Legend of Korra Series Final

[RG4]

This has gotten a lot of attention recently and I'm wonder what everyone else here whose watched ATLA and Korra. What are your thoughts are on finale?
What most excited you the most of it? The story, the big battle, or just the plain old Korrasami lets here what you got! Hell lets make this an overall avatar discussion thread too and shit if you ever watched the series.

[paprika]

I don't care but I'm sick of /co/ raiding /v/ about their lesbian shit

[danno]

the first half was
surprisingly cool.
the second half was g a r b a g e
overall the show is still shit

[RG4]

I don't care but I'm sick of /co/ raiding /v/ about their lesbian shit

I thought it was /u/ mostly coming in to fuck with everyone in Korra threads. But lets actually have a bit of a serious discussion, don't just come in to rip on the show,etc,etc

[Nienhaus]

Last Air Bender and Korra are both great shows and I hope they make a third.

[dezzmont]

Last Air Bender and Korra are both great shows and I hope they make a third.

They said they are going to expand the universe but are not doing more TV for a long time. Presumably they also mean a show as they mostly talked about stuff like comics.

I like how the finallee was handled. The giant robot didn't just no sell everything and it was clear that Kuvira was actually struggling to keep up. Even stuff like how she had a countermeasure for being blinded but it not being instant was neat, in old avatar it would have likely just done nothing. Also everyone getting worn down over the episode was a really nice touch. I didn't like how the initial assault was all for nothing though, it made the pacing weird and caused most of the character's contributions to be basically for nothing but wasting our time. They could have easily had the initial assault take out the spirit gun, cut out the metalbenders going inside the mech, and improved the pacing.

The ending was a bit out of place and the epiphany Korra had, while logical and fitting with the show's tone and mythos, wasn't very well foreshadowed or built up. It was just "Korra is getting her ass kicked this means she has no empathy."

The spirits also hardly played into the plot at all, which was also sad. And the spirit world was super inconsistent, though it was in S3 as well, in the fact that it existed and there were almost no sentient spirits walking around, most just behaved sort of like animals or sat around like lazy idiots rather than being active like they were both in the original and before the worlds were seperated. Not having a spirit protagonist was also a bit lame, as was all the spirits acting like a hive mind. Them not being angry with the destruction of the spirit wilds or bastardization of spirit energy is also highly incongruous with their previous behavior of very actively punishing humans for behaving poorly, and their statement on not getting involved in mortal conflicts because “war is a human thing” was a complete lie, because the fact spirits were very willing to go to war with humans who harmed the spirit wilds was vital for the entire concept of Wan's story.

S2 probably had the best end because the resolution was something you could guess ahead of time based on understanding the official stance on enlightenment being "seperation is artifical" which would make Wan's ultimate choice completely incorrect, and because it was big and had huge implications for the lore based on those half spirits we saw in Wan's time and the idea of spirit wilds coming back in force, but it ended up being ultimately an unimportant excuse for the giant laser and airbenders coming back. The spirit world wasn't even actually merged with earth, it was still a separate place which made no sense.

I like that they had the guts to make Korra and Asami being the official end couple, they obviously had the most chemistry of any of the characters, definitely more than Mako who matches pretty much ever definition of a chronic abuser and manipulator. The problem was that while they definitely hinted at the idea of a relationship starting it sort of was mostly sexual tension and confused more than platonic friendship that suddenly ended with them doing the makeout handhold Aang and Katara did. There was no “Do you like me? I like you,” just “Oh ok so we both know exactly what is going on despite never actually articulating anything. Good buildup, but not enough, resulting in a forced ending.

The fact they never adressed where the Equalists figured out chi-blocking was despite that being a question looming over the series. The first season overall was mostly forgotten which was weird, such as the validity of some of the equalist's points or what happened when the members went underground. Yeah, the videogame adressed it somewhat but it mostly just had a weird alternate Ammon come up and then dissapear with the members going underground again.

[RG4]

I can easily explain why Korra and Asami ended up being a couple easily but the overall story still just has so much damn potential for more. Almost all loose ends besides Kuvira was weren't wrap up, we still have plenty of things to wonder on and hopefully the comic series they might make can help us out.

[danno]

last airbender was really good. korra had a lot of problems. Korra herself was like... the worst main character ever. jesus christ. How she was during the first half of the finale is what I feel like she should have been for the whole show, instead of a whiny little bitch who fucked e v e r y single thing up, to justify how no one ever noticed how much of a whiny little bitch who fucked every single thing up she was

[RG4]

Korra seemed to have rude awakening as her time as the avatar. See Aang isn't as brash or was as willing to be the avatar but when got a little wiser her embraced and did almost anything with his power almost with no guidance other than his friends. Korra was very confident in everything she did and when push came to shove it fucking knock her off a cliff, you can tell she wasn't ready for that type of shit just yet and shows due to her breaking and fucking up constantly.

[Septavius]

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOo
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

[ColonicAcid]

Wha- lmao korra is actually a lesbian? I thought that was a joke wtf this was shown in nickelodeon right how much shit did they get for that holy cow m8
I guess this makes LoK a yuri :^)

[dezzmont]

Korra having a rude awakening only works as a S1 thing.

She was a very sub-par character for most of the series, which is why they ended up focusing so much on other characters for S3 and S4, which they managed to work in relatively well with the theme of "The Avatar is becoming less important" they worked in." The way she ultimately resolved the conflict had nothing to do with her as the avatar at all for instance, simply her as a person.

[nsos]

[nsos]

actually i didn't follow this season after the giant mech showed up so i guess i shouldn't say anything

[NikNakFlak]

Yea....
For once I agree with Danno.
I...want to like korra because I loved the last airbender but eh....I...think...it was bad.
Season 1 had like a good basis to it. With the last airbender ending with Aang taking away the firelord's bending, I feel like them using "taking away bending" as a sort of threat for season 1 was a good hit off. It was mostly just boring though and nothing really ended up happening. It was like a small crime that didn't impact anything at all. Season 2 was probably the best out of all of the seasons but the finale of that just made me barf alittle. Giant energy dude vs korra just felt lame and looked like shit. I'll be honest though, the episode of Wan was probably one of the best ever, even compared with the last airbender.

Season 3 was eh too. Zaheer or however you spell his name was a decent enemy but again, was pretty lame. It was basically another bandit the entire season with an agenda just like in season 1 except they had a plot twist at the end with being apart of the "anti avatar" club when they tried to kill Korra. Also when Zaheer flew, it was cheesy and lame again.

Season 4 was the worst in my opinion. Everyone knew the show by now and was expecting a cool ending or at least some sort of different antagonist. It seemed like it was going along great, and even the spirit weapon was fine. Then the giant mech showed up and again, I barfed. Litterly, the mech had nothing but that giant cannon, and then it was fucked. It was a lame final battle. I shouldn't compare it with the last airbender but it just doesn't compare. The final battle of TLA with it's four parts of epicness was just so much cooler than this lame 2 part shit battle against the giant mech. I never really liked Aang as an avatar because I thought he was too nice and alittle bit on the wimpy side, but he blows Korra out of the water. For real, does Korra ever fully even go into the avatar state? Korra's eyes just flash every now and then while Aang goes absolutely power insane and is practically a god.

All in all, Korra was a disappointment. Also, it's not for certain she is lesbian. They just walked to the portal guys. It could be implied but they could also be friends. It could go both ways. Just saying.

[RG4]

In the realm of logic Korra and Asami are bisexuals because they really wanted that Mako D.
Season 1 in my opinion was pretty good because due the fact it was slated to be a one shot mini-series in conception and then became a series even before it airred ruined what they were going to do. But season one had a great villain, aesthetics, and I honestly liked the characters.

Season 2 felt like the meh season for me I mean it still looked damn good , the opening of it was great and you had a good frame work with the water tribe entering a civil war. But then it kinda started getting stupid near the end especially the fucking Dark Avatar thing,Jinora Ex Machina, and Giant spirit Korra that just about ruined the entire season. Could've explained Wan's story a bit better because this seemed like the first time even in avatar whose gone to the point of discovered what made the Avatar the Avatar.

Season 3 I liked it because it had good action a good cast of villains who were genuinely threatening and had a uniqueness to them. Airbenders coming back was sweet in way because it gave you hope that Aang's vision of the Air Nation coming back is becoming a reality! Action overall was pretty great and finale was pretty good too, Zaheer nearly ends up killed Korra and the end result we see her as a person whose hopes,dreams, and their will utterly broken.

Season 4 Isn't as good as season 3 but it did try it's best giving us Kuvira who was going to be the villain from the start no doubt but she was likable as a villain just like Amon. Both of their reasoning for what they did are sound enough to get behind. Amon wanted equality and have non-benders be on equal footing with their bender counter parts, and Kuvira wanted unity out of chaos. We get to see Korra dealing with PTSD I mean all characters need a good low point and many of the episodes where we saw her incompetent or otherwise not as haughty she used to be made her a stronger character. The giant mech thing was odd I'll say, it made no sense and had plot armor to where you couldn't metal bender it. What it should've been was the railway cannon. But overall season 4 was a good season but not as good as season 3 or 1 and better than season 2, all them are arguably better than the Great Divide episode of ATLA. The one thing that has everyone talking and dividing the fan base was Korrasami being shown as the pairing they wanted to end the series with, I will say it DID have SOME build up to but not enough to actually make seem like it wasn't forced.

[dezzmont]

I think it is pretty telling that the main weakness of the series was how inconsistent it was. Korra regularly plain forgot shit that was meant to be the main thing of a previous season, like in S1 she had to become spiritual but in S2 she wasn't at all and was clashing with Tenzin again, and the tone bounced around like crazy. The fact that some people feel differently about different seasons shows that a good show was there, I think people just got whiplash because shit kept bouncing about and plots and themes were dropped and picked up at random.

Giant Korra wasn't that annoying to me. It is an east Asia mythology and martial arts thing, just like energy bending, where the main character has an Epiphany and learns to view the world in a new way and uses it to fight. Jannora was a good character through the series but her role in the end was dumb. I mainly like S2's ending the best because of the revelation Korra had in it, that the spirit and humans worlds being separated was dumb and did nothing to stop conflict.

S3 was probably the strongest overall because it tied the most into the overall plot, previous seasons were referenced unlike in 2 and everyone had moments. It was telling that S3 managed to have Bolin maintain his goofball status without shitting all over him as a character like 2 did. They finally addressed the fact that Mako ultimately was a bad person for the first two seasons as well by having him actually feel guilty over how he treated other people. The badguys were interesting and you were actually upset to see them die, which is good because Avatar is not a world where death is celebrated. You viewed them as humans who had goals and a point that you didn't agree with rather than outright monsters, and understood that they had their own relationships and people they cared about.

S4 arguably started much stronger than S3 because it played so heavily off of the chaos that S3 ended with. Mako was stuck spinning his wheels, Asami was becoming a big wig, and Bolin was super fucking important. Lore is established and we get a feel for the real stakes of this political conflict without having it blow over instantly. We are ill at ease most of the time because it is unclear if Kuvira is having shit stolen for her own needs, if she is a psychopath or just intense. We are not told “Kuvira is eviiil” so much as shown that this political situation is spiraling out of control with hostility. It looked like we were going to get a breakdown in peaceful relations rather than the obvious “Kuvira is Hitler” deal we ended up getting. They could have even still had Kuvira become an extremist aggressor if they just played up more the United Republic and other nation's actions more than hers a bit, such as sanctions and border escalations. Would have better played into the ending if Kuvira could have reasonably felt she was provoked, considering the idea behind her character was that she felt the earth kingdom should never be picked on again.

The mech didn't bother me at all, I don't get what people are talking about. It fits the world and the progressing theme of machinery versus spirituality and nature, and was deliberately paced and set up to be similar to the Phoenix King ending of LoA. Crazy dictator gets a super strong countryside destroying ability and uses it to destroy damn near everything. The only difference is that it is on the more modern mech rather than airships, and this time it tied everyone into the same ending. I agree it should have been slightly more vulnerable but that is more the fault with the idea of metal bending being a common technique rather than the mech itself. The design was also sort of weird and too humanoid, which is probably what put people off. Platinum is too damn common as well and is becoming an annoying excuse.

The main problem I have with S4? Not how little Korra had to do with anything or how ultimately unimportant she was, but how they didn't run with it. Korra was mainly afraid of not being needed anymore, not being vital and important, which ties heavily into her psychology and was why S1 had such a good badguy. But Korra's contributions to victory were much smaller than Mako's, Bolin's, Asami's, Opal's, Varrick's, or Hiroshi's, who actually did things that progressed the plot and ultimately stopped Kuvira's plan. Furthermore, Kuvira was Suyin's student and Bolin's mentor, and personally kidnapped and tore apart Opal's family. They had way more reason to care than Korra, way more personal connection with the badguy, and had more stake in the overall conflict. Korra only cared about it becuase of the role in the world that she was ultimately afraid of losing. Kuvira was not a villain designed for her and she was only tied in at the last second. They should have played up heavily the fact that Korra's desire to always be useful and vital was selfish, rather than based out of the Avatar's duty to the world. Aang didn't fight the fire nation for glory or personal satisfaction, he did it because it had to be done. Likewise Kyoshi didn't kill Chin the conquerer to show off her power, she didn't even really mean to, but she viewed the death as a valid result of her actions because he would not back down. Meanwhile Avatars who act for personal and selfish reasons, like Roku and Kuruk, who placed friendship and relaxation above their duties respectively, suffered for it.

The ending should have, in some way, shown Korra that her wish was selfish and ill concieved, while at the same time reaffirming the fact that she still had a duty. Her job was to facilitate balance and unity and not to be a gloryhound like she was. And Bolin, Suyin, and Opal should have played much more heavily into the end, probably to the point of being present during a major showdown with Kuvira and actually playing a big role in taking her down. As is Opal mostly flew around and Bolin mostly just rescued Mako in the end during a stupid and ham fisted sacrifice that was completely unnecesary and ultimately meant nothing because nothing was sacrificed nor did we assume anything would be. It would also tie her much better into Kuvira if the message was "The world is not about you, your desires should not trump the needs and contributions of others" because that was something Kuvira didn't really understand either.

[RG4]

I can't argue with your bottom point honestly. Korra's always seemed Irrelevant in a world that was ever changing and she seemed like an ancient relic of the pasted, it was hardly ever touched on outside of a few drama fueled scene where Korra struggles.

[dezzmont]

She wasn't irrelevant, so much as a major supporting character presented as the main, which made her more annoying than she actually was. A lot of gripes with her during S4 would probably have been solved if she recognized that she should be able to depend on other people and that trying to be important for its own sake was selfish.

Conversely Bolin probably was the individual who had the most right to be the protagonist in S4, his mentor went bad and he actively played a hand in putting her where she was, and he had the most room to grow. If the story more focused on him and his role in both learning during his service to the Earth Empire, his reaction to how wrong he was, and how he realized that he ultimately gave this woman so much power using his own charisma, it would have been better. There also could be a neat parallel to him and Sokka with him becoming a political figure like he did and revealing his hidden talents, in this case empathy and persuasion rather than a dazzling intellect and hints at genius level traits. Opal also would have worked from a writing perspective but because she was introduced last season audiances wouldn't have emotionally connected as well, and Suyin wouldn't work because Avatar is in part a story about how youth can be a force for positive change and ending cycles.

[Maccus]

>Forced endings, ever

[RG4]

>Forced endings, ever

It's hard to say whether or not the ending is forced or not. I mean we get a clear indication that they've done this on purpose as well of a blog post from a storyboard artist who worked with the Korra team at the time saying that was NOT the original ending. Creators intent on doing it says that this was planned the entire season and we wanted to surprise our crew or that they gave into the fans and pandered to what they wanted.

[dezzmont]

It was clearly telegraphed, there was obvious buildup and hints. The problem is the final scene was amazingly forced and didn't feel real. Jumping from sexual tension masquerading as an extra special friendship is a big different than suddenly being a life partner. Nothing was out in the open and then suddenly it was? Lame.

[paprika]

>sexual tension and shit in a children's show

jesus fuck adventure time is one thing but this is something special

[RG4]

>sexual tension and shit in a children's show

jesus fuck adventure time is one thing but this is something special

Because Avatar actually had a story plot compared to most other kid shows which are usually episodic in nature and usually return to normal after that episode's plot it over. Adventure Time is a small exception to say the least it has bit of an overarching story and plot but it's usually just in the background not upfront.

[paprika]

you are missing the point in my post

[dezzmont]

It also was designed for 14 year olds, so kids who are aware of things like crushes and sexual tension. LoK changed target demographic twice.

[RG4]

you are missing the point in my post

Yeah who the fuck tries to point out sexual tension in an animated show.

[Maccus]

you are missing the point in my post

You had a point?

[nsos]