variety, it would be a lesser effort on the CGI landscape animators because they'd mostly be making CG recreations of Republic City and the other minor locations seen throughout the show as compared to having to make multiple locations like the Southern Water Tribe, The Southern Air Temple, Kyoshi Island, Omashu, Northern Water Tribe, etc.
Ah, a classic example of a show using populist arguments but never actually intending to make them be taken seriously. Wouldn't want to *actually* validate trying to change the system that is the cause of these inequalities...
5:45 yes, exactly the word, neoliberal
That's.....not really fair seeing how often the status quo changes. The Council government is replaced with a president, the spirit world and human world are merged and the Earth Kingdom essentially ceases to be.
You advocating for populism?
@@thomastakesatollforthedark2231 left wing populism yes
@@Froggsroxx weird
@@thomastakesatollforthedark2231 populism
noun
a political approach that strives to appeal to ordinary people who feel that their concerns are disregarded by established elite groups.
I advocate for the redistribution of wealth from the ultra rich back into the society they exploit in order to build infrastructure and social programs.
You were actually correct. Because Korra had no connection to air there was no airbending to take
Korra should've had pushed Amon out the window and regained her bending by meditating and connecting to the the elements on a personal level, that allowing her to connect with Aang and then he could help her learn to bend again, would’nt have taken more than an episode
You can cut the love triangle to have time for that
3:03 Yangchen did worse and sezto started the whole mess
Book one being called Air can be explained with there only being one season.
Making it Water, Earth, Fire and Air for the 3+1 seasons it could have ended up as.
Wasn't the whole point of energy bending that your mind and heart haft to be clear of lies and hatred in order to remove another person's energy? Not to win the war through might makes right but through clarity and love. I guess that doesn't matter anymore because all you need to remove someone's bending is to be a really really strong water bender, and a touch of eugenics.
I dont think so, i remember the fight with Ozzai and Aang, which correct me, but the lio turtle said, your will has to be stronger than the person you facing. I think
@@ShogunApach3
“The true mind can whether all the lies and illusions without being lost. The true heart can tough the poison of hatred without being harmed. Since beginingless time darkness thrives in the void but always yields to purifying light.”
“To bend another’s energy, your own spirit must be unbendable or you will be corrupted and destroyed.”
In other words, your proficiency to bend someones energy to remove their element is dependent on the unbendability of your own spirit, which is itself determined by your ability to navigate through lies and hatred. While yes, will is an important aspect, the pursuit of love and truth also plays a big role.
Even if I am wrong and that it's just will alone, which I'm fine with that interpretation, its still bs that you can do the same thing just by being a really really good water bender, and a touch of good genetics.
Something I hate is that we have no idea who taught her earth-bending
It was probably earth benders of the white lotus
White Lotus, just like firebend.
Do we know who taught her firebending? I forgot tbh
I just wish we actually met her former teachers and they were actually characters
@@american1207Yes we see her master in the first episode
I feel like it would have made her journey into learning the philosophies of the other elements more cohesive if she actually travelled and got to learn about them (yk…. like the Avatar’s Journey) by understanding the communities and the people and their culture. She could have received her ability to bend but should still not have been able to control the elements (like when Zuko lost his “spark” and had to go to an ancient temple were the original dragons were kept safe so he could learn how to fire bend again). It’s what frustrates me about this series (although I still enjoy it but it doesn’t engage me as much as the og series does). Sometimes bending in LoK seems more like magical bs than an actual spiritual philosophy.
I personally did not like Amon’s motivation or his abilities. Instead of a water/blood bender he should’ve been a non bender who learned how to disable bending through the spirits. This would’ve been a good entry into the second season and along with his “scar” a much better motivation.
A plot twist should make the series more interesting, and have hints leading up to it so you can look back in hindsight and see how it all ties things together.
Amon being a super blood bender isn't more interesting than being gifted by the spirits, and doesn't have any lead up.
If they wanted to do the bloodbending route for Amon, they should have made him do these gatherings where he removes the bending from someone only when the moon was full. Would have been a cool clue for the audience and characters to work out (first couple of times we see him there could just be a shot of the full moon, and then pan down to the scene, later they notice the pattern of once per month and eventually during the full moon, spend some time wondering why before the reveal that he's bloodbending), and it gives Amon an interesting limitation to work around.
okay but the thing about "air" not getting enough screentime because every minute needs to be dedicated to the equalists is just wrong. Why the hell did we WASTE half of this season in the arena? or with the bermuda trio? And don't you dare tell me the first was about learning air bending, they drop the evading-&-dodging shit after the second ep. Not to mention this is not what air bending is all about
Honestly romance in Avatar is a weakness they kinda refuse to acknowledge (I’m looking at you Kataang) and in LoK since it was a more prominent plot it SHOWS, like a lot, to be fair I’ve seen worse, this is just messy but it’s entertaining which makes it ok, not good, but ok
I don’t give a f about shipping, but personally I didn’t mind there stuff in ATLA because it was such a small part of the plot
And why is Kataang bad?
@@samflood5631It isn’t, people just want Katara and Zuko together and will twist narratives in order to make Aang look like he doesn’t value Katara more than as a plaything.
I like this twist better than the one early on in the show's airing where people thought one of Aang and Katara's kids was Amon, like Bumi.
Honestly the twist wasn't bad, but it wasn't something built up; we had no idea who Noatak was at that point. And I wanted redemtpion over suicide, seeing the brothers change and grow past their trauma.
I kinda thought it might be a possibility back when it aired. How would a non bender gain the ability to take it away?
And where was Noatak gonna go?? Do you really think they would give him a second chance, even though he started a race war and literally taking bending away from gang leaders for the entire public to see. No, honestly I don't think they'd ever forgive him..I'm not saying suicide was a good choice, but where would he even go after they found out he was a waterbender-? Sure, he may lay low for a few months, but how long will it take for whatever place he settles in to find out what Noatak did in his past life. Honestly, there's no other way.
@@ryanmoore6259 I mean specifically Noatak, since his character hadn't been introduced yet.
@@Little_Duckling18 I personally think they could've went off the grid, found some sympathizers, and pop in and out. Their bloodbending abilities allow them to lay low a bit easier vs if they were another type of bender.
@@OpticalSorcerer I thought he might be Tarlokk's brother.
28:29 Book 2 was about spirits with some discussion on how humanity has pushed them back and disconnected from nature. Reconnecting with their elements could have been a great way to tie the spirit world in with how it relates to bending.
For me the essential problem of LoK is that its a neoliberal, 'enlightened centrist' show that gets all the politics it tries to do so so so wrong. It just drips with how american it is. I'd recommend Kay and Skittles as a basic intro to these things. DO NOT watch that aussie/new zealand guy because oohh boy, does he have the same problems. The political illiteracy is wild.
The earth empire going democratic (without the people voting for it like Italy in 1946) like Republic City because America in S4 was the most in your face of examples. Not every established power is bad or evil. There are yeah but not all. The earth kingdom people were doing fine with or without the royals. The king in the og show was an idiot because of a Chinese monarchy joke that doesn't even exist post 1940s. Will the poorer side of the EK in Korra enjoy that or create their own stuff? What about the middle and richer classes? Will it last?
Probably yes cause the show ignores the non benders after S1 but still.
Except the centrists aren't portrayed as right either; Raiko (the embodiment of centrism in the show) is a craven fool at best. The issue is that the solutions each villain comes up with is self gratifying.
As someone else said "I agree with you that most of the villains’ ideologies are so entangled with the world they live in, that it’s difficult to directly apply them to our world. People have to remember that even though the tone is a bit more mature than ATLA, Legend of Korra is still a children’s show. The children are just a bit older this time around. As a result, I think this show is much more interested in asking the audience questions that giving them clean answers.
It’s prompting viewers to engage with issues without spelling out what they should think. It does have some opinions though. For example, the protest scene in When Extremes Meet makes it clear what the writers think about use of police violence against marginalized groups. Also, more broadly, it’s clear that the villains usually need to be stopped because their solutions to such legitimate problems are extremely violent and self-gratifying. It’s trying to make the viewer engage and try to find their own position in the middle ground. I think this is a fair approach to take with an audience that is only just beginning to engage with politics.
I think people who don’t like the show’s politics are expecting a more explicit endorsement of an ideology, and these kinds of opinions are the result of a failure to find that. Facts and opinions get distorted until the show is sponsoring “good” politics or “bad” politics.
Personally, I probably would have been annoyed if the show explicitly embraced any ideologies, because I don’t think it had the audience or the screentime to give these things the full breadth of the attention they deserve if you want make up solutions to these problems. People are still struggling to do that convincingly for most of these issues in real life."
Kay and Skittles are extremely intolerant to any differing interpretations and they also get a lot of basic details wrong. If anything the Australian guy is entirely correct.
No they're politically literate. Kay and Skittles is overly smug and refuses to countenance any disagreement. He's angry that HIS idealogy is being threatened.
@@falconeshield Actually the comics show that the process of making the Kingdom more democratic is an uphill battle in a lot of ways.
@@ryanmoore6259 k sure whatever you want yeh you think that 🙄
I feel like the biggest problem with the equalists is their inconsistency. The writers just can not seem to make up their mind whether or not nonbenders are actually oppressed, because the equalists seem to flip-flop multiple times between a genuine political movement with valid grievences, critiques and ideas who just take their ideology too far, and basically a cult that uses populist rhetoric to turn benders into a scapegoat for Republic City's crime and poverty issues and/or settle their own personal grievances with bending/benders.
I personally favour the latter interpretation, because we only ever see a handful of instances that could even be remotely interpretted as nonbender discrimination throughout all Avatar media, while we have plenty of evidence to the contrary.
Both can be true.
Take red pill incel people. Nobody in their right might would call men on the whole oppressed. But men who are unfamiliar with how feminism actually does encapsulate concern on their end and fighting toxic masculinity which imposes unfair expectations on both genders, they don’t feel that way. So lost, they turn to the group which acknowledges their daily struggles and that’s how the internalization of problematic behaviors and rhetoric begin. Men face a hefty amount of social stigma online when in mixed spaces, their emotions are often cast aside and disregarded by both genders, and they’re judged very heavily for vulnerability. These are real issues which are valid. Using these issues to downplay the actual danger women face from dangerous rhetoric is obviously wrong, but young men get radicalized by turning to the ear which hears them and then the rhetoric sneaks in like a worm or a snake.
The nonbenders might feel oppressed. The entire police force are benders, most the politicians are benders, there are jobs and things which are closed off entirely to nonbenders. They might not all be radicalized, but they might go “well I’m not supporting the terrorists, but these people are voicing my concerns and nobody else is.”
I would say that the show does (unintentionally) show that non-benders are oppressed in that the entire council is made up of benders (or at least, the only people who talk are benders) and the entire police force are benders - to the point where they're able to round up non-benders as a whole using bending. We don't see a single non-bender in a position of importance in the city, the only non-bender is Asami - out of a huge cast of characters, only naming a single non-bender (who isn't an antagonist) is clearly showing what type of person the writers think deserves time and attention. In the OG ATLA, characters like Suki and the Kyoshi Warriors, Jet and the Freedom Fighters, the random villagers they meet along the way, the leader of the Northern Water Tribe, June, Mai, Ty Lee, The Mechanist and Tao, Bato, Hakota, and the list goes on and on and on of great non-bending characters, some of which have institutional power, shows that you don't have to be a bender to be important to the story - LoK, specifically season one, only focuses on benders with a single token non-bender - that speaks volumes about the world the writers created whether they knew it or not.
@@aprilshighfantasysoul5891 While I agree there are things that hint at nonbender oppression, there are just as much if not more that hint/show that they aren't oppressed. Like, yes all current members of the council are benders, but they kind of undermine that point by having Sokka as its leader in the past.
Additionally they go out of their way to show that both benders and nonbenders are affected by poverty and that it's not a bender vs nonbender issue. In fact (unintentionally) they kind of hint that poverty effects benders more, given that all wealthy industrialists seem to be nonbenders, while most bender-only or bender-majority jobs, except healing, seem to be jobs that in real life are/were mostly done by people of immigrant, low income or otherwise marginalised backgrounds, like factory work (Mako's lightning bending job at the powerplant), organised crime (see the origins of the Irish and Italian mafias in the United States), police work (see the origin of the stereotype of the Irish police officer in the United States) and probending (boxing, etc.).
And those are just two examples and there are a lot more.
And while I do agree that the original show handled nonbenders way better and that Korra should've had way more important nonbending characters, that is more of a writing issue than a sign of in-universe oppression. And in fact all of ATLA's powerful, wealthy and skilled nonbending characters make the equalists' points even more questionable, considering Amon claims in multiple speeches that nonbender oppression has been a thing for centuries, when the original show just shows us that that is flat out untrue.
So I still think the writers don't make it clear whether or not nonbenders are actually oppressed.
@@SvenVersluis I think that's exactly why this show is so frustrating to me. Every decision shows the writers don't understand how real-world social justice movements work nor how irl society works, and they did no work to show us how/why their bending society might operate differently from what we'd expect in social and economic equality terms despite making that the focus of the season.
It's so frustrating when writers try to introduce real issues and represent them so poorly, it could inspire a great deal of misunderstanding in those watching it if they, themselves don't know better
It gets worse in season. 3 when half the Earth Kingdom gets air bending.
I feel like it sort of makes sense considering the philosophy of air and how it's opposite to earth. Or that descendents of air benders settled in the earth kingdom long before. Obviously, they could have made the storyline more cohesive. Maybe even answer questions about Ty Lee's ancestry since that's been a topic of debate for awhile.
It's kind of like how people begin to feel a sense of enlightenment when they connect to their culture, language, people, etc. That's how interpret it.
But ig it's easier to convey that one event gave people the ability to airbend all of a sudden. I feel like the writers feel that people aren't media literate and that's why the show is so blah.
Tf you mean half the Earth Kingdom, it was like a tiny group of people
Aman being given the power to take away people's bending by the spirits was more interesting and made more than the blood bender twist that they went with.
Honestly as someone who rewatched the series myself I also say that Books 1 and 3 were personally the better written seasons.
Book 4 was just as decent as Book 3 but Kuvira as an Antagonist just doesn’t have the charisma that Amon And Zaheer + Red Lotus have as Villains.
Kuvira was both the Show’s Best and Worst Villain in the series.
Basically metal bending Ozai with less intimidating factor
Ironically it was KORRA who was the most interesting character in Season 4.
I mean Kuvira as a character at least gets expanded on in the comics, Specifically Ruins of the Empire" and going on kind of a redemption arc but I don't know if it makes her any more interesting.
They WERE going to show her backstory in a flashback but Nick cut the budget and so they got a clip show instead.
@@ryanmoore6259 Oh well at least her backstory was shown in the comics at least, shame that Nick tried so much to Sabotage this show.
@@toadlord8594 Mike and Bryan made the clipshow to avoid firing everyone early.
@@ryanmoore6259 Okay yeah I know that.
I say this too that season 1 and 3 are the best.
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Late to the show but, I was always under the impression that the final part of Korra's Airbending block came from her connection and ease of acquisition of the other 3 elements. By being disconnected from the others, her final obstacle was "overcome" and thus, "I'm an airbender now!"
My interpretation is that her fears of losing her bending the entire show was what stopped her airbending progress. So when she did lose it, she became free from her fears, and she finally developed the skill.
my personal feelings about kora being a marry sue is being a 4 year old capable of bending 3 elements, something at that point unheard of. for 10,000 years most avatars didnt know they were the avatar till they were 16. they had to be instructed on how to move, figure out the chi flow, and a mindset in order to bend an element. it takes me out heavily when a rambunctious 4 year old could somehow figure out a chi flow that other avatar take months to years to learn
She still has to learn how to use it. What she did was flailing around. And even then she has to grow as a person.
@@ryanmoore6259 what? If you're talking about 4 year old korra bending 3 element, she actually bends them pretty well. From the looks of it, it looks as if 4 yo korra has a better handle of her bending control then the first time we see katara bending in atlab. She has great form for a literal 4 yo and my question is who taught her that? Did she teach herself?
Finally someone else noticed this!
I have always hated this, she should have had to learn them like everyone else
18:30 OMG THISSSS! I was about to bring up how it felt like people saying having a Black president "fixed" racism.
Here's the one of the factors that i think makes it a semi bad semi good sequel: Some of the things in show rely on you having watched the first show and knowing how the world works. In my opinion a good sequel is one that is capable of being watched as a stand alone for first time fans.
One of the big problems I have with Blood Bending is that the show treats it as inherently evil, much like they did with Fire bending in the episode the Deserter with Jong Jong. When that’s never been the case for bending. And it’s more about the people using it than the power itself.
Not to mention can you imagine all the medical applications blood bending could do for people?
But no it’s one of the most overhyped bending abilities out there.
I'm actually fine with the idea of amon being a blood bender, but psychic blood bending is too much. The best part about bending is how much the movements play apart of it. Giving someone the ability to control someone with your mind at anytime is overkill.
I'm currently doing my rewatch of LoK (wrapping up season 3) and I am struggling. I can't believe this was written by the same people behind A:TLA.
It still fits. Avatar was great but not perfect
19:23 the art of bending is constantly evolving, so bloodbending evolves as well
Are we gonna ignore how Noatak/Amon was clearly BLEACHING his skin because that man came back a whole new race?
Like, was he wearing that mask for 20 year?!?!
19:27 I think Yakone was the first psychic bloodbender while every other bloodbender in his family before him and Amon could only use it with their hands.
I've been wanting to try rewriting this show just for fun to see what i can do with the resources and characters of this show for like a coupke years now, but idk I also don't want to make it worse. 😅
While Legend of Korra DOES have its problems, there are quite things in it that I like but I'm too lazy to be listing some of those things cause I just woke up and say that Thomas posted but again there are things that I like in it but some of them aren't enough to save the show. As Thomas always says, "The Legend of Korra is a mess, but it's MY mess." I always quote Thomas whenever I talk about the show with my friends and/or my cousins.
Also I'm kind of fearful for the Earth Avatar series after the mess Legend of Korra. I can only hope that it's not bad but a mess like Korra is because I think it will also be is the original Avatar series' shadow like Korra was.
Honestly Thomas is wrong here. Korra's flawed but hardly terrible. Many of the complaints are bad faith.
@@ryanmoore6259no its not. If this wasn't connected to Avatar? Sure. But since its connected it makes the setting WORSE.
@@berilsevvalbekret772 A lot of the criticism is people upset that it doesn't meet THEIR idealogical views. I've noticed that a lot of younger people are embracing communism because Capitalism is a deeply flawed system......True, but communism still doesn't address the problem.
@@ryanmoore6259what do you mean “bad faith”?? what do you think the secret motivations are behind this video lol?
@@shellersle128 I think that the criticism is in many ways an instinctive "they criticized my idealogy, so I'm going to assume it's bad and terrible"
10:02 the way it works is he uses blood bending to permanently block the chakras and fuck with their chi. Idk about the air bending part though
I think when Korra exposes Amon, the twist should be that he really was burned by a firebender and lost his family.
After running away, he gave up bending for good and met a woman he loved. Then, after she was killed by a fire bender, he went on a crusade to rid the world of bending after so many people abuse that power to oppress the weak.
Years later the more I think about it the more it makes sense that benders would be discriminated against in Republic city. Unlike basically all the other nations there is no built in place and purpose for benders in society. Plus with the city's focus on industrialism and capitalism it makes sense that Republic city would be considered the place for non-benders, most likely making Non-benders the majority population in the city. We don't see any benders in prominent positions of power, outside of Tarlock and Tenzin. And the jobs we see benders in the most are criminal, manual labour, or cop.
For Korra, wouldn't the avatar state alone be sufficient to restore her bending? As it's bloodbending and the avatar state have blocked bloodbending in the flashback.
Also there's some irony with patience being attributed to air, when we had Bomi giving it to earth.
It would’ve been amazing if they made the reason Amon can take away bending is because the connection with the bending traditions. Making bending a more superficial thing and not as a core part. The logical reason could be that Amon’s ideologies dig so much deeper into your belief systems that your ability to bend starts to waver as you battle these ideologies in your head. Having the connection already broken your bending seems like a lost cause. We can parallel this with the Katara and the captured earth benders episode where she brings them the rock but they still don’t bend showcasing that their will is the broken thing in them. The getaway point of Korra can be that only her fire bending remains as some fire benders fuel it with their rage and frustration. Fixing the finale can be done by having Korra also face Amon ideologically and not physically after their fight. Where Korra gains the Knowledge of the previous avatars and regains her trust and connections to her bending styles making it possible for her to relearn them in the proper way and not just through sheer will. And when she finally confronts Amon again her bending is unbendable and she is able to defeat him
I genuinely feel like they should've made amons story what really happened with him
Ya know, I really liked how LoK didn’t just forget all the sh*t that happened to Korra over the seasons. Like all stress and pain she went through actually came back to bite her and put her in 3 year long slump that struggled to move pass. She couldn’t just walk away from all that, she had to accept what happened and face her fears.
MASH was one of my parents' favorite shows! Of course, they saw it as it was coming out. To put how old that show is into perspective, my mom turned 60 yesterday, and was a young adult when the show aired. We don't talk about the dad and paternal side.
You know what the best parts of Korra? When well written, Korra. The talk she has with the guy who gained airbender powers (which was SUCH a bullshit let the horrific scars of war stay for a WHILE or just let small handful gain powers my god) and was so terrified he wanted to kill himself. The way she handled the situation was AMAZING and showed us what a kind person she truly is and truly a worthy person to be avatar. I fucking LOVE that scene.
Tenzen and family is amazing so is Opal and her family etc. Tenzen is such a compelling character with janora? Sorry Idk how to write her name!
We ignore the "god vs satan" christianity/abrahamic religion nonsense its not canon. Ignoring is a great thing!
When written with care relationships
Not really. Raava and Vaatu is fine; it's Zoroastrian at best, and even then it manages to capture elements of Yin and Yang (Raava is kind of a jerk when we meet her and a spirit of order combining with a chaotic and passionate being like a human fits the dynamic fine).
Given that Raava starts out as a massive jerk and has to develop to see humans aren't bad it's hardly a christian vs satan thing. Moreover, evil does exist in Asian myth.
She typically gets called a Mary Sue for two reasons;
1) With the exception of Airbending, she instantly unlocks all her bending abilities by age 4 and can use them well (Shady Doorags did a video on this)
2) She might get called out for her actions at times, but never suffers consequences & ultimately gets what she wants
She literally almost died and got mind fucked by the red lotus
No she suffers consequences. Season 4 shows her suffering with PTSD, she looses the Avatar State in Season 2 (and at 4 she's basically flailing.) She also admits she's wrong quite a few times.
@ryanmoore6259 the fact that she can bend all the 3 elements at age 4 doesn't mean she had complete control over them if she had the white lotus wouldn't have trained her for 12 years
And no2 she dies suffer consequences like believing her uncle which cost her the ability to access her past lives and she had ptsd and trauma after fighting the Red lotus like are actually watching the show or spouting nonsense
@DominicAduGyamfi-pz5qi 1) The mere fact that she can just access them is Mary Sue-ish, seriously, watch the Shady Doorags video
2) that's late in season 2, and she never has it negatively impact her
@@ryanmoore6259 season 4 was written waaaàay later, and the Avatar State was later in season 2, and it never negatively impacts her
And just cause she admits fault at times, doesn't negate Mary Sue status either, cause she doesn't suffer for been wrong
For some book one idea o like to share…
I think they could swapped some plot point around.
Like say the episode where Bolin get kidnapped could have happened after when Mako started dating Asami.
Like it’s kinda weird for Korra and Mako have this bonding moment of finding and rescuing Bolin only to toss it away when Asami shows up and then when Korra is taken away Mako now acts on his feelings to her.
They realized that their less-gullible viewers would be put off by a show that portrays civil rights groups as the bad guys so they forced in a dumb plot twist that allows viewers to immediately side with the main protagonists who would otherwise be villains for opposing civil rights and enforcing the status quo
i used to hate Korra because i felt like she was just not what i expected but recently i realized that if we had more episodes to get to know her outside of main plot id probably have liked her more.
Thank you for this video and i couldn´t agree more with you, you listed every problem i have with the show. I think a lot could be fixed by extending the season to at least 20 episodes. I don´t care about love triangles, especially when they are done in such cheap way. I want to know who Mako, Bolin and Asami are as people, not as potential love interests for Korra.
I actually like the plot twist of Amon being Noatak but it needed some foreshadowing, because it came out of complete nowhere.
I also have such problem with the ending. Korra magically getting airbending unblocked without learning anything and then she gets all her powers back again without learning anything. Like i get it they thought there won´t be any more seasons but they could´ve done it differently. Korra reaching her bottom, thinking about jumping off that cliff, Aang appears and Korra has a talk with him - like all of this is good, but instead of Aang giving her back her bending he tells her that there is a way to get them by reconnecting with true nature of bending, it´s spirituality and philosophy. This way audience would know that Korra will be OK because she will get them back eventually and it opens doors to many potential plot lines for future seasons. This ending would nicely tie with Season 2 main theme - Spirits. Just imagine it: Throughout whole season Korra is spiritually reconnecting with elements and learning their philosophies and grows as a person while also dealing with spirits. It would be much more interesting than whatever season 2 was.
Raava and Vaatu worked fine; Razbuten had their own version of book 2 that's pretty good.
@@ryanmoore6259MF why are you in every comment on this video
@@wisdommanari6701 I'm somewhat of a fan of Unicorn and I am allowed to express my opinion.
@@ryanmoore6259 know what, fair.
19:07 Bloodbending is such Bullshit, (in a good way) power scaling wise. That when Kitara had it officially reported as a technique, she moved to have it banned immediately because it was just too powerful.
But it was kinda cool that the writers wanted to expand upon it for the first season. It just wanted written the best.
Will forever say that Books 3 and 4 saved the series, though it’s sad it took that long for the show to feel coherent, authentic, and complete.
1:48 Yeah like did the writers REALLY need to dedicate so much time to PrO-bENding and the love triangle?!? 😅
25:49 What if Korra didn't get her other Bending back until the end of the second season. There when she achieves her self Avatar state, she figures out to break through Amon's Blood bending blocks due to sheer force of Will. Especially since Angg in his Avatar State was also able to block out Blood Bending entirely.
Now that i think about it why is taking away a person's bending associated with bloodbending when its associated with Airbending due to the air nomads being more spiritual. I'd understand if they were blocking the bender's chi, but we never get that explanation from what i remember from the show.
Amon was a huge waste of potential. I really loved the idea of the equalists and the twist at the end was really underwhelming.
okay but your idea at 26:21 sounds so satisfying
also, Bolin has always been my favorite character in the series.
M*A*S*H* was one of the most important shows of my childhood, on a similar level to Avatar. It taught me to find joy in hardship and alotta other good lessons.
We all know who's the worst Avatar. It's Szeto. He made the Fire Nation strong enough to do a genocide. End of discussion.
No, he made it prosperous.
@@sebastienholmes548 yeah and that's the problem
Maybe Amon was closing up peoples Chi paths?
I'm a big defender of Legend of Korra, one time I watched a book 2 (+book 1 finale) rewrite and it was amazing. I really wish season 2 had been greenlit right away... I love the characters of Korra, Tenzin, Lin, Bolin (minus in book 4), Suyin, Asami so much
I haven’t finished Korea yet on the end of season 2 but I’ve sorta been spoiled over the years for the remaining episodes and I like to think it’s an underrated show.
as a lifelong ATLA fan and someone who was in the Legend of Korra fandom back in the day... the show appeals to me less the more I go back to it, largely because of other shows that were off branches of the creative team, like The Dragon Prince. the dragon prince has Less episodes than tlok per season (only 9) and also has "magical epiphanies unlocking new powers" as plotlines, and still manage to show how and why a character reaches said epiphanies while becoming someone new or understanding something fundamentally different than what they were searching for before, sometimes with seasons of quiet buildup in advance, or just in 9 episodes.
Aaron Ehaz is still a predator and a creep though.
Picture this... Instead of Korra gettingher bending back on her own. And you know giving it back to the rest.... WHAT IF we had Katarra find out that it was blood bending... and KATARRA who swore off blood bending dedicated herself to using it to restore the harm that was done.
That said I admittedly don't get all the spiritual bits and admittedly liked Korra more so than atla... as someone who watched them both as they unfolded.
This video is delightfully cathartic.
Might have to check out the rest of your channel. :)
11:22
So, I always took Korra struggling to learn airbending as how she was raised. Air's the element of freedom and korra's been pretty much a prisoner, locked up in a compound her whole life, then when she finally *does* get to Republic city she's watched over by the White Lotus. Once again, a prisoner. She's never known freedom, so how is she expected to learn air? When Amon takes her bending, it kind of makes sense why her airbending wasn't taken, because that chakra was blocked. So, when she has nothing left, when her friend/crush is moments away from getting his bending taken, that's the moment that chakra unblocked since she doesn't want his bending (bending = freedom) robbed from him.
17:10
Honestly, I'm not a fan of how the equalist movement dropped at this reveal. I could see some equalists feeling betrayed, but if anything, this should reinforce the movement. Since a bender is the one leading nonbenders, it would make them see that not all benders are oppressors, and because their leader is only using bending to remove it from others, he hates bending as much if not more than them.
BTW, speaking of there not being any gays in the show, I've read a wattpad fanfic that makes korrasami look like even more of a mess than it already is. To avoid spoilers, the fanfic is about another member of Team Avatar, a girl name Kihone, and in books 3-4, her and Korra end up a couple. They have so much chemistry together, way more than makora or korrasami ever will, and I just eat it up!
I disagree but okay. Amateur writers can have talent but it’s giving “too perfect” that it slaps you silly in the face
In just season one would Bolin be considered a himbo?
I honestly love LOK, sure has its issues, but it’s my mess too, and I will defend it to the death.
I think if anything Korra should have struggled with water, as it is the element of change.like can you imagine her struggling to connect to her own culture? Alas I still love her and the series as a whole
Yeah, Amon's family's bloodbending has always confused the 💩 out of me. ATLA pretty clearly established that waterbenders could only bloodbend during a full moon because that's when their bending is the strongest. But lo and behold, Amon and his family can always do it with no issue regardless of whether there's a full moon or not. Also, Amon can somehow use it to take people's bending away? 🤨
Anomalies exist. Sure, on average set conditions need to be in place for blood bending to be possible, but realistically, somewhere out in the world, someone would be capable of utilizing in without the prerequisite. (How it took away bending is a mystery, but imo they should have tied it to the spirit bending thing introduced in season 2.)
@@BlazeWolf9511ok for like one thing ok, it's a reboot after all.
but that and also in the same scene you don't have to move anymore which was a thing throughout the entire last series.
You don't actually get points for the "realism" of random shitt happening and a lack of foreshadowing in a fictional story because it be like that sometimes.
If the same twist was good and people liked it more than the old story then it would be okay but it was bad, 0 points for style.
I agree 100% that learning the elements should come with change in the character, embracing the "element" of the element. But to be fair, Aang kind of unblocked his fire-bending magically too... The dragons gave him fire-bending as much as Noatak gave Korra airbending. I'm not saying that neither is ideal, though.
In it's defense, it was only mean't to be a one-hint miniseries before it became popular enough by fans to have more seasons. If the showrunners had been given the 4 seasons from the start, I'm sure it would have been petter for everyone.
lmao s1 would've been the perfect season to elaborate on characters and wtf happened to them since that was their first season and since they weren't sure if nickelodeon was giving them another one that was kind of their chance to
Yeah. The issues with Korra for me didn’t really come up until later seasons. In book 1 I disliked that as a child she was already bending 3 of the elements (before it was revealed officially that’s she was the avatar) without difficulty. A comment on another video pointed out that it would’ve been interesting if she actually struggled with water since her personality fits more to fire and earth, and her water bending actually ended up looking more like the others
We want a video dedicated to Zaheer's character arc❤❤🎉🎉🎉
I think korra should speak to aang for the first time on the cliff & he tells her about the spiritual dates & times & how can they enhance someone's spiritual energy & in the first 4 episodes of season 2 could be about korra learning more about bending & spirituality & then she tried a final solutions provided by her uncle unalaq (him being the villain was stupid) who told her about harmonic convergence & how spirits are threatening them without the avatar to stop the conflict later when korra opens both portals she regained her bending back but now after navigating the spirit world & the dangerous furious spirits & humans who are fighting with spirits.
I enjoyed this show when I was younger, but I was am SO DONE with the lack in the political writing considering how avatar was literally entirely about a revolution against an imperialist force.
I def think a lot of LOK losing what avatar was in the breath of the writing feels the same as how we have gradually lost connection to nature in real life. We lost the core of the series writing just as we made the show closer to our reality with technological advances and modernized political villains.
Edit: Meaning, the people writing were only able to analyze oppression, revolution, and politics through the lense of a time in the past--but as soon as it became closer to what we know, it became harder for them to unpack because they are living in it, and didn't do enough research into current issues politically and socially to make a good foil for it in fiction.
In some ways it works better.
I just rewatched the series. While it does have a fair share of issues, it's a pretty engaging series. The love triangle nonsense is still bad, but I almost felt bad for Korra and Mako's breakup in season two. Their relationship isn't amazing, but they had some kind of chemistry in season one. Season two throws that away for them to argue almost nonstop. It was a better and smarter choice to keep them as friends going forward, but it might have been better received if they actually did something with their relationship instead of fighting all the time.
The ending doesn't really bother me that much, or at least I can't hold it against the writers that much. Maybe it would have been worse if it was the series finale, but when they were given the orders for more seasons at the last minute, that does make it harder for them to make a natural lead into the new seasons. Despite being pretty unlikable for most of season two, Korra herself has some really great development. Tenzin is terrific too. I think that if they had been able to plan all four seasons from the bat instead of what happened, the character writing might have been stronger for the rest of the main cast.
I would have loved it that s2 was just her going on the avatar journey to regain her elements back, learning from masters and building her character from what it once was. Instead of the spirit BS. Im still salty that there's spirit portals in the world cause it makes aang trying to go to the spirit world look dumb. Also, f**k the datk avatar.
I really like Korra as a character and think the show had a lot of good ideas, but because of the lot of the issues you mentioned, it felt like so much potential wasted.
And it's hard because most people either completely ignore the positives or completely ignore the negatives. I appreciate the fact that you like the series and can share what you like about it, while also acknowledging the flaws and understanding the reasons why other people may not like it. I would love to see a Korra rewrite from you.
You say Aang had a spine made out of jelly and later say how much more mature Korra was. 1. Aang was raised by monks and is a monk, no shit he's gonna be on the less side of non confrontional, but he still managed to deal with the threat that was Ozai in the biggest humbling I've seen in entertainment. 2, Korra is not as mature as you're making her out to be, and even then she's 17 in her book 1 and Aang was 12. 112, but mentally 12 for fucks sake
Korra is mature. She learns to defeat Kuvira using compassion and she handles Daw (who's on the edge of suicide due to his traumatic power awakening) with incredible grace (offering him help). In book 3 she only lashes out against the Earth Queen, who's so awful Mr Rogers would punch her in the face.
0:30 yh, I’m showing my best friend atla for the first time, and to quote her “it’s so nostalgic!” despite her never seeing it before. We got to Imprisoned and I accidentally made a comment about metal bending and she then said “yh, like it’s such a logical next step, why can’t they do that?” To which I nearly said “oh just u wait til u meet Toph”. Her favourite character’s also Uncle Iroh. I swear it’s like he’s her spirit animal
amon is just a bad villain in general for what was supposed to be the final big bad. The equalist as well just kinda didn't make sense as they say they want equality but we never see them being oppressed. Its less of 1900s racism and more like that one chick at McDonald's who yells racism when the cashier doesn't give them what they want. I thought that was the point as well, maybe amon is targeting the poor not because they are nonbenders but because they are poor and easy to manipulate, this makes sense as we see non benders have good lives like the person who invented flipping cars. The show wants to show nonbenders as disadvantaged but in fact shows the opposite. Its the same reason gang members tell people all cops are racist and you have to trust the community and not cops, because the gang members are not looking for a change in the police force they are looking for control. I thought that's what amon wanted, not change but control. Given that the twist is actually better because its a person with power using the powerless to get what he wants, ultimately being the thing he's warning others about. HE could even believe it as a lot of criminals believe people would commit crimes would do so if they could get away with it, or secretly want to they are just afraid. Showing amon as a person who's manipulating the poor instead of a person who wants equal rights is better because it actually delivers on the twist.
The show clearly doesn't have a corrupt government, and the only nonbender discrimination we see is from gangsters which isn't a governmental thing, its a personal thing. And no matter what policies you put into place you can't fully get rid of something like racism BECAUSE it lives in a personal level. So LOK tearing down the system and starting a new one does NOTHING because the problem they are presenting is not a governmental problem, its a person by person problem. The only time we see the government discriminate is when the police start rounding up nonbenders but they did that after amon starts gaining traction, and because the equalist party are basically terrorists, the people are on edge, so I don't see it as racism but instead fear. America actually did something similar after the bombing of pearl harbor, in fear of Japanese spies and soldiers they gathered Japanese Americans into camps, this isn't me saying that its a good thing, but pointing out that ifs not racism that is the driving factor, its fear of a terrorizing movement. Again its NOT good, just something that should be noted.
Overall the biggest problem is that they wanted both sides of amon, they wanted a terrorist psychopath with a redeemable goal. They wanted to talk about equality while also having a villain that is evil and a fraud. Those two aspects don't work.
Korra just getting air without much work feels a lot like when Aang just got the ability to take Ozai's bending instead of actually dealing with his moral issues vs avatar duties.
Had they known they'd get more seasons, the ending should've gone like this:
Korra should've lost her bending in the penultimate episode, and loses hope. The rest go to stop Amon and Korra in her grief, accidentally links to Aang, who inspires her to fight with her friends as she's the Avatar regardless if she can bend or not. She accepts this (as much as she can) and goes to help her friends (have the air buzz a little around Korra as she walks about the door, hinting that something has changed about her).
The fight commences as usual, and Korra uses her training from the season to evade equalist attacks. Mako is captured and is about to lose his bending but Korra arrives and engages Amon. Here, I'm ok with her forcing her air bending out in a moment of desperation (shows she is still a tad bit headstrong even when weakened). Korra begins to fight Amon as best she can. Her and Mako tag team and defeat Amon. The seasons ends with a non-bending president elected but signs that the equalist movement is still VERY MUCH alive and active (for season 2 drama).
At the meditation hut, Korra makes a remark to Tenzin that somewhere, deep inside, she can faintly sense her connection to the other 3 elements. She remarks that she always took being the Avatar for granted and didn't know it till she lost it - seeing the elements as tools rather than ways of life. She resolves to learn the elements in a new way, hopefully tapping back into fire, earth, and water. The season ends with Tenzin asking Korra to meditate with him. She grumbles, but Tenzin jokes that "she might as well start by learning about the only element she currently has". she laughs in response and we fade to the sky...
Not perfect, but I think better than what we got.
Ain’t no way people unironically believe Korra is Mary Sue! Are we seeing the same character!?? This girl right here? The one who managed to F up royally in nearly everyone season is a Mary Sue? Yeah yall can miss me with that.
I think it's an issue of the circles that humor it find Korra is a lost cause, they recognize she has flaws and isnt a mary sue but also dont like her as a character either. Those who call her a mary sue likely checked out early on or never bothered re-evaluating their opinion of "she realized 3 styles as a toddler." It's like "why waste my energy on defending a character I don't like."
@@nonome8206 Also misogyny. If Korra was a dude many of the same people would be praising her.
@@ryanmoore6259 The Mako hate makes that hard to buy.
@@ryanmoore6259if it was a guy I wouldn't like the character doing the same things either like instantly knowing how to bend 3 out of 4 elements at the age of five without any teachers now if she did something similar as a teenager or young adult id believe it if she had the teachers or they came in checking on her progress or they shown a extremely test and she can slightly control the other elements as they give her some simple instructions whenever she's young
Season 1 korra? Yeah i can probably see it a bit. Though after, oh boy, time to kick korra where it hurts mentally over and over again
To be honest I kinda like that almost all blood benders in Avatar universe had one common life path - being victims to cruel people but then discovering this forbidden power and then being corrupted and becoming abusers themselves even though trying their hardest not to become like people who hurt them in the first place (Amon taking away people's bending and Tarrlok refusing to bloodbend until he has to because their grooming dad was obsessed with bloodbending, Hama secretly killing fire nations civilians because of what she suffered from fire nation). I find this to be a very fitting storyline for characters who learned the power to bend others to their will.
P.S. maybe I am too reading into this but I just kinda always liked lok better than atla because I can't stand sexualization of minors and atla has plenty of that
yes atlas treatment of Ty Lee always have rubbed me the wrong way like just the idea of a grown ass man animating those underage girls cleavage makes me so uncomfortable
I need a buddy to watch this series with me.😂😅